Bloomberg Outmaneuvers Christie in 2016 Race

It's amazing how fast Chris Christie went from the golden boy of the GOP to just another politician in the mix for the 2016 nomination. Think about it, here was a guy in the bluest of the blue states taking on the teachers unions, slashing spending and cutting taxes. He was in-yor-face like a Jersey guy should be but spoke eloquently of conservative values and viewpoints. He was a fat, egotistical blowhard but he was our fat, egotistical blowhard.

Christie played the loyal soldier allowing Mitt Romney to ascend to the nomination and he threw his support behind him early and vehemently.

And then came Sandy.

In the wake of Superstorm Sandy, Christie heaped layers of praise on Obama at a crucial moment in time. before it was even clear that the administrations response was adequate or even good, Christie gave Obama a nice Lewinsky and that probably sealed the deal and knocked the last nail in Romney's coffin. Christie invited the guy to tour and gave him a photo op that Obama campaign chair Jim Messina couldn't have dreamed about the week before.

One could argue--and I'm sure Christie would argue this himself--that he was just being Christie and was doing what was best for the state by praising Obama. You know Christie, he calls them as he sees them. Except he wasn't.

I firmly believe that Christie saw his star rising and used whatever clout he had to back Mitt Romney seeing that Romney was not the best candidate and was in fact the exact wrong candidate. Christie burnished his GOP street cred by backing the eventual nominee and did his part knowing that Romney would lose and his star would rise setting him up for 2016. But then he realized that Romney could potentially win and that would destroy any presidential aspirations for the next 8-years and maybe longer if Paul Ryan held the second highest job in the land and was in the news frequently.

So Christie chopped the legs out from under Romney in one quick swipe. He left Romney no chance to respond and no chance to get the precious momentum back in his favor in such a short time.

Christie could have said nothing, he could have thanked Obama with a terse statement and that would have been that but he trumpeted Obama's response as the greatest thing ever. A failed response that was in fact worse than the response to Hurricane Katrina by some accounts. A month later the people who were suffering (and still are) expressed just how impotent the response was.

Jump forward to this week when the GOP-led Congress failed to pass a Sandy relief bill that had been larded with pork including roofing for the Smithsonian, fishery help in Alaska and numerous other non-relief spending. Christie lashed out at those in his own party again blaming them for not passing the legislation.

Now juxtapose the responses by Mayor Bloomberg in both circumstances. He told Obama to stay home and not come to NYC for a photo op in the wake of Sandy. Yes, Bloomberg endorsed Obama a few days later but that was with one eye on 2016 pure and simple.

Then this week, Bloomberg refused to blame the GOP for not passing the relief bill because he agreed that it had way too much pork in it and was a sham.

So Bloomberg will run in 2016 as either a Republican or an independent. He can claim that he did not push Obama across the finish line while Christie did. He can say that yes, he did endorse Obama but he did it because of conscience. Christie can't say any of that. He can say that he was the first major party figure to back Romney and was the good soldier but no one that votes in the primaries will forget that Christie stabbed Mitt right between the shoulder blades. They also won't forget that Christie gave his party the finger in bombastic fashion when they were fighting against a ridiculous $24-million in pork attached to a relief bill for New York and New Jersey. I know I sure as hell won't.

Newsweek: The Only Good Jew is a Liberal Jew

The people over at Newsweek must be thinking "how could a Jew be a Republican, all Republicans are Nazi's". This thought occurred sometime after they decided that this would make a good cover for the mag that sold for a whopping $1 and was worth every penny.

So here's the story; Newsweek publishes a list of influential rabbis every year and Rabbi Schmuly Boteach is always in the top 15. All of a sudden things change:

Boteach has always ranked near the top of the Newsweek list. In 2007 and 2008 he was #9 on the list. In 2009 he went to #7 and then peaked at #6 in 2010. He was #11 on the 2011 list, still quite respectable. And then, this year, he suddenly slid all the way down to #30. What happened? 

What happened was that the good rabbi won the GOP nomination for a congressional seat and will run in the fall. That's not sitting real well with the idiots over at the $1 publication.

I've written numerous times that I just can't figure out why Jews have historically been such staunch supporters of the Democrats. In the last 20-years or so, liberals and Democrats have been decidedly anti-Israel and in increasing instances anti-Semitic. The Jews were a bloc of voters that reliably fell into the liberal camp just like African-Americans and union workers.

