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Three Ring Circus
May 15, 2008
JUST WONDERING
What was that Middesex County mayor doing in Bradley Beach recently? May 14, 2008
MORE QUESTIONS
Laborers Union 1153 is a local within the Laborers International Union of North America (LIUNA). It’s located on Franklin Street in Bloomfield. Its jurisdiction is Essex, Union and Middlesex Counties. We’ve learned from the Star Ledger that within the past week, officials of Local 1153 were picked up by federal agents in an early morning raid which netted 23 members and associates of the Gambino and Luchese crime families. The Ledger reported that, “The mob’s infiltration of two local unions, Local 825 of the International Union of Operating Engineers and Local 1153 of the Laborers International Union of North America, is central to the indictments, authorities said. John Cataldo, business organizer for the engineers, and Joseph Manzella and Michael Urgola, the business agent and business manager for the laborers, were among those charged.” We have previously reported on the arrest of officials of Local 825. The Local had contributed $50,000 to Corzine’s PR front group – Save Our State NJ, Inc. We had urged that their contribution be returned. We were ultimately informed that the contribution had been returned. Connected to LIUNA is an entity known as the New Jersey Laborers’ Employers’ Cooperation and Education Trust (NJ LECET). According to the Laborer’s web site, NJ LECET is a unique partnership between labor and management. It focuses its resources on specific markets, generating project and job opportunities for laborers and their signatory contractors. It is ironic that one aspect of the federal indictment is about contractors kicking back monies to mobsters and union officials so they could use non-union labor on projects. We have no doubt that NJ LECET is an honorable entity and that it does good work for its members. However, monies from Laborer’s Local 1153 support the endeavors of NJ LECET. NJ LECET made a contribution of $100,000 to Save Our State NJ, Inc. Once again, we believe it to be imperative that Save Our State NJ, Inc. return that portion of NJ LECET’s contribution which came from Local 1153.
May 13, 2008
2009 BILLBOARD
Anybody but Corzine – It’s as easy as ABC
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Three Ring Circus Archive
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Daily Muse: REVISIONS
May 15, 2008
What else could explain that “Woe is me” performance he put on Wednesday at court, lamenting about what a poor, broken man he now is. About his divorce has caused him such ruin.
"By virtue of this case, I have been financially crippled," McGreevey told the court Wednesday.
News flash to our former governor. It wasn’t your divorce that caused you to become financially crippled.
You did that all on your own.
No one told Jim McGreevey to have an affair with a man while his wife was in the hospital giving birth to their daughter.
No one told Jim McGreevey to write about it in a book.
No one told Jim McGreevey that he should divulge how he used to have randomless sex with strangers in alleys and toll road rest stops.
No one told Jim McGreevey that he should resign his office in disgrace.
But there he was, lamenting about how he is virtually unemployable.
Of course, he is living in a $1.3 million mansion with his live-in lover, which makes his cry of poverty seem, shall we say, a bit disingenuous.
Even if he did have to buy some of his furniture at a going out of business sale.
He says his beau, Mark O'Donnell, is paying all his living expenses, his legal bills, even an $11,000 debt to the Internal Revenue Service.
He says he owes O’Donnell $200,000.
He owes his divorce lawyer $150,000.
Does anyone really believe that McGreevey can’t make any money?
His tale may be tawdry, but you know there would be people who would pay him to go speak.
Funny, isn’t it, how he doesn’t include the state of New Jersey among those to whom he owes debts?
We should sue him for pain and suffering. For the disgrace he brought upon the state of New Jersey.
But it’s not money that McGreevey is lacking.
It’s respect.
He didn’t respect his office. He certainly didn’t respect his family, or the people who voted for him.
We were all just a means to an end.
Now McGreevey may claim that it was having to hide who he was that led to him dishonoring his office, his family, his constituents and himself.
But that’s another cover.
If McGreevey cared about any one but himself, he never would have included some of those seamier details in his book.
Has he ever thought, for example, about what his young daughter will think when she read in his book – and you know she will read his book – that he was off having sex with another man while she was being born?
Did he think about what his daughter would think about her parents before he chose to confirm that tale of three-way sex, a tale that his wife denies?
Does he care what his daughter will have to hear on the playground when she’s growing up?
Probably not, because that would require McGreevey thinking about somebody beside himself.
Because the dirty little secret is that Jim McGreevey always puts himself first.
He tried to make himself out to be a martyr for gay rights when he resigned, to divert attention from the fact that he put his unqualified boyfriend in charge of homeland security. Now. he’s trying to gain sympathy by his tale o’ monetary woe.
The best thing McGreevey could do after his divorce is settled is disappear from the limelight. But he won’t be able to – because he thrives on all the attention.
