Also be sure to check out The Year in Review (Culture).
A NEW JERSEY POLITICAL FIVE-SPOT
TOP FIVE REPUBLICANS I'M GOING TO MISS
TOP FIVE REASONS TO GET POLITICALLY ACTIVE
A NEW JERSEY POLITICAL FIVE-SPOT
Hank Kalet
1. Tax reform
Or should I say gridlock? The governor (a Democrat) shuts down state government when the Legislature (majority Democrat) fails to approve a budget he can live with, one that does not rely on revenue gimmicks and that helps close a massive chasm between ongoing revenues and expenses. The shutdown results in a compromise plan that sets aside some of the sales tax hike the governor pushed for -- money he said was necessary to close the budget gap -- for property tax relief. A special joint session of the Legislature is convened to address the tax question -- really multiple questions. Four special committees are appointed, hearings are held, four months go by with small pieces of the likely plans being floated, some of which were quite bold and unexpected -- including forced municipal mergers, county-run school districts and pension reform. In the end, the Legislature backed away from some of the more controversial -- forced mergers, for instance -- and the governor took other pieces -- pension reform -- off the table. What was left was a commitment to provide tax credits to taxpayers equal to about 20 percent of the average property tax bill -- though no one was quite sure how the credits would be paid for. Through it all, the Republicans, who were basically frozen out of the process anyway, stood on the sidelines, occasionally complaining about money but offering nothing of their own. Call it business as usual in New Jersey.
2. John Lynch pleads guilty and is sentenced to 39 months in prison
It would be an understatement to say that John Lynch, former senate president, former mayor of New Brunswick, was one of the most powerful politicians in the state. He essentially ran Middlesex County for years and was a force behind the rise of former Gov. Jim McGreevey. That's why news of the investigation into his dealings, both in and out of office, and his eventual guilty plea were so significant -- he is the poster boy for New Jersey's dysfunctional politics in a year that has seen political heavy hitters like state Sens. Wayne Bryant and Sharpe James and an array of local pols caught in the ethical quagmire.
3. State Supreme Court rules that same-sex couples are entitled to the same rights and benefits as heterosexual couples
The court's November ruling was both a victory and a sham, saying that gays and lesbians must be treated equally under the law, while giving the state Legislature the option of enforcing the ruling by creating a separate statute. The Legislature acted quickly, approving a far-reaching civil unions law that granted marriage rights in all but name. Then-Chief Justice Deborah Poritz summed up the decision in her dissent (she and the two other dissenting justices wanted the court to go farther and require the Legislature to allow same-sex couples to marry):
"Labels set people apart as surely as physical separation on a bus or in school facilities. Labels are used to perpetuate prejudice about differences that, in this case, are embedded in the law. By excluding same-sex couples from civil marriage, the State declares that it is legitimate to differentiate between their commitments and the commitments of heterosexual couples. Ultimately, the message is that what same-sex couples have is not as important or as significant as 'real' marriage, that such lesser relationships cannot have the name of marriage."
4. Bob Menendez beats Tom Kean Jr. for U.S. Senate seat
The win had national implications -- had Kean Jr. been victorious, the Democrats' surprising takeover of the Senate could not have happened -- while also proving that New Jersey is as blue as a state can get. Kean Jr. had name recognition, a squeaky clean reputation and was seen as the kind of moderate that could still win in New Jersey. Menendez, on the other hand, was a relative unknown despite years in the House and nearly a year in the Senate as Gov. Jon Corzine's hand-picked replacement. Menendez also had some serious baggage -- some ethical questions that bubbled to the surface during the campaign that tied him to other troubled New Jersey Democrats, his participation in and eventual takeover of Hudson County's rough-and-tumble political scene -- that seemed to make him a less than ideal candidate. But Kean's campaign fizzled as the young state senator’s failure to define himself dovetailed with the collapse of his party, raising questions about whether any Republican can win a statewide race in New Jersey.
