Rep. Frank Pallone is wasting our time with trivial ticket investigation (Opinion)

We’ve got a ton of problems here in NJ. We’ve also got a ton of elected officials. Imagine if each official dedicated himself to lowering property taxes? Well, since we know they can’t do that without getting the NJEA all miffed, maybe they could put their heads together and solve one of the zillion other things that ail us. Ok, Frank Pallone, your turn. We elected you. Now what will you do with your power?

Oh, I see. You’re going to make sure that we can all get Springsteen tickets fairly. Uh huh. Ok. I see. For those of you who think you read that incorrectly, that is, in fact, Pallone’s new cause célèbre. That’s the story that has come to light according to a recent article on NJ.com.

Yes, according to the article, Pallone is calling for an investigation of the live event ticketing industry, the availability of tickets, including all the the extra fees and how these tickets are resold. Yup. That’s what’s stuck in Mr. Pallone’s craw right now (probably because he couldn’t get tickets himself).

Even if I thought this was a huge problem (and I don’t because I believe that in a free market there just so much the government can do to regulate prices) THIS IS 48,387 DOWN ON THE LIST OF PROBLEMS OUR ELECTED OFFICIALS SHOULD BE CONCERNING THEMSELVES WITH.

Okay. I’ll stop yelling now. If I could talk directly to Rep. Pallone, I’d say this:

Mr Pallone, people of New Jersey are leaving the state at a faster rate now than in the history of the state. Our cost of living is through the roof, infrastructure is in a shambles, small businesses are being squashed like cockroaches, the elderly are losing their homes, people can not afford to live here anymore and you’re co-sponsoring a bill with a cute acronym in an homage to Bruce Springsteen so that people have better access to CONCERT TICKETS?

Is this a joke? Can you see how absurd and how offensive this is? The headline of the NJ.com article blared, a “powerful Democrat wants to know why brokers get those Springsteen tickets before you do.” If he is, in fact, that powerful, and as a state representative as well as the head of the house energy and commerce committee, I assume he is, WHY IS THIS WHAT HE’S WORRIED ABOUT?

I urge you, Rep Pallone, and the rest of you, to stop wasting your time and our money on your vanity projects and fix what really needs to be fixed in this state. If not, YOU CAN EXPECT MANY MORE ANGRY, ALL-CAPS SENTENCES FROM ME!!!

More from New Jersey 101.5:

​