You are clearly blind in my opinion! I guess you supported Corzine, and look how he ran his company, LOL

Christie needs to do the WORLD a favor......pull your lip over your face and swallow!!! you arrogant, ignorant SOB!!!!

I'll agree with that

To Mikeeee, who wrote: "...this country is pretty close to being in the third world category..."

And why is that, Mikeeee -- because you say so? Do you know the difference between our country and a "third world country"??? It's obvious that you do not.

Comprehend a topic or situation before you comment, or you may be likened to a scarecrow without a brain. Yeeeeesh.

I didn't like Corzine but I sure as hell don't like Christie.

We need our gay American back. Best governor the state has had.

and children who get mistaken for Yummie
little lambs!

Tax cuts? For whom? And who is going to pay for them? I can tell you -- for the wealthy few, and they will be paid for off the backs of hard working middle and lower class folks. Tax cuts instituted by another Republican Christie -- Christie Todd Whitman -- are what got us into this mess in the first place. Does the current Christie think we are stupid enough to fall for it again?

Mikeeee, you are so off base. It is really pitiful that you blame the unions and minorities when they tend to be at the lower end of the spectrum in terms of economics and political power. Furthermore, things are never that simple, but then scapegoating has always been a popular answer to teh ignorant who are incapable of understanding complex issues. Next time you enjoy your vacation, 40 hour work week, health care and retirement benefits... or that your children are not required to work at age 11 in some sweat shop... or that you get time and a half for overtime... or have safe working conditions... thank those unions.

amazing.....i cant believe all the idiots in the world today....there are 4 things destroying this country today....POLITICS.....HIGH TAXES....UNIONS...and MINORITIES......This guy is trying to lower taxes and the union idiots want to bash him....UNREAL....this country is pretty close to being in the third world category...

Most Republican politicians are contemptuous of the middle class, like Christie. Yes, he's smart and tart-tongued, yet it boggles the mind how they ever get elected since they represent corporations and the super rich instead of regular people.

Truly amazing comment!

Its easy to be a political leader because the majority of people are so stupid .
Christie is the first GOV. in over 40 years to deal with the real problems .
State and municpal employers were contributing very little to their pension and healthcare insurance costs and receiving benefits far greater benefits then the private sector has .
NJ had the highest property taxes in the country .Rate increases capped by Christie .
The USA schools are placed in world comparison 25th in science and 18 in math .
due to tenure and no accountability .Christie is bringing about tenure reform and accountability .
The democrats will continue to demonize the wealthy who pay most of NJ taxes . NJ .Corporations taxes are paid by everyone in the price of goods and services provided .
The legislature cry is the millionaires tax because millionaires do not have many votes .
The middle class and wealthy vote with thier feet by moving out of state .
One my friends went from employment in a private college to a state run college
and she says she works only about 25 % of the time and many other employee work less.Their is little accountability or measure of effectiveness in NJ state
and local goverment .

Nowadays especially true! They say Congress is broke. It became broken when the tea party radical extremes got elected by oligarchs' money and sided with their interest and not the interest of their middle class constituents.

Mikeeee does not know his history, during the 50's with record membership in unions we had the record growth of the middle class, not to mention a moderate GOP who put nation first. Gone are the days.

Mikeeee does not know his history, during the 50's with record membership in unions we had the record growth of the middle class, not to mention a moderate GOP who put nation first. Gone are the days.

Actually, uh, Mikeeee, the economic and social policies of George Bush, Mitt Romney and the GOP/NRA/Grover Norquists/Big Money buffoons who tell them what to think, say and do are responsible for our slow but sure descent to circumstances that reflect those found in third-world countries. The financial disparity between those who "have" and those who "don't have" is growing at light-speed due to economic policies that clearly favor those who "already have and just want more---income and capital inequality are characteristics shared by third-world societies. Voter suppression efforts by the GOP---please don't embarass yourself by making the laughable claim that voter i.d. laws are done in order to confront "widespread voter fraud"---are intended to disenfranchise millions of voters, almost all of whom are members of racial/cultural minorities and almost all of whom live on the margins---welcome to the third world, where, uh, "democracy" is a word almost always found within quotation marks. Access to quality educational opportunities, access to health-care, relative ability to rise above one's present circumstances, hope for the future, etc., etc.---the measures don't lie when they show how far America has fallen in the last 30 years relative to, in particular, the countries of western Europe, Scandinavia, etc.

wait till you get a bill for your health insurance from illustrious leader Obama. start putting away $2000 + or more because that's how much it will cost annually. Merry Christmas

mark.

