In The Lobby

VENUS AND MARS

Aug. 28, 2008

In watching the Democratic convention the last few days, we were reminded of something we'd forgotten.

Men are from Mars, and women are from Venus.

Yes, that title from the popular self-help book may well explain much of the disconnect, anger and yes, even bitterness among the Obama and Clinton forces at the Democratic convention.

Men and women think differently. They react differently.

Any one who disagrees just had to watch a few days of the psychodrama that has become the backdrop of the Democratic convention.

Now we know that the New Jersey delegation voted unanimously for Barack Obama last night, despite the fact that our state voted for Hillary Clinton by a 10-point margin.

And we know that Gov. Corzine has been saying the Democrats will be unified coming out of Denver.

And yet.

There’s an awful lot of angry Clinton supporters out there. Polls have shown that 30 percent of Clinton supporters are voting for John McCain.

The pro-Hillary, anti-Obama forces have a website: www.justsaynodeal.com, which brings together a number of Clinton backers. Their mascot is a puma; PUMA stands for Party Unity My A--. Their motto: We are a coalition of millions with one thing in common: NObama.

How did it get this bad?

The Obama forces made a fatal mistake when they didn’t grasp this salient point: Women want to be respected.

The Obama camp, being made up largely of men, wanted to vanquish their opponent.

So they didn’t treat her as an equal. They treated her as a defeated enemy. They chose not to vet her for the vice presidency. They didn’t seek her counsel on who should be vice president, or discuss upcoming electoral strategy. They didn’t give her a heads-up call that they were about to announce Joe Biden as the vice president.

In short, they didn’t respect her, or the votes she had earned.

And the millions of Hillary supporters out there, many of them women, watched this, and felt as slighted, and disrespected, as if it were happening to them.

Because, in a way, it was happening to them.

Somewhere along the campaign trail, women began to identify with Hillary. Perhaps it was the way the media fawned over Obama. Perhaps it was the way she kept campaigning, despite the odds. Or perhaps it reminded them of scenes that have played out one too many times in school, in the workplace, or even at home.

Either way, even women who oppose Hillary politically watched her campaign against the Obama tide and thought, “You go girl.”

Fast forward to today. Hillary and Bill Clinton gave their speeches and threw their support to Obama.

The Obama campaign still hasn’t reclaimed all of Hillary’s followers.

Time may heal all wounds. The Democrats may unite by Election Day.

Women make up half of the electorate.

A little respect goes a long way.

REPORTING FOR DUTY

Aug. 28, 2008

If you haven’t seen this yet, give it a quick watch. It’s laugh out loud funny.

ABC News was doing a report on the freebies and parties thrown by special interests during the Democratic National Convention, and how – despite recent ethics reforms laws -- the parties continue to attract Democrat politicians.

And who was the politician that found his way into ABC’s lair?

Well, none other than our own Sen. Frank Lautenberg. When asked by ABC’s Brian Ross why he was at the party, Lautenberg gave an answer that will likely see its way into future campaign ads. New Jersey Republicans already put it up on YouTube:

“You have to do your duty.”

“That’s your duty?” asks Ross.

“Yes, of course. You must visit, make sure that the food they serve is OK - that it passes the
taste test and the liquor is the right, you know, the right vintage. Other than that, it's one's responsibility," Lautenberg said.

Silly us. We thought Lautenberg’s duty was to be a U.S. senator, not a taste-tester.

It should be noted that Lautenberg does look like he’s laughing when he’s talking to Ross, which, given that he’s running for re-election, means he either a) didn’t understand how his answer would sound; b) didn’t care; c) is supremely confident about his chances for re-election this November; or d) all of the above.

MILES HIGH, BUT A FEW DOLLARS SHORT

Aug. 27, 2008

Perhaps it’s the mile-high atmosphere. Perhaps it’s all the Democratic glitterati. Or perhaps it’s the television lights.

Whatever the cause, one does have to wonder what was in Gov. Corzine’s mind when he said the following during a video interview with Reuters (video here, quote about 5:40 in):

“I think we in the state of New Jersey are setting a pattern of fiscal discipline that I think is going to have to be followed in Washington,” Corzine said, noting that the state’s budget was reduced by $600 million this year.

Pardon me?

The state of New Jersey is setting a pattern of fiscal discipline that has to be followed in Washington?

Is this what he’s been telling Barack Obama in those economic adviser meetings?

Have mercy.

