Updated 10/17/04
POLITICS
- Election 2005
- Codey
McGreevey
- Legislature
- Budget Woes
- Whitman
- Hall of Shame
- Hall of Fame
- Political Joke
Legacy: Sex, Lies, & Video Tape,
Raised Taxes, Increased Debt, Added Tolls, Quits.
...Plus he created a whole new category of Jersey jokes!
Sex? Oh sure, that always makes the headlines, but does who he's sleeping with really hurt the general public? No. That was just a diversion so you wouldn't look deeper into why he's really resigning.
Lies? Although the lies about being gay or having an affair say a lot about his character (and gives fodder to late night comedians), again, it doesn't hurt the public - that's between him and his loved ones. Personally, I don't think he should have resigned because of that. What I DO think he should resign for is giving a high paying patronage job to his lover (...a job he didn't have qualifications for) and all the lies he told to get elected - like that he would remove tolls (...then spent $hundreds of millions more on them), that he wouldn't raise taxes (...Jersey leads most states in raising taxes, Star Ledger, 8/9/04), and that the government should live within its means (...then used all those "gimmicks" to balance previous budgets and borrowed $billions more this year). Frankly, the only thing I admire about him is the fact that he told the truth about being gay.
Video Tape? OK, this one hasn't come out (...at least yet), but there were rumors. But given his propensity to lie, do you think he would have resigned if there wasn't some kind of hard evidence lurking about?
- Jim Padykula, Webmaster
Promises, Promises
During the campaign, McGreevey said he would remove the tolls in 7 years. Good start, but still too much time (and waste, accidents, pollution, congestion and aggravation) for CAT. He touted his grass-roots, "take back our government" attitude, and promised to attack waste & mismanagement, and fix the worst congestion spots. All this sounds great to our grass-roots group because we are fighting for the same things - and what has more waste, mismanagement, politics as usual, and congestion hot-spots than tolls?
McGreevey's promises also included property tax relief, reducing the state's debt burden, and to "end politics as usual". He also accused Republicans of ignoring the public interest, citing the elimination of the state Public Advocate and "sweetheart contracts" for E-ZPass. With this in mind...
Liar, Liar
Just after taking office, McGreevey said "The time to have taken down, or to reconsider, the tolls would have been before you implemented the E-ZPass system". But E-ZPass was installed in 1999 - didn't he know that before making the promise in 2001? CAT pleaded with former Governor Whitman not to make tolls harder to eliminate by spending $488 million on E-ZPass. But she did.
So, what does McGreevey do? Starts implementing another expensive new system - High Speed E-ZPass. The original contractor even declares bankruptcy, and instead of using that to "reconsider" tolls, McGreevey hires a new contractor, extends the contract by 3 years (and at a higher cost per year than the original contract), AND starts implementing High Speed E-ZPass! This all sounds like a political joke someone emailed to me.
From "No Tolls" to "New Tolls"
So, within just a few months of taking office, McGreevey:
So, what's the only difference between Whitman and McGreevey? McGreevey lied. And in 2003, he was even seen at a photo-op tearing down a tollbooth to put up a new one. And additional tollbooths are being ADDED at Parkway exit ramps. Shame.
We are keeping track. Below are some headlines clipped from newspapers. See how many broken promises you can spot <or click here to go directly to Headlines>.
Unfortunately, one of the first things McGreevey reneged on after taking office was his promise to remove tolls. And what makes it worse is it looks like he never had any intent - he's added $hundreds of millions to the E-ZPass "sweetheart" contract, and even wants to spend more on a new, high-speed E-ZPass. Since elected, not only has he pretty much ignored CAT, but he even raised our taxes, which threatens to put little, grass-roots organizations like ours out of business! It's nice to be king. Does this mean we're back to "politics as usual"?
If Governor McGreevey really meant the things he said in his campaign, CAT will be one of his strongest allies. But if he said those things to get elected, we will be a constant thorn in his side because those goal really are important to us.
Governor, are you with us (fighting waste & mismanagement, eliminating needless bureaucracy, unfair double taxation, reducing pollution, congestion, road rage, & accidents), or against us (keeping tolls)?
So far: 
|
Open Letter to the Governor
Dear Governor McGreevey, During your campaign, you promised to get rid of the tolls. Unfortunately, it was the first promise you broke. You said the time to have taken down the tolls was before E-ZPass was implemented. Fair enough, but then why did you make the promise? And worse, you then proceeded to make the exact same mistake by implementing another expensive, new system - High Speed E-ZPass. Removing the tolls a question of right and wrong - not only about wasting money, but also about accidents, congestion, pollution, road rage, and unfair taxation. Please help right this wrong. Please reconsider your promise. Sincerely, |
Webmaster attends McGreevey town hall meeting.
