Assemblywoman Donna Simon: Inane and On the Job

As the nation continues to pull out of the most devastating economic downturn in a half-century, New Jersey lags behind. From most credible points of view – statistically, academically, and though plain observation, The Great Recession never ended here. Instead, it continues to grind on under the completely inept, arrogant leadership of a largely absentee governor in hot pursuit of national office. Here in the Garden State, joblessness, poverty, deteriorating social services and a dangerous wealth gap continue like it’s still 2008.

Tip O’Neal, the late, great speaker of the House of Representatives once said “all politics is local.” Upon considering his famous phrase, I began to think how my local legislators (I live in the Princeton area, or District 16) are reacting to this ongoing crisis. The State Legislature is absolutely the most powerful governmental entity in this state – and any state. While frequently divided, if a state legislature has enough political will, I can quickly take the reigns of power and direction from a governor and make him or her bend to its will. Only the legislature has the power to raise taxes, spend money, and make law. Any governor, however much in possession of personality or constitutional authority, has little or no clout in the face of a determined legislature. And let it also be said that the New Jersey legislature has the ability to impeach and remove the governors or any of his appointees.

So with Christie on his constant interstate adventures, who is minding the store? Well, it’s not the legislature, and especially not the lawmakers in my district. And if I could point out any legislator who is more out of touch, more uninterested in directly tackling the state’s numerous and very serious problems, it’s Republican Assemblywoman Donna Simon. When it comes to politicians who seemingly operate on a form of cruise control to nowhere, she takes the cake.

Just consider three bills she’s either sponsoring or co-sponsoring in the current legislative session. Now before I go into the bills, allow me to explain why I’m not nitpicking. Proposed Bills mean a lot to legislators and their constituents. Bills are the only solid, tangible indicator of what a particular politician seeks to achieve. Legislators can make speeches and all kinds of promises during campaigns, but only through their bills do they really have any chance of implementing actual ideas. So these proposals really ‘count’ and ought to be considered as the most genuine reflection of what a politician is contemplating and has to offer.

Assemblywoman Donna Simon
aims to protect New Jerseyans from
 such modern horrors as being forced
 to pay for your kids' college and people who
 make love to dogs. I am not kidding.

Let's examine this ‘trinity’ of bills which amply demonstrate what makes her faulty clock tick.

First, there is A3104, or more straightforwardly (and I’ve named it) the “New Jersey Gun Control Repeal Act.” This bill is perhaps the most radical, most right-wing, most reactionary proposal of the entire legislative session. It’s right out of Alabama. The bill would effectively eliminate most if not all forms of gun control in the state. It would enable county officials to undercut gun control laws by having the power to issue firearms identification cards, but that’s not the most extreme part. The bill, if ever passed, would transform the New Jersey into a “shall issue” state for people seeking to get licenses to carry concealed weapons. Under the bill, any person qualified to purchase and own a firearm (again, which would be a simplified process on the county level) would be entitled to pack heat.

So basically, if Simon’s bill were brought to lawful fruition, New Jersey would quickly be transformed into another version of Florida, complete with nonstop daytime shootouts at convenience stores and weekly household massacres. Oh, and of course, there’s the ever-present possibility of another Newtown slaughter.

Firearms aside, Simon’s also turned her attention not to pressing issues like cancer research at Rutgers, or student poverty, but to one of the most imperative issues today: Parents who face the nightmare of a court ordering them to pay for their kids’ college education. Yes, she actually wrote a bill, A4070, addressing this predicament directly. It would bar N.J. courts from ordering any parents to pay for college. I’ll call it the “Good Luck Kid, You’re On Your Own Act.” Though her party ostensibly champions the notion of “Family Values,” apparently Simon thinks that this personal form of parental betrayal ought to be enshrined in law itself. You can’t make this stuff up.

Then there’s the icing in the cake. A bill so perceptibly ridiculous, so hideously unnecessary, so completely silly, that it more than demonstrates her aloofness from the everyday concerns of residents. Again, does the bill fund our ailing highways and bridges? Does it enable the students of Camden to learn in a decent environment by requiring its schools provide heat? Is this a bill that aims to bring billions of dollars to Atlantic City so that coastal community doesn’t literally fall into the sea? Nah. Simon’s ‘best’ bill, A3012, bans bestiality. Yes, you read that correctly. Simon’s not concerned with the chaotic gun violence in Trenton. She’s apparently not losing any sleep over the horrendous, months-long delays for families applying for Medicaid. No, she wants to direct the state’s attention against the real enemy: people who French kiss their dogs. Now I’m not a person who advocates bestiality – but there was one time that my dog Dusty greeted me at the door and licked my face. So for all I know, depraved pet owners like me could be in Simon’s crosshairs.

