{"id":10126,"date":"2026-03-27T15:24:57","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T19:24:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/localtalkweekly.com\/?p=10126"},"modified":"2026-03-27T15:25:02","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T19:25:02","slug":"bad-politics-in-newark-and-washington-with-one-exception","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/localtalkweekly.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/27\/bad-politics-in-newark-and-washington-with-one-exception\/","title":{"rendered":"Bad Politics in Newark and Washington, with One Exception"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><em>EDITORIAL<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"294\" height=\"450\" src=\"http:\/\/localtalkweekly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Dhiren-Shah-2023-294x450.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6721\" style=\"width:169px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/localtalkweekly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Dhiren-Shah-2023-294x450.jpg 294w, https:\/\/localtalkweekly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Dhiren-Shah-2023-98x150.jpg 98w, https:\/\/localtalkweekly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Dhiren-Shah-2023-768x1175.jpg 768w, https:\/\/localtalkweekly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Dhiren-Shah-2023-1004x1536.jpg 1004w, https:\/\/localtalkweekly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Dhiren-Shah-2023-1338x2048.jpg 1338w, https:\/\/localtalkweekly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Dhiren-Shah-2023-600x918.jpg 600w, https:\/\/localtalkweekly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Dhiren-Shah-2023-scaled.jpg 1673w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 294px) 100vw, 294px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><em>BY DHIREN SHAH<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><em>Hello Readers,<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Concerned resident and homeowner Shakima Thomas is not allowed to speak at Newark council meetings. After a long while, this is still the case. There is really a non-Democratic system in Newark. It\u2019s like the people work for the politicians, and not the other way around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The maximum an individual can donate to a candidate in an election is $3,300.00. Rich people can donate any amount, as Elon Musk donated $277 million to Trump in 2024 because of loopholes in the law. Why make a decision that anyone or any company donates more than $3,300 all the company as well as an individual can deduct only $3,300 and over $3,300 it is an non-deductible donation by an individual or a company or anyone whatsoever in the United States of America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Musk\u2019s donation of $277 M has been paid by the government as a tax deduction of about $87.5 million if it is in New Jersey (31.5% &#8211; 21% of Federal and 11.5% for New Jersey State). All states have different rates. The PAC (Political Action Committee) and Super PACs are allowing the rich to control our politicians and make the rules according to their needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders went to a local restaurant for lunch with two other moms. The restaurant owner has asked a member of the State Police Executive Protection and the governor to leave the restaurant. The owner said that Governor\u2019s presence made their employees feel threatened. This reminded me of when I was covering an event at the Essex County Hall of Records, and then-governor Richard Codey stood in a line for about 10 minutes right before me, and then-Essex County Sheriff Fontoura asked the governor to leave the line and took him to a nearby restaurant for lunch. However, I give credit to Governor Codey for not simply cutting the line as well as Governor Sanders to act for the benefit of the people and not abusing their power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to NBC NEWS: \u201cCalifornia GOP sheriff who&#8217;s running for governor seizes ballots from 2025 election. Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco said his investigation into potential election fraud is based on an \u2018audit\u2019 from a group of citizens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cBianco seized over 650,000 ballots from election officials last week, claiming that the election workers\u2019 tally of ballots received was 45,000 fewer than the number of votes certified to the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Art Tinoco, the registrar for Riverside County, told the county\u2019s board of supervisors that he&#8217;d met with concerned advocates about it. He said that they used \u201cimprecise, hand-written records\u201d when auditing the tally, which election officials don&#8217;t use when they count ballots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><em>Have a wonderful week. I\u2019ll talk to you next week.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>EDITORIAL BY DHIREN SHAH Hello Readers, Concerned resident and homeowner Shakima Thomas is not allowed to speak at Newark council meetings. After a long while, this is still the case. There is really a non-Democratic system in Newark. It\u2019s like the people work for the politicians, and not the other way around. The maximum an [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-editorial"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Bad Politics in Newark and Washington, with One Exception -<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/localtalkweekly.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/27\/bad-politics-in-newark-and-washington-with-one-exception\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bad Politics in Newark and Washington, with One Exception -\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"EDITORIAL BY DHIREN SHAH Hello Readers, Concerned resident and homeowner Shakima Thomas is not allowed to speak at Newark council meetings. After a long while, this is still the case. There is really a non-Democratic system in Newark. It\u2019s like the people work for the politicians, and not the other way around. The maximum an [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/localtalkweekly.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/27\/bad-politics-in-newark-and-washington-with-one-exception\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-03-27T19:24:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-27T19:25:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/localtalkweekly.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Dhiren-Shah-2023-294x450.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dhiren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dhiren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" 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