The Man with Two Faces

NJ. Sen. Steve Sweeney: I'll shut down government if Chris Christie reneges on pension payment

Where was he on pension theft and shenanigans in the past - Before the Christie traffic wreck ?

 Senate 2002-present, Senate President 2010-present, Democratic Majority Leader/Conference Chair 2008-09

In thirty years retirees without the COLA will be eating "Meow Mix" !
How can a contract between the retirees and the State be unilaterally altered after the fact (retirement that is) and then the action be considered legal? 
(BTW - All public employees are "required" to join the pension fund, like it or not!)
I can tell you how! 
Judge Hurd (maybe I should have spell his name with a "T"), who heard the case, experienced no alteration in his  NJ public  pension commitment nor did any other NJ judge! How then is he justified in ruling on the  elimination of  the pension benefits of others in the NJ pension system? 

Additionally, pension theft began under Whittman and continued with all governors thereafter.It was originally justified by the excess monies due to a stock market boom in the nineties.. Currently, the market is at all time highs. Why is there no excess of pension monies now? 
PS
He was Senate president when "Tenure Reform" was instituted and said not a word that I can remember while all the time it was "Tenure Elimination" that was enacted.
PSS
Not a meaningful peep from NJEA (the "powerful teacher's union") during any of this. All I ever heard was a bit of whimpering here and there!

The Democruds

My Comment -

Evidently, the people of New Jersey enjoyed having an egoistically, bloated, loud mouthed, liar as Governor.

He is a wonderful example for our children and our State!

As for the “Democrats” that ignored Buono or even cast their support to “The Governor” as he likes to call himself; they should hang their heads in shame. That includes Joe D. the pension grabber and the Black Jesus in Washington! 

PS – Bob – A great article once again!

Pension Pigsty

I saw this cartoon in the Ledger the other day and I just had to add some annotations!

Christie Reelection Ads

Another trick to use public funds for a reelection campaign.
This is like when Whitman "borrowed" from the pension fund to lower taxes and thereby enhance her reelection efforts. Another use of public funds to pump up a reelection campaign.

And when McGreevy "back-doored" the pension by not requiring towns to contribute thereby lowering local taxes and again enhancing reelection chances.  

It seems they all figure out a way to use public monies to enhance their own image at the taxpayer expense.                                      

Unethical Ethics

I was elected to the Nutley Board of Education in 2007 and served a three year term. As a member of the BOE I was obliged to endure a yearly ethics training session presented by New Jersey School Boards Association.

            The presenter gave a complete discussion of the plethora of rules and regulations regarding BOE ethics. Now don’t get me wrong, I do think Board members should engage in ethical practices and ethical practices only, but it was the answer to my question at the end of the session that really irritated me. I have to say that I thought I knew the answer before I asked but I just had to ask anyway.

            I raised my hand and asked, “Do all these ethics procedures and regulations also apply to State Legislators, that is, State Assemblymen and State Senators?”

            There was a brief pause and then the answer which I had expected, “No!”.

            I said no more but I certainly did think about it a lot.

            I was watching 60 Minutes last Sunday and a piece about insider stock trading by Congressmen was shown. It immediately reminded me of the ethics rules situation I had encountered while on the BOE. 

Why? Because it seems that insider trading by Federal Legislators is perfectly ethical and not illegal based on the laws that are passed and applied to Congressman and their staff.

Meanwhile the commoners are subjected to strict prohibition from even a hint of  this activity (which well they should).

            Same old “stuff” – “All pigs are equal but some pigs are more equal than others” – Animal Farm – George Orwell.

            Is it unethical to apply stringent ethics regulations to others and not yourself?

What do you think?