POSTED BY ORHAN
California’s belt-tightening, tax increases, and subsequent projected budget surplus contrasts sharply with Gov. Chris Christie’s plan to cut New Jersey’s income tax, even though the state’s deficit grew again this year, as it has for almost a decade.
Christie believes that cutting taxes on the 1% will bring “job creators” into the state: according to Thinkprogress, “The tax cut plan that Christie unveiled in 2012 would have given 40 percent of its benefit to the richest 1 percent of New Jerseyans, while cutting taxes for middle-class families by just $80.”
Christie would cut state taxes even though it would dramatically lower revenue; meanwhile New Jersey desperately needs money to rebuild after Hurricane Sandy. And while Christie is smart, tough, personable, and appears to be one of the few non-crazies on the national Republicans scene, he still clings to the market fundamentalism that brought the country to its present condition.
You can have wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, or democracy. But you cannot have both.
Whatever Works 
Politics
Maybe he can re-appropriate the Sandy Money to the state’s general treasury like he did with his tunnel money from the Feds a while back?
LikeLike
Ack, I had forgotten about the tunnel thing…it’d sure be a nasty thing to do though…
LikeLike
Pingback: As good as it gets…Christie to cut New Jersey Taxes…Whatever Works | Politicaldog101.Com
He’s getting his credentials for a run in 2016.
LikeLike
It sure looks that way; also Christie vetoed New Jersey’s marriage equality bill. I don’t think he did it because he’s against marriage equality; he did it because he has presidential ambitions and no Republican politician who supports same-sex marriage will ever be nominated for President…
LikeLike
It’s all so very 20th century. I guess most have moved on but not the GOP. You’d have thought there were lessons learned in this past election but I guess not.
LikeLike
I guess we’ll have to wait until we can hear someone use the words “moderate Republican” in a sentence–and it makes sense.
LikeLike
In general the idea that the disincentive effect of taxes is so strong that higher rate => lower revenues is far fetched.
However, I’ll suggest that this may not be quite so far fetched, because in this instance, New Jersey can attract a lot of high income folk from nearby New York that has increased rates in recent years. The point is people may not really work that much harder because of lower taxes, but they may move their high incomes around.
In the end I’m not sure this will work for New Jersey, but I just think its not obviously certain to fail.
LikeLike
And Jersey has certainly pulled revenue from New York by providing tax breaks to corporations that move across the Hudson.
LikeLike
Second, point lower taxes => more revenues is a lot more plausible for a state or even more so a locality, especially with a high tax state next door.
LikeLike
California balanced its budget by cutting social services and higher education spending, increasing income taxes on residents making $250,000 or more, plus a 0.25% sales tax hike. But presumably Oregon, Arizona, and Nevada are lower tax states, so maybe you’re right.
LikeLike
My sense is that moving across the Hudson and being 1/2 hour from your old business location might be pretty tempting to avoid taxes. Moving to Las Vegas will put you a lot further from LA than that. The larger a political subdivision is the more likely that people would move out or in because of taxes was kind of my point. For a small state like New Jersey it might be an issue. For the US as a whole much less at least, if not at all.
LikeLike
On the other hand if you live in Oregon like I do and move to Washington across the Columbia, Oregon will still tax you if you work in Portland. Oregon has a fairly high income tax, but no sales tax, and WA no income tax but a high sales tax.
LikeLike
Yeah, when I lived in Jersey and worked in Manhattan, I had to pay full New York state and city taxes, about 3 times what I would have paid if I worked in Jersey for the same pay…
LikeLike