For the American innocent abroad, learning what our sophisticated European cousins consider scandalous can be instructive. So in the thick of an uproar involving Italy’s prime minister, a blonde call girl and lurid sex tapes, it was illuminating to flip on the TV and watch what had made the evening news: footage of a large group of politicians being carted off in handcuffs.
These were not Italian politicians, however. These were from New Jersey.
Here in Italy, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has responded to his latest scandal by saying that “Italians want me this way.” Thus far in New Jersey, no elected official has been that blatant. Yet this November’s race between incumbent Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine and Republican challenger Chris Christie will test whether New Jersey voters are fed up with the way their state has become a synonym for corruption.
Much depends on Mr. Christie. As a U.S. Attorney, Mr. Christie put scores of dirty New Jersey officials behind bars. And his lead in the polls—one of them puts it at 12 points—is bound to widen with the indictment of so many officials from his opponent’s political party in an investigation he initiated.
But even harder than winning an election will be transforming the New Jersey political culture. If he is to succeed as governor, he will need to use the remaining time in the campaign to build public support for a radical reform agenda. Primarily this requires bringing home to Garden State voters something he does not yet seem to recognize himself: the link between his program to fight corruption and his program to revive the state’s economy.
That link has to do with reducing Big Government. Big Government is why New Jersey created only 6,800 private sector jobs from 2000 to 2007—while public sector jobs grew by more than 55,800. Big Government is the reason New Jersey ranks as the worst of 50 states on the Small Business Survival Index. And Big Government is a leading reason New Jersey has a “corruption problem” that an FBI agent at Friday’s press conference characterized as “one of the worst, if not the worst, in the nation.”
Sandy McClure, co-author of the book “The Soprano State: New Jersey’s Culture of Corruption,” agrees that big government is a big reason behind the state’s corruption problem. “You have all these little authorities that everyone has to go to for permission,” she says. “Too much government means too many opportunities for officials looking to cash in. And there’s no way that the press can keep track of it all.”
Ms. McClure is right: The more extensive government’s reach, the more opportunities the governing class has to steal from and shake down the productive class. Perhaps the best way to understand this is to look at what the federal prosecutors say New Jersey’s mayors, representatives and officials were allegedly selling when they were busted.
Take Daniel Van Pelt, a state assemblyman and administrator for Lumberton Township as well as the sole Republican snared. Mr. Pelt is accused of accepting a $10,000 bribe in exchange for pushing through approval for a development project in Ocean Township. As the Department of Justice press release reports, “Van Pelt particularly offered his influence in obtaining the necessary permits from the state Department of Environmental Protection.”
Or look at former Democratic state Sen. Wayne Bryant, who on Friday was sentenced in a separate case. Mr. Bryant was found guilty of getting himself on the School of Osteopathic Medicine payroll at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (essentially a made-up job that also fattened his pension) in exchange for steering millions in taxpayer money the school’s way.
The point is that politicians and officials have more to sell in an environment of high taxes, big spending and overregulation—the same things that help explain New Jersey’s anemic economic growth and job creation. When government gets too big and complicated for businesses to get their permits and approvals and funding honestly, the dishonest prosper. And the honest get fed up and flee.
One week ago in the Italian parliament, Mr. Berlusconi’s opponents introduced a resolution complaining that the scandals around him had “objectively weakened the image and authority of the Italian government.” There the Italians have an advantage, because it is hard to imagine anything that could drive the “image and authority” of the New Jersey government any lower than it is today.
That’s an opening for Mr. Christie. His image and authority have only been enhanced by the recent mass arrests. And he would do both the Republican Party and the citizens of New Jersey a favor by reminding them that the freer the economy and more limited the government, the more ethical and productive both will be.
Just another example of how big government screws things up. As Ronald Reagan once said "Government is not a solution to our problem, Government is the problem". Especially with this administration as they try to bankrupt this country.
