Holmdel Democratic Chairman, Tony Orsini, Takes Back Endorsment Of Chris Christie For Governor

A short while ago I received the following email from Holmdel's Democratic Chairman Tony Orsini. The email is essentionally an open letter to the Christie campaign expressing Orsini's desired to take back the endorsement of Chris Christie, which he made back in early January.

At the time, Orsini's endorsement of Christie created a bit of a shock wave around Monmouth County and made for some interesting reading. Orsini was the first Democratic leader to break ranks and throw his support to Governor Corzine's eventual challenger around these parts, and he caught a lot of grief for it.

Now with the election just a few days away, Chairman Orsini has come back to the fold and will vote for Governor Corzine, eventhough it is somewhat begrudgingly.

Below is the text of the email:

I TAKE IT BACK, MR. CHRISTIE

Back in January when Chris Christie declared himself a candidate for governor, I wrote a letter published in the APP endorsing him despite my position as Holmdel Democratic Chair. Probably due in part Joe Kyrillos having a hand in the campaign, Christie showed an inability to address any of the problems facing New Jersey. He also showed intellectual dishonesty in talking about cutting taxes and eliminating the budget deficit both at the same time. Electing Christie would essentially be replacing a “D” with an “R.” The problems would remain.

Mr. Daggett, an independent candidate, was the only candidate addressing the state’s fiscal problems in a realistic manner. Certainly his medicine is a bitter pill, but he is for the most part on the right track. There are no free rides, especially not at this point. But…

Then Christie did something to really tick me off: he endorsed and had his picture taken with Frank Capaci, Republican candidate for Holmdel Township Committee running against incumbent and former mayor Larry Fink. Mr. Capaci, a.k.a. “Frank the Diet Doctor” (“lose 10 pounds in 10 days”) has been a resident of Holmdel less than 2 years. Mr. Fink is somewhat of a local hero being a strong environmentalist and having a hand in preserving over a thousand acres of land and bringing in millions of dollars to that end. Combining that with the fact that Mr. Christie never listed me on his web site as a supporter (while he lists the megalomaniacal Mayor Serena DiMaso of Holmdel) indicates to me his utter disdain for any Democrat and working to build consensus. So pray tell how will he work constructively with a Democratic legislature? NAHT! Worse yet, the Capaci campaign, directed by Mayor Serena DiMaso, has taken an ugly anti-semetic turn.

I will hold my nose and vote for Jon Corzine. Hey, he’s a marine! Print that, Gallagher!

Tony Orsini
Holmdel Democratic Chairman

Taking Responsibility Chris Christie Style

Josh Marshall | October 27, 2009 - Talkingpointmemo

You may remember, about a month and a half ago, another incident emerged in Chris Christie's troubled history driving cars.

Back in 2002, on the way to an event, Christie turned the wrong way onto a one-way street and struck a motorcyclist head on, seriously injuring the guy on the motorcycle. There were all sorts of questions about just how that happened and whether Christie got off easier than your average Joe might have. There was also the small matter of Christie saying he'd never been sued over the incident, despite evidence emerging later that a suit had been filed and then dropped, apparently after an out of court settlement. But there never seemed to be any dispute that Christie ... well, hit a guy on a motorcycle while driving the wrong way on a one way street.

But on Fox & Friends this morning, when asked about the incident, Christie denied it ever happened. "I was not driving the wrong way down a one way street and the Governor knows it," Christie said. "I didn't hit someone, they hit me."

AP: GOP NJ governor candidate's spending questioned

By ANGELA DELLI SANTI (AP)

TRENTON, N.J. — The Republican candidate for New Jersey governor, who has campaigned on a platform of ethical integrity and cutting government waste, regularly spent beyond federal guidelines on business travel while U.S. attorney, records show.
The newly released travel records show that Chris Christie occasionally billed taxpayers more than $400 a night for stays in luxury hotels and exceeded the government's hotel allowance on 14 of 16 business trips he took in 2008.

