From the Star Ledger:
Democrats take control … of empty treasury | Moran
After Gov. Chris Christie hands off to Phil Murphy in two days, liberals in New Jersey will be unleashed to do as they please, with unchecked power in all three branches.
Part of me rejoices. Murphy will raise the minimum wage, fight climate change, and end the pointless war against pot. His cabinet looks like New Jersey, with a Muslim, a Sikh, and six women, two of them black and two Latino.
But I worry. Because New Jersey is broke, and most Democrats don’t seem to get that.
“That will be a challenge for the new governor,” says Tom Byrne, former Democratic state chairman, and son of the former governor. “People will be saying, ‘You promised me this. Why didn’t you do it already?'”
You may go numb when you hear the phrase “fiscal crisis” because it’s been a fact of life in New Jersey for so long. The sky has not fallen, so it may seem an empty threat, just numbers in a book in a dusty archive.
But it’s real, and the symptoms are everywhere. It explains why our transit system is such a mess, why addicts die waiting for treatment, why college kids pay more for tuition, why some poor kids can’t get a seat in preschool. Aren’t liberals supposed to care about all that stuff?
Jersey City recently paid a retiring police chief $512,000 for unused sick pay. Obscene is the only word I can think of to describe that. How many addicts could have been saved with that money? How many kids could be enrolled in preschool? In all, New Jersey taxpayers are on the hook for nearly $2 billion in these payments.
Health spending is out of control as well. Yes, public workers in New Jersey have taken a beating in the Christie years, with lower benefits and higher payments. But even now, their health plans would qualify as “platinum” under Obamacare.
So, this is an existential moment for Democrats. Murphy will try to raise taxes to soften the pinch, but that won’t be enough. If Democrats want progressive government, they will have to cut spending.
It won’t be easy. Most Democrats hear the word “union” and they think of coal miners fighting ruthless robber barons. But that’s way off.
Benefits for public workers are paid for mostly by middle-class taxpayers. By what warped logic is it “progressive” to force those families to pay for platinum coverage they can’t afford themselves? How many taxpayers are paid for unused sick time?
And how many tens of millions did Marissa Meyer get for destroying Yahoo when she retired? It’s not like you dipsh!ts aren’t paying taxes for the food stamps and other public assistance required by workers at major corporations because they refuse to pay a living wage to their full time workers. But you give Amazon and McDonalds a pass.
“Jersey City recently paid a retiring police chief $512,000 for unused sick pay. Obscene is the only word I can think of to describe that.”
Benefits for corporations are paid for mostly by middle-class taxpayers.
There, I fixed it.
“Benefits for public workers are paid for mostly by middle-class taxpayers. By what warped logic is it “progressive” to force those families to pay for platinum coverage they can’t afford themselves? How many taxpayers are paid for unused sick time?”
8:02/8:04
Well said.
It’s an economic system, I don’t know why individuals can turn a blind eye and completely ignore one part of the system(private), while bringing all their focus and attention to another part of the system (public). Always baffled me and shows how ignorant and naive people are when it comes to economic systems. As if the private side of the system has no impact on the taxes they pay, or the money they make. I guess it’s comforting to blame everything on a few public workers making 150,000 k a year, while private workers make 30 million a year for crashing a company or striking out with a bat.
Based on the way some people talk, nepotism only exists in the public sector, it surely doesn’t exist in the private sector. No way, no how. Same with corruption, it only applies to the public sector. You don’t pay for this nepotism or corruption in the private sector….keep telling yourself that to make your short sighted self feel better. If only everything was privatized, everything could be perfect.
When lobbyists no longer exist, I’ll maybe start to believe the private sector doesn’t impact the taxes I pay.
Liberal ethos, there is no difference between your money and my money. I have every right to tell you what to do with yours, no wait, I have the right to demand what you do with yours.
Based on the way some people talk, nepotism only exists in the public sector, it surely doesn’t exist in the private sector. No way, no how.
You mean like your grandmother selling you a house at a discount?
Pumps,
Only little people pay taxes.
I think a now deceased nyc real estate tycoon said that.
