NJ Gubernatorial Election Update: Corzine Restores Property Tax Rebates

New Jersey's tax amnesty program - a 45-day time period where New Jersey taxpayers could repay back owed taxes without penalty and only pay half of the interest - was originally expected to generate approximately $100 million that the state could use to help this year's budget. They were wrong.

The tax amnesty program has generated over $625 million (as of the 20th, with many envelopes still not counted) in revenue for the state. This unexpected massive generation of funds has been put to good use - direct relief for taxpayers.

Governor Corzine, who previously was not planning on distributing property tax rebates because of the state's financial situation (except for seniors and the disabled), now has said that all homeowners who make under $75,000 a year, senior citizens and disabled residents will receive a rebate, and homeowners who make up to $250,000 will be be able to apply for a rebate.

The number one issue in this election is taxes. And surprisingly, Republican candidate Chris Christie, who has blamed the current economic downturn on Corzine and been extremely critical of his tax policy (among others). And now, only a few months before the election Corzine will sign tens of thousands property tax rebate checks off to New Jersey residents. Although campaign spending has been fairly equal in the early part of the election, Christie is going to have to do a lot of work and advertising to not loose at least a few points in the polls because of this. Perhaps he'll even create a tax plan of his own.

Sources & Reading
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/06/gov_corzine_christie_spend_sim.html
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/06/gov_corzine_says_tax_amnesty_w.html
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/06/top_nj_democrats_hope_to_resto.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/19/nyregion/19njbudget.html?ref=nyregion
http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/provider/providerarticle.aspx?feed=ACBJ&date=20090622&id=10043310

NJ Gubernatorial Election Update: Barack Obama Fully Endorses Jon Corzine

Earlier this month Vice President Joe Biden joined Jon Corzine in West Orange to kick-off Corzine's 2009 campaign. On stage together, both men talked much of working together and using a positive and friendly relationship that exists between Governor Corzine and the White House. However, some skeptics pointed to the fact that Obama did not himself attend that the White House was not in full support of Corzine's re-election. Although the Vice President made it quite clear that the White House was willing, excited and had already worked with Corzine, President Obama has now made his first public statement regarding the election.

President Obama recently said, "I don't think it's surprising that he may have a significant challenge because that's, first of all, the nature of New Jersey politics," Continuing Obama remarked, "And, secondly, because a huge chunk of New Jersey's economy was tied to Wall Street and, obviously, you've seen a huge hit in terms of the financial sector of the economy, which has an impact across the board on revenue, state revenues, unemployment rates, so forth." Although admitting the challenge that lies ahead for Corzine, Obama made it clear he is confident in Corzine, commenting, "I think very highly of Jon Corzine. I think he's a terrific public servant..." He continued, "I'm confident that he can win re-election."

With the White House fully and publicly supporting Corzine, it will be interesting to see how and if New Jersey voters respond. Recent polls show Corzine trailing by up to 10%, but Obama, who enjoys a 70% approval rating in New Jersey, may be able to help convince New Jersey that Corzine is the right man for the job. Additionally, the idea that our Governor now will be able to work with the White House, a stark contrast to the past administration, is a bright prospect for New Jersey to continue to the lead the country in creating effective and socially responsible policy.

Sources & Reading
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/06/president_barack_obama_says_he.html
http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/06/25/1977107.aspx

NJ Gubernatorial Election Update: Christie's Attacks on Corzine's Management of Economy Off-Base

Lately, Republic gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie has been lambasting current Governor Jon Corzine's leadership of the economy, using the high levels of unemployment as "proof" Corzine has failed New Jersey. Not so, says recently released numbers from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Christie claims that it is Corzine's mismanagement of New Jersey's finances that have led to the current unemployment rate. However, one need only glance at the news any day to know that nationally, indeed globally, unemployment is reaching double digits in places that haven't seen such numbers in decades.

