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Sun., Dec. 27, 1998 That's coal in Clinton's stocking
Santa Claus gets the big up arrow this week for doing a generally good job of spreading the Christmas spirit throughout New Jersey. First there was the cheerful news that the New Jersey Turnpike tolls won't go up. Then we learned that there seems to be broad support for state Senate President Donald DiFrancesco's property-tax-reform proposal. Admittedly, those are just stocking stuffers for most Garden Staters, but when it comes to politics, voters have learned not to expect much under the tree. The down arrow Scrooge award goes to President Clinton, who put a damper on everybody's Christmas, even though he has been holding Christmas parties in the White House for a week. Despite all the wars of words about who is to blame for what in this recent impeachment mess, it is important to remember that it was the president himself who got us into this whole thing. Even while his opinion polls continue to soar, it is also important to note that those closest to him aren't as approving. Clinton's recently retired press secretary, Mike McCurry, told BBC News last week that the "recklessness" of the president's behavior raises some "enormous doubts" about Clinton's ability to continue to serve. Rep. Christopher Smith, R-Washington Twp., has those same doubts, and we're giving him an up arrow for sticking by his guns in voting for impeachment. Smith says he's ready to defend his vote and is not part of the GOP crowd that is rushing to line up behind censure just because the polls show much of the public disapproves of censure. Meanwhile, Rep. James Saxton, R-Burlington, gets an up arrow for denying that he is part of the forces of darkness in voting for impeachment. Clinton said last week that he didn't think the Republicans who were acting against him were evil, but just part of a "dark force." That's the same thing Yoda used to tell Luke Skywalker about Darth Vader. But Saxton's spokesman, Gary Gallant, emphatically denied that the congressman is operating from the dark side, and insists that the southern New Jersey lawmaker is in no way connected with the evil empire. Finally, state Sen. Peter Inverso, R-Hamilton, gets an up arrow for continuing to work on the complex issue of energy de-regulation last week while most of his fellow lawmakers took off for holiday parties. Inverso is the kind of guy we need to sort this one out and we think he's doing a great job. He gets the last up arrow of the year. December 20th, 1998
But Clinton has still managed to keep a majority of the country on his side. We don't know how he does it, but he's even stopped his arrow from bottoming out. Meanwhile, Rep. Chris Smith, R-Washington Twp., is a big winner. Smith first called for Clinton's impeachment last year when he saw the evidence that the administration was involved in passing off technological secrets to China. Smith's also the Jersey guy who has the best grasp of details regarding Iraq and the weapons inspections and he's been asking the toughest questions regarding the president's timing. Smith isn't big on spin, but his punches are carrying lots of power these days. Up arrow. State Sen. Shirley Turner, D-Trenton, gets an up arrow too for some rare political Legislators only work part-time and they get complete health care and a pension. State Sen. Bill Schluter, R-Pennington, earned an up arrow and a gold star for history too. Schluter spoke to the Hunterdon County Republican women last week and repeated a speech from Abraham Lincoln reminding Americans that "reverence for the laws" "should be the "political religion" of the country. Of course, Lincoln was a Republican so the Democrats probably would just call him a Sen. Bob Torricelli isn't so lucky. Torricelli joined actor Alec Baldwin and a bunch of Torricelli quickly denounced Baldwin's remarks when we called his office, which is good. Stoning is not in the constitution. Still, we're concerned that Torricelli can be found so often these days hanging out among the ultra-hip celebrity crowd. We're afraid the shallow thinking of Baldwin and the Hollywood literati types will cloud his usually sharp Jersey mind. We're giving him a sideways arrow with the admonition that he cultivate a smarter circle of friends. Sun., Dec. 13, 1998 Holiday tree big winner The arrows are twinkling with Christmas lights this week but as the holidays approach, we find ourselves with too many arrows and not enough time. We had to cut President Bill Clinton from our last minute arrow-pointing list even though his laughable apology on Friday clearly earned him a downer. Mercer County Democratic Chairman, Alan Karcher also fell through the cracks, but he deserves a standing ovation and a round of applause for the big award he got from the Democratic National Committee presented by New Jersey Sen. Bob Torricelli last week. But we couldn't leave out Gov. Whitman who won bragging rights and an important court victory when a federal judge refused to uphold the Legislature's ban on partial- birth abortion. State lawmakers had overridden her veto of the law which she said was too vague and unconstitutional. The judge agreed with Whitman giving her the first win she's had in a while on this tough and personal issue. But Senate President Don DiFrancesco gets an up arrow too for joining Assembly Speaker Jack Collins in moving forward with an appeal of the judge's decision. The only way to get points on this issue is to stick by your guns. Former senator Bill Bradley earns an up arrow for increasing the turnout at the New Jersey Democratic State Committee's annual Christmas party. Democratic leaders say that a couple hundred more folks showed up last week in anticipation of a glimpse of the big basketball star. Bradley didn't disappoint. He brought both a basketball and former Jim Florio Treasurer, Doug Berman, to the event and still managed to get lots of cheers from the party faithful. Berman is the author of Florio's infamous tax increase that