Another $30M?

When the building of the new Jets/Giants stadium was being debated, taxpayers were repeatedly assured that it would not cost them a dime. Soon they were saddled with costs for improved roadways leading to the stadium and other similar services. Now, the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority (NJSEA) has unanimously voted to have the taxpayers pay tens of millions of dollars to refinance the stadium debt. It turns out that tax-free bonds were initially used to finance the debt; however, now that the land upon which the stadium is being built is privately owned, the Internal Revenue Service requires that taxable bonds finance it. The NJSEA therefore voted to refinance the project using taxable bonds, which will add $20M-$30M to New Jersey’s state debt. This amount will eventually need to be paid by New Jersey taxpayers. The situation raises numerous questions that demand answers:

First, did the NJSEA vote to refinance the stadium before seeking other options? While NJSEA Board members reportedly stated they had no choice, did the NJSEA approach the Jets and Giants to request that they pick up the tab? If not, why not?

Second, why will New Jersey have to pay the bill instead of the Jets and Giants? Furthermore, since the teams demand to keep the moniker, “New York”, why should New Jersey and her taxpayers pick up the tab?

Third, which elected officials are responsible for this fiasco? When did they know of this situation and what did they do to prevent it?

Finally, why oh why are New Jersey taxpayers continuing to fund professional sports teams? These sports teams are raking in hundreds of millions of dollars while our State and her citizens are drowning in debt. If the Jets and Giants can afford tens of millions of dollars for less than successful players, surely they can cover a $30M tab to finance their elaborate new stadium, which will earn them millions more in the long-term.

It is time to end government sponsorship of professional sports in New Jersey and to recognize that such sponsorship is an abuse of the taxpayer that must not be tolerated. It is also time to hold accountable the elected and appointed officials who engineered yet another taxpayer-funded debacle.

Michael M. Shapiro, founder of ShapTalk.com, is an attorney who resides in New Providence, New Jersey. He currently serves as the Chairman of the New Providence Democratic Party and as Editor of The Alternative Press Contact Mike at mike@shaptalk.com

A Roadmap for Reform

In the wake of several high-profile corruption stings in the State of New Jersey, it is an opportune time to seriously improve the condition of Garden State politics. The following roadmap for reform is meant to provide some thoughtful ideas to help generate a public and constructive dialogue about these important issues in order to enable both our elected leaders and our citizens to begin to develop a consensus for reforming New Jersey politics.

First, it is time for a full time legislature in New Jersey with commensurate pay. Double-dipping would be eliminated as would conflicts of interest and other ethical problems, including pension padding. Meanwhile, our elected officials would have the time to actually read the legislation they are voting upon and hold meaningful hearings and discussions about proposals and legislation before they are considered for a vote, thereby leading to improved public policy and increased fiscal responsibility.

Second, to lessen the pernicious influence of campaign cash and to enable citizens of ordinary means to have the ability to run for office and win, a fiscally responsible public financing system should be established. For example, candidates who personally obtain a certain number of signatures of registered voters (a number that would demonstrate that the candidate spent a good deal of time and energy and has popular support) could receive 50% of the average amount of money spent in that particular legislative district over the past five elections and could be designated as a “Clean Election Candidate” on the ballot and in any campaign literature or advertisements. As a consequence, they would be prohibited from raising any outside money but perhaps could contribute their own money to their campaign and would have to donate any left over funds to the public financing system. Candidates who elect to bypass public financing could raise unlimited amounts of money but would have to disclose the source and amount of each contribution on a State-operated website. The public financing system could be paid for through a volunteer check-off on our State income tax statement and voluntary contributions by individuals and businesses, who could be listed in television, radio, and newspaper advertising thanking them for financing clean campaigns in New Jersey.

Third, to limit the influence peddling in New Jersey politics, businesses that contribute to candidates would have to fill out mandatory disclosure forms available on the internet that list all principals and all lobbyists. Under criminal penalty, the officers of the business would have to state that they have no commercial interests currently before the official to whom the business is contributing campaign funds.

Finally, all legislative districts in New Jersey should be redrawn by an independent panel using a computer program that divides districts by taking the current Statewide percentage of registered Democrats, registered Republicans and registered but unaffiliated voters every ten years, and then carving 40 districts throughout the State that are each composed of that percentage of each category. This would enable every district in New Jersey to be competitive, helping to resurrect vibrant political discourse and diminishing apathy amongst New Jersey voters who no longer feel they have a real choice when they enter the voting booth since either one party or the other is a foregone winner.

Of course, there are pros and cons to all of these ideas. However, they are typical of those that may be proposed by our elected officials and publicly debated and discussed in the halls of Trenton down to the local coffee shop. The recent high-profile corruption busts in New Jersey provide a golden opportunity to finally reform New Jersey politics. Why wait?

