Assembly Democrats Just As Blind to Ethical Crisis as They Are to Property Tax Crisis

Trenton, NJ - New Jersey Republican State Chairman Tom Wilson issued the following statement today in response to Majority Leader Bonnie Watson-Coleman's criticisms of Republican initiatives to combat corruption in New Jersey:

"Assemblywoman Watson-Coleman and Speaker Roberts are either blind to the problem or they are part of it. How many more public officials have to be caught before the Speaker and Majority Leader see that we are in a crisis? From Wayne Bryant to John Lynch to Bob Menendez, people are waking up daily to another story about a public official abusing their office and abusing the public trust. Either the leadership is blind to the crisis, in which case they should resign and let someone who understands the problem take over, or they are so reliant on the corrupt system that taking it on would cost them their power.

The only people who are opposed to these kinds of reforms are warlords like John Lynch and George Norcross who 'choreograph' the movement of contracts, contributions, and jobs to ensure their continued stranglehold on government. When Joe Roberts became Speaker, many questioned his ability to break free from Norcross' puppet strings. His failure to advance any measure to combat corruption or put forward any concrete proposal to lower property taxes suggests that the answer to that question is unfortunately no, he can't.

Speaker Roberts and Majority Leader Watson-Coleman won't take on the special friends who rely on pension abuses to get rich, they won't take on the local governments that provide party warlords with an endless stream of contracts to dole and contributions to wheel, and they won't take on the culture of corruption that is destroying confidence in government. That's not leadership, that's politics as usual."

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