"Generally, U.S. attorneys, assistant U.S. attorneys and all federal staff stay within the government rate," said Justice Department spokeswoman Melissa Schwartz. "The government rate is not a suggestion, it's a guideline."

Christie said he stayed in more expensive hotels only when cheaper ones weren't available.

"We always went for government rates first," he said. "I don't think there were a lot of stays in five-star hotels over seven years."

The travel records date to when he was sworn in as U.S. attorney in 2002. They were obtained this week by the campaign of Christie's Democratic opponent, Gov. Jon Corzine, under the Freedom of Information Act.

The AP has sought the same records, but the request was made later than the one by the governor's office and hasn't been fulfilled.

The limits are updated regularly to reflect inflation, seasonal price jumps and other economic realities of business travel, Schwartz said. Federal employees who exceed the allowance are required to explain why, though the justification merely requires an extra layer of approval that is routinely granted.

On trips in 2007 and 2008, his top deputy, Michele Brown, also exceeded the guidelines after Christie approved her requests for rooms in the same five-star hotels where he was booked.

The vouchers show Christie and Brown stayed at the NineZero Hotel in Boston on Oct. 16, 2007 and each billed taxpayers $449 plus taxes and fees for their rooms, more than double the government allowance for a Boston hotel room at the time, according to a General Services Administration travel reimbursement table.

A liberal ethics group called Christie's travel history "astonishing," noting a stay at the Four Seasons in Washington, one of the city's best hotels.

"I'm sure he knew better, and he chose to ignore the rules," said Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. "There is never a situation where the only available hotel in Washington is the Four Seasons. If you stay there, you've chosen luxury and you've chosen to ignore the rules."

The ethics group has also filed a complaint alleging that Christie violated federal law by discussing a possible run for governor while he was U.S. attorney, but federal officials declined to investigate because Christie is no longer a federal employee.

The former federal prosecutor submitted a waiver for the room in Boston, as required. In it, he requested additional lodging expenses because there were no rooms available at the $203 per night government rate "due to a high demand for rooms."
Christie made a mortgage loan to Brown five days after they returned from Boston, on Oct. 22, 2007. He failed to report the loan on federal ethics forms and on his 2007 federal income tax returns, omissions he later described as a mistake. Brown has since resigned and joined a private law firm.

Christie is locked in a tight race against Corzine, an unpopular governor bidding for a second term, and independent Chris Daggett. Christie has campaigned on his record of putting corrupt politicians in jail.

Records turned over so far show Christie exceeded the government lodging allowance on 23 of 30 business trips taken between 2004 and 2008. In some cases, his travel vouchers were approved first by Brown, then certified by a third person. Christie, who was Brown's supervisor, signed off on her travel, either in advance or when she submitted vouchers, the records show. The vouchers were all certified by a third party.

Christie's hotel tab exceeded $400 per night on four trips. A night at the Four Seasons in Washington in October 2008 cost taxpayers $475; five nights in London were $401 each for Christie and Brown, the records show.

The federal government policy manual states that employees "must exercise the same care in incurring expenses that a prudent person would exercise if traveling on a personal basis." The guideline says the agency will not pay for "luxury accommodations" or unjustified services.

Democrats were quick to condemn the travel expenses.

"It is outrageous that Mr. Christie made taxpayers foot the bill for his excessive and luxurious travel accommodations around the United States and to foreign countries, while his only job responsibilities were in New Jersey," said Corzine campaign spokesman Sean Darcy.

Corzine, a wealthy former Wall Street CEO, does not take a salary for being governor and pays for all his own travel, Darcy said.

Women Turn Away From Christie Over Mammogram Issue

NewJerseyNewsroom -

Democracy Corps poll finds Corzine now ahead of Republican challenger by 3 percentage points

With less than four weeks remaining before Election Day, a new Democracy Corps poll made public Thursday gives Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine a 3 percentage point lead over Republican challenger Chris Christie.

Corzine leads 41 percent to Christie's 38 percent with Independent Chris Daggett garnering 14 percent, his highest level yet.

