Christie of @DebHowlett "She's not employed in government anymore for a reason."
Christie says @DebHowlett attacks him and The Star-Ledger has a "liberal agenda" to print it.
Christie attacks @DebHowlett "anything that comes from Deb Howlett should be set in the context that Corzine told me the FY 10 was fine."
What's up with that? Well, Howlett wrote a piece for the Star-Ledger last Sunday that calls out Christie's lies when he claims (as his staff just Tweeted):
Taxpayers are suffocating, pension & benefit relief much needed. NJ’s State & Local Tax Burden Highest in Nation.http://bit.ly/mIAUKB
WRONG! From Howlett's piece:
So, as we all know, Chris Christie is a habitual liar. But where does he get this nonsense? Where else - The Tax Foundation! Check the link above from his tweet. It's like they've lined up a perfect little propaganda sheet for him, straight out of Pravda, but it's all garbage; just ask the CBPP:For the record, New Jersey ranks eighth among all states when state and local tax revenues are compared as a percentage of taxpayer’s personal income, according to an analysis using data from the U.S. Census and the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis. It’s the cleanest comparison of the tax “burden” in all 50 states. New Jersey’s ranking drops considerably once you get past property taxes and look only at state tax collections.Simply comparing total revenue collected from taxes in each state would produce a wholly inaccurate comparison because poorer, less-populated states would always appear to tax less. Measuring as a percentage of personal income, or on a per capita basis, provides necessary context and a more accurate comparison among states.
Or Bruce Baker. Or anybody with half a brain in their head.Is New Jersey Really a High-Tax State?
New Jersey does have one of the nation’s highest property taxes as a percent of residents’ personal income, ranking 3rd highest in 2006-2007 (the latest Census Bureau data available). This reflects New Jersey’s choice to rely almost exclusively on property taxes to support local services. If one considers total revenues local governments collect to support services (excluding state or federal aid), New Jersey ranks 24th among the states.Local government revenue tells only part of the story. If one looks at total state and local revenue from their own sources as a percent of residents’ personal income, New Jersey ranks 31st in the country — i.e., in the lower half of states.New Jersey’s income tax revenue ranks 20th in the country as a share of residents’ personal income, while its sales tax revenue ranks 38 th and its excise taxes rank 45th. In addition, New Jersey and its localities impose few fees or charges for services, ranking 48th in the country.Several figures in the Manhattan Institute report comparing tax levels in New Jersey and other states rely on data from the Tax Foundation. Unlike the official Census data, the Tax Foundation figures are speculative projections for current-year taxes, and the Tax Foundation frequently revises these projections radically when actual data become available. (For other issues regarding the Tax Foundation state-level estimates, see Nicholas Johnson, Iris Lav, and Joseph Llobrera, “Tax Foundation Estimates of State and Local Tax Burdens Are Not Reliable,” Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, March 27, 2007.)
The fact that Christie refuses to even moderate his stance on this tells you all you need to know about his low character and the ease with which he lies. So when he says:
Christie says people were "scared, angry and ill-informed" because of their union leadership.
I'm sure he'll understand when I tell him I'm not about to trust his word over the unions.
2 comments:
Really, you won't trust good old Chris, savior of the taxpayer? Good. Keep up the good work. I'm reposting your stuff everywhere I can.
Thanks - you've been a good friend to this site!
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