Best places to live in America

From Money via the Star Ledger:

These 4 N.J. towns are ‘the best places to live in America’ (or so Money magazine says)

MONEY magazine’s annual “Best Places to Live in America” list features four towns in New Jersey this year.

Each year, the magazine’s editors determine the rankings by weighing data like crime risk, median household income and ethnic diversity. The list was limited to no more than four places per state, no more than two per county, and one place per state in the top 15.

#8 – North Arlington – Besides its location about 15 miles from Wall Street, North Arlington’s proximity to the Meadowlands Sports Complex and MetLife Stadium was a factor in the decision to place it on the list.

Riverside County Park’s attractions also were weighted into the highest rating for a New Jersey town on the list.

#24 – Saddle Brook – Saddle Brook, with a population just higher than 13,000, is one of the smaller locales in the North Jersey region featured in the list.

It’s even closer to New York City, with an average commute time listed as 23 minutes.

#33 – Parsippany Troy Hills – Parsippany-Troy Hills is back on the list after being ranked last year. It was also ranked in 2014. With multiple corporations including Jackson Hewitt and Wyndham Hotels & Resorts being headquartered here, the township ranked well economically.

The town’s bustling art scene and 25 parks were also favored in the selection. It also features Craftsman Farms, shown above, a school for the arts & crafts movement and now a museum.

#36 – Clifton – The Sopranos was shot here, the top-ranked hot dog in New Jersey is sold here, and besides the attractions and reputation, Clifton offers “a winning mix of affordability and access,” the MONEY rankings say.

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200 Responses to Best places to live in America

  1. grim says:

    Before anyone tears apart the list as bull5hit, keep in mind that this isn’t a list of most expensive places to live, this isn’t a list of wealthiest towns in America. They clearly state that diversity is a key factor in their selection criteria, so don’t expect this to be a list of rich white NJ towns.

  2. Juice Box says:

    Re: “average commute time listed as 23 minutes.”

    Yes at 3 AM on Christmas day.

  3. grim says:

    It’s like 6-7 miles to the GWB – so technically NYC – but commute to a place of work, or to the bridge?

    Midtown or Lower Manhattan – North Arlington has got to be closer.

  4. grim says:

    Toys files chapter 11

  5. grim says:

    Dominca appears to have been wiped off the map last night.

    Possibly the worst hurricane season ever?

  6. Juice Box says:

    Grim the time to cross the GW bridge to show up for a job in Harlem?

  7. Guomino says:

    The taxes are so high in these areas that you’ll clearly have to be part of the upper-middle to upper class to live in any of them.

  8. Grab them by the puzzy says:

    so is Trump having us learn Russian or Portuguese? which one is it?
    same difference, i guess

    JJ fanboy says:
    September 18, 2017 at 7:43 am

    The brazilification of jersey continues.

  9. Guomino says:

    @Grim: Almost all northern NJ towns require you to be in higher income brackets, in order to afford to live in them. RE taxes in NJ are out of control and are a huge reason that fewer and fewer young people buy homes.

  10. Juice Box says:

    Does free Community College come with room and board and keg parties?

  11. Libturd says:

    https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B4EcY86jtyq6QjdEZXJ5WGIxa3c

    Made the terrible mistake of going to the Golden Arches for breakfast this morning with Gator Jr. We only opted to eat out since yesterday was crazy busy for both of us and we are now without juice, eggs or milk! Let me set the scene. On our way in, there’s a huge sign about their employment recruitment day coming up. Blah, blah, blah about only hiring the best and if not reliable, don’t bother. We go inside and there are six people eating and two individuals in line. Only one woman is behind the counter so we opt for one of the four kiosks. Excellent interface btw. Well we order up the order which asks for a seat location of which there are no numbers at the tables. We put in one. Place is empty so they can easily find us. Receipt roll is just about out of paper, but ours manages to print before jamming. We sit down and wait ten minutes. No one else has entered the restaurant and the other two customers came and went. I go up to the counter to check the holdup (kids got to get to school) and they never made the order. I hand the customer service expert my receipt from the kiosk and ask, “doesn’t it tell you when someone order son the kiosk?” She claims she cleared it because she didn’t see anyone use it. So now she has to prepare our four-item meal. She asks me what I ordered. I said, “it’s on the receipt.” She says she can’t read it, yet it’s as clear as day. I tell her what we ordered and she forgets the drinks. I get my coffee and there’s no cream or sugar. She gives Gator Jr. a cup to fill with lemonade, but there isn’t any lemonade option at the soda fountain. I’m pretty sure she’s a manager too as she was not in uniform and had keys attached to her pants.

    Forget raising the minimum wage to $15. Can we raise it to $30 so we can automate the food prep and delivery as well?

  12. Juice Box says:

    Who needs toys when we have a mi)on YouTube channels of kids playing wit Toys?

  13. Juice Box says:

    My golden arches is staffed by little old ladies place is spotless and the food is hot and prepared to spec.

  14. D-FENS says:

    Service is definitely an issue at McDonalds. I like the food but the fcuk up my meal EVERY TIME.

    The kiosk has helped. But your story is absurd. McDonalds used to be a case study in how to run a business efficiently. Not so much anymore.

    Maybe they’re a bit too focused on innovation and not enough on good old fashioned customer service.

  15. D-FENS says:

    My bad experiences have usually been on the road. The one in town near me is great.

    Juice Box says:
    September 19, 2017 at 8:21 am
    My golden arches is staffed by little old ladies place is spotless and the food is hot and prepared to spec.

  16. D-FENS says:

    We stopped in for breakfast on the way to the shore this summer. I said to the lady at the counter that I wanted the hotcakes for my daughter. Not the one that comes with the sausage, just the one that has the 3 hotcakes. My daughter is 5. Not more than 3 feet tall.

    She brings out 3 whole orders of hotcakes. 9 frigging pancakes in total. WTF? Seriously? No common sense.

  17. Grab them by the puzzy says:

    fried feces with lots of salt and sugar, i just won’t eat there

  18. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    7 of the 9 wealthiest counties in the world ring Washington DC. That should tell you something.

  19. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    in the US, I guess. Our world. You know what I mean;-)

  20. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    I always wondered about your diet, puzzy. That explains a lot.

    Grab them by the puzzy says:
    September 19, 2017 at 8:32 am

    fried feces with lots of salt and sugar, i just won’t eat there

  21. Alex says:

    I’m not shedding any tears for Toys R Us going bankrupt. Last year I purchased an item from them, turned out, the recepient already had item. Next day, went back to exchange unopened item for like item, same price with receipt. Despite that, cashier asks to see my drivers license. A moment later, she scans my drivers license without my permission into what turns out to be a third party company called The Retail Equation, stating that this is their policy. I found this to be not just outrageous but sneaky and despicable. I vowed never to do business with them again. Good riddance Toys R Us.

  22. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    Since I’m old, I *may* have posted this once or thrice before. Anyway, the very first time I caught myself starting a sentence with When I was your age…

    I already fleeced my Nana of her 2 family, which is actually an illegal three family

    Take 2
    I was somewhere around 30 and I stopped at whatever the rest area with a McDonald’s is that is just South of Route 3 on the GSP. It was probably around 11PM and I ordered a cheeseburger.

    The kid at the register complained, “I hate this register! The cheeseburger key never works!”

    I blurted out, “When I was your age we had to memorize all of the prices and calculate tax in our head!”

    Those two dweebs, who now own homes somewhere in Essex or Passaic County and are the smartest 45 year olds on their street just stared at me blankly while I felt old for the first time.

  23. Grim says:

    Went to a Popeyes for the first time – it was a new one. Was very impressed with the service and the food. I thought the place was supposed to be a dump? Was very surprised.

  24. Grim says:

    Also noticing fewer kids working in fast food. Reminded me of Canada, only adults working in fast food.

  25. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    I’m trying to remember something about a company attempting to license Popeye unsuccessfully and succeeding anyway. I’m thinking Japanese and media. It’ll come to me.

  26. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    OK, I cheated, but I was right:

    http://jpninfo.com/14749

  27. 3b says:

    Kids don’t work part time jobs. What would the neighbors think? I have reviewed resumes of college grads 22/23 years old who have never ever worked.

  28. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Where do you want them to get jobs anyway? And honestly, what is the point if their parents can provide for them?

