NJ Legislature: The Silly Season Begins...

As we have commented in the past, the New Jersey does their best impression of fiddling while Rome burns after election time each year. It is during this time that our elected representatives in the Assembly and Senate take a look at the prevailing issues of the day and then completely ignore them. Prior sessions gave us critical legislation like their apology for slavery. And while you tend to expect a certain amount of legislative stupidity out of Trenton, the stakes right now for our state are high and the citizen's want seriousness.

So what are the silly season highlights so far?

A Democratic state lawmaker has introduced a bill that would force Republican Gov.-elect Christopher J. Christie to select a Democrat to replace New Jersey's U.S. senators - both of them Democrats - if either was unable to complete his term.
(From the Inquirer)

When Republican Chris Christie unseated Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine in the gubernatorial election last month, it gave gay-rights activists more urgency to try to achieve their long-held goal of getting a same-sex marriage bill through the Legislature before Christie takes office Jan. 19.

The reason is simple: Corzine supports the bill. Christie says he would veto it.
(AP)

In summary, our legislators think the most pressing issues of the day are some pre-planning for election gerrymandering and gay marriage. It is interesting that exit polls from our most recent election didn't mention either one of those topics. And to refresh our esteemed legislators minds, here is what the PEOPLE want them to concentrate on:

1. Economy and jobs
2. Property taxes
3. Corruption

Well, it least they are working on continuing the third one. But for some reason, I don't think that's what the voters were looking for....

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Let's investigate Goldman Sach's alumni conflict of interest Mr Corzine

As Jon Corzine continues his hypocritical accusations of Chris Christie, maybe it is time for a real account of the ties between Goldman Sachs alumni like Corzine and government influence. From this article in the Policy Examiner:

The Times points out that Goldman alums include:

Former treasury secretary Hank Paulson
Paulson's bailout chief Neel Kashkari
Interim Treasury investment officer Reuben Jeffrey
Key Treasury players Dan Jester, Steve Shafran, Edward C. Forst, and Robert K. Steel
Key New York Federal Reserve players Stephen Friedman (head of the New York Fed board of governors, who sat on Goldman's board and owned a substantial stake in Goldman while he was making official decisions - and see this), William C. Dudley (head of the New York Fed's unit that buys and sells government securities), and E. Gerald Corrigan (charged with convening a group to analyze risk on Wall Street)

Of course, the avalance of former Goldman alumni seemed to start with Jon Corzine. From this opinion piece in the Trentonian:

That $300 million-plus that Corzine left Goldman Sachs with and used to bankroll a mid-life-crisis career change to politics was “fattened” by IPOs, says Taibbi.

He says Goldman Sachs manipulated the price of IPO stock by encouraging “best clients” to get in early at low prices and clean up before the suckers were enticed in at higher prices, driving up Goldman Sach’s take. That tactic is called “laddering,” says Taibbi.

Then, before moving on to other alleged Goldman Sachs iniquities, the writer takes a parting pot shot at Corzine. “One of the truly comic moments in the history of America’s recent financial collapse came,” writes Taibbi, when Corzine insisted, “I’ve never even heard the term ‘laddering’ before.”

Jon Corzine. Ethically challenged. Mathmatically challenged. A weak Governor. Not quite the lion we were promised (not even a cowardly lion) rather a mouse with the political courage of an anonymous political staffer the media so adores.

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Corzine won't tolerate corruption...except when he does.

The Washngton Post today had an article discussing this week's corruption arrests of mostly Democrat politicians and reached into Corzine's cabinet. From the article:

Corzine has not been implicated in the investigation, but the scandal did reach his Cabinet; Joseph Doria, commissioner of the Department of Community Affairs, resigned after FBI agents raided his home and office Thursday. Doria has not been charged.

Corzine was close to Hoboken Mayor Peter Cammarano III, 32, one of the three mayors arrested. The governor lives in Hoboken and attended Cammarano's inauguration ceremony on July 1. Cammarano, a former Hoboken council member, is accused of taking $25,000 in bribes from an FBI informant posing as a building developer who needed expedited zoning approvals and permits.

All of this has been business as usual with politics in New Jersey. But the real howler is this Corzine comment:

Corzine said he was "sickened" by the arrests and called on all those public officials to follow Doria's lead and resign, even though none has been convicted. "I will not tolerate even the hint of corruption," Corzine said.

