March 3, 2008

Ward's of the State


Leave it up to the People's Republic of New Jersey, at a time I thought Governor Corzine was trying to cut expenses, to find a new way to make the public reliant on the government.

Six weeks of paid leave, PAID leave. It started out as a promise by the government to protect individuals from losing their job, should an extended illness by themselves or a family member cause them to miss significant time from work. Since, predictably, few people can survive without income during times like these, our caring politicians mount their white horses to save the day.

The bill, which the Gov promises to sign, will promise that our leaders will pay for up to six weeks leave, so individuals can care for sick family members. It will increase taxes, duh, but according to the union bosses, what a bargain...

"For $33 a year, this is the best social insurance program that money could buy," says Charles Wowkanech, president of the New Jersey State AFL-CIO.


No, nothing "social"ist about that concept.

I wonder what the politicians will give away next. They already promise food, money for shelter, and free education. If you still can't find success, they promise to pay for your health care or bail you out of a bad loan decision. If all that "help" still doesn't guarantee your happiness, no worries, they'll pay for your retirement and all the drugs you want as well.

One question - why stop at six weeks? It's simply not fair that the poorest amongst us have to work 46 weeks (minus vacation and personal time of course) to get paid for the 6 they need off to care for sick family members.

At a time when Jersey is leaking jobs like a bullet-riddled snitch, is this a solution to the Garden State's problems?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Gee, I wonder if since I'm a tax-paying "resident" of NJ if I'll get to share in the 6-week paid leave nonsense. Nah, no one with a beach-town address gets to enjoy that sort of thing if it's a second address even if you don't rent it out. Even though they did just reassess me, raise the value of my condo and increase my taxes (meanwhile my mortgage company re-appraised it for my refinance and lowered the value by $25K). On the bright side, NJ did do something really really smart on March 1 - hands-free cell phone in the car or $100 ticket. Love it! Sadly, it will take Pennsylvania at least another decade to follow suit.