    This is not 50 years ago. Part time jobs provide no experience for someone that is trying to get ahead. If someone is looking over someone’s resume, and they worked at mcd’s, you think they will take them serious this day and age? Better off going all out with the academics and getting an internship which you can actually use as “experience.” Different world out there.

    Plus, the minimum wage is so low, it’s a complete waste of time for anyone that is going to be something. You are holding yourself back by wasting your time making 8 dollars an hour, it’s a joke.

    3b says:
    September 19, 2017 at 9:38 am
    Kids don’t work part time jobs. What would the neighbors think? I have reviewed resumes of college grads 22/23 years old who have never ever worked.

  29. Libturd sporting Tiger Wood says:

    My kid is dying to work at a fast-food joint. It’s either that, or he’ll be a hockey referee. Some 14 year old’s I know are pulling in between $30 and $50 and hour doing it. Don’t have to work many games to have the fancy sneakers you want. We had that conversation over dinner last night. He was going on and on about how all of his friends had tons of sneakers and many of them cost well over $100. I told him the same thing my dad told me. If you can tell me why those shoes are better than yours (he sports pretty nice N1kes that I always find at the N1ke outlet down in AC), I’ll buy them for you. I usually get his for between $25 and $40. Meanwhile, I’ve been wearing the same pair of North Face sneakers for the better of two years now. On the third pair of laces. Dumb kid has $1,200 in his own bank account at 12 years old and thinks I’m going to buy him $100 kicks.

  30. Libturd sporting Tiger Wood says:

    “Plus, the minimum wage is so low, it’s a complete waste of time for anyone that is going to be something. You are holding yourself back by wasting your time making 8 dollars an hour, it’s a joke. ”

    I worked two years at Burger King. Learned more there than I probably did at my undergrad. Learned the concepts work ethic, responsibility, working on a team. By the end of my second year, I was an hourly manager. You have no friggin’ clue.

  31. A Home Buyer says:

    Troll (9:50)

    Complete and utter bull shat.

    – Value of money
    – Motivation to get an excellent job seeing what low wage work is like
    – Experience in a work environment of any type with actual hierarchy that can and will terminate you.
    – Conflict management and avoidance
    – Work Ethic / Honesty
    – Resume Experience
    – Health / workout (thinking more along the trades here)
    – Self Confidence

    – And hopefully never ending up like you.

  32. Libturd sporting Tiger Wood says:

    For the record, Popeye was a great video game and IMO significantly better than Donkey Kong.

  33. Libturd sporting Tiger Wood says:

    Could you imagine what Pump’s kids are going to be like? They will grow up measuring success by obtaining tiger wood railings and a green lawn.

  34. The Great Pumpkin says:

    You guys just don’t get it…but rail on me.

  35. The Great Pumpkin says:

    The visogoths have breached the walls. Rt23 5 story apartment complex approved in flood zone. UNREAL. At least those kids will go to school with the other river rats.

  36. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Work at mc’ds in high school or college, and good luck getting a job out of college. You will have wasted valuable time (time used to learn or gain valuable experience) making worthless money. You won’t even have been able to save significant capital because the pay was such a waste of time.

    My kid will never work at mcd’s unless they have no intention of going to college or doing something valuable with their life.

    A Home Buyer says:
    September 19, 2017 at 10:02 am
    Troll (9:50)

    Complete and utter bull shat.

    – Value of money
    – Motivation to get an excellent job seeing what low wage work is like
    – Experience in a work environment of any type with actual hierarchy that can and will terminate you.
    – Conflict management and avoidance
    – Work Ethic / Honesty
    – Resume Experience
    – Health / workout (thinking more along the trades here)
    – Self Confidence

    – And hopefully never ending up like you.

  37. The Great Pumpkin says:

    When you guys worked at mcds 30-40 years ago, min wage actually presented you with the ability to save money. Also, it was looked upon as good experience by colleges and future employers. Now, times have changed.

  38. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Go ahead Lib, have your glen ridge son work at mcds. Should be interesting to say the least.

  39. Bystander says:

    Lib,

    Kids? More like kid..thank God. He comes from an unethical, immoral background where short cuts were taken. He posts all day, everyday then claims how is so valuable at work they throw 5% raises every year. That post is obviously from someone who never worked hard. Sh#tty jobs are critical in life. A parent thinking otherwise will raise entitled monsters.

  40. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Bystander,

    Go f….yourself

  41. A Home Buyer says:

    Troll,

    My first job was scrubbing toilets and cleaning bathrooms. Occasionally I got to pick up garbage others dropped on the grounds.

    I am younger then you are.

    It was minimum wage, and not at McD or any type of food.

    It sucked. And I work in a professional environment now because of it.

  42. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Yea, go throw your kids into the saltmine so you can teach them what hard work is. Teach them how to be poor. You just don’t get it, but then again, you know it all, right?

    My kid is fine, but keep judging.

  43. 3b says:

    Thanks lib could not have said it better.

  44. abeiz says:

    I’m surprised this many of you stop in Mcd’s! Stu, your kid drinks lemonade for breakfast, ‘tf?

    Whenever I go into SBUX and see people in their mid thirties behind the counter I always wonder what happens to them when they turn 40? Where do they go? Other retail positions? If so, how do they make money sufficient to raise a family?

  45. grim says:

    You can work in McD’s as a kid, or work in Starbucks as a post-grad.

    Same shit, just took one person longer.

  46. JJ fanboy says:

    How come Wayne and brigadoon aren’t on that list of best places to live?

  47. Libturd sporting Tiger Wood says:

    Pumpkin,

    Your value system is completely fukced up beyond belief. You are shallower than a kiddie pool and your lack of self-concept is simply astounding. There is a reason noone likes you here and it has nothing to do with your politics. I’m not trying to be mean. You are simply the definition of completely clueless.

  48. grim says:

    Interesting tweet..

    Victoria Brownworth @VABVOX
    62k people–90% women–are employed by #ToysRUs.
    Trump’s said nothing.
    There are only 50k coal miners in US.
    Mentions coal at every rally.

  49. grim says:

    $5 bet – who wants to take it – Amazon East Coast HQ in NJ

  50. Ottoman says:

    Adjusted for productivity, the minimum wage should have risen to $22 an hour in the last 40 years, which means corporations are now stealing $15 an hour worth of labor from their minimum wage employees. You deserve all the sh!t you get from low wage workers when you support such wage theft. The fact that you expect courtesy and professionalism at slave wages is laughable. You’re lucky you don’t get a pitchfork up the azz with your whopper.

  51. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    This ebb and flow interests me greatly. In the late 70’s I’m thinking there were maybe 50% of teenagers had part-time jobs. In the late 80’s I think it was like 75% of kids worked part-time because their parents spread the credit virus on them. They started cosigning car loans, etc.

    Kids don’t work part time jobs. What would the neighbors think? I have reviewed resumes of college grads 22/23 years old who have never ever worked.

  52. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    BTW, Trump is killing it at the United Nations.

  53. Ottoman says:

    Women aren’t people.

    grim says:
    September 19, 2017 at 10:42 am
    Interesting tweet..

    Victoria Brownworth @VABVOX
    62k people–90% women–are employed by #ToysRUs.
    Trump’s said nothing.
    There are only 50k coal miners in US.
    Mentions coal at every rally.

  54. Blue Ribbon Teacher says:

    We only learned about Toys R Us going bankrupt yesterday. The coal industry has been under attack for a decade. Also…the difference is…one is an industry, and the other is a just a mere part of the industry. She’ll have a point once we stop selling toys.

  55. Libturd sporting Tiger Wood says:

    abeiz,

    Besides on long trips, we stear clear of fast food and really, most franchises.

    Normally I make egg whites at home or real oatmeal, but the dog kept me up all night (ate a sock and you don’t want to know the other details). We haven’t had a chance to shop and Gator has been down at CHOP with the little one since end of August for feeding therapy. Between my job, older son’s travel hockey and travel soccer schedule, first week of school with back to school night and other needless meetings, I can’t seem to come up for air. Heck, I spent almost all day yesterday at the Glen Ridge Country Club helping out the PBA who deserve more credit than you guys could possibly imagine for their help with the “D.” They ended up giving me another grand through a 50/50. So please excuse my temporary transgression. To make matters worse, I didn’t even have a coupon to use and their wifi was down and we were short for time so I couldn’t even use their app. As for lemonade over orange juice. The kid can’t stand OJ. He loves cranberry juice though, which is what we normally have at home, when I have time to shop, which I didn’t. It’s better than soda too as it’s supposedly real (sugar and lemon). Lord knows, that cashier was not going to give us an Apple Juice without buying a happy meal. Next time we are in a time crunch it will be back to the bagel shop.

