Democrat Ken Balut is still working to get elected as New Jersey's next Governor.
"Jon Corzine cannot be trusted and he is irresponsible with money," Balut says, pointing to several examples without raising the obvious and obscene campaign spending for which the former Wall Street CEO is known.
"Gambling away NJ's pension funds," is one of Balut's complaints that will resonate with many Democratic constituencies, as will, "Closing hospitals," in a state that has lost a quarter of its acute care medical facilities.
Balut also cites Corzine for, "Ignoring rampant corruption," and "Protecting Secret Emails," which make the incumbent appear more like something out of the Bush administration than a choice for change that Democrats are likely to embrace.
At his blog -- http://balut4governor.blogspot.com/ -- Balut makes a strong case for independents and others who may currently be routing for one of the four GOP contenders, most notably former US Attorney Christopher Christie.
"No Republican is going to be elected governor of New Jersey, where Democrats have won 15 of the last 17 statewide elections," says Balut. "The gap between Democrats and Republicans is greater than ever. George Bush left the GOP so near death, it's almost surprising there are enough Republicans in New Jersey to have a four-way primary."
Ken Balut is the only challenger waging a serious primary campaign to defeat multimillionaire Jon Corzine, and he is calling on Garden State Democrats to rise to the challenge.
His fledgling campaign is already rooted on Google and Facebook but supporters say a full-blown website is in the works that will seek to garner 10,000 individual contributions of just $34 each -- to give Balut the magic number that will qualify the campaign for public matching funds.
Is New Jersey ready for real democracy and a real Democrat?
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Friday, January 23, 2009
Democrat Challenging Corzine
Perth Amboy Councilman Ken Balut, a retired police officer and former president of PBA Local 13, is preparing to challenge Gov. Jon Corzine in the June 2 Democratic primary election.The Democratic Councilman said that he is disappointed that a more prominent candidate has not emerged to mount a progressive challenge to the former Wall Street CEO, but immediate responses from political observers suggest Balut could be tapping a strong current.
An online poll conducted by the political news website POLITICKERNJ.COM showed that 57 percent believe Balut would win the Democratic nomination, compared to just 43 percent who said Corzine would prevail. "For a host of reasons, Jon Corzine should not be re-elected and I believe most Democrats agree with me on that," said Balut. "That means New Jersey needs a Democrat to challenge the former Wall Street CEO and his money has scared away some of the people who we might expect to make this effort."
Balut struck familiar Democratic themes, recalling arguments much like those made by Barack Obama last year and Bill Clinton in 1992.
"Just as Barack Obama told America last year, this election is not about me, it is about you," said Balut. "Somebody has to stop the corruption that is hurting every resident of this state. Somebody has to make our tax system fair, assure every child a quality education and keep our community hospitals open."
"If Jon Corzine will not use his power to do good for the people of New Jersey, then we must nominate someone who will," said Balut. "I will be running a grassroots campaign, the kind for which Democrats are known."
"I do not believe Mr. Corzine's obscene wealth, nor his flagrant use of that ill-gotten money to buy the support of special interests and power brokers, should be a primary topic of discussion in this campaign," said Balut. "What New Jersey neds to know is how we turn around the economy for millions of middle-class working people; when we are going to do the right thing by fully funding public education; and who has the courage to stand up against organized crime and power brokers."
"I am asking my supporters to help me gather the required petition signatures and reach the donation threshhold for public financing," said Balut. "If we can let Democrats know they have a choice in this election, then we will no longer need to endure a governor who is so out of touch with the average person's needs."
"Just as Barack Obama told America last year, this election is not about me, it is about you," said Balut. "Somebody has to stop the corruption that is hurting every resident of this state. Somebody has to make our tax system fair, assure every child a quality education and keep our community hospitals open."
"If Jon Corzine will not use his power to do good for the people of New Jersey, then we must nominate someone who will," said Balut. "I will be running a grassroots campaign, the kind for which Democrats are known."
"I do not believe Mr. Corzine's obscene wealth, nor his flagrant use of that ill-gotten money to buy the support of special interests and power brokers, should be a primary topic of discussion in this campaign," said Balut. "What New Jersey neds to know is how we turn around the economy for millions of middle-class working people; when we are going to do the right thing by fully funding public education; and who has the courage to stand up against organized crime and power brokers."
"I am asking my supporters to help me gather the required petition signatures and reach the donation threshhold for public financing," said Balut. "If we can let Democrats know they have a choice in this election, then we will no longer need to endure a governor who is so out of touch with the average person's needs."
Friday, January 16, 2009
Unethical Lawmaker Seeks New Complaint Hurdles
One of New Jersey's most unethical lawmakers has proposed a bill that would require any complaint filed with the Joint Legislative Committee on Ethical Standards to be in writing and signed by the complainant with a notarized certificate of acknowledgement.