@CNN
“Let me be clear tonight. The people of Haiti have been through more… withstood more — they’ve fought back against more injustice than our President ever has.”
Anderson Cooper choked back tears as he reflected on the devastating quake nearly 8 years ago
@tedlieu
What makes America great is that we don’t judge you based on your bloodline or skin color.
We respect all Americans regardless of where you originally came from.
@realDonaldTrump fundamentally does not understand what makes America great.
He is unfit to be President.
The difference between private vs public corruption that pumps is incapable of understanding is accountability. The guy who set off the missile warning in Hawaii was “reassigned”. Any guess whether he was a public or private employee?
What makes America great is that we don’t judge you based on your bloodline or skin color.
We respect all Americans regardless of where you originally came from.
@realDonaldTrump fundamentally does not understand what makes America great.
He is unfit to be President.
I live right next to liberal Princeton. You should have seen the fight they put up to stop Avalon from building a tiny apartment complex.
Benefits for public workers are paid for mostly by middle-class taxpayers. By what warped logic is it “progressive” to force those families to pay for platinum coverage they can’t afford themselves? How many taxpayers are paid for unused sick time?
This is the fault of the NJEA for not making it public how much teacher’s pay now for health insurance. I personally pay 8k a year, up from the zero it was 9 years ago. If you take the same situation along with pension contributions and apply it to teachers, they have essentially no raise 9 years straight. Many even seen pay decreases over that same period.
The sick time issue needs to stop being applied to us as well. At this stage in the game, I think teachers get $10 per sick day when they retire. It’s essentially nothing. Btw, you lose all your sick days if you ever change jobs. The sick day pay outs are only for the high up and politically connected.
I pay $8,000 a year for 2 people, $1,750 deductible per person. I think my copays are $25 dr/$50 specialist/$250 er. Realistically, throw in a few doctors visits, etc etc – it’s about $10,000. This doesn’t include my wife, who pays for her own. Add her in and it takes the family to about $15,000. The has a chronic medical condition that generally has her meeting her deductible of $2,000 early in the year.
This is considered “platinum” these days?
“I am who I am. You sort of get what you see with me. The two exceptions are that I curse more than I should, and I find myself cursing more in this office than I had in my previous life.”
“Fortunately both my chief of staff (Denis McDonough) and my national security adviser (Susan Rice) have even bigger potty mouths than me, so it’s O.K.”
– Doris Kearns Goodwin: Exit Interview with President Obama – Vanity Fair November 2016.
But the difference is, 20 years ago, we agreed to lower salaries so that we could get the health insurance. This was negotiated at the local level. The state came in and changed the rules. If you are looking to drive competent people out of the profession…the people that teach your kids, this does it.
@keithellison
Today, remember that MLK was an organizer who confronted unjust government policy of racism. Arrested 30 times, stabbed in the chest, sued for perjury, home bombed, and more; so America live up to its promises of Liberty & Justice for All.
All of the hypocrisy and sanctimonious bullshlt aside, this latest fake news controversy shows why trump will continue to win the immigration debate.
The democrat party shows it clearly cares more about illegals and collecting new votes with open border policies than actually helping the working poor or any of the disenfranchised already here. Durban and his crocodile tears shows more compassion for Haitians who can’t help themselves than he does the captive votes he collects in the killing fields of Chicago. Where are his tears for the working poor decimated in careers that have been flooded by illegals? Ask anyone in the trades in NJ, the stories abound.
Where was Anderson Cooper when the Clintons were funneling reconstruction contracts to their buddies or using Haiti reconstruction “resources” to pay for Hillary’s wedding?
The truth about Bama’s dreamers from the lefty LA times,
“The average age of DACA participants is now 24. Few after entering adulthood sought to address their known illegal status. Surveys suggest that most are not in school; fewer than 5% have graduated from college. Those employed earn a median hourly wage of $15.34, which means they are forced to compete on the lower end of the wage ladder. Only about a tenth of 1% of DACA youth serve in the U.S. military — fewer than 900 total.