  56. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    ehhhhh…I’m kind of half on board for this. White collar salaries have been stagnant since 2000, so that puts downward pressure on minimum wage. I think I cracked six figures in 1998, by 2002 I was making $135K. The wage growth hasn’t been so steep since then.

    Adjusted for productivity, the minimum wage should have risen to $22 an hour in the last 40 years, which means corporations are now stealing $15 an hour worth of labor from their minimum wage employees.

  57. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    Lib – I can’t even accurately presume the decibel level at which I laughed at this phrase.

    ate a sock and you don’t want to know the other details

  58. Libturd sporting Tiger Wood says:

    Footstool,

    I didn’t know there was a direct relationship between wage and courtesy. It always seemed to me to work the opposite way. Heck, if you saw the CEOs and other executives golfing for the PBA which I met yesterday, you would have assumed they were all working without taking a salary. Yet every housekeeper I know are the sweetest people on earth. So much so that I always overtip them.

    “The fact that you expect courtesy and professionalism at slave wages is laughable.”

  59. grim says:

    Wayne school enrollment is in the shitter, whats 20 more kids?

  60. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    Lib – much love. Keep an eye out for Ocean Spray White Cran-Strawberry. It pisses me off that our large, cheap, super-supermarket(not a National chain) doesn’t carry it, but our over-priced regular supermarket does.

    The kid can’t stand OJ. He loves cranberry juice though, which is what we normally have at home, when I have time to shop, which I didn’t.

  61. Bystander says:

    The summer after I graduated college, my college GF and I broke up. I moved back home and all my college buds did the same. The party was over and I had no idea what I would do next. After a month of moping, I had no money and decided to walk into Man Power agency and take a daily labor job. I think pay was $6 hour (plus $10 if you drive another person to site). Two months of driving drug addicts around and digging holes for 8 hours with $50 to show for it…man, my mind was straight by the fall. Another banner day for Blumpy and his inane, mistaken ramblings..but he is so young, only closing in on 40… pathetic.

  62. 3b says:

    It is beyond me that someone cannot see the value of a part time job! Does not have to be everyday but at least I the summer months.

  63. 3b says:

    And how someone can compare a toy store to the coal mining industry and then from there tie it up with trump does not care about women is also beyond me!!

  64. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    Word of the pumps spawn has leaked out. I mentioned his younger brother moved to town too, right?

    Wayne school enrollment is in the sh1tter, whats 20 more kids?

  65. 3b says:

    Grim they might not be the children of the high powered super successful parents that you know wants in his town.

  66. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    Therein lies the rub. In the early 80’s no college graduate moved home. By the mid-80’s, despite the good economy, that changed.

    I moved back home and all my college buds did the same.

  67. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    My wife graduated college in 1984 or 1985, I forget. I met her in 1990 and we got our first place in 1991. It literally took me decades to realize she lived home for 6 years until I rescued her, even though she lived at home in Glen Rock when I met her. I just couldn’t fathom it; it wasn’t consistent with my world view is I guess how we would say it now.

  68. 3b says:

    So if your wage is low you can be rude and obnoxious ? How is your low wage my problem?? If this is the attitude we are going down faster than I thought!

  69. Libturd sporting Tiger Wood says:

    Ex,

    The cran-straw is good. The cran-pineapple is insane. But both are treats as the sugar is pretty high in both. Due to my kids hockey and soccer development, he really can have either. I, on the other hand, need to be careful. On the bright side, neither of us have ever had a cavity, but we both really don’t do candy.

    By the way, I think his AA hockey team has the goods to be state champs. After demolishing the Hackensack Avalanche after tieing them initially in a home and home exhibition, we soundly defeated the highly ranked Devils Youth AA team. My son (who plays defense) has now been on the ice for 52 minutes without letting up a goal. That’s three games. We’ll see how long he can keep this streak going, but I’m certain he is true AAA material, which could help us if we want to pursue the scholarship route. The fact he is extremely mature, still has never received below an A and is in the advanced math track should really help our chances. Moving him to D, was the smartest thing we could have ever done. And HE LOVES IT, which is really all that matters. Not looking forward to the $8,000 annual bill that AAA costs, but we’ll probably hold off for another three years before pursuing it if the kid still loves the game. I’ll keep you all updated on his development.

  70. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    In 1982-84 it worked like this: You sought long and hard to get your own place for $300-$350 per month (because you had a job at graduation, of course) or you shared an apartment with a roommate for $600-$700 per month. No debt, no student loans.

    Over the next couple years you buried yourself in $4-$6K of credit card debt, realized your mistake, dug yourself out, and never made that mistake again.

  71. The Great Pumpkin says:

    This is not only to lib, but all the other jokers coming at me.

    If your kid needs to work at mcds to learn values or the value of hard work, you already screwed up with raising this kid.

    Love how you guys value having your kid being taken advantage of by some fast food owner. You guys are beyond clueless. My kid will be wasting her time getting skills that she can actually use instead of being around deadbeats at some fast food joint to pick up horrible habits.

    It’s funny, you guys put your kids in good school systems so they don’t get corrupted by the kids with no parents in the lower class, but then you advocate for sending them to work with these losers during high school and college? Just lost, that’s all I can say.

    Now go tell me how I’m so shallow and stupid.

    Libturd sporting Tiger Wood says:
    September 19, 2017 at 10:39 am
    Pumpkin,

    Your value system is completely fukced up beyond belief. You are shallower than a kiddie pool and your lack of self-concept is simply astounding. There is a reason noone likes you here and it has nothing to do with your politics. I’m not trying to be mean. You are simply the definition of completely clueless.

  72. The Great Pumpkin says:

    They still don’t realize that its slave wages. Too funny.

    Ottoman says:
    September 19, 2017 at 10:47 am
    Adjusted for productivity, the minimum wage should have risen to $22 an hour in the last 40 years, which means corporations are now stealing $15 an hour worth of labor from their minimum wage employees. You deserve all the sh!t you get from low wage workers when you support such wage theft. The fact that you expect courtesy and professionalism at slave wages is laughable. You’re lucky you don’t get a pitchfork up the azz with your whopper.

  73. D-FENS says:

    Newark

    grim says:
    September 19, 2017 at 10:44 am
    $5 bet – who wants to take it – Amazon East Coast HQ in NJ

  74. D-FENS says:

    Adjusted for inflation, since the minimum wage’s inception, it should be $4 an hour

    Ottoman says:
    September 19, 2017 at 10:47 am
    Adjusted for productivity, the minimum wage should have risen to $22 an hour in the last 40 years

  75. Bystander says:

    This was circa 1995. Most people I know moved home unless you had paid gig right after grad. That would have required internship and interviewing last semesters of school. Those were some prime party times. It took one month of being around Mom to realize I needed to GtFo. Now, my buddy lived at home in Northvale until 28…and yes, he would sneek girls in while his parents slept at that age. Insane.

  76. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    Pumpkin – You might have missed the memo. This is a safe space for people who don’t come from drug-dealing families.

    This is not only to lib, but all the other jokers coming at me.

    If your kid needs to work at mcds to learn values or the value of hard work, you already screwed up with raising this kid.

  77. D-FENS says:

    The minimum wage was originally .25 cents in 1938 at it’s inception. You would need $4.35 to buy the same item in 2017.

    http://www.usinflationcalculator.com/

  78. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Good luck getting high pay jobs in cheap locations if you don’t know someone. Don’t you think everyone would leave if they could find good jobs in cheap locations.

    Guomino says:
    September 19, 2017 at 8:12 am
    Why would a smart person intentionally move to a state where they’d have to pay rents and RE taxes that are so much higher than in other states where they can get jobs? Politicians are making NJ unaffordable to most people.

  79. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    I feel bad for minimum wage workers in a couple ways:

    1. You should be 14, 15, or 16 years old on your way to college when you work at a McDonalds and shouldn’t have to mix with people who are 35 years old and this is their only job.
    2. It was cool when minimum wage went up every year. I can remember the steps from my youth:

    $2.50, $2.65, $2.90, $3.10, $3.25

    I can’t remember any further. Do you know why? Becuase I had real jobs after that.

