By Joe Sinagra | The Save Jersey Blog
I’m sorry to be a buzz kill on a Friday but here it is, one day after Chris Christie’s administration took a beating in oral argument before the New Jersey Supreme Court:
The politicians who created the pension mess knew they would not be around when the feces hit the fan, Save Jerseyans. They created havoc from Florio on down with an unsustainable pension system and now want the citizens of New Jersey to pay for their mistakes.
If anyone is looking to place blame, it is the politicians on both sides, not those that were part of the system. They were promised the sun, the moon and the stars but wound up with asteroid dust.
Every other governor kept the taxes at bay by taking money OUT of the pension system.
Once Governor Christie leaves, politicians will look to fund the pensions and guess who they will expect to pay the freight? You and I.
Senate President Steve Sweeney is already looking to fully fund the pensions in 2016. The only problem? He can’t explain how it’s possible without raising taxes. He is making promises and those like him to further their positions once again on the backs of those who can’t afford it.
The pensions, the TTF, the DOT, etc…. just who winds up paying with their sweat and blood? When politicians say the state is broke, they are telling you they pissed our money away again and need to take more of what the taxpayers do not have.
It’s all political rhetoric to further their position, pay off their lobbyists and to make it appear as if something is being done.
How many times are we promised taxes will be cut only to have the rug pulled out from under us, and then promised “we won’t let it happen again?”
Something that might surprise you? It’s not so much that we need more conservatives; we need less liberals. Nothing, and I mean nothing ever goes back into the pockets of the ones who bail out the mismanagement of our money.
Then there is the old shell game: raise taxes 40% and then tell us they cut 4% from the budget. Our elected leaders may call it a cut, but ask those that contributed the 40% how much that 4% helped them out.
Gee, the state didn’t raise taxes but now the municipalities had to raise taxes for the funding they didn’t receive from the state. Another game of thimblerig; the municipalities had to raise taxes on the local level to fund their obligations . . . so guess again . . . your taxes still went up.
This game has been played for the last 20 years and not one thing has changed.
One step further? I will guarantee it doesn’t matter who gets elected that taxes will go up; nothing will get cut, and the waste will continue. Promises will be made, ideas will be presented but, in the end, we all pay more out of our pockets.
New Jersey had the greatest percentage of outbound moves of any state nationally last year with almost 65 percent of its population departing. New Jersey has the highest rate of outward migration of any state in the nation for the fourth time in five years.
About 42 percent left to find jobs or took a company transfer.
Residents are fleeing New Jersey in far greater numbers than people coming in, and politicians can’t understand why there is a lack of revenue!
New Jersey’s state government wants to understand why companies are leaving the state and passed a bill for a study.
The highest state in the nation with outward migration four years in a row and we need a study!? Seriously?
But let’s just keep putting those same people back in office; they will raise taxes to pay for another study.
Businesses closing, people retiring or moving out of state, foreclosures. Did you ever notice no matter how bad things get, no matter how little revenue is brought in, our politicians never take a pay cut? The only best interest at heart is one who gets re-elected to enjoy the perks that go along with it.
Love him or hate him, do you think it’ll get any better when the man who’s held the line on taxes, limited discretionary spending and made the largest pension payments in many, many years is gone? You’re dreaming.
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Excellent article! The worst is yet to come.
I’ve have always said – once Christie leaves office, all the taxes he has been vetoing will coming flooding in. Our taxes are going to sky rocket under the next governor, who will most likely be a democrat.
We will become a suburban Detroit. I see as a state employee, and a republican both sides. Bottom line, the elected have been using that pension money to balance a budget. Imagine if you could get away with not paying your mortgage to pay your bills. That’s kind of what they have done, both parties. And in Washington they use social security as the same emergency fund.
Sit back and enjoy the show, boys and girls. When Christie leaves office, that’s when the circus comes back to town. I’ve got my lawn chair set up and a big bag of popcorn.
It won’t be much longer when these OUTRAGIOUS property tax hikes force me to move to another state. I already have 4 foreclosures and a few short sales in my neighborhood. My next door neighbor just packed up all this things and took all the household appliances with him, haven’t seen him since December.
And one thing people seem to forget, public employees are also taxpayers, we paid for our pensions through our pay checks pension deductions AND taxation like everyone else, and continue to do so in retirement.
Debra I know you worked toward it but a mere 10 percent contribution while working only adds up to about 5 years funded by employees after retirement the rest falls on the private sector because we don’t get a pension return for our money so pension checks become welfare paychecks for the rest of us to pay it so never be caught up to the private sector when you only pay10percent / private sector first 90 then 100% private sector we fund. So It’s welfare and your safety net that always separates families and classes in the real working middle class. What you pay in income tax is returned to you tenfold.
How can this be legal? Isn’t this a conflict of interest??? It’s hard to believe the fate of Nj who are already strapped hard working taxpayers and entire state economy lies in the hands of one Supreme Court judge ,hired by democratic jurisdiction and recipient also of the pension system in the same state they rule from, without promise of any reform in sight or end in sight for lower taxes we may have to endure more hardships in our state with the highest amount of foreclosures democrats like Sweeney Weinberg and Prieto and greedy union heads can’t contribute more to their own destiny a and be personally accountable for their own lives but abuse and extort Nj homeowners and risk needy programs from being cut to line their large pockets! So sick of this abuse .
I pray this Supreme Court JuDGE can be honest to self and fair and has sensitivity and some empathy for Nj residents and the real taxpayers swallowed by property taxes too in the to private sector who have no pensions paying for other recipients except ill he stand up for us?
So sad our birth state is crumbling down and we will be forced to leave due to greedy politicians and public union pigleaders !
Sweeney & Prieto are acting as friends if the court speaking for unions but not taxpayers! Where are the friends Of the court acting for taxpayers. This court room should be full of Nj taxpayers and representatives standing up for us and against such a blow to our state economy !
It took me over a year to find a home in a town where I could afford the property taxes. Just moved and see my tax bill is going up (no surprise there). I am very sad to say that I look each week for property out of state because the writing is on the wall…before long, I won’t be able to afford it like so many others that have left here 🙁 …if we get a Democrat governor in 2017, the tide will come even faster.
Oh please…you drones paid d*ck for your pensions. As it turns out. many of you have moved out to PA yet continue to suck the life out of Garden State taxpayers.
Serves you right for moving to NJ without doing your due diligence. Embrace the suck.