In addition the legislation, Assembly Bill 2713 sponsored by notoriously unethical Assemblyman Joseph Cryan, would bar the committee from accepting a complaint that is submitted by fax.
Cryan, who has been the subject of numerous ethical allegations, reportedly accepted a $2,000 cash contribution that never turned up on his campaign finance reports.
Cryan also has another government job as a top deputy to Union County Sheriff Ralph Froehlich, who is constitutionally prohibited from holding a seat in the General Assembly.
Besides holding two apparently conflicting jobs at taxpayer expense, Cryan is chairman of two Democratic Party committees, each serving a distinct level of jurisdiction.
As state party chair, Cryan is the chief apologist for the ethically-slow Gov. Jon Corzine, while Cryan hand picks members of the Union Township Committee as that municipality's political boss.
The Union Township Committee awarded two charitable organization taxpayer-funded no-bid grants, one for $17,000 and another of $26,000, on Sept. 13, 2005 -- just weeks after each of the groups made illegal political contributions to Cryan's election fund.
The Center for Hope Hospice made its donation to Cryan on Aug 8, 2005 and the Boys & Girls Clubs delivered a check for the political committee on Aug. 1, 2005.
In another apparently corrupt political deal, Union Township's governing body granted a developer rights to build housing on a parcel of land owned by somebody else, just days after he hosted a $75,000 fundraiser for Cryan.
By making it more onerous to file charges with the ethics committee, Cryan clearly hopes to create opportunities for the panel to dismiss accusations on technical grounds instead of holding lawmakers to account for their actions.
The ethics panel was recently the subject of reform because, as it was previously constituted, the committee overlooked such acts as those for which former Sen. Wayne Bryant is serving federal jail time.
The most recent ethics complaint against Cryan, filed on Jan. 9, alleges that the politician abused his office by having a legislative aide perform work related to the assemblyman's role as state party chairman.
"There is no less an ethical conflict to employ legislative staff at taxpayer expense in performing political tasks related to Mr. Cryan's role as chairman of a partisan organization, than it would be for a mayor to have a city public works crew repair his home driveway," said James J. Devine, a Democratic strategist and author who has been a frequent critic of corrupt politicians.
Froehlich appointed Cryan , although he has no law enforcement experience, to the $97,138 a year job as undersheriff just weeks after Cryan lost his job at a Metuchen bar owned by his father. Cryan's Sheriff's Office salary has since increased by more than $15,000 a year.
To see the legislation, please visit the official State of New Jersey website at http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2008/Bills/A3000/2713_I1.PDF
Monday, January 12, 2009
How to hold him accountable
Gov. Jon Corzine told New Jersey voters, "hold me accountable," when he took office in January of 2006, but how is anyone supposed to be held accountable when he spends $60 million on his poll-driven re-election campaign?
Corzine has demonstrated a degree of generosity when it comes to providing for special interest group leaders, power brokers and political consultants who support him.
Apparently there is no contingency plan for financing a monitor to scrutinize his actions in office and I would expect a gang of thugs to show up at the home of anyone who even suggests that some insurgent Democrat mount a primary challenge to Corzine.
Former Sen. John Lynch, indicted Bergen County boss Joe Ferriero, ex-Sen. Wayne Bryant and ex-Newark Mayor/Sen. Sharpe James are all undoubtedly routing for Corzine's re-election, along with another 125 public officials sent up the river by former US Attorney Christopher Christie.
The support of the crooked contingent is one reason why Corzine's money paid for a poll that indicated that there is virtually no trust left in us for him. Expect Corzine to be spending a considerable amount on television advertising aimed at countering our gut feelings, perhaps with some subliminal tricks thrown in.
If that does not work, there is always a chance Corzine can hire someone to rig the computerized voting machines recently purchased at taxpayer expense.
We learned from a uniquely New Jersey prankster that not only does George Norcross have Corzine on speed dial, but the former Wall Street CEO responds to the South Jersey political boss with Pavlovian rapidity.
I was trying to understand if that is part of being unbossed or unbought, until it occurred to me that all Corzine's campaign promises seem to have been broken.
In 2000, he spent $60 million to buy himself a seat in the US Senate. Corzine could afford this because he made $465 million at Goldman Sachs & Co. the year he led the firm, which lost billions under his 'leadership.'
After finding out how boring it is to be a member of the minority in Washington, Corzine decided to escape the most exclusive club in the world by running for governor.
Despite the fact that Senate President Richard Codey already replaced disgraced ex-Gov. James McGreevey and had begun the process of healing years of fiscal neglect and unethical antics, Corzine again rode into town on a magic checkbook and swiped the Democratic nomination in 2005.