Donna Simon. Yes, she’s thinking outside the box. Far outside of it. Really, miles away from it. She’s floating away from the box, to the point where it's become a visible speck. Perhaps she’s laughing, perhaps not, but the joke is on us. As New Jersey continues to flounder, Simon and her pals remain focused on complete and utter nonsense. They get away with it because we let them. 

Poverty's Terrifying Specter Haunts 600,000 of Jersey's Children

Like Marie Antoinette entertaining at Versailles, our state policymakers continue to debate and propose a myriad of new laws and regulations that, as usual, address rather marginal issues. Smoking on the beach? Sure, Trenton’s debating on it. Animal cruelty? We’ve got loads of proposed bills on that one. Internet decency and bullying? Absolutely…the Garden State’s reps are all over that. But in the midst of all of this legislative excellence came really big news. News, of course, that after its initial reporting was tucked away, forgotten, marginalized, even by a so-called "Progressive" Democratic majority in the Legislature.

The shocking information emerged earlier this month from the yearly “Kids Count” report of the highlyrespected Advocates for Children of New Jersey. The raw number, one that is hard to hide, is shameful and highly indicative of our state’s inexorable slide into a Third World status. One third of New Jersey’s Children – over 600,000 - are living in a de facto state of poverty. And more than half of those children – some 300,000 - are living in a state of extreme poverty.

We’re not talking about adults here. We’re not examining the numbers of New Jerseyans who, in fine right-wing fashion, are expected to resolve their own poverty through the magic of full-time employment. We are talking about kids. Remember them? They are the people that we, as a state, are collectively responsible for. No, this isn’t a socialistic jibe. I’m not proposing a Communist nirvana. I’m simply stating that the children of our state – well over a half million of them – are in desperate crisis.

Six Hundred Thousand. The number needs to be fleshed out. What does 600,000 look like? Try imagining a sold out Yankee stadium. Then stretch that thought to embrace 10 or 11 of them, all filled to capacity, with every seat, from the prime locales along the first base line to the seats in the distant rafters, occupied by a child. And all kids, nothing but kids. This isn’t Rio de Janiero, Mumbai, Damascus or some other Third World city. This is New Jersey, right now.

As an educator/blogger with a profound interest in our state’s fascinating history, I think this present level of poverty can only be described as Dickensian. Charles Dickens remains famous for his descriptive and touching stories concerning those who were desperately poor in an era of declining social mobility, insecure employment and a callous, uncaring state. From this mid-19^th century British writer we get such classics as A Christmas Carol, Oliver Twist and A Tale of Two Cities. His stories are filled with such terrors as urban starvation, brutal bosses and environmental degradation. With no meaningful social safety net to depend on, Dickens characters, regardless of class, were continually filled with the terror of sliding into hapless poverty. Doubtless to say 600,000 of our state’s children would probably fit into one or two of Dickens’ novels, and neatly at that.

Oliver Twist: Think this character is ancient?
New Jersey has 600,000 of them.

Just like today, during Dickens’ era of the mid-1800’s, New Jersey had an abysmal record in caring for its poor. During that era there was a so-called ‘answer’ to poverty, and one that is still hinted at by politicians on the right today. It went by many names - the poorhouse, the workhouse, the almshouse. But in all its manifestations it was a ghastly place where the poor were forced to work for their bread and shelter, frequently under the supervision of municipally-appointed masters or bosses that amply represented a state that so despised the unfortunate. The workhouse was a destination of last resort – much like our homeless shelters of today. It was a place of utter humiliation.

One of the worst examples emerged out of Paterson in September 1867. The city’s so-called Almshouse was at the center of a well-publicized scandal involving its city-appointed Steward, a man by the name of Sigler.

During the course of the state’s investigation of him, Sigler’s victims testified to the horrific conditions of the almshouse. Current and former residents reported that Sigler had repeatedly abused those under his care. He routinely whipped people who were clearly mentally ill, banishing some of them to rooms where they subsequently froze to death. Additionally, many children were under his supervision placed there by the state and parents who could not afford to care for them. Kids who gave him trouble were routinely lashed by an instrument of torture that can only be described as a smaller version of a cat o’ nine tails. Bed-wetters and other young “troublemakers” were regularly deprived of meals and punished in other cruel ways.

It is interesting to note that even during his trial, the authorities made no move to separate Sigler from the residents, a fact that at least one publication stated was “for political reasons.” Sigler was under the protection of a higher authority.

Through my research I was unable to find out if Sigler was ultimately convicted and punished. But that’s not really the point. The point is that in this age of wireless Internet and email, our state, by allowing such a huge number of children – 600,000 - to remain and fester in poverty, is committing a moral outrage – a sin – equal in every way to Sigler’s.

Helping these kids is something that is going to take bold leadership, big ideas and yes, money. This problem is so huge that it makes the debate over abolishing reality transfer fees rather laughable. These kids need help, now. We’ve got to get them out of this modern-day version of the poorhouse.