Awesome Parable on Taxes

From the Rhode Island Blog Anchor Rising:

Sep 19, 2008
Public Tax Meeting

We Voted On It
John JJ Richman was making breakfast when he heard the crowd outside. They seemed just shy of hostile. He opened his door to see about 65 townspeople, out of a town of 100. Two spokesmen were standing on the porch.


John: Good morning. Why are you all here?

Rob: There are things that need changing, and you are the one to help us.

John: (Distracted by the milling crowd)


Rob: The town could use improvement. Renovating the school, hiring more police, fixing up the football field, and a summer splash fountain for the children. For the little children! (Rob was shaking a bit.)

John: Well, if you put it like that, I can contribute $1000. (He scans the crowd) Make that $2000.


Rob: Not enough. We want you to pay for it all, along with the other 4 rich guys in town. You are earning $250,000 and paying $80,000 in tax. We think $105,000 in tax is only fair, (his eyes flash) or maybe a bit more. That leaves you with $145,000, which is more than fair. You live in the town and will benefit from the improvements.

John: That's a big bite. Why should just 5 out of the 100 fund the whole town? As a single man, that $80,000 in 2008 payroll and income taxes is 32% of my earnings, isn't that enough? Maybe the whole town should contribute.


Rob: We contribute what we can. We have less money than you. Some of us work for you, and you don't pay enough. We should all be more equal. You have the money and we need it.

John: I already personally pay 20% of the town's expenses. The 5 rich guys in town together pay 60%. The 25 well off families pay 86%. Isn't that enough?


Rob: We are not into philosophy. We want money. You have money.

John: Well, I don't agree with you. Where do you get the authority to just take what you want from me?


Rob: I'm the mayor, and at my election two years ago a referendum passed by 65 to 35 about fixing potholes. I think you argued at the time that there was already enough money to fix them. It seems you were always stingy.

In that referendum, Section 3, Paragraph 2.a says: "The town shall have the authority to levy taxes to an aggregate amount strictly limited to a total of $20,000 to fix the potholes in the town's streets and thoroughfares (note 1)."

Note 1 says: "And in emergencies, for things other than potholes, and possibly a bit more".

(The crowd laughs and slaps each other on the back)


John: This is unfair. You want me to pay more without paying anything more yourself.


Rob: Actually, we are lowering our own taxes. We deserve it, and you don't. We don't understand how you get your money. Some sort of luck or black magic. It probably should be ours. Somehow you took it when we weren't looking. We are leaving you more than enough. You should be happy.

John: I don't have the extra money on me.


Rob: We'll bill you. We are not barbarians.

(The crowd looks disappointed)

John: It seems I can't do anything about this. You understand that I won't be expanding my business within the town. I'm feeling a bit upset. I may go fishing.


Rob: Fishing is good. We'll see you there.

We may be back in a month about money for another Stimulus Package. We want to improve the town economy by giving each of us 65 a stimulus check of $1000. Those new TV's look sweet.

John: Is that all?


Rob: (Turns toward the crowd without answering) OK boys, next stop is 13 Orchard Lane, there is more work to do

And better yet, the comment after was just perfect:

Anonymous said...
And now - The Rest Of The Story:

Within the year Richman, the 4 other rich guys and most of the other 25 well off families in town had put their homes up for sale and moved to other towns. They outsourced much of their manufacturing to Mexico and the far east and moved the remainder or their plants and other business interests to other towns with more reasonable tax structures.
The taxes no longer paid by these people were shifted to the remaining well off families who are now in the process of leaving town.
The extra police have been laid off along with half of the original force. The money for the football field was spent on new sod but the field is now overgrown because there is no money to repair the broken lawn mower.
The splash fountain for the children was started but there isn't any money to complete it so it remains a muddy eyesore.
The streets and public buildings are in poor repair but there is no money to fix them.
The mayor is running for re-election on promises to increase tax revenues by raising the tax rate on the campgrounds and antique stores that bring tourists to the town, as well as the hotels, restaurants and other businesses that cater to them.

BONESHAKER

9/20/08 7:28 PM

Free Cars and Gas for State Workers

Each morning as I make my way to work, I typically spot between one and four state owned vehicles heading toward the cluster of state offices in Trenton. Now, we all know that there are certain jobs in the state where it is more cost effective to provide a state vehicle than to reimburse employees for mileage. But what doesn't make sense to me is why the Ford Focus flying by me at 65 miles per hour on route 206 clearly driven by a commuter to work should be paid for by my tax dollars. The auto, from the State Department of Environmental Protection was one of many that department seems to dole out to its workers like candy.