Earlier in the week, another poll showed Corzine with a 1 percentage point lead.

The poll found that a barrage of criticism by Corzine's campaign over Christie's position on insurance coverage for mammograms for women turned potential women voters, especially independent women, against the Republican.

The poll was conducted for Washington-based Democracy Corps by Greenberg Quinlan, Rosner Research. James Carville and Stan Greenberg, who run the non-profit Democracy Corps have worked in the past as Democratic Party strategists.

The poll found Corzine has consolidated the vote among his base, crossing the 80 percent threshold among Democrats and winning for the first time more Democrats that Christie has Republicans.

The poll also found Christie's standing has declined markedly in the last two weeks, with 42 percent now rating the Rep ublican as unfavorable versus 30 percent who rate him favorably. The 12-point favorability decline equals a 10-point decline from two weeks ago.

Corzine is rated favorably by 37 percent of voters and unfavorably by 46 percent.

The poll states, "As he faced a withering assault from Corzine and independent groups over the issue of insurance coverage of mammograms, Christie has lost significant ground with women, especially independent women. He now posts a net favorability rating of -19 with women, down from -7 two weeks ago. Among independent women, the drop is even more pronounced: from -7 two weeks ago to -34 today, with half the independent women giving him an unfavorable rating. This has clearly benefited Corzine in the vote as the governor now leads among women by 14 points, up from 6 points two weeks ago.''

Daggett is identified by 45 percent of voters, an increase of 16 points over the last two weeks, though his overall favorability ratings remain only lukewarm at -4 points, about where he has been since the poll began tracking the race in August.

The poll was conducted Tuesday and Wednesday among 614 likely voters. The margin of error is plus or minus 4 percent.

Breast Cancer Survivors Tell Christie: We Are Not An Exception

If Chris Christie still feels it is OK to have "mandate-free" health insurance policies written in this state, than he needs to take a look at this latest video From the Corzine campaign.

In this video, Breast Cancer survivors speak out to tell Mr. Christie that mammograms and other forms of preventative procedures are not only necessary but essential in early detection and the prevention of not just Breast Cancer but all forms of cancer.



Two people that I would like to point out to anyone who watches this video are Monmouth County Freeholder Amy Mallet, who as a 19 year old was the victim of Breast Cancer and my wife Debbie, who completed her treatments of chemotherapy and radiatoin in June of this year.

Without mammograms and other proceedures being mandated as part of insurance policies here in the New Jersey, who's to say that Amy Mallet, my wife, or others in their situation would be here today to tell us their stories.

Gubernatorial Debate: Deep Thoughts On The Outcome

Deep thoughts? Hardly, but a few quick thoughts none-the-less.

I tuned in late to tonight's New Jersey Gubernatiorial debate between Governor Jon Corzine and his challangers Republican Chris and Independent Chris Dagget, so I missed opening comments and the first few questions.

What struck me first and foremost was the rapid-fire pace of the questions and answers. I wasn't satisfied with a number of answer to questions by the candidates because a 1 minute responses with a 30 second rebuttal was just not enough time to develop ideas or to get a good feel on certain positions held on issues.

I feel that Jon Corzine did a good job at being Jon Corzine, that is someone who is confident and compassionate in his ideas and convictions. He didn't shy away from his record, he defended it! Overall I think he did a good job at highlighting his efforts to fund education, child health and dealing with the economic recession.

Chris Christie needed to hit a homerun tonight but only made it to second base. He seemed uptight at first and ready to explode at any moment. It seemed as if he was ready for a real fight but it never came. The lighting in the studio didn't help him much either because it seemed that his eyes were constantly in shadows, which made him look sinister and menacing during portions of the debate. Christie stuck to his game plan of not giving details or specifics on his various polices. He never said how he would cut taxes or revitalize the economy other that stating that he would cut taxes by reducing state spending. He never said what he would stop spending money on or how it would naturally reduce taxes. And he spent most of the night attacking Independent Chris Dagget's newly release economic plan.

