I could have skipped the Somerset County Business Partnership forum at Raritan Valley Community College Friday morning, because I was under the weather and felt more like remaining snuggly covered under the blankets.
But the topic was “Making New Jersey More Affordable for Businesses and Residents: a Public Policy Forum,” and I was determined to get a first hand impression of what the panelists and gubernatorial candidates had to say. Gubernatorial challengers Daggett and Christie were present and offered their views on NJ’s tax mess.
Incumbent Governor John Corzine decided to take a pass and to ignore the people of northern Somerset County.
Well, it was enough to make me even sicker, because it confirmed what I already knew, but about which I obtained a lot more detailed confirmation. Forum speakers and audience questioners emphasized the fact that the negative impact of New Jersey’s tax structure at all levels of government is totally unsustainable:
The crushing debt burden from ill-advised government borrowing; increased deficit spending; and unfunded liabilities for public sector pensions and benefits (said to be from $100 billion to $130 billion) has resulted in a stifling level of taxation, especially for property taxes.
I could go down a list of all the winners and losers in this NJ public spending drama, but it would be wasting your reading time. You know most of them but, if you are serious about learning even more, check out the home page at http://www.mycentraljersey.com/, and click on the “Tax Series Tab” in the carousel. You’ll be amazed at the first-rate job that Courier News journalists did in covering Friday morning’s forum.
Showing posts with label Corzine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Corzine. Show all posts
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Monday, June 23, 2008
Corzine’s Morality Claim
At first, Corzine wanted to cut New Jersey’s overwhelming debt load by hocking major highways. Then, he wanted to nudge small municipalities into consolidation by reducing their state aid. None of those strategies worked, so he pulled back.
Now he wants to borrow $3.9 billion for schools. He says that the latter is a “moral obligation.” I’d wager that most of us would like to hear a lot less from Trenton about its claims to moral authority in the public square, especially when its elected officials slice and dice deals for school construction without voter approval, while simultaneously refusing to enact required pension reform legislation.
Now he wants to borrow $3.9 billion for schools. He says that the latter is a “moral obligation.” I’d wager that most of us would like to hear a lot less from Trenton about its claims to moral authority in the public square, especially when its elected officials slice and dice deals for school construction without voter approval, while simultaneously refusing to enact required pension reform legislation.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Corzine’s Systemic Problem
In reading today’s Washington Post account, “Governor Focuses on Fiscal Health of N.J.,” a person may be tempted to feel some empathy for Governor Corzine, as he attempts to close the deal on a $32.8 billion budget for New Jersey
The governor is in a bind. He’s trying to balance a budget while all major, entrenched interests in this state are looking out merely for their own good and, frankly, not caring for anyone else’s.
But Corzine is not helping his credibility by proposing to push through the legislature $3.9 billion in borrowing for more school construction without voter approval.
He is inarguably correct in stating that the “state’s fiscal mess is ‘a systemic issue’ that grew over time.” State spending in New Jersey slowly ballooned out-of-control, beginning way back in 1976. The culprits include all three branches of N.J. Government.
But he was dead wrong when he simplistically stated in today’s AP report in MyCentralJersey.com that, “We have a legal . . . moral . . . economic obligation” to do what he proposes.
Moral obligations for school funding encompass the needs of the entire state of New Jersey and, when the result is the spending of billions of dollars, they come tied with another moral imperative: the obligation to spend those funds without the fraud and waste that has been part and parcel of the billions disbursed to-date.
If Governor Corzine pushes through the legislature $3.9 billion for school construction without voter approval, he will have become part of the systemic problem which he claims is the source of New Jersey’s fiscal woes.
The governor is in a bind. He’s trying to balance a budget while all major, entrenched interests in this state are looking out merely for their own good and, frankly, not caring for anyone else’s.
But Corzine is not helping his credibility by proposing to push through the legislature $3.9 billion in borrowing for more school construction without voter approval.
He is inarguably correct in stating that the “state’s fiscal mess is ‘a systemic issue’ that grew over time.” State spending in New Jersey slowly ballooned out-of-control, beginning way back in 1976. The culprits include all three branches of N.J. Government.
But he was dead wrong when he simplistically stated in today’s AP report in MyCentralJersey.com that, “We have a legal . . . moral . . . economic obligation” to do what he proposes.
Moral obligations for school funding encompass the needs of the entire state of New Jersey and, when the result is the spending of billions of dollars, they come tied with another moral imperative: the obligation to spend those funds without the fraud and waste that has been part and parcel of the billions disbursed to-date.
If Governor Corzine pushes through the legislature $3.9 billion for school construction without voter approval, he will have become part of the systemic problem which he claims is the source of New Jersey’s fiscal woes.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)