Michael M. Shapiro, founder of ShapTalk.com, is an attorney who resides in New Providence, New Jersey. He currently serves as the Chairman of the New Providence Democratic Party and as Editor of The Alternative Press Contact Mike at mike@shaptalk.com

Democrat bosses “whack” Coniglio

By: Murray Sabrin

Senator Coniglio of Paramus announced Wednesday he would not seek reelection this fall after denying for weeks he would drop out of the race. Apparently, Coniglio’s fate was sealed after he met with Senate President Dick Codey and Bergen County Democratic Chairman Joe Ferriero hours earlier.

Despite being the target of a federal investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s office for allegedly using his influence as a state senator to steer $1.6 million in state funds to Hackensack University Medical Center after he was hired as a $5,000 month plumbing consultant by the hospital, Senator Coniglio has been professing he did not do anything wrong.

Let’s look at what has transpired. A state senator like his counterparts in the legislature routinely funnels funds for local pet projects. That is the nature of the beast known as state government grants and appropriations. But in this case, Senator Coniglio was being paid for what may have been a dubious job by HUMC to get a steady stream of grants to his “client.”

Only time will tell if Senator Coniglio broke the law.

Senator Coniglio was dropped—or was pushed aside—by the party bosses because they presumably did not want to have spend a ton of campaign funds defending a “safe” senate seat where the incumbent is under federal investigation.

In America, everyone is innocent until proven guilty. The senator should have remained in the race and let the voters decide his fate. After all, in a democracy the people should decide who is supposed to represent them, not party bosses.

But this is New Jersey. And in the Garden State, the bosses rule. Haven’t you been watching The Sopranos? When you get “whacked” by Tony S. you are dead. Kaput. When you get “whacked” by Codey and boss Joe, your political career is kaput.

Murray Sabrin, Ph.D., is professor of finance in the Anisfield School of Business, Ramapo College of New Jersey, where he is executive director of the Center for Business and Public Policy. He also writes for www.usadaily.com and www.njvoices.com.

Just Shy of a Dozen: How Many More Pols are in Christie’s Crosshairs?

This past week, eleven elected officials were arrested by the FBI and charged by United States Attorney for the State of New Jersey Chris Christie with accepting bribes in exchange for steering public contracts to private companies. The eleven range from former members of the Pleasantville Board of Education to Assemblyman Rev. Alfred E. Steele who is also undersheriff for Passaic County. While the alleged individual payments are small, ranging from $1,500 to $17,500, the amount of money in question is immaterial: any amount of money accepted by an elected official in exchange for certain action is illegal and an affront to all New Jersey taxpayers. Given the large number of officials arrested, is this the end of Chris Christie’s corruption busting? Likely, it is only the beginning.

Since New Jersey has 566 municipalities and over 600 school boards and thousands of local, county and state elected and appointed officials, even if a small percentage of them are corrupt, the number of politicians in Chris Christie’s crosshairs would be enormous. Add to this the likelihood that there are more than just a small percentage of elected officials who are legally or ethically compromised and the number expands exponentially.

What is it that causes New Jersey’s elected officials to engage in illegal conduct on a level not seen in most other states? First, years of indifference by federal law enforcement in New Jersey permitted politicians to think that they could do whatever they pleased and not get caught. Second, weak attorneys general in the State of New Jersey in recent history enabled politicians to become reckless. Third, politicians themselves are brought up in a political environment in New Jersey that survives on massive campaign contributions, spending, and influence peddling to a degree not seen in most other states. Fourth, many politicians hold more than one job, creating serious conflicts of interest that have gone unchecked for years. Fifth, there is often a symbiotic relationship between politicians and the press, which undermines the “watchdog role” of the media and has caused the media to follow, rather than lead, when it comes to corruption in New Jersey politics. Sixth, the politicians themselves who make it to elected office have frequently succumbed to the ethical pressures surrounding them during their campaigns and afterwards, leading them to be more willing to cross the legal line. Finally, because of human nature, which typically can involve greed and ulterior motives, many politicians are not in politics for altruistic reasons but rather to advance themselves, their friends, and their relatives, whether it be through political connections or jobs or money.

For all of these reasons, New Jersey politicians are ripe targets for corruption investigations. Given Chris Christie’s focus on rooting out corruption in New Jersey politics, he is likely to snare many more pols before he leaves office. The only question is just how many can he bust in the time he has remaining.

Michael M. Shapiro, founder of ShapTalk.com, is an attorney who resides in New Providence, New Jersey. He currently serves as the Chairman of the New Providence Democratic Party and as Editor of The Alternative Press Contact Mike at mike@shaptalk.com

GOP (except one) and Fox News Warmongers

By: Murray Sabrin

Last Wednesday in New Hampshire Fox News hosted another GOP presidential debate. Instead of a “fair and balanced” debate, the Fox trio of Hume, Wallace and Goler revealed once again why Fox News has become the cheerleader for death and destruction in Iraq.

