Garden State Patriot

Yesterday, I was able to attend the special election to fill the state senate seat vacated by Leonard Lance in New Jersey’s 23rd legislative district. The election pitted Assemblyman Michael Doherty against Aseemblywoman Marcia Karrow. Assemblyman Doherty was the choice of party conservatives, having the backing of gubernatorial candidate Steve Lonegan among others.

However, in somewhat of a suprise Assemblywoman Doherty prevailed somewhat convincingly 195-143. As such, she will maintian the seat until a wider primary takes place this June. The primary winner will then hold the seat for the remainder of the term until 2012.

For conservatives this might turn out to be 1 step back before 2 steps forward. By virtue of her victory, Assemblywoman Karrow opens up a seat in the Assembly. And in June, many expect that Doherty will have a good chance of defeating Karrow.

As such, the possibility of having a conservative in the State Senate, as well as in 2 Assembly seats remains a good possibility. But first the spotlight will be on June’s primary. GSP will be watching.

For more on yesterday’s special election please check out the excellent coverage from Conservatives with Attitude! here and here.

Americans for Prosperity has set up a petition to fight the so-called Obama Stimulus Plan. This plan will merely be: a payoff to liberal contituency groups filled with pork-barrel spending, a bailout for governors like Corzine who have badly managed their state’s finances and it will not creat jobs. In sum, it’s a fraud. And we need to do all we can to stop it. Our nation simply can’t afford trillions more of debt.

Sign the petition HERE.

By the way, if this plan were such a slam dunk to create jobs, then why can’t the Ranking Member of Congress’ Joint Tax Committee (about which you can read here) even answer a simple question regarding how many jobs it will create?

My latest post is up at CWA! This one may elicit some commentary, so please click here to check it out.

My latest from CWA!

With the Inauguration taking center stage on Tuesday, this little tidbit seems to have flown under the radar. On CNBC’s Squawk Box, Governor Corzine said that New Jersey may receive as much as $4 BILLION in ‘economic stimulus’ over the next 2 years. That’s $4,000,000,000.00. Just last week the Governor announced that he would be seeking at least $300M for FY2010, but somehow this figure has multiplied more than tenfold - across 2 years - in a mere matter of days. 

Heck, Obama’s Oval Office chair isn’t even warm yet but our groveling Governor is acting as if it’s a fait accompli. However, I have the feeling our fellow Americans, who are still stewing over the trillion dollar TARP fiasco, might not take so kindly to this news. At the least, it will add more fuel to the fire of a Governor’s race in New Jersey that is already expected to be quite heated.

TRENTON, N.J. – New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine said the Garden State could receive close to $4 billion in federal stimulus money over two years to help pay for education and health care.

Appearing on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” Tuesday, Corzine called the federal stimulus package being advanced in the House “quite substantial,” but warned that it won’t be a blank check.

“We ought to take this time and make sure we’re reforming government, so it’s not just a bailout,” Corzine said.

Well, sorry to break it to you, Governor, but it is a bailout.

This notwithstanding, how can this even be called a stimulus? Throwing money at education and health care will do little, if anything, to create jobs. In fact, let’s face it. The only job that’s at issue here is Corzine’s.

Suffice it to say, this year’s Governor’s race is going to be one to behold. Most assuredly, Obama will finally make his way to this state – one which he has heretofore had little use for – to bail out Johnny completely by trying to drag him over the finish line in November. Dare I say: ‘Bring it on!’

We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. –Barack Obama, from his Inaugural Address 

Unfortunately, Obama’s supporters failed to exemplify these words today. During today’s ceremonies Obama’s supporters displayed the very childishness and vitriol that they have shown towards George W. Bush for the past 8 years. There were boos and choruses of Steam’s famous song “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye.”

Despite one’s feelings about Bush as a President, the man did nothing in his 8 years to deserve the hate and disrespect that so many on the Left hurl his way. George W. Bush, and the Office of the Presidency, deserve more respect than what these citizens have shown.

If these Obama supporters really believe in change, maybe they can start by acting with more dignity and class than they have displayed today and during W’s terms in office.

Here is my latest post from Conservatives with Attitude!

In watching Obama’s ascension to the Presidency, it has been impossible, even as a political adversary, not to be moved by his oratory. Obama is clearly a skilled and compelling speaker, which is largely the reason he connected with so many Democrats and ultimately won his party’s nomination as well as the Presidency.

So, in anticipation of his inaugural address today, I fully anticipated that Obama would deliver another hopeful and rousing speech; perhaps one for the ages. The same kind of speech that has spurred his success to this point (albeit one that substantively I would not agree).

However, I found it quite surprising that Obama’s speech today was somber, sobering and at times even uninteresting. The somber, and rather pessimistic tone I might add, began at the outset and continued throughout:

That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.

