Stalemate on the Delaware

Who will blink first on the state budget stare-off? Gov. Corzine or Assembly Speaker Joe Roberts? Corzine insists he will veto any budget that does not include an increase in the sales tax from 6 percent to 7 percent. Roberts says he will only accept a sales tax increase if all of the revenue goes toward property tax relief.
Senate President Richard J. Codey, who supports Corzine's plan, has suggested a compromise: use half of the revenue from the tax for property tax relief.
Here's my suggestion, to voters: Don't back anyone who supports an increase in the sales tax or any other tax when Election Day rolls around next year.

Bridging the generation gap

It never ceases to amaze me how so many of the great rock bands of the '60s, '70s and '80s continue to attract new audiences. I saw two of those bands last night at the PNC Bank Arts Center - Journey and Def Leppard. Journey's peak of popularity was in the late '70s and early '80s. Def Leppard's biggest hits were in the mid-80s. But the crowd of 15,000-plus was filled with teens, college students and fans a generation or more younger than the guys up on stage and some of their hits.
Def Leppard lead singer Joe Elliott is now 47. Lead guitarist Phil Collen is 48. The youngest member of the band, drummer Rick Allen, is 42. The bulk of the material they played last night was from their "Hysteria" album, which was recorded nearly 20 years ago. The entire audience, all three generations of it, was on its feet for the full 90 minutes of Def Leppard's set.
The guys in Journey are even older, although only one of them is an original - lead guitarist Neal Schon, who is 52. Keyboardist Jonathan Cain is 56.
When I was growing up, it would have been inconceivable to go see a band that my parents liked. With rock 'n roll still going strong some 50 years after it was born, all that has changed. Today, not only can parents and their kids appreciate the same music, but grandparents and their granchildren as well. What a beautiful thing.

Ultimate stupidity

Who says our Legislature isn't looking out for the best interests of New Jersey's citizens? On Monday, it found time in its busy schedule to pass a bill that would create a commission to study how to attract more boxing, wrestling and ultimate fighting events to New Jersey. That's just what this state needs. More violence.
Many states prohibit ultimate fighting, or mixed martial arts, as it also is known. Some people refer to it as "human cockfighting." Sen. John McCain called for a national ban on ultimate fighting, describing it as a "disturbing and bloody competition which places the contestants at great risk for serious injury or even death. And it should not be allowed to take place anywhere in the United States. It appeals to the lowest common denominator in our society."
In fairness, the sport isn't totally brutal. Under rules adopted by the Nevada Athletic Commission to make the sport a bit less barbaric, fouls are assessed for head butting, hair pulling, biting, spitting, eye gouging, groin attacks of any kind, putting a finger into any orifice or into any cut or laceration on an opponent, kneeing or kicking the head, throwing an opponent out of the ring and holding on to the shorts of an opponent.
What's the penalty for these infractions? Disqualification? Suspension? No, a point is deducted from a participant's score. If the foul doesn't incapacitate a fighter, it's pretty much "no harm, no foul."
Most study commissions represent the kiss of death to the subject under review. Let's hope that's the case with this one, should it ever gain approval in the Assembly and the blessing of Gov. Corzine.

Beck campaign off to early, shameless start

If you thought you would be getting a year off from the shameless political mailings from candidates for the state Legislature, think again.
Freshman Republican Assemblywoman Jennifer Beck, who has been in office less than six months and isn't up for election for another 16 months, sent out a glossy one-page mailer last week to homes in her district attacking Gov. Corzine, along with her district Democratic colleagues, state Sen. Ellen Karcher and Assemblyman Michael Panter, for supporting a new tax on hospital beds. The tax was proposed by Corzine and has been off the table for some time. Karcher and Panter came out against the tax about six weeks ago. No matter. That small fact appeared nowhere in the ad.
We agree with the essence of the mailing, which is that the Corzine and the Democrats need to cut government waste rather than raise taxes. But slamming two colleagues from the district in a campaign mailing nearly a year and a half before the election?

