GOVERNMENT WASTE

- NEW JERSEY -

Date	Individual / State Agency	Who, What, Where?
01/01/05	City of Newark	Newark Arena - $210 Million Poured Down Rathole The Newark Arena in Newark, New Jersey, has an estimated cost of $310 million (which continually escalates higher each day). The costs are to be borne by the City of Newark ($210 million) and the New Jersey Devils hockey team ($100 million). The grand plan is for the arena to be used to host not only hockey games but also circuses, shows and ice shows. It’s hard to expect this venture will be a booming success since the new arena will compete with the Continental Airlines Arena, Madison Square Gardens, Radio City Music Hall, and other new facilities on the drawing boards. One very important aspect of this deal that no one mentions for fear (no doubt) of offending political correctness is that many parts of Newark are outright slums with high crime rates. I doubt that many New Jerseyans will consider attending night games at the arena unless heavy security is in place. Where will Newark get the money to invest in this project? The City of Newark reached a lease deal with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey for Newark Liberty International Airport. As part of that lease deal the city of Newark is receiving a $210 million payment. Realistically, who are the major benefactors of this grandiose plan? Naturally, the construction companies and labor unions, which just happen to be major contributors to the Democratic machine run by Sharpe James, the Mayor of Newark, are the primary beneficiaries. This of course assumes that the final price for the arena will be $310 million. The history of sports stadium construction suggests that an overrun of between 40-50% is par for the course. And who will pick up those additional costs? I’ll bet it won’t be the hockey team. I can just visualize a bond issue being floated before the people now to pick up the tab. According to initial projections, the City of Newark is supposed to recoup its investment from the tax base created in this deal. Developers have stated that they expect the arena to generate $135 million in salaries for employees (Naturally, $60 million of that is in player’s salaries and the rest in low-paying part-time concessionaire wages). There was supposed to be a 275,000 square foot office complex but the existence of that part of the proposal seems to be somewhat fuzzy. Since the city has a 1% payroll tax, simple math tells us that the best the city may be able to reap will be $1.35 million per year into their coffers. Let’s do a little math - the numbers don’t lie. $1.35 million divided into $210 million means that for the city to recoup its investment (not counting inflation), the arena must be profitable for 155 years and that’s hardly likely, especially considering a life of 25 years is the norm for any comparable venture. If the City of Newark is instead trying to justify the deal on the basis of the wonderful new jobs it will create, it’s a losing proposition from any angle you approach it. In the fall of 2004, the owners of the National Hockey League have locked out the players because they are demanding more revenue sharing, displaying the routine greed of sports figures. The owners have said, “Enough is enough!” There is a strong possibility that either the entire league will fold or after the lockout is resolved, many teams will go out of business leaving a minimal league to pick up the pieces. To add to the stupidity, isn’t this the perfect time for the government to shell out $210 million to build a new hockey stadium? In September 2004, a grand rally promoting the Arena (supposedly a public hearing on the issue) was held in Newark with lots of hoopla and political grandstanding. Over 500 people attended including the owner of the Devils, civic leaders, political groupies, real estate entrepreneurs, construction workers and homeowners, who were all shown the Promised Land, no doubt. A majority of these people stand to make a nice buck from the transaction. Former Councilwoman Mildred Crump was one the few voices of reason stating that when the taxpayers were sold a bill of goods for the Newark Bears baseball stadium, all that much ballyhooed project did was produce a few menial jobs and a lot less income then was projected. Their income projections were based on an average attendance of 5,000 howling baseball fans at each game. To-date, attendance has averaged 900 people.
02/11/05	Acting Governor Dick Codey	Acting Governor’s Brother Benefits From Shady Deal Acting Governor Dick Codey’s brother, Robert Codey, a state prosecutor since 1988, has been hired in a “special deal” to help the county prosecutor with organized crime. He is earning $48,866 more is his new assignment and will be eligible for a pension that’s about $36,000 higher if he had retired just one year ago.
02/17/205	State of New Jersey	Spending We Don't Need According to a study by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, in which they compared similar data on all 50 states, the bank found that although New York and New Jersey tax their citizens well above the average, they have only average public-spending when weighed against the other states.
03/07/05	Schools Construction Corporation	$5 Million Wasted in School Building Costs The School Construction Corp. paid $5 million to relocate a firm from Newark to Mount Olive 9 months after deciding to NOT build on the company site.
03/07/05	Schools Construction Corporation	New Schools Cost 46% Higher Than Schools Built By Local School Districts The Star-Ledger of Newark has reported that the six schools built by the SCC cost an average of 46 percent more than the 19 new schools built by local school districts in the same time span. Architects and construction managers working on the projects overseen by the SCC were paid at a far higher rate than those working for school districts. Also, the newspaper reported that more than $1 billion in work on schools has been given to firms that are members of the Building Contractors Association of New Jersey. Jack Kocsis is both chairman of the SCC and executive director of the industry group. State lawmakers demanded a full accounting of the School Construction Corporation’s spending after learning that the $6 billion allocated to build or refurbish schools will run out with over 100 projects still on the drawing boards. Assemblyman Joseph Cryan said, “It’s just disgusting” and “It’s incomprehensible.” Now that the barn door has been left open for years, officials of the agency said that they have identified problems in the construction program and have already started the process of sweeping changes in management and business practices after demonstrating their incompetence for close to six years. Assemblyman Joseph Malone, who was an author of the legislation that created the School Construction Corporation, estimated it will take between $18-25 billion to complete the job mandated by the “judicial activists” of the New Jersey Supreme Court.
