The casinos formerly named Trump

From the APP:

Trump sues to get name off casinos

Donald Trump has a message for the two Atlantic City casinos that still bear his name, five years after he gave up anything to do with running them: You’re fired.

The real estate mogul and reality TV star, who presided over a casino empire in the glory days of Atlantic City, filed a lawsuit on Tuesday demanding that his name be stripped from the remaining two.

He told The Associated Press he sued Trump Entertainment Resorts, a descendant of a corporate entity he once controlled, because it has allowed its two Atlantic City casinos, the Trump Plaza and the Trump Taj Mahal, to fall into disrepair, tarnishing his personal brand and confusing customers.

“I want it off both of them,” Trump said in an interview Tuesday evening. “I’ve been away from Atlantic City for many years. People think we operate (the company), and we don’t. It’s not us. It’s not me.”

It was the latest manifestation of Atlantic City’s struggles: One casino closed in January, two others are slated to do so by next month and another is up for a bankruptcy auction on Thursday and will shut down if a buyer doesn’t materialize.

Trump’s lawsuit, filed in state Superior Court in Atlantic County, seeks a court order directing Trump Entertainment Resorts to immediately cure what it terms a breach of Trump’s licensing agreement with the company or remove his name from the casinos and the company itself.

“Since Mr. Trump left Atlantic City many years ago, the license entities have allowed the casino properties to fall into an utter state of disrepair and have otherwise failed to operate and manage the casino properties in accordance with the high standards of quality and luxury required under the license agreement,” Trump wrote in his lawsuit, filed in the name of Trump AC Casino Marks LLC. “The Trump name … has become synonymous with the highest levels of quality, luxury, prestige and success.”

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161 Responses to The casinos formerly named Trump

  1. grim says:

    What I can’t at all fathom is why the casino operators hadn’t thought to drop the Trump name years ago. The “Trump” name is not at all associated with quality, luxury, prestige, or success. It was a liability, did anyone really take it seriously?

  2. Comrade Nom Deplume, a.k.a. Captain Justice says:

    [1] grim

    Agreed.

    At one time, it was associated with luxury, rather the faux luxury that was so fawned upon in the 80’s.

    For many years now, the Trump name is synonymous with hubris. And people regard the brand for what it is: a cheap, dated, veneer. Just like his hairpiece.

  3. anon (the good one) says:

    As always, the debates here are very educational

    For those of you who missed it, yesterday we had a good one on teachers. I’m pleased to share yesterday’s surprising results:

    1. Normal people do not hate teachers.

    2. Right-wing nuts hate everybody. In particular they hate teachers. And most of all they hate teachers for wishing to earn more than minimum wage.

    3. Right-wing nuts with a teacher spouse also hate everybody. However, they do not hate teachers as much as right-wing nuts who not have teachers as spouse.

    There you have it. You welcome.

  4. grim says:

    4 – You forgot: Teachers hate teachers

  5. anon (the good one) says:

    if I was a teacher we would read the 18th Brumaire in first grade

    grim says:
    August 6, 2014 at 8:36 am
    4 – You forgot: Teachers hate teachers

  6. Fast Eddie says:

    There you have it. You welcome.

    I could see the educational system did you proud. Does your ‘Bomma phone have the capacity to search for correct grammatical usage or does it just have “push button, get pellet” capability?

  7. Michael says:

    Lmfao!!!! Good one!!

    anon (the good one) says:
    August 6, 2014 at 8:35 am
    As always, the debates here are very educational

    For those of you who missed it, yesterday we had a good one on teachers. I’m pleased to share yesterday’s surprising results:

    1. Normal people do not hate teachers.

    2. Right-wing nuts hate everybody. In particular they hate teachers. And most of all they hate teachers for wishing to earn more than minimum wage.

    3. Right-wing nuts with a teacher spouse also hate everybody. However, they do not hate teachers as much as right-wing nuts who not have teachers as spouse.

    There you have it. You welcome.

  8. chicagofinance says:

    a little Geto Boyz

    [Bushwick Bill]
    The whole faculty’s on crack
    You say I can’t wear my hat, but yo, f^ck that
    You call yourself teacher, but whats bein taught?
    How to f^ck kids and not get caught?
    How can your teacher reach ya
    Their too busy in the halls tryin to f^ck the other teacher

  9. Ragnar says:

    Trump is the name you put on something that is destined for bankruptcy.

  10. Ragnar says:

    #3, 7,
    The troll(s) again misreads and misinterprets everything.
    Maybe you should buy this software or workbooks called “Reading Detective” from The Critical Thinking Company. I suggest you start with the grade 3-4 “beginner” course, and work your way up from there! First understand sentences, then try to work your way up to whole paragraphs and full essays.
    http://www.criticalthinking.com/reading-detective.html#

  11. Comrade Nom Deplume, a.k.a. Captain Justice says:

    [5] anon

    In which grade do the works of Marx, Chomsky, Sinclair, Ehrenreich, and selected works from Orwell and Steinbeck make your syllabus?

  12. Fast Eddie says:

    Ragnar,

    Consider where (s)he lives, it’s no wonder (s)he’s bitter.

  13. grim says:

    Trump seemed to have had no problem collecting the licensing fees associated with these disasters for years. Disrepair is nothing new, these casinos have been dumps for over a decade. Now that the whole thing is going belly up, he comes out of the woodwork, shocked to see this kind of thing is going on? Shocked! C’mon Donald, they would have stopped paying you soon enough.

  14. Comrade Nom Deplume, a.k.a. Captain Justice says:

    [11] redux

    BTW, by Marx, I mean Capital: Critique of Political Economy. Everything else is crap.

  15. Comrade Nom Deplume, a.k.a. Captain Justice says:

    After getting a beating yesterday, WAG is getting crushed in the premarket.

    We used to say “don’t let the tax tail wag the dog.” Today, tax IS the dog.

  16. Jason says:

    For anon (aka the pull-string doll) and michael (the thick-skulled one),

    As of 2013 New Jersey is spending over $18,000 to teach one child per year. That means in a classroom with 20 kids, taxpayers are footing the bill to the tune of $360,000 per classroom!

    Michael insists at $360,000 per classroom there just isn’t anywhere to cut spending.

  17. Comrade Nom Deplume, a.k.a. Captain Justice says:

    [15] redux

    None of this will matter when we wall ourselves off from the rest of the world economy.

  18. jj says:

    NYB, HIG, XOM, KRFT, SAN, PB, TGT are some stocks I may nibble on if we get a really down day today.

    Anymore to add to my list to put in low ball lmit order buys if the stock mkt is down big. So far not buying anything. Just getting my shopping list ready.

    A really really big sell off may shoot for Disney and Boeing, love the stocks but way way over priced and I missed my buying opportunity like three years ago.

    Bonds are very very pricey today.

  19. Comrade Nom Deplume, a.k.a. Captain Justice says:

    [16] jason,

    Facts and the reality that their sainted profession isn’t so saintly have little bearing on those two. Nothing so wrong with them that a reinvigorated recognition of the 1oth Amendment wouldn’t cure. Alas, the metastasis of federal overreach may be too far gone for that though.

  20. Fast Eddie says:

    I think I found anon!

    http://tinyurl.com/mzo2cfd

  21. Essex says:

    16. dubious figure. that includes the whole enchilada from the admin salary on down.
    Look at what you pay (taxes) to educate your kids per year. now compare that to MKA.

  22. Comrade Nom Deplume, a.k.a. Captain Justice says:

    Interesting when you see an avowedly liberal law school professor write about federal law overreach.

    http://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/amcrimlr21&div=7&id=&page=

    As an aside, I’ve met Prof. Coffee and the one takeaway I have from that meeting was his defense of a speaker at an Urban League dinner who, from the dais, yelled “Fcuk Whitey” about 8 times. Admittedly, it was a halfhearted defense, but a defense nonetheless. Cheapened him in my eyes.

