Quote of the Day

I have to go with ... (4.00 / 2)

being an accomplice.

Open space costs money. It's money well spent. They aren't making more of it (hat-tip to Will Rodgers).

The stem-cell bond issue should pay for itself and more via new taxable businesses and jobs. Not that I can prove that .... but it should.

I'm sure somewhere out there there are favorable statistics on prior NJ bonds to support high tech development. Was the Von Neumann supercomputing center backed by a bond issue? I don't remember ... it's worth looking into. 

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by: denniscmcgrath @ Wed Oct 31, 2007 at 15:09:16 PM UTC

Does it have to be... (0.00 / 0)

framed as such a black and white choice?
How about spending the money for these worthwhile causes, and saving money by ending pay for play, push cost-sharing between the gazillion school districts, and nix shifting money from a sales tax to property tax "reform."

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by: westcoast @ Wed Oct 31, 2007 at 17:21:37 PM UTC

I agree with you (0.00 / 0)

in principle - and I am in favor of spending the money on these two bond issues without any proof that open space is economically "good," or the the stem cell research initiative is revenue positive or at worst revenue neutral.

But it is something of a hard sell, in an environment where some $30 billion is already owed, to propose to spend some more ... so, yeah, I think these programs need to look very, very appealing.

Open space preservation is very, very appealing to me even without any evidence that it is revenue enhancing or at least revenue neutral ... but I would like to see some revenue estimates regarding the stem cell research bond initiative, even though I personally don't need those facts to make a decision in its favor.

NJ's history of wringing substantial cost savings from efficiencies and consolidations is pretty weak. Politically, consolidating municipal and county functions has been eternally unpopular, and economically, it isn't likely to yield all that much in the way of savings. There is an old diary here somewhere which cites Rutgers Prof. Ernest Reock on the subject - it would be worth trying to find it if you are interested in the actual economics of scale that could be achieved via consolidation.

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by: denniscmcgrath @ Wed Oct 31, 2007 at 17:38:01 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Reock quotes (0.00 / 0)

See this diary:

http://www.bluejerse...

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by: denniscmcgrath @ Wed Oct 31, 2007 at 17:40:17 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Boondoggle.... (4.00 / 2)

Styles should have written this one months ago; better late than never.

I urge y'all to actually read the full text of his column, not just the quote above.

Clearly these are good ideas; but what the legislature did was pump them up so that everyone's palm was greased. 

Am I the only one here that gets pissed off about crap like this?

It seems that in NJ governance no good deed goes unpunished, and no good idea goes unsullied.  It's the taxpayers of the future who'll foot the bills with massive interest for decades.  (And, of course all manner of fees will accrue to the underwriters of the debt and the bondholders will reap tax free interest on it.)

It won't make any difference to the results at this point; but I'm voting against these proposals.  They need to be knocked down and restructured so they aren't dirty with pay to play money.

Further, the state's taxpayers should be partners in any patents/profits that accrue from the research we pay for; I suspect that that clause isn't in there either.

Sorry folks, but legalized corruption rears it's head in every penny spent  by our government. 

It's been said that "money is the mother's milk of politics".  If that's true; then American/New Jersey politics has grown up to be a Frankenstein monster. 

Happy Halloween

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by: Nick Lento @ Wed Oct 31, 2007 at 18:18:32 PM UTC

I agree... (0.00 / 0)

I think Tom wrote it correctly. If they had just included the tax increases to pay for these things in the question, they could have at least had an honest referendum on these proposals. As it is written, they imply that these causes are, in effect, 'free of charge' and it's that dishonesty that I will vote against.

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

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by: William Weber (WjcW) @ Wed Oct 31, 2007 at 18:55:00 PM UTC

[ Parent ]