Toolkit Gets Out Those Stubborn Stains!

Toolkit does it all!

Christie’s reason for urgency is simple: His financial promises for next year — in short, not raising taxes — rely on those toolkit proposals getting in place, said Brigid Harrison, political science professor at Montclair State University.

“His budget doesn’t work without it,” she explained.

Professor, could you or someone else - ANYONE - actually run a cost-benefit analysis and show us how this vaunted toolkit is going to save us so much money? So much money that towns and schools - many of which have lost most or all of their state aid - will not have to raise their property taxes or slash their services like they did this past year?

Until someone credibly does that, why should I believe in this miracle cure?

The toolkit proposals would limit union contract payouts, relax Civil Service rules, reduce the number of people eligible for state pensions, and make mergers of local services cost-effective by eliminating job-bumping rights and payouts for some contract benefits. In a town hall meeting in Ewing, Mercer County, last week, Christie had a message for legislators: “It’s time to get to work.”

So, the plan is to bump workers out when consolidation just magically happens. And that's going to save us so much dough that we can easily pay for extreme hikes in health care costs AND make all of our past-due pension payments.

I suppose the Toolkit can also make me a great tasting cheesecake with zero calories...