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Needy NJ Families Giving Thanks That Corzine Is Still Governor?

Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 24, 2009, 6:53PM

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Gov. Jon Corzine (D-NJ) and Former US Attorney Chris Christie (R)

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Needy families in New Jersey are learning that elections matter. Outgoing Gov. Jon Corzine (D) and his incoming successor, Chris Christie (R) are having their first open policy disagreement since the election this week over how to care for the growing number of hungry families in New Jersey this Thanksgiving.

Corzine says he's using the final weeks of his term in office to pass an emergency plan to use state funds to fill the pantries of soup kitchens across the state, which have seen a decline in donations during the economic crisis. Christie, who takes office in January, says he's against any new spending while the state is still "broke."

The story, from the Newark Star-Ledger:

Corzine and Christie made their comments during separate Thanksgiving events at soup kitchens and homeless shelters in northern New Jersey.
"There are obviously a lot of people struggling for nutrition and dealing with hunger," Corzine said after serving meals at Oasis in downtown Paterson. "It's a pretty important thing, I think, for all of us to recognize the needs are very large and growing."

...

He said Oasis, for example, used to feed 350 and now it's up to 750, and other food banks are "seeing 50, 60, 70 percent increases in demand."

Christie's take, from the paper:

Christie, during a visit to St. Lucy's Shelter in Jersey City, said he had yet to hear from Corzine about the need for additional spending, but remains reluctant about the idea.
"I want to work with everybody on everything, but the fact of the matter is that we have an enormous fiscal crisis," Christie said. "We're broke. And it's getting worse, not better. So I will work with the governor on things that are of absolute necessity, but this is the attitude that continues to get us in trouble as we go along."

...

"There are some good things that government does that we simply cannot afford to do anymore," Christie said, though he stressed that his administration will "take care of the least fortunate."

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35 comments

Recommend Recommend (1)

November 24, 2009 6:59 PM

Of course, the repukes want the poor to starve to death. More cost effective. Let them eat cake!

Only problem is that they don't see that without poor and middle class people, they wouldn't be so rich. Pathetic.

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November 24, 2009 10:48 PM in reply to Michael A

At the moment Corzine is more solvent than New Jersey, and he's worth millions. Did he contribute out of his own pocket? No. He made a grand gesture with taxes paid by said poor and middle class people, to make himself look good.

Greed is coveting other people's money for one's own purposes, This was a great example of it, and you, like the self-absorbed dolt you are, ate it up.
Keep up the good work.

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AJM

November 24, 2009 11:34 PM in reply to shooter242

Wiki is your friend:

Greed (also called avarice) in psychology is an inordinate desire to acquire or possess more than one needs or deserves, especially with respect to material wealth.

You can curl about your wealth like the Dragon in Tolkien and damn the thieves as coveting your wealth -- it doesn't make you less greedy that you think they are.

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November 25, 2009 7:15 AM in reply to AJM

This is interesting. You think a multimillionaire using the hard earned money of the taxpayers great and small for a PR gesture isn't more than he needs or deserves? He didn't do this for the poor, he did it for himself at other people's expense. By any definition, that is greed.

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AJM

November 25, 2009 9:06 AM in reply to shooter242

Your coveting his money to get yourself out of your role as your brother's keeper does not make you less greedy.

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November 24, 2009 11:43 PM in reply to shooter242

The fact that you don't know the definition of "greed" explains a lot. Really.

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November 25, 2009 12:09 PM in reply to shooter242

Get over it.
You can try, but you won't be able to fit this act into any reasonable definition of "greed".
Call it hypocritical if you like, and point out that Corzine is very wealthy by almost any standard - that's actually somewhat defensible as a criticism.

That Corzine is spending his hard-earned(your words, not mine) tax money, along with a little bit of everyone else's, to attempt to look out for the welfare of state citizens, is commendable.
Decent, even.

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i said GOOD DAY sir

November 24, 2009 7:10 PM

I guess this is Corzine's final "fuck you" to Christie. Plus, he gets to actually feed the hungry while he's at it.

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mikedrevguy

November 24, 2009 9:16 PM in reply to i said GOOD DAY sir

kinda a win/win in that regard.
Now if we could only get the win for feeding the hungry without using it as an f/u moment.
but - I guess we'll take what we can get.

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VivaAmerica!

November 24, 2009 7:33 PM

So taking care of the least fortunate doesn't include the people that go to food pantries? Helping the poor is what caused the economic problems in NJ?

Good Luck with this one NJ!

