People are leaving New Jersey in droves and our wonderful state government is doing little to nothing to prevent the outflow of population to surrounding states or other regions.
A Rutgers Regional Report noted this back in September of 2014 and yet our tax and spend politicians see no connection to the extraordinary fact that it costs more to live here than just about any other state. Are we the morons or are they?
The Rutgers report stated the following:
“In the suburban ring, the highest growth totals
were achieved by three inlying counties adjacent
or close to the regional core: Bergen (New
Jersey), Westchester (New York), and Fairfield
(Connecticut). However, there were 12 suburban
counties—out of a total of 27 suburban counties—
that lost population between 2010 and 2013. Thus,
over 44 percent of the counties in the suburban
ring experienced demographic contraction.
All of the population-losing counties, with the
exception of Monmouth County in New Jersey,
were located on the metropolitan outer rim
(highlighted in table 1 and figure 2): Litchfield and
New Haven in Connecticut; Dutchess, Putnam,
Sullivan, and Ulster in New York; Hunterdon,
Sussex, and Warren in New Jersey; and Monroe
and Pike in Pennsylvania. These counties, the
demographic leaders of the second half of the
twentieth century, have experienced a dramatic
reversal of population dynamics.”
There can be no denial that we as a state are losing people because of the over taxation of our businesses, people and industries. It is well past time to correct this set of problems before it is too late! While it is a fact that our state and local governments take in vast amounts of money via taxation; few people can follow the money trail on how it is spent.
I therefore am proposing a new independent state government office that could audit all expenditures, taxation and revenues. Be they by the state or local government. By being independent of the legislature or the Governor, but being bound by law to be open and responsive to the citizens of New Jersey only; we may finally find out where all the money that is collected is going. Wouldn’t that be nice to know!
By having such an office we the people could have a tool to gauge how much of our monies are spent usefully and what is being wasted. And if coupled with the people of New Jersey being able to propose bills, we could wrestle away the control of New Jersey from the political bosses thus putting the people back in charge!
That is my opinion- Jumpin Jersey Mike
