Fausta's Blog

American and Latin American Politics, Society, and Culture

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No school choice, from the NJEA plutocrat

NJEA (the teacher’s union) Executive Director Vincent Giordano, who makes $550,000 a year, when asked about s
NJEA Executive Director to Poor Families: “Life’s Not Always Fair”

When questioned about the fairness of New Jersey’s low income families being financially unable to afford the option of moving their children to better performing schools, Mr. Giordano was cold, dismissive, and completely unsympathetic to their plight.

The exact quote?

“Well, you know, uh, life’s not always fair and I’m sorry about that…” (click here and listen to the clip)

Ah, that 1%…

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Christie on Oprah

This actually looks interesting,

First Look: Governor Chris Christie on Oprah’s Next Chapter

Tune in Sunday, January 15 to see Oprah travel to the home of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie to discuss his lifelong struggle with weight, why he resisted a run for the White House and more.

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What did Corzine do while MF Global was about to tank?

He went chateau shopping!

Yup, the guy who doesn’t know where the $1.2 billion of clients’ money went, went house hunting, big time.

You can’t make it up if you try:
On Eve of $41 Billion MF Global Bankruptcy Filing, Jon Corzine Was Château Shopping in France

In an exclusive report from three of Vanity Fair’s premier business writers—contributing editors Bryan Burrough, William D. Cohan, and Bethany McLean—the February issue delivers a sprawling account of the personal and professional battles of Jon Corzine, the former Goldman Sachs C.E.O. and ex-politician whose helming of MF Global resulted in a notorious $41 billion filing for bankruptcy and a $1 billion loss in firm equity. According to the piece, for the fiscal year that ended in March 2011, MF Global recorded day-one gains of $85 million on the former New Jersey governor’s risky trades on European sovereign debt and other assets, thanks to an accounting ploy. Because there were barely any expenses associated with such trades, the gains were almost pure profit. “Corzine would later tell investors that he made a $6.3 billion bet on sovereign debt, but the company’s filings made it look like he had a much bigger long position at the end of June 2011—$11.4 billion, offset by ‘short’ positions of almost $5 billion,” Vanity Fair reports. One analyst says: “If those trades had not been there, MF Global would have been forced to sell or go out of business.”

Go read the whole article, at Vanity Fair, that arm of the vast right-wing conspiracy. Be advised you may need a barf bag.


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A couple of New Jersey items, re: Lautenberg & Corzine

Frank Lautenberg, Senator for my district,
Sen. Charles Schumer’s brother-in-law was quietly nominated this month to a federal judgeship in New Jersey

What no one mentioned is that McNulty, 57, was the last-minute choice of Lautenberg, who had been leaning toward other candidates until surprisingly submitting McNulty’s name to the White House.

Lautenberg and his aides have given no public explanation for the decision to go with McNulty even though the latter had never been publicly touted as a contender for the job, which carries life tenure and a $174,000-a-year salary.

Now comes the good part,

People involved in the judicial-nomination process in New Jersey told The Post they believe the surprise nomination was a naked political maneuver by the 87-year-old Lautenberg to stay in Schumer’s good graces. Lautenberg is worried that party elders will try to push him out of his beloved Senate seat because of his advanced age — something that Schumer, one of the party’s top opinion makers and fund-raisers, would be able to stop.

ELDERS?!
Instapundit:

A reader emails:

While such naked nepotism is usually reserved for filling the village dog catcher’s job, that’s not the aspect of this that caught my eye. This is: Sen. Lautenberg is 87 years old and is so pathetically desperate to remain attached to the federal teat that he would do something so obvious as this. I know the Obama economy is pretty ugly, but what’s the matter Frank, afraid you won’t be able to find a job if you get pushed out?

Please leave me anonymous if you mention this, I’m an at-will government employee in an adjacent navy blue state.

The addiction to power — and, even more, to a feeling of importance — is stronger than the addiction to heroin or cocaine. And more destructive, to society if not to the addict. . . .

