By

Ray Pinney

As a child one of my favorite Saturday morning cartoons was Roadrunner. If you remember the cartoon, Wily E. Coyote, Roadrunner’s nemesis, was always attempting elaborate schemes to catch the Roadrunner – and the schemes usually involved something the coyote had purchased from the “Acme” company.  The plot was predicable: Roadrunner was never caught and the coyote’s plans always seemed to backfire and cause him harm.  I loved the show, despite its predictability and the fact that there was no dialogue, other than Roadrunner’s occasional “beep-beeps.”

Sometimes watching New Jersey politics seems a little like watching the Roadrunner cartoon. The outcomes seem similarly obvious and the elaborate plans to do something are fated to fail, but, as political theater, it is still entertaining to watch.  As I am watching the state budget political drama play out, it seems that the governor has laid out his plan and the Democrats in the Legislature are scrambling to come up with their own plans.  The governor, in this case, is like Roadrunner in that he is holding the upper hand.

Even though the administration’s revenue projections are coming under scrutiny, it appears that Gov. Christie may get two important victories out of this budget.  (more…)