5 million YouTube views

Governor Chris Christie’s YouTube channel reached the 5 million viewer milestone yesterday.   His office released a reprise video in celebration:

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Governor Christie Calls Special Session To Make Case for Middle-Class Tax Cut

Trenton, NJ – Determined to reverse the path chosen by Democrats in the legislature to impose an $800 million tax hike on New Jersey residents, while holding middle-class tax relief hostage, Governor Chris Christie today called for a special session of the state legislature Monday.

In a letter to Senate President Stephen Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver, Governor Christie noted the fundamental choice confronting Democrats in the legislature:

“Continue to move forward by letting people, and not government, enjoy more of the earnings produced by their own labor, or take a step back to repeat the days where taxes are the answer to each and every challenge,” said Governor Christie.

Yesterday, for the third year in a row, Governor Christie signed into law a constitutionally balanced budget that delivers on key priorities for the people of New Jersey without raising taxes – despite attempts to inflate spending and raise taxes.

“That budget, which contained billions of dollars in spending, failed to address the single issue that strikes at the heart of our shared interests, and our continued prosperity. Lowering the tax burden imposed on every New Jersey resident is a matter of unique and critical public interest that demands our immediate and full attention,” the Governor wrote to the legislative leaders.

Beginning with his budget address in February, Governor Christie sought to reach agreement on tax relief and, for a time, received numerous commitments from legislative Democrats to not raise taxes – only to have those commitments pulled back in favor of a massive tax increase. The Governor said in his letter today that he seeks to address both houses of the legislature to communicate his objections to bills which together betray those promises.

The Governor closed his letter to Senate President Sweeney and Speaker Oliver by noting the impending celebration Wednesday of Independence Day. It was 236 years ago that the forefathers recorded in the Declaration of Independence that they had united against the “history of repeated injuries and usurpations” imposed by government, including the imposition of taxes “without our consent.”

“Today, our citizens deserve the same opportunity to decide whether a new direction, embodied in the recommendations I will share, is needed to end the cycle of tax increases that has paralyzed our State’s growth, and stunted our citizens’ progress,” the Governor said.

“When you convene this Monday at 11:00 a.m., I will ask for the opportunity to address your members on the two paths that face all who are fortunate enough to serve as elected representatives.”

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Water Emergency Will Last Until At Least Sunday Evening

The water emergency caused by “a major infrastructure failure” at the New Jersey American Water Company’s Swimming River water treatment plant in Middletown will last until at least Sunday evening, according to an announcement on the Borough of Rumson’s website.

All Monmouth County residents are advised to refrain from non-essential use of water and to boil water before consumption.  Outdoor water use is banned until the state of emergency is lifted.

Governor Chris Christie and Cabinet Officials will be holding a press conference this afternoon, 1:45, at the Wolf Hill Recreation Area, Oceanport to update the public on the water main break situation.  MMM will be there.

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Governor Christie Delivers Third Balanced Budget Without Raising Taxes, Protects Key Priorities for New Jerseyans

Amends Budget to Restrict Spending to Lower Levels than FY2008 and FY2009 Budgets, Provides Sound $600 Million Surplus

Press Release

Trenton, NJ – For the third year in a row, Governor Chris Christie today signed into law a constitutionally balanced budget that delivers on key priorities for the people of New Jersey without raising taxes. The Governor’s Fiscal Year 2013 Budget as enacted spends $31.7 billion, which is lower than the Governor’s originally proposed budget as delivered in February 2012 and lower than the budget passed by the Legislature. This year’s budget continues the return to fiscal discipline and controlled spending, while focusing on funding critical priorities that speak to the needs of all New Jerseyans. The Fiscal Year 2013 Budget is smaller than both fiscal years 2008 and 2009, while still increasing aid to schools to the highest level of state spending on K-12 education in the state’s history.   

