Free Republic

Jim McGreevey may have blabbed too much in his tell-all autobiography - and not just about his sex life......the gay former gov's confessions about NJ's notorious "pay-to-play" politics and his ties to a parade of corrupt power players could get him criminally prosecuted....... Ed Stier, a former federal and New Jersey state prosecutor told The Post..... "McGreevey's book may inadvertently supply enough information - to suggest that an already-closed investigation be reopened or expanded" ....McGreevey describes political patronage as "the coin of the realm" in NJ, a "form of sanctioned bribery" .......citing land deals and board appointments as examples of...

In New Jersey, one's home is not one's castle after all. The real castle, it turns out, is the car. The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled 4-3 yesterday that police do not need a reason to ask permission to search someone's home. The same court four years ago issued rules saying police must have a good reason before asking motorists if they can search their cars. Yesterday the court said the rules for cars -- which prohibit police from asking motorists if they can conduct a search unless they have "a reasonable and articulable suspicion" of criminal activity -- are...

For pure entertainment value, not much can compete with the blood sport of New Jersey politics. Last week federal investigators launched a probe into whether U.S. Senator Robert Menendez illegally benefited to the tune of more than $300,000 from a rental-income deal he had with a nonprofit agency that received millions of dollars in federal contracts. Even liberal good government groups agree that the relationship may have violated congressional conflict-of-interest rules. The allegations have sparked a mini-panic among state Democratic operatives, who not so long ago thought Mr. Menendez -- who was appointed by Jon Corzine ... had the November...

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...

Who's laughing now? New Jersey, the state that spawned a thousand wise-guy bumper stickers and became the butt of a million late-night jokes, is actually a nice place to live. The research group Morgan Quitno crunched the numbers this year and yesterday ranked New Jersey the fifth-most-livable state. As for its neighbors? Pennsylvania finished 30th, New York 32d. "The people we talk to say they wouldn't live anywhere else, and I have to go along with that," said Mark Moran, a Bloomfield resident and one of the editors of Weird New Jersey magazine. "Whether it grows on you or people...