Change is on the way...or maybe not!

November 2007

This month marks a historic turning point in the way the state of New Jersey does business from here on... or maybe not. The state, faced with a massive debt load brought on by ten to fifteen years of both Republican and Democrat irresponsible spending and hiring, is at a crossroads that will determine its future like at no other time in its history. This election, which has every seat in the legislature up for grabs, and four ballot questions asking you to allow them to spend more of your money. Can you believe the nerve of these people? New Jersey taxpayers are leaving the state at record numbers due to the already high, and rising, taxes, and each year, for at least the past ten, the governor and legislature have engaged in a shell game with the people's money, borrowing, shifting, and taxing their way to a balanced budget. During that same stretch they have added hundreds of spending programs, tripled the state's work force, and have generally avoided the fiscally responsible acts to which the people are entitled. Elected officials in New Jersey, and more and more throughout the nation, somehow mistake their election with a coronation. They incorrectly believe they are being put in office to somehow solve all the state's problems as THEY see fit. They have forgotten that their job is to simply manage what is already in place. And manage it better and more efficiently than previous electees. When the Governor proposes a $450 Million spending plan to make New Jersey the nation's leader in stem cell research, at a time when the state is three billion dollars in the hole going into next year's budget process, tells you all you need to know about how this state got into the financial mess it's in.

This has been going on, in one form or another, for at least the past ten years, and as noted above, more like fifteen. When the state had a surplus in the pension fund, due to over performing investments, did they calculate what the pension holders would require in the future, and hold on to that money as insurance against a downturn in the market (which always happens at some point)? Like teenagers with their first paycheck, they spent it on treating their friends to a good time. Leaving all of us, our kids, and our grand kids to pay a bill that is never going to get paid because the debt load and interest accumulation alone out-pace revenue by a mile. There are only two ways to fix this folks. Either increase revenue or decrease costs. In the case of the state, all they can do to raise more revenue is tax you and me. They don't have a product to sell per se, although there are many non-taxable ways for the state to increase its revenue substantially. Things like investing in one of its marketable gems, tourism, or, decreasing taxes as a way to increase revenue. But these are foreign ideas to the "Big Government" people most politicians are these days, and that's a column for another day.

All of these state sponsored spending programs may sound and even look good on paper, but when you look under the gloss and see that, for example, California has already spent a billion dollars and has attracted the best and the brightest in the stem-cell research category, you first have to ask what kind of talent are you going to be able to get. By-the-way, most of the $450 million the Governor has proposed is for building research facilities and acquiring land to do the same. Not a dime of it is for actual research. The fact that California's program is no closer to a break-through shouldn't overshadow the biggest reason for not spending the money other than we don't have it. That fact hasn't stopped this state from spending in the past. No, the biggest reason for not spending a dime on stem-cell research is that private capital is not putting its money into it.

That's a biggie.

Why is the state willing to spend $450 million dollars of the people's money, money that it doesn't have, on something that private markets won't touch? Can you think of anything dumber? Furthering the argument against spending any money on stem-cell research is this other gem of a fact. Should California's program reap any substantial results and treatments, they would be available to New Jersey residents. Why spend money on something that you'll benefit from without spending a cent.

This is why this state is hurting financially. Decisions are not based on what's the best road for the future of the state and the people, they're based on whether they will result in jobs and contracts for favored people, businesses, and campaign contributors. The good news is, the people are about to speak out at the polls, and you can bet once they do, change will be on the way.

Change is on the way here too...

Not to be left out of the mix, we've got some pretty exciting changes coming along with this issue of South Jersey Insider Magazine. The first thing you may have noticed is the November/December 2007 on the cover. Oh, not to worry, we will still be publishing twelve issues per year, and our December issue will actually be December 2007/January 2008. You see, we've decided to strategically skew our publishing schedule so we are able to offer more information about what's coming up the following month. Readers will still get all of the entertainment and event information they are used to, as well as all of the great columns from our writers; our new schedule will allow us to deliver even more. This is your proverbial win/win and we couldn't be happier. Readers with online access will also be able to check out actv24.com for the latest breaking entertainment, news and events from yours truly. A lot of folks have told me they miss me on Friday and Saturday nights delivering the fastest Entertainment & Event Report anywhere on the local NBC affiliate.

Well, now you can catch me seven days a week and twenty four hours a day at actv24.com, "The News The Way it Is, Not The Way We Want it to Be!"

Check out LIVE...

Don't forget to check out the newest addition to the South Jersey Insider Magazine on page 25. There you will find "LIVE," a four month composition of everything that's worth doing in Atlantic and Cape May Counties, including of course, Atlantic City's casinos. Everything needed to have yourself one very happy holiday season. Look for the December 2007/January 2008 issue at your newsstand Monday, December 11th.

Dan Klein is publisher of the South Jersey Insider Magazine, as well as host of the weekly radio show by the same name, heard Saturdays from 1PM to 4PM on LifeRadio 1020 AM - WIBG.