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Re: Pulaski Skyway Update For Commuters
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Quote:

dtjcview wrote:
Can the PA hit JC with any more disruption at the one time? Looks like we're getting a triple-deal for a couple of months - Pulaski, PATH and now low-flying Airplanes bound for Newark.

The PA does not control the Pulaski Skyway, nor did they schedule its maintenance. All that happened is Christie hit up PA for repair funds.

A few more flights going over JC is not going to impact... almost anything. I grew up pretty much in a EWR flight path, it's not a big deal.

Posted on: 2014/3/31 21:04
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Re: 6 developers vie to transform Bayonne's waterfront into 'tourist destination'
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Wait, you mean the monument "To the Struggle Against World Terrorism" isn't a big tourist draw already?!?

Posted on: 2014/3/31 18:34
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Re: Christie Administration seeks to block Tesla Motors sales
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Quote:

Monroe wrote:
To sum up-a) you can't find anything to disprove my statements, b) you'd rather make silly comments about me, because c) see a).

There's plenty of reasons to disagree with your statements.

1) People should have the right to buy a car directly from a manufacturer if they want.
2) Tesla's engine design, and over-the-air software updates, reduces the need for maintenance.
3) There's no question at this point that Christie would veto any legislation.
4) There's little doubt that Christie is doing it to appease the car dealer lobby.


Quote:
Did anyone read the WSJ article where they said Musk was open to a regular dealer structure ONCE Tesla got big enough? What a populist!

Sure. Why is that a problem?

While Tesla is small, they will benefit from direct sales. If they get big enough that there will be an advantage to setting up a dealer network, they'll set up a dealer network. Or, Tesla may never want to set up a dealer network.

Tesla's involvement is also nearly inconsequential at this point. Either it's a good idea, or it isn't. It is fallacious to say that "I don't like Musk, therefore anything he suggests is a bad idea."

And no, no one is saying that dealers "screw" the customers. It's that they are middle men. If they add value to the product, without dramatically increasing costs, then it's a good thing. If they are not necessary, then they are just increasing consumer costs.

The problem is not that dealers exist. It's that they have a very powerful lobby, and they are pushing their own agenda for their own benefit.

Posted on: 2014/3/31 18:24
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Re: Christie Administration seeks to block Tesla Motors sales
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Any port in a storm, eh?

Here's a WSJ article where they recognize that the car dealers are a powerful lobby, who are powerful and vindictive:
http://blogs.wsj.com/corporate-intell ... -who-annoyed-car-dealers/

Here's another one which is not flattering to Musk, but calls the direct model "admirable" and that protectionism is bad for everyone:
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/S ... 4914904579437393260106778

National Review, also not flattering to Musk, but supporting direct sales:
onalreview.com/corner/373313/teslas-new-jersey-problem-time-end-auto-dealers-plaid-jacketed-cabal-veronique-de-rugy

Posted on: 2014/3/31 0:24
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Re: Exodus on the Parkway
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A 2008 report put out by the Policy Research Board at Princeton points out that most of the out-migrants go to states with higher state income taxes, and says that tax rates don't explain the patterns. They believe it's the cost of living in NJ pushing out poorer people. Few people left after a tax hike on the wealthy in 2004, and between 2006 and 2008 the number of high earners in NJ increased.

Contrary to what you may assume (as I did), senior citizens are less likely to leave. People aged 18-24 are over 6 times more likely to move out of NJ than someone over age 65. Presumably this is because senior citizens have ties to their community.

http://www.leg.state.vt.us/jfo/Tax%20 ... Study%20-%20Princeton.pdf


It's rather telling that the Regent paper has a few anecdotes about fleeing high earners, and is devoid of demographic information about what groups are actually leaving. It's also unlikely that when moving from NJ to PA or FL, that all the variables they list in their scenarios will stay the same -- e.g. home value, income, cost of living.

