Free Cars and Gas for State Workers

Each morning as I make my way to work, I typically spot between one and four state owned vehicles heading toward the cluster of state offices in Trenton. Now, we all know that there are certain jobs in the state where it is more cost effective to provide a state vehicle than to reimburse employees for mileage. But what doesn't make sense to me is why the Ford Focus flying by me at 65 miles per hour on route 206 clearly driven by a commuter to work should be paid for by my tax dollars. The auto, from the State Department of Environmental Protection was one of many that department seems to dole out to its workers like candy.

Here's an idea for you Mr. Corzine. Make your state workers come to work in their own cars. Make them pay their own gas. And then, if they need to do the public's business, provide a pool car that they can use and then return back to the NJ government premises. Outside of law enforcement who are on duty 24 hours a day, no state worker should have a state owned vehicle with state paid gas parked at their home AT ANY TIME.

If legislature of this state is so interested in fighting global warming(the irony of the outrageous number of State DEP vehicles on our streets is raw) -cut the fleet. State owned autos should not be a perk for state workers.

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A Society of Whiners!

Former Senator Phil Gramm sparked a major controversy this past week by saying that we have become a nation of whiners. Now, of course from a political standpoint, this was a completely stupid thing to say. McCain did the expected two-step backwards and threw Gramm under the bus. Obama responded with his typical snide and condescending "we don't need another Dr Phil" comment that sounded less funny every time it has been played. But the real question is whether or not Gramm is right.

The Media

The media outlets in this country live to whine. The New York Times front page is less often filled with real news than it is with whiny pseudo-news opinion pieces. For example, with all of the constant drumbeat over warrant less wiretapping for terrorism, no one has yet to find a single person to come forward to declare that they were unfairly targeted. It's like listening to my children complain because one or the other is "looking at me". In addition, the television media has created so many cable shows that propagate constant bleating like a sheep on steroids. Need proof? Watch Keith Olbermann just once.

The Political Class

All whiners. There are no statesmen left in politics. What remains is a pack of political hacks bought and paid for by union and industry money. The only ones who go against the grain are the outright kooks (see Kucinich and Paul) who are so marginalized that they will never advance politically. Too many of the elected class serve to feed the media whining about the topic of the day. Chuck Schumer of New York has made a career of the Sunday Morning Whine. You see, it is much easier to get in front of a camera and blame someone else that it is to do something about it. Need proof? Every knows that the oil situation is a problem. Democrats refuse to act as they refused to act 10 years ago. So now, they will go home for the summer having done nothing. But you will find them in front of the camera every day moaning about gas prices.

New Jersey's leaders

I used a small 'l' because I really don't consider there to be a single leading figure in the state's political classes. There is far too many political positions in the state and the bureaucracy is downright silly. The entire state is completely unhappy and the leaders don't care. Why? Because between state workers unions and paying off inner city poor, they remain in power. They whine about worker benefits, rebates for people who don't pay taxes, free health care, national politics, global warming and drilling offshore. But they never whine about the leadership in Trenton that is driving families and business out of the state at a rate unheard of anywhere but Michigan.

Bloggers

Of course bloggers whine. We exist because we feel that we have little of no influence on the political process as taxpayers and voters. If you are of the working class in this society, you have no say. Why? There is no lobbyist organization advocating for you. So we blog. It is the one opportunity to have your voice heard beyond your circle of friend (where you really don't want to advocate anyway). Thank God we are in this country where blogging is robust and our freedom of speech is protected. Been to any good Chinese blogs lately?

Me

Hellooooo? This post is one big WHINE!

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Paul Mulshine on "Unaffordable, Unfathomable Housing Plan"

"Each town's COAH committee has a dozen or so members, so when you multiply that by the 566 towns in New Jersey, you get ... lemme get out my calculator. Oh yeah, you get an incalculable waste of time and money."

No doubt. You really do need to read the whole thing.

And when you're done, thinking to yourself that it can't possibly be as bad as all that, go pull your copy of The Soprano State off of your bookshelf and read the section on the Mount Laurel Doctrine, which deals with affordable housing. In just a few pages, it shows how much worse it is than you think. Here, for instance:

The court gave developers the "builders' remedy," which says a builder can bring suit if it thinks zoning allows too few units on a parcel of land. If zoning only allows four houses per acre, for instance, the builder can bring suit for, say, twenty units per acre -- allegedly so that it can build affordable housing. This usually involves condos and apartments since builders wouldn't want affordable housing among their high-priced McMansions. Usually the threat of a suit is all it takes for a town to modify its zoning. If the issue never makes it to court, there is no order forcing the builder to provide any affordable housing although he does get the more dense zoning, which can be used solely for market-rate housing.

Follow that? The threat of a lawsuit gives builders the ability to quintuple the number of units on a parcel of land without actually providing the affordable housing that the denser zoning is supposed to enable. And the town residents' desires be damned.

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Off-topic: Local Response to 2nd Amendment Ruling

This isn't about taxes, but I thought I would share a letter that I sent to my Mayor and Assemblyman, John McKeon, today. It's in reference to his press release about the Supreme Court second amendment ruling.

