This is a perfect example of how the mainstream media loses it's audience. In this case it's Star Ledger columnist Bob Braun whose trying to make the case for that massive union giveaway project masquerading as infrastructure enhancement - the ARC tunnel.
Braun is clearly a believer in the progressive vision where only enlightened academics and other self appointed experts see the big picture, while base and simplistic conservative like Chris Christie only see the short term benefit. As is typical with liberals, this view gets things exactly backwards. There are no suprises about the case Braun makes - it's the same old union sponsored boilerplate. but his spin on the governor's take is a little more obvious than usual. Here he is contrasting it with the view of Robert Yaro, Harvard trained President of the Regional Plan Association, an advocate for union built infrastructure projects:
"But Yaro is an academic, trained to appreciate complexity, with no particular interest in trying to simplify things. Christie is a master of the punchy one-liner, a Carl Paladino with all his marbles, but a similar approach to policy."
No condescension there at all.... jeez aren't there any editors at NJ.Com who don't want to specifically insult their readership... and can't they get a handle on this crap? Seriously, aren't any of you people embarrassed to publish this? Are the yucks around the office cooler realer worth the drop in readership that this crap costs you?
We conservatives are not all mindless drones without the sophistication to see the forest for the trees. Quite the contrary, In my specific case, I think I know a hell of a lot more about getting a return on an investment than any central planning advocate from Harvard, who has never worked in an environment where there are consequences to being wrong.
So how about this Bob... if this tunnel is such a great investment for NJ and really must be built, then surely it would be an even better investment if we could build it for half the cost. That is how "investment" works you know.
So instead of doing the standard union giveaway that we usually do with infrastructure projects (1 guy working - 5 guys watching, plus a supervisor), lets dump the union contract and hire 'immigrants without proper papers' (to steal another phrase of yours) to do the work instead. We'll hire them for every job on a low bid basis. Then you can have your 'must build' infrastructure project and we still don't have to worry about the consequences of overpaying for it later.
If the private sector is any indication of what the labor savings will be, then that 'half the price' metric leaves more than enough room to hire 10 times as many quality assurance staffers to ensure the the work meets the public sector's lofty quality standard. How about that Bob? Then you can have your infrastructure cake, and eat it too.
The fact is, this may very well be a good idea for NJ, but that doesn't mean it's a good idea at any price. The unions want too much to build it. In fact the truth is, they want too much for everything they do. That's the whole point of a union - to increase costs as much as possible. But NJ can't afford their lack of work ethic anymore. There are tens of thousands of people who can do EXACTLY the same job, and are willing to do it for a fraction of the price. It's time for the public sector unions to wake up and smell the unemployment line.
The unions have structured the entire civic construction industry to ensure them as high a level of budget overrun as possible. Until Chris Christie came along they simply stole what they liked, and we all had to live with it. That's why we're hearing all the focus on 'public infrastructure' from the Democrat's these days.
Christie is finally calling them out on it and NJ's citizens all see that for exactly what it is. In fact the only person treating NJ voters as if they're simplistic is you. You think we'll be stupid enough to believe your union crafted spin on the topic instead of our own eyes and pocketbooks.
Seriously Bob... quit treating us like we're idiots. The only person whose getting left behind in this whole mess is you.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%UPDATE%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
It turns out that Chris Christie has killed this project after all - over the shrill rantings of the transparently leftist activism of the local media. Good for him - and good for us. The only people it's bad for are the unions who wanted to slop a little longer at the public trough, and media hacks like Bob Braun who are using it to burn the last of their thinning credibility.
So I guess all is well that ends well.
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