OFFER LEGISLATURE MERIT PAY LINKED TO THE ECONOMIES THAT THEY MANIPULATE

ASSEMBLYMAN RICHARD MERKT

Assemblyman Richard Merkt recently proposed to slash the salaries of New Jersey lawmakers by 10%.However, the Assemblyman is a candidate for the Republican gubernatorial nomination and the proposal could be viewed as an election gimmick. Then again, everything that any lawmaker does can be seen as a election gimmick.

In light of the recent pay raise of federal legislators, Merkt’s proposal is a noble one and worth looking at.

So his point is well taken. Times are tough and our representatives should be willing to make sacrifices and at least pretend to be empathetic to the people whose lives they affect.

Besides, lawmakers are partially responsible for any state’s economy including the one we are currently in here in Jersey so they should be more directly effected. I say they are partly responsibly because not everything is their fault. Nature, world events and human stupidity outside of Trenton politics, all play a part. But our lawmakers are elected to both steer us and our state economy in the right direction and to help our state better cope with the situations that we are dealt.

That being the case, it can easily be said that the current state legislature has not done a good job.

New Jersey has led the way in economic trouble over the past few years and under the direction of Governor Jon Corzine, the state legislature has been ill equipped at handling the situation. In fact, together the Democrat controlled state legislature and Democrat Governor have made matters worse.

Together they raised taxes, increased fees made it harder to do business in New Jersey and expanded opportunities for government corruption.

It could be said that Republicans bare no responsibility for this situation since they do not control any branch of state government. I can agree with that but it still doesn’t get Republicans off the hook.

Both parties have failed the people of New Jersey to one degree or another.

Democrats have failed to do anything right and Republicans have failed at convincing anyone that they could do better.

Given these circumstances, I have a more interesting proposal than Assemblyman Merkt’s.

How about we link state legislative and executive salaries to the economy and taxes of the state that they run.

Currently New Jersey State Assembly members and Senators make $49,000 a year.

I say let us reduce those salaries to a base of $41.000 a year and then use the following standard.

1. For every percent or portion of a percentage that any given legislature raises income and property taxes, their salaries are decreased by 2%. For every percentage or degree of a percentage that they decrease income and property taxes their salaries can be raise by half of one percent.
2. For every percent or portion of a percentage that they raise a sales or service tax, their salaries also decrease by that same percentage. Conversely, their salaries can be raised by half a percent for every full percent of a decrease in such taxes.
3. For any new tax created, their salaries are reduced by 2% plus the equivalent percentage of that new tax.
4. Every toll increase passed during any legislative session is matched by a reduction in legislative salaries that equal to the percentage of that increase.
5. And finally, state legislative salaries are further reduced by the same number of percentage points that the state’s unemployment rate is whenever it exceeds 4%.

To make it fair. Newly elected legislators would not be held accountable for the taxes and economic situation that any previous legislative session, which they did not have a hand in, was responsible for, and so they would start with the base pay of 41K.

Of course, such measures would not prevent rich people like Governor Jon Corzine from raising fees and taxes, misappropriating funds and offering sweet heart deals to sweethearts like Carla Katz. After all, Corzine took a $400 million golden parachute from Wall Street and doesn’t even accept his salary for Governor but this system could help to make less well off lawmakers work a little harder to address our problems and to fight the wealthy Governor. Having their own pockets linked to what they pick out of ours could just help to make them finally work together for the benefit of themselves as well as us. Maybe such a pay scale system will help to really create a sense of bipartisanship?

Perhaps if the lawmakers of New Jersey had their financial well being directly linked to the state’s financial well being and our own financial opportunities, maybe tax increases and increased fees for everything from driving to landscaping and joining a gym will be viewed as a last resort. Like it should be.

Perhaps by immediately linking their decisions directly to their own incomes, they may better empathize with the financial impact that they bring to bare on those they are representing .

