The oceanfront property owners of Long Beach Island, N.J., have a reasonable proposition: You, the taxpayer shall help front the $71 million tab for pumping more sand onto their beaches and protecting the value of their summer homes. In exchange, they will give you . . . well, not a whole lot besides the satisfaction of knowing they're there.
What, that doesn't sound like such a hot deal to you?
But, horror of horrors, look what the state and the Army Corps of Engineers want in return for this beach replenishment: some public restrooms and easements giving New Jersey's hoi polloi a chance to enjoy the beaches they paid for. It's an outrage! The sanded gentry are even banding together to fight for their right to force other people to invest in their property.
These babies with big wallets can afford everything except a clue. Whenever they open their mouths, people start wishing the sea level would rise a little faster. This past weekend, New Jersey's biggest newspaper, the Star-Ledger, literally told them to go pound sand, which is a nice elegant way of putting it.
Keep going, sand-kings. At this rate, people will be lining up to cheer and wave
pompoms every time a nor'easter comes to chew away a few more yards of New Jersey beachfront.
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