Here's an idea for you Mr. Corzine. Make your state workers come to work in their own cars. Make them pay their own gas. And then, if they need to do the public's business, provide a pool car that they can use and then return back to the NJ government premises. Outside of law enforcement who are on duty 24 hours a day, no state worker should have a state owned vehicle with state paid gas parked at their home AT ANY TIME.

If legislature of this state is so interested in fighting global warming(the irony of the outrageous number of State DEP vehicles on our streets is raw) -cut the fleet. State owned autos should not be a perk for state workers.

Hamilton Township Residents Revolt - Elections apparently don't matter

From today's Trentonian:

HAMILTON — A taxfighters’ showdown is in the wind. You can’t see it in the bounce of tumble weed, hear it in the jangle of spurs or smell it in the nervous sweat.

But you can sure feel the heat of its anger as you read of its coming in The Trentonian’s BackTalk.

BackTalk has been flooded this week with dozens of reactions to the state’s invalidation of taxpayers’ stunning rejection Tuesday of the Hamilton Township school district’s $170 million budget.

Every single BackTalker expressed outrage that the state Department of Education would disrespect such a fundamental form of hometown, American democracy.

It was as if nearly 6,000 votes, pro and con, vanished in a digital nanosecond at the behest of bureaucratic fiat.

The story line is simple. The township has experienced some of the highest tax increases in the state due to poor fiscal management. There was a school budget election. The residents overwhelmingly turned it down and wanted deeper cuts. The state has now nullified the election.

Welcome to the state of New Jersey. If you can't beat 'em, cheat 'em.

Read the entire article here.

New Jersey: Exemplary Government

Exemplary of what, though?

We don't have to look far to see where that [i.e., including additional spending in plans for new taxes] leads. New Jersey adopted legalized gambling (Atlantic City) to lower property taxes. Then it adopted a sales tax to lower property taxes. Then it adopted an income tax for education to lower property taxes. Today, New Jersey has the highest per capita property taxes in the country as well as an income tax and a sales tax.

This came from the Union Leader newspaper of New Hampshire. And the same article gives some very sound and obvious advice:

Voters concerned about property taxes should consider cutting spending, not adding more taxes. Spending goes up every year much faster than inflation does, so property taxes go up.

Maybe we should be looking to others for examples.

Governor Corzine Delivers His Budget

Here's Governor Corzine's speech in text, audio, and video.

There's also a summary of the budget from the state OMB. The executive summary is about seven pages long; the budget summary runs another 74 pages after that. I'm trying to locate a complete budget, but I'm not convinced that it has been published yet.

When I get the chance I'll try to provide some color commentary. I want to see discipline like Assemblyman Polistina showed -- but I'm not holding my breath.

Meanwhile, Steve Lonegan has already issued a comprehensive response to the Governor's speech. Since it's not up on the Americans for Prosperity Web site yet, I'll reproduce it here.

LONEGAN: CORZINE SHOULD PROPOSE REAL CUTS, NOT A "PHONY FREEZE"

Call your legislators and tell them "This is not enough!" Click here for phone numbers.

For Immediate Release: February 26, 2008
Contact: Steve Lonegan (201) 881-6692

-- Codey did the same "cuts" three years ago.

BOGOTA -- Americans for Prosperity New Jersey Director Steve Lonegan called Governor Jon Corzine's proposed budget a "phony freeze" similar to that done by Governor Codey in 2006 and said the state needs real spending reductions to bring New Jersey back.

"New Jersey state spending has doubled in ten years, gone up fifty percent since McGreevey was elected and even with the alleged reductions will be nearly twenty percent higher than it was when Governor Corzine took office," Lonegan said. "The Governor's proposal does nothing to reduce New Jersey's out of control tax burden, nothing to reduce New Jersey's ridiculous welfare state and nothing to cap the outrageous pensions and other giveaways to public employees."

Lonegan said that Corzine's proposal was deficient and should be corrected with the following steps.

