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		<title>Government Bytes</title>
		<description>The Official Weblog of NTU/NTUF</description>
		<link>http://blog.ntu.org/</link>
		<language>en-us</language>

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			<title>New Jersey Legislator Report Card Initiative</title><description><![CDATA[The New Jersey Taxpayers' Association announces a new state Legislator Report Card Initiative:The local effort is modeled after the National Taxpayers Union's annual Congressional voting study and is designed to grade members of New Jersey's 212th Legislature on their actual votes on key bills that significantly affect taxes, spending, debt and regulatory burdens on New Jersey residents and taxpayers.Kudos!]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 17 Aug 2007 09:57:54 MDT</pubDate><link>http://blog.ntu.org/main/post.php?post_id=2480</link><category>Blog Entries</category>
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			<title>Belated Easter Eggs: Savings Bills in the 110th Congress</title><description><![CDATA[NTU Foundation's BillTally project examines each bill introduced in Congress to determine its effect on federal outlays. A list of the savings bills that we have identified so far in the 110th Congress is available for download as an Excel spreadsheet: BT110_Savings Bills.

These bills either reduce spending outright or increase offsetting receipts, which the Congressional Budget Office defines as "funds collected by government agencies from other government accounts or from the public in business-like or market-oriented transactions." Revenues ("funds collected from the public that arise from the government's exercise of its sovereign or governmental powers") are excluded from the BillTally study. More information is available in our Methodology.

We are still in the process of scoring legislation so this list may not be comprehensive. The file will be updated as we find more savings.

Any feedback, questions, or information about additional savings bills can be addressed to dbrady at ntu.org.

]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 13 Apr 2007 15:12:53 MDT</pubDate><link>http://blog.ntu.org/main/post.php?post_id=1942</link><category>Blog Entries</category>
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			<title>Property Tax Reform in New Jersey Will Be Up To The Voters</title><description><![CDATA[As unsurprising as the sun setting in the west, New Jersey politicians for years have done absolutely nothing to address sky-high property taxes in the Garden State and have not seemed interested in making any attempts either.  The only time there is any talk about the matter is when an election looms; but as soon as the polls close, discussion of property-tax reform ends.  The situation is no different today and New Jersey residents still face the highest per-resident property tax burden of any state in the Union---double the national average.  When politicians refuse to address something that clearly is a problem and are willing to let the problem fester, it can mean only one thing: Those politicians don’t fear the voters.

As fear of being voted out of office is the only way to ensure that politicians are responsive to their constituents, it is incumbent upon New Jersey voters to let their representatives know what is expected of them and to make clear to them that their continuation in office is dependent on what they do between now and election day to meaningfully address punishing property-tax levels.  The Silver Brigade, a property tax reform group in New Jersey, is starting to get out that message.  Last week the group sent letters to the party leadership in both the state Assembly and the state Senate that paint the picture of a voter revolt against incumbents if there is no action on the property-tax reform front.  This week, letters will be sent to select local legislators, too.

Of course, the voters have to do their part and draw a line in the sand.  Rebates and other tax-shifting schemes are no substitute for capping annual property-tax increases and reducing state spending by, among other things, renegotiating state employee contracts.  If Trenton comes up with nothing more than rebates or a tax trade before the June primaries or the November generals, voters need to show incumbents the door.

If they don’t or if they simply replace the tired old bums with a set of sprightly new bums, the cost-of-living in New Jersey will continue to spiral upward and the vestiges of the middle class that are rumored to still exist in the state will completely vanish.

It’s all up to the voters.  Good government always is.]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 08 Jan 2007 13:38:20 MST</pubDate><link>http://blog.ntu.org/main/post.php?post_id=1696</link><category>Blog Entries</category>
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			<title>Thanks, Union Bosses! (part II)</title><description><![CDATA[New Jersey residents can thank these lovely folks for their high property taxes.]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 11 Dec 2006 15:09:03 MST</pubDate><link>http://blog.ntu.org/main/post.php?post_id=1633</link><category>Blog Entries</category>
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			<title>NJ State Senator Watching Too Many Episodes of the Sopranos</title><description><![CDATA[The Star-Ledger reports that "Sen. Wayne Bryant, the powerful chairman of the Appropriations and Budget Committee, stepped down from the influential post yesterday amid mounting political pressure over a federal monitor's findings that he ordered the state's medical university to give him a no-show job."

