I'm not a millionaire.
And unless I come up with the next "ShamWow," I probably won't be.
I would imagine when some people hear the word "millionaire," they think of old "Uncle Pennybags" from Monopoly, living' it up, with a top hat and and golden monocle, eating Kobe beef and drinking champagne, while the po' folk is sweatin' away. (Wait, that sounds like a state dinner at the Obama White House.)
When told that the New Jersey state legislature hatched a plan to raise taxes on millionaires (again), Republican Governor Chris Christie's response was one never heard in these parts.
"Let me be real clear on it," he said. "They can call it whatever they want to call it. They can package it however they want to package it. They can send it to me with a bow on it. They can send it to me in a nice box, gift-wrapped. They can throw it over the transom and leave it there and hope nobody smells it. No matter how they send it to me, it is going back. It is going back with a veto on it. We are not raising taxes in the state of New Jersey this year."
Hallelujah, Praise the Lord!
In a show of classy class warfare, the New Jersey Assembly (better know as the NJ Democratic Party) just passed said "Millionaires Tax."
The bill would raise taxes on those making $1 million or more from 8.97 percent to 10.75 percent.
New Jersey has 16,000 millionaires out of a taxable population of 3.9 million. These people are pretty damned important to the state's coffers.
"About one-half of a percent of the state's 3.9 million filers would be subject to the surcharge, (Senate President Stephen) Sweeney said. The top 1 percent of earners paid 42 percent of all income taxes collected in 2009, said Andrew Pratt, spokesman for the Treasury Department."
Is that supposed to bolster his argument?
The democratic assembly says this tax would transfer about $637 million to people like the state's 600,000 senior citizens who, supposedly, can't afford their taxes.
The usual dramatic, drippy democrat class warfare sob story was on full display during this hypocritical showdown.
"Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver (D-Essex) said "Gov. Christie has made it clear that he stands for millionaires over our most vulnerable senior citizens ... It was a compassionate plan that wasn't too much to ask to protect our parents, grandparents and neighbors. Our priority was protecting vulnerable elderly and disabled residents."
Christie also kicks puppies and burns ants with a magnifying glass.
In response, Assembly Republican leader Alex DeCroce (R-Morris) lambasted Democrats.
"It's always tax, tax and more tax,'' he said. "That's all you guys do. You could have voted on this during the lameduck Legislature (in December) but you let the surcharge die. Now you have a conscience. You are just telling the people of my generation 'We are pandering to you because we've got no other way out of this mess.' Let's cut the jokes, let's get on the ball and do things right.''
God damned right.
This state has been held hostage by democrats for decades. Now the democratic assembly suddenly cares about how taxes, which they imposed, affects the population?
They didn't give a rat's ass about how high taxes affected our citizens when they had a complicit democrat like Corzine in the Governor's office. They are the ones who put a high tax burden on the same senior citizens then who they claim to be fighting for now.
(This is just state income tax. It doesn't even address municipal or property taxes, which are the highest in the nation.)
Before the ink on the bill was even dry, Gov. Christie held true to his word.
"After the state Senate passed the bill, which had already passed the Assembly, Sweeney walked the bills down the hallways of the Statehouse, from the state Senate chambers to the governor's office. Once inside, he handed the bills to Christie, who was waiting.
"What took you so long ?" asked Christie spokesman Michael Drewniak.
Christie sat at a wooden desk emblazoned with the seal of the state of New Jersey and swiftly signed vetoes.
"We'll be back, governor," said Sweeney.
"Alright, we'll see," said Christie."
Christie declared the "millionaires tax" passed by the Legislature to be a bad idea atop an already-bad budget situation.
"This bill does nothing more than repeat the failed, irresponsible and unsustainable fiscal policies of the past," Christie said in his formal veto notification, which noted "out of control spending" and high property taxes "crippled our state's economy."
The more wealthy a person is, the more tax a state will gain. Instead of making New Jersey a state where people would want to live in and prosper, democrats have made it into one of the most undesirable places in the country in which to live.
"More than $70 billion in wealth left New Jersey between 2004 and 2008 as affluent residents moved elsewhere, according to a report released Wednesday that marks a swift reversal of fortune for a state once considered the nation's wealthiest."
Gee, thanks Gubner Corzine!
Christie doesn't care about re-election. He doesn't care about polls or cronyism.
He has inherited a state which has, under democratic control, ballooned a budget deficit to $11 billion.
The entrenched democrats can make him the boogie-man all they want.
But he is here to fix things.
Thank God.
(In other news, Hell froze over.)



Comments (13)
Now if we only could have s... (Below threshold)1. Posted by 1903A3 | May 21, 2010 8:53 PM | Score: 14 (14 votes cast)
Now if we only could have someone like that in the White House!!!!!
1. Posted by 1903A3 | May 21, 2010 8:53 PM |
Score: 14 (14 votes cast)
Posted on May 21, 2010 20:53
2. Posted by TexBob | May 21, 2010 8:54 PM | Score: 11 (11 votes cast)
It's amazing how libs always manage to try to tax the working guy while demonizing him. A million bucks for a small business with employees in NJ is peanuts.
Why not go after the trust funds and all the wealth that people do not earn. Nooo, we can't do that. Too many libs live that way.