Yes, what a record we have to sell the rest of the nation. The heaviest state-local tax burden in 2008, according to the Tax Foundation. A state budget that doubled – doubled! – in just seven years. A state that added 23,000 government employees -- 10,000 to the executive branch, and 13,000 more to the state’s independent authorities and agencies – from 2000 to 2006. A state that saw its debt grow by nearly $2.2 billion last year. A state that spends $2.2 million on roads, bridges and maintenance compared with the national average of $128,538 per mile, according to the Reason Foundation.

Yes, Mr. and Mrs. America, the line forms right here to sign up for your share of that fiscal discipline record.

But our governor didn’t stop there.

“We can’t afford to continue to spend and borrow and that doesn’t mean that we don’t have to invest in the American people and our kids and the future,” Corzine told Reuters. “We have to be a lot better at prioritizing what’s important.”

We can’t afford to borrow and spend.

Heh.

Apparently, we can afford to borrow and spend for programs that meet Corzine’s definition of what’s important.

Which is why our governor decided to bypass the voters and agree to spend $3.9 billion on school construction spending, even while he preaches that the state’s debt load is in danger of consuming the rest of the budget.

And why he’s planning to raise our tolls so he can go out and borrow some more for road and bridge repairs.

Does the governor honestly not see the discrepancy between his words, and his actions?

Does he not see that one year of cutting the budget does not a track record of fiscal discipline make?

Especially not when he’s ushered in new entitlements that will only grow in cost over time. Entitlements like mandatory preschool for all low-income students, no matter where they live. Expanded FamilyCare coverage, which Corzine acknowledges is the first step toward universal health care. Mandatory affordable housing, plus a new tax on commercial development to help pay for it.

All laudable goals, but where is the money coming from to pay for it? New Jersey’s taxpayers are tapped out.

Corzine has shown he doesn’t want to seriously cut the budget. He went for early retirement, rather than layoffs and attrition, even though early retirement means the state will pay more in pension costs. He dismissed Republican budget-cutting suggestions that they say would have resulted in $500 million in cash for pay-as-you-go road and bridge repairs.

But no worries, America.

He wants you to spend and borrow like New Jersey.

Which reminds us of a question we’ve been meaning to ask Gov. Corzine: Since you are touting our state’s fiscal discipline, why haven’t you called for an investigation into why our infrastructure repair costs are so much higher than the rest of the nation?

Why are we spending $2.2 million, when the rest of the nation spends an average of $128,538? Why aren’t you outraged by this apparent waste of tax dollars? What is it about New Jersey that makes our repairs $2 million more expensive?

The Transportation Trust Fund has two more years left in it. How many more bridges and roads could be repaired before you need to ask the taxpayers and tollpayers for more if you got those costs down?

Perhaps, while you’re with all those other Democratic officials, you could ask them how they do those road repairs for less.

When you’re not telling them about how they should be more like us, that is.

BUREAUCRACY 101

Aug. 26, 2008

We know this is a busy time of year for school officials, what with the new school year just a week away.

Still, we have to ask. Isn't Education Commissioner Lucille Davy embarassed yet?

It took Senate President Dick Codey to get her to investigate the entire matter of the diploma mill degrees, that first erupted after the Asbury Park Press noted that H. James Wasser, the superintendent of the Freehold Regional High School District, got his doctorate from an unaccredited school, and then got a raise and a tuition reimbursement from the taxpayers as a result.

At first she said she couldn't do anything. Then, as the absurdity -- and outrage -- over that statement hit, she decided she could draft some regulations prohibiting the practice, after Codey wrote her a letter demanding it be done.

No guts, no glory, that's our education commissioner.

But why did it take a second letter from Codey to demand that the state investigate how many other districts have superintendents and administrators with advanced degrees from unaccredited schools? Why did it take Codey to insist that those same admnistrators return any raises, as well as tuition reimbursements and pension credits, they may have received?

Davy's spokeswoman insists that's a job for the local school districts.

Balderdash.

The state of New Jersey has regulations governing every aspect of education. If the state can't issue an order requiring that the county superintendents review whether superintendents and administrators have degrees from accredited schools, then what exactly do we need all this bureaucracy for?

Of course the state can order it be done. Of course the state can demand excellence and actual accredited degrees of its administrators. If not, if the state really has such little jurisdiction, despite the millions we pay for the department, then it's time budget cutters took another look at what we the taxpayers are paying for at the state Department of Education.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH

Aug. 25, 2008

Gov. Corzine led about 145 happy Democratic delegates into Denver this weekend for the start of the Democratic National Convention.

