Seeking to tap into the knowledge state employees have of how government wastes money every day, Assemblywoman Caroline Casagrande has launched a web site encouraging them to report ways – big and small – for New Jersey to save money.

The website’s launch coincides with America ’s tax-filing deadline with hopes that workers will find ways to make future filings less burdensome for fellow New Jerseyans.

“While big-ticket examples of waste and fraud catch the most attention, New Jersey’s bloated bureaucracy also fritters away nickels and dimes daily, which adds up to large losses for taxpayers,” Casagrande, R-Monmouth and Mercer, said. “And no one knows about New Jersey ’s wasteful systems than better than its workers who have a front-row seat to the way that government mindlessly spends tax dollars.”

Spurred by a constituent’s call, Casagrande will compile employees’ examples of waste submitted to www.stopgovernmentwastenj.com and plans to take their suggestions to state department heads for implementation. Workers making suggestions can identify themselves or submit anonymously. The website will keep any name submitted confidential.

“Despite the stereotype, many state workers are diligent, conscientious and aware of simple changes government can make to save money,” Casagrande said. “Too often, however, their ideas get lost in the state’s large bureaucracy, or remain unspoken for fear of retribution.

This web site will not allow good ideas to be ignored, but it will provide a venue for workers to submit good ideas anonymously if they worry about retaliation for suggesting change or reporting abuse.”

Casagrande got the idea after a constituent called to suggest some cost-savings measures such as charging a fee when people file motions to change child support orders or stop mailing the same glossy brochure every three months with child support statements that are often returned by the post office.

Those employees who are willing to place their names on their suggestion would be eligible for existing programs that reward employees for saving money, but some departments have let their programs go unfunded. Casagrande encouraged residents to call their lawmakers to urge that all employee tax-saving suggestion award programs be reinstated.

“State employees, such as this constituent, want to deliver savings for taxpayers that will go beyond the one-shot gimmicks and unsustainable tax increases proposed by Governor Corzine,” Casagrande said. “The governor’s attempts to cut the budget from top down have clearly failed because department heads trying to defend their fiefdoms have little incentive to save tax dollars. We should try to cut from the bottom up because those in the trenches have the best perspective of government waste.

“Everyday working Janes and Joes can help us,” Casagrande added.

PARSIPPANY, NJ - Today, Chris Christie released the following statement regarding The Tax Foundation's annual "Tax Freedom Day Report".

The 2009 "Tax Freedom Day Report", released today, assigns each state a date based on how many days its citizens have to work to pay their taxes each year. New Jersey's date is April 29th, second to last in the country, meaning New Jerseyans have to work 119 days in 2009 (from January 1st to April 29th) to just cover their taxes:

"This is just another indicator that tells us what we already know - Trenton taxes too much, it spends too much, and it borrows too much. It's why we have to work 119 days this year just to cover our taxes - second worst in the nation. It's why our business climate is ranked last in the country. It's why we've had a net loss of nearly 350,000 New Jerseyans to other states this decade. New Jerseyans need to start working for their families, not the government. I'll cut personal and small business taxes and require a 2/3 majority of the Legislature to raise taxes, require a sunset provision on any new programs and use an elected State Auditor to cut wasteful spending."

PARSIPPANY, NJ – Chris Christie’s Campaign for Governor announced today that its most recent submission to the Election Law Enforcement Commission totaled $305,245.00. To date, a total of $944,838.10 has been raised and submitted to the Election Law Enforcement Commission for matching funds.

In the interest of reform and transparency, the campaign will disclose the names of all contributors who contribute one dollar or more, even though ELEC requires disclosing only those who donate over $300.

The campaign also requires all donors to sign a donor card that includes a statement that says, “I have not been promised anything in return for this contribution other than a better New Jersey state government.”

PARSIPPANY – Chris Christie’s campaign for Governor continued its momentum today, announcing an impressive list of Mercer County Republican elected officials and municipal chairs who have endorsed Chris Christie.

Congressman Chris Smith heads the list. Smith said, “Chris Christie and I share a commitment to protecting the most vulnerable in society including victims of human trafficking, pornography, forced labor and other crimes and horrific human rights abuses. He is a strong and innovative leader and as Governor, Chris Christie will fight for what is just and right for the people of New Jersey.”

