Is it possible that Senator Menendez finally gets it? Who's next?

by: Bertin Lefkovic

Wed Oct 06, 2010 at 10:03:55 PM EDT

When Senator Robert Menendez was being chosen by then Governor-elect Jon Corzine to replace him in the Senate, I was one of the most vocal opponents of the decision on this site and I regularly implored some of his former colleagues in the House as well as other Democrats to challenge him in the June 2006 primary election.

Aside from his being a major player in the most corrupt political machine in the state, there were two votes amongst the many bad votes that he cast during his congressional career that I felt should disqualify him from being given the opportunity to represent the entire state in the United States Senate. The first was his 1996 vote in favor of the Defense of Marriage Act. The second was his 2005 vote in favor of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act, which made it far more difficult for people to protect themselves from their creditors through bankruptcy.

While it remains to be seen if he will ever have the opportunity to redeem himself for supporting DOMA, it appears as if he may be willing to stop feeding at the banking lobby's trough long enough to take the right position on a foreclosure moratorium as the issue heats up and we learn more about shortcuts being taken in the foreclosure process by some of the biggest lenders in the country, most if not all of whom were beneficiaries of taxpayer-funded bailouts.

Bertin Lefkovic :: Is it possible that Senator Menendez finally gets it? Who's next?

But as nice as it would be to see the Chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee do the right thing and lead the charge for the passage of a foreclosure moratorium before the midterm elections, it is unlikely that he or any of the Democratic leaders in the House or the Senate have the guts to do anything of any significance between now and November 2 to stem the tide of foreclosures in this country or on any issue of concern to the American people. But that doesn't mean that something cannot be done. Attorneys General, Democratic and Republican, in many states throughout the country are calling for moratoriums on foreclosures in their states.

And while it is unlikely that our state's Attorney General, who was appointed by aspiring 2012 Vice-Presidential candidate/Governor Chris Christie, is going to join them anytime soon, I believe that pressure can be brought to bear on Democratic Sheriff candidates, particularly those in swing counties like Bergen, Middlesex, and Passaic, who are going to depend on a higher turnout than normal for a midterm election without a Senatorial race at the top of the ticket to win, to take a stand on behalf of struggling homeowners in their counties and commit to a moratorium on home evictions and sheriff's auctions.

Elected officials at both the state and federal level have failed their constituents miserabily, resulting in the loss of millions of homes throughout the country. This must come to an end and it must come to an end soon. And in New Jersey, that end may depend on sheriffs looking past the letter of the law and focusing on the best interests of the people in their communities.