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Only in New Jersey: Stevens Institute of Technology Vice-President Pleads Guilty to Embezzlement

New Jersey toll decision called unlikely before November

http://www.delawareonline.com

Codey, a Democrat, said he expected the Legislature to tackle the proposal after completing work on Corzine’s $33 billion budget and its $2.7 billion in spending curbs. Debate on raising tolls may last a year, and a proposal to add them on interstates 78 and 80 has little support.

State Senator Raymond Lesniak, who planned to sponsor Corzine’s initial plan to pay down state debt and fund roadwork through an eightfold toll increase, said last week he would introduce a pared-down version focusing on transportation needs. The plan would raise tolls by 50 percent twice over five years.
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Only in New Jersey: Former Mayor Guilty of Fraud in Newark Sales

http://www.nytimes.com

For Mr. James, 72, who had built a formidable political machine before his tawdry fall, it was a day of mixed images. After listening stone-faced to the verdict, he kissed his wife of five decades on the cheek as his former companion, Tamika Riley, 39, trailed a few steps behind.

Snared in a scandal involving the sale of houses in the city’s struggling South Ward, the former five-term mayor also presided over the construction of a glamorous performing arts center, a minor league ballpark and a glittering new ice hockey arena in downtown Newark.

He was found guilty on all five of the charges he faced, including fraud and conspiracy. Ms. Riley was found guilty of those charges plus eight others for tax violations.

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Only in New Jersey: Our Liberal Court says Cops Must Count to 10!

Court says cops must wait before forcibly entering home

 
Here, a squad organized by the Camden County Prosecutor's Office only had a knock-and-announce warrant when it went to the apartment of James Robinson in Hi-Nella. Officers found cocaine and Robinson was convicted of drug possession. ...source:
Home News Tribune - News - http://www.thnt.com

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ONLY IN NEW JERSEY: Liberal Court Says High School Football Players Can't Pray

isource http://www.thnt.com

NEWARK -- A federal appeals court ruled against a New Jersey football coach in a case involving team prayers.

East Brunswick High School coach Marcus Borden had challenged the school district's policy prohibiting him from participating in those prayers. He contended in a lawsuit that the policy violated his rights to free speech and freedom of association.
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RELATED: Only in New Jersey 

Only In New Jersey: KING of Banana Republic of New Jersey; Jon S Corzine

source http://njpoliticians.blogspot.com

Welcome to Banana Republic of New Jersey. In 8,729 sq. miles New Jersey has 588 governments for 8.5 million residents with a budget of $35 billion for the State & 38 Billion for 587 Local Governments and has a debt of $140 billion including unfunded liabilities like pension, medical & transport fund. Speaking of the truth this state is the first Bankrupt state in the world.

Over 9,000 Elected Scoundrels with British Monarchy Titles, over 400,000 State & Municipal Employees loyal to Scoundrels only with little or no work, appointed for Political Reasons with written contracts that they can not be fired for any Political Reason!

Property taxes 58% higher than National average, collection in 2006 over $19 billion. Against National average $8,000 NJ Cost to educate a student $18,000 & $29,000 in Abbott Districts under Democrats still 250,000 students can not comprehend in basic education.

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Only in New Jersey: Welcome to a state where you can get overtime pay to recharge your cell phone

Source State House Wire

One of the most shocking examples of your tax dollars being wasted on a grand scale was revealed this week when an independent audit disclosed hundreds of thousands of dollars have been wasted by a single urban school district, which receives more than three-quarters of its funding from the state. (more)

Only in New Jersey

Only in New Jersey: The Liberals and You Perfect Together

source www.philly.com

Paid family leave. The abolition of the death penalty. An apology for slavery.

Any way you look at it, New Jersey appears to be forging a new path for liberal public policy-making nationwide.

The Garden State is one of only a handful to recognize civil unions for gay couples. The Legislature is debating universal health care, even in the midst of a debilitating fiscal crunch.