When it comes to New Jersey, which has a current unemployment rate of 8.8%, the Great State falls below the national average, which is at around 10%. Additionally, New Jersey is faring better than most states in terms of its current budget deficit and percentage change of foreclosures compared to years past. Corzine repeated this message at the Employer Legislative Committee Dinner on Tuesday saying, "Facts are stubborn things."

Yes, we can all agree the economy is not in a great place, but this is a world-wide issue, not solely a New Jersey issue. The fact that Christie, along with a few other New Jersey Republicans, actually wanted to refuse about 17.5 billion dollars in federal stimulus money does not inspire confidence that they posses the skills and commitment to see our state through recovery.

In terms of looking forward, and how best to help New Jersey climb out of this economic downturn, Jon Corzine is unarguably a financial expert. New Jersey is beginning shovel-ready projects, and putting New Jersey residents to work in building for our state. Would these same projects be happening under a different governor? Perhaps. It's hard to tell exactly what is Corzine's unique ability, and it is easy for Christie to be critical from the sidelines. Joe Biden said it best, however. At Corzine's campaign kickoff earlier this month Biden said, "Do you know who I called first when Barack and I sat down to write the US economic recovery package? I called Jon Corzine."

Considering Christie's lack of enthusiasm for literally taking money from the federal government, I don't believe he will be able to forge a successful relationship with the White House, which could potentially have large implications for our financial situation. But with a federal administration that has a better understanding of economic policy than our most recent past administration, I do enjoy the commitment between our Democratic governor and Democratic federal administration who have promised, and have already been shown, to work together to help not only New Jersey, but set the pace for the US to recover as well.

Sources & Reading:
http://www.politickernj.com/matt-friedman/30647/christie-and-corzine-give-dueling-speeches
http://money.cnn.com/news/storysupplement/economy/gapmap/index.htm
http://realestate.msn.com/article.aspx?cp-documentid=13107814

The Problem Is Getting Worse

When talking about the problems associated with youth alcohol abuse, many consider the problem getting worse, which may in fact point the current philosophies and policies being fundamentally misguided.

Today, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (Part of the National Institute of Health) released a study which describes the increasingly severe problem of youth alcohol abuse. Some quick stats:

Number of alcohol-related accidental deaths
1998: 1,440
2005: 1.825

Percentage of 18-24 year-olds who report drinking and driving
1998: 26.5
2005: 29

Percentage of 18-24 year-olds engaging in heavy and episodic drinking practices
1998: 42
2005: 45

Each of these statistics independently would be more than cause for alarm. However, all three? Not to mention the countless more statistics that have recently been reported: The number of drunk driving incidents is on the rise, the age that people start drinking is getting younger, and the ratio of excessive drinking practices to responsible drinking practices is increasing.

Is the drinking age effective? Maybe our more basic, underlying assumptions were false to begin with. Looking at how best to reduce the problems and harm associated with heavy drinking by people at all ages, and especially young people, requires more than "How can we enforce the drinking age better?" To really provide effective policy, we need to ask "Is the 21 year-old drinking age based on true and effective policy foundations?" We need rethink our initial assumption - we need to "rethink 21."

Study:
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-06/joso-cdp061009.php

Edit: Additional Article:
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/06/16/alcohol

NJ Gubernatorial Election Update: How conservative is Chris Christie? And how conservative is New Jersey?

Post-primary election activity is heating up and democrats have ratcheted up their criticism of Republican opponent Chris Christie. And Chris Christie is doing nothing to avoid it.

On the evening of June 11th, gubernatorial candidate and former U.S. Attorney Chris Christie (who was appointed by George W. Bush) held a fundraiser, featuring, as the main headliner, former presidential candidate Mit Romney. In a state where Democratic president Barack Obama has a 70% approval rating - a full 10% over the national average - one must wonder why Christie, so soon, would align himself with such a conservative figure.

Romney's social policies are truly conservative, and not particularly in line with how more progressive New Jerseyan's tend to feel about social issues. A day after Christie's fundraiser, US Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-Cliffside park) said, according Politcker NJ, "Chris Christie is kicking off his (general election) campaign with a conservative Republican whose extreme right-wing positions couldn't be more out of touch with New Jersey residents." Two days earlier, U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez (D-Hoboken) and U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-Paterson) made similar comments, noting that Christie is far too conservative and is aligning himself with national conservative figures who are often seen as far more right-wing than New Jersey is.

