Corzine for Governor

By MABLE

CORZINE AD BACKUP

Title: "Seventy Times"
Type: :30 TV
Date launched: 10/7/05

ANNCR: The truth on taxes: Jon Corzine has voted to lower taxes 70 times.

As Senator, Corzine Has Voted 70 Times To Lower Taxes, Redistribute Proposed Tax Cuts More Toward The Middle Class, And Pass Substitute Tax Cut Packages. [Vote #76, 4/5/01; Vote #112, 5/17/01; Vote #114, 5/17/01; #116, 5/21/01; Vote #119, 6/17/01; #124, 5/21/01; Vote #125, 5/21/01; Vote #126, 5/21/01; Vote #129, 5/21/01; Vote #133, 5/22/01; Vote #135, 5/22/01; #138, 5/22/01; Vote #139, 5/22/01; Vote #140, 5/22/01; Vote #141, 5/22/01; Vote #142, 5/22/01; Vote #143, 5/22/01; Vote #144, 5/22/01; Vote #148, 5/22/01; Vote #149, 5/22/01; Vote #151, 5/22/01; Vote #152, 5/22/01; Vote #156, 5/22/01; Vote #157, 5/22/01; Vote #159, 5/23/01; Vote #163, 5/23/01; Vote #164, 5/23/01; Vote #337, 11/14/01; Vote #338, 3/8/02; Vote #3, 1/25/02; Vote #7, 1/29/02; Vote #9, 1/29/02; Vote #10, 1/29/02; Vote #13, 2/6/02; Vote #149, 6/12/02; Vote #150, 6/12/02; Vote #72, 3/21/03; Vote #83, 3/25/03; Vote #95, 3/25/03; Vote #100, 3/25/03; Vote #107, 3/26/03; Vote #147, 5/15/03; Vote #149, 5/15/03; Vote #151, 5/15/03; Vote #153, 5/15/03; Vote #153, 5/15/03; Vote #154, 5/15/03; Vote #155, 5/15/03; Vote #160, 5/15/03; Vote #162, 5/15/03; Vote #163, 5/15/03; Vote #164, 5/15/03; Vote #165, 5/15/03; Vote #166, 5/15/03; Vote #167, 5/15/03; Vote #168, 5/15/03; Vote #169, 5/15/03; Vote $172, 5/15/03; Vote #366, 7/9/03; Vote #31, 3/3/04; Vote #81, 5/5/04; Vote #82, 5/5/04; Vote #91, 5/11/04; Vote #49, 3/11/04; Vote #71, 4/26/04; Vote #75, 4/29/04; Vote #76, 4/29/94; Vote #77, 4/29/04; Vote #210, 6/5/03; Vote #188, 9/23/04; Vote #62, 3/17/05]

CORZINE AD BACKUP

Title: "Seventy Times"
Type: :30 TV
Date launched: 10/7/05

ANNCR: The truth on taxes: Jon Corzine has voted to lower taxes 70 times.

ANNCR: And Doug Forrester? As a mayor and councilman, Forrester raised property taxes 200 percent.

Under Forrester, West Windsor's Tax Rate Increased By 200 Percent In Four Years. Between 1979 and 1983, when Forrester served as mayor and councilman of West Windsor, the town's tax rate increased by 200 percent. The New York Times reported that, during Forrester's tenure, he and the Township Committee increased property taxes from 38 cents per $100 of assessed value to $1.19. As the Star Ledger reported, "the tax rate did triple." [West Windsor Budgets, 1979-83; New York Times, 5/26/05; Star Ledger, 6/2/05]

Forrester Admitted That Property Taxes Tripled. During a GOP debate in May 2005, when charged by Bret Schundler with increasing property taxes as mayor and councilman in West Windsor, Forrester admitted, "Ã¢â‚¬Å“property taxed tripled." [ABC Debate, 5/15/05]

ANNCR: Now he's proposed a plan that eliminates property tax rebates for seniors and the middle classÃ¢â‚¬Â¦

Forrester's Plan Would End Existing Rebates. In June 2005, the Trenton Times reported that "[t]he rebates Corzine wants to increase would be abolished under Forrester's initiative." Also in June 2005, Bergen Record columnist Herb Jackson wrote, "The Republican plan, dubbed '30 in 3,' scraps the state's biggest rebate program[.]" In October, the Courier Post reported that, "[t]o pay for his plan, Forrester would eliminate property tax rebates." [Trenton Times, 6/13/05; Bergen Record, 6/13/05; Courier Post, 10/1/05]

ANNCR: ... and gives tax credits to the wealthy.