You could say that it is not fair to those who vote against penalizing taxes or policies that drive businesses away and raise the unemployment in the state. That might be so, but, those who simply voted against something are still culpable. They have more than a responsibility to vote against such measures. They have the responsibility of leadership and the responsibility of making their case and doing it so well that a preponderance of people in the state as well as the legislature are persuaded by their arguments. They must convince people why others are wrong and they are right. Failing to do so is a failure that they share in common with those who support regressive economic policies.

So Assemblyman Merkt’s proposed 10 % reduction in salary is nice.

It is certainly going in a direction far better than the 2.8% pay increase that Congress is willing to take, at of all times, now. But the gesture Merkt is making could be made more meaningful and be more enduring. By linking legislative salaries to their actions we are adding a new incentive to politics and a new level of innovation……..political merit pay. If you do a good job and keep a good economy going you get paid better.

Is this crazy?

Maybe it is. Maybe it is as far fetched as a State Senator taking money from a no show job given to him by a school funded with state money that the same State Senator helped procure with tax payer dollars that he helped get through the state legislature. Maybe this political merit pay scale sounds just as crazy as that same corrupt State Senator getting his state funded pension after ripping the state off and being convicted.

But just like former *Senator Wayne Bryant, it may sound crazy but it could be true if like Wayne Bryant, we just did it.

__________________________________________

*Wayne Bryant pressured officials of University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey  to create a no-show job  that  allowed him to lobby himsef’ for taxpayer funds. Bryant also chaired the Senate Appropriations comittee which Funneled large sums of taxpayers dollare to UMDNJ.

 

Be Sure To Sign The Petition To

REPEAL THE CONGRESSIONAL PAY HIKE

Sign the Online Petition – Repeal The Automatic Pay Raise That Congress Is Receiving

Pass The Link On To Family, Friends and Co-workers

http://www.gopetition.com/online/24301.html

 AND DON’T FORGET………….

BE SURE TO SIGN THE PETITION URGING THE NOMINATION

OF SENATOR BECK FOR LT. GOV.

I was talking to a friend of mine’s little girl the other day.

I asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up and she replied, 

“I want to be President!” 

Both of her parents are liberal Democrats and were standing there. So then I asked her, “If you were President what would be the first thing you would do?”

She replied, “I’d give houses to all the homeless people.” 

“Wow – what a worthy goal.” I told her, “You don’t have to wait until you’re President to do that. You can come over to my house and mow, pull weeds, and sweep my yard, and I’ll pay you $50. Then I’ll take you over to the grocery store where this homeless guy hangs out, and you can give him the $50 to use toward a new house.” 

Since she is only 6, she thought that over for a few seconds. While her Mom glared at me, she looked me straight in the eye and asked,

“Why doesn’t the homeless guy come over and do the work, and you can just pay him the $50?” 

And I said, “Welcome to the Republican Party.” 

Her folks still aren’t talking to me.

 Submitted by Dick, Williamsport, Md

CHRISTIE TELLS SUPPORTERS THAT HE WILL MAKE IT OFFICIAL

FORMER MORRIS COUNTY FREEHOLDER AND FEDERAL PROSECUTOR CHRIS CHRISTIE

This morning Chris Christie officially declared that he will make a run for the Republican nomination for Governor official during the first week of February.

 

With access to lists of Republican supporters and activists collected by Christie supporters such as State Senator Joe Kyrillos, the former prosecutor sent the following message.

Dear Friend,

This morning I am filing papers to begin the process to become a candidate for the Republican nomination for Governor of New Jersey.

I did not take this step lightly. It was only after careful consideration and consultation with my family that I decided to become a candidate.

New Jersey is broken. New Jersey’s taxes have become so unaffordable that more families are leaving our state than moving here. Our state’s business tax climate is ranked 50th in the nation and has become so unattractive to employers that only government jobs are growing in New Jersey. Yet nothing in Trenton gets done to fix these problems.

We can change this. We can solve these problems if we’re willing to make the tough decisions.

