Political Stories of the Decade

It was the worst political decade since the last decade.



It's an equal opportunity bashing of politicians, though it left out a couple of notable events. Sadly, there was no mention of Eliot Spitzer or Jim McGreevey, and yet they were two of the biggest political stories (or political disasters) of the decade. McGreevey's apology in particular, was epic for its hilarity and ignored the real reason he needed to exit stage left; he wasn't merely resigning because he was a gay American, but because he tried to put his lover in a position he was wholly unqualified to fill - homeland security director for NJ.

Resolved: The McGreevey Divorce Ruling

New Jersey's long nightmare is nearly over. In a few hours (1PM EDT), we'll learn the terms of the divorce decree between disgraced former Governor Jim McGreevey (D) and his wife Dina Matos.

I have no sympathy for either of these two.

I worry about their kids. Their parents engaged in all manner of smears and outed their private lives for all the world to see. Jim McGreevey used his pronouncement that he was a gay American to cover for the fact that he put a close friend (and supposed lover), Golan Cipel, into a position to become the state's homeland security director even though he lacked experience and wasn't even a US citizen. Graft, corruption, and greed brought down McGreevey's governorship, not his sex life.

The sex angle was the one played to divert attention to the far more serious egregious acts of mismanaging the state and playing favorites with the state's security.

As I've said before, McGreevey did so to deflect attention from the fact that he was a corrupt governor who treated pay to play like it was an EZ-Pass lane.

UPDATE:
Jim wont have to pay Dina any alimony. He will have to pay $1,075 per month in child support ($250 per week). Each side will be responsible for their own health insurance and Jim will be responsible for the kids' health insurance until they are emancipated. The full verdict is here and the annexed opinion here.

A Late April Fool's Joke?

Are you kidding me? Disgraced former New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey, who's currently engaged in a divorce proceeding and has outed himself as a 'gay American' to cover up his corrupt and reckless disregard for the security of the state in pushing an unqualified non-citizen (and supposed lover) to be Homeland Security Director, now wants to be an Episcopal priest.

Former Gov. James E. McGreevey has started the process to become a priest in his newly adopted Episcopal faith and hopes to begin a three-year seminary program in the fall.

McGreevey, who often described himself as a devout Catholic while in public office, was officially received into the Episcopal religion on Sunday, at St. Bartholomew's Church in Manhattan, and is now part of the church's "discernment" phase that usually precedes any seminary work, said the Rev. Kevin Bean, vicar at St. Bartholomew.

"This process that he's in right now, is not going to be some snap of the finger, overnight process. That will not happen. That's not how it works. He knows that," Bean said. "And so at the parish level, and at the diocesan level, everyone knows that this is a process that ... intentionally is deliberate. You don't enter into it unadviseably."


McGreevey has already applied to the renowned General Theological Seminary in Manhattan and is awaiting word of whether he has been accepted to the program there, according to two people familiar with McGreevey's plans, who declined to be identified because McGreevey has not formally announced his plans.

He's already coming under fire for being picked up to teach ethics at Kean University despite his sheer and utter lack of ethics while on the job. Now, he thinks that becoming a priest is the thing to do?

If he's reformed and has found God, more power to him. However, I see him more as a snake oil salesman than a man of God.

New Jersey Politics Daily Dish

Corzine's health condition wasn't as rosy as they were initially reporting. Jammie Wearing Fool was right to be skeptical over the condition.

So far, the doctors - and the governor's staff - have erred on the side of vagueness and optimism.

A week ago, Gov. Corzine's aide Anthony Coley said the governor would be able to resume his duties in "a week or so" - despite multiple and serious fractures suffered in the accident. Cooper trauma chief Steve Ross said he hoped the governor could be weaned from the ventilator "over the course of the next few days."

But today, the governor remains on a ventilator, his chest cavity full of tubes. Two drain blood and other body fluids; two more drip in an anesthetic to reduce his need for intravenous narcotic painkillers.

So how scary is the governor's condition? It's clearly not as rosy as the public was told last week.

In answer to a reporter's question, Ross acknowledged that Corzine may have a "flail chest." This occurs when multiple ribs and sometimes the breastbone are so badly fractured that part of the chest cage is separated from the chest wall. This broken section can't help with lung expansion during breathing.

A flail chest also indicates that the lungs have been badly bruised. The extent of lung injury largely determines the need for a ventilator.

Then, there's the separate inquiry into the driver of the SUV that was transporting the governor. Seems that he'd better get a good attorney considering the direction things are heading. State Trooper Robert Rasinski was driving 91 mph just moments before the crash and an internal review of his conduct is underway.

While Corzine recovers, the State Police Motor Vehicle Accident and Vehicular Pursuit Review Board will be reviewing the crash to determine if Trooper Robert J. Rasinski was at fault, or if the accident was "non-preventable."

The panel usually features six state police officers who are experts in accident investigations and state police training. The panel's findings are then sent to the superintendent, said state police Capt. Al Della Fave. Col. Rick Fuentes, the state police superintendent, is given broad discretion. He can write a disciplinary letter, require a trooper to attend more training, or order harsher penalties, such as suspensions or dismissal.

"It all comes down to the colonel," Della Fave said. "He has carte blanche in terms of his decisions."

Della Fave declined to offer details of disciplinary actions stemming from a board review of the trooper accidents.

While state troopers have leeway to determine whether they can go above the speed limit or use flashing lights, the incident and the way it was initially described to the public has changed significantly:

At first, state police said it was the driver of a red pickup truck that caused last week's crash and that speed played no part in the wreck. Then came word that Rasinski was using the SUV's emergency lights to move traffic out of the way as Corzine headed to Princeton to broker a meeting between disgraced radio star Don Imus and the Rutgers women's basketball team.

On Tuesday, Fuentes said crash data showed Rasinski was going at least 91 mph seconds before the crash. The highway's posted speed limit is 65 mph.

Now police believe that the driver of the red pickup was trying to avoid Corzine's car, believing there was an accident or other emergency. That truck driver moved to the highway's shoulder but lost control and swerved back into traffic. The driver of a white Dodge Ram moved to avoid the red Ford and then struck Corzine's SUV.

