Obstacles on the road to New Jerseys economic resurgence still exist today when other states have thriving economies. What is wrong here in New Jersey?

The answer to the above question is ‘What is not wrong with our economy!’ Governor Christie looks at the following as something to brag about, “New Jersey gaining 12,300 jobs and the state’s 4.4 percent unemployment rate below the national average.”  He has said, “Not only have we long ago recovered all the jobs we lost in the recession, but we are now well above where we were even before the recession occurred.” But the reality is that “New Jersey’s economic recovery from the Great Recession has been among the slowest in the nation — the eighth worst, according to a POLITICO analysis of net job growth since the recession’s beginning in January 2008. It lags behind neighboring New York and Pennsylvania and is comparable to states like West Virginia, Mississippi, Alabama and New Mexico.”

So Governor Christie this is something to brag about? My answer is a very definite NO! Our high cost of living and doing business has hampered our economy and the stupid tax and tax more to spend, spend our way out of debit that our political hacks in the state Assembly and Senate have earned the state a credit rating that has caused Moody’s to “cut its rating on the state’s general obligation bonds one notch to A3, while its outlook was revised to stable. Most of the state’s debt, however, is appropriation backed, meaning lawmakers must set aside funds for debt service payments every year. Those various bonds were also downgraded one notch to either Baa1 or Baa2, putting them in the lowest investment grade category of triple-B.”

This means that the cost of selling bonds costs much more than it would if our state had a good credit rating. What is driving the state’s credit rating down is “Persistent underfunding of the state’s public pension system and weak budgetary position contributed to the rating cut. So did the $1.1 billion of annual revenues the state will lose by 2021 because of sales and estate tax cuts passed last year in conjunction with a gasoline tax hike”, Moody’s Investors Service said.

Without a massive reworking of how the state public pension fund system functions and a real economic stimulus plan that causes more businesses to choose to come to New Jersey, this state will continue to suffer from the massive outward migration of both people from the upper and middle classes to other states plus businesses leaving and few to none coming here.

The two gubernatorial candidates have not show their specific economic plans to the voting public as of yet and this further hurts our economy. The Democrat has publicly stated in general terms that he wants to tax us to death and the Republic has issued weak statements of generalized economic nothings.

We the people of New Jersey must face the fact that if taxes continue to go up and spending is not controlled, New Jersey will become a vast economic hell for those who can not afford to get out.

That is my opinion- Jumpin Jersey Mike