NJ Sample Ballot Arrived!

Haven't had a post in a while, huh. Anyway, so my sample ballot came in the mail today. (Though I wasn't home. I was in NYC being harassed by PETA members in Union Square to [re]join them, go vegan cold-tofurky, or stop wearing the cute plaid "cashmere" scarf my mother bought me for $5 at the street fair on Bleeker... I'm pretty sure it's a cheap scrap of polyester/cotton blend with a "Made in Scotland-- Dry Clean" tag stuck on it, but it's cute!) I was reading the "Public Questions to be voted upon" section, and I have to admit, at first glance I was a bit thrown by the state question:

CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT TO DEDICATE ASSESSMENTS ON
WAGES BY THE STATE TO THE PAYMENT OF EMPLOYEE BENEFITS Shall the amendment to Article VIII, Section II of the State Constitution, agreed to by the Legislature, which: prohibits collection by the State of assessments based solely on employee wages and salaries for any purpose other than providing employee benefits; dedicates all employer and employee contributions collected for any employee benefit fund, and all returns on investments of those contributions, to the purpose of that fund; and prohibits any transferring, borrowing, appropriating or using of those contributions or returns for any other purpose, be approved?
 
A) Assessments? Assessment of what? What exactly do they do with that information currently? Are they compiling a report for some reason? B) How much should I even care? Because right now, I really don't. Unless I'm supposed to, in which case, I still don't. In fact, I care less. Is that chocolate macaroon still in my purse? I should take it out... C) Wait, what's going on here? What'd I miss?

Yea, I think I just read way too much into that "interpretive statement." Something so simple, but all I see is blah blah blah. All it's asking is if the money we pay towards unemployment/disability/etc benefits should only strictly be for those benefits, or if we think the State should be able to tap into that money if it needs to borrow for other programs. Duh. Stupid me... (Haha, I feel like an idiot today. Is ok, there was chocolate. And kitties in front of Whole Foods, as much as I despise Whole Foods and their greenwashing hypocrisy. I bought a loaf of bread off a sidewalk, for $4 less than what they initially wanted. My day is complete, brain shut down the minute I started watching When in Rome with my little sister. Which, if you've ever seen that piece of crap, you know is a good thing.) If you need/want further clarification, I did a bit of a google search, & found this statement & analysis presented by The League of Women Voters. (Yay for smart, non-partisan ladies! Who, in policy, are rather left-leaning if I do say so... See, reality does have a liberal bias!)

So, from that analysis, I feel like I'm kind of on the fence with this one. (This is one of those reasons I say I'm socially liberal & fiscally moderate. I often see a point to both sides of the argument, and both are certainly important...) But thinking about it, it's not even a question-- I believe that worker benefit funds should be used for the workers, especially since they're the ones paying into it... however, I also believe in prioritizing funds as needed. (And I just answered my own non-existent question. Guess I'm voting for it. Yea... there's no way I could vote no on that. I think my mind is still trying to make more out of it than there is... I do that sometimes. Over-analyze. Because it just can't be that simple.) "Research" also says that this was unanimously approved by both our state Senate & the Assembly. (Sketchy source, sorry, feeling too lazy to find something decent. Long day.) So I'm going to go out on a limb here & say it's probably worthwhile/a good thing, and I'm exhausted and probably won't remember this in the morning, but let's just go with it.

And I while I'm rambling around the topic, I think the municipal question is a good thing too. Maybe it's just the eco-geek in me saying "zomg land preservation yay ftw!!!" but how can I say no to that? Awesomeness > money. Hell, everything is > money. The "tea party patriots" insist that we vote no. [yawn] What else is new? Really, guys, where's your "pride" in your municipality? Don't you want pretty trees to hide behind while you shamelessly massacre deer after deer, and maybe a "illegal" while you're at it? Ugh. Don't mind me, stumbled upon a rather disgusting blog just now... Immigrants are people too, you jerks! Human beings!!! Stop treating people like they're dirt.

This country has gone insane, and I'm trying to find a safe corner. Apparently it's not in NJ anymore... Is it just me, or are people actually making a big deal out of the midterm elections for once in my lifetime?? I've NEVER seen this much crazy before.

Well, that was productive. I'm off to... well, I don't even know. Do research-- last week before NaNo starts, exactly 1 week til the Rally to Restore Sanity, & I have so much to do! T-shirts, read 2 books on gender studies, one on writing (need to improve on descriptions! Hate hate hate describing things. Feels so damn contrived and banal... And I'm totally impressed that I just spontaneously chose those words, because it means my waning vocabulary hasn't completely failed me yet. Yay! Ok, will shut up now. Really.)