New Jersey: fear that unprofessional pumpers would blow themselves up

Self-Service Nation Ends at Garden State Gas Pumps

Excerpt:

People in New Jersey pick their own strawberries. They chop down their own Christmas trees. They check themselves in at airports and check themselves out at supermarkets. Lately, a few New Jerseyans have been wondering whether it isn't about time they were allowed to pump their own gas.

Pumping your own gas is illegal in New Jersey. It has been for 61 years.

...

Bikram Gill and his partners have bought up 26 New Jersey stations. They don't fix cars; they sell cappuccino. Their burden is finding workers to push the buttons on their self-service pumps. "Any idiot can do it," says Mr. Gill.

If that category includes New Jersey drivers, Mr. Gill figures self-service would let him cut prices by eight cents a gallon.

...

In 1949, the year New Jersey banned them, America had 200 self-service gas stations. Thirteen other states had banned them, too. (Portsmouth, Va., banned attendants on roller skates.) The fear was that unprofessional pumpers would blow themselves up.

...

The state's Supreme Court, upholding the verdict in 1951, declared gasoline inherently "dangerous in use."

Comment: When it is below 20, I would gladly pay 8¢ a gallon to have a "professional" pump. Source of vintage age. For many when I wss back in H.S. ('63-67) pumping gas was a job.

$22,000 per student in the Newark school system, yet less than a third of these students graduate!

New Jersey's 'Failed Experiment'

Excerpt:

"I'm a product of public schools in New Jersey," Mr. Christie explains, "and I have great admiration for people who commit their lives to teaching, but this isn't about them. This is about a union president who makes $265,000 a year, and her executive director who makes $550,000 a year. This is about a union that has been used to getting its way every time. And they have intimidated governors for the last 30 years."

While the state lost 121,000 jobs last year, education jobs in local school districts soared by more than 11,000. Over the past eight years, according to Mr. Christie, K-12 student enrollment has increased 3% while education jobs have risen by more than 16%. The governor believes cuts in aid to local schools in his budget could be entirely offset if existing teachers would forgo scheduled raises and agree to pay 1.5% of their medical insurance bill for one year, just as new state employees will be required to do every year.

A new Rasmussen poll found that 65% of New Jersey voters agree with him about a one-year pay freeze for teachers. But the teachers union wants to close the budget gap by raising the income tax rate on individuals and small businesses making over $400,000 per year to 10.75% from its current 8.97%.

Mr. Christie doesn't think that state and local budget problems can be fixed without tackling education spending. That's because the state has a hybrid system in which local property taxes fund schools and some of the money is redistributed by the state from affluent areas to poorer communities. According to Mr. Christie, New Jersey taxpayers are spending $22,000 per student in the Newark school system, yet less than a third of these students graduate, proving that more money isn't the answer to better performance. He favors more student choice, which is why he's ramping up approvals for charter schools.

Comment: More $$ won't fix this broken educational system!

GOP wins New Jersey Gubernatorial!

Christie Gives GOP Stunning Win In N.J.

Excerpt:

In the end, all the stumping in the world from the President of the United States wasn't going to stop regime change in New Jersey's highest office.

Republican Chris Christie ended Democrat Jon Corzine's four-year run in Trenton with a narrow victory on Tuesday, CBS News projected. Independent Chris Daggett, thought of by many as the wildcard who could upset the order of things by siphoning off votes from Christie, finished well back.

With 5,138 of 6,305 precincts reporting, Christie led Corzine 49 percent to 44 percent.

Independent voters gave President Barack Obama a huge advantage in the state last year, but they heavily favored Christie on Tuesday.

Voters said their top concerns were the economy and jobs, followed by property taxes. Voters who said the economy was important favored Corzine, while voters who said taxes mattered most supported Christie.

Christie's win will likely be perceived as a big defeat for the White House. President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden had stumped for Corzine several times during the campaign, and they had hoped the result would speak positively to the job they are doing in Washington.

Comment: Cf yesterday's post. We lived in New Jersey for 7 years (1980-1987)

More from the NY Times. (image above is a screen capture from the NY Times)

New Jersey gubernatorial: A race to watch

Chris Christie: 'I'm a Tax Cutter'

Excerpt:

With the New Jersey governor's race coming down to the wire, Republican Chris Christie has been criticized for not being specific enough about his tax plans. In an interview with us this week, though, he had plenty to say. "My plan is to lower taxes each and every year that I'm governor," he said. His aim is to reduce the state's tax burden -- now the highest in the nation -- below those of next-door New York and Connecticut. "And we're going to do it over four years," he says.

For now, Mr. Christie offers two tax pledges for his first year: repeal a Corzine property tax hike and allow a Corzine income tax hike to expire. As a result, he says, the top income tax rate would drop back down to 8.9% from 10.75%, and more than a million people would receive property tax rebates. The cost would be roughly $1.5 billion, which he says would be offset with spending cuts.

Comment: Up against the incumbent. I understand the polling shows a tight race. (We lived in New Jersey for 7 years. Taxes are very high there (really all along the NE coast)

Update: Latest polls have Christie ahead! But within the margin of error!