Selling the New Jersey Turnpike

So Senator Lesniak is proposing a bill to sell the NJ Turnpike. I would suspect that he has already found a buyer to invest and I would not be surprised if Jim McGreevey was somehow connected to the prospective buyer.

This is bad economics if looked at from all sides. First off the NJ government does not own the Turnpike it is owned by the citizens of NJ and managed by the Turnpike Authority or whatever name they are going by now since I believe that the Parkway and turnpike authoity have merged. (To save money no doubt). Rest assure that any money received on any sale will immediately be squandered by your elected officials. Look at history they have squandered every dollar that has fallen into there hands. NJ is a cesspool of coruption, nepotism and double dippers. The NJ politicos are unable to police their own ranks and just line their pockets with taxpayer money.

If the pike is sold it will cost $30.00 for a passenger car to go from one end to the other. Trucks will find alternate routes, roads will be more conjested and when the money is gone the Parkway and Atlantic City Expressway will be sold, creating more of the same.

I'm so thankful that I don't live in New Jersey anymore.

2008 Presidential Race

I think that we have way too many politicos with uncontrolled egos. Have you seen the list of folks throwing there hat into the ring; totally unbelieveable. It is really a joke in that they all believe that they are truly qualified for the position; in one's own mind possibly. What really scares me is that Hillary Clinton is probably the most qualified of the bunch. Not that I want her or endorse her for the position. The fact that she was the first lady for 8 years and I'm sure was privy to many states secrets which some of the other candidates can only dream about and she has successfully filled a Senate term in her own right.

However history is against her in that during the last 40 years a Senator has not been elected as the President. It has either been a sitting/former vice-president or a Governor of a State. Not to say that the cycle cannot be broken. I was once when John Kennedy was elected, although many still fell that his father bought the election for him. Prior to that it was Eishenhower, not a politician but he did have experience in leading. However history shows that he was a poor President and was really over his head. Truman was a sitting VP when he became President and prior to that Roosevelt was the Governor of New York State. So basically Eisenhower was the lone wolf who broke the mold, being a great General and the country warmed up to him.

So where does that leave us today. We don't have Generals anymore who have the eye of the American people or that can navigate the politcal system. Big dollars control who is going to run and run fast. Unfortunately there will be alot of talking heads during the next 23 months, most saying nothing new or criticizes the other candidates for headlines.

Let's not forget the media who will fuel every statement made so that the papers keep publishing and the bloggers keep writing. Don't you just love exploratory committes? Inessence this is a committee that can raise big bucks to see if they want to run. If they don't they have a big party with the capital raised.

As stated in an earlier blog of mind it would be in the best interest of all concerned that a candidate must resign his or her current office to run for another office. I did not vote for and elect a Senator to put aside his/her responsibilities, collect a pay check and run for another office; and please don't tell me that they have staffers, for I did not elect them either.