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| The Fairmount School, one of the polling places in Hackensack, where there was no waiting to vote on Tuesday afternoon. Only about 45 percent of registered voters statewide turned out on Tuesday, according to NJ.com. |
By Victor E. Sasson
Editor
Governor Christie easily won a second term on Tuesday, meaning our Garden State will surely go from bad to worse in the next few years.
Democrat Barbara Buono -- the state senator who was betrayed by the bosses of her own party, anti-feminist voters and The Record -- fought the good fight, and earned the respect of many state residents.
This election season also will be remembered for the cowardice of U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., who put his personal ambitions above the crying need to get rid of the GOP bully.
And Democrats shouldn't forget that President Obama campaigned for the Democratic gubernatorial candidate in Virginia, but only sent a get-out-the-vote e-mail to New Jersey that didn't even mention Buono by name.
From bad to worse
What's in store for New Jersey in Christie's second term?
You won't find anything about that in today's edition of The Record, where election results appear on A-1, A-6, A-7, L-1, L-3, L-6 and L-7, and where an A-10 editorial wishes the rotund politician "good luck."
NJ.com reported only about 45 percent of registered voters cast ballots on Tuesday, suggesting that Buono also fell prey to the state's legions of apathetic morons.
Media hype
Today's front page also carries more exaggerated coverage of the suicide of Richard Shoop, 20, of Teaneck inside the Garden State Plaza (A-1, A-8 and A-9).
The CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley on Tuesday covered the mall suicide as part of a review of "mass shootings," even though Shoop reportedly "looked people in the eyes ... telling [them] not to worry, that they were not his target" (Page 1 of The Record).
Out of order
First let's review all the damage Christie has wrought, starting in 2010, when he dismissed the only African-American member of the state Supreme Court.
Christie's attempts to remake the court in his own conservative image have been thwarted by the state Legislature's majority Democrats, also known as the Trenton Men's Club, whose members refused to confirm the legal turkeys he nominated.
Railroads commuters
His then cancelled the Hudson River rail tunnels -- the biggest mass-transit expansion in decades -- and rubber-stamped higher tolls on the turnpike and at the Hudson River crossings.
That means drivers must sit in nightmarish rush-hour traffic jams for the privilege of paying as much as $13 to get to Manhattan, and other commuters can't find enough seats on trains and buses.
And Hudson River tolls will be going up again on Dec. 1.
Christie also has refused to replace retiring state troopers, leading to a dramatic decline in the enforcement of laws against speeding, tailgating and other reckless driving.
Christie also demonized teachers and state workers, but it remains to be seen just how much money will be saved by his so-called pension reforms.
However, he didn't stint on adding cronies from his years as U.S. attorney to his administration and to the bloated payroll of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
No-tax crackpot
Christie's refusal to raise taxes of any kind has left state finances in disarray, and the New Jersey economy still hasn't recovered from the recession -- only 50% of lost jobs have been restored, despite hundreds of millions of dollars in tax breaks to wealthy business owners.
Local property taxes continue to increase, despite Christie's promise during the 2009 campaign he would lower them, and residents get little in return.
Rough ride
In a few days, I will drive over the same pockmarked street to deliver my quarterly taxes of $4,264 to City Hall in Hackensack, where the powers that be paved every block of Euclid Avenue except mine.
State roads are in no better shape, because of Christie's refusal to raise the low gasoline tax and reinvigorate the Transportation Trust Fund, which pays for infrastructure repairs and mass-transit improvements.
A year after Superstorm Sandy, thousands of residents still can't return to their battered homes, but the news media boosted Christie's reelection by portraying him as a leader who can walk on water.
Introducing 'Vito'
He still claims the mantle of bipartisanship, even though his middle name is "Veto" and his big, fat mouth resembles that of Vito Corleone's.
On Tuesday, voters rejected Christie's veto of a hike in the minimum wage, and approved an increase to $8.25 on Jan. 1.
The Record's story reported opponents claimed automatic raises in the minimum wage would increase "employers' costs" (A-7).
I guess the reporter couldn't bring herself to translate that into what it really means: Greedy employers fear automatic hikes would cut into their record profits.
Shoop suicide
On WBGO-FM radio news, I heard Christie saying the Shoop suicide in Paramus raised the need to pay more attention to mental health issues.
Christie, who lagged behind other governors on tightening gun control, didn't even refer to the rifle Shoop stole from his brother.
Indeed, all of the people who voted for Christie should have their heads examined.
New Jerseyans face another four years of a mean-spirited politician who has already earned the reputation of the worst governor ever, hurting women, minorities and low-wage workers.
We can only hope he quits in 2016 and runs for president, setting himself up for the biggest humiliation of his life -- defeat by Hillary Clinton, a woman and a Democrat.
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