Happy 4th of July!

In New Jersey there is a state crisis. The governor is forcing the elected officials to come meet with him today and try to work out the budget. If they don't, the state offices that are NONessential will not be open tomorrow. They may have to close down Atlantic City and the casinos. State parks are closed until further notice.

I used to be married to a state employee. The benefits were grand. Now that I am not, and don't have those benefits, I see what the problem is. Years ago state salaries were very low. Now they are not so low. I know people who have been working for about twenty years who are making over 40K and have a killer benefits package. In the private sector benefits are being stripped away. My ex pays $3 for a drug that my copay is $50 on. He doesn't contribute at all for the health plan and we are currently contributing several hundred a month towards ours. State workers often accumulate hundreds of days off they didn't take and get a lump sump of up to 20K when they retire for those days. I don't get paid sick days, or vacation days right now. I don't know anyone in the private sector that has it so good.

I wish now I had taken the jobs that the state had way back when. What I didn't know was that they would become unionized and I would have the killer benefits AND the pay up the road. The state workers can afford to live in New Jersey but sadly, the lower middle class cannot. If these trends continue they are predicting that New Jersey will only consist of the rich and the poor who take care of them. The middle class will soon be gone altogether.