Corzine Saw The National Recession Coming?

Have you seen Jon Corzine's ads over at Poltickernj? You have if you have visited that site lately. They are all over the place.

The ads declare "He saw the national recession coming, So he did something about it..."

When did he see it coming?

According the the National Bureau of Economic Research (the official arbiter of recessions) the current recession began in December 2007.

I guess he would have had to see it coming in 2007. Hmmm...

In his FY 2008 budget address, delivered February 22, 2007 Corzine said,

"Finally, our ’08 budget includes almost $750 million projected revenue growth as a result of strong economic expansion."

I guess he hadn't seen it yet.

On November 15, 2007, the month before the recession started, while speaking to the NJ Conference of Mayors, Corzine said,

"New Jersey is one of the greatest places in this country on this globe to live, to work and to raise a family. You all work on that every day and you are part of what is a great state. I am proud of you, I’m proud of it and I know you’re proud of our state, I am proud of our people and I am excited about our future. Just today, our Department of Labor reported that the state’s unemployment rate fell to 4.1 percent, one of the lowest in the nation and far below the national average of 4.7 percent. It’s been there all year.

New Jersey doesn’t just offer good jobs, it offers great jobs, higher-paying jobs. The median income in New Jersey is as high as anywhere in America. In the past six month, New Jersey employers have added more than 20,000 new jobs and almost all of them are in the private sector. We have a competitive advantage in America’s growing economic sectors: finance, logistics, gaming, tourism, medical research, and high technology."

Hey Jon, the recession's starting next month. You see it coming, right?

On May 22, 2008, during his commencement address at Steven Tech, Corzine said,

"The continued preeminence of America and our economic well-being will be borne of your generation’s ability to advance our understanding and application of science and technology."

Six months into the recession, I guess he hadn't seen it yet.

Two weeks later, Corzine invested $180 million of the state pension fund in Lehman Brother stock. We all know how that worked out.

Now Corzine says an extra $400 or $500 million just showed up in the mail due to the tax amnesty program. At least he didn't claim to see that coming. But did he? Was it really an "immaculate collection", as Assemblyman Declan O'Scanlon put it?

Don't be so sure.