Political Points and Broken Promises
Posted February 8, 2008

Governor Corzine’s town hall tour across the state seems to be failing miserably in its intended purpose of raising support for his toll hike plan. Not only has the governor drawn vocal opposition from many of the thousands of New Jerseyans who have attended the meetings, but now it seems he has also lost the support of two leading members of his own party in New Jersey.

U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg and State Senator John Adler (D-Camden) both get political points this week for coming out against the governor’s plan, indicating that now is no time to try to squeeze even more money out of New Jersey taxpayers.

Adler, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee said in a statement, “Increasing highway tolls would inflict yet another financial hardship on our hard-working taxpayers, and I oppose it.” He continued, “We should not even consider asking for one more penny from those taxpayers until Trenton assumes its share of sacrifice and makes serious cuts in government spending.”

Meanwhile, Lautenberg’s campaign spokesman Brendan Gill stated, “With New Jersey drivers already paying $3 a gallon, Senator Lautenberg believes that this is not the time to be raising tolls.” 

Both Adler and Lautenberg are engaged in campaigns that are likely to become increasingly heated as the year progresses. The 84-year-old Lautenberg is running to defend his Senate seat against one of the three Republicans currently seeking that party’s nomination: State Senator Joe Pennacchio, Ramapo College Professor Murray Sabrin, and real estate developer Anne Evans Estabrook. Senator Adler is running for the open Congressional seat held by longtime Republican Jim Saxton, who announced last year that he will not seek reelection. 

Given the highly-charged political atmosphere surrounding the governor’s plan, open support for it may well sound the death knell for any political campaign this year.

Lautenberg and Adler join the 49 Republicans – that’s every Republican in the state legislature – in opposing the governor’s plan. The Star Ledger reports that Adler’s opposition and the universal Republican opposition “leave Corzine with little margin for error in the Senate. Without Republican support and Adler’s vote, Corzine now has no more than 22 votes in the Senate – just one more than the 21 needed for passage.”

For the governor’s part, passage is likely to become increasingly difficult as the public learns even more about his “say one thing, do another” habits. For example, despite Senator Lautenberg’s opposition to the toll hike plan, he stated through his spokesman Gill that Corzine should be “commended for working to take on New Jersey’s serious fiscal problems,” referring to the governor’s call to freeze state spending and require voter approval for future borrowing. The governor’s actions, however, speak far more loudly than his words, and just a few short weeks ago, while with one breath he was promising to seek voter approval for borrowing, with the next he was calling for $2.5 billion in borrowing to be spent on school construction in urban school districts.

In a move that the Star Ledger called “Confusing. Confounding. Contradictory” (see Star Ledger archives, January 25, 2008 Editorial), Corzine “in the midst of preaching ‘No more borrowing,’ promised the Supreme Court the state will borrow $2.5 billion to restart a court-ordered school construction program.” The editorial continued, “There is something curiously contradictory about Corzine plopping $2.5 billion on the table at the last minute – in a letter forwarded the evening before the court hearing – so that the news broke the same day that the Legislature started its hearings on Corzine’s ‘Read my lips: No more borrowing’ fiscal reconstruction plan.”

As if this weren’t bad enough, a recent article in the Star Ledger reported that the governor’s financial restructuring plan has already cost taxpayers $7.2 million – and that’s just in “preliminary consulting and legal fees to help Gov. Jon Corzine develop his complex plan for fixing the state’s finances….” The amount, confirmed by the State Department of the Treasury, includes nearly $4 million paid to a prominent New York law firm and over $1.5 million paid to an engineering consulting group.

According to the Ledger, “The fees paid out to date are just preliminary. If Corzine wins legislative approval to move ahead with his plan, he estimates the bond deal itself will cost up to 1 percent of the total, or as much as $380 million.”

All of Corzine’s promises of fiscal restraint and voter accountability are empty in the face of his consistent actions to the contrary. If we sound like a broken record in taking the governor to task, it’s only because he is intent on persisting down the same path of fiscal irresponsibility at the expense of New Jersey taxpayers.

On January 17, 2006, Governor Corzine closed his inaugural address by asking the citizens of New Jersey to hold him accountable. On behalf of these hardworking citizens, we will continue to fulfill the governor’s request.

Today, New Jersey Family Policy Council issued a press release calling for a 5-point plan as an option for the state legislature to consider instead of Governor Corzine’s proposal for a continued borrowing and spending masquerade. Click here to read the press statement.

 

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