April 1, 2009 - 11:11am
News

Bristling over 'Philistine' comment, Buono chides Kean, defends Corzine

In a warm-up act response to what many insiders believe will be her role as Corzine Defender Number 1 on the campaign trail as New Jersey’s first candidate for lieutenant governor, state Sen. Barbara Buono (D-Metuchen) defended the governor today against former Republican Gov. Thomas Kean.

Referring to a Star-Ledger article, Buono took issue with Kean’s reference to Corzine as a “Philistine governor” because Corzine proposes to cut arts funding below the statutory level.

“His use of the word ‘philistine’ to in essence, characterize Governor Corzine as such, is unduly harsh and derogatory not to mention condescending,” said Buono, who chairs the senate budget committee.

According to the Star-Ledger, Corzine's plan calls for $14.4 million, or $1.6 million under the law's threshold.  An outraged Kean is considering suing the governor for dropping arts funding to levels below when he served as governor in the 1980s.

Max Pizarro is a PolitickerNJ.com Reporter and can be reached via email at max@politicsnj.com.