Governor Christie, Put Tax Cuts for the Wealthy on a Referendum!!

By Joseph Tenore/Hillsborough
Governor Chris Christie is racing to line up support from Republican Senate members to stop a vote on a same sex marriage bill.  Christie would prefer the matter be decided by voters in a November referendum instead.  This is a matter of civil rights and should not be subject to political party purity and the future ambitions of Governor Christie.  This is another area where the Governor could show some leadership instead of running away from his responsibility as Governor.
When Governor Christie said that in the 1950’s and 60’s civil rights activists "would have been happy to have a referendum on civil rights rather than fighting and dying in the streets of the South" he really put his foot in his mouth.  For Christie to try to compare his call for a gay marriage referendum and that of the civil rights struggle shows how out of touch he really is with history and the continued struggle of the Afro-American people in this country.  Christie must know that in the deep south, at the peak of the civil rights movement, discriminatory policies were so institutionalized, racism so rampant, that a referendum would have been useless.  Afro-Americans could not even vote!Christie’s "let the people decide" has all the signs of a cynical attempt to avoid leadership through shallow populist rhetoric.
The Governor has purposed a 10 percent across the board income tax cut for everyone in the state.  This would be just another windfall profit for the rich and super-rich.  A famiy earning $50,000.00 a year would have an extra $80.50 in their pocket.  A family earning $100,000.00 would have $275.00.  Yet those in the state making $1,000,000.00 would receive $7,265.75.This cut for the middle income and below is not even enough for one week’s groceries, but the rich would have enough for an exotic vacation! Since New Jersey has 221,000 millionaires living in our beautiful state, more than any other state in the Union, this windfall for the wealthy would amount to $8,864,215.00.  This would go a long way to solving our revenue problems.
The people have spoken.  Eighty-five percent of New Jersey citizens have said over and over again that fairness demands those with the greatest means, especially those with incomes of one million dollars or more, to pay at least their equal share of taxes.
Governor Christie now is your chance to use your referendum option and let the people of New Jersey decide if taxes on the rich and super-rich should be raised.  If such a referendum were to ever be put forth to the people of New Jersey, you would have no choice but to accept the outcome.  This would benefit all the people of New Jersey by generating jobs and restoring our under funded educational sytem.  The use of the referendum would also take you off the "hot seat" with your Republican buddies such as Grover Norquest.
True leadership and greatness demands changing the direction in which you and your New Republican Party are moving.  Governor, it is time to have the best interest of all the people of New Jersey in mind.  Make those hard decisions that will move New Jersey forward.