Two weeks ago, New Jersey saw the Democratic Party retain control of the Assembly and Senate. While on the surface it might appear that Democrats could call 2007 victorious for their party, it was the Republican Party that truly won.
Stem cell research and property tax proposals failed, Democrats lost a race that a month ago was a near lock and the voters of New Jersey sent a mandate to the lame-duck legislature and incoming legislators, Republican and Democrat, alike: "Stop the spending and corruption."
New Jersey is facing a major financial crisis that it cannot tax its way out of, property taxes are forcing companies and individuals to leave the state while the state bureaucracy is bleeding money, public and elected officials are getting corruption indictments, our governor does not know that when traveling at 90 mph you might want to wear a seatbelt and irresponsible spending is out of control. Property and sales taxes have reached a breaking point and Democrats still cannot solve the problems that their irresponsible spending and policies have created.
Selling or renting out the Garden State Parkway and Turnpike will accomplish nothing, and the state faces a deficit that not even filing chapter 11 could solve. Gov. Jon S. Corzine, an accomplished businessman, has failed completely as governor to solve the problems that face New Jersey. Corzine did not even bother to stay in the state before the elections; he went on a trip to Portugal.
The Republican Party was able to capture many municipal offices and retain control of vital Republican districts. Jennifer Beck's victory showed that voters have had enough of Democrats' blank check spending and irresponsibility and demanded a change.
It is time for voters to reconsider the direction of the Democratic Party and the irresponsibility it has brought to the state. Republicans must hold Democrats responsible for their spending and force the legislature to consider property and sales tax reform. Pay to play and dual office holding must be stopped in order to stop the corruption that plagues the state. New Jersey has been running on cruise control and is at the precipice of financial ruin. The Republican Party must help steer the state off the dangerous path it is on.
That is what New Jersey voters have decided and that is what the incoming Legislature must do. As the great Roman orator Cicero said regarding the corrupt Catiline and what now could be said of the corrupt leadership of New Jersey, "When do you mean to cease abusing our patience? How long is that madness of yours still to mock us? When is there to be an end of that unbridled audacity of yours, swaggering about as it does now?"
Until the corruption and failures of the state of New Jersey are resolved, one can only say this about the state of politics in New Jersey, "Oh, the shame on the age and on its principles."
