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After discussing the budget at a meeting with State Treasurer David Rousseau and two officials from the Office of Management and Budget, Gov.-Elect Christopher Christie said his reaction was a "rueful chuckle." 

And at a press conference today talking about that meeting, the faces of Christie and his two top budget advisors, Richard Bagger and Robert Grady - who were also present at the meeting -- were dour. 

That $8 billion structural deficit we've been talking about for 2011?  If things remain the way they are and infusions like the one that came from the federal stimulus for the 2010 budget are not repeated, the men said, that's "the low end of the range."  Moreover, the revenue projections for the 2010 budget, which were about $190 million short in the first quarter, are set to continue to come in below projections, while there are expected to be supplemental needs in agencies that will increase spending. 

"If you add together the fact that revenues are continuing to come in light and there are supplemental needs, it's clear that we will have a problem in Fiscal 2010 that will need to be addressed," said Grady to a room packed shoulder-to-shoulder with a few dozen reporters and cameramen. 

Christie and his advisors did not give details about how they planned to solve the problem, but said they will deliver a letter to Gov. Jon Corzine today about it and said they would undertake four steps:

TRENTON -- Municipal and county contributions for primary campaigns can now be searched and sorted online by contributor, and the same information will be available for general election candidates early next year, the Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC) announced today.

Jeffrey Brindle, the ELEC executive director, made the announcement with some fanfare at the agency’s headquarters in Trenton this morning.  Although the information has been available for statewide and legislative campaigns since 1999, those looking to search for a specific contributor to local candidates used to have to pour through each candidate’s report.  

“More than $5.5 million was contributed during this year’s primary to local candidates through the state.  These donations can now be sorted by contributor and analyzed electronically,” said Brindle. “If someone receives a public contract, any citizen can simply key in his or her name.”  

Brindle said the commission began the initiative partly in response to pay-to-play, and partly to increase ELEC’s profile with the general public.  People he encounters who aren’t involved in politics or government, Brindle said, often don’t understand what ELEC does.

Former state Sen. Joseph Coniglio (D-Paramus) reports to federal prison today to begin serving out his 2 ½ year sentence, The Record and AP remind us.

The 66-year-old Bergen County Democrat, who served in the state Senate between 2002 and 2008, was convicted for steering state grants to Hackensack University Medical Center, which employed him as a consultant.  Coniglio will serve out his term in a satellite camp next to the federal prison in Lewisburg – in central Pennsylvania.  

The Record reports that former Paterson School Board President Chauncey Brown III – who ran for Assembly as a Republican in 2007 – is serving a sentence in the same facility for his own corruption conviction.

Since Coniglio’s conviction, two other top Bergen County Democrats have fallen: former Bergen County Democratic Chairman Joseph Ferriero – who was convicted on three corruption counts last month – and the party’s powerful former counsel, Dennis Oury, who was indicted with Ferriero and pleaded guilty just before his trial started.  

Wakeup Call will return on Tuesday, November 17.

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• Coniglio joining the prison crowd
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• Mayor threatens to withhold taxes
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• Gov.-elect Chris Christie winged his Election Night speech; Maggie Moran and Mike DuHaime make friends; Where to send your resumes
• Zimmer plans a City Hall more up-to-date, online
• U.S. Marshals nab NJ shooting suspect hours after he's on "America's Most Wanted"
• Law allows N.J. to collect unclaimed slot winnings from Atlantic City casinos
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U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California and U.S. Rep. Rush Holt (D-Hopewell Twp.)

PRINCETON - A week to the day after Congress passed a health care reform bill that she personally maneuvered through the lower house halls of power, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California on Saturday described the measure as a stimulus of economic and individual freedom.

"The public option creates dynamism in the economy," said Pelosi after touring the University Medical Center at Princeton with U.S. Rep. Rush Holt (D-Hopewell Twp.). "We want to encourage self-employment. We want people to take risks, and the biggest anvil around our entrepreneurial spirit is the cost of healthcare. This is a liberator for people.

"The premiums pay for the benefits," added the Democratic Party leader.

Pelosi was scheduled to attend a fundraiser on Holt's behalf after touring the hospital facility.

Although Holt regularly dispatches of his Republican challengers every two years by, on average, 30-point margins, he said he never underestimates his opponents in a Democratic district dominated by independent voters.