  80. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    Hey Pumpkin, are any of your 3 degrees in your father’s handwriting? Bachelor’s in drug-dealing while raising children? Masters in Cutting Heroin? Ph.D in Money-Laundering?

  81. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    Pumpkin’s deported felon father is two years older than me. He’s here looking for a surrogate Daddy to tell him how good he turned out.

    Damaged goods, no fixing him.

  82. 3b says:

    Amazing how someone can feign sympathy about slave wages then in the same breath say they don’t want their child to be around these losers. And worries that these same people could be in school with their kids. Just stunning!!

  83. 3b says:

    Grim I will take the Amazon bet.

  84. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    3b – You get how he has his foot in both worlds, right? Combine that with his younger brother with a hotter wife buying a nicer house in a better neighborhood in the same town…Pumpkin is on the edge.

    Amazing how someone can feign sympathy about slave wages then in the same breath say they don’t want their child to be around these losers. And worries that these same people could be in school with their kids. Just stunning!!

  85. Bystander says:

    Yes..and my Catholic school upbringing said don’t drink, do drugs or have premarital s#x. I guess kids really listen…duh. Nothing teaches a good lesson like a grease burn or hand blister. Pumpkin has reached a new low in stupidity by arguing that fast food wages are bigger issue here.

  86. 3b says:

    Ex pat: I would have thought a couple of days away from posting might have led to a little self reflection.

  87. Libturd sporting Tiger Wood says:

    Some of us didn’t get everything handed to us by our parents. I had to buy my own clothes by 7th grade. Which is probably why, I didn’t move back home (parent’s would have charged rent as they did to my older brother), nor did I get into credit card trouble, since my parents never cosigned for me. My first installment loan was at 25 when I bought my first car and my grandmother had to loan me $1,000 since my downpayment was not large enough. Paid her back $100 a month within a year.

    The truth is, your spoiled brat might perform well academically, but they will most likely hit a wall come interview time. Recruiters aren’t looking for spoiled brats who will crumble at the first sign of adversity. Recruiters are looking for independent performers who can take criticism and learn from it.

    We had our kids much later in life. Regardless of how well a lot of our peers offspring have done in school and (for the most part) regardless of how highly rated their college was, they are still coming home to live with mom and dad and struggling to find high paying jobs. I can’t tell you how many parents are surprised (even one of my sister’s and brother’s) when their straight A snowflakes rebel freshman year and bring home C’s. It’s much tougher when Kumon and Kaplan are not around to tutor you. Or when mom and dad are not available to your projects for you. I warned my sister of this last high holidays. I told her all my nephew in engineering program at Trenton State would talk about was EDM music. I said, he’s probably not even going to classes. I hear through the grapevine that he nearly failed out. This kid was a super high performer there on scholarship. Not any longer. Be very careful how you raise your snowflakes. Unless of course, you plan to bail them out until you die. My nephew is such an embarrassment to my sister that she wouldn’t even be honest with me about him!

    You don’t need to believe me know Pumps. It’ll hit you smack across your thick skull soon enough.

  88. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    Amazon East Coast HQ – Disruption! Eastern Long Island!

    How hard would it be to attract talent and relocation? It would turn the Hamptons into the Jersey Shore!

  89. Phoenix says:

    This is what business is based on pumps. You don’t get ahead by nailing the sheetrock, you get ahead by owning the company, picking up illegals, not paying taxes/health insurance, then charging the owner of the house professional price.
    Done all the time. Use others to move forward.
    Love how they are now saying people should go into the trades.
    One slip and fall with a furnace on the basement steps and your earnings potential is gone. One bad back. Done.
    And for the women- what trades do they wish to go into-or should women be exempt from doing this.

    Pumps, on this I give you the win. Someone can start at MCD, but only for a short time.
    This country only respects those with college degrees, especially the women. Even if you want to run your own business a college degree helps you at the bank.

    “Love how you guys value having your kid being taken advantage of by some fast food owner.”

  90. 3b says:

    Bystander: nothing makes one appreciate a good well paying job than having s crappy one. Some of the summer jobs my kids had opened their eyes to a world outside the bubble of surburbia. And they are better for it.

  91. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    Although, I must confess that when I lived in Centerport (North Shore, Central Long Island), you just felt a little bit elite when you commuted into the city both ways with the Sun at your back, not a squinting sad sack like those commuting from NJ (which I’ve also been).

  92. 3b says:

    Lib When my kids were job interviewing after the initial academic review and they all did well as we paid for it. No loans. The interviewers were more interested in hearing about their summer employment.

  93. Libturd sporting Tiger Wood says:

    I don’t see Amazon in NJ, though I wouldn’t rule it out. Personally, I’m going with Columbus Ohi0! For perception purposes, I think they will stay away from the coasts. At some point, the progressives are going to turn on Amazon once they realize they are Walmart without the brick and mortar.

  94. D-FENS says:

    the best place to live in America is mom and dad’s basement.

  95. JCer says:

    I don’t know about McD’s, but having your kid work a menial job is a good idea. It teaches them the value of a dollar and what it takes to earn money with raw labor. It teaches work ethic and how business runs(or doesn’t) even at a small level it’s hands on experience. Pumps appears to have had some level of success,I’m not entirely sure how because his comments are so daft at times.

    Teaching your children values, includes real life experiences and not insulating them from the world so much. Teach them to use their minds and not their backs to make a living, teach them there is value in the menial work people do, and to have respect for people who wake up and go to work doing entirely unrewarding work for terrible wages.

    Expat on another note you seem to be internet stalking Pumps on a whole new level, not only knowing where he lives, but his brother and all of his families sordid details and what they look like…..I think you might be taking it a step too far, do you know blood type as well…..

  96. The Great Pumpkin says:

    You rip into me for that which I could not control. My father still went 3 for 3 with his children. All successful, all own two properties in their 30’s at a time of decreasing home ownership.

    Now you know why I’m pretty much in the 1% of my age cohort. What I survived in my youth, and how I was able to make something of myself is testament to my smarts and grit. Go try and do what I did, I dare ya. You couldn’t last a day in my shoes. A$$hole.

    The Original NJ ExPat says:
    September 19, 2017 at 11:37 am
    Pumpkin’s deported felon father is two years older than me. He’s here looking for a surrogate Daddy to tell him how good he turned out.

  97. D-FENS says:

    dude frigging found the satellite photo of JJ’s house on long island in google maps.

  98. D-FENS says:

    it is fun to watch him torture pumps though. what goes around comes around.

  99. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    3b: Ding! Ding! Ding! You are a winner!

    In 1990 I was recovering from a failed career change as a realtor. I took a job at a Pathmark at minimum wage. I didn’t do it for the money, I did it to keep moving. I was maintenance. The guy who cleaned up the glass breakage in aisle 4. The call on the PA system was “534, glass breakage on Aisle 4”. “534” was code for guys like me, non-union, low wage clean-up guys. I loved that job! It was so easy to be the best. I learned how to compress and bale hundreds of pounds of cardboard and how to transport it to a trailer for recycling. One of my favorite jobs was disposing of garbage, especially out-of-date seltzer and baby food. I used to throw my shoulder out throwing fastballs down the level(not down) garbage chute to the dumpster trying to break open the items with velocity. I think I worked there a month or 5 weeks. I won employee of the week several times, which was a very cheesy plastic Pathmark pin that my manager was embarrassed to award me, but I loved accepting those pins. At the time I theorized that CEOs should put in time like I was instead of paying gym memberships so that they could have some connection to the working class.

    When I left there for a $35 per hour job my managers were stunned.

    Bystander: nothing makes one appreciate a good well paying job than having s crappy one. Some of the summer jobs my kids had opened their eyes to a world outside the bubble of surburbia. And they are better for it.

  100. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Yes, and why can’t I. Have you lived poor? I have, and I will never go back. Working at mcds makes you a loser, but doesn’t mean I don’t have love and compassion for them. I might call them losers, but I will be the first to advocate for better wages and living conditions.

    You might not call them losers, but do you advocate for them? No, instead you defend the abuse with their wages by claiming market forces. YOU ARE WORSE than me, go look in the mirror.

    3b says:
    September 19, 2017 at 11:37 am
    Amazing how someone can feign sympathy about slave wages then in the same breath say they don’t want their child to be around these losers. And worries that these same people could be in school with their kids. Just stunning!!