Meanwhile, disgraced former New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey, who just signed up to be an ethics professor at Kean University has some issues left over from his divorce with his wife, and which further undermine his credibility as someone who can or should lecture students about ethics. She's accusing him of some quite nasty stuff:

The nation's first openly gay governor exposed his preschooler to erotic and inappropriate artwork, showing that he is a poor judge of what a 5-year-old should see, his estranged wife said yesterday.

Dina Matos McGreevey fired back at former Gov. James E. McGreevey in a harshly worded, 18-page response to his recent divorce filing in Union County Superior Court.

Here's the thing. McGreevey didn't out himself as an openly gay governor because he wanted to. He did so to deflect attention from the fact that he was a corrupt governor who treated pay to play like it was an EZ-Pass lane. He also had no problem putting a supremely unqualified person, Golan Cipel, as head of the state's homeland security department. Cipel was also cited as McGreevey's partner.

Then again, this is New Jersey, so politics and corruption are perfect together.

Jim McGreevey: Ethics Professor?

James E. McGreevey, who resigned the governorship under a cloud of scandal, has a new job teaching law, ethics and leadership at one of New Jersey's public colleges.

McGreevey is now an "executive in residence" -- a combination teaching and consulting post -- at Kean University in Union, where he is earning $17,500. The former governor came on board without any announcement on Nov. 1, Kean officials said, and the university makes no mention of his role on its Web site or faculty directory.

Are you kidding me? This is a governor who engaged in highly unethical behavior, including pushing for a wholly unqualified close associate to become the New Jersey Homeland Security Director, despite the fact that the person wasn't even a US citizen.

Kean University charges $7,500 for in state undergraduate tuition. You aren't getting your money's worth if the university believes that McGreevey is qualified to teach any course on ethics or leadership particularly when he showed extremely poor judgment and no leadership skills in running the state of New Jersey.

Corzine's Health Prognosis Updated Following Car Crash

Gov. Jon Corzine is expected to make a full recovery, but it's going to be a long and painful one. He's physically a wreck with 12 broken ribs, broken sternum, broken verterbrae, broken collarbone and compound fracture to the leg. It will be a couple of months before he's able to walk normally.

They've got him sedated and on a ventilator to assist with breathing which is understandable considering all the damage to his chest. He's going to be in a ton of pain for weeks to come.

Doctors say he's lucky to be alive.

Corzine faces several more operations to fix the compound fracture to his leg.

Ostrum said a rod was inserted in Corzine's leg, and additional operations were scheduled for Saturday and Monday. The injuries were not considered life-threatening, but it would be at least three to six months before Corzine could walk normally, he said.

''He's got a pretty significant rehab in front of him,'' Ostrum said.

Former Governor and State Senator Richard Codey is acting governor for New Jersey until Gov. Corzine is able to resume his duties. Codey has been in this position before - assuming the role of governor when Jim McGreevey was forced to step down over the hiring scandal of Golan Cipel.

UPDATE:
There is some question as to whether Corzine was wearing a seatbelt in the SUV.

Sources tells WNBC.com that Corzine, who was sitting in the front passenger seat of the SUV, was not wearing a seat belt; the state police could not confirm that, but Corzine typically did not wear seat belts. A volunteer EMT who happened to be near by said that Corzine was moaning when he saw him: James Freund told the NY Times, "It looked like the car made a direct impact on the left guard rail and kind of hopped over it.” Another witness told the Daily News that Corzine's legs were "hanging out the window" and that Corzine was screaming, "My leg! My leg!"

UPDATE:
According to the latest presser at the hospital, the answer is that he wasn't. The situation appears to be more serious than they were letting on last night and that Corzine may be wheelchair bound for at least the next six months while he recovers.

Corzine is in critical but stable condition, with more than a dozen broken bones -- including 12 ribs and a femur protruding through the skin of his thigh. A doctor said he is heavily sedated and lucky to be alive.

Hospital sources who did not want to be named say Corzine is in worse condition than is publicly acknowledged, and that he's likely to be in a wheelchair for at least six months.

At the press conference, Dr. Steven Ross, head of the trauma unit at at Cooper, said Corzine is unable to speak.

That last part is due to the fact that he's on a breathing tube to assist with breathing due to the numerous broken ribs and sternum that would make it extremely painful to breath on his own.


Others covering Corzine's accident and recovery: Rhymes with Right, The New Editor, Washington Wire (who notes that Corzine wasn't wearing his seatbelt when the accident occurred), Enlighten NJ (who notes that Corzine is lucky to be alive), Blue Crab Boulevard, Outside the Beltway, Fausta, and Blue Jersey.

Parenthetical Remarks notes that Corzine is the third elected New Jersey governor in a row to break their leg in an accident (Whitman broke her leg while skiing, and McGreevey broke his while taking a nighttime walk on a beach).

UPDATE:
Trackposted to Perri Nelson's Website, Blog @ MoreWhat.com, Is It Just Me?, Adam's Blog, Maggie's Notebook, basil's blog, Stuck On Stupid, Cao's Blog, The Bullwinkle Blog, , Conservative Cat, Jo's Cafe, Pursuing Holiness, Rightlinx, Allie Is Wired, Faultline USA, third world county, stikNstein... has no mercy, The Crazy Rants of Samantha Burns, , The World According to Carl, Blue Star Chronicles, Pirate's Cove, Dumb Ox Daily News, Right Voices, Gone Hollywood, and The Yankee Sailor, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

UPDATE:
Corzine was in a 2-car caravan and the second vehicle, with two state troopers on board, stopped to provide assistance to Gov. Corzine and the other occupants rather than give chase to the red pickup truck that did not stop after causing the sequence of events leading to the crash.

The NJ Pension Gap

Welcome to the world of fiscal accountability in New Jersey. Let's go back to the days of Christie Todd Whitman, who first noticed that there was a pension shortfall of $2.8 billion, and used borrowing to make up the gap. The shortfall was there because prior administrations had failed to fully fund the pension fund.