03/17/05	City of Newark	Newark Uses Homeland Security Funds to Buy Garbage Trucks The City of Newark used Department of Homeland Security funds to purchase 10 state-of-the art garbage trucks for $1.7 million. When the Mayor, Sharpe James, was accused of “misuse” of funds, His office offered that they “have special apparatus on them for handling waste and debris.” It was stated that these machines are to be used in the event of a major cleanup (after a disaster),” in a feeble attempt to justify another misuse of funds by the City of Newark. It was also reported that the trucks are air-conditioned and offer other amenities. Perhaps Mayor James will also inform the public that these trucks can also be used as “Zamboni’s” to clear the ice after the new $310 million Newark Arena ice hockey rink is built for a sports league (NHL) that is on the verge of collapse.
04/10/05	City of Newark	Newark City Council Lives High Off the Hog Newark’s nine city council members were reimbursed $176,538 for personal expenses in 2004, in addition to $164,000 paid to council members “in lieu of expenses,” for an average of almost $40,000 per council member. These “expenses” covered items such as food, travel, mailing costs and to attend conferences. Jersey City, with about the same population, doles out $7,500 per head, or St. Paul. Minnesota, which pays out $7,000 per head. These expenses are in addition to city-owned Crown Victoria automobiles they may use at their discretion. Oh yes, Newark council members are paid $64,766 while Jersey City council members receive about $32,000.
04/21/05	City of Newark	Newark Uses HUD Funds to Purchase Lots for New Hockey Arena As if spending $210 million on a new hockey arena is not sheer stupidity, considering that Newark’s sewer system is over 100 years old and the city has numerous other well-documented infrastructure problems, the U. S Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) said that $3.9 million of the $6.5 million allocated to Newark to house the poor was instead used to purchase 12 lots in the downtown hockey arena development zone. HUD has ordered the Newark Housing Authority to return that money to the financial accounts used to provide housing for the city’s needy residents. HUD has rated the City of Newark 33 points on a scale of 100, wherein 60 is considered troublesome, indicating that the agency is in danger of being placed in federal receivership, while people in public housing can’t get exterminators, refrigerators or paint. HUD has ordered a full, independent audit of the Housing Authority’s financial statements. The Apathetic Voter can just imagine what horrors will turn up from that inspection.
04/23/05	Inspector General	Wasting More Taxpayer Money on Corruption Investigations Acting Governor Dick Codey of New Jersey made great political hay when he announced he has budgeted $2.5 million for a new office of Inspector General to uncover corruption. Few of us are aware that the state already has a massive organization in place that is supposed to deal with just this issue. Attorney General Peter “See No Evil” Harvey has nearly a $1 billion budget for the Department of Law and Public Safety employing over 800 lawyers and 800 investigators. He is also responsible for the Division of Criminal Justice, which is supposed to root out corruption, with 178 lawyers and 327 investigators. So how does government react to a non-functioning department? Spend more money and create a separate department – that will solve the problem. In the private sector, Harvey would be thrown out on his ear and be replaced with someone who can get the organization focused on solving the state’s problems. But it’s OK – its only taxpayer money.
05/15/05	Orange County, Little Egg Harbor, Dover Township. Beachwood	State Employee Has Eight Part-Time Jobs Although this piracy is perfectly legal under state law, we have to include this disgrace under the category of scandals, indictments and corruption, as it goes far beyond the simple definition of government waste. As the ultimate abuse of “tacking” (holding multiple state jobs), Former Ocean County Freeholder Damian G. Murray has eight part-time jobs that pay him $268,284 a year. Among the jobs he held are as a member of the Orange County Library Commission, an Orange County Freeholder, Judge of the Little Egg Harbor Municipal Court, Judge of the Dover Township Municipal Court, and Magistrate of the Beachwood Municipal Court. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to quickly determine he could not work more than one hour per day at each assignment, but what about travel time between each part-time job? The clincher is his retirement pay is about $150,000 per year. Even excluding travel time, the good judge has been paid $134 per hour. With travel time, it likely equals about $270 per hour. I’m sure we can all agree he was worth every penny.
