Transformation from low-tax, small government state to high-tax, big government state has brought little benefit to residents

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Over the last four decades, an increasingly liberal electorate has transformed New Jersey from a low-tax, small-government state to a high-tax, high-spending place. But there's been little payoff for residents.

Like New York, Jersey remains one of the country's worst governed states, where government has proven effective mostly at protecting its own interests. If there's an issue for voters nationwide in Jersey's race, it's whether the nation is in for the same fate as the federal government expands sharply.

...

The state budget is a mess ... its infrastructure is falling apart, government has poor training and development programs for state workers -- and even the technology systems for governing the state are poor. All in a state with one of the highest percentages of college-educated adults nationally.

Jersey is an object lesson in how big government can come to care more about feeding itself than taking care of basics. A suburban state where cars and roads are crucial, it has the country's worst-rated roads ... Jersey's politicians have squandered the state's transportation fund and neglected investment in roads.

If there's one thing more basic than roads in local government, it's education -- where Jersey wastes money liberally. In 2001, the Legislature created a massive $8.6 billion building fund to remake urban and suburban schools. But the state so mismanaged the program that it ran out of cash with only half the promised building done.

Jersey's public schools spend more per pupil than those of almost every other state

...

Several years ago, the [Manhattan Institute] created an "education efficiency" index to judge school performance in each state, adjusted for characteristics like demographics and spending, because some students come to school with a distinct advantage over others. Adjusting for such advantages, the MI study ranked Jersey's schools next to last in the nation.

Amid all this ineptitude, the state's public sector has gathered ever more power and riches. With a pension system that lets many state workers retire at 55 with full benefits (including health care), Jersey has accrued a whopping $190 billion in unfunded pension and health-care liabilities.

...

A Christie win won't be the end of the story, or even the beginning of the end. Christie's own GOP has contributed to the state's woes, especially in the sharp rises in state spending during the 1980s reign of Gov. Tom Kean, and in the way Gov. Christie Whitman let the state shirk its growing pension obligations in the '90s.

As governor, Christie would have a formidable task taking on so powerful a public sector. The last US governor to try anything similar -- Arnold Schwarzenegger, who challenged California unions in 2005 with a series of ballot proposals designed to limit their power -- failed, thanks to withering attacks in a campaign in which unions spent some $100 million against him.

In short, this Jersey election is really a test of whether, once government grows to a certain size, reform is even possible.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/08182009/posto...5113.htm?page=0

[Ban Hammer 13,676]

so when are you turning into a conservative, aj? or you gonna move to cali?

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Sadly, conservatives - if there are any left in politics - aren't really doing any better. They've managed quite well to run Florida into the ground with amazing speed and vigor. Never tackle any issue that needs to be tackled but spend tons of energy and focus to make sure that the gheys can't get married. Yeah, that'll save us. :puke:

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Sadly, conservatives - if there are any left in politics - aren't really doing any better. They've managed quite well to run Florida into the ground with amazing speed and vigor.

Yup.

A Christie win won't be the end of the story, or even the beginning of the end. Christie's own GOP has contributed to the state's woes, especially in the sharp rises in state spending during the 1980s reign of Gov. Tom Kean, and in the way Gov. Christie Whitman let the state shirk its growing pension obligations in the '90s.

Kean and Whitman both ran as fiscal conservatives and turned out to be anything but.

[My Name Is Nobody 3]

This is fricken hilarious.

The state of NJ is in bad shape and not one mention of Governor (D) Jon Corzine. Just the word conservatives. Reality Check!!

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

This is fricken hilarious.

The state of NJ is in bad shape and not one mention of Governor (D) Jon Corzine. Just the word conservatives. Reality Check!!

The article is about Corzine v Christie. I excerpted to highlight the 'big government' theme.

[My Name Is Nobody 3]

This is fricken hilarious.

The state of NJ is in bad shape and not one mention of Governor (D) Jon Corzine. Just the word conservatives. Reality Check!!

The article is about Corzine v Christie. I excerpted to highlight the 'big government' theme.

Shall I say responses? Got ahead myself speed reading.

[Ban Hammer 13,676]

Sadly, conservatives - if there are any left in politics - aren't really doing any better. They've managed quite well to run Florida into the ground with amazing speed and vigor.

Yup.

A Christie win won't be the end of the story, or even the beginning of the end. Christie's own GOP has contributed to the state's woes, especially in the sharp rises in state spending during the 1980s reign of Gov. Tom Kean, and in the way Gov. Christie Whitman let the state shirk its growing pension obligations in the '90s.

Kean and Whitman both ran as fiscal conservatives and turned out to be anything but.

both parties suck when it comes to use of taxpayers money.

[Peikko 1,575]

Learn how to engage in politics again people, don't leave it all to the politicians or simply blame everything on the 'other side'. Divide and rule - that's what they say.