Ah, come on Governor...you have tolerated massive corruption in your ranks since you entered into politics. Your Senate colleague from New Jersey was the center of a major corruption investigation that precipitated Lautenberg's return. Your girlfriend was considered so honest that the union she worked for while dating you (only a major public employee union with a direct conflict of interest for you) dumped her after you negoiated significant contract. And how about those emails you won't share Governor? And why did your opponent the Federal attorner convict 128 of your Democrat friends for corruption versus 0 for your state Attorney General.

I know Governor Corzine. You don't tolerate corruption. Except when you do. Which is always.

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Another day, another 30 corruption arrests in NJ

The story speaks for itself at this point(from the Wall Street Journal):

Federal agents swept into northern New Jersey towns Thursday morning, arresting about 30 people including several mayors, in a federal investigation into alleged public corruption and a high-volume, international money-laundering conspiracy.

Even by New Jersey standards, this one seems like a weird one. I am sure we will get a lot more after the news conference later, but I have a question that always arises when these things happen. Why is it never a member of New Jersey law enforcement or the Attorney General's office who make these busts? New Jersey has the second highest cops per capital (USDOJ Expenditure and Employment) behind New York and yet the police can never seem to identify or arrest any corrupt politicians. Why?

According to a statement released by the U.S. Attorney's office in Newark, the arrests related to the public-corruption probe included Peter Cammarano III, the newly elected Democratic mayor of Hoboken; Dennis Elwell, mayor of Secaucus, also a Democrat; state Assemblyman Daniel Van Pelt, a Republican; and Democrat Leona Beldini, the deputy mayor of Jersey City, the state's second-largest city after Newark.

Arrests that are part of the money-laundering portion of the investigation include several rabbis in New York and New Jersey, the statement said.

We will be following this as it unfolds. Read the entire Wall Street Journal article here.

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Another NJ Politician Sentenced for Corruption

From the Star Ledger:

A "crass, immature" Passaic ex-councilman was sentenced yesterday to more than six years in federal prison for accepting $44,500 in bribes for himself and other onetime city officials.

Every time I see one of these articles, I am struck by the sheer audacity of the corruption. It is often in plain sight and the citizens keep re-electing these people who do not act in their interests. And more shocking is that the charges are NEVER leveled by New Jersey prosecutors. They are always Federal investigations.

His undoing was an FBI investigation that led to indictments of 11 New Jersey public officials, including convictions for mentor and Mayor Sammy Rivera; Passaic Councilman Marcellus Jackson; Paterson schools trustee Chauncey Brown III, and Democratic Assemblymen Alfred E. Steele of Paterson and Mims Hackett Jr. of Orange.

In a separate trial yesterday, also before Thompson, a fourth Passaic official became a casualty of that investigation: Councilman Gerardo Fernandez was convicted of perjury for lying to a grand jury reviewing evidence of corruption.

"Clearly, for a significant portion of the City Council, corruption was just part of doing business," acting U.S. Attorney Ralph J. Marra Jr. said in a statement. "We can only hope that all of these convictions in Passaic will have the desired deterrent effect and give the public hope that their other current representatives are honest and working in their best interests."

Of course, I guess we can expect these to end with the election of Barack Obama. New Jersey corrupt Democrat politicians can breathe a sigh of relieve with AG Holder in charge as he is only interested in prosecuting Republicans for political purposes.
At least we can hope that we get rid of Corzine and let Christie take over and put teeth back into prosecutions at the state level.

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State deficit - Corzine says everyone is doing it!

Jon Corzine made a comment meant to suggest that New Jerseys fiscal woes a the same saying "almost every state is in the same situation". Do the facts back him up(from CBPP)?




So, while many states have deficits, they all do not. And while many states are revising their numbers (these were prior to most states evaluating their revenue collection for 2008), it is not all states. As a matter of fact, 29 states have budget deficits. 21 do not. And 7 states have a deficit in excess of 10 percent of their budget, New Jersey being one of them.

So maybe Governor Corzine should say "7 states have completely failed in their fiduciary responsibility to the taxpayers and we are one of them". That would be a lot more accurate.