05/31/05	University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ)	UMDNJ Awarded $450 Million in Sole Source Contracts We’re not sure whether this tidbit belongs in the corruption or the waste category (only time will tell), but the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ), with a $1.6 billion annual budget, has awarded over $450 million in contracts over the last three years without any inkling of competitive bidding. State law requires public institutions to open contracts to competitive bidding except in very rare situations. Most institutions generally have a policy that dictates if a contract exceeds a certain threshold, such as $10,000, at least three contractors must be given the opportunity to bid on the work. This problem caught the news media’s attention when very questionable expenditures, such as an elaborate and costly inauguration party for the incoming university president, bonuses it paid its top executives, and donations it made to charities linked to elected officials, bubbled to the surface. The FBI and state investigators are now delving into not only the books of UMDNJ but have also requested financial information from Rutgers, the New Jersey Institute of Technology and Ramapo College. On top of that, as if we should expect any less with the cancer of “tacking” that exists in the state, the president of UMDNJ, John Petillo, who is paid $575,000 per year, has recently quit his two consulting jobs that paid about $50,000 per year. I’m sure he has plenty of time on his hands after he directs the activities of a massive organization with a multi-billion dollar budget. If this were private industry, he would be tarred and feathered and kicked out the door. Now it has been reported by the Star-Ledger that UMDNJ’s 31 top administrators racked up $631,000 in travel expenses since 2000. A former senior vice president, James Archibald, spent 200 nights in local hotels over a three-year span billing $41,400 in travel and entertainment.
06/23/05	City of Newark	Microcosm of Government Stupidity and Waste Although we are only concerned with the trivial amount of $1 million (trivial to politicians, that is), the latest incident in the city of Newark highlights the blatant indifference with which government officials regard taxpayers. City officials have spent $1 million to add hundreds of lights to two bridges so the lights can be turned on with different colors to correspond to various holidays and festive occasions. I don’t know how I would know what time of year it is without those lights. Why I would probably bypass Christmas completely and wander right into Groundhog’s Day if I didn’t see those red and green lights on the bridge. According to Sharpe James, the Mayor of Newark, “Newark has become America’s destination city, and creating festive and decorative lights on our bridges is another artistic touch to add to our city’s luster and the enjoyment of residents and visitors alike.” I can’t help wondering if perhaps a member of James family has the contract to provide the lights. I’ll bet if we put the purchase to a vote in Newark, you might get two or three “yeah” votes out of the total population, especially if you told the citizens they needed to fork up $10 apiece to buy the lights. But before you get mad, it’s OK. That’s because the city of Newark is using a state grant to fund the purchase. And when the state spends an outrageous amount of money on some idiotic paraphernalia, we’re told that it’s OK, too, because the feds are providing the money. And when the feds spend an outrageous amount of money, they blame Congress. That’s the politician’s favorite ploy – point the finger up the proverbial money chain. Let us not forget. We the taxpayers are footing the bill for every paper clip or B-2 Bomber whether it’s a city, state or federal purchase.
07/15/05	School Construction Corp.	New Jersey Legislature Bashes School Construction Corp. State lawmakers demanded a full accounting of the School Construction Corporation’s (SCC) spending after learning that the $6 billion allocated to build or refurbish schools will run out with over 100 projects still on the drawing boards. Assemblyman Joseph Cryan said, “It’s just disgusting” and “It’s incomprehensible.” Now that the barn door has been left open for years, officials of the agency said that they have identified problems in the construction program and have already started the process of sweeping changes in management and business practices after demonstrating their fiscal incompetence for many years. Assemblyman Joseph Malone, who was an author of the legislation that created the School Construction Corporation, estimated it will take between $18-25 billion to complete the job mandated by the “judicial activists” of the New Jersey Supreme Court. This disaster started with the Supreme Court decision that permitted New Jersey could borrow $8.6 billion to fund school construction, which completely ignored the state constitution that clearly states in simple language that when the state borrows “in any manner,” voters must approve the request via a referendum. In the first place, much of the blame can be blamed on the Assembly itself. Anyone who has ever managed large business projects is expected to deliver a monthly status report that explains to senior management (in this case, the Assembly) how they are doing on their budget and schedule. And more specifically, are there any problems that need their immediate attention and/or corrective action. Obviously, if the Assembly is now being told there are major problems at this very late state, the Assembly didn’t demand monthly management reports from the SCC. But when we “elect” lawyers and other non-business people to our legislatures, this ineptness should be expected. In the first place, all of the officials in charge of the program should be shown the door, and secondly, what are the citizens of New Jersey going to do now? Are they expected to cough up another outrageous sum of money to complete the job so another inept quasi-government agency can blow that money, too? If the citizens were wise, they should band together to get a mandate to throw out the unconscionable ruling by the New Jersey Supreme Court, and then take a realistic look at what minimal amount of money is needed to bring schools up to an equal standard. Unfortunately, that’s just a pipe dream, as the politicians will never permit a plebiscite or referendum in any of the eastern states that impinges on their power to castrate the people. Perhaps if we put the entire NJ Supreme Court for sale on eBay, some unsuspecting country will bid $1 or $2 so we can export these rogues to let them run hog wild to practice their judicial activism and bankrupt the people of a new country instead.