In my seven years as your United States Attorney, I didn’t shy away from any of the tough decisions. I took on corporate greed, political corruption, terrorism and environmental polluters. Public officials from both parties were prosecuted for corruption – more than 130 were convicted, and not one was acquitted. Corporate executives who cheated their companies and hurt their workers were successfully prosecuted. Terrorist plots were disrupted; polluters punished.

Many didn’t believe we could win these battles. We did, and with strong leadership we will win the fight for Governor and change this state for the better.

My formal announcement for Governor will come in the first week in February and I hope you will join us (I will email you the details). With strong leadership now, we can fix our broken state and make it more affordable for all New Jersey families.

Sincerely,

Chris Christie

The filing of papers with the State Board of Elections to begin making his his candidacy for Governor of New Jersey a reality is about time.

For Christie to stall his decision to run or not run any longer would be detrimental to both his own success and our party’s success.

It is no secret that he would probably be running and to begin with a late, or later start than he already intends, only makes things tougher for the G.O.P. than they may already be.

From the message sent out by Christie, which essentially makes his intentions clear, one can see that the soon to be candidate for the Republican nomination for Governor of New Jersey is banking on a campaign that will play up his prosecutorial, clean government credentials and business interests.

Those are important issues however, Christie would be wise to highlight the damage done to the citizens of New Jersey due to the anti business climate that Corzine and Democrats have created in the state more than just the desire of businesses. The focus needs to be on the people. By simply making himself the “pro-business” candidate, Christie will fall into a trap that Democrats are great at. It is a trap that, in the minds of voters, Democrats perpetuate a sense that Republicans are the party for big business.

So Christie needs to carefully phrase his intentions to improve the environment for business in New Jersey.

 

One of the most encouraging comments in his email was a reference to the fact that only government jobs are growing in New Jersey. If Christie can hammer home the fact that Democrats have made government a business that they treat like corrupt Wall Street, ponzi schemers and profit from at the sake of taxpayers, he may be on to a winning theme in November.

But first he must get our nomination.

It is my hope that Chris Christie will work hard for that nomination. He just might have to with people like Assemblyman Richard Merkt and former Mayor Steve Lonegan on his tail.

The two, especially Mayor Lonegan are going to be innovative in their approaches to government and in a time when Americans were wanting “change”, New Jerseyans are really wanting change. Business as usual is not something that New Jersey residents want from government and people like Steve Lonegan are anything but business usual. Many can see that as a refreshing change from the business as usual that we have gotten from the current administration in Trenton.

So once Christie does become an official candidate and starts campaigning as one, it will be interesting to see how he distinguishes himself from the pack and from your run of the mill politicians.

And the sooner he starts trying to do so, the better.

 

Be Sure To Sign The Petition To

REPEAL THE CONGRESSIONAL PAY HIKE

Sign the Online Petition – Repeal The Automatic Pay Raise That Congress Is Receiving

Pass The Link On To Family, Friends and Co-workers

http://www.gopetition.com/online/24301.html

 AND DON’T FORGET………….

BE SURE TO SIGN THE PETITION URGING THE NOMINATION

OF SENATOR BECK FOR LT. GOV.

POSTED EARLIER TODAY:  JACK KEMP – A POLITICAL ICON BATTLES CANCER

It has been reported that Jack Kemp has cancer.

His office released the following statement:

“Mr. Kemp has been undergoing tests to determine the origin of the disease and the options for continued treatment. He will continue to serve as Chairman of Kemp Partners and plans to remain involved in his business, charitable and politically related activities. Mr. Kemp and his family are grateful for the thoughts and prayers of friends and appreciate respect for their privacy at this time”……….

To Read More, Go To:

https://politics247.wordpress.com/2009/01/07/jack-kemp-a-political-icon-battles-cancer/

“TOO MUCH CORRUPTION BECAUSE THERE’S TOO MUCH GOVENMENT”

POLITICS 24/7 has often stated that not only is state government too big but that there are too many governments in the state.

