Officials lambast NJ corruption after 44 arrested

[Dulcinea]

Source: Yahoo

NEWARK, N.J. – Officials are decrying political corruption in New Jersey after more than 40 people, among them rabbis and elected officeholders, were arrested in an investigation in which some were accused of laundering tens of millions of dollars and of black-market trafficking of kidneys and fake Gucci handbags.

The 44 arrests Thursday were a remarkable number even for New Jersey, where more than 130 public officials have pleaded guilty or have been convicted of corruption since 2001.

"New Jersey's corruption problem is one of the worst, if not the worst, in the nation," said Ed Kahrer, who heads the FBI's white-collar and public corruption division. "Corruption is a cancer that is destroying the core values of this state."

Gov. Jon Corzine said: "The scale of corruption we're seeing as this unfolds is simply outrageous and cannot be tolerated."


Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090724/ap_on_re_us/us_nj_corruption_arrests

[specialed]

1. A slow week in NJ.

LOL!

The state was founded by crooks, pirates and thieves and hasn't changed. :)

[BumRushDaShow]

2. This time it seemed to have hit North Jersey

more than South Jersey (although one of the arrested State Reps. was from Burlington County). Camden and Atlantic City had been in the midst of their own fray for quite some time, but have since quieted down a bit now. LOL

[tabbycat31]

5. it hit central Jersey

a town near me was hit big time by the FBI as two prominent Rabbis were arrested. I'm out of town but have been following the story.

[TreasonousBastard]

7. Christie hit South Jersey for Democratic thieves, of...

which there is an endless supply, but North Jersey has always had its fascinating felons. For a while, the Jersey City Reservoir didn't have a Mayor's name on it because the signmaker couldn't keep up with the indictments.

And there was that South Hackensack police department that got fired because the chief ran the local bookies out of business by being a bookie himself.

When I lived in Elizabeth, the stories of politicans getting caught were the highlights of the day. Tales of how the smart ones avoided the slam were even better.

[FarCenter]

3. How will this affect Corzine's pick for Lieutenant Governor?

I bet he wishes he'd announced a pick already. Who can he get to join a doomed campaign?

[BumRushDaShow]

4. This will be the first election of a Lt. Governor

on a ticket in Jersey. Here in PA, we have had that process for about 115 years. I think both parties will be experimenting out of the gate with this one (Christie only recently named his choice), although both would have needed to keep in mind the succession strategy. Corzine had a couple potentials in mind (according to the media) and maybe it was good to have waited until the fallout of the roundup was completed to make sure the pick was clear. If he manages to find a strong running mate, that may be enough to put him over the top, with the assumption that should he be forced to resign (for whatever reason), the (Democratic) electorate will be happy with (and probably would have preferred) the successor in any case.

[AngryAmish]

6. I'm from Illinois. NJ has some work to do to be the most corrupt.

The kidney thing is a good angle, tho.

[FarCenter]

8. This kidney thing is mostly a NY deal

I think all the meetings between the Cooperating Witness and the kidney dealer were in Brooklyn.