Forrester's Plan Gives A New Tax Break To The Wealthiest Households In New Jersey. In October 2005, the Bergen Record reported, "Forrester's plan would give a credit to all homeowners, including those earning more than $200,000 a year and not currently receiving rebates." [Bergen Record, 10/5/05]

Forrester Proposal Would Give Over Half A Billion To Wealthiest Five Percent. Forrester's proposal to require the state to pay 30 percent of the property taxes on each primary residence would help 100,000 residents who earn more than $200,000 per year. Despite Herb Jackson's calling Forrester's assumptions "flawed" and Tom Moran's saying Forrester is "playing politics with the numbers," according to Forrester's own budget assumptions, over four years, Forrester's plan would give $569 million to the wealthiest five percent of homeowners. [OLS Memo, 4/6/05; Trenton Times, 7/21/05; NJN, Reporters Roundtable, 9/23/05; Star-Ledger, 6/3/05; Proprietary calculations (using OLS data and Forrester's projected property tax growth rate of 3%)]

Tom Moran: Relief Under Forrester's Plan Is Not Targeted To Middle Class. Tom Moran of the Star-Ledger wrote that Forrester's plan "include[es] the wealthiest families in the state." Moran later wrote that ForresterÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s plan "doesn't direct the relief to where it's needed most." [News 12 NJ Forum, 5/2/05; AP, 4/18/05; Star-Ledger, 6/3/05, 9/16/05]

ANNCR: It's a plan that will require deep cuts in education, health care, and emergency response.

Doug Forrester: the wrong answer for New Jersey.

Forrester's Plan Would Cost Far More Than He Admits. In estimating the cost of his plan at $6.4 billion, Forrester cited an OLS report dated April 2005. The Bergen Record reported that OLS's analysis "assumed property taxes will rise by about 3 percent a year." However, according to a list furnished by the Assembly GOP, the average annual increase in property taxes over the 20 years from 1984 through 2004 was far higher - 6.5 percent. In September 2005, Bergen Record columnist Herb Jackson questioned the OLS study, saying, "They [Republicans] told OLS to assume property taxes only grow three percent, and they donÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t - they grow at seven percent. So the numbers are automatically flawed based on the input that OLS was told to use." [Asbury Park Press, 8/30/05; OLS Memo, 4/6/05; Bergen Record, 7/14/05; Assembly GOP Blueprint; NJN, 9/23/05]

Forrester Hasn't Said How He Would Pay For His Proposal. In June 2005, when Forrester was using a lower cost estimate than the $6.4 billion he adopted in August, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Forrester "has not specified where he would get the $2.7 billion to enact his plan, other than that he would find wasted money in the state budget." In September 2005, the Star-Ledger's Tom Moran wrote, "don't count on that cash just yet. Forrester hasn't said how he'd pay for this [property tax] program." [Philadelphia Inquirer, 6/9/05; Asbury Park Press, 8/30/05; Star-Ledger, 9/16/05]

Forrester Signed A No New Tax Pledge - Meaning He Would Have To Make Huge Cuts To Pay For His Huge Plan. In March 2005, Forrester signed a pledge stating that he pledged to oppose any tax increase. The following month, Forrester released his property tax plan, which Star-Ledger columnist Tom Moran in September called "the largest new spending program of the year." [Grover Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform, Release, 3/18/05; Forrester Release, 4/18/05; Star-Ledger, 9/16/05]

New York Times: "It Is Hard To See How [Forrester] Could Avoid At Least Some Cuts To Various Programs, Like Education Or Health Care." In an October 2005 ad watch, the New York Times wrote, "Given the fact that Mr. Forrester has pledged not to raise property taxes, and does not seem inclined to tackle the thorny issues of school financing that academics say is at the heart of the state's high property taxes, it is hard to see how he could avoid at least some cuts to various programs, like education or health care." [New York Times, 10/4/05]

MABLE can be reached via email at Allyn@votecorzine.org.

Related topics: Jon Corzine, Bergen, Doug Forrester, Tom Moran