  101. 3b says:

    Jcer my kids learned real compassion for others working these types of jobs not the feigned variety that so called liberals have.

  102. Libturd sporting Tiger Wood says:

    “Pumps, on this I give you the win. Someone can start at MCD, but only for a short time.”

    No one is talking about aspiring to work the rest of their life at minimum wage. It’s about learning how sh1tty your life may become if you don’t work at it. My managers back then were all sorry saps. Nothing provided a better incentive to get out of there then the managers did. The day I turned sixteen, I got a job at K-Mart in the automotive department. Best part of working there, besides getting paid in cash and the fact my salary jumped to $5/hour from $3.75, was embarrassing my friends when I caught them shopping their with their parents. East Brunswick was solidly middle class (even upper middle class by some) and a teenager wouldn’t be caught dead shopping in K-Mart. There was nothing funnier than seeing your friend’s faces when they hear their name announced on the PA. “Joe Schmo, please report to the luncheonette. You left your man purse behind,” Oh, those were the days.

    I would argue that my paper route got me my Burger King job. My BK job got me K-Mart. My K-Mart got me a manager’s position in Kay-B Toy and Hobby. These experiences got me summer sleepaway counselor jobs. My counselor jobs got me the resident assistant job in college which eventually provided me free housing in college and the ability to obtain three years of higher education as well as two years of post grad for virtually nothing. My radio station and computer lab positions covered my tuition. I would go one step further and argue that my mid management position was only obtainable with my BA in Tech Education (economic minor) due to all of the experience I had managing prior to graduating college. So in essence, I would argue that Burger King was an incredibly valuable experience. When my Resident Assistant son is counseling your daughter after she gets date raped at her undergrad by a snowflake of the opposite sex, you then might learn to appreciate a teenage part-time job.

  103. abeiz says:

    Gents, wailing on pumps is getting boring and hearing about everyone amazing progeny is a close second. Can we harness the collective brilliance (and apparently determination) of this board to find me a “pocket listing” (snicker) 3fam multi in Hudson?

  104. 3b says:

    Fast food jobs are never going to pay 15 to 20 dollars an hour and that is a fact not a question of advocating for higher wages whatever that means. Calling someone a loser and saying you don’t really mean it because you advocate for them is just b.s..

  105. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Also to add to the post at 12:00….. and don’t tell me I was born on third base and granny gave me the house. You know the background and know the hard work it took for someone with my background to buy a house at that young age. You know the hard work it took to buy a second home for 650,000 (with 17,000) taxes at the young age of 31.

    Enough with the Pumpkin blasting…..I payed my dues and don’t need people taking a dump on it.

  106. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    I love you, Michael. You are smart, good looking, and a gifted investor. You married well and did so much better that we ever thought you would. Your Mother and I are so proud.

    You rip into me for that which I could not control. My father still went 3 for 3 with his children. All successful, all own two properties in their 30’s at a time of decreasing home ownership.

    Now you know why I’m pretty much in the 1% of my age cohort. What I survived in my youth, and how I was able to make something of myself is testament to my smarts and grit. Go try and do what I did, I dare ya. You couldn’t last a day in my shoes. A$$hole.

  107. The Great Pumpkin says:

    They are there in some places. So careful with never.

    Do you understand what 8 or 10 dollars an hour is? Do the math. Wtf can you do with that. You can save every dollar for 5 years and go nowhere. The definition of wage slavery.

    3b says:
    September 19, 2017 at 12:11 pm
    Fast food jobs are never going to pay 15 to 20 dollars an hour and that is a fact not a question of advocating for higher wages whatever that means. Calling someone a loser and saying you don’t really mean it because you advocate for them is just b.s..

  108. The Great Pumpkin says:

    I understand your point, but just understand that these are different times. There is a reason you don’t see middle class white teenagers at mcds anymore.

    Libturd sporting Tiger Wood says:
    September 19, 2017 at 12:08 pm

  109. D-FENS says:

    This is bull. There are young people working at the McDs in my town after school.

    The Great Pumpkin says:
    September 19, 2017 at 12:19 pm
    I understand your point, but just understand that these are different times. There is a reason you don’t see middle class white teenagers at mcds anymore.

  110. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    LOL, Lib! I sold candy that I bought wholes@le at Morris County Tobacc0 and C@ndy until I got a paper route. I passed the paper route to my siblings when I got a minimum wage job at a literal sw3at shop, then minimum wage at Rockaway 6 Th3atres after that, 15 cents over minimum wage at McDonalds and then I was catapulted to $4 and up!

    I would argue that my paper route got me my Burger King job. My BK job got me K-Mart. My K-Mart got me a manager’s position in Kay-B Toy and Hobby.

  111. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    ^^^That was hard to get through mod. I’m trying to remember the last thing I changed.

  112. Libturd sporting Tiger Wood says:

    I’ve been lucky with the auto mod today. Specially when talking about the clown burger.

  113. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    I’m now thinking that there was something evil in Pumpkin that drove his otherwise innocent father into drug dealing.

  114. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Why? These min wage jobs provide nothing for these teenagers, hence, they no longer go there for employment. Yes, like lib alluded to, if they are a problem child and doesn’t understand the value of education, then send them to the salt mines for a summer and collect low wage rent from their paycheck so they can understand the importance of an education. If they already understand the importance of education, then it’s a waste of time.

    D-FENS says:
    September 19, 2017 at 12:27 pm
    This is bull. There are young people working at the McDs in my town after school.

  115. Bystander says:

    Blumpkin 12:00,

    As they say, the sun even shines on a dog’s arse once in awhile.

  116. Libturd sporting Tiger Wood says:

    Pumps…how much you put down on the 650K home? Not trying to compare dick size, but realize I possess 1.3 million in real estate. But that’s easy. How much do you own on it is the real question including what you have to pay granny back?

    I’m down to owing 514 on 1.3. Will be done in 7 years. How about you?

  117. Libturd sporting Tiger Wood says:

    Plus…I got a kid recovering from a most serious and costly case of the big C.

  118. 3b says:

    Fast food jobs were never meant to support a family. The whole point that is being ignored!!

  119. Libturd sporting Tiger Wood says:

    Exactamundo. I used it to buy clothes. My mom used it, to get me the f outta the house.

  120. The Great Pumpkin says:

    I should say ask expat, since he thinks he knows my life so well. He is right on some aspects, but wrong on others.

    I put down the full 20%. I don’t owe my grandma anything. My wife and I have no college debt. We only owe money on the mortgage and new suv. My car is a 2006 bmw, bought brand new, which is now old, but only has 110,000 miles on it. In november, it will be 14 years till I’m debt free. Can’t wait. Based on last year’s appraisal for both properties, I’m at 1.2 million.

    Was I lucky? Hell yea, just bought at the right times. Everything else, hard work and grit to get there, and was also the cheapest mofo this side of the planet till the age of 25 (so was able to save money easily). My dad used to say to me that I would be rich no matter what because I was so cheap. Already worked more than some people work in a lifetime. Have been employed for 22 years straight as of now (sometimes one job, sometimes 3).

    Libturd sporting Tiger Wood says:
    September 19, 2017 at 12:37 pm
    Pumps…how much you put down on the 650K home? Not trying to compare dick size, but realize I possess 1.3 million in real estate. But that’s easy. How much do you own on it is the real question including what you have to pay granny back?

    I’m down to owing 514 on 1.3. Will be done in 7 years. How about you?

  121. Libturd sporting Tiger Wood says:

    OK

  122. The Great Pumpkin says:

    No kidding, but a job should serve some type of purpose for the worker. Just tell me what the purpose of 8 dollars an hour in nj is besides giving some business owner an opportunity at slave wages?

    3b says:
    September 19, 2017 at 12:39 pm
    Fast food jobs were never meant to support a family. The whole point that is being ignored!

  123. The Great Pumpkin says:

    You have no problem subsidizing a business model on slave wages? You are okay with all those workers keeping a business afloat on meaningless wages? So it’s okay to let the business owner survive, but f the worker, right? There has to be some middle ground on this debate.