But over the years, more and more liberals started backing the PLO and their offshoot Fatah. Some even sport the khaffiyeh in support of Hamas--the deadliest enemy of Israel as a whole and non-Israeli Jews in particular.

Media bias takes many forms but this is one of the more subtler but equally disconcerting.

The Death of a State I Love

I was born and raised in South Jersey but always knew I wanted to live in California. I spent some time there in my late teens and then moved there for what i thought was forever when I joined the Navy in 1991. I was stationed at Naval Station San Diego and my wife and I grew to love the city and the surrounding region. We became Californians as a whole and San Diegans in particular.

We lived in that beautiful metropolitan area for nearly a decade, had two kids there and owned two homes. The pure joy of waking up and living in a region that had excellent weather, a diverse population and the best Mexican food on the planet was awesome.

Granted, San Diego was not as liberal as the rest of California. The county is home to Camp Pendleton, Naval Submarine Base Point Loma, the Naval Amphibious Base, NAS North Island (where I worked as a civilian), MCAS Miramar and other outlying military bases. It also had a large retired military population and military men and women tend to be more conservative.

Oddly, we left the Golden State in late 2000 and it was for several reasons. Firstly, the kids could see their grandparents and cousins on a regular basis if we moved back. Secondly, my wife could stay at home or work part-time, a luxury not available to us in California.

The state was at the tipping point where insane taxes, higher fees on everything and a chronic housing shortage led to wildly inflating prices. A condo we had sold in 1996 for less than $150,000 sold for $400,000 three years later. Wages couldn't keep up.

So we moved back to NJ where it was cheaper. Think about that, we moved to New Jersey--a state that has astronomical car insurance rates, high taxes and a hard core liberal bent because it was cheaper.

Since we left, the liberal Democrat Grey Davis was replaced with the liberal Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger who was then succeeded by the uber-liberal Jerry Brown. Teachers and other unions that cut sweetheart deals with "progressive" governors and local representatives were draining state funds at a dangerous rate and the average person was forced to pay more and more.

So what happened? Joel Kotkin explains:

Now, however, the Golden State's fastest-growing entity is government and its biggest product is red tape. The first thing that comes to many American minds when you mention California isn't Hollywood or tanned girls on a beach, but Greece. Many progressives in California take that as a compliment since Greeks are ostensibly happier. But as Mr. Kotkin notes, Californians are increasingly pursuing happiness elsewhere. 

Nearly four million more people have left the Golden State in the last two decades than have come from other states. This is a sharp reversal from the 1980s, when 100,000 more Americans were settling in California each year than were leaving. According to Mr. Kotkin, most of those leaving are between the ages of 5 and 14 or 34 to 45. In other words, young families.

The lifeblood of California is young people. People like myself and my wife who made a good wage, had two kids between the ages of three and five and buoyed the economy bolted for cheaper if not greener pastures (a not quite apt analogy for anyone who has seen the arid San Diego in the summer but you get the point). We envisioned staying there forever but left and others are now doing the same.

I feel sad that a great state that was once the home to free-thinkers and entrepreneurs has become a wretched socialist mess where every liberal idea is tested without thought as to the repercussions. Cap and trade? let's do it. Corporate taxes that will fill the coffers? Good idea. Unchecked illegal immigration? We can tax those who are here legally to pay the costs. And so on.

 What California needs is not Governor moonbeam version 2.0 but a man or woman with the guts to say the emperor has no clothes. To preach the reality of the fiscal situation and say to all that the old habits and old collective bargaining agreements are driving us into the abyss.

They need a person like Governor Walker or Governor Christie to get in there and battle the entrenched politicos and their failed ideology. Christie as an example in the Garden State has taken a hard line and made the state solvent after years of chaos topped off by Jon Corzine who treated the states money just as he did MF Globals clients' money. Unfortunately for the state, it isn't going to happen until they face the fiscal Armageddon that Greece has as mentioned by Mr. Kotkin above.

It's going to take the economic destruction of California to save it and that's not good for the state or the country. Meanwhile, the people who truly made the state what it was--a beacon of new technology and innovation--are bailing out for states where they live and raise a family while still being able to eat and take a vacation. Texas is the new California and California may become the new Detroit.