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Morristown Tea Party Update 3

Two updates to the Morristown event. First is that they have a new web site for the event. You can find it at the following link:

www.MorristownTeaParty.org

They have also put out a new invite that you can send to all of your friends. The next invite reads as follows:

Are you tired of all the talk about raising your taxes by the Obama Administration and the Corzine Administration? Are you fed up with all of the corruption in government at all levels? So are we! Our group - Morristown Tea Party - will be holding a Tax Day Tea Party on April 15, 2009 at Noon on The Green in Morristown, NJ, right in the heart of the city. We will be rallying against the Obama Administration' s Porkulu$ $pending and for a return to America's core values of less spending, smaller government and self determination. We are part of a national movement which will be holding these protests on April 15.

Why did we choose The Green for this activity? Of particular importance in the history of the Green is its role in various aspects of the American Revolutionary War period, linking local history to the history of the United States as a whole. General George Washington was headquartered at the Green in Arnold's Tavern during his first encampment in Morristown (January - May, 1777), and was in town again during the winter of 1779-80. As a result, the Green was frequently the center for military and political activities related to the period, and was visited by many of the national military leaders.

We hope to see you there on April 15, 2009 at 12:00 Noon rallying for honesty, responsibility, accountability and transparency in government.

Please get in touch with myself, or our Group's point person,
Jeffrey M. Weingarten, at: 973-272-3341 or JeffreyMW@gmail.com
..
Thank you and best regards,

Remember Boston - 1773!

Peter Glenn, Media Liaison
MorristownTeaParty
(TeaPartyMorristown@yahoo.com)

Be seen on the GREEN on April 15!
(Morristown, NJ)

If you are in the area, this promises to be an excellent event. Be there or quit complaining about how bad New Jersey and the federal government are beign run.

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Corzine's budget folly

Governor Corzine gave his state of the state speech yesterday. The most interesting part of the Governor's speech is the complete lack of real content and ideas for changing New Jersey's fiscal situation.

From the start, it was clear that this was not a business speech, it was purely politics. Shortly into the speech, Corzine alternated from patting himself on the back to throwing out some anecdotes to citizens hard times and his trip to Iraq. One should note here that while Iraq is may be a good topic for a speech on military families or military spending or securing our bases in New Jersey, it is a distraction in the state of the state address. And it represented just one of 10 stories designed to avoid the real topic and addressing it with any substance.

While Corzine called the economy priority #1, #2 and #3, he immediately switched to Bush bashing. And then spending. And then more spending. He went from patting himself on the back for saving 800 million dollars in spending last year and then proceeding to borrow 3.9 BILLION. He also mentioned 3 times that he cut spending by 1.4 million this year but doesn't once mention what he actually cut.

He touted the following accomplishments:

These highlighted achievements and work in no way describe the entirety of our agenda and activities.

Keep in mind:

We enacted a family leave insurance program, the second in the nation

A completely anti-business program that will not help anyone with real family issues as we have commented on previously.

We strengthened our worker’s compensation system
We continued reform of our public pension system

What strengthening? You made it harder for businesses to hire and keep workers employed? And when and where did the public pension reform occur. I follow his every move and I have not identified anything substantial.

We appointed record numbers of women and minorities to the bench
We created the office of supplier diversity

Wouldn't it be nice if we felt these appointments were about awarding excellent individuals and minority companies rather than political correctness. I would love this governor to say that he helped give 100 kids from Trenton the wherewithal to get a law degree. But he won't say that because he didn't do anything to really help minorities in this state. This is pure drivel.

We built and dedicated a long-overdue World War II memorial
We reformed the Charity Care funding formula to better protect health care for our most vulnerable, especially in our urban areas

Sorry if I am underwhelmed by these achievements.

We created an inter-agency Council on the Prevention of Homelessness
We finalized the Highlands Master Plan

What would we do without commissions and plans. I wonder how many new state jobs it took to do these projects?

We built and participated in a regional auction system for carbon credits
And, we delivered a nationally recognized Energy Master Plan as well as a Greenhouse Gas Reduction Plan

Hey Governor? Didn't you hear? Global warming is on hold due to the impending ice age.


He finished up with a plan of caps, and projections and hopes that Obama will bail the state out. But not one concrete plan. Not one.

If you would like to read the text of the speech in its entirety, you can access it here.

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A Proposal for NJ Pols - Budget neutral or you pay

I had an idea for politicians in New Jersey. You see, in this state, politicians get elected and then immediately push their pet priority (having no relevant support from their constituency). And usually (since most of our politicians are democrats), these ideas involve more spending. Spending is fine if it is coupled with accountability.