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Only in NJ: Questionable school spending raises legislators' hackles

http://www.nj.com

Besides the controversial cell phone provisions, the state's audit of Union City spending from 2004 to 2006 raised questions about dozens of expenditures totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Among other things, the report noted more than $300,000 in overtime payments to bus drivers; $26,000 for website development costs; the decision to spend $1,716 on a wall-mounted flat-screen television, and a $2,000 field trip to the "Medieval Times" theme restau rant.

Karrow said the Union City spending raises concerns about Gov. Jon Corzine's new formula for handing out $7 billion in state school aid, since the formula awards Union City an additional $20 million.
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Only in NJ: Education Commissioner to Get Grilled on Union City School Spending

Some Abbott Districts continue to waste  taxpayer's money

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1786407

The Union City School District stands to receive a 16% increase in State aid under Governor Jon Corzine's new school funding formula this year for a total of roughyl $150 million. That 16% translates into roughly $20 million extra dollars. According to the State Department of Education (DOE) website, the Union City School District gets 76% of its funding from state sources. Is the district spending the money wisely? An audit from June 29, 2007 makes one wonder and also could serve to confirm what many critics have long suspected about how cash is spent in the state's poorest district.

Assembly Budget Committee member Marcia Karrow says today she plans to ask DOE commissioner Lucille Davy about the questionable spending items found in the audit. Karrow says, "The district spent just under $73,000 for cable television spots to advertise the district, $55,000 for a PR company just to prepare a monthly superintendent's newsletter." She says that's just the tip of the iceberg, "There are cocktail parties in the audit report, there are administrative dinners, there are hotel costs, there are Atlantic City trips, there are staff parties." Davy is scheduled to testify before the Budget panel this afternoon.
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Related Only in New Jersey

Only in NJ: Union City School District Bills Taxpayers $13,000 per month for cell phones

Media Release

           Senator Anthony Bucco (R-25), the longest serving member of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee, requested today that Education commissioner Lucille Davy reappear before the committee to explain the finances of the Union City School District.

            “I was dismayed by the reports of fiscal neglect in the Union City School District discussed on NJ 101.5 radio today. I am appalled they would bill the taxpayers $13,000 per month for cell phones.  Adding insult to injury they put in for six hours of overtime just to charge the phones.  I guess they couldn’t afford the car chargers.

            “In light of this fiscal recklessness I believe that Commissioner Davy should reappear before the committee to explain why the Union City School District deserves a 16 percent $20 million increase in state aid this year.  This is one of the largest percentage increases in the state.  Sadly, almost none of it will reach the classroom.   In fact, you might as well light this money on fire for all the good it will do for the students of this district.

            “Every time that a Republican legislator proposes greater fiscal accountability for an Abbott district, the response from the Corzine administration is that the cuts are not realistic.  The waste, fraud and abuse evident in the administration of the schools in Union City is real, and the governor and his allies are permitting these outrages to continue unchecked.  It is Governor Corzine who has the unrealistic belief that middle class taxpayers should continue to subsidize waste, fraud and abuse.”

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Related Only in New Jersey

Only in New Jersey: Choices

http://www.inthelobby.net

But citing sources, The Record (Bergen County) says that Inclan will testify that he passed on undocumented cash contributions to Guttenberg Mayor David Delle Donna at Delle Donna’s federal corruption trial.

So we have to ask: If that’s true, why is Javier Inclan still Corzine’s deputy chief of staff?

It’s not an idle question.  We have nothing personally against Inclan. But New Jersey is already well known as ethically challenged nationally; if Jim McGreevey didn’t succeed in shredding the state’s reputation then the tales of politicians that were told in the best seller, “The Soprano State,” surely did.

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Only in New Jersey: N.J. to sign pact with Chinese province

source www.courierpostonline.com

Corzine is scheduled to sign the agreement with Vice Governor Cai Limin of Shandong Province during a morning Statehouse ceremony.

Shandong Province, on China's eastern coast, has several major seaports and is a key production area for grain, cotton and oil.

Corzine spokesman Jim Gardner said the deal will call for trade and cultural exchanges between the states.