For Inquirer, Being Asian or Black and Gay is Not Good Enough

With the exception of the NY Times, the Philly Inquirer is probably the most liberal slanted newspaper in the country. You can see other instances of their biased editorial board and wild inaccuracies here.

Remember, this is the paper that ran a 21-day endorsement of John Kerry right before he was beaten by George W. Bush.

Today we have the Inqy running this ridiculously liberal piece:

It's good to see Gov. Christie consider diversity in making his nominations to the New Jersey Supreme Court. But that hardly makes up for the way he treated John E. Wallace, an esteemed jurist and the court's only black justice, who deserved another term.

Christie made a historic and bold move with two nominations this week - Bruce Harris, an openly gay African American, and Phillip Kwon, who would become a Korean American on the court if confirmed (and if he wasn't confirmed he be a what?--but I digress--ed).

So Christie picks a Korean-American and a gay, black man to be justices and the Inquirer still scolds him? Of course, but had, say, John Corzine selected them, they'd be the greatest thing in creation. Instead, they slam Christie because he refused to reaffirm a black judge whom he deemed ill-qualified.

Now check out this nice bit of pretzel logic:

Neither nominee has prior experience as a judge, but neither did most of the current justices on the state's highest court, which has become a tradition for New Jersey.

...Under pressure from Democrats to consider diversity in making his nominations, Christie is now demanding swift confirmation hearings.

But Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Nicholas Scutari says he won't move too hastily, which is good. Too little is known about Harris and Kwon. The governor has a right to choose nominees who adhere to his judicial philosophy, but rigorous hearings are needed to determine their character and temperament.

Okay, so it's historically been the way to select people based on abilities and not by whether or not they served on the bench but in this case, it's prudent to wait and torture them with "rigorous hearings"? Why is the Inquirer so damn racist? Why do they hate Asians and black gays so much?

I Googled "Inquirer and Elena Kagan" and did not see any objections from the editorial board about her judicial philosophy, character or temperament. She never served as a judge and now sits on the highest court in the land. She was essentially a Democratic shill having worked for Clinton and Dukakis but I guess in the eyes of the Inqy, it's who nominates you and your political slant that makes all the difference.

This is classic Inquirer bias; two men who represent three minority groups are selected by a Republican governor and the hacks on the board still can't applaud.

Unfortunately for Harris and Kwon, they will always be unacceptable to the Inqy op/ed page because, like Clarence Thomas, Conservatives just don't carry the proper minority street cred for the elitists ensconced on North Broad Street.

The Chris Christie Locomotive Continues to Roll

Christie for president?

Republican NJ Gov. Chris Christie , who has taken controversial steps since taking office, has a higher approval rating than Pres. Obama in New Jersey, according to a new poll released Thursday.

Just more than half - 51% - approve of Christie's performance as governor while 36% disapprove in the Quinnipiac poll. Obama has a 47% approval rating in the survey and the same percentage disapprove of the president's performance.

"New Jerseyans are getting used to their new Gov., Christopher Christie, as his job approval breaks the 50 percent mark," said Maurice Carroll , director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. "But familiarity hasn't helped him much with Democrats. A lot of voters still think Christie is a bully, but the victories he chalked up in the legislature earn him good marks for leadership."

Christie performs even better among independents. 61% of independents approve of Christie's performance, 29% disapprove. For Obama, 41% of independents approve and 53% disapprove.

Christie has done a remarkable job of framing the issues he and the state are dealing with. You have unions that got sweetheart deals from McGreevey and Corzine and have forced dramatic increases in property taxes. Mine currently stand at greater than $10,000 yearly and will go to $1,000 a month next year. Christie struck a chord and people in this deep blue state are starting to see that he's the real deal. 61% of Independents like him and this state--especially down south where I live, which is only semi-filled with heathens unlike the north--is largely full of Indies. These numbers are incredible as the unions laid on a full-scale carpet bombing impugning him daily in every media and he came out giving them the finger and going after them even harder.

Some are taking him to task for not commenting on the Ground Zero mosque issue but why should he? He's governor of New Jersey, not New York. Granted, many from the Garden State died in the 9/11 attacks but he should just stay out. Were he a confirmed presidential candidate, he'd have to speak up but he's not...at least at this point. Hopefully that changes.