Their report does have some factually accurate points, e.g. Florida basically doesn't have an estate tax. But overall, it looks like a conservative hit job, which conveniently fails to back up its key claim -- that high income / affluent individuals are fleeing in droves.

Posted on: 2014/3/30 13:36
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Re: music restrictions for Exchange Place to be introduced by city council
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Quote:

Yvonne wrote:
The World Health Organization had certain criteria in term of decibels....

I don't see anything all that authoritative about tinnitus on the WHO site. I'm sure they have much more important things to deal with.

That said, yes, excessive noise is an issue. But the problem with Exchange Place is not that they are blasting out everyone's ears. It's that the sound bounces off the towers, and travels around.

Posted on: 2014/3/26 20:51
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Re: Show a developerr an abatement and they will come running
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So do you have an issue with the concept of abatements, or with adding apartment buildings, or both?

Posted on: 2014/3/26 17:28
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Re: music restrictions for Exchange Place to be introduced by city council
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Quote:

Yvonne wrote:
- No one cares about hearing loss to young children
and the possible "ring in the ear" later in life

Street fairs and parades are not the leading causes of tinnitus.

A much more serious and pervasive cause is listening to much too loud on headphones.

Also, keep in mind this is not about Saving The Children. The goal is just to restore a little bit of peace and quiet to people who live in earshot of the festivals at Exchange Place.

Posted on: 2014/3/25 23:36
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Re: Legalized pot: NJ lawmaker says he will introduce bill
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Quote:

Frank_M wrote:
The lines between medication, self-medication, recreation, or any other term you want to throw out there, are often poorly defined...

Whatever, man. I'm really not interested in watching you joust with a semantic windmill.


Quote:
Why do you think pharmaceutical companies spend billions of dollars on prime time television advertising for anti-depressants that require a doctor?s prescription?

Again: Not a lot of use marijuana for medical uses. There's very little evidence that pharmaceuticals donated anything to opposing any state referendums on marijuana.

I really don't think they give a crap.


Quote:
Further, none of these terms are helpful in addressing impact that the legal availability of weed may have on the promotion, image, and sale of mind-altering pharmaceutical drugs.

Shudder gasp.

You do understand that you're not scaring a lot of people with this type of talk, right?

Posted on: 2014/3/25 20:05
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Re: Legalized pot: NJ lawmaker says he will introduce bill
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Quote:

Monroe wrote:
To your first point, it's impossible to put the cork back in the bottle after it's opened. But why create another problem if we can avoid it?

Because prohibition is a massive failure.

It is not blocking a lot of people from smoking pot. It's filling our prisons with petty offenders. It's wasting law enforcement resources. It's not a "gateway drug." The proceeds go to criminals. We haven't seen California or Colorado implode because they legalized pot.

Legalizing marijuana will solve far more problems than it causes.


Quote:
more people with legal access to mind altering intoxicants will lead to more driving accidents, more children being exposed to mind altering intoxicants, with the corresponding social problems we already have with legal alcohol abuse.

We should acknowledge that legal efforts to curb DUI have been quite successful; fatalities involving DUI have dropped almost 50% since 1991. In fact, we could reallocate police time from "pointlessly busting pot dealers" to "enforcing DUI laws."

You're also operating under the assumption that "marijuana is bad bad bad," and the evidence doesn't back up most of those claims.


Quote:
My teen aged son has mourned two friends, one dead by alcohol, the other dead by heroin-both started by smoking pot as 'fun' in middle school. We will see more deaths of children if we legalize marijuana.

Anecdotes are not a valid way to set policy.

There is no solid evidence to prove that marijuana is a gateway drug, and the idea has been repeatedly disproven since 1999. Nor, I suspect, do you really know the path that these two individuals took to their unfortunate demise.

By the way, legal marijuana is well on its way to becoming a reality:

Resized Image

Support has been rising for over a decade, and there are now more supporters than opponents.

You might want to get used to the possibility that your favorite tobacconist might sell a very different type of "blunt" in a few years....

