It’s been painfully clear throughout Gov. Chris Christie’s first year in office that we are living in two very distinct and separate New Jerseys.

In Christie’s New Jersey, he thinks he can say, “Buck up and deal with my painful budget cuts,” and working- and middle-class families will simply fall in line without missing a beat. In the other New Jersey — the reality the rest of us live in — families are paying more for less and systematically being forced out of their way of life.

Yet, in his annual State of the State address last week, the governor touted what he perceives to be a record of progress and vowed more of the same.

And one of my favorites:

Meanwhile, property taxes are going up all over the state as the effects of the governor’s record cuts in state aid play out. The result has been reduced services and widespread police, firefighter and teacher layoffs.

Eventually we must ask ourselves: When does fiscal prudence trump the public’s safety and well being?

My answer to the Assembly Speaker is that since we really haven’t see serious fiscal prudence out of the Assembly in 12 years, it would be hard to know if the governor’s policies are hurting people.  I think people in the state have been much harder harder hit by businesses moving out and with them jobs.  By soaring property taxes literally from the time Jim McGreevey took office until Corzine left.  All Democrats and Oliver didn’t seem to care then.  But what are Oliver’s real motivations?

One might look no further than her campaign contribution reports to figure that out.  Of the $93,200 she reported to have raised for her last general election campaign, $52,100 came from explicit union contributors.  80% of those appear to be government employment unions.   But that isn’t all.  Most of the rest of the contributions are from business pac’s requiring heavy state interaction as well as political and ideological organizations.  How much came from individual contributors?  $3,900.    That is all of 4.1845% of her total contributions.

So the next time assemble speaker Oliver wants to lecture you on Two New Jerseys and fiscal prudence?  Ask her which group she is shilling for today because it isn’t the citizens of New Jersey (at least not 96% of the time).

The state is spending $3.2 million a year on nearly 20,000 unused landlines and mobile phones, according to a comptroller report released Wednesday. That means about one of every six government phone lines isn’t needed.

“Examples of government waste don’t get much clearer than that,” Comptroller Matthew Boxer said.

This kind of incompetence is exactly why New Jersey residents have a low rate of confidence in state workers and little patience for their demands for more and more tax money.  Not one to keep silent, the Governor’s office weighs in:

Michael Drewniak, spokesman for Gov. Chris Christie, praised the comptroller for revealing “ridiculous” waste.

“It’s a symptom of what’s wrong with state operations in New Jersey,” he said. “This is just the sort of waste and inefficiency that will not be allowed to continue.”

This kind of audit and the willingness of the state to advertise it shows a real change in the climate in Trenton.  I have a suggestion for the next audit.  How about analysing the fleet of state vehicles that travel home with state employees every day?  I am sure that many of the policies around these vehicles save the state money.  But I am willing to bet that an audit of that fleet would save a lot more than $3.2 million.  Citizens should know:

1. Who drives the vehicle

2.What that vehicle is used for

3. Where is goes on a daily basis

4. How much it costs the taxpayer

5. Why is that more cost effective than following federal expense reimbursement guidelines on personal vehicles

Just a thought….

Read the entire article here.

For the first time in a long time, I feel like a part of the solution instead of a part of the problem. Our President and Jon Corzine look at people like me and Jake as parasitic hosts that only exist to extract revenue for their latest spending whim. My young son looks at me as Dad, who he misses when I am gone. And for once in a long time, I feel like we will have a Governor who understands the difference.

Congratulations Chris Christie. The real work is still in front of all of us. Godspeed.