In spite of the efforts of Democrats and the White House to downplay it, the governor's race in New Jersey has far more national implications than the media or national pundits want you to know. This race is a public referendum on the results of the redistribution of wealth in America, the centerpiece of what President Obama wants for the nation as a whole.
Some say it is about an unpopular governor, Jon Corzine and widespread corruption in the Democratic party in the state. I spent eight years as a former member of the Governor Tom Kean's administration and it comes as no surprise that corruption remains alive and well in New Jersey. Even though corruption has never thrived like it does today politicians have survived the taint of corruption in the past.
What is the defining issue is the result of years of redistribution of wealth that has driven New Jersey from one of the most prosperous states in the nation to one with the highest taxes in the nation as the state fell deeper and deeper into the control of the advocates of redistributing wealth in accordance with the wishes of the present and former democratic governors of the state.
For a 50 year period until the 1990's New Jersey was the fastest growing state in the northeast as it had been home to the wealthy New Yorker's since the mid 1800's. But in an ominous sign of the practical impact of Obama's redistribution of wealth, the so called hidden socialist agenda, New Jersey has progressed farther left than any state in the union.
As wealth in New Jersey was redistributed by the Democratic party officials and office holders the financial base of the state withered away in response. At the same time the proponents of wealth redistribution became politically entrenched and ignored the economic signs and warnings. Greed and power were cleverly protected from the will of the citizens and people no longer had a role in the future direction of the state.
In a thoughtful and provocative study of the politics of wealth redistribution in New Jersey titled The Mob That Wracked Jersey by Steven Malanga published in The City Journal he documented "How rapacious government withered the Garden State." It is a must read for students, taxpayer victims and even those caught up in the glamour of a program that claims to steal from the rich to help the poor like the Obama gang wants to do. You can read the article at the following link:
http://www.city-journal.org/html/16_2_new_jersey.html
Now the citizens of New Jersey are stuck with a choice of voting for an incumbent whose early endorsement helped Obama get elected, the hand picked and financed candidate for president by Goldman Sachs. An incumbent whose embracing of the Obama redistribution of wealth concept is driving jobs and employers out of the state in record numbers, whose spending and deficits have made Jersey the most taxed state in the nation and whose years at Goldman Sachs are yet to be fully explained.
His Republican opponent is a former US Attorney Chris Christie on the conservative side whose crusade against corruption landed over 100 dirty officials in jail though an anti-corruption platform does not address other major problems facing the state. It remains to be seen how he would undo the politically charged groups that are responsible for the redistribution of wealth debacle that plagues the state.
A third and Independent candidate, Chris Daggett, may be a sleeper in the race as he was a distinguished head of state and federal environmental programs and served under Governor Tom Kean when New Jersey had the most successful environmental agenda in the nation. Daggett is running as an Independent in the first year in our nation's history that there are more registered Independents nationally than members of either major party. He is also the first Independent candidate for governor of New Jersey to succeed in qualifying for state matching funds.
Jersey voters can be quite independent themselves and this time those who believe there is little difference between the two major parties and want a viable choice will have the opportunity to make a statement that neither party represents the future. Perhaps voters have been taken for granted by the politicians for far too long and it is time someone without the baggage of a party platform is given a chance.
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