Post by admin on Oct 22, 2007 7:05:55 GMT -5
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Beck must win in 12th District
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 10/21/07
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All 120 seats in the Legislature are up for grabs Nov. 6. No race may be more important in determining the direction of the state over the next four years than the combative 12th District Senate contest pitting incumbent Democrat Ellen Karcher against Republican Assemblywoman Jennifer Beck.
Beck, a bright, feisty lawmaker from Red Bank, is one of the few Republicans challenging a sitting Democratic senator with a legitimate shot at winning and helping to break the Democrats' monopoly on power in Trenton. In addition to controlling the governorship, Democrats have a 50-30 advantage in the Assembly and a 22-18 edge in the Senate. Unless the Republicans, largely neutered by the partisan Democratic leadership for the past five years, can gain at least a 20-20 split in the Senate in this year's election, one-party control of state government the Legislature is likely for at least another four years. That would be a disaster for a state that has become so unaffordable that more than 50 percent of New Jersey residents say they want to leave it, according to a recent Monmouth University/Gannett New Jersey poll.
On the three most important issues in this election — reducing taxes and government spending, strengthening ethics and anti-corruption legislation, and eliminating the inequities in school funding — Beck is not only on the right side, but passionate about the need for change. Karcher deserves credit for working to advance ethics legislation in the face of opposition from her party leadership. But she consistently failed to find the one or two allies needed to make Republicans' more far-reaching ethics reforms a reality. And her party has consistently failed to prescribe the harsh medicine needed to nurse the state back to financial health.
On taxes, Karcher has been more of the problem than the solution. During her nearly four years in office, she has supported most of the myriad tax increases that have helped drive New Jersey residents out of state — all the while exploiting a farmland assessment tax break intended for real farmers. As noted in Saturday's editorial, Karcher sells just enough Christmas trees and cords of wood each year to satisfy the $500 farm product sales threshold to qualify for a farmland assessment. Last year, the tax bill for the 7.2-acre parcel surrounding her 1.5-acre homesite was $213.91. Without the tax break, the bill could have been as high as $15,000.
Karcher lacks the fervor Beck shows for easing residents' tax burdens. She also lacks Beck's passion for driving a stake through the heart of a school funding formula that unfairly penalizes suburban property owners, who are not only being asked to pick up the tab for their home school districts but forced to subsidize urban districts, many of which are badly mismanaged. Beck is committed to making the state affordable again for the middle class, something the Corzine administration and Legislature has failed to do — and shown no indication of wanting to do in the future.
The Democrats' dismal record on taxation, government spending and borrowing, and ethics reform is attributable in large part to Senate President Richard J. Codey, D-Essex. He has blocked votes on key ethics reforms — including comprehensive pay-to-play — and signed off on budgets that have brought the state closer to the fiscal precipice. If the Democrats retain control of the Senate, Codey will likely be reanointed Senate president. The dramatic change required in Trenton will not occur under his watch. And there is little chance of him being unseated if Beck comes up short on Election Day.
Karcher maintains that, despite being part of the Democratic majority in Trenton, she has been able to act independently. While she has voted with Republicans on some issues, the votes never jeopardized passage of legislation sought by the Democratic leadership. It's disturbing that more than 70 percent of the funds in Karcher's huge campaign war chest — the largest in the state — has come from Codey's Senate Democratic Political Action Committee ($620,000) and the state Democratic Committee ($102,000). Codey would not invest that kind of money in a candidate he didn't feel he could control.
This is an election that matters. It is likely to be close. If the power of the Democrats in Trenton is to be countered in any way, Beck must win.
Beck must win in 12th District
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 10/21/07
Post Comment
All 120 seats in the Legislature are up for grabs Nov. 6. No race may be more important in determining the direction of the state over the next four years than the combative 12th District Senate contest pitting incumbent Democrat Ellen Karcher against Republican Assemblywoman Jennifer Beck.
Beck, a bright, feisty lawmaker from Red Bank, is one of the few Republicans challenging a sitting Democratic senator with a legitimate shot at winning and helping to break the Democrats' monopoly on power in Trenton. In addition to controlling the governorship, Democrats have a 50-30 advantage in the Assembly and a 22-18 edge in the Senate. Unless the Republicans, largely neutered by the partisan Democratic leadership for the past five years, can gain at least a 20-20 split in the Senate in this year's election, one-party control of state government the Legislature is likely for at least another four years. That would be a disaster for a state that has become so unaffordable that more than 50 percent of New Jersey residents say they want to leave it, according to a recent Monmouth University/Gannett New Jersey poll.
On the three most important issues in this election — reducing taxes and government spending, strengthening ethics and anti-corruption legislation, and eliminating the inequities in school funding — Beck is not only on the right side, but passionate about the need for change. Karcher deserves credit for working to advance ethics legislation in the face of opposition from her party leadership. But she consistently failed to find the one or two allies needed to make Republicans' more far-reaching ethics reforms a reality. And her party has consistently failed to prescribe the harsh medicine needed to nurse the state back to financial health.
On taxes, Karcher has been more of the problem than the solution. During her nearly four years in office, she has supported most of the myriad tax increases that have helped drive New Jersey residents out of state — all the while exploiting a farmland assessment tax break intended for real farmers. As noted in Saturday's editorial, Karcher sells just enough Christmas trees and cords of wood each year to satisfy the $500 farm product sales threshold to qualify for a farmland assessment. Last year, the tax bill for the 7.2-acre parcel surrounding her 1.5-acre homesite was $213.91. Without the tax break, the bill could have been as high as $15,000.
Karcher lacks the fervor Beck shows for easing residents' tax burdens. She also lacks Beck's passion for driving a stake through the heart of a school funding formula that unfairly penalizes suburban property owners, who are not only being asked to pick up the tab for their home school districts but forced to subsidize urban districts, many of which are badly mismanaged. Beck is committed to making the state affordable again for the middle class, something the Corzine administration and Legislature has failed to do — and shown no indication of wanting to do in the future.
The Democrats' dismal record on taxation, government spending and borrowing, and ethics reform is attributable in large part to Senate President Richard J. Codey, D-Essex. He has blocked votes on key ethics reforms — including comprehensive pay-to-play — and signed off on budgets that have brought the state closer to the fiscal precipice. If the Democrats retain control of the Senate, Codey will likely be reanointed Senate president. The dramatic change required in Trenton will not occur under his watch. And there is little chance of him being unseated if Beck comes up short on Election Day.
Karcher maintains that, despite being part of the Democratic majority in Trenton, she has been able to act independently. While she has voted with Republicans on some issues, the votes never jeopardized passage of legislation sought by the Democratic leadership. It's disturbing that more than 70 percent of the funds in Karcher's huge campaign war chest — the largest in the state — has come from Codey's Senate Democratic Political Action Committee ($620,000) and the state Democratic Committee ($102,000). Codey would not invest that kind of money in a candidate he didn't feel he could control.
This is an election that matters. It is likely to be close. If the power of the Democrats in Trenton is to be countered in any way, Beck must win.
