You've got to be kidding

Is there anything unethical about a state agency taking some tickets for a "Sesame Street Live" show that were set aside for low-income children and giving them to the kids of agency employees, including the daughter of one of the agency's assistant commissioners?

Here's what a spokeswoman for the agency, Susan Abbey of the state Department of Community Affairs, had to say on the subject: "I am not going to speculate, and I am not going to make judgments."

Here's our answer: It's dead wrong and the person responsible for distributing the tickets to agency employees should be canned.

The DCA ethics code forbids employees from accepting a gift or anything of value from a firm or organization doing business with the department. Eleven of 52 free tickets to the show that were to have been distributed to nonprofit organizations for their clients were instead offered to DCA employees' children, including Assistant Commissioner DeAnna Minus-Vincent's daughter.

If the name Minus-Vincent sounds familiar, it may be because we wrote an editorial last week urging the DCA to fire her. She is under investigation by the state Executive Commission on Ethical Standards for working to expedite grants for a nonprofit organization run by her father and another nonprofit for which her sister served on the board.

Abuse of tickets isn't confined to the DCA. The N.J. Turnpike Authority receives 40 free season tickets at PNC Bank Arts Center. Tickets also are set aside for politicians and their friends at the Meadowlands and the New Jersey Performing Arts Center.

It's bad enough having public servants crowd out football fans at Giants' games and rock fans at Springsteen concerts. But when they deny low-income kids an opportunity to spend a day with Elmo, Big Bird and Mr. Noodle, they've stepped way over the line.

Gov.-elect Jon S. Corzine needs to put an end to this nonsense.

What are people saying about mortgages today:

Rates on 30-year mortgages edged down last week to a seven-month low. Mortgage-giant Freddie Mac reported Thursday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages fell to 6.3 percent, down slightly from 6.31 percent two weeks ago. It put rates at the lowest level since they were at 6.24 percent the first week of March.

Bank of Hawaii, Central Pacific Bank, Territorial Savings Bank and Wells Fargo Home Mortgages all cut their 30-year mortgage rates to 5.75 percent this week.

Most people think of a mortgage as a means to an end. After all, you buy a house, not a home loan. But a mortgage is much more than the path to homeownership. It is a financial instrument that must be managed, just like any other financial investment.