I Hope Gov. Christie Has Good Police Protection

The rhetoric is heating up to proportions not seen in this state since I've been paying attention and save for a decade in California, that's 25-years:

HADDONFIELD, N.J. — They're the kind of obscenity-laced schoolyard taunts that could get a student suspended.

But the target of this tirade is New Jersey's Gov. Chris Christie — and the perpetrators are the state's teachers, irate over his calls for salary freezes and funding cuts for schools.

In Facebook messages visible to the world — not to mention their students — the teachers have called Christie fat, compared him to a genocidal dictator and wished he was dead. The postings are often riddled with bad grammar and misspellings.

"Never trust a fat f...," read one profane post on the Facebook page, "New Jersey Teachers United Against Governor Chris Christie's Pay Freeze," which has some 69,000 fans, many of them teachers.

"How do you spell A-- hole? C-H-R-I-S C-H-R-I-S-T-I-E," read another.

The rhetoric has become ever more heated as residents of most of the state's school districts get ready to vote Tuesday on property tax levies that support district budgets. And while many of the postings are emotional, most aren't personal attacks.

Yeah, just like the made up attacks are described as not "personal" by the AP, right?
If the Tea Partiers were on record saying anything close to this, the media would be screaming worse than they are and Bill Clinton would maybe have a point. But they aren't and the largely Democratic teachers--the ones who teach my children mind you--are saying things like this.

This is incitement plain and simple; incitement to violence that will lead to someone trying to harm the governor. The man is doing all he can to save a state that has been raped fiscally and run into the ground by McGreevey and Corzine in ways that would make Pelosi and Obama stand gaping in awe.

New Jersey teachers have gotten everything they've wanted from state government that fears them. Now they face a man who will not back down and will not bend over for them as the others have (no pun intended with regard to McGreevey).

Here's a taste of the venom these people are spewing.

As an aside; I live in this state and pay $10,000 a year in property taxes. I need some relief from that and these people want more, more, more. Sorry, I don't have it and neither do most other people. The teachers unions are spreading lie after lie in the hopes that people will buy it. Some will but most--especially us who are taxed to death--will not.

God help us if the local budgets get shot down today.

The Weekly Good, Bad and Really Ugly

Haven't posted in a few days so here's a quick review of the week:

THE GOOD

-US, British and Canadian forces are attacking the Taliban in the Helmand Province town of Marjah. This is the largest offensive in years and the first big offensive since Obama took office. Thank you to our great and long-term allies who are helping us. This will be a tough slog but we have the greatest military in the world and the best soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines to get the job done. Two NATO fighters have given the ultimate for the cause.

-NJ Governor Chris Christie was elected to get the Garden State's fiscal house in order. He's living up to that by freezing spending via executive order and pissing off the Democrats in the process. He's making some hard choices and has stuck to his pledge to cut spending and not raise taxes even though the pressure to do so has been intense. Expect to hear some bad things about the guv and expect to read story after story of how people are suffering because of the cold-hearted conservative currently leading the state with the highest taxes in the nation. The Dems/libs will come after him hard led by the left-wing rag the Newark Star-Ledger.

THE BAD:

-A professor whom was denied tenure shot three people in Huntsville, AL. Liberals will paint this as some crazed hillbilly gun nut who clings to religion shooting up a school. They would be lying.

-Obama signs Pay Go--a pay as you go plan-the day after he signs off on a debt ceiling increase of another $1.9-trillion. Yes, with a "t". He's spending us into oblivion.

THE UGLY

-Joe Biden actually had the gall to say the following:

I am very optimistic about Iraq. I think it's going to be one of the great achievements of this administration.

This is the same a-hole who proposed a dumb ass three-state solution and Obama is the one who was vehemently against the surge when President Bush proposed it. The very same surge that cost Bush a ton politically but saved the Iraqi nation and the lives of a great many of our troops. Obama was in the Harry Reid and Murtha camp and didn't trust in our military leaders as capable. After Bush's instincts proved successful and our men and women accomplished the supposed impossible, Biden claims credit for the man who did nothing. The Iraq war wasn't even a campaign issue by the end of the summer in 2008. For the record, the Iraq Victory celebration happened even before Obama was inaugurated.

