The Corzine Agenda: Good for New Jeresyans?

By MURRAY SABRIN
JerseyPolitics.com.com Columnist

In his victory statement Tuesday night, governor-elect Corzine reiterated a number of goals he wants to accomplish in his first term. Let’s look at the major initiatives he wants to pursue.

One of Corzine’s first priorities is property tax relief/reform. During the campaign he promised a 40% increase in property tax rebates over four years to seniors and middle-income families as well as rebates for renters. Tax relief for upper middle and upper income families and individuals are not on the governor-elect’s agenda. Why?

Corzine is a proponent of “progressive” taxation. He unequivocally supports the progressive income tax system. And his property tax plan, in the final analysis, is to create a very steep property tax system. That is, very low taxes for seniors, some of whom are wealthy in their own right, and low and middle income homeowners, and high property taxes for families earning more than $200,000 annually.

Under Corzine’s plan seniors and families earning less than $200,000 per year would get increased property tax rebates. In other words, “rich” families as defined by governor-elect Corzine would end up paying an even greater share of property taxes under his plan. In New Jersey, two-income families earning more than $200,000 do not consider themselves rich, especially if they have one of two children in college, a mortgage, several automobiles, and pay state income and local property taxes.

Yet, governor-elect Corzine excludes them from getting a property tax rebate. Why?

During the gubernatorial debates Corzine said he believes taxes should be based on the “ability to pay.” Why? He never gave a detailed philosophical answer. He merely asserted that, knowing he would not lose many votes, because less than 10% of the electorate falls into that income category. Remarkably, there are families who earn high six-figure incomes or more who believe they should pay more because they too support the welfare state. How else can we explain the fact that Corzine outpolled Forrester in high income towns like Tenafly in Bergen County?

If people want to support a welfare system, they should pay for it voluntarily. That is compassionate. Forcing people to pay, year after year, for a massive redistribution of income is wrong. Period.

The first responsibility of every adult is to be financially independent. If adults cannot support themselves, then their families are morally obligated to help them. Next, the community’s social service agencies, the nonprofits, should do all they can to get individuals on their feet and help pay for the basic necessities of life.

Government does not have a moral claim to the income and wealth of its citizens. To assert it does, makes the government no different than a common thief.

Corzine apparently believes that he and others who have substantial wealth and income should “give back” to society in the form of higher taxes. But tax and spend is not how people should “give back.” People can give back by establishing a foundation, which Corzine did, or making generous contributions to nonprofit institutions, which Corzine has and does.

So why does government have to get involved in helping the needy? The ghost of the Great Depression haunts the political elite, the intellectual class, and editorial writers. They all believe that if another great depression occurs, the government would have a wide and deep “safety net” in place to meet the needs of the people in case of a national economic trauma. In addition, they believe government should be “compassionate,” and the welfare state is our collective response to the needs of the “underclass” and senior citizens.

Good government—another of Corzine’s goals-- has to be limited government, because big government is corrupting and the corrupt love big government. In New Jersey, that means getting jobs for cronies and contracts for contributors, all in the name, of course, of serving the public. To his credit, Corzine passionately stated he will end corruption in Trenton and around the state. He said he wants to be held accountable. In four years he will be if he can not make a dent in the systemic corruption that affects New Jersey.

Corzine believes in the idea that government should provide a bundle of services to the people, and virtually the whole the tab should be picked up by upper middle and upper income families. In short, Corzine believes in the redistribution of income. And so do many Republicans. That’s why we have a one-party system in both DC and Trenton, with two clubs vying for power every election.

Apparently, Corzine believes based on his life experiences that government is necessary to deliver many vital services to the people—healthcare, education, and housing—and intervene in the economy to promote what can be described as “social justice”—equal pay for equal work for women, for example. In addition, Corzine believes that state government should “invest” via a voter approved bond proposal to create the Edison Innovation Fund—a pool of money to support research and other activities to boost employment and innovation in the state.

Corzine’s plan is in reality a left-liberal supply side economic program. He asserts that the state can “leverage” its “investment” in high-tech firms, embryonic stem cell research and other areas to create high paying jobs that would also fill the state’s coffers with more revenue. (You can read the governor-elect’s ambitious agenda on his campaign website (http://www.corzineforgovernor.com/plans/).

Governor-elect Corzine wants state government to “invest, grow and prosper.” Governments do not invest. Governments spend. Only individuals and businesses invest. Making an investment implies that the investor incurs some level of risk, the possibility of losing the investment.

If governor-elect Corzine wants the New Jersey economy to grow and high paying jobs to increase, he should reduce the state budget by billions of dollars, reduce taxes so families and businesses would get the relief they need to spend and invest and contribute to charities. He also must eliminate the regulatory burdens that have made New Jersey one of the least attractive places to do business.

Governor-elect Corzine should take a cue for his administration from one of his party’s founder’s, Thomas Jefferson, who said, “A wise and frugal government, which shall leave men free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor and bread it has earned - this is the sum of good government.” And, “My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government.

In other words, at one time Democrats were the proponents of both limited government and decentralization of political and social power. Governor-elect Corzine could once again make the Democrat Party the party of all the people instead of the party of entitlement and redistribution.

Murray Sabrin, Ph.D., is professor of finance in the School of Business, Ramapo College of New Jersey, where he is also executive director of the Center for Business and Public Policy, www.ramapo.edu/cbpp.