So here is the rule. If you are elected and have a spending proposal to better our state, you have to prove two things:

1. You have an accountability plan. That means that you anticipate up front that your proposal needs to be examined by the people and measured according to your proposed promise.
2. If your spending fails to succeed, your constituency pays the rest of New Jersey for your failure to be effective.

Of course, I don't think there are many politicians in NJ who are willing to sign up for this plan. One, because it is far easier to throw money at the constituent and claim anyone who disagrees is a scrooge. And two, accountability is not popular in our state. As a matter of fact, indictments are more popular than accountability due largely to the sad state of our electoral awareness.

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Please say it is so....Chris Christie for Governor

I received this in my inbox yesterday:

Subject: Message from Senator Kyrillos

Dear Friend,

I spent time over the weekend with my good friend, former US Attorney Christopher Christie and I am very encouraged by what I heard.

Chris is being urged to run for Governor by Republicans, Independents, and even some prominent Democrats. They've read what the newspapers wrote about what Chris achieved as our state's US Attorney, and they're telling Chris that he can provide the leadership and make the tough decisions needed to fix our broken state.

Chris's record of integrity and effectiveness has been praised by virtually every paper in the state, as well as the New York Times and Philadelphia Inquirer.

By contrast, NJ Monthly's January profile had this to say about Jon Corzine:

"It's hard to imagine a governor more qualified to fix the state's finances and less able to get the job done."

Our state's problems are too great, our taxes too high, our economy too distressed.
We need a leader like Chris Christie. Stay tuned! I have a feeling we will hear some good news real soon.

Sincerely,

Senator Joe Kyrillos

If an announcement is imminent, this is great news for the state of New Jersey.

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Illinois corruption coverage still mentions New Jersey

This week as the story of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich looking to sell Barack Obama's senate seat to the highest bidder broke, I expected to see plenty of coverage of the history of political corruption in Chicago. I have always thought that the Chicago political machine represented the worst political corruption of all the 50 states (or 57 if you are Barack Obama). But I was wrong.

Apparently, New Jersey is considered one of the elite for political corruption(from the AP):

If it isn't the most corrupt state in the United States, it's certainly one hell of a competitor," Chicago FBI chief Robert D. Grant said when the charges were announced against Blagojevich.

The top competitors seem to be New Jersey and Louisiana. More than 130 public officials in New Jersey have been found guilty of federal corruption in the past seven years. And Louisiana more than holds its own. A congressman once described the state this way: "Half of Louisiana is under water, and the other half is under indictment."

And this article is not the only one that mentions New Jersey while discussing this scandal. It seems like our state has a lot in common with a series of corruption scandals are the country:

1. While the scandals cut across both parties, they Democrats are the current hands on winners for sheer numbers. In New Jersey, almost all of the 130 corruption convictions the past few years were Democrats.

2. The stupidity associated with this current crop of corrupt politicians is amazing. Selling a senate seat while under investigation for corruption with Tony Rezco(Blagojevich), Cash in the freezer (Jefferson)and tax fraud in at least two states and one foreign country followed by pay to play with donations(Rangel).

3. When the politician in trouble is a Republica, you can count on the media to mention the word Republican over and over again. When a Democrat gets caught, party is rarely if ever mentioned.

4. The media outrage is comical if not pathetic as it concerns the two parties. It wasn't that long ago that the media was in a frenzy over Foley's instant messages (he was never charged with any crime), Tom Delay's airplane rides and Larry Craig's foot tapping. But they can't seem to whip up any interest in William Jefferson's freezer bags of cash, Chris Dodd's sweetheart deal on his mortgage while ignoring his oversight responsibility for the mortgage mess, an army of Democrats running Fannie/Freddie into the ground.

Some day, it will be great when the people have the last word. I know it will happen at the Federal level because it always does. I have a lot less confidence that New Jersey voters will ever wake up and realize the corruption that they accept every day in this state is neither normal nor acceptable in a civilized society.

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Chris Christie has resigned. Democrats breath a sigh of relief.

From the Wall Street Journal:

Two down, one to go? New Jersey U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie has announced his resignation, effective Dec. 1, after nearly seven years at the office.

It's a sad day when the state of New Jersey loses the only adult fighting corruption on behalf of taxpayers. Christie has successfully prosecuted 130 public corruption cases without an acquittal. He will be missed as I guarantee you he will be replaced by a lightweight who will make the NJ Attorney General look like...well...another lightweight attorney. Sad but true.

