Sports Betting in New Jersey

Is Chris Christie Prepared to be Governor?

Straight on the heels of the release of polling data suggesting he could beat incumbent Jon Corzine, former U.S. Attorney Chris Christie officially kicked off his campaign this week.

The only thing he forgot to pack: specifics.

According to the Star-Ledger:

Christie said he would not raise taxes, but declined to say how he would recoup the lost revenue if he reduces income and business taxes to make New Jersey more competitive. He did not take a position on the state's property tax rebate program, saying he wanted to carefully study it before presenting a comprehensive plan to tackle the entrenched property tax problem.

On other issues, such as town consolidation or state worker concessions, Christie sounded more like Corzine. He said he'd "encourage" New Jersey's 566 towns to consolidate, and that he thought state worker unions had to "step up and contribute" by making concessions. But according to his statements, Christie wouldn't force the issue on either side.

Former Borgata mayor Steve Lonegan, who is running against Christie in a four-man Republican primary that includes Morris County Assemblyman Rick Merkt and Franklin Township Mayor Brian Levine, called Christie's refusal to provide specific budget-cutting plans "irresponsible."

"It's clear to me that Mr. Christie is in over his head," Lonegan told The Star-Ledger.

Chris Christie for Governzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...

Boy, NO ONE saw this coming!

Here's the sketch:

Merry Christmas

Here's one panel from my New Jersey "Christmas Card" now posted over at PolitickerNJ.com. Go check it out.

The rest of the week, I'll be celebrating Christmas with not one, but two families, so I won't be posting anything else until Monday.

Have a great holiday, and I'll see you when I see you.

New Jersey Cartoon: The Ghost of Chris Christie's Past

Chris Christie, the former U.S. Attorney for New Jersey, is continuing his "let's wait and see" approach about running against Jon Corzine for Governor in 2009.

Despite having little experience as a criminal prosecutor when George W. Bush appointed him in 2002, Christie has been a political corruption buster, amassing 130 political corruption convictions without a single acquittal.

But, in the last year, he received a blemish on his record when he handed his one-time boss, former U.S. Attorney John Ashcroft, a contract worth between $27 million and $52 million to monitor a medical device company for 18 months. Democrats challenged the no-bid deal, which lead to new Justice Department guidelines on how federal monitors are selected.

Will it come back and bite him? Who knows. We'll see if Steve Lonegan puts together a commercial with money changing hands, as Ashcroft sings in the background, "Let the eagles soar..."

New Jersey Cartoon: Duck, Linda, duck

Click the image to see the full cartoon.

It's one thing to pay tribute to a departing colleague as he goes to Washington. It's another to tell him that you really wanted him to win.

Which, according to PolitickerNJ.com, is EXACTLY what State Sen. Raymond Lesniak did:

Speaking on the Senate floor Tuesday on a resolution honoring Lance on his departure from the State Senate, Lesniak said: “Senator Lance knows I said to him before the election ‘I really want you to win, Senator.’ I didn’t want to lose him in this body, but he by far was not only the best candidate, but he’s earned it and he deserves it.”

The only problem is during the campaign, he endorsed four-term Democratic Assemblywoman Linda Stender, the SAME Linda Stender that announced yesterday that she intended to run for re-election.

Whoops.

Here's the sketch:


And by-the-way, if you haven't noticed, I'm not leaving PolitickerNJ. I'll still be doing a new cartoon every Wednesday, like always, plus whatever Wally throws my way.

The guys at Politicker.com and The New York Observer have been great, and I'm thrilled that even through tough times and economic cutbacks, they value my work enough to want to keep me around.

Separate but Equal

A 13-member Civil Union Review Commission convened by the New Jersey legislature tasked with "evaluating the implementation, operation and effectiveness" of the civil union law passed nearly two years ago released its final report on Wednesday.

They unanimously recommended that "The Legislature and Governor amend the law to allow same-sex couples to marry" and that it be "enacted expeditiously because any delay in marriage equality will harm all the people of New Jersey."

So now state legislators have a shield to hid behind so they can safely pass a gay marriage law without being stoned by their constituents.



The cartoon is based on a photograph by Elliott Erwitt that Juan Melli over at PolitickerNJ.com sent me. Erwitt is known for his black and white candid shots of ironic and absurd situations within everyday settings -- the master of the "indecisive moment".

At least according to Wikipedia.

New Jersey: Codeword: Machiavelli

The latest must-read story out of New Jersey is from Gannett's Tom Baldwin about a Republican candidate for West Deptford Township Committeeman, Michael Krawitz, who told Governor Corzine's receptionist that he was George Norcross, the top Democratic Party power broker in South Jersey, influential from Camden to Cape May. Guess what? Krawtiz quickly found himself speaking with Jon Corzine.

You can see the story here. Some excerpts:

(Michael) Krawitz said he'd been calling Corzine for almost a year, wanting to divulge allegations of political corruption. "They would never put me through," he said. "So this one time in September I called and said, "Is Jon there?' And the lady says, "Who is calling?' And I say "George.' She says, "George who?' I say, "George Norcross.'

"... Right away I was talking to Jon Corzine," said Krawitz. "I asked him, "How can you take a call and talk to George Norcross but not the average New Jersey citizen?"'

About a week after the 30-second call, said Krawitz, State Police called him back on his cell phone, and they agreed to meet at a Woodbury Heights gas station.

"They asked me why I called the governor, and I said there is a lot of corruption that is not being discussed," he said. "They said, "Do you want to harm the governor in any way?' I said, "No, he does a good job of that by himself by not wearing a seat belt."

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New Jersey: Christie to remain U.S. Attorney...for now

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New Jersey: Can McCain win the Garden State?

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Joseph A. Ferriero (1998-2008)

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NJ: In the land of Corzine

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Speedy Anne does the right thing

Corzine's plan to save the Star-Ledger

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Corzine's new "Dolphin Tax"

Thank you, Neil Cohen

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Is there room for an education at Rutgers?

Corzine's gift to the young people of New Jersey

Is Torricelli a friend of the people he served?

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From the New York Observer:

Bob Torricelli, the former senator from New Jersey who didn't seek re-election after his first term because, well, we know why!, has an interesting view of the reason The Record of Bergen County is having trouble, and it's not, he thinks, the troubled newspaper industry in general. News that the newspaper recently had to close its Hackensack office seemed to delight him because, as he wrote in his column on PolitickerNJ, "somewhere the Record stopped becoming a mirror of the happy suburban life and it became mean."

He's no media expert--although he may be an expert on the Record after all the ink the newspaper gave him back in 2002--but he gives the newspaper 10 years to live. Without irony, he writes:

I won't be shedding any tears for the Record. Bergen County will be a better place without it but I regret what it did to itself. It didn't have to be.

Words apt for many occasions, we suppose.

What about the Transportation Trust Fund?

Look forward to your end-of-summer gift from Governor Corzine.