More tea ..

Another  “Tea Party” is set for the Morristown Green on the Fourth of July … The first tea party was on “tax day” — April 15.   That was during the week and during the primary campaign, so attendance was very good … On a holiday, you can expect attendance to be  sparse …

Christie up by 10

A poll by  Public Policy Polling shows Chris Christie leading Gov. Jon Corzine by a margin of 51 to 41 percent.

A key is the fact that Christie holds a wide lead over independents .. 60 to 26. That is very telling, Independents in NJ generally vote Democratic. The fact that so many are in Christie’s camp is a sure sign of the governor’s vulnerability.

Clearly, Corzine has work to do. 

The bridge is open

If you drive on Route 46 in Denville,  you know full well what bridge we are talking about …

I walked it this morning and the view was pretty nice of the highway. The idea  is to create a walking path for youngsters and adults as well who are using Gardner Field on the north side of the highway.

But it’s costly ($4.3 million) and ugly. There is a maze of ramps on each side and the bridge itself is caged, looking like something that you’d see in a prison work yard.

Is it THAT HARD to get people to come to work?

In Morris Township, officials are handing  out redeemable coupons to some workers as bonuses for them showing up for regular work duties. The coupons award bonus points and if you accumulate enough points, you can get an array of goods _ everything from appliances to jewelry.

Workers get the coupons every two weeks to coincide with town pay periods.  

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Mike Luther is starting early

Got an e-mail from a fellow who said campaign workers for Parsippany Mayor Michael Luther were at his door over the weekend.

Luther, it seems, faces a tough battle against what is a united Republican party.  So, starting early, one supposes, is the way to go .

The state's new budget

Here’s what the governor had to say about it:

“For over six decades, New Jersey Governors and Legislators have talked about the need to make state government leaner. But for over six decades, the size and cost of government have continued to grow – until now. The budget I signed is $1.5 billion smaller than the first budget I signed in 2006 and is $4 billion smaller than last year’s budget, yet we have expanded my administration’s unequaled investment in direct property tax relief for working families – $7 billion in four years. We have proven that government can do more with less.”

There you have it, the governor’s campaign spiel for his reelection this fall … In essence, he’s saying that he made the tough decisions and made them well. His first task is not so much to attract independents or Republicans, but to bring disenchanted Democrats back in line. 

Rodney and Garrett stand apart

Reps Rodney P. Frelinghuysen and Scott Garrett were the only two members of Congress from New Jersey to oppose Friday’s bill to put caps on emissions from a variety of industrial plants.  This became known as Cap and Trade, because harmful emissions would be capped, but those involved could buy, in effect, a permit to pollute.

Garrett’s opposition is understandable and consistent wth his view that government should do little. But Frelinghuysen has had a pro-environmental record in the past. His opposition, which is out of step with the majority of House Republicans in his own party, is strange.

Anywho, the congessman will help us — and you — understand his views in a column he’s writing. It should run in the Daily Record next week.

Lawmakers on the move

For years, state lawmakers from the 26th District — the senator and the two assembly members — have occupied the  same office in the Powder Mill complex on Route 10 in Parsippany.

That office space is owned by Ed Mosberg, a Parsippany developer now under indictment for bribery and other charges. 

Should state lawmakers pay rent to a man under indictment for public corruption? 

Senator Joseph Pennacchio and Assemblymen Alex DeCroce and Jay Webber do not think so.  They will move effective July 6 — actually to two different locales.

Pennacchio’s office will be in Montville, while DeCroce and Webber will move to Whippany.

Twitter Updates for 2009-06-25

• The race for governor moves to DC today with C. Christie scheduled to testify on matters related to contract he gave old boss John Ashcroft #

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Selling out in the Highlands?

That’s the view of the New Jersey Sierra Club after the Highlands Council today granted PSE&G’s a blanket exemption for its planned pipe line through the region; the vote was 8 to 2.

The vote came after PSE&G gave the council $18.6 million as compensation for the acres of land its project would disturb.

Said Sierra Club director Jeff Tittel, “I’ve never seen, in all my years of being involved in environmental advocacy, such a blatant quid pro quo from a regulatory agency.”