The city of Camden was taken over by the State of New Jersey years ago because of corruption and mismanagement. Recently, a new mayor was elected and there was hope that there wouldn’t be gifts for her from people looking for a handout in return. But, this just in. It seems that her aide is not paid enough:

Newly elected Democratic Mayor Dana Redd wants to make sure her cronies get paid. In order to get “qualified and experienced staff,” Redd needs to increase her aides’ salaries from $71,000 to $150,000. Apparently, no one in Redd’s inner circle has heard that there’s a major recession going on. Apparently, Redd doesn’t understand that when a municipality has to beg the state for $67 million to balance the budget as it exists, boosting salaries for political appointees is more than a little cynical and self-serving. Oh yeah, and Redd was just elected to serve as Vice-Chair of the New Jersey Democrats. This, apparently, is what New Jersey Democrats think of when they think “leadership.”