Corey Booker Making Tough Calls in Newark

Now we understand why the Newark Mayor's race was so tight for so long. The newly-elected Mayor Booker (D), fresh from a historic win due to former Mayor Sharpe James' (D) sudden retirement, is calling for some drastic budget-cutting measures that won't go over to well with the city's entrenched workers. Newark Star-Ledger reports a fresh new day and age in the city known as Jersey's armpit:

Up to 20 percent of Newark's municipal work force could be laid off due to a "savage structural deficit" in the city's budget, Mayor Cory Booker said.

"There are going to have to be major personnel reductions," Booker said yesterday after a 9/11 memorial service. "We are reviewing every way to recoup money and stop waste. At the end of the day, we have to spend less money, and that's personnel."