Christie Continues To Catch Grief For Chopper Ride To Son’s Game (click here)
Everything is MONOTONE? Really? Yet, New Jersey is so very different from Wisconsin in its income and expenses, but, the attack on unions goes on.
Helicopter rides for the Executive Branch, but, no money for employee benefits. I'll be darn.
...Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver (click title to entry - thak you) said Tuesday it was important to get public debate under way, but she's not committed to putting the bill up for a full Assembly vote. It will be heard by the Budget Committee on Monday.
Oliver's announcement came the day after former Assembly majority leader Bonnie Watson Coleman urged colleagues in a strongly worded letter to stand up for core Democratic principles. Watson Coleman said her party should unite in opposition to Republican Gov. Chris Christie's policies, starting with a refusal to vote on any legislation that infringes on collective bargaining.
"It now pains me to see how we have been strategically and systematically manipulated to compromise the value of our majority in support of this governor's agenda," she wrote. "How are we allowing ourselves to be dragged down this governor's right-wing alley of pain and devastation that is targeting the middle class, frail, elderly and poor, and support an agenda that upholds and indeed lifts the wealthiest?"...
I really do believe in citizen participation in govenrment decision making. It can be effectively done by allowing a "Public Comment Period" previous to any plan for a budget. A Public Comment Period could last 60 to 90 days and precede the writing of any budget and certainly before any vote. The Budget seems to be the favorite place for Republican Governors to hack away at bargaining rights and union benefits, so make the public a part of the process and legislate it in as part of the process to STABILIZE budget prioritizing and spending every year REGARDLESS of whom is the Governor.
