Corzine Shuts N.J. Gov't

[Lupinus]

Corzine Shuts N.J. Gov't Down Amid Dispute Over Sales Tax
Saturday, July 01, 2006

TRENTON, N.J. — Gov. Jon S. Corzine closed the state government Saturday amid a bitter dispute with fellow Democrats in the Assembly over his plan to increase the sales tax, threatening to shutter beaches, parks and possibly casinos in the coming days.

After Saturday's constitutional deadline to adopt a new balanced budget passed without agreement, Corzine signed an executive order just after 9:30 a.m., a grim climax to weeks of budget squabbling among Democrats who control state government but haven't been able to agree on a budget bill.

"It gives me no joy, no satisfaction, no sense of empowerment to do what I'm forced to do here," Corzine said.

Within minutes of Corzine signing the order, road construction projects were required to begin winding down. Motor vehicle offices planned to close at noon. About 45,000 state employees were immediately furloughed. State courts were closed for anything but emergencies. State-run beaches are set to close Wednesday morning.

Services such as state police, prisons, mental hospitals and child welfare were to keep operating. The casinos could be forced to close because they require state monitoring, though the casino industry is challenging a possible closure in court.

A bid by Atlantic City's 12 casinos Friday to get state monitors declared "essential employees" who would stay on the job despite a government shutdown is now before an emergency appellate court panel, casino association lawyer John Kearney said Saturday.

The dispute centers on Corzine's determination to raise the state sales tax from 6 percent to 7 percent to help close a $4.5 billion budget deficit.

Corzine sees the increase as a vital step toward providing reliable annual revenue, but most Democrats in the Assembly — the lower house of the state Legislature — and several Senate Democrats say the plan is unnecessary.

Opponents have questioned the need for a sales tax increase, predicting voter backlash and demanding that any increase be reserved for property tax reform.

The state Constitution requires a balanced budget by July 1, but the deadline has been missed four times in five years. Nothing happened when deadlines were missed before, but the state never went past the morning of July 2 without an adopted budget. Without one, the state has no authority to spend money.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,201801,00.html

Ok so what does he think shutting them down is going to get it done faster? Any thoughts on the implications? Something about a governor issuing an exec. order cause the state government is deadlocked and it doesn't look like the governor will be getting his way doesn't sit right with me.

 

[gc70]

Technically, the Governor is doing the right thing. If the state constitution requires a balanced budget, the Governor should not accept a budget that is not balanced Technically, the Governor also has no authority to allow government spending without a legal and approved budget.

Regardless of the Governor's underlying desires, the legislature could have avoided the issue by presenting a balance budget - either increasing revenues to match desired spending or cutting spending to match available revenues.

Now, back to reality...

 

[Mannlicher]

Sounds like the best thing that has happened to NJ in about 50 years.

 

[Kim]

Heck everyone is NJ should have a State wide party as this time of government shut down is the most free and safe they have been in at least a Century.

 

[Lupinus]

nah cause the police are still up of course.

 

[Nicky Santoro]

The problem is that Corzine refuses to address the real issue which is profligate spending. He's now hoping that by disruptive tactics he can inconvenience people enough so that they will accept further taxation as an alternative. I've lived in NJ all my life and I can attest that this is the home of the uninformed, misinformed, ignorant, gullible, and the truly stupid. In other words, it is the promised land for Democrats.

 

[k217sc]

I wonder whether or not the NJ politicos even halfway considered a reduction in state expenditures as an option? They sure don't on the national level.

 

[Lupinus]

probably not.

I escaped that hellhole when I was 15 years old, you couldn't pay me to live there agian

 

[beerslurpy]

The hilarious thing is that no one will notice the government is gone except the government employees. A similar thing happened when the republicans shut down the government during the clinton years. I was like "uh nothing bad happened, let's do this more often."

 

[Bigjake]

Massive Democrat state government collapsing under its own weight?? The horror! Isn't NJ supposed to be some kind of leftist Utopia?? how could this happen?

Obviously, the aren't taxing all those pesky "rich" (anybody that makes more than 30k) folks hard enough.

:banghead:

 

[mete]

If he really meant to shut down nonessential services he would stop paying the politicians.He certainly doesn't need more money.

 

[Dannyboy]

Regardless of the Governor's underlying desires, the legislature could have avoided the issue by presenting a balance budget - either increasing revenues to match desired spending or cutting spending to match available revenues.

The State Legislature had a balanced budget but it didn't include the sales tax raise that Corzine wanted. They couldn't come to an agreement so Corzine took his ball and went home. Hopefully, he'll stay there for a while.

 

[HankB]

A similar thing happened when the republicans shut down the government during the clinton years. I was like "uh nothing bad happened, let's do this more often."

Uh . . . just to be technical it was NOT the republicans that shut down the government, it was Clinton who repeatedly vetoed the budget . . . and instead of hitting the airwaves 24/7 in all 50 states to point the blame where it belonged, The Stupid Party sat on their hands and congratulated each other on their good behavior as the blame was pinned on them. (But I do agree, that "uh nothing bad happened, let's do this more often.")

I was living in PROM (People's Republic of Minnesota) oh, it must be at least 15 years ago when a strike by nearly all state employees "shut down the government."

Thing is, except for some students at U of Minnesota who had to stand in longer lines when registering for classes, virtually nobody noticed.

 

[carebear]

Opponents have questioned the need for a sales tax increase, predicting voter backlash and demanding that any increase be reserved for property tax reform.

Evil landlords and rich homeowners SHOULD be paying more to support the poor. How dare they not live off the dole like decent folk.