Chris Dagget just may have won this debate. He was engaging, personable and specific in his policy proposals, something that Christie was not. It also seemed as if Chris Dagget and Jon Corzine were in cahoots together against Chris Christie. More often than not, Dagget agreed with Governor Corzine's positions rather than Christie's, which seemed to take Christie by surprise somewhat and made him address Dagget more so than Corzine the incumbent.

While Dagget may not have a real chance to win this election he did give people something to talk about. More than likely after opinion polls start to roll in, we will find that Dagget has taken a couple of points away from Chris Christies lead and that Jon Corzine has solidified the support from undecided Democrats which will add a 1 or 2 percent to his poll numbers.

So even though Christie may not have performed badly tonight, he could be the big loser.

New Corzine Video: More to Do

The Corzine campaign released another new video yesterday that very well maybe the most positve one so far from the Governor's campaign.

"More to Do" highlights how Governor Corzine has been fighting for what matters in these tough economic times- having the lowest property tax increases in the last decade; increasing funding for education, while cutting the state budget; expanding healthcare for all of New Jerseys children; and investing in creating new, good jobs.

Given these accomplishments, Governor Corzine emphasizes that there is more work to do and that he will continue to fight to make Jersey a better place to live and raise a family.

N.J. banks add 38 branches, 3,800 jobs as market widens: Good News For Corzine

For anyone who may doubt that the economy is beginning to turn around, there is some more good news about job creation here in New Jersey. During the past year 3,800 private sector banking jobs have been created due to the easing of credit and more loans being made.

This good, positive news for the Corzine campaign to build on because it shows that dispite recent NJ unemployment numbers hovering around 9% job creation has started to rebound.

From NJ.com:

With auxiliary lending businesses going bust, New Jersey banks were able to expand their reach, opening 38 branches and adding 3,800 jobs over the past year, the state banking department said Wednesday.

The number of bank employees in New Jersey rose from 17,203 in June 2008 to 21,003 in June 2009, and state bank lending increased 11 percent from $88.7 billion to $98.9 billion over that period, the state Department of Banking and Insurance said. Banking employees had been going down for several years.

Bank representatives said they picked up lending business when other avenues for consumers shut down, such as mortgage brokers. The secondary market for buying mortgages dried up over the past year, leaving brokers without a place to sell loans they made.

By contrast, some community banks hold onto some of their loans and do not resell them, said Neil Jasey, commissioner of the banking and insurance department.

The number of employees at New Jersey banks fell from 20,616 in June 2006 to 19,697 in June 2007, before hitting 17,203 last year, the department said.

Number of New Jerseyans without health insurance dropped by 11 percent in 2007-08

The newjerseynewsroom.com published an artilce today detailing how the number of New Jerseyan without health insurance dropped more than 11 percent thanks mainly to the efforts of Governor Corzine and the NJ Health Care Reform Act of 2008, which he signed into law in July.

The NJ FamilyCare Program is a free or low-cost program for income-eligible families. A family of four earning up to $77,175 or 350 percent of the federal poverty level, can qualify to insure their children for about $130 a month in the state and federally funded program.

Below is an excerpt from the Tom Hester's column at the newsroom followed by a video released earlier today by the Governor's office which announced the remarkable drop in the number of uninsured New Jerseyans:

"The number of New Jerseyans without health insurance decreased by more than 11 percent or by 147,000 individuals, the second largest reduction in the nation between 2007 and 2008, Gov. Jon Corzine said Monday.

At the same time, the number of uninsured in the United States rose by 1.5 percent, according to a U.S. Census report on the income, poverty and health insurance coverage nationwide in 2008.

Corzine credited what he described as aggressive initiatives aimed at enrolling the uninsured for the declining New Jersey rate. He also credited the decrease to the landmark New Jersey Health Care Reform Act of 2008 that he signed into law in July, which expanded health insurance eligibility and provided more access to affordable health insurance for children.

"Families cannot build a strong economic future for their children without stable, secure and affordable health insurance and that is what our administration has been working to accomplish," Corzine said.

