As a former U.S. prosecutor, New Jersey Governor-elect Chris Christie talked much about the law and corruption during his successful campaign against Gov. Jon Corzine, but we didn’t see much about liability reform from either side. So it’s encouraging to see the issues included in the Christie campaign’s “88 Ways Chris Christie Will Fix New Jersey,” under the category, “Getting New Jersey Working Again”:

Forty Seven: I will restore fairness and common-sense to our state’s legal liability policies by making it more difficult for out-of-state plaintiffs to sue in New Jersey courts.

Forty Eight: I will end the abuse and manipulation of New Jersey’s civil justice system by preventing the admission of flimsy and dubious testimony offered by expert witnesses.

Forty Nine: I will make our state more affordable for consumers and businesses by making it more difficult to file class action lawsuits for frivolous reasons.

Lots of good bullet pointed policies on easing unnecessary regulation, too.

New Jersey election results here.

The next governor of Virginia, Bob McDonnell, often criticized the undemocratic Employee Free Choice Act during his campaign against Creigh Deeds, who tried to avoid the issue. (See also Amanda Carpenter, Washington Times, “EFCA’s role in McDonnell’s win.”

New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine’s core support came from organized labor, pushing his candidacy at the same time they made the Employee Free Choice Act their rallying cry. See The Star-Ledger story, “Unions organize to help an ally: Jon Corzine.” Former federal prosecutor Chris Christie defeated Corzine on Tuesday, 49-45 percent.

In Pennsylvania, organized labor’s candidate for the state Supreme Court, Jack Panella, lost to Joan Orie Melvin. Judging by Panella’s website, he was counting on the unions to bring home the vote. Nope.

True, labor’s favored candidate won in New York’s 23rd Congressional District, but Bill Owens was the AFL-CIO’s second choice after Dede Scozzafava dropped out.

Labor’s failures weaken its political power in Congress, if only at the margins, making it even more difficult to pass the Employee Free Choice Act this year. The unions will therefore continue their power plays in other venues, such as the National Mediation Board and the National Labor Relations Board. Expect the SEIU’s Andy Stern to make even more visits to the White House to coordinate strategy.

UPDATE (9:45 a.m.): Mickey Kaus, from his “Election 2009: Some Winners, Losers,”:

Losers: Dems who were planning to argue that a Corzine victory, when contrasted with Deeds’ loss, shows the need to stick with “core Democratic values” (i.e. unions) …

Loser: Card check. Virginia Republican McDonnell didn’t fudge on labor’s “card check” bill. He bashed it. He won. Virginia is hardly a union state, but neither are the states with Senators who are swing votes on “card check”. …

Outstanding testimony today from North Dakota Gov. John Hoeven, speaking at a Senate Environment and Public Works hearing, “Clean Energy Jobs, Climate-Related Policies and Economic Growth – State and Local Views.” The heart of his argument:

Instead of Waxman-Markey, or similar legislation, Congress needs to implement a comprehensive energy policy that will incentivize industry to develop all of our energy resources-both traditional sources and renewable sources-in an environmentally sound manner. The current uncertainty from Congress’s failure to do so is freezing investment of new technologies on the sidelines – technologies that will help our country produce more domestic energy in environmentally sound, cost-effective ways. 

Governor Hoeven provided specific examples from North Dakota about how Waxman-Markey would penalize the state and its private-sector energy companies, as well as North Dakota’s broader efforts to expand an environmentally responsible energy sector.

Other governors who testified today were Bill Ritter of Colorado, Christine Gregoire of Washington, and Jon Corzine of New Jersey. From Gov. Corzine’s testimony:

Under the leadership of President Obama, this body, your colleagues in the House, and states across this country, we are on the verge of a green revolution. This revolution will require a new way of thinking about our energy supply, energy demand and our impacts on the global environment.

Revolution, eh?