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For the American innocent abroad, learning what our sophisticated European cousins consider scandalous can be instructive. So in the thick of an uproar involving Italy’s prime minister, a blonde call girl and lurid sex tapes, it was illuminating to flip on the TV and watch what had made the evening news: footage of a large group of politicians being carted off in handcuffs.
These were not Italian politicians, however. These were from New Jersey.
Here in Italy, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has responded to his latest scandal by saying that “Italians want me this way.” Thus far in New Jersey, no elected official has been that blatant. Yet this November’s race between incumbent Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine and Republican challenger Chris Christie will test whether New Jersey voters are fed up with the way their state has become a synonym for corruption.
Much depends on Mr. Christie. As a U.S. Attorney, Mr. Christie put scores of dirty New Jersey officials behind bars. And his lead in the polls—one of them puts it at 12 points—is bound to widen with the indictment of so many officials from his opponent’s political party in an investigation he initiated.
But even harder than winning an election will be transforming the New Jersey political culture. If he is to succeed as governor, he will need to use the remaining time in the campaign to build public support for a radical reform agenda. Primarily this requires bringing home to Garden State voters something he does not yet seem to recognize himself: the link between his program to fight corruption and his program to revive the state’s economy.
That link has to do with reducing Big Government. Big Government is why New Jersey created only 6,800 private sector jobs from 2000 to 2007—while public sector jobs grew by more than 55,800. Big Government is the reason New Jersey ranks as the worst of 50 states on the Small Business Survival Index. And Big Government is a leading reason New Jersey has a “corruption problem” that an FBI agent at Friday’s press conference characterized as “one of the worst, if not the worst, in the nation.”
Sandy McClure, co-author of the book “The Soprano State: New Jersey’s Culture of Corruption,” agrees that big government is a big reason behind the state’s corruption problem. “You have all these little authorities that everyone has to go to for permission,” she says. “Too much government means too many opportunities for officials looking to cash in. And there’s no way that the press can keep track of it all.”
Ms. McClure is right: The more extensive government’s reach, the more opportunities the governing class has to steal from and shake down the productive class. Perhaps the best way to understand this is to look at what the federal prosecutors say New Jersey’s mayors, representatives and officials were allegedly selling when they were busted.
Take Daniel Van Pelt, a state assemblyman and administrator for Lumberton Township as well as the sole Republican snared. Mr. Pelt is accused of accepting a $10,000 bribe in exchange for pushing through approval for a development project in Ocean Township. As the Department of Justice press release reports, “Van Pelt particularly offered his influence in obtaining the necessary permits from the state Department of Environmental Protection.”
Or look at former Democratic state Sen. Wayne Bryant, who on Friday was sentenced in a separate case. Mr. Bryant was found guilty of getting himself on the School of Osteopathic Medicine payroll at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (essentially a made-up job that also fattened his pension) in exchange for steering millions in taxpayer money the school’s way.
The point is that politicians and officials have more to sell in an environment of high taxes, big spending and overregulation—the same things that help explain New Jersey’s anemic economic growth and job creation. When government gets too big and complicated for businesses to get their permits and approvals and funding honestly, the dishonest prosper. And the honest get fed up and flee.
One week ago in the Italian parliament, Mr. Berlusconi’s opponents introduced a resolution complaining that the scandals around him had “objectively weakened the image and authority of the Italian government.” There the Italians have an advantage, because it is hard to imagine anything that could drive the “image and authority” of the New Jersey government any lower than it is today.
That’s an opening for Mr. Christie. His image and authority have only been enhanced by the recent mass arrests. And he would do both the Republican Party and the citizens of New Jersey a favor by reminding them that the freer the economy and more limited the government, the more ethical and productive both will be.
Just another example of how big government screws things up. As Ronald Reagan once said "Government is not a solution to our problem, Government is the problem". Especially with this administration as they try to bankrupt this country.
Mafia+Health Care+Government=Oh my Gosh.
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