  124. JCer says:

    Pumpkin the issue is the minimum wage and all of the state’s welfare schemes. In Switzerland they don’t have minimum wage yet wages are high even for fast food workers and a meal at mcd’s is ~$25. The issue is the supply of workers and can the business sustain the wages. If McD’s has to pay a living wage they will automate so then there will by no mc jobs or the Big mac meal needs to cost $20(guess what no one will buy it, low grade restaurants die if labor cost becomes a driver in pricing). The main reason people can work the low paid job is because they are receiving subsidies otherwise they’d move to a part of the country where low pay goes further. I don’t think even illegals will take less than $10 an hour in this area, to do hard labor most want $15-20 per hour.

  125. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Jcer, in that aspect, then we can’t complain about high taxes. We are helping our business community have artificially low wages through taxes. We also give them all these tax breaks to deal with a high cost state.

    We can’t have it all. Poor people (even the individuals that don’t work) have to survive. No easy answer.

  126. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Also, the welfare capital these poor receive, is dumped right back into the business communities hands.

  127. The Great Pumpkin says:

    If they didn’t receive welfare, they would be unable to create demand, which is a boost to business.

    Since most govt employees (not all) receive significantly less in the public sector, why doesn’t the same thing apply to business contracts? Why does private business get to drain the public on over-cost shoddy work. I get chills when I hear the word “privatize.” It’s also why I hate charter schools with a passion. You are telling me for profit is going to be run better than non-profit…….keep drinking the kool aid.

  128. D-FENS says:

    The only thing welfare boosts is misery.

  129. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    I’m pretty sure now that Pumps bought a highway house so his drug customers could get away quick.

  130. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    No across the street neighbors, just a nondescript shack on a 50mph pike. I’m guessing his brother is either clean or the brains of the operation, because it would never work in that neighborhood.

  131. A Home Buyer says:

    JCer (11:57),

    Consider what Pumps has revealed about himself in this thread alone.

    Anyone with minor knowledge of what public information is out on the web could nail his specific identify to the floor. A 20 minute search for anyone new. 5 minutes if you’ve been reading his drivel for all these years.

    That is why he is either a troll claiming someone’s identify… or a complete fool.

  132. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    I vote the latter.

    That is why he is either a troll claiming someone’s identify… or a complete fool.

  133. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    Grandfather…Father…son

    Family business.

  134. JCer says:

    Pumps, you misunderstand my sentiments. I’m with D-FENS, a persistent welfare state creates structural flaws in the economy eventually distorting markets, creating undue demand/supply which leads to boom-bust cycles and greater economic instability. We need to get rid of public housing and all state based programs which fundamentally limit the mobility of the poor and lead to the never ending cycle of government dependence. If you look at this area you have the top and the bottom, with the middle being squeezed out because lets just face it there are economic dead zones(we can start with Newark and Paterson) in a market place with a thriving economy. I’m not going to go as far as to parrot libertarian ideals because I think it is a bit naive to think everything will be perfect if the government stops interfering. There needs to be a safety net but that is what it should be not perpetual entitlement programs.

  135. Libturd sporting Tiger Wood says:

    Can we replace WIC with Mickey D gift cards?

  136. Bystander says:

    A complete fool..who got lucky on a gift home purchase and now thinks he is an economic laureate..yet so naive and needy to post real life details to complete strangers on a blog.

  137. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    It would probably boost the economy more to replace them with packs of Marlboro.

    Can we replace WIC with Mickey D gift cards?

  138. The Great Pumpkin says:

    I come on here and post honest sentiment from a jersey homeowner. Just because people don’t agree with what I say, I get bashed.

    Maybe it’s frustrating that some people think I’m an idiot, but somehow doing much better than them in life. Maybe it’s a bitter pill to swallow. Here’s a little a tip, I’m not an idiot. There is no way in hell I would have achieved what I have if I was. Maybe it’s time you start looking in the mirror.

    Call me an idiot for saying a dollar saved is a dollar earned. I don’t care. That’s the simple point of hedging for me. Yet, I get bashed for it. Unbelievable. So go ahead and don’t buy real estate as a hedge, instead buy all the fancy bond/stock investments to hedge your bet. You do you, and I’ll do me.

  139. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    Pumps is the Dunning-Kruger poster boy. He was raised in crime and got through it wit delusion.

    The eponymous Dunning-Kruger Effect is a cognitive bias whereby people who are incompetent at something are unable to recognize their own incompetence. And not only do they fail to recognize their incompetence, they’re also likely to feel confident that they actually are competent.

  140. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    Pumps only slightly borders on sane when he realized he boasted that he has three degrees, but can’t name a single one because he would be quickly caught in one of his many lies.

    If you’re not raised on honesty, it rarely becomes a late adult quality.

  141. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Says a lot about your character that you embrace someone like expat and support his stalking of my personal life.

    Expat must be an old lady. No man would worry about someone’s personal business like this.

    A Home Buyer says:
    September 19, 2017 at 2:13 pm
    JCer (11:57),

    Consider what Pumps has revealed about himself in this thread alone.

    Anyone with minor knowledge of what public information is out on the web could nail his specific identify to the floor. A 20 minute search for anyone new. 5 minutes if you’ve been reading his drivel for all these years.

    That is why he is either a troll claiming someone’s identify… or a complete fool.

  142. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    This is how Pumps fractured mind works. He knows that advantaged people go to college and get a degree. More advantaged people go on to get a Masters degree. If you were raised by habitual liars are you going to stop at two degrees? Hell no. Pumps has three degrees. Very, very, secret degrees.

    8 minute abs? I’m about to release 7 minute abs.
    Oh yeah? I’m publishing 6 minute abs!

    He’s broken. He can’t be fixed.

  143. D-FENS says:

    It would be pretty easy to tell your employer that you have multiple degrees. They rarely check.

  144. The Great Pumpkin says:

    It’s like, why would you even go and try to find out who I am based on what I post? Why? I have not done that to any of you. Sad part, you thought I made my story all up, but once again, I was telling the truth all along.

  145. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    Pumps only has degrees of delusion. None of them hang on the wall, btw.

    If he’s making any money it is in the family business, drug dealing.

  146. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    You wouldn’t look us up because we are all honest, reliable, believable, and come from good families. There’s not much interesting to find. You, OTOH, just absolutely reek of lies. An inquiring mind researches the lies.

    Where are your 3 degrees from?

    It’s like, why would you even go and try to find out who I am based on what I post? Why? I have not done that to any of you. Sad part, you thought I made my story all up, but once again, I was telling the truth all along.

  147. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Expat, you make me sick. Leave it at that.

  148. A Home Buyer says:

    Troll,

    I did my “stalking” years ago because I wanted to disprove such a person existed. Unfortunately I found you. Again, it takes 10 minutes.

    Check post on October 9th, 2015 near the end. I’ve known since then that at least something about you exists.

    If you so concerned with your privacy, why don’t you stop posting your personal garbage online coupled with your elitist and racist views on life.

  149. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    BTW, I found a list of all Clifton HS graduates. You weren’t on the list (but your family members were). Other posters here as well as my cousins were on the list. I guess a HS degree is not one of your degrees?

  150. No One says:

    “Now go tell me how I’m so shallow and stupid.”
    Ok, you are the most shallow and stupid of everyone here, except maybe the twitter-paster.

  151. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    I believe that. I’ve lived the life you were denied.

    Expat, you make me sick. Leave it at that.

  152. No One says:

    Here’s a video of Pumpkin having a tea party with his friends:
    http://southpark.cc.com/clips/103369/erics-tea-party

  153. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    LOL. That’s Pumps! I love the poster that says, “If you don’t have a Dad, you’re a Bastard!” That’s the core of the Pumps problem.

  154. The Great Pumpkin says:

    How old are you, Expat? Is this fun for you? I really feel bad for you.

    No one, you claim to be this superior individual, yet you belittle individuals?

    Says a lot about you guys.

  155. 3b says:

    D fend that is not the case anymore at least in the corporate world. Prospective employees are fully vetted.

  156. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    Hey Pumps – Maybe you should form your own little club. You need 3 secret degrees and a criminal family to get in.

    Hahahahahahahahahaha

  157. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    Pumps dad was the Donski of the Boneheadsky crime family.

  158. 3b says:

    Pumps I know I said I would ignore you but I will make one exception. We were having an intelligent reasonable discussion on why having a part time job is beneficial to young people for a multitude of reasons. One or 2 days a week only the summer whatever. It was a discussion that most reasonable people should be able to agree with. Yet you felt the need to come in with guns blazing and tell us how we are all wrong! I just don’t understand the need to do that. Then from there you are on to slave wages and it all just deterioated. There was no need for it. It is like you came in looking for a fight on a topic that certainly did not require one. Then you complain you get beat up. You should not always be your own worst enemy on a topic that should be anything but controversial.