That would be awesome. I currently pay about double that for a family plan which is HEAVILY (more than 80%) subsidized by my employer. Now, if you are saying the rates are going up, how do you explain the $1BN in rebates to be provided because the insurance costs were just unbelievably high relative to the value of payouts.
http://money.cnn.com/2012/06/21/pf/health-care-rebates/index.htm

While I am fairly neutral on this issue, the amount of misinformation and scare tactics out and about are just scary.

Christy is the arrogant S.O.B. god forbid somebody else has an opinion opposite his.

your 100% right , that arrogant clown has to go !!!!

Here is out FAT Jersey Bully giving civic lessons to out kids. A real great example. I hope any kids that get in trouble use the "Governor Defense" Mr. Principal I was only trying to be like my Governor...................

No, the enemies of the middle class are the ones who taxed them out their nose so they could give fat benefits packages to their Grifriend's Union, that the Girfriend was Head Negotiatior for....

mark, I would love to find an insurance plan for my family for $2000 a year. I would get down on my knees and thank every god we humans had ever invented for a boon like that. It's clear that you don't pay for your own health insurance, or you'd realize what an amazing bargain that would be to someone who is shelling out over $1300 a month.

Agreed

Christie is the enemy of the middle class New Jerseians only. But friends with national and in state oligarchs.

only 2000? i pay 900 a month now geez

You have just got to get out more! Jennifer.

I do...Romney!

Love Christie and all he is trying to do.
The rich, and those that want to get rich, by running a business, should be enticed back into New Jersey. That would truly benefit the middle class.
We could even afford some of the spendaholic nonsense the Democrats embrace.

Yes they do have short memories!! Corzine screwed this state before anyone ever realized it, and then just walked away.

You said it, MDL.

sure they do..remember Bush..or is that different?

Do wish my comment, posted later, would appear later, as it is like jumping ahead in line, and I appreciate the comments from dweezie48 and the others.
Corzine was with our community organizer, arm in arm, in photos.
I suspect that is how he can lose millions of other peoples' money and be beneath the radar. Have not heard a word about him.

Christie is a politician who is acting on his campaign promises and trying to get something done, which is more than I can say for anyone else in the past.

From what I have read it seems like the Dems are using Republican ideals. If the Gov. Wants the tax cuts he has to make sure they are paid for as incoming revenue is already low. If incoming revenue does not pick up and the taxes are cut also something is then going to be taken away and I can guarantee the people of NJ won't like that. If the revenue is not there its not there. What are taxpayers going to give up to get that tax cut. They may decide forgoing the tax cut is better than losing some needed service. Temper tantrums don't help the situation.

"We are in a hole folks. Time to trash schools and give tax breaks to millionaires."

THEN IF YUR BROKE WHY WOULD YOU GIVE ANYONE LOWER TAXES. THATS LOST REVENUE OR DON'T YOU GET THAT. HE IS LOOKING OUT FOR HIS POCKET NOT YOURS. WISE UP BEFORE HE CALLS YOU A S.O.B

And your idea of what to do about it is to give billions of dollars in tax cuts to corporations and then pay for them by gutting education and public workers?

Christie's a role model for the school bus bullies.

And cutting taxes when revenue isn't meeting the modest estimates this year will dig that hole deeper. Christie want to increase spending and cut taxes. Remember George Bush and how well the economy was going when he left office? But by then Christie figures he'll be on the national stage and it won't be his problem. The only thing worse than reelecting Corzine was this guy. Where's Chris Dagget when you need him!!!!

You got it!

