Who Is Jon Corzine – Fact Check

Jon Corzine has a new campaign website - Jon Corzine for Governor – Join Us New Jersey.
We have no idea what “Join Us New Jersey” is supposed to mean. Perhaps it will come to us upon further reflection. Anyway, we are happy to see the Senator has decided to provide us with some information about his campaign.

To keep Senator Corzine honest, we thought we’d start fact checking his boasts. Today we will begin with the “Who Jon Is” web page - starting with his first, middle and last boast on the page. (He certainly does have a way with words – “who Jon is”?)

Jon Corzine was elected to represent the people of New Jersey in the United States Senate in November 2000. Since that time, he has established a record of accomplishment for the state, from securing federal funds to protecting open space and water reserves in the Highlands to protecting New Jersey’s PAAD and Senior Gold programs from federal charges that would have hurt New Jersey.

Jon Corzine grew up on a small family farm in central Illinois. After graduating from college in 1969, he began his financial career at the Continental Illinois National Bank in Chicago. In 1970, he enrolled in business school at the University of Chicago, first attending classes at night. He earned his MBA in 1973. In 1975, Corzine and his family moved to New Jersey after being recruited by Goldman Sachs, where he eventually rose to become CEO. Now he is working to bring his independent thinking, business expertise, and integrity to New Jersey as the state’s next Governor.

In 2000, Jon entered public service and brought his leadership skills to bear on some of the toughest challenges we face. He has fought for New Jersey, taking on the chemical industry to make us safer. He has also stood for corporate reform, using his Wall Street experience to craft laws cracking down on corporate abuses. Jon is known in the Senate and in New Jersey as a tough, principled leader who rises above partisan politics to do what's right for the state and get things done.

Corzine Boast: Record of accomplishment for the state - securing federal funds.

Fact: Worst record in securing federal funds - for every dollar of income tax New Jersey taxpayers send to the federal government New Jersey receives 57¢ in return, the lowest return in the nation.

Corzine Boast: Rose to become CEO Goldman Sachs.

Fact: Became CEO of Goldman Sachs in the Fall of 1994 and fired at the end of 1998 when his executive-committee colleagues unanimously voted to remove him from his post as CEO. It’s hard to believe any CEO of a Wall Street firm could have been fired during the go-go years of the 1990’s. A firm on auto-pilot would have raked in the dough.

Corzine Boast: Principled leader who rises above partisan politics.

Fact: Digging all the back to yesterday for an example: In a conference call with reporters Monday (March 21, 2005), Sen. John Corzine, D-NJ, one of the leading opponents of the president's plan, said Cheney had "a virtual career of disdain for Social Security," and compared his appearances to sending Saddam Hussein to campaign for democracy in Iraq.

If this is Corzine’s idea of a principled leader who rises above partisan politics, we don’t want to be around when things get ugly