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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: michael97123 who wrote (30731)	2/21/2004 12:59:12 PM
From: gamesmistress	Respond to of 793830

Hi Mike, I know a lot of people in NJ are suffering but I think your accountant is kidding himself if he thinks that "protectionism and govt intervention to prevent jobs leaving" is going to help. AT&T and its spinoffs are an example of bloated firms that had to cut staff drastically in order to survive. There are tech jobs out there but it's true the growth for them is not in NJ. Any trade magazine will tell you - you need to go to places like Las Vegas, NV for the same type of job. AT&T's famous headquarters in Basking Ridge is empty - they're now just in Bernardsville. The Lucent building in Holmdel, which held 6,000 employees in its heyday, now has maybe 1,200 to 1,500 rattling around in it. The spinoffs like Avaya and Agere have either moved out or will do so this year. Agere is moving its last 200 NJ employees to its headquarters in PA (which is also only half full) to save money. My friend who works for them, however, will do well because he'll sell his NJ home and buy a twice as big PA home for less than he'll get for his NJ home. Some people, though, have quit or will commute for a year because their kids are in school or their spouses work in NYC and must find other jobs if they move. Should the gov't do something about that? Or how about the mini-scandal about the "affordable housing" units whose "low-income" renters are subletting them at the market price, netting an extra $1,000 - $1,200/month? I'm sure if you read the NJ papers you know a lot of people are screaming about the lack of "affordable housing" but if you can name one time the government actually helped to alleviate this situation please let me know. The bottom line is that NJ is an expensive place to live and work. You've said that many times about your own kids having trouble here. The reality is they may be better off moving elsewhere than waiting for the government to "help." Of course I know the above diatribe won't persuade your accountant friend. The government should "do something!" But his change of heart puts him in the mainstream of NJ political thought.