NEWJERSEY: Toll increases ARE a tax increase

http://blog.nj.com/njv_paul_mulshine/2012/01/this_toll_hike_could_be_just_t.html

This toll hike could be just the beginning
Published: Sunday, January 01, 2012, 2:09 AM
Paul Mulshine/The Star Ledger

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In 2001, a guy by the name of Bret Schundler was running for governor. The Republican candidate’s platform called for the immediate removal of the Garden State Parkway tolls.

His Democratic opponent, Jim McGreevey, said he’d get rid of the tolls as well, but it would take seven years.

Schund­ler as much as called him a liar. “If I win, tolls come down; if I lose, we get high-speed E-ZPass,” he said.

McGreevey won and proceeded to prove himself a liar — in what may be record time for even a Jersey pol. The day after he took the oath of office, McGreevey went on 101.5 FM and told a caller that he had no intention of keeping his promise to remove tolls.

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This is news to “We, The Sheeple” / Nu Jerzee subset!

Anyone who thinks that either side of the duopoly can be trusted is sadly delusional.

And the politicians and bureaucrats are perfectly happy if “the cost of collecting that toll can easily exceed the toll itself.” The bureaucrats get paychecks and the politicians get loyal voters in those bureaucrats. No corruption in that!

Wonder if some one can figure out the percentages. What percentage of NJ voters are “voting under the influence” of the Gooferment money.

There’s interesting anecdotal stories that Teachers’ Union SPOUSES run for school boards where they live; not where their spouse teaches. No conflict of interest, right? Until you realize that rasies won in one district become the norm in others.

Could it be that we have more than 50% of the voters who have “a dog in the fight”?

No wonder “we” just can’t win!

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POLITICAL: What the government is not

http://lewrockwell.com/napolitano/napolitano34.1.html

The Case for Austerity
by Andrew P. Napolitano

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Government is not a jobs program, and government is not your caretaker. Government is an arrangement made by free individuals to protect their rights and their property.

It doesn’t take $3.6 trillion a year to do that effectively in America today. I doubt it takes a trillion. We must swallow the bitter pill of austerity now, on our own terms, while we are still the undisputed leader of the free world and while we still have a Constitution, so that we can restore our prosperity in a way consistent with personal liberty.

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Certainly seems that the 15T$ national debt is OUR problem.

If we were all on the same page, then we could amortize that over generations.

Bet we could sell 50 year bonds!

But we’re not even on the same planet as some people.

The Tea Party and the Occupy folks were all screaming about the same thing. Crony Capitalism, Regulatory Capture, and Rule by the Effete Elite. (imho)

Time to cut spending. And get everyone back to work.

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