Needy McGreedy

Needy McGreedy
by Ted Lang, Associate Editor

December 5, 2002

Columnist Ted Lang It's no great news flash that all across the United States, state and local governments are experiencing significant budget deficits and spending overruns. The double whammy of the current recession and the faltering stock market are the causative factors. But so is government's penchant for spending over the edge, so more tax grabs and tax gouging are on the way. If one wishes to examine the leading examples of government fiscal largesse, one need look no further than those states where liberals and Democrats have succeeded in the recent midterm elections: California and New Jersey.

It needn't be elaborated upon that both states are dominated by left-liberal politics. This writer has frequently offered that New Jersey is easily the most corrupt state in the nation. Think back to the Lautenberg appointment by the New Jersey Supreme Court after Torricelli dropped out. The 51-day rule of law was clear, but in a state dominated by liberals in both Republican and Democratic parties and supported by a liberal media, of what significance is the rule of law?

Governor Jim McGreevey easily won the election over conservative Bret Schundler, just as Lautenberg easily overcame conservative Doug Forrester in the senate race after incumbent Torricelli dropped out due to accusations of corruption. Even though he was not prosecuted by former federal prosecutor and Clinton appointee Mary Jo White, dropping out of elections after being accused of wrongdoing is a standard operating procedure for New Jersey politicians; to wit: Donald DiFrancesco, James Treffinger, Robert Torricelli, Robert Janiszewski, and so on.

Even as Democrat Jim McGreevey assumed the Governor's position, rumors of corruption were initiated as regards his choice as director of the State's newly-created homeland security agency. Golan Cipel, a citizen of Israel and a member of the Israeli naval reserves, was given the $110,000 a year position unannounced to the media in spite of the fact that former FBI Director Louis Freeh offered to take the position for no salary. McGreevey shenanigans costing New Jersey taxpayers a bundle have also been questioned by the liberal media monopoly, who are now shocked at McGreevey's dodging of interviews and reporters' questions.

An irate Bob Ingle, Trenton bureau chief for Gannett New Jersey newspapers, wrote a blistering editorial carried on the CourierPost Online, commenting upon the fact that after Cipel stepped down from the position, he continued on McGreevey's payroll at the $110,000 per year salary as a "policy counselor." Reflecting on the maneuver, Ingle writes: "Cipel's one identifiable project, planning a trip to Israel for sidekick Gov. James E. McGreevey and scores of others, petered out with an announcement …that after talking to the U.S. State Department there was concern over the hostilities in the Middle East. One has to wonder why Cipel didn't notice that before." I guess the questions involving Cipel's intelligence qualifications were well founded.

Ingle also points out McGreevey's botched trade mission to Ireland, which cost New Jersey taxpayers $105,000 and produced nothing. Ingle sarcastically offers: "Imagine the sales pitch McGreevey could make to Ireland businesses about locating in the Garden State: 'Yes, we do have the highest per capita property taxes in the nation, but thanks to Washington, D.C., we're down to No. 2 in auto insurance." And then there's the $10,000 annual stipend to a don't-know-it "poet" who composes anti-Semitic "verse."

And the flap involving the New Jersey Sports arena McGreevey attempted to saddle the taxpayers with using bond funding requiring the voters' approval. The Governor tried to arrange this without going to the voters first. And he has cleared the way for the construction of another $65 million arena in Camden County, directly benefiting Democrat high-roller George Norcross III, with $24.2 million coming from an "investment" by the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority. Gambling was legalized in the state along with a state lottery to provide funding for New Jersey public school systems, whose student test results are amongst the worst in the nation. In 1976, Democrat liberal Governor Brendan Byrne maneuvered an income tax on New Jersey residents, also purportedly "for the children" and their education.

Yet in spite of all these set asides "for the children" and their education, New Jersey property taxes, the primary bulk of which is for education, continue to increase while the quality of education continues to decrease. And just like his liberal Republican predecessor, Christie Todd Whitman, who raided state worker pension funds and floated bonds saddling future generations with her spending overruns, now liberal Democrat McGreevey has raided the funds extorted from tobacco companies intended for use in fighting illnesses from smoking.

Not satisfied with that, McGreevey is now using state government power to extort even more from private businesses. Blaming corporate stock manipulations by EDS, Qwest, Sears and Tyco for causing $150 million in losses in New Jersey pension values, McGreedy is employing lawyer friends at his political mentor's firm of Lynch, Martin & Kroll and nine other law firms to initiate legal action on behalf of the state. This smacks of Bill Clinton's Trial Lawyer playbook. And speaking of the "Swamp Bubba," when will he be taking Senator Frankenberg's seat? ***

In addition to his work at The American Partisan, Ted Lang is a government analyst and a political freelance writer. He has written for numerous websites such as USA Daily, where he is a columnist, The Patriotist, Sierra Times, as well as New Jersey newspapers. Lang holds a BA in political science and an MBA.

Photo of Columnist Ted Lang courtesy of the author