State Commission of Investigation in Chris Christie's Pocket

What with the death of public media in New Jersey and all, I thought it was time to fire up the blog again.

Prior to Chris Christie's taking office, New Jersey had three independent watchdog agencies -- the Inspector General, the Medicaid Inspector General and the State Commission of Investigation. Last year, as a budget cutting move, the Inspector General and the Medicaid Inspector General were merged with the State Comptroller, bringing both into the Executive Branch and under the control of Chris Christie.

Christie also wanted to merge the State Commission of Investigation into the Comptroller's Office. However, the SCI is under the jurisdiction of the Legislature; and there was great outcry from both Democrats and Republicans, currently in office and retired, against merging the agency. So the Governer relented.

In late March of this year, however, Governor Christie announced that U.S. Attorney Patrick Degnan had been named Executive Director of SCI for the next three years. Degnan, like anyone who has ever worked for Christie, knows that if Degnan ever crosses Christie, not only will Christie never again promote him but Degnan will be on Chris Christie's hit list. Think Joan Verplank at the Chamber of Commerce.

How exactly did Chris Christie get his man in charge at the State Commission of Investigation? Members of SCI are appointed by the Governor, the President of the New Jersey Senate and the Speaker of the New Jersey Assembly. Which means Steve Sweeney and Sheila Oliver agreed placed the SCI under the control of a former U.S. Attorney approved by Chris Christie.

One wonders the full parameters of THAT deal.

Finally, Democrats Say It Out Loud: It's About Jobs, Stupid.

I heard Senators Reid and Kerry both say, on Meet The Press, that tax cuts for the rich have not created any jobs over the past ten years, and thus it is foolish to continue to lower taxes on the rich for the purpose of creating jobs.

Says Senator Kerry, we cannot "cut" our way to competitiveness, we need to invest in our future.

Here in New Jersey, Steve Sweeney and Sheila Oliver are promoting a "Back To Work NJ" legislation program of about 30 bills. These bills include reforming business tax codes to base corporate business taxes on a company's sales in New Jersey (called "single sales factor"), eliminating a company's share of employees and physical assets in New Jersey as factors in determining a tax bill; a job training program for the unemployed which allows for up to 24 hours a week of workplace training from a potential employer for up to six weeks; and giving senior citizens whose total earnings fall under $100,000 an exemption from state income taxes on any income from a pension or deferred compensation plan.

Finally, a major political party recognizes that there is more to this debate than discussing how much to tax and how much to spend. Like the recent debt commission report, there is the understanding that strategic tax changes, strategic spending and fresh ideas are what we need. Please, can we stop having the same discussions we've been having since Reagan's first term.

I can only hope that this is the beginning of some adult conversations in the run-up to 2012.