Great, Steve Revette. Very nice. Now take your medicine and go to bed.

PS Do you see what you've done? You've actually got the brainless dweezie48 rallying in your corner -- what do you think THAT does for your credibility? LOL

Oh, man those greedy teachers! Yeah, drop their pay, lower the standards, and keep on "educating" the serfs into abysmal ignorance that makes them think nthe Repubs have anything to offer anyone making less tha $250,000 per year. Good plan if you're an authoritarian plutocrat.

No we have an income problem. Rich dont pay while the poor and middle class pay too much. BUt as a republican you are probably too dense to realize that. Next time you fly or drive or support your Armed Forces think about who pays the most. Middle Class not the rich!

Panjo, in this state the rich pay an 8.97% tax rate on every dollar over $500K. On every dollar b/w $75K-500K they pay at 6.37%. The middle class who mostly make under $75K or are in the low 6 figures pay far lower rates than the rich. The rich pay more than enough.
http://www.state.nj.us/treasury/taxation/pdf/current/njtaxratesch.pdf

100% $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ agree

Once again jumping ahead of other opiners. Will figure, eventually, how to not do this.
If we did what Christie wants, we would be going in the direction any responsible money manager would. No successful person manages their personal finances the way NJ, under Democrats, has done. And I do not exempt Republicans from being Democrat-like, spendaholics. 'There's no free lunch'.
And, if the rich are so evil, never buy another lottery ticket again.

Agreed, Rich Smith.

Name-calling may seem like a relatively benign offense on the surface, but it evinces an inappropriate, disrespectful, unprofessional mindset.

Yes, but the public and union workers don't like that!!! Too Bad, what a shame!

You present an immature rebuttal, Andrew Sokol. Because one does not approve of the present government does not mean that the only alternative is to "go back" to other unpleasant days of the past. Some people would like to make improvements and move FORWARD.

It's getting tiresome to read posts in which people support Christie merely because there have been politicians in the past who were just as bad as he.

Unemployment is up, taxes are up, public employees still get sick pay windfalls, and still double dip on salaries and pensions. Other than cut aid to towns so they had to cut school and public works staff, giving us LESS for our tax dollar, what has he done?

democrats use the name from denocracy .true but they keep thier jobs and cover up the real facts of whats going on under the rug.governor christie is a supreame attorney who immediatly busted up the biggest gangsterin new jerseys history the corzine regime and all his little tweedle dum minitemen goverment that is how we got this far in dept and the big eared bullshiter still hasent proved where he was born ,ss#042 was from conneticut . my dad is 91 046 and he is from conneticut 5000 miles from hawaii, GOD BLESS YOU GOVERNOR YOU STAND UP FOR LIFE LIBERTY AND THE PRSUIT OF OUR HAPINESS .NOT THE GOVERNMENTS tweedle dee tweedle DUMB Cabinet who big ears picks.

YUP your governor is doing just like ours in wisconsin. walker borrowed the money and uses the creadit card. he never paid off anything. he has now signed a bill that all corporations taxes will go from 7.75% to less then zerro. so that is lost tax revenue and we the people will have to make up the short fall. less taxes for the rich higher taxes for the rest. but many people are just to stupid to see this. they will WHEN THE BILL COMES DUE

Republicans HAVE no fiscal sanity. They have lies that they do, but, the proof is in the pudding. See Bush-Cheney, and explain being handed a government running solidly in the black, only to give away that sound approach to a bunch of rich folks, have two wars without funding, do a nice thing for medicare, again without funding, and add in the greatest rise in national debt of all time. You call THAT fiscal responsibility??

"STRAIGHT FORWARD"??????????????????????????????????????????????

Holy chicanery, now I really HAVE heard it all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We have 16 more months of mudslinging from our governor. I expect more from the leader and representative of our state than I do a bunch of bloggers.

That's why folks loved Palin. Another dolt.

Another screaming Tirade by the "Bad Dr. Dreisdale": and I use the term Dr. very loosley. Please take some of your Vallium, I'm sure you have a large Legal supply.

