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Darryl Strawberry
Supporter
Username: Strawberry
Post Number: 7095
Registered: 10-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, April 26, 2006 - 12:11 pm: | 
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People to Corzine: First 100 Days A Failure
-- Q Poll Released on Day 100 Indicates Voters Tired of Taxes, Unhappy with Corzine --
Trenton, NJ - New Jersey Republican State Chairman Tom Wilson issued the following statement today concerning Governor Jon Corzine's first 100 days in office:
"Who'd have thunk that Jon Corzine would wake up on day 100 of his administration and wish that he had Jim McGreevey's numbers?
Today's Quinnipiac survey is a stark a wake up call to the Governor. The horrific job approval numbers are a reflection on the Governor's absolute failure to deliver on his campaign promise to do something about property taxes and corruption. In 1989, Jim Florio ran on a platform of lowering auto insurance. Within the first 100 days, he enacted auto insurance reform. In 1993, Christie Whitman ran on a platform of lowering state taxes. With the first 100 days, she cut taxes dramatically. In 2001, Jim McGreevey ran on a platform of changing the way Trenton did business. He never did and we all know what happened to him.
Jon Corzine ran on a platform of lower property taxes, stronger ethics and no state tax increases. He's done virtually nothing to keep that promise and squandered whatever political capital he had coming out of the election. With a net negative approval rating, he's lost his mandate and his bully pulpit. This administration is off to the worst start of any first term Governor in the last 35 years.
The Governor should be worrying about his popularity on Main Street instead of State Street. It's time for him to stop defending inaction and stand up to his own party. So far, he's done little more than pay lip service to bi-partisanship. There are 18 Republican votes in the Senate and 32 Republican votes in the Assembly ready to support an outright ban on pay to play and meaningful property tax reform. Can't the Governor get 3 Democratic Senators and 9 Democratic Assemblymembers to join the fight? If he can't lead his own party, how can he lead New Jersey? What happened to the bold leadership that was going to call special sessions to deal with property taxes? What happened to the promise to use executive orders to end pay to play and wheeling?"
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themp
Supporter
Username: Themp
Post Number: 2826
Registered: 12-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, April 26, 2006 - 12:19 pm: |
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Hey, the election was last fall. Too bad Forrester lost. Quit crying about it and be a team player, etc.
The better, more successful man celebrates his victory. |
Dr. Winston O'Boogie
Citizen
Username: Casey
Post Number: 2051
Registered: 8-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, April 26, 2006 - 12:23 pm: |
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From today's Star-Ledger, an article which quoted a different Republican:
Quote:It's no surprise that the [Sharpe James] would pull a stunt like this.
The shock is that Gov. Jon Corzine stopped him.
Thanks to an order from Trenton last week, the funds were frozen before James could spend a dime.
The mayor's hand, moving toward the cookie jar, has been slapped. And all the players in New Jersey's political world have taken note.
"I think the governor is genuinely trying to do a cultural overhaul of the state," says state Sen. William Gormley, a senior Republican from Atlantic City. "This is huge. It's much bigger than Sharpe James. And it's refreshing."
The abused New Jersey voter cannot be expected to invest much emotion in that sweet dream, at least not yet. We've been tricked too many times.
But give Corzine this: He is willing to confront the bosses and interest groups in his own party. And if he wants to change the state's political culture, that's a necessary first step.
http://www.nj.com/search/index.ssf?/base/columns-0/1146028199291810.xml?starledg er?colmor&coll=1
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The Libertarian
Citizen
Username: Local_1_crew
Post Number: 1998
Registered: 3-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, April 26, 2006 - 12:24 pm: |
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he promised to lower my property taxes. he hasnt done it. there is nothing else to say. |
themp
Supporter
Username: Themp
Post Number: 2827
Registered: 12-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, April 26, 2006 - 12:45 pm: |
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Then shut up. |
tjohn
Supporter
Username: Tjohn
Post Number: 4260
Registered: 12-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, April 26, 2006 - 12:51 pm: |
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A belief in lower property taxes is equivalent to a belief in conspiracy theories. Americans have been mortgaging the future for the last fifty years. Sooner or later, the Devil gets his due.
