Jon Corzine Rocks!

Just when you, fellow NJ tax payer, thought he'd stuck it to you enough, we got to hear last week during Corzine's "State of the State" address, about his proposed toll hikes as a way to "get the state out of debt". Forget cost cutting, forget eliminating corruption - let's just raise the cost of something else in this state and stick it to the residents once again. According to Corzine's Financial Restructuring and Debt Reduction Plan, the cost of the average turnpike trip will increase about five times by 2022 to $9.86. Are you happy with this? According to an AP posting on Monday, Jan. 14th, 52% of NJ residents polled agree this is a BAD idea (what the heck are the other 48% thinking?!??!!) . 78% Have their heads on straight and agree that cost cutting and layoffs should be first (hey, NJ State employees, welcome to the real world!)! What can you do, you ask? I'm not sure. It's not like we can kick the guy out, but maybe we can rally and get our voices heard.

You can CLICK HERE for the link to the Governor's website. Drop him a line and let him know how you feel. I'm in the process of composing my memo. :o)

UPDATE: You can call the Governor's office at (609) 777-2500. You'll be happy to know that I also sent my letter via the website.

Thanks to Gov. Corzine you'll also now pay an additional 5% on your tickets to just about anything in the State, including the the new Pru Center in Newark and probably the old, crappy IZOD center at the Meadowlands too. It'll also cost you more to park (bill signed in allowing increases in event parking), but rest assured you may have more places to consume an alcoholic beverage in NJ, thanks to a bill sponsored by Assemblyman Joe Cryan, D-Union [S-2040/A-3280 (Sarlo, Sweeney/Cryan, Gregg) - It provides for special licenses to serve alcoholic beverages to smart growth development projects; allows for sale of certain plenary retail consumption licenses for use in such projects]. Hmmmm...I wonder if Joe is any relation to Cryan's of Branchburg and South Orange fame?

Another fun fact is that Jon OK'd an 11% raise for NJ's judges this year. Corzine said the raises were "vital to ensuring the continued exceptional quality of our judiciary and the retention of our experienced judges.'' Are you getting an 11% raise this year? I'm not. Most people these days are just happy to have a job. I guess the raise to help the judges afford the toll hikes we're going to see....

Just in case you were wondering what an 11% pay hike actually looks like:

Superior Court judges get $165,000 per year, up from $149,000, Appellate judges $175,600 per year, up from $158,500, Associate Supreme Court justices $185,500 per year, up from $167,500, The Chief Justice $192,795 per year, up from $173,500.
County prosecutors will see their pay go from $141,000 to $164,888.

The bill also increases the minimum salary for county clerks, surrogates, deed and mortgage registers and sheriffs from $91,650 to $107,250. County Clerks making $100K?! All I can say is WTF. And remind you that we're not just getting hit with raises, but with the increases to the pension funds too.

It's funny -- when I worked for Agilent Technologies and the company was sucking wind back in 2000/2001 (not sure if they are still sucking wind, to be honest) we actually were hit with a PAY CUT. 10% As a matter of fact. So let's review: When a Corporation is failing miserably they standard M.O. is cut costs, cut heads and freeze budgets. If J&J raised the cost of it's products to cover poor management the consumers AND the government would be screaming bloody murder. The State of NJ however, failing miserably, sucking wind, and with a deficit of epic proportions, decides its OK raise the cost for it's products (like toll roads, taxes) AND give its employees a raise. Oh wait - Corzine in his infinite wisdom is going to freeze the budget for a year. Thanks Jon, that's swell. I love NJ.

Additional resources:
Citizens Against Tolls
njtolls.com