Otherwise, he’d have settled this case long ago, dropped out of sight and helped his daughter heal.
But that would require compassion. And humility.
Can you learn those traits at a divinity school?
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Daily Muse: BEACH HOUSE FOR RENT
May 14, 2008
Temperatures are expected to rise into the 80s today, which is appropriate, because temperatures in Trenton are also rising as the budget deadline nears.
Gov. Corzine threw in the towel on some proposed cuts Monday, but drew a line in the sand with others, heading for what looks like a showdown with the Legislature over his desire to implement an early retirement program for state workers, and lawmakers’ desire to scrap early retirement in favor of attrition instead.
"We are at an impasse," Sen. Barbara Buono, chairwoman of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee, told the Star Ledger Monday. "There is a growing resistance in the Senate to the early retirement incentive."
But more on that later.
There was some good news budget-wise Tuesday – despite all the doom and gloom predictions to the contrary, the state somehow found $533 million in new revenues for this year.
Isn’t it amazing how they do that?
But state Treasurer David Rousseau somberly warned lawmakers not to expect such largesse next year, when they think revenues will actually come in $159 million less than they predicted.
Of course, these are the same folks who mis-predicted that the state’s $533 million windfall this year, so who knows how accurate any of these predictions are?
But Rousseau intoned that the new revenues should not go to new spending, but to reducing the debt – a plan that makes perfect sense to us.
Of course, we’re still waiting for Rousseau or the governor to also announce a plan to go after waste in the budget and recoup the savings for the taxpayer. And to announce a plan to reform the pension system further, and recoup more than $1 billion there.
But we digress.
Bowing to the inevitable, Corzine said Monday that he would restore some cuts to municipalities and state parks – as long as the parks develop a way to become self-sustaining -- and keep Agriculture as a department, as long as they cut another $500,000 out of their budget.
Hey, here’s a way the parks can make some money: with the governor preferring to spend his summer weekends at the Hamptons, rather than his beach house at Island Beach State Park, why doesn’t the state start offering weekly summer rentals there instead? There’s a house on the bay, and one on the ocean – both of which could probably bring in a goodly sum, if summer rental rates are any indication. Right now, Corzine lets other government officials use the houses in the summer for free – but if the taxpayers are paying for the houses, and Corzine prefers New York to New Jersey, then we say, let’s share the wealth.
After all, the governor may not choose to summer at the Jersey Shore, but plenty of others do. (You know, it’s a good thing New York hasn’t used Corzine in its summer tourism ads. We can see it now, the governor walking on the beach in the Hamptons, as the camera pans from the ocean to him as he says, “New Jersey and you may be perfect together, but for me, I love New York.”)
We can’t figure out, by the way, why Corzine is so opposed to using attrition as a way to reduce the work force, instead of early retirements. According to numerous media accounts, Corzine “had little patience” for lawmakers who were objecting to his plan to have 3,300 state workers take early retirement to save $136 million.
"Dropping the early retirement incentive program, which I think would be a very big mistake in the structural resetting of the size and scope of government, means they have to come up with other agonizing cuts," Corzine said. "Do we want to reshape the cost and scope of government or don't we?
Of course, not rehiring 2,000 employees who leave voluntarily – as the Legislature wants to do -- would go a long way toward “the structural resetting of the size and scope of government.” Besides, choosing attrition does not mean that lawmakers would have to choose “other agonizing cuts,” because a) they would not be replacing the salaries of those who leave, and b) the savings from an early retirement program aren’t realized right away, anyway, because the state in effect gives a bonus to those who take the early retirement package.
And, when you add that to the numerous studies that have shown that early retirement actually costs the state money, and doesn’t really reduce the size of the workforce – it makes Corzine’s opposition to attrition that much more puzzling.
Especially when you consider, as Senate Majority Leader Stephen Sweeney, D-Gloucester, has pointed out, that attrition wouldn’t add any additional costs to the state pension system – where an early retirement package would.
That alone would seem to be a good reason to go for attrition, rather than the early retirement system – especially since the governor keeps talking about how we have to pay more in tolls in order to reduce the size of our debt. Given the explosive growth in the pension system, you’d think Corzine would be among the first to agree that Trenton has to do more to get the cost of the pension system under control, and give attrition a second look.
Of course, the unions generally like early retirement, because their members get more than they would otherwise. Coincidentally, they’re also generally against reforms to the pension system.
But that couldn’t be why the governor is opposing this plan, could it?
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Daily Muse: WHAT GOES AROUND
May 13, 2008
Funny thing about karma.
Just when you least expect it, it rises up and smacks you upside the head.
Wonder if Sen. Frank Lautenberg has much of a headache these days.
