.png)
Time to solve NJ's financial crisis: O'Scanlon
August 22, 2018
We are nearing the brink of fiscal insolvency and if we do not act immediately to address this crisis, every family, every business owner, every public worker and every taxpayer in New Jersey will suffer the consequences. Taxes will skyrocket, services will be slashed and our pension system will be in shambles. Everyone has a stake in this fight for fiscal survival.
New Jersey still far, far, far away from solvency: O'Scanlon
July 30, 2018
Our Governor, who I held out hope might lead us in the right direction based on the reasoned work he did on his 2005 pension reform report, has - at least this year - philosophically left the sinking ship (Google: Francesco Schettino) into which he is bailing....the wrong way. The rest of us don’t have his hundreds of $ millions, which at the same time precludes us from not caring how much it costs to stay here, and prevents us from leaving. He has proposed phasing in $ billions of new spending on programs no one is clamoring for, and that we can’t afford even if they were. He has prioritized these new programs over paying the bills for programs to which we’ve already committed. You know, pesky things, like fully funding our pension system and 911 communications and special education and property tax relief. Unsexy stuff like that. And the people who will suffer most from these misplaced priorities - public workers whose pensions are at dire risk - are miraculously complicit in the building of the next floor of this house of cards.
Jersey's budget got fat, like my dog over winter, let's do what's healthy
May 14, 2018
Because of the delayed spring, our regular three-mile runs were interrupted and the little guy is like a rotund....meatball! Dealing with this got me thinking: about property taxes, bloated budgets and the fiscal cliff we're facing.
There's no magic bullet to fix N.J.'s budget woes: Opinion
December 22, 2014
First, let's understand that the this problem is rooted in 20 years of bad decisions, by governors and legislatures, by Democrats and Republicans. Some were careless, others were craven. But the bottom lines is that we are in deep trouble.