N.J. Democrats Complaining About Special Election Costs are Casting Rocks in a Glass House
By Matt Rooney | The Save Jersey Blog
Trenton Democrats (and a few conservatives, mostly from elsewhere in the country) are continuing to gripe about the projected $24 million cost of New Jersey’s special U.S. Senate election.
It’s a stupid argument, Save Jerseyans. Offense intended.
Consider, for example, the story that broke around the same time as Senator Lautenberg’s passing: the payout of approximately $23 million in taxpayer-financed benefits to 20,000 prisoners who weren’t eligible.
And you and I both know that little doozy is just the tip of the iceberg, Save Jerseyans. Name an area of Garden State life and I’ll find you an example of public waste. Newsflash for new readers who’ve inhabited the underside of a rock for the past 20 years: New Jersey government is rife with corruption,waste, and as of late, an excessive degree of naked partisanship at the expense of constituents’ urgent needs; if our government wasn’t such a wasteful mess, then there wouldn’t have been an audience for blogs like Save Jersey, Bob Ingle would’ve never had enough material to write a New York Times bestseller titled Soprano State, and a certain former U.S. Attorney might’ve had a hard time racking up enough convictions to help launch a historic gubernatorial campaign.
Criticism of special election spending from Trenton Democrats who’ve played a central role in our state’s tragic fall from fiscal stability simply doesn’t pass the laugh test.
Every day they hold up bills is a waste of money!!
So you're making the argument that two wrongs make a right?
I'm not a Democrat and I think this special election is not only a waste of money, but a way for Christie to keep his hands clean so the spotlight doesn't come off if him in November.
@Theodore I don't see the "wrong." Staging elections to fill vacancies — particularly when some very important debates are happening in DC — is one of government's primary functions! The real problem? Our politicians are wasting BILLIONS on stuff that is NOT within government's appropriate scope of power.
I only think with the special election and general election only three weeks and not three months apart, the Senate election could and should have been held in November without any dire consequences to the Republic.