How Chris Christie Has Left New Jersey's Economy Sputtering

[xchrom]

http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/how-chris-christie-has-left-new-jerseys-economy-sputtering


New Jersey Governor Chris Christie in Newark, New Jersey on October 29, 2013

Governor Chris Christie is back on late-night television, gyrating to the amusement of Jimmy Fallon’s millions of viewers and stumping for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination.

While Christie shimmies, his state continues to sink into the deepest economic morass in generations. He raced to plug an $800 million budget gap by July 1, a shortfall that credit ratings agencies blamed on reliance on non-recurring revenues and poor projections. As a result, only California and Illinois have lower credit ratings, and ratings agency Moody’s this year lowered its outlook on the state to negative.

To balance the budget on time, Christie backed out of the terms of a deal to reform the underfunded public employee pension system, the kind of bipartisan solution he’s been talking about during visits to places like New Hampshire and Iowa. Instead of paying the $1.6 billion into the fund as agreed with the Democratically-controlled legislature, Christie invoked his emergency powers to cut that payment by more than half to close the budget hole.

But the governor’s showmanship aside, the scramble to close the state’s budget gap is symptomatic of deeper concerns about the economic future of New Jersey, with the 7th largest US economy—and a window on what Christie would do if elected in 2016.
Why New Jersey’s Travails May Matter to the Country
New Jersey is among the prime specimens of post-recession America’s lasting political and economic malaise. The state’s $108.7 billion in unfunded public pension and health care liabilities offers a prequel to a nation in deep denial about the real costs of keeping its social contract with the Baby Boomer generation and of continuing to subsidize big corporations. Most importantly, it’s a bellwether of who, in the final accounting, is going to foot the bills when things go wrong.

As we told you in an earlier story, New Jersey’s failing economy may be a bigger threat to the governor’s political ambitions than the still-unresolved Bridgegate scandal.

Christie inherited a New Jersey in a long, slow economic decline. Decades of macroeconomic trends, in particular the loss of manufacturing jobs throughout the Northeast, have damaged the state’s economy. During the same period, no matter which party was in power in Trenton, New Jersey’s leaders kept expanding state pension benefits while failing to adequately fund the system.
Much of the state has become a wasteland—the vacant strip malls, the abandoned homes on suburban cul-de-sacs, and empty office buildings surrounded by empty parking lots where the weeds pop up through the blacktop.

[JustAnotherGen]

1. We are truly a State

That exemplifies the Have and Have Not society. Someone was shocked at my property taxes this past weekend. I hope they read this thread and see why.We can't count on Trenton to fund our schools, emergency services, or basic services like waste removal. So the affluent communities "Have" at a steep price tag - and the less affluent "Have Not".

[Walk away]

3. I live in a tiny 2 bedroom cottage in a blue collar neighborhood and pay $9000 a year in taxes.

The scary thing is, when Christie leaves, whoever replaces him will be forced to make a huge raise in taxes to pay for the Big Bully's deliberate mismanagement of funds.

Christie has been covering up his inability to deal with past debt by driving us into a bigger hole. It has been all about 2016 with him.

[JustAnotherGen]

4. You are absolutely right

When we finally get rid of him - the next person is going to have hell to pay - and so are we.

[Gothmog]

2. Christie is a bad governor