"Hey Jonny, I knew Castro and you're no Castro."
Posted on 07/06/2006 6:52:16 AM PDT by Nevadan
You know the punch line: A nuclear holocaust annihilates most of Western civilization, a resurrected Jesus Christ walks on water and the Chicago Cubs win the World Series, but in casinos everywhere ... gambling continues unabated.
Yet, on Wednesday, the alluring jingle of slot machines fell quiet in Atlantic City. Dice stopped tumbling and shuffled decks of cards remained in their shoes.
Games of chance were shut down, not because of an unforeseen catastrophe or a miracle, but over something completely predictable: an elected official seeking a tax increase. And the joke is on the residents of New Jersey.
Gov. Jon Corzine, a Democrat, wants to slug New Jersey taxpayers with a 1 percentage point sales tax increase to fund a nearly 10 percent boost in state spending. Jacking the sales tax rate from 6 percent to 7 percent would cost an average New Jersey family, already coping with higher energy prices and interest rates, about $275 per year.
The New Jersey Legislature doesn't support Gov. Corzine's plan, and the resulting impasse has left the state without a budget for the start of the new fiscal year. So the good governor is shutting down all "nonessential" state offices and services. Among the state workers sent home: the inspectors who track the billions of dollars that flow through Atlantic City's casinos.
Can a major U.S. industry dominated by publicly traded companies be trusted to function temporarily outside the oversight of a few overpaid bureaucrats? Of course not! Gov. Corzine ordered Atlantic City's 12 casinos closed Wednesday morning, leaving about 20,000 dealers, pit bosses and cocktail servers out of work, too.
Big-government boosters such as Gov. Corzine know they can't take the chance of letting the private sector function without a constant regulatory presence. If they did so, taxpayers might catch on to how "nonessential" most government services and personnel really are.
Has Gov. Corzine halted the collection of sales, income and property taxes? Certainly not. Rather than shut down all government activities, Gov. Corzine has chosen a select few designed to elicit squeals from certain constituencies for the tax increases he wants -- in addition to the casinos, Gov. Corzine has also closed all state parks and beaches.
Gov. Corzine might not get the sales tax increase he desires, but his tactics likely will deliver revenue through another levy increase, perhaps through income or property taxes. And Atlantic City's casinos, most of them operated by Nevada-based corporations, will no doubt re-open sometime soon.
But with each passing day, this shutdown costs gaming corporations millions of dollars. Does Gov. Corzine think they'll be glad to invest billions more in a resort town they rescued from oblivion?
Or will these companies look to jurisdictions with more welcoming governments to create construction and service jobs and provide millions of dollars in tax revenues?
Gov. Corzine won't find the answers to those questions very funny at all.
He didn't shut them down, they HAD to shut down, due to Govt. gambling regulators being part of the Govt. The casinos are losing $14 mill a day. They should pay to operate the regulators office for 1 year and screw Corzine!
Ever had bear? I had bear when I lived in N.C. It was better than deer. (and I LIKE deer).
See my post "Pigs at the Trough"
Its real simple. Corzine is really not very bright. He's basically an idio-savant who had a talent for making money on Wall Street, but basically he is a moron when it comes to anything else requiring common sense. If there was a real media, he would have never gotten elected senator. Listen to his responses to the simplest questions. Unfortunately the public often interprets financial success for higher thought, an in which Corzine is totally lacking.
Corzine - sort of rhymes with poison - wnats to appear "Presdiential" making "hard decisions" which will appeal to the unwashed schlubs in the state.
But this ex-stockbroker knows as much about government as he knows about farming - which is what he claims he did before he came east from Illinois.
>>>...as he knows about farming - which is what he claims he did before he came east from Illinois.
That can't be true. When there was a debate here in NJ about having self service added to the gas stations, Corzine said he had never pumped gas before.
How can you be a farmer and never pumped gas?
Corzine to casinos, "kick in a few million to the DNC or else"
This is just like any government shutdown.......the dirty little secret is that not many citizens would notice if the politicians and media didn't do an all out push to make it noticeable, ie: casios (who could probably run just fine without the NJ government) state parks, etc.
Same old game plan as when BlowJobBilly shut down the fed gov.
"She couldn't tell from sitting inside the vehicle if the lights were on." -- Zulima Farber spokesman David Wald, on whether the Attorney General's state car, driven by a State Trooper, "bypassed traffic using emergency lights" to speed to Fairview, where here live-in boyfriend was facing tickets for driving without a license and driving an uninsured vehicle. (The Record, 07/06/06)
Without tax increases the democrats are completely unable to function.
Goore (Farber's boyfriend),was stopped during a routine holiday "Click-it or Ticket" seat-belt enforcement campaign on the morning of May 26 and issued traffic citations for driving on a suspended license and failing to register his vehicle, court records show.
"Ever had bear? I had bear when I lived in N.C. It was better than deer. (and I LIKE deer)."
We had it a lot when I was a kid but I always thought it was gamey. Now Rabbits and Quail are delicious.
It's the standard Democrat gambit - - promise no tax increases, get elected, and then do everything in your power to hike taxes during your FIRST YEAR IN OFFICE (so there's plenty of time before the next election to restore your reputation). Clinton, Florio, Corzine - - look at history and the list of lying Democrats goes on forever.
Oh, I agree. But I think Corzine's taking this way too personally, and he may be morphing into Capt. Queeg. Corzine's always struck me as really thin-skinned anyway, so it probably wouldn't take much to send his choo-choo train chugging around the bend.
The more you soak the meat in ice water, the less the gamey taste.
I've not had the opportunity to try quail yet.
>>>Corzine's always struck me as really thin-skinned anyway, so it probably wouldn't take much to send his choo-choo train chugging around the bend.
I've seen rumors of temper tantrums posted at financial boards by guys that claim to have known him during the Goldman years. No way to verify that though.
He also shut down a day camp for blind children and starting next week the prescription drug coverage for Seniors will be halted.
I don't know about y'all, but when somebody tries to put the hurt on my, I generally like to try to hurt them back!
What is wrong with this spineless legislature???? If the governor has a hissy fit and tries to blackmail them into doing something that they feel is wrong, don't they have the obligation to start impeachment??
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