Murray Sabrin
Professor of Finance at Ramapo College
Regarding “State senate president plans to push tax bill,” (Nov. 9, page 1A). The people of New Jersey spoke loud and clear on election night. They want state government to spend more of their money. Not really their money, just upper income folks who make up a small percentage of the population. And they want Trenton to expand its already overbearing micromanagement of the economy.
Senate president Stephen Sweeney announced that he will put a “millionaire’s tax” on the front burner when the legislature convenes after Governor-elect Phil Murphy takes office in January.
Raising taxes on millionaires is another example of why government is like Willie Sutton, the notorious bank robber who was asked why he robbed banks, he replied, “That’s where the money is.” Phil Murphy and Democrats are legal versions of Willie Sutton.
Higher taxes on upper income taxpayers will cause any out of state high-income individual, business owner, or corporate executive to think twice about relocating to New Jersey. In other words, we will never how many upper income folks will not move to New Jersey because of the highest marginal taxes Murphy is so hot to increase. In addition, how many people and businesses will leave New Jersey because of higher income taxes? We will soon find out.
The proposed tax increases on millionaires will eventually hit middle-income families, because that is how big government proponents operate—tax the smallest number of families first, then go after where the big bucks are, the middle class.
As H.L. Mencken remarked decades ago, “Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard. “
Ridgewood NJ, Following Democrat Phil Murphy’s victory in New Jersey’s gubernatorial election on Tuesday, marijuana legalization in the state could very quickly become a reality. The incoming governor, made cannabis legalization a key part of his campaign platform. Murphy has promised to legalize pot for Garden State stoners aged 21 and older within his first 100 days in office, with an eye on raking in an estimated $300 million a year in taxes.
Murphy’s “Pot” proposal would legalize the recreational use of marijuana across the state. Democrats now have full control of the state’s legislature, and are making the issue a key part of their agenda going into 2018. New Jersey Senate President Steven Sweeney told the Washington Examiner this week that he is confident that a marijuana legalization bill will be signed into law before April.
If New Jersey legalize the recreational use of marijuana it would become the ninth state in the country to legalize the recreational use of marijuana, and the first to do so through legislation instead of a ballot initiative.
Even though a New Jersey marijuana legalization bill could be signed into law in the first few months of 2018, it would still take a while to go into effect. Legal experts claim it could take up to 18 months after the bill passes before adults 21 and older could start consuming cannabis legally.
I posted this on the election results topic but also bringing it here because I am very curious:
So Murphy gets 17% more votes than Guadagno in Ridgewood. I just can’t understand for the life of me how people who have a great town (compared to many other areas in NJ) vote so overwhelmingly for someone who promises to basically turn NJ upside down with the sanctuary and “fairer state” promises!!!! I mean this guy basically says I will raise your taxes, I will surround you with illegal emigrants and low income people and I will make you pay for them and in the process I will lower your property value and badly damage your quality of life. How do you vote for him????? How can white, rich people who make their $$$$ in capitalism vote for a socialist?? I understand his promises are very appealing to Paterson, Jersey City, Elizabeth, Clifton etc. but I just don’t get where the appeal is for Ridgewood?? I know many voted against Christie but Christie wasn’t even on the ballot.
Anybody cares to chip in? I am speechless.
While “high taxes” and “opioid crisis” where the key issues, residents voted in overwhelming numbers for the person or persons who promised to raise taxes on everything and create a sanctuary state. From yesterday results it does appear the state has committed fiscal suicide .
Now that Murphy won I hope he will help us build a garage and add more housing for the illegals. Ridgewood needs to share the burden of the sanctuary state. This town is too white and racist. Please Mr. Murphy , use all your support in Ridgewood so we can get on with the program. Can’t wait to see guys with pants below their buttcrack roaming around.
It’s a simple concept that has eluded many politicians and ideologues, especially on the left. When you raise taxes, people and businesses will leave, bringing with them those taxable incomes your government depends on. One look at the migration patterns within the United States verifies just that.
A book on the subject, How Money Walks, uses official statistics from the Census and the IRS to explore the subject. It found that, between 1995 and 2010:
• The nine states with no personal income taxes gained $146.2 billion in working wealth
• The nine states with the highest personal income tax rates lost $107.4 billion
• The 10 states with the lowest per capita state-local tax burdens gained $69.9 billion
• The 10 states with the highest per capita state-local tax burdens lost $139 billion
According to the authors, “The states that gained working wealth are growing and thriving. The states that lost working wealth lost their most precious cargo—their tax base—and the consequences are dire: stagnation, deterioration, an economic death spiral as they continue to raise taxes and lose people, businesses, and working wealth. The numbers don’t lie.”
