Opposition is shared by 61% of Democrats and Republicans, as well as 55% of self-described liberals, 59% of conservatives, and 66% of moderates.

And while promoters of the tax break claim that the casino will be a salvation for those in South Jersey, voters disagreed.  “Voters in South Jersey are just as likely to oppose it as the rest of the state,” the poll concluded.

Paul Mulshine, an editorial writer with the Star Ledger, penned a piece entitled “Atlantic City’s Revel casino: Wall Street’s Reveling in your money.”  In the piece, Mulshine wrote:

The prime backer of the half-finished Revel casino, Morgan Stanley, has put together a financing deal that relies on funding from the Chinese government. Yes, you read that right. The geniuses in Trenton are preparing to give a giant grant to a consortium of commies and Wall Streeters.

But as Doherty points out, both the Chinese and Morgan Stanley have plenty of money at the moment. Morgan Stanley got $10 billion in bailout funds, he said, so there’s no reason they can’t finish the project on their own.

Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Inquirer has a new article discussing the “furor” over the involvement of the Chinese government in Morgan Stanley’s casino project.

Hopefully the Governor will listen to Senator Mike Doherty, who made a strong statement against the Morgan Stanley bailout.  Listen to his statement here:  senate.mp3

While NJ politicians are working hard to roll back tax rebates for the middle class, one needy taxpayer by the name of Morgan Stanley is in line for $300 million in tax rebates for their casino in Atlantic City.  Legislators are meeting today to try and stop an effort by some pesky voters to put Morgan Stanley’s tax rebate up for a vote.

So no tax rebates for the middle class, but tax rebates for a bank that received $10 billion in bailout funds from the U.S. taxpayer.  We really can’t make this stuff up.

Yesterday, a group of citizens filed two lawsuits.  The first lawsuit says that Atlantic City politicians can’t simply throw a valid referendum off the ballot because they don’t like it.  The second lawsuit says that Atlantic City needs to comply with the State of New Jersey’s Open Records Act.  It’s a shame that voters have to sue to enforce their rights, but given Atlantic City’s reputation for open and clean government, are you really surprised?

Last Sunday, the Asbury Park Press ran a front page story outlining the pros and cons of the tax rebate for Morgan Stanley.  Morgan Stanley declined to comment.

Then on Wednesday, a group of hearty citizens protested in front of Morgan Stanley’s offices in Jersey City.  In response, backers of the Morgan Stanley bailout tried a new tact: pretend Morgan Stanley isn’t involved in the casino (a claim we quickly debunked).

On Thursday, supporters of tax rebate for the Morgan Stanley casino started publicly wringing their hands over NJ Governor Christie’s relative silence on the issue.  According to the Press of Atlantic City, “supporters of the plan admit they are now worried about the project’s delays and the governor’s persistent lack of commitment to the project.”  Kevin Descantis, the CEO of Morgan Stanley’s casino investment vehicle, told the Press that “his biggest challenge is educating the Governor’s Office in the midst ‘of all this confusion.’ He said Revel officials have been working to get a meeting with Christie or others in his office, but have not heard back yet.”  You can also “educate” the Governor by emailing your views about the tax rebate.

And yesterday, two editorials blasted the bailout.  Bob Ingle, the senior political columnist for Gannett New Jersey newspapers, said it better than we could:

“Morgan Stanley, which got $10 billion in federal bailout money, put together a development group that wants us to fork over more than $350 million in tax breaks to finish an Atlantic City casino. Your lawmakers are trying to kill an effort to let the people decide…The Atlantic City Council voted in December to move ahead with the tax breaks but unionized casino waiters and bartenders called Unite Here gathered enough signatures to put it before the voters in a referendum.

This caused mayhem in Trenton. You can’t have the people who pay the taxes deciding how to use them — that’s the kind of crazy thinking that got Chris Christie elected governor. So, Sen. Ray Lesniak, D-Union, and champion of the little guy, cooked up a bill, S-920, that would ban referendums on local development ordinances. Take that, you sorry little taxpaying troublemakers. If the Revel deal is such a good thing for Atlantic City, why not trust the good voters there?

The Asbury Park Press also strongly editorialized against the Morgan Stanley tax rebate, calling it “beyond the pale.”  They wrote that “Gov. Chris Christie should reject the giveaway to Morgan Stanley, which recently paid off $10 billion in federal bailout money and had enough left over to award $14.4 billion in bonuses and compensation to its employees.”

Hearing this, we thought of the famous saying by the poet James Whitcomb Riley: “When I see a bird that walks like a duck and swims like a duck and quacks like a duck, I call that bird a duck.”  And boy does Morgan Stanley sure quack like a duck.  Consider the following:

• Morgan Stanley disclosed that it had an ownership stake in the casino in a 2007 public filing required under the NJ Municipal Land Use Law (see chart).  The document clearly shows Morgan Stanley as owning a significant stake in Revel Entertainment through a chain of limited liability companies and corporations.  Morgan Stanley even lists their Revel investment (called Ventura Holdings) in their list of subsidiaries filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2009.

• The application for the $300 million tax break was filed by Revel Atlantic City LLC (a wholly owned subsidiary of Revel Entertainment).   According to this LLC’s last filing with the State of New Jersey, the President of Revel Atlantic City LLC is Edgar Sabounghi.  If you use this nifty little thing called Google, you find that Mr. Sabounghi is apparently employed by Morgan Stanley (according to numerous SEC filings, the last one dated 8/17/2009).  Mr. Sabounghi also shows up on other Revel related entities, with his address listed as 1585 Broadway, New York, NY.  Guess which global financial firm is located at 1585 Broadway?

• Morgan Stanley not only appears to own a major stake in Revel, property records disclose they have been financing the project.  According to these records, Morgan Stanley Senior Funding, Inc has the first, second, and third mortgage on the casino.

According to the Associated Press, Revel “won’t disclose the size of [Morgan Stanley’s] stake” in the casino project.  Why are Revel officials so reticent to publicly disclose the owners of the casino?  And more importantly, why aren’t NJ officials and politicians demanding this information before they dole out $300 million in tax rebates?

Given that property taxes just continue to go up, wouldn’t it be great if you could get 75% of future property tax increases returned to you?  You can!  It’s called the NJ Economic Stimulus Act.   See below if you qualify:

• Is your name Morgan Stanley?
• Are you building a casino that is short on cash?
• Have you received a taxpayer bailout in the past?
• Is the People’s Republic of China considering building and financing the project?
• Did you earn $1.3 billion in profits last year?
• Is the NJ legislature changing the law so taxpayers can’t vote on your tax rebate?

If you answered YES to all those questions, congratulations, you are eligible for a 75% reduction of your property taxes!

The New Jersey Legislature is furiously working away to take away the voter’s right of referendum. They don’t want citizens voting on the taxpayer bailout that politicians have arranged for a casino owned by Morgan Stanley.  Perhaps it is just a wild coincidence, but the Peoples Republic of China has reached a tentative agreement to help finance and build the casino.  Is it starting to make sense?

If not, you’ll probably agree with John McLaughlin.  John is a New Jersey voter who went to the legislature to testify against their efforts to take away our vote.  Listen to John:  mclaughlin.mp3

Now, there are those who continue to whine about the soaring compensation for banks like Morgan Stanley that have received taxpayer bailouts.  But if you can get the State of New Jersey to provide you with a $300 million tax subsidy for a half-completed casino in Atlantic City that may be built and financed by the Peoples Republic of China, then we say that those clever bankers at Morgan Stanley deserve every penny.