In the fall of 2002, I attended Governor McGreevey's town hall meeting at the County College of Morris. Aside from a little too much grandstanding (...about 25% of the 2 hour meeting), the Governor seemed earnest, well versed, and even likeable. He convinced me that he really wants to help the citizens of NJ.
But since the meeting, I've been comparing what he says to what he does. And what comes to mind is the movie Mars Attacks, where martians come to earth and tell us "we come in peace", and we believe them. If you've seen the movie, you know that they had no such intensions. Soon all the martians were running around incinerating the earthlings, and in the middle of all the carnage, one martian was still walking around with a loudspeaker broadcasting "We come in peace"!
Scene from Mars Attacks.
"I will remove tolls in 7 years"
"The time to remove tolls was before signing the E-ZPass contract"
Fires E-ZPass contractor (yeah - we're out of the contract!)
Hires new E-ZPass contractor (...huh?)
NJ budget running huge deficit - no money for roads
Increases E-ZPass contract by $200+ million
Starts implementing new $100 million High Speed E-ZPass
Adds tollbooths to Parkway exits
...McGreevey Attacks?
No money for roads, but always enough for new tolls. I'm sorry, Governor, I want to believe your words, but I have to judge you on your actions. And your actions say that you never had any intention of removing tolls, and you support the continual waste of our money and all the other evils of tolls. You have not come in peace.
- Jim Padykula, Webmaster
Headlines
Keeping track of the McGreevey administration.
Comments by webmaster - jp.
- 2001 -
Promises, promises....
'It's time to take back our government' (Star Ledger, 3/13/01) - McGreevey launches his quest for governor. Will run on an agenda of education reform, property tax relief and reducing the state's debt burden. He also promised to shine a spotlight on the pocketbook concerns of working-class families and to make the case for more open and accountable government. McGreevey accused Republican leaders of ignoring the public interest, citing as evidence the elimination of the state Public Advocate and "sweetheart contracts" for E-ZPass. "These failures, and many others, are not only a blight on our state, but the reveal a cynicism in Trenton that suggests you and I don't matter, that they're going to do whatever they want and they don't care if we're watching. We need a governor who will rebuild trust."
Toll free Parkway gets surprise support (Star Ledger, 10/19/01) - McGreevey calls to end tolls within 7 years.
McGreevey claims the prize (11/7/01) - Becomes New Jersey's 51st Governor.
McGreevey says no to higher taxes (Star Ledger, 11/8/01)
McGreevey to legislators: Shut the wallet, or I will (Star Ledger, 11/29/01)
Trenton pulls out stop on spending (Star Ledger, 11/30/01) - Lawmakers turn deaf ear to pleas by McGreevey.
McGreevey reluctant to tap tobacco fund (Star Ledger, 12/6/01).
Outgoing legislators open state's wallet (Star Ledger, 12/18/01) - Dozens of bills pass, running up tab in the millions.
So far so good! Until this point, McGreevey is saying the right things, and would have earned a coveted CAT
rating. However...
- 2002 -
Spot the broken promises.
Governor vows leaner government (Home News Tribune, 1/17/02).
Start with the fattiest pork - TOLLS. You can't have a lean government tolls at the same time.
Big pay hikes await elected county officials (Star Ledger, 1/31/02) - Fees and salaries are going up.
McGreevey alters tax promise (Star Ledger, 1/18/02) - Governor says budget gap complicates plan to end Parkway tolls.
Undo all the pork that our legislators added to the budget, but please don't cheat Parkway taxpayers. They've been paying too much for too long.
Budget gap expands to $2.9 billion (Star Ledger, 1/29/02) -
McGreevey to tap tobacco billions (Star Ledger, 1/30/02) - Will use settlement cash to plug shortfall.
McGreevey sees fiscal shell game (Star Ledger, 2/1/02) - Says predecessor's memos show budget gap was ignored.
I fully support bashing Whitman for a lot of our current budget problems. But you can't adopt every policy she left us with. If you do, bash thyself, Governor.
GOP legislators assail 'risky' budget bailout (Star Ledger, 1/31/02).
The chips are down and McGreevey gambles (Star Ledger, 1/31/02, by Paul Mulshine).
McGreevey orders attack on sprawl (Star Ledger, 2/1/02).
State's credit rating drops a notch (Star Ledger, 6/5/02) - Standard & Poor's blames cut on lack of flexibility in McGreevey efforts to plug gap.
Tobacco bond sale nets state $1.5 billion (Star Ledger, 8/15/02) - Quick cash will go toward balancing budget.
Why not use that money to remove tolls? If you think that would unfairly use the money for a minority, just remember it was also taken unfairly from a minority for a specific purpose - to pay for the health care burden that they cause. However, if you are going to use the money for something else, then why not at least use it for something that reduces pollution, like removing tolls, which might reduce health care costs? (Emissions from cars linked to birth defects, Star Ledger, 12/29/01).
