Bob Stears

It’s getting acrimonious in what Democrats hope will be Battleground Burlington.

The minority party in that county today stung their rivals with a video on their website detailing what party chairman Rick Perr says is a misuse of taxpayer dollars to further a bloated and beleaguered Republican Party.

"There is one fact that is undeniable," said Perr. "Taxes and spending in Burlington County have risen dramatically in the past five years. It is unacceptable that while Burlington County residents continue to pay more in taxes, these insiders are living off of the public trough."

In less than a year, 19 or 20 of what Perr calls "Paulsen’s 20 Republican Investment Team" (a nod to former Burlington County Republican Chairman Glen Paulsen) have each guaranteed $30,000 in campaign loans to the Burlington County GOP, according to the Democrats.

Fourteen months after pleading guilty to overbilling the Burlington County Bridge Commission for lobbying and public relations fees, former GOP strategist Robert Stears will be sentenced by a federal judge today.  Stears is a former partner of Republican State Chairman Tom Wilson.

A Burlington County lawyer filed a lawsuit today against Tom Wilson and other members of The Strategy Group, demanding that the firm give back all the money it made from the Burlington County Bridge Commission, which was duped out of up to $1 million by former partner Robert Stears.

Former Democratic candidate for Freeholder Dean Buono filed the suit, demanding that the firm pay back the entire $2.6 million it received from Burlington County between 1997 and 2003. Wilson, and Stears, who in December pled guilty to overcharging the BCBC, are named in the lawsuit.