Editors make readers work hard for pension reform 'facts'

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey acquired the PATH commuter rail line, above and below, in a 1962 deal that allowed the bi-state agency to build the original World Trade Center on land occupied by the railroad's terminal in lower Manhattan.

PATH, originally known as the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad, hasn't been expanded since 1938, when a new 33rd Street station in Manhattan opened to the public. The Record's coverage of the Port Authority's bus and rail transit operations has been extremely thin, especially when compared to endless pieces on motorists, tolls and patronage.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The Record today tries to separate fact from fiction in Governor Christie's statements on the state pension system for teachers, police officers, firefighters and government workers (A-1).

But why do it in a political column, and why does Staff Writer Charles Stile front-load the piece on Page 1 with the same Christie misstatements the paper has been publishing forever?

Readers really have to work hard to find "the whole story" promised in the sub-headline, a testament to the sad state of editing and the Christie idolatry at the Woodland Park daily.

Page turner

Don't bother with the set up on the front page; go right to the continuation page (A-6) to learn Christie is blowing smoke on the health of the pension system and the need for benefit cuts, as the GOP bully has done on nearly every issue since he took office in 2010.

The 10th paragraph of Stile's rehash appears on A-6:

"And like most political campaigns from time immemorial, Christie's salesmanship will rely on fair doses of hyperbole and revisionism."

That should have been the burned-out reporter's lead paragraph, followed by specifics and, on the continuation page, the background that now appears on Page 1.

Here are more facts that Stile tries to bury:

• New Jersey has enough to cover the costs of retirees for the next 30 years.
• The Garden State also can't go bankrupt, because it is a sovereign state with the power to levy taxes as necessary.
• Christie is as guilty as his predecessors for shortchanging the pension system to the tune of $3 billion in 2011, $900 million in the last fiscal year and $1.6 billion in the current fiscal year.
• A reduction in benefits isn't the only option, if Christie raised taxes on affluent residents and corporations. He's vetoed the former four times.

Crashes, crime, tripe

Two crashes and one hit-run accident, involving an SUV hitting a bicyclist, help fill the pages of Local today, along with court and police news, a zoning hearing and a November referendum on open-space funding (L-1 to L-6).

The lead story on the front of the local-news section reports Superior Court Assignment Judge Peter E. Doyne is addressing a shortage of judges in Bergen County (L-1).

Of course, the story ignores the tremendous impact of delays and postponements on the legal fees paid by plaintiffs and defendants.

If it takes a civil case two years to drag through the courts, those fees multiply, enriching lawyers, some of whom go on to be judges.

Is that a Toyota?

The story on a woman driver losing control on Route 208 and hitting two police cruisers carries a photo caption that reads:

"The driver of the Toyota had serious injuries" (L-1).

But the two-door vehicle with a rear spoiler that is shown in the photo looks like a Pontiac, not a Toyota.

And in a departure from the ordinary, an Old Tappan man who drove his car through the front of one store and into another wasn't a senior citizen who mistook the accelerator for the brake pedal (L-6).

Kelly is a fool

Two days after Columnist Mike Kelly blamed unions for opposing money saving consolidation, a story reports Paterson's police union is supporting an initiative to team up with other departments to fight crime in the state's three largest cities (L-3).