The job was a legislative-outreach position so that he could essentially "lobby himself" to get public funding for the school.
]]></description><pubDate>Tue, 26 Sep 2006 08:55:19 MDT</pubDate><link>http://blog.ntu.org/main/post.php?post_id=1445</link><category>Blog Entries</category>
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			<title>Attend a Property Tax Summit in New Jersey</title><description><![CDATA[A group of New Jersey taxpayers have banded together to form a statewide grassroots organization named the Silver Brigade, and they’re dedicated to achieving major reforms in New Jersey’s property taxes.

They’ve been holding a series of rallies and summits across the state to call attention to the unfair taxation burden on modern day property owners, and you are encouraged to join them:

Property Tax “Tea Party” Protest
September 12, 2006 (rain date September 20, 2006)
10am to 3pm
Bergen County Annual Senior Citizens’ Picnic
Van Saun County Park, Paramus, NJ

or

Statewide Citizens’ Tax Summit
September 14, 2006
7pm to 9pm
Randolph High School Auditorium
511 Millbrook Avenue, Randolph, NJ

For more information, please visit www.silverbrigade.com or contact Jerry Cantrell at 973.252.9274 or email jcantrel@optonline.net today.  ]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 08 Sep 2006 07:55:10 MDT</pubDate><link>http://blog.ntu.org/main/post.php?post_id=1402</link><category>Blog Entries</category>
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			<title>Tax Hell</title><description><![CDATA[Where else but New Jersey?
]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 28 Aug 2006 14:46:37 MDT</pubDate><link>http://blog.ntu.org/main/post.php?post_id=1370</link><category>Blog Entries</category>
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			<title>Grassroots Continue to Rally against Corzine</title><description><![CDATA[Taxpayers in New Jersey have had just about enough of Jon Corzine. After $1.5 billion in tax increases, Garden State citizens are finally taking to the streets…or in this case the boats.

The Silver Brigade will be holding Tea Parties (Samuel Adams style) to draw attention to skyrocketing property taxes. 

If you’d like to join them, the next event will be tonight at the Cherry Hill Community Library: 1100 Kings Highway North, Cherry Hill, NJ, 08034, 856-667-0300.

The event is from 7:00 to 9:00, if you’d like to give your aching rotator cuff a good workout.

Here is the link 
 
]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 14 Aug 2006 13:15:30 MDT</pubDate><link>http://blog.ntu.org/main/post.php?post_id=1335</link><category>Blog Entries</category>
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			<title>Scandal Hits New Jersey Treasury Department</title><description><![CDATA[The Star Ledger is reporting that the "state's taxation director and five other Treasury Department employees were indicted yesterday on official misconduct charges, accused of taking thousands of dollars worth of dinners, entertainment and other gifts from a state vendor."  According to the article, the alleged gifts included:
A Sept. 22, 2004, New York City outing including limo service, tickets to the Broadway musical "Wicked," and meals and drinks at two restaurants. Value: about $2,470.Spa services in September 2004 at the Cliffhouse Spa in Ogunquit, Maine. Total value: $626.Three golf outings between June 2001 and May 2003. Total value: $2,560.Various meals at restaurants in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware between September 1999 and November 2004. Total value: more than $3,600. I suppose the conclusion is that New Jersey state employees don't make enough money and that if they had a raise once in awhile, then they wouldn't be so corrupt.

HT:  Tim Wise

]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 11 Aug 2006 09:47:08 MDT</pubDate><link>http://blog.ntu.org/main/post.php?post_id=1330</link><category>Blog Entries</category>
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			<title>Memo to Governor Corzine: Not Everyone is a Millionaire</title><description><![CDATA[But you wouldn’t know it from his budget and  recent startling indications  that New Jersey might raise sales taxes once again. I’m not sure if Governor Corzine genuinely despises poor people (sales taxes hurt them the most), or if he just really loves power (probably the latter). 

After the largest tax increase in the nation, and now the highest state-level sales tax rate, Corzine wants to permit towns to levy their own sales taxes in addition to the state rate. Taxpayers across the country can study New Jersey as an example of how not to run a state. 