Based on the relatively small size of New Jersey, why there is a need for more than 650 municipal governments, is beyond me. Drive down any road in New Jersey and you will find yourself entering a new and different town every 3 or 4 minutes.

As stated here in the past, the proliferation of governments in this state is actually a major part of the problems that we face in the state.

The affordability crisis we are enduring is in large part due to the costs of operating all these governments. It costs a lot of money to operate and employ all these fire departments, police departments, borough halls, staffs, permit departments, and so on and so on.

It also creates an atmosphere ripe with the opportunity for corruption. Between the patronage, construction and service contracts, the ability to “spread the wealth around” runs rampant. But the wealth that is spread around is that of the taxpayers. While their wealth is taken away from them, those in charge of spreading it are doing so among their own friends, families, mistresses and fellow power brokers.

The existing arrangement has helped to make government one of the largest employers in the state. It has also helped to define New Jersey as one of the most state corrupt states in the Union, a title often in dispute with Louisiana but recently surpassed only by Illinois.

The arrest of Illinois’ Democrat Governor, Rod Blagojevich, for trying to sell President-Elect Obama’s newly available senate seat, along with other sleazy intentions, has helped take the title away from us. But we are still among the three most corrupt states at the top of that list.

Bridge commissioners, state contractors, council members, freeholders, county executives, judicial officials, cabinet members, party chairmen, state senators, assembly members and more have all been getting arrested, indicted, and sentenced in astonishing numbers.

Just today a former assembly candidate pleaded guilty in the same bribery scandal that took out his opponent for that same assembly seat.

For the past seven years, potential Republican candidate for Governor, former U.S. Attorney Chris Christie, has largely been responsible for exposing and successfully prosecuting the government corruption that has caused much of the public to lose their faith in public servants.

Having first hand experience with combating corruption, Christie knows about what he speaks of and today, speaking before an event sponsored by the New Jersey Business and Industry Association and Cherry Hill Regional Chamber of Commerce, the former crime buster stated that the reason for all the corruption in New Jersey was because “we just have too much government.”

Now that what we at POLITICS 24/7 have known all along has been confirmed by an expert in the area, what do we do about?

Well first of all, New Jersey needs to embark on the initiatives of others like Senator Joe Kyrillos of Monmouth County.

Senator Kyrillos has been pushing for consolidation. The type of consolidation which would make some of New Jersey’s less populous towns merge with larger neighboring towns.

This measure was actually proposed in legislation first sponsored by a former assemblyman, Republican Michael Arnone.

In the late ‘90’s, Assemblyman Arnone saw the need to curtail the spreading of governments in New Jersey the same way that we try to prevent the spreading of the flu.

Like a disease, the inordinate number of governments, along with their increasing size scope and staffs, have infected the state with a governing class that survives by doling out plumb, patronage positions and entering into corrupt contracts filled with kickbacks.

Does consolidation solve our problem? Nope, it sure doesn’t. Greed and other less attractive qualities that are sometimes a part of human nature will always exist. However, with less governments available for corruption to breed in, the less corruption will be born.

For me, Chris Christie’s remark is promising.

If he truly believes what he said, it may bode well for his possible candidacy. Small government conservatives will certainly appreciate the direction that his comment would take us in. Now if he can only expand on that remark.

If he does run for the Republican gubernatorial nomination, will he help to do more than offer lip service to state consolidation? Will he provide the initiatives of Senator Kyrillos with the type of support that is needed to influence liberal lawmakers to pass such measures?

Whether Christie runs or not, we need more leaders who are willing to solve our problems by acknowledging what the problems are and in New Jersey the problem is government.

In international news, 60% of the people in the country of Jordan say they find Americans to be rude. Actually, that’s not so bad, when you consider 60% of people in other Middle Eastern countries think we’re Satan. …We’re moving up!

-Jay Leno

WHY CAN’T FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY CHRIS CHRISTIE REACH A VERDICT ?

