@ VinylBoy: If it were not for the bedroom suburb communities adjacent to both NYC and Philadelphia, which in turn provide all the jobs for commuter New Jersey residents, New Jersey would not have all that wealth to sustain its confiscatory taxation schemes. Get back to me when New Jersey actually has become a small/midsize-business-friendly state so that people like my brother and sister-in-law can actually earn high enough salaries to afford their exhorbitant property taxes and costs of living without having to cross a bridge 5-6 days per week.
Get back to me when you have numbers to back your claims. We can start there first, and then maybe you can scrutinize my findings.
As for the unemployment rate in New Jersey, being "on par" with the current national average is nothing to blow your horn or anybody else's horn about. The current national unemployment average, if the numbers were not so manipulated, that is, by counting everybody rather than just those whose benefits have not been exhausted, along with the "underemployed" too, would be about 14% now - lowball estimate. That's on par with the Great Depression of the 1930's.
Yawn... we're in a recession right now. Unemployment numbers are going to be higher than usual. The point of bringing up the number is to demonstrate that all hell hasn't broken loose in New Jersey as you so wrongly claimed before. Also, you have no proof that the unemployment number is manipulated nor is closer to 14% so until you can once again back your claims I don't care if you think the number is closer to infinity.
Gee, how's that "hope and change" been working out for those people over the last two and a half years?
Working much better for me than for you, obviously. But "gosh, golly, gee", after all was said and done I just couldn't see myself voting for a maverick or a pitbull with lipstick. I also didn't decide to vote for a president based on some silly catchphrase, or whether or not he could drink a six pack of beer, or anything in their past that could have been "refudiated".
I sincerely hope you did the same.
As for the corruption in New Jersey, with all the "pay to play" and other graft that has been widespread there for about the last 40+ years, it's simply endemic compared to almost any other state. It would be like comparing a leper with sores from head to toe, to my little niece with a boo-boo on her knee covered up with a Snow White band-aid. Get back to me after you have read a book entitled, "The Soprano State" - then try telling me that a similar thorough and comprehensive book could be written about all the corruption in a "red" state like Texas, Oklahoma, or Utah.
And of course, one book without pictures makes you an expert on the situation.
Not much better? So much should the average teacher salary in New Jersey be then? They get three months off every year, two weeks off when Winter and Spring breaks get counted, and full health benefits too. There are plenty of private sector employees in New Jersey who don't have anything as good as this for their salaries and benefits.
They deserve their vacation time, and personally I think they deserve more than what they get financially. Ultimately, they have to teach your kids (if you have any and don't go to a private school) the necessary tools to become successful adults with the ability to think properly. They also in many cases play the role of counselor when parents fail to meet that demand at home. If you don't think they're worth what they make, then do us all a favor and home school your kids. Period.
I think you misread what I wrote previously. I never tried to assert that teachers in New Jersey make this much on average. I was referring to what some of the utterly useless and redundant school superintendents in New Jersey make, of which there are waaaay too many compared to other states with larger populations, like Texas for example, and if you want proof of this, then all you would have to do is what I did - watch Chris Christie in any number of videos on Youtube where he called out some of these overpaid parasites by name.
You never once mentioned the word superintendents. Here is your original statement -
What joeym claimed above about the average New Jersey teacher's salary being $40,000/year is a lowball estimate, which is likely straight from the NJEA teacher's union talking points too, plus, he failed to mention all of New Jersey's way-overpaid education ($100,000+/year) and public sector bureaucrats and union bosses, and that's not even counting their double-dip pension abuses.
Perhaps you can be a bit more specific sometimes? "Public sector bureaucrats" just doesn't have the same ring to it.
Now, if you are going to lament my "union phobias" here - then I guess you are just resorting to tired old lefty platitudes. Labor unions have not done jack diddly shit for me or anyone in my family - never have, never will.
Unions have been responsible for fighting for & defending suitable labor conditions for people in the work place, which include negotiating workers' pay (so that it stays relatively on par with the constant rise of everyday living in America), benefits (so that you're not instantly replaced or fired if you decide to go on vacation for a week or get injured for example), and safe working conditions (which is self explanatory). Many of these things have become actual labor & employment laws that even affect private sector jobs up to this day. So as much as you want to think Unions haven't done a thing for you, they really have. That is, unless, you can honestly say that you own your own business, your entire family works underneath it and you all set your own rules and regulations.
Regarding your census figures and the 300,000 gain in the last ten years - what kind of people are we talking about here actually? Were they business owners, tax payers, and job creators, or just more social safety-net dependents and possible illegal immigrants?
Some Census data occasionally does get specific on the types of people who are either born or move to a state, however, it does not care if you approve of them. And considering that it's constantly been one of the wealthiest states of the nation it's also safe to suggest that most of the people who live there aren't "social safety-net dependents" or whatever ignorant label you want to use to describe those that need government assistance of any kind.
I personally know four wealthy former New Jersey residents who completely divested themselves from New Jersey and moved to North Carolina - two of them did so strictly because of New Jersey's possibly unconstitutional "Mount Laurel" decision. (They did not wish to see their property values lowered by New Jersey's "affordable housing" mandate.)
And, of course... your four friends and their actions represent the status of a state with more than 8 million people where roughly 25% of its inhabitants are still home owners. Thank you for verifying that you really have no clue as to what's really going on.
If you question my claim about New Jersey's $70 billion tax revenue loss from 2000 through 2010, well, then I guess Chris Christie was just flat out lying when I heard him talking about this at various times in radio interviews, right?
No... you'll post a link verifying your claims if you want any shred of credibility on this thread. That's what a sensible person does. I'm not just taking your word for it, especially since it's riddled with the usual political buzzwords and obvious partisan nonsense.
Lastly, you simply cannot refute my point about New Jersey having America's highest property taxes. Thanks to the crushing influence of public sector unions, this is what happens when almost every single one of New Jersey's 560+ municipalities still has to have its own police forces, fire companies, public works, board of educations, etc., rather than consolidate these services at the county level, like almost every other state in America has been doing for probably the last 50 years or so. This type of exorbitant tax burden has resulted in many retirees leaving New Jersey because they would rather not outlive their life savings having to pay their property taxes and increased living costs
I'm not doing it because THAT IS NOT THE POINT OF THIS THREAD.
Stay on topic.
