Free Republic

      It is well known that Jon Corzine's numbers are collapsing in New Jersey. But that's not the only state.For example, look Governor Deval Patrick in Massachussets, as tested by SurveyUSA. He has 28% approve and 68% disapprove. This is flat across region. Even Dems net out at -11, with 42%-53%.Now look at this poll out of Michigan, H/T Race42008's Kavon Nikrad. Any credible Republican beats the sitting Lt. Gov.I haven't surveyed all the states, but it feels like someting is happening.

For the Pritzker family of Chicago, the 2001 collapse of subprime-mortgage lender Superior Bank was an embarrassing failure in a corner of their giant business empire. Billionaire Penny Pritzker helped run Hinsdale, Ill.-based Superior, overseeing her family's 50% ownership stake. She now serves as Barack Obama's national campaign-finance chairwoman, which means her banking past could prove to be an embarrassment to her -- and perhaps to the campaign. Superior was seized in 2001 and later closed by federal regulators. Government investigators and consumer advocates have contended that Superior engaged in unsound financial activities and predatory lending practices. Ms. Pritzker, a...

What is good for the goose evidently isn't so good for the gander when it's New Jersey Gov. Jon S. Corzine doing the honking about New York City's congestion-pricing plan. Leading up to yesterday's deadline for New York state lawmakers to vote on the proposal, Corzine weighed in last week by saying that he was dismayed by the scheme and would bring suit against New York if it went ahead with the proposal to charge motorists $8 and truckers $21 to drive into the most heavily trafficked parts of Manhattan; the N.J. governor was angry as well that the fees...

New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine, in explaining his state's abolition of the death penalty, announced that he knew "from my heart and from my soul" that no murderer should be put to death. As it happens, I know from my heart and from my soul that not putting any murderer to death is a cosmic injustice; it cheapens the worth of human life and greatly diminishes the revulsion society feels toward murder. So, what does this mean? Does it mean two intelligent and decent people have very different hearts and souls? (This question assumes that pro-capital punishment readers will acknowledge...

That Southern charm may soften the appearance of the actor-senator’s hardened conservative views. Last month brough the moment in the presidential campaign I’d been dreading. The popular conservative from my home state, fellow Tennessean Fred Thompson, entered the Republican primary. The pundits and “insiders” have dismissed the actor and former senator even before he declared his candidacy on late-night TV. Some claim he’s a Hollywood lightweight, but I’ve heard that before (Ronald Reagan). Some dismiss him as a Southern simpleton, but I’ve heard that before (George W. Bush). And I’ve even heard some claim he has a wealth of sexual...

Before crashing into a metal guardrail along the Garden State Parkway, New Jersey Gov. Jon S. Corzine's SUV was traveling 91 miles per hour just north of Atlantic City in a 65 mph zone, officials disclosed Tuesday. The crash, which occurred last week in Galloway Township, occurred as Corzine was traveling in his official vehicle Thursday to the governor's mansion in Princeton, N.J., to host a meeting between Don Imus and the Rutgers women's basketball team whom Imus racially offended last week on his radio show. Governor Corzine, who reportedly wasn't wearing his seat belt, was thrown from the front...

Few political or social positions in and of themselves should disqualify a person from being a candidate for president. Just about every candidate will differ with any of us even on something we consider important. That is why I admire pro-life Republicans, such as former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who argue that a pro-choice position should not automatically disqualify a Republican from pro-life Republicans' support. A big tent is necessary in politics, or one ends up with a small tent and no power. Thus, I could support politicians with whom I differ on taxation (I support a consumption tax), on...

In the wake of New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine's recent car accident, much has been made of the governor's decision not to wear a seat belt. One of the governor's own aides suggested the governor be issued a citation, even as he lay in a hospital bed in critical condition. And a resident of New Jersey filed a formal complaint against Corzine. While I'm not personally fond of mandatory seat-belt laws (I don't think it's the government's responsibility to protect us from ourselves), there is certainly some hypocrisy involved in his presiding over a state that requires the use of...

Just 18 days after suffering numerous serious injuries in an automobile crash, Gov. Jon S. Corzine, D-N.J., was released from Cooper University Hospital Monday and issued an emotional statement to the public. "I understand I set a very poor example for a lot of young people, a lot of people in general," said a teary-eyed Corzine, who was not wearing a seat belt when he was critically injured in an April 12 automobile crash on the Garden State Parkway. "I certainly hope the state will forgive me and I will work very hard to try to set the right kind...

TRENTON, N.J. — It will be agonizing, emotional and draining. Most of all, it will be painful. New Jersey Gov. Jon S. Corzine faces months of intensive therapy to recover from serious injuries suffered in an April 12 crash on the Garden State Parkway. "It is a grueling course that he's going to go through," said Kathleen O'Donnell, an inpatient rehabilitation manager at Atlantic Health, which operates several northern New Jersey health facilities. "My heart goes out to him." Corzine has been in intensive care since breaking 11 ribs, his sternum, a leg, his collarbone and a vertebra in the...

