Last week, we had a splendid discussion in a comment section about teacher salaries. For those who don't have time to wade through the comments, here are the highlights. Someone talked about poverty level wages of teachers. I looked up the salaries of teachers in my town and I found that the average salary was $90,000. The majority of high school teachers made over six figures. The superintendents in this area pull in over $200 grand and most are in charge of two or three little schools.

I was shocked by these numbers, but I admitted that my perspective was skewed by years of low pay. We briefly talked about whether or not these salaries were fair, but everyone has their own yardstick for determining fair pay. Some thought that instead of questioning union pay that everyone should demand the same benefits that union employees receive. I said that matters should at least be discussed and debated, and the failure to do so has resulted in the election of Christie-types.

David Brooks brings together this discussion with the failed tunnel project. Gov. Christie claims that New Jersey can't afford this investment in infrastructure, because so much of the budget goes towards the public sector and pension programs.

New Jersey can’t afford to build its tunnel, but benefits packages for the state’s employees are 41 percent more expensive than those offered by the average Fortune 500 company. These benefits costs are rising by 16 percent a year.

New York City has to strain to finance its schools but must support 10,000 former cops who have retired before age 50.

California can’t afford new water projects, but state cops often receive 90 percent of their salaries when they retire at 50. The average corrections officer there makes $70,000 a year in base salary and $100,000 with overtime (California spends more on its prison system than on its schools).

Instead of responding to Brooks, I thought I would let you all take another shot at this.