If I had the ear of prominent Republicans, I would produce ads featuring Obama, Biden, Reid and Pelosi expressing severe doubts about the surge and then add that little claim by Biden at the end. The American people know damn well who won and who will get credit and sure as hell won't be Obama or Biden.

-How much money was redistributed in the name of saving the climate? Trillions and trillions on a claim that has been proven to be hideously wrong. At least we didn't fall for it as much as the Aussie's or Europe did.

A Memorable Day for the GOP

They don't necessarily deserve it and should serve a bit more time in exile for selling out their base by passing the prescription drug bill and running up what were once considered huge deficits (until Obama). But the GOP has been gifted a horrid first year by Obama and generally loathesome Dem candidates in two big races in the last couple of months. We have new life it seems.

First off, Chris Christie took over for Jon Corzine in New Jersey in what can only be a harbinger for the new year. Corzine made McGreevey look sane and centrist with his ultra-liberal policies. Businesses ran for the exits and taxes went sky-high. Christie has vowed to cut spending and if he doesn't thisae state will not elect another Republican for twenty years. I think he'll do okay but he is facing massive deficits and a bloated beuracracy.

The other big event is the possibly impending win by Scott Brown. No real exit polling, only anecdotal info but there's huge turnout. The polls close at 8:00 EST. Much more on this later. It could be a momentous day for us on the right.

Update: The Inquirer didn't even put the Brown-Coakley race on the front page but instead put some drivel about Obama mobilizing his grassroots. The biggest story of the new year is being intentionally ignored by the Inqy. About what I expected.

Monday Night News and Notes

I got the back to work blues and it wasn't helped by that 24-0 ass-kicking the Cowgirls dropped on the birds.

Here's what's new in this crazy old world:

-Perhaps you wanted to by that really special present for your child and just didn't have enough and the chance for the perfect Christmas was ruined because that little extra you needed went to Uncle Sam. Well take heart suckers, your hard-earned tax dollars are being spent well by the new administration and the blood-sucking tick known as NPR on the video below. Shocking that NPR would post something on the servers paid for by us that would offend half the people that pay their collective salaries. Via Ace:


-Fat liberal attacks smarter person in about the way you'd expect.

-It looks like the US Navy is set to get a hell of alot busier in the near future.

-Terri sets it straight. I was about to feel offended that my link was crossed out but she seemed to have an HTML screw-up.

-Maybe I can watch and enjoy The Shawshank Redemption and Bull Durham again now that Tim Robbins has got his senses about him once again.

-Yes, the older of my two esteemed senators is still a complete and utter moron.

-The Gore Effect in all it's glory.

-Go read this at Maggie's place.

Monday Night News and Notes

Here's what's new in the world:

-Not only "hiding the decline": hiding the data.

-Courtney Love loses legal control of her 17-year old daughter. It seems about 17-years too late as she's probably really screwed up after being raised by that friggin' skank.

-If I still lived in California, I'd be embarrassed that I was represented by Babs Boxer. That said; I live in New Jersey and am represented by idiots Frank Lautenberg and Robert Menendez so I guess I can't talk too much.

-Sweeeeet!



-I know proving Al Gore wrong is fish in a barrel easy but the UK press seems to enjoy it immensely:

In his speech, Mr Gore told the conference: “These figures are fresh. Some of the models suggest to Dr [Wieslav] Maslowski that there is a 75 per cent chance that the entire north polar ice cap, during the summer months, could be completely ice-free within five to seven years.”

However, the climatologist whose work Mr Gore was relying upon dropped the former Vice-President in the water with an icy blast.

“It’s unclear to me how this figure was arrived at,” Dr Maslowski said. “I would never try to estimate likelihood at anything as exact as this.”

Mr Gore’s office later admitted that the 75 per cent figure was one used by Dr Maslowksi as a “ballpark figure” several years ago in a conversation with Mr Gore.

Awesome. The Goracle is getting grilled for his scamming and now is pretty much looking like an f-ing moron on a daily basis versus the usual weekly basis.

Sunday Morning News and Notes

NFL picks to follow.

