Get over it.
Unlike the federal government, which may annually run budget deficits, New Jersey, like most states, is required by the state constitution to have a balanced budget in place at the start of the fiscal year. Failure to do so, or balancing the budget using extensive borrowing (which was outlawed by the New Jersey Supreme Court beginning this fiscal year) or "one-shot" revenue gimmicks causes the state's bond rating to drop, which makes it more expensive for the state to borrow money. I am not a banker, but that doesn't sound very good.
During the recent gubernatorial campaign, both Corzine and his opponent, Douglas Forrester, made many promises in the area of the state's finances, including various forms of reducing the average homeowner's property tax burden. The public found Corzine's plans for the state to be more credible (or at least palatable) than those of Forrester. The end result is that Corzine is elected, by something like an 11-point margin.
Then, reality set in. Raise your hands if you actually expected either candidate to follow through on his promises, at least in the first year of office. Now put them down. You are excused from this conversation.
In the last couple of weeks, much hay has been made about the Governor reneging on his campaign promises in which he allegedly said he wouldn't raise taxes. Yes, he did make several statements to the effect that he didn't want to raise taxes, that they weren't on his agenda. That is not the same as saying that he wouldn't raise them. Unlike his opponent, who (foolishly) took a no-tax pledge, Corzine never explicitly ruled them out.
But even if he did, so what? Campaign promises are not legally binding contracts. It is up to the individual voter to decide whether or not he or she believes what the candidate says at the time, and perhaps more importantly, whether he/she believes that that particular candidate will do a better job relative to the other guy.
In this most recent race for governor, both Jon Corzine and Doug Forrester made promises that even then seemed rather far-fetched. Corzine vowed to increase property tax rebates. Forrester promised to cut property taxes 30% in three years. Corzine promised greater levels of funding for just about everything. Forrester said he would cut taxes and maintain services. All this after the state supreme court outlawed borrowing as a means to balance the budget (as the result of a lawsuit brought by Republicans). The list goes on and on.
Politicians make promises all the time. The public knows this. Elections are for separating the wheat from the chaff. Unfortunately, elections between two non-incumbents turn into whether or not you believe each candidate's chicken-in-every-pot promise. This election, the people knew (at least those who pay attention to what goes on on a daily basis) what problems were facing New Jersey, and decided that Corzine was more credible.
1 comment:
I completely understand that many politicians make pie-in-the-sky promises during campaigns, and that they must be taken with a grain of salt. Nevertheless, I think it is legitimate to criticize them for breaking promises, literal or implied, made to voters before an election. Perhaps only the most naive among us actually believed Corzine would not raise taxes, but he should still be held accountable for what he said.
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