http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/08/steve-lonegan-cory-booker-new-jersey-senate-race
On October 16, Newark, New Jersey, Mayor Cory Booker will face a Republican politician and activist named Steve Lonegan in the special election to replace the late Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.). You might have heard of Booker. He is a Democratic rock star: buddies with President Obama, beloved by Silicon Valley, name-dropped more than once as a future presidential contender.
So who is Steve Lonegan? From 1996 to 2008, he served as mayor of Bogota, New Jersey (pop. 8,241 in 2011), a small borough in Bergen County. In 2006, he took over the New Jersey chapter of Americans for Prosperity, the conservative nonprofit group founded and bankrolled by Charles and David Koch. Lonegan has none of the star wattage of his Democratic opponent. But he has earned more than his fair share of headlines for a steady stream of unabashedly extreme, hard-line comments about race and health care, Latinos and Social Security, and even Mitt Romney's now-infamous 47 percent comment.
2. "I'd hate to see you get cancer, but that's your problem, not mine."
While at the helm of AFP-NJ, Lonegan chided Gov. Chris Christie for not moving fast enough to reject Obamacare like conservative governors in other states. As a candidate, Lonegan made it clear that he wanted government out of the health care business in any way, shape, or form.
This is what he said at a debate on Obamacare in July 2011:
don't you just love the honest republicans they are so forthcoming with what they really feel and think about those they want to vote for them, and those who do well let's just say if at all possible think before you enter the booth your life is hiding in the corner you can hold the curtain open or leave it in the dark. 2014 recognizeI'll be as callous and uncaring as you can imagine. I have no interest in paying for your health care. I'd hate to see you get cancer, but that's your problem, not mine. I'm going to pay for my health care, I'm going to take care of my children's health care and tend to my wife. And when I stand for charity care (inaudible), you [and] no one else has the authority to infringe on my right (inaudible) dig into my pocket and my ability to pay for your health care or anybody else's.
