Our NJ Legislature: Drawing A Line

     "Will you please shut up
     Will you ever shut up?
     Thank you very much!
     You're making me sick
     With that prissy whine
     Watch me now, I draw a line"
     Kander/Ebb/McNally: Kiss of the Spider Woman

Anyone tired of our Governor's loud, obnoxious rants? Yesterday in Brick he told lawmakers, "Get the hell off the beach and back to Trenton and deliver my tax cut, right now." What's wrong with a day at the beach after lawmakers delivered early a budget with almost everything Christie wanted? In fact, lawmakers remain hard at work in Trenton on a number of key bills that will be voted on this week.

However, our legislators have said, "Watch me now, I draw a line." And with good reason. Christie's budget was based on a disingenuous, unrealistic tax revenue forecast which probably even his Wall Street, finance- savvy wife does not believe. The funds for his "tax cut" are in the budget. The line the legislators drew was a simple request: "Show me the money" in the form of tax revenues, and we will give you your chocolate chip cookie, Mr. Governor.

More importantly much bigger budget  problems face New Jersey as Mark Magyar outlines in an excellent but depressing New Jersey Spotlight analysis:

"Even if the Democratic-controlled Legislature decides next year that the state cannot afford the controversial tax cut, the state would still need to come up with $2 billion in revenue growth in Fiscal Year 2014 just to cover the required increases in pension costs, transportation borrowing and already-approved business tax cuts, and the more than $1 billion in one-shot revenues built into the Fiscal Year 2013 budget ... Fighting over how to cut spending by $1 billion or more in an election year will make this year's budget battle look easy."

So while Christie whines about his chocolate chip cookie, the legislators have  every reason to worry about a much bigger line they may need to draw next year.