Unless somebody engineers some sort of economic super nova, our future holds either higher taxes or sharply reduced services. |
Dr. Winston O'Boogie
Citizen
Username: Casey
Post Number: 2052
Registered: 8-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, April 26, 2006 - 12:57 pm: |
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hard to believe Corzine's approval rating is so low. he asked for higher taxes and budget cuts. can't understand why that's unpopular. |
tjohn
Supporter
Username: Tjohn
Post Number: 4261
Registered: 12-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, April 26, 2006 - 1:07 pm: |
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Just goes to show that anybody serious about addressing our problems either and the state or national level will be eaten alive. I think Ahnold has experienced this in California as well. |
Hoops
Citizen
Username: Hoops
Post Number: 1185
Registered: 10-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, April 26, 2006 - 1:35 pm: |
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Three cheers for Corzine. Courage, Conviction and Conscience. |
tom connelly
Citizen
Username: Brightontom
Post Number: 44
Registered: 3-2005
| | Posted on Wednesday, April 26, 2006 - 1:57 pm: |
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Corzine Tri chair for property tax reform:
1) Head of AARP NJ.
2) Head Of NJ Black Minister Council.
3) Ex Mayor of Plainsboro.
Expect no property tax relief in Maplewood.
Three boos for Corzine as he rides the backs of the NJ working and middle class to his hoped-for cabinet position with Hillary. |
tom
Citizen
Username: Tom
Post Number: 4819
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, April 26, 2006 - 2:01 pm: |
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just curious, why are these bad appointments, and what would your picks have brought to the table that these don't?
Seriously, I don't know. Seems the head of AARP makes sense, since it hits retirees hardest. |
Foj
Citizen
Username: Foger
Post Number: 1218
Registered: 9-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, April 26, 2006 - 9:10 pm: |
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From Newsday
Corzine's plan to replenish the state's Transportation Trust Fund involved refinancing about $8 billion in debt over the next five years, making $1.6 billion available annually for highway, bridge and mass transit projects without increasing the gasoline tax, a move that could have proven dicey as gas prices continue to soar.
His $31 billion budget plan includes about $1.9 billion in tax increases, but his administration is quick to note it also includes $2.5 billion in program cuts. Corzine, upon taking office, faced a projected $4.5 billion deficit for next fiscal year. He has touted his budget as relying less on gimmicks and more on balanced spending.
"I think we're working on bold strokes with regard to fiscal health," Corzine said.
Legislators have largely concentrated on approving Corzine's transportation funding plan and working through his budget proposal.
No Democrat has sponsored a bill supporting Corzine's plan for an elected state comptroller to investigate state spending, and lawmakers have taken no action on various proposals supported by Corzine to ban campaign contributions from government contractors.
But Corzine signed an executive order requiring 625 additional state workers to file personal financial disclosure forms and has enacted changes at the scandal-plagued University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.
Here-
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newjersey/ny-bc-nj--governor-100days0421a pr21,0,4444972.story?coll=ny-region-apnewjersey
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cjc
Citizen
Username: Cjc
Post Number: 5569
Registered: 8-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, April 26, 2006 - 9:24 pm: |
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Corzine and Democrats to People -- Shut Up and Pay It.
I'd promise to fix the property tax situation and do nothing about it too if I knew the same people complaining about it would elect and re-elect me. You folks deserve every payment you have to make and the increases without end you'll face in the future. You like services here? You're getting serviced. |
Dr. Winston O'Boogie
Citizen
Username: Casey
Post Number: 2053
Registered: 8-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, April 26, 2006 - 11:40 pm: |
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NJ's total tax burden (local and state) is 10.4%. The national average is 10.1%.
http://money.cnn.com/pf/features/lists/taxesbystate2005/index.html |
dave23
Citizen
Username: Dave23
Post Number: 1689
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, April 27, 2006 - 9:34 am: |
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cjc,
Do you live in a tax-free zone that none of us know about? |
ajc
Citizen
Username: Ajc
Post Number: 5018
Registered: 9-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, April 27, 2006 - 9:39 am: |
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Since 2002, New Jersey has had the fastest growing tax burden in the country.
It has raised taxes more than any other state, with each person paying a cumulative $924 more. We are ranked the second worst state in which to do business by a non-partisan tax foundation. To add insult to injury, we will soon have the highest sales tax rate in the nation.
