Surprise! Surprise! New Jersey’s allocation of funds for homeland security has been reduced again. Now, acting Gov. Codey has taken a trip to Washington, D.C., to apply pressure to reinstate the money. Interestingly enough, he called upon two conservative Republican congressmen, Chris Smith and Scott Garrett, to assist him with the super liberal Democratic senators who got us into this mess in the first place.
Lest the public forget how we got into this mess, I will briefly cite the reason for New Jersey being limited in dollars returned to the state.
New Jersey ranks last or next to last every year in the percent of dollars returned from taxes sent to Washington, D.C.
Historically, the New Jersey liberal Democratic U.S. Sens. Corzine and Lautenberg have blocked every program, plan, appointment and initiative of the Republican leadership in the U.S. Senate.
They supported every lame-brained scheme Sens. Kennedy, Kerry and Daschle could imagine, and continue to take a negative stance against all Bush administration initiatives and judicial appointments.
The appointment of Israeli citizen Golan Cipel to the most sensitive position possible in New Jersey — director of homeland security — by “happy” American Gov. McGreevey, and the subsequent confirmation by Senate President Codey and his Democratic disciples in the Senate, was the beginning of many questions about New Jersey.
And that fiasco didn’t play well in Washington, D.C.
Bad judgment followed on other appointments, including Attorney General Harvey.
When you add to that the corruption generated by New Jersey Democrats at all levels, it does not surprise me that our state is not seen as a “shining city on a hill” when viewed by the rest of America.
I believe that all funding possible for homeland security should be granted to New Jersey based upon the exceedingly high risk our state is in due to population density, high-profile targets and the public vulnerability of our infrastructure.
I in no way want to take away the importance of acting Gov. Codey’s quest for aid.
As a conservative Republican, I will do what I can to convince whomever I can in Washington, D.C., to consider the fact that New Jerseyans are worthy of adequate funding for homeland security.
Robert A. Brown
Edison