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Strawberry Alarm Clock
Supporter
Username: Strawberry
Post Number: 4483
Registered: 10-2001
| | Posted on Saturday, February 12, 2005 - 10:00 am: | 
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Dear (Straw),
Jon Corzine spent $65 million - the most ever - to buy a seat in the US Senate just 4 years ago. He's currently thumbing his nose at one of the most successful public financing laws in the country promising to spend $30, $60, or $90 million to buy the Governor's office.
Four years after he was first elected and more than two months after he announced his candidacy, Jon Corzine's decided, for the first time, to speak about ethics. I'm glad he's endorsing our 'bold' agenda for reform, but New Jerseyans who watch TV will recognize this for what it is, the Ultimate Candidate Makeover.
New Jerseyans who're paying the price of wasteful government and footing the bill for Corzine's pay-to-play machine shouldn't have to wait. Jon Corzine is the leader of the Democratic Party and has the opportunity to show us just how effective a leader he will be by leading the effort to get his party to act on these reforms now.
Corzine should prove he's more than just politics as usual by putting his money where his mouth is. He should demand refunds from the legislators who've refused time and time again to bring these bills to a vote. He should announce that until these bills are law, he will not give another dime to the Democratic Party machines. He should agree to cap his personal spending on his campaign to $10 million - the state cap for publicly funded candidates. I'll be as bold as Jon was today with a prediction: Jon Corzine will be politics as usual and do little more than pay lip service to reform."
Sincerely,
Tom Wilson
Chairman, New Jersey Republican Party
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Bobkat
Supporter
Username: Bobk
Post Number: 7571
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Saturday, February 12, 2005 - 10:24 am: |
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I am not a fan of self funded campaigns to be quite hosest. One of the reasons that I didn't vote for Corzine in his Senate campaign was because of this.
However, Mr. Wilson's comments are very self-serving. The GOP is probably going to nominate a right wing nut and because of that the very wealthy traditional Republicans (think the Kean and Whitman families for starters) aren't going to be opening their pocketbooks, partially because philosophical differences and partially because they know an extremist isn't going to win in this state.
New Jersey has had two OK to excellent Republican governors in Kean (excellent) and Whitman (OK) in the last 15 or so years. Why not go for someone who has a chance of getting elected? |
Dr. Winston O'Boogie
Citizen
Username: Casey
Post Number: 1065
Registered: 8-2003
| | Posted on Saturday, February 12, 2005 - 10:35 am: |
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Corzine "bought" a Senate seat? funny, I seem to distinctly recall an election in which people had to vote for him. what's really stupid is that the GOP seems to have such disdain for the will of the voters. |
Strawberry Alarm Clock
Supporter
Username: Strawberry
Post Number: 4484
Registered: 10-2001
| | Posted on Saturday, February 12, 2005 - 10:42 am: |
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Will of the voters? You mean the crew that elected McGreedy?
With the exception of Byrne (another DEM), the worst Governor is the state's history. |
Nohero
Citizen
Username: Nohero
Post Number: 4323
Registered: 10-1999
| | Posted on Saturday, February 12, 2005 - 10:49 am: |
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I assume Byrne is labeled the second-worst governor because the NJ income tax was started on his watch.
I didn't know you were such a fan of property taxes. |
Strawberry Alarm Clock
Supporter
Username: Strawberry
Post Number: 4485
Registered: 10-2001
| | Posted on Saturday, February 12, 2005 - 10:51 am: |
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post change.
read Nohero's post a second time...Must have misread the first time.
Are you saying Byrne's "income tax" to fund NJ education was a good thing? Have you seen the the test results of students in this state over the years? |
Dave
Moderator
Username: Dave
Post Number: 5260
Registered: 4-1998
| | Posted on Saturday, February 12, 2005 - 11:23 am: |
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boring  |
Nohero
Citizen
Username: Nohero
Post Number: 4324
Registered: 10-1999
| | Posted on Saturday, February 12, 2005 - 11:30 am: |
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Of course student achievement needs to be improved.
That's no reason to endorse over-reliance on property taxes. |
Strawberry Alarm Clock
Supporter
Username: Strawberry
Post Number: 4486
Registered: 10-2001
| | Posted on Saturday, February 12, 2005 - 12:21 pm: |
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Wait Nohero,
Are you to tell me the income tax here in New Jersey has relieved residents from high property tax?
Don't think so. All we've done is increase the tax burden.
Some such as Huemor (can never spell that guys name) will tell you the income tax is required so the rich (us) can educate the poor (inner cities).
Others will tell you the income tax has done nothing more then make New Jersey an even more difficult place to live, with the same crappy schools.
Maybe you can offer a little more as to your reasoning. |
Dave
Moderator
Username: Dave
Post Number: 5262
Registered: 4-1998
| | Posted on Saturday, February 12, 2005 - 1:15 pm: |
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We lost state aid to our school system when Whitman reduced income tax. The pennies we saved on that cut were burried in hikes in local taxes to make up for the shortfall. |
Bobkat
Supporter
Username: Bobk
Post Number: 7572
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Saturday, February 12, 2005 - 2:18 pm: |
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Ahmen Brother Dave.
Does anyone notice how Straw changes the direction of a thread. His original post on how rich Corzine is didn't work so he goes off on a tangent.
I wonder if he will support the Mayor of Bogota, New Jersey that is, not Colombia, when he gets the GOP nomination and requires his accolaytes to dress in choir robes while singing Christmas carols in front of CHS? |
Strawberry Alarm Clock
Supporter
Username: Strawberry
Post Number: 4487
Registered: 10-2001
| | Posted on Saturday, February 12, 2005 - 2:53 pm: |
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Bobk,
I was simply entertaining Nohero's comment. OTOH, your post....Talk about a thread drift.
I'll agree with Dave that Whitman accomplished little with her tax cut.
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common sense
Citizen
Username: Common_sense
Post Number: 38
Registered: 12-2004
| | Posted on Monday, February 14, 2005 - 10:35 pm: |
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as you do with all of your posts |
Tom Reingold
Supporter
Username: Noglider
Post Number: 5501
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Monday, February 14, 2005 - 11:52 pm: |
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I agree with the idea of spending caps on campaigns, and I might even favor public funding of campaigns, to make sure candidates can't be bought. That way, we wouldn't have any more Bushes. |
Dave
Moderator
Username: Dave
Post Number: 5285
Registered: 4-1998
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 15, 2005 - 12:26 am: |
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Tom, all caps would do is give incumbents enormous advantages. Incumbents already get years of free exposure from being in the new, so challengers have to spend a lot more to just get their name out there. |
Tom Reingold
Supporter
Username: Noglider
Post Number: 5502
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 15, 2005 - 4:04 am: |
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So? Raise the caps for challengers.
You can't be defending the system which can be bought currently. That's not democracy. |
Dave
Moderator
Username: Dave
Post Number: 5286
Registered: 4-1998
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 15, 2005 - 8:52 am: |
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As incumbents will create the law, how do you think it will work out? They're going to say it's ok for their challengers to spend more than they can? |
Tom Reingold
Supporter
Username: Noglider
Post Number: 5506
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 15, 2005 - 9:43 am: |
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I see the problem with implementing any proposed change. But the status quo is about the worst scenario I can conjure. |
bottomline
Citizen
Username: Bottomline
Post Number: 182
Registered: 8-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 15, 2005 - 11:17 am: |
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To me, Wilson's letter sounds like a concession.
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Michael Janay
Citizen
Username: Childprotect
Post Number: 1577
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 15, 2005 - 1:59 pm: |
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It probably is, no one I know thinks Corzine will lose. |
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