  23. Anon E. Moose says:

    New signage; new uniforms; new c@s!no chips; in some cases new decor; plus advertising to build a replacement brand… one-itme expenses, and probably acceptable to properties that were making money. To properties bleeding red ink? Just another nail in the coffin.

  24. grim says:

    Why do I feel a conspiracy brewing with this Trump deal? Casinos moving towards bankrupcy, the Coking property finally sold, but to an undisclosed bidder at auction. Now Donald threatens to sue, which will surely push the property towards auction at an even greater discount.

    Signs seem to point to a behind the scenes player here.

  25. anon (the good one) says:

    what’s your point?
    what should, then, be the per classroom expenditure? why that figure?

    if this all a tax issue, why don’t you look into military expending and hate soldiers as well? they increase your taxes too

    this is a
    pure political issue because teachers vote democrat. that’s one of the main reasons right-wing nuts hate them.

    Jason says:
    August 6, 2014 at 9:11 am
    For anon (aka the pull-string doll) and michael (the thick-skulled one),

    As of 2013 New Jersey is spending over $18,000 to teach one child per year. That means in a classroom with 20 kids, taxpayers are footing the bill to the tune of $360,000 per classroom!

    Michael insists at $360,000 per classroom there just isn’t anywhere to cut spending.

  26. Anon E. Moose says:

    Con’t [23];

    BTW, DJT, I’ve know the Taj was a dump for years. What took you so long?

  27. Jason says:

    anon,

    I know it might be difficult, but how about trying to make do spending $180,000 per classroom and maybe reduce some of the bureaucracy and provide some relief to the taxpayers.

    It’s not a matter of hating the teachers which I don’t but recognizing the cost of the bureaucracy is out of control.

    So now I ask you anon, why do you hate taxpayers so much?

  28. Michael says:

    Avg teacher salary is 66,000. If that is too much, what do you think they should get paid. We do live in a high cost state with a high cost of living. Should the avg be 45,000? This way half of the teachers are on food stamps? You act like teachers are getting rich being a teacher. That is laughable. It really is. My wife wouldn’t go near teaching. The pay scared her away. She wanted to make real money. Real money isn’t topping out at 100,000 after 25 years. I feel bad for some of you if you think otherwise.

    Jason says:
    August 6, 2014 at 9:11 am
    For anon (aka the pull-string doll) and michael (the thick-skulled one),

    As of 2013 New Jersey is spending over $18,000 to teach one child per year. That means in a classroom with 20 kids, taxpayers are footing the bill to the tune of $360,000 per classroom!

    Michael insists at $360,000 per classroom there just isn’t anywhere to cut spending.

  29. painhrtz - whatever says:

    Not that I have a lot of time to get into the particulars Anon and Michael, here is an article that will be clearly over your head but provides concrete data sets that call into question climate models

    http://wattsupwiththat.com/2014/08/05/bombshell-study-shows-greenhouse-gas-induced-warming-dropped-for-the-past-14-years/

  30. Michael says:

    Taxes. You want services right? Well they cost money. I know in your imaginary world, we could have lots of services to go with low taxes. Just please tell me how that will work. How does one achieve this? Half of these services are discounted by govts taking out bonds and pushing the cost down the line on the future. So you are getting services payed by the future generations and still want it to be cheaper. Some people will never be happy. You want low taxes and a low cost of living, move where there is nothing. Your dream will then come true. But living in a high cost of living state that provides an insane amount of services will cost you. You want the ambulance or cops by your house within 5 min, you will pay high taxes. You want the 2 hour service, then we can talk about lowering your taxes.

    Right now, if you raise a family in nj, the taxes are not bad at all for the type of education your child is receiving. It’s actually a great value. 17,000 property taxes for a great education, safe neighborhood, and ton of other services sounds pretty ok to me. Of course, if you are single with no kids or your kids are now adults, you will complain to no end about these property taxes. My recommendation is to not live in the safe neighborhood with a good school system then. If you don’t want to pay for it, don’t live there. There are plenty of places in nj that does not have a good school system and is not safe, but does have low taxes.

    Jason says:
    August 6, 2014 at 9:37 am
    anon,

    I know it might be difficult, but how about trying to make do spending $180,000 per classroom and maybe reduce some of the bureaucracy and provide some relief to the taxpayers.

    It’s not a matter of hating the teachers which I don’t but recognizing the cost of the bureaucracy is out of control.

    So now I ask you anon, why do you hate taxpayers so much?

  31. Jason says:

    Michael

    You need to justify why taxpayers spending $360,000 per classroom is a good value.

  32. joyce says:

    And the 9th

    Comrade Nom Deplume, a.k.a. Captain Justice says:
    August 6, 2014 at 9:16 am
    [16] jason,

    Facts and the reality that their sainted profession isn’t so saintly have little bearing on those two. Nothing so wrong with them that a reinvigorated recognition of the 1oth Amendment wouldn’t cure. Alas, the metastasis of federal overreach may be too far gone for that though.

  33. joyce says:

    Jason,
    Respectfully, give up. You received multiple responses from them both in a short time span and none of them were on point.

  34. Ben says:

    For anon (aka the pull-string doll) and michael (the thick-skulled one),

    As of 2013 New Jersey is spending over $18,000 to teach one child per year. That means in a classroom with 20 kids, taxpayers are footing the bill to the tune of $360,000 per classroom!

    Michael insists at $360,000 per classroom there just isn’t anywhere to cut spending.

    This is entirely the fault of the local BOEs and the administrators. They are the ones who force the 20k a year health plan down everyone’s throat with kickbacks from Horizon. The BOE then hires connected construction firms to replace roofs every 5 years at 500% of the real cost. Do you honestly think 360k has gone into any classroom? I can’t even get them to replace a broken monitor cable in my room. I got sick of it after a 2 years and replaced it myself.

  35. joyce says:

    How is it dubious? Looking at the whole picture is a bad idea, why exactly?
    If private (allegedly prestigious schools) want to charge exorbitant fees, let them. And not that it matters, but govt run schools set the market.

    Essex says:
    August 6, 2014 at 9:17 am
    16. dubious figure. that includes the whole enchilada from the admin salary on down.
    Look at what you pay (taxes) to educate your kids per year. now compare that to MKA.

  36. Ben says:

    this is a
    pure political issue because teachers vote democrat. that’s one of the main reasons right-wing nuts hate them.

    Pure BS. The union endorses democrats. The voting demographics of teachers are not different than the general population. There are just as many right wing nuts in teaching as left wing nuts.

  37. joyce says:

    And this is at one of the better run schools, correct? Not the Elizabeth, Newark, et al Abbot districts.

    Ben says:
    August 6, 2014 at 10:32 am
    For anon (aka the pull-string doll) and michael (the thick-skulled one),

    As of 2013 New Jersey is spending over $18,000 to teach one child per year. That means in a classroom with 20 kids, taxpayers are footing the bill to the tune of $360,000 per classroom!

    Michael insists at $360,000 per classroom there just isn’t anywhere to cut spending.

    This is entirely the fault of the local BOEs and the administrators. They are the ones who force the 20k a year health plan down everyone’s throat with kickbacks from Horizon. The BOE then hires connected construction firms to replace roofs every 5 years at 500% of the real cost. Do you honestly think 360k has gone into any classroom? I can’t even get them to replace a broken monitor cable in my room. I got sick of it after a 2 years and replaced it myself.

  38. anon (the good one) says:

    no Jason, do not give up. assuming that $360,000 is a correct figure, need to break it apart to find out if it is a good or bad “value”
    need full details and context. don’t know what $360,000 means or how you are making your assessment.

    is a $12.8 billion aircraft carrier good or bad “value”? why?