Posted on: 2014/3/25 19:34
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Re: Legalized pot: NJ lawmaker says he will introduce bill
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Quote:

Frank_M wrote:
First of all, the word ?recreational? is pointless in this context. We?re not talking about surfing, we?re talking about drugs...

Errr.... It's a valid term. If you are not using a drug for medicinal purposes, then you're using it for recreational purposes.

We should also acknowledge that marijuana is, by almost every measure, less harmful than alcohol.


Quote:
Now consider for example, the hundreds of billion dollars related to the development etc....

Again: The actual amount of marijuana used for medicinal purposes is quite small.

And we've already seen many states legalize medical marijuana, in fact most do so before legalizing recreational uses. This obviously does not fit the model of "Big Pharma" blocking medical marijuana.

Posted on: 2014/3/25 19:06
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Re: Legalized pot: NJ lawmaker says he will introduce bill
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Quote:

Frank_M wrote:
There was no corporate interest in the case of marriage, but what?s our governor?s relationship with say, Big Pharma?

Recreational marijuana use is not a threat to pharmaceuticals.

Heck, even medical marijuana isn't a threat to pharmaceuticals. Let's face it, whatever your opinion is of the efficacy of marijuana, the overwhelming majority of "medical" marijuana usage is thinly disguised recreational use.

Legalization will raise funds via sales taxes, and cut costs with law enforcement, reduce court time and costs, and reduce incarceration costs -- especially if they let past offenders off the hook.

Christie may fight it for awhile to hold onto some conservative bona fides, but it could also easily go the way of gay marriage -- fight until there's no real point. Or, in a few years, someone else may well legalize it.

Posted on: 2014/3/25 2:48
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Re: Christie Administration seeks to block Tesla Motors sales
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Quote:

heights wrote:
This does not make sense, should we all just deal with a manufactuer of a product when purchasing ?

Manufacturers should have the option to sell direct, if they choose to do so.

No one even thinks of forcing Dell to sell computers in retail establishments, in order to "protect retail jobs." And if the retail model does work better, then people can buy computers at Best Buy instead of direct from Dell.

I see no particular reason why cars should be treated differently.

Posted on: 2014/3/21 11:19
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Re: Why are almost half of Fulop's meeting hidden?
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Quote:

JCMan8 wrote:
I believe it's very bad when we get a guy like Fulop or Booker that is clearly focused on personal ambitions above the well being of their constituents.

Whatever, dude.

There is nothing wrong with being ambitious. In fact, not only do most candidates for higher office will have to work their way up the ladder, most elected offices have term limits precisely to avoid having the same person in office for too long.

I'd also say that mayors who are "lifers" don't automatically do a good job. E.g. Sharpe James, who was without doubt a "lifer" in his elected position, loaded up Newark's government offices with cronies and was busted for corruption.

Ultimately, it's a ridiculous complaint, and a largely ineffective one to boot. Either he does a good job, or he doesn't. If he doesn't, then don't vote for him. End of story.


Quote:
Another harm is they place their campaign donors who will finance their higher office run above the people.

As opposed to being beholden only to local donors?

Posted on: 2014/3/18 16:47
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Re: Why are almost half of Fulop's meeting hidden?
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Quote:

Yvonne wrote:
In the follow-up story by Terrance McDonald, there is a poll, apparently 79% said there should be a change. The information should be public.

Internet polls do not determine the structure of political rights.

That said, if public support is really that overwhelming, then go get the law changed.

Posted on: 2014/3/18 0:09
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Re: Why are almost half of Fulop's meeting hidden?
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Quote:

Monroe wrote:
40% of his time is spent, right after winning election, with looking for donations from private individuals (not those representing special interest groups)???

Yet again: Elected officials are only allowed to publish information when they meet with government officials, govt employees, or when he's at a public event.

It does NOT say that he can only redact the name of private individuals.

