Everything Must Go!

I think today New Jersey Legislature may have finally bridged the gap between the ridiculous and the absurd. Why do I say this now considering all the past bad behavior in this state? Well, it's none other than everybody's favorite pol in this state, former Governor and current Assembly Speaker Dick Codey's suggestion to lease the state lottery(!).

Codey (D-Essex) said he wants to ask voters this November to approve a measure
that would allow the state to lease the lottery. "I think we need to keep all of our financial options open at the moment," said Codey. "If we can get the ball rolling on this now, and get it on the ballot in November, then at least we will have the legal means to explore this option in the future." In the fiscal year that ended in June, the lottery generated $2.3 billion in revenue, of which, the state received roughly $828 million. Codey said it could generate more in the hands of a private operator.

Now, Codey is a guy who usually says all the right things voters want to hear, but when it comes time to act he continues to support all the broken polices of the Democrats that have all but bankrupted this state. Now, he may have gone too far. Voters are already squeamish about Governor Corzine's plan to "monetize" (translation "borrow money against future revenues of") the State toll roads. Corzine's toll road plan is just (purposely) vague and confusing enough that he might get voters to swallow it.

But doing the same thing with THE LOTTERY? I don't think so. Even the worst student in the worst Abbott district knows how the lottery works. Lottery money gets split between the State, to pay for public education, and lottery winners. THE LOTTERY IS AS CLOSE TO BEING A LICENSE TO PRINT MONEY AS YOU CAN GET. What makes Dick Codey think splitting lottery revenue three ways, instead of two, with an outside vendor will generate more revenue for New Jersey?

The Democrats just absolutely refuse to consider spending cuts, the only thing that will help this State crawl out of the financial hole it's in. They don't even know what a spending cut is anymore. For our Governor, reducing a spending increase below what the Legislature asked for is fiscally conservative. Spending cuts are out of the question, it would ruffle the feathers of Big Labor and Big Education, the Democrats' best friends. Instead, there's a For Sale sign up on the whole state.

I hope this is the moment where voters in this state finally stand up to the Democratic majority and ask "have you no decency, at long last have you no decency?" Maybe Codey's assinine suggestion will finally wake people up to just how hard they are getting screwed. Maybe this will generate the outrage that's needed to finally cow Trenton into doing what it should be doing, mercelessly trimming spending. Maybe. But I'm not holding my breath.