But it didn’t take Democrats long to realize just what New Jersey’s enthusiastic and early support for Hillary Clinton cost in terms of prestige and power seating, according to the Ledger. The Jersey delegation isn’t on the convention floor, but will be on the first tier seats, somewhere after Alaska and Guam.

Plus, there are no speaking roles for any New Jerseyan in this year’s convention.

Corzine, of course, has more than made up for his abundant support for Clinton, quickly becoming one of Obama’s biggest boosters, and one of 20 core economic advisers.

He’s already shown that he has some insight into Obama, having endorsed Sen. Joe Biden for president a few days before the candidate made it official.

But while Corzine rapidly transferred his support from Hillary Clinton to Obama, not all Democrats made the switch.

In fact, two recent polls show that a significant number of Clinton supporters won’t support Obama in November, and will instead vote for Republican John McCain. A new CNN poll puts that number at 27 percent, up from 16 percent in late June, while a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds that 30 percent will either vote for McCain or someone else.

The fact that there are more Hillary supporters likely to vote for McCain today than there were at the end of the primary contest isn’t good news for the Democrats, who were hoping to spend the week tying John McCain to George Bush, not untying the Clintons from Obama.

But it’s polls like these that will make the Clintons such dominant players at this week’s convention. Even though Clinton is expected to release her delegates on Wednesday, she will meet with them privately that afternoon before the convention.

The question for Democrats is how many of those unhappy Clinton supporters will wind up feeling like Debra Bartoshevich, a Clinton backer from Wisconsin who is now a high-profile backer of McCain.

The lifelong Democrat, who was stripped of her credentials to attend the Democratic convention after she announced her intention to vote for the Republican, made an ad (you can view it here), urging other Hillary supporters to vote for McCain. She ends the ad by saying, “A lot of Democrats will vote McCain. It's okay, really!”

It will be interesting how dedicated “Hill-raisers” like Caren Turner of Tenafly react this week. She’s already told The Record that she found the choice of Biden a "boring selection." Earlier this month, she had indicated that she was considering voting for McCain, but she told an interviewer last week that she met with a senior Obama adviser and that the meeting went “extremely, extremely well.”

The focus on these Clinton supporters, and how they will vote in November, becomes clear when you look at the polling data. The latest CNN poll, for example, shows Obama and McCain in a dead heat, at 47 each.

“The number of Clinton Democrats who say they would vote for McCain has gone up 11 points since June, enough to account for most although not all of the support McCain has gained in that time,” says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland.

Republicans are wasting no time looking to exploit any resentment by Clinton supporters, two new ads, and an on-site war room called “Not Ready ‘08” and “A Mile High, An Inch Deep.” Bartoshevich will be on hand with the McCain folks in Denver, as will Curly Fiorina, the former Hewlett-Packard CEO and McCain adviser who will meet privately this week in Denver with Clinton supporters who have not yet fully backed Obama.

But for those of you wishing you could be in Denver, there are plenty of ways you can tap into the action. The Record has a breakdown of all the special interests that are sponsoring parties for both parties at their convention,

State Democrats are hosting live webcasts from Denver on the state Democratic Committee Web site at www.njdems.org. The webcasts will start each day at 10 a.m. with Sen. Joe Vitale giving a daily briefing. It will also include commentary from New Jersey delegates, speeches from Garden State elected officials, and special guest appearances by “exciting national political figures,” according to the website.

The state’s newspapers are also providing extensive coverage, with the majority represented at the convention. The Star Ledger providing frequent updates and former Gov. Brendan Byrne will be providing daily reports. The Gannett State Bureau also offering a newscast about 4 pm. each day. Herb Jackson will also be blogging his “Capitol Games” column live each day from Denver for The Record.

THE OLYMPICS MASKED CHINA�S DISDAIN FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

Aug. 25, 2008

By MICHAEL M. SHAPIRO

The Beijing Olympics will be remembered for the stellar performances of Olympic athletes, from Michael Phelps to Usain Bolt. It will also be memorialized for its top-flight athletic facilities and venues. What may not be remembered, however, is the Chinese government’s disdain for basic human rights. While there was wall to wall coverage of the games, there was only a small fraction of that coverage reserved for discussion of the Chinese government's policies. Particularly noteworthy, China's "re-education" program has barely registered in recent news.

(To read the rest of Michael Shapiro's view on the Olympics, read his guest column here.)