Somewhere along the way, Corzine paid off his ex-girlfriend/union leader Carla Katz and her brother to the tune of some $6 million or more.
He then traded secret emails with Katz during state employee contract negotiations and used our tax money to commission an confidential study about how to sell the state's toll roads.
He also squandered more tax dollars trying to keep those email messages secret and to prevent the foreign engineer's report from being disclosed to the public.
Now Republicans are suing to get answers about cuts being implemented to cover the growing budget gap.
Still, while he is not very forthcoming about what he has done with our money, in respect to both where the dollars are going and what's being cut to make up for the budget deficit, Corzine says he wants us to hold him accountable.
It would seem accountability requires some level of cooperation, but that's something we are not getting from this governor.
If he again tries to overwhelm any potential opponent with the kind of massive campaign spending that has become his signature, then Corzine would seem not so much to be challenging the public to hold him to his promises but instead, to be daring us to do so.
Maybe Corzine's "hold me accountable," is nothing more than a grown up version of the schoolyard bully saying, "What are you going to do about it?" Being as this is New Jersey, I am going to keep my eyes open for someone to take Corzine out of the picture.
Corzine has demonstrated a degree of generosity when it comes to providing for special interest group leaders, power brokers and political consultants who support him.
Apparently there is no contingency plan for financing a monitor to scrutinize his actions in office and I would expect a gang of thugs to show up at the home of anyone who even suggests that some insurgent Democrat mount a primary challenge to Corzine.
Former Sen. John Lynch, indicted Bergen County boss Joe Ferriero, ex-Sen. Wayne Bryant and ex-Newark Mayor/Sen. Sharpe James are all undoubtedly routing for Corzine's re-election, along with another 125 public officials sent up the river by former US Attorney Christopher Christie.
The support of the crooked contingent is one reason why Corzine's money paid for a poll that indicated that there is virtually no trust left in us for him. Expect Corzine to be spending a considerable amount on television advertising aimed at countering our gut feelings, perhaps with some subliminal tricks thrown in.
If that does not work, there is always a chance Corzine can hire someone to rig the computerized voting machines recently purchased at taxpayer expense.
We learned from a uniquely New Jersey prankster that not only does George Norcross have Corzine on speed dial, but the former Wall Street CEO responds to the South Jersey political boss with Pavlovian rapidity.
I was trying to understand if that is part of being unbossed or unbought, until it occurred to me that all Corzine's campaign promises seem to have been broken.
In 2000, he spent $60 million to buy himself a seat in the US Senate. Corzine could afford this because he made $465 million at Goldman Sachs & Co. the year he led the firm, which lost billions under his 'leadership.'
After finding out how boring it is to be a member of the minority in Washington, Corzine decided to escape the most exclusive club in the world by running for governor.
Despite the fact that Senate President Richard Codey already replaced disgraced ex-Gov. James McGreevey and had begun the process of healing years of fiscal neglect and unethical antics, Corzine again rode into town on a magic checkbook and swiped the Democratic nomination in 2005.
Somewhere along the way, Corzine paid off his ex-girlfriend/union leader Carla Katz and her brother to the tune of some $6 million or more.
He then traded secret emails with Katz during state employee contract negotiations and used our tax money to commission an confidential study about how to sell the state's toll roads.
He also squandered more tax dollars trying to keep those email messages secret and to prevent the foreign engineer's report from being disclosed to the public.
Now Republicans are suing to get answers about cuts being implemented to cover the growing budget gap.
Still, while he is not very forthcoming about what he has done with our money, in respect to both where the dollars are going and what's being cut to make up for the budget deficit, Corzine says he wants us to hold him accountable.
It would seem accountability requires some level of cooperation, but that's something we are not getting from this governor.
If he again tries to overwhelm any potential opponent with the kind of massive campaign spending that has become his signature, then Corzine would seem not so much to be challenging the public to hold him to his promises but instead, to be daring us to do so.
Maybe Corzine's "hold me accountable," is nothing more than a grown up version of the schoolyard bully saying, "What are you going to do about it?" Being as this is New Jersey, I am going to keep my eyes open for someone to take Corzine out of the picture.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Monday, January 5, 2009
Cryan abusing government staff for partisan purpose
Assemblyman Joseph Cryan is apparently abusing his legislative office by having government staff perform work related to his capacity as state Democratic Party chairman, specifically to recruit personnel for some Monmouth County government jobs.
According to e-mails obtained by Monmouth County Freeholder Robert D. Clifton, Cryan's legslative office staff in Union contacted the state Department of Personnel and the Rutgers Eagleton Institute of Politics about finding candidates for the positions of chief financial officer, directors of the human resources and human services departments, and a new post, inspector general.
Clifton, a Republican, has cried foul and helped push through administrative changes to prevent the new Democratic majority on that county's freeholder board from hiring personnel in the four jobs.
