Governor Christie like many Americans suffers from asthma. On Thursday he says he experienced breathing problems and his inhaler did not provide the usual relief. Wisely he headed for near-by Somerset hospital. His same-day release from the hospital was good news. Maria Comella, the governor's communications director told reporters, "Christie received a chest X-ray and EKG and everything appeared normal." Such is also good news. Yesterday the governor said he felt "Fabulous." More good news.
The health of our state's Chief Executive is a legitimate concern for New Jerseyans and of interest to a broader swath of Americans who would like him to run for the presidency. Governor Christie during his campaign, later in Executive orders, and during his tenure has touted transparency. Such transparency is not apparent regarding the recent incident. Physicians who treated him have made no statements regarding his condition. When Governor Corzine had a life-threatening auto accident we were overwhelmed with information from his doctors. Corzine's accident probably was a much more serious incident, but without independent information from Somerset Hospital we have no way of knowing. Corzine asked his doctors to provide extensive information. It appears that Christie did not make a similar request to the doctors who attended him.
It is one thing for his communications staff to report on his current health, but it is another thing for the hospital staff to explain the results of their examination and tests and to answer questions from the press. Pulmonary function tests, for example, are standard procedures following such an incident, but we have been told nothing about these test results. Governor Christie should authorize hospital staff to address the press. Independent disclosure from physicians creates transparency, not a statement from the governor that he feels "fabulous."
A big part of the Chris Christie zeitgeist is that there is one set of rules for everybody else, and then all the stuff he gets to do, because the rules for him are ... just for him. It feels like we've been covering that part of Christie forever. Some NJ reporters recognize Christie's pattern, most national reporters do not. The Iowa GOP bigwigs Christie flew back in our chopper to see might know, but they don't care. They're just bored with the dullest GOP presidential field in a generation.
So, today when the law and order, fiscal conservative, better-with-your-tax-money-than-the-other-guy governor got called out for commandeering a 55-foot, $12.5 million helicopter meant for fighting terrorism and transporting critically-injured accident victims to ride to a kids ballgame and a political meeting, the very first thing his spokesman did was try to equalize Christie's bad actions.
How? Pretty much by saying all the other guys did it. The fact that that isn't actually true, at least for the governor Christie campaigned against and beat, doesn't seem to scratch Christie spokesman Michael Drewniak's story too much.
Informed that Drewniak told reporters, "This has historically been the case in prior administrations as well, and we continue to be judicious in limiting its use," Joshua Zeitz, senior policy adviser to former governor Jon Corzine and current Chief of Staff at the Corzine-helmed brokerage firm MF Global, clarified for Blue Jersey Corzine's policy during his time as Governor:
He always paid for a private helicopter when traveling on private or political business. We understood it to be illegal to use state resources for private or political purposes. Always.
More disturbing is the sense that we've been here before with this governor. As Courier Post reporter Jane Roh suggests in a tweet for her readable take on this matter - Why Christie's state chopper ride is a BFD:
Does state chopper ride + US atty travel expenses + use of state credit = disturbing pattern for @GovChristie?
Gov. Chris Christie took aim at Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson Coleman, (D-15), Wednesday over a bill the assemblywoman sponsored two years ago that allowed for the early prison release of certain convicted criminals.
On March 5, Rondell Jones allegedly murdered Newark resident Eric Thomas in Jersey City, just six weeks after Jones was released under the program. Jones was paroled from Garden State Youth Correctional Facility on Jan. 24, just a year after his conviction on Jan. 22 for the unlawful possession of a handgun and conspiracy for drug dealing, according to the state Department of Corrections website.
Christie put the blame for Thomas' death squarely at the feet of Watson Coleman, saying Thomas' death was on her conscience.
Asw. Watson-Coleman sponsored (and Gov. Corzine signed) legislation that allowed certain prisoners to be released from prison under certain circumstances. Because a person that was released early under this program murdered someone upon their release, somehow Governor Christie thinks it is logical and appropriate to lay 100 percent of the blame on Asw. Watson-Coleman.
Chris Christie can star in all the "YouTube moments" - as his staff calls those taxpayer-funded propaganda video clips - he wants. But he's got nowhere near the power to attract cameras that the mayor of Newark has.
