Giving Whitman free reign

The Record today carried another opinion column by former Gov. Christie Whitman, but the editors made no attempt to ensure it was complete or accurate.

In giving fiscal advice to Governor-elect Chris Christie (The Other Christie), Whitman slammed the Democrats for allegedly doubling state debt after she left office in January 2001. But she conveniently fails to mention how she plundered state pension funds and borrowed heavily to make ends meet after she became governor in 1994.

In the same way, The Record has rarely, if ever, mentioned in writing about former Gov. Jim Florio that Tom Kean Sr., his predecessor, hid a massive deficit from the incoming Democrat, forcing Florio to raise taxes. He was driven from office after one term.

I recall that The Record's coverage of Whitman as governor amounted to a love fest, under the direction of News Editor Deirdre Sykes, now head of the local assignment desk. It was only after Whitman gutted the Department of Environmental Protection (in what I believe was her second term) that the paper took notice, putting together a series of critical articles.

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