    “In 2013 a GAO report cast doubts on the delivery schedule.[38][39] As of 2013, construction costs are estimated at $12.8 billion, 22% over the 2008 budget, plus $4.7 billion in research and development costs. Because of budget difficulties, the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Jonathan Greenert, has warned there may be a two year delay beyond 2016 in completing the Ford.[40]”

    joyce says:
    August 6, 2014 at 10:30 am
    Jason,
    Respectfully, give up. You received multiple responses from them both in a short time span and none of them were on point.

  39. joyce says:

    Jason,
    The idiots on here (we all know who they are) in addition to the Right vs Left coalition (which the idiots are a part of) … can’t possibly comprehend that it’s possible that the government overspends on MULTIPLE things. And by multiple, I mean everything.

    give up

  40. jj says:

    The average family in NJ makes 250K a year and folks all bought pre-bubble. Just pay your damm school taxes.

  41. Juice Box says:

    re: “if we get a really down day today”

    100 Billion in M/A down the tubes and a sprinkle of geopolitical events.

    Is there now an undeniable change in market psychology?

    Is the wind blowing the other way?

    NOT YET……..

  42. anon (the good one) says:

    @Reddy:
    Americans who say the U.S. is in an economic recession in
    2014 poll: 49%.
    2012: 64%.
    2010: 76%.
    2008: 81%.

  43. Ragnar says:

    What is the conclusion of this tweet? The recession was supposed to have ended in June of 2009.

    Reagan’s recession ended November of 1991. I wonder what percentage of the US population still thought the US was in recession in 1996? I suspect much fewer than 49%. The big O’s response to the recession was extremely flawed, burning most of his political capital on further socializing healthcare, increasing other regulations, and generally making employing people and investing capital in the US less desirable than before.

    Take a look at the consumer confidence time series below. After five years of “recovery” under the big O, consumers are about as confident now as they typically are during a normal president’s recession. Hope and Change.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumer_confidence_index#mediaviewer/File:U.S._Consumer_Confidence_Index.png

  44. joyce says:

    Girl Ambushed By 7 Cops For Carrying Water Wins $212k From Va. Taxpayers

    The state of Virginia will spend $212,500 in taxpayer funds to settle a $40 million lawsuit filed by Elizabeth Daly, the University of Virginia student who spent a night and much of the next day in jail after seven cunningly plain-clothed agents from the Alcoholic Beverage Control division ambushed her for the crime of purchasing bottled water.

    Attorneys for Daly reached the settlement agreement with lawyers with the Virginia Attorney General late Wednesday, reports The Daily Progress.

    Daly’s attorneys filed her complaint in March. The 12 counts include constitutional rights violations and the use of excessive force. The defendants in the case are the state and the seven agents from the state’s Alcoholic Beverage Control agency.

    Daly was charged with three felonies. After a public outcry and embarrassing national ridicule, all charges were dropped and Daly’s record was completely expunged.

    Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2014/08/01/girl-ambushed-by-7-cops-fo

  45. Libturd at home says:

    “can’t possibly comprehend that it’s possible that the government overspends on MULTIPLE things. And by multiple, I mean everything.”

    Ben…thanks for your contribution, both in the classroom and in this blog. I don’t think anyone hates teachers (except perhaps the infertile). My issue is the lack of accountability which Joyce alludes to. That $360K per classroom is very telling. Lord knows it’s not going to the teachers.

  46. Anon E. Moose says:

    Michael [28];

    Avg teacher salary is 66,000. If that is too much, what do you think they should get paid.

    Even assuming that is the number (and if it is, it must be salary only, as it certainly doesn’t include the costs of retirement and health benefits — and should probably be pro-rated for the 10-month work year) — point being, I don’t know what the right number is. Neither do you. If there was a free-market for education, the market might tell us. That would put alot of dues-paying union members out of a position, however. Needless to say Trenton would never let that happen.

  47. grim says:

    Dare I’m brave enough to post this another time, but I knew the guy in charge of procurement for a Hudson county school district.

    You would not need to twist my arm to get me to believe there is significant patronage, graft, kickbacks, embezzlement, and mafia involvement.

  48. homeboken says:

    As grim alludes to, we Hudson county residents dream of spending only 360,000 per classroom. Hoboken per student costs exceed $25,000 per. Half a mill for each 20 kid class. Can you imagine the quality you get for that kind of coin?

  49. NJGator says:

    homeboken – Yup. That’s why everyone is still clamoring for a seat at Hoboken Charter School, right?

  50. Libturd in Union says:

    At $500,000 per classroom, one would think that they could increase their ranking from the bottom of the barrel.

  51. Essex says:

    I told’ja tenure is dead — so you gotta move on to the next red herring….

  52. jj says:

    I know the answer. It is easy. I did a few HR consulting things back in the day.

    For a position that requires certain qualifications and you want to get a good hire with out over paying the goal is to get 100 qualified candidates to apply for every opening. You then pick 5-10 best bring them in and hire one. Any more applicants you are most likely over-paying and attracting too many resumes to deal with.

    My older sister. way back at the dept of the 1982 recession applied for a job in a high paying school district that was very hard to get into. Back then the put the ad in the NY times. The school got 5,000 resumes sent in. They asked secretary to throw out anyhow who did not meet minimun qualifications. Now they had 3,000 applications. This went on and on to finally they were at only show me double major undergrad, double major grad, students with 4.0 GPAs from good schools who are published and have some good recommendations and did some good student teaching. At that point he got down to 2 resumes. My sister got the job.

    Her school district on Long Island is one of the highest paying public schools in the tri-state area.

    Must HR departments would say you are OVERPAYING if you get that many applicatints and I dont need to know the salary.

    Extreme example the other way in summer of 2008 Morgan Stanley was getting such a massive amount of free internships it was overwelming them and hard to deal with the massive amount of applicants for a free job.

    Then summer of 2009 they decided to charge 3k a summer to be an intern. Yep you worked for free and they got your parent to give them a check. Got applicant number down and the made money.

    Back in the crazy days of summer 2004 they paid interns like 15 an hour.

    It is just supply and demand.
    Anon E. Moose says:

    August 6, 2014 at 11:51 am

    Michael [28];

    Avg teacher salary is 66,000. If that is too much, what do you think they should get paid.

    Even assuming that is the number (and if it is, it must be salary only, as it certainly doesn’t include the costs of retirement and health benefits — and should probably be pro-rated for the 10-month work year) — point being, I don’t know what the right number is. Neither do you. If there was a free-market for education, the market might tell us. That would put alot of dues-paying union members out of a position, however. Needless to say Trenton would never let that happen.

  53. Dan in debt says:

    The teachers may get an average of $66k per year salary but it sure isn’t costing the rest of “us” $66k per year. Future and current benefits that we are also responsible for is the cost I’d like to know.

    As for Trump Taj Mahal, my wife and I stayed there back in December 2009 or December 2010 for two nights mid-week and it was so depressing. All the restaurants and buffets were closed. People staying there were ordering in take-out Chinese as if they were staying at a Red Roof. Even the hotel next door had only one restaurant open and they told me that they alternate which restaurants are open day by day. I’ve been to Vegas several times since that trip but not AC.

  54. Phoenix says:

    4. Retired teachers hate working teachers.

  55. Phoenix says:

    grand·fa·thered
    ˈgran(d)ˌfäT͟Hər/
    verb
    North Americaninformal
    past tense: grandfathered; past participle: grandfathered

    exempt (someone or something) from a new law or regulation.
    “smokers who worked here before the ban have been grandfathered”
    synonyms: exempt, excuse, free, exclude, grant immunity to, spare, absolve;

  56. jj says:

    My house is pre-firm and for NFIP and FEMA it is Grandfathered.

