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.

Tuesday music: Mix-tape confidential

I’m a fan of the mix-tape. Always have been.

Here is the latest mix-disc getting play in the car (called “Bad Dudes and Englishmen”):

  1. Arctic Monkeys, “I Bet You Look Good on the Dance Floor” — The first single off their great debut disc is loud, fast and wild
  2. Pearl Jam, “Wasted Life” — A return to form and the best single they have release in years.
  3. Iggy Pop, “Wild Child” — Danceable mid-’80s Iggy.
  4. Bon Jovi , “Who Says You Can’t Go Home” — I don’t generally like Bon Jovi, but this is catchy and stays with you.
  5. Dixie Chicks, “Not Ready to Make Nice” — No, they are not. A passionate response to the death threats and attacks that followed their dissing of the president, and just a great song.
  6. Bruce Springsteen, “Leah” — An underrated song from the great Devils and Dust disc.
  7. Steve Earle and Emmylou Harris, “Comin’ Around” — A great duet.
  8. Shakira w/Carlos Santana, “Illegal” — The great guitarist underscores a great vocal.
  9. Corrine Bailey Rae, “Put Your Records On” — Catchy, infectious pop-soul from the next big thing.
  10. Gnarls Barkley, “Crazy” — Funky and hard to describe.
  11. Fine Young Cannibals, “She Drives Me Crazy” — These guys are a lot better than some might remember and deserve a lot more attention. Their first single has a nice groove.
  12. Natasha Bedingfield, “Single” — This song should be given to every high school and college-age girl.
  13. Rihanna, “SOS” — A sexy dance song.
  14. Shakira w/Wyclef Jean, “Hips Don’t Lie” — See comment above, watch the video and get on the dance floor.
  15. Nancy Sinatra, “These Boots Were Made for Walking” — Jessica Simpson wishes she could sing like this.
  16. Macy Gray, “Boom Boom” — A sultry song from the Desperate Housewives soundtrack. Whatever happened to her, anyway?
  17. Fine Young Cannibals, “Good Thing” — Second single is better than the first.
  18. Steve Earle and Lucinda Williams, “You’re Still Standing There” — Another great duet, this one spiced up with a pair of Southern drawls.
  19. Bruce Springsteen, “Bring ‘Em Home” — Listen to him.
  20. Johnny Rivers, “Memphis” — A great live version from a forgotten blues man.
  21. Chuck Berry, “Brown-Eyed Handsome Man” — The master.
  22. Bruce Springsteen, “How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times as These and Live?” — Springsteen sings for New Orleans.

Pass along your playlists.

The South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press

Email me at grassroots at comcast dot net.

A pen(sion)ed-in budget

The Star-Ledger today offers a pretty solid overview of the fiscal calamity facing the state, which raises unstated questions about the current budget discussions that neither political party seems willing to answer.

Gov. Jon Corzine, as I’ve written many times, has put together a painful budget that makes some effort to right the state’s fiscal ship. The problem is that he is asking taxpayers to help foot the bill though an increase in the sales tax rate and an expansion in what it can be applied to.

This has led to a revolt by his own party and a disingenuous assault from Republicans who want to paint it as just another tax-and-spend budget.

State Sen. Tom Kean Jr., who is running for U.S. Senate, has hammered on the new spending in the $30.9 billion budget — it is about 10 percent larger than last year — without acknowledging what the new spending is or how he would cut spending without further injuring the state’s fiscal health.

From my perspective, there are two basic things we need to keep in mind:

1. The state has been spending more money than it has generated in recurring revenues for years, so that the governor was facing an estimated $4.5 billion shortfall before he even started (estimates already place next year’s gap at $5.5 billion). The budget proposed by the governor, by no means perfect, attempted to close this gap by splitting the difference — about half will come from new revenues, including $1.1 billion from the sales tax — and half from spending cuts — including money for state colleges. None of this is popular, but almost no one involved seems willing to offer a reasonable alternative that does not push the problem off for another year.

2. The state has been underfunding its pension plan for going on 15 years — it is about $18 billion in the hole right now. The governor is proposing $1.5 billion in pension payments this year, up $1.1 billion from last year and more than the total contributed by the state for the last nine years, according to the Ledger. And yet, his proposal is still $300 million to $400 million less than would be needed just to cover this year’s portion — without taking into account the past amount owed. A major crisis is looming, one that will be far more painful when it hits than the incremental sacrifices being sought by the governor now.

The upshot in both cases is the same: We can pay some now or we can pay a whole lot more later.

The South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press

Email me at grassroots at comcast dot net.