With his political foes sensing Chris Christie is now on the ropes over the Bridgegate scandal, there’s been a full-court press on a measure he’s vetoed three times as governor: a new millionaires tax.
In announcing how he planned to meet an $807 million budget shortfall, Christie on Tuesday refused to give in. Instead of announcing a millionaires tax, he said he would reduce payments to the pension fund that are due to “sins of the past.”
Undeniably, Jersey’s pensions are a mess, and as governor Christie has a responsibility to help clean it up.
That said, let’s also be clear about what’s really going on here: The millionaires tax pushed by Democrats and the unions is a phony solution. It’s designed only to discredit the GOP on the tax issue.
Remember back in 2004 when then-Gov. Jim McGreevey signed into law the first millionaires tax? He claimed the tax would bring property-tax relief. Today, even with a property-tax cap, Jersey residents still pay the highest property taxes in America.
Advocates of a millionaires tax accuse Christie of ruling it out because he’s running for president.
What if he is?
The bottom line is that taxpayers are spared more of the self-defeating tax hikes that strangled job growth, drove out business investment and moved Jersey into the ranks of America’s most overtaxed states.
Christie says later this year he will introduce plans to address pensions, say by moving from defined-benefit plans to 401(k)s or some hybrid. We look forward to hearing them.
In the meantime, only the clinically insane could think the prescription for a vibrant New Jersey economy is raising its high taxes even higher.