Corzine - All out of big ideas. AG Cut is ALL PR and means nothing

In the AP today there was an article entitled NJ Taking Garden out of Garden State. The article is about Governor Corzine eliminating the Agricultural department in an attempt to save money to cover the state budget deficit. Corzine has used this "departmental elimination" as a flag to show he is standing up for reduced government. However, apparently not many people are reading the fine print on this one:

His administration contends the move would save $4 million by having the environmental protection and health departments take over the agriculture department's functions.

Those savings would hardly put a dent in the state's $33 billion budget and "would send the worst kind of signal," said Mary Jo Herbert of the Hopewell Heritage Farm.

"I am a third-generation farmer and I, perhaps naively, believed that our state government was committed to preserving our farming heritage," she said.

I understand that we have to make hard decisions and sometimes innocent people get hurt in the process. I also understand now that this move by the Governor is a BIG JOKE. His 4 million dollar savings is laughable and the Governor knows it. This Governor has absolutely no courage to do anything or stand up for anything that doesn't soak the voters. He is afraid of the public employee unions and that only leaves him room to pick on the under-represented:

1. The Taxpayer(defined as people who actually pay taxes) who has no representative in Trenton (the legislature is representative of special interests and political bosses not the voter)
2. The Farmer
3. The Small Town
4. The Traveller either from NJ or other states
5. The Business Community

Here's a big idea for you Mr. Corzine. Eliminate the no contribution pension fund for state employees (other than public safety)and replace it with a 401k. That would put state workers on par with the average taxpayer. And make is retroactive. That way the public employee would then be subject to the same rules as everyone else in this state. But you are afraid. Afraid that state workers and political patronage employees would cry foul over their poor treatment. Only in New Jersey is the is the business life of the average taxpayer considered cruel and unusual punishment.

Corzine. All big ideas when thinking of new taxes. But microscopic when cutting spending.

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