I am neither a Republican or a Democrat. Once upon a time, however, I
was a Republican and have voted Republican more times than not.
That being said, I want to praise a Democrat Governor, John Corzine.
I was watching UPN 9 that is a nationally broadcast channel on Dish
Network, as Corzine gave his budget speech for this year. Here is a
link to the text...
http://www.state.nj.us/budget06/speech.html
The budget Corzine is proposing will offend all sides, but it is
realistic. There are parts in it that the GOP will condemn. There are
parts in it that the Democrats will try to block. Yet, it will begin
to get New Jersey back on a path to reality financially.
I gotta tell you, when Corzine was elected, I was very doubtful that
this former US Congress leader for the Democrats could present a
balanced approach as governor. I totally expected him to justify the
missteps of the past Governor. Yet, this is the response: to say that
all sides have failed and all sides must made sacrifices. That's not
just words, as you will see below. Here are some things I picked up in
the speech....
-Severe cuts in government spending. These cuts extend to education,
healthcare, government posititions (government gets smaller), and more.
-A new tax increase on business, but it comes with an expiration of an
existing tax, resulting in lower taxes on business to stimulate growth
(sounds like a Bush idea).
-An increase in sales taxes, but a reduction of taxes on property taxes
and income taxes on the poor.
-While there are education cuts, there are new education programs for
special ed, after school programs, and fighting gangs in inner city.
-While there are overall government position cuts, there is the
creation of a new department for children and families.
-While there are healthcare cuts, there are new programs to help the
poor with healthcare costs.
-It looks like there will be a raising of the cost for college in the
state, but there will be new financial aid programs.
-Finally, he is calling for an independant controller (elected) that
will monitor the spending of both the executives and the legislature.
As I said, no group will be happy with this budget, but it is the most
realistic to fix the problems. It doesn't follow DNC budget modesl.
It doesn't follow GOP models. It is a mix of the both. Out of all of
my years watching over politics, I've NEVER seen a better mix (if the
details hold up to the points in the speech) from any executive, state
or national. I hope the US Congress is paying attention and that other
states follow Corzine's lead.
Kenny Clifton
-author of the Red Letter Stories
http://www.christianjedi.com/redletterstories.html
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