This is not the criticism of a Democrat regarding the Governor and his style in general. It's a specific critique of the situation regarding the future of gaming in NJ, from a GOP Assemblyman who represents Atlantic City. Check it out:
"We've been caught out, kept in the dark a bit. We're not sure exactly what he plans to say," said Assemblyman John Amodeo, R-Atlantic.
This from the administration that promised the most transparency ever, which is apparently nothing more than another talking point they like to repeat.
Governor Christie has found his latest law that has been signed that he wants to change. He's having a written and verbal battle with Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson Coleman over the recently enacted prison reform law. The Assemblywoman is not pleased at all with the response she received from the Governor saying that she is endangering public safety by granting certain state prison inmates parole six months before the end of their sentences. She offered this response:
"This is a further illustration of the governor having no idea what it's like to be at the lowest end of the food chain in society," said Watson Coleman. "I will not sponsor legislation nor will I work on it, nor will I support it or vote for it, that repeals this reform measure into our parole system and our corrections system."
They need her vote because the margin is razor thin and every vote counts:
Sources close to Democrats say Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver (D-East Orange) has eight of her members primed to vote for Christie's budget as part of the restoration deal leadership struck this week with the GOP governor.
Assemblyman Carroll also has said he will oppose the budget, meaning they now need 10 Democrats in the Assembly to vote in favor in order to pass the budget. It may not be a done deal yet.
It seems like conservatives have been the most critical of this budget from the Governor. While Democrats have focused on specific programs they wanted to save, the right side of the aisle has slammed the budget as a whole. Here's the latest from Steve Longan:
Americans for Prosperity will be ramping up its effort to fight this bad budget. This budget needs to be defeated and those lawmakers who vote for it need to be held to account. A vote for this budget is a vote for massive tax increases. This is not the kind of change the governor or the Republicans in the legislature promised. Now they need to hear from their constituents
I can't believe I'm giving Steve Lonegan quote of the day again, but someone needs to point out all the harm that will be done by this shift of the burden to those who can least afford it. He reminded us the other day that New Jersey taxpayers are facing a massive $2.56B tax hike if the budget is passed. If conservative Republicans in the Legislature join Lonegan in opposition, that would mean more Democrats need to support for passage and that could make things interesting.
As news of Zisa's arrest and separation from the department spread throughout the city, some of his critics rejoiced.
One of the strongest critics, Bobby Egan, owner of Cubby's Restaurant on River Street, flashed an electronic message below his sign that said "ZISA ARREST" four times.
Then a message scrolled across the screen: "POLICE CHIEF KEN ZISA ARRESTED FOR FRAUD HASTA LA¬VISTA CHIEF ZISA GOOD BYE GOOD RIDDANCE."
Governor Christie may not be good at math, but State Treasurer Andrew Sidamon-Eristoff says that State Sen. Paul Sarlo, the budget chair has his numbers right on the impact of Governor Christie's budget. Check out this exchange from yesterday's hearing:
"We take that $1.5 billion, $447 million, $848 million in rebates, that equals $2.8 billion in property tax relief cuts, is that correct?"
"The math part is okay," says the treasurer.
"I characterize it as property tax relief cuts based on the nonpartisan Office of Legislative Services," Sarlo says.
All the while, the Christie administration continues to say they won't have a budget with tax increases. They say the cuts don't necessarily mean higher taxes, but in many places, that is exactly what will happen. The bottom line is that the Christie Administration is passing the buck to municipalities and school districts. People will be paying more, regardless of how it's framed.
Trenton Mayor Doug Palmer has not been shy about his disapproval for the Governor's plans to cut back on state aid. Trenton is seeing $43 million in aid cut and we get this from the Mayor about what the situation is:
"Right now it looks pretty bad. We've been put in a position where we are just rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic and Gov. Christie is an iceberg coming right at us,"
Palmer says the money is owed to the city because they have to pay their rent. The Governor is saying they have to go through the process to compete for aid. I'l like to be able to tell my mortgage company that they have to go through a process to compete for my money.
Senator Frank Lautenberg returned to Washington following his recent health scare and is tired of hearing speculation about who will take his seat when he is no longer in it:
"There are insidious monsters who want my seat," he says jokingly of speculation about who might replace him if he died in office. A Republican is governor, so the issue has national implications. "That speculation was a little too early."
I can see the Senator isn't mincing words now that he has returned.
Following three days of public hearings, the head of NJ Transit signaled there may be a slight reprieve to the hit riders are about to face:
"I would suspect that it probably is going to be adjusted," he said following a hearing at the East Brunswick Community Arts Center Theater.
"At this time, a 25-percent increase is an extraordinary, extraordinary burden, so we'll take that into consideration," he said.
Many who attended said its a tax hike, not a fare hike. NJ Transit said they'll make adjustments where there are unintended consequences. The NJ Transit Board is scheduled to meet on April 14th with the changes going into effect May 1.
The problems of the broke unemployment fund have roots on both sides of the aisle, but the Christie Administration has focused on the actions of Democrats in recent years. The Auditor took a stroll down memory lane and found that people close to the Governor had a hand in creating the mess:
But The Auditor has found a number of those controversial maneuvers were enacted when Republicans ran the Legislature in the 1990s, and Christie chief of staff Rich Bagger - then a state lawmaker - voted yes four times from 1992 to 2002.
Derek Roseman, spokesman for Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-Gloucester), enjoyed this stroll through legislative history. "In Trenton," Roseman said, "politics is often like loading a mousetrap with dynamite: Even when making your point, you might accidentally blow up half your house."
That revelation prompted a more subdued response from Christie's communications people saying that both sides created the mess and now everyone could join together fixing it. But lets see how long it takes before they go back to blaming all the ills of our state on the Democrats.
