Democrats place most corrupt Senator (Dodd) as front man for Healthcare

As expected, Democrats got exactly 60 votes to proceed to debate on the healthcare bill. What trully was unexpected was the Democratic leadership using Chris Dodd as the front man with the gavel (he presided over the vote) and the post vote press conference. You remember Chris Dodd(froom the NY Post)?

Dodd's lengthy record of ethical questions has clearly taken its toll.

Among his transgressions:

* In 2003, Dodd received two cut-rate mortgages totaling nearly $800,000 from subprime-mortgage lending giant Countrywide Financial.

The special mortgages apparently came about because the senator was dubbed a "Friend of Angelo," Countrywide co-founder Angelo Mozilo.

A Senate ethics committee determined last summer that Dodd violated no rules. But home-state voters appear unwilling to let Dodd off that easily.

* In 1994, Dodd purchased a one-third share of an Irish vacation home; the other two-thirds were bought by businessman William Kessinger, partner of one Edward Downe, who pleaded guilty to insider trading the same year.

In 2001, Dodd successfully lobbied the Clinton White House for a presidential pardon for Downe. A year later, Dodd took full ownership of the Irish property from Kessinger -- at a mere fraction of its appraised value.

* In February, Dodd introduced an amendment to the stimulus package that guaranteed that executives from firms receiving government bailouts -- including AIG -- remained eligible for bonuses.

With such baggage, no wonder 53 percent of Connecticut residents say Dodd doesn't deserve re-election.

After five terms in the Senate, the banking committee chairman and Washington special interests are just too close.

The use of Dodd as a prop here tells me much more about the process than any other single action. It's almost as if Democrats are saying, we are corrupt, we will ram this through and there is nothing you can do about it.

Enjoy it while you can Senator Reid.


Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/editorials/dodd_danger_lq11DZPXtHUX5pp0DYaCTN#ixzz0XY03FxQU

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Democrats caught funding Daggett!!!

With Corzine's support stuck at no better than 42%, the candidacy of Chris Daggett has always been a bit too convenient. While we have not suggested that Jon Corzine has directly colluded with Daggett, we didn't rule out a connection between the two campaigns. Now the news comes out that Corzine's campaign paid for Daggett outreach to voters (from Instapundit and PolitickerNJ.com):

The Democratic State Committee now admits paying for a robocall to Somerset County voters that slams Republican Chris Christie and promotes independent gubernatorial candidate Christopher Daggett.

A Democratic spokeswoman says the party’s chairman, Joe Cryan, was not aware of the robocalls when he denied that the state committee had anything to do with them yesterday afternoon.

Cryan, who told PolitickerNJ.com yesterday afternoon that the Democratic State Committee had “absolutely” nothing to do with the call, could not immediately be reached for comment.

The call angered Republicans and further fueled conspiracy theories that Daggett is in cahoots with the Corzine camp. A disclaimer at the end says it was paid for by Victory ’09, “a project of the NJDSC” (Democratic State Committee), and gave the committee’s Trenton address.

Jon Corzine will say and do anything to get elected. And Team Corzine now admits to perverting this New Jersey election so that their inferior candidate who cannot win in a straight up fight can increase his chance of winning. And combined with the questions about absentee ballots, there is a pattern that does not bode well for the legitimate voters in this state.

Read the entire article here.

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NJ Democrats Prepare for Election Theft!

One would think that here in New Jersey Democrats would not have to engineer election theft as was done in Minnesota and Washington State. With a clear advantage in voter registration and long standing tactics and techniques for encouraging voter fraud, New Jersey Democrats typically don't sweat elections that much. From the ongoing scandals in Atlantic City and Essex County, to the blatant campaign 'votes for cigarettes' stories we hear in every election, Democrat vote fraud is assumed part of the fabric of New Jersey election politics. But apparently, New Jersey Democrats are worried that with Jon Corzine's horrible reputation, old tricks will not be enough this year. From the Corner on National Review:

This year, New Jersey’s registered voters can request a mail-in ballot for any reason. Before 2005, voters needed to provide a reason for why they needed an absentee ballot. The state received about 150,000 absentee ballot applications this year.