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November 24, 2009 8:20 PM

I wonder what would happen if instead of handing out plates of grub if they gave out job application and addresses for possable work?
But the demo party wants people poor and hungry, they are community organizers bread and butter.
see the story at "Big Government.com"

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i said GOOD DAY sir

November 24, 2009 8:29 PM in reply to inokeah

You are obviously a complete fucking moron.

As such, I can probably see your story at ShortBus.com.

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granparocks

November 24, 2009 9:13 PM in reply to inokeah

forget about the possessive apostrophes...did you really just spell that word "possable?" i can't help but try to think of a mutant word linking oppossum with pottable.

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holyhandgrenaid

November 24, 2009 9:16 PM in reply to granparocks

An opossum that's safe to drink? Groovy.

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dswx

November 24, 2009 9:23 PM in reply to granparocks

It is always funny when cowardly and incoherent Repubs and Libertarians like to flaunt and prove their ignorance without a shadow of a doubt? Exhibit A: "inokeah".

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November 24, 2009 9:31 PM in reply to inokeah

They'd starve and still be out of a job.

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Beetlejuice

November 24, 2009 10:29 PM in reply to inokeah

The "possibility" of work doesn't curb hunger pains. People pounding the pavement looking for work doesn't stimulate job growth or business stimulation. If the State needs more revenues to pull itself back into the black, then they should be working overtime to get businesses back into production by working with banks and lending institutions the free up the money supply for businesses to move forward with. Do that and the unemployment lines will draw down, more people will make purchases, the State will start to see s tidal wave of revenue flow again and there won't be a need for the State to step in and offer aid and assistance.

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November 24, 2009 11:15 PM in reply to Beetlejuice

I'm a recent refugee from NJ and can tell you that it is the epitome of tax and spend, to little or no effect. Corruption is rife and incompetence the standard. Every little township claims it's own fire, police, school, and library system no matter how small the tax base. I've bought a house in Va that's a third more expensive than the one in NJ and pay half the property tax. NJ's only virtue is proximity to NYC.

That said, throwing money at banks does nothing to motivate business to risk borrowing. Between tax increases, regulation changes, and generally unfriendly business attitudes of the administration, hoarding resources is the smart play. In short, you can't expect people to hire, after threatening them with sanctions.

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November 24, 2009 11:42 PM in reply to shooter242

hoarding resources is the smart play

And once again, shooter demonstrates a complete ignorance of basic economics.

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November 24, 2009 11:46 PM in reply to Stroszek

While also ignoring the simple fact that businesses have seen tax cuts under the Obama Administration. But who needs facts when, like shooter, you have a Palinesque inability to confuse the truth with stuff you just make up off the top of your head.

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November 25, 2009 7:04 AM in reply to Stroszek

This isn't about economics, it's about actual business. You know, making and selling stuff. As for Obama tax cuts, I haven't heard about any other than the withholding $13/wk. Which it turns out some will have to pay back.
On the other hand we have the impending Clinton rates looming, healthcare taxes, cap and tax taxes, and any other taxes they can think of. Worse are the regulations. Was there some business oriented tax cut I missed, or are you the "Palinesque" one here? Heh.

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Beetlejuice

November 25, 2009 8:00 AM in reply to shooter242

Think on this bone I'm tossing you.

Add up how much money you need to earn to live comfortably - not extravagant. Just your average home, furnishings, auto, health insurance, cost of electricity, natural gas or heating oil, gas for the auto, savings account for raindays, retirement 401-Ks and IRAs and so forth. Then figure out all the taxes you have to pay, such as property, auto registration and so forth. Now add both columns together. The sum of both is what you need to earn from your employer. Chances are you don't make anything near what you need. The American public needs to demand salaries that are competitive with the costs associated with living in the local living environment. It's money in the pockets of business when they are allowed to pay people less than what people need to live on. You should be making more than enough money to pay all taxes and put money into a retirement fund and still have cash in your pocket for a pizza and a movie without having to worry about budgeting your expenses.

Let me give you a hint. I've been trying to do this and every time I get rebuffed because people are too willing to accept what they're given without a fight. We are our own worst enemies when it comes to negotiating salaries individually - the government needs to be involved in the process to make industry pay salaries equal to the level of work, output and profits earned.

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November 25, 2009 8:18 AM in reply to Beetlejuice

On the other hand you may not be worth any more than the bone you're throwing.

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Beetlejuice

November 25, 2009 7:41 AM in reply to shooter242

The simple act of making a purchase at a store creates a tax revenue flow for all city, county and state governments nationwide. When economic times are rough, people withhold spending for necessities only. That frugality chokes the tax revenue sources and depletes government coffers of needed cash to met the social needs of communities. If people are working and earning a steady salary, there's no need to be frugal in their purchases and the tax revenue river flows steadily.

