News · Press Release

Tom Kean Jr. is a “Rotten Tomato”

Cowardly Kean’s atrocious record speaks for itself

After a month of hiding from the press and covering up his extremism, cowardly Tom Kean Jr. was lambasted by the Star-Ledger Editorial Board for his absolutely atrocious track record with voters:

Tom Kean Jr. is centering his campaign for Congress on the claim that he will make life more affordable in New Jersey, and while he won’t say how he’d do it, he points to his rival in the 7th district, Rep. Tom Malinowski, as the villain in this story.

But look at the facts. At every turn, Kean has opposed efforts to cut costs, and instead defended the rich and monied special interest groups.

DCCC Spokesperson James Singer
“Tom Kean Jr. is willing to say anything to try to win, but his record just doesn’t hold up. Kean Jr. won’t deliver anything for the people of NJ-07 – he’ll just continue to serve special interests like he always has.”

Read more from the Star-Ledger below:
New Jersey Star-Ledger: Who’s the rotten tomato? Tom Kean Jr. | Editorial
By Star-Ledger Editorial Board
Sep. 29, 2022

  • Tom Kean Jr. is centering his campaign for Congress on the claim that he will make life more affordable in New Jersey, and while he won’t say how he’d do it, he points to his rival in the 7th district, Rep. Tom Malinowski, as the villain in this story.

  • But look at the facts. At every turn, Kean has opposed efforts to cut costs, and instead defended the rich and monied special interest groups.

  • Start with prescription drugs. Kean opposed the reform that President Biden just signed into law to contain costs by allowing Medicare to negotiate discounts from Big Pharma, to limit out-of-pocket expenses for seniors at $2,000 a year, and to cap the cost of insulin. Those are tangible measures to help families cut costs, and Malinowski was a solid supporter. The measure will also cut government costs by hundreds of billions, reducing the deficit.

  • And politicians like Kean, who opposed giving Medicare the power to negotiate lower drug prices when he ran for Congress in 2020. Malinowski’s campaign says this is because Kean has taken nearly $1 million from pharmaceutical and healthcare special interests. “That’s why I don’t take corporate PAC contributions,” Malinowski said in a 2020 debate.

  • It’s also likely a function of his pinched conservative ideology. As a state senator, Kean voted against putting $11 million into a state-funded program that helps seniors afford their prescription drugs.

  • Another example: Obamacare. Kean opposed three bills passed by our state to strengthen the protections in the Affordable Care Act that had a measurable impact on family budgets. In 2019, thanks to these bills, health premiums on New Jersey’s individual market actually dropped by 9 percent.

  • Kean even opposed common-sense legislation that protected consumers against surprise medical bills, often imposed in hospital emergency rooms by out-of-network providers.

  • This is the guy who claims he’ll make life more affordable?

  • And who’s most likely to fight for tax relief that’s targeted at the middle class? Kean voted against a tax on incomes above $1 million in New Jersey that was used to fund middle class tax relief. His priority was to protect the rich.

  • So let’s turn to Malinowski. He supported the bill to cut drug costs, and expanded subsidies in Obamacare.

  • He was the lead sponsor of a bill ultimately incorporated into President Biden’s American Rescue Plan, which directed pandemic relief not just to large cities but also to smaller, more rural towns hit hard by Covid-19. That helped local governments in the district pay their police and other salaries without raising property taxes. Every Republican in Congress voted against this relief.

  • Warren County officials announced that they were even able to slightly lower property taxes for their residents this year, thanks to that help. Is that what Kean is referring to when his ads talk about “billions” in government waste? How about the loans for small businesses as part of the Covid aid package signed by then-President Donald Trump – loans that Kean and Carlisi, both business owners, themselves benefitted from?

  • Kean hasn’t said where he would cut federal spending, which makes his griping meaningless. It’s true that he voted to cut taxes under former Gov. Chris Christie, and to cut spending in New Jersey. But Kean was not a leader in that fight. Christie and the Democratic Senate President at the time, Steve Sweeney, hashed out a bipartisan compromise and Kean was one of many Republicans and South Jersey Democrats who went along for the ride.

  • Kean’s record speaks for itself. The rotten tomato isn’t Malinowski. It’s Tom Kean Jr.

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