NJ Watchdog: Christie vetoes tax hikes as White House run nears

Preparing his run for the White House, Gov. Chris Christie polished his image as a tax-cutter Friday with a billion dollars’ worth of vetoes to the state budget passed by the New Jersey Legislature.

Politically, it was good timing for Christie, who plans to formally announce his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination on Tuesday at Livingston High School, his alma mater.

The governor vetoed a “millionaire’s tax” that would have raised an estimated $688 million, plus a one-year increase in the corporate tax to generate an additional $435 million. The Democratic-controlled Senate and Assembly sought those funds to help restore $1.8 billion Christie had slashed from next year’s annual pension contribution.

“If I had the money today to make the full pension payment, I would,” said Christie, speaking at a news conference. “We don’t – and I’m not going to raise taxes on all the people in New Jersey to benefit 625,000 (pensioners) in a system that’s completely broken.”

Christie also proposed a new tax break for lower-income families, increasing the state’s Earned Income Tax Credit to 30 percent of the federal credit. Democrats had approved a raise to 25 percent; the current EITC in New Jersey is 20 percent.

“I hope the legislature will concur quickly,” said the governor. “I want to cut taxes for everyone. The legislature won’t let me cut taxes for everyone, so now we’re going to cut taxes for the working poor in the state.”

At the news conference, Christie refused to discuss his upcoming campaign for president.

“I’m not here to talk about my political future,” he said. “We’ll have plenty of time to talk about my political future next week.”

The story is online at http://watchdog.org/226277/christie-vetoes-tax-increases/

President Obama's Weekly Address 7/28/12: The House of Representatives Must Act on Middle Class Tax Cut Extension

WASHINGTON, DC— In this week’s address, President Obama urged Republicans in the House of Representatives to act on his proposal to protect middle class families and small businesses from being hit with a big tax hike next year. Everyone says they agree that we should extend the tax cuts for the middle class and the Senate already passed the President’s plan to prevent a typical family from seeing a tax increase of $2,200, but Republicans in Congress are holding these tax cuts hostage until we extend tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. The President called on Congress to pass the middle class tax extension so that we can continue to grow the economy and create jobs the American people.

Letter: Blame mayor, GOP rule for tax hikes in Middletown, New Jersey

The letter below was written by Linda Baum and appears online today at the Asbury Park Press:

The letter “Fiscal discipline puts Middletown on track” (Oct. 21) implies residents should be concerned about the leadership of Democratic representatives who have consistently voted against the tax hikes and irresponsible pet projects that are a heavy burden on Middletown residents.

Democrats didn’t raise municipal property taxes more than 22 percent in three years. Tony Fiore did.

Republicans have held a majority on the Township Committee for decades and therefore can’t blame anyone else for the mess they’ve made. Mayor Fiore helped to create many of the problems we now face.

No one would argue that these are difficult times, but the economic climate cannot be blamed for the result of so many years of mismanagement. Our taxes went up every year, long before the downturn.

Fiore acts as if conforming to a tax cap is the goal. It’s a ceiling, and there are many ways around it, such as taking $750,000 over the last two years from the Sewerage Authority, which can raise our sewer fees to recoup without any annoying tax cap to worry about. Let’s not forget last year’s 13.4 percent municipal tax increase, which blew well past the cap and required a state waiver.

Further, the $4 million reduction in this year’s budget isn’t the spending cut Fiore would like everyone to believe. The budget reduction results mainly from the disappearance of surplus revenue.

Most of those reserves went to pay for tax appeals, which could have been avoided had there been more attention to fair distribution of revenues over the years. That’s the very foundation of municipal government and speaks of the real problem — an absence of foresight and planning.

Residents deserve much better.