"In New Jersey, we are setting the national standard to ensure our families have secure and affordable health care and our children have a healthy start in life. We have ramped up our enrollment efforts and worked fervently by expanding NJ FamilyCare to include a child mandate. We said, ‘No,' to the Bush administration when it tried to cut 10,000 kids out of New Jersey's Family Care Program and we have implemented a new Express Lane option to reach and enroll every eligible child. Providing access to affordable health insurance and expanding eligibility has and will continue to be a priority of my Administration."..."

Read more >>> Here

Obama To Make Corzine Campaign Appearence

President Obama will be coming to New Jersey on July 16th to give the Corzine campaign a lift.

The President will join the Governor and other dignitaries in New Brunswick, at Voorhees Mall on the campus of Rutgers University.

In the email that announced the President's visit Governor Corzine states:

" I've written to you before about the importance of keeping our hard-won progressive victories from November going and about moving New Jersey forward in-step with the Obama Administration.

Now, I want you to hear it directly from the President himself.

Vice President Biden was already here and got our campaign started with a bang. On July 16th, President Barack Obama will join me at Rutgers University in New Brunswick to help to kick our campaign into a whole new gear.

President Obama isn't just a close friend of mine; he's a great friend to our state. After eight long years, we finally have a partner in Washington who shares our values and vision for a more progressive New Jersey.

Together, we are creating green jobs, providing universal access to healthcare for kids, protecting the most vulnerable among us, and ensuring all our children have access to a quality education -- regardless of where they live.

We are doing all of this despite a challenging worldwide economic crisis, and I'm proud of the great progress that Barack Obama and I have already have made.

But we still have more to do, and with a partner in Washington who shares our values and priorities, I'm confident in what we can accomplish in the next four years.

I'm honored that President Obama will be on hand in New Jersey to recognize the important work we're doing, and I hope you will join us."

If you would like to join President Obama in his support of the Governor's re-election you can RSVP >>> Here to reserve free tickets for the event

NJ Assembly Dems Weekly Budget Message

In this video press release, Assembly Budget Committee Vice Chairman Gary S. Schaer (D-Passaic) discusses the priorities preserved in the proposed fiscal year 2010 (FY2010) budget in the first of a series of weekly addresses on the budget.

Schaer's comments came as the Assembly Budget Committee received budget overviews from the state Department of Treasury and the nonpartisan Office of Legislative Services.

It's About Doing The Right Thing

Here's a nifty little video I found on Governor Corzine's Youtube channel, its 53 seconds long and touts his budget proposal. I like it.

Below is the description that tells about the content of the video
(Just wondering, would anyone know what the music that accompanies this video is?).

Jon Corzines FY2010 Budget does the right thing.

It cuts $4 billion in spending while protecting education, healthcare and those hit hardest by the national recession.
He is the only Governor in 60 years to reduce overall spending during a four-year term. Not Whitman, Not Byrne, Not Kean or McGreevey, not nobody. Only Jon Corzine

How'd he do it? Eliminated Budget Gimmicks, Ended Christmas Tree Spending, Made Government More Efficient, Ended Program that Dont Work, Focused on Priorities

Even though this budget cuts $4 billion, it adds $300 million for school and $25 million for early education. It adds $193 million to Family Care and $113 million to mental health and disability support. It preserves property tax rebates for seniors and 80% of NJ Households.

Its about priorities, Its about doing the right thing.

Governor Jon S. Corzine :Doing What's Right

The following is a letter from Governor Corzine that I received in my inbox a few hours after he presented his budget to the State Legislature yesterday:

Friends-

Today, I submitted my executive budget for the 2010 fiscal year to the people of New Jersey. I take this responsibility seriously, and though this is my fourth budget, I remain as committed to doing what's right for the long-term economic health and prosperity of our state as I was when I submitted my first.