5. Corey Booker wins Newark mayor's race in a landslide
Booker had run before, losing a hard-fought battle against the powerful Sharpe James. But his presence four years later -- he never went away, building a base for himself, continuing to hammer on the need for change in the state's biggest city -- was enough to end the James reign, as the longtime mayor walked off into the sunset (where he was promptly met by a bevy of investigators and ethics watchdogs). Booker has kept his focus local -- so far -- and if he is successful with his reform efforts, Booker could be a legitimate candidate for higher office in the not-to-distant future.
TOP FIVE REPUBLICANS I’M GOING TO MISS
Tris McCall
When I was a little kid, every other congressional district in the Northeast was represented by an eccentric Republican with an independent spirit and a colorful back story. These reps (Bill Green, Silvio Conte, Constance Morella, Claudine Schneider, and too many others to list) were always well-educated, witty, and well-spoken; they put the needs of their constituents first, and didn’t worry about ideological purity, social-engineering projects, or vast, sweeping “contracts” with the country.
Arguably, we had the prototype for this version of a Republican legislator right here in New Jersey: Millicent Fenwick, an unreconstructed maverick notorious for not taking shit from anyone in either party. These days, there’s no way that Congresswoman Fenwick would survive a primary: Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, the Club For Growth, and hundreds of nasty bloggers would see to it that some party-line stooge got nominated in her place.
Those few independent-minded Republicans who survived the nationalizing movements of the Gingrich Nineties ended up getting creamed in 2006. The Bush Administration has made the very word “Republican” so odious to Northeasterners that candidates flying the GOP banner get thrashed no matter what their qualifications or positions are. Now I’m not here to rain on anybody’s blue-state victory parade, but some quality reps were thrown out with the bathwater this November. It’s also worth remembering that the elephant wasn’t always the lazy and thoughtless beast it’s become over the past twelve years. The party of Lincoln – or at least Lowell Weicker – is still out there somewhere. I’m glad that Christopher Shays was re-elected. The rest of these guys weren’t so lucky:
5. Joe Schwarz (Michigan, 7th Congressional District)
Here’s a good indication of where the GOP is right now: they turned out a Harvard-educated MD (and former mayor of Battle Creek) in favor of a graduate of Fort Wayne Bible College. Congressman Schwarz wasn’t really a moderate; he was more of a conservative with a brain. That wasn’t good enough for the Club For Growth, who propped up an efficient right-wing robot in the primaries. Tim Walberg hauled out the heavy ammo on stem-cell research, immigration, and same-sex marriage, and since Rep. Schwarz refused to condemn any of those things unconditionally, he was soon packing his bags. It’s a shame: he could have developed into one of the more interesting figures in the House. As it turns out, he’ll be replaced by yet another cookie-cutter cultural xenophobe. Is it any wonder the national Republicans are now out of ideas?
4. Rob Simmons (Connecticut, 2nd Congressional District)
What the House of Representatives seating charts don’t tell you is that the Republicans who got kicked out of office this November were, by and large, the reps who did not act like Democrats had cooties on them. If you find rhetoric, posturing, and obstructionism compelling, you’re going to just love the 110th Congress. The Main Street Partnership – the socially-moderate GOP caucus that more or less replaced the Tuesday Group – got decimated this year. Nancy Johnson, the Connecticut congresswoman who founded the RMSP in reaction to the moralizing used-car salesmen and talk-show hosts who were taking over her party, got herself drop-kicked off of Capitol Hill after a quarter-century of public service. On the bright side, now she has plenty of time to go mini-golfing with ex-Congressman Rob Simmons from CT-2.
Congressman Simmons was a lot like Sen. William S. Cohen: occasionally hawkish, but sharp as a tack and a genuine authority on military intelligence and armed services. Cohen ended up taking refuge in the Clinton White House as Secretary of Defense, and I’m sure the next Clinton in the Oval Office will love to have Simmons’s expertise at her disposal. In the meantime, while we’re all waiting, he can join the other GOP moderates in thanking President George for the unpaid vacation. Thank you, President George.
