Jon Corzine, Money Man

Chris Christie may currently lead Jon Corzine in the polls for the 2009 Gubernatorial race, but does anyone expect Corzine not to dig into his unlimited pockets of cash to narrow the gap?

Charlie Stile of the Bergen Record says that Corzine "has never tangled toe-to-toe with his opponents on a level playing field."

I tend to agree with him.

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.

The NJ Schmooze Cruise

A rite of passage among the New Jersey political elite for over 70 years, the annual Chamber of Commerce train ride attracts more than 1,000 lawmakers, lobbyists and corporate officials each year to wine and dine with the New Jersey congressional delegation in Washington.

During the four-hour ride, and at a dinner that took place Thursday night in Washington, New Jersey's business community was once again able to gain extraordinary access to the state's political structure, from legislators to county executives to Governor Corzine.

In a break from the past and tradition, 3 GOP gubernatorial hopefuls, Christopher Christie, Steve Lonegan and Rick Merkt, all decided to boycott the chartered 14-car Amtrak ride. Sponsored by business leaders usually friendly to Republicans, the candidates criticized the annual "Walk to Washington" as an exclusive "schmooze cruise" of insiders and lobbyists.

"I call it the tax-and-spend express," gubernatorial candidate Steve Lonegan told the Star-Ledger. "I went once about 10 years ago and I never went again. This is where all the party insiders, the lobbyists come together. I'm not part of that and I'm running to change it."

Chamber President Joan Verplanck criticized the candidates decision to boycott the event, and attempted to defend the elbow-rubbing session to the Star-Ledger.

"Times have changed dramatically," Verplanck said. "It's less fraternity party and more college mixer."

Working On a New Blog

Hey everyone. Just wanted to update you that blogging has been intermittent due to the fact that I'm building myself a new website and blog. It should be up soon.

In the meantime, you can follow me on Facebook or on Twitter. And don't forget to check out my Comics News Blog at the Cagle Cartoons website.

And in the meantime, if you'd like to use one of my cartoons in your publication, or hire me to do a unique illustration or cartoon, feel free to contact me at robtornoe@gmail.com.

Way To Go Star-Ledger

Just opened up Sunday's County News section of the Star-Ledger, and here is the breakdown of ads-to-news in the 12 page section:

Page 1: All News
Page 2: Full-page ad
Page 3: Full-page ad
Page 4: Full-page ad
Page 5: Full-page ad
Page 6: Full-page ad
Page 7: Full-page ad
Page 8: Full-page ad
Page 9: Full-page ad
Page 10: Half news, half ads
Page 11: Half news, half ads
Page 12: Full-page ad

Now I feel informed. I think there is more news in the Best Buy circular.

Corzine Wants To Keep It a Secret

New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine and former state worker's union president Carla Katz, who dated before he became governor, have been fighting to keep the e-mails they exchanged during budget negotiations private since Tom Wilson, The Republican State Committee Chairman, and several news organizations, including The Associated Press, requested the correspondence.

A three-judge appeals panel reversed a lower court ruling that the e-mails be made public. The appeals court ruled that the release of the e-mails could have "a chilling effect the governor's ability or willingness to solicit advice, or to accept unsolicited advice in the future."

Personally, I think that since appellate court has upheld the principle that Corzine has been fighting for, he should release all the e-mails he exchanged with Katz to prove to the public that none of them influences the state worker contract negotiations last year.

Until he does, this issue will remain a cloud over his head, especially compared to the recent shifts for a more transparent government by Barack Obama.

Cartooning the Inauguration

For anyone that's going to the inauguration tomorrow to watch Barack Obama be sworn in as the 44th President of the United States, keep an eye out for a chubby white guy with a sketchpad roaming around the crowds.

I'll be drawing and taking pictures for various newspapers, attempting to be a modern-day Shel Silverstein while hopefully not freezing to death. I'll be posting all my cartoon on my Cagle cartoons blog on Wednesday, located here.

Long before he became a world-famous children's-book author, Silverstein went to work for fellow Chicago native and cartoonist buddy Hugh Hefner at Playboy magazine.

Silverstein did several brilliant comic travelogues published by Playboy between 1957 and 1968, These pieces took Silverstein all across the world, from Scandinavia to Africa and the Middle East, from Paris and London to Moscow. He even did a two-part epic titled "Silverstein Among the Hippies."