As the taxes continue to increase, the people unwilling and unable to pay move out. Last year over 56,000 residents left New Jersey to escape our high taxes. The state budget has grown from 12.1 billion in 1990 to 30.9 in 2006. The growth rate is more than five times the rate of inflation. Last year Pennsylvania's budget was 4.5 billion less than New Jersey's, with a population 43% larger and six times the land mass.
I guess the icing on the cake is the largest and only job growth in the state over the past year under the Democrats has been in government jobs. This is in large measure due to the unfriendly business environment and rising taxes. Damn Dems!
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tom
Citizen
Username: Tom
Post Number: 4824
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, April 27, 2006 - 10:54 am: |
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Quote:To add insult to injury, we will soon have the highest sales tax rate in the nation.
Actually we'll be tied with a few others; however with local add-ons there are parts of the country that pay 8% or more. New York City would be example A.
Quote:Last year over 56,000 residents left New Jersey to escape our high taxes.
Did someone interview them on their way out? Taxes aren't the only thing that's high around here. And -- how many residents moved in? There's a lot of people in Maplewood that until recently lived in Brooklyn!
As for the budget increase, it's not just NJ. As the federal government sheds responsibilities and pushes them down to the state and local levels, of course budgets at that level will have to rise. That was Reagan's stated purposes back in 1980, and that trend has been effectively national policy ever since. But how do we compare to others? According to the Cato Institute, in aggregate state budgets have been going up 5.7% a year since 1990.
No job growth? Wait a minute -- I thought the Bush economy was steamrolling all in its path? How are we exempt? |
tjohn
Supporter
Username: Tjohn
Post Number: 4267
Registered: 12-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, April 27, 2006 - 11:00 am: |
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OK, my fellow conspiracy theorists, given state obligations and given that we can't pay teachers and government employees minimum wage, how are you going to cut our taxes?
NOTE: You can assert that waste and corruption accounts for any percentage of our tax burden you like. However, if you use a number much above about 20%, please join Mr. Notehead in the basement of WTC-7. |
Chris Prenovost
Citizen
Username: Chris_prenovost
Post Number: 833
Registered: 7-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, April 27, 2006 - 12:07 pm: |
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$4 Billion in state aid to the so-called 'Abbot' school districts would be a good place to start. |
ajc
Citizen
Username: Ajc
Post Number: 5019
Registered: 9-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, April 27, 2006 - 12:21 pm: |
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"...how are you going to cut our taxes?"
...did you say, how are you going to cut our taxes?
...I don't believe you said, how are you going to cut our taxes?
I'll tell you more later, but has any Democrat you know ever thought to stop bonding, (borrowing) more and more money?
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sportsnut
Citizen
Username: Sportsnut
Post Number: 2391
Registered: 10-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, April 27, 2006 - 12:23 pm: |
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Add to that the $6 Billion that the School Construction Corporation has pissed away. |
Rastro
Citizen
Username: Rastro
Post Number: 2948
Registered: 5-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, April 27, 2006 - 12:25 pm: |
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Sportsnut, while I agree with you that that was a complete debacle, that money is already gone... Tough to use that to cut taxes. The $6 billion is not a recurring cost. |
Chris Prenovost
Citizen
Username: Chris_prenovost
Post Number: 834
Registered: 7-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, April 27, 2006 - 12:26 pm: |
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Art, in all seriousness, which political party has a better record of fiscal discipline?
And which has a better record of limiting the size of government?
For the record, I voted for Forrester (I am still a registered Republican, serious misgivings notwithstanding) but so far Corzine seems to be doing a passable job. |
tjohn
Supporter
Username: Tjohn
Post Number: 4270
Registered: 12-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, April 27, 2006 - 1:30 pm: |
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I'll tell you more later, but has any Democrat you know ever thought to stop bonding, (borrowing) more and more money?
And I thought Whitman was a Republican.
