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BIG NEWS
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Today the Star Ledger, in 301 words, managed to expose the entire Republican message on taxes this year as "bogus.
As Republicans campaign for their agenda of tax giveaways for giant corporations and an increased tax burden on regular property tax payers, we must make sure that hard-working families turn out to vote on November 4 to vote Democrat.
Star Ledger Editorial
Friday, October 31, 2003
FALSE CLAIM ON TAXES
In an election campaign devoid of serious policy discussion, Republicans are
trying to paint Gov. James E. McGreevey as a tax-and- spend liberal, a
strategy that worked well against Jim Florio.
It is a bogus charge. McGreevey inherited an even worse budget crisis
and managed it with a much smaller tax
hike, one that plugged inexcusable
loopholes in the state business tax. Before the change, 30 of the 50 largest
corporations in the state were paying the statutory minimum tax of
$200, less than is owed by a single
janitor who cleaned the corporate bathrooms.
Those who advocate repeal would resurrect that injustice.
Granted, McGreevey could have created a fairer tax without raising the
total burden on the business
community. But would that have been wise? During the
1990s, the share of state taxes paid through the corporate business tax
dropped roughly in half, thanks in part to the loopholes that allowed
most of the biggest companies to evade
it.
That burden has gradually shifted to other
state taxes, like income and sales.
Draining the state treasury also pushes up local property taxes as
state aid is pinched off. Without this reform, which raised an
additional $1.7 billion last year,
deeper cuts in local aid would have been inevitable.
Republicans offer one more argument: The business tax kills jobs.
Again, the argument is unconvincing.
New Jersey has seen a net gain of 31,800 jobs this
year, according to the Labor Department. New York and Pennsylvania both
have lost jobs, as has the nation as a
whole.
Next time a candidate talks about the evils of this tax increase, try an experiment: Ask him to offer a better solution for closing that $1.7 billion gap without it. We ask that question all the time. And we're still waiting for a credible answer.