The problems were only to get worse.

Next up came Donald DiFrancisco, James McGreevey, and Richard Codey, who all ignored the warning signs and the dot.com bust, which eliminated the so-called $5 billion surplus. What did these administrations do? They not only stopped funding the pension fund, but increased the benefits to pensioners by 9%. The combination meant that the discrepancy between what was in the fund and its obligations would not only widen, but accelerate.

The gap is now at $33 billion. That's nearly as large as the state's annual budget.

The blame game in Trenton has lots of finger pointing between the Treasury Department which is supposed to manage such things, and the Legislature, which is required to meet the state's obligations.

Gov. Corzine is not only stuck with this mess, but he's trying to do it on the cheap. Even though he recognizes the problem, he's not fully funding this year's obligations, let alone making up for the shortfall from prior years.

What can and should be done? Well, there are no easy answers, and if you're one of the people who are relying on the pension fund, you might not like the possibilities.

1) Amend state law and the state constitution to reduce the pension benefits to manageable levels and force a shift from defined benefit plans to defined contribution plans. This is the same kind of shift that has occurred in the private workforce, and would alleviate many of the concerns with the pension plan going forward. The problem is that the unions hate these kinds of changes and would fight it tooth and nail every step of the way. I would give the odds on such a change about 100-1.

2) Cut state jobs. New Jersey continues to tack on more state jobs even as the state's population declines. This untenable situation means that the state continues to spend ever more money despite having less coming in. The tax situation is out of whack, and the state spending needs to be brought under control. Cutting state jobs would work, but only in conjunction with other changes. Odds: 50-1 (same problems with unions, but unions have a tendency to hang new workers out to dry and want to protect the entrenched old timers' benefits).

3) Cut state spending and redirect money to pension funds. This means giving up pet projects and other initiatives. That new stem cell research facility? Well, sounds great until you realize that there's no money to pay for it despite it having the backing of the governor. The state must reprioritize its spending habits, and get back to basics.

Fund the pension fund. Fund the transportation trust fund. Address property tax reform and education funding in a comprehensive manner that is not only equitable, but gets the state out from under crushing Abbott rules that have done nothing to improve the education in those areas. Odds 25-1. Abbott rules have court backing and it means the legislature must decide to take on the courts, which is no mean feat. Cutting spending and eliminating pet projects means that the pork doesn't get delivered and campaign promises go unfulfilled.

The article suggests that the state should consider one-shots to get the pension system funded, such as selling/leasing the Turnpike. Funny thing about those one-shots is that they never work. All that will do is reduce the number of assets available to the state and the state will need to make the money up in another fashion. Transportation funding should come from any change in the status in the Turnpike. It shouldn't go into a general fund or address the pension problems. One of the reasons that the state is in this mess is because the state was playing with the money. Dedicated money streams would guarantee that various items would be funded and if there are shortfalls, the difference must be made up from the general fund. Surpluses shouldn't be treated as slush funds, but kept for rainy day for the individual revenue streams.

Property Tax Relief in Sight for NJ Taxpayers?

After some arm-twisting, the state Senate today gave final legislative approval for a measure that promises most homeowners a property tax credit of up to 20 percent. The measure promises $2.2 billion in tax relief, coupled with a 4 percent limit on the amount local government taxes can rise.

The bill was sent to Gov. Jon Corzine.

"Relief is on its way to over-burdened taxpayers," Corzine said. "And we've reached a turning point in reform."

But the governor said he was not fully satisifed, pointing to bills still pending that would ban dual-office holding and regulate campaign contributions in local elections. He also said the state must find a way to reconfigure the way it pays for schools.

"We've made a good step or two," Corzine said. "There is still quite an agenda ahead of us."

Today's vote came about 13 1/2 hours after Senate President Richard Codey (D-Essex) pulled the plug on a failed effort to win 21 votes for the package late last night. He tried it again this morning, and struck gold an hour after posting the bill for a vote.

So, what does the tax relief plan actually look like?

Will it look like anything the politicians promised before November? Will you get a 20% break on your property taxes? Let's take a closer look. The text of the bill, A1 (companion to S20) is here.

The bill sets new limits on the growth of various state and local budgets, but the heart of the property tax relief that homeowners care about is this - the NJ SAVER rebate/credit statute (NJSA 54:4-8.59). The amendments would allow a rebate or credit for the tax year equal to the amount determined as a percentage of property taxes not in excess of $10,000 paid by the taxpayer. Taxpayers whose gross income is not over $100,000, they will see a credit of 20%. Those with income over $100,000 but less than $150,000 will get a 15% credit; and taxpayers with income over $150,000 but less than $250,000 will result in a 10% credit. Special rules apply for homeowners age 65 or older - they can use the standard rules, or apply specified dollar amount credits, whichever are greater.

If your property taxes are currently over $10,000, this credit/rebate will only apply to the first $10,000. Credits will be reflected annually in the August and November property tax bills beginning in 2007. Renters would see relief doubled to $150, and the plan would limit annual property tax increases to 4 percent. A taxpayer must reside in a homestead on October 1 of a tax year to be eligible for the credit.

Here's a couple of examples that will make clear exactly what kind of credit you can expect:

Example 1:
Taxpayer earns less than $100,000 per year and is under 65 years of age. Property taxes are $8,500. The credit would equal $1,700 (based on the 20% bracket) such that the property taxes actually paid would be $6,800. This taxpayer will actually get the full 20% benefit.

Example 2:
Taxpayer earns less than $100,000 per year and is under 65 years of age. Property taxes are $11,500. Since the credit is capped at the first $10,000, the taxpayer (in 20% bracket) would see the taxes reduced by $2,000 to $9,500. This is not actually a 20% reduction in property taxes, but actually 17.3% reduction in taxes.

Example 3:
Taxpayer earns $125,000, is under 65 years of age, and property taxes are $10,500. Since the taxpayer falls into the 15% bracket, the taxpayer would see the taxes reduced by $1,500 to $9,000, because the credit is limited to the first $10,000. The functional tax credit would be 14.28%.