Here is hoping that Christie will run for Governor.

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Corrupt Camden Pol Sloan El has a plan to head the Democratic Party

I was shocked to read today about a former Camden City Councilman who was sent to prison for corruption. What did he do(from AP)?

Former Camden City Councilman Ali Sloan El is out of prison after serving 15 months in federal prison.

Sloan El was sentenced to 20 months after he was convicted of taking $36,000 in bribes from an FBI agent two years ago.

The AP story goes on to say how the poor politician found his incarceration to be less than a country club:

Sloan El says the minimum security prison in South Carolina where he served his time had "terrible food, terrible library, terrible health care, no gym and a tyrant in charge."

I suppose we are all supposed to pity a politician who abuses the public trust and actually gets caught and has to pay the price. But this is New Jersey after all and Mr Sloan isn't going to let a felony corruption conviction hold him back. While he can't hold office, he can sure do something else for the Democratic Party:

Sloan El, who is barred from elected office, says he hopes to head Camden's Democratic Party within three years.

And you know what? I bet he actually does. And noone will think that anything is wrong with that.

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Wayne Bryant - The NJ Democrat Culture of Corruption Marches On

Former State Senator and power broker in South Jersey politics Wayne Bryant rested his defense in his corruption trial yesterday(From the Courierpostonline):

In closing arguments, the attorneys attacked the prosecution's case as an overzealous concoction, a blend of "innuendo, spin and interpretation," in the words of Bryant attorney Carl Poplar, emanating from what he called a "nasty investigation."

"They have accused, alleged and asserted," Poplar said of the prosecution team from the office of the U.S. attorney for New Jersey. "But they have not proven that a single crime was committed, much less that Wayne Bryant committed any."

The entire case apparently is about perception according to the defense. But across the river, there is another Democrat politician being prosecuted for corruption for the "perception" that he strong armed donors to maintain his shore house, give him gifts and prop up his lifestyle. For if you accept the "perception" defense, anything goes if you believe that you are "entitled" to receive taxpayer money for doing nothing.

Here are the facts of the case:

1. The Wayne Bryan strong armed the College of Medicine and Dentistry to give him a $35,000 a year job. In essence, he suggested that the Dean of the school Michael Gallagher that we would allowed him to pad his salary in return for the bribe of a job.
2. This would be a job he very rarely showed up for nor did he show any interest in the school when he was there.
3. He used his chairmanship of the Senator Budget committee to funnel in excess of 10 million dollars of taxpayer funds to the school during 2003 through 2006.
4. He engaged in a pension padding scheme to bolster his pension by having others do his legal work while he did nothing.

You can view the full indictment here.

The defense was simple. Everyone does it so it is okay.

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Good Govt NJ Style - Hide the Senator!

Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) has decided to come off his mountain and debate Dick Zimmer on November 1, 2008. The State of New Jersey is awash in government corruption scandals. The perpetrators in these scandals are almost exclusively Democrats. Lautenberg is allegedly one of the parties leaders and yet, he refuses to debate, speak or really appear in public that much.

At the heart of good government is the access citizens have to the process and the people who run it. Every citizen of this state has a right and a responsibility to hear from the candidates from elected dog catcher to governor to (yes, Mr Lautenberg) Senator. Yet, Frank Lautenberg refuses to even pretend that he has to act like he wants our votes. True, this state has a lot of people who will vote for this man because they are told to by their union or their boss. But there are also people in New Jersey that want to hear from the man.

But even then we are shortchanged. For example, in a recent Newsday story about King Frank agreeing to a late debate, there were plenty of quotes from Zimmer. But from Lautenberg-only a "spokesman". This was the same trend during the primary. Is this man even alive anymore? Can someone check his pulse? (I can't wait for a spokesman for Lautenberg to issue a press release that yes indeed, the senator is alive)

New Jersey citizens have a right to hear from you Mr Lautenberg.

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Corzine and pay-to-play - does he inclued NJEA and other unions?

Governor Corzine wants to eliminate pay-to-play. And we believe him. From Bloomberg:

New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine proposed an overhaul of ethics guidelines covering local and state politicians, a package he said would end ``pay-to-play'' politics at all levels of government.

Corzine signed executive orders banning political campaign contributions by state-hired developers and their consultants and restricting donors from getting government contracts. He also called for several ethics measures requiring legislation, including lowering the annual limit on contributions to political committees.

