"The Ultimate Gimmick"

That is how the Asbury Park Press describes Jon Corzine's financial manuevers in regards to his planned sale of New Jersey toll roads. The editorial board is harsh here, and justifiably so:

Jon S. Corzine spent $60 million of his own money to win a U.S. Senate seat. He spent another $40 million to become governor. Now, he says he will reach into his deep pockets to fund an advertising campaign to win support of his plan to raise money by leveraging the state's toll roads.

Sickening.

If Corzine wants to sell his plan to the public, he should begin by releasing the details about it. He has criticized those who have been wary of the plan for not fully understanding it. How can it be understood when Corzine insists on keeping the specifics under wraps? Now, he says he won't release the plan until after the November elections — clearly out of concern it would hurt Democrats at the polls.

Corzine says he wants to create a nonprofit corporation to manage and maintain the toll roads and issue bonds to bring in money to pay down the state's $30 billion debt and free up money for other needs. But the bonds would be paid back with future toll revenue, which likely would mean regular toll increases.

On its face, Corzine's plan is a bad idea because it is a financial gimmick — something Corzine has said repeatedly he would shun. His obsession with finding new ways to raise revenue to fund his ambitious, costly social agenda has blinded him....

Another rich, liberal dreamer who will wring the life out of the middle class in order to apply a salve to their own empty soul...

And incidentally, he may be a "blinded obsessive", as the Park-Press asserts, but what does the election of Governor Corzine, Senator Menendez, and all the other do-as-I say-not-as-I do Democrats say about the vision, and sanity, of the New Jersey electorate?