LIBERTYandPROSPERITY.org
1.?????? Memorial Day Parades?Monday, May 28.?????? Three great young people with drums volunteered to march with us this year in the Memorial Day parades in Northfield, Linwood, and Somers Point.??? But none of them have the straps they need to carry them in a parade.?? If you have a set of those straps or know where we can get them, please contact Dennis Mahon by reply email or Seth Grossman at sethgrossman49@gmail.com as soon as possible.?? Thanks.
2.????? Again, we ?meet at the home of? Dennis Mahon at 7 Twelve Oaks Lane in Northfield for coffee at 8AM.??? Please RSVP and let us know if you are coming prepared to walk the distance so we can be prepared.
3.????? At 8:30 AM we drive to where the Northfield parade starts at 9AM.???? At the end of the Northfield parade, we drive to the Linwood parade that starts at 10AM.?? Then we walk in the Somers Point parade ?that starts at 11AM.?? We then return to the home of Dennis Mahon in Northfield for lunch, beverages, and conversation.
4.????? We take part in these parades to do what Abraham Lincoln said we should do in his speech at Gettysburg?to not only honor the dead on Memorial Day, but to dedicate we, the living, to their unfinished work of protecting and defending liberty today.
5.?????? In past years, 12 to 16 of us walked in these parades.?? This year, we would like to have 20 to 30.? ??Please do not volunteer to ?walk the parade route unless you a fit enough.?? Make sure you bring bottled water to drink.? Again, please RSVP to Dennis Mahon by reply email, or to? Seth Grossman at 609-927-7333 or sethgrossman49@gmail.com.
6.????? We offer our apologies to Bill Eames of Morris County for not mentioning him in last wee?s email.?? Last week, we said that out of 40 Legislaltive Districts and 21 counties, only three Tea Party conservatives ran credible campaigns State Senate, State Assembly, or County Freeholder.?? They were Senator Mike Doherty, Assemblywoman Allison McHose in North Jersey;, and Bob Villare in Gloucester, Cumberland and Salem.?? But there were four.??? Bill Eames also ran a credible primary campaign to defeat the Republican organization candidate for State Senate in Morris and suburban Essex County.? We apologize for the error and thank Bill Eames for his efforts.?? We wish that more Tea Party conservatives had supported him. With 40 state election districts and 21 counties in New Jersey, that still is not very good.
7.???? Liberty and Prosperity on the Radio.?? Our Executive Director, Seth Grossman is away on vacation.? Steve Lonegan will appear as a guest on the Larry Trulli and Dan Klein programs on 1020AM WIBG Radio (Ocean City and much of South Jersey) ?tomorrow (MONDAY) sometime between 8AM and 10AM.?? Retired Judge Paul Porreca of Millville First guest hosted for Grossman yesterday, during our Saturday program on 92.1FM from 8AM to 9AM.?? We also hold a breakfast discussion every Saturday morning from 9:30 A.M. to 10:30AM that is open to everyone who wants to learn more about liberty.?? It is held at the Shore Diner, Tilton and Fire Roads by Parkway Exit 36 in Egg Harbor Township.? We will be meeting? this Saturday, even though it is Memorial Day Weekend.
8.? ? BECOME A MEMBER.?? You can join as a non-voting, supporting member for $30 per year and attend and take part in all business meetings.??? Voting members must pay? $60, attend 3 business meetings per year, and participate in at least one volunteer project per year.
9.?? PLEASE REVIEW AND SUGGEST CORRECTIONS AND IMPROVEMENTS FOR PROPOSED SETH GROSSMAN COLUMN FOR THE CURRENT AND GAZETTE WEEKLY NEWSPAPERS IN ATLANTIC AND CAPE MAY COUNTIES.??? Previous columns are posted at http://www.
Last week, Republican Governor Chris Christie spoke to a convention of the Laborers International Union in Atlantic City.
Many unions in the construction business represent workers with certain skills?plumbers, electricians, carpenters, ironworkers, heavy equipment operators, etc.??? Union leaders claim? their workers have superior? skills in their fields and are therefore entitled to higher pay and benefits than anyone else who does the same work for non-union companies.
But the Laborers Union represents workers who do unskilled work?holding the caution? flags on roadside projects, pushing wheelbarrows bringing tools and supplies to skilled workers, etc.? And sweeping the floor when the job is done.
Anyone doing this same work for a non-union company would probably get $10 to $20 per hour.?? That is because many people?especially young folks starting out with no skills, training, or experience– would do this work for low pay to learn skills that would get them started in the? construction business.
Some of the most successful business and professional people I know in Atlantic County spent their college summers doing that work for builders like David Herzberg, Sam Schoffer, and Jack Trocki in the 1960?s and 1970?s.?? In those days, almost everyone? could? afford a decent house.
But the law of supply and demand is not allowed to work where unions run things.?? The? Laborer?s Union has a contract with every union construction company that pays unskilled workers cleaning up construction sites? $48 to $53 in wages, pension, and healthcare benefits.??? One worker must be a foreman who gets $57 to $61 per hour.?? There is extra pay for work done after 6PM, overtime for more than 8 hours in a day, and double time for Sundays or holidays.
The wage component is roughly $30 per hour, which means every union laborer makes roughly $1,200 per week when there is work.?? These jobs don?t last long, but after just 26 weeks, they qualify for 99 weeks of unemployment compensation at roughly $500 to $600 per week?plus whatever work they can get ?off the books?.
Because of these salaries and work rules?and the cost of getting zoning and environmental permits from the government? the cost of building anything in New Jersey is higher that what the building? is worth when finished.
If we had liberty in New Jersey, absolutely nothing would get built in New Jersey.??? This would force union construction companies to push back against union demands, and work with other taxpayers to demand an end to oppressive rules and regulation that drive up costs and crush business.
Once these costs are brought under control there would be a building boom that would keep workers busy building new roads, bridges, and factories all year long?the way it used to be in New Jersey.
But so far, nobody in the political system, neither unions nor contractors?neither Republicans nor Democrats, have any interest in bringing? costs under control
Instead they all agreed to ?stimulate the economy? by having the government bail out a selected handful of overpriced projects by increasing tolls, taxes, and electric bills, and borrowing billions more.
And so taxpayers spent $400 million to replace? two small drawbridges between Ocean City and Somers Point ? double the cost of the 17.6 mile Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel over open ocean? near Virginia Beach.
Taxpayers paid for $400 million of the $1.2 billion Revel Casino?a project that cost six times as much as the Golden Nugget and Resorts casino projects.??? And taxpayers paid $11 million for a convention center in Cape? May and $7 million to $9 million each to re-build two empty and obsolete movie theaters in Millville and Vineland.
Both Republican Governor Chris Christie and Democrat Senator Steve Sweeney are bragging that these projects are so ?successful? that they are now planning others that are even b igger and more expensive.
They want more government debt to build two Revel-like private shopping centers in North Jersey.?? And to tear down a structurally safe and sound free bridge across the Delaware? River upstate and build a new and bigger toll bridge.
Meanwhile large sections of Routes 40, 322, 47, and 347 remain death traps, while most other roads are starting? to look like roads in Tijuana or Juarez, Mexico.? ?All state gasoline taxes? now pay nothing but debt on overpriced projects built in the past.??? There is no money for new construction or repairs?unless we raise taxes again?or repudiate that? unconstitutional debt.