“Chris Christie is a tested leader who will bring aggressive, common-sense solutions to reform the way business is done in Trenton,” said Senator Bill Baroni. “We’re all tired of hearing that the problems of our state are too big to solve or that Trenton is too broken to fix. I’m supporting Chris because I know his bold plans will produce real results for Mercer County and our state.”

“Our message of change is resonating with the voters of New Jersey. Our Mercer County team, led by Congressman Smith, Senator Baroni, and Chairman Wesley, shows that our momentum is building as we talk about solutions – instead of excuses – to get our state back on track,” said Christie.

Please stay tuned for another release tomorrow as part of the campaign's 30 Days of Good News.


MERCER COUNTY ENDORSEMENTS

Congressman Chris Smith

State Senator Bill Baroni

Mercer County Republican Chairman Roy Wesley

Republican State Committeewoman Janice Mintz

Former Mercer County Executive Robert Prunetti
Former Mercer County Freeholder Michael Angarone
Former Mercer County Republican Chairman Philip Angarone
Former Mercer County Republican Chairman John Hansbury

East Windsor Township Municipal Chair Al Grupper

Ewing Township Mayor Jack Ball
Ewing Township Councilman Donald Cox
Ewing Township Municipal Chair Maria Bua

Hamilton Township Mayor John Bencivengo
Hamilton Township Council President Dennis Pone
Hamilton Township Councilman Thomas Goodwin
Hamilton Township Councilman David Kenny
Hamilton Township Councilman Kevin Meara
Hamilton Township Municipal Chair Frank Ragazzo

Hightstown Borough Mayor Robert Patten
Hightstown Borough Municipal Chair Ashley Hutchinson, Esq.

Hopewell Township Municipal Chair Jean Gianacaci

Lawrence Township Councilman Robert Bostock
Lawrence Township Councilman Rick Miller
Lawrence Township Municipal Chair John Hartman

Robbinsville Township Mayor David Fried
Robbinsville Township Council President Christine Ciaccio
Robbinsville Township Councilman David Boyne
Robbinsville Township Councilman Rich Levesque

Trenton Municipal Chair Sylvester “Bobby” Bryant

West Windsor Township Council President Charles Morgan
West Windsor Township Councilwoman Linda Geevers
West Windsor Township Municipal Chair Lois Morgan, Esq.

LONDON, U.K. - Congressman Chris Smith, a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and leading human rights lawmaker, delivered the following address Tuesday at “The London Conference on Combating Anti-Semitism,” held by the U.K.’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office in conjunction with the Inter-Parliamentary Coalition for Combating Anti-Semitism, of which the Congressman is a founding member:

Special thanks to Chairman Mann, his wife Joanna, his dedicated staff and colleagues for the extraordinary leadership in making the London Conference a huge success and for launching the ICCA.

In 1982, during my first term in Congress, on a trip arranged by friends like David Harris, I traveled with the National Conference on Soviet Jewry (NCSJ) to Moscow and Leningrad to meet Jewish refuseniks in their homes and to engage Soviet leaders.

For hours on end, our delegation heard stories of Soviet physical and mental abuse, systematic harassment, gulags and psychiatric prisons, and an array of seemingly wanton, brutal acts of anti-Semitism.

To apply for an exit visa—a universally-recognized human right, which at least on paper the Soviet Union had recognized—was to invite the cruelty and wrath of the KGB and other small-minded, morally stunted thugs.

To courageously seek freedom rendered the refuseniks ineligible for employment in Lenin’s farcical “workers’ paradise.”

The Soviet system, militantly atheistic and morally incoherent, wouldn’t let you leave, but didn’t want you to stay either—a bizarre paradox.

In Dr. Alexander Lerner’s Moscow apartment, our delegation heard Sharansky’s mother admonish us to do more for her son, because his life was in jeopardy.

“Raise Anatoly’s situation with the highest officials,” she asked us. Which of course we did.
To a new 27-year-old Congressman, however, it was all very bewildering and deeply troubling—why do they hate the Jews? Why the anti-Semitic obsession?