Season 2 of Sundance Channel's Peabody-Award winning documentary series Brick City finds Booker caved under Newark's financial problems and violent crime. The first episode, premiering Sunday, picks up Booker's story just before the Christie era, the mayor firing up police academy recruits.
We remember that day - October 13, 2009. Former sheriff Kim Guadagno had just said she was afraid on the streets of Newark. And in a show of solidarity, Jon Corzine ran through those streets with the mayor, and those recruits. I never liked the optics. If the message was that Newark's streets were safe, leave the recruits home. But there's another reason we remember that day; Jon Corzine ran wearing a Blue Jersey tee shirt, the workout wear of the Blue Jersey Road Runners Club. (Get a glimpse of that at the 2:48 mark).
There's no ease in Newark for Cory Booker. Nothing's simple. Facebook and Oprah money just are a Band-aid. And as Brick City 2 documents, his city's populated by as many who revile him as see him as savior. But no other city, no other mayor, has the spotlight and the cameras this guy does. And New Jersey cannot rise without Newark rising.
This is Brick City's season opener, running time: 45 minutes.
Former prosecutor and current New Jersey governor Chris Christie is no stranger to tampering with the independence of the judicial system to fulfil his political agenda. His refusal to re-nominate State Supreme Court Judge John Wallace is the most notable example.
Now, there could be something fishy about his announcement of his intention to appoint 9/11 defense counsel Sohail Mohammed as a Superior Court judge in Passaic County.
As an attorney, Mohammed has defended Muslims who were detained in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. If that’s where the story ends, then it would be a no-brainer. All Americans, no matter how heinous the crime of which they are accused, have a constitutional right to a defense lawyer. And in the aftermath of the tragic events almost a decade ago, Mohammed was actively promoting dialog between the Muslim community and Jewish organizations.
But it’s more complicated than that.
One of Mohammed’s more notorious clients was Mohammed Qatanani, who was the imam of the Islamic Center of Passaic County during the reign of Chris Christie as U.S. Attorney. In 2008, the Department of Homeland Security initiated deportation proceedings against the imam, alleging that Qatanani was connected with Hamas. Sohail Mohammed was his defense attorney.
Here’s where it gets really complicated.
Professional terrorism watcher and author Steve Emerson has written extensively in support of deporting the imam. He points out Qatanani’s connections not only with Hamas but also with other terrorist organizations in the Middle East. Is Emerson one of those “sky-is-falling” terrorist-under-every-bed-sheet alarmists, or does he have some credibility? There are endorsements (on Emerson’s web site) from reliable people like Richard Clarke and A.M. Rosenthal, so that needs to be factored into the equation. (Not surprisingly, Emerson is also praised by Bill O’Reilly and Senator Jon Kyl - not exactly bellwethers of fair play.)
Further complicating the story...
The night before the immigration judge was to announce his decision regarding Sohail Mohammed’s client, U.S. Attorney Chris Christie praised the defendant, announcing at a Ramadan break-fast dinner, “My view is he’s always had a very good relationship with us, and he’s a man of great goodwill.”
But Christie was not alone. Then-governor Corzine and Democratic congressman Bill Pascrell joined Christie in intervening on behalf of Qatanani.
Some aspects of this story are not unexpected.
Not surprisingly, the conservative bloggers and right-wing Jewish writers are apoplectic about Christie’s nomination of Sohail Mohammed to the Superior Court. Yet both of these groups decry Mohammed’s association with Qatanani, and present very little credible evidence that Mohammed himself is associated with terrorist organizations. The anti-Mohammed writers accuse Governor Christie of pandering to the growing Islamic community in Passaic County.
So how will this play out?
No one has accused New Jersey politics of being dull. So the confirmation hearings for Sohail Mohammed should be interesting. Will the Islamophobes dominate? Will Mohammed’s outreach to the Jewish community be a factor in the hearings? Will Christie’s support of a Muslim judicial candidate doom his presidential ambitions? Will Mohammed’s appointment be derailed because he aided Americans in exercising their constitutional rights? Is Christie pandering to the Muslim community, or is the governor nominating a well-qualified attorney who deserves this appointment? Will the Tea Party demand to see Chris Christie’s birth certificate?
Fasten your seatbelts, this should be an interesting ride.