  159. The Great Pumpkin says:

    This blog comes down to a bunch of people, including myself, that like to believe they are right. People that are not a “know it all” types will not blog, they don’t give a crap.

    This is why this place becomes a bee hive on ideological based issues.

    I was simply stating why middle class (or higher) teenagers no longer work minimum wage jobs. I’m not going to state why, because I already have. What I don’t understand is how my position is unitelligent? Why, because you disagree and can’t understand my position? Why such hate and angst towards any position you don’t agree with?

    I think it takes critical thinking skills to take up my position on this. You have to understand how the minimum wage has been artificially held down…in the same context you need to understand why. The why is that our govt favors business (aka money) over its own people. Sure, leave it up to the free market, eliminate min wage, and the wages will drop even further because it’s an unfair competition between labor and capital in present times due to a bunch a factors. So it’s pretty messed up the govt of the most powerful military in the world, and owners of vast resources, has not done anything for the workers of this country.

    Hell, the tax code says it all, it punishes workers and rewards capital.

    So tell me, what is unitelligent about my position? I can be wrong, but don’t call me an idiot or mental midget for taking this position.

    3b says:
    September 19, 2017 at 5:17 pm
    Pumps I know I said I would ignore you but I will make one exception. We were having an intelligent reasonable discussion on why having a part time job is beneficial to young people for a multitude of reasons. One or 2 days a week only the summer whatever. It was a discussion that most reasonable people should be able to agree with. Yet you felt the need to come in with guns blazing and tell us how we are all wrong! I just don’t understand the need to do that. Then from there you are on to slave wages and it all just deterioated. There was no need for it. It is like you came in looking for a fight on a topic that certainly did not require one. Then you complain you get beat up. You should not always be your own worst enemy on a topic that should be anything but controversial.

  160. 3b says:

    Pumps once again you miss the whole point. It has nothing necessarily to do with minimum wage. It’s the point of having and holding a job and responsibility. You make a statement they won’t work because of the wage. Do you know that for a fact? Did you ask them? How exactly do you know? Then you talk about salt mines and your daughter and these jobs are all a waste of time. Like I said it was a nice reasonable discussion on the benefit of a job for a young adult teenager high school college kid whatever. You turned it into a battle. It was totally unnecessary.

  161. Yo! says:

    My thoughts on Amazon HQ2 after reading the company’s request for proposal:

    • My vote for winner is Vaughan, Ontario, Canada. Vaughan is a suburb of Toronto.
    • Jersey City has a chance if Murphy makes it a priority to promote whatever proposal Jersey City puts forward.
    • Abandoned NJ suburban office parks like former Bell Labs in Holmdel and Merck in Readington don’t have a chance. My reading of Amazon’s requirements is lack of public transportation infrastructure is a fatal flaw.

  162. The Great Pumpkin says:

    3b,

    I know you don’t realize it, but you totally missed my point too. You really have no understanding of the current requirements of students wanting professional careers. The workload is insane and you better be filling that resume with some good stuff. You waste your time at Burger King for 8 dollars an hour, and the only lesson you will learn today is how ignorant you are to have wasted such a precious thing called “time” at a fast food joint for 8 dollars an hour. What a utter and complete waste of time for a goal oriented individual. The wages make it a complete waste of time.

    Have the kid slave around the house instead to teach them the value of hard work. Don’t let someone else take advantage of your child like that.

  163. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Yo,

    Whoever gets Amazon is getting hosed. Once again, big biz will put govt (aka people) in a choke hold and have the locals subsidize Amazon for some jobs. F them! Wish our politicians stopped whoring us out. The way Amazon is playing all these locations off each other is going to end badly for taxpayers that win.

  164. Grim says:

    JC means that Amazon will steal all of Walmart’s jet.com employees that hate the new culture. They can also pull from NJs strong retail and distribution workforce. All the Secaucus retail distro, Toys, Bed Bath, etc. Ascena and a bunch of clothing expertise they don’t have today.

    So they get fantastic ecommerce talent and cripple Walmart and the other B&Ms in one shot.

    NJ also has strong large data center expertise given WS – for AWS.

    JC is also attractive to steal NYC retail talent at a discount – they can get people to do the reverse commute or relocate inexpensively.

  165. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Huge European company exposed: faces multiple bribery charges, secretly owned other companies, made mysterious million $ payments. Of course, its all about capitalist efficiency.

    https://amp.theguardian.com/business/2017/sep/18/airbus-launches-internal-corruption-investigation-after-guardian-expose

  166. 3b says:

    Pumps last comment. Work experience is good stuff! Stunned you can’t see that . I guess I should not be. I am done with the topic and in talking to you.

  167. 3b says:

    Grim good point on an NJ location for Amazon. Had not thought about that. Just don’t know about two coastal locations as someone else said.

  168. grim says:

    Newark as well – remember you have Audible there (Amazon owns Audible).

    Amazon will like alignment with Rutgers. Newark is FBs darling remember. It has mass transport and affordable real estate. Booker is the right guy to attract them.

  169. grim says:

    My second guess would be outside Washington DC.

  170. grim says:

    NJ also has the largest number of Amazon Employees on this side of the country with 13,000 in 7 facilities, with 3 more planned.

  171. 3b says:

    Grim all great points. And Newark would be great PR for Amazon. Should have thought it through more before taking your bet!

  172. ex-new jersey says:

    You guys are silly. As hell.

  173. Libturd sporting Tiger Wood says:

    There is no second guessing!

  174. Libturd sporting Tiger Wood says:

    Maybe Amazon should move to the Amazon? They’d get some cheap Brazilian labor.

  175. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Keep worrying about the “massive debt.” Blah blah blah.

    “The federal government has no money. Why would it? It creates its sovereign currency, the dollar, ad hoc, when it pays bills. Whenever the federal government sends a check, in payment of a bill, that check is not money. The federal government, not having money, can send no money.

    You never will see a number showing how much money the federal government owns, but you always will see how much the federal government supposedly owes.

    When John Boehner famously lied, “Let’s be honest. We’re broke,” he was referring to the fact that the government supposedly owes trillions, but has no money. In fact, that always is the case for a Monetarily Sovereign nation. It creates its sovereign currency ad hoc, so at any moment in time, its debts far exceed its holdings of money. It has no holdings of money.

    A federal government check merely instructs a creditor’s bank to increase the number in the creditor’s checking account. It does not deliver dollars, since dollars, having no physical existence, cannot be delivered.

    At the same time the bank increases the number in the creditor’s account, corresponding federal accounts are decreased, but none of those accounts are part of the money supply. So when you send tax money to the government — or more properly, send your instructions in the form of a check or wire — the dollars that existed only as numbers in your checking account are destroyed. They cease to be part of the money supply.

    What about state and local tax dollars? When you send your checks to your state and local governments, the numbers in your checking account are reduced. But, contrary to what the federal government does, the state government deposits its tax receipts in private banks. Those dollars are part of the money supply.”

    https://mythfighter.com/2014/02/08/are-federal-taxes-destroyed-upon-receipt-the-shorter-and-longer-answers/

  176. The Great Pumpkin says:

    “Bottom line: When you pay taxes, you actually send instructions, not dollars, to various governments.

    When state and local governments follow your instructions, the nation’s money supply remains the same. When the federal government follows your instructions, the nation’s money supply falls.

    The difference: The federal government is Monetarily Sovereign. State and local governments are monetarily non-sovereign. A Monetarily Sovereign government has the unlimited ability to create its sovereign currency, in any amount at any time, for any reason it wishes.

    So it would make no sense to ask how much money the federal government has. It would be like asking (as Warren Moseley might say) how many points a scoreboard has. The answer in both cases: “As much as it needs at any moment in time; it creates them ad hoc.”

    As for you and me and state and local governments and euro-using nations, none of us has a sovereign currency. We cannot create unlimited amounts of money instantly, so it’s reasonable to ask how much money we have — and that is the Money Supply.”

  177. The Great Pumpkin says:

    “But in the case of a government that issues its own sovereign currency without a promise to convert at a fixed value to gold or foreign currency (that is, the government “floats” its currency), we need to think about the role of taxes in an entirely different way. Taxes are not needed to “pay for” government spending. Further, the logic is reversed: government must spend (or lend) the currency into the economy before taxpayers can pay taxes in the form of the currency. Spend first, tax later is the logical sequence.