``We are finishing what we've started, to end the insider deals, influence peddling and self-interest of old politics,'' Corzine, a first-term Democrat, said today in Trenton.

In keeping with our faith in Corzine, I wonder if he is including not just developers and infrastructure vendors, what about the NJEA? They are the largest contributor to all politicians in NJ per pay to play. And if you don't think they get their money's worth, check the budget.

Assemblywoman Linda Greenstein and Assemblyman Wayne DeAngelo, both Democrats, said today they would sponsor legislation to enact the ethics plan.

``This is the opportunity New Jerseyans have long been waiting for,'' Greenstein, of Monroe, said in a statement. ``The sinister mix of money and politics will be tackled once and for all, and it will be done so in a sweeping and historic way.''

This is kind of wierd. Apparently, Wayne DeAngelo doesn't do anything without Greenstien. Is she his muse or his babysitter? I also wonder if Mr DeAngelo intends to include his electrical workers union in the pay to play law. I somehow don't think so.

Read the entire article here.

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NJ spending is fixed by courts? So fix the courts.

In this article in the CourierPostOnline, Sharon Schulman discusses the budget options available to New Jersey legislators. Her point is that there are not too many options available to cut:

There is no magic bullet that allows a governor or legislature to give us property-tax relief without creating pain elsewhere. They are constrained by the nearly 75 percent of the state budget that is fixed and cannot be touched. So in a $30 billion budget, $21.5 billion is fixed and cannot be cut. The idea of cutting the state budget 10 percent really only means cutting 10 percent of $8.5 billion -- not from $30 billion. A brief look at the 75 percent of the state budget that is fixed shows us that 60 percent is mandated programs and results of court decisions. They include:

Medicaid

State labor contracts, including contractual commitments to provide health care and other benefits

Court-supervised child welfare reform

Court-ordered spending in Abbott districts

Debt service payments

Great points all. So here we go with suggestions.

1. Our supreme court in New Jersey is frankly a political patronage mill. These people are not exceptional jurists. They are partisan appointees. So what to do?

-Fight the Abbott ruling and have the legislature refuse to follow the courts. New York did and and was successful in getting the payments down and under control.

2. Medicaid rules do not specify all of what should be covered and by what amount. Re-evaluate the New Jersey exposure and cut it to the median of the 50 states expenditure per person.

3. Revisit state labor contracts. Situations change and with a state that is closing in on bankruptcy, everything should be on the table. If the unions won't meet halfway, maybe the citizens will see that only those of us in the private sector are expected to take a hit in bad times. And the result of that will be a taxpayer revolt.

4. Stop borrowing. While the current administration bemoans debt service, they decided to borrow another 3.9 BILLION dollars. Stop it.

These changes would immediatelry have an impact on the budget and the care and feeding of corrupt patronage feeder systems in New Jersey. If EVERYTHING is on the table, then changes can happen.

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Corzine Worried - State Finances in Trouble - Duh!

From today's Trentonian. apprently Jon Corzine is finally realizing that the state is in poor fiscal shape:

"I'm worried about the state budget, the state economy in the context of the very dramatic restructuring that is taking place on Wall Street," Corzine said Monday morning during an appearance in Ewing Township. "The northern half of the state, there are many, many people who are involved with that industry. That's one of the reasons you have high levels of income in the state."

This man along with his Democrat counterparts have continued to spend like drunken sailors on shore leave for three years. Since the Democrats took over starting with Governor "I am turning gay so I don't get indicted for corruption" McGreevey, the state has seen a continual downturn in jobs(except government and patronage jobs)ability to balance the budget and a massive increase in the local tax burden through property taxes. That trend has continued unabated during Corzine's tenure.

The party in power has always based their profligate spending on the fact that New Jersey wage earners will continue to make money in New York and bring it back. Well guess what? The party is over. Wall Street is in serious trouble. Corzine is wondering about Bank of American buying Merrill Lynch? To all Merrill employees - congratulations! North Carolina here you come!

I guess all that money this legislature just threw at the corrupt school construction corporation is looking like a great idea right now. One thing that is clear, after three years of Corzine, I now know why these firms are failing. Bear Stearns, Lehman, Merrill-their balance sheets look a lot like New Jersey's budgets.

Read the entire article here.

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Lehman and the mortgage crisis-Obama points finger...at himself.