3. Lincoln Chafee (Rhode Island, U.S. Senate)
One unpleasant consequence of the Republican Party’s lockstep march is that Democrats have decided that in order to win, they need to match that level of brand consistency. They’re probably right. But this means mutually-assured destruction for all the interesting personalities on Capitol Hill. Eventually, MoveOn.org and the Club For Growth are going to pick all the legislators and dictate all their votes to them, and there won’t be a need for a Congress at all. Poor Lincoln Chafee really, really, really wanted to be a Republican: it’s a family tradition in Rhode Island. But party activists did everything they could to make him uncomfortable and drive him to the periphery for his occasional liberal apostasy: they ran primary challengers at him, circulated vicious RINO propaganda about him, and most likely made him rue the day he was born a Chafee. A party that isn’t big enough to accommodate internal dissent has no business pretending it can govern the nation – and that goes double for Democrats who were ready to throw out Joe Lieberman over his carefully-considered support for military intervention in Iraq.
Chafee voted against the Iraq war in ‘03, and he was the only Republican Senator to do so; by some measures, that puts him to the left of Harry Reid, who definitely voted to authorize force, and John Kerry, who “reported for duty” and told us that he voted for the war before he voted against it. Or something. The same anti-war movement that went batshit over Kerry rewarded Chafee’s courage by dropping the axe on him. This was part of the national strategy, see, now Joe Biden, who also voted to authorize force in Iraq, can chair the Foreign Relations Committee. Good going, anti-war movement!
2. Jim Leach (Iowa, 2nd Congressional District)
To be fair, Lincoln Chafee always did seem like a bit of a legacy admission. Jim Leach, on the other hand, has been a heavyweight in the House of Representatives for thirty years. He’s been called the “conscience of Congress” (an appellation that first hung on Congresswoman Fenwick), and his personal ethics, policy knowledge, and basic intelligence have been praised by just about everybody in Washington. Chafee voted against the Iraq War; Leach called it “the biggest foreign policy blunder in U.S. history.” Even I wouldn’t go that far. When Senator Chafee talked, people got annoyed; when Jim Leach talks, everybody listens. He’s participated in most of the great compromises between the two parties over the past quarter-century, and brokered some of the most notable ones – whenever there’s been productive cooperation between Democrats and Republicans, it’s been Congressman Leach bent over the engine with his hands dirty, attempting to get the gears of government to turn. Now, beaten by an academic with no government experience, he’s out of a job.
My own political science professors would have found the idea of running for elected office unbearably gauche; Dave Loebsack of Iowa’s Cornell College saw it as a good career move. I don’t mean to run Loebsack down, as I’m sure he’s a good guy. But the principal reason he won was the “D” next to his name, voter frustration with the White House, and a will to “send a message” that the President isn’t going to hear. In fact, I’m sure the firestarters in Washington were thrilled to be rid of Leach. There is a distinction to be drawn between voting somebody down just because he’s a Republican and voting him down just because he’s black. But it’s not as big as you think it is.
Incidentally, with the retirement of Henry Hyde, the anti-war Leach would have become the senior Republican on the International Relations Committee. Now that Leach is gone, the gavel will go to Democrat Tom Lantos, who voted to authorize the use of force in Iraq. New ranking GOP committee-member? New Jersey’s own Chris Smith, the anti-abortion zealot from Rahway.
1. Sherwood Boehlert (New York, 24th Congressional District)
The true measure of legislative excellence can’t be found in the voting record. It’s whether or not a legislator can impose his will – and the will of his constituents – on his voting colleagues without becoming a total jerk in the process. This is not easy to do. It requires a kind of flexibility and humility that is rare among politicians. Lately, when in the booth, I’ve tried to vote for the candidate who does not strike me as a complete asshole. My criteria for this is the same one I might have used in eighth grade: if the politician asking for my vote reminds me of people I would have run like hell from if I’d encountered them on the playground, I go ahead and vote for his opponent. If everybody applied this standard, I believe Sherwood Boehlert would never lose an election. As it so happens, Congressman Boehlert will retire undefeated, as he caught the scent in the wind and decided to stand down before he could be kicked out. The Club For Growth had put the target on his back, and at 70 years old, he was, I’m sure, sick of all the infighting.