We have had cut taxes for 30 years WHERE ARE THE JOBS.
Why DO conservatives cling to FAILED policies?
It really is a mystery.

the dems spend too much on the entitled ones and the repub's keep trying to abolish the middle class - where do we find the middle ground - I'm for your Party of Neither!

PEOPLE JUST WON'T FACE THE TRUTH,CRIS IS THE MOST REFRESHING VOIVE WE.VE HEARD IN A LONG TIME,HE GETS THINGS DONE!!!

Who profits from the failed prison halfway house industry.
I will bet that guy who was murdered one, who just should have received a TICKET,
was incarcerated because the cops are instructed to keep CHRISTIE'S halfway houses full. He was a lobbyist for the industry and is as corrupt as they come.

Roche is probably leaving due to the high cost of doing business in New Jersey.
Does this support or counter anyone's effort to reduce that cost?

Where is super stealth garrett when we need him? Where is our overweight, energy glutton Governor? Where are our state senators? Our Congressmen? Where are our senators? Roche is leaving with jobs and not one of them makes a press announcement? Not one of them even fakes indignation? or express sympathy for the 1000 employees loosing their jobs?

Art: Then why are they moving overseas instead of to a lower-tax state? Both Germany and Switzerland have very strong safety nets.

I repeat: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-25/states-lacking-income-tax-get-no-boost-in-growth-bgov-barometer.html

Information about corporate taxes in Germany can be found here:

http://www.taxrates.cc/html/germany-tax-rates.html

When all taxes are taken into account, this is as high or higher than taxes here in the US.

Of the two countries, only Switzerland can be said to have a lower corporate tax rate than the US: http://www.chron.com/business/steffy/article/Switzerland-s-the-latest-rage-in-corporate-tax-1618958.php

BUT...Switzerland has a strong social safety net. It also has a health coverage mandate, with sizable government subsidies for those who cannot afford to pay (not the $1000/year vouchers that the Ryan Plan would give Americans to buy $20K of family coverage)

It also has old age, survivor and disability benefits, paid maternity leave, illness and accident protections, and unemployment insurance that also supplements income if your hours are cut, and subsidizes day care. In 2004, social spending was over 18% of GDP vs. 8% for the US. (Source: World Bank)

Of course Switzerland does not sustain a massive military that gets a blank check from the government every year. You want to know where your tax money goes? Cast your gaze upon the Pentagon.

bob.... How is that his problem

Cannot agree. Cutting taxes always primes business and more revenue flows in.
Counter intuitive, I know, but factual.
Every job a business can add, takes a person from a tax consuming dependent to a tax paying worker. A double good.

Great comments myrent2damhigh. If we could fit a catalytic converted at his butt, we could finally start turning around government waist. Get it. Waist. Or we could hook up a methane collection plant to his butt and run an entire city's electricity needs. This is a great idea. It is recycling at its best. Can we get a methane collection plant big enough for his butt?

AGREED. Higher taxes results in less favorable business environment to higher new employees and expand business.

BEEP! =Tilt=

Sorry, David, but companies only hire people of those people can make them more money. It has nothing to do with taxes. When people do not have jobs, or when the wage base has been lowered so there is no money for discretionary purposes, or there is no job security, people do not consume. Where there is no demand, there is no reason to expand a business. Growth comes from the demand side, not the taxation side. Companies do not hire out of generosity because dollar bills are spilling out of their pockets, they do it to make more money. No demand, no more money, and no hiring. It's very simple.

Simply not true. Corporations have not been more profitable in America than they are now in the last fifty + years. And yet, we have median incomes of American households down some 39%. Never mind that we do not have enough jobs for the applicant pool by a factor of nearly 5 to 1.

Simplistic and not true.

That is not the reality. Check it out. Big businesses are not job creators they are the pay the CEO more money by cutting jobs of the middle class workers and export the jobs out to foreign countries. The job creators have been small businesses that have kept jobs in this country and not sent them out to foreign countries. The job creators have been the 99% who have supported Made in the USA and kept jobs here. Do not try to fool people by saying big businesses are the job creators it is not true at all. Keeping jobs in this country creates jobs. Not corporations who fire US workers and outsource their jobs to pay CEOs outrageous sums of money to do it.

