Quinnipiac: Corzine and Christie in '09 dead heat

As I previously stated, both suck as Gubernatorial candidates.

Christie hasn't even said he would run for Governor ,and he's tied with a incumbent ....that's just plain SAD

why does he need to be drafted? Its clear his whole reason for being is to run and cause havoc. What else would he have to do?

Will come to haunt Corzine - while Christie has been tough on Corruption, Corzine and his appointments have been soft and even at times conflicted - remember the loan to Cryan's stalker. As far as taxes and budget I assume the people think all politicans will do nothing and things will just get more expensive.

In the farthest reaches of my fantasies, my ultimate wish for Republican nominees would have been (for president) cream puffs like Huckabee or Romney, and a radical extremist like Lonegan (for governor). Please do nominate Lonegan for the Republican nominee, and continue having Tom Wilson as your state party chair.  Continued obscurity and lost political races beckons.

What on earth has Christie done to merit consideration as a gubernatorial candidate? Using his supposedly nonpartisan office for partisan purposes, of course, doesn't count. Neither does, as FA mentioned, giving a huge amount of money to the Bush-Cheney campaign as what looks conspicuously like a quid pro quo for his appointment count. The federal monitor contract case involving Christie should disallow him from any corruption-free pretensions on the part of Christie Republican apologists. So, what is it about his platform (Does he have one? He's pro-Patriot Act, which reveals he isn't pro-Constitution; but that may be it.) merits even the slightest qualification for governor?

Do you seriously think that Bush appointed Christie because he made a $1000 donation to his campaign in '99.  Your theory is far-fetched.

Eliot Spitzer was the attorney General for New York and was elected Governor.  How it turned out is a different story.  Chris Christie is more than qualified for the position of Governor.  I don't know where he stands on the issues, but as a current U.S. Attorney I think that's appropriate.

Steve Lonegan, the so-called "radical extremist" is one of the few who are sticking up for the people of New Jersey.  If anyone is a radical extremist, it is Jon "Hold Me Accountable" Corzine who is turning this nanny state further into the ground.

....look good!

(And that's no mean feat! ;-)

If you can find a John Lindsay type Republican, Corzine is cooked.....but there's little danger of that happening.

From Frederick Douglass

If there is no struggle there is no progress......Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.

.....racked up under Christie Whitman?

How much of that money wound up in the hands of rich Republican contractors? (who by the way give money, lots of it, to BOTH parties).

How much of that money winds up in the hands of the underwriters and the bondholders who, like vampires, feed off the lifes blood of hard working New Jerseyans who sweat to make a living?

Christie is a creature of a demonstrably corrupt Bush administration. He has never gone after the massive systemic corruption that permeates most of NJ politic. He nails fools and losers; low hanging fruit...of which, in NJ, there is a lot......meanwhile the really big fish are free to rake in the cash.

Lonegan is an ideological extremist with all manner of truly despicable associations.

Corzine is indeed a massively flawed governor; but compared to these two hideous Republicans, Corzine will look more than good.

I would love to see Corzine primaried and defeated by a gutsy competent brilliant progressive and the Republicans run an enlightened John Lindsay style candidate; alas that's not in the cards eh?

There is one thing that many Republicans and I would agree upon; it's wrong for the state to go into debt to meet ongoing expenses. That's just crazy and it feeds into the corruption.

From Frederick Douglass

If there is no struggle there is no progress......Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.

...for eight years there's the debt service....for Whitman's borrow and spend (waste?!?) policies.

Look at the various economic busts, the failure to fix infrastructure, rising health care/school costs etc etc etc.  

And, frankly, the thieves will only get greedier and greedier. They will steal more and more until they are forced to stop.  This is the nature of greed.  There is no satisfying the thieves.   They ALL want to be billionaires.   It's our job to put all of them in jail.

I dare say there are dozens of competent and gutsy progressives in NJ with the chops and the smarts to govern, though few have any conventional political standing at this point. (And that's a positive!)
 
Let's leave the "nominating process" open on that for now.....the kind of person I'm looking for would probably not want the job but would have to be almost drafted.

I suspect that there are lot's more Rush Holt types out there who are brilliant, principled, and politically astute; I don't think he wants the job but there must be others in his mold out there.

Maybe even someone with a back ground as a whistle blower who was a thorn in the side of crooked establishments!

If the state is to reduce the debt without increasing taxes (on the middle/working class) or cutting back services three things have to happen:

1) We need to amputate the "corruption taxes" at every level of governance.  

Every penny of every contract/expenditure by every local, county and state government/agency needs to be put up on the web IN CLEAR ENGLISH and in clear numbers.   Perhaps we can recruit some folks to do this as a volunteer service. 

