The prominent feature of this sham is the spectacle of wealthy donors showering millions on shady, fly-by-night entities called Super PACs.  These groups are dedicated to destroying candidates with slick advertising pieces of dubious veracity.  Instead of policy, votes are decided by the ability to garner support from the wealthy and the creativity of hacks specializing in political communications.

Back in Washington, Congress has difficulty backing wildly popular and beneficial things like extensions of unemployment benefits and payroll tax cuts.  But these same corporate-backed legislators shower cuts in capital gains and income taxes on wealthy campaign donors.

Feigned concern about spending is broadly contradicted by support for trillion-dollar defense spending bill and billions in tax aid to oil companies.  The passage of laws allowing the indefinite detention of U.S. citizens without trial and the wanton restriction of free speech on the Internet show a false concern for the Bill of Rights.

Now that we know the system is broken, what does the future hold?  For one thing, the continued awakening of the American populace to the nation’s appalling levels of inequality of wealth, opportunity, and political influence is cause for optimism.

The tramplers of the Constitution have not yet stripped the non-wealthy of all voting rights, so an awakened populace retains the power to change the national conversation at the ballot box.  Their support should go to politicians who will provide funding for social programs, education, and infrastructure.  the repeal of obscene tax cuts for the wealthy and investor class would also be a good start, among many other agenda items.

Outside of Washington, it is often forgotten how much power our towns, cities, and states have to change lives through ordinances and statutes and creative uses of funds.  Larger cities can achieve progressive policy goals unattainable, thus far, on the national level.  One example is the creation of municipal health plans to achieve universal health care within their borders, slashing healthcare costs and muzzling greedy health insurance companies.  Others have successfully decriminalized marijuana possession, saving millions in wasteful spending on failed drug interdiction and unnecessary prosecution and imprisonment of U.S. citizens.

The point of all of this is that, as many say, “all politics is local.”  Despite crushing evidence of the corruption of Washington, D.C. institutions, citizens can and must take action on the local level to ensure their interests are represented in their local and state governments.  

Strong representation on the local and state levels will eventually reach critical mass.  

At that point, it will make itself felt in the nation’s capital, in the form of policies and legislation that benefit the many, instead of the few.

When asked about whether or not he thought the issue was worth talking about during the 2012 Presidential election, Gov. Flip-Flop cast the topic as mere political posturing from Pres. Obama’s camp. It’s class warfare and divisiveness from the Left, Mitt claims, while simultaneously assailing Obama for positions like fair taxation and a (nonexistent) hatred of capitalism.

Displaying his penchant for unscripted gaffes, Mitt has taken to saying tax policy and other issues are best decided “behind closed doors.”

Once again, we see the Wall Street elitist within the likely GOP candidate, someone who “likes being able to fire people” and feels major policy decisions are best left to smoky rooms full of bought-and-paid-for Washington pols.

God help us, in the event of a Romney Administration!

Iowa and New Hampshire have served as a proving ground for the super wealthy. They’re testing out their new toys: fly-by-night advertising operations or Super PACs that further tilt the scales of victory to the candidate with the greatest financial support, personal wealth, or both.

Gov. Mitt Romney used this dynamic to deadly effect in Iowa, smacking Newt Gingrich out of front-runner status with a dizzying barrage of advertising. Now, Newt plays the role of campaign kamikaze, happily bashing Mitt and generating fodder for general election ads by the DNC.

He will happily continue in this role, armed with the knowledge that a $5 million cash donation from a rich supporter has reinvigorated his Super PAC.

I like neither of these buffoons…but I think citizens should be left to draw their own conclusions based upon careful consideration of the issues. Over reliance on slick, misleading ads muddies the real issues and reduces a political race to a marketing competition.

The implications ofCitizens United loom larger with each passing day of the campaign. Before our eyes, corporate backers fuel the continued destruction of our teetering nation with unlimited, untracked campaign donations.

The general election hasn’t even started yet. It’s going to be a long, long year…

There are almost no jobs, schools are horrible, and in many areas violent crime is pervasive. So I have one question to ask supporters of the Bush tax cuts: when are the rich coming here to shower us with their tax windfalls by opening businesses, investing in the local economy, and allowing their growing wealth (or urine?) to trickle down upon us?