Sen. Sweeney's motive

Why is Democratic state Sen. Stephen Sweeney, whose day job is business agent for an ironworkers union, spearheading a campaign to cut state employee salaries and benefits by 15 percent as an alternative to raising the state sales tax from 6 percent to 7 percent.
This e-mail from Sweeney, sent to us this morning, may explain it:

Some New Jersey political history to consider...

July 1966: Democratic Governor & Democratic Legislature impose sales tax at 3%. Next election: Democrats lose 19 seats in the Assembly

March 1970: Republican Governor & Republican Legislature increase sales tax to 5%. Next election: Republicans lose 20 seats in Assembly

July 1990: Democratic Governor & Democratic Legislature increase sales tax to 7%. Next election: Democrats lose 22 seats in Assembly and 10 seats in the Senate.

July 2006..............

Sales tax hike alternative

A study released Wednesday by New Jersey Policy Perspective may give lawmakers the out they are seeking to keep the sales tax at 6 percent - extend it to goods and services now exempted from it. That way, when they hit the campaign trail next year, they can say they fought the proposed increase from 6 percent to 7 percent, even though they approved new sales taxes that took the same amount of money out of taxpayers' pockets.
NJPP endorses the idea of broadening the sales tax rather than increasing it. It suggests applying the sales tax to gasoline, over and above the current state gasoline tax. That alone would raise close to $1 billion - a little less than the amount a 1-cent sales tax hike would generate. The report includes an appendix that lists all the other candidates for sales tax, and the amount each would generate. Among them: food ($922 million), clothing ($680 million), consulting and lobbying ($462 million), legal services ($449 million), engineering and architectural services ($379 million) and accounting and tax preparation ($297 million) and advertising ($146 million).
If lawmakers extended the sales tax to all the items listed in the appendix, it could generate an additional $5.6 billion.
Don't allow the Legislature to be seduced by the prospect of easy money - your money. E-mail them or phone them http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/99999999/OPINION/60530007 and tell them you want them to balance the budget by cutting spending, not raising taxes - any taxes.
The full NJPP report: http://www.njpp.org/rpt_salestax.html

Ocean Co. tops in growth in mid-decade look

The newly released 2005 Census estimates show that Ocean County led the state in growth between 2000 and 2005, with the population increasing 9.3 percent, from 510,916 to 558,341. Warren County had the second largest percentage increase (7.8%), followed by Somerset (7.5%) and Hunterdon (6.9%). Monmouth County's growth rate of 3.4 percent was actually below the state average of 3.6 percent.
Essex and Hudson counties were the only two counties to experience negative population growth.
Four towns accounted for more than half of Ocean County's increase in population - Jackson (9,054), Lakewood (8,482), Barnegat (5,038) and Dover Township (4,954). The increase in Jackson's population during that five-year period was larger than the total populations in 21 Ocean County towns.
The largest percentage population increase in Monmouth County was in Upper Freehold (55%). Tinton Falls was a distant second (14.7%). The only towns in Monmouth County to increase their populations by more than 3,000 were Manalapan (3,416) and Marlboro (3,267).

Corzine photo triggers gag reflex

It's fortunate I saw the picture in the Press of Gov. Corzine raising his arm with a union demonstrator at a rally in Trenton before, not after, I had my breakfast today. Otherwise, I think I might have lost it.
Corzine came out to greet the thousands of demonstrators who gathered outside the Statehouse annex yesterday in support of his budget, which raises taxes by $1.8 billion and calls for a $1.3 billion contribution to state-funded pensions. Some lawmakers have called for union givebacks as an alternative to an increase in the sales tax; others have sought to reduce the state's contribution to the pension fund.
''Those who would cripple collective bargaining do a disservice to democracy," Corzine said. "I stand with you. I'll fight with you."
In recent weeks, I thought there was a chance Corzine would stand with, and fight for, the taxpayer. This state has no chance of digging its way out of its financial hole without a governor willing to tell the unions they are going to have to share the pain. His nauseating public show of support for the unions yesterday revealed a stunning lack of sensitivity to the plight of New Jersey's taxpayers.

