Not happy with how Democrats are running NJ, a Cranbury Republican wants change

[Fixin NJ Politics]

New Jersey Republicans who want to see a more organized effort to recruit candidates for local and statewide office have a new organization to look for help from.

A new Political Action Committee seeking to get the GOP moving in the Garden State. The PAC is called Building the New Majority.

It's geared towards developing and grooming Republicans who might consider running for anything from township committee to state Senate.

John Crowley, the CEO of a biotech company based in Cranbury, is the honorary chairman of Building the New Majority.
He says the PAC will build a grassroots network and push to restore transparency and accountability to all levels of government in New Jersey.

As it stands the democrats have a four person majority in the state senate and an eighteen member majority in the assembly.

[Stop the Whining]

[Guest]

The problem with NJ govt has nothing to do with party affiliations. It has to do with corruption. The system is broken. Good luck "fixin" it tho.

[Centrist]

I disagree with that comment that party affiliations have nothing to do with the state. NJ is run by Democrat power brokers and until those individuals are gone or there is a balance of party power between the Governor and legislature then the corruption will continue. We need to vote out the current senators and assembly people if you want change.

The Democrats are the ones who hold the power and are blocking many of the bills and reforms that the Republicans want to pass.

Some Democrat sponsored and supportive issues that have continued to lead the corruption.

- COAH Regulations
- Increased sales tax and coverage of sales tax on additional items
- Decreased Municipal funding
- Elimination of property tax refunds
- Extension of the energy tax that was due to be phased out
- Union negotiations with Carla Katz and failure to disclose the emails from Governor Corzine to Ms. Katz
- The whole NJ Toll plan
- The bonding for 3.9 additional more in state debt to add more money for the 31 Abbott districts that already get most of the state funding
- Let's not forget that in 2007 Corzine plead poverty and raised the sales tax. He also claimed the tax rebates were not election year politics. Once the budget was passed they found 400 million plus for Democrat Christmas Tree items. In 2008, we're receiving reduced property tax rebates and most are eliminated.

[Centrist]

Also, let's not forget the Democrats Real Estate Transfer tax that requires people selling their home to pay taxes on the sales price to NJ. Or what about the fact that the state does not allow us to deduct our medical premium expenses from wages even though the federal taxes do allow for this. Or the fact that they wanted to tax our 401K contributions.

[Stop the Whining]

[centrist]

Okay, you want to support Corzine and the Dems, I get it STW. You do it in a veiled post saying tell us to stop complaining. However, I already did tell you what was wrong when you asked. Here are my solutions.

1) Don't allow Christmas tree items at all.

2) Don't pass (already done) the new COAH regs that will increase our taxes. So make that revoke the COAH rules.

3) Don't take on 3.9billion of unnecessary debt so you can provide political give backs.

4) Don't have a DB plan for state workers, but make it a DC plan. Grandfather the current ones, but make it career average and not take into account jobs in PA, DE or for other employers.

5) Look at what municipal aid is being spent with projects in Newark (i.e. the program teaching people to eat at 5 star restaurants and etiquitte) and move that aid to other municipalities.

6) Allow for the state employees to contribute to the medical plan and don't make it 100% state paid.

7) Take a look at what money is going where and reallocate it where there is clear pork.

allow for voter sponsored referendums.

9) Allow for vote recall of voters. As it stands we can only do it if we have 40% of registered state voters agreeing. That is the worst in any state.

10) Make strict ethics laws. They grandfathered salaries and dual office holding. Remove it immediately and allow only one pension.

11) On certain oversight committees we have union members sitting on boards. Those same individuals negotiate and review contracts. Go back to the independent ways under Whittman and Keane.

12) If there are clear profitable interests- i.e. Wayne DeAngelo voting for A500 because he and his friends gain income, then make that an ethics violation or force him to abstain. I work for a public company and have to disclose immediate family members and any work that I myself do with firms that may work with my company. I also have a limit of meals or golf events of $100.00 per year per company I work with. Make that the same way in Trenton.

13) Truly review Abbott district funding.

14) Agree to take on no new debt until the current debt is paid down. If that means less new state employees or that some give back is not given then so be it.


Stop the whining, your attitude is exactly what is wrong with the voters in NJ. You'd rather vote for the same crop and argue those who want change and accountability then to oppose the system as usual. Or perhaps you are party blind.

[cranbury liberal]

I am a life-long registered Democrat. My take falls somewhere in the middle here. I agree corruption in politics is a key problem for New Jersey, as is the electorate’s general tolerance of it. I also think corruption itself has no party affiliation and there are plenty of bad Republicans and Democrats. The bad Democrats are causing more problems right now because they are in control. But there are plenty of Republicans taking their share who would do more if they could…

Where I disagree with some posts here is I don’t think that corruption itself is the core issue. I think it is a key ingredient – i.e. if most politicians in NJ were not effectively for sale and willing to cater to special interest patrons to keep their seats and improve their power base, the rest would not be possible. But the core issue for me is that the State, as a result of the opportunity created by the open corruption and conflicts of interests, is truly run by a collection of very powerful special interests whose agendas run absolutely counter to the interests of the vast majority of the population of the State. And sine these special interests are closely aligned with the Democratic party in NJ, the State Democratic party does bear the majority responsibility for the sad state of our State.

