Okay, Lost it (Humorous)
In catching up on my reading last weekend, I finally got around to the Harper’s Magazine article that was referenced in the Frank Pasquale Concurring Opinion’s article. While I agree that America carries too much debt and states like New Jersey are on the brink of financial ruin because of its indebtedness, it is kind of galling that when the average Joe runs into debt problems the first thing he does is cut spending and decrease living costs. Joe Average has to prioritize his debts, talk to creditors, basically change his spending habits to keep the cash flowing with more than his mouth above creditor infested waters.
Joe Average does not think about how he got into trouble; in reality, he doesn’t have time for reflection he is too busy trying to stay afloat. But it is at that precise moment that Joe must reflect and plan. He has to plan to feed the sharks and manage to keep himself afloat. But Joe does not want to just stay afloat. Ideally, Joe wants the water level comfortably around his ankles. To get there Joe has to plan.
So when I hear stories as I did this morning of state fiscal crises and the like, I wonder if the Govenor or the folks in the state house have any plans to get Jersey Joe into comfortable waters. We all heard about Gov. Corzine’s plan for the toll roads, and most of us don’t like the plan. Don’t imagine Joe Average likes what he has to do either. But while Joe Average will learn to live within his means, Jersey Joe will incur more debt to temporarily relieve his situation. Jersey Joe is looking to get a boat while Joe Average wants to swim to Debtfreeland. The question is once Jersey Joe is in his boat, will he be sufficiently motivated to head to Debtfreeland or will he dry himself off and head for Deeperdebtville? I am inclined think he will head out to financial ruin in Deeperdebtville.
Tuesday, Super Tuesday is February 5th and New Jerseyans will vote in primary elections held that day. The number of candidates to chose from has just gotten smaller with John Edwards and Rudolph Giuliani both withdrawing from the presidential nomination race. The front running candidates for the Democratic nod are Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama. The top candidates for the Republican nod are John McCain and Mitt Romney. Super Tuesday could potentially make clear a single frontrunner in both parties.
With Americans getting larger each year one would think the idea of making it convenient for folks to find out the number of calories a dish a restuarant offers would be a no-brainer. After all, if the idea is for customers to keep coming back so they need stay health and well… alive. Ideally when on some cold afternoon a customer heads over to Starbucks for that grande-size white hot chocolate with whole milk and a dollop of whipped cream, he or she will know it uses up 520 calories (granted it is some of the best tasting calories) of their daily allotment. Would knowing the calorie amount stop me from getting the white hot chocolate once I was in the Starbucks? Probably not, but what it would do was cause me to look at other areas in my day where I can make room for the hot chocolate. 
President Bush and King Abdullah have spent some time talking about he upcoming OPEC meeting. Bush hopes to get King Abdullah to persuade the other oil producing countries to increase production to stop the rising gasoline prices. The story I read says Bush is making an arms deal with the Saudis in an effort to help stabilize the region particularly with Iran’s increasing rise in power.
Okay folks, let’s look at the state debt realistically. New Jersey has $32 billion dollars of debt today. While there have been cuts in various areas, the state still has a staggering amount of debt. Something has to be done. No, I do not like the idea of raising the tolls on toll roads any more than I like the idea of selling off state assets. The thought of raising the tolls 50 percent is mind boggling but if it gets applied to the debt through infrastructure maintenance and transportation needs then let’s just get the debt down.
Just under a month from now, on February 5th, New Jersey voters will select Democratic and Republican party nominees. That date has 21 other states holding elections for Democratic Party candidates, or candidates for both parties. The states holding elections on February 5th are: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho (D), Illinois, Kansas (D), Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico (D), New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Utah.