ROONEY RANTS: Amazon tax credits represent everything that’s wrong with N.J. government

It’s a sorry pass when the only way to get anyone to do business in your state is to effectively bribe them across the bridges and tunnels, Save Jerseyans.

What I’ve described is EXACTLY the current situation under the State House Dome where legislation (A5340) designed to attract Amazon’s second North American headquarters to New Jersey passed through the Assembly on Monday. We’re going to give Amazon billions of dollars in tax incentives to set up shop in Newark. BILLION with a “B.” 

“Bringing Amazon to New Jersey is a priority. It will create good paying, permanent jobs.  The company’s Seattle campus is a boon to the city’s economy. We have an opportunity to do the same in our state,” said Asm. Jon Bramnick (R-Union), the Republican caucus’s leader. “This legislation will make us more competitive and help bring similar companies to New Jersey, which will stimulate the economy. We must compete in today’s competitive market with other states.”

I respectfully dissent concerning the “more competitive” point.

Let’s get something straight: this legislation was deemed necessary precisely BECAUSE New Jersey isn’t business-friendly and, under Phil Murphy who takes office on January 16th, we’re likely to get even worse. Nothing in this bill lowers taxes, eliminates regulations, or helps Amazon’s workers once they’ve bought homes and put gas in their cars. It won’t make us any more competitive outside of the ongoing bidding war for Amazon’s HQ2.

New Jersey’s abysmal business environment is a matter of public record. Luring Amazon into New Jersey may initially produce a small influx of jobs (TBD) but, in the long run, the state will see little in the way of actual economic growth since nothing has been done to fix the state’s fundamentally anti-business tax and regulatory climate, one which is consistently ranked as America’s worst. Out of all 50 states! And since these are tax credits, Amazon won’t pay its “fair share” to the state treasury like the rest of us anytime soon.

We need to call bullshit on the big government liberals who are behind this legislation. No one in the majority Democrat Party is proposing ANYTHING to remedy the plight of New Jersey’s existing business community, the same environment which forces us to bribe people into the state. The Democratic “party of the people” — with Republicans like Christie and his allies going along for the ride — is openly siding with big business over small businesses which employ a growing majority of New Jersey’s workforce (50.1% of the total private workforce in 2013 according to one estimate). For their trouble? Small businesses can expect (1) higher property taxes and (2) a $15 minimum wage are coming down the pike in the coming months.

The party of Harry Truman is once again acting a lot more like the party of Marie Antoinette… jewels for the courtiers, and everyone else can eat cake! Which you can’t bake, by the way, without abiding by the regulations.

Trenton’s ruling regime governs for the few at the expense of the many.

Why should my family pay more taxes to give someone else a job at Amazon? Think about that for a moment.

That’s the fairness/economics/public policy analysis. The strictly political angle: once again, we have an issue that’s clear cut, unambiguous, and easy-pickings for an N.J. GOP establishment that’ll be the opposition party in Trenton in every sense of the word in eight more days. 

When are they going to start acting like it?

Matt Rooney
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MATT ROONEY is SaveJersey.com's founder and editor-in-chief, a practicing New Jersey attorney, and the host of 'The Matt Rooney Show' on 1210 WPHT every Sunday evening from 7-10PM EST.