Governor Christie said, “The budget the Legislature sent me violated two core priorities of this Administration – it denied tax relief to our hard working, middle-class families while proposing an $800 million tax increase and rejected fiscal responsibility by including millions in new spending that threatened to undo the hard won progress of the last two years. I am unwilling to surrender the gains we have made to establish fiscal responsibility in the state budget by raising taxes on our people at a time when they need and deserve tax relief. The budget I am signing today reverses irresponsible funding decisions, establishes funding levels based on realistic and responsible revenue assumptions, and increases our surplus to a healthy level that paves the way for continued economic growth.”

“The revised budget I signed today would continue to fuel the New Jersey Comeback if it included immediate tax cuts for New Jerseyans. After two hard years of shared sacrifice we’re no longer on the brink of fiscal catastrophe. Because of the tough and difficult choices we’ve made, this year’s budget allows us to make an unprecedented commitment to education, make one of the largest pension payments in our state’s history and fund critical programs that protect our most vulnerable,” said Governor Christie.

Governor Christie put Corzine Democrats on their heels by vetoing $361 million in unnecessary or unsupported spending that threatened to reverse the renewed fiscal health, economic growth and investment of the last two years. In addition to piling on new spending in the budget, Corzine Democrats tried to circumvent the tough choices required to meet a balanced budget by passing additional spending bills outside of the process. As Governor Christie has repeatedly said, spending needs to be accounted for as part of a comprehensive budget plan.   

“This spending as usual is just more of the same mentality that plagued the eight years before I became Governor when there was reckless spending and a cycle of raising taxes and fees every 25 days. We cannot go back to the old way of doing things which got us into a fiscal mess in the first place. Corzine Democrats need to realize that they cannot add millions of dollars in spending outside of the budget when every homeowner, student or family faced with financial choices is spending within their budget,” said Governor Christie.

As a result of Governor Christie’s actions, the budget signed into law today maintains a sound, responsible surplus of over $600 million – more than double the Fiscal Year 2013 projected ending fund balance from the Governor’s originally proposed budget and exceeds the levels in the budget as passed by the Legislature. This sound surplus and the fact that the Administration aggressively manages government throughout the year is a signal that the state’s fiscal health is on strong footing.

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The Return of Corzine Democrats…..and Whitman Republicans

Photo Credit: NJ.com

Governor Chris Christie has taken to the town hall stump declaring that the Corzine Democrats are back.

“In the last couple weeks, we’ve seen an ugly type of Democrat start to rear its head again,” Christie said during a town hall last week. “I think you thought you had slayed this type of Democrat in 2009 — that you had taken the wooden stake and out it through this type of democrats heart. But I am here to tell you today that I fear this type of Democrat has returned to the state legislature. You know what kind of Democrat I’m talking about: A Corzine Democrat.”

The governor will likely expand on the Corzine Democrats theme at his town hall meeting in Brick this afternoon, as he did last evening in his statement about the budget passed by the Democratic State Legislature yesterday:

“With today’s budget, Corzine Democrats reversed course and sent a loud and clear signal that they want to go back to the eight years prior to my administration when taxes and fees were raised every 25 days. After two years without raising taxes, the only way to feed the Corzine Democrats’ obsession is to hold tax relief hostage. I will not allow New Jersey to go back to the same failed policies that nearly put our state over a fiscal cliff. Tax relief for our hardworking families is long overdue and that is exactly what I will continue fighting for.”

But the budget the Democrats passed doesn’t raise taxes once every 25 days.  It doesn’t raise taxes any day.  It also doesn’t reduce income taxes as Christie’s budget proposed.  Nor does it reduce property taxes as the proposal that Senate President Steve Sweeney reneged on would have done.

The budget that the Democrats passed spends $400 million less than the budget Christie proposed.