• Immediate layoffs, not "early retirement" schemes that keep employees in the pension system.
• Elimination of "Project Labor Agreements" that drive up the cost of state, county and local government construction projects.
• Stopping billions of dollars in debt already authorized but not yet borrowed.
• Elimination of departments including State, Community Affairs, the Comptroller and the Public Advocate.
• Repeal the 9 percent pension hike passed in 2001.
• End state municipal aid to so-called "Abbott" districts that already receive virtually unlimited school aid.
• Raise the retirement age for public employees to 65 and end longevity bonuses.
• The new war on small towns with less than 10,000 residents must be rejected. These towns are the most efficiently run in the state and Corzine's proposal attempts to eliminate them.
• Stopping the use of "rebate" programs as income redistribution schemes, instead of looking at permanent tax relief.
• Crack down on out of control pensions, lavish medical benefits and order new and recent employees into 401(k) programs.
• Sunset all state regulations for a complete review.
• Initiative and Referendum to allow taxpayers to take charge of state government from an out-of-control legislature.
• End binding arbitration for public employees, including police officers.
• Stopping subsidies to New Jersey Network and selling the licenses and facilities to the highest bidder.
• Eliminate all unfunded state mandates on county and local governments.
• Announce he will veto the Paid Family Leave legislation that creates a new $130 Million payroll tax and a new open-ended entitlement program.
• Roll back new garbage taxes, the $10 television tax, the $500 S-Corporation tax and other new taxes passed under the McGreevey-Codey-Corzine administrations
• Oppose any new taxes or toll increases.

"New Jersey has the highest state sales tax in the country, the highest property taxes, the worst income taxes and the worst small business climate in the nation," Lonegan said. "Corzine's budget is the same phony 'freeze' Dick Codey put in before the last election and you can bet that if Corzine somehow gets re-elected in 2009 that the days of big spending, higher taxes, out-of-control debt and more regulations will be back and worse than ever."

Phone calls are more effective than email in letting politicians know how serious you are. Call your legislators and tell them "This is not enough!" Click here for phone numbers.

A Portrait In Courage: "We'll Just Keep The Money, OK?"

Via The Daily Journal:

Three area legislators on Monday introduced an eight-point plan they said would reduce state spending and help balance New Jersey's budget.

Among their proposals is one likely to have some homeowners hitting the roof: suspending the state's property tax rebate program for everyone except senior citizens and the disabled.

A rebate is when they collect tax money from you and then give some of it back, right? That's how I always understood the term.

But the New Jersey state government -- specifically State Senator Jeff Van Drew and Assemblymen Nelson Albano and Matthew Milam -- wants to cut spending by cutting rebates.

Follow that? Warped as it seems, they apparently think that "Don't spend so much of our money" means "don't give so much of our money back to us."

They should go back to Legislative Kindergarten, and their teacher should be Assemblyman Polistina. We don't want them to give less of our money back, we want them to spend less of our money.

That gives a deeply ironic feel to this quote:

"This plan requires courage and discipline," Van Drew said, adding that he expected fallout from the proposal to eliminate the annual property tax rebate for residents.

"We know this is almost the Holy Grail of politics, sending people a check in the mail," he said. "But we believe this is the right thing."

I respect the fact that these people are trying to find ways to avoid having Governor Corzine double tolls, and then double them again, and then double them again. (A shoe shine in Penn Station, given the same price inflation, would cost $32.)

I don't respect their calls for "courage and discipline". It takes courage to say "no" to additional requests for money. It takes discipline to stick to a budget. It takes no courage and no discipline to keep the excess money that you've been sucking out of our property taxes during the year.

And I don't respect their spin on the issue:

Van Drew, Albano and Milam said numerous constituents have told them they'd rather forego the rebate check than see tolls raised or get hit with other taxes.

I, too, would rather forego the rebate check than see tolls raised or other taxes levied.

But I would much, much rather see them reduce spending. These gentlemen have set up a classic rhetorical device, the false dichotomy, in an effort to hoodwink us into thinking that this is the only way.

Maybe they actually believe that it is. Maybe they actually believe that they're being courageous. If so, their thinking is hopelessly muddled.

Senator Van Drew, if you're listening: you have it wrong. Only a politician who is warped by the sense of entitlement around him could think that the Holy Grail of politics is sending people a check. I don't want a check. Nobody I've spoken to wants a check. We all want you to take less money in the first place.

Doing that -- and cutting services to make us fiscally whole again -- would take courage and discipline. That's your job. Please execute.

More Taxes to Kill the Economy: "Activity Taxes"

Via allbusiness.com:

"When Barry Godwin, the Comptroller of a South Carolina pleasure boat company, received a call from a New Jersey revenue agent last July, he could hardly believe his ears. A truckload of boats bound for Massachusetts had been stopped at a weigh station, and the agent was demanding $46,200 in “back taxes.”