WHAT'S IN NEW JERSEY'S CRYSTAL BALL?

Aug. 22, 2008

There aren’t many fortune-tellers who gain worldwide acclaim; but then, there aren’t many who, as legends go, told a young Bruce Springsteen that he would be a star during the days when The Boss was hanging around the Asbury Park boardwalk.

But such was the case of Madam Marie, the Asbury Park seer whom Springsteen made famous in his 1973 song “4^th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy).”

Marie died in late June. Her Temple of Knowledge remains on the boardwalk.

But never fear, seekers of future knowledge. Sen. Ray Lesniak, D-Union, apparently can tell us what the future has in store for us. He tells the Philadelphia Inquirer that the toll hike will be no more than a 50 percent increase, and will only go to pay for road repairs

“Any toll increase or gasoline tax will only be for transportation," Lesniak said. "I don't think we're going to do any debt reduction for a while."

And why no debt reduction?

"The public doesn't want to" reduce debt, Lesniak told the Inquirer. "It's not a popular issue these days. Why do you think politicians in the past, like Whitman and McGreevey, increased the debt? Because the public doesn't care about it."

Don’t you love it when politicians presume to know what we’re thinking?

Gov. Corzine chimed in too.

"I would like to do more, we just don't have the capacity to do it," Corzine told the Star Ledger, about his attempts to reduce debt. "It doesn't mean that when we have capital needs such as protecting people from roads and bridges crashing and killing people that we're not going to take those steps to have those kinds of investments made."

Nothing like a good healthy dose of hysteria to shame the public into giving government more of its tax dollars, eh, governor?

Here’s the thing.

Could it possibly be that one reason the governor and company have backed off the idea of paying off the debt is that they are so busy adding to the debt?

The Ledger reported that the state’s debt grew by almost $2.2 billion last year:

The additional borrowing pushes the state's debt load to $32.9 billion. Including $3.6 billion in bonds being repaid with payments from a national settlement against cigarette manufacturers -- which the state Treasury does not count in its debt calculations -- the state's total debt load is $36.5 billion, nearly triple the level of a decade ago.

Those figures, by the way, apparently don’t include the $3.9 billion that the state just approved for school construction costs, and another $1.7 billion in upcoming additional road and infrastructure repairs.

It also doesn’t include whatever money the governor plans to bond for in his Asset Monetization: The Sequel, his supersecret plan that he plans to unveil someday soon. You know, the plan that will hike our tolls because the only way the governor can see to pay for road repairs is to put us further in debt.

Of course, there is another way to fund road repairs and reduce debt. The state could reduce current spending and pay for road repairs on a pay-as-you-go basis.

To do so, of course, would require cutting the size and scope of government. We all heard about the “painful cuts” that were enacted for this year’s budget, which was $600 million less than the previous year.

But those cuts took place against a background of unprecedented growth. The New Jersey state budget doubled – doubled! —in just seven years. State and local government employment increased by 15 percent from 2000 through 2006, according to an eye-opening analysis by Steven Malanga in City Journal Magazine, called “New Jersey’s Ruin.”

Before he resigned, Gov. McGreevey raises business taxes 33 times, and increased business taxes by a whopping $3.6 billion, according to City Journal. Gov. Corzine demanded – and eventually received – a one-cent increase on the sales tax, raising $1 billion more.

All that increased taxation led to increased spending. And that increased spending is ripe to be trimmed.

The Republicans proposed a plan that resulted in $500 million in cash for pay-as-you-go transportation repairs. To say the governor was cool to their approach would be an understatement.

That’s because our governor has plans – big plans – for our money. He’s already sent hundreds millions more to the schools. He’s initiating the first step toward universal health care. He’s taxing development in New Jersey all in the name of affordable housing. He’s pushed through preschool for all low-income 4-year-olds, no matter where they live. The head of the newly renamed Schools Development Authority is already warning that his agency is going to need much, much more.

Who’s going to pay for all this? It’s a funny thing about government – once a program gets in place, it keeps demanding more and more of our money. There’s only one way to cure New Jersey’s debt addiction – and it’s not by spending more money. Borrowing billions more, so the state can spend more, while paying off smaller amounts, isn’t going to reduce our debt load. Relying on the taxpayer to keep forking over money, through higher taxes or tolls, is relying on a well that’s already in danger of running dry.

And you don’t need a crystal ball to see that.

MORE SUBPOENAS IN BERGEN

Aug. 22, 2008

Well, this wasn’t the kind of buzz Democrats were hoping for on the eve of the Democratic convention.