Here's the news:

-Sarah Palin knocks 'em dead at the Gridiron Dinner. The loud and rambunctious Barney Frank was overshadowed; a news event in itself.

-The Inquirer dutifully tells us that Corzine's loss in New Jersey had nothing to do with Obama even though it had a great deal to do with Obama.

-When even Trudy Rubin notes the Obama plan for Af-Pak is going to be construed as weak, you know it's a sign of weakness. Will someone please alert Greg Sheridan.

-Dude, the Tiger Woods story just get nastier and nastier. Why even get married?

-Montgomery Burns had a nice election in NYC and it didn't cost him a penny. No word on what Smithers said about it.

-Dana Milbank, Obama love and broken hopes. The media is inconsolable that the savior of their collective dreams is not exactly what he seemed.

Sunday Morning News and Notes

My son is still playing in the USSSA World Series having played four games in less than sixteen hours yesterday. A win this morning puts them in the championship later today.

Here's what's news:

-The New Jersey gubernatorial race is heating up and Republican Chris Christie has a commanding lead in every poll over incumbent Jon Corzine. This may be an outlier for the 2010 congressional and Senate elections.

-Via Jersey Nut, we have this CNN host looking somewhat dumbfounded that the light of The One does not outshine that of the redneck cowboy living in Crawford, TX:



-Obama heading down the Carter highway? When the WaPo asks, it's time to reassess your policies.

-We all knew it and the Paulistinians voraciously denied it but Ron Paul is a Truther.

-Destroying the economy to save it.

New Jerseyans Go to the Polls

Today we find out who will take on Jon Corzine in the November gubernatorial election. the two leading Republicans are former US Attorney Chris Christie and former Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan. Lonegan is the conservative while Christie is the more moderate.

I voted for Lonegan as he is a fiscal hawk and would at least attempt to cut spending, rein in taxes and cut the government payrolls. plus he won't kiss the ass of every single labor union from Cape May County to Sussex County. The problem is that conservatives just can't get elected in this liberal state and that's the downside of Lonegan. He does edge Corzine by a single point but Christie leads him by nine as of two weeks ago.

Christie on the other hand talks like a fiscal conservative as they all do to win the primary but he's an unknown on spending. He's going to win and that may be a good thing as he's the only one of the two who could beat Corzine come fall. Either we keep a liberal tax and spender akin to all the other former Wall Street bigwigs in the Democratic party (and Obama administration) or we get a moderate Republican. The lesser of two evils.

Turnout is expected to be very low so I guess anything could happen but Christie is up in the polls big.

Let's Put Liberal Tax Policies to the Test

In every recession and the great depression, liberals have always called for higher taxes on the rich. It's been shown that such policies always fail. This recession, however, is different than others. In the current economic climate, we are seeing the so-called "rich" losing money just like everyone else. The meltdown of the mortgage and financial industries has reduced the number who can be considered wealthy dramatically. The press has also been loathe to publish anything that would be contradictory to Obama policies so the debate hasn't even been started.

That's not stopping some states from instituting confiscatory taxes on the segment of the population that government considers wealthy. Those states are the usual suspects including my own state of New Jersey, which has suffered a devastating loss in high-paying jobs due to the previously mentioned economic meltdown since a good amount of executives on Wall St. call the Garden State home.

So let's do a study and see which states make out best. We'll compare New Jersey, Massachusetts, New York, Illinois and California with states like Alaska, Texas and Florida that do not raise taxes and keep policy on the conservative side. Let's see who comes out ahead and who falters. I know the answer as mush as you but it's well past the time we jam in down liberals' throats once and for all.

The Wall Street Journal has a great piece on just what happens when liberal governors and legislatures raise taxes and the response of those who are targeted by the higher rates. It's well worth the time.

Playing Politics With Pay to Play

New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine is in a bind. He's trailing in most polls and faces an uphill battle to maintain the chief executive spot in the state. So what does he do; lower property taxes? Lower the sales tax? Uh no, he cheats:

A sweeping pay-to-play ban that curtails the ability of candidates to raise money - effectively handing an advantage to wealthy politicians who can fund their campaigns - will be tested for the first time in this year's governor's race.

...The untested campaign-finance law was written by former Gov. Jim McGreevey in 2004 just before he stepped down. At the time, McGreevey's administration was awash in a series of scandals.

