Beck, O'Scanlon and Casagrande:Governor Corzine's Top Ten Orwellian Budget Spins

War is Peace, Love is Hate, and Borrowing More is Borrowing Less

Senator Jennifer Beck, Assemblyman Declan O'Scanlon and Assemblywoman Caroline Casagrande (R-12) issued this top ten list of misinformation given out by the Corzine administration regarding the FY'09 State Budget:

10. "This budget pays down debt."

The budget increases debt for school construction by $3.9 billion without voter approval.

9. "This budget has no tax increases in it."

Slashing rebates and cutting municipal aid by up to 25% for many towns and then sending them increased pension and health care bills means property tax increases. Passing a budget that spends every dime of current revenue without addressing the pending expiration of the transportation fund means Democrat proposals to increase the gas tax or hike tolls are on their way. Rushing legislation through to extend a tax on utilities that was supposed to sunset 7 years ago is also a tax.

8. "There is no pork in this budget."

There are several slush funds in this budget ("Special Municipal Aid", for example) with absolutely no parameters on how funds are awarded. It still tastes like pork.

7. "I trust the voters when it comes to questions of debt."

Except for monetization debt or school construction debt.

6. "All municipalities will share in cuts."

Actually, Union City just received a 300% increase in Distressed City aid. And the Distressed City Program is set to spend $10 million more in 2009 than it did in 2008.

5. "Republican's proposed cuts were just gimmicky and trickery."

It is not gimmicky to propose giving inflationary aid increases to favored schools that have gotten huge increases for the past decade instead of the following types of increases that this budget just handed out: Union City School Districts, 16%; Hoboken Schools a 26% increase, or North Bergen School a 20% increase.

4. "This budget is free of gimmicks."

Prefunding $130 million of 2009 debt service costs and $34 million of routine capital maintenance costs through the 2008 budget so they don't count toward the bottom line spending in 2009 was a gimmick.

3. This budget is responsible and matches recurring revenues with recurring expenses.

This budget spent at least $500 million more than recurring revenues.

2. "This budget holds the line on patronage and employee hiring.

Within the last year, a former Essex County Clerk was hired as the Deputy Executive Director of the Board of Cosmetology and Hairstyling and a former Executive Director of the Arizona Democrat Party was hired as a public relations employee at the Department of Environmental Protection. As recently as June 16, 2008, a former Corzine campaign aid and political operative was hired in the Office of Economic Growth.

1. This budget is historic because it is so lean.

This budget is still almost 20% more spending than two years ago and 50% more than 7 years ago. After a 6 year budget feeding frenzy that resulted in legislators being indicted, coming up for air is hardly something to brag about.