On about 2,300 of those applications so far, the signature on the request form did not match the signature on the voter’s registration forms with the state.

In a development that is depressingly predictable, the New Jersey Democratic Party is asking the state to provide provisional ballots for all these voters. Those ballots, could, presumably, be used to overcome any narrow lead by Republican Chris Christie over Democrat Jon Corzine on Election Day.

I find it amazing how forward thinking these folks have gotten and how well it has paid off for Democrats around the country in the past few years. And now it has come home to New Jersey. I suppose that one piece of good news here is that the Democrats internals must be showing Corzine in serious trouble to have to resort to these formerly unnecessary tactics.

Read the entire article here.

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Corzine and Obama Billboard - Keep what going?

As I am driving to Trenton today to catch and Amtrak to DC, I notice a billboard with Barack Obama in the foreground and Jon Corzine in the background. In large bold letters the billboard reads "Keep it going". That made me start to think...what is Jon Corzine trying to tell me? To understand the billboard, you must understand how Corzine or Obama define IT.

Let's take a shot from Obama's perspective:

Keep IT Going!

- does he mean New Jersey politicians voting in lockstep with you regardless of the impact on the state?
- could he mean that he wants more Acorn volunteers working in Trenton, Newark and Camden hustling "voters"?
- maybe he means NJ should keep adding more and more citizens to the roles of public assistance as jobs are driven from the state
- how about, keep the unions in charge of the state

Or from Corzine's perspective:

Keep IT Going!

- keep New Jersey as the state with the worst business climate
- keep New Jersey as the state with the highest in the nation property taxes
- Democrats in New Jersey could keep filling up the federal corruption dockets and going to jail
- Citizens in New Jersey can keep electing politicians who do not listen to their concerns and see them as a unending piggy bank for special interests
- Jon Corzine could keep paying off cronies when investigators dig into his ethics violations
- keep leading the charge to drive productive business out of the state
- pushing more and more of our citizens to states with a more family friendly tax policy
- laughing with his Democrat buddies knowing that no matter how many Democrats are arrested and jailed for corruption, they will be more to take their place!

I guess I get it after all.

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Daggett can't win. So why is he in this?

I continue to struggle to understand the candidacy of Chris Daggett. He is an independent candidate for governor and he is polling between 5-17 percent depending on whose poll you are looking at. Of course, I will likely get a comment on this about how he is charging and is going to win the race (and the email of the commenter will be a link to the Daggett campaign). But we are now late in the race and he has no chance of winning. So why does he continue?

Does he have aspirations to run for another office sometime in the future? Not sure. This isn't like the national stage where a big run here will equite to a book and speaking tour. And increased awareness. But it doesn't make sense here. The minute he loses in November he is once again a nobody except among party faithful - oops, he represents no political party so that logic is out. Run for something else? Democrats aren't going to stick to him long and Republicans will brand him toxic for splitting the anti-Corzine vote. No future in that either.

So what is left? The nagging feeling I keep getting is that his candidacy only serves to help one person and one person only. Jon Corzine. To that end, I tried to review Daggett's election filings. They can be accessed here. The only obvious trend I was able to take from an analysis of his donors was that they significantly trend toward one industry - financial services. I checked Christie's donors to see if I could get the same trend however I didn't see the same thing there. Another thing concerned me about Daggett's donors. They haven't increased as his awareness has increased. As a matter of fact, his big ticket donors seem to have dried up. Contribution limits or something else?

Do I believe that Corzine has set up Daggett as a stalking horse in this race? I doubt it. But would I accept the notion that Corzine's people arranged for a third party candidate to receive enough funding to damage his opponent? You bet.

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More NJ Democrat Corruption: Funded by Jon Corzine

Another Democrat NJ politician is going to jail for corruption. From the Philadelphia Enquirer:

A federal jury has found former northern New Jersey political boss Joseph Ferriero guilty of fraud conspiracy.

