“To express the sense of the Senate that General David H. Petraeus, Commanding General, Multi-National Force-Iraq, deserves the full support of the Senate and strongly condemn personal attacks on the honor and integrity of General Petraeus and all members of the United States Armed Forces.”

That measure passed the U.S. Senate 75 to 25. New Jersey Senators Bob Menendez and Frank Lautenberg both voted no, meaning they don’t believe our country’s Commanding General in Iraq deserves their support and that attacks against the honor and integrity of all members of the United States Armed Forces are not worthy of their commendation.

Yesterday, Senators Menendez and Lautenberg voted in favor of a bill to expand the rights of foreign terrorist detainees and prisoners or war. The measure was defeated.

“Too many New Jerseyans zoom from benign indifference to ballistic confrontation with no pause for rational fact-gathering, analysis and debate.”

“The problem is not the penny-ante theft perpetrated by some Democrats, but the perfectly legal theft associated with Abbott, Mt. Laurel, and the Democratic redistributionist ideology generally. In short, the Democratic Party is based upon taking things from people who earn them and giving them to people who don't, while employing vast numbers of public employees to administer the program at huge expense.

The taxpayers suffer much greater injury from perfectly legal policies -- such as the unequal aid given to urban school systems and giveaways to public employee unions -- than they do from bribery.”

This is the problem that must consistently be brought to the attention of voters by every Republican candidate for New Jersey state Senate and Assembly. Republican candidates must succinctly state the problem and provide specific examples (dollars and cents), how and why the Democrats’ program has harmed and will continue to harm the state and the candidate’s district if left unchecked. Finally, candidates must clearly articulate the specific programs and polices they will enact, if elected, to end the cycle of tax and spend that has proven ruinous to the state and a catastrophe for taxpayers.

Nicholas John was born on July 2, 1959 in Dunvant, Swansea, Wales, a city rich in history and spectacular scenery. It was also the birthplace of the poet Dylan Thomas and home to Nick, his two bothers and his parents Glyn and Enfys. To meet Nick was to understand the magic of his homeland.

Nick was a passionate and warm-hearted man, with a great sense of humor and an easy smile. His sense of adventure led him to travel the world, making lasting friendships wherever he went. No matter where his travels took him, though, Nick never forgot his Welsh heritage. He often entertained friends and colleagues with stories of Wales and after a pint or two, he would tell them in Welsh. His favorite pub in New York was Fiddlesticks.

Nick loved sports, especially playing rugby and rooting for the Welsh Rugby Union team. He regularly played squash and was always looking forward to his next scuba diving adventure. Nick was a music buff. He played the guitar and amassed a very large and eclectic music collection.

Nick also had a successful business career that included executive positions with McGraw Hill, Manufacturers Hanover Trust and JPMorgan Chase. His work gave him the opportunity to explore the world while living in London, Hong Kong, Sydney and New York. It was while working in Australia that Nick met his life partner, Megan Dennison. Together they moved to New York, living in Greenwich Village, not far from his downtown Manhattan office at Chase.

On September 11th Nick was not in his office, but was attending the Risk Waters Financial Technology Congress at the World Trade Center, Tower 1. The meeting was being conducted at Windows on The World, with its spectacular view from the 108th floor. That’s where Nick was when American Airlines Flight 11 slammed into Tower 1, the north tower, at 8:46 a.m. Records show he called 911 from his cell phone, but he was unable to escape before the Tower collapsed at 10:28 that morning.

Nick may have left us on September 11th, but he will live forever in the hearts of his family and friends around the world. He is commemorated in the United in Memory Quilt and on the “Memorial Railing” that runs through the new British Memorial Garden at Hanover Square in Manhattan.

“Though lovers be lost love shall not; And death shall have no dominion.” - Dylan Thomas

British Minister, Andrew Davies, joined teachers and students from Ysgol Gyfun Ystalyfera to lay a wreath in memory of Nicholas John. A wreath of daffodils and Welsh flags was presented to a guardian of the new Memorial Garden for the British victims who died on September 11, close to the Ground Zero site at Hanover Square.

So another 11 New Jersey Democrats have been arrested for corruption - this time for demanding and taking cash bribes in exchange for official favors and help in awarding government contracts. Here’s the latest crew, not unsurprisingly all representing Abbott School Districts.

From Passaic County: Samuel Rivera, the mayor of Passaic; Assemblyman Rev. Alfred E. Steele, who is also a Passaic County undersheriff; Passaic councilman, Marcellus Jackson and former Passaic councilman Jonathon Soto.

From Essex County: Assemblyman Mims Hackett, Jr., who is also the mayor of Orange and Keith Reid, the chief of staff to Newark City Council President Mildred Crump.

From Atlantic County: Pleasantville councilman Pete Callaway, Pleasantville Board of Education President James Pressley and three members of the Pleasantville Board of Education - Jayson Adams, Rafeal Velez and James McCormick.