Federal agents raided the offices of Bergen County Democratic Chairman Joseph Ferriero and party counsel Dennis Oury on Thursday, according to both The Record and the Star Ledger. They left, according to The Record, with at least 18 boxes of documents and computer hard drives.

The feds were seeking information about Government Grants Consulting, a firm that Ferriero and Oury were partners in, along with two other men. Ferriero’s law firm, Scarinci Hollenbeck, put out a statement distancing themselves from Ferriero, saying the subpoenas had nothing to do with the law firm or their clients.

"The search warrant did not seek any records concerning Scarinci Hollenbeck, its business or its clients. Our office fully cooperated with the officers executing the warrant," said Donald Scarinci, the senior partner of the firm, told the Star Ledger. "We are satisfied that the focus of the investigation does not involve Scarinci Hollenbeck or any services Ferriero may have performed on behalf of Scarinci Hollenbeck."

In May, investigators issued subpoenas to several towns and a county agency with subpoenas related to Government Grants Consulting LLC. Those subpoenas did not name Ferriero but sought information about payments to Oury, according to the Ledger.

In July, subpoenas were issued to the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission, where Ferriero serves as chief counsel.

In all, according to The Record, more than 30 subpoenas have been issued, seeking information not only related to Ferriero and Oury, but also to Bergen County Utilities Authority Chairman Leonard Kaiser, Governmental Grants Consulting President David Spatz, the nonprofit Paramus Affordable Housing Corp., and SVC Consulting.

Lawyers for Ferriero and Oury issued strong statements of innocence for their clients.

But given the track record of the U.S. attorney’s office – more than 100 convictions or guilty pleas, with no losses – something tells us that this is going to be a very different Democratic convention for some political players than they might have had otherwise.

And speaking of which, how many other political powerbrokers around the state are watching what happens in Bergen County – the site of one of the Democrats’ biggest electoral turnarounds – with a nervous eye toward the calendar, hoping that U.S. Attorney Chris Christie leaves office before the feds start playing in their neck of the woods?

BIRDS OF A FEATHER

Aug. 21, 2008

We all know the New Jersey state bird is the goldfinch. Lately, we've been thinking that it should have been an ostrich.

We all know that an ostrich, when it senses trouble, sticks its head in the sand, as a way not to see it, and to hide from it.

Doesn't that sum up the way some New Jersey leaders seem to approach their jobs? If there's wrongdoing, or questionable behavior, they hide their head in the sand, rather than make a stand for what is right.

Take Education Commissioner Lucille Davy, for example.

She's told us that she couldn't go back and try to recoup documented waste in the Abbott districts because the rules weren't clear. She did nothing about Keansburg superintendent Barbara Trzeszkowski's $740,000 golden parachute until the howls of outrage were so loud that the governor ordered her to go to court to try and block the payout.

And in the latest example, it took an angry letter from Senate President Dick Codey, who demanded that she do something about school adminsitrators getting salary increases and tuition reimbursement for bogus degrees from unaccredited universities, before she decided to act.

If you recall, her first reaction was to say she is powerless to prevent local school boards from giving raises and tuition reimbursement to school superintendents who get advanced degrees from so-called diploma mill schools.

"It is wrong for people to use those diploma mill degrees to increase their salaries," Davy said. "But I don't have the authority to stop them."

Gov. Corzine backed her up, with his spokesman saying, "It is up to local school boards to decide whether they will accept advanced degrees from unaccredited universities. We think they should take a very close look at their practices and follow the state's example and require that advanced degrees come from accredited schools."

Wow. Way to stand up for the taxpayer, Gov!

Then came Codey, with both (ink) barrels blazing, who wrote to Davy and Attorney General Ann Milgram demanding an investigation: "It's completely and utterly ridiculous that people at the top of our educational system are being paid, rewarded in fact, for a degree that for all intents and purposes comes from a fake university," Codey wrote to Davy.

Which, of course, was the only rational reaction to yet another outrageous abuse of tax dollars.

Rational for everyone, apparently, unless you were a member of the Corzine administration.

It wasn't until after Davy got that letter from Codey that she suddenly saw the light, according to the Asbury Park Press. Then, she suddenly caught taxpayer fever, and said her department now will draft rules to stop superintendents from being paid extra and getting their tuition reimbursed for diplomas from unaccredited universities.

