WHEN YOU ARE IN A HOLE... STOP DIGGING...

October 2007

After five straight years of tax hikes, New Jersey government takes in about $33 billion a year. But its outstanding debt may be $148 billion, more than four times that amount. I know the state borrowed $40 billion from Wall Street, and that Governor Corzine said we owe about $58 billion in unfunded health benefits promised to retired government employees. But nobody will say how bad the government employee pension fund is underfunded.

The shortfall could be as high as $50 billion. (When the stock market crashed in 2001, Republican and Democrat legislators voted to increase pension benefits – including their own – by 9%!)

When you dig yourself into a hole, the first thing to do is stop digging deeper. But New Jersey politicians don't see it that way. Both Republicans and Democrats support three ballot questions that would add another billion dollars to the state government debt.

A "yes" vote on Public Question #1 would dedicate a permanent 1% state sales tax to a "Property Tax Reform Account." That billion dollar a year slush fund would be used by state politicians to bribe or bully every local official and school board in the state. It would also put a billion dollar hole in the state budget, and force another big tax hike - or the "monetization" of our highways!

The official "Interpretive Statement" claims that a "Yes" vote on Public Question #2 would let the state borrow $450 million for "stem cell research projects." But the truth is that barely $5 million (roughly one percent) of the money would be spent that way. Most ($250 million) would build some expensive new buildings in Newark, New Brunswick, and Camden. Who knows where the rest will go! Three years ago, California started a $3 billion program for stem cell research, and important research is already underway in Taiwan and Sweden.

Why "re-invent the wheel" on stem cell research? To really advance current stem cell research, give a few million bucks to existing projects in California, Sweden, and Taiwan!

A "Yes" vote on Public Question #3 would let the state borrow $200 million for "Greenacres, Blue Acres, Farmland, and Historic Preservation."

In New Jersey, that means using gobs of taxpayer money to buy votes and campaign contributions. Burned out buildings in Newark are bought at top dollar for "open space."

Schlock like "Lucy the Elephant" in Margate and seedy old "Doo Wop" motels in Wildwood are rebuilt at top dollar with union contractors as "historical monuments." Wealthy campaign contributors get millions of Green Acres (and now Blue Acres) dollars to buyup the land around their mansions to preserve their property values at taxpayer expense. The only true way to preserve "open space" is to enforce immigration laws!

There is also a fourth question on the ballot that has nothing to do with money. A "Yes" vote on Public Question #4 would allow any "idiot or insane person" to vote in New Jersey.

This would make it impossible to challenge thousands of messenger absentee ballots from nursing homes and mental hospitals. That means more "Yes" votes to borrow more money in the future!

For more information, visit www.libertyandprosperity.org or contact Somers Point attorney Seth Grossman at seth@dandy.net or 609-927-7333. Seth Grossman hosts a two way talk radio program on 1020AM Monday thru Friday from 3PM to 5PM, and breakfast discussion groups every Tuesday at 8AM at the Breakfast Shop, 910 Bay Avenue in Somers Point.