The man who claimed his U.S. Senate seat by insinuating – but never saying outright -- that then-Rep. Millicent Fenwick was too old for the job, is now 12 years older than she was then.
And now, his 34-year younger opponent is dropping all kinds of hints – but never saying outright -- that maybe it’s Frank’s turn to retire.
Rep. Rob Andrews keeps saying about the public has had enough of “tired, old politics.” That New Jersey needed an “energetic” senator. That Lautenberg was “confused” on the issues.
Subtle, Andrews is not. But then again, neither was Lautenberg.
Somehow, the senior senator from New Jersey doesn’t see the irony.
"Then they write the insinuating stuff about confused and age and all that. So, you deal with what you got," Lautenberg told the Philadelphia Inquirer, complaining about Andrews’ campaign.
In 1988, Lautenberg labeled his re-election opponent, Republican Pete Dawkins as a carpetbagger. On Monday, the Andrews campaign questioned where Lautenberg lived, noting that his wife never changed her residency from New York, and that the senator has a house in D.C. Lautenberg's camp angrily denounced Andrews for raising the question. Back in 1982, Lautenberg challenged Fenwick to 21 debates – one in each county in the last two weeks of the campaign.
Fast-forward to today, and now it’s Andrews who has challenged Lautenberg to a number of debates. Lautenberg resisted, before finally agreeing to two – a radio debate on NJ101.5 radio on May 29, and a televised debate on May 30, less than a week before the primary – and hardly enough time for any commercials to be aired from any gaffes.
Leaving aside how many people would be glued to their TV sets on the second Friday night of the young summer season, we feel like we’ve heard this debate refrain before.
Like in 1982.
Back then, Lautenberg said this about Fenwick and debates: “She can’t duck the debate schedule and penalize me like I was a naughty boy because I challenge her,” according to the Andrews website, www.frankdoesntgetit.com.
But here’s what Lautenberg told the Inquirer was his rationale for not agreeing to Andrews previous calls for debates: "I wouldn't enjoy it because I think his behavior has been contemptuous."
So, we guess, what’s good for the goose…
Here’s the other thing about karma.
When Ocean County Freeholder Jack Kelly got his job at the South Jersey Transportation Authority – a job that even his former boss admitted he got through patronage -- one would have thought that he would have recognized that he should be grateful for the gift that was bestowed upon him.
But this is New Jersey, where gratitude among politicians doesn’t come easy.
Since the Republican Kelly already was a freeholder, he already got health benefits. So, instead of just turning them down when he was offered them by the South Jersey Transportation Authority, he chose instead to take the cash equivalent, pocketing another $71,000 over five years for not accepting health benefits.
Kelly points out that what he did is allowed by law, and that he’s not the only one who does it.
That, of course, misses the point. Just because something is allowed doesn’t make it right. And if the public is already paying for your health care benefits, why should they have to pay you again not to take a second set of benefits?
Did the taxpayer ever cross his mind?
Apparently not – and Kelly’s inability to recognize that he should have returned that $71,000 to the taxpayers may well cost him the Republican nomination in the 3rd District. Or, even if Republicans can accept an unrepentant double-dipper as their nominee, his arrogance may well turn the 3rd District blue.
All because Kelly didn’t know when to stop feeding at the public trough.
Which brings us back to the other thing about karma.
Sometimes, it bites.
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Guest Column: THE ENEMY WITHIN
May 13, 2008
By DON SICO
There is a crude but informative old saying that it is often used in political circles to explain why one would want someone who is sharply at odds with the views and beliefs of the group’s majority to join it. The saying goes something like this:
It is better to have your enemy inside the tent urinating out, than outside the tent urinating in. (And if this was not a family friendly website, I would use the precise language of that old saying.)
In U.S. Senate candidate Murray Sabrin, the New Jersey Republican Party has someone who is inside the tent -- and it is getting more disgusting and messier every day. If Republicans do not recognize the danger presented to The Grand Old Party by “The Nutty Professor from Ramapo,” it will wake up on the morning of June 4 th and find someone who despises all for which it stands as its titular head. (To read more about Don Sico's view on Murray Sabrin's candidacy, read his guest column here.)
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Daily Muse: THE TAXPAYERS LAMENT
May 12, 2008
More than 25 cents out of every $1.
Actually, that’s more than 25 cents out of every tax dollar.
That’s how much spending auditors said was “unnecessary, excessive or lacking documentation” by Abbott school districts.
Now, under normal circumstances, learning that the Plainfield school district tried to justify spending $504 on the private rental of a skating park for 144 students by saying students are learning math because they “will have to judge speed, radius of the ring," would make us laugh out loud.
But these are not normal circumstances.
