By Matt Rooney
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Rather than actually doing something to lower our property taxes? Or at least significantly curb their rate of increase, as Chris Christie accomplished?
Phil Murphy is suing the federal government.
It won’t succeed. And even if it somehow does, Save Jerseyans, we all know that allowing New Jersey to write off more of their massive, inexcusably-burdensome tax state and local tax loads won’t solve the root problem.
Something Republicans and other opponents of the Murphy agenda should consider: demand that Murphy finally release his FULL tax returns for unrestrained public inspection.
It’d be awfully nice for New Jersey taxpayers to know exactly how much Murphy, personally, stands to gain if the SALT lawsuit succeeds in removing the $10,000 cap incorporated into last year’s federal tax cut package.
“Full” and “unrestrained” are the key words there. Our Governor released his returns during his campaign but only to the media, for two hours, and omitting thousands of pages of attachments. That’s not a “release”; it’s a snapshot in the dark. We can’t get a flavor of Phil Murphy’s true tax picture without all of the information and with less time to accomplish it than a regulation professional football game.
Murphy is, after all, Mr. “Fairer” New Jersey after all. We’re constantly hearing about how the rich don’t pay enough and, magically, if they just pay a little more, problems engendered over decades by corruption, mismanagement, and economically illiterate policies will somehow be solved.
I’m not a class warfare guy. I support people keeping as much of their own, hard-earned money as possible after the roads and military are adequately funded. But if we’re going to think and act like good little social justice warriors, then it’s worth remembering that while most New Jerseyans got a tax cut courtesy of President Trump and the GOP Congress, the “rich” stand the most to gain if the SALT cap goes away. It would steer something like 57% of of the benefits back to the so-called 1%.
The Democrat Governor’s property taxes alone are reportedly over $200,000.
Some quick math: $204,361 minus 10,000 equals the “full” pre-federal reform SALT deduction Murphy is currently missing out on. At a 39.6% top marginal rate? He could save almost eighty grand ($76,966.95) if he wins in court. In perpetuity! And that’s based only on what we know.
So com’on, Mr. Governor. Let’s see how much cash YOU will recoup if your lawsuit — funded by OUR tax dollars — prevails. Remember: Murphy took his taxpayer-funded salary, too, notwithstanding his frequent preaching about the need for people like him to fork over more cash.
You and I have skin in this game, Save Jerseyans, even if Phil Murphy and his rich, limousine liberal friends feign an air of selflessness which I suspect we could easily and definitively disprove with a little transparency.
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