    That is a sentence most folk in NJ would understand

  57. Libturd in Union says:

    Trump ha been a dump since the 90s. I only step in there when they offer a rich promotion. The casin0 next door is Bally’s and they still rotate which restaurants to open. This still is a ghetto dump, but not as much as TP (which is an appropriate acronym for it). As dumpy as it is though, they offer opportunities to beat the house so it is my home casino. On the bright side, they recently opened a Guy Fieri Chophouse and a Buca di Beppo, which is a huge step up from their prior offerings. Though their Nanking was servicable Asian.

    AC is NOT Vegas. Revel tried and look where that got them. AC has always been about the day tripper with the large bankroll. On the bright side, AC’s demise has been to an advantage gamers, well advantage. The remaining casin0s must enrich their offers or be the next on the cutting block.

  58. Libturd in Union says:

    Trump ha been a dump since the 90s. I only step in there when they offer a rich promotion. The casin0 next door is Bally’s and they still rotate which restaurants to open. This still is a ghetto dump, but not as much as TP (which is an appropriate acronym for it). As dumpy as it is though, they offer opportunities to beat the house so it is my home casin0. On the bright side, they recently opened a Guy Fieri Chophouse and a Buca di Beppo, which is a huge step up from their prior offerings. Though their Nanking was servicable Asian.

    AC is NOT Vegas. Revel tried and look where that got them. AC has always been about the day tripper with the large bankroll. On the bright side, AC’s demise has been to an advantage gamers, well advantage. The remaining casin0s must enrich their offers or be the next on the cutting block.

  59. Libturd in Union says:

    I would gladly trade lifetime healthcare for my partner and I for $15,000 in annual salary. In today’s dollars, most experts anticipate needing $250K per couple for it. And that’s without the awesome plans public sector workers obtain.

    Montclair opted out of the state plan to go with a private plan sold by Joey D’s brother. Think there’s some funny business there? I wonder what Montclair got from the county for this change?

  60. Fabius Maximus says:

    #3 anon
    You forgot that all of NJs wows are the fault of the progressives. Those GOP governors (who have held the office longer than the Dems since 1970) had nothing to do with it. The current pension fund mess has nothing to do with Christine Todd-Whitman? None of this is on CC either.

  61. joyce says:

    Yeah, and a Republican freed the slaves. Your (plural) labels are useless.

    Fabius Maximus says:
    August 6, 2014 at 2:14 pm
    #3 anon
    You forgot that all of NJs wows are the fault of the progressives. Those GOP governors (who have held the office longer than the Dems since 1970) had nothing to do with it. The current pension fund mess has nothing to do with Christine Todd-Whitman? None of this is on CC either.

  62. Fabius Maximus says:

    #6 Fast Eddie

    I have paid so much in Universal Service Charge over the years especially on overseas circuits that would cover a lot of those phones. I think its a great program and now that land lines are going the way of the Walkman, it was finally time to move to Cellular.

  63. Anon E. Moose says:

    Lib [59];

    Atlantic Club closing was just the canary in the coal mine (acronym “AC”; all round fitting). They would have closed sooner were it not for the few million they squeezed out of Poker Stars last year in the latter’s failed attempt to get the necessary footprint for entry into NJ’s online poker market.

    So far this year we’ve got Showboat and Trump Plaza slated to close, along with Revel if a buyer is not found. I’d put the “new” Golden Nugget and Resorts on the watch list, with Tropicana just above them. Speaking of which, Tropicana, if they are to survive, could use a new name and a new theme. No matter how well they can execute it, the whole Latin Rivera bit is dated — it might as well be a Polynesian Tiki bar.

  64. Fabius Maximus says:

    #10 Ragnar

    Is this your answer to NJ education? Do you think they have a scholarship program for the under privileged?
    http://tinyurl.com/pywslhe

  65. Anon E. Moose says:

    Lib [59];

    Atlantic Club closing was just the canary in the coal mine (acronym “AC”; all round fitting). They would have closed sooner were it not for the few million they squeezed out of P0ker Stars last year in the latter’s failed attempt to get the necessary footprint for entry into NJ’s online market.

    So far this year we’ve got Showboat and Trump Plaza slated to close, along with Revel if a buyer is not found. I’d put the “new” Golden Nugget and Resorts on the watch list, with Tropicana just above them. Speaking of which, Tropicana, if they are to survive, could use a new name and a new theme. No matter how well they can execute it, the whole Latin Rivera bit is dated — it might as well be a Polynesian tiki bar.

  66. Anon E. Moose says:

    Fabu! I hate to say I missed you — because I didn’t.

    The solution is to do nothing, so 20 years from now your kids can clean my kids’ pool.

  67. grim says:

    67 – Impossible, the Fairness Amendment to the constitution will have outlawed the private ownership of such frivolous luxuries. Instead, he will be working at the community pool, with a minimum salary and benefits provided under the Middle Class for All Americans act.

  68. Fabius Maximus says:

    #13 grim

    As much as I can’t stand him, I have to give him props. 10-25% of net revenue for putting his name on it and the golf courses are top notch.

    Selling the dream with the planes, buildings, golf and the trophy wife. He is the very embodiment of Barnums “there’s a su**er born every minute!” Look at all those people that trudged up to the 92nd Y for his course with his book under their arm, an empty wallet, made lighter by the course fees and a dream.

  69. Fabius Maximus says:

    #28

    Balance teacher salaries against other states and NJ is not that far out of line. We are near the top, but Alaska and PA not too far behind. Given the cost of living, salaries seems to be the wrong argument.
    http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/12/15/how-much-teachers-get-paid-state-by-state

  70. Libturd in Union says:

    Moose,

    If there is one thing I have learned after decades of gambling, it’s that shortly after a gaming resort’s bean counters tighten the reigns on comps, the house closes down. Revel was destined to die from the start due to their outright strategy of not catering to high rollers and especially Asian gamblers. The Hilton, which I transitioned to after the sale and eventual implosion of the Sands, also tightened it up and died. TP used to work like the Taj, but they went whole hog away from providing comps and with the move is now done. I think the Nugget will make it because, one, they are on an upswing after their inexpensive renovation and they are definitely doing the necessary promos. Heck I went in there for my free $100 last year.

    I’m fairly certain Caesars will eventually buy Revel for pennies on the dollar. This is why they closed the Boat. As for Tropicana, I think it will make it on their nightclubs. The rooms are simply too expensive at the Borgata for much of that crowd. Speaking of the success of the Borgata, they seem to balance the comps with the luxury better than anyone. I don’t play there as I do much better at Bally’s, but I do stiff them with the 7-star for their black card promo every couple of years and eat my free monthly Fatburger and take my $100 free play and one free room. It’s really a nice place and it is tops in customer service. I only wish their comp rate for good for cash and not food. I also think AC is just about near bottom. The recent concerts on the beach, air show, big concerts at the convention center as well as outlets are helping. The beer festival and boardwalk don’t hurt either. There is simply to much gaming capacity when everyone can go to a local gaming house in their backyard. Too bad the average degenerate does not realize how the odds work and will get slayed in their local joint instead of making the drive to AC where they have a chance to actually win. The other problem with AC is the parking tax. I get free parking due to my play level, but the average schmo pays $20 just for the privilege of going. But this is NJ where everyone and everything gets taxed.

  71. Libturd in Union says:

    Fab…it’s not the salaries so much as the size and needlessness of the administrations and the insane benefits. No one below executives get fantastic family healthcare for life at nearly no cost. Whenever one reads propaganda from the left on the topic, they always leave out the benefits. The left also likes to point out that everyone in the private sector is paid like a CEO.

  72. Libturd in Union says:

    Plus it doesn’t help the NJ lacks regionalization.

    Let me pull up Alaska and Penn and see what their retirement benefits are. Want to bet it’s nothing near NJ’s? Why? I don’t think their unions sell out to the Dems in the Statehouse, regardless of which party is in Drumthwacket.