08/15/05	NJ State Senate	New Jersey Legislature Sneaks In Vote Getter The NJ state Senate voted to permit union workers to join the state’s health benefits system provided that the unions pay the premiums. Union leaders claimed that the bill would only apply to about 200 workers of several labor unions. The leaders said by joining the state system, workers will save hundreds of thousands of dollars in premiums that would have paid for private health care. According to the Courier-News, Bob Master, political director for the Communications Workers of America stated, “It is not like a free ride. There is zero impact on taxpayers.” While most Republicans voted against the bill, all Democrats voted for the bill with the exception of Senator Nicholas P. Scutari of Linden. This sounds like a pretty good deal for all concerned, doesn’t it? It’s only 200 people for heaven’s sake! What does this seemingly insignificant bill really mean? Here we have the classic voter manipulation practiced by the politicians. For one, the Democrats likely believe they just cemented 200 future votes. Secondly, with the carefully contrived wording of this bill, won’t every member of every labor union petition to participate in the plan to save money? Is the politician’s sinister plan in reality based on buying the votes of upwards of 100,000 or 200,000 union members? And don’t most “blue collar” union members often have dangerous, dirty and hard-working jobs. Isn’t it likely that they will incur more injuries and ailments than a state worker sitting behind a desk or computer? Each year, when the insurance companies review how much they have paid out, you wanna bet the premiums won’t be increased? Republican Senator Leonard Connors, who voted against the bill, said, “It would cost the state money. If we have one or two people with cancer or sick people in the group, it can run up the bills tremendously. This is a union. It is not a government entity. This is a bad, bad policy.” On top of this latest fiasco, the State Health Benefits Plan is expected to cost taxpayers $2.1 billion to support the 142,342 active and retired state workers with a projected cost of $4.1 billion by 2010. Oh yeah, we forgot to mention that former governor James McGreevey, who was known to give away the store, vetoed this same bill in 2002-2003 legislation because even he understood the potential impact to the taxpayers.
08/15/05	School Construction Corp.	200 Schools Will Not Be Completed In July’s newsletter we reported that the quasi-government agency, the School Construction Corporation (SCC), has run out of the $8.6 billion allocated to refurbish New Jersey schools, with $6 billion of that money meant to update schools in the poorest districts. The agency has informed the Assembly that 200 projects will be left flapping in the wind. What sheer incompetence on the part of both the SCC and the Assembly for not holding tight reins over the SCC management. The worst part of this mismanagement is that the state spent millions of dollars seizing and clearing residential homes under that nemesis eminent domain. Now all that’s left are hundreds of empty lots. In addition, the SCC spent hundreds of millions of dollars on questionable “consultants” and professional fees such as very expensive architects. If this perfect example of government mismanagement of taxpayer dollars occurred in the private sector, hundreds of heads would roll, but the Apathetic Voter predicts that the principles responsible for this fiasco will come out smelling like a rose. When will citizens of New Jersey recognize that they are being fleeced by grandiose promises from the politicians with dismal results on virtually every project run by government?
08/15/05	Readington Township	Near Riot Over Government Spending The Readington Township Committee had recommended that the township purchase Solberg Airport supposedly to prevent the 750-acre parcel from falling into the hands of greedy developers. The committee recommended a bond ordinance of up to $22 million to provide the funding needed to buy the airport, but the owners said they have no intention of selling the land for less than $40 million. When the township held a public meeting to discuss the issue, over 400 disgruntled citizens showed up displaying outright anger over the proposal. When the mayor, Frank Gatti, suggested that the Solberg family has not ruled out a sale of the airport to the township, citizens yelled, “Liar!” And when the mayor stated that the tax impact would be minimal, many residents voiced their displeasure, suggesting that tax assessments may increase by 20 percent. The mayor also said that eminent domain may be invoked if all else fails further raising the ire of the townspeople. In late August, the township withdrew its ordinance ending that issue hopefully once and for all.
08/15/05	Real estate fees	Just Keep Raising Fees – But Where Does the Money Really Go? New Jersey state lawmakers have increased real estate filing fees of up to 800% in some cases. Fees were increased from $500 to $1,715 on a $300,000 home sale and to $4,175 on the sale of a $500,000 home. According to the Star-Ledger, over a four-year period, nearly $1.2 billion was raised but only $107.9 million went to fund county clerks who must handle New Jersey’s booming real estate market causing a huge backlog. So where did the rest of the money disappear to? It has been diverted to the state’s general fund, or as we know it, the Black Hole of Calcutta. This is not the first time lawmakers have played fast and loose with funds earmarked for a specific purpose. Money that was destined for long-term road construction projects went instead to supposedly pay day-to-day expenses. Now the transportation trust fund is nearly broke and lawmakers want to add $.14 to the price of a gallon of gas to make up the difference as if paying $3.00 per gallon is not sufficient penalty. Where are the state auditors who should be divulging this subterfuge and make those responsible for this travesty own up to another disgraceful disregard of the taxpayers?
08/15/05	County executives	Overpaid County Executives? According to the Asbury Park Press, 236 New Jersey county executives make over $100,000 annually, a substantial increase from five years ago when only 44 executives pushed that plateau. And Monmouth County, the poster child for government corruption, provides 269 cars for county employees at an annual cost of $672,500 per year.
