Have con men taken over Page 1?

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Thanks to President Bush's tax breaks for the wealthy, federal rates are the lowest they've been in more than 50 years. The GOP still clings to them.

From the top to the bottom of The Record's front page today, readers are introduced to an alleged confidence man, an elected con man and a convicted con man.


Unseen is a fourth con man, Editor Francis Scandale, who gained the trust of readers, only to bombard them with inconsequential sports news while Governor Christie launched an unprecedented attack on the middle-class way of life in New Jersey.


But Scandale, Editorial Page Editor Alfred P. Doblin and other editors and columnists have been apologists for the GOP governor's mean-spirited budget policies.


Here comes the judge


Leading the paper today is another story about North Jersey Municipal Judge Harold P. Cook III's growing financial problems, but the reporter doesn't explain why he hasn't been suspended during the state inquiry.


The biggest element on Page 1 really belongs inside. It's about an ad by the state Republican Party claiming the state's "comeback has begun," despite continued high unemployment and the nation's highest property taxes.


The bottom A-1 story is about Saddle River rapper Ja Rule, who is getting more time in prison for not paying back taxes, as well as being fined $1.1 million. (The photo caption incorrectly runs his name together.)


Taxed while black


You have to be surprised the rapper (Jeffrey Atkins) doesn't know the only legal way to get away with not paying your federal or state taxes is be a millionaire who is in the good graces of Christie and Republican congressional leaders.


Blacks need not apply.


Scandale's flawed news judgment is evident every day. 


Why put the promotional ad about Christie on today's front page and banish the opinion column on the wrongful acquittal of Passaic City Police Officer Joseph Rios III, who beat a man who wasn't wearing a shirt (A-9)?


The Record's own columnists get to spout their opinions from Scandale's front page all the time. Why not a Freehold attorney who specializes in police brutality claims? 


Oh, I guess lawyer Thomas J. Mallon isn't part of a conspiracy of failed journalists.


Local river news


Readers have to check out the earth-shaking news all over head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes' Local front -- 40 teachers from across the country came here to study the Hudson River. There's even room for a listing of their itinerary through Friday (L-1).


A Jewish charter school has been delayed for a year, meaning parents in Englewood and Teaneck will be forced to continue paying municipal school taxes, even though they don't dare send their kids into classrooms with blacks and Hispanics (L-1).


Old fogies


Sykes treats as a photo-op the collision of an 85-year-old man's car with a firetruck in Rutherford (L-3).


She has consistently refused to do anything on the challenges facing older drivers, or the help available to them, and Scandale has turned his back on Alzheimer's victims. 


When readers call, they tell them to check the obit pages for news of seniors or read occasional pieces on unusually active people in their 90s or 100s by Jay Levin, the local obituary writer.