These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land — a nagging fear that America’s decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.

Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America — they will be met. 

As the address went along the inspirational moment one was waiting for never came. Nor did an immortal phrase such as Kennedy’s “And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.”

Politically, I wonder if this approach was somewhat strategic on Obama’s part – perhaps in an effort to temper expectations. However, from a rhetorical perspective I believe Obama’s speech today was quite pedestrian.

“In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem. Government is the problem.”

What we need to address the nation’s problems can be found right here in this speech. Compare it to Obama’s this Tuesday, which will be impeccably delivered and sound good on its face, but will have an underlying theme that we as individuals can not make it without government.

Check out Steve’s response to Corzine’s address earlier this week

Part I

Part II

 

Dovetailing with this, I highly recommend this terrific post by Alice Shope.

Here is my latest post from Conservatives with Attitude!

Perhaps the best example of Governor Corzine’s failure to address the state’s serious financial condition is his proposal to allow towns and municipalities to defer on their pension obligations.

In a classic case of kicking the proverbial can down the road, Corzine is simply using a gimmick that will result in more pain for taxpayers in the future. Of course, when it comes time to pay the piper Corzine’s re-election bid will be very much in the rearview mirror.

Assemblyman Alex DeCroce:

“I’d like to think the governor would have learned by now that residents don’t want leaders to keep pushing off financial problems to the future,” said DeCroce, R-Morris and Passaic. “But a year after Corzine’s biggest blunder – proposing more borrowing with an 800 percent toll hike – he comes back with another attempt to stave off New Jersey’s day of reckoning instead of making a tough stand to fix the problem.”

DeCroce said he’s encouraged that some towns, such as Cherry Hill, have recognized the scheme will only exacerbate the taxpayers’ burden.

“I’m sure it’s tempting for a mayor to skip a payment when revenues are shrinking, property taxes are rising and Corzine’s only answer has been to cut municipal aid,” DeCroce said. “But skipping this payment will only set up taxpayers for colossal – even by New Jersey standards – property tax hikes.”

In a conference call with bloggers earlier this week, Assemblyman DeCroce indicated that the interest rate on these pension deferral payments would likely be about 8.25%, but could end up even higher. And the Senate Budget And Appropriations Committe statement on the bill indicates that “the full funding level for FY 2012 through FY 2041 [emphasis added] will be greater than it would otherwise be.” In other words, higher taxes as far as the eye can see.

Of course, this begs the question: why not just resist the pension deferral tempation (as Assemblyman DeCroce urges)? Well, in an elightening post on the matter @ MoreMonmouthMusings, Fair Haven Mayor Mike Halfacre explains why it’s not that simple:

In Fair Haven, as in most fiscally responsible small towns, we are not interested in his budget gimmicks. As a fiscally responsible elected official, I have no desire to kick the can down the road to 2012, in return for nothing in 2009.

Despite our sound fiscal policies, Corzine is trying to force towns to “take advantage” of pension deferral. Towns have four options for their pension:

1) Pay their share to the Division of Pensions, as per usual;
2) Pay their share to the separate Division of Investments and let the State invest it on our behalf;
3) Invest it ourselves;
4) Not pay it at all and therefore not raise it in the tax levy.
Under the first three scenarios, since the money is being raised anyway, there would be no property tax relief.

Under the fourth scenario, the money would not be raised, and would, technically, reduce the tax levy, thereby reducing property taxes.

However, under all four scenarios, the money must be paid back to the Division of Pensions, with interest, beginning in 2012.

Why would an otherwise fiscally responsible municipality take option 4? Two Words:
Cap Relief.

Governor Corzine, with an apparently genetic predisposition to “Do as I say, not as I do” imposed a 4% property tax cap on municipalities. (The State does not have to follow this rule, which is why the State budget has grown by double digits during his Administration) (As an aside, Fair Haven does not have a “Cap Problem”)

During his “State of the State” address, the Governor went out of his way to advise municipalities that there would be no flexibility in obtaining waivers from this cap, which is a change from prior years, when cap waivers were granted routinely.

Towns with “cap problems” will then be left with no choice: they can cut services, layoff employees, engage in other drastic budget measures, or defer their pension payments.

In other words, like Vito Corleone to Johnny Fontane, Don Corzine has made an offer to towns they can’t refuse.

Had enough yet fellow Jerseyans?

Eric Sedler has a nice piece up at MoreMonmouthMusings regarding the Lonegan campaign. The title of Eric’s piece says it all: Do Not Write Off Steve Lonegan (and His Supporters).

To me, though, the question remains: is the New Jersey media paying attention? Or will they just continue to be cheerleaders for Chris Christie?