My Endorsement for Governor

I thought I'd get back into the swing of blogging by offically announcing the candidate I support for governor of New Jersey. I have been involved in campaigns of both Democrats and Republicans for the past four years. In fact, it was four years ago this week that I first stepped into a campaign office in busy Morristown, sat down at a desk, and started calling registered voters.

Every since I started seriously learning about government and politics in high school, I have tried to formulate an opinion about what I believed was the best way to run society. Over the years, that opinion has changed a lot. But through all those years, I've seen firsthand what government can or can't do. I been the benificiary of a decades-old state-funded program designed to stimulate thte minds of some of the smartest high school students in New Jersey. I've watched my parents agonize over rising taxe, and I beamed when I got my first tax rebate in the mail. I've seen friends and relatives support candidates one day and then completely avoid the subject when those same candidates are hauled off to prison. I was astonished to see how much of my first paycheck was taken for taxes and equally amazed when I found out I had a federal retirement plan in my name.

While I still don't know how I feel about every issue being talked about right now, here's what I do know:

• New Jersey has some of the highest taxes in the country. It also has one of the highest costs of living, and virtually everything here is more expensive than many of the states I've lived in or been to recently (with the exception of gas, which still boggles my mind).
• The culture of corruption is UNBELIEVABLE. It's as if the politicians and the bureaucracy just create more bureaucracy to make it harder to fix.
• New Jersey schools are better than those in many other states in terms of the types of subjects offered and material covered. However, I feel like schools are run only to push students through them, without any personal development for the student. That needs to change.
• The state of the environment here is getting better, but it still needs a lot of work. The DEP is disorganized and just isn't innovative anymore.
• Sometimes, it's necessary to raise taxes, as long it won't negatively impact the financial base the taxed service provides to the state.

With that in mind, I am endorsing independent Christopher Daggett, former EPA Regional Administrator, and his running mate, Kean University professor Frank Esposito. I think that the time is right for real change here in New Jersey.