11/15/05	Malpractice Tax	“Ass Backwards” Government Economics In order to counteract the outrageous malpractice wards made by juries on behalf of injured citizens, the state solved the problem by: · Imposing a tax of $75 per year on all doctors, dentists, and chiropractors and a $3 tax on all employees · This year alone, the state Department of Banking and Insurance mailed out checks totaling $13 million to just over 1,200 doctors who are at significant risk of going out of business because of high malpractice insurance premiums. Herein we have the classic government solution to a problem that can be virtually eliminated by the state legislature, as has occurred in many other states, by placing a cap on the awards that can be made by juries. Civil litigation attorneys, who get to keep 1/3 the fee, obviously want to make the award as high as possible and invoke tear-Jerking routines to assure that the award is far beyond the scope of the injury and suffering. On the opposite side of the spectrum, when a GI pays the ultimate penalty in Iraq or Afghanistan the family generally receives about $250,000, a much more appropriate compensation in lieu of the $10,000 payment GI’s families received during the Vietnam War. How can anyone justify the millions and millions of dollars handed out by sympathetic juries to people who no doubt have been horribly disfigured or made permanently disabled by a doctor’s carelessness, when contrasted to the amount provided to our deceased warriors? I have often read quotes from misinformed jurors stating, “the insurance companies can afford it,” without realizing that we, the consumers, eventually pay for the princely sums they lavish on the victims and their lawyers. What many people miss in this entire process is that doctors have to file another piece of paper with a check adding to their office tasks, and then more state employees are added to assure compliance and for the distribution of the monies, driving up the costs of doing business, and taking time away from physicians in their primary role as caregivers. Although this may seem to be a “5-minute operation” and a minor dent in the wallets of the healthcare givers, with lawmakers adding more and more taxes, rules and regulations, each occurrence reduces the time healthcare givers can devote to their primary profession. As with any profession, there are mostly good doctors but occasionally a rotten apple escapes the oversight of the system. But why should the rest of the normally highly competent profession suffer the consequences of a few malevolent acts? Instead of another government agency poking its nose where it doesn’t belong, the legislature must act to limit these awards so the cost of malpractice insurance does not drive any more healers out of the state or out of business.
12/15/05	School Construction Corp.	Assembly/SCC Reach New Heights of Incompetence The New Jersey Supreme Court mandated that the state needed to spend billions of dollars to build new schools in their ruling in the infamous Abbott v. Burke case, to ensure that the children in the 31 low wealth school districts receive a “through and efficient” education. Lets review some background FACTS on this travesty that has been perpetrated on the citizens of New Jersey so we’re all on the same page. The “Abbott” rulings directed numerous improvements including adequate K-12 foundational funding, universal preschool for all 3 and 4-year children, supplemental or at risk programs and funding, and school-by-school reform of curriculum and instruction. The rulings also require that the schools in the 31 Abbott districts be made safe, healthy and “emotionally adequate” (a highly interpretative term). Therefore, in 1998, the Supreme Court directed the state of New Jersey to fully fund and manage all of the needed facilities improvements in these districts. In this incredible intervention in a matter that is the responsibility of the state legislature and a more efficient education establishment, these same individuals then made matters worse by mandating that all schools built by the state be constructed as “high performance” facilities. In response, the New Jersey Assembly created the School Construction Corporation (SCC) with responsibility to repair and rebuild 460 outmoded school buildings with a budget of $8.6 billion, with $6 billion targeted for the 31 Abbott school districts alone. Incredibly, the Assembly appointed a builder, who stood to make millions off the deal for himself and his friends in high places, as head of this organization. Didn’t someone recognize that not only was the fox in the hen house, but that the fox had been put in charge? So how have we fared? Well, the SCC ran out of money after 71 new schools have been built and renovations completed at 67 other schools. Herein we have another outrageous example of government incompetence. The Star-Ledger reviewed various details of the construction program. Some of the startling facts that were uncovered should cause many sleepless nights for the citizens whose wallets are being pilfered as they dream of less government intrusion: · Five years ago, when plans were drawn up, the SCC did not consider land acquisition costs. · The state dictated that the SCC should use an estimate of $125 per square foot as the average construction cost, when new plans are averaging $210 per square foot. · The average cost for each of the first six schools built was 45 percent more than the 19 schools that were being built by suburban school districts over the same period of time. We can all be assured that many people pocketed large dollar sums on these deals. · The 31 Abbott districts were requested and have submitted proposals to complete their building programs. To-date, 11 districts have responded with a total price tag of $6.5 billion, or about $1/2 billion per district, even though $2.55 billion has already been spent there. Extrapolating those numbers over the 31 districts means we should be prepared for a new bill of $14 billion, without any consideration for the hundreds of other school districts. · Since 2000, Newark has received $741 million of the $1.57 billion it requested, and in it’s new plan it has requested an additional $3.2 billion. Of course, Newark didn’t seem to have a problem authorizing $210 million for a new hockey arena but not one dime was allocated on construction of the “desperately needed” schools. Even if the non-Abbott schools were told to fend for themselves, the bill to the taxpayers will be at least $20 billion. Who Benefits From The New School Construction? After $8.6 billion or $20 billion has been spent and we can finally consider this debacle “fait un compe” many years from now, who are the real beneficiaries of this enormous