  73. Fabius Maximus says:

    #29 pain

    From the Journal publishers.

    http://www.ametsoc.org/policy/2012climatechange.html
    There is unequivocal evidence that Earth’s lower atmosphere, ocean, and land surface are warming; sea level is rising; and snow cover, mountain glaciers, and Arctic sea ice are shrinking. The dominant cause of the warming since the 1950s is human activities. This scientific finding is based on a large and persuasive body of research. The observed warming will be irreversible for many years into the future, and even larger temperature increases will occur as greenhouse gases continue to accumulate in the atmosphere. Avoiding this future warming will require a large and rapid reduction in global greenhouse gas emissions. The ongoing warming will increase risks and stresses to human societies, economies, ecosystems, and wildlife through the 21st century and beyond, making it imperative that society respond to a changing climate. To inform decisions on adaptation and mitigation, it is critical that we improve our understanding of the global climate system and our ability to project future climate through continued and improved monitoring and research. This is especially true for smaller (seasonal and regional) scales and weather and climate extremes, and for important hydroclimatic variables such as precipitation and water availability.

    Technological, economic, and policy choices in the near future will determine the extent of future impacts of climate change. Science-based decisions are seldom made in a context of absolute certainty. National and international policy discussions should include consideration of the best ways to both adapt to and mitigate climate change. Mitigation will reduce the amount of future climate change and the risk of impacts that are potentially large and dangerous. At the same time, some continued climate change is inevitable, and policy responses should include adaptation to climate change. Prudence dictates extreme care in accounting for our relationship with the only planet known to be capable of sustaining human life.

  74. anon (the good one) says:

    be serious. in 2008 the world endured one of the greatest economic catastrophes created by ayn rand’s bangsters. it had to take years to get out of it

    Ragnar says:
    August 6, 2014 at 11:39 am
    What is the conclusion of this tweet? The recession was supposed to have ended in June of 2009.

  75. Juice Box says:

    Trump National 20k a year to be a member and 150k initiation. The initiation is not refundable. Then you get to hang around with a bunch of mobbed up buffoons. I have seen some of those guys bring call girls to the club. I kid you not.

    Trump = Trash

  76. Libturd in Union says:

    The plan is Pennsy is not cheap (no Dem’s to endorse I guess), but the plans are excellent. Much better than what the private sector offers.

    https://www.hopbenefits.com/medBenefitOptions/index.cfm?fa=countyLookupResults

  77. grim says:

    72 – The left also likes to point out that everyone in the private sector is paid like a CEO.

    Funny, because at near $400k annual income, School Superintendent and Educator Frank Alvarez is right up there with many private sector CEOs, and absolutely a one percenter.

  78. Libturd in Union says:

    For example, in Pennsylvania the official unfunded liability reported by the state’s two major pension systems is a combined $49 billion. That assumes pension funds will grow at a rate of 7.5 percent every year in perpetuity.

    Using the lower, safer growth rate of 3.22 percent, the unfunded liability in Pennsylvania’s two pension plans grows to a combined $156 billion.

    Whoops!

  79. grim says:

    Well, pretty good for a Montclair State graduate, anyway….

  80. Libturd in Union says:

    Alverez wife is a teacher too.

  81. grim says:

    So maybe closer to $500k income? Not bad for two educators.

  82. grim says:

    What I don’t understand, in many districts, janitors appear to be paid on par with 0-5 year teachers.

    Can someone explain this to me?

  83. Libturd in Union says:

    Did he really graduate from my alma mater? Don’t go thinking I’m going to knock Sam Mills, Allen Ginsburg, Bruce Willis or Mayor Sharpe James (well maybe not the mayor) any lower on my list of famous graduates.

  84. Comrade Nom Deplume, a.k.a. Captain Justice says:

    Back with this quarter’s expatriate numbers ahead of the Federal Register publication tomorrow.

    https://s3.amazonaws.com/public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2014-18712.pdf

    Another 576 americans said buh-bye to our shores (and our taxes), bringing this year’s total to 1,577 (actually its higher since not all relinquishers are reported here). Last year was a record at 2,999 reported on the FR. This year, we are on pace to beat that.

    Will let the assembled know if the list shows any noteworthy folks. I don’t check that now that so many reporters are following this.

  85. Ragnar says:

    #70,
    Thanks for that data. I did a quick analysis comparing the teacher compensation with the median state household income. Across the country, averaging all states equally, a teacher makes on average 105% of median household income within that state.
    Which is exactly where NJ falls, with teachers earning $68,797, vs median household income of $65,548. (105%)

    Teacher heaven is NY State, where the avg teacher earns $75k, vs a median household income of $51k. 149% of the median. The saddest group of teachers are in Virginia, making $50k vs median hh income of $64k.

  86. Libturd in Union says:

    “What I don’t understand, in many districts, janitors appear to be paid on par with 0-5 year teachers.”

    Our schools are special and require the ‘brightest and the best’ lavatories.

  87. Libturd in Union says:

    Alaska was the place to teach if you started before 1996. Full health care covered. Nothing out of pocket. Newer retirees pay partial for a very good plan. Newer workers also have 401k instead of pension. I guess Alaska is a red state.

  88. Ben says:

    And this is at one of the better run schools, correct? Not the Elizabeth, Newark, et al Abbot districts.

    Yes, one of the consistently top performing districts in the state.

  89. Comrade Nom Deplume, a.k.a. Captain Justice says:

    [32] joyce,

    It isn’t relevant to the point I was trying to make but if it makes you feel better, the 9th can come along too!

  90. Libturd in Union says:

    My son’s Montclair janitor makes $52,000 in year seven. Not bad, to oversee a cleaning service.

  91. JJ says:

    I dated one or two teachers. Only thing I found out is the blonde ones are brunettes if your turn them upside down.

  92. Ben says:

    What I don’t understand, in many districts, janitors appear to be paid on par with 0-5 year teachers.

    Can someone explain this to me?

    Union members on the take. If you add the janitors to the union, that’s another 10k in union dues you get to play with. Each local union takes in close to a million a year in dues. We have no idea what they end up doing with the money.

  93. JJ says:

    Lifetime medical for a relatively young civil servant would require someone who wanted to self insure to have one million in the bank. I basically saw that on-line when the LIRR workers were protesting. Think of it, I had a buddy retire as a garbage man at 39. Did his full 20 years and when he retired he just got married and was going to have a kids etc. We have to pay for him and his wife rest of natural life and all his kids under obama care until like 27.

    Libturd in Union says:
    August 6, 2014 at 2:01 pm
    I would gladly trade lifetime healthcare for my partner and I for $15,000 in annual salary. In today’s dollars, most experts anticipate needing $250K per couple for it. And that’s without the awesome plans public sector workers obtain.

    Montclair opted out of the state plan to go with a private plan sold by Joey D’s brother. Think there’s some funny business there? I wonder what Montclair got from the county for this change?

  94. Michael says:

    Thank you for being open minded and finally realizing the attack on teachers was a political power move by Christie to gain power and support. Well his plan sure worked. You have a bunch idiots complaining that teachers make too much money and are robbing the tax payer. Where do they get this information from? From the fat man and his propaganda group. When people like Ragner actually go look at the #s, you realize fat man played you. Teachers really aren’t overpaid and getting rich off the system. If the avg salary is below 70,000 in nj, how the hell can you complain about it. You want the avg to be 45,000 so that teachers are collecting food stamps? Damn, people are naive and gullible. Anyone that thinks a reg govt worker or teacher is getting off on the system, I have a bridge to nowhere to sell you.

    Ragnar says:
    August 6, 2014 at 4:02 pm
    #70,
    Thanks for that data. I did a quick analysis comparing the teacher compensation with the median state household income. Across the country, averaging all states equally, a teacher makes on average 105% of median household income within that state.
    Which is exactly where NJ falls, with teachers earning $68,797, vs median household income of $65,548. (105%)

    Teacher heaven is NY State, where the avg teacher earns $75k, vs a median household income of $51k. 149% of the median. The saddest group of teachers are in Virginia, making $50k vs median hh income of $64k.