Goodwin’s 240-employee company, Stingray Boats, has never had a physical presence in New Jersey. But the revenue agent had determined through a conversation with the driver that Stingray had a “business nexus” with the state because it supplied boats to an independent New Jersey dealer. Therefore, it owed state taxes. It was either pay up, or the boats would be impounded, he was told. The company had little choice; it paid, he said.

“The manner in which the State of New Jersey acted is commonly defined as extortion,” Goodwin told the House Small Business Committee this week."

Apparently activity taxes weren't common until around 2005. How much do you think this small business owner will want to drive through New Jersey when the tolls are eight times higher and the activity taxes suck tens of thousands of dollars out of him?

Tell Corzine What to Cut

There's a form on Governor Corzine's Web site that enables you to tell him what you'd like to cut. Hat tip: PolitickerNJ.com.

Taxes by State

With a hat tip to the National Taxpayers Union blog, here's a list of taxes in New Jersey, with links to all the other states as well.

Constitutional Problem With Toll Plan?

On Toll Roads News I just saw an article that says this:

New Jersey Republican legislative leaders have raised an interesting constitutional challenge to Governor Cozine's tollroad monetization scheme. Senate GOP leader Tom Kean and assembly leader Alex DeCroce say it violates a constitutional bar on granting special privileges.

They say the issue arises under Article IV, Section 7, paragraph 9 of the New Jersey Constitution: "The Legislature shall not pass any private, special or local laws... Granting to any corporation, association or individual any exclusive privilege, immunity or franchise whatever..."

Corzine's draft bill provides for a newly created Capital Solutions Corporation (CSC), the successor to the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, to enter into a long term concession agreement with a to-be-created Public Benefit Corporation (PBC). The bill requires that the CSC "enter into a concession agreement with the PBC on a sole source basis, giving it the exclusive right to operate maintain, manage, expand and improve any or all assets of the CSC specified in the agreement during the PBC concession period and to impose, adjust and collect tolls and charges."

There's more, and the whole article is worth reading, with deeper analysis.

Codey Opposes Minimum Wage Hike

From njbiz.com.

Senate President Richard Codey (D-Essex) has told NJBIZ he would block any legislation that would increase the state’s $7.15-per-hour minimum wage. . . .

Codey says it would be asking too much of business to swallow both a minimum-wage hike and paid-family leave at the same time.

Believe it or not, I want us to have a "social safety net." We can't leave the poor to their own devices. I don't think it should be managed at the federal level, but I'm okay with welfare. I struggle with the way we implement it, though.

Part of the problem is that we use language that impedes understanding rather than helps it. Check this out:

Paid-family leave legislation...is a worker-funded program... “We are hitting [business] with paid-family leave now,” says Codey.

If it were really "worker-funded", we wouldn't be hitting business with it, right?

Anyway, we have a very clunky process for dealing with the minimum wage. Do we really have to do this?

The current $7.15 minimum wage ranks 10th highest in the country and is tied with New York, Michigan and Alaska, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. An $8.25 minimum wage would vault New Jersey to No. 1. . . .

Philip Kirschner, president of the New Jersey Busness & Industry Association and a member of the minimum-wage commission, voted against the hike. “Increasing the minimum wage to $8.25 will give us the highest minimum wage in the country and will result in a 55 percent increase in just three years,” says Kirschner. “For businesses that employ entry-level minimum-wage workers, that is very difficult.”

He adds that automatic cost-of-living hikes could drive call centers, light manufacturing and other businesses to lower minimum-wage states. “Pennsylvania and New York do not have [automatic raises],” he says. “In two years, we will be $1.50 more than [New York]. There are not many businesses that will pay that much extra for the same work they can get in New York and Pennsylvania.”

Corzine Toll Plan Affecting Senate Races

Gotta love this...

"Maybe if we had a more effective U.S. senator, the governor wouldn't have to borrow $40 billion," Pennachio said.

I didn't live in New Jersey under Christie Whitman's administration, but apparently she beat up Democrat Bill Bradley during the Senate race in 1990 because he didn't repudiate Gov. Florio's tax hikes -- and came within 2 points of him.

This is particularly choice:

Lautenberg spokesman Brendan Gill said the Republican candidates "will say anything to avoid talking about how we are going to bring our troops home, stimulate our economy, improve health care and boost education. Sen. Lautenberg is working for New Jersey to tackle those problems now."

