Trenton as the Mary Celeste

Good morning, Blogolanders.  Here's another one of what The Kid refers to as, "Your esoteric babble."  He's my sharpest critic.  The Mary Celeste is one of the great mysteries of sailing history.  It was a cargo vessal bound for Italy that was found floating in the Atlantic completely abandoned - the crew, officers, and the captain's wife and daughter gone without a trace.  There was no sign of a struggle.  The ship was just floating.  That's what Trenton is doing.  Just floating.  The crew and officers are, "gone."  The captain, i.e., the Honorable Mayor, is there by his absence.  His discussion before council actually made no sense.  The Honorable Mayor still insists that spending money we do not have is a good thing;  he insists that his administration has improved the city's finances.  As for the crew, aka city council, they still cannot grasp the fact that they do have authority; they have power.  By December of 2010, council should have known that the mayor was a lose cannon; they should have taken steps to reign him in.  Individual council members spoke out, but as a group - all seven of them - it did not happen.  Last evening, Councilman Chester asked about reaching for corporate sponsorships; the Honorable Mayor snapped back that nothing was stopping Mr. Chester from doing so.  Mr. Chester responded that he has tried, but is often asked, "Where is the mayor."  But again, looking for corporate sponsors is NOT a function of a council member.  That should come from the administration.  Council is to pass resolutions, ordinances, and watch the public purse.  Anything else a council member does is above and beyond the call of duty.  If they chose to do more, God bless them. 

Now, the Honorable Mayor did declare that he loves his job so much, he would do it for free.  What a wonderful suggestion.  Stop his salary.  See how long he loves Trenton.  Take his car away from him.  Tell him to take a bus to work.  See how long he loves Trenton. 

The only thing I can say with certainty is that there has never been a perfect government.  Somebody is always unhappy.  And taxes make people unhappy.  Epecially property taxes which I tend to accept if only because property taxes are deductible from my federal return, but Blogolanders, have any of you ever looked at the taxes on your PSE&G bill, your cable bill, your phone bill, etc.  Does anyone scream about those taxes?  Noooo.  Not to mention so-called, "sin taxes" which is why there is a growing movement to legalize marijuana - so the government can tax the hell out of it. 

In closing, please remember that you can always tell when a politician is lying because the mouth is moving.  In my opinion, until we stop looking for, "happiness," we will have ass holes running the government.  During the next election, listen for a candidate who tells you it is going to hurt; it is going to hurt badly; do not ask for anything because there is no money.  We must get back on a sound financial footing.  Run from the touchy/feely hug & luv'em crowd.  Have a nice day.