I’ve lived in NJ since infancy, and I wish I could say that I was surprised. The political system is sickeningly corrupt in both parties, which is why I don’t vote for either party anymore. Corruption exists in all states and all levels of government; but in NJ, they seem to have been setting the system up for decades and pushing the envelope.
I am more disgusted by the involvement of religious figures than the politicians. I live very close to the largest Hasidic community and I have heard that they use their religious freedoms to exploit loopholes in the system for tax evasion and public assistance. And it seems to be true, since they keep on building and building, and yet the town is getting poorer and poorer.
I can only hope that the investigation continues and that there will be pressure to make sweeping reforms throughout the government to make it less lucrative to be in public service in order to weed out the corrupt. This is an election year…