In other words, Senator Lautenberg is working for New Jersey by trying to federalize everything -- making New Jersey's statehood less relevant -- and would really rather avoid talking about what's happening in his own back yard. Fortunately, he has said that "now is not the time to be raising tolls." Even Corzine's friends aren't his friends on this topic.

Breath Bated for Feb 26

The linked article talks about how Governor Corzine won't put tolls on Route 440. (It was only 1.5% of the total revenue he intended to generate, after all. Just 98.5% to go...) It also talks about the people who heckled him as well, which makes me think that maybe getting in his face a little bit actually works. (No doubt that's why he wants to close the process from the public, as my co-blogger Dennis has pointed out -- you can't heckle something if you don't know any of the details about it.)

But that's not what caught my attention. It was this:

Corzine said his plan attacks spending by providing for a spending freeze and requiring voter approval for any future borrowing that does not have a dedicated revenue source. He also said the budget he plans to introduce on Feb. 26 will have deep spending cuts in it and predicted the proposal would shift the focus of the debate over his toll road plan.

I can't wait to see what he has in mind.

New Toll Agency will be EXEMPT from Open Records Law

The hits keep rolling on as more information comes out regarding Gov Corzine's asset monetization plan for the toll roads. According to today's Courier Post article:

Gov. Jon S. Corzine would bar the public from examining the inner workings of the toll-road corporation that he wants to create to raise $32 billion, even though it would employ thousands and spend billions of dollars.

As we have discussed before, the Governor wants everyone to keep an open mind. This is despite the fact that he doesn't want citizens to vote on his plan, staged all of the increases for after his re-election campaign and now has no intention of letting the public know what is going on with this new fake entity. And the Governor wonders why the public doesn't trust him?

Expect bigger electric bills - while Trenton fiddles!

New Jersey residents will see double-digit increases in their electric bills come this summer.

The increases, ranging from 10.5 percent to 17.3 percent, are based on the results of the annual auction for basic generation service conducted this week by the state Board of Public Utilities.

This from a Newsday article today on Friday's certified results of the energy auction. While we cannot always hold Trenton accountable, it appears that neighboring states are much more active in attempting to hold rates as constant as the market can bear. You can see a listing of state comparative electrical rates in this chart from Energy Information Administration.

The point here is that energy prices are a market commodity. But not completely. Many states protect their citizens from double digit increases like this one. Pennsylvania for example instituted a temporary cap to create a more predictable cost structure which is not popular on many fronts but does help their citizens. It won't last forever for sure but it has helped. With the mortgage situation as it currently is and foreclosures moving higher every month, why hasn't a single New Jersey politician commented on this increase which will frankly put more people on the street.

Oh, that's right. They are too busy increasing school spending, ending the death penalty that they never administered, apologizing for slavery and looking to put windmills on the turnpike (oh, and selling the turnpike and increasing tolls exponentially). Something is seriously wrong here.

NJ Polling Places

If you live in New Jersey and need to find your polling place, the NJ Division of Elections has a page to help you find it. It also has information on accessibility and other issues.

New Jersey to become ENRON!!!

While driving to my daughters basketball practice this morning I happened to catch part of Steve Cordasco's Big Money show on 1210-WPHT. The topic of the segment was an analysis of Governor Corzine's asset monetization plan. I was immediately interested because this show typically has only experienced investment counselors explaining current trends, companies and various investment vehicles.

The most intriguing part of the discussing was the fact that they were laughing about the plan. Yes, laughing. Their assessment was the the Governor has no idea what to do about NJ's financial situation so he is going back to what he does know-finance. But remember that Corzine is a veteran of the types of company fluffing techniques that produced Enron.

They then walked through the program. Corzine has a problem with too much debt service in NJ. So Corzine sets up a corporate entity owned by the state. This 'corporate' entity buys the state's debt and then issues debt of its own theoretically at a lower interest rate-or not. Now New Jersey gets a better debt rating to have more financial flexibility. But the net is a complete shell game.

There has been no discussion of reducing spending. As a matter of fact, just last week the legislature added 500 million in new spending for schools. This is like restructuring credit card debt. If you consolidate your credit cards to a single lower rate loan, you only improve your financial situation by stopping the spending practices that caused the debt and then make sure you consistently pay down the restructured loan.

