My Support For Corzine: It's About Values

Now that Labor Day has past and the kids are back in school, the days are getting shorter and the nights a bit cooler, autumn is in the air, the leaves on the trees are changing color and people are starting to pay attention and notice the change. Another thing people are beginning to notice as summer turns to fall is that campaign season has begun in earnest.

With 18 days to go before Election Day family members, friends, colleagues and people on the street are not only asking who is running for office this year but who they should vote for. This year though, along with numerous local and state assembly seats up for grabs, New Jersey will be electing its governor.

New Jerseyans will have 3 candidates to choose from this year, current New Jersey Governor, Democrat Jon Corzine, is seeking re-election and is being challenged by Republican Chris Christie and Independent candidate Chris Daggett. When I am asked whom I will vote for and why, I am proud to say that I will be voting for Jon Corzine.

Why will I be casting my vote for Jon Corzine? It’s simple really, Jon Corzine best reflects the values that I believe in and that is what I tell others to consider when deciding on who to vote for.

As a progressive democrat, education, health-care, and fiscal responsibility are a few of the values that I hold dear and so does Governor Corzine. We also share a belief in and a desire to stand on our principles whether or not they are popular.

Jon Corzine knows that our children represent our future and that is why he has invested over $1.8 billion since 2006 in education while reducing the overall size of state government. He changed the formula for school funding so that money is more evenly distributed across the state and is increased for special education. He has championed the importance of early childhood education and for his efforts; New Jersey now leads the nation in preschool enrollment.

While the nation argues over health-care reform and whether or not to provide universal coverage to all, Jon Corzine enacted a child health care mandate that according to the governor’s website “expanded NJ Family Care to qualify 80,000 previously ineligible children, bringing the total number of insured kids to more than 570,000. The Governor also expanded access to Family Care for parents of enrolled children earning up to $40,000.”

As New Jersey’s governor, Jon Corzine had the foresight to see the recession coming and put together his own economic recovery and stimulus plan before anyone else, which has place the state ahead of the others in lessening the effects of the current economic recession.

Over the past two years Jon Corzine has reigned in spending and reduced the size of the state budget to become the only governor in the past sixty years to reduce the size of the government. He did this and was still able to increase funds for education and children’s health care.

Property taxes are always a big issue here and a real problem for many individuals. As we all know school taxes make up roughly 55 percent of our property tax bill each year, as governor, Jon Corzine has been able to hold the line on property taxes. Increases in the property tax rate has been slowed to just 3.7 percent in recent years, the lowest it has been in over a decade.

One reason for the slow down in the rise of property taxes has been Corzine’s investments in the education system. Prior to the Corzine Administration, the average school tax levy was 6%. This year, the school tax levy was 2.65%.

Over the past 4 years as governor, Jon Corzine has provided $7 billion of direct property tax relief to the residents of New Jersey; more than any other in history.

Jon Corzine is a governor who has the right priorities and the right set of values for me. He is exactly what New Jersey needs right now - a tested and experienced leader.

It is because he has the courage to do what is right, not what's just popular at the moment and I believe, he genuinely cares about helping New Jerseyans that I will be voting for Jon Corzine’s re-election on November 3rd.