Those taxpayers who are paying in excess of $10,000 in property taxes, which is quite possible in Bergen and Essex counties (among others) will see less in property tax relief than what is promised.

Of course, we've been here before. Gov. McGreevey attempted to get property tax reform back in 2004 along with limits on spending growth, and that ended up doing nothing to stem the growth in taxes.

If the property taxes increases are capped at 4%, how long will it be before those taxes are right back where they are now? 5 years?

This is yet another shell game because none of this deals with the structural deficiencies in addressing the state and municipal budgets. The state can say that they're cutting taxes 20%, but the localities have to make up the difference somehow, so they're going to end up raising taxes against the cap (they have fixed costs such as union contracts and pension payments etc.). The local politicians get to carp against the state politicians for tying their hands and limiting the financial aid to the municipalities. The state politicos get to slam the locals for not doing more to rein in spending. Everyone gets to see the fruits of more revenues come in because the taxes keep rising and taxpayers don't get much in the way of relief.

Note that even if property taxes aren't increased, New Jersey is already paying more in other taxes to fund this: the sales tax increase was passed to fund property tax relief. Simply put, you get one tax to pay for tax relief in other areas. Instead of fixing the state's structural budgetary problems, the Governor and legislature are shifting money around and hoping that no one notices.

Open and Obvious

You could see this one coming a mile away. Former New Jersey governor James McGreevey is filing for divorce from his wife.

As you may recall, McGreevey proclaimed he was a gay American in the process of stepping down as governor because of a brewing scandal over the appointment of an unqualified foreign national as New Jersey's homeland security chief. The person McGreevey appointed was alleged to be McGreevey's lover at the time, Golan Cipel.

The two have lived apart since November 2004, when McGreevey resigned following a stunning public announcement that he was "a gay American" who had had an affair with a male staffer.

"It's a sad day for everyone," McGreevey told The Associated Press Friday. "It is something that had to be done. We are blessed with a wonderful daughter who remains our focus."

McGreevey has been married twice. He has a 14-year-old daughter, Morag, from his first marriage, which also ended in divorce.

The staffer with whom McGreevey acknowledged having an affair, homeland security adviser Golan Cipel, has denied being gay and said McGreevey sexually harassed him. McGreevey said Cipel tried to blackmail him and that he resigned rather than succumb to the man's threats.

This is going to be my trackback posting of the day. Have at it!



UPDATE 2/3/2007:
Trackposted to Outside the Beltway, Stuck On Stupid, Dumb Ox Daily News, basil's blog, Pursuing Holiness, Shadowscope, and Gone Hollywood, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

Has the Foley Scandal Gotten Worse?

What did they know, and when did they know it? Those are the questions being asked about GOP House leaders about what they knew about accusations about improper emails and instant messages regarding Rep. Mark Foley's conduct towards Congressional pages. GOP leaders deny that they knew about the extent of the sexually explicit messages being sent by Foley to former and current pages. House leaders actually take Foley to task for the emails. Yet, they did nothing to strip Foley from his post as Chair of the Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children.

Hastert said he does not remember talking to Reynolds about the Foley e-mails, but did not dispute Reynolds' account.

"While the speaker does not explicitly recall this conversation, he has no reason to dispute Congressman Reynolds' recollection that he reported to him on the problem and its resolution," Hastert's aides said in a preliminary report on the matter issued Saturday.

The report includes a lengthy timeline detailing when they first learned of the worrisome e-mail in the fall of 2005, after a staffer for Alexander told Hastert's office the family wanted Foley to stop contacting their son. Alexander's staffer did not share the contents of the e-mail, saying it was not sexual but "over-friendly," the report says.

Hastert's aides referred the matter to the Clerk of the House, and "mindful of the sensitivity of the parent's wishes to protect their child's privacy and believing that they had promptly reported what they knew to the proper authorities," they did not discuss it with others in Hastert's office - including, apparently, their boss.

After the issue was referred to the clerk, it was passed along to the congressman who oversees the page program, Rep. John Shimkus, R-Ill.

Shimkus has said he learned about the e-mail exchange in late 2005 and took immediate action to investigate.

He said Foley told him it was an innocent exchange. Shimkus said he warned Foley not to have any more contact with the teenager and to respect other pages.

Democrats charged Reynolds did far too little and said more digging should be done.

Of course Democrats will make those charges. It's politics as usual. Yet, there are quite a few Republicans who are angry at the whole situation they're facing. This goes beyond politics.

Ed Morrissey thinks that the GOP have actually figured out a way to make an already bad scandal worse by their conduct in the matter. He thinks that Hastert and Boehner should resign their leadership positions because of their inability to deal with this issue with the gravity they deserve. I concur.

Don Surber thinks that the Democrats and Leftists are a bunch of hypocrites, especially as Jim McGreevey is making a bunch of coin over his relationship with another man, Golan Cipel, who he put in charge of the NJ DHS even though he was utterly unqualified for the position. Instead of treating his resignation as one being due to his ethical lapses and other assorted misdeeds, McGreevey turned his resignation into a claim of being outed as a gay American. Flopping Aces sees this as a Democrat hit job.

I have to disagree. The Foley mess is on Foley alone. That the GOP leaders knew, or had reason to know of those misdeeds and have issued statements that are misleading or inaccurate as to what they knew and when they knew it, makes this about the GOP leaders.


Others blogging: Hot Air, The Shape of Days, AJ Strata, Patterico, John Cole, and Liberty and Justice.

Prior coverage: Rep. Mark Foley Resigns Over Sexually Explicit Emails

Technorati: mark foley, email, congress.

Reflections of the Battle for Ground Zero

Five years removed from the horrible day when the Islamic terrorists destroyed the Twin Towers, killed nearly 3,000 people, and left a gaping wound in the skyline of Manhattan, the media turns its spotlight on the rebuilding efforts at Ground Zero. It's a subject I'm intimately familiar with, having produced a series of 165 postings directly on the subject of rebuilding at Ground Zero.

