Sunday, April 20th, 2008
An AP article today states:
But Democratic leaders said they couldn’t have foreseen the national economic woes that helped threaten state tax revenues and prompt Corzine to propose a $33 billion budget with $2.7 billion in spending cuts.
Why not? Plenty of folks have been yelling that the state cannot afford the rebates.
Lou Greenwald is incompetent:
“No one could have foreseen the national recession to this degree when we passed that rebate program a year ago,” said Assembly Budget Chairman Lou Greenwald, D-Camden.
If the budget chairman is really going to run with this excuse, he has no business representing anyone. The recession is not the cause of the rebate program being in jeopardy; it’s the fact that New Jersey has never been able to afford these rebates.
Did Greenwald attend any of Gov. Corzine’s town meetings a couple years ago when the Wall Street genius explained that tough choices were ahead for the state? That we can’t afford to keep spending?
Lou Greenwald is incompetent.
Posted in New Jersey, Politics | 1 Comment »
Friday, April 11th, 2008
I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again, the US government loves the life Gert and I live. Having a mortgage with children reduces the tax load significantly! . . . My nephew passed his jury for Eagle Scout this evening. Way to go, Parker . . . Well, this is certainly not the kind of press an upstart magazine should want . . . I’ve must not be well-read. I believe there are 
but 13 books on this list that I have read. I have a few others on the bookshelf . . . Not that anyone needed any further proof, but President Clinton does not tell the truth . . . Obama wasn’t going to win Pennsylvania, but thanks to foot-in-mouth disease (aka elitism), he surely has no shot now . . . spring has finally sprung . . . We all make mistakes, but shouldn’t a school district’s language arts supervisor not send e-mail with typos? . . . The AP counts differently than I do. According to Tom Hester, “Corzine’s $33 billion budget proposal would cut spending by $2.7 billion.” Yet, this year’s NJ’s budget was $33,293,000 and the proposed budget for next year is $33,968,603. That’s a spending increase the way I teach my fourth graders. Budget numbers are fluid, but I’ve yet to see a set of figures which actually shows spending will be less next year . . . Yikes! I shudder to think what this college would have done to us for our radio shows 20+ years ago . . . I agree with Justice Alito. I even wrote about it back in 2001. Of course, I approached it from a citizen of New Jersey, not as an Italian-American . . .
Posted in Education, GPS Games, Geocaching, Miscellaneous, New Jersey, Politics | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, April 1st, 2008
The news in New Jersey is seldom good. Amid budget cuts, one of the proposals Gov. Corzine has been banking on is dangling incentives to the state worker pool to get them to retire early. He promised to not fill a large portion of those jobs.
To grease the wheel, Corzine had planned on using $334 million he had stashed to fund the retirements.
Well, you can kiss that goodbye.
Today we learned that the Unemployment Fund is dangerously low. New Jersey politicians have raided this fund so much over the last 14 years, there is not enough to pay out the benefits. The fund is set up so that when it dips to a certain level businesses are hit up for a higher tax to cover the shortage. That is where we are.
Corzine knows that having that business tax kick in is not good for a struggling economy. So, what will he do? He’s going to raid his secret stash for the early retirements to float the Unemployment Fund. That means those state workers who would be off the books aren’t going to go anywhere (unless taxpayers put up more cash to get them out). That means taxpayers will not realize the savings of reducing the state work force. Twelve percent increases to their health benefits. Four+ percent raises. Pension stipends.
Nothing has changed. New Jersey’s government cannot afford itself.
Posted in New Jersey, Politics | No Comments »
Monday, March 24th, 2008
Public school teachers often look for summer employment. Despite the “hefty” salary we receive, many districts only pay that salary across 10 months, not 12. As such, July and August have no new money coming into the bank accounts. Yup, we should budget accordingly. Even when I was a boy, I recall Mr. Porter and Mr. Donaldson running a lawn mowing service. Mr. Porter also bartended.
Summer school is where many teachers begin looking for work. I have taught in summer programs. Generally, they run four weeks and pay about $1800 for that work.
Had I known, I would have signed up to be on the tax board. Apparently, for five weeks of part-time work one can earn $17,000 and until this year, health benefits. Sure, one needs to take four courses to get the job. I’d be willing.
Oh yeah, I have no issue whatsoever that health benefits are being cut. It’s this kind of spending that drives up the state budget. If Cumberland County struggles filling its board, give me a call. I am interested.
Posted in New Jersey, Politics | No Comments »
Tuesday, February 26th, 2008
After dropping the “painful” news today, Governor Corzine is off to campaign for Hillary in Ohio tomorrow.
Doesn’t it seem a little disingenuous to present an “austere” budget and then leave the state? One would think the governor would work the circuit to build consensus to pass his budget. Then again, if one didn’t really want his budget passed, he might dabble in other affairs . . .
Posted in New Jersey, Politics | No Comments »
