How to fix New Jersey (Opinion)

Can't believe I'm gonna say it, but the Governor is right.

Yes, that Governor. Murphy may be fighting to increase taxes and it may look like amateur hour when it comes to legal pot and of course there's the nonsense with the AG, but despite all that, he's right to go after the bosses.

Billions of dollars of tax credits pushed through by the alliance of Chris Christie and George Norcross...the winners? Chris Christie who had virtually no opposition for re-election and Norcross who reportedly got about a billion spread of his related companies.

Wow.

Did you benefit from those generous gifts from the government? Probably not. Thousands of small businesses struggle to keep their doors open, tens of thousands of working and middle class families are planning their exit from the Garden State right now because of the incredible tax burden. Yet the Government is spending money to make the rich richer?

Yes, I have credited party boss Norcross with creating jobs amidst the urban crisis in Camden. But that all changed when he pushed back on a common sense audit of the Economic Development Authority was commissioned by the Governor. What is Norcross hiding? What are all the party bosses hiding for that matter? Shame on both parties for allowing the corrupt system of party bosses to continue.

Here's the good news. The unlikely ally in the Governor has the bosses on their heels as he pursuers a financial audit. Hope you didn't do anything wrong George and the voters on the other side are starting to have their voices heard. We saw this during the school budget ballot fights a few months ago. Voters rose up, turned out and voted no. The education bureaucrats and back room insiders couldn't stop the will of the voters in towns across NJ. We're seeing it now as outside candidates are winning and coming close to toppling the old guard machines that have suppressed new ideas and good people for too long.

There's a lawsuit over a tight election in Somerset County for the Sheriffs office. Only 200 votes separate the boss picked candidate from the outsider. In Holmdel, despite the boss targeting the elected deputy mayor for defeat, the guy actually had a winning count on election day. Then 48 provisional ballots turned into 80 and he lost by 9. But think about it, if the total focus of the back room boss barely could defeat a deputy mayor, they're in trouble.

So let the Governor focus on the money and we'll focus on the votes. Don't waste your vote for anyone in November 2019 when the entire Assembly is up for election. Only support candidates with the courage to fight back and fight for you. Then we'll start talking about 2021.

Bill Spadea is on the air weekdays from 6 to 10 a.m., talkin’ Jersey, taking your calls at 1-800-283-1015. Tweet him @NJ1015 or @BillSpadea. The opinions expressed here are solely those of Bill Spadea.

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