We are locked in a Groundhog Day loop in this state. Here’s what we wrote more than two years ago. We could publish the same post every other week and appear current with the latest news cycle.

When are people going to wake up and realize politicians and other “public servants” have been using the excuse of helping the least amongst us as an excuse to enrich themselves and their friends? The Poor, the children! Baloney!

There is so much money being spent by government that it’s nearly impossible to stay ahead of the brazen squandering of hard-earned taxpayer dollars. Everyday there is a new outrage uncovered. Fraud, bribes, theft, pay-to-play, financial mismanagement and the list goes on-and-on. How bad do things need to be before it dawns on voters that they are being taken for suckers?

As we mentioned in our last post, apparently the situation in New Jersey has not reached critical mass, if you believe reports in the Star-Leger – “GOP faces a daunting task in legislative races”. How can this be given the state’s financial condition, the Democrat’s culture and record of corruption and the crushing tax burden taxpayers in New Jersey must bear?

Last year, Assemblyman Michael Carroll provided the explanation – the majority of people voting for the profligate spenders and corrupt politicians aren’t the folks picking up the tab.

Most serious political corruption tends to be an urban problem. And a Democrat problem. Not because Republicans are inherently more virtuous, but because they tend to approach government from a different perspective than do Democrats. Dems see government as an engine for legally stealing from A to benefit B. Republicans, contrariwise, see government as a bulwark to prevent B from stealing from A.

First, victims of theft tend to object, but if the thief is playing Robin Hood, he creates a substantial constituency for theft. If the beneficiaries of the theft are the residents of a particular district, while the victims live somewhere else, Robin will repeatedly win office in a landslide, even if he’s not exactly pure of heart, and takes a cut for himself and his band of merry marauders.

Why any taxpayer in New Jersey will vote for a Democrat this fall is beyond us. Tax receivers we can unfortunately understand, but a taxpayer has to be nuts to vote for a candidate whose Party thrives on wasting and stealing their money.

“This Whole Debacle Does Not Make Sense”

We see not much has changed during our hiatus. Corzine and Katz are still making news. Now with a Rocco Riccio twist:

Gov. Jon Corzine gave $15,000 this year to the brother-in-law of his former girlfriend, Carla Katz, a gift that appears to contradict the governor's claims that he ended all financial entanglements with the union leader and her family before taking office.

At first, the governor denied giving Riccio $15,000."Not from me," Corzine said. Shown copies of the checks and money orders (who uses money orders when they have a checking account?) Corzine suddenly remembered:

Corzine acknowledged it was drawn from his own accounts. "That's mine," he said. He said the money was a gift without strings, that he never promised Riccio anything and expected nothing in return.

Technically speaking silence is nothing - jobs, that's something. Maybe Corzine will remember about the strings after the next Katz saga revelation.

Rocco Riccio, who is married to Katz's sister, received the money after the governor forced him in January to quit a Turnpike Authority job. At the time, reporters had been pressing Corzine's office for answers about Riccio's work record and how he got hired.

Riccio's fortunes suddenly changed last fall. He became the target of rumors that he had been improperly accessing taxpayer records -- to find information about political enemies --while working as an analyst in the Human Services Department.

After Riccio left Treasury, the governor's office recommended him for a $75,000-a-year accounting manager position at the Turnpike Authority.

Two weeks into that job, Riccio said he was summoned back to the Statehouse. This time, he said, two others joined Shea: the governor's chief counsel, Ken Zimmerman, and deputy counsel Matthew Boxer.

The trio told Riccio the media inquires hadn't stopped and that his government career "was over," he recalled. Riccio said he wanted to fight for his reputation, but that Shea talked him out of it. "That's when Tom promised me a job in the private sector and (said) they'll take care of me."

Riccio said that he was promised a job and that when no job materialized they offered him money to "tide me over".

And just when you think some are beginning to see the light about public corruption in New Jersey, it’s back to robo voting. From TrentonRising:

I can not understand why a man as wealthy and powerful as Jon Corzine would need to make regular installments to this woman or members of her family.

And if her brother-in-law lives with Katz's sister and mother, and he is struggling financially, wouldn't that mean that her sister and mother would be hurting. Why would Katz not do what any other sibling or child do when a family member is in need? This whole debacle does not make sense.

I voted for him and will vote for him again. But, he needs to stand up and get this behind him and the state.

Enlightened blogger Dino P Crocetti responds to TrentonRisisng’s first question:

At this point, you can only wonder what he is being blackmailed with. Perhaps it's a video tape of some sort.

The answer to the second question is a matter of public record. Katz is selfish and greedy. She’s big on spending other people’s money, just not her own - even when the “working family” in need is hers.

As for blindly voting for Democrats, nothing has changed on that score either. The Star-ledger reports that the “GOP faces a daunting task in legislative races”.

"There's no big demand for a change. Things may not be great, but they are okay as far as most people are concerned right now."

That’s right, things could always be worse and we suspect they will be right after this fall’s election.