Standard & Poor's lowers New Jersey state credit outlook

[ProSense]

Standard & Poor's lowers New Jersey state credit outlook

by Hunter

More bad news for New Jersey, and for Gov. Chris Christie:

The latest dose of bad news was delivered by Standard & Poor’s, which Tuesday lowered its credit outlook for New Jersey from stable to negative.

While Standard & Poor’s did not change the state’s AA- rating — one of the worst among the states — it warned the more drastic step of a lower rating loomed if Christie’s nearly 8 percent growth in revenue failed to materialize. <...>

"We revised the outlook to reflect our view of the risk of revenue assumptions we view as optimistic, continued reliance on one-time measures to offset revenue shortfalls, and longer-term growing expenditure pressures," John Sugden, a credit analyst for Standard & Poor’s, said.

The optimistic revenue assumptions part is a direct reference to Christie's implausible budget assumptions, especially as it relates to his insistence that only further tax cuts can possibly cause the magical money unicorn to once again poop cash and rainbows across his great state. For Republicans, this was proof enough of Christie's seriousness to make him one of the keynote speakers at their recent convention.

Which, as it turns out, seems to be a trend. After all, one of the people most responsible for the national credit downgrade was Paul Ryan and his merry band of fellow fiscal anarchists—and for his own valiant attempts in the field of completely implausible budget numbers, he was rewarded with the vice presidential slot on the Republican ticket.

In the current Republican Party, gross fiscal incompetence has become a big selling point. And if your incompetence results in actual, real-world economic damage, you'll be considered as leadership material.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/09/19/1133970/-Standard-Poor-s-lowers-New-Jersey-state-credit-outlook

Let's take a stroll down memory lane and review Governor Blowhard's record.

Is he kidding? Gov. Chris Christie wants more tax cuts for the rich

A few days after saying New Jersey is so broke it must cut medical benefits for retirees and freeze their pensions forever, Gov. Chris Christie now says he wants to cut income taxes for the rich.

Think about those priorities. Middle-class families just lost their property tax rebates. Schools lost nearly $1 billion in funding, their biggest hit ever. Thousands of working poor families were closed out of health care programs. And our colleges and universities were whacked hard, forcing tuition hikes as the state scholarship programs run dry.

The governor said those cuts were necessary because the state’s vaults were empty. He was the guy telling us to live within our means, to face hard realities. And now this — a tax cut that would blow a new hole in the budget.

The governor says cutting top tax rates will spur business investment. The truth is it would shower benefits on the wealthy indiscriminately. Yes, some of the money might be invested in New Jersey. But much more would be invested outside the state, and even outside the country. The only thing that would stay here for sure is the budget gap it would create.

- more -

http://blog.nj.com/njv_editorial_page/2010/09/is_he_kidding_gov_chris_christ.html

N.J. unemployment jumps from Christie budget cuts
18,100 government workers and teachers out of work

The loss of 18,100 government and school jobs in July bumped New Jersey unemployment rate up 0.1 percentage point to 9.7 percent, the first monthly increase since reaching a high of 10 percent in December.

The lost jobs included 14,700 in local and county government and public schools and 3,600 related to the winding down of the U.S. Census.

Another 3,100 jobs were lost in the private sector.

The loss in government and school jobs can be contributed, at least in part, to Gov. Chris Christie's decision to cut state aid to local government by $445 million and $820 million to public schools as he attempted to close a $10 billion budget deficit.

more

http://www.newjerseynewsroom.com/economy/nj-unemployment-jumps-from-christie-budget-cuts

<...>

In New Jersey, where about 3,000 teachers were let go in May, Gov. Chris Christie’s administration worries that the federal aid will only forestall difficult decisions later, and it is unclear how much will be spent immediately.

“It’s a real double-edged sword,” said Michael Drewniak, a spokesman for the governor. “This money will not be there next year, and we’re not going to get back up to the funding that they had previously been used to.”

<...>

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/18/business/economy/18teachers.html?_r=2&pagewanted=all

N.J. revenue shortfall increases at least another $50M in May

By Salvador Rizzo/Statehouse Bureau

TRENTON — Once again, the latest revenue numbers are pushing hard against Gov. Chris Christie’s claims of a "Jersey Comeback."

Tax collections failed to meet expectations in May, continuing a months-long trend that is cranking up the pressure on New Jersey’s finances just as Christie and Democratic lawmakers are racing to strike a tax-cut deal by the end of this month.

Revenues were $50 million to $100 million under target last month, according to a memo sent to lawmakers by David Rosen, the budget chief of the nonpartisan Office of Legislative Services.

Meanwhile, the Christie administration said the shortfall was closer to $28.9 million in May and questioned Rosen’s credibility as a budget analyst.

- more -

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2012/06/nj_revenue_shortfall_increases.html

The Comeback Skid

By PAUL KRUGMAN

There will be two big stars at the Republican National Convention, and neither of them will be Mitt Romney. One will, of course, be Paul Ryan, Mr. Romney’s running mate. The other will be Chris Christie, the governor of New Jersey, who will give the keynote address. And while the two men could hardly look or sound more different, they are brothers under the skin.

How so? Both have carefully cultivated public images as tough, fiscally responsible guys willing to make hard choices. And both public images are completely false.

I’ve written a lot lately deconstructing the Ryan myth, so let me turn today to Mr. Christie.

<...>

Even if the comeback were real, this would be a highly dubious idea. By all accounts, New Jersey still has a significant structural deficit, that is, a deficit that will persist even when the economy recovers. Furthermore, the Christie tax-cut proposal would do very little for the middle class but give large breaks to the wealthy.

But in any case, the good times are by no means back, and neither is the revenue boom that was supposed to justify a tax cut. So has the very responsible Mr. Christie accepted the idea of at least delaying his tax-cut plan until the promised revenue gains materialize? Of course not.

- more -

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/27/opinion/krugman-the-comeback-skid.html

[DJ13]

1. "The Comeback Skid"

LOL

K&R!

[orwell]

2. There's that stupid "new math"...

...getting in the way of a popular media narrative.

So much for Trickle Down 2...