In particular, the Democratic power base in this State effectively exists as a slave to two groups: Developers and Unions. In most of the country, developers are actually more associated with Republican special interests, like other big businesses. But NJ/NY is unique because the labor force is much more Unionized than anywhere else in this country (perhaps excepting Chicago). As a result, developers find receptive servants in the Democrats who are already tightly and historically aligned with the Democrats nationally and in the State. As a student of history and a Democrat, I will say that Unions were once necessary. I don’t believe in the simple Republican construct of the ‘20’s that “the business of America is business” and unchecked big business was trampling on human rights and decency and the Unions naturally arose as a free market counter force. But their nobleness and purpose died long ago and now they are a vehicle for corruption. They no longer represent a force to get workers basic, fair treatment but as a force to secure treatment disproportionate to the rest of the workforce and often incompatible with the macro status of the economy. There are very few non-Unionized workers who are still eligible for pensions, for example, or free heath care, or guaranteed raised in excess of inflation. And where unions are strong, like the auto industry, transportation and public services, they are literally leading these industries into near or full bankruptcy, so out of whack their positions are with overall economic conditions. These Unions are no longer the champions of what is “fair and just” for a workforce, they are the strong arm enforcers of absurd prerequisites and rights that are fundamentally at odds with capitalism. They encourage mediocre performance by protecting jobs regardless of performance which be definition is the antithesis of “fair or just.” I could go on, but the point is I think modern Unions are one of the most destructive forces in the Western World today, both here and in Western Europe.

Wayne DeAngelo is a perfect example of this – a Union member who was hand picked as a loyal party member to represent the interests of Unions and developers, not his constituents like Cranbury Township. He is a poster child for everything wrong with NJ’s system.

The net result is between unions and developers, NJ is already the most densely developed state of the Union, yet they want to keep the trend going to feed their own greed until there is nothing left. Corzine cannot accomplish real budgetary reform because the Unions are one of his key patrons. So while the State’s unionized workforce with their pension and make-work requirements is really at the core of our State budget problems, Corzine can only make a show of pursuing measures at the fringes which do little and sometimes actually do more harm but which are compatible with the interests of his masters. The initiatives for mergers into larger townships are perfect examples. It is great for the Democrats because unions and developers have more influence and control in larger cities with bloated bureaucracy, so they win, and the idea looks good on paper because it is easy to say “bigger is better because we will get efficiency of scale and consolidation of services.” The facts prove the opposite, and again it is because of the Unions. The reality is bigger is inefficient. The least cost effective school districts, that all of our tax dollars subsidize, for example, are the largest. Whereas Cranbury manages to self-finance all of our own school, still subsidize those large district with our tax dollars and still have a more efficient tax rate than those large municipalities.

The net result is, while I have no faith that the Republican Party of NJ is any more noble on the whole than the Democrats (though I do like Senator Baroni), it is the Democrats who are currently leading the ruin of the State, and certainly risking the future of Cranbury. So while I have not decided to change my official national party affiliation at this time due to larger political principles, our household has made a definite decision to vote Republican in local and State politics. In the end, we vote for the person not the party, but as a general rule if they are the Democratic “insider” candidate, we will view them skeptically and not give them the benefit of the doubt unless they can demonstrate a clear pattern of opposition to the Union and developer state masters.

[James]

Excellent post and my thoughts exactly. I'm a Republican and my wife is a Democrat. Your statements are in line with our views.

[Stop the Whining]

[Guest]

A simple rule of thumb: vote for people with integrity, regardless of their party affiliation.

[cranbury liberal]

[Guest]

I may have taken your post out of context and if I did I am sorry. However, your name stop the whining combined with complaining about people complaining led me to that conclusion. I see a lot of people in my office who blindly support our legislature and governor simply because of party. When questioned they tell me to stop complaining and that these individuals are doing their best. Truth is that they are not. They are looking for their own interests first.

There is nothing wrong with asking for answers. I'd like to see a politician offer a true solution independent of the unions and take on the unions without fear. Truth is a lot of union members disagree with the union stance and the union members don't vote blindly along union lines. I offered what I would eliminate to get the state back in order.

The big solution I do see is not to vote for the current Democrats in office. To me that is the best solution.

[Guest]

And let's not forget how small towns like Cranbury are being treated by the Democrats in Trenton and Corzine.

Loss of state aid will be felt by all of us here and less of your taxes are comming back into this community. Cranbury will see an estimated loss of 10.3 percent from the previous year;


That was the general reaction of several Central Jersey mayors as they talked about estimates from the nonpartisan state Office of Legislative Services on the loss of municipal state aid in the upcoming fiscal year of the state budget.

The budget, adopted by the Legislature on Monday, is on the desk of Gov. Jon S. Corzine. He has until June 30 to sign it.

[fred thomsen]

Democrat, Republican..........they ALL suck!
The system is broken, and only a miracle can fix it.
GOOD LUCK!!!

[Stop the Whining]