Newark Mayor Cory Booker on Election Day, 2008

Standing in the vanguard of opposing parties makes Gov.-elect Chris Christie and Newark Mayor Cory Booker obvious political adversaries - a relationship made more intriguing by their agreeable history and the crisis demands on both of them to deliver reforms in their respective spheres of power - but whatever the dynamics of their personal and professional relations, allies of both men expect a coming collision between Newark and New Jersey.

Don't count Booker among them.

"I know people want to turn this into a rivalry but when you consider the monumental challenges we are up against right now, he is my greatest ally," Booker said of Christie, the Republican who on Nov. 3rd defeated Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine. "To characterize us as rivals would be like saying Democrats and Republicans were the chief antagonists during World War II. We're in a crisis."

"I would also say - and I use this word because it is accurate - that Chris Christie is my friend. We have been friends for three years and he can assume credit for things we have accomplished here these past three years."

Booker knows the buzz about how he's the Democratic Party's most likely nominee for governor in 2013, to which he gives the only politic response: he's focused on the city's crime problem.

Prodded on politics and Christie, he adds, "I'm focused on next year's mayoral election and on electing the Booker Team (of council candidates)."

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• Ex-Municipal Court judge gets probation for assaulting DJ wife
• Jersey Lawmaker Wants to Crack Down on State Workers Who Go Back to Work After They Retire
• Democratic loser to request recount in Monroe council race
• Hillsborough officials backing Christie business review proposal
• Clayton council swears in GOP's Radio as new mayor
• N.J. task force seeks exceptions to gun law

Governor-elect Christopher Christie and outgoing Gov. Jon Corzine have come to a simple agreement when it comes to major appointments and policy decisions in lame duck: if Corzine wants to do something, he'll fill Christie in.

"The understanding that the Governor and I came to was we would be talking to each other about it.  There was no agreement that we made that either certain appointments, or any appoints, would or would not go forward," said Christie at a press conference today in the Meadowlands.  "He's the governor until January 19.  I'm going to certainly weigh in, and he offered me the opportunity to weigh in, and he also offered to share with me any actions he was considering taking."

Christie said that the executive director of the transition office, Jeff Chiesa, reports that the Governor's office has been "very cooperative" and has "given him everything he's asked for." 

What Christie and Corzine don't have an agreement on is what happens if Corzine makes an appointment he does not agree with.

"If he does intend to do something and I weigh in saying that I wouldn't like him to do it, then we'll have to see what happens," said Christie.  "But hopefully we're going to just be able to work well together. He's going to respect the prerogatives of the people who voted on November 3rd, and I certainly respect his prerogative.  It's a four year term.  It's not a three year, 10 month term."

A week to the day after the U.S. House of Representatives passed a health care reform bill, Speaker Nancy Pelosi tomorrow afternoon will join U.S. Rep. Rush Holt (D-Hopewell Twp.) for a tour of the University Medical Center in Princeton.

On the Record

Michael Aron hosts U.S. Reps. Leonard Lance (R-Clinton) and Frank Pallone (R-Long Branch) to talk about the health care bill.

Airs: Sunday at 9am and 11am, Monday at 6:30 am on NJN

Reporters Roundtable

Angela Delli Santi of the AP, Nick Acocella of Politifax, John Reitmeyer of The Record and John McMahon of newjerseynewsroom.com talk about the Christie transition team and the health care bill. Hosted by Michael Aron.

Airs: Tonight at 7:00, Sunday at 10am on NJN

Power & Politics

Republican lobbyist Roger Bodman talks about the transition; Former. Sen. Bob Torricelli talks about his "to-do" list for Gov. Elec. Chris Christie; GOP activist Steve Lonegan and Democratic lobbyist Mike Murphy talking about the challenges Christie faces, what went right/wrong in the election; Bill Marino of Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield addresses Health Care Reform from the perspective of the state's largest health insurer; and Eagleton Institute New Jersey Project Director Ingrid Reed looks ahead to the 2010 congressional elections.

Airs: Saturday and Sunday at 10am and 3pm on News 12 New Jersey

New Jersey Now

Political analysts George Dredden and Pat Politano discuss the possibility of Governor-Elect Chris Christie calling for a state of emergency to deal with the fiscal crisis; Meadowlands Chamber President Jim Kirkos and Rutherford Mayor John Hipp talk about the future of Xanadu under Governor-Elect Chris Christie;  Marilyn Askin of AARP NJ and Dr. Joseph Reichman of the Medical Society of NJ debate healthcare reform.

Airs: Sunday at 12pm on My9