State high court clears school construction bonds (Star Ledger, 8/22/02) - Approval of voters not needed to borrow $8.6 billion.
How lawmakers pile up pension cash (Star Ledger, 9/29/02) - Jersey legislators play system they created, at taxpayers' expense.
Jersey budget mess hits homeowners (Star Ledger, 10/13/02) - Property taxes make biggest 1-year jump since 1990.
State gets new firm to direct E-ZPass (Star Ledger, 10/26/02) - Tentative 10-year contract will cost N.J. $450 million. In addition, there are approximately $300 million in capital costs for construction of the system, bringing the total cost of the program to more than $750 million by 2012. There will also be interest costs adding to the final costs.
McGreevey raises taxes for C.A.T. (12/15/02) As part of McGreevey's new corporate New Jersey tax law for the year 2002, which includes us (!), we were reminded that under the new law the minimum tax is now $500.
New high-speed E-ZPass to put motorists in the fast lane (Star Ledger, 10/31/02) - Under a $45 million plan unveiled by Gov. James E. McGreevey, high-speed E-ZPass would be installed over the next three years at seven toll plazas.
Yet another E-ZPass AND a new $750 million10-year contract? I thought the original $488 million 7-year contract was outrageously high only because of the construction costs. But it looks like slick McGreevey extended the contract at a much higher rate per year than even Whitman's "sweetheart contract".
- 2003 -
Budget crunch stalls return of Advocate (Star Ledger, 1/29/03) - Gov. James E. McGreevey will abandon his pledge to restore the Public Advocate this year because of the state's budget woes.
Parkway extravagance (Star Ledger editorial, 2/4/03) - Why create a high-paid ($85,000) position that smells of patronage now, when the Parkway just finished eagerly encouraging the early retirement of 93 veteran workers to cut its budget?
One-year stints fatten ex-legislators' pensions (Star Ledger, 2/5/03) - "If anybody don't like it, that's too bad" said one of the new retirees, former Sen. Lou Kosco.
McGreevey's budget leans on gimmicks (Star Ledger, 2/17/03) - Tight money brings forth some creative accounting.
Lobbying hits record in Jersey (Star Ledger, 2/28/03) - $3.3M more is spent in bid for influence.
Jerseyans find it harder to trust politicians (Star Ledger, 3/2/03) - Poll shows state bucking national trend.
Legislator's pension would be quadrupled (Star Ledger, 3/4/03) - Democrats persuaded Republican to take high-paying position, then introduce a bill that would more than quadruple his pension.
- 2004 -
"I Don't Believe It" E-ZPass commercials (Radio Ads, July 2004) - Have you heard the "I don't believe it" radio commercials with Governor McGreevey touting how he fixed E-ZPass? He's got a lot of nerve bragging about spending hundreds of millions of dollars to fix something that he promised to eliminate. (...And how much do those commercials cost, and who's paying for them?) Funny, it sounds like he's finally admitting that removing toll plazas will reduce congestion (...that was something E-ZPass was supposed to accomplish). It also fails to mention that he added tollbooths at several Parkway exit ramps.
July 14, 2004
To the Editor
While Governor McGreevey touts his supposed improvements with E-ZPass, he forgets certain information that the Public needs to remember. If McGreevey had kept his campaign promise to remove Garden State Parkway tolls, hundreds of millions of dollars would have been saved. Wasted public money includes not only the cost of E-ZPass work on the Parkway, but also the resulting debt which will plague future generations. The fact is that tolls on the Parkway cost more to collect than they earn. Tolls are really just another McGreevey tax.
If the Governor wanted to act in good faith on his verbiage about fiscal responsibility, he would keep his campaign promise and remove Parkway tolls. But the truth is that the contracts involved in the E-ZPass work are no-bid contracts awarded to McGreevey's political contributors, and this ability to hand out political "pork" seems to be more important to the Governor than the Public good.
John Millett
Secretary, Citizens Against Tolls
New York Post, July 15, 2004
McGreevey so far?
Dear Mr. and Ms. N.J. Citizen -
I regret to inform you that your Governor has shown a propensity to break promises.
He promised to remove tolls, but as soon as he was elected, he wants to buy more. And he picks on fellow politicians for giving away sweetheart E-ZPass contracts, but not only has he sweetened their contract, but he wants new contracts of his own for high-speed E-ZPass.
Basically, James is a nice boy, but he needs help with keeping his word. Please continue to watch him closely, and if this behavior persists, appropriate actions may be needed to "stop politics as usual" and "take back our government".
Thank you.
Citizens Against Tolls.