The PEOPLE of NJ need to become aggressively involved in uprooting all corruption/sweetheart deals.   The new state AG needs to lead the population by implementing a program wherein people are invited to "drop a dime" on anything shady.  If the information leads to convictions; they should be financially rewarded. 

Let's put a bounty on the heads of the vampires who have been sucking New Jersey's taxpayers dry.

We give rewards to people who are on the run for robbing banks or killing cops, right?  Well being a white collar political crook is a DIRECT assault on our freedoms and our governance.  These people are effing terrorists who destabilize our civilization and we need a zero tolerance policy toward them.

The laws on corruption and the sentences need to be tightened and strengthened.

IT won't happen over night but I bet that after four years tghe cost of government throughout the state could be reduced by 10 to 15 per cent just as a result of tightening and enforcing the laws.

Also, when one of these political terrorists is incarcerated; his/her estate should be appropriated to pay the costs of their imprisonment.

Add to this measure the effect of a state, county, and local governmental workforce that is suddenly emboldened and encouraged to actually do what is right!  I predict that folks will be far more productive and far more satisfied with their jobs.

There are too many corrupt quasi fiefdoms throughout the state; at this point, I won't name names but I'm sure most of you reading this can think of some school districts, police dapartments, agencies, fire departments etc etc where things are run by "good old boys" networks that brook no resistance from people who just want to do the job right and honestly.

In fact such people are often regarded as "troublemakers".  In a sane NJ, the kinds of people who "blow the whistle" on corruption should be PUT IN CHARGE!!!  As it is, they are ostracized and persecuted.

There is an understandable loathing to pay more taxes when there is an (accurate) perception that the money being spent now is being wasted/stolen.  However, where tax increases may be needed they should be progressive...and yes, that means that rich people may have to pay more.

2) We need to get out from under the debt to bondholders and underwriters and commissioned sales brokers who want to keep us "hooked" on ever rising debt.

The public debt that NJ is now carrying should be paid off and re-financed by the federal government at lower interest rates and with NO COMMISSIONS to anyone. 

I suggest that as a vehicle for the whole nation.   (Obviously this requires federal legislation) There is no good reason for private brokers to get filthy rich off of public entities who are in virtually zero risk of defaulting.  There is no real risk there.

If the Fed can spend trillions to indulge Bush's Iraq war and hundreds of billions to "bail out" privately held companies...they can certainly loan money to New Jersey and other states at truly favorable rates so that we can get out from under the vampires feeding off of us and clipping their tax free coupons.

3) We need to make government WORK!!!

I'm thinking out loud now.  I bet there are, literally, HUNDREDS of creative and effective ideas out there that could save tons and tons of money IF we had a governor and a legislature that was truly willing to implement radical change.

Imagine a NJ where the banks and the insurance companies and the contractors and the retailers HAD TO actually treat consumers fairly and with respect!!!  As it is now NJ governance answers to the people, not at all.  It's all about raising enough money to spread a focus group tested pack of lies and bullshit.

People sense it's a big effing con job and a scam; that's why so many don't even bother to register, let alone vote.

I could go on about campaign finance reform laws and public financing, but most of y'all here have heard my take on that more than once. ;-)

I have no monopoly on ideas; no doubt there are thousands of New Jerseyans who have much to offer that aren't reading this stuff just because this is seen as a place for "insiders".   Lets do away with the category.  No citizen should ever feel that they're "outsiders" when it comes to how they are governed and served by officials and public employees!!!

The bottom line is that we can do better than Jon Corzine and MUCH better than Christie or Lonegan!!!

The solution isn't to kill government and sell off the public's rights and holdings to the highest bidder; that's called corporate fascism.   Nor is the solution to maintain a status quo of ineffectual corrupt government that is indirectly sold off to the highest bidders with a "piece" of the action for the fixers.

Both of those alternatives are more of the same crap.

As pollyannish as it may seem to some of you hardened politicos the real answer is for decent honest people to take over BOTH political parties from the ground up.

Let's make good, honest, effective and efficient governance THE PRIME DIRECTIVE.  Let's make our democracy and our government WORK!  It can be done!

No doubt there are many good and decent people within the existing system who just keep their mouths shut and "go along with the program"....I say to those folks, It doesn't have to be this way. 

 Again, this is not intended to be a comprehensive/complete program for transformation....but if your eyes, minds and hearts are open; then you should get the gist of what I'm getting at.

If any of you wish to continue this discussion in a less formal space, feel free to drop me a line.

unbossedandunbought(at)gmail.com

PS  Governor Corzine, if you're ready to do a "140" and go over the heads of all those obstructing fundamental progressive change and become a positively radical populist, feel free to surprise us!!!  Though, at this point, I'm sure no one is holding their breath.

From Frederick Douglass

If there is no struggle there is no progress......Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.