sum of money? For one, we know that the construction companies, who have paid their dues through the infamous “pay to play” state entitlement program, and the unions, will have made a small fortune. On top of that, we can only guess as to the number of politicians who have recently purchased McMansions in eloquent communities. The students get spanking new facilities with state-of-the-art computer setups, but the class sizes are still the same. Recognizing that physical fitness is important, but did we need to build these schools with Olympic size swimming pools and gyms designed for Arnold Schwarzenegger? With this extraordinary expense, was consideration ever given to the simple idea of hiring 10,000 or 20,000 new teachers to reduce the class size for more personalized instruction, likely the best way to improve education, even if it meant staggering school hours to maximize the benefit of the new teachers? I’ve never heard this idea mentioned even in a low whisper. But the bottom line of this heated debate is that new schools won’t mean a hill of beans unless the conditions at home in these Abbott districts, e.g., parental discipline, is somehow drastically improved; therefore, in all likelihood the $20 billion will just be poured down the ol’ rat hole. What Can Be Done About This Rip-off? For one, how about if our esteemed legislators stood up to be counted, and jointly informed the Supreme Court that enough is enough, and that they consider the Supreme Court ruling excessive and unenforceable. How would Deborah Poritz and the Supreme Court respond to that level of defiance? Well, one possibility is she could throw the entire Assembly in jail; this might be a good thing – at least we need not worry about corruption for a while. Secondly, if the first idea is too severe, the Assembly can stop all new construction until such time as they can “study the problem.” Perhaps after 20 years, a plan can be derived that will allocate perhaps $1 billion per year until construction is complete, just in time to celebrate the next century. And lastly, why not issue vouchers, which are hated by the Democratic/liberal establishment, to every student in New Jersey schools. Let private institutions, such as Edison Schools, worry about how to provide classrooms for hundreds of thousands of students; And guess what? The problem will disappear since the state won’t need to build schools for a non-existent student population. How Did Texas Handle a Similar Problem? In 2005, hundreds of school districts filed suit on the issue of school funding, no doubt borrowing from the chicanery that was unleashed on the citizens of New Jersey. In a similar scenario, the Texas school districts are also bypassing the state Legislature to take their case to the Supreme Court. In a ruling handed down by the court in November 2005, the Legislature must fix the state’s unconstitutional property tax system for public schools, wherein the majority of the education funds come from local property taxes and state aid. Texas has in place a “Robin Hood” provision that requires wealthy school districts to share their property tax revenues with other districts. What is most interesting about the ruling is that Texas spends an average of $7,000 per pupil throughout the state, far less than the $16,000 per student handed out on a silver platter to the school districts in Newark. Note that there are no special provisions for Abbott-type districts in Texas. Studies have indicated that Texas may need to spend an additional $1,100 per student to fix the problem. The most important point of the ruling was emphasized by Justice Nathan Hecht, writing for the 7-1 majority, that “There is substantial evidence that the public education system has reached the point where continued improvement will not be possible absent significant change, whether that change takes the form of increased funding, improved efficiencies or better methods of education.” Note the wording of the ruling – it left the door open for many forms of correction. In other words, it put the problem squarely on the shoulders of the legislators and the education system where it belongs. On another issue, of equal importance, the court found that there was not enough evidence yet to indicate that poor school districts are being shortchanged on their facility needs under the current funding system. Is it not interesting how two Supreme Courts (Texas and New Jersey) can arrive at diametrically opposed opinions on virtually an identical issue?
12/15/05	High Tech Jobs	High Tech Jobs Disappearing at Alarming Rate According to the Star-Ledger, New Jersey has lost 14 percent of its high technology jobs since 2000. Employment in the state’s pharmaceutical industry is down 4 percent over the last 5 years while hiring nationwide has increased by 40 percent. The Commission on Science and Technology reported that the state has lost jobs across the board in life sciences, telecommunications, computers, electronics, internet service, data processing, architecture and engineering. The commission recommended that the state provide investment monies to reverse the decline, and this thought has been echoed by Rutgers economists James Hughes and Joseph Seneca, apparently ignoring the problems of excessive spending by state government that have caused massive debt for the taxpayers. On a positive note, the economists emphasized that the state has missed out on federal research money, obtaining only 1.5 percent of that money with 3 percent of the nation’s population. But James Seneca said that a proposed $150 - $400 million state bond issue for a cell-stem institute is an example of the kind of public investment that is needed. Now the Apathetic Voter (with limited knowledge of economics but lots of common sense) does not wish to clash with the esteemed academicians, but isn’t one reason why the state is not attracting new investment money is simply because it’s too damn expensive to set up shop or live here with the nation’s highest property taxes. These sentiments were echoed by an unscientific survey of executives from companies large and small who offered that New Jersey is overtaxed and over-regulated and has become a place too expensive to do business. Many people have many good ideas, and they all seem to require vast expenditures of taxpayer money through higher taxes or more indebtedness, so spending money on a stem-cell research institute is the perfect example of economics gone berserk, and defeats the very purpose of reducing the burden on the people of the Garden State. Government should stay out of private enterprise – they do a miserable job at it – besides if it’s worthwhile, private enterprise will get the ball rolling by investing in that enterprise.
