Enough talk,get to work

After a while, you get tired of hearing the same thing over and over again. At some point you have to make it happen.

That’s how I feel about yesterday’s State of the State address (read it here; watch it here). The governor said the right things — things he’s been saying since taking office — and committed himself to change, but little movement has occurred. That gets old quickly — which is something the 120 members of the state Legislature need to remember as they enter an election year in which everyone of them will have to run the electoral gantlet.

The Post will have an editorial to this effect in tomorrow’s paper (Press on Friday).

Some other thoughts:

• Municipal mergers — a necessity if we are to rein in costs — will not happen unless the state either mandates them or puts up some serious cash to make them more attractive, otherwise voters will hold onto the ephemeral notion of identity and stymie change.
• Selling the Turnpike is foolish.
• A comptroller makes sense, but is not a panacea. Local officials are saying the position will come with new costs — it will — and that the audits they undergo now are enough — they are not.
• Pay-to-play reforms are a good first step, will save money and restore some sense of legitimacy to government, but broader reforms (public financing of elections) are what is really needed.
• Without an expanded income tax, nothing will matter.

South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick

Author: hankkalet

Hank Kalet is a poet and freelance journalist. He is the economic needs reporter for NJ Spotlight, teaches journalism at Rutgers University and writing at Middlesex County College and Brookdale Community College. He writes a semi-monthly column for the Progressive Populist. He is a lifelong fan of the New York Mets and New York Knicks, drinks too much coffee and attends as many Bruce Springsteen concerts as his meager finances will allow. He lives in South Brunswick with his wife Annie. View all posts by hankkalet