Because of the additional challenges facing our state brought on by the national financial crisis, I approached this budget with three primary objectives:

Protect education, health care and the state’s most vulnerable. I have proposed adding $300 to state aid for schools, $25 million in new aid for pre-k expansion and $149 million for Family Care. I've also proposed over $1 billion for 1 million New Jersey residents through direct property tax relief by insuring that Seniors receive the same property-tax rebates as last year, and preserving rebates for non-senior households earning $75,000 or less.

Allow New Jersey to remain ahead of the national economic crisis. This is my smallest budget since becoming Governor, with over $4 billion in cut spending. I have cut the operational costs of state government by more than $380 million, and reduced 850 line items, including proposed wage freezes and furloughs for state workers that will save our state hundreds of millions of dollars (because I believe that is a better to keep people employed and insured than on unemployment lines and Medicaid rolls). I have also asked the most fortunate in our society should pitch in, which is why I'm slightly increasing the income tax rate for the just-over 1 percent of New Jerseyans earning over $500,000.
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Prepare NJ to capitalize when the national economy rebounds. My Economic Assistance & Recovery Plan introduced last fall, in partnership with the Legislature, provided relief for those that need it now, while dramatically improving the State’s business climate and creating a jobs program to pave the way for a better tomorrow. I have worked hard to bring fiscal responsibility to Trenton by eliminating gimmicks, implementing spending cuts and making government itself more efficient and affordable. As such, New Jersey is well positioned to deal with this national crisis, and when the tide begins to turn we will be able to quickly put people back to work and increase funding for the programs that we all value.

We anticipated this downturn last year and cut the budget last year by the largest amount ever, setting the table for this budget. I am proud that we have be able to balance the most difficult budget in state history without a broad-based income or sales-tax increase and without hurting the people hit hardest by the recession.

But this isn't about me. This is about not shying away from the difficult decisions and doing what's right for the families of New Jersey.

I have laid out a clear set of priorities for the state, and put us on a path that I believe will keep New Jersey ahead of the curve in handling the national financial crisis. I've had to make some tough calls to forge this honestly-balanced budget, but I believe that this budget maintains our core values as a State by ensuring that we continue to nurture our children, honor our seniors, and protect the most vulnerable among us.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts, ideas, and reactions in the weeks ahead, and I thank you for your continued support.

Governor Jon S. Corzine

Assembly Democrats Commentary on 2009 Budget Address

Status Of State Economies: Gov Corzine on Face the Nation

Bob Schieffer spoke with New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels and Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland about the economic situations in their respected states.

Some interesting New Jersey budget numbers thrown out by Bob Schieffer while questioning Gov. Corzine about the impact of the current economic crisis was as follows; Expected sales tax revenue $ 8.5 billion (a shortfall of $653 million), State income tax shortfall of $1.45 billion, with a total drop of budget revenues of $2.8 billion expected.

Gov. Corzine said that revenues have dropped off by 8%-9% and he expects to take the economic stimulus money when made available from the federal government. He mentioned that he would use the money to help education, healthcare and infrastructure throughout the State. The Governor also mentioned that by taking the stimulus money offered by the President Obama, 100,000 jobs will be created or saved throughtout New Jersey.

Interestingly, Indiana (R) Gov. Mitch Daniels said that he will also take the stimulus money being offered by the Obama administration to invest it for later uses.

Governor Corzine on Face the Nation

Here's a heads up, tomorrow morning Governor Jon Corzine will join Ohio Governor Ted Strickland to discuss the Economic Stimulus Package that President Obama signed into law this past Tuesday and the positive benefits it will have for our states.

It airs live on CBS at 10:30 am.

Governor Corzine talks about how the Economic Stimulus Package will benefit NJ

Governor Corzine discusses a recent spate of positive economic news in New Jersey and how President Obama's economic stimulus package will help the state on CNBC this morning

Part 1


Part 2

Democrats on right side of affordable housing debate; Republicans only offer re-establishment of regional contribution agreements

The following commentary appeared in today's Asbury Park Press and was written by Vincent Solomeno. Vincent is a life long bayshore area resident and a Monmouth County Democratic committeeman from Hazlet.

