|
 Whitman's
Dismal Deficit And Fiscal Irresponsibility Legacy Still Nags At New Jersey
Taxpayers, Especially Those In Ocean County Communities
After Screwing Up Nearly Every Aspect Of The State Government, Former
Governor Says She's Tired Of Hearing About It; Says McGreevey Should Shut Up
And Fix It.
Asbury Park Press Says "New Jersey Taxpayers Are Weary Of Paying The Bills
She Left Behind"
Dover Township - The eight hundred pound gorilla in Governor Jim
McGreevey's office is the corrosive and destructive and costly legacy of his
predecessor, former Republican Governor Christie Todd Whitman.
All of the plans McGreevey made regarding new initiatives for senior
citizens, mental health, handicapped citizens and further local property tax
relief have been vaporized and subordinated to the crushing obligation to
maintain state government services and fund the enormous budget deficits he
inherited from Whitman and her profligate interim successor, " Acting "
Governor Donald DiFrancesco.
Illegal And Unconstitutional $2.5 Billion State Budget Deficit
The year Whitman left office (2001) produced huge new spending orgies in the
face of a huge illegal and unconstitutional budget deficit.
In May of 2001, the Star Ledger noted the new 2002 fiscal year budget, which
did not even take effect until the following July 1st, was more than $2.5
billion out of balance.
The revenue numbers turned out to be wildly inflated by Whitman and
DiFrancesco, so that by the time McGreevey took office, with still six
months to go in the Whitman-DiFrancesco lame duck budget year, the deficit
had reached an unprecedented $4.5 billion and climbing.
The lame duck Republican legislature only made matters worse with a $400
million lame duck pork barrel spending extravaganza that threw money at
every special interest wish list in New Jersey during a series of December
2001 lame duck legislative sessions.
Whitman said a couple of months ago that McGreevey should stop criticizing
her record of screwing up every corner of the state government before she
abandoned her New Jersey constituents and left for Washington to inflict
further injury on the federal government.
"New Jersey Taxpayers Are Tired Of Paying The Bills She Left Behind" -
-Asbury Park Press
The Asbury Park Press and others said McGreevey's criticism was on the mark,
however, and Whitman should expect it to continue because "New Jersey
taxpayers are tired of paying the bills she left behind."
As McGreevey completes his first year in office, Whitman's dismal record, in
part, remains as follows:
-Whitman and DiFrancesco produced an illegal $2.5 Billion State Budget
Deficit. The state budget was at least $2.5 billion out of balance a month
before the 2002 budget year even started on July 1, 2001.
-Whitman's political patronage operation handed out big salaried jobs to
every Republican job seeker in NJ, wasted hundreds of $$Millions and
destroyed the morale of thousands of career state employees.
Massive Increase In The State's Debt
-Whitman and the Republican legislature enacted a massive increase in the
state's debt, money she squandered in the stock market with pension system
losses of more than $22 BILLION in 22 months. This plus inflated pension
payments to overpaid political hacks put the state's pension system in
jeopardy.
- Whitman's fiscal mismanagement and failure to confront the state's
overdevelopment emergency set the stage for enormous local property tax
increases, including a probable $40 million annual tax increase in Dover
Township and the Toms River school system over the next several years.
- Christie also victimized retired career public employees with an eleventh
hour change in legislation which handed the bulk of pension payment
increases to the same worthless political appointees she hired at inflated
salary and benefit costs.
Click here for previous Christie Whitman article and continue to log on to
www.OceanCountyPolitics.Com
for more on the big Whitman-Inspired state budget deficits. |
|