So, when I see the New York Times write about the inability to build at Ground Zero without taking any of the blame on itself for opining against any reconstruction of office towers there as the Times is silent about its real estate interests along with its partnership with Forest City Ratner, who also happens to be seeking to build a major office complex in Downtown Brooklyn that would compete for tenants against the WTC complex, I get just a wee bit skeptical about what is being written. When I see that the Deutsche Bank building goes unnamed despite direct references to it, I wonder who actually wrote this article.

Where's the mention of Fiterman Hall, another wrecked building that has yet to be deconstructed either and Gov. Pataki and Mayor Bloomberg's silence on its disposition casts a pall over the one permanent structure rebuilt among the ruins: 7 WTC.

Seven WTC was rebuilt out of the own personal fortune of Larry Silverstein, who plowed the insurance payments on the old 7 WTC and built a gleaming new office tower and which is more than 50% rented. While the government agencies dither, Silverstein got the job done.

The Times has spent considerable ink on denigrating Silverstein directly or through intermediaries, and yet that isn't fully addressed here either. This, from the 'paper of record.'

Gothamist has more.

Steve Cuozzo goes over the real estate market, and notes that the real estate market in Manhattan has actually recouped the 10 million sf of space destroyed on 9/11, including new skyscrapers in Midtown, 7WTC and planned space will only add to the amount that now exceeds the available space in Manhattan before the attacks. Cuozzo also notes that more might have been accomplished had Pataki put Silverstein in charge of the rebuilding, instead of spending nearly two years trying to determine who should come up with the design.

All the same, much of the real and perceived progress in developing and planning for the new skyscrapers at Ground Zero could be undone by the next Governor, who takes office January 2007.

At the same time, the downtown community is slowly turning into a 24-hour community, a far cry from the banker's hours that used to dominate the area.

The businesses affected by 9/11 have recovered much quicker than the buildings themselves. Many have relocated to new surroundings, have brought on new workers to replace those murdered in the attacks, or expanded operations. And many stuck to their New York City roots; just under 10% moved to New Jersey.

Relics from Ground Zero.

The FDNY has had to rebuild after the losses of 343 of its members in the attacks, including many of the senior positions.

PBS is running a documentary tonite showing the efforts at rebuilding at Ground Zero.

Steve Gilliard is pissed about the lack of progress at the site, and he has a right to be, although for reasons slightly different than the ones he mentioned. The lack of leadership, from Governor Pataki and Mayor Bloomberg is spot on. Bloomberg was absent on early Ground Zero deliberations, but became involved only after his pet project on the West Side was killed by Assembly Speaker Shelly Silver, whose district happens to include Ground Zero. Bloomberg tried to get Silver on board his West Side Stadium project, but Silver took the money and ran - and opposed the stadium anyway. After that, Bloomberg became more strident in opposing rebuilding all the office space as per the master plan and wanted a reevaluation to include more residential space along with a reduction in office space.

Pataki is done after this year, and his replacement will surely seek to impose his footprint on the rebuilding process. And NJ Gov. Corzine, who took over after McGreevey left office in disgrace to be replaced by Codey wanted a piece of the Port Authority pie, which McGreevey and Codey had largely remained on the sidelines since the attacks did happen in New York City. Corzine's efforts split the Port Authority, and made any dealings between the Port Authority and Silverstein even more contentious because of the NJ and NY factions arguing among themselves. It appears some of those issues have been worked out, but no final deal on site development is in hand.

Technorati: World Trade Center, WTC, Pataki, LMDC, urban policy, Freedom Tower, IFC, International Freedom Center, spitzer, silverstein, mount sinai, respiratory ailment, wtc cough, bloomberg.

That's Gonna Leave a Mark

Two-term Rockland County Assemblyman Ryan Karben, a rising star in state Democratic politics, abruptly resigned yesterday amid what sources said were allegations of improper sexual approaches to young male Assembly interns.

Karben's sudden and unexpected midyear departure shocked many of his fellow lawmakers, but several others - claiming that Karben was under investigation for some time for the alleged improper contacts - said they were not surprised.

A high-ranking Assembly official said he was told Monday by a senior aide to Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver that Karben, who is widely known for frequenting Albany's active night life, "had problems" because of recent allegations that the lawmaker made "unwanted advances" to male interns.

This has shades of disgraced Gov. Jim McGreevey (D-NJ), though it appears that Karben resigned before the more salacious claims could be aired.

The Battle For Ground Zero, Part 111

Critics are once again raising concerns about the safety of the memorial and museum should a bombing or fire occur. The NYT provides maps and schematics of where various exits would be located, and notes that the PANY and LMDC say that security and safety are a primary concern. Families groups aren't so sure.

They point with concern to enormous halls far below street level. Advisers to the Skyscraper Safety Campaign, an organization led by two relatives of 9/11 victims, say that the plan for long transfer corridors between the exit doors and stairwells leading up to street level might prompt some visitors, particularly if they were disabled or out of shape, to reverse course and try get to the wide ramps in the central memorial hall, creating a potentially disastrous bottleneck .

The issue will almost certainly come up today in a hearing called by City Councilman Alan J. Gerson of Lower Manhattan. Although the Council has no authority over ground zero, Mr. Gerson said he was convening the session to get a number of issues involving the memorial out in the open, including questions about the emergency exits.

Less than a year ago, security concerns expressed by the New York Police Department forced a redesign of the Freedom Tower, immediately north of the memorial, delaying the project by months.

City and state officials insist that will not be the case this time.

Meanwhile, the LMDC is providing a livecam of the rebuilding from their offices that face Ground Zero. It's going to show the ongoing progress at the site. It can be accessed at projectrebirth.org.

But before you get your hopes up, Gov. Corzine of New Jersey wants to have his say on the rebuilding as well. As one of the two governors who have a say in what the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey does, he's starting to throw his weight around. Not a good thing at this juncture either. Codey and McGreevey were notable by their softshoeing around the issue at Ground Zero. Corzine's comments are anything but.