We have all heard Barack Obama tell the world that he is a new kind of politician who "doesn't accept special interest money". That claim has always been dubious to me as fundraising statistics clearly show this to be untrue. But I figured that maybe he doesn't include unions and other organized labor donors in his definition of "special". But that apparently isn't the entire story. This morning, Barack Obama said this(from the AP):

Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama said Monday the upheaval on Wall Street was "the most serious financial crisis since the Great Depression" and blamed it on policies that he said Republican rival John McCain supports.

"This country can't afford another four years of this failed philosophy," Obama said after the shock-wave announcements that financial giant Lehman Brothers was filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy while titan Merrill Lynch was being bought by Bank of America for about $50 billion.

So, it's greedy CEO's, John McCain and Republicans that are the problem? Maybe not as this report from the Heritage Foundation makes perfectly clear:

In what some observers are calling a reshaping of Wall Street, two of the world’s largest investment banks, Merrill Lynch and Lehman Brothers, are set to disappear. Lehman has announced it will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, and Merrill Lynch was bought by Bank of America. For all the complicated financial instruments and relationships involved in the current financial turmoil, the underlying cause is still relatively simple: the bursting of the housing bubble.

Ok. Step one is for Mr Obama to understand that the mortgage crisis caused this problem. But what drove the mortgage crisis?

When President Bill Clinton took office, Fannie and Freddie were viewed as “key” to Clinton’s plans to expand home ownership. The Washington Post reports: “The result was a period of unrestrained growth for the companies. … The companies increasingly were seen as the engine of the housing boom.” As the companies grew, conservatives repeatedly warned that their size posed a systemic risk to the financial system. As Sarah Palin put it, thanks to the implicit federal guarantee of their debt, Fannie and Freddie had become too big and too expensive to the taxpayers.

So, this clearly had double benefits for the Democrats. It drove economic expansion and allowed politicians to say more people owned homes (whether or not they could afford them is a different story). But how did this problem keep brewing for so long?

But Fannie and Freddie pushed back hard, turning to friends on the left for protection. Former Walter Mondale and Barack Obama campaign adviser James Johnson led a fierce lobbying campaign to fight reform of Freddie and Fannie. Clinton administration OMB director Franklin Raines told investors when he was Fannie Mae CEO in 1999: “We manage our political risk with the same intensity that we manage our credit and interest rate risks.” Fannie and Freddie’s lobbying power over the left continues to be strong to this day. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, the top three recipients of campaign donations from Freddie and Fannie’s PACs and employees are all Democrats. From 1989 through today, Sen. Chris Dodd received $165,400, Barack Obama $126,349, and John Kerry $111,000. The Washington Post concludes: “Blessed with the advantages of a government agency and a private company at the same time, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac used their windfall profits to co-opt the politicians who were supposed to control them.”

Barack Obama should shut up for two reasons and avoid sticking his foot into his mouth on this topic. The first reason is that he and his fellow Democrats have their hands deep in this mess. As a matter of fact, to date the one person who has had to accept government settlement terms to avoid being convicted of defrauding investors is Franklin Raines (Clinton's former White House Budget Director). The second reason Obama should refrain is that to keep talking is to show what a complete hypocrite he is on the special interest issue. It took Chris Dodd 20 years to get his share of the loot. Obama almost caught up in three. It is Obama himself whose hands are not just dirty, they are filthy. McCain for the record received less than 1/6th the amount Obama did from this quasi-government mortgage and lobbying entity.

Again, who is at fault here?

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NJ Democrats Missed Filing Deadline - But don't worry.

From this article in Politicker:

Democrats not concerned they missed deadline to pick Obama electors

That was the headline. The heart of the matter is this:

The New Jersey Democratic State Committee failed to hold a meeting to formally select its electors for Barack Obama, but is still on track to meet the Division of Elections filing deadline of Sept. 12.

State law requires political parties to hold a meeting to nominate electors within seven days of its national convention. The parties then have an additional week to file electors' names with the Division of Elections.

Democratic Committee Executive Director Rob Angelo said the elector certification process, generally completed at the committee meeting, is now underway.

It is now September 13, 2008. They have officially missed the deadline. Of course, you don't have to worry about it because this is New Jersey. This is the state that if a candidate is losing and is a Democrat, they can swap another candidate in their place against all precedent and election law. All because the state is corrupt and the Supreme Court in this state is political.

I am shocked that the Democrats in the state haven't made it law that all citizens are required to vote for Barack Obama. I am sure they thought about it.

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