These are circumstances where Trenton is all but urging the Turnpike Authority to go ahead and raise the tolls.
These are circumstances where as soon as the governor gets done with the state budget, he’s going to unveil “Son of Toll Hike” and try to ram it through the Legislature.
And these are circumstances that despite almost daily pleading for lawmakers to do something to attack the waste in the state budget, to ferret out abuse, and to reform the pension system, there’s more talk about how they have to raises tolls or the gas tax, then there is to recoup tax dollars.
So reading in the Star Ledger that auditors uncovered $83 million in questionable expenditures in the Abbott school districts was nothing to laugh about.
Not when school districts can be so cavalier with our tax dollars that:
- The Orange Board of Education spent $3,100 in tax dollars for a Christmas party for teachers and support staff;
- Irvington spent $6,421 for a school board retreat in Atlantic City; while another 250 purchase orders in Irvington totaling more than $15.5 million were not supported with invoices;
- In East Orange, the district spent $10,836 for a superintendent's convocation; $23,834 for 14 Dell laptop computers for board members, and $753 to cover the cost of 34 cakes -- with no explanation as to why the cakes were purchased; and
- Gloucester City spent $6,000 for meals for teachers and administrators.
Now, individually, these might not be large expenditures.
But taken together, what they add up to is the New Jersey taxpayer’s lament. They add up to the fact that our state suffers from a careless disregard of tax dollars. New Jersey’s government, on all levels, has either forgotten who is paying the bills – or, worse yet, they simply don’t care.
Not every taxpayer or the company they work for can afford Christmas parties. Not every taxpayer can afford laptop computers. Not every taxpayer can afford a retreat in Atlantic City.
And one of the reasons they can’t is because the residents of New Jersey are paying too much in taxes.
And we are paying too much because some school districts and municipalities and counties and state agencies and departments forget that every dollar they spend, is a dollar that comes from a family – they forget that every dollar they spend is a dollar less that their neighbor can spend on themselves.
Instead, we hear how the Pleasantville School District is under investigation by the federal government. The Asbury Park School District is under investigation by the state.
And we learn that more than 25 cents out of every dollar that we send to Abbott school districts were “unnecessary, excessive or lacking documentation.”
That $83 million that the auditors cited could keep the state parks open. It could keep the Department of Agriculture open. It could go to bridge or road repair.
And when you add that $83 million to the all the other documented waste out there – like the $1.2 billion in MVC surcharges that the state hasn’t collected or the millions it spends unnecessarily in Medicaid or the millions it has spent on school construction – it is appalling that Trenton has the audacity to tell us they need more of our money, without lifting a finger to recoup all the other money that has been taken from us, that hasn’t been spent wisely or well.
We are not naïve. We know that we have to repair the roads and bridges. We know that we have to pay down the debt, and pay for schools and hospitals and those who need our help. But we are also not fools. Until they try to recoup what has been wasted, until they show more concern for the taxpayers who pay the bills than their political pals or the special interests they cater to, it makes no sense to give Trenton more of our money, because they don’t respect or honor what they already have.
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Guest Column: THE DEBATE OVER DEBATES
May 12, 2008
By MICHAEL M. SHAPIRO
Congressman Rob Andrews, who is challenging Senator Frank Lautenberg in the Democratic Primary for the United States Senate in New Jersey, has demanded that Senator Lautenberg debate him seven times before the June Primary. Senator Lautenberg has accepted two debate invitations and declined all others, but has indicated he may agree to additional debates with Congressman Andrews before the Primary. Julie Roginsky, Mr. Lautenberg's campaign spokesperson, has said that the Senator is maintaining a full Senate schedule, which precludes him from participating in many debates. Are both Congressman Andrews and Senator Lautenberg playing politics?
(To read what Michael Shapiro thinks about the debate about debates, read his guest column here.)
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Daily Muse: GROUNDHOG DAY
May 9, 2008
In the movie “Groundhog Day,” TV weatherman Phil Connors keeps reliving Feb. 2, trapped in a seemingly endless time loop with no end in sight.
In New Jersey, it looks like we’re about to relive our own version of Groundhog Day – only we’re not waiting to see if Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow, we’re waiting to see if Jon Corzine has learned his lesson when it comes to toll hikes.
So far, it looks like the governor needs to go back to the books.
Corzine was on WOR Radio Thursday, where he said he plans to reintroduce a new toll hike plan right after he gets done with the budget.
His original toll hike plan called for the tolls to be increased by 800 percent over 14 years.
So what’s he got in store this time?
Surprise! Just like last time, he won’t tell us.
"As soon as this budget is over, I'm going to come back and make other suggestions, pull together a number of the ideas that are floating around," Corzine said. "It has to be reasonable but it also has to be something that actually addresses the problems of the state."
