Good for Business

Mitt Romney won yesterday’s Michigan primary yesterday with 41 percent of the vote, versus Rick Santorum’s 38 percent.  Not a wide margin, but Romney took George W. Bush’s attitude that it was enough to win.  He handily won Arizona with 47 percent of the votes.  Michigan is not a winner-take-all state, so Romney and Santorum each won 11 delegates.

Voters now turn to Super Tuesday:  Georgia, Idaho, Massachusetts, North Dakota, the all-important Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Vermont, and Virginia.

Romney is running on his businessman’s credentials.  Not a bad resume for President of a United States that is deep financial trouble.  Voters should be aware, though, that fiscally Conservative candidates often come with a caveat.

They are not socially reliable.  They’re businessmen, after all, and as such must be careful not to offend any of their customers.  Remember that the businessman’s credo is:  “The customer is always right” or “give the customer what they want.”  Most business owners want no part of politics because it’s bad for business.  The owner of Newberry’s in Morristown took a great chance in angering his Liberal customers by giving support to the Morristown Tea Party; he’s since gone out of business.  Something about licensing.

The small business owners of New Jersey are particularly desperate and will sign onto anything, even Smart Growth, as we heard from the mouth of the Chamber of Commerce representative at the recent State Strategic Development Plan meeting.

The town of Pompton Lakes is particularly desperate.  They’re willing to tear up all of Wanaque Avenue, which was only recently repaved and remodeled, in order to embrace Smart Growth.  To comply with this plan, Pompton Lakes will have to narrow Wanaque Avenue, more than it already it is, which means another repaving project, and higher taxes for the town residents.

Gov. Christie has stated that he wants New Jersey to lead the way in Smart Growth, and Pompton Lakes is designated to be the model Smart Growth town (that is, if they ever restore the railroad station).  Pompton Lakes is a prime target, with half the town condemned by the EPA and the other half by FEMA.  If only residents would read further into the details of Smart Growth, they would be horrified.  But they’re too busy bailing out their basements to read.

Call it by whatever name you please, this “plan” encompasses far more than looking after spotted owls or constructing train stations.  At least the tracks still exist through Pompton Lakes.  The damned fools in Pequannock Township tore up all their tracks years ago.

The Chamber of Commerce sympathizes with homeowners, but…  Well, we residents sympathize with homeowners, but in selling us out, the government camel’s nose will be under the tent.  Whatever they don’t already regulate, they will thanks to this plan, even to, yes, birth control.  The plan calls not just for the regulation of transportation, but food, health care, and all our property rights.  All in the name of “The Poor” and social justice.

The Progressives (Glenn Beck is right; when you have an ostensibly Republican governor, Chris Christie, touting this Smart Growth/Sustainable Development Marxist program, it’s not just about Liberals or Conservatives anymore – it’s about Progressives or Moderates.).

Business people are true diplomats.  Like that green bumblebee critter in the first two Star Wars movies (that is, the prequels), ideology and rhetoric don’t work on them; only money.  The Pompton Lakes Smart Growth plan doesn’t see 400 families imprisoned in small apartments; they see 400 groups of customers who, if some business could be prevailed upon to occupy the old DuPont site, would patronize the Wanaque Avenue businesses.  Since they wouldn’t be allowed to have cars, per the Smart Growth dictates, or at best, only little electric go-carts, they’d have to remain within the precincts of Wanaque Avenue.

If the residents, who are working to get every last dollar in damages they can out of DuPont, don’t think The Plume neighborhood is fit to live in, why would a business?  Nor is any business likely to take over the flood plain.  Just ask the A&P in Pompton Plains, which has abandoned that site, right on the banks of the Pompton River, since the last (regular) flood.  What nincompoop council zoned that area for commercial use years ago, anyway?  It used to be a cabbage farm.

DuPont says it has done everything possible to clean up the site and now the town is talking about attracting some businesses to locate there.  During World War II, the factory produced some chemical for weapons, something for the firing pins.  No wonder the Nazis occupied Federal Hill (which is nearly gone now, thanks to rock quarrying – you can now find Federal Hill at the new World Trade Center).  Sort of fitting, really.

Young suburban voters Smart Growth polled say they are attracted to urban living.  Thanks to the EPA and FEMA, that’s all Pompton Lakes will be fit for.  Smart Growth declared, through the Wild Lands projects, that dams must be destroyed.  And lo, the dams “self-destructed” (or so we’re told) and homes from Pompton Lakes all the way down to West Paterson flooded that either had never flooded before or hadn’t flooded in many decades.

The EPA declared that toxic chemicals had spilt underground all the way from the DuPont site out to the banks of Pompton Lake (the Ramapo River) via the aptly named Acid Brook, and lo, the lawsuits and redistribution of wealth commenced.  Thus was born Smart Growth/Agenda 21’s test tube baby – Pompton Lakes.  Since their properties are pretty much deemed worthless anyway, Smart Growth can’t be charged with robbing anyone’s property rights and the nation will be sold on this horrendous scam, especially the young.

Come and live in Pompton Lakes.  But be sure to bring your shoehorn.  The town – only 2.2 square miles altogether – will eventually shrink in size.  The town planners envision that it will take some time – about 20 years.  Twenty years should be long enough to complete the job of brainwashing future generations.

To get back to Mitt Romney; assuming he wins the nomination (and he likely will) will he select Chris Christie as his Vice President?  What a salesman Christie will make for Smart Growth, with Mr. Businessman Romney supporting the move all in the name of economic recovery and global cooperation.  That may seem unfair to Romney.  But he was governor of Massachusetts and every single governor signed on to what they called SD – Sustainable Development.

Caveat emptor, voters – let the buyer beware.