Corzine Has Become The Tyrant Of Trenton

New Jersey state government has been shut down for:

New Jersey Governor, Jon Corzine plans to call the Legislature into a special session Tuesday in an attempt to break an ongoing budget impasse that has shut down the state. The Governor hopes to layout his rationale for his proposed 16 percent sales tax increase to gain passage of his controversial budget.

Corzine has not offered a single idea or plan that doesn’t include new spending, added debt or tax increases. It has not dawned on the Governor to cut state spending to end the stalemate with the Legislature. Instead, Corzine has shut down state government to force lawmakers to adopt a budget that increases spending by 9.2 percent and rams tax increases down the throats of a populace already taxed to the max.

Corzine is holding out for a budget, as he has admitted, will start New Jersey off next year with a budget deficit of $2 billion. And that’s if Corzine gets his $1.8 billion in new and increased taxes. No wonder Democrats in the state’s Assembly need to be dragged kicking and screaming to vote for such a fiscally irresponsible and unpopular plan.

Matt Stoller, Governor Jon Corzine’s former campaign blogger, says, “In New Jersey, we might just be seeing a battle to close a deficit that foreshadows the fight we're going to have nationally in a few years. I worked for Jon Corzine, and I'm proud he's the Governor of New Jersey and is waging this battle.”

Let voters in the United States understand just how Democrats have waged the battle in New Jersey. Since Democrats took total control of state government in 2002 and including the passage of Corzine’s budget, New Jersey taxpayers will pay 71 percent more in state income taxes, 39 percent more in sales taxes, 116 percent more in corporate taxes and over 40 percent more in property taxes.

The Democrats spending and taxing binge has ballooned New Jersey’s budget from $22.495 billion in 2002 to Corzine’s controversial $30.875 billion budget for the new fiscal year. That’s a 37 percent increase in state spending just since 2002 and we begin next year in the hole by at least $2 billion. New Jersey’s property taxes will remain the highest in the nation.

The Democrats’ record on state debt isn’t any better. In 2002, state debt was $16.236 billion. By 2005 state debt had grown to $29.7 billion and Corzine has already added another $7 billion to New Jersey’s debt load. An analysis by Moody's Investors Service showed, the surge in New Jersey's debt, measured as a percentage of state income, was the fastest among all states. New Jersey now is the nation's third-most-indebted state, behind California and New York with populations far greater than New Jersey’s 8.5 million.

Jon Corzine ran for governor last year on an agenda to make New Jersey “more affordable”. Now that he’s become the Tyrant of Trenton, Corzine’s delivered nothing but increases in spending, taxes and debt. American voters be warned of Democrats bearing gifts, you can’t afford them.