A rant about party politics

It doesn't take to much time to look around the Bayshore, or Monmouth County, or New Jersey, or even this country, and see that our economy is in the toilet, all kinds of public money is being spent carelessly and it is time to stop talking about this political party nonsense.

In New Jersey, business is packing up and heading to greener pastures down South. In the Bayshore, small businesses are being brave despite the evidence of their eyes. People are nervous. The last thing I want to hear about are political parties from anyone. I'm a lot more interested in good ideas about saving what is left of the day and actually getting something done.

The national debt is the highest in its history, in the double-digit trillions. The euro is outpacing the dollar -- the euro!American tax money is pouring into everywhere -- except America. In this state, rather than encouraging business government punishes businesses for making their home here. In the Bayshore, not enough is being done to capitalize on the Route 36 corridor (and its million cars every summer that pass through it). Getting things solved is not a political agenda item. Excuses. That's what politics is good at. What's getting lost in the sauce is jobs.

In Monmouth County, all I hear about is patronage positions to GOP favorites -- and it doesn't create a sense of worth for my tax dollar. It's good that county taxes didn't go up, but there is certainly room for them to go down (patronage, patronage, patronage).

Being a "good Republican" or a "good Democrat" office holder means that someone is playing games with tax money. Why? Because "good party people" vote the way the party tells them to vote. Some of the best elected people I know or ever met are or were bad Democrats and bad Republicans, because they put the interest of the taxpayer before the interest of their party (which also means their own personal interest).

Whether it is the flooding issue in North Middletown, or the flooding issue in Keansburg, or the spend-thrift budgetary practices of various towns, it is not partisanship that will solve problems -- neither Republican nor Democrat.

I have seen Republican office holders in Monmouth not even give the time of day to a registered Democrat in their area; not all but more than enough of them. I have seen party affiliations advance those otherwise unemployable into employment in the halls of government on every level. The national, state, county and municipal infrastructure of support for party loyalists, politicians and their families drains the very life's blood from our governments and taxpayers. This is the issue -- not what party is in control.

It's politics that put this country, state, county, and area into the position it is. It will not be political parties that are going to be the cavalry coming over the hill.