Its website includes a fascinating interactive map that shows where people and their money moved to, on a state and even county basis, here: https://www.howmoneywalks.com/irs-tax-migration/
(Note: the interactive map doesn’t work on the Safari browser, so iOS users should view it on the Puffin app instead).
Another website by the authors includes a calculator that will tell you the tax implications of moving from your current state to a different one, here: https://www.savetaxesbymoving.com/
SOURCES: https://www.howmoneywalks.com
Our taxes,are,less,than Glen Rock and Ramsey . And the original poster never checked westchester or summit for accuracy….they are a lot higher. It’s the whole state of nj . Even shitty towns have high taxes. Police unions, teachers unions, and inner cities that drain the state treasury to fund the abbot schools in all the shithole cities. That’s what you get for allowing democrats to run things in Trenton (who are owned by the unions). Just wait for your bills to go up if Murphy is successful in Purchasing the governor office
Ridgewood NJ, in the Tax Foundation’s annual comparison of state business climates New Jersey has once again ranked at the bottom of U.S. states as it has since at least 2015.
While neighboring states Delaware 15, Pennsylvania 26, Connecticut 44 , and New York 49.
The think tank ranked New Jersey 36th in unemployment insurance tax, 42nd in corporate business taxes, 46th in sales taxes, 48th in individual income taxes and dead last in number 50 in property taxes.
Joining New Jersey at the bottom of the ranking were New York, California, Vermont, Minnesota, Ohio, Connecticut, Maryland, Louisiana and Rhode Island.
Over two million people left New Jersey between 2005 and 2014, taking billions of dollars in income and economic activity with them, according to a state business group that blames high taxes for the exodus. Is anybody listening ?
Old Bridge NJ, Democratic Chairman Mark Razzoli emphatically says no way.
“While I respect the views of many of the Democratic candidates running for office in New Jersey, our focus as a local party and my focus as a councilman will be to hold the line on property taxes, ensure good quality services for children and seniors, and protect the Old Bridge quality of life we have all come to enjoy – not address federal issues we have no power to legislate.
My 25 years in law enforcement gives me a unique understanding and perspective of the issues we face as a state and as a nation. However, I do disagree with the proposal to make New Jersey a sanctuary state and any implication to the contrary is categorically false. Thank you for all of your support!” – Mark Razzoli, Old Bridge Democratic Chairman
Paramus NJ, Bill Clinton is coming to Paramus to campaign for Phil Murphy The Democratic front-runner in New Jersey’s governor’s race today . This coincides with the latest Judicial Watch announced of the release of more than 200 conflict-of-interest reviews by State Department ethics advisers of proposed Bill Clinton speaking and consulting engagements during Hillary Clinton’s tenure as secretary of state. The documents were obtained as result of a federal court order in a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed against the State Department on May 28, 2013 (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of State (No. 1:13-cv-00772)). The lawsuit is ongoing.
June 2011 documents show that the State Department approved a consulting arrangement with a company, Teneo Strategy, led by controversial Clinton Foundation adviser Doug Band. The Clintons ended the deal after only eight months, as criticism mounted over Teneo’s ties to the failed investment firm, MF Global.
Mr. Clinton’s office proposed 215 speeches around the globe. And 215 times, the State Department stated that it had “no objection.”
Mr. Clinton’s speeches included appearances in China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Central America, Europe, Turkey, Thailand, Taiwan, India and the Cayman Islands. Sponsors of the speeches included some of the world’s largest financial institutions—Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Deutsche Bank, American Express and others—as well as major players in technology, energy, health care and media. Other speech sponsors included a car dealership, casino groups, hotel operators, retailers, real estate brokers, a Panamanian air cargo company and a sushi restaurant.
“These documents are a bombshell and show how the Clintons turned the State Department into a racket to line their own pockets,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “How the Obama State Department waived hundreds of ethical conflicts that allowed the Clintons and their businesses to accept money from foreign entities and corporations seeking influence boggles the mind. That former President Clinton trotted the globe collecting huge speaking fees while his wife presided over U.S. foreign policy is an outrage. No wonder it took a court order to get these documents. One can’t imagine what foreign policy issues were mishandled as top State Department officials spent so much time facilitating the Clinton money machine.”