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sportsnut
Citizen
Username: Sportsnut
Post Number: 2392
Registered: 10-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, April 27, 2006 - 1:36 pm: |
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Rastro - I know its already spent but it is symbolic of what is wrong with NJ. I find it hard to believe that its the only program in existence where the corruption and waste was so blatant and perpetrated on such a large scale. I'm still waiting for the charges to be filed against those who "stole" that money. |
Dr. Winston O'Boogie
Citizen
Username: Casey
Post Number: 2054
Registered: 8-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, April 27, 2006 - 1:41 pm: |
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what this state needs is a serious commitment to audit spending on such things as school construction, highways, transit projects, etc. only people out on the fringe would say we don't need to spend on those things, but almost all of us would agree that we need to know the funds are being spent properly. |
Rastro
Citizen
Username: Rastro
Post Number: 2950
Registered: 5-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, April 27, 2006 - 1:52 pm: |
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Which is why (I believe) Corzine recommended creating an independent Comptroller to do that auditing. But his own party prevented it.
Corruption knows no political party. It's like the Republicans are poinsonous snakes, and the Democrats are contrictors. Both will kill you. It's just a quesion of how... |
cjc
Citizen
Username: Cjc
Post Number: 5571
Registered: 8-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, April 27, 2006 - 2:06 pm: |
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dave23 -- I don't live in a tax-free zone. I can continue to afford these taxes through my investments in the oil industry. |
ajc
Citizen
Username: Ajc
Post Number: 5020
Registered: 9-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, April 27, 2006 - 2:20 pm: |
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"Art, in all seriousness, which political party has a better record of fiscal discipline?"
I'm with Rastro on this one, "Corruption knows no political party. It's like the Republicans are poinsonous snakes, and the Democrats are contrictors. Both will kill you. It's just a quesion of how...
I say screw the political party system when it comes to our taxes and quality of life. Right now it sucks, and it isn't going to get any better if we allow Corzine and Trenton to let this budget to go through! Call, write, e-mail, walk, march, whatever... get the message to those politicians in Trenton... As adults we can handle a little pain after all these fat years of trying to beat the system.
The bottomline is, NO MORE LOANS!!! We all should live within our means, and so must the state.... We're killing the next generation, and it ain't right!!!
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Chris Prenovost
Citizen
Username: Chris_prenovost
Post Number: 836
Registered: 7-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, April 27, 2006 - 2:31 pm: |
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I must agree with you there - those Republicans certainly are poinsonous, and the Democrats are contrictors.  |
Hoops
Citizen
Username: Hoops
Post Number: 1198
Registered: 10-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, April 27, 2006 - 2:40 pm: |
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Now I know why art was so interested in having Forrester win the election. If Forrester was the governor we would not have to worry about rising taxes because he would have found all that corruption money and sliced right through the beaurocracy. Republicans dont borrow against pension plans and trust funds.
Please. Corzine is making hard choices now so our kids are not the inheritors of nothing. (Unlike your favorite man in Washington who is guaranteeing bankruptsy for America).
He is standing up for what is right and making decisions that are based on sound economics. Since the feds are no longer going to give us our money back to support the outrageous initiatives of the republican president and congress, then the people of the state have to make that sacrifice. The way I see it my property taxes are sky high now and are only going to get higher. It would be beautiful if we could get some relief and I am sure that Corzine is working toward that goal.
Nationally our representatives are failing us, its a good thing we have a man like Corzine working for us here locally. |
tjohn
Supporter
Username: Tjohn
Post Number: 4271
Registered: 12-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, April 27, 2006 - 2:42 pm: |
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27 April, 2006 1420 hrs.
AJC says something with which rational people across the political spectrum can agree.
It's no coincidence that a volcano in Indonesia is threatening a major eruption. There is some conpiratorial linkage of unusual events. |
Rastro
Citizen
Username: Rastro
Post Number: 2952
Registered: 5-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, April 27, 2006 - 2:51 pm: |
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Chris...  My typing has never been that great. I forgot to hit "check" on the Google toolbar before hitting Post. |
Chris Prenovost
Citizen
Username: Chris_prenovost
Post Number: 837
Registered: 7-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, April 27, 2006 - 3:25 pm: |
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Rastro: No problme.  |
ajc
Citizen
Username: Ajc
Post Number: 5023
Registered: 9-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, April 27, 2006 - 6:19 pm: |
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"I am sure that Corzine is working toward that goal."
You're sure... really, how sure? I hate it when people guess and try to cover up the facts. Hoops, please start with his budget and show us where and how you're sure. As for working for us locally, not for nothing, but drinking tea at the train station is not what I would call working for us...  |
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