Thursday, April 15, 2010

New Jerseys rethug Governor. Same old tired rethug policies....

New Jersey put a rethug in the governors house last year. I was willing to give Christie a chance like most here, but just like when we elect a republican president, we eventually regret our decision to "give the other guys a chance". It's the same old song and dance, republicans can't govern and dems have to come in and clean up after them. Corzine was on the right track but the people were to impatient, they didn't want to give him the 4 more years he needed. So we are back to the same old rethug shenanigans in NJ. This my friends is what will happen all over this country if you don't give the dems a fighting chance. If you turn your back on the democrats when they are just beginning to make the changes and not give them the time they need, then it will be back to square one.

This was in my email today, read it and see for yourselves what I have to look forward to for the next 4 years. Maybe the liberals can do what the teabaggers are trying to do ousting Menendez"because they don't like how he votes". We could call for impeachment of our Gov. before he breaks the backs of the middle class in NJ for the sake of the rich. Same old, same old tired rethug way of governing....



With his poll numbers dropping and editorial pages across the state calling him out on his backward priorities, Governor Christie's administration is doing everything it can to distract New Jersey voters from the middle class crunching cuts and property tax increases he has proposed. No one is disputing that we are in a tough budget situation and action is needed. But the Governor continually tells us his budget imposes shared sacrifice on everyone in New Jersey, yet approximately 42,000 people who make over $400,000 will pay thousands of dollars less in taxes than they did last year. The rest of us are left with crippling property tax increases as a result of the cuts to our local schools and towns. As many as 134,000 low income seniors will have to pay an additional $310 for their prescription drug plans in addition to a doubling of their co-pay.

After a week of legislative hearings where many of these budget fallacies were exposed Christie and his treasurer had a new talking point, that Democrats were trying to make a political issue out of the tax increase. If Chris Christie thinks priorities like protecting poor and disabled seniors, supporting families struggling to pay their property taxes and keeping our class sizes at rational levels is a political issue he couldn't be more wrong.

To make matters worse, at the same time he is taking money out of our pockets, he wants to send tens of millions of dollars back to Washington by refusing federal matching funds for after-school programs, homeland security and library funding amongst others. 



All across South Jersey towns are laying off township workers, there are HUGE cuts in the budgets because of HUGE cuts in funding from the state, especially for schools. Which means property taxes go up to make up the difference. When I moved here 20 yrs ago my property taxes were 1,600, they are now 4,000 and expected to rise again. The average for our state is around 7,000. It's insane! I need to move to Delaware....




11 comments:

TomCat said...

You can always bank on the GOP doing whatever they have deceptively accused Demorcats of doing.

Hugh Jee From Jersey said...

Beat me to it Sue....its almost time for me to start railing out against Christie as well.

The guy comes in with his promise to cut spending and property taxes...so by cutting state aid to municipalities, already cash strapped, it forces the towns to lay off teachers, cops firefighters, and other municipal employees.......and it leaves them in a position to raise taxes to make up the loss of state aid....and then putting the onus on the towns.

And the cuts to NJ Transit? Gimmee a friggin' break! If you work in Asbury Park, and you commute to NYC, its going to cost you OVER $400 a month in TRANSIT FARES ALONE. That's insane!!!!

Christie has more or less declared war on the New Jersey Education Association, and in doing so has made the school children of this state collateral damage.

The 48% of the voters who helped put this guy in office (it was a three man race)...well, are you happy now?

They wanted a guy like Ralph Kramden in the governor's mansion of Drumtrhacket....and now we all have to live with him.

(POW...BANG....ZOOM!!!)

Jerry Critter said...

Well, it sounds like the typical republican solution to any problem -- give the rich a tax cut, cut benefits to the poor, and increase the costs to the middle class, if there are any left.

Jolly Roger said...

The Rushpubliscum Party nationwide exists for no other reason than to steal from the bottom 98% and hand it to the top 2%. They stand for absolutely nothing else.

Lisa said...

now you know why I bitch. We moved in 10 years ago we were at 6500,now we are at 9000.

Sue said...

TC, Hugh, Jerry, JR,

Hugh is exactly right and has spelled it out better than I could. We both live in NJ, the suckiest state in the union and now we have fatass Gov who will do absolutely nothing good for us except to put us right back where we were with Christie Whitman, 2 Christies this state can do without!! The people NEVER learn!

Listen up people, if republicans get the power again in our government YOU WILL BE SORRY! They do NOTHING but destroy people and the economy. In fact I would love for a republican voter to tell me exactly what their party does for this country, care to take a stab at it??

Go for it Hugh, do a post and let 'em have it!!

Hugh Jee From Jersey said...

Sue- I will do an entry, but it will take some time.....because the property tax mess in New Jersey is a situation that has been growing and festering since before there was a United States, way back to colonial America. Three hundred years of a problem that Chris Christie is just making worse by cutting state aid, and making New Jersey's teachers the primary bogeymen for the problem, incurring the wrath of educators and editorial writers alike.

It was disingenuous of Christie to promise to lower property taxes in New Jersey, because he- nor any past NJ governor- has the power to do so; its a local thing. But by taking tax rebates away- even for senior citizens, cutting state aid to municipalities, and refusing to sign an extension "the millionaire's tax" - because he thinks it will make NJ more business friendly- he's hurting the little guys, and lots of us.

And I haven't even mentioned the increase of "user fees"....that's a Republican code word for increases in highway tolls, bridges, and NJ Transit fees. Yeah, no tax increases under the GOP.

There's about to be some pushback...Chris Christie has done more to galvanize organized labor in this state than any labor leader in generations. My source (dear old Dad, a former AFL-CIO local President) told me there could be a march on Trenton on May Day- yeah, I know; Republicans think we're all commies anyway, so WTF?

If you think Tea Baggers can be an angry lot, wait till you see a few thousand labor members and families when they're pissed off about something.

BTW Sue....New Jersey is NOT a sucky state. Its just a very small state with a lot of sucky areas. Avoid the Jersey Turnpike, do not pass "Go", and retreat to Long Beach Island for the summer...and bring lots of beer!

Jerry Critter said...

My view of New Jersey was Newark, until I had a chance to spend some time a little further west in Murray Hill. Much of NJ is very beautiful.

Politically, the republicans are just continuing their support of business at the expense of the individual. It is time for labor to rise up again and take back control.

Sue said...

well hell sure NJ has some beautiful areas, like all states in America do. But IMHO it still sucks and it's very expensive to live here too. My dream home is in the Lancaster area of Pennsylvania, now that's beauty!

Hugh I know you will do a thorough research job on NJ and her woes, Good luck!

Hugh Jee From Jersey said...

Sue....Pennsylvania? You know what James Carville said about "The Commonwealth"...."Philadelphia on one side, Pittsburgh on the other side, and Alabama in the middle".

Hey...he said it, not me.

Besides....they have STATE LIQUOR STORES in PA. The government is making money off the sale of booze.

Sure sounds like socialism to me!

Sue said...

Hugh I know Pennsy is full of redneck conservatives, but I won't join in I'll just be enjoying the beauty of the countryside and the SHOPPING, even tho their sales tax is high...:-(