From: Justin Escher Alpert To: "asmschaer@njleg.org" ; "asmsingleton@njleg.org" ; "asmmukherji@njleg.org" Bcc: asm McKeon, Asm. D. O. Prieto, asmbramnick@njleg.org, senkean@njleg.org, Andrew.Sidamon-Eristoff, ang@econ.rutgers.edu jdifiglia@njeconomics.org cotterellf@mail.montclair.edu, SenBeck@njleg.org, senRuiz@njleg.org, sencodey, senWeinberg@njleg.org, senLesniak@njleg.org, asmbucco@njleg.org, sensweeney@njleg.org, senRice@njleg.org, AswOliver@njleg.org, aswangelini@njleg.org, senAllen@njleg.org, asmGusciora@njleg.org, asmWisniewski@njleg.org, Asw. D. O. Watson Coleman, Max Pizarro, paghion@fas.harvard.edu, andyegan@philosophy.rutgers.edu SenOToole@njleg.org, SenOroho@njleg.org, SenDoherty@njleg.org, aswpintormarin@njleg.org, asmwebber@njleg.org, asmWimberly@njleg.org, Milly Silva Sent: Tuesday, June 10, 2014 6:27 AM Subject: The Budget, The Pension, and Investment in The Garden State - Part II - Perspective Dear Assemblyman Schaer, Assemblyman Singleton, and Assemblyman Mukherji: There is no Plan B? Ridiculous (http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2014/06/christie_there_is_no_plan_b_if_courts_rule_against_pension_plan.html)!!! We suffer this world in which we live as fools. The Governor is limited by the confines of his own reality. Here is an exercise that I did in perspective: In this first image below, the pyramid on the right is the original puzzle from the Rubik's Cube craze of the early 1980s, while the pyramid on the left is nothing more than a two dimensional drawing cut-out and laying flat on the paper overhanging the edge. From the perspective of the camera, they are one in the same.

It is not until you walk around to the other side of the table in the image below that you can clearly see what you thought was a three-dimensional construct, is, in reality, nothing more that a two-dimensional optical illusion.

Economic policy, like any other theory, works much in the same way. For the Governor to state that his solution is the only solution is a failure of leadership. It fails to recognize what may be perfectly legitimate alternative perspectives which would give us a greater grasp on reality. What would you do if you were the Governor? Well, you would ask the people around the table to describe what they see. You would walk around the table for different perspectives. And then if you came across what you thought was a three-dimensional economic policy of, say, austerity, you might find that it was in reality nothing more than a two-dimensional mock-up of a sound, pro-growth economic policy. And then you would work together with your partners around the table to build a new model that actually stands up to the new reality. After the Governor had continually refused to listen to the Will of The People for four-and-a-half years... after he led us into his social, political, environmental, and educational theories like Stork leading a marching band into a brick wall, over and over and over again... it is with good reason that we may doubt his perspective on sound economic policy. The time to invest in ourselves is NOW. It is real work to build consensus. We need to build a vibrant multi-dimensional economic policy that we can all agree upon as a real construct. We have an Economics Department at Rutgers that might be able to help with additional vantage points. Maybe we have a Nobel laureate in economics in the State who can help. But to break into perspectives around the same old partisan ideological fault lines makes no sense once you have perceived a greater sense of reality. All Political Power is inherent in The People. It is up to The People's Legislature to properly exercise that Power. The decisions that we make now, we all make in good faith together. Not to get all Chauncey Gardener on you, but The Garden State is fertile for growth. Let's bet on ourselves for a change. We are all in this together as we set out to define and construct The Promised Land of The Garden State. Thank you for your Strong Leadership. Warm regards, Justin Escher Alpert Livingston, New Jersey