And Union County Shall Rule Them All

by: huntsu

Mon Jan 16, 2012 at 10:49:31 AM EST

PolitickerNJ, which has a stupid policy of not linking to other sites that is against all that the Intertubes hold holy (we're better than that), is reporting that John Bramnick (R-21) is in line to be the new Republican minority leader in the Assembly.

He would join Tom Kean, Jr. (R-21) who holds the same position in the New Jersey Senate.

If you look very, very closely at the two names above you'll notice a commonality after them: R-21. Yep, they're both from Union County district 21!

You know who else has a lot of ties to Union County? Governor Chris Christie who cut his legal teeth as a partner at Dughi & Hewit in Cranford. Sure, we think of Christie as a Morris County guy, but still ...

Union County has an awful lot of power in the GOP right now, especially for a county that doesn't have one Republican elected to a county position.

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Silly Season Officially Starts -- Gambling Edition

by: vmars

Sat Aug 15, 2009 at 08:56:29 AM EDT

Promoted by Jason Springer: Here's what the Treasury Dept. had to say:
"We took it off the table a few months ago since some member states didn't sign off,'' Tom Vincz, a Treasury Department spokesman, told a Gannett Newspapers reporter. "National discussions are continuing but we did not want to chance in assuming that all states would bless it during the FY (fiscal year) 10 window. We still hope that an agreement hatches out of them.''
Things are getting stupid earlier this year. Assemblyman John Bramnick, known as a comedian, made an unintentional funny this week as he ratcheted up criticism of John Corzine for -- get this -- not bringing Powerball to NJ.

Bramnick said New Jerseyans are dreaming of winning the $213 million Powerball in hopes of affording the state's high taxes and cost-of-living.
"Like anyone else, I'd love to win $146 million, but how much revenue are we losing because there is a larger jackpot tempting dreamers to neighboring Pennsylvania and Delaware?" Bramnick (R-Union) said. "And, that $67 million difference could mean a lot in New Jersey where the only thing that grows as quickly as these lottery prizes is the burden on taxpayers."

Essentially Bramnick is saying that he wants to have more gambling in the state to close the deficit, which is not unusual since others want slots in the Meadowlands and sports betting in Atlantic City.

But the Bramnick plan would have NJ people buying tickets that raise a jackpot that will likely be won by someone OUT OF STATE. There are 30 other states with something like 200 million people living in them, and we have only eight million. The odds are not great that the money put into Powerball will stay in NJ, but will leave the state.

Meanwhile there is a guarantee that the NJ lottery, which is above 3.5 million dollars right now and is enough for anyone to live comfortably for the rest of their life, will be won by someone in NJ.

So Bramnick essentially wants to fill NJ government coffers by sending NJ gambler's bets out of state.

Silly season begins early this year.

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The First Lieutenant Governor: The Republican Stable

by: vincent solomeno

Mon Apr 27, 2009 at 09:00:00 AM EDT

As the final weeks of the Republican primary unfold, Chris Christie and Steve Lonegan will be busy campaigning, trading criticisms of one another, and making the case on the air waves and the internet that they alone are best suited to take on Jon Corzine in this November's gubernatorial election.

Corzine, and whoever wins the GOP nomination on Primary Day, will also undertake the historic task of selecting an individual to run as their respective party's candidate to be the first Lieutenant Governor in New Jersey history. Below the fold is a list of ten possible Republican contenders. It is subjective and, more than anything, written to solicit the opinions of Blue Jersey readers on the strengths and weaknesses of each potential pick.

Please click the headline, read on, comment away, and look out this Thursday for an analysis of potential Democratic choices for Lieutenant Governor.

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