Head for the hills

A report ordered by President Bush after Hurricane Katrina to inventory the nation's emergency preparedness has concluded that only 10 states have acceptable plans in place to deal with major disasters. Why doesn't that surprise me?
The report, prepared by the Department of Homeland Security, found that emergency preparedness plans in most states, and in most of the 75 cities it studied, don't have clear chains of command, don't provide adequate public warning and don't make adequate provision for people with special needs. Emergency responders also don't communicate well - if at all - in a crisis, the report said.
New Jersey, unfortunately, was not one of the 10 states the DHS deemed prepared. The two New Jersey cities it studied - Newark or Jersey City - also were considered ill-prepared.
The report will do nothing to ease the concerns of people living near the Oyster Creek nuclear power plant. The homeland security folks said mass evacuation plans throughout the country were inadequate in nine out of 10 cases and were "an area of profound concern."

Bad attitude in A.G.'s office

After Peter C. Harvey's term as state Attorney General mercifully expired, I hoped New Jersey would finally get a top law enforcement officer who was both competent and intolerant of political corruption. Unfortunately, Gov. Corzine chose an unqualified Democratic hack, Zulima Farber, whose casual regard for the law was epitomized by a driving record that included 13 speeding violations, three license suspensions and a bench warrant.
That attitude surfaced again yesterday, when she told a Senate committee she opposed mandatory prison sentences or loss of pensions for corrupt politicians. She said it would be unfair to deny the pension of someone who has served the public for 30 years if the official turned corrupt in year 31. Unbelievable.
Since 2002, about 200 public officials have been indicted by federal and state authorities. If the state A.G.'s Office hadn't been sitting on its hands and protecting its political friends, the number would be far higher. Corruption is a major problem in New Jersey. The state needs to do everything it can to fight it, including imposing severe penalties on those who engage in it. Jail time and loss of pension should be mandatory for corrupt politicians - regardless of whether they committed the offense the day after they were first sworn to office or 30 years later.
Farber's mindset is scary. The last thing New Jersey needs is an A.G. with a tolerance for political corruption. Farber needs an attitude adjustment. Help her adjust it by e-mailing your thoughts on the subject to http://www.nj.gov/lps/formmail.htm or by phoning her office at 609-292-4925.
Read today's full story: http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060616/NEWS/606160433

Property tax sessions should focus on spending

If the Legislature actually gets serious about discussing property taxes in a special summer session, it will likely grapple with these two questions: Should property taxes be reduced by raising income taxes? And, if so, should the bulk of the additional income tax burden be placed on the rich?
To me, there should be no discussion about redistributing the tax burden until the state has grappled with the root problem - excessive spending, waste, inefficiency and corruption at all levels of government. If that's done right, all taxpayers will benefit, not just those who stand to benefit from a wealth redistribution scheme.
But for those intent on putting the tax fairness issue front and center, it will boil down to a simple philosophical question. What constitutes a fair share for the wealthy? The SMART tax bill being promoted by Assemblyman Louis Manzo, D-Hudson, which would relieve the property tax burden by raising income taxes on couples earning more than $300,000 a year - roughly the wealthiest 1 percent of taxpayers - is predicated on the belief that the rich don't pay their fair share. Manzo points to figures that show how lower-income households pay a proportionately greater share of their income in major taxes than do the highest-income households. He's right. Yet 1 percent of the state's taxpayers account for 42 percent of the revenue generated by income taxes. Which is the more important statistic? That will be at the core of the debate.
I would like to see the discussions this summer confined to the most pressing issue: What can be done to reduce the cost of government services, including the schools, so ALL taxpayers can afford to live in this state?