12/15/05	Legislature	Deceased Legislator Receives Most Votes Even more bizarre than the jailbird being elected to the California school board, in Newark, New Jersey, Assemblyman Donald Tucker, who died on October 17^th, received 461 more votes than his closest runner up Craig Stanley. Perhaps voters showed their respect by casting votes for their beloved legislator, or more likely it’s indicative of how clueless voters are in the state of New Jersey.
12/15/05	Attorney General	Attorney General Never Understood His Job According to the Star-Ledger, Attorney General Peter “See No Evil” Harvey has set his sights on one objective before leaving office in a month or so. His priority is to organize the hodge-podge of state medical examiner’s offices into six regional offices. In the first place, there is a serious problem with his proposal in that Middlesex County just spent $4.5 million (of taxpayer money) for a new county facility, and secondly, and most importantly, isn’t this man the Attorney General? Isn’t the function of his enormous organization to prosecute crime and root out corruption? What the hell is he doing getting embroiled in reorganizing the state’s medical examiner’s offices? No wonder we rarely heard a peep from any of his hundreds of lawyers and investigators when it came to uncovering and prosecuting massive crime waves in organized politics – obviously they lacked direction. Check for yourself – the vast majority of indictments originated from federal prosecutors. Let’s hope that Governor-elect Jon Corzine doesn’t replace him with another milk toast or incompetent political appointee.
01/15/06	Rutgers	State Donates $25,000 For RU Students to Party On Taxpayers Acting Governor Richard Codey has donated $25,000 of taxpayer (excuse me, state) money so a few Rutgers University students could attend the Insight Bowl in Phoenix, Arizona, on December 27th. According to the Star-Ledger, the money from a state Department of Community Affairs fund will help defray the travel costs for students who want to attend the game. Codey had the audacity to say, “This is the first time since 1978 that Rutgers is going to a bowl game. The state university’s successful season is a source of pride for New Jersey and we want to do everything possible to make sure the Garden State is well-represented in Arizona. Why stop there? Why not pay for 1,000 ghetto kids who have never seen a football game to attend, too? What an enriching experience of a lifetime these children will be missing at taxpayer expense. The $25,000 was handed to the Scarlet R Club, an organization for Rutgers’ fund-raising from corporations, alumni and private citizens, which matched the generous donation. So how many students will be able to travel with this dual stipend? Even the cheapest two-night packages, including airfare, run between $1,625 and $1,829 a person. So assuming a mean price of $1,750 per person, even with the matching funds, Rutgers can count on 28 more students to ensure that Rutgers is “well represented in Arizona” out of a seating capacity of 65,000. With professional football players averaging nearly $800,000 per year and the star athletes pulling down close to $10 million per year, Americans have lost their ability to recognize the value of a dollar. On top of that, add the wild and irresponsible spending habits of Congress and the state legislatures, and it’s no wonder that one individual wrote a letter to the Star-Ledger congratulating Dick Codey on the $25,000 donation stating that it only represents “.000000089% of the state budget.” Lets take it a step further and examine the impact the very expensive Alaskan bridge to “nowhere” has on the federal budget. With the fiscal year 2005 federal budget at $2,472,000 million ($2.472 trillion), the $235 million expenditure for the bridge only represents .000005064% of that budget. Why it’s just another drop in the bucket, too! With all of these miniscule expenditures, why is it that many taxpayers are grumbling about out-of-control spending?
01/15/06	UMDNJ	UMDNJ Taken Over by Federal Prosecutor In a startling acknowledgment to avoid criminal fraud prosecution, the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) has agreed to cede control of its day-to-day operations to a federal monitor. Former federal prosecutor Herbert J. Stein will oversee the school’s finances and administration with broad powers for at least two years. According to the Star-Ledger, the board of trustees also approved an agreement acknowledging that UMDNJ deliberately defrauded the federal and state Medicare and Medicaid programs of at least $4.9 million, a figure that’s likely to grow once the investigation is complete. U. S. Attorney Christopher Christie said it was time to clean up the “gross mismanagement” and “illegal misconduct” that has plagued the university. Christie, who was particularly upset by the recent destruction of documents under federal subpoena, informed the trustees that unless they accepted the takeover by relinquishing control of the school’s $1.6 billion budget, they would face a criminal prosecution that would cut off the institution from federal funding and shut down its hospital, medical and dental schools. Christie added, “They’re stealing from the taxpayers. You just can’t do that.” Stern will have broad powers to examine the school’s books, fire staff, recommend candidates for top positions and make major reforms. Under the deal: · UMDNJ will reimburse the state and federal governments for any overbilling by University Hospital. · Stern will review the hospital’s Medicare and Medicaid billing system, along with the university’s contracts, salaries, bonuses and security arrangements, and investigate allegations of conflict of interest among its trustees and officers. · The university will launch a national search for a new general counsel and chief compliance officer. Through the deal, officials of UMDNJ were spared a criminal trial, but Christie reserved the right to indict school and hospital officials on criminal charges.