Mayor / Assemblyman McKeon,

I read your press release this morning and would like to respond, as a double constituent of yours.

Briefly, I disagree with your position, and I think your press release is misleading and inappropriate. I expect the first, and am able to handle disagreements cordially even when my ideas are not those that rule, but I very much dislike political statements that try to hoodwink the public.

Specifically:

* The first line says that you "blasted a...ruling creating a blanket right to gun ownership."

This statement is false, because the Court specifically ruled that the right was created by the founders in the bill of rights; when you claim that they "created" a right, you have deliberately misinterpreted the ruling. The Court has not "created" anything. It has interpreted the Second Amendment. For you to disagree with their interpretation is one thing, but you have dissembled about what it means to have a ruling.

The statement is also, in another way, misleading. As Justice Scalia discussed in his written opinion, the right to gun ownership is limited. For you to use the term "blanket" must either mean that it is a right that covers all appropriate circumstances (as any right does), in which case your claim is redundant, or it means that it is a right that can't be constrained, which is false. Since the first usage is defensible but redundant, it sounds like you're trying to say that the right "created" by the court is unconstrained, which is misleading the public.

* Although "we can build guns today the killing capacity of which the Founding Fathers could not have imagined in their wildest dreams", the Founding Fathers knew about handguns (though ours today are better) and knew how to disassemble their muskets; they never imagined that the government they were building would have allowed local governments to break down and lock up their weapons, and, revolutionaries that they were, if a government had told them to do so they no doubt would have rebelled with those very same weapons.

* Your statement that "The Court has essentially given gang members the express right to stockpile guns in their homes under the guise of self-preservation" is particularly egregious. Gang members have no problem getting guns, and you have no right to break into their homes to find them without probable cause, so if the Court had ruled differently this would still be a problem. Moreover, as Justice Scalia pointed out, the ruling does nothing to prevent state and local governments from restricting the gun ownership of felons -- and someone who has not been convicted of a crime should not have his rights curtailed.

While I hope that you will reconsider your position on gun control, I think it unlikely and I respect your right to your beliefs. However, I firmly request that you stop using your position to spread misleading statements about the nation's highest Court's decision.

Regards,
Jake Freivald
West Orange

If your local politicians are responding to the ruling, now is the time to show your support or disapproval of their positions. They are all thinking about how to make this play out in the next election.

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More on the Center for Fathers

Special thanks to WBGO's News Director, Doug Doyle, for forwarding the press release about the Center for Fathers to me. I can also now find a tiny amount of coverage for the program (a few of these are essentially the same article): here, here, here, and here.

Here's the press release:

Mayor Booker Tours Newark comprehensive Center for Fathers; Program Provides Support and Resources for City's Dads
Program aims to help Newark fathers raise their children and lead productive lives

Newark, NJ - June 9, 2008 - Mayor Cory A. Booker toured a bold new program to assist Newark fathers at the Newark comprehensive Center for Fathers (NCCF) at Essex County College today. The center is designed to provide an array of services to fathers in transition - men who have lost their jobs or homes, or who are re-entering the workforce following incarceration and who seek to assume greater responsibility for and contribute to the lives of their children.

The facility is administered by the non-profit Newark Now in partnership with the City of Newark; Newark Works; the New Jersey Department of Labor; New Jersey Legal Services; and the ReLese Network. The program is in its third week and already has 20 fathers in the class.

"With the opening of this center, we are now providing the tools that or fathers need to succeed - as men, as parents and as residents of Newark," Mayor Booker said. "I am reaching out to and challenging all the fathers in Newark who are at risk or need help to come out and talk to our staff so that they can help in addressing all needs and concerns. Through the efforts put into this program, residents throughout the City of Newark will be able to sustain successful and productive lives for themselves and their families."

Using a holistic approach, Newark's Comprehensive Center for Fathers offers mentoring, parenting, life skills classes, legal assistance, math and reading skills, individual counseling, support groups, father/child activities. In addition, the program offers employment search and interview preparations services.

At the tour, Mayor Booker was joined by Newark Now Executive Director Modia Butler and Lavar Young, the Executive Director of Newark's Comprehensive Center for Fathers. The NCCF program is based on Philadelphia's nationally-recognized National comprehensive Center for Fathers.

The center's hours are 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday through Friday. To contact the center and learn more about its programs, call (973) 733-3460 ext. 432.

Contact:
Press Information Office: (973) 733-8004
Press Secretary Esmeralda Diaz Cameron: (201) 396-2556
E-mail: Pressoffice@ci.newark.nj.us

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Happy Fathers' Day from Cory Booker

UPDATE: I apologize for the incoherence of what follows. Special thanks to Doug Doyle, WBGO's news director, for sending me the press release that sparked their news item (now published here), and to Cephas Bowles, WBGO's General Manager, for taking the time to discuss funding for public radio in the comments section below.

I've slightly modified the post to fix a few things that the press release helped me sort out.

