Everybody's On the Take in New Jersey.

March 3, 2011 at 12:47 P.M. Efforts to add scholarly sources, including Lisa Randall and William Barett, to my essay "Mind and Machine" were blocked. I believe some of the new scholarly works were added to the text, but not others. Future revisions will be made from public computers. "Errors" inserted in the essay below since this morning will now be corrected. I will try to repost the "Mind and Machine" essay.

March 3, 2011 at 10:43 A.M. Intense computer attacks have damaged several essays and prevented me from posting revisions. I will struggle to write from multiple public computers later today.

Richard Cowen, "Still No Control Over Payroll," in The Record, March 1, 2011, at p. A-1.

"Labor costs inflated by millions of dollars in overtime and other generous pay perks have remained a persistent fact of life at the Passaic Valley Water Commission, [PVWC] even though the agency paid a consultant $35,000 to help bring them under control."

"Concerned that the public utility was spending too much on labor -- including more than $1 million a year in overtime -- the seven commissioners hired the consultant in 2008 to attempt to restructure the utility."

Many observers believe that a small portion of the overtime is actually needed or performed by those receiving the excess compensation. In other American states these wasteful practices are called "thefts" from the public treasury. ("Law and Ethics in the Soprano State" and "New Jersey's Politically Connected Lawyers On the Tit.")

"Peter Engel of the firm of Leaf, Staltzman, Manganelli, Pfiel and Tendler of Fairfield produced a report designed to streamline the table of organization and rein in costs. But more than two years later, the payroll continues to rise, and Engel is out the door after not having his contract renewed in 2008."

" ... Two weeks ago, The Record [sic.] reported that PVWC employees routinely boosted their salaries by $20,000 to $40,000 annually by working loads of overtime and cashing in on a variety of pay perks, including the selling back of unused sick days."

"An analysis of payroll data showed that, in 2010, 31 workers made more than $100,000, about one in six employed at the agency. Two of them, Bella and assistant business manager John Kelly, made more than $190,000 -- which is more than Governor Christie makes."

It is possible that some of these overcompensated workers have been deceased for years. ("New Jersey is the Home of the Living Dead" and "Da Jersey Code.")

"In all labor costs at the PVWC rose from $11.6 MILLION in 2006 to $13.4 MILLION in 2010, an increase of 15 percent. Overtime and other pay enhancements increased by 45 percent between 2006 and 2010, according to PVWC records." (emphasis added!)

"Meanwhile, the rates charged to the utility 's 65,000 customers have risen dramatically during the same period. Since 2006, rates have risen a combined 31 percent, records show."

This continuing story -- combined with several developing graft investigations in New Jersey -- illustrate the core of the problem in Garden State government, ably summarized by Ingle and McLure: the public treasury has become the cosa nostra of Democrat politicians and bosses spreading the people's money, like jelly on toast. The "toast" is then shared with their friends and soldiers as the people get screwed. No political system can tolerate this absurd level of waste and theft, incompetence and corruption among judges, prosecutors, and unethical courts for long.

New Jersey has remained a "law enforcement free zone" for the mafia for decades and the results are evident in the disaster that is New Jersey's economy and government -- a disaster that is otherwise inexplicable in an amazingly rich state with great universities and one of the most talented populations in the country.

New Jersey's corrupt reality is unacceptable in many Third World countries, to say nothing of America's political standards. People like the various bosses and middle-brow politicians in Trenton are on the level of Gadhafi or Mubarak -- if not below that level. ("Mafia Influence in New Jersey Courts and Politics" and "More Mafia Arrests in New Jersey" then "The Gang's All Here!")

Mr. Christie and Ms. Dow, deal with this situation and solve my problem soon. The whole world is watching. ("Will Governor Christie End the Nightmare?")

Sources:

John Reitmeyer, "The 'New Normal' May Have a Familiar Ring," in The Record, March 1, 2011, at p. A-1.
Peter J. Sampson, "Man Gets 10 Years for Stealing Identities of Cancer Patients," in The Record, March 1, 2011, at p. A-8. (Experts can generate a completely new set of documents with the information of very recently deceased individuals -- preferably, from New Jersey where such dead persons continue to draw government salaries.)
Peter J. Sampson, "Man Out on Bail in E-Mail Theft Cases," in The Record, March 1, 2011, at p. A-4. (Identity theft, again. No wonder there are so many men named "Fidel Castro" in Union City, New Jersey.)
Matt Friedman, "Public Workers Fighting Back," in The Record, March 1, 2011, at p. A-4.
Ginger Thompson, "Mediator for Public Employees Ousted," in The Record, March 1, 2011, at p. A-4. (Was the mediator "connected"?)
John Petrick, "Man Gets 22 Years for Sex With Girls, Former Cop Has Terminal Cancer," in The Record, March 1, 2011, at p. L-1. (Ms. Poritz? "Neil M. Cohen, Esq. and Conduct Unbecoming to the Legislature in New Jersey.")
Charles Stile, "GOPAC Donovan Perfect Together," in The Record, March 1, 2011, at p. L-1.
Deena Yellin, "Clifton Official Facing a New Charge: Sadrakula Allegedly Obstructed Justice," in The Record, March 1, 2011, at p. L-1. (John McGill, Alex Booth -- any thoughts concerning "obstruction of justice"? Diana Lisa Riccioli, one of your "friends"? "New Jersey's 'Ethical' Legal System" and "New Jersey's Office of Attorney Ethics.")
"Wrong Layoffs: Paterson Can't Afford to Lose Cops," (Editorial) in The Record, March 1, 2011, at p. A-12. (How's the overtime at Passaic County's PVWC?)
Deena Yellin, "'Everything is OK' Cops Told: 911 Call Probe Led to Clifton Councilwoman's Arrest," in The Record, March 1, 2011, at p. L-1. (Friend of Diana is still in trouble. Whatta ya gonna do?)
Jeff Pillets, "State Wants Refund for $161.9 MILLION Tunnel Insurance," in The Record, March 1, 2011, at p. A-1. ("Hey, we had some ... eh, expenses -- right, Rocco?")
"U.S. Widened Use of Unethical Tests: Experiments Were Done on Prisoners, the Disabled," in The Record, March 1, 2011, at p. A-8. ("Terry -- 'The Jewish Mengele' -- Tuchin and the much-'connected' Diana Lisa Riccioli must have been involved in these little experiments on "inferiors." I will be writing at greater length about this ongoing story in which New Jersey has played a large role. "Terry Tuchin, Diana Lisa Riccioli, and New Jersey's Agency of Torture" and "The Experiments in Guatemala." Do you speak to me of "ethics," New Jersey?)
Adam Liptak, "Justices' Ruling Is Wrapped in an English Lesson," in The New York Times, March 1, 2011, at p. A15. ("Metaphor is Mystery" and "A Doll's Aria.")