Christie’s budget would have increased spending 8% with a phased in 10% income tax reduction.  It relies heavily on one shot gimmicks and increased borrowing.  Christie’s revenue projections, which the Democrats have acceptted, are based upon extremely optimistic assumptions that seem to have little grounding in reality. New Jersey’s economy would have to suddenly start growing faster than the rest of the country in order for Christie’s revenue projections to come close.   That sounds a lot like the fiscal cliff that the Whitman/DiFranceso/Bennett Republicans drove New Jersey over in the 1990’s until New Jersey voters kicked them out of power in 2003.

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Jersey Style Appointments and Hearings

Monmouth County Prosecutor Peter E. Warshaw, Jr was nominated by Governor Chris Christie to become a Superior Court Judge on June 14.  The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold his confirmation hearing today.  He is likely to be confirmed by the full Senate before the end of the week, ending his 18 month tenure as county prosecutor.

First Assistant Prosecutor Christopher Gramiccioni is expected to be nominated to replace Warshaw as the chief prosecutor in Monmouth County.  Word in the legal community is that Gramiccioni, a former Assistant U.S. Attorney under Christie, was the governor’s first choice to become Monmouth County Prosecutor in 2010 but that he was 18 months short of the residency requirements.

Former Monmouth County Sheriff Joe Oxley, also former Monmouth GOP Chairman, was nominated to the Court on May 14. Oxley’s confirmation has yet to be scheduled by the Democratically controlled Judiciary Committee, due in part to a Star Ledger report that federal informant Soloman Dwek accused Oxley, Senator Joe Kyrillos and Assemblywoman Amy Handlin of trading favors for campaign contributions.  

Dwek’s allegations were revealed in discovery documents in the civil case of former Hudson County Assemblyman Louis Manzo who unsuccessly sued the U.S. Attorney’s office to recover $100K in legal fees that resulted Manzo’s 2009 Operation Bid Rig indictments. Manzo was accused under the Hobbs Act of accepting bribes from Dwek in exchange for future help in zoning and permit applications should Manzo be elected Jersey City Mayor.  Manzo was running for Mayor for the fifth time when the alleged bribe occurred.  Federal Judge Jose Linares threw out the charges on the basis that the Hobbs Act applied only to elected officials, not candidates.  The Appellate Court affirmed Linares’ ruling.

The discovery documents in Manzo’s civil case miraculously found their way to the Star Ledger in what Kyrillos called an “oppo (opposition research) dump” by U. S. Senator Robert Menedez’s reelection campaign.  Kyrillos is the GOP nominee to unseat Menendez and a minority member of the State Senate Judiciary Committee which reviews judicial nominations.

Expect the Judiciary Committee to schedule Oxley’s confirmation hearing in September or October as the general election campaign is heating up.  Democratic Senator Ray Lesniak has called for Dwek, who is in federal prison, to testify at Oxley’s hearing.  That would put Kyrillos, as a member of the committee and also accused by Dwek of trading favors for contributions, in a hot seat at the height of the U.S. Senate campaign.

In another potential twist in this tangled web, Gramiccioni was one of the federal prosecutors working on the Bid Rig investigations, including Manzo’s, according to Bob Ingle and Michael Symons in Chris Christie: The Inside Story Of His Rise To Power (page 90).  Should Gramiccioni be nominated Monmouth County Prosecutor, as expected, his nomination will also be subject to a Judiciary Committee hearing.

Gramiccioni’s wife, Deborah, is Governor Christie’s Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy and Cabinet Liason.

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Christie: The Corzine Democrats Are Back

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Monmouth Poll: Christie Approval Numbers 51%-35%

By Art Gallagher

Governor Chris Christie’s approval numbers have slipped 5% since February in a Monmouth University/NJ Press Media poll released this morning.

51% of New Jersey residents approve of the governor’s performance compared to 35% who don’t, according to the poll.  Among registered voters, 50% approve of Christie and 38% do not.

In the February Monmouth Poll Christie earned a 52%-38% rating from all NJ residents and 55% to 37% from registered voters.

Today’s Monmouth Poll results are markedly different than the Quinnipiac Poll released last week which indicates that Christie is enjoying his highest approval numbers ever at 59%-36%.