2. Posted by TexBob | May 21, 2010 8:54 PM |
Score: 11 (11 votes cast)
Posted on May 21, 2010 20:54
3. Posted by Marc | May 21, 2010 9:02 PM | Score: 9 (9 votes cast)
TexBob - "Why not go after the trust funds and all the wealth that people do not earn. Nooo, we can't do that. Too many libs live that way."
Come-on get real, without trust funds the illegal immigrant gardeners, nannies and pool-boys would never get paid, or hired.
3. Posted by Marc | May 21, 2010 9:02 PM |
Score: 9 (9 votes cast)
Posted on May 21, 2010 21:02
4. Posted by 914 | May 21, 2010 9:05 PM | Score: 8 (8 votes cast)
...Bullet left chamber 3 millionths of a second ago and Barry still cant get it? Cut taxes and create jobz Einstien? I figured even an affirmative action hero would have been able to figure that one out? Guess Im wrong yet again.
Unless of course he suffers from liberalism.. Then? I withdraw my prejudiced supposition.
4. Posted by 914 | May 21, 2010 9:05 PM |
Score: 8 (8 votes cast)
Posted on May 21, 2010 21:05
5. Posted by GarandFan | May 21, 2010 9:06 PM | Score: 8 (8 votes cast)
Excerpts from Christie's veto letter:
'The citizens of New Jersey have seen their taxes go up one hundred and fifteen (115) times over the last 8 years....property taxes have gone up 70% over ten years..... When is enough, enough for you people.'
Well obviously, enough is never ENOUGH. There are always MORE people to pay off so the Democrats can stay in power.
5. Posted by GarandFan | May 21, 2010 9:06 PM |
Score: 8 (8 votes cast)
Posted on May 21, 2010 21:06
6. Posted by JJ | May 21, 2010 9:20 PM | Score: 8 (8 votes cast)
wow...this is almost enough to make me move back to NJ! Actually....since Paterson and the entire NYS Assembly and Senate are hellbent on destroying New York, maybe I should consider it seriously.
6. Posted by JJ | May 21, 2010 9:20 PM |
Score: 8 (8 votes cast)
Posted on May 21, 2010 21:20
7. Posted by retired military | May 21, 2010 10:21 PM | Score: 7 (7 votes cast)
"A Governor from New Jersey VETOES A Tax Hike."
Shawn
You just made all the baby Lee Wards (sorry about the duplicate adjective (baby and Lee Ward) statement there) cry.
7. Posted by retired military | May 21, 2010 10:21 PM |
Score: 7 (7 votes cast)
Posted on May 21, 2010 22:21
8. Posted by dries | May 21, 2010 11:24 PM | Score: 7 (7 votes cast)
NJ's "millionaire tax" would've covered everyone making 400K. In progressive math 400K looks like a real 1M.
8. Posted by dries | May 21, 2010 11:24 PM |
Score: 7 (7 votes cast)
Posted on May 21, 2010 23:24
9. Posted by GarandFan | May 22, 2010 12:40 AM | Score: 8 (8 votes cast)
Well the libs had originally planned on just increasing taxes on those making $400K or more. Christie said he'd veto it. So the libs figured that they'd raise the tax JUST ON MILLIONAIRES, figuring that there was no way Christie could "defend" that. Wrong.
Christie pointed out that a recent study concluded that $70 BILLION had FLED the state between 2004-2008 because of ever increasing taxes.
Who'd a thought. People will MILLIONS can move.
Shit ask the Kennedys. Dear old Mom Rose never left Massachusetts for the last 20 years.
Died there. Yet for TAX purposes, she was declared a "resident of Florida", where inheritance taxes are little to none as compared to Taxachusetts.
9. Posted by GarandFan | May 22, 2010 12:40 AM |
Score: 8 (8 votes cast)
Posted on May 22, 2010 00:40
10. Posted by 914 | May 22, 2010 1:55 AM | Score: 6 (6 votes cast)
NEWSFLASH:
Barry is the worstestass precedent evah!
Oh wait.. Thats not news, thats reality.
10. Posted by 914 | May 22, 2010 1:55 AM |
Score: 6 (6 votes cast)
Posted on May 22, 2010 01:55
11. Posted by ak4mc | May 22, 2010 8:05 AM | Score: 5 (5 votes cast)
Yeah 914 -- everybody knows if it's true it ain't news, and if it's news it ain't true.
11. Posted by ak4mc | May 22, 2010 8:05 AM |
Score: 5 (5 votes cast)
Posted on May 22, 2010 08:05
12. Posted by fustian | May 22, 2010 11:00 AM | Score: 4 (4 votes cast)
I'm sorry, but as much as I detest lefty trust fund babies, I still don't want the government going after them.
What I want is for the government to spend less.
12. Posted by fustian | May 22, 2010 11:00 AM |
Score: 4 (4 votes cast)
Posted on May 22, 2010 11:00
13. Posted by Paul Hooson | May 23, 2010 4:02 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
It's very easy to have a net worth well over a million dollars and not live real well. Blame "Thuston Howell" for creating a cartoon image of millionaires.
13. Posted by Paul Hooson | May 23, 2010 4:02 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on May 23, 2010 16:02