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JerseySmarts.com

Governor Christie Talks Pension Reform with PBA Leader

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For my friends over in Wisconsin, I thought that I would post this YouTube video from a recent town hall meeting where New Jersey’s Governor Chris Christie had a reasoned discussion with someone who asked questions about upcoming cuts. I’m also posting this video for my friends who work in the public sector (police and firemen) and are annoyed that there are likely going to be job cuts in the coming weeks and months. Watch the video and then I have one or two more comments below it.

For me, this is a simple situation and one that really doesn’t require any protesting or arguing or petty “left vs. right” political comparisons. In short, there’s no money. No money = no jobs. Take the private sector over the last three years – people have been losing their jobs left and right. Why? Because their companies couldn’t afford to staff the position. It might suck, but New Jersey can’t afford to pay some of its policemen and firefighters, among other public workers.

And it’s silly to blame Governor Christie when Jon “Money Bags” Corzine, Jim McGreevey, and Christine Todd Whitman (among many other previous political leaders in this state) are the ones who raped our state’s finances. For my friends who aren’t from New Jersey – for decades it hasn’t mattered whether a Republican or a Democrat has been in office because both parties fleeced the state.

Yet, I understand that people need someone to lash out at and Governor Christie is the head of the state so they’re going to lash out at him. In fact, there’s a protest of public workers going on up the street from my office in Trenton today. And while I think contemporary protesting is so fabricated and false that in 2011 it typically gets Americans nowhere, I don’t mind the folks up the street protesting. I do mind that they added 45 minutes on to my commute this morning (because I wanted to spend nearly 2 hours in the car). But at least the folks protesting today are from New Jersey versus the idiots who protested in Trenton last week who were primarily bussed in from Pennsylvania and New York.

At the end of the day, though, there’s no money and cuts have to come from somewhere so jobs are going to be lost. For anyone to be surprised at that simple economic math means that they either had their head buried in the sand as the private sector was rocked over the last 3 years or they just don’t understand that no money = no jobs.

Ban Idiots, Not Cell Phone Users

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At some point in the first few weeks of January I bookmarked an article on FOXNews.com that bothered me for a few reasons. The article, “Ban Cell Phones While Driving, Safety Council Says,” talks about how the congressionally chartered National Safety Council wants to ban cell phone usage from all drivers while they are driving. I’m sorry, but this is just ridiculous.

I was (and still am) annoyed that we can no longer just put the phone to our ear while driving in New Jersey, but I started using a headset. By the way, the reason why I’m still annoyed by this stupid, overreaching law is because almost every police officer I drive by on the road has a phone jammed into his ear, but the “do as I say, not as I do” thing is topic for a different entry.

Like many other drivers in New Jersey, I started using a headset and driving with the headset on isn’t that bad! However, the Safety Council suggests the following:

Froetscher said the council examined more than 50 scientific studies before reaching its decision. One was a study by the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis that estimates 6 percent of vehicle crashes, causing about 2,600 deaths and 12,000 serious injuries a year, are attributable to cell phone use. Hands-free cell phones are just as risky as hand held phones, she added.

I’m sorry, but there have got to be additional reasons for these accidents. An it’s time that Americans stop refraining from telling the truth – sometimes you get really, really stupid people behind the wheel of a car and their own stupidity is part of the reason why they get into accidents. If you’re drinking a cup of coffee, flipping through the newspaper, and talking on a cell phone all at the same time, then guess what? You should be focusing on driving! If you’re a young driver who is skittish on the road as it is, then guess what? You shouldn’t be on a cell phone! If you have problems focusing on one or two issues at a time, then guess what? You shouldn’t be on a cell phone!

In the mean time, those people who have mastered multitasking and understand that even if you can manage to do five things at once, YOU SHOULDN’T may eventually be stuck with the inability to use their cell phones while driving. It’s ridiculous that we legislate to the least among us as opposed to asking for some personal responsibility from all among us.