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ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- If you were one of the 45,000 New Jersey state workers idled by the state's budget standoff last week, you probably won't appreciate its positive side.
The 36,000 workers at this resort city's 12 casinos, forced to cease operations at 8 a.m. July 5 because the state had to send home its gaming officials, likely won't see it, either.
The displaced gamblers -- turned unwillingly out onto the Boardwalk and blinking in the misty morning light like disoriented bats flushed from a cave -- probably don't care. But the battle of wills between New Jersey Gov. John Corzine and Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts over how to close a $4.5 billion budget gap -- which shut down nonemergency state operations for more than a week and the golden-goose casinos for three days -- indeed featured a subtle silver lining.
New Jersey residents witnessed a real, honest-to-goodness political contest over a material issue of public policy. Imagine that! It may be easy for me to say, not being a New Jersey resident, but I found the contest between Corzine and Roberts exhilarating. Invigorating. Downright inspiring!
Granted, not everyone here saw it that way.
Casinos closed
''This is a bunch of baloney,'' Thomas Brown, on vacation from Louisville, Ky., told me. Moments after the shutdown, Brown sat on a Boardwalk bench outside Caesar's, his planned four-day tango with Lady Luck rudely interrupted. ``Tell the governor, the next time (New Jerseyans) come to the Kentucky Derby, we'll shut that down.''
Since taking office in January, Corzine, a Democrat, promised a responsibly balanced budget free of short-term Band-Aids and accounting sleight-of-hand. But Speaker Roberts, a fellow Democrat, refused to consider a sales tax increase. When the fiscal year began July 1 with no budget in place, Corzine furloughed the state's nonessential workers. The game of political chicken was on.
Four days later, state gaming regulators were sent home, closing down the casinos. Together with shuttered racetracks and a suspended state lottery, the government shutdown was costing the state $4.5 million a day in income.
In the end, Roberts buckled, but Corzine also compromised, agreeing to devote half of the new revenue to property tax relief. So where's the silver lining?
Americans today are routinely fed phony political theater in place of real public policy debate. During the nearly six years of the Karl Rove administration in Washington, Americans have been duped into ignoring important issues like the costly and unnecessary Iraq war, the 46 million Americans lacking health insurance, a rash of domestic spying revelations, declining real wages, a mounting federal debt and more, in favor of nonissues like gay marriage, flag burning and Terri Schiavo.
Meanwhile, the complicit media spend freely to cover missing white women in Aruba, celebrity babies and American Idol finalists, while giving nominal attention to widespread election anomalies, evidence of global warming, a mounting pension plan crisis and more.
This time, the spotlight wasn't hogged by some silly debate over an unneeded or sure-to-be-defeated bill. There were no personal attacks alleging that this politician or that secretly hated New Jersey. This issue mattered. The players had to pick a side, stand their ground, make their cases and battle it out. In the end, they got a little and gave a little.
Taking a tough stand
It helped that these rivals couldn't avoid responsible debate by demonizing and disparaging the opposition party as only one was involved. But don't misread the evidence; political theater usually flourishes under one-party domination, unless a firebrand emerges -- in this instance, Corzine -- who is unafraid to take a tough stand on principle even at the risk of party harmony and public scorn. The stand earned Corzine some praise even on the temporarily paralyzed Boardwalk.
''He's a gutsy guy,'' Marge Romano of Staten Island told me. ``He's the governor. He's the boss.''
''He's the only one who's had the guts to take on a problem like this,'' said Juanita Conquest Johnson.
Ultimately, it's up to us, the public, to decide if we'll continue to acquiesce to political theater or demand political problem-solving. Even when it's party against party, we mustn't allow ourselves -- or our representatives -- to be distracted from the issues that matter.
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