What I’m saying is that it doesn’t take an economist to realize that cutting taxes for the rich does not result in widespread economic benefit. Instead, it is outright fraud.

Things are bad around here, and they have only gotten worse since the right-wing turned the tax code into a perverse social-engineering experiment. To those who say the fate of North Philly was sealed by American deindustrialization, I point to the formerly middle class and rapidly stagnating neighborhoods of Northeast Philadelphia and the inner-rig suburbs on both sides of the Delaware.

There, home values are flatlining or in outright decline, solid middle class families are sliding into poverty, and income is disappearing. There, we see the true implications of starving government programs and handing tax cuts to the wealthy.

And, even in be midst of the destruction of the middle class, which is the very thing that makes the US great, renegade GOP operatives and complacent Democrats focus on austerity and belt-tightening. Make no mistake – this only threatens to drive the economy further into the toilet.

As the poorly devised Super Committee fades into history, it is time for all people who do not make substantial income from capital gains to tell their federal legislators and President Obama that the number-one priority is defeating any push to make the high-income Bush tax cuts permanent.

Defeating this perverse legislation will ensure much-needed revenue for important government programs, infrastructure investment, and making a down payment on the national debt.

This must be the top priority if the US is ever to recover from the nightmarish right-wing alternate reality that began in 2001. Otherwise, America as we know it, is finished.

Congressmen, Senators, and Obama Administration officials simply cannot come together to compromise on anything, even issues on which there is great consensus among Americans.

One after the other, stories of failed legislation, gridlock, and toxic public discourse have done little to engender confidence in the work of the Congressional Super Committee.

This bi-partisan group of 12 Senators and U.S. Representatives is tasked with proposing some sort of plan for deficit reduction to the full membership of each chamber by Nov. 23rd.

If they fail to develop a plan containing a combination of cuts, reforms, and revenues of at least $1.2 trillion over the next ten years, then massive, across-the-board cuts will hit the federal budget.

My own lack of confidence in this process and our government has lifted slightly over the past few days, mainly because of the work of the Simpson-Bowles group, which produced a comprehensive, bi-partisan deficit reduction plan at this time last year.

While neither Pres. Barack Obama nor GOP House Leadership embraced the $4 trillion plan during the summer debt-ceiling debate, I believe portions of their framework are attractive and could form the basis of a “Grand Compromise” between Republicans and Democrats.

Some of the most attractive proposals include: tax reform that would eliminate $1.1 trillion in loopholes and tax giveaways to corporations and individuals; Medicare reform that saves the program via means-testing, coverage reform & simplification, and continued research into moving away from the faulty fee-for-service system; a broader, fairer, progressive tax system; and tax hikes on the super-rich.

Simply put, the members of Bowles-Simpson and other bi-partisan groups have received very positive receptions during presentations to Super Committee members, who seem genuinely open to many of these suggestions.  This gives me a small feeling of hope that the Committee might get their act together and hand down some real reforms.

Besides blind hope, there’s another reason to believe that these people may finally get a handle on this country’s existential debt problem — the very fate of our nation.

A lawsuit filed this week by esteemed former city attorney George Dougherty alleges behavior that may very well be criminal.   A city employee who refused to circumvent public bidding law, hire preferred Mack cronies, and funnel money to the same, was terminated, according to the documents filed in Mercer County Superior Court.

It’s amazing, but as someone who dealt with Trenton’s previous Palmer Administration, I think I can honestly say that if I were living in Trenton I would rather live under the arrogant Douglas H. Palmer than the arrogant AND incompetent Tony Mack.

It’s important to note the problematic fact that city voters followed up their support of the five-term Palmer administration, which oversaw a continued 20-year decline of the city, by supporting the amazingly incompetent and calamitous Tony Mack.

This should give pause to anyone who has confidence in the ability of the Trenton political system to elect the kind of leader needed to turn the city around and actually make progress against its many problems.

Trenton cannot hope to make any progress on crime, poor schools, inadequate employment opportunities, and all the other symptoms of urban blight without an innovative and competent mayor.

The question is this: will the power brokers, as well as the electorate of the city, ever be able to select someone other than a candidate who is seen as the heir apparent or most likely to pony up city contracts and taxpayer money to campaign contributors?