"It is wrong for these degrees to be used for any purposes," Davy said. "We as a state don't recognize them, but there are apparently a few districts that do."

The fact that it took Davy several days to reach that conclusion is yet another glaring example of what is wrong with the Corzine administration -- a group that seems more inclined to stand up for the bureaucracy, rather than the taxpayer.

But then again, they are following the lead of their boss, a man who has always made it clear that when it comes to putting the needs of the taxpayer, over the needs of the bureaucracy, well, he'd rather put his head in the sand first.

OOPS, HE DID IT AGAIN

Aug. 19, 2008

Now, this is getting absurd.

Just Monday, we mused how Gov. Corzine had this unfortunate tendency to delay disclosure. You know, how he dribbles out the truth bit by bit.

How he still doesn’t get that he’s a public official and that means he doesn’t get to pick and choose what he releases, and when he releases it.

So what does he do that same day? He finally gets around to revealing to The Record that he had been an investor in one of the firms that ultimately bailed out Xanadu, the shopping/entertainment megalopolis at the Meadowlands.

And that he sold his interest in that firm after the developer said the company would be coming on board.

And that’s why he asked the Governor’s Ethics Advisory Board for an opinion on whether there would be a conflict or an apparent conflict of interest.

But that’s not what he told us last week.

Last week he said he sought the advisory opinion because “one of his closest friends” was a partner in the investment consortium that underwrote Xanadu's $1.5 billion bailout in 2006.

No mention that he had once invested in Dune Real Estate, his very good friend, Daniel Neidich’s company. No mention that he sold his investment in 2006, after the developer told his administration that they were bringing Dune on as an investor to help bail out the project.

Now why wouldn’t he tell us all that last week?

Why didn’t Corzine tell us this when he first disclosed that he had sought an opinion on whether there was a conflict?

Because that’s not the way our governor works.

Our governor likes to walk right up to the disclosure line and then decide for himself how much he’ll disclose and how much he’ll keep behind the line.

How could it not be relevant for the Legislature to know Corzine’s involvement in Dune prior to their debate on whether or not to approve building a $200 million aquarium at Xanadu?

How could it not be important for the Legislature to know that Gary Rose, Corzine’s point man on Xanadu, also had been an investor in Dune, and sold his stake when Corzine did? Or that Rose was still owned stock and mutual funds with Goldman Sachs, one of the original investors in Xanadu and a company that stood to lose $1.1 billion if Xanadu went under?

More importantly, why did Corzine feel compelled to keep both facts private?

Legislators want to know why too.

“I found this surprising that this information came out as it did as opposed to earlier in the Xanadu process,’’ said state Sen. Robert Gordon, D-Bergen, the sponsor of the aquarium legislation. “If he is concerned about any appearance…we ought to know at the beginning,”

Forget about it being built on the Meadowlands. At this point, Xanadu is being built on an island of half-truths.

Corzine Monday also stuck up for his bud, Gary Rose, who also was an investor in Dune, and he sold his stake at the same time Corzine sold his.

“Gary Rose had nothing to do with the Legislature passing the aquarium bill,” he told The Record.

Yes, but he had everything to do with arranging the bailout. He’s the one credited with helping to secure the other investors, including Dune, to bail out Xanadu.

Are we supposed to believe it’s just a coincidence that Rose, Corzine, and Neidich – all Goldman Sachs alum – all happened to wind up in the same project by accident?

Could Corzine's reluctance to tell the truth have anything to do with the fact that his close friend Neidich had already lost out on one investment in New Jersey (i.e., a $2 million grant that his nonprofit was awarded by the state, that the nonprofit withdrew from after his ties to Corzine were revealed)?

Was he worried that his disclosure could damage Xanadu’s chances to get the aquarium if he disclosed his ties?

When does a half-truth stop having a relation to the truth, and become a lie?

Now Corzine waves away this concern by noting that his interest in Dune was listed on his financial disclosure forms, as if that’s all that was required. Given all that has happened in New Jersey in the past few years, with more than 100 public officials having been convicted or plead guilty, Corzine of all people should know that paper disclosures just aren’t good enough – especially when the connections may not be obvious.

Ethics and restoring credibility in government doesn’t rely on burying statements on forms. It counts on government officials being upfront and telling about any potential conflicts long before anybody has a chance to ask.

We have a suggestion for the governor. Given his propensity for not telling the whole truth, unless and until it suits him, he really should amend his inauguration speech. Based on his track record, it ought to say: Hold me accountable, but not until you catch me first.