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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: tejek who wrote (235561)	6/2/2005 6:17:34 PM
From: Alighieri	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1571973

Duh! I just got it. Bush and Bolton were Yalies together. Has anyone risen to defend this guy ? Al

To: tejek who wrote (235561)	6/2/2005 8:39:45 PM
From: Raymond Duray	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1571973

Re: but Yale classmates of Bolton's said Tuesday he is unfit for the job. His classmates recently had a reunion. Bolton didn't get an invitation because he was listed in the file as "deceased". <wink>

To: tejek who wrote (235561)	6/3/2005 1:48:20 AM
From: Peter Dierks	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1571973

Can Garden State Republicans convince voters they can clean up the corruption? BY JOHN FUND Thursday, June 2, 2005 12:01 a.m. EDT TRENTON, N.J.--This year's race for governor finds the residents of the Garden State in a surly mood. Personal and financial scandals forced Democrat Jim McGreevey to resign last year, and the recent release of taped conversations between a South Jersey Democratic boss and other pols have only deepened a public perception that the state's local governments are dominated by a public-sector version of the Soprano family. But none of this compares with the public anger over the state's highest-in-the country property taxes. Already 50% higher than the national average, they are going up 7% a year to keep pace with constantly growing local budgets and a state debt burden that is the third-highest in the country. An activist state Supreme Court has taken over distribution of a large chunk of property taxes and directed 60% of it to failing urban school districts. But none of that extra money appears to be improving education. Next Tuesday, Republicans will select someone to challenge the certain Democratic candidate, Sen. Jon Corzine. A human ATM who spent $63 million of his own money to narrowly win a U.S. Senate seat, Mr. Corzine now vows to spend "whatever it takes" so he can take over the governor's mansion. But while he has both bucks and name recognition, he hasn't closed the sale with voters. This month, Mr. Corzine winced when Phil Thigpen, a Democratic leader in Newark, introduced him by saying "I know he's having a difficult time in Washington, being the minority in an unsympathetic majority. Maybe that's why he's coming home." Indeed, there are signs that Sen. Corzine is returning to a state that could view him as part of the problem rather than the solution. His self-described political mentor, Sen. Bob Torricelli, had to drop out in disgrace from his U.S. Senate re-election race in 2002. This year, Mr. Corzine's name surfaced on tapes that prosecutors made of conversations by George Norcross, the South Jersey boss to whose political committees Mr. Corzine has funneled $700,000. Mr. Norcross boasted of breakfast at the Corzine home and speaking weekly with the senator: "In the end, the McGreeveys, the Corzines, they're all going to be with me. . . not that they like me, but because they have no choice." Mr. Corzine's handlers insist his relationship with Mr. Norcross is "insubstantial," but they must be relieved that so far only two of the 330 hours of recordings prosecutors made of New Jersey pols have been publicly released. The state's Democratic attorney general wants to keep the remainder sealed because he claims they could compromise investigative techniques and expose innocent people to ridicule. But that begs the question of how New Jersey can clean up its politics so that the state itself isn't constantly held up to derision. The two leading GOP candidates, former Jersey City mayor Bret Schundler and businessman Doug Forrester, both claim they will use an industrial-strength broom to clean out the stables of state government. Mr. Forrester scored early with an ad featuring a row of greedy politicians with hands full of cash in what he termed the "Conga line of corruption." Mr. Schundler has focused his campaign on a plan to cap state spending with a constitutional amendment. "The alternative is to trust politicians," he says "and I don't think we should trust politicians." Seeing Mr. Schundler make points with his focus on property taxes, Mr. Forrester has proposed that state government cover 30% of a homeowner's local taxes. But Newark Star-Ledger columnist Tom Moran ran the numbers and concluded that "Forrester has no clue how he would cover the cost" to state government and "his plan gives local governments and schools no incentive to reduce spending." That may explain why Mr. Forrester, who has a narrow lead in polls, has changed the subject by pouring money into ads accusing Mr. Schundler of raising taxes and tolerating corruption during his nine years as mayor of Jersey City. Mr. Forrester is expected to spend some $8 million on his primary campaign, as much as all the other candidates combined. His tactics could backfire with some voters. "He's a mini-Corzine by trying to buy his race," says Leonard Steinberg, a tax accountant from Mr. Forrester's home town of West Windsor. Mr. Schundler plans to counter the Forrester bankroll with an e-mail list of 35,000 names he is mobilizing using new "grass-roots software" that enables every activist to operate a mini-campaign headquarters from home. Whoever emerges from the GOP primary next Tuesday will trail Mr. Corzine by double digits in polls, but that doesn't mean the race is over. Mr. Corzine began his 2000 Senate race with a 20 point lead and ended up winning with only 51%. On property taxes, he has backed a plan to call a constitutional convention that critics say could propose new taxes but be precluded from discussing spending limits. One reason would be that Mr. Corzine is nothing if not liberal with other people's money. The National Taxpayers Union Foundation reports that the former Goldman Sachs executive supports the most costly current agenda of bills of all U.S. senators--a piggish pricetag of $441 billion. In his race for governor, he is already proposing to offer health coverage to two-thirds of the state's 1.2 million uninsured. New Jersey has a reputation as a solidly blue state, with Democrats controlling all statewide offices. But that very dominance also makes the party vulnerable to an angry electorate that wants change. And the state itself may be changing politically. Last year, President Bush gained six percentage points in New Jersey over his 2000 tally, winning three Congressional districts he had lost to Al Gore. In 2002, other Northeast states such as Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Vermont elected GOP businessmen as their new governors in response to corruption and tax concerns. If anything, New Jersey may be even more ripe for a bold message of principled reform. The danger for Republicans may be if they mute that message and play it safe. Mr. Corzine will obviously have the money to get his vote out, his GOP opponent can only win if he convinces voters that his election would really matter. Mr. Fund, an OpinionJournal columnist, is also a contributor to OpinionJournal's Political Diary.