State Budget - Ledger - Mulshine: Cryan vs. Greenwald

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Published in the Star-Ledger, Thursday, June 29, 2006

PAUL MULSHINE, COLUMNIST

Ding! It's the rumble under the Rotunda

In this corner, representing North Jersey, we have Assemblyman Joe Cryan, son of a saloon keeper and owner of some of the sharpest elbows in Trenton.

In the opposite corner, representing South Jersey, we have Assemblyman Lou Greenwald, son of a Cherry Hill mayor and one of the sharpest dressers in Trenton.

Refereeing will be Assemblyman Albio Sires, son of a Cuban refugee and skilled in breaking up political clinches.

The venue for this epic bout was the Assembly Budget Committee yesterday morning. The Assembly Democrats are split along geographical lines over the question of raising the sales tax to 7 cents to balance the state budget for fiscal 2007, which begins after midnight tomorrow.

The North Jersey Dems, including Gov. Jon Corzine and state Senate President Richard Codey, favor the sales tax hike. The South Jersey Dems, meanwhile, see the tax hike as a recipe for disaster in next year's legislative elections.

The South Jersey side is right, if you ask me. South Jersey residents are already upset about being denied that big increase in property tax rebates Corzine promised during last year's gubernatorial campaign. Once safely in the Statehouse, Corzine canceled the rebate hikes. He then froze state aid to schools for good measure.

That means property taxes will go up. And now he wants to raise the sales tax as well, a move that pleases no one but the leaders of the Democratic machines of North Jersey.

It was this north-south tension that led to the near-punchout. I'm sorry to say I missed the action by a couple minutes. I was stuck in traffic for a half-hour thanks to the flood. That's right: As if there weren't enough problems in Trenton yesterday, the Delaware River was overflowing its banks. Roads were closed and the Statehouse itself was on the verge of being shut down.

The scene inside the building had all the makings of a low-budget movie. To hear the witnesses tell it, the only thing that stopped Cryan from clocking Greenwald was the imposing presence of Sires. "Cryan was as close to Greenwald as I am to you," Assemblyman Kevin O'Toole told me as we discussed the morning's events in the hall, standing about a foot apart.

O'Toole, an Essex County Republican, had a ringside seat for the Democratic donnybrook. Cryan lunged at Greenwald, O'Toole said, after the South Jersey representative called for state Treasurer Bradley Abelow to be summoned to the session. This was a blatant political ploy, but not a bad one. Still, Cryan seemed to take it personally, if the string of expletives issuing from his mouth was any indication. It was O'Toole's considered opinion that blood would have flowed if the imposing Sires had not interrupted the potential boxing match with some impressive sumo-style maneuvers.

The confrontation was unexpected but not unprecedented. It came almost four years to the day after another epic budget brawl. That was the one between South Jersey Democratic boss George Norcross and state Sen. John Bennett of Monmouth County, who was then the Republican leader.

Bennett is now a former state senator. Most people in Trenton attribute his election loss the following year to maneuvering by Norcross. Norcross denies it. He also denies initiating the fight with Bennett. In any case, those two had the good taste to get into it behind closed doors, so no one outside the room knows exactly what happened.

This altercation was right out there in the open. Worse, it was between two Democrats, not a Democrat and a Republican. Not exactly the best way to go into crunch time when compromise is essential.

Gossip in the hallways centered on who would have won the fight if Sires had not intervened. Cryan was the consensus favorite. "Greenwald's too concerned with his hair and his suit," said one wag. "When Joe Cryan leaves the house in the morning, he already looks like he's been in a fight."

As the day wore on and the floodwaters rose, top Democrats shuttled around the Statehouse trying to figure a way out of the budget impasse. It didn't look good, especially for Corzine. Politicians are supposed to pretend that they were dragged kicking and screaming into raising taxes. But the only screaming Corzine did was at that union rally last week, where he bellowed, "We will fight for a fair contract!"

He seemed to forget which side he was on. During the campaign, Corzine had assured voters that his former relationship with union leader Carla Katz would not keep him from driving a hard bargain with the unions.

"As the governor, you represent 8 1/2 million people," Corzine said last year. "You don't represent one union. You don't represent one person. You represent the people who elected you."

That promise lasted about as long as the other ones. We may not know who's going to win this fight, but I think I know who's going to lose.

Unless, of course, Corzine can find a way to adopt a budget without a tax increase. But where will he find the revenue?

Here's my suggestion: Let's put those Assembly committee meetings on pay-per-view.

Paul Mulshine is a Star-Ledger columnist. He may be reached at pmulshine@starledger.com.


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