I’ve been a distant observer of the antics of New Jersey Republican and Mayor of Bogota, Steve Lonegan, ever since seeing the movie Anytown USA. I wrote a few weeks ago about his bogus arrest at one of Corzine’s town hall meetings a few weeks ago (charges have since been dropped).
Lonegan has been very successful in New Jersey, which is a very “blue” state, at rallying grass roots opposition to Corzine’s plans, and generally being a pain in his ass. For this, I applaud him, and hope to continue to see rallies like this over in the Garden State:
They chanted “No New Tolls” and “Oink, Oink, Oink,” a reference to the implicit “Pigs will fly over the State House” metaphor Corzine has been using to support his plan to raise tolls and freeze spending instead of his opponents’ calls for just spending cuts.
The loudest moment of the noon protest, however, occurred when several clusters of inflatable pig balloons were released into the air by the protesters.
Former Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan was one of the participants in the anti-Corzine rally. Lonegan was arrested last month after protesting at one of the town hall meetings Corzine has been holding throughout the state to pitch his plan, which would generate as much as $40 billion by significantly raising highway tolls and borrowing against the future revenue.
“We are here to deliver a message. That message is: No new tolls,” Lonegan said, prompting the crowd to respond several times with the same refrain.
Lonegan is forcing Corzine to pay attention, and I think he’s going to have to, or he risks going the way of Jim Florio. People in New Jersey are getting pissed, and that’s the first step. Can the New Jersey GOP capitalize on it? If Lonegan’s recent luck with sticking it to Corzine is any indication, the answer might very well be yes.
I think for full effect, this post needs the picture. :)
This might be a better pic though.
Come up with a better plan instead of crying about this one. You cannot.
We have the lowest gas tax in the nation thanks to these tolls. And they’re not even going up that much. This is yet another non-issue concocted by The Right (and promoted by its radio station 101.5) to discredit another well-meaning, straight-shooting, no BS Democratic governor and create negativity and hate.
Pure politics used by The Right to attack a Governor who doesn’t play politics as he tries to fix the mess left by the GOP. How low can you go?
Wrong. The state has to stop spending at the rate it is, that’s the only way to solve the problem. You guys already have insane numbers leaving citing the already high overall tax burden as a reason to leave. Many others responded to surveys saying they are prepared to leave if the expense of simply living and working in Jersey keeps growing.
When you hit the point of taxation that drives people out, raising tax rates and other government fees such as tolls won’t work because revenues will drop or not rise at the level assumed.
Keep telling yourself that. When half of adults want to leave New Jersey, are you seriously trying to suggest the state doesn’t have a problem, and people will stay around for the low gas prices? Tolls won’t go up much? a 50 percent increase in 2010, 2014, 2018, and 2022 isn’t going up that much? Let’s do the math here. If you were paying 4 dollars a day in commuter costs today, by 2010 you’d be paying 6 dollars, by 2014 9 dollars, 2018 13.50, and by 2022 you’d be paying 20.25 per day. Not much? I hope that Corzine kool aid tastes good.
New Jersey needs to cut spending. That’s the only thing that’s going to lower the cost of government and allow the budget to be balanced and debt to be paid down.
It’s a good thing that there’s plenty of sand down at the Jersey Shore to bury your head deeper in.
New Jersey doesn’t have a revenue problem, we bring in TONS of money from the insane amount of taxes taken from the peasents of the state. We have a spending and corruption problem, and that is the second reason I’m leaving the garbage state, T -3.5 years and counting…
When I hear Chris Christie’s office stop complaining of overwork, I’ll believe that the Dem’s have cleaned up their act.
When NJ becomes a shall-issue state, I’ll believe that they have decided that the populace is made up of adults.
Until then, I’m househunting in PA…