Corzine’s Hard Choice

DynamoBuzz has a good post about Governor Corzine’s New Jersey’s Transportation Trust Fund refinancing gimmick. As Roberto points out, the TTF will get an infusion of cash, but taxpayers will wind up with $11 billion in new debt. Why should anyone be surprised - that’s what Jon Corzine did for a living a Goldman Sachs, he sold debt. The Governor is a financial genius isn’t he?

Rather than cutting state spending on other programs or biting the bullet and raising the gas tax, Corzine has opted for the dig a bigger hole option. That’s the same option used time and again which has placed New Jersey in its present financial position – broke.

Beyond not wanting to waste political capital at the start of his term Jon Corzine and his Democrat pals don’t want to increase a tax that just about everyone will have to pay. The gas tax is a visible one and everyone will know exactly how much more the tax will cost them at the pump.

Democrats prefer raising taxes on the “rich”, an undefined group that makes people feel a tax increase isn’t going to apply to them. Many people feel that as long as someone else has to pay more in taxes, that’s just fine. Of course “rich” winds up being any person or family making more than $70,000 and all the various taxes and fees add up hurting almost everyone.

If people are unwilling to be taxed for something as basic as road maintenance and construction, we wonder how they feel about being taxed for the billions spent on any number of failed state programs – take your pick.

If Governor Corzine doesn’t cut spending, he is left with only one other choice – tax increases. How many of the nearly 1.3 million people that voted for our spendthrift Governor will be paying them? Work out that number and you’ll know why Corzine will make the “hard choices” he inevitably will – he’s going to tax the productive, hard working people. Tax receivers will cheer.