And again, if you look at his donor list, there are far more individuals than organizations. That's very common, more so with Democrats than Republicans.

Posted on: 2014/3/17 19:44
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Re: Why are almost half of Fulop's meeting hidden?
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Quote:

Monroe wrote:
Any executive who's spending 40% of his time meeting with 'private citizens'....

...is doing the same thing as every other politician: Asking for donations.

And if those donation requests are successful, they go into the public record.

What are you, new?


Quote:
Fulop better get ahead of this story, rather than stonewalling, because the optics are terrible.

Well, if the optics are terrible....

There is nothing he can do about it. State law prevents him from revealing the requested information. He's not going to break the law because of an Internet poll. Fulop is not a state legislator, and cannot change that law.

Posted on: 2014/3/17 19:05
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Re: Why are almost half of Fulop's meeting hidden?
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Quote:

Yvonne wrote:
Stack has held meetings with constituents during the summer, where a street is closed off and a tent, tables and chairs are set up in the open.

He refers to it as his "mobile office."

Even with that setup, he still sees 350-400 people a week in his office, which are subject to the exact same law as Fulop. If you put in a FOIA request for his schedule, a lot of that will be redacted.

While I'm not an expert on the law, it is entirely plausible that even the names attendees of those meetings on the street cannot be officially published by his office.

So as I said: You are confusing good ol' retail politics with an impulse for transparency.

http://www.hudsonreporter.com/view/fu ... ffice-?instance=more_page

Posted on: 2014/3/17 18:13
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Re: Why are almost half of Fulop's meeting hidden?
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Quote:

Yvonne wrote:
Amazing, Brian Stack, ignore this rule when he meets with the public.

We're supposed to believe Stack -- who has been running a solid political machine in Union City for years -- is as transparent as glass, because someone you know said he meets people in the street?

Do you genuinely believe that if you put in a FOIA request for his schedule from the past 6 months, he would give you the names of the people he talked to on the street? That he talks to people in the street specifically so he can record and report his schedule?

Even under the most charitable interpretation possible, I'd say you are confusing transparency with good ol' fashioned retail politics.

Posted on: 2014/3/17 1:56
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Re: Why are almost half of Fulop's meeting hidden?
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Quote:

Yvonne wrote:
That law is there to protect public figure, it does little to promote transparency.

That may be the case. But you cannot fault Fulop for obeying the law.


Quote:
The building, security, lights, water, etc is on the public dime.

That's not necessarily the case. Not all of Fulop's meetings are taking place in his office or in public buildings.

Nor is it any of your business if I pick up some parking passes, or apply for a building permit, or want to talk to Internal Affairs.


Quote:
This is not a confession to a priest, these are people who are looking for favors....

Again: If that is your concern, look at his donor list. I even gave you a link right to it.

If you do, you'll see that the single biggest donor to the Fulop campaign is... Steven Fulop. By a huge margin. Go figure.

Posted on: 2014/3/17 0:17
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Re: Christie Administration seeks to block Tesla Motors sales
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"Normal maintenance plan," "routine maintenance," "scheduled maintenance," "tune-up," call it whatever you like. The simple fact is that electric cars, especially those that allow (or encourage) owners to update the software themselves, require significantly less maintenance than internal combustion engines.

So....

? Electric cars are not comparable to cheap cars like Tata, because they require far less maintenance.
? If people want to buy cars with less support, that's their business.
? The dealership model obviously doesn't save jobs, as evidenced by GM and Chrysler whacking a bunch of dealerships when they declared bankruptcy. (To supplement: That act alone suggests that dealerships are economically inefficient.)
? It is not the job of government to mandate that markets act inefficiently, when there is no real benefit.
? Ford's previous attempt to sell direct was thwarted by laws that basically serve the dealerships, not consumers.
? Conservatives widely recognize that it is Christie who is being a hypocrite in this case.

Happy now?

