Guess what they all have in common?
“America is facing an infrastructure crisis. CNBC reveals which states have the worst roads, bridges, ports, airports and rail lines.”
Source: Crumbling America: 10 states with the worst infrastructure
Archive for the ‘New Jersey’ Category
Using their positions for personal benefit
14
Jul
Public authorities have become too powerful, having control over the private sector. Another dagger in New Jersey’s reputation. No wonder businesses are hesitant to relocate here.
“Federal authorities have charged former state Transportation Commissioner Jamie Fox with conspiring to commit bribery, in a count tied his role as a lobbyist for United Airlines and the case against…”
Grossman: Trust fund and Atlantic City should declare bankruptcy
14
Jul
A compelling case to get debt under control and not raise the “gas tax.” Murray Rothbard made the case to repudiate the national debt in 1992.
Source: Grossman: Trust fund and Atlantic City should declare bankruptcy
No gas tax deal, roadwork shut down…
07
Jul
The failure of Governor Christie and the Legislature to come to an agreement to fund the Transportation Trust Fund is another example of why government in general is a dysfunctional organization populated by feckless individuals who have abrogated their responsibility to the public. Our elected officials have demonstrated they are poor stewards of taxpayers assets. No private enterprise firm could survive if they treated their customers with such contempt.
“New Jersey taxpayers may face more than $60 million in added costs due to a pending shutdown of transportation projects.”
Source: No gas tax deal, roadwork shut down … and thousands of jobs in danger
A proposal for “tax fairness” and provide funds for the Transportation Trust Fund
01
Jul
Gov. Christie and legislative leaders are at impasse. They could not agree on a package of tax cuts and a hike in the “gas tax”, a user fee, (which is the only “fair” way to fund roads and bridges in today’s political environment) provide tax relief for the people of New Jersey and fund the depleted Transportation Trust Fund. The governor has ordered transportation projects halted as of today even though there appears to be enough money to fund projects until August 1.
Rather than go over all the details in the Sarlo-Oroho compromise that appeared to have enough bipartisan support to pass both houses of the legislature with enough votes to override Gov. Christie’s veto, the governor at the last moment calls for a 1% drop in the sales tax to 6% in the name of “tax fairness”.
If Gov. Christie wants more “tax fairness” in New Jersey, he should reduce all taxes for individuals and businesses. All taxes are unfair because they are coerced from the people who earned the income being taxed in the first place. In other words, all taxes should be cut, anytime not only for “fairness” but also to provide more of the resources people and businesses need to achieve their goals in life.
An unhappy 40th anniversary for the income tax; Republicans got outsmarted once more | Mulshine
28
Jun
The income tax is the root of all evil, so wrote Frank Chodorov in 1954. We have seen it here in New Jersey for four decades. The Supreme Court is responsible for forcing the State of New Jersey to expropriate more of the people’s income in the name of “fairness.”
“When the income tax was passed back in 1976 the Republicans could have forced real property-tax reform; instead they got outsmarted by the Democrats – and not for the last time”
Source: An unhappy 40th anniversary for the income tax; Republicans got outsmarted once more | Mulshine
Cutting taxes is always good; government spending must be reined in
28
Jun
The annual kabuki dance in Trenton known as the budget negotiations is a mixed bag as usual. Reducing the sales tax is long overdue. The income tax should be reduced as well. The passing out of the estate tax is off the table as well as the charitable deduction. Deductions are good; they reduce taxes. Spending is increasing. We will see how much spending Gov. Christie will eliminate from the proposed budget.
“Governor Christie and Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto on Monday upended the plan to fund transportation projects and instead tried to pass their own: Raise the gas tax by about 23 cents per gallon, and in exchange chop the state sales tax over two years from 7 percent to 6 percent.”
Source: Sales tax cut may help offset pain at the pump – News – NorthJersey.com
New Jersey’s entrenched Marxist culture
26
Jun
David Sciarra, executive director of the Education Law Center, asserts that the “needs” of so-called at risk children trumps the needs of income earners who are forced to subsidize government (taxpayer funded) schools in urban and some rural low income districts. Mr. Sciarra claims that Gov. Christie’s proposal to provide equal state funding for all school children is a reverse Robin Hood policy, because it would “take” funds away from “high needs” children and redistribute it to middle and upper income school districts.
Mr. Sciarra is unabashedly echoing Karl Marx’s dictum that “society” should be based on “From each according to his ability to each according to his needs.” Whether he knows it or not, Mr. Sciarra has internalized the key principle of socialism, government–in this case the State of New Jersey–should tax people who earn sufficient incomes that make them financially independent to support so-called underprivileged or disadvantaged children whose families earn relatively low incomes. (However, in income “rich” Hoboken, state education aid dwarfs that of many modest suburban school districts. That’s fairness?)
The bottom line is that public education has created unnecessary financial, cultural and political conflicts. Gov. Christie’s proposal treats all children “equal.” But the governor’s proposal does not go far enough. We should have that much needed and long overdue conversation about education that would in Mr. Sciarra’s words lead to productive individuals. The current funding formula and structure has been a failure for students who barely graduate high school in four years and leave with poor skills that they should have mastered in 12 years of schooling.
“The governor’s ‘Fairness Formula’ school aid plan would end the Garden State’s longstanding commitment to giving all children an education that will prepare them for good citizenship, civic responsibility and productive participation in the state’s economy.”
Source: Sciarra: Governor’s new school funding proposal – anything but fair
Christie’s proposal is half way to education freedom
22
Jun
Governor Christie’s public school aid funding proposal would treat each child “equally,” that is, the state would send every school district the same amount for each child in its school district. Most school districts would get a huge increase in state aid so that should mean substantially property tax relief for suburban taxpayers, assuming of course the school districts pass along the new aid in the form of lower property taxes. The criticism from the usual suspects is disingenuous. Instead of applauding the fact that many of their constituents would finally get property tax relief, which was the goal of the 1976 income tax, suburban legislators are voicing their objections, because urban districts would be “shortchanged.”