Corzine signed a similar agreement with China's Zhejiang Province in 2006.

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BATEMAN: FAMILY CARE ABUSES ARE OUTRAGEOUS

 

            Media Release March 31

Senator Christopher (Kip) Bateman (R-16)  made this statement after seeing reports that the state auditor’s office found people earning as much $295,000 a year were allowed to enroll in the NJ FamilyCare program for poor families with children:

            “A full reading of the auditor’s report shows that an astounding 873 families with incomes exceeding the legal limit were allowed to participate in this health-care program designed only for our neediest citizens.

            “According to the auditor, no one in state government required that the earnings reported on FamilyCare enrollment forms be matched to the incomes that enrollees listed on tax returns.

            “When the auditor did a simple check against returns, he found three families with income of $295,000, $186,000 and $177,700 had been enrolled for state financed health care.

            “This is outrageous. Every dollar that goes to an unqualified enrollee is money taken from the very needy people who this program is intended to help. Abuse and sloppy management of FamilyCare is equivalent to stealing from the poor.

            “I demand that the attorney general investigate how the unqualified enrollees came to get FamilyCare benefits and prosecute any person found guilty of fraud. The Department of Human Services must take action immediately to match every enrollee’s application data with his or her most recently filed tax return, and then bill anyone who deceived the state for the cost of their health care, plus appropriate penalties and interest.

             “This debacle should give pause to my colleagues in the Legislature who want to expand state-sponsored health care coverage. If this is an example of how New Jersey would administer universal care, than any cost estimates for expanding the program can not be trusted. We should fix FamilyCare before we spend even one minute debating universal care.”

 

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Only in New Jersey:N.J. health program for poor under investigation

source http://www.c-n.com

TRENTON (AP) --  Wealthy people are enrolled in a state-run health care program for working poor families and criminal investigators are examining another state health program for the poor, according to new state audits that found shocking displays of wasted money.

The reviews by the state auditor found people earning as much as $295,000 enrolled in a program designed to help low-income working parents receive health care.
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ONLY IN NEW JERSEY: Camco official quits second job to avoid conflict of interest

source www.courierpostonline.com

Swartz resigned two days after a Courier-Post story quoted Camden County Counsel Michael Brennan saying Swartz's second job with Economic Development Associates of Gloucester City, a private company, was a clear violation of the county's ethics code.

Swartz, 51, of Cherry Hill, is the former executive director of the Camden County Improvement Authority, which specializes in economic development. The Code of Ethics requires employees who have access to select information, as Swartz did, to wait two years before conducting any business with the county as a private citizen.

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ONLY IN NEW JERSEY: Sick of Listening to Whiny Public Employees

I swore I'd stop writing letters to the editor because of all the sheep voters in this state, but I have to respond to the letter writer.

This writer needs to be enlightened. In 2007, the U.S. Department of Labor released results of a recent study showing that for the first time, public sector employees' salaries (with their benefits packages) surpassed private sector salaries (including their benefit packages). New Jersey has 51 state/county employees per 1,000 people; by comparison, Kansas has four public employees per 1,000.

I am sick of listening to whiny public employees with their recently given health-care-for-life bonanza complaining that their jobs may be cut. It's about time. No job is for life. In the real world, people change jobs and retrain all the time due to changing corporate policy in response to shifting market and economic conditions and still must save for their own retirement and health care.

New Jersey is positioned to become the first state to go bankrupt due to its socialist policies practiced over the last 50 years. How did I ever survive growing up in this state in the 1950s when there were no 1,000-person departments, bureaus, administrations or offices catering to every possible whim or need?

Ridiculous tax increases are forcing people from their homes statewide due to adherence to the archaic "home rule" mentality. Other states learned long ago that consolidation and/or regionalization of services is the only way to stay solvent. They also do not allow double taxpayer-funded pensions.

We can eliminate two-thirds of the Motor Vehicle Commission with national ID cards that have embedded computer chips. All applications could be conducted online.

MICHAEL BURNS