The panel returned its verdict Thursday, the third day of deliberations after a 2 1/2-week trial.

Ferriero, the former head of the Bergen County Democratic Organization, was convicted on one count of conspiracy to defraud and two counts of mail fraud.

You sometimes wonder how our 'political bosses' in New Jersey maintain their hold on power? From this article at the Corner on National Review:

Guess how much money Jon Corzine and his family gave to Ferriero over the years?

$441,600.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie held a conference call moments ago. Highlights:

I experienced a lot of these days and led the office when this case was indicted
. . . Joe Ferriero abused a position of trust and the position of trust of his co-conspirator in order to line his own pockets. His leadership of the Bergen County Democratic Organization was a disgrace . . . This should be a day of great joy in Bergen County.

So New Jersey, do you still believe that Christie is the one who throws his weight around? Corzine is concerned when Christie lends a friend money that gets paid back. Yet NJ voters don't care that everyone Corine pays off gets a cool half mil?

Sickening. You cannot fix corruption when you are funding it. Period.

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What is DeAngelo's connection to New Frontier PAC and Royal Printing?

In an election season where the Governor and his challenger continue to issue somewhat questionable attacks on the character of each other regarding multiple layers of alleged questionable ethical practices, a very real scandal has been developing in Burlington county. In August of this year, the Burlington County Democratic chairman stepped down over questions around campaign funds. From allbusiness.com:

Burlington County Democratic Chairman Rick Perr, who aggressively targeted local Republicans with corruption complaints while promoting government reforms, will step down amid a controversy over the distribution of campaign funds.

The Medford lawyer notified the party late Monday of his intent to resign effective Sept. 1, following a daylong stream of calls for him to leave.

Perr's departure follows published reports that he and former Democratic County Treasurer Jeff Meyer -- who resigned three weeks ago -- used a political-action committee that typically contributes to Democrats in and around Burlington County to further the political career of a Hoboken official caught in a federal corruption sting.

The Medford-based New Frontier Committee contributed more than $15,000 to election funds for candidates that included Peter Cammarano III -- who resigned last month as mayor of Hoboken following bribery charges -- and more than $26,000 total to Hudson County candidates in recent months.

The questions then progressed to New Frontier's support of Mercer County Democrats and specifically Assemblyman Wayne DeAngelo who received money from New Frontier PAC. In addition, there have been several questions in the past related to a company paid by New Frontier PAC named Royal Printing. There are questions about not small amounts of money paid to Royal Printing like this authorization from the Mercer County Freeholders Meeting May 8, 2008:

MERCER COUNTY BOARD OF CHOSEN FREEHOLDERS
AUTHORIZES PAYMENT TO ROYAL PRINTING SERVICES
FOR PRINTING OF OFFICIAL, SAMPLE, ABSENTEE, AND
PROVISIONAL BALLOTS FOR THE MERCER COUNTY
CLERK PERTAINING TO THE PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY
ELECTION AS WELL AS PRINTING COST FOR SPECIAL
SCHOOL BOARD ELECTIONS THAT WERE HELD IN
DECEMBER 2007 AND APRIL 2008. COST NOT TO
EXCEED: $200,000.00. PERIOD: DECEMBER 1, 2007 TO
MAY 1, 2008

The minutes from this meeting can be accessed here.

DeAngelo received a donation of $500 dollars which he says he gave to charity(Sunshine Foundation). What is interesting is that he said he did it before word became public about the scandal. That to me suggests an amount of inside knowledge of the organization not "just another campaign contribution". There are serious questions here and DeAngelo and others need to step up and answer them.

And DeAngelo's Republican challengers are not standing still waiting. They released these questions which are still valid today (from PolitickerNJ.com):

•1. How did Wayne DeAngelo become aware of the New Frontier PAC?
•2. Who did Wayne DeAngelo speak to about receiving a contribution from the PAC?
•3. Who delivered the PAC contribution to Wayne DeAngelo?
•4. Did Wayne DeAngelo ever speak to Rick Perr or Jeff Meyer?
•5. If so, when did he speak to them and what were the nature of the conversations?
•6. Will he volunteer to speak with NJ ELEC to aid them in their investigation?