Hmm. We don’t need a script to read this. Corzine still wants a toll hike. He still wants to pay for an extensive road and bridge repair program. He still wants to pay down the debt.
He still wants toll road drivers to pay for it.
Haven’t we already lived through this once?
“There have been discussions of pared-down toll increases, some of which are going to have to occur just to do projects that are already in the planning stages and engineering stages, like widening the turnpike and fixing the bridges," Corzine said.
Read that as saying toll hikes are coming. Read that as a 45 to 50 percent hike, just like Sen. Ray Lesniak – the most pro-toll hike person in the Legislature – and Transportation Commissioner Kris Kolluri are pushing for, just to pay for the projects that the Turnpike Authority says it needs. And read that as saying the Turnpike Authority will pass these increases on their own, to give the Legislature cover to pass their own second toll hike this summer.
We don't need an advance copy of this script to know that it also looks like tolls on Interstates 78 and 80, like Lesniak wants, may be getting a second look.
"I'm not advocating it, but those are all topics that I think should be debated and discussed and I'll come out with a proposal," Corzine said. "It'll be after the budget."
Because we've done this before, we think you can read that as saying that while Corzine’s not advocating it, but he’ll “reluctantly” support it after Lesniak puts it in the bill.
Corzine also told WOR that he is hesitant about increasing the state's 14.5 cent per gallon gas tax, which is the nation's third lowest.
"We're not looking to make a very difficult financial situation for New Jersey taxpayers, New Jersey citizens, worse," he said.
Oh please. If that were the case, he wouldn’t be looking to wring more toll money from us.
They also wouldn’t be looking to add a new water tax. They would be pushing to recoup wasted tax dollars. They would be passing pension reforms. They would freeze spending and hiring.
Does he think that if he keeps ignoring it, we'll all just forget that these are our tax dollars?
At least at the end of “Groundhog Day,” Connors has learned his lesson and moved on with his life. In New Jersey, Corzine hasn’t learned to maximize the money we already give him. He hasn’t learned to eliminate every dollop of waste in the state budget before asking us for more. He still hasn’t learned that the problem in New Jersey is not that we give Trenton too little, it’s that they spend too much.
No, he’s apparently learned that he has to try to move his new toll hike plan forward as fast as possible, with a few tweaks around the edges.
So get ready New Jersey. It's about to be "Groundhog Day" in Trenton -- and we're going to have to beat back this plan all over again.
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Daily Muse: BLOOD FEUD
May 8, 2008
Forget Lautenberg vs. Andrews. Ignore Myers vs. Kelly.
The nastiest political fight these days may well be Carla Katz vs. the CWA.
The latest salvo involves a $20,800 contribution made by CWA Local 1034 to the 2006 campaign of Newark Mayor Cory Booker. The Star Ledger reports that Katz’s opponents within the union have charged that she made the donation to Booker without authorization from the local’s governing board.
The charge is being looked into by an union investigator appointed by the CWA – which the Ledger says is looking at not only the Booker donation, but whether Katz made hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions to political campaigns without authorization.
And the union also fired a shot at Katz, questioning whether Katz approved the contribution because of her "close personal relationship" with Booker, according to the April 30 letter from CWA President Larry Cohen to the union's national executive board.
In fact, according to the Ledger, “the letter indicates Cohen and the union's top officials have decided there is enough evidence to warrant a full-blown inquiry into whether ‘local funds and resources were being misappropriated.’ Cohen declined to be interviewed, saying through his spokeswoman ‘it's an internal union matter that is going forward as governed by CWA's constitution.’"
An angry Katz blasted her opponents.
"Any donation the local made to the Booker campaign was absolutely proper. These claims are outrageous, sexist and continued retribution for my opposition to the state worker contract last year. Frankly, it's disgusting," Katz told the Associated Press.
Katz attorney Paul Fishman told the AP that everything was "done in a fully appropriate manner."
"This is exactly why Carla retained our firm because she's just sick of the campaign of retribution by the union," he said.
Making unauthorized campaign contributions are not illegal, but could violate union financial-management regulations and could lead to fines, suspension or expulsion from the CWA, according to the Ledger, citing Cohen’s April 30 letter. A complete list of 2006 CWA 1034 campaign donations can be found here.
This blood feud between Katz and some members of the CWA comes as Katz is running for a spot as national vice president.
Katz’s past relationship with Gov. Corzine, and questions over the reported $6 million she received in parting gifts when the two broke up have become fodder in the campaign. Five other state local presidents sent a letter backing Katz’s opponent, and detailing their concerns about Katz, her relationship with Corzine, and his gifts to her.
