and BS endorses.

TRENTON, N.J. -- Gov. Jon S. Corzine forgave a $50,000 loan given to a top black minister who was campaigning to become a bishop, according to a published report.

The Star-Ledger of Newark reported in Wednesday's newspapers that a foundation of Corzine's loaned the money to the Rev. Reginald Jackson's church in spring 2004 to help Jackson's unsuccessful campaign for bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal Church.

"He was very concerned for the office that I wanted to have," Jackson said. "He thought, if I was elected, I would do well in that office. In fact, I was going to repay it. He said, 'Don't worry about it.' I really wanted to repay it because you want to be a man of your word. He didn't have to do it. He was very kind."

Jackson said Corzine was the top donor to his $235,000 effort to win election as bishop in July 2004. Corzine was a U.S. senator then.

Jackson preaches at St. Matthew's AME Church in Orange and is executive director of the Black Ministers Council of New Jersey. Jackson and 15 council members endorsed Corzine's gubernatorial candidacy in September 2005.

Corzine forgave the loan on Jan. 1, 2005. If it had been forgiven any earlier, it would have had to appear on the foundation's 2004 income tax returns that were scrutinized during last year's campaign. The loan is reported on the foundation's 2005 tax return to be filed Thursday.

"It was reported in '05 because the loan was forgiven in '05 -- simple as that," said Tom Shea, Corzine's chief of staff. The original loan, he said, was fully reported in 2004.

"There was no effort to hide this, ever, at any point in time," Shea said.

During last year's gubernatorial campaign, Corzine's $470,000 loan-turned-gift to a state workers' union leader whom he had dated became a focus of Republican criticism. Tom Wilson, the state Republican Party chairman, said Corzine's gift to Jackson raises questions.

"It was given as a loan for a reason -- to help somebody out who he believed in," Wilson said. "I'll accept that. But when the loan gets converted to a gift on the first day after it would have become public during the campaign, it is more than a coincidence."

Corzine donated $3.8 million to charity through his foundation last year.

bought himself another endorsement. Corswine throws $$$ all over the place to buy support so he can have his massive ego stroked.

Please don't be fooled by all this BS, vote what's good for NJ on 11/3. Throw this bum out!

This is the advantage to having an opportunity for the secret ballot. Each of these ministers will benefit greatly from the financial philanthropy Corzine will be able to accomplish while keeping an independent minded electorate at a dilemma.

It is clueless to understand the attempt to expose the current school system as a corrupt institution while the social justice system is increased with dropouts, that we can believe the current state administration is being adequate about the need for education reform. This is a typical scenario of the pulpit pimp v. christian crusader syndrome. Money talks.

We can be sure that the best education for our children will be bookbag give-aways and free winter coats, church extension and private libraries in exchange for real technology,stable employment, and the re-institution of a civil rights movement.

For the families who are leaving this state in exodus fashion from fear of being enslaved by the influence of religious prosperity that continues to keep them suppressed by governemnt rule, you are in my prayers.

I am deeply concerned to investigate the understanding how religious leaders can compromise their spiritual convictions for their own personal political empowerment.

To God be the Glory. What goes on in the dark will soon be brought to the light.

I think Herb Glen makes a great point.

Everyone with an ounce of sense knows that the unseemly influence that Jon Corzine has garnered, by literally buying political support in this State, has had a very corrupting influence on our polity.

A friend recently wrote to me and suggested that the clergy endorsement game, the one that Jon Corzine so avidly engages in, should be called:

Pay for Pray!

Sadly, the Governor has been playing some of the local clergy in the urban areas with cash for a long, long time now. Ever since he got into the game, as a matter of fact.  

When asked, Reginald Jackson's memory on the point has proven quite spotty in the past.   

So has Jon Corzine's.

And, that corrupt influence is well woven into a broader game the Governor plays with many of his key supporters.

There are just too damn many inappropriate instances where it is obvious that Jon Corzine's modus operandi has been to corrupt the people around him who are willing to do his political bidding, with offers of cash -- whether by "forgiving" $25,000 loans to Reginald Jackson, or doing the same for Carla Katz, or Rocco Ricci, or by giving the inner circle of his state staff substantial tax-free cash gifts, or by quietly loading the boards and commissions up with long-term double dippers who are now, and will hereinafter, personally benefit to our detriment.

Enough is enough.

Herb, you've made an honest point. And many of us sincerely appreciate it.

Let's just hope the voters understand by November. 

by Trochilus