Chris Christie Was Sure Of Himself In The Past, So Why Does He Doubt Himself Now?

Strategists behind the candidacy of former Bogota, N.J.  Mayor Steve Lonegan state that Chris Christie won’t be running for Governor.

One of Lonegan’s chief operatives claims that recent remarks by Christie, and others in his camp, are more indicative of a man who is not eager to run for the state’s top job and who is likely to forgo doing so.

Truthfully, I don’t put much weight in this claim.   However, the claim makes for a good strategy that helps to create an air of questions and doubt around Christie.

Nonetheless, the fact that it comes from a group of people who find Chris Christie to be their toughest opponent for the Republican gubernatorial nomination and their greatest obstacle to getting that nomination, makes this charge a little suspicious. It could very well be wishful thinking.

True or not,  Chris Christie’s declaring that he will will not make an announcement regarding his candidacy for another four to six weeks, is disheartening.

After the G.O.P. lost the presidential elections on November 4th, it was pretty clear that the newly elected President, a Democrat, would surely request Chris Christie, a Republican, to resign from the U.S. Attorney’s office .

Being aware of that, Christie gave notice and submitted his own resignation that took effect on December 1st.

On top of that is the fact that we saw the results of the presidential election coming for many weeks before Election Day. So what I am getting is this………….We all knew, for quite some time, that Chris Christie would be available for a new job soon. So we all anticipated that he would start submitting his resume to perspective employers relatively soon and we expected that those perspective employers would be us, the voters, and the position we would be interviewing him for was Governor of New Jersey.

We knew this and he knew this.

So what’s with Christie’s hesitation to declare his candidacy?

We hear that he wants to explore his opportunities and see where things are at.

But truth be told, such ambiguity from Christie is hogwash.

When one considers all the time he has had to make the decision to run for governor or not, one only conclude that he is playing some kind of game.

He knows by now whether he is running or not. If he doesn’t know, than I suggest he not run, because if he is that indecisive, then we would be better off with a Governor who is a bit more decisive and can effectively lead us.

I don’t know what is holding Chris Christie back. It could possibly be part of some an ingenious strategy that I am missing?

Personally, I think it is a mistake.

We need to get the ball rolling here in New Jersey. We can’t afford to waist time.

The possibility of Chris Christie entering the race is freezing things in place for Republicans.

Some potentially strong candidates are foregoing their own bid for the nomination in deference to Christie.

People like Morris County Freeholder John Murphy is one of them.

If Murphy is not running for Governor he could become a candidate for the state assembly, a successful one that could help increase our lagging numbers in that chamber. If Chris Christie doesn’t run for Governor, Murphy, who came in third in the last gubernatorial primary, could make a significant run for the nomination this time. Such a move on Murphy’s part would mean that we need to gear up the candidacy of someone else to run for that assembly seat in Murphy’s place.

There are many other pieces that are being prevented from falling into place due to Christie’s indecision.

So I for one suggest that Mr. Christie thaw out the freeze that he has created.

As a former U.S. Attorney, one of the most successful in our history, he knows that long deliberations are often the results of poorly presented cases. As such, if he needs to deliberate over this decision much longer than he already has, than I can only assume that there are too many obstacles in his way.

It makes we wonder what those obstacles could be. Are their unrevealed skeletons in his closet? Do Democrats have something on him?

Whatever the reason Chris Christie may have for prolonging his deliberations, it only creates doubts about him and that is not good.

He needs to give us voters, the jury in this case, his verdict sooner rather later.

If he wants to be our nominee for Governor, he better start creating a sense of confidence in those of us who he wants voting for him.

Right now, his procrastination is showing me that he doesn’t want the job of Governor all that much and the longer he waits to decide, the more convinced I and others become of that. And let’s face it folks……this is going to be a tough election. One that will require our nominee for Governor to want the job, bad enough, to make the sacrifices that will be necessary to get it.

While Chris Christie’s apparent indecision sets in, POLITICS 24/7 wants to know what Republicans are thinking.