Katz’s opponents have created their own anti-Carla website, www.cwa1034membersfirst.org, which includes a page titled “Carla and the boss,” which includes links to stories about Katz’s relationship with Corzine, as well as links to copies of charges and countercharges. There’s also a page dedicated to unflattering quotes about Katz and/or Local 1034.
This is not a website put together by Katz's friends.
The CWA feud has its roots in Katz’s public opposition to the union contract negotiated by the Corzine administration, and backchannel e-mail communications between Katz and Corzine during the negotiations. Katz has already been publicly chastised by the union’s national leadership over those communications.
A dissident group within Local 1034 has also challenged Katz on a number of issues, and filed a series of charges against Katz with the national union office, which the union is investigating.
Booker, meanwhile, defended Katz in an interview with the Ledger:
"I've heard rumors about myself for years," Booker said. "I've never answered any questions about my personal life. As long as I'm a single guy, to me it's just something I'm not going to ever do. Unfortunately, Carla continues to be the subject of rumors, of innuendo by people she thought were really close to her."
"To me this is a woman that's been attacked every single which way. She's somebody that I do consider a friend of mine and I'm tired of seeing her -- years after the last gubernatorial election -- still being made out to be some kind of bad guy," Booker said.
This may well turn out to be the election to watch in New Jersey in 2008.
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Daily Muse: NYU SAYS NO
May 8, 2008
Gov. Corzine’s friends do a good job of taking care of him.
First, it was Javier Inclan, who resigned as deputy chief of staff, weeks after he testified that he passed on envelopes that he had “every reason to believe” contained cash to Mayor David Delle Donna of Guttenberg – a claim the jury later rejected.
Despite the furor raised by having someone who admitted to having a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy when it came to campaign cash as his deputy chief of staff, Cozine made no move against him. Instead, he “commended” him for his testimony -- and it took Inclan to remove himself from the governor's staff.
Now comes word from the Star Ledger that the NYU Child Study Center, which Corzine gave a $5.7 million donation, helped establish, and is run by two of his very good friends, has decided to decline a $2 million contract that they were awarded by the state of New Jersey.
"While we remain convinced of the merits of this groundbreaking program, we are taking this action today to eliminate any distractions that might impede necessary services from being provided as quickly as possible to some of New Jersey's most vulnerable children," the center's communications director, Beth Rowan, said in an e-mail to the Ledger.
Amazing, isn’t it, that it takes the governor’s friends to take these actions – rather than the governor himself?
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Daily Muse: PLAN B HAS ARRIVED
May 7, 2008
It’s called “You have arrived” and features a GPS navigation system helping people to arrive at their New Jersey vacation destination. It’s airing, according to the press release, from Toronto to Roanoke, Va. to Cincinnati to Long Island. Print ads, as well as billboards, will feature a GPS screen.
Now, what do GPS systems need?
That’s right, cars.
And what do cars need?
That’s right, gas and roads.
And what is New Jersey looking to make even less affordable?
That’s right, toll roads. And possibly gasoline.
Don’t you wonder how much New Jersey spent on an advertising campaign featuring car travel, just in time for car travel to become even more expensive in the Garden State?
Frankly, we thought we were going to get past the summer without a toll hike. Remember how Senate President Dick Codey on Monday said that the Legislature shouldn’t act until November on any toll hike plan?
Well, two key lawmakers apparently have other ideas.
Senate Majority Leader Stephen Sweeney and Sen. Ray Lesniak said Tuesday that the New Jersey Turnpike Authority should just go ahead and hike tolls by 45 percent to make needed road repairs. They don’t want the authority to wait on the Legislature.
In other words, they want the authority to do what the public has clearly told the Legislature not to do – i.e., hike the tolls.
Can't you just hear the tourists getting on the phone to come to New Jersey now?