Not true: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-25/states-lacking-income-tax-get-no-boost-in-growth-bgov-barometer.html

CC is a short sighted buffoon.
This is his last national position, He's demonstrated he's a tad unstable.

Michael, please provide where your statistical information is coming from. Thanks.

As Regan said, 'Facts are such pesky thing". And I might add HISTORY too.

Amen Lisa.....

Where the hell do you live that your property taxes are that high???

Thank you Sam for putting it simply and succinctly...

Jim, Care to give any specifics on his positions?

Adam, I can put up with anyone's well-reasoned positions, even if I disagree with them. Hashing out policy differences is what politics should be about. But my comment (as I suspect you must know) had nothing to do with positions. It has to do with Christy's utterly offensive manner. Whether it's an Iraq vet or the state Senate Majority leader or just an ordinary voter, the man has absolutely no sense of dignity and no shred of decency. And the fact that others also have flaws is completely irrelevant. I know you know exactly what I mean, and if you are honest, you'll recognize it.

Interesting that you brought up the water. Montclair allocates approximately $1.5M of municipal worker salaries to the township Water and Sewer Utilities. When asked why, they say it is for workers overseeing repairs, etc.. At an average municipal salary of $85k, that averages 18 highly paid workers overseeing projects year round.

it's nowhere near "in proportion". Lets look at ex Gov Whitman who owns 2 ‘farms’ close to each other. The ‘tree farm’ is about 100 acres and last time I looked paid only about $100 property taxes for 99 acres of it.

Her other 200+ acre ‘farm’ is 'preserved' but did have cows, chicken’s etc. To get them farm assessed she ‘sold’ $500 in firewood and $500 in meat to her brother.

Asked of Whitman, she answered “Everything we raise is strictly for the Whitman family consumption”

Only farms can lose money every year and keep IRS deductions. What we had/have with Whitman (and with lots of other wealthy's ) is 2 huge taxpayer subsidized estates. Not only that, but considering all expenses are deductible including buying her cows, sheep, chickens etc., feeds it, raises it, pays feed and vet bills, pays a farmhand who eventually slaughters and butcher them for the Whitman’s to eat, plus all costs of her small veggie garden, again tended to by a farmhand, deducts the cost of tractors plows tillers and all ’farm equipment’ plus buys gas for farm use that has no road tax on it like the gas we buy. Of course she'd never put that gas in her car would she?

In plain English, we taxpayers paid her for the ‘farm’, subsidize her property taxes, her grocery bill, gasoline and even her servants!

BTW her hubby moved his main business to the Cayman Islands to avoid all NJ and federal taxes. Please tell me how that’s “in proportion”?

These lefits needs to be send for education to N. Korea, Cuba or former Soviet Union. IN all these wonderful places, there are no more rich people, everybody equally miserable and poor (except of course party and gov leaders). No private companies, no production of anything.. And everything is "fair" in leftist terms. MIsery around, free health care translated to NO Care. Surive as best as you can.. When people finally learn anything from history. It is amazing stupidity. Did anybody from leftists thought where government get money to pay to burocrats ? Somebody should produce something. And if gov confiscate 100% of what people earned or owned and waste it, what happens next ? I will tell you what. Gov then create slave labor because nobody want to do anything. Everybody expect crambs from gov.

I liked your idea until I thought about how our local officials were elected. The power in who gets chosen to lead the efforts would need some thought. Check out the funding for the Montclair 2012 campaign on line at NJELEC. Over 70% of the reported contributors for their campaign came from people or organizations outside of Montclair. Large amounts came from Unions. I'm not sure how the pay to play rules help protect us when the teacher's union donates $8,200 to a campaign to get 1 Union President & 2 others with big union positions (or former positions) elected.

Oh Jim, drink the Kool aid.
Shrink government = freedom to pollute for the Kochs.
Can't afford health insurance = die in the streets

Taxes enable fireman to show up at your house when it's on fire.
I could mention 1,000 other things but it's WAY over your head.