No, it's not too soon, considering: 1.) Christie began running for re-election the day he was inaugurated (as do all incumbents) 2.) No potential Democratic candidate (as far as I know) has stepped forward 3.) We can draw important lessons from 2009 and the shoddy campaign run by Jon Corzine, as illustrated by my experience with a clueless Corzine campaign worker:
Late in 2009 gubernatorial campaign, a Corzine canvasser knocked on my door. I answered, and told him right off the bat we had five registered Democrats in my household; no need to give me a sales pitch. However, I told him three of us would be out of town on Election Day, myself on business, and two of my sons away at college, and we needed absentee ballots.
The canvasser told me about NJ's new vote-by-mail option, and had a stack of applications in his hand. I asked for three forms, and the canvasser refused to give them to me. I asked for the website so I could download my own, he said, no, he did not know the website. Just as I was telling him to get lost, as he was no use to me, he asked if I wanted a yard sign. I said, sure, put as many as you want on my lawn.
As soon as I slammed the door, I immediately fired off a nasty-gram to the campaign, informing them of the behavior of the canvasser and his refusal to help me out with absentee voting. A few days later a representative called me, apologizing, and explaining that this particular canvasser "doesn't believe in vote-by-mail" (!) and that is why he refused to give me the applications. I asked, how can you expect anyone to vote for your candidate if this is how you are running your campaign. I then asked if it was possible to vote at the County Store, and the person said no (this turned out not to be true). I also asked where's my yard sign and was promised I would get one (I never did).
County Stores, by the way, are these nifty one-stop shops for just about any government service. The service is friendly and effective. We have them in most malls in South Jersey. I am not sure if every County has one.
Infuriated, and despite my temptation to sit the election out or vote for a third party candidate, I went to the County Store at the Deptford Mall, held my nose, and voted for Corzine,
I have a feeling I was not alone in my disappointment with the way the Corzine campaign was run, and Christie did not so much win as Corzine lost. He broke the cardinal rule of any job-hunter: Act like you want the job.
And the Senate is still passing bills. Another day in Trenton is about to begin. Bills will be before us about the tourism district in Atlantic City, revising casino industry regulations and abolishing COAH. I will be speaking and lobbying for two bills - the first amending our State medicaid plan to cover more folks for family planning services. Let's see if we can get a few Republican votes for this in the Senate. I'm counting on a few thinking "R" colleagues to join in putting forth this "no brainer" since the state gets $9 for every $1 of match it allocates.
Since the Governor vetoed the last family planning money, two sites in Browns Mills and Mt. Holley in Burlington have stopped seeing family planning patients. In the past year these health centers saw over 2300 patients. The Dover Health Center will close at the end of this month and in the past year this center saw over 3900 patients. The Planned Parenthood of Northern New Jersey in Elizabeth will probably see more than 800 fewer patients due to reductions and restructuring. Mercer, Ocean and Somerset County centers will also be affected. Each of those numbers represents a real person in need of services. This is just the tip of the coming iceberg in poor women's access to health services. What is the Governor and some of his party stalwarts proving with these cuts? Come on guys and gals, time to set "right" at least a few of these "wrongs"!
And speaking of setting things right, Governor Corzine signed a bill into law literally his last moments in office. A bill that came out of a Middlesex community where a bunch of "upstarts" (read: reformers) attempted to change the form of government in one of their communities. After hard work, they got the government change on the ballot and came within a few votes of winning. Leaders of the party (read: my own party) got a little nervous. So what was there to do? Oh we can change the law and require that a government change referendum (even after a loss) cannot be brought up again for ten years rather than the three years in the then current law! That will teach those citizens. By the time 10 years pass, most of them will either be gone or they'll have given up. Not very (read: small d) democratic! We will be considering my bill today which returns the law to the 2009 version: three years in between referendum after a loss and five years if there was a win and the government actually changed. Keep your fingers crossed that Senator Vitale and I have enough votes in our Democratic caucus to get this passed. Watch the vote tally on this one.
