Millionaires, Taxes and You – Thursday’s Roundup!

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Millionaires, Taxes and You
Taxing millionaires is supposed to chase them off to South Carolina, where they live together in a big mangrove swamp and swim in piles of money all day, but that’s not what actually happens according to this report, which alleges “even in New Jersey, migration of high-income taxpayers in response to ‘millionaire taxes’ has been relatively unimportant.”

I’m sure whoever wrote that has some kind of hidden agenda, but don’t worry, the millionaires probably have their own report coming out soon and it will be totes agenda-free.

Elsewhere in millionaires (and their relationship to your taxes), Steve Sweeney is blocking two of Phil Murphy’s cabinet appointments as the senate and assembly are set to pass the “controversial” PSE&G subsidy bill, which would leave Phil and his veto power the only thing standing between Steve Sweeney and his dream of giving many dollars–millions? billions?–to a company whose CEO already makes lots of millions of dollars a year anyway.

Meanwhile, if you’re not a millionaire: “Atlantic City has nations highest metro foreclosure rates in Q1 2018” (per Jim Kennedy). Remind me again who your government works for?

Millennial-Understander ALERT!
Camden’s starting a bike-share pilot that is not like the other bike-shares in, say, New York or Mexico City (where we used to live).

Rather than park the bikes in designated stations when you’re done, you just leave them in “preferred parking zones” “anywhere outside of the pedestrian right of way” that comply “with local laws and does not obstruct traffic.”

Then if you want a bike, you use your phone (or “smart phone” as we call it in the newsroom) to tell you where to find one. You then unlock the bike’s “smart lock” with your “smart app.”

See if you were thinking this whole idea sounds dumb they’re out in front of that problem.

“So you’re basically playing Pokémon GO with the bicycles?” said Elinor, who has not had enough coffee and seems grouchy.

I think it sounds cool and Mayor Gilliam should get on it.

Speaking of cool, read Michelle Brunetti Post’s cool-to-very cool story about the Cowtown Rodeo, “billed as the oldest weekly rodeo in the U.S., since 1929.” It’s a great time of year to visit 374 acres of South Jersey grassland. (Seriously have you been out there? It’s like Mongolia.)

Sexual Misconduct and Your Elected Officials
The A.P. filed records requests in every state seeking information from the legislatures on the “number of sexual misconduct or harassment complaints” and New Jersey was one of the states that told them to “P.S.” (pound sand) since “they had no publicly available records of any such claims or punishment over the past decade.”

Moreover, even if they had the claims, “we believe that many of these requests are invalid because they do not request specifically identifiable government records and instead seek information requiring the custodian to create new records,” Kate McDonnell, the Assembly Democratic caucus’ general counsel, wrote. Cool story, A.P. Hat-tip to
S.P. Sullivan.

In sports news, Sixers sportsballsman Joel “Trust the Process” Embiid wore a mask and made a Phantom of the Opera joke.

I don’t even watch basketball, but I’m going to start.

For more feats of journalism from across your region, see below:

More Serious Coverage of Cannabis and Adult Use of Marijuana in Atlantic City–No matter how you feel about about marijuana, people want to read about it. That’s why ACprimetime is following along in the foot steps of the Associated Press. More serious coverage of cannabis. Especially as it relates to NJ and Atlantic City. acprimetime.com

Camden schools superintendent submits resignation–CAMDEN — Camden schools superintendent Paymon Rouhanifard submitted his resignation Wednesday afternoon to the state commissioner of education. Rouhanifard told the Courier-Post he gave 90 days' notice, and would finish the school year and "support the transition" to new leadership. www.courierpostonline.com

New Jersey Lawmakers to Vote on Salary Hikes for Judges, Cabinet–A bill that would boost salaries for New Jersey’s judges, cabinet officials, county prosecutors and top legislative aides is up for a final vote Thursday in the state Senate and Assembly. observer.com

Jersey Shore contractor accused of taking $250K from 12 homeowners arrested–A Jersey Shore contractor accused of taking nearly a quarter-million dollars from 12 clients to perform work he never even started was arrested last week after more than a week on the run, authorities said. www.nj.com

Absecon considers fixing blighted properties, making owners pay–ABSECON — When it comes to getting lienholders to properly maintain their abandoned properties, Mayor John Armstrong believes the solution might be to just do it for them. www.shorenewstoday.com

OP-ED: PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES MUST REMAIN VIGILANT–As a person with cerebral palsy, a lifelong developmental disability, I appreciate the obvious acknowledgment that people like me are valuable and contributing members to society. www.njspotlight.com

2 thoughts on “Millionaires, Taxes and You – Thursday’s Roundup!”

    • Yes we’re all aware of David Tepper. I remember him and I didn’t just write a great big report on the issue. But I’ll let them know that somebody who didn’t like something on the internet called it fake news.