Alex DeCroce

Assembly Deputy Speaker John Burzichelli (D-Paulsboro) says that the Assembly Republican leader should follow his own example and criticize gubernatorial candidate Christopher Christie for billing $400-per-night hotel rooms to the federal government while serving as U.S. Attorney.

The Assembly Republican office has frequently used the state Open Public Records Act (OPRA) to uncover wasteful spending in state government, Burzichelli says, noting that Minority Leader Alex DeCroce "questioned state education officials over hotel stays of $200 - less than half of the cost of Christie's rooms - and criticized one school employee for billing crab cakes to the taxpayers."

"When it comes to denouncing Chris Christie for exhibiting the exact same conduct he has been so quick to criticize before, it seems that Mr. DeCroce's desire is as cool as, well, the other side of the pillow," said Burzichelli.

But DeCroce says he finds it amusing that Burzichelli suddenly wants to talk about wasteful spending by government officials.

            Assembly Republican Leader Alex DeCroce says Democratic Assemblyman John Burzichelli should be more concerned about the billions of dollars in state tax dollars that have been wasted under a succession of Democratic governors and the Democrat-controlled Legislature than shilling for Gov. Jon S. Corzine.

            “I find it amusing that Assemblyman Burzichelli, who has ignored every documented case of state waste that Republicans uncovered since he has been in office, is suddenly so interested in federal travel vouchers,” said DeCroce, R-Morris and Passaic.

            “For years, Burzichelli has been missing in action while Republicans were exposing billions of dollars in state waste and fiscal abuse. His silence was deafening when Republicans proposed ways to save billions of dollars in state spending. His overnight conversion to the cause is nothing short of miraculous."

WHEN IT COMES TO CHRISTIE'S TRAVEL SPENDING,
DeCROCE PULLS THE COVERS OVER HIS HEAD

(Trenton) – Following the revelation that Chris Christie lived well off the taxpayers' credit card while traveling as United States Attorney, Assemblyman John Burzichelli today challenged Assembly Republican Leader Alex DeCroce to follow the lead he and his own office have set and denounce the extravagant spending.

DeCROCE SAYS NEW JERSEY CANNOT AFFORD

DEMOCRAT CONTROL ANY LONGER;

CHANGE IN TRENTON IS NEEDED NOW

Two Republican legislators are asking the state Ethics Commission to investigate an e-mail written by one of Gov. Jon Corzine's top aides asking cabinet members to come up with creative ways to spin the governor's record on job creation.

Assemblywoman Amy Handlin (R-Middletown) wants to know if Mark Matzen, Corzine's Deputy Chief of Staff, violated state ethics laws by asking cabinet members to "be creative" in justifying the administration's accomplishments.  Handlin wrote the letter with another Monmouth County GOP legislator, David Rible (R-Wall)

"This revelation is disturbing on so many levels," Rible said. "Not only does it question whether the Governor and his staff adhere to the New Jersey's ethics laws, it suggests that the Governor and his staff are more concerned about their ‘message' than the fact that unemployment is approaching ten percent under their watch.

Handlin says that next month's election must be conducted "without a trace of impropriety."

"The public deserves the assurance that can only be provided by an independent ethical arbiter," Handlin wrote.

Assembly Minority Leader Alec DeCroce (R-Parsippany) says that a state Labor Department report that unemployment is now at 9.8% is evidence that Corzine's claim of creating new private sector jobs is bogus.

            Assembly Republican Leader Alex DeCroce said today that newly released figures from the state Department of Labor prove conclusively that New Jersey is “bleeding jobs” and Gov. Jon Corzine’s claim that his economic policies are creating more private sector jobs is false.

            “The governor may want to ‘stretch’ the truth, but the inescapable fact is that New Jersey’s unemployment rate is climbing every month and what is most disturbing is that private sector jobs fell another 12,000 in the past month,” said DeCroce, R-Morris and Passaic. “Total unemployment has now reached 9.8 percent, the worst it has been in decades, and shows no signs of abating."

Assembly Minority Leader Alex DeCroce wants former Burlington County Democratic Chairman Rick Perr fired from his teaching job at Rutgers – Camden School of Law over his involvement in the New Frontier Political Action Committee.