Maybe the Tony Mack disaster will help provide a positive answer to this important question during the next election.

Besides the obvious broken campaign promise, another point comes to mind.

It is based on information in today’s Times of Trenton story and regards Mr. Sigmund’s stated intention of signing an apartment lease to comply with the city residency ordinance.

If I remember correctly, the Chief of Staff takes over as mayor when Mack is out of town.  That point becomes a big, fat red flag if the office is filled with someone who is simply “signing a lease” to comply with residency.  And what’s worse, this is a red flag that adversaries will take advantage of, quite easily.

This is not a Doug Palmer situation, where there is a large, owner-occupied home that is being used, at least somewhat.

And no, I am not invoking the dreaded “L” word – lawsuit.  But a lack of legal papers doesn’t negate the fact that it will be quite easy for people to attack Mack and score quick political points.

They can attack Mack’s willingness to bend residency rules to take on a political scion with potential baggage, of all things.

Why would anyone care about this?  Sure – it’s fair to say that Mayor Mack has certainly been a deserving figure of criticism, with all of his gaffes.  But deep down, one should hope that he’ll get his act together and help Trenton.

Wouldn’t such a turnaround be easier without distractions, like bringing in people whose residency, name, and past will become political fodder?

It’s not even about residency…even if Sigmund accidentally made it so with his newspaper comments.  This guy has deep political roots, and they’re from Princeton, not Trenton, and that has already made many uneasy.  There is the whole “whoops, I was seriously injured when I rode on the outside of a NJ Transit train” incident, as well.

Instead of focusing on the residency technicality, I am wondering aloud…maybe, after all the failed nominees and officials, Mack should look for a strings- and backage-free candidate who comes from a place called Trenton.

Just a thought…

All residents are urged to attend.  As workshop leader and city businessman Dan Dodson says, Trenton’s budget is its most important tool for attracting residents, businesses, and desperately needed revenue to the City of Trenton.

As years of inept governing and budgeting have proven, it is time to make the residents’ voices heard.  But to properly sculpt a budget that appropriately addresses the needs and desires of Trenton residents, citizens must speak up!

Therefore, workshop organizers and city officials are urging all city residents to attend at least one session to offer input on the budget.

Organizers have invited City Council members from each ward to the meetings, and their attendance is expected.  All workshops will cover the same information and will be held from 6:30pm – 9:00pm (see below).

o South Ward – Wednesday, March 9th at The Millhouse, 325 Jersey Street

o East Ward – Monday, March 14th at the Infinity Lounge (previously Roman Hall), 100 Whittaker Avenue

o West Ward – Wednesday, March 16th at Grace Community Church, West State Street and Hermitage Avenue

# # #

Like us, they are probably horrified by the endless stream of bad news that has enveloped the Mack Administration since inauguration.   Unfortunately, the existence of private horror with Mack’s policy decisions doesn’t warrant hope for this big political intervention.

Such a move would carry a potentially heavy price for Democrats in the county, who would risk alienating voters from in and around Trenton.  If he’s even half the politician former Mayor Doug Palmer was, Mack would cast any such move as outside hacks intervening in the affairs of city voters on behalf of special interest groups.  Mack could even borrow a Palmerism and talk of shady characters working to implement a “shadow government.”

Hope for some concerted action by outside officials also ignores the fact that it is fundamentally unlikely for officials to interfere with a party member, even an incompetent one.

New Jersey’s political parties rarely eat their own in the sort of public fashion alluded to by some in the press…unless the stakes involved move from mere ineptitude to risking party-wide destruction, such as those associated with criminal wrongdoing.

It is a long shot to expect officials from Mercer County or anywhere else to do anything about Mack.  We’re probably looking at the next election as the first opportunity to rectify this situation.

Of course, a successful recall would move said election closer…

The revelation comes after City Council voted down a proposed 43-cent tax increase Thursday.

The increase would have gone far to close the gap.

It would also, however, represent the latest in a series of tax increases that have whacked taxpayers as Trenton grapples with deficits and insufficient tax revenue.

No word has been given as to when these layoffs will occur or if they will truly consist of 150 officers.