An Economy Built to Last in NJ

From Josh Levitt
Buono For Governor


After four years of Governor Christie's failed policies, New Jersey's economy is at a crossroads. The Governor's tired, discredited trickle-down economic philosophy has left New Jersey with one of the worst job creation rates in the country and the highest unemployment rate in the region. With middle and working class families struggling to make ends meet, it's time for a change in New Jersey. Senator Buono's economic plan will strengthen New Jersey's middle class, creating new jobs and better preparing workers to compete in the 21st century economy. See for yourself below...

Buono Unveils NJ Economic Plan
By Angela Delli Santi//AP
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Barbara Buono has unveiled her economic plan for the state, and it contrasts sharply with Gov. Chris Christie's policies. Buono's plan, unveiled early Monday, focuses on shoring up the middle-class. It provides tax breaks to small businesses, pledges to make higher education more affordable and restores safety-net cuts made by Christie during his first term. The former chair of the Senate budget committee says her plan “reflects an understanding that economic growth begins with the middle class. We will create better jobs in New Jersey not just by offering tax credits to corporations, but by investing in our workforce, schools, working families, small businesses and infrastructure.”

Buono Outlines Economic Plan for New Jersey
NJ Today
...Buono said her five-plank economic plan aims to create jobs and a thriving middle class in New Jersey. The focus is to reinvest in current workers by retraining them and making sure they have the skills to be competitive since there will be higher skilled jobs in the future. “It also involves taking advantage of our assets and also … investing in our institutions of higher learning, our colleges, our universities, focusing on our county colleges and vocational schools as a way to retrain our workers for the jobs that are in demand,” she said. Raising the minimum wage is another initiative Buono supports. “I think it’s an embarrassment that we live in one of the highest cost of living states in the nation and there are 19 other states that have a higher minimum wage than we do,” she said. “People living on the minimum wage, so many still have to rely on public assistance, they live in public housing, rely on food stamps, people that are actually working but can’t make ends meet because this minimum wage is not about living, it’s about subsisting, it’s about existing.”

Buono slams Christie's economic record
By Jarrett Renshaw//The Star-Ledger
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Barbara Buono took aim at Gov. Chris Christie's economic record today, accusing him of failing the state's middle class while protecting the wealthy and large corporations. "This is a governor who's focused on giving tax cuts to millionaires and giving advantages to those already at the top while turning his back on the middle class and working poor," Buono told a small crowd gathered in the backyard of the Nutley home of state Assemblyman Al Caputo (D-Essex). "That's what my economic plan addresses."

Buono Touts Her Economic Plan, Says Christie is Out of Touch with Middle Class
NJ Today
...Buono’s 40-point plan would hike the minimum wage, redirect tax credits away from large corporations and toward small businesses, require all employers to provide paid sick days for their workers and foster research partnerships between universities and corporations.

Buono says Christie turned his back on the middle class
By Matthew Arco//Politicker NJ
The Democratic gubernatorial hopeful argued that Gov. Chris Christie is “more out of touch with the middle class than Mitt Romney” was in the last presidential election, telling a small group of Nutley residents and elected officials today that Christie is more concerned with protecting New Jersey’s richest. “How could I not run? Look at the shape our state is in,” she said. Buono discussed her economic plan she rolled out less than two days ago that would, among other things, redirect business tax credits to small business. “We need to redirect our tax credits to where they will be the most effective,” she said, calling Christie’s $2.1 billion in tax credits to large corporations largely a failure.

Buono campaigns in hometown Nutley
By Hasime Kukaj//Nutley Sun
...Buono stressed the importance of education, referring to her experience in the "amazing" Nutley public schools. "We need to invest in institutions of higher learning," Buono added. She attended Montclair State University. She said she talks to students who don't want to go to college for financial reasons. According to her campaign, "New Jersey experiences a net loss of 30,000 college students every year." Buono plans to make college tuition more affordable for New Jersey residents. "[Students] graduate with three Ds - a degree, debt and disappointment," she said. By 2018, she said relatively 800,000 new jobs are going to require postsecondary credentials. "400,000 [people] are still unemployed in New Jersey," Buono added.

Buono Talks Economy, Education and Christie at Nutley “Kitchen Table Conversation”
By Adam Bulger//Patch
...She said the state is currently suffering from what she described as Christie’s “failed trickle down economic policy” and said the governor is “as out of touch as Mitt Romney.” “We’re the bottom of the barrel for job creation,” Buono said. There are 400,000 unemployed people in New Jersey. More than that are underemployed.” The economic record, she said, spoils one of Christie’s favorite sayings. “This isn’t a comeback,” she said. “This is a catastrophe.”