It was a good day Saturday with the repeal of DADT. It is sad though to see what's happened to the really brave war hero, Sen. John McCain. First Sarah Palin, then a prediction that our military will fall apart with this repeal. And Arizona doesn't need counseling for veterans facing mental health problems as a result of their service to our country - but maybe New Jersey does? We should all be as angry as Congressman Holt is. Years of cruel imprisonment couldn't vanquish John McCain, but the pressure of partisan politics seems to have done the job on him. There's not much more to say about that. The repeal of DADT is a giant step forward for our country and for granting full civil rights to the gay community. We all know what's still missing. Looking forward to the courts doing the "right thing" (read: marriage) here too.
And let's hope the Governor did something right by selecting Christopher Cerf of Montclair as the next Education Commissioner. Don't know that much about him yet, but others have said he is smart and knows how to build consensus. I just hope Mr. Christie will not throw him out if he manages to attract the NJEA to join him in a grant application or to build agreement on a program to improve our schools.
And so today, we in the Senate have a chance to "right" a few "wrongs". 'Tis the season to be kind to one another. Let's hope that "spirit" will pervade the Senate chambers today.
Merry Christmas. Thank you Blue Jersey for helping to build a community of progressives. Thank you to our bloggers, commenters, and readers for giving voice to many good ideas.
Welcome to Blue Jersey, Couch Potato Politics. Not too often do we frontpage someone's first post. Thanks for posting it. - promoted by Rosi
It's hard to fathom the seemingly unfettered commitment to ideologically driven intolerance that seems to ooze from every pore of Mr. Christie. His belligerence to and repudiation of Public Workers and Teachers by attacking their Unions does nothing to promote his case with the people he really needs on his side to improve the conditions in New Jersey.
The people he attacks are the backbone and nerve center of what has made New Jersey the "Garden State" for decades. The men and women, who provide the services, educate the children who have tested at the top, nationally. Instead of reaching a hand across the table he overturns the table and blames the workers for his temper tantrum.
Mr. Christie spent this last election cycle being seen at the podium of every political hotbed race, supporting his Republican Party Dolls and slamming many of the people who would be asked to vote for them. That is the irony of his message and manner. He attacks Labor, essentially Voters, assuming that they are all pro-liberal and somehow the "Enemy". There are Union members, proud Union members who are also conservative and don't see the Union as some kind of parasite on the system but as a necessary arbiter and monitor to stand with workers when they have no voice at the contract table.
Mr. Christie hides his attacks behind claims he is in contest with the inflexible Unions but sidesteps the fact that the Unions are the employees. Many of the people working in the Union Hall offices are transitioned in from the workforce because they understand the method and machinations of the work environment. He makes some kind of monster of the Unions when they are essentially the workforce. He also ignores the truth of how truly flexible Unions are as exampled by their willingness to reopen their contracts with Governor Corzine last year. Instead of appreciating that willingness to work with the state, he is now trying to tear up the MOA Mr. Corzine hammered out with New Jersey Public Workers.
It is tiring to see his attacks, day after day, article after article, and not hear anyone ask him the most obvious question of all; why does he hate Unionized Labor? Unionized labor built most of this country, its buildings, cars, power plants, communications systems and infrastructure and they did it well because they were fairly compensated and protected through the efforts and organization of Unions.
It is time the Democratic Leadership in New Jersey and the rest of the country took off the kid gloves and put on the boxing mitts and stood toe to toe with the likes of Chris Christie and his ilk. No more begging for compromise from people who neither know the meaning of the word nor care to understand the principles of it.
In my humble opinion there were dozens of issues John Corzine could have used to utterly destroy and demolish Chris Christie (had Corzine been willing/able to aggressively go for Cristie's political jugular). One of them, perhaps the easiest one to win on, was the issue of marriage equality, which was a dramatic/stark distinction between them.
Instead of putting ME on the legislative agenda before the election and letting it become a voting issue for the whole state.....Corzine chose to support ME to the extent that he got all the political support from the proponents, but would never have to deliver til after the election. That's called running scared.
The fact is that NJ is a state in which the majority are NOT Neanderthals!
The arguments of the opposition on ME are not based on any real logic or facts or rationality; they are based on ignorance, fear and prejudice....period.
Now, to the present....and the future!
This brief video snippet from the Aspen Ideas festival illustrates just how relatively easy it is to make a broad case for ME and how the opposition has a fundamentally weak legal/moral/logical case.
Let me plant a seed for the consideration of New Jersey's Democratic leadership......NJ Democrats should NOT nominate anyone next time out who doesn't have the skills the brains and the courage to stand up for this winning issue. This one is good politics and good policy.