Despite what the state constitution regarding education funding and a series of state Supreme Court rulings, there is no reason education should be provided by the government. In fact, education should be provided by teachers, parents and others, without the need for taxpayers to shell out an obscene amount of money for an education monopoly. The case for delinking government and education has been made by several analysts such as Sheldon Richman, John Taylor Gatto, and Samuel Blumenfeld, among others.
Education socialism is expensive and has failed to educate urban students effectively. It is time for education freedom. Christie gets us one step closer.
Seeking to bypass the state Supreme Court, upend three decades of education funding and lower property tax bills, Governor Christie will spend the summer campaigning for a sweeping new plan to spend the same amount of money on every student in the state — regardless of where they live.
Source: School aid: Christie proposes equal funding statewide – News – NorthJersey.com
Low balling the costs of government programs is “normal”
21
Jun
Government officials have lied thorough their teeth about the income tax (rates would not go up, Ha), Federal Reserve (the dollar’s purchasing power would be stabilized), Social Security (rates would never go up, income subject tot the tax would never up), Medicare (future costs would be reasonable, doctors would be fairly compensated) and Medicaid (costs would be reasonable, doctors would be paid fairly) over the past 100 years to get their big government legislation passed. If you believe government officials about the future costs about any new tax or social program, I have a bridge to sell you.
Six months in advance of a planned exit from NJ, UnitedHealthcare no longer covers care provided at Hackensack University Medical Center for people who bought coverage on healthcare.gov.
Socialism does not work, so why do we have government schools?
20
Jun
If you believe government should provide education to all youngsters, then you have lost the argument against the proponents of socialism. If you support taxpayer-funded education, why then shouldn’t the government provide health care, transportation, housing, energy, banking, food, etc.? In fact, government has been heavily involved in virtually every aspect of our economy and our lives. In short, America is already heavily “socialized.”
Democrats: the party of death
17
Jun
The Democratic Party controls both houses of the New Jersey state legislature. Yesterday, in a procedural maneuver, the Democrats prevented Gov. Christie from reducing the onerous requirements to legally carry a firearm in the state. Although the Democrats are congratulating themselves for blocking Gov. Christie’s desire give New Jersey firearms owners the right to protect themselves and their families in public, the obvious take away from the Democrats’ actions are simple: they do not want people to be able to defend themselves in public venues like Orlando nightclub where 49 innocent souls were defenseless because it was “gun free zone”. Gun free zones are invitations to any one bent on committing mass murder.
The battle over taxes in Trenton
16
Jun
A bipartisan group of New Jersey lawmakers are balking raising the “gas tax” and eliminating the estate tax. (There are additional tax cutting provisions in the gas tax bill, which would reduce taxes on average families by more than $1000 per year.) It is understandable why Republican legislators do not want to raise the “gas tax”; it would shatter the myth they are paragons of fiscal conservatism. Democrats, on the other, hand not want to eliminate the estate tax claiming it is a giveaway to the state’s wealthiest residents.
Sen. Raymond Lesniak, who may run for the Democratic nomination for governor next year, said the compromise proposal on the table is an example of “tax injustice.” All taxes are unjust because they are coercive. Taxes are an involuntary exchanges (legalized theft), hence they violate a fundamental principle that supposedly we all supposedly embrace, theft is wrong. Yet when it comes to taxes the notion of justice is thrown out the window and replaced with “needs” of the people, but more accurately the “needs” of the government.
Abolish political parties
12
Jun
In her column today Montclair State University political science and law professor Brigid Callahan Harrison calls for New Jersey state GOP to disavow Donald Trump’s presidential run. Prof. Harrison asserts that Trump’s intemperate remarks about Judge Gonzalo Curiel, who was presiding over a lawsuit against Trump University, is enough reason for Republicans to abandon the Donald’s unorthodox campaign for the president.
At the end of her column Harrison quotes House Speaker Paul Ryan who states that the presidential campaign should be about ideas, not personal attacks. I totally agree. Presidential candidates should offer their “vision” for the Nation and let the voters decide who should occupy the Oval Office. So instead of two major political parties dominating the presidential campaign, let’s abolish political parties and have individuals run for the presidency on the vision thing. Let’s eliminate presidential party primaries and have candidates go directly to the people in a general election campaign.
In this year’s race for the White House we would have several Democrats and more than a dozen Republicans trying to win the hearts and minds of the American people. As far as how this will play out of in the electoral college is anyone’s guess. However, shortening the political campaign would be a great relief to the American people. And presidential candidates would be forced not to rely on the party bosses to grab their respective parties nomination but go directly to the American people for support.
With a substantial number of Americans unhappy with the presumptive choices who will be the Democratic and Republican nominees, abolishing political parties would create a more level playing field in the presidential campaign.
New Jersey legislature proposes gas tax hikes and tax cuts
11
Jun
Both houses of the New Jersey State legislature are proposing increases in fuel taxes to replenish the Transportation Trust Fund (TTF), which will run out of money except to service debt on June 30. For the record, I am opposed to any tax increases. Period. As the author of Tax Free 2000, a blueprint on how to create a tax-free society, I do not support any tax increases. I make clear in my book the only noncoercive–and therefore legitimate– method for the government to raise revenue is a user fee. (Whether government should “own” the roads or any other asset is a separate issue.) The gas tax is in reality a user fee. Currently, motorists and truckers pay for using highways, bridges, etc., with a nominal per gallon fee. All well and good.