And an update on our former governor,
Surprise! Obama Still Pocketing Corzine Cash, according to the New York Post,

Before the MF Global episode, Corzine had been a key figure for Wall Street contributions to Obama and was openly being considered for the top spot at the Treasury Department in a second Obama term.

Corzine is not the only connection between MF and Obama. Three other MF honchos, including Corzine’s second-in-command, Brad Abelow, and his wife have given $5,000 to the president’s re-election campaign and another $30,800 to the DNC.
In addition to Abelow, the other MF donors are former board member David Schamis and Joseph Patt.

Did Jon remember where the money went yet?

UPDATE,
So out of almost a million dollars connected to Corzine, which may or may not include part or all of the other $150,000 from MF Global, Obama and the DNC are returning only $70,000?

Yes.

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Corzine says he’s “devastated”

‘Devastated’ Corzine Defends Actions as MF Global Chief

Being a master of bullsh*t, he also can’t remember where $1,200,000,000 went:

The trustee overseeing MF Global’s liquidation estimates the amount at $1.2 billion. Mr. Corzine said that he had little to do with the mechanics of moving customer cash and collateral and that he was “stunned” when he learned the money was missing.

“I simply do not know where the money is,” he said, noting that “there were an extraordinary number of transactions during MF Global’s last few days.”

Obama blundler. Democrat governor of New Jersey. Thief.

Give him an orange jumpsuit.

UPDATE,
a legalistic formulation, “I do not know where the money is” may not be the same thing as saying ‘I do not know where it went when it left MF Global.’

—————————

Due to two, not one, but two, power outages blogging was delayed.

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Clinton was paid $50,000/month by MF Global

supposedly for “helping Corzine improve his image as a CEO“. Makes you wonder if that included learning how to comingle funds

A former MF Global employee accused former president William J. Clinton of collecting $50,000 per month through his Teneo advisory firm in the months before the brokerage careened towards its Halloween filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Teneo was hired by MF Global’s former CEO Jon S. Corzine to improve his image and to enhance his connections with Clinton’s political family, said the employee, who asked that his name be withheld because he feared retribution.

“They were supposed to be helping Corzine improve his image as a CEO—I guess you can tell how that went,” he said. Corzine resigned as CEO and chairman November 4.

Before Corzine joined MF Global in May 2010, the firm was a smart and well-run commodities broker, a culture that was turned upside-down by his leadership style, he said.

“The traders would be shaking their heads,” he said. “They would come back to their desk and say, ‘Well, I thought we were going to do this—but Corzine would come by and do something else all by himself,’” he said.

The Teneo contract with MF Global lasted at least five months, he said. “The board cancelled it after Corzine resigned.”

Why isn’t Corzine awaiting trial yet?

And, by the way,
The Corzine Democrats: What Did They Say About Abramoff?

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Taxed in New Jersey

Second-highest tax burden in the country:

5 Highest State Tax Burdens
1. Connecticut
Income tax: 5%
Sales tax: 6.35%
Property tax per capita: $2,381
Inheritance tax: 7.2% to 16% with $2 million exemption
High taxes in Connecticut are paired with the nation’s highest income per capita–$56,001 per person in 2010, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. A sales tax increase took effect in July, raising the rate, from 6 percent to 6.35 percent, and adding a further 3 percentage-point levy on luxury goods such as expensive cars and boats. The state collects the third-highest property taxes per capita and is one of 14 states to tax Social Security income, according to CCH.
2. New Jersey
Income tax: 6.37%
Sales tax: 7%
Property tax per capita: $2,625
Inheritance tax: See note*
Regularly listed as a state with one of the highest tax burdens, New Jersey is cited by the Tax Foundation as having the country’s highest property tax per capita. All Social Security benefits in New Jersey are excluded from gross income.
* Transfer to a spouse, lineal descendant, or charitable organization is tax-free; transfer to children-in-law is taxed at 11 percent to 16 percent; all other transfers are taxed at 15 percent to 16 percent.

Buy New Jersey magazine, and you’ll find dozens of ads for housing and retirement communities in Pennsylvania.

(h’t Instapundit)

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