By coincidence, Cal Thomas's syndicated column in todays
Miami Herald is about Joisey.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/opinion/14967077.htm
Some highlights:A recent Wall Street Journal editorial summed up New Jersey's fiscal problems: ``The Garden State has raised taxes nearly every year since 2000 and nearly twice as much per resident as the next highest tax state. Yet, no surprise, Trenton still has the biggest budget crisis outside of the states ruined by Hurricane Katrina. This taxing binge hasn't balanced the budget because state expenditures have ballooned by $8 billion, or about 45 percent, in six years.''
Corzine claims new spending is necessary because state schools and services are under-funded and that's why he ''needs'' to raise taxes again, this time by a proposed $1.5 billion. Schools and services are anything but under-funded, but Corzine carries the Democrat's tax-and-spend gene and he is not about to cut taxes or reduce spending in the face of facts.
Republicans see a grand political opportunity in New Jersey. A new Quinnipiac poll has found that 46 percent of voters regard taxes as the largest problem faced by the state. As The Journal notes, that's ``the highest number for any issue the polling firm ever found in New Jersey.''
Republicans have presented the governor with a detailed list of spending cuts, totaling $2.2 billion. They include adjustments to salaries and benefits for government employees, suspension of nonessential programs, elimination of low-priority programs and politicized spending, consolidation of departments and deferral of some new spending. Corzine wants to increase state spending by a whopping $2.8 billion and leave the present bureaucratic government structure largely untouched.
Democratic infighting isn't over tax increases; it's about which taxes to raise. Most Democrats oppose an increase in the state sales tax, fearing political reprisals. They prefer to boost already-high property taxes instead. Republicans want to cut taxes and reduce spending, a proven formula for economic stimulation, not to mention increased cash flow to the treasury.
According to the Census Bureau, 60,000 more people left New Jersey than moved to the state in just the year 2000.