This diary produced a lot of comments - 24 so far - and those comments include a referendum on Steve Sweeney, Cory Booker, Sen. Ron Rice, caps hard and soft, North v. South, marriage equality advocates, and anonymous posters like firstamend07. Where do you come down on all this, Blue Jersey? Anything here you want to agree with? Tear your hair out over? Excoriate? - promoted by Rosi Efthim
Governor Corzine had a good idea when he set up a cap on Property taxes. Something had to be done.
Christie took that idea and by once again being a demagogue has tried to set up an unrealistic,unworkable hard cap of 2.5% that will only cause chaos and hardship.
Enter Senate President Sweeney. Once again ,bring the voice of moderation and realism , he looked at Corzine's Cap idea and looked at Christies Cap idea and came up with a realistic ,workable Cap plan that is rooted in real world problems.
Is his plan perfect ? Of course not. But leadership is about reviewing problems ,listening to people, and coming up with a workable plan.
This is how Sweeney works. That Is why this State has a high minimum wage.That is why this State has a Paid Family Leave Act. That is why this State enacted fair and responsible Pension Reform .
Like the guy or not he is a leader and he gets things done.
As a former CEO of Goldman Sachs before his political career, the views of former Governor Jon Corzine are certainly informed. While not wanting to say Goldman acted improperly, he did say that their business practices and transactions are hard to justify. He said the Goldman news only reinforced the need for financial reform and that what is coming through Congress ought to get done. Here is his interview with ABC:
In an April 19 story about Gov. Chris Christie's payroll, The Associated Press reported erroneously that he is spending nearly $2 million more on salaries a year than did his predecessor, former Gov. Jon Corzine.
Treasury Department figures show the correct higher amount is about $440,000.
Because the AP had incomplete figures for all those on Corzine's payroll - some were paid by other departments but still worked for the governor - the AP also erroneously reported that twice as many people in Christie's office earn $100,000 or more than they did in Corzine's.
Yeah, it's not twice as many people making over 100K, it's only 42% more. Why did they even push for the clarification? It's definitely an embarrassing mistake for the AP to have to admit, but it's good to make the retraction and update. Even with the correction, the Governor has more people making more money. We can argue about the details of how much, but the bottom line is that at a time when he is calling for shared sacrifice, he's spending more than his predecessor he likes to ridicule so much. The average for a staffer in the Christie administration is 6% more than that of a Corzine staffer. And since people will be calling the AP to task over this correction, I'd like to point out this nonsense in that statement:
Corzine had a payroll of $8.43 million for 118 people, not $7 million, according to Treasury figures. Christie has 117 employees, including himself, with a payroll of $8.86 million per year. Unlike his multimillionaire predecessor, Christie collects the $175,000 salary allowed under the law.
They make it sound as if a millionaire more than three times over like Governor Christie according to his last released tax returns is living in the poor house. We are still waiting for his most recent returns as he filed for an extension. I don't begrudge the Governor for taking a salary, but I wish the media would stop apologizing for it and justifying the need.
The Telegraph has an interview with former Governor Corzine talking about why he believes that the US should regulate its investment bankers. An original sponsor of Sarbanes-Oxley, he seems flummoxed by opposition to it now that he's back in the money world. Hearing that people have gripes with the law, he said:
"It's hard to believe that they do," he continues. "It was a good Act and I think it will last a long time. If anything, I think it didn't go far enough."
Corzine went on to talk about the role the financial services industry played in helping to cause the financial crisis we are facing:
"I think bankers are an easy target but some of it is justified and some of it is not. It's true that being a banker isn't the most popular profession. It's right down there with politicians.
"There were many mistakes made, some of them in the arena of how capitalism works. But there were a lot of complicit elements in that, including regulators who weren't necessarily committed to regulation."
Corzine talked about how he feels that regulatory reforms are still needed in order to deal with the excessive leverage and insufficient liquidity and controls that led to the financial crisis. It doesn't seem like people have learned from the economic difficulties yet and truly reformed the industry as Corzine is calling for. Hopefully someone will listen if people within the industry itself start calling louder for reform. He also gave his take on the bill making its way through the Senate Banking committee that would rein in investment banks. The article is a pretty good read with some interesting commentary from Corzine, who doesn't go very easy on his piers in the industry.