His district did change hands; come January, Democrat Michael Arcuri will be representing NY-24. I wish him the best, but he’s got big shoes to fill. The percentage of anti-intellectual quacks in congress skyrocketed in the mid-90s, but Sherwood Boehlert made sure that scientists were always welcome on Capitol Hill. For years, Boehlert has served as the ideological counterweight to Richard Pombo, the one-man-toxic-spill from CA-11. Al Gore said that the American government was treating the environment like a business in liquidation; imagine Pombo as Crazy Eddie. A major contributor to the Clean Air and Safe Drinking Water Acts, Boehlert did not revert into a hayseed or a rube when talking to scientists, thereby bucking long Congressional tradition. Lots of politicians on both sides of the fence moan about climate change, but how many take a trip to the South Pole to check it out for themselves? Congressman Boehlert put on the parka, and he came back convinced that we were in some deep shit.
Bart Gordon, a moderate Democrat from central Tennessee, takes over the Science Committee now that Boehlert is gone. He is certainly not more progressive than Boehlert, but that isn’t the real issue: now his foe across the aisle will be Ralph Hall of Texas, former aluminum exec and champion of the oil patch. Without Boehlert in place to keep Hall in check and broker compromises, expect the Committee to become a nonstop dust-up. The Sierra Club was celebrating on November 7, but it’s likely that what they’re expecting isn’t exactly what they’re going to get. Yup, just like the rest of us.
TOP FIVE LIFE-AFFIRMING FILMS, NEWLY-COINED PHRASES, THUG LOVE DUETS, POLITICAL TIDAL WAVES OR FARM ANIMALS
Emma Pollin
5. Dave Chappelle's Block Party
This movie makes you realize that Dave Chappelle isn't one iota crazy. He just has a good heart and some integrity.
4. "San Francisco Values"
Apparently "values" are a bad thing if they occur in certain cities. (Those with gays.)
3. Shakira and Wyclef, for "Hips Don't Lie"
Colombians and Haitians, joined at the hip.
2. Long Overdue National Panic
We're in an unwinnable war! The globe is warming! Dick Cheney might be planning to gas us all! At least we no longer are State 'o Denial.
1. My Chickens!
(Sorry Pelosi, there can be but one winner.)
FIVE WISHES FOR 2007
Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg
Single-payer healthcare
Troops coming home
Reparations for Iraqis
Our day jobbers quitting their day jobs (if they want to)
Fully funding Rutgers
TOP FIVE REASONS TO GET POLITICALLY ACTIVE (IN NO ORDER)
Leigh Davis
The Iraq War is not over and more wars are on the horizon
We have just reached 3000 American soldiers dead in Iraq. Researchers have established that more than 600,000 Iraqis have died. Rather than word of withdrawals since the November elections, the rumblings coming out of Washington suggest possible increases in troop levels. And the fantasy "global war on terror" is still on the lips of too many, with the possibility of more invasions, and who knows? Maybe a draft, since in the words of our generals, "our military is broken."
Much political work remains to be done on this front. The ranks of the active antiwar movement have grown weary and are in need of more "troop strength" themselves. Returning and resisting soldiers need our support. Got a couple of hours? There's a vigil, legislative committee, or counter-recruitment project near you. Start with NJPeaceAction.org or AgainstEndlessWar.org. To support vets, there's VeteransforPeace.org and Iraq Vets Against the War. If you want to stop war, you need to join the effort. Honor the dead, heal the wounded. Let's end the war, together.
Incarceration and torture have become what we're known for
As a country, we are now suffering an extreme failure of creativity and compassion. It seems like every problem gets the same solution: incarcerate, and perhaps, torture. Immigrants without "appropriate papers?" Detention camps. Drug problem? Rockefeller drug laws and long jail sentences. Nonviolent crime? Incarcerate. Three strikes & you're out. "Terrorism?" Suspicion of terrorism based on your name, your religion, where you're from? Pay a bounty for bodies to incarcerate, torture, and render to other countries known for torture.