  95. Michael says:

    Retired at 39? Come on with the bs. Maybe he quit his job, but he wasn’t collecting.

    JJ says:
    August 6, 2014 at 4:19 pm
    Lifetime medical for a relatively young civil servant would require someone who wanted to self insure to have one million in the bank. I basically saw that on-line when the LIRR workers were protesting. Think of it, I had a buddy retire as a garbage man at 39. Did his full 20 years and when he retired he just got married and was going to have a kids etc. We have to pay for him and his wife rest of natural life and all his kids under obama care until like 27.

  96. NJGator says:

    Grim – 83 – Yes, Nancy Myers-Alvarez pulls in another 100k+ in play money from the Township of Montclair.

    http://php.app.com/edstaff/details2.php?recordID=73465

  97. Anon E. Moose says:

    Re [75];

    be serious. in 2008 the world endured one of the greatest economic catastrophes created by ayn rand’s bangsters. it had to take years to get out of it

    Keep believing that. You’ll be helping Fabu’s kids clean my kids’ pool.

  98. NJGator says:

    How about a $100k+/year middle school gym teacher? I’d play kickball with the kids for that amount of dough.

    http://php.app.com/edstaff/details2.php?recordID=73610

  99. Michael says:

    Ok, how many people would hand in a resume for a CEO? Should they get lower pay because there was 10,000 applicants?

    Same thing with an athlete. I’m sure there are a ton of guys that can play at a level close to the current pros. How come only a few get paid outrageously more than the rest? There are guys begging to play for less, but they choose to pay some guys more.

    Sure, a lot of people apply for a teaching job, but how many can actually do it?

    Just because there are a lot of applicants doesn’t mean the job should get paid crap.

    jj says:
    August 6, 2014 at 1:37 pm
    I know the answer. It is easy. I did a few HR consulting things back in the day.

    For a position that requires certain qualifications and you want to get a good hire with out over paying the goal is to get 100 qualified candidates to apply for every opening. You then pick 5-10 best bring them in and hire one. Any more applicants you are most likely over-paying and attracting too many resumes to deal with.

    My older sister. way back at the dept of the 1982 recession applied for a job in a high paying school district that was very hard to get into. Back then the put the ad in the NY times. The school got 5,000 resumes sent in. They asked secretary to throw out anyhow who did not meet minimun qualifications. Now they had 3,000 applications. This went on and on to finally they were at only show me double major undergrad, double major grad, students with 4.0 GPAs from good schools who are published and have some good recommendations and did some good student teaching. At that point he got down to 2 resumes. My sister got the job.

    Her school district on Long Island is one of the highest paying public schools in the tri-state area.

    Must HR departments would say you are OVERPAYING if you get that many applicatints and I dont need to know the salary.

    Extreme example the other way in summer of 2008 Morgan Stanley was getting such a massive amount of free internships it was overwelming them and hard to deal with the massive amount of applicants for a free job.

    Then summer of 2009 they decided to charge 3k a summer to be an intern. Yep you worked for free and they got your parent to give them a check. Got applicant number down and the made money.

    Back in the crazy days of summer 2004 they paid interns like 15 an hour.

    It is just supply and demand.
    Anon E. Moose says:

    August 6, 2014 at 11:51 am

    Michael [28];

    Avg teacher salary is 66,000. If that is too much, what do you think they should get paid.

    Even assuming that is the number (and if it is, it must be salary only, as it certainly doesn’t include the costs of retirement and health benefits — and should probably be pro-rated for the 10-month work year) — point being, I don’t know what the right number is. Neither do you. If there was a free-market for education, the market might tell us. That would put alot of dues-paying union members out of a position, however. Needless to say Trenton would never let that happen.

  100. Michael says:

    Then go do it. Who is stopping you? You want to go play kick ball with crazy entitled middle school kids than go do it.

    NJGator says:
    August 6, 2014 at 4:34 pm
    How about a $100k+/year middle school gym teacher? I’d play kickball with the kids for that amount of dough.

    http://php.app.com/edstaff/details2.php?recordID=73610

  101. Libturd at home says:

    You don’t solve the problem by joining them. Especially if the future looks bleak as I have no clue how all of this compensation is going to be paid for? Wage growth? Right!

  102. Michael says:

    I like these two comments from that article. I love how billionaires act like they care about the kids future. Attacking tenure is how you help the youth? Wtf? You can do a million and one things to help them, but you choose tenure reform as the means to help them? What a joke. Smoke and mirrors.

    Meow Meister20 minutes ago
    All tenure means is due process. Period. These charlatans heading the lawsuits filed on behalf of lazy students who want to blame the teachers for their own laziness are a disgrace to the nation. Campbell Brown, Mona Davids, and their wealthy backers only care about making money off of the school system. Only the teachers unions are working for the kids.
    LikeReplyShare1

    MCNY22951 minutes ago
    Again, some rich people trying to turn the public’s
    attention from how they have been keeping the lower class in the bottom of the
    society are pretending that they care about inner city kids. If teachers have a say on how they can do
    their lessons or how the students can be disciplined when they misbehave, then
    they should be responsible for the outcome of the students’ education. In fact, not only do they not have a say on
    this, but every single little things inside a classroom are heavily
    regulated. I have heard that some principles
    would take the time to discipline teachers who don’t do bulletin boards in the
    way they want. Teachers
    are just scapegoats of the top 10%’s evil doing. In every society, the richest people
    would need to have a mean to keep everyone in his place so that they can
    continue to be at the top. These richest
    people never want the poor people to become well educated. That’s why they ruin the education system and
    give them welfare. As for the teachers,
    they are among the few professionals who deserve to be protected by a strong
    union. Why? How many of us are willing to spend our days
    with a bunch of inner city kids who mostly just want to live on welfare and
    stay lazy?

    Essex says:
    August 6, 2014 at 1:32 pm
    Then there is this:

    http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/education/california-billionaire-joins-fight-teacher-tenure-new-york-article-1.1893835

  103. 1987 Condo says:

    My wife gets $57,500 in year 10, high school math teacher, one of highest rated teachers in district. Math major, MA, 20 years prior in insurance/finance industry.

  104. Michael says:

    Burn her at the stake!!! Christie says it’s her fault why your taxes are high. She is getting rich off the system!!! Teachers are thugs!!! Get them! It’s the teacher’s fault why your kid is lazy and can’t read. Lmfao…..the attack on teachers and reg govt workers is too funny. These are supposedly smart people getting played by political power grabs. I wonder how long it will take them to realize that they are getting played when they attack these workers?

    1987 Condo says:
    August 6, 2014 at 5:01 pm
    My wife gets $57,500 in year 10, high school math teacher, one of highest rated teachers in district. Math major, MA, 20 years prior in insurance/finance industry.

  105. Essex says:

    New Jersey hospital charges man nearly $9,000 to treat a CUT on his middle finger

    New Jersey man Baer Hanusz-Rajowski was stunned to receive the huge bill after treatment last year. After outrage from Rakowski Bayonne Medical Center wrote off his portion of the bill. ew Jersey man Baer Hanusz-Rajkowski was stunned to receive a bill for nearly $9,000 when his local hospital fixed up a cut finger he hurt during some home DIY.

    Bayonne resident, Rajkowski, split his middle finger with the claw end of a hammer last August and was hit with the enormous charge by Bayonne Medical Center ER, despite only receiving a tetanus jab, swab and bandage.

    For that level of care, an incredulous Rajkowski was sent a bill for $8,200 for the visit to the ER and on top of that he was charged $180 for a tetanus shot, $242 for sterile supplies and $8 for antibacterial wipes – plus hundreds more for the nurse who treated him.