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I don't know much about Cory Booker, Mayor of Newark, but I want to know more after hearing a news report this morning on Jazz 88, WBGO (if you're not a member, you really should be*).

I'm upset that there isn't coverage about this anywhere. I can't get quotations, and what you're getting is a brain dump of what I heard when I was driving twelve hours ago instead of responsible reporting.

Doug Doyle, the WBGO News Director, talked about a new Center for Fathers in Newark. It's specifically for fathers who are out of work or newly released from jail. Mayor Booker said something to the effect that fathers are a critical part of the life of Newark; that how they fare affects Newark's stability.

Mayor Booker made a comment that I can't clearly recall now, but I remember thinking that he wasn't talking about the equality of the sexes, or of the poor and underprivileged, or of providing handouts to the needy; he was talking about a center where men could learn to be independent men and good fathers in tough times. [From the press release: "With the opening of this center, we are now providing the tools that or fathers need to succeed - as men, as parents and as residents of Newark."]

I hope that I heard correctly. I'd like to know more, but I can't find a thing about this new center out there.

I'm not big on spending money unnecessarily, but seeing a local politician highlight something that would make such a big difference to his environment is really compelling. I wish him well.

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* Yes, I know that I shouldn't like Public Radio. I still don't understand what it means to be a "A private corporation funded by the American people", as the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) claims to be, nor how the differences between the CPB, PBS, and NPR really matter, if the CPB funds PBS and NPR -- it still sounds like our tax money, just filtered through more layers of bureaucracy. But if they're going to fund it anyway, I'm not going to ignore it out of spite; and if I really think that people should pay for what they want, then WBGO is well worth paying for.

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Why Business is Fleeing the State

It's like watching a car wreck in slow motion.

Yep. And he (Paul Mulshine) gives a very nice summary of how the wheels have been coming off.

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New Jersey Mayors Cry Foul

A series of articles hit the news today after small town mayors got a look at Governor Corzine's revised aid figures as a part of the state budget. It seems that everyone wants to reduce government as long as it isn't theirs. From a NY Times local article:

“We expect to have faith in our legislators, because to start cutting is detrimental to our residents,” Mayor Nancy Martin said Thursday. “What are we going to cut? A police officer? There’s no waste. There’s nothing left.”

Few places provide as a vivid a perch to view the exercise of home rule as the municipal building here on Main Street, where Mayor Martin governs a borough of just 2,023 that has its own police force, department of public works and fire inspector.

I have nothing against this town nor do I think its Mayor is that far off base. However, this town is a part of a culture in this state of massive government both local and state. One could argue that many of these smaller towns would best be served by creating regional policing and sharing other services either at the county level or through some regional partnerships with other towns. It the business world, this concept is common. When a sales territory stops producing and cannot sustain the business, that territory is usually absorbed into a bigger district to save money. The same rule should aply here.

The town mentioned in this article essentially became insolvent in 1993 when its principal business moved to West Virginia. The town has been surviving on 'emergency' state grants for several years. Sorry folks. How do you square having its own police force at the same time the town is on the dole. Every town does not need a police force and the infrastucture to run it. New Jersey consistantly ranks in the top ten of all states in 'justice' expenditures. So, it isn't a problem with the funding, just where it is directed.

Towns like this should have to be practical and consolidate services when they are not longer viable on their own. But the mayor is also right that Trenton cannot just look at the towns in the state and expect them to 'pay up'. That is how Trenton funds everything. It is time for the state government to show that it is capable of cutting the outrageous waste perpetuated by bad management and outright corruption. Your turn Governor.

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NJ Government Gone Wild - "The Soprano State"

I couldn't help but borrow the Trentonian's front page headline today as it is too good to pass up. The headline refers to a story about a book written by Bob Ingle and Sandy McClure entitled

The Soprano State-New Jersey's Culture of Corruption

If the book is half as good as the article about it, I can't wait to read the details. One of the references from the book discusses why it has become such a problem to get spending under control.

“In New Jersey, government is not about taking care of what people can’t do for themselves. It’s about jobs,’’ reads the introduction. That’s government jobs, of course, and not just in the huge state bureaucracy.

It’s jobs in Jersey’s 566 towns, 616 school districts, 21 counties, 486 sewage and other authorities, 187 fire districts and 92 special agencies with the power to tax.

Of course, this is just the beginning.

The book says there are 444,000 local government workers, 154,500 on the state payroll and 19,119 elected officials, not counting the governor, and 120 state lawmakers. It works out to 81 government workers per square mile, compared with the national average of 6.

So when the Governor says that it would be horrible to cut state employees and just the other day was so proud that the state employee roll was cut by 1,500 since he came to office.....that's just one percent of the state headcount, we should be a bit skeptical.

Get out and read the book. I intend to and will post on what I find personally.

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Comparisons, Comparisons...

Rob Gebeloff -- the Stat Attack man of the Star-Ledger -- has an interesting post about the number of local agencies in New Jersey. I'm not advocating anything here, just noting Rob's interesting point.

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