Tuesday, July 04, 2006

NJ Shutdown: Day 4

Governor Corzine has ordered a special session of the legislature to meet today to pass his budget proposals, which include an increase in the state sales and use tax, other taxes and fees, and raises state spending by more than 9%.

The state Supreme Court rejected the casinos appeal, which would have kept the casinos open past Wednesday at 8am. As I said last nite, the casinos had the same odds of winning a reprieve I usually have at the tables. Slim. Real slim.

Corzine says that the increases are necessary to cover state expenses, and that he wants recurring revenues to pay for state spending - not one shot gimmicks.

Well, that's a fiscally prudent position, but it is less fiscally prudent when compared to cutting spending. There is no intention to cut state spending, which is the reason the state's fiscal situation is such a mess. Taxes aren't the problem - they're the symptom of the problem.

If state spending is out of whack, taxes have to be raised to cover costs.

The discussion in the Assembly isn't over cutting spending, but which taxes need to be increased to cover the spending program pushed by Corzine. That includes property tax relief, which is essentially using the tax revenues generated by one tax to provide relief for another tax. It's a sham to cover up for the failures of the state and local governments to plan responsible budgets and hold costs in line.

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