New Yorkers may wonder why the fate of a prime parcel of land in their city should be subject to the whims of a neighboring state. One, in fact, whose interests are in direct conflict with New York's.

The fact is that the official owner of Ground Zero is the Port Authority - a public agency created by Congress in 1921 to represent the interests of both New Jersey and New York.

Thick books have been written about this unnatural relationship; space here is limited. Suffice it to say that New Jersey got, among other things, the Port Authority to take over a decrepit commuter-rail system as its price for agreeing to the original World Trade Center - and it clearly intends to exact a price this time, too.

It's just not clear right now exactly what that price will be.

Meanwhile, Jersey officials looking to attract commercial real-estate investment across the Hudson are in no hurry to see anything built at Ground Zero.

Any new construction Downtown represents competition: Indeed, one of Jersey's representatives on the PA board, David Steiner, is a real-estate developer.

Again, it all comes down to money. And New Jersey wants its share, or else it will spike development at Ground Zero so as to favor Jersey City and Hoboken development.

Some family groups want all the 911 tapes from 9/11 released to the public.

group of outraged 9/11 families yesterday said they may return to court to try to force the city to make entire recordings of 911 calls from the World Trade Center available to the public.
With just 24 of the 130 victims who made emergency calls from the Twin Towers on 9/11 now identified by the city, some families told The Post they wanted to be able to listen to all the recordings in the hope of hearing their loved ones' voices.

The city, forced by court order, plans to release only the 130 recordings with the voices of 911 operators - not the victims' voices.

Gothamist also recaps some of the events of the past 24 hours.

Technorati: World Trade Center, WTC, Pataki, LMDC, urban policy, Freedom Tower, IFC, International Freedom Center, spitzer, silverstein.

Are You Ready For Tax Hikes in NJ?

Say your prayers rabbits because we're gonna be seeing some serious tax increases in New Jersey.

Gov. Jon Corzine is planning more than $2 billion in spending cuts, along with major tax increases that could include an additional penny to the sales tax, to balance the next state budget, a top administration official said yesterday.

The cuts include $100 million from higher education and a freeze on state aid for most school districts. That would increase the pressure on municipal officials to raise property taxes and on colleges to raise tuitions.

The cuts are a fraction of the $28 billion budget and don't even scratch the surface of the structural debt inflicted on New Jersey taxpayers by the McGreevey and Codey administrations and their prodigious spending and use of gimmicks to 'balance' the annual state budgets.

Instead, New Jersey has to repeatedly look to raising taxes to just make ends meet. New Jersey imposed a wide ranging and comprehensive overhaul of the corporation business tax in 2002, and the state's fiscal status has not improved with the additional revenue that has come in because spending has continued to outpace revenues.

And even with the tax increases, it's not a given that we'll end up with a balanced budget:

"You are going to hear the howling near and far," said the official, who is familiar with the budget planning and discussed it on condition of anonymity.

The official said Corzine has not settled on the mix of tax increases but that they will generate less than $2 billion. The source said it is "likely but not definite" they will include sales tax changes.

Four other Democratic sources said the governor, who personally briefed Democratic leaders on the budget Monday, is considering raising the 6 percent sales tax to 7 percent and extending it to some untaxed services. Those two moves alone could net about $1.4 billion.

And for someone who claims to want to help the little guy, Corzine's sales tax increases will adversely affect lower class and middle class taxpayers disproportionately. So, how does Corzine deal with that? Raise taxes in other areas to lessen the burden on those citizens at the lower end of the economic spectrum, which may even things out at the bottom, but the higher income taxpayers are getting hosed. As are the higher income municipalities who see less state aid for education and must raise taxes to balance their own budgets.

Nothing is set in stone, but needless to say Corzine will find it easier to raise taxes than he will in cutting the bloated state budget in any meaningful and structural manner that will improve the state's fiscal picture going forward.

And one of the things New Jersey taxpayers ought to look at is whether their representatives are giving taxpayers their money's worth.

EnlightenNJ has more.

New Jersey Budget Blues

We're now learning that the School Construction Fund needs $12.8 billion to make sure that all the projects started are completed. And that's the most optimistic scenario:

The report estimated that the Education Department would need at least an additional $12.8 billion to complete 313 construction projects in New Jersey's poorest urban districts.


But that figure supposes work would begin this year. In five years, the estimate increases to $18.2 billion. In 10 years, it balloons to $29.2 billion. These costs are on top of the $6 billion the state Legislature appropriated in 2000 for school construction.

The 313 projects listed in the report do not represent any of the projects districts requested in their 2005 long-range facilities plans. Instead, they are projects left from the 2000 plans.

The Education Department released the annual report, the first of its kind, to the Legislature in part as a reaction to a state Supreme Court order issued in December 2005. The order was the 14th decision handed down in the Abbott v. Burke case requiring New Jersey to provide a "thorough and efficient" education for all children. An earlier decision by the court mandated that facility upgrades are part of the requirement.

The School Construction Fund is nearly tapped out and the administration of the fund has not done a good job. Not to mention that the Courts are determining what money must be spent, not the Legislature.

The SCC was created in 2002 by then-Gov. James E. McGreevey to speed construction and repair of schools in the 31 Abbott districts, named for the Supreme Court cases.

The state agency has managed nearly 600 school projects. When the SCC had spent nearly its entire appropriation by mid-2005, it suspended all work, aside from 59 projects slated for Abbott districts. Those projects are not included in Thursday's estimates.

Although state lawmakers may be leery of spending more money, the state Supreme Court is unlikely to give them any alternative.

As you drive around the state, you'll find school construction projects that have simply ground to a halt because the money simply isn't there to complete school renovations.

And on top of all those problems, Gov. Corzine is considering calling for a gross receipts tax on top of the state sales and use tax. Corzine would claim that this tax wouldn't affect customers, but anyone with half a brain would know that the costs of the tax would be passed on by businesses to the ultimate user (the buyer). It's yet another sign that Corzine isn't serious about fixing the structural budgetary problems with the state, because all of his proposals are grounded firmly in the proposition of taxing the state out of fiscal trouble.