  106. Michael says:

    You see this is what I don’t get. You get pissed about a gym teacher making 100,000 after 31 years, but say nothing about the billionaire who just polluted a town to make an extra billion. You guys support the people that are really taking advantage of you and attack regular workers because they work for the govt. Like wtf? Why do you think like this? I really can’t comprehend it.

    If a teacher or govt worker is getting over on you, how much do you think it is? Prob almost nothing. Meanwhile joe smith the CEO is your hero for bringing jobs and business. Those jobs and business are exactly the vehicles he uses to get over on you. The business extorts our resources and abuses our infrastructure, but we are ok with it, instead let’s focus our anger on low level govt workers. You know, cause those govt workers are screwing you and are the devil. Our hero, mr CEO, is the man. He provides jobs (doesn’t even provide that anymore)!!

  107. grim says:

    Skateboarding Business Is Not A Crime

    Stop criminalizing private industry, not everybody is out to fuck you over.

  108. Michael says:

    Says the Russian oligarchs!

    grim says:
    August 6, 2014 at 5:33 pm
    Skateboarding Business Is Not A Crime

  109. grim says:

    It’s been a long long while since we’ve seen a piece like this, oh boy.

    http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-08-06/house-punting-the-cost-of-waiting-to-buy-in-hot-markets.html

  110. Essex says:

    109. Anything you say Grim

    Bank of America and the Justice Department have reached a tentative deal that would cost the bank nearly $17 billion to settle an investigation into its sale of toxic mortgage securities in the run-up to the financial crisis, according to people briefed on the matter, the latest eye-popping rebuke of a giant bank.

    The agreement, which is not final and could still fall apart, would represent a record for the government. It would be the largest sum the Justice Department has ever extracted from a single company.

    The bank has agreed to pay a roughly $9 billion cash penalty to the United States Treasury — last month, Citigroup agreed to pay a $4 billion penalty — while providing the remaining money in the form of relief to struggling homeowners, the people briefed on the matter said. Just a few weeks ago, the bank was offering only $3 billion in cash, a figure that temporarily caused talks to break down.

  111. grim says:

    112 – I’d pay top dollar for front row seats to the firing squad.

    Why is the executive branch so quiet on this? I suppose they’ll make a statement against this, two years from now. Why are we permitting Democrat Eric Holder to propose any settlement at all?

  112. grim says:

    I’m not going to defend Idiot Bush, but at least his administration went after executives like Lay (Enron) and Kozlowski (Tyco).

    This administration seems absolutely content to insist on hush-money payments.

  113. grim says:

    To prove I’m not playing party lines here, the Clinton administration went after thousands of bankers.

  114. grim says:

    115 – What’s the methodology – just a quick glance, it seems that they’ve made an assumption that spending = best

  115. anon (the good one) says:

    that’s like $1,500 take home bi-monthly.

    JJ makes that an hour

    1987 Condo says:
    August 6, 2014 at 5:01 pm
    My wife gets $57,500 in year 10, high school math teacher, one of highest rated teachers in district. Math major, MA, 20 years prior in insurance/finance industry.

  116. anon (the good one) says:

    right wingers should hate doctors

    Essex says:
    August 6, 2014 at 5:28 pm
    New Jersey hospital charges man nearly $9,000 to treat a CUT on his middle finger

  117. Ben says:

    How about a $100k+/year middle school gym teacher? I’d play kickball with the kids for that amount of dough.

    You should be more offended that the gym teacher has a supervisor that probably doesn’t supervise him at all but collects 150k. No one ever brings that one up.

  118. Ragnar says:

    Look at my posts historically and you will see my main complaint about schools is the perverse incentive structure, waste, lack of interest in customers, statist propaganda delivery, and bad process. I highly value education and teachers. For example, I paid over $100k out of pocket for my own grad school education, and tens of thousands on my daughter’s Montessori preschool. But state run education continues to lag further and further behind private sector efficiency and quality improvements that are possible. The current system is like a 1975 Chevy Vega.

  119. Ragnar says:

    Ben, administrators that are a self perpetuating bureaucracy must be a big problem in terms of costs and educational outcomes. And will remain so until the system starts to incorporate market incentives we take for granted in most important service transactions.

  120. Anon E. Moose says:

    Re: [119];

    right wingers should hate doctors

    Ummm, when was the last time you saw a hospital that wasn’t (nominally) incorporated as a “non-profit” entity? What’s right-wing about non-profits? Strictly a leftist racket.

  121. anon (the good one) says:

    Essex says:
    August 6, 2014 at 5:40 pm

    Bank of America and the Justice Department have reached a tentative deal that would cost the bank nearly $17 billion to settle an investigation into its sale of toxic mortgage securities in the run-up to the financial crisis, according to people briefed on the matter, the latest eye-popping rebuke of a giant bank.

    Ragnar says:
    August 6, 2014 at 6:17 pm

    market incentives

  122. 1987 Condo says:

    She clears about $3,000 a month for the 10 months…..it kinda made sense when the healthcare was free but now she pays what i would pay, lost the pension cola, lost the retiree health care and lost the expected increases, her takehome is less than it was 3 years ago, lol! If she can get an admin job though she can get a quick $35,000 jump in pay….!!!,

  123. Ben says:

    Despite the gym teacher in Montclair and the countless others like them, the system structure in place is designed to suppress teacher salaries and keep administrator salaries high. Everyone that complains about teacher salaries is completely ignorant of the true problems within the school system and how money is spent. The biggest cost are the construction contracts that are bid to 500% of cost.

    A lot of times, it’s for unnecessary work. 10 million to replace the whole roof because of one leak somewhere instead of patching it up for $50. Replace all the doors instead of just the door handles. I can point to endless amounts of complete waste that are the true reason that your properties taxes are high. But no one pays attention. Most of the good teachers are hopelessly stuck making $50k a year and will never sniff the salaries you complain about.

  124. Michael says:

    Holy shi! !!! Did they at least leave her with some clothes to wear, or did they take that too?

    looks more like a victim to me….why all the attacks? I really don’t get it.

    1987 Condo says:
    August 6, 2014 at 6:23 pm
    She clears about $3,000 a month for the 10 months…..it kinda made sense when the healthcare was free but now she pays what i would pay, lost the pension cola, lost the retiree health care and lost the expected increases, her takehome is less than it was 3 years ago, lol! If she can get an admin job though she can get a quick $35,000 jump in pay….!!!,

  125. Juice Box says:

    re: Skool waste. How about a truant officer for pre-skool?

    This was on 101.5 radio this morning.

    ‘The ringleader on this is Rafael Fajardo, a former board president who has six relatives on the payroll, including a sister who is a truant officer for preschool students, a job the state deemed pointless because preschoolers are not required to attend.”

    http://blog.nj.com/njv_editorial_page/2011/05/needed_criminal_investigation.html

  126. Essex says:

    117-

    12 factors — “from student-teacher ratios and dropout rates to test scores and bullying incident rates.”

    Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/states-with-best-and-worst-school-systems-2014-8#ixzz39ekInDID

  127. Juice Box says:

    re # 126 Ben – Bingo construction contracts. The bent nose crowd. Allot of fraud and waste over the years and some prosecutions.

  128. Essex says:

    Schools are basically “run” by parents now. The ones who are the loudest tend to swing the most weight. Again, not that many people that I know who teach would encourage anyone they care about to enter the field. Look at many districts and you will see names of literally generations of families working in the district. Despite nepotism laws, you will see a lot of districts run like a family business.

  129. Essex says:

    In my fair city they had one guy as the Superintendent for 30 some years and his WIFE was in charge of testing for the district. It is a solid 3rd tier district that most families with money leave after grade 5.

  130. Juice Box says:

    re: prosecution of the bankers.

    Read Professor William Black’s stuff.

