Forget Corzine - How about a citizen constitution convention to reform taxes!

I caught an editorial in Thursday's Sentinel online that really piqued my interest. It was entitled "Toll Hikes the last trick of a very desperate man". Obviously it was all about John Corzine and his Enron Toll Plan. But there were several points that lead to a very sound conclusion:

Corzine knows taxes are about as high as they can go without precipitating an actual revolution, so substantial tax hikes are out.And because he thinks our elected representatives in the Assembly and Senate will never have the sand to fix the problem (he's right, by the way), the only idea he's got is "asset monetization." In other words, he wants to increase tolls by 50 percent in 2010, 2014, 2018 and 2022.

If our elected officials do not have the courage to attack this spending problem in this state, the citizens will have to take matters into their own hands. That was the original purpose of NJTaxrevolution. The problem in our state is really this:

As philosophically bankrupt notions go, this one is a humdinger. In a recent interview, Corzine basically admitted that none of the lawmakers in either the Democratic or Republican parties have the willpower to do what needs to be done to reduce the budget because it's political suicide to support cutting the number of state workers and programs.

The solution may be right there in front of us:

For a real solution, I believe we have to think about something Middlesex County Freeholder Director David B. Crabiel said last week that was reported in Greater Media's publication the Sentinel.

Discussing his frustration with this year's freeholder budget, and noting that "economy and cost-cutting notwithstanding, we may now have reached the point where, absent meaningful tax reform at the state level, no amount of fiscal conservatismor efficiency by county government can offset the rising costs of goods and services," Crabiel spelled out the bottom line.

"If the governor and the Legislature are unable or unwilling to deal with the issue of tax reform in New Jersey," he said, "then they should enact legislation that would convene a limited constitutional convention to allow people to reform the property tax system in New Jersey for themselves."

We may finally be nearing the time when the citizens of this state say ENOUGH.

You can read the entire editorial here.

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