cost the Democrats control of the governor's office and both houses of the legislature. Berman is arguably the least popular man in Jersey's Democratic party. But former Morris County prosecutor and gubernatorial wannabe Mike Murphy has jumped on the Bradley team and he's got lots of friends, so maybe it will all balance out. Communications Workers of America Local 1033 President Rae Roeder predicted she would get a down arrow last week and she was right. Roeder has been sending out postcards to the state worker union members featuring a picture of Personnel Commissioner Janice Mintz's home and address. Union members have been picketing Mintz at her house to protest her proposals to change the state's seniority rules. Roeder and CWA officials sanctimoniously insist they have some divine right to trample through Mintz's neighborhood because the Commissioner wants to create a system in which state workers are judged on their performance instead of accumulating points for just showing up. What is most galling is that the state workers picketed Mintz's house on the day after Thanksgiving -- which they get off while everybody else is working. The Supreme Court may be on the union's side, but we're not. Picket at the office. Finally, we want to award a special up arrow to the City of Trenton's new Christmas Tree. We agree with Mayor Doug Palmer that the Capital City deserved more than the "Charlie Brown Christmas Tree" that it got the first time around. The new tree is everything a Christmas tree ought to be -- big, green and proud. To avoid controversy in the future, we assume Palmer will appoint a special commission that includes representatives from Santa's elves and the tree finders union to make sure Trentonians always get a holiday tree that matches our high level holiday spirit. Sun., Dec. 6, 1998 Gov. Christie
Witman Last week's sunny weather brought out the best in New Jersey's politicians. It's up arrows all around. Gov. Whitman closed the HOV lanes and said no to New York City's trash. Sen. Bob Torricelli became an even bigger Democratic power player, and Banking and Insurance Commissioner Jayne LeVecchia continues to play hardball with the HMOs. Assemblyman Michael Arnone, R-Red Bank, actually came up with a new property-tax idea, and Senate Minority Leader Richard Codey, D-West Orange, got picked for Bill Bradley's first team. These folks deserve a round of polite applause. Whitman scored big points with the state's frustrated commuters when she closed the High Occupancy Vehicle lanes on routes 287 and 80 for good last week. But the governor's slam dunk came when she told New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani to drop dead when he proposed barging lots more of the city's garbage into New Jersey. In a suspiciously funny political game, Giuliani conceived his garbage plan targeting Newark and Carteret in secret, placing a gag rule on his garbage planners. Whitman's outrage was seconded by virtually every politician in northern New Jersey, including Rep. Robert Menendez, D-Union City, who said eloquently, "It stinks ... it really, really stinks." Giuliani will undoubtedly have to deal with New Jersey again on the issue, but Whitman has drawn her line in the landfill. Meanwhile, in Washington, Torricelli has become the one and only leader of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Ostensibly that means he's their top fund-raiser, but since money is what really talks in Washington, it really means that every Democrat running for the Senate or hoping to run will owe Torricelli big time. Torricelli raised about $60 million in the last election cycle and will undoubtedly do even more on the national cocktail circuit now that he's really focused. Torricelli also got a boost for his frequent-flyer miles this week when he was appointed to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He wants to focus on the Middle East and Latin America. Back at the State House, Banking and Insurance Commissioner Jayne LeVecchia is showing no mercy when it comes to New Jersey's HMOs. LeVecchia put another HMO in "rehab" this week as she continues to push for strong protections for HMO customers. Next to auto insurers (who LeVecchia oversees, too) HMOs have become the companies New Jerseyans most love to hate. LeVecchia is making a name for herself by giving them no slack. LeVecchia hit American Preferred Provider Plan this week for shifting a half-million dollars earmarked for poor people to a limousine service. Assemblyman Michael Arnone, R-Red Bank, got a plan for property-tax relief through the Assembly Local Government Committee that proposes something besides sending the towns more money. Giving new life to a very old idea, Arnone proposes to raise local taxes on land and lower them on buildings. This would discourage landowners in urban areas to develop land rather than leave it vacant. Of course, it might also discourage developers from buying any urban land at all. But Arnone gets the up arrow anyway for opening up a new line of thinking. Finally, we don't think Bill Bradley has much chance of becoming president, but we do think Bradley's candidacy has created a great platform for Senate Minority Leader Richard Codey, D-West Orange. Codey has been on the Bradley team for months providing the former senator and basketball star with his only visible link to grassroots Democratic politics in New Jersey. Codey's position with Bradley strengthens the Senate minority leader and allows him to push against state Sen. Raymond Lesniak, D-Elizabeth, and Hudson County Executive Robert Janiszewski for party power, at least until the Democratic presidential primary is over. Perhaps most important, Codey is wittier than the always serious Democratic Party Chairman Thomas Giblin, who is also from Essex County. The arrow pointers support any sign that the northern New Jersey Democrats are taking steps to lighten up. -- State House Bureau Chief Dave Neese contributes to Winners and Losers.
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