Why Did Corzine Forgive The Loan To Carla Katz?

Some in the blogosphere seem to view the $470,000 loan forgiveness by Corzine to the president of the largest state employee's union as just a gift to a girlfriend. Perhaps in isolation it might appear that way, but let’s go back and remember what was happening in December of 2004. Acting Governor Codey hadn’t decided whether or not he would challenge Corzine for his party’s nomination for Governor at that point.

Corzine did not want another bloody, costly fight in a primary and a Codey run was gaining some traction:

The best news for Codey may be that head-to-head general election match-ups showed him faring slightly better against the two most likely Republican nominees than Corzine. The finding may simply have been a result of the more well-known Corzine’s higher disapproval rating -- 26 percent to Codey’s nine percent.

Corzine’s general mode of operation was to buy everyone off to gain their support. As has been widely reported, Corzine gave nearly $1 million to a campaign committee run by George Norcross, the Democratic uber-boss in South Jersey. Norcross was the guy that backed Florio in the Senate primary that probably set Corzine back $35 million. If someone caused you that much aggravation and money would you turn around and give him a $1 million if you didn’t think you had to buy his support?

The Philadelphia Inquirer has reported Corzine has given approximately $10 million more to other party organizations around the state since 2000. During a 17-day stretch in mid-October of 2004, as Corzine prepared to declare himself a candidate for governor, he gave $342,000 to 16 Democratic county organizations across New Jersey. Is that how you would spend your money, unless you thought you had to in order to get what you wanted?

And as many will remember, Corzine’s mother Nancy Corzine, a retired schoolteacher in Oak Park, Ill, gave $37,000 to the Bergen County Democratic Organization in October. 2004. Now, who believes his mother’s generosity makes any sense outside of the context of Corzine trying to nail down the gubernatorial nomination without a primary?

This brings us to Corzine forgiving the $470,000 loan to Carla Katz in December of 2004. So, we are to believe that when Ms. Katz was his girlfriend Corzine was all business like and gave her a loan, one she was obligated to pay back. However, once she reverted back to being just a president of the largest state employee’s union, a $470,000 gift was in order. Seems backwards to us – normally the girlfriend receives the gift, an acquaintance gets the loan. Unless of course Corzine felt he had better not take any chances and tried to nail down support from a powerful union boss in December of 2004. Isn’t that a more logical reason for Corzine to forgive the loan?

This post has also been included as an update to our earlier post - Corzine, Carla Katz And An Odd House Transaction Near D.C.

More on the Corzine-Katz Financial Deals:
Carla Katz Has Big Plans
The Corzine - Katz Deal: The Best Of Both Worlds
Corzine, Carla Katz And An Odd House Transaction Near D.C.