Posted on: 2014/3/16 23:55
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Re: Why are almost half of Fulop's meeting hidden?
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Quote:

Yvonne wrote:
What about developers who meet and ask for favors?

They are only allowed to release meeting information for government officials, govt employees, or when he's at a public event.

So yes, meetings with developers are not public data. In contrast, donations are all public, except for donors to specific types of SuperPACs.


Quote:
Granted the public may not be privilege to the content of the information but that is not the same as an individual or groups who enter city hall. The public should know.

As far as I know, the government is not required to publish the name or image of every single individual who enters City Hall, or knocks on the Mayor's door. Again, the intent of the law in question is to protect citizen privacy.

Nor would I particularly want to live in a city where that level of public information is released.

Again, you want to track who is influencing him? Look at his donor list. Here ya go, knock yourself out.

http://www.elec.state.nj.us/ElecRepor ... ewer.aspx?&LastName=fulop

Posted on: 2014/3/16 23:46
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Re: Why are almost half of Fulop's meeting hidden?
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Quote:

Br6dR wrote:
NONE of Fulop's meetings should be hidden from the public. None. 0.

For at least the 3rd time....

They cannot release the names of private individuals. That would be a violation of state law.

You wanna know his entire schedule? Change the law.

Posted on: 2014/3/16 23:39
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Re: Why are almost half of Fulop's meeting hidden?
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Quote:

Monroe wrote:
Typical partisan replies, no shock.

Typical partisan deflection and Christie-love from Monroe. ;)


Quote:
It was Fulop who said he wanted a transparent administration.

State law prevents him from releasing the names of private citizens he meets. What do you want him to do, violate state law? Nice.

Plus, donations are transparent. That's what really counts.


Quote:
Do you really believe that 35 of 39 meetings he had during this convention were with private citizens entitled to privacy?

State law requires that he maintains their privacy.

Chances are he was meeting with donors, and donations are publicly disclosed. So yeah, not too worried about it -- for either Fulop or Christie.

So again: What was Christie's schedule during that period? And will you blast Christie if 40% of his meetings are with private individuals, whose names he cannot reveal without violating state law?

Posted on: 2014/3/16 21:04
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Re: Christie Administration seeks to block Tesla Motors sales
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Quote:

Monroe wrote:
You lost me at internal combustion engines need tune ups every 5,000 miles, lol. Really?

Yes, really.

An electric car doesn't need oil changes, it doesn't need filters changed, it doesn't need emissions checks, you don't have to flush the fuel system, it doesn't have timing belts, and so forth. The software updates, which don't require a shop, address lots of problems.

A 5,000 mile tune-up is routine for cars that have internal combustion engines. Electric cars need them every 12,000 - 15,000 miles, and require a lot less maintenance at those intervals.

http://www.wired.com/business/2014/03 ... -end-oil-changes-forever/

http://www.motorauthority.com/news/10 ... st-none-required-actually

And no, you cannot drive a Ford F150 for 100,000 without ever needing a tune up. Do you even own a car? Do you really expect anyone to believe that a truck will run just fine for 100k miles without a single tune up, a single oil change, a single filter changed, a single belt replaced?

Posted on: 2014/3/16 21:00
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Re: Why are almost half of Fulop's meeting hidden?
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Quote:

Monroe wrote:
When the far left leaning nj.com/Star Ledger is hosting a story slamming Fulop for his extreme lack of transparency-it's a red flag.

But wait, I thought it was the "Looney Left" that keeps giving Fulop a pass?!?

I.e. no, it really isn't a problem for a news outlet to ask questions. That's pretty much their job.


Quote:
And again, if Christie redacted half his daily meetings the left sheeple would be screaming bloody murder-because that's what partisan hypocrites do.

Great. Go ahead and put in your FOIA request for Christie's calendar. We'd love to see it. Good luck with that, I'm sure they will provide it for you immediately.

