A Better Idea for Cory Booker & Co. Than Trying Food Stamps

December 1, 2012 Matt Rooney Uncategorized 17

Mayor Cory Booker (D-NJ) is quickly becoming America’s biggest elected gimmick, Save Jerseyans.

From this upcoming Tuesday (December 4th) through December 11th, Booker has reportedly pledged to live off of $1.40 meals to simulate food stamp usage.

I suppose his dietary habits represent something he can control (unlike council meetings). But the relevant question for Newark’s long-suffering resident population is one Booker hasn’t broached in his quest for headlines: what can politicians do to get Americans off of food stamps and back in decent-paying jobs? 

I’ve got an unorthodox alternative idea…

Consider how his on-again, off-again friend in Washington boasts an exceptionally poor record. In 2008, about 28.2 million Americans received food stamps.

Cory Booker: Still Not Back in Obama's Good Graces!

By 2009, 33.5 million were on food stamps before that number skyrocketed to 40.3 million in 2010. There’s a direct correlation between record-high non-participation in the labor market and our country’s food stamp crisis.

That’s why it’s mystifying to see Booker’s New Jersey Democrat Party continue to push for measures (like automatic annual minimum wage hikes) which will devastate New Jersey small businesses and drive unemployment/underemployment even higher.

However, again, I’ve got an infinitely more productive idea than this food stamp stunt, folks, for any Democrat politician who’s interested. One which has the potential to open Democrat politicians’ minds and maybe… just maybe… accomplish tangible progress for the people they purportedly seek to serve:

Running a small business for one week?

Overhead. Inventory. Payroll. Taxes. Personnel problems. Government regulations. Lawsuits. The list goes on and on for New Jersey’s largest group of employers who, despite Democrat claims to the contrary, are overwhelmingly not in the business of exploiting their workers.

Only then, perhaps, could the non-profit flunkies and labor union organizers who populate the statehouse (and the halls of power in cities like Newark) finally appreciate the extraordinary toll which their policies exact on New Jersey’s job creators.

 

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Matt Rooney
About Matt Rooney 8437 Articles
MATT ROONEY is SaveJersey.com's founder and editor-in-chief, a practicing New Jersey attorney, and the host of 'The Matt Rooney Show' on 1210 WPHT every Sunday evening from 7-10PM EST.

14 Comments

  1. The only flaw with your plan is that they'd end up destroying those businesses. Try a computer simulator first.

  2. Wow great idea! I doubt you would find any business owner willing to allow a politician such access. Remember, the owner really did build that business! Even if government was well run, none of these politicos help build it (successfully)!

  3. Rooney, while you're thinking about "alternative ideas," why don't you take a minute to consider how Chris Christie's policies have hurt the economy of New Jersey. Stop being a Christie cheerleader for long enough to think about how Chris Christie has made it more difficult for New Jersey companies to actually create jobs.

    Case in point: Chris Christie raised Port Authority tolls by 125%. If you are the owner of a small trucking company, it cost you $40 to cross the George Washington bridge when Christie became governor. Thanks to an increase that Christie approved, that toll/tax will soon be $90 — and that's if you have E-Z Pass. It goes without saying that this particular Chris Christie's tax increase made it much harder for New Jersey trucking companies to create jobs.

  4. And if you read the site regularly (which you apparently don't), you'd know we're constantly criticizing N.J. Republicans for doing less-than-conservative things. But if you're trying to argue that a liberal like Cory Booker would do a better job in the "affordability" department than Chris Christie… yikes. Doesn't pass the credibility test.

    Stop being against everything and start being for something. The world doesn't run on haterade.

  5. "Credibility test?" LOL! I'll give you credit, Rooney, you are good for laughs if nothing else. Have you forgotten that it was only a month ago that you were, in true scatter-brained fashion, rambling on about how numerous respected polls were both biased and wrong with respect to the Presidential election? You even went on to predict that Mitt Romney would be elected President with 320 Electoral College votes. Tell me, how is "President-Elect Romney" doing these days? Bottom line: you wouldn't recognize credibility — or basic logic, for that matter — if both were to jump up and bite you.

    I am no fan of Mayor Booker. That said, Cory Booker never raised my taxes; Chris Christie did.

    And yes, you are correct in assuming that I don't read this blog often. Forgive me for avoiding that which is predictable, tedious and trite. That being the case, can you please show me an example of where you actually took off your Chris Christie-issued knee pads long enough to actually criticize the Governor for polices that have hurt job creation in New Jersey?

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