"No one wants to raise tolls, but the costs go up, and if I can improve my commute, use less gas, get there safer and quicker, there's a balance," said Sweeney, D-Gloucester. But here's the problem. Let's say the Turnpike Authority does raise the tolls by 45 percent to pay for road widening and repairs. We all know that won’t be it. No, 45 percent would be the opening gambit. Lesniak -- who we have dubbed the pied piper of toll hikes, because he always seems to be leading the way -- said just the other day that he didn't think one toll hike was enough. No, he thinks the tolls should be raised by another 45 to 50 percent in five years. Which, folks, would mean that our tolls would increase by 100 percent in just 5 years. He also wants new tolls on Interstates 78 and 80. Which, as the Asbury Park Press recently pointed out in an editorial, is initially even more ambitious than the governor's 800 percent plan, because it doubles the toll hikes in five years, rather than six. Now, as you no doubt recall, Corzine was saying that he wants the budget wrapped up by mid-June, so that the Legislature could move on a new transportation funding plan (read toll hikes) by July 1. And there he was again Tuesday, telling anyone who would listen that the state needed to move quickly to tackle the state's transportation and debt needs. "I believe that that is essential within the context of getting our economy moving," Corzine said. "It doesn't make sense, I think, to be tardy on fundamental issues." Now, perhaps it's just a coincidence that these key lawmakers, and Corzine, are pushing for action now. It could be, but our bet is this is further evidence that the governor hasn't backed off his toll hike scheme. Instead, it appears that he and his allies have hatched Plan B. First, they'll "ask" the Turnpike Authority to hike the tolls by 45 to 50 percent to pay for road projects. The authority, which is run by Corzine loyalists like DOT chief Kris Kolluri, will of course say yes, and pass the toll increase. Then, just as we are still reeling from that increase, then lawmakers will "reluctantly" attempt to hike tolls another 45 to 50 percent to pay for more road repairs, or maybe reduce the debt. And that would mean a 100 percent toll hike over the next 5 years. For his part, Codey insisted again Tuesday that the summer was too fast to move, telling the Star Ledger "that while he agrees that the Transportation Trust Fund is a priority, 'it's not going to be done before July 1. I admire (Corzine's) desire to do the right thing, but it's not going to happen overnight. I just think September, October, November is more realistic than being able to put something together when we're not concentrating on it, we're not talking about it, we're doing the budget until at least mid-June." The folks in tourism would no doubt be happy with that. But as Sweeney and Lesniak have pointed out, lawmakers can't stop -- or start -- the Turnpike Authority from taking action to raise the tolls on their own. And since the Turnpike Authority is made up of Corzine appointees, and with the governor talking about wanting to move fast, it's hard to see the Turnpike Authority waiting until the fall. And, if they do attempt to hike the tolls this summer, then it will be a question of when -- and/or if -- lawmakers will move on that second toll hike. And add a gas tax hike, or new tolls to Interstates 78 and 80, to boot. Remember, they moved in less than six weeks to completely overhaul the school funding formula. And our bet is Corzine and company will want to move just as quickly, before opposition to the toll hikes gets a chance to form. Of course, this shouldn't be Trenton's agenda this summer. They should be eliminating waste, fixing pension loopholes, and recouping our money. They shouldn't be dreaming up ways to ask us for more. Maybe they need a Taxpayer GPS system of their own to point them in the right direction. Because right now, Corzine and some lawmakers seemed determined to make toll hikes their number one summer vacation destination. And if that happens, it won't matter how much tourism spends on advertising. The only GPS systems that will be in use in New Jersey will be the ones leading the tourists -- and even more residents -- out of state, or trying to figure out how to bypass the state's toll roads. By the way, is tourism still looking for a new slogan? How about this: You have arrived in New Jersey. Leave your wallet at our tollbooths.
Read More | Daily Muse |
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Quote of the Day
"By virtue of this case, I have been financially crippled," said former Gov. Jim McGreevey, testifying at his divorce trial. (5/14/08)
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Hot Off The Press!
ROASTMASTERS: The Legislative Correspondents Club's annual show Wednesday night showed once again why, in New Jersey, you just can't make this stuff up. The annual roast of New Jersey politicos had some funny moments, including song parodies like "Paradise on Election Night," with Jon Corzine (Charlie Stile) and Hillary Clinton (Beth DeFalco) lamenting how Clinton's lack of electoral success meant that Corzine would have to stick around Jersey; Michael Aron singing "All the Lonely Governors," about the romantic foibles of New York and New Jersey's governors; and the Ledger's Robert Schwaneberg, dressed as a king, singing about "Jon Corzine's Park." (5/15/08) CARLA STRIKES BACK: You have to give this to Carla Katz, CWA chief and former girlfriend of Gov. Corzine -- she knows how to keep her name in print. The Associated Press is reporting that Katz is suing national CWA leaders, saying they illegally retaliated against her, by "intentionally smear(ing) her name as revenge for Katz's opposition in 2007 