It wont work.

The state's budget problems include debt that needs to be retired, not refinanced. Specific funds that need to be properly funded with specific revenue sources and not raided in order to balance the general budget. Robbing Peter to pay Paul is not going to fix things. It only pushes the problem ahead, and compounds the problem with higher costs down the road.

The Wife Problem

This isn't much of a surprise, but hell hath no fury as much as a woman scorned. In this case, we're talking about the ex-wife of Sen. Jon Corzine (D-NJ) who is running for Governor of New Jersey.

U.S. Sen. Jon Corzine's ex-wife said yesterday he "compromised his ideals" to get elected by cutting deals with political bosses, and that his pursuit of power "destroyed" their family.

Joanne Corzine said she was reluctantly breaking her silence because her ex-husband is giving an inaccurate portrayal of himself in his campaign for governor.

She's gone on the record as saying that Corzine is in cahoots with the Democratic machine in New Jersey, which is as corrupt as it gets. And she had warned Jon when he first ran for the Senate seat not to get involved with them because of their lack of values, but Corzine did so anyway.

Joanne Corzine had been married to Jon for 33 years before breaking up two years ago over Jon's affair with Carla Katz, who happens to be a union bigwig that received a huge loan that was forgiven by Corzine (a couple hundred thousand dollars). And the union happened to come out in support for Corzine. Go figure.

Now, here's my problem with all this. What exactly does this change in terms of the election dynamic. Not much. Forrester has been slamming Corzine for his buddy-buddy relation with the corrupt Democratic party machine (Norcross) pretty much from the get-go. Forrester has been using his wife in a number of commercials because it separates his family values campaign from Corzine and the prior NJ administration of Jim McGreevey.

Will this last minute revelation change anything? I don't think so, but it does inject a little more spice to the last week considering that the NYC Mayoral campaign is a done deal.

UPDATE:
Enlighten NJ also notes the Corzine family values routine, and says that New Jersey voters have been warned. Yes, they've been warned for years about rampant corruption, and have done precisely nothing to remove the corrupt officials from their jobs.

This Isn't The Race You're Looking For

Jon Corzine has apparently gotten a lot more than he bargained for when he decided to run for Governor of New Jersey. Doug Forrester has basically tied things up. I know there's still quite a bit of time between now and November, but most folks were considering Corzine to win in a cakewalk.

Forrester has proven to be tougher at this point than most pundits gave him credit for. The ad campaign he's run thus far has been impressive. He's managed to run positive ads that happen to take aim at everything that most voters think were wrong with the prior Administration (McGreevey). He notes family values and faith, both of which are sorely tested by Corzine, who has affairs with women that happen to include the transfer of significant sums of money.

Yet, despite the polling data, many New Jerseyeans think that Corzine will pull things out.

That remains to be seen. Maybe New Jersey realizes that cleaning up the mess in Trenton starts with the basics - someone who has their own house in order. Then again, this is New Jersey, where corruption and government are perfect together.

UPDATE:
GOP Bloggers makes similar observations about the race.

UPDATE:
Mr. Snitch also takes note of the polling data and thinks that Corzine has reason to be worried but Forrester needs to be a good closer.

Technorati: corzine, forrester, new jersey.

The Louisiana Reaction Continued

What was Blanco doing, when was she doing it, and why were there delays.

Let's contrast that with the reaction to the impending storm in neighboring Mississippi and Alabama. Mississippi and Alabama were mentioned in the Presidential directives I'd mentioned in yesterday's posting. The Alabama directive is from August 28, and specifically names Baldwin, Choctaw, Clarke, Mobile, Sumter, and Washington counties for relief before the storm hit. The Mississippi directive, also from August 28, specifically names Covington, Forrest, Hancock, Harrison, Jackson, Jefferson Davis, Jones, Lamar, Marion, Pearl River, and Stone counties for relief.

CNN is finally reporting that the American Red Cross was barred from entering New Orleans. However, it stops short of saying that the final word on that decision came from Governor Blanco.

Louisiana state officials from the state's Department of Homeland Security refused to let the Red Cross enter the city to distribute aid. Let me be absolutely clear on this. According to the American Red Cross themselves, it was the state of Louisiana and not the federal government that refused the ARC access to New Orleans to provide food and comfort to those remaining in the city after the flooding commenced. Of course, there were some media outlets that took to blaming the federal government, despite the fact that a simple phone call or email could have cleared that up instantly.

The rationale was that the state didn't want to provide services because that might compel people to remain in New Orleans instead of evacuating the city. What goes unsaid is how those people could possibly evacuate the city as the flooding commenced in New Orleans after the hurricane hit, leaving the Superdome and Convention Center essentially cutoff. If the ARC had managed to get in before the flooding, some of the misery could have been averted, though it would have meant that the ARC volunteers would have been stuck in the flooding as well.

The article claims that the Louisiana government stockpiled supplies for the facilities in New Orleans, but that isn't quite what was reported now, is it? There's a continuing disconnect between what the State Emergency Plan said, what was done, and what is being reported.

Meanwhile, questions continue to swirl around Michael Brown, and specifically about a padded resume. A couple of points. First, did that padded resume aid in his efforts during last year's hurricane response efforts in Florida, which were pretty good by most accounts? Second, whatever happened to vetting people before putting them in office by checking resume sources? To claim to be a professor of a college and to find out that all the guy ever did in the college was take a couple of classes is beyond the usual padding and is a flat out lie. Brown claims that the article distorts some issues. That's nitpicking on his part and he's in no position to argue - his response to Katrina has been inadequate as I've noted before.

He should resign if he isn't fired. Being buddies with the President has its privileges, but it cannot and should not put people at risk because they are not the right person for the job. Cronyism and nepotism are hallmarks of government service - you have to know the right people to get stuff done. It happens under Democrats and Republicans.

