The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board links New Jersey’s “overregulation” with the recent corruption scandal:
The point is that politicians and officials have more to sell in an environment of high taxes, big spending and overregulation—the same things that help explain New Jersey’s anemic economic growth and job creation. When government gets too big and complicated for businesses to get their permits and approvals and funding honestly, the dishonest prosper. And the honest get fed up and flee.
The Journal posits that our big government culture (New Jersey created only 6,800 private sector jobs from 2000 to 2007 while public sector jobs grew by more than 55,800) creates a nifty opening for Chris Christie.
Frank Esposito, an interim dean at Kean University, will be long-shot gubernatorial candidate Chris Daggett’s choice for lieutenant governor. Esposito is a strong supporter for school choice, including both charter schools and vouchers. The pick aligns Daggett with Christie on school choice issues and underlines the differences in education agendas between Corzine and Christie. Now that Daggett is eligible for matching funds, he’ll be included in the debate with Corzine and Christie. We vote for an education question. In the meantime, the NJEA gets a handy dichotomy to work with.
Bob Inlge over at Politics Patrol quotes a good line by Daggett: “The cancer of corruption inside and outside the law is so deeply embedded in New Jersey that unless the FBI is put on a monthly retainer, only a truly big change will make a difference.”
Chris Cillizza at the Washington Post reports that a “senior Democratic strategist” said that the FBI sting was a “tipping point” for Jersey voters looking “for an excuse to vote against business as usual but didn’t have an acceptable alternative.” Writes Cillizza,
"His [Corzine's] clearest route to victory had been to spend tens of millions making clear he'd cleaned up Trenton and bloodying Christie with accusations of graft and corruption," said one Democratic operative with long ties to New Jersey. "Now, a member of his cabinet and mayors he needs for turnout are caught up in a huge corruption ring, so he can't run on ethics reform. So now what's his road map to victory?"
Labels: Christie, Corzine, daggett