NJ announces a plan for free 2 bedroom apartments. Zohran Mamdani is only promising a permanent rent freeze in NYC . . .

Photo above - a free apartment contest has been proposed by NJ legislator Bonnie Watson Coleman, age 80. ("It's an experiment")

Qui bono – is the question everyone should ask when a new government giveaway is announced. In the case of New Jersey’s plan to pick up the rent on 2 bedroom apartments, it’s a bigger question than just the 10,000 potential winners. (Will they be selected via lottery, if this is approved?) This free-rent apartment deal is intended to harvest votes on election day.

Free apartments are an excellent smoke and mirrors scam, of course. It would be impossibly expensive to give free rent to EVERYONE living in NJ. So there will only be 10,000 lucky winners - a number high enough to garner public attention. The free apartment bill doesn’t even have to be signed into law – and probably won’t be – by the 2026 election. Simply having it on the table for discussion is like promising that all student loans will be forgotten, or that Mexicans who we've never met will build a wall to prevent themselves from coming to America.

How much will 10,000 free apartments cost taxpayers? Let’s assume $2,000 a month each. More in some places, less in others. Probably electricity, heat, and water will have to be included, or winners are going carp that their free apartment is a gyp. So we’re at $20 million a month, or a quarter BILLION dollars a year. As “an experiment”.

At this point I’d like to turn the floor over to the guy in the back row, jumping up and down, screaming “WTH!!! New Jersey already has the highest taxes in the nation!!!” Thank you for pointing that out, Jimmy. Yes, they do.

Let’s also point out the New Jersey state budget is $60 Billion (with a “b”) and that 6 million adults live in the Garden state. That works out nicely - $10,000 in taxes per adult. California of course blows this NJ state budget number away.

So, coming up with another quarter billion annually – and the state agency to oversee and administer this “experiment” – is a stretch, but not impossible. Actual taxpayers certainly won’t be in favor of paying hundreds of millions more annually. But just like buying a Powerball ticket, the free apartment lottery hopefuls can dream big, and vote their interests. (Full disclosure – the current Powerball jackpot is $304 million, and the next drawing is tonight at 11pm. “You have to play to win”.)

I’m just sayin’ . . .

Lawmakers float a nationwide basic income experiment that would cover the cost of a 2-bedroom apartment