Perr was forced to resign last month as party chairman after a news report tied him to the operation of the PAC, which was founded to aid South Jersey campaigns but donated money to arrested Hoboken Mayor Peter Cammarano, a Hoboken council running mate and Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy.  

DeCroce wrote a letter to Rutgers President Richard L. McCormick requesting Perr’s termination as an adjunct professor.

“Ethical lapses have significant consequences and it would be height of hypocrisy for him to continue teaching courses on Election and Political Campaign Law,” said DeCroce  “President McCormick, along with the chancellor and dean at Rutgers-Camden Law School, cannot afford to have the school’s reputation tarnished by its affiliation with someone who cannot adhere to the same principles he teaches to his students.”

Assembly MInority Leader Alex DeCroce (R-Parsipanny)

Claiming to have short-circuited a rebellion before it mobilized - in fact denying there's anything there except a tiny - and stalled -minority of malcontents, the allies of Assembly Minority Leader Alex DeCroce (R-Parsippany) and Assembly Minority Whip Jon Bramnick (R-Westfield) last night released a list of overwhelming support.

DeCroce and Bramnick released the signatures of 26 assembly people or prospective members who back DeCroce for another two-year term as minority leader and Bramnick for conference leader.

That efectively bounces Assemblyman Pete Biondi (R-Hillsborough), who now serves as conference leader, out of contention for caucus leadership, Bramnick and DeCroce argue.

The names include everyone except Assemblywoman Alison McHose, Assemblyman Mike Doherty, Assemblyman Michael Patrick Carroll, Assemblyman Richard Merkt (who adamantly wants DeCroce gone and supplanted with Biondi), and Biondi.

Assembly Minority Leader Alex DeCroce (R-Parsippany)

Not to be outdone by Democrats embroiled in a senate leadership battle, the lower-house Republican forces of Assembly Minority Leader Alex DeCroce (R-Parsippany) and caucus adversary Assemblyman Pete Biondi (R-Hillsborough) spilled their own brand of backdoor drama into the open this week.

"We should be focused on the gubernatorial contest and getting Chris Christie elected," said Biondi, a sentiment expressed by none other than his GOP caucus rival, DeCroce ally Assembly Minority Whip Jon Bramnick (R-Westfield).

In the meantime, it's a cloakroom imbroglio, Republican style.

A critic of DeCroce, conference leader Biondi has tag-teamed with retiring Assemblyman Richard Merkt (R-Mendham Twp.) in an ongoing effort to dislodge DeCroce from a leadership job he's held since 2003. The two allies believe DeCroce has sleepwalked through his tenure, and it's time for a change.

"This is not a covert operation," said Biondi, who insists informal caucus polling proves discontent with the minority leader. "We need a message of smaller, smarter government, less taxes and no intrusion of government into our personal lives or personal property. ...We have not increased our caucus numbers since Alex has been there. We're stagnant."

Amplifying the attack, Merkt fired off a letter to DeCroce, dated today, which PolitickerNJ.com obtained.

Two members of the Republican legislative leadership are calling for the appointment of a special investigator to decide if Gov. Jon Corzine's investment in a hedge fund creates a conflict of interest.

"It is completely unacceptable that Governor Corzine's hedge fund should be able to directly profit in any way, shape or form from government business or that the governor's actions and those of his political appointees can be called into question because of these personal investments," said Senate Minority Whip Kevin O'Toole (R-Cedar Grove) and Assembly Minority Leader Alex DeCroce (R-Parsippany). "A special investigator will put this issue to rest and ensure existing conflicts are properly corrected."

Corzine has a stake in TPG-Axon, a hedge fund that has a relationship with a private investment fund, Texas Pacific Group (TPG).  A spokesman for TPG told the Star-Ledger last week that a firewall exists between the two companies and that they do not share investment information.  The governor has declined to disclose the amount of his investment in the hedge fund, but his staff says it is in the one percent range.  That means Corzine's personal stake could be as high as $90 million.

O'Toole and DeCroce say they want to "put to rest any lingering questions about Governor Jon Corzine's finances and what appears to be several serious instances where the governor's finances are in direct conflict with state business."