Resurrect HoJo's on Asbury Park boardwalk

I was pleased to read in Sunday's Press that new investors plan to revive the Howard Johnson's restaurants. http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060611/NEWS/606110422. It would be terrific to see a new HoJo's open somewhere along the redeveloped Asbury Park boardwalk.
At one time, there were more than 1,200 restaurants in the Howard Johnson's group; with the recent closing of the Asbury Park HoJo's, only four remain. (See the hojoland.com Web site http://hojoland.homestead.com/ for everything you ever wanted to know, and more, about HoJo's -- past, present and future.)
Howard Johnson's was the McDonald's and Burger King of the '50s and '60s. As a youngster, whenever my family traveled, we always stopped at a HoJo's along the way. I was hooked on the butter-fried hot dogs on the butter-slathered toasted buns and the vanilla shakes. When I was a little older, 11 or 12, the major appeal was the Fish Fry nights. For some of them I was served by my sister, who waitressed at HoJo's in Clark, proudly wearing the orange and green.
After most of the HoJo's in New Jersey closed, I got my fix with Howard Johnson's chicken croquettes and macaroni and cheese, which were available in supermarkets. They still make them today, but they aren't easy to find. When I worked in Manhattan in 2001 and 2002, I would occasionally stop in at the HoJo's in Times Square for a pick-me-up dog and a shake. That location closed last summer.
Nostalgia is in. Nostalgia is marketable. Asbury Partners and its new retail partners in the city's oceanfront redevelopment project, Madison Marquette, should explore the possibility of bringing the orange-tiled roof back to the boardwalk. It would be a surefire hit -- at least with me.

Property tax rebates in jeopardy

Assemblyman Lou Manzo, D-Hudson, stopped in for an editorial board meeting Monday to plug his so-called SMART bill, which would shift some of the school funding burden from property taxes to income taxes. http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060613/NEWS03/606130361&SearchID=73247551488544
Manzo had a lot to say on other topics as well, including the likely fate of Gov. Corzine's proposed sales tax hike, from 6 cents to 7 cents. He says he doesn't believe it has the votes needed for passage, and expects a push in the Legislature to eliminate the property tax rebates instead, a move that would save the state about $1.3 billion - roughly the same amount of revenue a sales tax hike would generate.
Another possible alternative, Manzo said, is extending the sales tax to other goods and services. Everything but food and clothing would be on the table. Doing so could generate more than $2 billion in revenue. New Jersey Policy Perspective, a liberal think tank, is expected to release a report next week on sales taxes in other states that could generate some momentum for that option.

Any questions for Asbury Partners?

The Asbury Park Press editorial board will be meeting Tuesday with the redevelopers of the Asbury Park beachfront. If you have any questions for them, pass them along. We will try to get them answered.
Scheduled to attend are Larry Fishman, chief operating partner of Asbury Partners; Hugh Lamle, president of M.L. Sass, the lead investor in Asbury Partners; Gary Mottolo, managing director and head of investments of Madison Marquette, the group leading the retail portion of the project; and Uri Kahanow, the retail director of Asbury Partners' retail leasing efforts.

Karcher in the cross-hairs

State Sen. Ellen Karcher, D-Monmouth, is one of five Democrats being targeted in a campaign to derail Gov. Corzine's proposed $1.8 billion tax increase. Karcher is a possible swing vote in the Senate, where Democrats outnumber Republicans 22-18. Republicans are expected to vote in a bloc to oppose Corzine's 1-cent increase in the sales tax, which would raise about $1.1 billion. The 2006-07 budget must be approved by June 30.
Conservative Republican Steve Lonegan announced this week that Americans for Prosperity, a national anti-tax group, will launch a $100,000 TV and radio campaign designed to pressure the five Democrats deemed most vulnerable in the 2007 elections into rejecting Corzine's tax increases. http://www.americansforprosperity.org/index.php?id=1577 .
In addition to Karcher, the other targeted legislators are Stephen Sweeney, Fred Madden, Paul Sarlo and Joseph Coniglio. It will be interesting to see how they vote. And what impact their votes will have on their re-election bids.