Is Chris Christie purposefully aligning himself with national, though well-known, political figures hoping for what comedy political commentator Stephen Colbert refers to (when he is the endorser) as the "Colbert Bump," or is Chris Christie genuinely too conservative for New Jersey? Although democratic incumbent Jon Corzine has not been advertising for as long as Christie, the Republican is up by 10 points in recent polls. This suggests that the only way we will answer who is the right person for New Jersey is on November 4th. However, as new developments occur, and new poll numbers are released, it will be interesting to see how effective each candidate's advertising campaign is in reaching New Jersey voters that certainly aren't conservative but, on the other hand, frustrated with the financial situation the state is in.

Sources & Reading
http://www.politickernj.com/max/30575/lautenberg-throws-christie-and-romney-bush-bundle
http://www.politickernj.com/matt-friedman/30506/mendnez-and-pascrell-paint-christie-red

New Jersey Close to Adopting Medical Amnesty

On May 21, 2009, the New Jersey Assembly unanimously passed a bill that would grant a degree of legal immunity to persons under the age of 21 who have been consuming alcohol and call emergency services for medical assistance. A noble step forward in working to reduce the damage the 21 year-old drinking causes, especially for Americans under the age of 21.

Studies consistently show that young people are dissuaded from contacting authorities in a medical emergency if alcohol has been present and the people involved are not of legal age (Lewis and Marchell 2006). On college campuses, especially, this creates a dangerous situation where thousands of serious medical emergencies go un-reported as young people try to deal with the problem without any help from authorities. Oftentimes students will try to "sleep off" heavy intoxication instead of getting help, a circumstance that usually ends in the person slipping into a coma in their sleep or asphyxiating on their own vomit overnight. Because of the amount drinking that takes place among American youth (the amount of excessive drinking practices has risen steadily since the drinking age was instituted in 1984), and the, as it turns out, logical shunning of authority when an emergency exists, there are approximately 1,700 deaths per among college-aged students related to alcohol each year (NIAAA, Hingson et al, 2005). These deaths are almost entirely preventable.

Some campuses have been realizing that these deaths are preventable, and that the cause is a culture and legal system that disincentives young people from seeking help. Medical Amnesty policies (also referred to as good Samaritan or non-retaliation agreements) have been adopted at many campuses around the country including Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Cornell, Tulane, UPenn, Smith and my recent Alma Mater, Hampshire College. These policies have one goal: Ensuring that no matter the circumstances, students will always reach out for help when they need it.

New Jersey has grappled with recent deaths on some of its own college campuses related to alcohol, and, as of now, the General Assembly has taken a proactive and effective step at limiting the harm from the underground culture that has been created from the drinking age.

Medical Amnesty policies, are, however, not the final solution. To entirely eliminate the underground, clandestine, dangerous and irresponsible drinking that takes place across the country we, as both a state and a nation, need to rethink some of our most basic pre-conceptions about alcohol regulation. That is a challenging task, and it is heartening to know that New Jersey legislators realize this and are taking steps right now to protect and keep safe the state's young people.

The Bill:
A3160. Currently in second reading and awaiting approval from the Senate.
Sources:
- Lewis, Deborah K., Marchell Timothy C. 2006. Safety first: A medical
amnesty approach to alcohol poisoning at a U.S. university.
International journal of drug policy.
- Hingson, R. et al. Magnitude of Alcohol-Related Mortality and Morbidity Among U.S. College Students Ages 18-24: Changes from 1998 to 2001. Annual Review of Public Health, vol. 26, 259-79; 2005
Further Reading:
http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/bills/BillView.asp
http://www.politickernj.com/mysak/29968/angelini-911-legislation-receives-general-assembly-approval
http://www.gannett.cornell.edu/downloads/campusIniatives/AOD/Safety1stcornellMedamnesty.pdf