So, New Jersey, you wanted change. You bought in to the Chris Christie the superhero avenger theme. Well, this is what you get for it: his first budget does the following:
Increases spending to $29.2 billion, more than Corzine's last budget;
Takes about $600 in property tax rebate out of every middle-class homeowner's pocket;
Reduces aid to schools and towns which will increase your property taxes;
Reduces services to the public and under-funds the pension;
Reduces taxes for the rich.
Christie blusters a good game, but what you are getting is what we said you were getting here at BJ for years -- George Bush's acolyte.
Corzine was a political dud, sure. But he increased aid to schools and towns while reducing the size of the budget. Christie does the exact opposite.
Voting for change is stupid. You have to vote for the right change. NJ blew it last November, and we will suffer the consequences.
Does Chris Christie plan to celebrate Black History Month along with the rest of NJ, and the 15% or so of us who are African-American? I don't find a single event with either Gov. Christie or LG Kim Guadagno. No statements. No news. Am I missing something?
Input search terms "Black History Month" + "State of New Jersey" and sure, stuff pops up. You get LG/Secretary of State Kim Guadagno's page for ... oh no ... wait .... no, that's from Nina Wells, Corzine's woman at State, last year. Also, this website from the Corzine years, entirely devoted to Black History Month, with a history lesson and profiles.
But he's not so snowed under fixing our economy that he lacks time for the fun stuff. Why, just yesterday, he had a photo op right in his office where he was presented "letters of welcome" by students in each of the state's 5 dioceses - part of Catholic Schools' Week, overlapping 6 days of Black History Month. He's got some time.
Well, he's already missed Morris County Prosecutor's Office event last Monday (featuring Paula Dow), practically in his back yard. And this talk at Newark Library on how "our story" is written. But he can still get to:
So, am I being harsh? Or is this just me wanting to be front row, center, to see what the law and order governor might speak about, say, this magnificent troublemaker, who was right years early, heard around the world, and one of the finest men the State of New Jersey ever loosed upon the world. You tell me.
The Assembly Budget committee convened yesterday and heard testimony from David Rosen, the Legislative Budget and Finance Officer with OLS who tried to clarify where the state stands as we move forward:
Through the end of the year, the state is looking at a $2 billion deficit from revenue and spending - though April's income tax collections could swing the results wildly in either direction, said David Rosen, the budget and finance officer for the Office of Legislative Services, which works for the governor and Legislature.
David Rosen, center, Legislative Budget & Finance Officer for the Office of Legislative Services, addresses the Budget Committee about the current financial situation in New Jersey today.
Still, Rosen said that while he has not seen exact figures, Christie's estimate of a $1.3 billion revenue shortfall on the $29 billion budget is possible, as is a potential need for more than $668 million in extra spending.
"It's not an unreasonable number to have on the table for an estimate," Rosen said at an Assembly Budget Committee hearing when asked about Christie's figures
This has been a constant back and forth for the last week between Corzine and Christie an apparently they're still not willing to agree because Corzine took Rosen's testimony as validating what he had said:
"Today, OLS confirmed what we already knew: no one will really be able to predict revenue for the remainder of the year until April's income tax returns come in. That is why OLS has not issued its own projections," he said. "To suggest that Dr. Rosen independently confirmed Gov. Christie's revenue projections is a clear misreading of his testimony. Dr. Rosen drew a clear distinction between the operating budget, which is in surplus, and long-term projections, which remain a matter of pure conjecture. We all want to give the administration time to get on its feet. But it's important that they stop misrepresenting the current balance sheet, which is very much in the black because of Jon Corzine's record of fiscal responsibility.
So it looks more like the Corzine camp is more concerned with what they actually say about the former Governor. Here is some video with comments from Legislators on the committee:No matter what they all say, it's not a pretty picture and there are going to be plenty of difficult decisions that lie ahead.
Right now, Governor Christie and former Governor Corzine's administrations are arguing over the finances and just how bad things are. Here is a recent exchange over the budget:
Just 48 hours into his new role, Gov. Chris Christie said New Jersey faces a $1.3 billion shortfall in the current budget and blamed former Gov. Jon Corzine for setting him up to fail by hiding the depth of the problems.