 

[The Cavalry]

It's not lost on us here in NJ that this great event is happening during Independence Day, further cranking up the celebratory volume for those of us that yearn for reunification with the United States.

Living here is a series of uphill battles each legislative session, but we've stopped such abominations as a complete ban on handguns (except where the local police chief decides you have proper cause to own one), an expansion of the AWB to include anything w/ a pistol grip and detachable magazine, and a slew of others.

We lost some ground recently, with a bill that restricts the sale and posession of ammunition to those holding a NJ Firearms Purchaser ID Card having passed the Assembly and now stuck in the state Senate. Comrade Korzine will gladly sign this horror if it passes the Senate, so we're busily communicating with our Senators to put the kibosh on it.

And we have a "shall-issue" CCW bill in the Senate to rally around, with increasing numbers of states seeing no signs of the "wild west" "shoot first" "make my day" or other tired, retreaded misnomers squealed by the antis in states where this and castle doctrine laws have passed.

 

[DougW]

You have got to be kidding!!!!!!

I thought a state run by Democrats for Democrats was Utopia!

I haven't laughed this hard in weeks! But then, I live in "Fly Over" country, so what do I know?

 

[Henry Bowman]

The hilarious thing is that no one will notice the government is gone except the government employees.

On the MSM news this morning they reported that the people are outraged that they cannot buy state lottery tickets.

Bread and circuses. Bread and circuses.

 

[Sam Adams]

I wonder whether or not the NJ politicos even halfway considered a reduction in state expenditures as an option? They sure don't on the national level.

Not a chance. By the way, the most amusing part of this is that Komrade Korzine shut down "non-essential" services. Well, moron, if they are "non-essential" and you are $4.5 billion in debt, why not shut them down permanently? I know, coupling logic and anti-gun, liberal Democrats is a complete waste of time.

It is also interesting that the Bozo decided to shut down the casinos. Gee, that's only directly producing $2 million/day for the state, not to mention additional revenue from casino customers who stay at the hotels, buy stuff in the hotels and on the boardwalk, pay tolls to get there, etc. And this guy was a leading Wall Street financier? Total schmuck, that's what he is.

...further cranking up the celebratory volume for those of us that yearn for reunification with the United States.

That reminds me of when I was leaving the PRNJ (for Texas, Free America) with my wife about 5 1/2 years ago (after having lived there for nearly 40 years). I had several items that NJ law didn't/still doesn't exactly like us peons to have, so when I passed the "Welcome to Delaware" sign while crossing the Delaware Memorial Bridge, I casually turned to my wife (who was then utterly ignorant of firearms laws and my stock of possessions at that point) and said, "Now you won't have to bail me out of jail." I got the bug-eyes and she almost broke her jaw on the floor before asking me to explain. I told her about magazines above 15 rounds being illegal in the PRNJ, and the penalty (5 years in the pen, EACH). She asked how many I had, and I told her, "well, less than 18 inches behind our butts are about 200 years in Rahway [a PRNJ high-security prison] worth." More bug-eyes. Then she asked, "Do they have laws like that in Texas?" "No. Texas is in America." End of conversation.

 

[DonP]

Corzine's eye on white house

I gotta believe that Corzine is carefully considering every move with an eye towards a White House bid, VP in '08 and/or Pres in '12.

He went from "rich kid" to Senator to Governor, with money no object, in a few years. IMHO Shutting down the state government is as much a political stunt for the front page, showing he is a decisive "man of action".

Don't kid yourself for a moment that any state employees will lose salary either. When the Feds shut down during Clinton's term every employee got their back pay. In essence a free vacation, on us.

Cut spending to balance the budget? No way.

Our own governor, Blago in Illinois, in the same speech complains about the $5 billion deficit he inherited and then announces free health care for every child in Illinois, a new school construction program that will cost $3 billion and never comes up with the details on how it will be paid for.

Shut down the NJ Casino's and their incredible revenue stream for a period of days or a week or two? I doubt it.

 

[Sam Adams]

Shut down the NJ Casino's and their incredible revenue stream for a period of days or a week or two? I doubt it.

Yeah, but they're shut down right now - over a holiday weekend. This publicity stunt - and you're right about it being one just for Komrade Korzine's political benefit - will cost NJ millions. But who cares, its someone else's money.

 

[Dannyboy]

Yeah, but they're shut down right now - over a holiday weekend.

No they aren't. They'll close on Wednesday.

 

[geim druth]

When you spend at least $75 million of your own money getting elected, then you expect you own party to toe the line. He has a very loyal constituency, he knows how to play the game, he just has to demonstrate who's in the driver's seat.

 

[Jkwas]

NJ has way too many people living off the government. Especially all the Freeholders and their cronies. Add to that all the regulations that hold small business back and it's a nightmare. Never really saw if for what it was until I left 18yrs ago. But now I know where all the jokes come from. Red or Blue, all the politicitans are major thieves.

 

[TallPine]

Services such as state police, prisons, mental hospitals and child welfare were to keep operating.

If the governor doesn't have the authority to spend money, then he doesn't have the authority to spend money on anything

And I bet the governor's salary checks will keep rolling in ...

The guv should be homeless, too - doesn't he live in a state funded governor's mansion

 

[Sam Adams]

Dannyboy:

No they aren't. They'll close on Wednesday.

I stand corrected. He's playing chicken with the legislature, all for his political gain.

Tallpine:

And I bet the governor's salary checks will keep rolling in ...

The guy is worth a few hundred million bucks. While I don't like Komrade Korzine at all, I don't think that he really cares about his salary as guv. I'd bet that he makes his yearly salary in investment income in the first couple of hours on January 1. Nonetheless...you're probably right that this check will keep coming to him.