Our hopes are with Gov. Jon Corzine of New Jersey as he continues the long process of recovery from last week’s horrifying traffic accident. But we are also concerned by the news that at the time of the crash, Mr. Corzine’s sport utility vehicle was traveling at 91 miles per hour — 26 m.p.h. above the parkway’s speed limit — and that the governor, contrary to New Jersey law, was apparently not wearing a seat belt. Whether you’re an ordinary citizen or the chief executive of a state, traffic laws cannot be considered optional — for your own safety and...

39:4-91. a. The driver of a vehicle upon a highway shall yield the right of way to any authorized emergency vehicle when it is operated on official business, or in the exercise of the driver's profession or calling, in response to an emergency call or in the pursuit of an actual or suspected violator of the law and when an audible signal by bell, siren, exhaust whistle or other means is sounded from the authorized emergency vehicle... b. This section shall not relieve the driver of any authorized emergency vehicle from the duty to drive with due regard for the...

With legislative races this year expected to do little to tilt the balance of power in Trenton, the hottest race in New Jersey could very well be the one for the U.S. Senate seat held by Democrat Frank Lautenberg. Although voters will not decide the race until November 2008, Lautenberg is filling his campaign treasury, with three fund-raisers down and others planned for Palm Beach, Fla.; Austin, Texas; Denver, and Los Angeles. Tim Yehl, Lautenberg's chief of staff, expects the race to cost each candidate up to $15 million. That's bad news for Lautenberg, who loves being a senator but...

UMDNJ lobbyist may face conflict Christy Davis-Jackson was hired last August to serve as a $156,000 vice president and full-time legislative lobbyist for the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.While on the public payroll, though, Davis-Jackson continues to be registered with the state as a private lobbyist representing business clients that include a casino industry association - an outside interest that UMDNJ officials said would violate their conflict-of-interest policy.UMDNJ on Thursday said Davis-Jackson reported to them in August that she had "discontinued her interest" in her firm - Davis & Partners LLC on Halsey Street in Newark. But...

November and December are the months when newly elected officials and their allies finally start telling voters about things they didn't want to mention during the campaign. New Jersey Gov.-elect Jon Corzine and his predecessor, outgoing Acting Gov. Dick Codey, finally 'fessed up about the Garden State's precarious fiscal health Thursday in speeches at the convention of the state's League of Municipalities. And it ain't pretty. "We're pretty much broke," conceded Codey. "We have more debt than we can afford. Next year's budget deficit is at least $5 billion. School construction and transportation funding have virtually dried up. And we...

The Democrat Party died yesterday in Hartford, Connecticut. Present when this venerable institution breathed its last were a minority of the Democrats in the Nutmeg State. The Party was the child of the Republican-Democrat Party, and the Anti-Federalist Party. It leaves no known descendants. However, political parties sometimes spawn children many years after their deaths. Is that verdict too harsh? The leaders of the Democrat Party in Washington, New York, and elsewhere, are not admitting even to a serious illness. It’s difficult to conduct a proper Irish wake when on-lookers insist on prodding the deceased to sing and dance. These...

INDIANA BAT RINGWOOD -- Ford's toxic waste dump may be home to a tiny newcomer, posing a big problem for neighbors seeking a speedy cleanup.  The Indiana bat, a nationally listed endangered species, may be in the area. And that has interrupted tree clearing at the dump even though residents say the contamination is making them ill and should be removed as soon as possible.  Wildlife personnel are investigating whether the bats, which winter in mines and summer in the bark of large trees, are living at the Upper Ringwood site."We realize some work has stopped and we understand...

New Jersey, dominated by Democrats in recent elections, has become the best Republican prospect for winning a Democratic-held Senate seat this year. New polls last week indicated appointive Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez falling back to an even race with his Republican challenger, state Sen. Tom Kean Jr. Quinnipiac University's poll showed Kean gaining nine percentage points in one month to take a two-point lead. The Monmouth University/Gannett poll's first Senate survey had Kean trailing Menendez by one point, but enjoying a 15-point lead among key independent voters. Kean's edge in the Quinnipiac survey marked the first time a New Jersey...

Nearly a week after New Jersey government stopped fully functioning, lawmakers on Friday were edging toward voting on a budget plan that would allow Atlantic City casinos to reopen. ADVERTISEMENT Legislative committees were set to consider the legislation Friday, clearing the way for voting on a new state budget later in the night. Gov. Jon S. Corzine would have to sign an executive order to formally end the shutdown, which forced gambling operations to close Wednesday for the first time in the 28-year history of legal gambling in New Jersey. In Atlantic City, gamblers roamed the purple-carpeted hallways and employees...

New Jersey politicians have reached an agreement that will end the state budget crisis. The deal will be announced later this afternoon by Gov. Jon Corzine at a news conference. That conference is tentatively scheduled at 4:30 p.m. NBC 10 News and NBC10.com will live video coverage. Corzine hammered out a deal with his fellow Democrats, who were fighting him over a proposed sales tax hike, according to sources. The deal was reached six days after state government shut down, a high-ranking Statehouse official said. "They'll be announcing the final elements later this afternoon," said the official, who spoke on...