When I received my absentee ballot to vote in the special election to replace the late great Ted Kennedy, I felt an immeasurable disappointment with the names I saw on it. The choices, as I saw them, were these: a giant douche, a cold-hearted woman, a babbling hypocrite and a space for me to waste my vote. To be honest, no candidate on the ballot seemed capable of filling the position. Over the course of several days I deliberated and resolved that I simply could not make a decision. And …

Local Group Urges Senate to Vote Down S-3157
Today, the State Senators of New Jersey are being asked to vote on S-3157. If signed into law, it would extend the time citizens must wait between submitting petitions for charter changes from 4 years to 10 years.  This is unreasonable, undemocratic, and harmful overall to civic engagement, and we are asking our State Senators to vote against this measure.

On Tuesday October 20th I stood in a line for forty-five minutes to see Bill Clinton speak on behalf on Governor Jon Corzine. The line, of which I was a part, began at the College Avenue Gymnasium and wrapped all the way around Bartlett Street to Sicard Street behind the Student Center and across from the locally famous bar, “The Olive Branch”. And so, after forty five minutes of patiently waiting to be let in to this Corzine/Clinton rally, I finally reached a spot on College Avenue where I …

Gubernatorial candidate Chris Daggett’s belief that imposing a sales tax upon services can automatically facilitate the reduction of property taxes is fundamentally flawed as it incorrectly assumes that consumers will continue to spend on those services at the same rate after these sales tax increases are implemented. Imposing a sales tax on services would ultimately result in consumers spending less on these services in New Jersey thereby increasing the probability that New Jersey consumers will either stray to neighboring states to pay for these services or will simply not utilize …

The Popular Capitalist View

The election of the next New Jersey Governor is fast upon us with only one real issue being addressed, that of property taxes and the public education system which it currently funds.  Each of the three major candidates – and by “major” I mean that they are on the ballot and on television – has taken up a predictable strategic position on this issue.

I am blessed to live in Stonier Hall on College Ave my first semester. Across the way from Brower, across the street from the student center, it is in the center of everything. And at this moment in time, I am typing in the midst of an 12 hour party on the Brower steps, a rock concert/voter registration fest with the tired title, “Rock the Vote.” As the Rutgers Democrats and Libertarians and a whole slew of other organizations are handing out treats and strange “commemorative” posters of the President …

A Timid Observer
It’s quite amazing to see, especially nowadays in our current political climate, how easily people take very vital thing for granted.  I’m talking specifically about government.
It seems that a good number of Americans don’t understand anything about government, nor how broadly dependent they are on it, even while saying things like “Keep your government hands off of my Medicare!” 

In New Jersey politics, the machine-mentality is the norm. Perhaps it’s the overwhelming population density characteristic of New Jersey communities, or perhaps it’s simply the deep seeded heritage of gang-politics that New Jersey boasts; whatever the reason, last week’s municipal elections bore serious implications for two old guard NJ political machines—those of Edison and New Brunswick.

The Popular Capitalist View
With the recent announcement of the retirement of Justice Souter from the Supreme Court and the new and awkward position of Lieutenant Governor for the State of New Jersey, it seems a good time to consider issues of representation and balance of powers. These had taken shape in my own mind over two years ago as a proposed Amendment to the U. S. Constitution, but there are clear implications for New Jersey that will also, hopefully, materialize as a New Jersey Constitutional Amendment.

The most serious consequence of the years between 2000 and 2008 has been the creation of a gap between what Americans need and what Americans will fight for. Into this pitfall we have stepped, and as a result false consciousness and popular apathy weigh down upon us.