The reform governor needs to be reformed

Logic 101:

If reforming government requires full disclosure and accountability and the governor is connected to a private fundraising group that solicit donations from people seeking favors/jobs/rule changes from the state, then the governor cannot be a reformer.

Just saying.

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Author: hankkalet

Hank Kalet is a poet and freelance journalist. He is the economic needs reporter for NJ Spotlight, teaches journalism at Rutgers University and writing at Middlesex County College and Brookdale Community College. He writes a semi-monthly column for the Progressive Populist. He is a lifelong fan of the New York Mets and New York Knicks, drinks too much coffee and attends as many Bruce Springsteen concerts as his meager finances will allow. He lives in South Brunswick with his wife Annie.

2 thoughts on “The reform governor needs to be reformed”

  1. From that Star-Ledger editorial:\”The governor laments that public employee unions can spend whatever they want to block his agenda and that he is outgunned. In one sense, he’s right. The teachers alone say they have plunked down about $7 million this year, while this fund has raised only $500,000, so far.\”Whoa, wait just a darn minute, the teachers say they plunked down $7 million in one year!!!???? Huh, do they (Star-Ledger editorial board) mean the NJEA? Do they mean that they spent $7 million dollars in one year on political campaigns?!? That $7 million figure for one year is bogus, wrong and exaggerated beyond belief. Talk about bad reporting. The NJEA hasn't spent $7 million on political campaigns in the last 10 years. That $7 million figure is wildly insane. By the way, NJEA's PAC money does NOT come from members' dues. It comes from voluntary donations to the PAC fund. If a member strongly objects to a particular campaign then they can deselect giving to the PAC. For example, the NJEA PAC spent a little over half a million dollars for the last Corzine campaign, not millions of dollars. So the idea that teachers or the NJEA, the editorial is not clear on this, spent $7 million in 2010 is ludicrous. The idiots on NJ101.5 will glom on this bogus figure and repeat it 24/7 for the next 100 years.

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  2. According to the NJ Election Law Enforcement Commission, the NJEA PAC spent $1,127,858 in 2009 for all political campaigns and legislative questions. 2010 is not quite over and that Star-Ledger op ed claims that NJ teachers say they spent $7 million in 2010 for political campaigns?! Really?

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