01/15/06	UMDNJ	UMDNJ Paid $2 Million in Severance Pay As the investigation of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) gathers steam, more and more abuses of taxpayer monies are being uncovered. In a recent revelation, UMDNJ paid nearly $2 million in severance pay to four officials, three of whom just happen to be under scrutiny as a part of the ongoing federal investigation of the school. Three former UMDNJ vice presidents and the former president of the University Hospital were the recipients of a year or more in salary plus health benefits. Acting Governor Codey blasted the severance packages and said, “We should go to court and get back the severance pay for those individuals. This is a public institution; this is not a private company. People don’t get golden parachutes.” In a separate incidence, in a meeting with Codey, U. S. Attorney Christopher Christie and university counsel Walter Timpone, three of the university’s top compliance and legal affairs officials resigned after a closed door meeting, without any form of compensation or severance pay. Is it my imagination, or every time there is an investigation of ANY state institution, massive corruption and waste are exposed? How many billions of dollars are being wasted by the bureaucrats and politicians simply because its not their money they so eagerly dispense to state workers or siphon off to their own personal accounts?
01/15/06	Attorney General	Peter Harvey Exits Duping the Taxpayers One Last Time Departing Attorney General Peter Harvey, who never found time to be involved in prosecuting the massive corruption in New Jersey, has pulled the wool over the taxpayer’s eyes one last time. As one of his last acts during his incompetent regime, he mailed out a 56-page glossy brochure touting his accomplishments to law firms and other people within the state. Naturally, we all know he’s looking for a job. According to the Gannett State Bureau, the Department of Law and Public Safety, which Harvey heads, paid GraphiColor Corp. $7,460 to print 4,000 copies. The state also spent $6,500 in postage to mail out 2,700 copies to probably every influential lawyer in the state with a sheepskin hanging on his wall. State law requires that the attorney general file an annual report with the governor and legislature. The last time this occurred was in 2000 when Attorney General John Framer Jr. submitted a 69-page black and white report with a modest paper cover. Many state agencies now use the Internet to post their reports to their web sites to save money. Harvey spokesman Peter Aseltine said the report is informative to those who do business with, are interested in or are regulated by the attorney general’s office. He said the report is also a recruiting tool to attract lawyers to the office and to the state police (state police?). Asked if the report were an aid to Harvey’s job search, he said, “That certainly was not the purpose of this report. It was a report required by statute to inform interested parties and members of the public about the work of this office.” That must be the reason why the first page of the report bears Harvey’s picture and greeting, as well as photographs of him in publications talking about how he has turned heads in Trenton, demanded respect and was among America’s top black lawyers.
01/15/06	School Construction Corp.	Supreme Court Again Intercedes In School Construction – In last month’s newsletter, the Apathetic Voter half-heartedly suggested that the Assembly “…stop all new construction until such time as they can study the problem. Perhaps after 20 years, a plan can be derived that will allocate perhaps $1 billion per year until construction is complete.” Someone must want to stop that idea in its tracks, because the Supreme Court has again stuck its nose where it doesn’t belong by ordering the Department of Education to provide an estimate of future costs by February 15, 2006. According to the Star-Ledger, this ruling, the latest chapter in the long running Abbott v. Burke debacle that’s being illegally perpetrated on the taxpayers of New Jersey, was in response to the fact that the incompetent Schools Construction Corporation (SCC) ran out of money and halted additional expenditures on hundreds of school projects. In last month’s newsletter, we reported that the bill for this taxpayer rip-off, when all of the estimates are reviewed, might approach $20 billion. Attorneys for the SCC have said that it would take at least 6 months for the state to finish its internal reorganization and be ready to seek or spend additional money from the Legislature. But we can all read the handwriting on the wall when the Supreme Court stated, “Significant deficiencies in this area persist and are likely to worsen at a severe cost to the state’s most disadvantaged school children if there is further delay in addressing the dilapidated and overcrowded and dangerous schools in the Abbott Districts.” Perhaps if the Supreme Court had left the matter in the hands of the Assembly and the voters, the consensus would have been to build a few schools but to devote the majority of the money to repairs and the hiring of many thousands of additional teachers for more personalized instruction. But as the Apathetic Voter has repeated over and over again, unless the culture in the ghettos is changed, even spending $1 trillion won’t solve the problem.
01/15/06	Supreme Court	Chief Justice Requests 17 Percent Raise for State Judges At about the same time Deborah Poritz and her band of loonies on the Supreme Court have again intervened in the nefarious Abbott v. Burke affair, she has now requested that the 348 state judges be granted a 17 percent increase in salaries. She claims that the average $24,000 increase would put New Jersey’s judges on a par with federal judges, and that they haven’t received a pay increase since 2000. Of course she failed to mention that, according to the National Law Review, New Jersey’s Superior Court judges are the sixth highest paid among state courts, while Supreme Court justices are the seventh highest paid. Poritz’s suggested pay hike would make New Jersey judges the highest paid in the nation. Let’s see now: $24,000 x 348 = $8,352,000 in additional expenditures for the taxpayers to absorb.