Pirate's Cove

I'll tell you a dirty little secret: raising the sales tax in New Jersey from 6% to 7% doesn't really phase me. We pay that same rate in Raleigh, and have all sorts of weird, wackadoodle taxes for food. Did you know that in malls the tax rate for food is 8%? Strange.

But, while New Joisey liberals give congratulations to Governor Corzine for breaking his campaign promise not to raise taxes, they missed the fact that it isn't just a change taking the sales tax rate up to 7%. Reading from the July 8th print version of the Asbury Park Press (you can see the similar article here) we find out that the new rate would expand to, among others:

• carpet and upholstery cleaning services
• downloaded movies, music, software and videos
• flooring and carpet installation
• golf, gym, and health club memberships
• landscaping services
• parking lots and garages
• shipping and handling
• private investigation and security services (I'm sure the people in Camden will enjoy having their cost of alarm monitoring go up!)

But it is just a 1 penny increase, right?

And how about the other tax changes?

• Cigarette, moist tobacco, and little cigars tax rates go up
• impose 6 percent tax on fur clothing (never had been a tax)
• Increase assessment on HMO's (liberals clammor about health care, though)
• add 1% tax on commercial property purchase of over $1 million (that isn't as extreme a price as you may think in NJ. Might make companies think about relocating)
• Increase rental car fees from $2 to $5 (150% increase)
• Impose 4% surcharge on corporate taxes (back to that relocation thing)

This is the reality of liberal tax raises. They claim it is only a little thing, and the next thing you know there is a slew of new taxes. And how about the fallacy that some of the money will go to property tax relief?

About $500 million to $600 million raised by the sales tax increase is expected to be used to help reduce property taxes, but some homeowners will actually see less immediate relief this year.

Property tax rebates are being cut by $100 for households earning $70,000 or more, meaning they will get $200 or $250 rebates in the coming year. The cut would affect homeowners, but not senior citizens or renters.

So another Corzine lie. He promised to boost property tax rebates by $410. How about just cutting property taxes, instead of the shell game?

I could probably go on about all the increased spending, but, we'll take that as read (it's also in the Asbury Park Press article, anyhow.)

Anyhow

The centerpiece of the budget is a $1.1 billion sales tax hike expected to cost the average family about $275, according to the administration. The plan will bring the sales tax from 6 to 7 percent throughout most of the state. The tax will rise from 3 percent to 3.5 percent in specially designated Urban Enterprise Zones.

So, the Democratic plan at the State level to help people during this time of high gas prices is to take more money from them. Great.

"None of us wanted to raise taxes," Corzine said Thursday. "But years of failed fiscal policies and one-shot gimmicks have left New Jersey in financial distress. We have taken a major step in correcting that in this budget."

Liberals not wanting to raise taxes? What else to write but bwahahahahahaha! And, of course, they play the old blame game. Usually towards Christie Whitman, who hasn't been Gov since 2001. But, not one liberal will blame Clinton for 9/11, despite it only having been less then 9 months after Bush took office. Eight years of failure to address the growing problem.

"None of us wanted to get into shooting wars," Bush said Thursday. "But 8 years of failed anti-terrorist policies and on-shot gimmick cruise missile attacks, along with surrender in Somalia, have left America in a national security mess. We have taken major steps in correcting that during my administration."

But, I digress. Have fun with your knew taxes, libs. You voted for him and the Assembly Dems. And don't be surprised when you get more next year.