McGreevey's executive order banned the state from awarding contracts of more than $17,500 to companies in which high-ranking officials contributed more than $300 to a gubernatorial candidate or state or county party organization.

So what does that mean? That means that challenger Chris Christie or Steve Lonegan will be unable to tap into the companies who have business with the state effectively cutting them off and in this state, everyone has a contract where state money is involved, me included.

But Corzine didn't just stop at the McGreevey parameters, he strengthened it more under the guise of stopping pay to play:

McGreevey's order covered contributors who controlled 10 percent or more of companies getting state contracts. Corzine included any partner, officer, or principal of a vendor firm, further limiting the number of people who would be willing to contribute to gubernatorial campaigns.

Because Corzine is funding his own campaign, he won't have to worry much about that law. But independent candidate Chris Daggett and the survivor of the increasingly heated Republican primary will.

Corzine is scamming the system to protect his seat and that is about as anti-American as any law can be. He's put together an elaborate ruse and effectively has shut down his opposition from obtaining money from a major source.

We're not Illinois politics but we're a close second.

Tea Party in NJ

Jersey Nut has pics from the Statehouse in Trenton:

Not bad for a weekday in a city that's not exactly convenient for a lunchtime trip.

New Jersey Tea Party

My home state is hurting as well and Gov. Corzine will have to spend every cent he's got to win. Taxes are going up and jobs are being lost with the earthquake on Wall Street decimating the bedroom communities of North Jersey.

It appears people have had more than enough:

New Jersey 101.5 FM is getting increased reaction too, which prompted the station to come up with its Empty Wallet Convoy so New Jersey residents can show Corzine and the Legislature they’ve had enough taxes, fees, lies and condescending attitude from people feathering their nests with tax money.

Starting at 8 a.m. Thursday, the station’s yellow vans will be collecting empty wallets at rest stops along the Garden State Parkway. That continues until Friday afternoon. The wallets will be delivered by The Jersey Guys, Casey Bartholomew and Ray Rossi, to the Statehouse “in a hearse signifying the death of the middle class in New Jersey.”

And Corzine is doing everything to please his liberal base and make it worse.

Too bad I'm on the other side of the country and can't participate but will post pics once they become available.

Thursday Night News and Notes

It's been a long week, y'all. Tomorrow's Friday so all is well with the world for the most part.

Here's what's shaking across the nation:

The big story this week has been that damn monkey nearly killing that lady (and based on what I've heard of her condition, I'm not sure she has much of a life ahead of her). Simply, monkeys belong in the trees of jungles, not in some demented chick's home in Connecticut. Second, the NY Post cartoon was just a damn cartoon, get over it, Sharpton and assorted lefty losers. I don't recall any outrage when this truly racist cartoon was printed. Treacher has some fun with it.

The specific projects; state-by-state, that are to be undertaken with the stimulus money are released. For my state of New Jersey, the southern part of the state gets absolutely shafted with not a single project due to receive money. And no, North Jersey, Giant lovin', loser, scrubs, Hamilton and Trenton are in Central Jersey, not South Jersey.

Sports is not about winning or losing but life lessons. Go read this please.

Tiger Woods to return at the Accenture Match Play Championship. The PGA just let out a sigh of relief.

Notes the lovely Terri:

That’s right. This Carbon Dioxide is bad, bad, bad, unless we decide to exempt it because the folks creating it are good.

Still waiting for more of those beach shots, Terri.

New Jersey Foodbank Needs Your Help

Yeah, I'm a friggin idiot. I forgot to post this yesterday when 119 other bloggers did not. Job issues are weighing the old brain down.

Read this and watch the video below. We can't let this bank fail:



Please follow the link and read what all the bloggers who remembered wrote, They all joined together for a good cause and we should all thank them for doing their collective part.

NJ Bloggers Unite For a Good Cause

On Monday, 87 New Jersey bloggers will unite to raise awareness and money for the Community Foodbank of NJ. I will be participating because it's too damn important that some should go without proper food in the greatest nation God has ever given man.

Please read more here.

The list of bloggers Deb put together is eclectic ranging from hardcore libs to a blog about beer.

Check back in on Monday to find out how we can lessen the burden on those who are helping feed the less fortunate.