Posted on: 2014/3/16 20:34
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Re: Why are almost half of Fulop's meeting hidden?
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Quote:

Monroe wrote:
Such secrecy from someone who promised transparency.

Re-read the article. His office is not allowed, by law, to release the names of private citizens he meets. The same exact law presumably applies to Christie.

"?The administration can only provide information for people who are elected officials, government employees or for public events ? all of which we provided,? she said in an email. ?The state law is written this way to protect the privacy of private residents.?"


Quote:
Just imagine if Christie had half his meetings hidden from the public . . . what the outrage would be in these parts.

I'd say "none."

I don't care which private citizens Christie meets. I'm much more interested in:

? Getting an accurate list of donors
? Making sure someone in the administration knows how to reach him at all times, in case of an emergency that requires his input
? That he's spending enough time on state business.

Posted on: 2014/3/16 20:32
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Re: Christie Administration seeks to block Tesla Motors sales
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Quote:

Monroe wrote:
Many feel that making an exemption will lead to, say, low cost Asian manufacturers such as Tata Nano selling cars direct....

First, Tesla's cars are not comparable to Tata.

Electric cars have much lower maintenance needs than a standard automobile. You don't need oil changes, or emissions, or spark plugs. Brake pads last longer, because they're regenerating electricity. A lot of updates are done via software, which can be done directly by the owner and will replace most recalls. (Other manufacturers could do the same, I wonder why they don't? Hmmmm)

Most electric cars (such as the Nissan Leaf) only need tuneups every 15,000 miles, instead of 5,000 for an internal combustion engine.

Even if there were Tesla dealers, they'd need fewer staff. Should we ban electric cars because they would result in fewer mechanics?


Second, if people want to buy cars direct, who cares? If the service is insufficient, people will figure that out very quickly, and local mechanics will offer repair services.


Third, and since you obviously missed it: The dealer model does not guarantee jobs for anyone. When GM and Chrysler declared bankruptcy, they killed off thousands of dealerships.

Fourth, it is absurd to suggest that we should mandate economic inefficiencies primarily to "save jobs."


Quote:
And Ford did experiment with selling direct, and gave it up when traditional dealers forced them out by underpricing them-so the consumers didn't benefit there either.

"A decade back, Ford tried to launch a similar effort in the U.S., but it was ultimately stymied by the myriad of often severely restrictive state franchising laws that often seem written precisely to protect car dealers ? no surprise considering auto retailers and their trade organizations, such as the National Automobile Dealers Association, are among the most powerful lobbying bodies in the country."
- http://www.thedetroitbureau.com/2010/ ... ling-direct-to-consumers/

Don't get me wrong, I do support regulation -- when the rules are crafted reasonably well, and actually protects consumers, workers and the environment. I do not support it when it primarily serves a private interest, like car dealers.


Quote:
Face it, this is a dogpile attempt mostly trying to discredit Christie-the left making a case for a billionaire South African selling cars to the 1%ers, is amusing though.

Face it, there is no reason to prevent direct auto sales other than to keep a block of donors happy. Even Forbes recognizes that Christie is being a hypocrite with his executive order. So why don't you? Hmmm.

Posted on: 2014/3/16 16:31
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Re: Candice Osborne for Mayor? Political Insider Thinks So - JJ Today
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Quote:

nyrgravey9 wrote:
I've definitely got buyers remorse on this one.

Meaning what, Fulop was supposed to single-handedly turn JC into the City Upon a Hill in 6 months?

He's doing about as good a job as anyone could. Not perfect, but not bad. At a minimum, he is less corrupt than your average Hudson County politician, which is a refreshing change of pace.

Posted on: 2014/3/16 11:46
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Re: Candice Osborne for Mayor? Political Insider Thinks So - JJ Today
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Quote:

TheBigGuy wrote:
Fulop is not Mayor for 6 months and they are already talking about talking about his heir....

Why is it Fulop's fault that a journalist is speculating on his replacement?

Posted on: 2014/3/16 11:43
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