Even though we have been all over the Governor’s race at Blue Jersey for quite some time now, there is a post here on the front page about some recent poll results.
And while Corzine is currently down by 7, and his numbers haven’t looked good in months, there is hope here in that a hotly contested and relatively high profile republican primary has both super ultra right wing candidate Steve Lonegan and full of scandals but empty on substance Bush crony candidate Chris Christie slinging mud at Corzine – and the best that they can do is a 7 point advantage.
But in reading the comments in some of my posts about this race over the past few months as well as the comments in the current front page post, it is evident that many here don’t grasp (1) the absolute and utter disaster that a Corzine loss would mean to NJ and the northeast and more importantly (2) don’t appreciate or don’t know the very good things that Corzine has done for NJ, despite being handed a total crappy hand from his numerous predecessors.
So, let me enlighten you with just a few items that you can digest.
Corzine was the first to come out with a stimulus plan – late last year.
In October 2008, as then-Presidential candidate John McCain was claiming that the "fundamentals of the economy were strong" and many prominent Republicans were denying the very real economic crisis facing families all across this country, Governor Corzine gave a speech before a joint session of the state legislature to outline an economic stimulus package that focused on job creation, prevention of mortgage foreclosures and increasing credit available to businesses.. Just this past week, New Jersey’s debt rating and economic indicators were given an impressive report, with some caveats:
"The underlying strength of the state’s economy, highlighted by a diverse economic base," and New Jersey’s "high wealth and income levels, which continue to be among the highest of the 50 states," impressed S&P, according to its report.
Helping employers remain in business and strengthen the state’s unemployment fund
Another area where Corzine was able to directly help businesses of all sizes in the state is the area of unemployment taxes, which are predominantly paid by employers. For nearly 15 years before Corzine’s term began, Governors transferred close to $5 billion from the state’s unemployment reserve fund to pay for other budgetary items, including hospital charity care – which is a program very much needed, but was never properly funded. This severely depleted the unemployment fund, and employers were faced with potential increased unemployment tax costs as early as 2008. Not only did Corzine discontinue this practice, he was able to transfer over $500 million BACK INTO this fund in 2008 and 2009 and keep employers from facing increased unemployment taxes for the past two years.
Environmental issues
On the environmental front, there were some significant successes as well. In 2007, Governor Corzine signed the Global Warming Response Act, which set aggressive but necessary goals to combat global warming as the Bush administration was still denying its very existence and impact on the environment. This very important piece of legislation would reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, and reduce by 80% of 2006 levels by the year 2050.
Helping those who need help the most
In late 2008, Corzine signed a bill that would help thousands of NJ residents stay in their homes and would help in their time of need:
New Jerseyans facing home foreclosure, those who can't afford their heating bills, and the increasing number turning to food pantries for meals all got a boost from legislation enacted today.
Gov. Jon S. Corzine signed a bill authorizing $22.5 million for legal assistance, energy and food aid.
He has allocated hundreds of millions of dollars for hundreds of thousands of NJ households for food banks and energy assistance. And if you want more, here are a few thousand more links about Corzine and his work in keeping food banks afloat.
Marriage Equality
(Hat tip to andgarden for reminding me of this) - Corzine has said he would sign a marriage equality bill. Both Christie and Lonegan are homophobes who would fight against equal rights and same sex marriage. Need I say more about this?
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Could he have done more? Of course. Did he get everything he wanted to do accomplished? With the debt he inherited and the crashing economy – nobody could. But he has cut spending not once but twice in a row - something not done in a very very long time. And as I have pointed out, it is very easy to find some very good things he has done for the state.
As for his opponents – Lonegan would propose a flat tax of under 3%, giving the upper upper income earners a windfall. He would gut just about everything and ruin NJ’s business climate, as well as many of the things that progressives hold dear. Christie is a walking contradiction – he would cut property tax, income tax, business tax, lay off tens of thousands of state workers and still have billions of dollars in deficits to close. In short – Christie offers everyone a pony with no way to pay for it, and Lonegan will dramatically shift wealth to the upper 5% of NJ incomes
There is NO choice here. Corzine is not perfect, but he is damn good, and I’ve just shown you a few ways that you can see why. The others are gawd awfully disastrous..