    Not only do they get to settle for $$ with no criminal prosecutions, the agreements with the DOJ and SEC apparently allow them to disparage the settlement and call it all lies and untrue etc.

    Holder is an “activist” after all.

  131. Essex says:

    Then there is this clown who goes from Town to Town acting as an interim Superintendent.

    http://tinyurl.com/m5peas2

    He was paid over $350k over two years (for some reason the assistant superintendent making $22ok a year couldn’t run the district) and the admins held a big party for everyone at Rock Springs CC.

  132. Fabius Maximus says:

    #60 Lib

    So I’ll increase your taxes by $15K and soc1alise healthcare so you’ll get your free healthcare for life. Are you signing on?
    You’ll also save the $5K your paying out of pocket for your employers plan so its only really $10K.
    Need a pen?

  133. Fabius Maximus says:

    #62 Joyce

    And Dems took us to war. Is there a real point there?

  134. Fabius Maximus says:

    #67 Anon

    You still stubbing your cigars out on the backs of the oppressed?

    In 20 years I plan to have my last graduating Trinity Dublin as it will be a lot cheaper than sending them to State College here.

    So from the tone of your comment, in 20 years you’ll be dead and your kids will be sitting around their inherited pool frittering away your hard earned on stuff they should be doing themselves. Maybe they’ll just sell the pool and move to Williamsburg.

  135. WickedOrange says:

    Midcareer Teachers Love Their Jobs, but Many Can’t Afford to Keep Them
    A new study shows some experienced teachers are paid so little—less than long-haul truckers or factory workers—they qualify for welfare.

    https://www.takepart.com/article/2014/07/30/teachers-cant-afford-to-keep-jobs?cmpid=wfs-fb

  136. Essex says:

    138. The report, released by the Center for American Progress, also found that as many as 25 percent of experienced teachers take on second jobs to get by, the base pay for teachers with a decade or more under their belts averages around $35,000, and the highest average salary barely tops $58,000. At a time when the debate on education reform has focused on standards and test scores, the report states, few policy makers are talking about upgrading teacher salaries as part of the overhaul.

  137. Libturd at home says:

    Fab:

    Absolutely, but only if it’s single payer. This Obamacare is such a gift to the private healthcare industry that even Lefties don’t want to mention it as the legacy of their hero Obama. My United Healthcare investment is really doing nicely.

    Of course, I would hope it would be run better than Medicare, with its massive fraud, but I can dream. Yes I can.

    “So I’ll increase your taxes by $15K and soc1alise healthcare so you’ll get your free healthcare for life. Are you signing on?”

  138. Libturd at home says:

    It’s funny this teachers salary thing. My recommendation would be to try to get a teaching job in Montclair. Or really any government job in Montclair, Last I heard we had 33 workers >100K. Of course it helps when your town council is made up of left wing progressives, one a union rep and the other the former vice president of higher education for the American Federation of Teachers.

  139. grim says:

    590 school districts in the state of NJ, each with a superintendent making an average of $176,000.

    We pay nearly $104,000,000.00 in superintendent salaries.

    This makes perfect sense.

  140. Libturd at home says:

    In this chart, http://www.businessinsider.com/states-with-best-and-worst-school-systems-2014-8

    I’m still trying to figure out what the heck is up with Alaska? They have high per capita income, high school spending and yet their school still suck!

  141. Essex says:

    Two ways to make money in education.

    Teach for over 20 years…..Twenty

    Become an administrator — lose your summers and possibly your soul.

  142. joyce says:

    91
    They’re linked (always) whether you like it or not, whether you’re a lawyer who’s always right or not.

  143. Fabius Maximus says:

    #72 Lib

    Now that we have got salaries out of the way, lets move on to the rest. Administration lets leave for a few minutes, I will come back to it.

    Bennies. For me this whole debate and every argument on this board can be brought back to healthcare. Healthcare is Fcked in this country and needs to be fixed.
    Outside of Healthcare, what Bennies are excessive.

    The $50K janitor. I don’t have a problem with this and here’s why. For the most part up in this area, it is not just a Janitor it is a groundskeeper. If I subcontract out to Joeys D’s brother I have no idea who I am getting. For the extra $10K I get the person that has 13 years in the district with the same FBI checks I don’t have to worry about them around the kids. For a few bucks more they will drive the school bus for overtime. And if there are kids messing with the school with Graffiti, , they know the parents and will have a quiet word in Graydon’s Dads ear.

    Now if the tax paid salt is ending up on private driveways and not on the playground, that is a different issue and expect the Administrator to be on top of that.

  144. Libturd at home says:

    I would argue about the pensions as well, but the teachers aren’t nearly as bad as the police and firemen.

  145. joyce says:

    136
    Obviously, it’s (once again) to stop labeling things with nonsense.

  146. joyce says:

    146

    OPM

  147. Comrade Nom Deplume, a.k.a. Captain Justice says:

    [107] essex,

    Its well established that hospitals work on the principle that you are charged according to your ability to pay, and a percentage of your charge is predicated on the fact that they hospital looks to you to make up the shortfall for the care that is given away or that can only be compensated at a minimal or token level.

    If you think it resembles tax policy, there’s a very good reason for that. It’s by design and the motivation is precisely the same.

    Tell the guy with the cut that its for the kids.

  148. Comrade Nom Deplume, a.k.a. Captain Justice says:

    [145] joyce,

    Well if you say so.

  149. Fabius Maximus says:

    #73 Lib
    Regionalization – AKA “I don’t believe in Dinosaurs!”

    Well I said I’d get back to Administration. I have a friend, he is a really nice guy, very religious but does not believe in Dinosaurs. Now personally I don’t have a problem with that, if that is what you feel, while I disagree, I respect your right to hold that view.

    When I came to this country one of thing I admired the most was the separation of Church and State. But there is a bit of a downside, I started see this States right, (that little old 10th amendment, Hi Joyce!) and the rise of intelligent design.

    So any state can teach whatever they want? Well yes that is the bedrock of the US, the break was made by the Pilgrims for Religious freedom.

    So Fast Forward New Jersey. If 500 districts want their own curriculum why shouldn’t they have it. My view is that we should have 13 districts one for each county and even then that is too much.

    My view of the world is that we should have a Federal education policy. One curriculum for the whole country. But that can’t work as State Rights say if the people in the state want Intelligent Design , they should be able to have it. What’s the point of trying to promote STEM education, if you are facing such a headwind!

  150. Fabius Maximus says:

    #147 Lib

    Police and Firefighters with 20 and out are a separate discussion.

    What Bennies outside Healthcare?

  151. Fabius Maximus says:

    #148 Joyce

    Obviously? sorry I’m missing it, please state it

  152. Fabius Maximus says:

    #140 Lib

    Can the VA model be made to work on the larger scale.

    Note to the detractors while their have been issues with hospital care in some parts of the system for the most part oversight works and VA rocks!

  153. Every skool district superintendent out my way weighs about 300 lbs, can’t shake your hand firmly and look you in the eye and insists you call him Doctor. Each is also expert in delivering the liberal, double-talking twaddle that passes for intellectual discourse these days.

    Of course, their main objective is to render your kid ignorant and subservient.

  154. Only thing that works in the VA is the mortgage program.

    That puppy is one sweet deal…plus, the loans are assumable.

  155. joyce says:

    Reread what I said after “obviously” and “again”

  156. joyce says:

    150
    Yes, but it has nothing to do with uncompensated care. That is a small fraction.

    151
    As soon as I get my I’m not a lawyer but I’m always right shirt I’ll let you know.

  157. Fabius Maximus says:

    #104 Eddie Ray

    WTF are you sh11ting us.
    If guy pays s $9K its gravy for the hospital on the overpay.
    If he pays the $2K on the “negotiated” settlement ( he still overpaid”) the hospital writes the $7K straight off taxes when in reality they delivered nothing but a tax write off!

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