No Dem has ever called Pelosi a bully,

Based on the blogs here, I agree, the liberals are doing the most bullying.

What are liberal 'ideas".
Like there no Loch Ness monster?

Yes. Agree. And they always act by formula: devide and concure. Devide people based on their "foot" size if they can, but for some it works. Because leftist ideology is a theft ideology for communism. I was brought on it and know from first hand what it teaches and what miseray it brings.. Communizm which promise to pay you by your needs is really social sickness which always ends with dictatorship of "wise" gov burocrats..

You can't be serious....There might be some dirt poor town hidden in the mountains that have a rate like that, but go to McLean and try to find that rate...

How about Verona with volunteers, or better yet, Glen Ridge, where they outsource and get a good deal.

without firing a bullet they will get marxism up and ;moving for their people..Nikitta knew what he was doingll...break down the masses and control from the top.. we are already set for complete control over our lives and have voted in a master whos aggenda was set back in the sixties with groups teaching us how to subserve the king. land take over, suez environmental will control our water which will be gold in 20 years... blah blah blah tommorrow will tell us if the court destroys our founding fathers amazing thoughts of the republic over 200 years ago...

Hyperbole much, MDL? Oh, and nice touch referring to our first black president as "a master." When the froth is flowing like that, I'm sure such creepy ironies fly right over your head.

General question - when did hysterical rhetoric become the required mode of communication for conservatives? Try excluding bloody-shirt waving from your reply - if possible. Bill Buckley seemed to get along without it.

Michael, you are spot on

The volunteer firefighters are true heros. We don't have those in Montclair. We do have lots of chiefs and captains.

No, you have the wrong person, In my opinion, that was Corzine, now there's a deeper in debt, and walk away guy.

you go dweezie48..... lol

Nose I agree with ya. Government keeps us apart to preserve themselves by creating an enemy where none exists.

I'm not a union member and disagreed with many union actions. but I do thank them for as they say 'Making America Strong" because without the unions we would be working 18 hour days 7 days week for $1.50 an hour

Government made unions a scapegoat when they passed all the trade agreements that sent US Jobs overseas. They took payoffs to write and pass the laws them that sent jobs overseas, then blamed Unions for the loss of jobs. But it was mainly because strict environmental laws here were too costly & business did not want to comply, plus by relocating the business overseas they avoid business property taxes, business & personal income taxes and high real estate taxes which are but some of the reasons they moved overseas, just as former Gov Whitmans low life hubby john moved his main business to the Cayman Islands before her re election so he could avoid all NJ and US taxes from that business

Government and manufacturers have successfully now made China the scapegoat for "stealing American jobs" that it took the direct work of several presidents and congress to pass the trade agreements that sent jobs to 3rd world countries.

US Business fooled most people into blaming faulty products not on them but on China, who manufactures products designed by US Companies to their specifications and using their quality control specifications & their inspectors

Guess again nose........ Its all your fault

...and pass me a couple of cheez steaks and a fried chicken you arrogant S.O.B.s.

true, but one of the biggest expenses in many towns is educating children born of illegal immigrants who do not speak English. In some towns like Lakewood, eliminating illegal immigrants kids should easily cut education costs by and thus dramatically reducing property taxes by 50%.

Gov needs to enact some Arizona laws here in NJ and help us all instead of ignoring the major problem affecting NJ and many other US States.

Education reform is one thing he seems to be working on, only it's too little effort and not enough time spent on it as far as I am concerned.

Screw the income tax cut, few people will notice any savings at all while property tax relief will help everyone from dirt poor to mega wealthy

Pretty sad if that's your best shot! You couldn't even spell his name correctly! Go back to your mother's basement!

actually Jim was one of the lesser evils in the state house. He did a few pretty good things and if you own a car you have to admit what he did to undo Gov Shitmans screw ups with the DMV made going to his 'new MVS' works. No more all day waiting to renew a license or registration.