"He was trying to make it as hard as he possibly could," Christie said. "Avoidance of the facts and avoidance of the truth was a staple of the Corzine administration."
Corzine and his advisers accused Christie of pulling numbers out of thin air and insisted they left the incoming governor with a $496 million surplus.
"Gov. Christie's remarks demonstrate a poor temperament, and a casual relationship with the facts," said Corzine spokesman Josh Zeitz. "Being governor entitles you to do a lot of things, but fabricating budget numbers from whole cloth isn't one of them."
Wait, Christie has been railing about how bad the state is and now that he gets there he is saying Cozrine is setting him up to fail? If Corzine had set him up with the state in a good position, he'd probably still be the Governor himself. Star Ledger Cartoonist Drew Sheneman likens it to a fight in the sandbox in his latest cartoon:
Sheneman says he can't wait for the hair pulling. The question at this point isn't whether things are bad, it's how bad things are. The Assembly budget committee will hold a hearing on the budget tomorrow, so we may learn more.
Promoted by Jason Springer: Thanks to the Governor's daughter Jenny for stopping by Blue Jersey to reflect on her father's term leading New Jersey.
At the end of my dad's term, I would like to pay tribute to his work as Governor of New Jersey.
Last week, watching my father walk through the beautiful statehouse in Trenton to deliver his final State of the State address to the NJ Legislature, I was moved by the historic nature of the occasion and by my father's words. My dad called it "his highest honor" to serve the people of New Jersey as Governor.
When I think about Jon Corzine as a father, and as a Governor, compassion is the first word that comes to mind. Listening to his speech, I saw the father I've always known. He even made the same kind of jokes, remarking that it was difficult to write his last State of the State while movers were taking his desk out of the office. He spoke honestly of things he wished he could have finished and admitted to not executing the job "flawlessly". He spoke of the things he cares most deeply about: education, healthcare, child welfare. And he talked of the progress, as he saw it, that had been made during his term as Governor of New Jersey . He spoke just as I've always known him - with a soft-spoken voice, humbly and with a thoughtful passion for making the world better for the future of our children.
I admit I am not in the political field, but I do believe that his nine years in public life speak to the ways in which government can make a real difference in people's lives. My father cut state spending every year and reduced the size of state government for the first time in over six decades. Yet, he maintained funding and greatly improved many government services: reforming the child welfare and foster care systems (which with the help of the legislature has gone from being one of the worst to one of the best in the country), expanding early childhood education, providing for new school construction, reforming school funding, expanding children's health care, building infrastructure and improving highway safety ( the best highway safety record since 1940) as well as increasing funding for homeless shelters and soup kitchens which have been hit by the recession.
As websites go, it's dull-looking on its surface, a typical state government site. There's no bells and whistles to make it particularly user-friendly, or to engage people on the gut-level. There's no rising Outrage-o-Meter for state debt. No color-coded Threat Level Indicator for how many cutbacks we all might be facing.
But New Jersey's new website, headlined Transparency in Government: NJ Online Checkbook and credited back to the state's "Transparency Resources" Department, is a very good idea. You do have to laugh that it comes at the tail end of the Corzine years, and just in time to monitor his successor's spending, but the website does reach back deep into the Corzine years to account for spending over the last 7 years. The site went public yesterday. Corzine:
This is a common-sense measure that enables the citizens of New Jersey to be fully appraised of how taxpayer funds are spent
A web ad produced out of the Corzine campaign new media shop is a finalist in Campaigns & Elections Politics Magazine 2010 Reed Awards. The category? TV-Best Ad that Never Saw the Light of Day. The ad was shot by Corzine New Media Deputy Director Thomas Kelley, who also edited. Congratulations to Tom.
It's called Obama & Corzine - "One Voice". Considering all that went down, it's a little bit of a heartbreaker, isn't it?
Winners will be announced in an event in Washington January 29th. Judges for this year's competition include a stable of establishment political operatives and politicians along with some rising talent, including Mark McKinnon, Christine Pelosi, Mark Penn, Bill Schneider, Steve Scully, Bob Shrum, George Stephanopoulos, Chuck Todd, and New Jersey's Christine Todd Whitman. Maybe it will make her feel a little wistful, too.
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