Sweating the small stuff

Here is a story that demonstrates why budgets matter. Governments need money to perform basic services — like cutting the grass that grows in the median strips along highways like Route 130, or fix potholes or replace bulbs in streetlamps or any of the dozens of other minor functions we take for granted.

We forget that someone has to sweep the floors in the state’s school buildings, inspect apartment complexes, restripe roads and that the people who do these jobs deserve to get paid a living wage.

Government may not be popular, but it is necessary.

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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

2 thoughts on “Sweating the small stuff”

reinkefj says:

June 3, 2010 at 2:42 pm

Can someone refresh my memory? What happened to all the gasoline tax money that was paid to supposedly maintain the roads? It worked well in prior years. Yes, it was STOLEN by greedy politicians. How about calling them to account. Not prattling on about \”Governments need money to perform basic services\”. The Gooferment STEAL more than enough from us. Funny how when they want more, they always cut services that people can see. Argh! And some more communistic / socialistic thinking is in evidence with \”deserve to get paid a living wage\”! Gooferment workers are overpaid. Cut out this nonsense about \”living wage\”. Argh!Wages are politically set. With escalations tied to the \”minimum wage\”. And the taxpayers get repeatedly screwed. (Well known fact that \”minimum wage\” laws hurt minority and young workers who seek to get their foot in the door or grab the first rung on the ladder of success.) \”Living wage\” advocates ignore that rarely does someone work for the minimum wage as a full time job. And, who are they to interfere between employer and employee. Is it better that someone can't work and draw welfare. OH, yes it is. See then we need more gooferment workers to process the claims. Argh! Wonder if they will get a \”living wage\”.Gooferment is a scam! Taxes are theft. And, we already pay gooferment more than enough for their non-service service.Let's have the head of the DOT out there with a mower! Bet they'll find the resources then. Cut the fat. Stop stealing the gas taxes.Argh!

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Anonymous says:

June 3, 2010 at 4:59 pm

State workers deserve a living wage with benefits. Not everyone is a true believer (of some fringe ideology) who doesn't want to pay taxes but who wants all the services for free. Don't complain when bridges collapse, roads have giant pot holes, when roads are unsafe to travel over. The NJ gas tax is amongst the lowest in the nation, it hasn't been raised in decades and is no longer enough to cover all the rising expenses of materials and of the private contractors.The top 5% and the big corporations are not paying their fair share of taxes. Heck, many corporations haven't paid federal income taxes for years.We need to restore the top marginal tax rate to what it was before Reagan.

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