For those of you who do not know Vincent, he was named one of “50 Rising Stars in New Jersey Politics” by Politicker New Jersey, he has managed or worked on local, state, and national campaigns. He has worked for Congressman Frank Pallone.

In 2006, Vincent became a Truman Scholar and in 2007, he was selected as a J. William Fulbright Scholar to the Netherlands where he earned a Master of Arts in European Studies at the University of Amsterdam. A Distinguished Military Graduate (DMG), he is a Second Lieutenant in the United States Army Reserve and is training to become a Combat Engineer. 

So when Vincent has an opinion about something it's worth listening to, he is not some loony liberal trying to push mandates down our throats. He is an extremely intelligent and distinguished member of the Monmouth County community who's thoughts and ideas  should be considered:

Democrats must be able to transform the statewide mandate of the Council on Affordable Housing or else be ready for Republican criticism that may diminish Democratic support among suburban voters.

Ex-Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan recently traveled to Freehold to stump for votes in his campaign for the Republican nomination for governor. He likened his campaign to the American Revolution and compared Gov. Jon Corzine and the Democratic majorities in the Legislature to the tyrants of Europe and Asia.

The 21st-century Gen. George Washington continued with a blistering attack on COAH and promised that, when the general election is through, the self-financed Corzine will be living in one of the program's 40,000 units.

November's election not only will determine who occupies the front office in the state Capitol. It will test New Jersey Republicans' ability to make inroads into the Democrats' legislative majority. Unless Democrats present a compelling narrative for affordable housing, COAH and its cumbersome regulations have the potential to unite the feuding factions of the GOP and erase Democratic gains in suburban battlegrounds.

From a policy perspective, the need for affordable housing remains as clear today as it was when the Supreme Court ordered state action on the issue in 1984. According to the U.S. Census, New Jerseyans pay 30 percent or more of their income for housing, the fourth highest percentage in the nation. However, members of both parties recognize that in its current form, COAH often results in continued overdevelopment and an increase in property taxes.

Democrats in the Legislature have indicated their willingness to take on the challenge. As chairman of the Economic Growth Committee, Sen. Ray Lesniak, D-Union, introduced legislation (S2485) that directs the state Housing Commission to consider the impact of its assessments on local property taxes.

Lesniak also wants COAH to provide housing not only to low-income individuals, but to those in the middle class who do not qualify for the program but nonetheless struggle with New Jersey's high cost of living. Called "work-force" housing, the change would allow individuals such as secretaries, firefighters and recent college graduates to qualify for assistance.

In his recent State of the State address, Corzine indicated his willingness to "allow for maximum flexibility and ample time for collaborative review" of affordable housing plans. The governor and Democrats will face the challenge of articulating the need for COAH regulations to a public leery of continued development.

Affordable housing may be an issue that Republicans can use to their advantage, but thus far they have offered no policy alternative other than S2292, a bill re-establishing the regional contribution agreements that circumvented the intent of affordable housing in the first place. Their advocacy of a return to the failed status quo does nothing to address the real problem.

New Jersey is a "blue" state and New Jersey Republicans are a party rife with ideological divisions. Criticism of COAH presents them with an issue they can rally around. However, they will need more than rhetoric and stale policy to convince voters they can solve the problem. Democrats have demonstrated a willingness to ease the burden on municipalities without abandoning a commitment to providing affordable housing. The remaining challenge for lawmakers is to deliver reform.

Governor Corzine Discusses Economic Stimulus Package with Andrea Mitchell on MSNBC

In case you missed it yesterday, here is the video of Governor Corzine Discussing the Economic Stimulus Package with Andrea Mitchell on MSNBC.

Assembly Democratic Budget Panel Members Commentary on Mid-Year Budget Cuts

In this video press release, Democratic members of the Assembly Budget Committee discuss the need to make mid-year budget cuts.

Earlier this month, the Corzine administration released a list of $812 million in planned budget cuts, selected as part of a larger plan to deal with an estimated $2.1 billion shortfall in the current year budget.