Setting aside the reality of the Dreamer pool, the Democrats’ method of fighting for DACA suggests that they are broadly in favor of letting immigration dysfunction continue apace. Why else would they refuse to give President Trump any significant concessions in the DACA negotiations — no wall, no end to chain migration, no cessation of visa lotteries?
They know that if this generation of Dreamers gets a pass without broader reform, it will be followed by another and another, all expecting the same eventual exemptions.
Democrats once used to talk about ending outright illegal immigration. They worried that it put downward pressure on wages. They thought it eroded union efforts and sapped political support among Democrats’ blue-collar base, while overtaxing finite social services to the detriment of the American underclass.
In the current age of identity politics, a new generation of progressive Democrats has recalibrated mass illegal immigration as a godsend.”
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-hanson-dreamer-agenda-20180114-story.html
NJ voters deserve what they get. Decades of being stupid enough to vote for and let Dems constantly raise their taxes, unchecked, has led NJ to the brink of failure. If NJ was a stock, you’d be an idiot not to short it.
But, “Stupid is as stupid does” and NJ voters will continue to repeat their acts of idiocy, as they run themselves into the ground and continue to blame others for their problems.
If you vote Dem in NJ… the fact is that you are the moron in the room.
I agree with Otto 100%. Where he completely fukcs up is in believing that Democrats behave differently in their treatment of corporations than Republicans do.
When will people get this? Both parties throw crumbs at their bases to maintain power, but treat their corporate masters with the same allegiance.
If I’m wrong Otto, provide some examples of Obama or Clinton going after corporate welfare or executive pay. Or save yourself the effort and just admit that you are wrong here.
Lib,
Spot on.
Anderson Cooper tears. Although I guess I can cut him a break given the hardships he suffered in his youth.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anderson_Cooper
Re: public and private, the difference is freedom and force.
In the private sector if you don’t like Marissa Mayer’s stewardship don’t buy the company stock and don’t use its services. I find Howard Schultz reprehensible both personally and politically. As such, I have never been to Starbucks nor will I. If you don’t like that bitcoin is a climate nightmare using electricity in the amount of a small country to power its servers don’t buy it. Simple. No like, no participate.
In the public sector if I object to some fatass getting half a million for sitting on his fatass and don’t pay my pro-rata share of my taxes supporting it I get a visit. By two guys with sidearms and restraints. And then I get dumped in an 8×10 cage.
Freedom and choice.
But how can one expect a liberal to understand such concepts. Especially when, as grim says, their starting point is “what belongs to you belongs to me”.
Great lead in article today Grim about what a sorry state NJ finds itself in.
Right on J [10:57].
I just hope that the Dems who ruined the once great State of NJ remain in the State and suffer the consequences of their election choices. Now that they trashed NJ they shouldn’t move to other States and bring their ruinous voting tendencies with them.
BRT,
Did B-Dubs yesterday in Marlboro. The NFL playoffs were on and they were cranking the annoying play-by-play through the restaurant PA at headache inducing levels. So the restaurant of 100+ tables was screaming over the PA. It was so loud, one could hardly have a conversation in there. On the bright side, the traditional wings (we ordered with Thai Curry hot sauce) was surprisingly hot and very, very good. The nachos were very good as well. Thanks for the tips. If I ever went back, I would not go when there any major sporting events on. Sadly, very few patrons were even watching the game on the 50 or so screens. Turn off the PA. You don’t need it for sports anyway.
Also, on the compensation tip. The politicians like to go after the teachers since it’s a law of numbers. Where the attack needs to be is on the police and fire departments. Or at the Turnpike Authority. I use those 60 million a pop salt shelters as a prime example of government unaccountability.
Heck, Montclair just leasedt 40 garbage cans at $1,200 a year that compact the trash inside. I’m sure the maintenance will be a fortune on them as well as the installation cost. The benefit? The cans can hold 5 times the trash of a normal garbage can and signals the public works when it’s full. Personally, I would hire another worker who could empty 40 garbage cans in about two hours time daily and then use them for six hours of other work, but what do I know? I’ve only managed more than 40 hourly full-time workers simultaneously.