Beer dethroned as No. 1

Here's some good news for parents of college undergraduates: For only the second time in 18 years, beer was not rated the most "in" thing on campus by students polled by the Student Monitor market research firm. The honor this year went to the iPod music player, deemed "in" by 73 percent of the 1,200 college students surveyed.
That's not to say beer's popularity has plummeted, however. Seventy-one percent of those polled said beer was "in. " Beer was tied for second with Facebook.com, a social networking Web site.
The only other year beer didn't finish first was 1997, when it was edged out by the Internet. If the survey had been taken in ancient Babylonia, beer probably would have been number 1 then, too. Recipes for it were written on clay tablets dating to 4,300 B.C. Noah brought beer on the ark with him. And the ancient Chinese, Egyptians and Assyrians all liked popping back long-necks.
iPod No. 1? Not for long, we suspect. Fads come and go. Beer, for better or worse, is here to stay.

'Pink slips' for legislators

Public employee unions wasted no time reacting to the proposal by three Democratic state legislators to cut state employee salaries and benefits by 15 percent as an alternative to raising the state sales tax from 6 percent to 7 percent.
One of the unions, Local 195 of the IFPTE, faxed "Pink slip notices" to legislators yesterday.
"Be advised that you are officially being put on notice that it we lose our jobs and/or benefits, we will do everything possible to see that you lose yours. Be assured that there are more than enough voting members of various public sector unions to enforce this pink slip. It's Your Choice!"
The union's Web site ( http://www.local195.org, which greets you with a song titled "Solidarity Forever" played to the tune of "Battle Hymn of the Republic" when you access the home page, boasts that the local "provides the most progressive and forceful representation of Public Employees in State, County and various Authorities throughout all of New Jersey." It says the local has about 6,500 members.
The battle lines have been drawn between public employees and taxpayers. It won't be long before we find out whether legislators will finally shift their allegiance toward the people they were elected to represent.

Good news for defense attorneys

People subject to fits of road rage and other bursts of anger aren't simply boorish idiots, a new National Institute of Mental Health study found. They suffer from intermittent explosive disorder, which afflicts up to 16 million Americans - most of whom can be found on New Jersey's streets and highways.
"People think it's bad behavior and that you just need an attitude adjustment, but what they don't know . . . is that there's a biology and cognitive science to this," says Dr. Emil Coccaro, chairman of psychiatry at the University of Chicago medical school. Coccaro said the disorder involves inadequate production or functioning of serotonin, a mood-regulating and behaviour-inhibiting brain chemical.
Defense attorneys must be drooling over this latest study. It gives them yet another way to justify anti-social behavior. "His serotonin deficiency made him do it."
Can't behavior - good or bad - be explained these days by anything other than chemical imbalances? Don't character, ethics and respect for others have anything to do with it?

Who will get the bird flu vaccine?

New Jersey health officials held a summit Wednesday to discuss plans for dealing with a possible bird flu pandemic. Among the issues discussed: Who gets the 18,500 anti-viral doses now available to the state - a state with a population of 8 million.
The possible recipients discussed included health care workers, the vulnerable, pharmaceutical workers, children in state-run group homes and prison inmates. Prison inmates? That's right. What group could be more deserving? There are more than 26,000 of them in New Jersey, according to 2006 DEA statistics. Our prison population alone could absorb the available doses - and then some.
When more vaccine becomes available, it could then be offered to the state's 143,000 parolees.
State Health Commissioner Fred Jacobs says New Jersey is not embracing the federal model, which gives top priority to caregivers and people responsible for producing more vaccine. New Jersey will develop its own model. If history is any guide, public officials and their campaign contributors will be first in line. Other than the prison population, who is more deserving than them?