The smoking gun got a hold of some of the 550 complaints filed against NJ Toll Collectors in the last 18 months and some of them are eye opening. They've gotten the attention of Assemblymen Wisniewski and Moriarty, who want some answers about the complaints and customer service training for employees. Here's how Assemblyman Wisnewski characterized the complaints:
"They range from rude to obnoxious to just unspeakable,"
I read some of them and that quote is pretty much right on. And then there was this runner up quote in response from the Transporation Commissioner:
Simpson, who has been on the job for only three weeks, also was trying to learn specifics about customer service training. But he vowed that if motorists were abused by toll collectors and it could be corroborated, "I will personally rip the toll-taker out of the lane."
The Assemblymen are asking for more stories to be emailed to them and said they may schedule hearings on the complaints. I use EZ Pass so I don't normally talk to the toll collectors, but it seems like I'm missing out.
The hardest part, though, may be renewing confidence in the criminal justice system.
"If the police are no different from the thugs, who are we supposed to depend on when we need help?" Mills said.
That's a good question. Granted, it's not all police. But that's similar to how all politicians fight the corruption meme because of the actions of a few. How do you restore the public trust when innocent people have been framed and served time for nothing more than being in the wrong place, at the wrong time to be busted by the wrong people.
This story in the Mercer County Community College Voice should not to be missed. A professor was teaching a State and Local politics class talking about how they would fix our budget problem. When the issue of double dipping came up, the Professor gave the example of the the county Sheriff, who can collect his salary as sheriff while collecting his pension in retirement at the same time.
A student in the class sent the Sheriff a text message regarding the comments, who then showed up with an aide at the class! After talking to the Professor outside and getting an apology in front of the class, we get this:
Both Buckley and Grindlinger report Sheriff Larkin as saying, "This isn't over," on his way out of the classroom. According to Buckley, Larkin's aide, who was waiting outside the classroom, said as the classroom door was closing, "You're a terrible teacher, you should get your facts from a book."
He couldn't have waited to voice his displeasure to the professor until after the class ended? I think the students learned more than they ever thought they would in that class after the interruption. The Sheriff just succeeded in making the story bigger by crashing the class.
The governor had harsh words for commercial truck drivers, urging them to slow down and "not drive like idiots" while traveling through New Jersey.
"We saw numerous accidents on the way down here (from northern Jersey), and we saw some commercial truck drivers driving like idiots," he said. "They need to stop, stop going so fast, stop driving in a stupid way. They endanger road crews who are working and other drivers on the road."
Christie said he wants to travel to the counties before deciding whether to declare a state of emergency and that won't happen until at least tomorrow. By contrast, MSNBC says a state of emergency has already been declared for Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Delaware. If it's bad in your area and you don't have to go out, it's probably better to stay home. And if you do venture out, just be careful and take your time.
It's always something in Jersey City. The latest dust up is over a selection by the Mayor to serve on a City Authority. Councilman Steve Fulop criticized the pick made by Mayor Jeremiah Healy to put ex Mayor Gerald McCann to a position at the Incinerator Authority:
"The idea that the City would hire a convicted felon to its payroll during the same time period that key members of the administration are being tried in Federal court is incomprehensible," said Fulop. McCann was Mayor from 1981 to 1985 and again from 1989 to 1992, when he was terminated from office following his criminal conviction.
Fulop wants to withhold funding from the authority until Healy removes McCann from the position and that prompted this response:
"I'm totally going to sue him. I'm going to make sure that every single nickel that he gets to run a campaign against anybody will be my nickel," said McCann. "...I'll have him in court for years. And since he's doing it as a political candidate, I will sue his campaign fund."
Solomon Dwek took the stand yesterday for the prosecution in the case of Former Jersey City Mayor Baldini and his testimony was eye opening, according to observers in the court. Within minutes of being questioned by the defense attorney, Dwek blurted this out and got testy when questioned on the legitimacy of evidence:
"I was there -- and I performed."
It has to concern the government that their key witness lost his cool on the first day of the trial. Bob Braun called his testimony "jaw dropping" and "almost absurdly funny." Dwek said he started bribing people as a teenager to get things he wanted. Other attorneys for those charged have to be licking their chops after seeing reports of how Dwek handled himself on the stand on the very first day. Dwek's credibility and how he holds up will be a key to the government making their cases.
A Christie spokesman responded to concerns raised by the NJEA about information contained in the transition subcommittee report this way:
"We recognize some of the recommendations in the report are alarming to certain vested interests and constituencies ... but we're not here to maintain the status quo," said Christie press secretary Michael Drewniak.
No one expects them to maintain the status quo, but that doesn't mean people need to accept the change they propose in whole because they've finally filled in the details. Some of the changes may be good and they should all be examined on their merits. But just because you propose change, doesn't mean it's better than what you currently have. Especially if the consequences of that change are worse than what you have right now.
"It's clear that politicians lack the political will to effect meaningful tax reform,'' Turner said after Christie took office in Trenton. "Governor Christie should lay the groundwork immediately for calling a Constitutional Convention on Tax Reform where taxpayers and fiscal experts who aren't looking over their shoulders at the next election have a say in reforming the broken system we have now.
With all due respect, tax reform isn't the only thing our politicians lack the political will to effect meaningful reform on Senator. We'll have to see if there is any response to her call or if they lack the will to respond to that too.
"I can only find solace in the fact that the next generation of Democrats, which overwhelmingly support marriage equality, will not balk at the opportunity to confer civil rights on their fellow citizens."
It's inspiring to know that our next generation of leaders understand what our leaders today can't seem to comprehend.