If you think you have a real estate property tax problem in new Jersey, go look at what's happened to California these many years after Proposition 13 was enacted. Property taxes are so low the entire State is about to go into default. And the California economy was, not too long ago, considered to be one of the most productive economic engines that rivaled other countries economies.

Too bad we Americans can't take into consideration how other country's work out their social problems. Like Germany taxes individual and companies for health care. But the salaries are cushioned to absorb the costs. They curb excessive purchasing by adding a value added tax (VAT) over and above the MRSP of a product. Their gas costs between $1.50 to $2.00 a liter - multiply by 3.78 to see what a gallon costs. Again, salaries are such so as to compensate for the cost of living. Not many live a life of luxury, but there are any homeless people wandering around, people going hungry and so forth.

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November 25, 2009 8:14 AM in reply to Beetlejuice

Property taxes are so low the entire State is about to go into default.

Or conversely, expenses are so high the entire state is about to go into default. And isn't it interesting that other taxes and regulations have become so onerous that the state is losing population to nearby states. Obviously there is a fundamental flaw with your business model of taking from the rich to give to the poor. Namely, the rich will move out of reach. As I like to say, you need the rich, more than they need you.

For a change however, let me add that there is considerable difference in history between the US and Europe. There, central authority has ruled via monarchies, for centuries. It is accepted that the populace look to Government for everything. We were founded on the opposite principle, that individuals be free of central authority to make their own way. With all due respect, if you want subservience to Government, Europe is the place to be, not the US.

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AJM

November 24, 2009 11:49 PM in reply to inokeah

Do a reality check. I took a quick look at Bing -- try applicants per job.

From one of the first few entries:

Wells Fargo spokesman Mark Chapman says that in Utah, the bank is seeing an average of about 50 applicants for each job posting.

Same or worse at most states -- thank you Bush and Wall Street.
There are small businesses which were functioning but couldn't get loans from the banks which were busy trying to balance their books are buying into all those highly rated tranches.

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November 25, 2009 6:23 PM in reply to inokeah

"Possable"? Take notes: If you want to attempt to insult someone, make sure you're not showing yourself for the idiot you are in your post.

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November 25, 2009 12:23 AM

Good on Corzine. Fight on!

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November 25, 2009 7:50 AM

I don't want to seem politically incorrect here. But if a certain, physically large, politician doesn't think the state should help feed the poor. Perhaps he should consider donating his own Thanksgiving Day Dinner to help help out a dozen or so needy families.

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November 25, 2009 8:40 AM in reply to Scooterlib

Actually, the hordes of Canada geese that infest the golf courses there would make very fine Thanksgiving and/or Christmas dinners for the less fortunate if only the libs would allow it. But no. The geese are more important.

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holyhandgrenaid

November 25, 2009 9:04 AM in reply to shooter242

You want to go hunting on a golf course? Yeah, that not being allowed has everything to do with the geese...

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November 25, 2009 9:16 AM in reply to holyhandgrenaid

Gad. Not too imaginative, are you. There is more than one way to get a goose.

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November 25, 2009 6:27 PM in reply to shooter242

Not too smart, are you? He answered what you said..."The geese on the golf courses."

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November 25, 2009 12:23 PM in reply to shooter242

You're a real sweetheart, aren't you?
Maybe you don't know that those geese, in particular, are not safe for human consumption. *
Maybe you don't care - in this case, it's a distinction without a difference when the end result is that the less fortunate end up needing medical care or bereavement services.

They're nothing like the deer, caribou, elk which in some states are used for food sources in programs to serve the less fortunate. The ungulates spend very little time, comparatively, in contact with humans and human industrial and residential waste. Road-kill, as long as it's fairly fresh, is yummy(well, deer, anyway - I assume others are similar.)

*According to a state animal control officer I've spoken to - whose primary job is dispersing flocks of Canada geese, there's a number of issues. Golf courses use a lot of pesticides(look up dieldrin) and herbicides per acre - which don't need to be food or playground safe because it's turf. In addition, heavy metals are also a concern, as geese aren't too discriminatory about where and what they eat. Then you have to consider the biological exposure as well - avian flu, salmonella, e. coli - and they don't get the antibiotics that domesticated avians do - and whom the geese frequently come into contact with directly and indirectly.

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November 25, 2009 9:47 AM

Yeah that's a great idea. Then after we get rid of the geese we can start on the passenger pigeons.

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