Clifton may not be a solid ground in trying to change the rules before a new majority takes over county government but it must be an ethical conflict to employ legislative staff at taxpayer expense in performing political tasks related to Cryan's role as chairman of a partisan political organization.
Dave Jenkins, Cryan's legislative aide, is paid at taxpayer expense but seeking out prospects for patronage jobs in Monmouth County would be a purely partisan activity.
This is tantamount to using public employees for personal benefit, and it is unethical behavior that is typical of Cryan and symptomatic of what's wrong with New Jersey.
With up to $500,000 in combined annual salaries, filling these Monmouth County government jobs may potentially be within the purview of the state Democratic Party. They are not legitimate concerns for the General Assembly nor for Cryan's constituents in Union County.
Democratic Freeholders John D'Amico Jr., Amy Mallet and Barbara J. McMorrow must consider how they want to govern, now that they have control of the Monmouth County Board of Freeholders.
Mallet and her running mate raised $274,000 and a comparable amount was invested in previous years by politicians who hope to exploit this situation for themselves.
These Democratic Freeholders may hand out county jobs as political payoffs to Cryan and his master, Sen. Raymond Lesniak, or they can use their new power to truly lead the county in a new direction.
Cryan and Lesniak helped raise large sums for Monmouth Democrats, obviously hoping to expand on their patronage empire.
Several years ago, Monmouth County Republicans used their hiring authority to reward political patrons with lucrative contracts and jobs funded by taxpayers. This practice culminated in a massive federal crime sweep that landed many Monmouth GOP politicians in jail as part of the FBI's "Operation Bid Rig."
Whether D'Amico, Mallet and McMorrow deliver for their political paymasters or the public is a matter of enormous curiosity. Monmouth County deserves a smarter, more efficient government and they should keep political thugs like Joe Cryan out of it.
According to e-mails obtained by Monmouth County Freeholder Robert D. Clifton, Cryan's legslative office staff in Union contacted the state Department of Personnel and the Rutgers Eagleton Institute of Politics about finding candidates for the positions of chief financial officer, directors of the human resources and human services departments, and a new post, inspector general.
Clifton, a Republican, has cried foul and helped push through administrative changes to prevent the new Democratic majority on that county's freeholder board from hiring personnel in the four jobs.
Clifton may not be a solid ground in trying to change the rules before a new majority takes over county government but it must be an ethical conflict to employ legislative staff at taxpayer expense in performing political tasks related to Cryan's role as chairman of a partisan political organization.
Dave Jenkins, Cryan's legislative aide, is paid at taxpayer expense but seeking out prospects for patronage jobs in Monmouth County would be a purely partisan activity.
This is tantamount to using public employees for personal benefit, and it is unethical behavior that is typical of Cryan and symptomatic of what's wrong with New Jersey.
With up to $500,000 in combined annual salaries, filling these Monmouth County government jobs may potentially be within the purview of the state Democratic Party. They are not legitimate concerns for the General Assembly nor for Cryan's constituents in Union County.
Democratic Freeholders John D'Amico Jr., Amy Mallet and Barbara J. McMorrow must consider how they want to govern, now that they have control of the Monmouth County Board of Freeholders.
Mallet and her running mate raised $274,000 and a comparable amount was invested in previous years by politicians who hope to exploit this situation for themselves.
These Democratic Freeholders may hand out county jobs as political payoffs to Cryan and his master, Sen. Raymond Lesniak, or they can use their new power to truly lead the county in a new direction.
Cryan and Lesniak helped raise large sums for Monmouth Democrats, obviously hoping to expand on their patronage empire.
Several years ago, Monmouth County Republicans used their hiring authority to reward political patrons with lucrative contracts and jobs funded by taxpayers. This practice culminated in a massive federal crime sweep that landed many Monmouth GOP politicians in jail as part of the FBI's "Operation Bid Rig."
Whether D'Amico, Mallet and McMorrow deliver for their political paymasters or the public is a matter of enormous curiosity. Monmouth County deserves a smarter, more efficient government and they should keep political thugs like Joe Cryan out of it.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Party Time
The election is over and a new administration is coming to power.
In Washington DC, crowds are expected to reach into the millions as Americans celebrate the inauguration of Barack Obama as America's 44th 
president. For many of us, a trip to the nation's capitol is impractical, but there is still a way to participate in the festivities!
president. For many of us, a trip to the nation's capitol is impractical, but there is still a way to participate in the festivities!Join the celebration of Barack Obama's inauguration as President of the United States here in the Garden State on Jan 20! A spectacular gala is planned for the Grand Marquis in Old Bridge, with the Central Jersey Democratic Leadership Committee's black tie optional Inaugural Ball.
Visit http://www.cjdlc.net/ for details.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)