News Round-up and Open Thread for Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Hopping on the bandwagon... (0.00 / 0)

Write the governor. Tell him to veto the whole thing and start over. The legislature lost their way.

"Where ever you go, there you are." - Buckaroo Bonzai

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by: William Weber (WjcW) @ Tue Jan 30, 2007 at 15:28:22 PM UTC

not sure (0.00 / 0)

As bad as the compromises are, is it possible that they are better than the status quo and can be improved and retooled over time?  Is it possible that they could be the bridge to real property tax reform in the same way that we hope that civil unions will be the bridge to marriage equality?

Is it possible that this will be sufficient to sell to an otherwise ignorant public to re-elect a Democratic majority in November so that they can stop running for re-election like the scared children that they are and start governing again for at least a few months until everyone in Trenton starts thinking about trying to re-elect Corzine and the Assembly in 2009?

If progressive Democrats are not going to organize themselves as a party within the Democrat Party and challenge those who prevent it from being the Democratic Party, then I don't see how we have any choice but to tolerate another half-loaf compromise like this one.

As far as the Governor goes, he lost his way the day that he refused to consider income tax increases as a way of sustainably paying for property tax decreases.  If he had the guts to do that and run for re-election on it in 2009, I would be more impressed with him than I am.  Then again, if he had the guts to do that, he probably would have had the guts to pass true marriage equality when he had the chance.

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by: Bertin Lefkovic @ Tue Jan 30, 2007 at 15:47:32 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

30 years too late. (0.00 / 0)

That union local has been a joke as long as I've known of it, which goes back to height of The Plumber era.  I was in the union office a few years ago & the photo display of past business adminstrators was a rogue's gallery. I met a guy from Peterstown in Elizabeth who claimed he was in the union one summer while he was in college, made loads of money & didn't do much more than sit in a chair all day at a construction site & count shovels.  The trusteeship action is about 30 years too late. But then, 30 years ago the national office & the law were too scared to touch it.

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by: Wesleylake @ Tue Jan 30, 2007 at 16:02:29 PM UTC

GSP widening & wetlands (0.00 / 0)

It looks like the project would result in the destruction of about 8 acres of wetlands, about 5 acres of which are tidal wetlands (an acre = 43,560 sq ft).  The GSP folks will need permits from the US Army Corps of Engineers (Phila. office) and NJDEP (Land Use Reg Program).  Wetland losses must be compensated for by creating, restoring, and/or preserving wetlands.  If you have comments, you can send them to the Corps and NJDEP.

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by: jfc521 @ Wed Jan 31, 2007 at 01:46:55 AM UTC

The DMV (4.00 / 1)

You know, I have got to give credit when it is due.

If there is any one area where my life directly intersects with the machinery of state government on a regular basis, it is the division of Motor Vehicle Services, or whatever the heck they're calling themselves these days (they'll always be the DMV to me).

Everything -- EVERYTHING -- is just infinitely better than it was when I was but a wee sprout -- when a new driver's license meant three or four HOURS at Bakers Basin.

Even in 1990, it took an hour+ to get a picture license in Somerville.

Now, it's slam-bam, here's your license, now get outta here, which is all I ever really wanted. Same with registrations, titles -- everything is just quick and business-like.

I even love inspections now. I have two cars, a 'real' one and a 'toy' one -- and the 'toy' one no longer even gets inspected as long as I don't drive it more than 3,000 miles a year. It's considered a collectors car - this is open to cars more than 25 years old that have some redeeming value as artifacts. You have to write a tiny essay on why your ride is special to the history of automobiles to get the status. Any creative writer can finagle their grandma's beater onto this program if that's what you're seeking to preserve -- "The Chevette was best car ever made in a third-world country--Georgia!" The state is not too particular, and since you can only drive 3,000 per year anyway, it's not like this program enables idiots to keep dangerous polluting wrecks in regular service.

ANYWAY, the DMS really is evidence that positive change is possible!

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by: denniscmcgrath @ Wed Jan 31, 2007 at 14:11:59 PM UTC

Motivation + Investment +Competence = (0.00 / 0)

Positive Results.

The same general principles applied to the far larger and more complex issues of our health care system would yield even better results.

Why?  Because the waste, fraud (legalized!), and abuse that out current system of thousands of private insurance plans imposes on us pisses away.

http://www.pnhp.org/

The U.S. spends twice as much as other industrialized nations on health care, $7,129 per capita. Yet our system performs poorly in comparison and still leaves 46 million without health coverage and millions more inadequately covered.

This is because private insurance bureaucracy and paperwork consume one-third (31 percent) of every health care dollar. Streamlining payment though a single nonprofit payer would save more than $350 billion per year, enough to provide comprehensive, high-quality coverage for all Americans.

350 billion per year...that's far less than Bush and his cronies have stolen from the treasury to pay for the systematic criminality that is Bush's invasion and ongoing/perpetual occupation of Iraq...and the Devil only knows what's in store for Iran since Bush must now keep the momentum/distractions going full speed ahead.

PS

DMV to Single Payer to Iraq to Iran....What do these threads all have in common? 

Come on, isn't it obvious?  LOL

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