One thing that is consistent between the two polls:  New Jersey residents prefer Senate President Sweeney’s property tax relief plan over Governor Christie’s 10% income tax cut.

I don’t have time this morning to study the two polls to account for the difference and it’s too early to call the pollsters for comment.  Anyone who can account for the difference in the polls before I get to it is welcome to do so in the comments.

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Christie’s Approval Ratings Highest Ever

59% of New Jersey voters approve of the job that Governor Chris Christie is doing, according to a Quinnipiac Poll released this morning. 36% disapprove.

Republicans approve of the governor’s performance by 92%-6%.  Independents approve by 64%-32%.  Democrats disapprove by 64%-30%.

Women give Christie positive marks at a rate of 52%-42%.  Yet the gender gap remains.  Men approve of Christie’s performance by a measure of 67%-30%.

New Jersey’s traditionally Democratic urban areas are evenly split in their assessment of the governor’s job performance.  Christie scored 48%-48% in the cities.  “Philly Land” approves by 55%-38%, suburan areas approve by 60%-36%, ex-urban by 67%-29% and the shore by 65%-31%.

Tax decreases are popular in New Jersey.  

Voters approve of the way Christie is handling the state budget by 58%-35% and approve of his proposed 10% across the board income tax cut by 54%- 32%.   Voter also like Senate President Sweeney’s 10% property tax cut for residents earning less than $250,000 per year by 57%-24%.   If we have to choose, we prefer Sweeney’s plan by 49%-38%.

Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,607 registered voters between April 3-9.  The poll has a margin of error of +/- 2.4 %.

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Will Christie nominate a conservative Democrat to the Supreme Court?

Where would he find one?

This morning InTheLobby calls on Governor Chris Christie to call the Democrats’ bluff regarding their resistance to his plan to remake New Jersey’s Supreme Court into judicial body that interprets the law and away from the destructive unaccountable body that has been legislating a liberal agenda from the bench over the last four decades by nominating a conservative Democrat to the bench.

Last week, after a charade of a hearing for Christie’s nominee to the Court, Phillip Kwon, Senate President Sweeney admitted that what the Democrats really want is a Court packed with Democrats.

By nominating a conservative Democrat, one who doesn’t believe in legislating from the bench,  Christie would be calling the Democrats bluff, says InTheLobby.

Where would anyone find a conservative Democrat in New Jersey? 

What about Marlboro Mayor Jonathan Hornik?

Hornik tells every Republican he meets that he’s really a Republican.  On his facebook page, Hornik apologizes for his Democratic registration.  “Democrat, but the people matter the most,” is how Hornik describes his politics.

Hornik first got elected in Marlboro with the help of Republicans for Hornik.  Members of the Marlboro Republican Committee remain supportive of the Mayor.

Hornik impersonated 12th district GOP congressional candidate Scott Sipprelle in 2010.

Is Hornik qualified?  That would be up to Christie’s vetters and the Judiciary Committee to decide, assuming the Judiciary Committee cares about qualifications going forward.  They clearly didn’t in Kwon’s case.

From a legal career and public service perspective, Hornik’s resume is not all that different from that of Bruce Harris, the Mayor of Chatham whose Supreme Court nomination is currently pending in the Senate.  Both of specialize in real estate, finance and commercial transaction.

Hornick doesn’t have Harris’s academic pedigree.  Harris went to Amherst, Boston University and Yale. Hornik went to University of Delaware and Brooklyn Law.    University of Delaware is good. It’s better than Rowan.  Governor Christie went to University of Delaware, so that might be good for Hornik.  Brooklyn Law is no Yale, but Geraldo Rivera, Percy Sutton, David Dinkins, Larry Silverman, Sheldon Silver all graduated from Brooklyn.

What do you think MMM readers?  Is Jon Hornik a conservative Democrat?  Would he be an activist Justice or and interpretive Justice?

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