So, as of today, who would you like to see be the Republican nominee for Governor of New Jersey?

The following poll lists a few easily possible or likely potential candidates. Take a moment and place your vote.

Results will be released next Monday.

 

 TRUE  TALE

When Daniel Arap Moi was the president  of Kenya, Moi wanted a special postage stamp issued with his picture on it.

 

 So, he instructed his people, stressing that it should be of international quality.

 

The stamps were duly released and Moi was pleased.

 

But within a few days of release of the stamp, he began hearing complaints that the stamp was not sticking properly, and he became furious.

 

He called the people responsible and ordered them to investigate the matter.

 

They checked the matter out at several post offices, and then reported the problem to Moi.

 

The report said, “There is nothing wrong with the quality of the stamp. The problem is people are spitting on the wrong side.”

GRASSROOTS CAMPAIGN TO MAKE JENNIFER BECK LT. GOV. OFF TO A GOOD START

Last week POLITICS 24/7 began planting the seeds of a grassroots effort in the Garden State. It is a campaign to persuade whomever becomes the Republican nominee for Governor to select State Senator Jennifer Beck as their running mate.

For this effort a new blog site was created. It is titled, Jennifer Beck for Lieutenant Governor of New Jersey. Please visit it by clicking on to its highlighted name.

There you will find all the information you need to know why we have started this movement. On the site you will find pages dealing with the campaign, Senator Beck’s voting record, her bio, the latest news in regards to her legislative efforts and this campaign, videos and also the petition which this whole campaign comes down to.

Please be sure to sign the petition urging our eventual nominee for Governor to select State Senator Beck as their running mate and our nominee for Lieutenant Governor.

Also be sure to pass the link on to other New Jersey voters. Simply cut the following url……

http://www.gopetition.com/online/23572.html

…..and paste it into an email to your friends that urges them to lend their support to the cause.

So far the this effort is working. With no money to spread the word, I am relying on word of mouth, the Internet and earned media. To date we have been contacted by The Star Ledger, The Asbury Park Press, The Two Rivers Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Politickernj.com and numerous blog and news oriented web sites. Each have, thankfully, published positive stories about the campaign and there will be more coverage to come.

Currently, our efforts are focused on establishing direct contact with voters through the Internet.

In that vein, we have expanded our effort to Facebook.com, where we started a Jennifer Beck For Lt. Gov. group.
You can find it and join it by going to the following link:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=41874237142

Since yesterday, by taking this route, 42 new, interested and excited members have joined the campaign and many have signed the petition.

We have also created another group platform on an Internet site recently created by Patrick Ruffini, a brilliant Republican, strategist and computer whiz. It is called Rebuild The Party and can be found at rebuildtheparty.com .

On Rebuild The Party is our own group for Jennifer Beck:

http://rebuildtheparty.ning.com/group/statesenatorjenniferbeckforlieutenantgovernorofnew

There too, you can get involved and be a part of this effort to shape a winning, gubernatorial ticket for Republicans in November of ’09.

If you would like to play a role in the petition campaign for Jennifer Beck, your efforts will be greatly appreciated. We could use individuals who are familiar with the Internet. I would really like someone to head up an outreach effort on MySpace.com.

With no financial budget, this grassroots campaign has to sprout up wherever possible and places like MySpace are just right for us. They’re free!

In time, our campaign will be looking to appoint county coordinators. These individuals will help to scoop up all the signatures for our on line petition that they possibly can in their counties. that type of focus will help to maximize our efforts. But that will come further down the long road ahead of us.

In the meantime I truly hope to hear from you and thank you for your interest in the campaign. If you have any questions or would like more information about this campaign for Jennifer Beck, please feel free to reach me at LiberalsRlosers@aol.com . It is an easy email address to remeber. That’s liberals, R, losers, at aol.com.

Hope to see you soon!

Q: What is the best job an Iraqi can have?

A: Foreign Ambassador

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