Dear Editor:
Governor Chris Christie is not only trying to make his name a household item at the dinner table, but he’s self proclaiming himself as the financial savior of the New Jersey taxpayer. It’s always nice to see that each governor we elect, whether Democrat or Republican, has the uncanny knack of being legends in their own minds.
Every day, we hear his warnings of the greedy teachers, lazily accepting and reaping all the beneficial rewards of our generosity, while diminishing the education process. He’s constantly brow beating with fictitious dialog, labeling the members of the Public Employee Pension System as undeserving wretches of unnecessary entities, contributing nothing but elatedly sucking the monetary blood out of our treasury. What happened to corruption? Why are some elected officials, facing federal indictments, still in office?
The idiotic statement made that State Employee Benefits must be cut to save the State is a mockery of one’s intelligence. This is like placing a cork to seal a hole in the Hoover Dam.
They always blame the most vulnerable, which are low-level government employees. This malarkey is not a new form of deceit; it has been used for generations, which is shifting the accusations and guilt from the high-level gluttonous thieving politicians and political hacks to the most defenseless. Fact is, these workers hold no special powers to grant themselves any special privileges, and most of their unions were ineffective for years. Their benefits are only at the pleasure of the corrupt New Jersey politician.
These individuals didn’t create the problem but the governor and his cronies would have you believe they’re “Public Enemy Number No. 1”, developing a witch hunt of angry vigilantes, becoming judge, jury, and executioner to these employees, whose only crime is to go to work, perform essential public services, follow protocol, and receive the proper compensations, enacted to them by law. If there are abuses, then correct them, but don’t lump and punish everyone. The governor is developing this falsification while erecting a Teflon force field around his fairy tale bogus administration.
The State Pension systems were always self-sufficient and self-solvent. The decline was first initiated by Governor Christine Todd Whitman, sticking her nose where it didn’t belong by twisting the arms of all the State Pension Boards, authorizing them to place most of their assets into the stock market. This maneuver eliminated these assets when the market crashed, compounded with her refusing to contribute the State’s share, including county and municipal contributions into the system. The pension fund never fully recovered from this debacle.
Governor Chris Christie, with all his arrogance, nonsense, and rhetoric, is stating we must all feel the pain, but are all his hand picked appointments and administration feeling the same pain? Lies, manipulations, innuendoes, waste, thievery, greed, and corruption are still standard operational procedures in New Jersey. Governor, look outside your window; people are still leaving New Jersey for greener pastures. Unfortunately, you’re part of the problem, not the solution.
William P. Frasca