I was not happy when he put his lover on the state payroll, but gay legislators on both sides of the aisle all do the same and we have had a lot of closet gays in the State House and in Congress, plus guess which female NJ governor was a kinky bisexual and had an affair with a guy from the NRA while running for gov the 1st time and guess which bald, mega wealthy 1 term governor was into B&D and then guess which state union official was his mistress who bribed him to keep his secret and not to release pics of him in nasty kinky clothes literally hanging around with her? Politics and Perves walk hand in hand ................ ain't it just a barrel full of giggles?

After he does all that, do you think he's going to trickle down the savings to you?No buddy it's going into him and his friends big fat pockets. Yes the illegal immigrants cost the taxpayers millions of dollars, but all the politicians, public employees, public schools and greedy corporations all cost the taxpayers the same. I guess you decided to give the blacks a break this time. You people always have to find someone to pick on. When America was stolen from the Indians, where were you talking about deporting the Europeans? When the slaves were working for free ,where were you talking about free labor costing the African family? But after all the hard work is done, people lives have been turned upside down, you enjoy the fruits of their misery. What you reap is what you sow, if you think it's going up, no it's only going down. So keep finding someone to blame for the demise of America, the demise was written thousands of years ago.

Go get one. Thanks mostly to Bush/Clinton/Bush they're mostly now in India, Pakistan, China and Japan, funny how we sent jobs to countries who are supposedly our enemy in most ways huh?

No, KristieKreme is the shill, and a dumb one at that too.

Arrogance!

Ya think dweezie.... If they put as much effort into constructive dialogue as they do ripping each other this might actually make sense

We all is educated here. Unlike youse, we don't have G.E.D.'s.

You are an arrogant S.O.B.!

There will be no butt kissing around here (except by me and Kevin M.)

The suckers who wish they had corrupt Corzine back are all still whining about Christie, who has been fantastic for the state. I hope Romney picks someone else for VP since the state needs Christie for at least another 6 years.

I think that you are being arrogant.

And you might even be an S.O.B.

Don't tell Mark C. that he is a S.O.B., because you are talking about yourself! Jeez, Chris Christie, hope you aren't looking for re-election in 2013! You're the one who is being SO arrogant. You are making more drama than High School Senior Year!

Arrogance!

Mark C.,

I'm a rough tough cream puff, so watch your step.

C'mon Chris. I'm the "governer," not the "governor." Although my grammar and education are probably a bit better.

“You have numb nuts like Reed Gusciora who put out a statement comparing me to George Wallace and Lester Maddox."

“First off it’s none of your business. "

That's the way Billy. You tell 'em. And he was an arrogant S.O.B. at that!

"They parachuted these losers into New Jersey. And they want to make all of you believe that they’re in New Jersey. They’re not.”

leave please

Rocco, how about you leave given that we are subsidising you through our disproportionate tax burden

While I don't see much constructiveness in rocco's request that Clarke leave, if it is meant as a means shutting down the dialogue, neither you nor I have any idea how much tax either rocco or clarke pay or how that relates to how much he gets from the government in terms of services. Moreover, even if we knew those things exactly we could not determine the relationship of those things to the question of how much he contributes to society on the simple basis of how much he brings home as income.

rocco makes an excellent point, to the degree that he is addressing the alarmist claim that higher paid people leaving will lessen our tax revenue. This idea makes no sense in light of the fact that they are paid highly, largely, on account of the fact that they are here.

Consider clarke's figures more fully. $50,000 income after NJ taxes = $48,730. $100,000 income after NJ taxes = $95,756. $250,000 income after NJ taxes = $236,201. $500,000 income after NJ taxes = $470,276. One thing that is painfully obvious, is that a higher income means getting to have more, regardless of taxes.

The question of "fairness" - in terms of who ought to get to have how much and why - is entirely unresolved based on considerations of the percentages of larger numbers come to proportionately higher numbers. People with lesser incomes produce goods and services too, and it makes no sense to think that the simple matter of attaining wealth is synonymous with the matter of creating wealth.