This time, Chris Wallace played the role of hatchet man when he asked Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, the only anti-war GOP candidate in the race, if America’s foreign policy should take its marching orders from al Qaeda. Paul had just explained why al Qaeda attacked the Untied States on 9/11. One of the reasons for the attacks on 9/11, according to Bin Laden and other Muslim fundamentalists, is the stationing of American troops on the Arabian Peninsula after the first Gulf War.

The smirky Wallace thought he had a gotcha moment that would sink Ron Paul’s candidacy. It didn’t work. In fact, after the debate Fox’s text message poll gave Ron Paul an overwhelming victory with 33% of the vote, to the consternation of the totally clueless Sean Hannity.

In addition, with the sole exception of Rep. Ron Paul, the other GOP presiedntial candidates justified the (illegal) invasion of Iraq by parroting the Bush line that the “war on terror” had to be brought to the “enemy,” and therefore the overthrow of Saddam Hussein was not only justified but also in the great tradition of America defending liberty and democracy around the world.

Rep. Ron Paul, a ten term congressman, voted against the war’s authorization and the Patriot Act. His candidacy is being virtually ignored by the mainstream media as quirky and irrelevant. Yet, the crowds are building, the funds are pouring in, and he’s winning straw polls or coming in a close second.

The American people got to see the GOP candidates last week, except for Fred Thompson, who announced his candidacy on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

If you missed the fireworks between Ron Paul and former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, you missed a classic confrontation between the anti-war Paul and the blood thirsty minister/politician. You also missed the remarks and smirks of the most thuggish politician in America, Rudy Giuliani. You also missed the canned remarks of America’s most plastic politician, Mitt Romney. And finally, you missed the attempt by Fox News to resurrect the sinking candidacy of John McCann, who after seeing the horrors of war four decades ago, still loves war as a tool of American foreign policy.

There is only one GOP presidential candidate who can save the party from itself and the country from a continuation of the welfare/warfare state, and that is Ron Paul.

Murray Sabrin, Ph.D., is professor of finance in the Anisfield School of Business, Ramapo College of New Jersey. He writes for www.njvoices.com and www.usadaily.com

Return the Cash, Senator Kean

Just last year, Senator Thomas H. Kean Jr. (R-Union) was running as an “ethical reformer” against Bob Menendez (D-Hudson) for the United States Senate. Kean ran a negative campaign, hammering Menendez with allegations of unethical conduct, including accusations about campaign fundraising and donations. Fast-forward less than a year and it is State Senator Kean on the receiving end of tainted campaign contributions.

Earlier this month, Senator Larry Craig (R-Idaho) resigned from the United States Senate after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge when he was arrested for lewd conduct in a public restroom. Craig, an arch-conservative, who has been an outspoken critic of homosexuality, was accused of soliciting gay sex in a public bathroom from an undercover police officer. Craig pleaded guilty but failed to disclose the arrest or his guilty plea to the public. After pressure from prominent Republicans, Senator Craig resigned his seat.

State Senator Thomas H. Kean Jr. collected approximately $10,000 from Senator Craig in December 2005 and September 2006 and has refused to return those donations. Justin Richards, a spokesman for Kean, recently told the media, “The donations we received in December 2005 and September 2006 have been used for expenses during last year's campaign.”

While Mr. Kean can attempt to justify his refusal to return the contributions on the theory that they have already been used for expenses, the argument is a tough sell. Contributions from one or two years ago are usually spent but that has not kept other politicians from returning such contributions. For example, both Senator Lautenberg and Governor Corzine recently agreed to donate hefty contributions from a Democratic fundraiser who pleaded guilty to a felony charge in 1991, which was recently revealed in an article in the Wall Street Journal.

Kean may also argue that his campaign fund is in debt and, therefore, he does not have the money available to return the contributions. While federal records reveal that Kean is owed $130,000 by his campaign, those records also show Kean’s campaign has $47,000 in cash on hand, $37,000 more than the Kean campaign needs to return the contributions. As an heir to the Kean fortune, any cry of poverty by Kean Jr. would not pass the “smell test.”

Tom Kean Jr. should return the $10,000 to Senator Craig or donate the money to charity. To keep the tainted money sends a powerful message that Senator Kean is no “ethical reformer” but rather, an opportunist. Do the right thing and return the cash, Senator Kean.

Michael M. Shapiro, founder of ShapTalk.com, is an attorney who resides in New Providence, New Jersey. He currently serves as the Chairman of the New Providence Democratic Party and as Editor of The Alternative Press Contact Mike at mike@shaptalk.com