Former New York City Mayor Edward Koch, one of the country’s most prominent Democrats, says he may cross over and back Republican Sen. John McCain for president.
In an exclusive Newsmax interview, Koch says McCain “has no equal” when it comes to opposing Islamic terrorism. Though Koch says he disagrees with most of McCain’s positions on domestic issues, he could support him because of his strong national security credentials.
Koch carries significant weight with many Jewish Democrats in New York and across the country. He also has a history of playing the maverick and crossing party lines.
He has backed several New York Republicans, including Rudy Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg for New York City mayor, Al D'Amato for the U.S. Senate, and George Pataki for New York governor. In 2004 he endorsed his first Republican for president, George W. Bush. Koch actively campaigned in several states, including Florida and Ohio.
Bush won both states.

The State auditor's report on "Distressed Cities" aid also says $153 million program slated to spend an extra $25 million this year
12TH District Legislators Senator Jennifer Beck, Assemblywoman Caroline Casagrande, and Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon said today that a report by a state auditor outlining numerous failures to comply with state statutes governing the program confirm exactly what they’ve been saying for months.
“Hundreds of millions of dollars distributed with virtually no oversight”, said O’Scanlon, a member of the Assembly Budget Committee. “I’d say it was unbelievable, but sadly, given what we suspected, it’s not surprising at all. My fellow budget committee members and I have been asking for documentation and were stonewalled. Now we understand why. This should outrage every taxpayer in the state of New Jersey .”
“Considering the fact that the debate has finally shifted from ‘should we cut the budget?’ to ‘where do we cut?’, it would seem to me that this program is a prime candidate for a serious cut in funding”, added Beck. “If someone can explain to me why we should be cutting municipal aid to fiscally responsible suburban towns, while Camden will be receiving $60 million this year from a supposedly temporary program they’ve been on for 9 years now, I’d like to hear it.”
According to Casagrande, an equally outrageous part of the report was the auditors finding that the program is actually projected to require an extra $25 million over and above the $153 million in the current budget.
“It’s bad enough that this program, which we now know has had virtually no oversight, was scheduled to dole out over $150 million of taxpayer dollars to towns which, in many cases, have exhibited questionable financial practices for years. Now we find out that it’s actually going to be $25 million more than that. At a time when we’re scrounging for every dollar, we’re going to actually expand the most dysfunctional program in the state? It’s insane. But unfortunately it’s par for the course in Trenton .”

Assemblyman Jay Webber, chairman of the Taxpayer Protection Caucus in the New Jersey General Assembly, announced today having a New Jersey's Tax Freedom Day is not a good idea, but the second worst idea in the country.
"On the day that New Jerseyans finally have paid for their share of government and can start working for their families, it is a sad irony that Democrats start pushing their new water tax on households. They already have made New Jersey unaffordable by taxing our homes, our work, our cars, our TVs, our phones, our cigarettes, our gas, our electricity, and our drinks, among other things. Now they want to tax our water. What will they tax next - our air?"
Webber's comments come after the NJ Senate Environment Committee announced it will discuss creating a new $150 million tax on water.
"This year, the average New Jerseyan already has spent 127 long days - well more than 4 months - working just to pay his or her total tax burden. Crushing taxes are forcing our families, friends, and neighbors to flee to other states - and the only thing the Democrats can think to do is to find new burdnes to heap on us," Webber said.
"The commitment of the Taxpayer Protection Caucus is to make New Jersey more affordable by opposing any tax increases and lightening the load on New Jersey's already-overtaxed citizens. We want our State to be a place where people want to live, not a place they need to leave," he added.