    Some who hear this for the first time jump to the question: “Well, why not just eliminate taxes altogether?” There are several reasons. First—as we said last time–it is the tax that “drives” the currency. If we eliminated the tax, people probably would not immediately abandon use of the currency, but the main driver for its use would be gone.

    Further, the second reason to have taxes is to reduce aggregate demand. If we look at the United States today, the federal government spending is somewhat over 20% of GDP, while tax revenue is somewhat less—say 17%. The net injection coming from the federal government is thus about 3% of GDP. If we eliminated taxes (and held all else constant) the net injection might rise toward 20% of GDP. That is a huge increase of aggregate demand, and could cause inflation.

    Ideally, it is best if tax revenue moves countercyclically—increasing in expansion and falling in recession. That helps to make the government’s net contribution to the economy countercyclical, which helps to stabilize aggregate demand.”

    http://neweconomicperspectives.org/2014/05/taxes-mmt-approach.html

  178. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    Pumps – did your Dad make you help out in the family drug-dealing business? Did he stand you on the corner?

    Have the kid slave around the house instead to teach them the value of hard work. Don’t let someone else take advantage of your child like that.

  179. The Great Pumpkin says:

    “All of this was recognized by Beardsley Ruml, a New Dealer who chaired the Federal Reserve Bank in the 1940s; he was also the “father” of income tax withholding and wrote two important papers on the role of taxes (“Taxes for Revenue are Obsolete” in 1946, and “Tax Policies for Prosperity” in 1964). Let’s first examine his cogent argument that sovereign government does not need taxes for revenue, and turn to his views on the role of taxes.

    In his 1964 article, he emphasizes that “We must recognize that the objective of national fiscal policy is above all to maintain a sound currency and efficient financial institutions; but consistent with the basic purpose, fiscal policy should and can contribute a great deal toward obtaining a high level of productive employment and prosperity.” (1964 pp. 266-67) This view is similar to that propounded in by MMT.

    He goes on to say that the US government gained the ability to pursue these goals after WWII due to two developments. The first was the creation of “a modern central bank” and the second was the sovereign issue of a currency that “is not convertible into gold or into some other commodity.” With those two conditions, “[i]t follows that our federal government has final freedom from the money market in meeting its financial requirements….National states no longer need taxes to get the wherewithal to meet their expenses.” (ibid pp. 267-8)

    Why, then, does the national government need taxes? He counts four reasons:

    (1) as an instrument of fiscal policy to help stabilize the purchasing power of the dollar; (2) to express public policy in the distribution of wealth and of income as in the case of the progressive income and estate taxes; (3) to express public policy in subsidizing or in penalizing various industries and economic groups; and (4) to isolate and assess directly the costs of certain national benefits, such as highways and social security. (ibid p. 268)”

  180. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    The Dunning-Kruger effect occurs where people fail to adequately assess their level of competence — or specifically, their incompetence — at a task and thus consider themselves much more competent than everyone else. This lack of awareness is attributed to their lower level of competence robbing them of the ability to critically analyse their performance, leading to a significant overestimation of themselves.

  181. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Note that Ike understood that the it is REAL resources that are the constraint in an economy. The reason military spending takes away from spending on poverty, infrastructure, or education is NOT because it “uses up funds” or “uses up tax money”. “It’s because we are wasting real human and natural resources that could be used for other things. Ike lived through WW2, so he knew that the problem with the war wasn’t “finding the money”, it was that all the real resources were being put into the war effort, putting a ton of money into the economy but little production on non-military goods and services. This had the effect of driving up prices, threatening inflation getting out of control. Hence, rationing and war bonds. Rationing ensured that no one could bid up prices of any particular good too much, and war bonds removed spending power from the economy, cooling off inflation. War bonds did NOT “pay for” the war.”

  182. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Good economic discussion right there. Expat, anything to offer?

  183. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Wow, never thought of taxes as a tool for inflation. Makes perfect sense now that I think about it.

  184. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Just think about it….the higher the taxes, the more it takes out of circulation, hence, killing growth. The lower the taxes, the more the fed puts into circulation, leading to high growth with eventual inflation to ruin the party. And this is only talking about taxes at the fed level since they control the currency.

  185. Fabius Maximus says:

    Lib, I hate 14yo refs, they always call a bad game. miss a lot of the off the puck stuff, miss calls and can’t keep the game flowing.

    I am late for sign ups this session as e took the summer off. Its time to move to a girl only team, so I didn’t get any reminders from her old team. I have to see if the Blues have space for her and will let her start late.

  186. The Great Pumpkin says:

    To build the new economy we envision — strong in innovation and infrastructure — we will need a workforce ready for the challenge and policies in place to unite students, workers, and businesses under one roof. For many residents, a focused and purposeful training program will prepare them for good-paying work.

    New Jersey needs to be put on an entirely new economic course, one that reflects our values — diverse, inclusive, innovative, and backed by the best-educated, best-skilled workforce that grows and strengthens our middle class.

    Read our full plan here: https://www.murphy4nj.com/issue/connecting-new-jerseyans-to-good-jobs/

  187. Fabius Maximus says:

    I’m going off the wall and will say that Amazon cross the river and set up in KOP or Philly.

  188. Fabius Maximus says:

    “NJ also has strong large data center expertise given WS – for AWS.”

    Data centers are moving. Everything is going Soft layer and DC and Miami are now the big hand off points in the East. Midwest and Texas are where a lot of it is. I see a new Infrastructure backbone emerging. They will lay data pipe along with Smart Grid.

  189. Fabius Maximus says:

    Expat to finish this point “Think free speech vs. censorship.”
    Clay Travis is a D1ck. What he said and the reaction was neither free speech or censorship. He might as well have said “Can you repeat that, I was too busy staring at your rack”

    But I can see why you empathize with him. Why debate the point when you can throw a cheap insult and hope you get a rise from the person. For all the people skipping over pumps posts, I skip over yours the most. Whats the point reading the same insult over and over.

    “Dunning-Kruger ” I don’t know what it is, and can’t be bothered to Google it. I’ll assume its another lame pseudo- intellectual insult.

  190. Fabius Maximus says:

    “The reason military spending takes away from spending on poverty”

    Because its “Fcuk1ng expensive (in this country) ” File this with Bills “Its the economy” quote.

    Lets roll Ronnie, one of the few things he seemed to actually understand but he never did anything about. http://articles.latimes.com/1986-03-02/news/mn-1389_1_defense-spending

  191. ex-new jersey says:

    10:39 …. best skilled workforce….lol.

  192. Yo! says:

    Retailers based in NJ suburbs putting out horrible news this week. First, Wayne-based Toys “R” Us declares bankruptcy. Then last night, Bed Bath & Beyond, headquartered in Union, announced terrible results. These retailers operate in growing retail categories, toys and home furnishings. This state’s workforce must suck if companies based here can’t compete.

    But don’t worry – Bed Bath & Bath’s CEO (annual comp > $10 million 5 years in a row) announced the company has hired its first chief technology officer who is, “now engaged to drive an improved company-wide effort to ensure delivery of our initiatives..”

    How does a company wait until 2017 to hire a CTO?

  193. grim says:

    I can’t comment much more on either of those, as I’m tightly connected to them.

  194. Libturd sporting Tiger Wood says:

    I can. Their web presence is useless. All of their stores live on their 5 off of 15 and 20% off coupons. So much so that they’ve been threatening to pull them for as long as I can remember, but still haven’t. I’m talking like 10 years of promising to end the coupon. Until just recently, you couldn’t even use the coupon on line. If your business is dependent on the discount (since everything is marked up by 20%), why the heck would anyone buy anything from your portal. On top of this, their portal is complete garbage, which is a real shame since they have like nine names now.

    Remove the same %off discounts at Kohls and they are dead in the water. Remember how stupid the populace is.

  195. JCer says:

    Libturd, exactly the common thread among these stores is a dreadful shopping experience, marked up pricing and discounts. Amazon, walmart, target, etc are cutting into their sales.

  196. Steamturd, Part Time Orientalist and Full Time Mysoginist says:

    Yup!

  197. Steamturd, Part Time Orientalist and Full Time Mysoginist says:

    I got post 200 beyatches!

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