Really though, the reason this sh1t goes on is because people don’t pay attention. If they did, they would realize that Murphy was an absolutely horrible choice for governor much like HRC was for president. But no one pays attention so we get what we deserve. Costa Rica can’t come soon enough. Six more years baby.
And ironically many of the people who benefit the most from the pensions and medical plans are the first ones out of the state when they retire because the taxes are too high!!
“And ironically many of the people who benefit the most from the pensions and medical plans are the first ones out of the state when they retire because the taxes are too high!!”
This doesn’t bother me at all. Lord knows, I would be the first one out.
Don’t understand.
You use the high cost of living to negotiate the pension, since you need to be able to afford to live here.
But, then you don’t live here.
Beautiful.
Don’t understand.
You use the high cost of living to negotiate the pension, since you need to be able to afford to live here.
But, then you don’t live here.
Beautiful.
That shouldn’t matter either. The state has skipped out on payments for the better part of 20 years. The pension has always been designed to rob the existing employees at the behest of the older employees. So who’s getting screwed? Me…not you. You paid less than 5% of what your elected politicians initially committed to. I’m paying thousands of dollars every year and it’s likely I get back $0.
I personally think there should be a pension penalty for moving out of state. The state already requires teachers to live in state to work here.
21% of the pension dollars get paid outside of NJ.
Top 5 states are Florida(duh), NC, SC, Pennsylvania, and NY.
NY and Penn are likely where they lived while working in NJ in many cases.
The majority of public workers collecting pensions stay in NJ, and I’d be surprised if the numbers were much different than the private sector.
Bingo. I always tried to point that out on here. Anyone complaining about the cost of the pension doesn’t realize that the tax payer almost payed nothing. In fact, tax payers robbed the pension fund in the name of lower taxes. The people complaining should be current workers who are getting robbed blind. Blue, it’s amazing how you are made to be the bad one for being forced to contribute to a fund used to artificially lower property taxes in the present. Pretty messed up, no matter how you look at it.
“That shouldn’t matter either. The state has skipped out on payments for the better part of 20 years. The pension has always been designed to rob the existing employees at the behest of the older employees. So who’s getting screwed? Me…not you. You paid less than 5% of what your elected politicians initially committed to. I’m paying thousands of dollars every year and it’s likely I get back $0.
I personally think there should be a pension penalty for moving out of state. The state already requires teachers to live in state to work here.”
COLA adjustment for Pension payouts if you move.
So, if Stu moved to Costa Rica, his pension payments would be cut to 1/10th.
Anyone complaining about the cost of the pension doesn’t realize that the tax payer almost payed nothing.
Uhh..
Problem with defined benefit pensions is … there is not all that much difference compared to a Ponzi scheme.
If NJ’s population starts to decline significantly, the pension system would completely collapse, and it would have nothing to do with NJ’s ability or inability to contribute payments.
It’s not 5%. The state has paid plenty more than that.
I know it’s very different now, but the original promised benefits were completely insane.
Bingo! Social security and pensions are based on a growing population. If we hit demographic head winds like Japan, these systems end up getting hurt, because there is only so much you can raise the pension payment on current employees.
grim says:
January 15, 2018 at 2:29 pm
If NJ’s population starts to decline significantly, the pension system would completely collapse, and it would have nothing to do with NJ’s ability or inability to contribute payments.
Let’s just offer the retired teachers some discounted weed.
Pension payments with no cola will eventually become worthless. Seems to be the plan right now to make it solvent.
They get their cola when my 401K also pays cola. OK?
Problem with defined benefit pensions is … there is not all that much difference compared to a Ponzi scheme.
It’s totally a ponzi scheme and the general public by in large hasn’t participated at all. The victims are the employees.
I don’t know why the teachers (union) kept working when the state didn’t make the payments. I always read it as affirmation that it was OK. You would have thought the union would have organized a strike or something. Too bad they sold their souls to the politicians who overpromised more than could be paid. Go dig up Lautenberg and see how not keeping his promise is affecting his afterlife.
Lutenberg’s a bad example. Dig up Brendan Byrne or wait for ManGravy to get da Aids.