A few years later, and shortly after Sharansky’s release, I visited Perm camp 35 in the Ural Mountains—a horrific gulag filled with prisoners of conscience. While there, I saw the solitary punishment cell called the Shizu—where Natan Sharansky suffered and persevered. To the utter dismay of Lt. Col. Osin—Perm Camp’s KGB warden—a colleague and I interviewed and videotaped most of the prisoners and pushed for their release. In time, they all got out, following the path paved by Natan Sharansky, one of the bravest, wisest, and most noble men on earth.

Then, almost suddenly, the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact collapsed and hope and expectation soared. A new day dawned—the matriculation of several dictatorships to democracy, respect for human rights, the peace dividend, and a better future for Jews.

It didn’t take long, however, to be disappointed on the latter. In 1995 I chaired a Congressional hearing entitled, The Rising Tide of Global Anti-Semitism, as it was becoming increasingly clear that the status of Jews in many countries was actually deteriorating.

At another Congressional hearing I chaired in 2002, Dr. Shimon Samuels of the Wiesenthal Center in Paris said, “The Holocaust for 30 years after the war acted as a protective Teflon against blatant anti-Semitic expression (especially in Europe). That Teflon has eroded, and what was considered distasteful and politically incorrect is becoming simply an opinion.” He warned ominously, “cocktail chatter at fine English dinners can end as Molotov cocktails against synagogues.”

In response to what appeared to be a sudden, frightening spike in anti-Semitism in several countries, including my own, we first proposed the idea of a conference on combating anti-Semitism under the auspices of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

Convinced that we had an escalating crisis on our hands, our delegation teamed with several OSCE partners—including Gert Weisskirchen from Germany and Senator Jerry Grafstein of Canada—to push for action and reform. Many of you in this room played leading roles.

Those efforts led directly to a series of high-level OSCE conferences on combating anti-Semitism, which took place in Vienna, Berlin, Cordoba, and Bucharest.

Since then—and especially at the Maastricht December 03 Ministerial—OSCE Participating States made solemn, tangible commitments to put noble words into concrete action.
Today, in some countries, progress has indeed been made, and without collective action things might be noticeably worse. Deterrence is always difficult to measure with any accuracy. Still, anti-Semitic acts have not abated in other countries, and in some the situation has actually gotten worse.

Today, here in London, grateful to our British hosts, and especially to the exemplary work of the Right Honorable John Mann, we gather to confront and, to the best of our abilities, combat this highly disturbing resurgence of anti-Semitism, which has been further exacerbated by the recent hostilities in Gaza.

Unparalleled since the dark days of the Second World War, Jewish communities around the world are facing violent attacks against synagogues, Jewish cultural sites, cemeteries and individuals. Anti-Semitism is an ugly reality that won’t go away by ignoring or wishing it away. It must be defeated.

This increase in violence is a chilling reminder that our societies still harbor a dangerous collection of bigots and racists who hate Jews.

Thus we gather to enlighten, motivate, share best practices, and organize legislative working groups with particular emphasis on what practical steps we ought to take, not just to mitigate this centuries-old obsession, but to crush this pernicious form of hatred.

We hope the collective wisdom gleaned from this conference, the working groups, and the London Declaration, will serve as a blueprint for serious and bold action. Our words here in London must be repeated at home, with frequency, passion and tenacity and matched—and even exceeded—by deeds.

If our fight is to succeed, we need government officials at all levels to denounce, without hesitation or delay, anti-Semitic acts wherever and whenever they occur. No exceptions. The purveyors of hate never take a holiday or grow weary, nor should we. Holocaust remembrance and tolerance education must dramatically expand, and we need to ensure that our respective laws punish those who hate and incite violence against Jews.

The 18th-century British statesman and philosopher Edmund Burke prophetically said, “The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing.”

When political leaders fail to denounce anti-Semitic violence and slurs, the void is not only demoralizing to the victims but silence actually enables the wrongdoing. Silence by elected officials in particular conveys approval—or at least acquiescence—and can contribute to a climate of fear and a sense of vulnerability.

