Power and the budget. Will NJ taxpayers have a voice.

When does influence cross the line? When does accountability actually matter? Who is accountable? When we have influence we have the ability to make things happen. What matters most is who we make things happen for. Who benefits, is the ultimate question we should be asking.

Government is supposed to be a consensus of the majority. It is supposed to be faceless in that a majority holds the responsibility for what works and what does not. We often only look to blame those for what goes wrong. Far too often we cannot see the folly of actions until the effects of our decisions impact us, or those for which we care. Many of us dream of the improvement of the lives of our families and ourselves. What happens when those dreams are thwarted?

Education has been for many the one vehicle used to gain a better life. Education has been an investment many families felt certain would provide the upper mobility for future generations. We have been certain that learning would produce the capacity to make better choices and provide opportunity,  no matter where one starts in life. For generations we have all assumed that the investment in our youth would yield returns that would make each following generation better equipped to handle the challenges we face as a family, a community and a nation. We all hoped that our children would avoid the hardships we had to endure and the mistakes we made. So where are we and how is that working for US?

We have come to understand that the lessons we learn are different and the payoffs are not what we thought they would be. Please do not misunderstand this assessment of the vehicle of education as disparaging. I still believe that education is the best hope we have for a civilized planet. Yes, I said planet. I realizing we are ALL human and the greatest hope we have.  Education is the route to that end. We must understand that division is sown by those who want to keep the power they have and in ignorance we buy into what they want, instead of realizing that we are all best served by what we share. What and how we are educated in becomes that question.

Those in power are educated in how to get and keep power. The masses have been educated in the belief that power is faceless. Blame and accountability cannot be properly attributed to the root of the problem as long as the entity is faceless. Examine my example.

I sued the VA on an employment issue. The same people who hired me placed me in a position which led to me being unable to return to work. I knew the people who hired me and I knew the people who stood in the way of my returning to work. I did not see the VA as faceless. I knew who was doing what they were doing to me. All the help I sought saw the VA as faceless. No one would help me. I contacted the agencies which were in place to help and all of them saw it as too big a challenge.

I went to my Congressman, the Department of the VA, the Department of Labor and several other agencies formed to help Veterans. I sent out a mass email looking for anyone who would and should have helped me. Over 30 agencies in all were contacted. The one who responded spoke of a jurisdictional issue and how they wished they could help. I finally found an attorney who worked on my case. Even then, I was urged to settle as getting to the truth would not be an easy task or by my attorneys estimate not a possible one. Our preliminary inquiries got inaccurate responses or none at all.   

When we look at NJ and Christie’s actions we forget that there is a NJ legislative body that has its share of responsibility. To have a judge made to rule on the pension issue is another example of how bad things have gotten.  Political party separation is part of the blame game. We have elected officials who have been seated years before Christie and none fought the battle for NJ taxpayers. Money reallocated out of the pension system did not start with him. There have been members serving in excess of 10 to 16 years who have said and or done nothing to reverse the situation we find ourselves in.

NJ has been downgraded 3 times under Christie but the NJ Assembly and Senate have not been held accountable. Debate has been used as a mechanism to do nothing to stop him. Like it or not in Washington we have seen our money used in efforts to repeal actions of the President and define his powers. This is not true in NJ. I am certain we the people of NJ would rather see our tax payer dollars spent to stop Christie than to defend his abuse of power. 

Writers such as http://mcorfield.blogspot.com/ , http://jerseyjazzman.blogspot.com/  http://www.bluejersey.com/ , http://www.saveourschoolsnj.org/ , and many others have laid bare the facts and statistics concerning Christie and his profit based efforts to privatize public education and use taxpayer money to further his own ambition. They have also reported on connections, cronyism, and hiring that have given his agenda a circle of influence which has optimized his bully tactics. In a world of information it is not hard to find. In many instances these facts are no more than mouse clicks away.

The unjust make unjust laws to keep their influence and free their friends from prosecution. They ensure that jobs of influence are only given to those who sell their allegiance. With the passing of immoral law the body becomes immoral.  Ethics and morality are not debatable as the appearance of impropriety is just cause to hold those responsible accountable. This has always been so in public office. It is not so with Christie and his minions. http://pando.com/2014/04/18/chris-christies-300m-pension-proposal-broke-state-anti-corruption-laws-and-now-the-intended-recipient-threatens-to-sue-pando/ 

The NJ Attorney General may be regarded as the most powerful position in the state. It is the office that prosecutes malfeasance and upholds the law.  Those who escape justice inflicted upon them do so at the pleasure of the office.  The question arises as to whom Christie has hired based on a personal and professional relationship. Follow the money and the professional contacts.  We all know who Christie let off the hook and where those he has worked with end up. 

As the FBI closes in let’s all hope and pray they have set their net wide enough to catch all the guilty. At this point RICO statues are relevant as the breath of Christies reach and those of his friends has expanded into the courts themselves. It will be interesting to see who will roll over to save themselves. Self-preservation is part of being human. Selfless service is being part of humanity. Only a mirror can determine if one is human or a part of humanity. Let’s hope the fear of prison is enough to return NJ back to its taxpayers from its tax money takers. 

Education IS the transfer of knowledge from one vessel to another. While some have only been educating themselves on how to make life better for their friends and family it falls to the VOTERS of NJ to ensure we place our faith, our support, and our votes in those who truly represent us ALL.