Good luck attracting future residents and businesses Governor Corzine. Perhaps you should go back to your days as a coffee runner at Goldman Sachs. A majority of your state might facilitate that change in a few years.
]]></description><pubDate>Tue, 01 Aug 2006 15:16:58 MDT</pubDate><link>http://blog.ntu.org/main/post.php?post_id=1302</link><category>Blog Entries</category>
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			<title>$31 Billion and NJ Still Can't Obey the Law</title><description><![CDATA[Fresh off the highest tax increase in the nation ($1.5 billion), and the promise (note: the phrase "honest New Jersey politician" is an oxymoron) of property tax relief down the road, taxpayers in the Garden State are still having a tough time with their government.

 The Open Public Records Act  mandates that budgets, payrolls, and other government information be readily accessible. As you can guess, most of them are not. Millions of taxpayers in New Jersey have no idea of the intimate functions of state government. In a poll conducted last month, only one in three participants knew that the average northeast New Jersey police officer made a cool $100,000. 

Some municipalities in Jersey are even charging upwards of $750 for local budgets and audits. 

Garden State taxpayers pay close to $4,000 in state taxes alone, will soon be straddled with the highest state-level sales tax in the nation, and can’t even get a local budget. 

I imagine the Jersey exodus will continue for the next few years. Can you blame them?
]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 21 Jul 2006 13:38:23 MDT</pubDate><link>http://blog.ntu.org/main/post.php?post_id=1277</link><category>Blog Entries</category>
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			<title>"Taxes are the crack of New Jersey lawmakers"</title><description><![CDATA[The Record of New Jersey is running  a series of articles on the history of New Jersey's fiscal mess and how the government managed to sink into a $4 billion deficit. One problem is that the lawmakers need "tax detoxification":Taxes are the crack of New Jersey lawmakers. Pure and simple. The more they get, the more they want. The more they want, the more they need to get the same results.The series should be an ineresting read. Check it out here: "Runaway Pay."
]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 19 Jul 2006 08:42:05 MDT</pubDate><link>http://blog.ntu.org/main/post.php?post_id=1268</link><category>Blog Entries</category>
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			<title>Memo to NJ: Get your shopping done before Saturday</title><description><![CDATA[This story explains the conundrum faced by hundreds of New Jersey businesses and customers due to the hike in the state sales tax.

Many stores sold goods to people under the assumption of a 6% sales tax rate, but the Democrats' deal with Governor Corzine raised that rate to 7% and moved the application date up to July 15.  Corzine's original plan would have had the tax go into effect on October 1st.

Now NJ business owners are faced with having to return to their customers and demand an extra 1% on goods that have yet to be delivered.  Should the customers refuse, the businesses will be forced to eat the extra cost.

Thanks, Tax Man!]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 13 Jul 2006 11:37:40 MDT</pubDate><link>http://blog.ntu.org/main/post.php?post_id=1255</link><category>Blog Entries</category>
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			<title>Tell that to the rest of New Jersey...</title><description><![CDATA[Jeff Edelstein thinks that New Jersey's property tax burden isn't a problem and that most people "don't have any right complaining."  He then goes on to propose more of the fiscal insanity that has buried New Jersey in debt and taxes.

So apparently, the highest property taxes in the nation aren't enough to merit "complaints" in Edelstein's world.  How about the 60,000 people who registered their complaints by simply leaving the state?  I have a sneaking suspicion that that kind of complaint will become very common in Corzine's New Jersey.]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 07 Jul 2006 10:43:53 MDT</pubDate><link>http://blog.ntu.org/main/post.php?post_id=1239</link><category>Blog Entries</category>
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			<title>Let's Hope Statehouse Sources Are Wrong</title><description><![CDATA[From Reuters:
 New Jersey lawmakers reached a deal on the state's budget on Thursday that will allow Atlantic City's casinos to reopen after they had been forced shut since Wednesday, a statehouse source said.

The lawmakers have agreed to Gov. Jon Corzine's proposal to increase the state sales tax from 6 percent to 7 percent, a statehouse source said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

All 12 of the city's casinos closed after a budget impasse led Corzine to shut down non-essential services. 

]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 06 Jul 2006 12:58:55 MDT</pubDate><link>http://blog.ntu.org/main/post.php?post_id=1237</link><category>Blog Entries</category>
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