Posted on 10/24/2005 5:01:05 PM PDT by wjersey
When Democratic gubernatorial nominee Jon S. Corzine's finances come into question on the campaign trail, he says he doesn't know much about them.
"For the life of me, I don't know what's going on," he said in an interview.
Sometimes, however, the see-no-green approach has drawn fire from critics.
The multimillionaire U.S. senator did not know five years ago that some poor people who lived in the 315 trailer parks owned by Affordable Residential Communities Inc. of Denver were unhappy. A former Goldman Sachs chairman, Corzine is an investor in that company, run by two former Goldman subordinates.
Now, as he runs for governor, the residents are still complaining about rents and regulations. When asked about it recently, Corzine said he would have his attorney look into it.
When a pair of Princeton lawyers questioned his investment in Goldman stock and his former role in state bond deals, this fact emerged: His campaign said it had just learned that he had sold all his Goldman stock.
Goldman Sachs, one of the world's largest investment houses, has profited handsomely from New Jersey taxpayers, working on $30 billion in bonds during Corzine's 25 years with the firm, according to Thompson Financial Services, which tracks the government securities business.
Corzine shared in those profits but said he did not recall being involved in pitching New Jersey for the firm's business while there.
"I could have shown up at some presentation that I don't remember," he said.
When his Senate vote on a tax treaty with Japan held a tax break for a bank he had invested in, he said, he did not know that the break was in the bill.
And when he forgave a loan to a former girlfriend, he did not say he was unaware of it. He said, in effect, it was nobody's business.
His opponent, Republican Douglas Forrester, also is a multimillionaire whose finances have opened him to criticism. Forrester is majority owner of Benecard Services Inc. and Heartland Fidelity Insurance Corp. Both make most of their money from no-bid government contracts in New Jersey.
It may be hard for voters, in a state where the median household income is $55,000, to comprehend that one of the men who wishes to govern them apparently does not know much about his quarter-billion-dollar fortune.
Part of it is because Corzine is shielded from the day-to-day ups and downs of most - but not all - of his money through a voluntary trust arrangement. He learns of the state of the money in May when he has to file a Senate financial disclosure form, his staff said.
"Sen. Corzine wanted to make sure that on an annual basis that his constituents and the public and the press could see what was going on in his blind trust," his attorney Marc Elias said.
Corzine has others handle his investments who, he said, "are better than" him at managing money.
Still, he has paid during the campaign trail for his hands-off attitude.
As a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Corzine in March 2004 voted for a treaty that gave a tax break to the Tokyo-based Shinsei Bank. Corzine's recent disclosure forms value his investment in the bank at between $1 million and $5 million.
"At the very least, he should have recused himself" from voting, said Bill Allison, the editor-at-large of think tank Center for Public Integrity in Washington.
When confronted by the Bergen Record about the vote, Corzine said he did not know the bill contained the tax break.
Elias said Corzine had relied on Senate staffers to look over the bill for him and did not have someone with enough knowledge of his assets to comb legislation for potential conflicts of interest. Elias added that Senate ethics rules allow members to vote on bills that may affect their finances.
Corzine's chief political adviser, Tom Shea, said the senator did not benefit from the tax treaty because it cut the tax break only for future investors. Corzine invested in the bank in 1998.
Corzine, who is divorced, also forgave a $470,000 mortgage to former girlfriend Carla Katz shortly before running for governor. He said the timing was a coincidence. Mid-November 2004 was when he had the time to review his finances and decided to forgive the loan.
Katz is head of the largest state workers' union. The disclosure not only brought his relationship with Katz to light but raised questions about whether the pair could forget their busted romance and professionally bargain over state workers' wages and benefits.
Corzine was ruffled when asked about Katz in the first televised debate of the general election. He tersely answered: "It was a personal relationship. It ended. It has nothing to do with running the state."
He still answers questions on the subject that way.
Other Corzine largesse has also turned heads.
A guest at former President Bill Clinton's dinner table and a reliable giver to federal Democratic candidates, Corzine has long been around politics and the money it devours.
But he wasn't a player in New Jersey politics until 1999, when he wanted to run for the Senate just after he was forced out of Goldman in a power struggle.
His initial investment of a few hundred thousand dollars to New Jersey political figures coalesced enough support behind him to topple former Gov. Jim Florio in the 2000 Senate primary.
He has since been one of the Democrats' most reliable supporters, giving $8 million to state party causes.
He also has contributed to the political class' favorite charities, giving or lending more than $2 million to black churches, according to his charity's IRS filings. Those churches are led by ministers who support his political ambitions.
Corzine acknowledges giving money to black churches whose work he admires and says he will give to worthy causes as long as the money lasts.
One of the beneficiaries is Calvary Baptist Church in Garfield, N.J. After launching his political career, Corzine gave the church $1 million and lent it $800,000.
Its pastor, the Rev. Calvin McKinney, is a member of the Black Ministers Council of New Jersey, whose members have twice endorsed Corzine. McKinney did not return numerous calls for comment. Black churches are important vote generators for Democrats in the cities.
In 2001, he gave Northward Center Inc., a social service center, $1 million. The center was founded and is run by Steve Adubado, one of Newark's prime political power brokers.
Now Corzine is poised to spend more than $50 million on his gubernatorial campaign.
If he wins, Corzine has promised, he will separate his finances from his decisions as the state's chief executive to avoid any conflicts of interest.
His chief aide Shea said, "We need to sit down with state ethics officers and get a sense of where he can continue to make money but stop answering these questions."
If it rains on election day in Jersey, Corzine will lose.
Libs melt when they get wet.
Well, it's not from a New Jersey paper for sure!
Of course Corzine shrugged, since he is comepletely innocent ROFLMFAO!
I hope he gets elected and gets out of the Senate.
ROFLMSS...............
"At the very least, he should have recused himself" from voting, said Bill Allison, the editor-at-large of think tank Center for Public Integrity in Washington.
When confronted by the Bergen Record about the vote, Corzine said he did not know the bill contained the tax break.
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Probably too busy 'porking' the union babe to read the damn legislation.
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