Just a few end-of-the day observations:

What would Frank Hague have thought of a Mayor of Jersey City (who is also the Hudson County Democratic Chairman) who could not deliver most of the key Hudson party leadership and elected officials to his candidate for President?  And could the gullible Brad Abelow be the only one who believes Bob Menendez is no longer involved in Hudson County politics?

An impressive list of finance committee members, led by Lewis Eisenberg, has raised just $100,000 for Anne Evans Estabrook’s bid for the Republican U.S. Senate nomination; that’s about half what Dennis Shulman, the blind Rabbi/Psychologist, has raised for his fledgling congressional campaign against Scott Garrett.  Luckily for Estabrook, she put $1.6 million of her own money into the race.  Estabrook still won’t say how much she’ll invest to unseat Frank Lautenberg.

New Jersey has not had a State Treasurer since September, when Bradley Abelow left to become the Chief of Staff to Governor Jon Corzine, and there are no indications that the post will be filled anytime soon. Abelow, who was Corzine’s partner at Goldman Sachs, still maintains control over the Treasury Department, and doesn’t seem inclined to relinquish his old post.

Maybe Brad Abelow was telling the truth this week when he told the Star-Ledger that he was “not aware” of any link between Nicholas Asselta’s vote for Governor Jon Corzine’s school funding bill and his appointment to the state Board of Public Utilities.  Sources say that Abelow was not in that loop, and that Corzine dealt with his politically savvy Deputy Chief of Staff, Patti Nelson McGuire, on that deal. 

Brad Abelow may have a bridge to sell youFormer State Senator Nicholas Asselta’s vote for Governor Jon Corzine’s school funding plan Monday night and his appointment to a $125,000-a-year position on the state Board of Public Utilities on Tuesday are unrelated, says Corzine’s Chief of Staff, Bradley Abelow.

Abelow told The Star-Ledger that he was “not aware of” and link between the vote and the appointment.

Brad Abelow slammed the Asbury Park Press for using a "manipulated image" of Jon Corzine on the front page of Sunday's edition
Governor Corzine’s Chief of Staff, Bradley Abelow, sent a scathing letter to the Asbury Park Press today over a manipulated image of Corzine hocking highways as if they were stolen goods.

An edited photograph on the front page of Sunday’s edition of the paper shows Corzine opening his jacket to reveal cars and trucks dangling on key chains below emblems of the New Jersey Turnpike, Garden State Parkway and Atlantic City Expressway. The picture accompanied a series of articles about the potential impact of Corzine’s asset monetization plan.

“I feel that many readers of the Asbury Park Press share my view that you did the readers – and your own reporters – a tremendous disservice with the accompanying fictionalized image in Sunday’s story, ‘Hocking the Highways.’ While working with photo editing software may be a useful tool for assembling gag photos or correcting minor imperfections, using it to manipulate the Governor - any governor - into a sinister character is not what we would expect from a responsible media organization,” wrote Abelow.

Jon Corzine and Brad Abelow earned millions together as partners on Wall Street, and one Republican legislator says they should "contribute a few hundred million dollars of their own to pay for what they want to spend" in Trenton.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT...

‘Crazy’

Commentary by the Daily Muse, In The Lobby, August 22, 2007

Once again, the Ministry of Monetization is trying to padlock its vault and throw away the key. Or at least keep it hidden until after the Nov. 6 election.

In an eye-popping quote, state Treasurer and Chief of Staff-designee Bradley Abelow admitted yesterday that “he thinks ‘we’d be crazy’ to unveil the plan on Oct. 15, for example, during the election season,” according to today’s Asbury Park Press.

The “plan,” of course, is the governor’s asset monetization proposal, where he hopes to infuse the state Treasury with billions of dollars gained by turning control of the state’s toll roads to a nonprofit, public entity, which would sell bonds to investors, who would recoup their investment by increasing tolls. Yes, how “crazy” to think the public should be allowed to know what the administration is planning before an election that might determine the likelihood of their success. Call us “crazy,” but we don’t see how keeping a plan hidden until it’s too late for the voters to do something about it is the mark of an “open and transparent” administration.

Tom Shea is stepping down as Gov. Corzine’s chief of staff and will be replaced by State Treasurer Bradley Abelow.

Corzine sent a staff e-mail earlier this afternoon alerting his office to the change, which he said he will announce today.

"Tom is an immensely talented and dedicated public servant whom I relied on greatly in both campaigns, as a United States Senator and now as Governor,” wrote Corzine.

Abelow, Corzine wrote “has proven himself to be an outstanding and selfless public servant.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT ...
N.J. MAYORS HAVE THE RIGHT
TO CRITICIZE CORZINE'S PLAN
Editorial, Courier Post, July 24, 2007

In a letter to mayors around the state sent last week, state treasurer Bradley Abelow warns New Jersey mayors not to oppose the Corzine administration's plan to "monetize" New Jersey's toll roads until the exact proposal is unveiled.

The administration is apparently trying to stop mayors from having their town councils or committees approve resolutions stating opposition to Gov. Jon Corzine's idea of "asset monetization" that could lead to dramatic toll hikes on the New Jersey Turnpike and Garden State Parkway.

Flat out, the administration is wrong to try to silence mayors.