Editors shrug at Christie's fiscal disaster

The Sports section and virtually all of the advertising inserts and sections that came with The Record today go straight into the recycling bin.

By Victor E. Sasson
Editor

On Page 1 of The Record today, readers find more evidence of the fiscal disaster caused by Governor Christie's unyielding no-tax policies:

A $115 million revenue shortfall, up from $62 million last month; a loss of 7,100 jobs in the last four months; and the second-highest number of foreclosures in the nation (A-1).

Then, under a heading that inexplicably echoes "Chairman Mao," an editorial paints another glowing portrait of Christie as the new chairman of the Republican Governors Association and the party's presumed presidential hopeful in 2016 (A-11).

I still believe this group of nuts should be called the Republican Goobers Association.

Myth makers

The editors have been in bed with Christie for years, and they don't even bother to be objective in news stories.

The editorial claims the GOP bully is a "bridge builder, a consensus maker and strong believer in bipartisanship," but doesn't explain how such a myth-making leader could cause a huge fiscal mess in four short years.

If Christie has built bridges, it is to the richest and most conservative residents, having vetoed a modest tax surcharge on millionaires that would have raised $1 billion a year, and forked over hundreds of millions in tax breaks to business owners.

He not only hasn't built bridges, he stopped the construction of the Hudson River rail tunnels and refused to raise the low gas tax to pay for road repairs and mass-transit improvements.

Loaves and fishes  

Also on Page 1, companies that polluted the Passaic River are acting Christ-like.

They hope to save the billions of dollars it would take to clean up the river by giving healthy fish to anglers so poor and desperate they eat contaminated fish now (A-1). 

Thankfully, regulators call the idea ridiculous (A-6).

Maybe, Sherwin-Williams, PSE&G and other corporate polluters can send their corporate jets to fly over Passaic and other poor cities, and drop coupons for free fish sandwiches at fast-food restaurants.

Pole vaults

In Local today, Ridgewood residents can't catch a break.

The Board of Public Utilities on Friday rejected a petition from village officials, meaning the installation of 65-foot wooden utility poles can resume along two streets (L-3).

Second look

Road Warrior John Cichowski appears incapable of getting anything right, and that is a huge liability for a newspaper reporter who doles out advice to readers.

In his column on Friday, Cichowski got several details wrong about new penalties for cellphone violations, including the start date in 2014 and the amount of the fines.

He also failed to mention a 3-point penalty and possible 90-day license suspension for a third and subsequent offenses.

See the Facebook page for Road Warrior Bloopers for the full e-mail from a concerned reader to editors and managers:

More wrong numbers from the Road Warrior