By Matt Rooney | The Save Jersey Blog
Love them, hate them, but you can’t deny that they’re the two greatest communicators of the past 20 years in American politics. It’s a must-watch discussion for politicos of both parties, Save Jerseyans, particularly since the man on the right (and the man on the left’s wife) are the likely frontrunners for their respective parties’ nominations in 2016:
By Matt Rooney | The Save Jersey Blog
Governor Chris Christie has just one scheduled public appearance for Monday, Save Jerseyans, at a Home Depot retail showroom grand opening ceremony in Seaside Heights.
The festivities begin around 10:30 a.m. at 201 Sumner Avenue if you’re in the area and want to stop by.
It’s all part of the Governor’s extended efforts to accelerate the Jersey Shore’s post-Sandy recovery with Memorial Day Weekend little more than two months away. There’s still plenty to do. Approximately 60% of Seaside Heights residences and 200+ businesses were damaged by the storm.
By Matt Rooney | The Save Jersey Blog
Our U.S. House is expected to vote TODAY on the remaining $50.7 billion Superstorm Sandy aid package.
And unsurprisingly, my dear Save Jerseyans, the intense lobbying for a “vote without questions” continues.
A group of Jersey Shore Republican legislators issued a joint statement earlier today, arguing that “[w]ithout the funding being considered today, there will be severe human consequences for hard working, tax paying Americans who should be able to count on the government they support in times of crisis. We encourage all Members of Congress, from all political stripes, to do the fair, moral, and compassionate thing and vote in favor of this aid package.”
“Fair” to whom? The beneficiaries of the pork? The politicians who get to brag about accomplished something (for a change)? Or might there have been a much better and superiorly efficient way to do this? A way that wouldn’t compound the debt load on our citiziens and, in turn, the ultimate tax burden on Shore residents and businesses as they struggle to recover?
By Art Gallagher | MoreMonmouthMusings.com
Sea Bright Mayor Dina Long told MMM that the residents of her community that have been sleeping in cars are people who have been put up in hotels by FEMA who are evicted by the hotels on weekends in order to accommodate wedding guests.
“When hotels have weddings or events, people get evicted for the weekend,” Long said via twitter, “I just learned of people sleeping in cars because of this and I’m hopping mad.”
Long said that FEMA’s response has been, “Well, when that happens the people should call us.” Yet, when people do call FEMA’s 800 #, the FEMA employees who answer the phone are dropping the ball or don’t know what to do.
Long said she trying to reach her displaced residents in this situation to coordinate weekend housing through Sea Bright Rising and other charities. ”FEMA knows where my people are, I need their help in locating them.”
Politics makes for strange bedfellows, Save Jerseyans.
For example, New Jersey’s highest ranking elected Democrat (Steve Sweeney) and the state’s most libertarian Republican senator (Mike Doherty) are teaming up to push an extremely controversial agenda item:
Free beach access.
“It is likely that state and federal taxpayers will provide hundreds of millions of dollars to repair and replenish New Jersey beaches that were washed away during Hurricane Sandy,” opined Doherty in a rare joint press release. “Considering the massive public resources that will be directed at rebuilding many New Jersey beaches, it only seems fair to ensure that everyone have the opportunity to enjoy free access to the beaches they will support and help rebuild with their tax dollars.”
The Doherty/Sweeney bill mandates that municipalities receiving public aid for post-Sandy beach restoration would no longer be allowed to condition beach access on the purchase/use of beach tags; the same communities would also be required to provide free public restroom facilities. between Memorial Day and Labor Day.
“Where taxpayers are paying for beach restoration, they shouldn’t be taxed a second time just to walk on the sand,” added Sweeney. “As New Jerseyans, we are all in the recovery and rebuilding process together. That means we should all be able to enjoy the reopening of our state’s greatest natural resource together, too.”
S-2368 will now how to work its way through committee and, ultimately, the strenuous objections of legislators from Shore counties whose coastal municipalities heavily rely on beach tag revenue to keep property taxes in check.
Last week, the Christie Administration preliminarily pegged its total Sandy-related damage cost estimate at $29.4 billion.
Tonight’s released “total assessment” is higher… $36.9 billion.
The price tag is only one of several staggering numbers associated with this natural disaster. The Christie Administration estimated that “30,000 businesses and homes were destroyed or experienced structural damage, while 42,000 homes were impacted in some other way.”
72,000 properties… yikes.
Another horrific number?
233,000 New Jersey have already applied to FEMA for individual assistance.
Marc Ferzan’s bio courtesy of the Governor’s Office:
Mr. Ferzan will be returning to public service from PricewaterhouseCoopers Advisory, where he is a Managing Director in the firm’s investigative consulting practice. He is an experienced manager and attorney who previously worked for and coordinated with various state and federal agencies for more than fifteen years in government practice. Between January of 2010 and June of 2012, Marc served as part of the front office management team at the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General as Executive Assistant Attorney General. There, he was responsible for helping to manage a staff of more than 8,000 employees, and providing legal and policy guidance on a broad range of civil and regulatory matters to the Attorney General, as well as the Governor and Lt. Governor, senior statehouse staff, and executive-level management of all departments of New Jersey State government.”
Here’s a little bipartisan concensus for you this holiday season, Save Jerseyans.
The State Senate leadership from both parties, according to Minhaj Hassan of PolitickerNJ, are opposed to legislation that would mandate the purchase of power generators by all New Jersey gas stations. It’s a measure to avoid future gas rationing like what we saw immediately after Hurricane Sandy battered Northern New Jersey and the coastal region.
Governor Chris Christie is already on the record supporting a similar approach to the issue.
Christie and Sweeney agree that small businesses operate on equally small margins and, therefore, a $10-20k mandate could drive many out of business.
My question: why doesn’t the same logic apply to proposed minimum wage hikes?
Our resident small businessman Ed Sheppard previously broke it down for you, Save Jerseyans. A $1.00 or so per hour hike may not seem like much to the average W-2 employee, but in terms of real accounting, a minimum wage will increase New Jersey small businesses’ annual expenditures by at least the cost of a single generator. The result? Shift cuts, higher prices, and in some cases, empty storefronts/layoffs.
I love hearing Republicans and Democrats rallying around a logical conclusion. My earnest wish is that both sides would apply logic uniformally.
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