But will people please realize that putting guys into important positions like Homeland Security Directors (former NJ Gov. McGreevey - that means not your 'boyfriend') or FEMA director (President Bush - that means your friend who used to raise and market horses) make sure that they are overqualified for the job. These jobs are crucibles. A crisis situation can happen at anytime and knowing that the person for the job can handle it is a paramount concern. The person selected for the job must be capable of making snap decisions, assembling cogent plans before disasters strike, and following the plans (as well as making sure that everyone knows what the plans are).

I know that I'm probably writing this for naught. People will forget about this crisis and think that this is simply how things are and never expect more from their local, state, or federal officials. And they'll themselves forget to prepare for the next disaster, whether it be a natural disaster or a terrorist attack and hope that government bails them out - and whine about the slow response the next time too.

UPDATE:
Michael Brown of FEMA was confirmed by a bipartisan Senate while Democrats held the majority? Democrats confirmed Brown for the job! Advise and consent - a hallmark of Congressional oversight is supposed to vet these people for these kinds of jobs. Why was the resume issue never checked out when the Senate was busy approving him? Are they into rubber stamping appointees? There's even a transcript of the confirmation hearing. He was approved with bipartisan support on a voice vote.

Who fell asleep at the switch? Congress.

Yet, it is some of those same members of Congress who shout loudest about the failures of the Administration and its agencies while Congress not only is supposed to oversee appropriations, but the selection of the political appointees to those agencies. If Congress fails in its duties, then the agencies may be run by people who shouldn't be running them. That's a bipartisan failure - and it is repeated on a near daily basis.

This does not excuse Brown, but if he was not an appropriate choice for the job, why did Congress fail to make that finding when he was up for confirmation?

UPDATE:
John of The Donovan has some more thoughts on the responsibilities and oversight involved in planning disaster response.

UPDATE:
Investors Business Daily looks back on FEMA response during the Clinton years and finds that the response was different - it took more than a month before FEMA (then headed by James Lee Witt) to deal with Hurricane Floyd's path of destruction through the Eastern US. This is just a continuation of failures, though not nearly as bad as first thought.

Those early estimates of 10,000 dead in New Orleans seem to be overstating things a bit. Simulations had predicted upwards of 62,000 dead. Think about that a bit.

I've commented elsewhere that Mayor Nagin and Gov. Blanco will be considered heroes because they led the largest mass evacuation in history. Critics will claim that the numbers of survivors should be the lasting legacy. No doubt that hundreds of thousands of people got out of harms' way because of evacuations, but that does not address the miserable failure of state and local authorities to care for those people who could not get out of the way on their own. I would argue that it is the failure to adequately provide for those unable to provide for themselves - the poor, invalid, or homebound elderly that could not get out of New Orleans on their own, and told to go to the Superdome where there was no long term provisions for them that will be the lasting legacy. And it up to the state and local authorities to make those preparations, not anyone else.

A Colossal Waste

It's been a while since I've railed against New Jersey Transit or New Jersey in general. That's about to change.

I've commented in the past over the boondoggle known as the Secaucus Junction, or Secaucus Transfer, a $450 million project that went over its budget by 100%. Well, alongside that project is a New Jersey Turnpike interchange project that weaves around the Transfer to create a new interchange - Exit 15X.

The Junction does the job of linking all but one of the New Jersey Transit lines so that people in North Jersey can travel to South Jersey simply by going through the Junction. Except that the entire system is now saddled by the huge cost overruns, there is no parking at the station, and limited bus service to the station. In other words, the entire project, which was predicated on retail and office buildings being built over and around the Junction, have not materialized. We're talking a huge waste of money when a simpler solution could have been instituted that would have given the New Jersey Transit more flexibility in their capital and operating budgets.

Now comes word that the interchange is going to be the exit to nowhere, because no one really needs it. In fact, the current administration considers it a waste and it was a carryover of the McGreevey Administration.

And some are wondering if the state will ever be reimbursed for $140 million that Allied Junction's developers were supposed to chip in for the interchange and related infrastructure - but never did.

"The irony is, the people who ride the turnpike are subsidizing themselves to be stuck in more traffic," Sierra Club-New Jersey Director Jeff Tittel said.

Even current New Jersey Turnpike Authority officials say Interchange 15X was an ill conceived boondoggle from a previous administration.

"The deal certainly wasn't good from a turnpike standpoint," spokesman Joseph Orlando said. "By the time this administration took over ... we had already fronted $78 million to the project. What do you do at that point? Stop?"

No politicians stood up and questioned this. No government watchdogs questioned this? Inconceivable.

And yet, we're hearing that New Jersey needs to raise gas taxes to get its transportation trust fund refunded to appropriate levels, and there are other taxes being considered in the future to pay for transportation needs. Well, when we spend hundreds of millions on wasteful and unnecessary projects, what do you expect?

Personalized Stamps Making a Comeback?

I used to be an avid stamp collector. Color me nerd, but it was a great way to learn about the world - history, politics, science, geography, you name it, there was a stamp for it. You had to learn how to distinguish between stamps that appeared to be the same, yet had minor differences that could be the difference between a 5 cent common or a $125 rarity.

So, when the USPS began a program to allow consumers to print off their own personalized stamps, stamp collecting definitely hit the end of the road - after all, how can you collect all stamps from a series or year when people are putting Fido, Max, Spot, Tiger, or Rover on their stamps.

Well, it turns out that people weren't just putting their pets on the stamps. The folks at The Smoking Gun had put a rogue's gallery worth of folks on their personalized stamps including:

Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, the New York couple executed in 1953 for spying for the Soviet Union. On the succeeding pages you'll find stamps honoring Monica Lewinsky's blue dress (the one splattered with Bill Clinton's DNA); Linda Tripp; deposed Yugoslavian ethnic cleanser/war criminal Slobodan Milosevic; MIA labor racketeer Jimmy Hoffa; executed Romanian dictator/Communist oppressor Nicolae Ceaucescu; former New Jersey Governor James McGreevey and alleged gay lover Golan Cipel; and high school and college yearbook photos of Unabomber Ted Kaczynski, who used the postal service to deliver his homemade bombs.

Well, despite that little problem, the USPS is putting this contract out to bid.

Go figure.