So we'll see what I can do. I'll be in Washington on Monday and Tuesday talking to people and covering the festivities, and I'll return to Delaware on Wednesday to assemble what I was able to produce for various publications.

I'll post what I can when I can. So just check back on Wednesday to see what I came up with, good or bad. You can also follow me on twitter, where I'll be posting brief updates throughout the day. You can follow me here.

And don't worry. I've already been warned about the bathroom situation. In fact, that's where I'll be headed first.

There's lots of comedic potential in millions of people fighting over port-a-potties.

New Cartoon News Blog at Cagle Cartoons

It's official. You can now check out my Cartoon News Blog over at Cagle's Cartoons website, where I'll be covering all aspects of art and politics, be it illustrations, animation or political cartoons.

Check it out here.

“Working at the Daily News has been like living with an incompetent, terminally ill relative.”

So says Patrick O'Connor, the former editorial cartoonist for the Los Angeles Daily News. Patrick was laid off after 8 and a half years with the Daily News along with 9 other employees.

In an interview conducted by Alan Gardner at The Daily Cartoonist, Patrick talks about being let go, severance caps, and facing the bleak future of editorial cartooning.

"Ah shoot, I've got a lot of questions."

"Ah shoot. I've got a lot of questions."

And so Joe the Plumber, War Correspondent for PJTV, arrives in Israel to spout non-licensed plumber wisdom on whoever is willing to listen.

Joe says, like Israel, he was a victim of media bias and can't understand why Israel didn't strike back sooner: "I know if I were a citizen here, I'd be damned upset."

He also took time to lecture his fellow reporters about journalism in wartime, saying, "...media should be abolished to reporting."

Then what are you doing there?

Here's my cartoon for Editor & Publisher about Joe:



H/T - The E&P Pub

Chris Christie for Governzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...

Boy, NO ONE saw this coming!

Here's the sketch:

New cartoon for Editor & Publisher

Here's my latest cartoon, and the first of a new weekly gig doing media-related cartoons for Editor & Publisher called "Tornoe's Corner."

So bookmark their E&P Pub blog, and check back every Thursday for a new cartoon.

New Japanese 'Watchmen' Trailer

The Corzine Economic Recovery Plan of 2009

Here's today's cartoon for PolitickerNJ.com. To comment, click here.

Cardinals Quarterback Draws From Divine Inspiration

Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner, fresh from the playoff victory over the Atlanta Falcons, sat down for a new documentary called ‘God in the Box’ to draw his version of God.

“So, I was drawing a picture of God, but it came out more like Jesus,” Warner said of his sketch. “So why don’t we stick with that being Jesus.”

If this guy becomes half as good at drawing as he is at throwing the football, artists beware.

RIP Roy Carless: 1920 - 2009

Bill Richardson resigned, but what about Hillary?

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson has withdrawn his name from consideration as commerce secretary for President-elect Barack Obama, citing an ongoing investigation into possible pay-to-play corruption in the awarding of a state contract to a company that contributed to Richardson.

So is Hillary going to be next to resign?

After all, she's involved in her own mini-scandal involving a developer in New York donating $100,000 to former President Bill Clinton's foundation in November 2004, around the same time that Hillary helped secure millions of dollars in federal assistance for the businessman's mall project.

So much for No-drama Obama.

PolitickerNJ.com's Year in Review

PolitickerNJ.com released their always excellent Year in Review of New Jersey politics, and featured several of my cartoons throughout the round-up.

If you're a fan on New Jersey politics, check it out here.

Best of 2008 - National Cartoons

Everybody is releasing their "Best of 2008" lists, so I figured it was about time to post what I thought were a selection of my best national cartoons from 2008.

I'll post a separate list of my favorite New Jersey cartoons from 2008 soon.


While working for Politicker.com, I had the opportunity to "live-cartoon" election day, filing quick cartoons all day from Dixville Notch to Obama's victory speech.

You can check out the rest of the cartoons here.

I was always a fan of Tim Russert. I would love to say it was for his honesty and straight-forward earnestness, but it was his love of the Buffalo Bills and his desire for them to "squish the fish" that allowed me to first relate to him.

Did this cartoon on a Monday, and on Friday I was laid-off. I'm still waiting for my career as a psychic to take off. Call me Dionne Warwick!

Happy New Year Delaware!

I have to admit, I'm going to miss drawing Ruth Ann Minner.