Ridgewood mom attaining wealth is creating wealth when it's done a voluntary basis, ie not the government taking it under threat of force. Many of NJ's wealthiest people have already left, and more are leaving. We are losing scientists in Pharma, financial folks and other groups due to our high taxes. As "telecommuting" becomes increasingly more robust and cost effective, the trend will continue. Over the past 12 months 20% of my staff moved to 0% income tax states, just yesterday another engineer asked if she could become a "virtual employee" too.

We should be embracing policies which attract people to move here, not the other way around. We need to stop embracing class warfare.

Wealth is not created simply because a person has attained it. Wealth comes from people being engaged in the generation of goods and services, voluntary or not and regardless of whether it is taking place in private or public sectors.

Taxation is law. Not paying tax is criminal. If you are serious in presenting a moral argument that taxation is wrong on the basis that it involves a "threat of force," then consistency requires that you apply the same logic to all other crimes. Not paying rents or mortgages, stealing and killing, etc. Or else you are just trying to come up with a way of getting away with something that is quite obviously morally wrong.

I agree that we need to stop embracing "class warfare." It is humanely fundamental that we address the basic needs of all members of our shared economy. Particularly we must address the needs of those who are struggling under the current economic climate, rather then giving more to those who have been profiting at everyone else's expense. It is not just those members of the most privileged social classes who should be getting special tax breaks at the expense of everyone else.

I'm not sure that I fully agree with John, but he has a point. Unless it's stolen or taxed, a strong argument can be made income tax is theft, just because a government says its moral doesnt mean it is. Congress can pass a law against gravity, but I assure you that you will not start floating if it did.

Wealth acquisition is wealth creation. The only exceptions of money transfer are not are charity or inheritance.

You talk about being against class warfare then proceed to engage in it. You talk about the basic needs of all members of the shared economy, often referred to as the public good. The deficit of your logic is obvious to many, it requires some people to spend the money of others against their will. Most people agree taking 100% of someone's work is slavery, what percentage isn't?

"Wealth acquisition is wealth creation."
So, if someone steals your wallet they are creating wealth?

What an superb, "rhetoric" free post!

Christie, and the selective interests that he serves, do not mind property taxes so much because they (not all affluent persons) segregate themselves from the rest of the population in towns with relatively low tax rates. Sort of like ghettos. Besides allowing them to culturally identify as separate from people in other communities, making it easier for them to dehumanize the "other," such communities have the added benefit of serving as property tax shelters by allowing very wealthy persons to pay much lower property taxes then they would be paying if they lived in most of the rest of the state.

On the other hand, state taxes tax everyone according to the same tax system which means proportionately more taxes for persons with very high incomes. So cutting state taxes gives a bigger share to persons who are already very wealthy. For such persons, property taxes aren't such an issue.

And what does it say about a subculture of people who interpret bully talk and a lack of willingness to involve oneself in civil dialogue as amusing, or even somehow noble?

The only thing biblical about the ARC tunnel would have been the tax hikes necessary to cover the inevitable cost overruns and NJ's portion of the construction projects for a project that NYC should have always been on the hook for.

Why should NYC be on the hook for it? They aren't the ones that commute into the city. I really don't think that many New Yorkers take public transport into New Jersey.

Sure RedRider. Its much better to allow a private corporation to monopolize commuter toll collection into the city, putting money in their own pockets, then for NJ citizens to put money into the government that provides them with services.

NYC should be paying for at least half b/c the tunnel is going to NYC, duh. The jobs those people are commuting to are in NYC, duh. The taxes paid by the corporations those people work for go to NYC, duh. The economic activity and jobs that creates also in part is in NYC, duh. Ergo, NYC who also benefits from this tunnel should be on the hook for paying for it.

What private corporation collects tolls in the NYC area? The Port Authority is no private corporation, duh.

No? :)

Excuse me, Redrider765, but after those people earn that money in NYC duh, where do they go home on the train and spend it all, duh?

Wait a second, with all the lawns you mow in my neighborhood, you seem to be doing just fine!

Could it be you feel that your lack of planning is an excuse to steal from someone else? Its going to rain, have a rainy day fund.