Author: hankkalet

So, here is the fullest explanation that young Kean has offered on Social Security to date, a rather long-winded yet empty response full of campaign soundbites, a response that manages to sound thoughtful but that lacks any meaningful policy prescriptions. (Here is the response to a question on Social Security from the Hall Institute of Public Policy in New Jersey.)

If I’m reading this correctly, Kean Jr. is opposed to privatization, but for private accounts and does not say in this piece how he manages to gibe this inconsistency. Is he for creating a separate set of accounts that would be managed like a 401k and leaving traditional Social Security as is? He doesn’t address this, preferring instead to go on the attack.

His lack of specificity on this is all the more puzzling, given the Hall’s very specific, three-part question:

A. Do you believe that individuals should be allowed to direct part or all of the Social Security tax to private accounts? What would be the effect of such a proposal on lower income people, the disabled, and survivors’ benefits?

B. How would the nation deal with the transition costs to private accounts?

C. If the Social Security trust fund faces — in the long-term future — a shortfall between revenues and expenditures:

1. What should be the age for full benefits?

2. Should the Social Security tax be raised and to what levels?

3. Should the current array of benefits be cut for future retirees?

Menendez, also turns to the political cudgel, but his response ultimately is pretty straightforward. He opposes privatization and does not believe the system is in crisis:

We must take privatization completely off the table. Once that happens, I believe in working towards a bipartisan solution to strengthen Social Security over the long haul. This must be accomplished in a way that does not increase the deficit, hurt the middle class or slash guaranteed benefits.

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

Steve Adubato outlines what the latest Monmouth University/Gannett New Jersey poll may mean for local governments and school districts in the state of New Jersey.

The poll, he says, shows that the time is ripe for service consolidation — and not just hte small stuff like purchasing rock salt.

Adubato writes that he:

had always believed that police and fire services would be off limits for most citizens. If this poll is correct, there may be a narrow window of opportunity to act. When I say act, I don’t simply mean encouraging or supporting mergers or consolidation of services. I’m talking about mandating that these things take place.

The question is how willing will folks be to merge when faced with the actual merger? Reducing the number of government entities makes sense, and I think that most people would agree with that, but given conversations we’ve had with residents and government officials in Cranbury, Jamesburg and Monroe I have to wonder if people agree with the concept more than they will agree with the actual practice no matter the tax savings.

And then there is the question of goals. Should cash savings be the only motivation, or should some mergers be considered to help balance racially segregated communities? And what happens if that is put on the table? What would the poll results show then?

I do believe that reducing the number of towns and school districts makes sense. I just don’t think that residents of smaller communities are going to make it easy.

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

There is both good news and bad news from Lebanon. The good news is a truce that, if it holds, will stem the violence and allow people in southern Lebanon and northern Israel to return to some normalcy. The bad news is that the claims by Hezbollah, Israel and the United States, the apportionment of blame and the poisonous atmosphere make it likely that the truce will be short-lived.

As this tragedy has unfolded (here is a sad story about the son of the great Israeli novelist and peace activist David Grossman), we have been allowed to forget that we are fighting a seemingly endless war in Iraq, one in which bad news seems to be the only news.

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

Ruminations on the beach from James Carroll. I’ve made just one foray to the ocean this season (to Beach Haven), and really need a dose of sea air. (We did spend a day on the inlet near Atlantic City, but it isn’t the same thing as standing on the beach at the edge of the surf watching the foam pop and feeling the water rush up past the ankles to the knees….)

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

This is pretty low — both the vice president and the recently ousted Democratic candidate from Connecticut tying Democrats to terrorists. The Times offers this:

It comes like a punch to the gut, at times like these, when our leaders blatantly use the nation’s trauma for political gain. We never get used to this. It never feels like business as usual.

And here is Josh Marshall on Lieberman.

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