As of December 28, there were 2,244,331 Americans in jail. The US holds the distinction of highest incarceration rate in the world. When Human Rights Watch looked at incarceration in New Jersey, they found 175 white adults jailed per 100,000, while for black adults the rate is 2509 per 100,000. We jail children, many among adult populations. We put kids and teens in dysfunctional "boot camps" (so they see few options other than jail or the military). We keep many prisoners in cruel and inhumane circumstances involving isolation and forms of punishment that would shock your grandmother. Despite the moral bankruptcy of capital punishment, we're still killing people. And the business of prison construction is booming. Even Halliburton has a contract to build detention facilities for some undetermined future purpose.
What can you do? In the words of Bob Marley, emancipate yourself from mental slavery. Remember the words of Martin Niemoller:
First they came for the Communists, and I didn't speak up, because I wasn't a Communist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up, because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up, because I was a Protestant.
Then they came for me, and by that time there was no one left to speak up for me.
Educate yourself. Support groups like Critical Resistance and Amnesty International. Put on an orange jumpsuit and join protests of torture on January 11 with groups such as Witness Against Torture.
It's getting hotter
If you've seen An Inconvenient Truth, you know the global warming skeptics are whistling in the dark. (If you haven't seen it, rent it now.) Lifestyle changes to help reduce global warming are great, and there's also a need for organized pressure on the major polluters and the government to take needed actions at the macro level. Visit the Union of Concerned Scientists to learn how to help turn up the heat on polluters and the government so the earth can turn down the heat on us.
The poison has reached the saturation point
If you read last month's article on Toxic New Jersey, you know that environmental pollutants are making us -- and our children -- sick. Carolyn Raffensberger, executive director of the Science and Environmental Health Network, says we are a "sick herd." The rollback of environmental regulations under the Bush administration reversed the trend of increased environmental protection begun in the 1970s. Don't expect the new Congress to reverse that trend unless we demand it. Educate yourself. Support the Environmental Research Foundation and other similar groups. Better yet, join one.
Katrina is still happening and it’s still our problem
Enough New Jerseyans have made the trip to New Orleans in the past year to know that more than a year after Hurricane Katrina, the people of New Orleans are still suffering its effects in everything from housing to health care, to environment to education. Further, New Orleans is a bellwether for the rest of the country -- and possibly the world. Its current state represents the issues of racism, poverty, global warming, environmental degradation, lack of health care access, and privatization of education. Each issue needs folks to take action in New Orleans and here at home. Groups to hook up with include Peoples Organization for Progress here in New Jersey and in New Orleans, Common Ground or the People's Organizing Committee, among others. Pick one.
Taking action on even one issue with a group of like-minded folks can reduce feelings of powerlessness. Remember the words of Margaret Mead: Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.
REFLECTIONS ON ENDING THE OLD YEAR
Kristen Witucki
As 2006 wanes, I am more obsessed with the fact that the old year has reached an end with a thousand million unresolved issues than I am with the fact that the new year is beginning, that I will have the opportunity to resolve them someday. That's because I'm still in 2006. 2007 is somewhere off in the distance, and until I'm in it, it's just not there. No, it's really because I obsess about the past and worry about the distant future, forgetting sometimes that I am alive here and now.
I don't have any good year-in-review thoughts, because the thought of locking a unit of time away in a box is incredibly frightening. A year's end is a moment when we can collectively take in a breath, hold it a moment and let it out, when we, confined by units of common era time and the same time zone, can say, "OK, we can keep on going." Maybe next year, our career and relationship and meaning-of-life issues will be resolved. Or maybe not.
All I can really hope for is doing meaningful work this coming year and for spending moments with the people whom I most love that I will look back on. All I can really hope is that the mistakes I make will leave an impression on me so that I will make new and different errors instead of repeating the old ones.
Time deceives us. Deadlines like ends of years make us think they are the markers by which our experiences are measured. I have reached the end of another year, and I think to myself, "I haven't resolved anything." But I have been given another year, another chance, to learn from this world, and I guess that's really the only thing that matters.
TOP CITY BELT MOMENTS
The Editors
Our launch in July
Our first print issue in September
Being linked to by the New York Times
Our last print issue in November
Being nominated for Blue Jersey’s Screaming Carrot award
The inaugural Day Job show (let’s hope we get more of these going soon)
Being recognized and accepted by this growing community of readers -- many, many thanks!
Comments