In this case, silence is not golden.

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It's official: NJ citizens Income Plummeting

In case you are wondering why Jon Corzine keep running away from his record as Governor of NJ...


From PolitickerNJ:

CONTRARY TO GOVERNOR CORZINE'S CLAIMS, NEW JERSEY IS NOT BETTER POSITIONED THAN OTHER STATES TO WEATHER TOUGH ECONOMIC TIMES
New Jersey's median household income declined by $7,214 from 2005-2006 to 2007-2008, the nation's largest dollar decrease, according to statistics released today by the United States Census Bureau.

"These Census statistics clearly refute the claim that New Jersey was better stationed to weather this economic storm that Governor Corzine and his allies in the Legislature kept telling residents this summer while embracing a budget that slashed property tax relief, raised taxes and simply ignored the state's dire financial situation," Assemblyman John DiMaio, R-Warren and Hunterdon, said.

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Let's investigate Goldman Sach's alumni conflict of interest Mr Corzine

As Jon Corzine continues his hypocritical accusations of Chris Christie, maybe it is time for a real account of the ties between Goldman Sachs alumni like Corzine and government influence. From this article in the Policy Examiner:

The Times points out that Goldman alums include:

Former treasury secretary Hank Paulson
Paulson's bailout chief Neel Kashkari
Interim Treasury investment officer Reuben Jeffrey
Key Treasury players Dan Jester, Steve Shafran, Edward C. Forst, and Robert K. Steel
Key New York Federal Reserve players Stephen Friedman (head of the New York Fed board of governors, who sat on Goldman's board and owned a substantial stake in Goldman while he was making official decisions - and see this), William C. Dudley (head of the New York Fed's unit that buys and sells government securities), and E. Gerald Corrigan (charged with convening a group to analyze risk on Wall Street)

Of course, the avalance of former Goldman alumni seemed to start with Jon Corzine. From this opinion piece in the Trentonian:

That $300 million-plus that Corzine left Goldman Sachs with and used to bankroll a mid-life-crisis career change to politics was “fattened” by IPOs, says Taibbi.

He says Goldman Sachs manipulated the price of IPO stock by encouraging “best clients” to get in early at low prices and clean up before the suckers were enticed in at higher prices, driving up Goldman Sach’s take. That tactic is called “laddering,” says Taibbi.

Then, before moving on to other alleged Goldman Sachs iniquities, the writer takes a parting pot shot at Corzine. “One of the truly comic moments in the history of America’s recent financial collapse came,” writes Taibbi, when Corzine insisted, “I’ve never even heard the term ‘laddering’ before.”

Jon Corzine. Ethically challenged. Mathmatically challenged. A weak Governor. Not quite the lion we were promised (not even a cowardly lion) rather a mouse with the political courage of an anonymous political staffer the media so adores.

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Christie. Corzine and Democrat Corruption

Reviewing the new Corzine add that shows Chris Christie leaving a congressional committee convened to attack him for alleged no bid contracts. The humorus past of this add is that it almost seems to have been prepared and filmed BEFORE Christie was "invited" to the House committee hearings. Does it not bother anyone that this heharing was convened to assist Corzine in attacking Christie.

Let's review:

1. The House has no interest in investigating Charlie Rangel accused of several tax violations and abusing housing rules intended for poor families.
2. The House has no interest in investigatiing Jack Murtha's bribe steering to his son, trashing and pre-judging our troops in Iraq and continual person of interest in a major corruption scandal.
3. The House has no interest in investigating Nancy Pelosi's accusation that the CIA lied to congress desppite evidence that it is Pelosi who lied.

But they do have time to bring in a New Jersey Federal Prosecutor who is running for Governor and also put away 128 of their friends. Curious.

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