to a state worker contract, among other reasons." CWA is investigating Katz after other union members made several claims against her, including that she donated union funds to campaigns without authorization. The lawsuit should make for an interesting time out on the campaign trail for Katz, who is running for national vice president of the union. (5/14/08) NO MAS VAS: The big shock from Tuesday's nonpartisan election was the defeat of Perth Amboy Mayor Joe Vas, who lost his 18-year-hold in the mayor's race to a political novice, Wilda Diaz, by more than 1,000 votes. As the Home News Tribune described it: "'You have to see Perth Amboy,' said Diaz, with cars honking in the background and people screaming. The victory sent people pouring into the city streets to celebrate. So many supporters came out that Diaz planned to give her acceptance speech outside along Front Street." Wonder if this gives Arline Friscia a thought about challenging Vas for her old 19th District Assembly seat? (5/14/08) WIN ONE, DROP ONE: The feds have decided to drop charges that former Newark Mayor Sharpe James abused city credit cards, saying that they determined a conviction wouldn't add any more prison time to his pending sentence on fraud charges. This half of the James indictment had always been the more scandalous of the two -- prosecutors had alleged than James billed Newark for $58,000 in personal expenses, including vacation trips with more than a half-dozen female companions. The feds have also upped the amount of time they expect that James will receive at sentencing for his conviction on fraud charges, saying now that he could receive between 10 to 15 years behind bars. Meanwhile, Passaic Mayor Sammy Rivera bowed to the inevitable as well, pleading guilty Friday to federal corruption charges and resigning as mayor. He faces two years in prison. (5/13/08) CAN HE STILL PASS AS A LIBERAL? That's the question the New York Times asks Monday about Gov. Corzine, in a profile that looks at whether the state's budget crisis has made the governor have to change his progressive ways. Hint: Corzine says yes, others say no. Here's Jeff Tittel of the Sierra Club about Corzine: “He’s a little bit more hypocritical than a limousine liberal. I think he’s an S.U.V. liberal." (5/12/08) THE FIRST OF MANY? Rep. Donald Payne has become the first of New Jersey's superdelegates to switch to Barack Obama after the North Carolina and Indiana primaries. "After careful consideration, I have reached the conclusion that Barack Obama can best bring about the change that our country so desperately wants and needs," Payne told the Star-Ledger. With Payne's switch Obama has the backing of five of New Jersey's 20 superdelegates, Clinton has 11, three are uncommitted and at least one Clinton backer is wavering. Meanwhile, Gov. Corzine, one of Clinton's earliest backers, is sticking with her, although he concedes she has a "steep hill" to climb. "She's going to have to have an exceptional run in the remaining primaries, and particularly with the popular vote," Corzine said. (5/9/08) AND THE WINNER IS: The competition was heated, but these mayors proved they not only can take the heat, they can excel in the kitchen. The winners of New Jersey’s third “Mayors Healthy Cook-Off” in Woodbridge. So here are New Jersey's top chefs: “Best Presentation” – Mayor Sal Bonaccorso, Clark Township (Sal’s Summertime Salad); “Healthiest” - Mayor Joanne Cocchiola, Nutley (Chick Pea Salad with Poached Tuna); “Best Tasting” - Mayor Tony Persichilli, Pennington (Whole Wheat Pasta with Turkey Sausage and Broccoli Rabe); and “Best Overall” - former Mayor Mike Koestler, Harrison Township (Chicken Piccata) The event was co-sponsored by the New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute, the New Jersey State League of Municipalities, Aetna and Wegmans. (5/09/08) SO NICE THEY'LL DO IT TWICE -- BUT ONLY TWICE: Sen. Frank Lautenberg has agreed to a second debate with his opponents, Rep. Rob Andrews and Morristown Mayor Donald Cresitello on radio station New Jersey 101.5 FM from 7 to 8:30 p.m. on May 29. This is on a Thusday, the day before their televised debate. Eric Scott, the station's news director, told the Star Ledger the debate will feature questions from listeners, and candidates will be able "to question one another." Now that has potential. (5/8/08) SPLIT DECISION: With Hillary Clinton barely winning Indiana Tuesday night -- and Barack Obama scoring an impressive victory in North Carolina -- the drumbeats have begun urging Clinton to leave the race. With Clinton's chances at victory now even more daunting, will New Jersey's Democratic leaders stay tied to Clinton, or will some superdelegates begin the move to Obama? Will Corzine remain loyal through the last June primary? The primary map gets a lot more favorable for Clinton -- the next primary is in West Virginia, where polls have Clinton up by more than 20 points. And here's an irony: if New Jersey had never changed its primary date, and remained the first Tuesday in June, we might have been more important than ever. Wonder if Clinton supporters are regretting that move today. (5/7/08) FRANK AND ROB'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE: Just a day after Sen. Frank Lautenberg said he wouldn't enjoy a televised debate "because I think his behavior has been contemptuous," the two have agreed to a debate -- but it's hadly during prime time. The one-hour debate, co-sponsored by Gannett New Jersey newspapers, will air live on NJN at 8 p.m. on Friday, May 30, and will include Lautenberg, Andrews and Morristown Mayor Donald Cresitello. Is it a coincidence that Lautenberg's campaign picked one of the first summer Fridays for a debate? (5/7/08)
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