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.
Increases the pressure on the legislators to get in line with Corslime.
I'd say the joke was the guv of jersey. All I can figure is that he's trying to make the citizens suffer so much that they'll agree to his tax hikes. Sounds like a combination of egomania and stupidity to me.
It's being reported that they've just come to a budget agreement.
Now that they have a deal, just breaking, the Casinos are going to reopen and without gambling nuts, NJ could not exist. Glad to see that Cape May was not closed. If only the Jersities would vote for Republicans instead of these tax raisers , they might have a chance to cut their deficits. Kean would be the first pol they should vote for.
Bob Grant always said that New Jerseyans are proud to vote for the most corrupt people. Unfortunately I live here. HELP US!
It may turn out that the politician who pays the price for this goof-up is Robert Menendez.
yes, that would be the best outcome - since his election is just a few months away.
BUT; a governor elected by the people of NJ.....I love it..
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