For its part, the United States has been collecting hate crime information for almost 20 years. Many of the 50 states in the U.S. have enacted their own laws addressing hate crimes. Congress passed the federal Hate Crimes Statistics Act in 1990, which requires the Attorney General to collect data each year about crimes that “manifest evidence of prejudice.” The most recent report available—the 2007 Hate Crimes Statistics Report—documented that religious bias motivated 1,477 offenses and affected 1,628 victims. Of this total, a whopping 68% were anti-Semitic in nature. By way of contrast 9% were anti-Muslim, 4.5% anti-Catholic, 4% anti-Protestant, and this, despite the fact that only 1.7% of the U.S. population, or about 6 million people, are Jewish.

One positive consequence of reporting is the impact it has on police. When solid reporting is coupled with police training fewer acts of anti-Semitic violence are likely to occur. The public sharing of this information enhances accountability and allows interested communities and NGOs to craft and implement strategies.

Meanwhile, on another level of reporting, many victims of anti-Semitic acts in all countries fail to report the crime, perhaps out of fear of retaliation, or lack of awareness as to how to register such a complaint. That has got to change.

There is a compelling need to strengthen the OSCE Law Enforcement Officer Program on Combatting Hate Crime—a novel, effective program whereby police train police to recognize and investigate hate crime, including anti-Semitic acts. Other regions of the world should borrow the concept.

Enhanced penalties—for crimes committed against people or property where the motive, in whole or in part, was based on religious hatred—is key to properly punishing or deterring these types of crimes.

The Hate Crimes Sentencing Enhancement Act signed into law in the U.S. in 1994 directs the U.S. Sentencing Commission to provide a sentencing enhancement of “not less than 3 offense levels for offenses that the finder of fact at trial determines beyond a reasonable doubt are hate crimes.” Enhanced penalties makes clear that we mean business.

Finally, if we are to protect our children from the evil of anti-Semitism, we must re-educate ourselves and systematically educate our children. While that starts in our homes, the classroom must be the incubator of tolerance. It seems to me that only the most hardened racist can remain unmoved by Holocaust education and remembrance. Only the most crass, evil, and prejudiced among us can study the horrors of the Holocaust and not cry out: Never again!

Abraham Lincoln once said: “To sin by silence when they should protest, makes cowards of men.” Silence, my friends, is not an option. Nor is inaction.

PARSIPPANY – Chris Christie’s Campaign for Governor announced Tuesday that former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani endorsed Chris Christie. The endorsement was made official at a press conference in Hoboken.

Mayor Giuliani said, “Chris is a decisive leader who knows how to make the tough decisions. He will make New Jersey prosperous by cutting taxes, eliminating wasteful spending and bringing jobs back to the state. And Chris Christie has a plan to revitalize New Jersey’s cities by bringing new jobs here, challenging failing school districts and making the streets safer. Chris is a bold leader who will bring real change to New Jersey.”

“I am humbled to have the support of Mayor Giuliani, whose strong leadership made New York City a better place and positively affected the lives of so many New Jerseyans,” said Christie. “In these trying times, I will be the leader our state needs to make the tough decisions necessary to get New Jersey back on track.”

NJBIZ is reporting that New Jersey Bankers are faintly praising the latest federal plan to help eliminate banks' toxic assets.

".......................New Jersey, who applauded efforts to clean up bankers’ balance sheets, but warned that the bailout may ignore important underlying issues."

Federal agencies will use private and public funds to acquire or otherwise liquidate “legacy loans and assets that are now burdening many financial institutions,” according to today’s announcement by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.

Removing banks’ troubled assets “may give confidence to financial markets and free up lending,” said James Silkensen, co-chief executive officer of the New Jersey Bankers Association. “But it’s important to be sure that the assets are valued properly.”

He said he was encouraged by Geithner’s promise “to use private capital and private asset managers to help provide a market mechanism for valuing the assets.”

But the announcement “was short on detail,” said Christopher Martin, president and chief operating officer of The Provident Bank, based in Jersey City. “The government is looking for a quick solution to this problem, but there is no quick solution.”

Part of the problem, he said, is that today’s Treasury statement did not appear to address mark-to-market accounting rules that have driven large paper losses at banks.

“Before federal agencies take the troubled assets off banks’ balance sheets, they should be sure the assets are valued properly,” Martin said.