The governor suggests a spending freeze. But that concept is deceptive. What he is really suggesting is a spending GROWTH freeze. So he has no intention of cutting back-if he sells off the toll roads to pay debt, he fully intends to start spending again putting off the bill to another administration. It is very interesting that the first big toll hike will come AFTER his next election campaign in 2010.

When experienced financial people laugh at this plan I have to wonder who the joke is on. Now I know-the New Jersey taxpayer.

NJ Slavery Apology: Gestures and Politics

I was reminded today of a famous Animal House quote "This situation absolutely requires a really futile and stupid gesture, be done on somebody's part!" when reading the news story of our legislature considering an official apology for slavery by the State of New Jersey.

The issue here is:
1. Most of the citizens of this state or our ancestors were not even in this country when slavery was in play. My ancestors were surviving potato famines and British oppression during the operative years.
2. There are very few if any former slaves to apologize to so I am not sure who our legislators want to appease.
3. New Jersey was frankly one of the best states in speaking out against slavery when it mattered. Read your history.
4. Don't our politicians have something more important to do than fake gestures against fake victims with fake sincerity.

I think so.

Here are some reminders in case our legislature is bored and not paying attention:
1. Fix the highest property tax in the nation status
2. Fix the outward migration problem
3. Fix the 3 billion dollar deficit in 2008

Today is Veteran's Day

Today is a good day to thank a Veteran for their service to our country. How much do you know about the origin of Veteran's day? The American Legion of Barnegat NJ has a brief history here.

To All Vets, Thanks for your service!

Will Democrats Heed the Lesson

Tom Moran from the Star Ledger wrote and excellent opinion piece today. The article entitled "A Sobering Lesson for Democrats" brings up some interesting points that we have made here earlier this week. He mentions the 71% to 19% poll that said NJ residents supported spending state money on stem cell research. Said Mr Moran:

So the fact that those same voters soundly rejected the stem cell initiative on Tuesday's ballot was a shock, maybe even a turning point.

The meaning was unmistakable. Voters no longer trust Democrats to handle their money.

They're not ready yet to switch partners and hand power to Republicans. But they want their Democrats to sober up.

These are serious words that anyone in the leadership of this state should internalize. Of course, no one is talking about shrinking government yet despite a 3 million dollar deficit looming. Most telling is the quote in the article by Governor Corzine earlier this year:

"I didn't run for public office to be a number cruncher or to play Scrooge," he said during a revealing moment of his budget address earlier this year.

An interesting point. My answer to the Governor is that no one elected you to run the state like a immature 16 year old either. Leadership means making hard decisions. If the state is living beyond its means, it is incumbent on the Governor to fix the fiscal problems before he decides to go on a spending spree like a drunken sailor on shore leave. If Mr Corzine is not up to the job, perhaps he would be willing to step down and allow some other politician who is capable of making hard decisions take over. Better to be Scrooge than Donald Duck!

Tonight is Not a Normal Election Night

I have been following the early results on the ballot questions and have almost written three posts in the past hour. I am very surprised by what I see in some traditional corners that vote against fiscal responsibility. Are we on the verge of a real live voter revolt? I am not sure yet but needless to say I am SHOCKED by early returns on the Stem Cell issue. The polls declared NJ voters as supportive at 3-1 margin. It is currently losing in key Democrat counties. Not sure if any of this will hold up as I can't see precinct but I am watching closely.

As a matter of fact, all of the money issues are getting battered. Maybe my apathetic post concern earlier is wrong.

Taxes, Corruption Big Issues In N.J. Election

I ran across this article that pretty much sums up today's election on WNBC's web site. What is a little sad is that the general consensus is that voters are concerned over taxes and corruption however a very small turnout is expected despite the fact that every Senate and Assembly seat will be contested.

An interesting comment from the article:

The campaigns have been dominated by debate over America's highest property taxes, which average $6,330 per homeowner -- twice the national average -- and ethics.

Hope isn't lost however. The reporter found a gentleman who seemed to get it today at the voting booth:

Joe Albite, a 50-year-old marketing manager, who was voting at Florence V. Evans Elementary School in Evesham, said his main concern on Election Day was taxes.

He said he was voting for a ballot measure to use a sales tax increase to offset property taxes and against the stem-cell research measure and also against another ballot initiative to borrow money to preserve open space.

From Joe's lips to everyone in New Jersey's ears. I voted this evening with my young son in the hope that he will take this freedom of ours as seriously I do.

Read the article here.