Hold Me Accountable

Rob Tornoe's cartoon from PolitickerNJ.com's Hold Me Accountable Week in September 2007

Today, as Governor Jon Corzine addressed the New Jersey League of Municipalities convention in Atlantic City and proposed allowing local and county governments to defer 50% of next April's required pension payments, there was word from the New Jersey State Investment Council that the pension fund has lost $25 billion since July, including $9 billion in October.  When he gets back to Trenton, he'll have to decide whether to hold his close friend, Orin Kramer, accountable for the massive losses.  

Kramer, a 63-year-old hedge fund millionaire and according to U.S. News and World Report, the #3 bundler for Barack Obama's presidential campaign, originally came up with the idea of Corzine running for an open U.S. Senate seat in 1999.  It won't be easy for Corzine to fire him.  And while Kramer isn't the only financial whiz to mess up during difficult economic times, Corzine's biggest problem is how easy it will be for Republicans to come up with a 30-second TV ad holding the former Wall Streeter accountable for massive losses in a fund that provides benefits for more than 700,000 current and future retirees.

In case you missed it: The Record’s reported on Friday that Gary Rose, who was a top economic advisor to Gov. Jon Corzine  until the start of this summer, owned stock in a company that benefited by a $1.5 billion bailout of the Meadowlands Xanadu project he influenced. 

In case you missed it: as Governor-elect, Corzine pledged a “zero tolerance” policy on members of his administration who personally profit off the workings of state government.

In case you missed it: in his inaugural address, Corzine told voters to “hold me accountable.”

In case you missed it: a recent Quinnipiac poll shows Corzine with an upside-down job approval rating.

In case you missed it: Republicans have not yet commented on the Rose story, although in fairness to them, it was a Friday!

Besides giving a shout out to Wally Edge at Wednesday's New Jersey Legislative Correspondents Association Dinner ("As Wally always says, 'Hold Me Accountable.'" ... and you know we will.) Gov. Jon Corzine had some kind words for the state's political reporters and poked fun at the Star-Ledger's Josh Margolin and their declining circulation, and the Garden State's colorful array of political characters.

Click here to view Corzine's powerpoint presentation.

And don't forget to vote in this week's Cartoon Caption Contest. Voting ends this Friday at noon.

Gov. Jon Corzine continues to struggle with an upside-down 34%-52% approval rating, according to a new Monmouth University/Gannett New Jersey poll released this morning.  He was at 37%-52% in March and 40%-44% in January.

Javier Inclan, Gov. Jon Corzine's Deputy Chief of Staff

WILSON SAYS ATTORNEY GENERAL SHOULD PROSECUTE INCLAN

The Governor’s office had kind words today for his Deputy Chief of Staff, Javier Inclan, who found himself enmeshed in the trial of Guttenberg Mayor David Delle Donna and his wife.

Delle Donna was convicted of extortion and tax fraud today for accepting and concealing payments from bar owner Luisa Medrano.

“The Governor commends Javier for his efforts to testify for the prosecution. He believes that Javier was doing the right thing in standing up and helping the government make its case,” said Corzine press secretary Lilo Stainton.

Leave it to Jon Corzine to offer a little bit of praise to his old friend Sharpe James on the day the former Mayor of Newark was convicted of corruption charges: “Any of the good works done by Mayor James are now overshadowed by this corruption conviction,” Corzine said in a statement noting that “it is a sad day as a jury of citizens confirmed the betrayal of the public trust by a longstanding and well-known public official.”

At what point should Jon Corzine comment on the testimony of his Deputy Chief of Staff, Javier Inclan, in the federal corruption trial of Guttenberg Mayor David Della Donna? Just after winning election as Governor in 2005, Corzine promised members of his administration would face "intensive vetting and should be prepared to serve an administration with 'zero tolerance' for placing private interests above the public good."

“Hold me accountable,” he told the people of New Jersey in his inaugural address in January 2006.

Inclan, the former Executive Director of the Hudson County Democratic Organization, testified that as Treasurer of the Guttenberg Democrats, he accepted an envelope which he believed to be a cash contribution from a local bar owner,