Well, let’s see how the different approaches toward energy have worked so far:

• North Dakota’s unemployment rate, June: 4.2
• New Jersey’s unemployment rate, June: 9.2

• Bloomberg, “N.J. Faces $8 Billion Budget Deficit, Forecaster Says“
• North Dakota Legislative Council, “Estimated June 30, 2011, Fund Balance Summary“: $1.2 billion.

 Disclosure: The Shopfloor.org blogger used to work for Governor Hoeven, but it seems like ages ago.

From Jim Geraghty, The Campaign Spot, “It’s Easy To Cut the Budget When You Have No Other Option“:

New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine is touting the fact that by signing the budget [Monday], he “became the first Governor of New Jersey in over six decades to reduce, two years in a row, the size and cost of state government.”

Except that he really didn’t have too much choice in the matter, as the state is facing a “historic tax-revenue collapse” and the state constitution requires a balanced budget. And the revenues started plummeting in the first months of the budgetary year last year.

And while the current budget does include some spending cuts, it also makes up the gap with $2 billion in federal stimulus money and raises taxes on wine and hard liquor, tobacco, and top earners. Oh, and if you win the lottery, the state is now taxing those winnings, too.

Which reminds us again of the Wall Street Journal editorial on the Albany-Trenton-Sacramento disease, with the second headline, “How three liberal states got into deep trouble with ‘progressive’ ideas.“

News coverage of Wednesday’s hearing of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on infrastructure spending as economic stimulus, “Investing in Infrastructure: The Road to Recovery“:

• Associated Press, “Governors, mayors ask Washington for fiscal help“
• New York Times, “Public Works Projects Promoted at Hearing“
• Daily Record (NJ), “Corzine supports 2nd stimulus bill“
• Wall Street Journal, “Factions Lobby to Shape Possible New Stimulus“
• The Hill, “Support for 2nd stimulus strengthening“
• Minneapolis Star-Tribune, “Oberstar looks to job-creating infrastructure projects“
• Washington Post, “Critics Say Roads Projects Won’t Jump-Start Economy“

The Post’s story, played on the front of the Business Section, shows the kind of editorial judgement and bias that make people dislike the mainstream media. Rather than cover the hearing’s news — generally pro-infrastructure investment — seek out the most strenous critics you can find and make that the news.

Pretty clearly you have an editor or two who think the idea of infrastructure as economic stimulus is crap, and they’re going to help the poor, befuddled reader reach that same conclusion. Thanks, guys! Couldn’t judge the arguments without your assistance.

Among the many topics NAM President and CEO John Engler covered in his October 13 speech to the Detroit Economic Club was the need for the United States to adopt a national energy strategy, a comprehensive, use-all-resources approach.

Nuclear power included…

We need a resurgent nuclear power industry in America. Manufacturers use a third of the nation’s electricity, and the Chevy Volt is going to require what? Even more electricity. Nuclear power is safe and will create thousands of jobs. We need to get started. 

The text of the speech is here.

Meanwhile, in New Jersey, Governor Corzine has announced a statewide energy strategy, setting high, very high, quite high goals in meeting this industrial state’s need for electricity through alternative energy sources, conservation and efficiency. We haven’t read the plan yet, but note these comments from Corzine’s news conference, as reported by Reuters:

New Jersey might also use more nuclear power but only if the waste could be safely disposed of, Corzine said. “I’m not opposed to nuclear power,” he said. “I’m opposed to doing it unsafely.”

You can usually interpret that rhetoric as: “I’m not opposed to nuclear power. I’m just opposed to any new plants being built.”

The green activists at the occasionally scientific Union of Concerned Scientists certainly read it that way, praising the New Jersey plan in a news release because it “promotes offshore wind energy and solar energy installation over fossil fuel and nuclear power plants.”

In other words, because it promotes sources that are not suited to produce the kind of baseload electricity demanded by an advanced industrial society.

Paul Tyahla of New Jersey Business Matters reports recent political/economic/Corzine developments, “Gov Plans Legislative Address on the Economy.”