I don’t know why the teachers (union) kept working when the state didn’t make the payments. I always read it as affirmation that it was OK. You would have thought the union would have organized a strike or something. Too bad they sold their souls to the politicians who overpromised more than could be paid. Go dig up Lautenberg and see how not keeping his promise is affecting his afterlife.
Because the NJEA is a corrupt organization that bleeds the paychecks of teachers dry. They don’t care about teachers and they do 0% for us. Their goal is to maintain a stranglehold on those dues going straight to their office in Trenton and they’ll remain silent on any crucial issue if it pleases the politicians. The top 10 members in the NJEA collect salaries over 500k a year.
People can’t differentiate between the NJEA and teachers and that’s a big problem. The NJEA are political hacks that are borderline criminal. They have nothing to do with teachers.
People can’t differentiate between the NJEA and teachers and that’s a big problem
Not sure.
Are you highlighting a problem, or using them as a scapegoat?
Most teachers I know seem to be highly politically aligned with the NJEA.
It’s totally a ponzi scheme and the general public by in large hasn’t participated at all. The victims are the employees.
Remember, it took two to negotiate the wholly unrealistic arrangement.
If you sit down at the table with a homeless man, and you both agree that he should pay you a million dollars a year. Whose fault is it if you don’t get paid?
It ain’t mine.
Defined benefit pensions should be illegal.
Remember, it took two to negotiate the wholly unrealistic arrangement.
If you sit down at the table with a homeless man, and you both agree that he should pay you a million dollars a year. Whose fault is it if you don’t get paid?
It ain’t mine.
The pension is dead in the water and I accept that. Personally, I want out of it completely but the state forces me to participate by law in their ponzi scheme. The healthcare benefits, how they were put through was completely immoral.
Some districts, they negotiated an average salary of 75k with the understanding that they pay towards their benefits. Other districts negotiated an average salary of $60k where the benefits are paid by the town. Sounds like a wash?
But after that, the government comes in and makes benefit contributions mandatory. The district that negotiated $75k and to pay their own way is unaffected. The district that negotiated $60k now instantly lost everything they negotiated for. Now, the town could give back the money to the teachers but instead, they all chose to hire expensive administrators with that freed up cash.
Changing the rules mid game was criminal and if you take someone who was making $60k a year, and slice $8k off their paycheck, it drastically reduces their standard of living. As a result, competent people left the profession. Most others I know that are sticking it through are tutoring 10 to 15 kids a week. You get what you pay for…and it’s laughable that people will complain about the quality of teacher in their district. Do you honestly expect to attract talent to the profession by offering them 50k a year in NJ? It’s not going to happen.
There is more than enough money to pay your local district a decent salary. It requires an overall of the Abbott ruling and the state funding formula. People complain left and right about their tax dollars and only try to influence it at their municipality. Right now, Hoboken and Jersey City are robbing you all.
I’ve been saying all along that teachers are underpaid but overbenefitted. I would rather they be paid more and the benefits reduced. It would be cheaper and much more sustainable.
We all made payments into the pensions ,but our politicians took that money and fed it to the Abbott’s my town gets back 6c on every dollar we send to Trenton 94c down the sewer …Let Murphy shut down the Abbott slush fund and give it to the pensions …better yet let the voters vote on it ….
Aren’t NJ state workers required for the most part to live in the state?
Artificially low property taxes?? So we should be raising them??
Changing the rules mid game was criminal
A lot of went on was criminal, but nobody ever talks about prosecuting the negotiators. Politicians on one side, union and other labor leaders on the other. The lot of them should be thrown in jail for fraud.
Instead I hear that promises are gospel.
So these old politicians that made the promises, I suppose they are saints.
grim, I’m talking about negotiations on the local (town) level. This is done between an elected board and the union reps. The town would then vote on the budget. There was nothing criminal about it.
I’ve been saying all along that teachers are underpaid but overbenefitted. I would rather they be paid more and the benefits reduced. It would be cheaper and much more sustainable.
Agree, and my district offers a series of plans to help for those 20 somethings that probably don’t need any insurance at all. My previous district said you either take the full $21k a year plan or get nothing. Stupid and short sighted.
Yup.
Chuck Wepner the Real Rocky