By Matt Rooney | The Save Jersey Blog
The logic behind a guy seeking the GOP nomination for president appointing a former Torricelli/McGreevey bureaucrat to a critical cabinet post still eludes me, Save Jerseyans.
But here we are. We’re saddled with Jamie Fox now. And this is how he’s spending his time: advocating for a punishing increase in the one tax in New Jersey that isn’t suckily high (the gas tax) and, this past Sunday, penning a guest op-ed in theStar-Ledger claiming that New Jersey’s per-mile road maintenance isn’t nearly as expensive as claimed by gas tax hike opponents.
For starters, he complains that the study treats multiple lane highways like single-lane ones. Moreover, “New Jersey gives out nearly $330 million a year in local transportation aid to counties and municipalities. This helps local government take care of local roads without having to raise property taxes,” Commissioner Fox explains. “The Reason Foundation counts the spending we give to local government but doesn’t count all the miles of local roads that are repaired or built. Therefore, states with greater jurisdiction over local infrastructure fare better in the analysis as those centerline miles are credited to the state.”
You can find a copy of the eye-opening study here.
My #1 problem with Fox’s logic? Divide the number by the actual average number of lanes and New Jersey’s road costs are STILL the highest in the nation. By a mile. Many times over.
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Posted: February 16th, 2015 | Author: admin | Filed under: Chris Christie, Christie Administration, Opinion, Taxes | Tags: Chris Christie, Christie Administraion, Gas Tax, Infratstructure, Jamie Fox, Transportation Commissioner Jamie Fox | 1 Comment »
TRENTON — New Jersey’s cheap gas is a point of pride in an otherwise high-tax state. On the other hand, the Garden State is notorious for its duo of death taxes often landing it a spot on superlative lists like “Where not to die” and “Worst states to die.” New Jersey is just one of two…
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Posted: February 16th, 2015 | Author: admin | Filed under: Assembly Republicans, Chris Christie, Jay Webber, John Wisniewski, News, Taxes | Tags: Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto, Assemblyman Jay Webber, Assemblyman John Wisniewski, Chris Christie, Death Tax, Estate Tax, Gas Tax, Gordon MacInness, Inheritance Tax, New Jersey, New Jersey Policy Perspectives | Comments Off on Will N.J. trade a higher gas tax for a lower death tax?
TRENTON — The private law firm hired by Gov. Chris Christie in the wake of the George Washington Bridge lane closings billed taxpayers $7.46 million last year, causing total payouts to private law firms by the state Attorney General’s Office to increase for the fourth-straight year. The numbers, released late today to NJ Advance Media in…
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Posted: February 14th, 2015 | Author: admin | Filed under: Bridgegate, Chris Christie | Tags: Bridgegate, Chris Christie, fleecing the taxpayers, Gibson Dunn Crutcher, Legal fees | 15 Comments »
GOP presidential hopeful Jeb Bush has posted 250,000 emails to his website. GOP presidential hopeful Chris Christie, meanwhile, is fighting 23 separate court battles to keep a tight lid on a host of state documents, according to Mother Jones magazine. This is the same Chris Christie who promised in his first inaugural address, “Today a new…
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Posted: February 13th, 2015 | Author: admin | Filed under: 2016 Presidential Politics, Chris Christie, Jeb Bush | Tags: 2016 Presidential politics, Carl Golden, Chris Christie, emails, Jeb Bush, Michael Aron, NJTV, transparency | 12 Comments »
A month before New Jersey is to start controversial new state testing aligned to the Common Core State Standards, Gov. Chris Christie muddied the waters this week when he said he now has “grave concerns” about the standards he previously endorsed and which his administration is busy promoting. Speaking at a GOP…
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Posted: February 11th, 2015 | Author: admin | Filed under: 2016 Presidential Politics, Chris Christie, Christie Administration, Education, Iowa | Tags: 2016 Presidential politics, Chris Christie, Common Core, Education, Iowa, New Jersey, PARCC tests | 2 Comments »
Governor Chris Christie at Long Branch press conference, August , 2014 photo by Art Gallagher
Contrary to published reports, including one here at MMM, U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman’s office has not opened a new criminal investigation into Governor Chris Christie’s role, if any, in quashing the prosecution of former Hunterdon County Sheriff Deborah Trout.
The initial inaccurate report was published by International Business Times, a content partner of MMM through repubHub. MMM published the IBT story after noticing it was being cited by other news outlets.
On Friday, MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow Show published a report that included a denial from the U.S. Attorney’s office that it is investigating Christie over the Trout issue. (h/t SaveJersey)
“Any characterization that we are investigating the Governor about this is just not true … . [W]e talk to people all the time. It doesn’t mean we’re investigating anybody.”
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Posted: February 9th, 2015 | Author: Art Gallagher | Filed under: 2016 Presidential Politics, Chris Christie, Monmouth County, Paul Fishman, U.S. Attorney | Tags: Chris Christie, Governor Chris Christie, IBT, International Business Times, Matthew Reilly, MSNBC, NJNewsCommons, Rachel Maddow Show, repubHub, U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman | 2 Comments »
WASHINGTON — There are 49 weeks left until Iowa holds its caucus — which is good for Chris Christie, because he needs time to recover from this past week. His trip to London drew attention for all the wrong reasons, spotlighting his love for creature comforts and raising questions about funding. He sounded off about vaccines…
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Posted: February 8th, 2015 | Author: admin | Filed under: 2016 Presidential Politics, Chris Christie | Tags: 2016 Presidential politics, Chris Christie | 6 Comments »
TRENTON — In a story that has been told only by the slow-drip disclosure of subpoenas, the ongoing investigation into the George Washington Bridge scandal that has engulfed the Christie administration and some of his closest advisers continues to grow. In the latest revelations, United Airlines confirmed today that it has been asked to turn over…
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Posted: February 7th, 2015 | Author: admin | Filed under: Bridgegate, Chris Christie, Christie Administration, Crime, Crime and Punishment, David Samson, New Jersey, Paul Fishman, Port Authority | Tags: Bennett Barlin, Bridgegate, Chris Christie, Christie Administration, Columbia Airport South Carolina, David Samson, Hunterdon County Prosecutor's Office, Newark-Liberty International Airport, Port Authority, Port Authority of NY/NJ, Pulaski Skyway, SEC, South Carolina, U.S. Attorney, U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman, United Airlines | Comments Off on PA chairman’s United flights add to the twists and turns of a wide-ranging investigation
TRENTON — The reviews are in on Gov. Chris Christie’s trip to the United Kingdom, and they are not good. “I think the trip was an utter failure,” said Douglas Brinkley, a presidential historian at Rice University and the author of bestseller, The Reagan Diaries. “It should have been a trip of ‘good behavior’ instead of…
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Posted: February 6th, 2015 | Author: admin | Filed under: Monmouth County | Tags: 2016 Presidential politics, Choose New Jersey, Chris Christie, UK Trip | 4 Comments »
ATLANTIC CITY – Gov. Chris Christie was across the pond Monday on a foreign trip to London, dealing with a series of public relations problems. First there was report in The Bergen Record about how businesses awarded state tax breaks are paying for his travel. Then The New York Times published a piece detailing how the…
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Posted: February 6th, 2015 | Author: admin | Filed under: 2016 Presidential Politics, Chris Christie, NJ GOP | Tags: 2016 Presidential politics, Chris Christie, NJ GOP | 8 Comments »