Corzine Spends Money

Corzine Spends Money Well, ok. It’s not exactly a shocker. Look at NJ finances. Here are excerpts from an article about spending. Corzine’s total tally for his 3 campaigns: $131M He spent $131 million of his own money on three runs for political office since 2000, including primaries, according to an Associated Press analysis of federal and state campaign finance data, including a report issued Tuesday by the state Election Law Enforcement Commission. [...] “After $130 million, what he got out of it was a term in the Senate, a term in the Statehouse and a portrait in the outer office,” said Peter McDonough, an adjunct professor at Rutgers University’s Eagleton Institute of Politics and a former communications director for Republican former Gov. Christie Whitman. Sheila Krumholz, executive director of the Center of Responsive Politics, says it’s safe to say that Corzine has spent more of his own money to run for office than anyone in U.S. history other than New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. [...] He was pushed out of his job at the helm of Goldman Sachs in 1999 and used his fortune to help him burst onto the state’s political scene. In 2000, the Democrat was elected to the U.S. Senate. In 2005, he was elected governor. And last month, after spending $27 million on a bitter campaign—$25.3 million of it his own—he lost to Republican Chris Christie, who spent $11.4 million. [...] Over the years, Corzine’s political spending goes beyond what he spent on his campaigns. He’s spent $5.7 million on campaigns and other political causes inside New Jersey since 1999, the year he launched his Senate campaign. In that time, he’s also spent about $2.9 million on federal campaigns and political action committees. Add that to what he’s spent on his own campaigns and his total political spending comes to $139.7 million over 11 years. And that doesn’t include final numbers for how much he donated to campaigns other than his own this year, how much he bankrolled municipal candidates, or the charitable donations that his critics say were made to curry political favor. One example of those: Last year, Corzine gave $87,0000 to St. Matthew AME Church in Orange. This year, the pastor there, Reginald Jackson, who is also head of the important Black Ministers Council, endorsed Corzine. While Corzine’s total is staggering in terms of political spending, it’s modest compared to the state’s financial problems. Spending… NJ debt climbs to $33.9 bln in FY09-report TRENTON, New Jersey, Dec 1 (Reuters) – New Jersey’s official state debt rose to $33.9 billion in the fiscal year ended June 30, from $31.86 billion in the previous year, according to an official report obtained on Tuesday. The annual Debt Report by the state Treasury shows that when obligations such as pensions and health benefits are included, the state’s total debt load increased to $51.25 billion at the end of fiscal 2009 from $44.5 billion a year earlier. $51.25 billion in debt. New Jersey paid $2.5 billion in debt service in fiscal 2009, excluding the obligations of agencies such as the state’s light rail system and the Higher Education Student Assistance Authority. Including their debt, service on New Jersey’s debt totaled $2.91 billion, the report said. In NJ, The State can’t borrow money without voter approval. To get around that, they set up front groups called “Authorities” to borrow money, so they can claim “The State” isn’t borrowing money. Does that include debt by “authorities” such as the School Construction Corp. (whatever it’s called today), Turnpike Authority, Port “Authority, etc?? Is doesn’t say. Spend too much money and you wind up with debt. $51.25 billion. We are already one of the highest taxed states in the nation. They have to stop spending so much. Where would you start cutting?

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