Under established protocols of the State Department, and supplemented by a December 2008 Memorandum of Understanding between the Clinton Foundation and Obama Presidential Transition Team, a designated ethics official from the State Department’s legal office was assigned to review any “potential or actual conflict of interest” for Mrs. Clinton while she served as secretary of state. Copies of all decisions were sent to a top adviser to Secretary Clinton, Cheryl Mills, who served as counselor and chief of staff at the Department of State.
The Washington Examiner published a report today on the documents by Judicial Watch Chief Investigative Reporter Micah Morrison and Examiner Senior Watchdog Reporter Luke Rosiak. Morrison and Rosiak note that Mr. Clinton “earned $48 million while his wife presided over U.S. foreign policy, raising questions about whether the Clintons fulfilled ethics agreements related to the Clinton Foundation during Mrs. Clinton’s tenure as Secretary of State.”
According to the State Department documents:
Mr. Clinton spoke before a UBS Wealth Management audience in Chicago in April, 2012. The State Department document notes that attendees would be “approximately 300-400 ultra-high net worth clients, prospective clients, and UBS Financial Advisers.”
Mr. Clinton spoke to an event hosted by Wells Fargo in San Francisco in October, 2011. The State Department document notes that the event is “being held for Wells Fargo Private Bank and Wells Fargo Family Wealth Group clients, which are clients that have at least $5 million and $50 million in assets respectively.”
At a “mutually agreeable date” in April 2010, Mr. Clinton was due to speak at Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut. “This would be a private speech of up to 350 friends and patrons on Mohegan Sun,” the State Department document noted. “The event will not be open to the public. The event will not be publicly advertised.”
For a speech in Moscow in June 2010 sponsored by the investment bank Renaissance Capital, Mr. Clinton would address the theme of “Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States: Going Global.” The document notes that “Renaissance Capital is an investment bank focused on the emerging markets of Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and sub-Saharan Africa.”
At the Ritz Carlton in Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands, Mr. Clinton spoke at a March 2011 ticketed event targeting “the business community in Grand Cayman.”
The potential for conflicts of interest between Hillary Clinton’s role as Secretary of State and Bill Clinton’s international ventures grew increasingly controversial in late 2008 when the former president released a list of donors to his library and foundation in what he termed “a deal between” Obama “and Hillary.” According to an AP wire story, “Saudi Arabia gave $10 million to $25 million to the foundation. Other government donors include Norway, Kuwait, Qatar, Brunei, Oman …” CNN at the time warned that Clinton’s “complicated global business interests could present future conflicts of interest that result in unneeded headaches for the incoming commander-in-chief.”
The controversy deepened further when it was revealed that among those vetting Mrs. Clinton for the job of Secretary of State was Bill Clinton’s former deputy White House counsel Cheryl Mills, a longtime Clinton family confidant, who, the Washington Postwrote in 1999 “endeared herself to the Clintons with her never-back-down, share-nothing, don’t-give-an-inch approach …” After clearing Mrs. Clinton for the DOS job, Mills was named the incoming Secretary’s Chief of Staff. Ms. Mills was a featured speaker at Bill Clinton’s 2012 Clinton Global Initiative annual meeting.
In an April 28, 2008, ruling relating to Ms. Mills conduct as a White House official in responding to concerns about lost White House email records, Judge Royce C. Lamberth called Cheryl Mills’ participation in the matter “loathsome.” He further stated Mills was responsible for “the most critical error made in this entire fiasco… Mills’ actions were totally inadequate to address the problem.” Ms. Mills is currently on the Board of Directors of BlackRock, a leading investment firm. BlackRock is run by Larry Fink who reportedly wanted to be Treasury Secretary for Barack Obama and now, according to another report, is “angling for the job” in a Hillary Clinton administration.
(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch today released two new productions of documents (45 pages and 680 pages) from the Department of Homeland Security revealing that hundreds of counties across the U.S. denied Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) detainer requests for criminal illegal aliens in the first quarter of fiscal year 2017. The retainer requests, containing specific information about scores of criminal charges against released aliens, were not included in the Declined Detainer Outcome Reports (DDOR) the Trump administration suspended in early April after only three weeks of publication.
Judicial Watch forced the release of the Homeland Security documents as a result of a court order in a May 26, 2017, FOIA lawsuit filed after Homeland Security failed to respond to an April 13, 2017 FOIA request (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security (No. 1:17-cv-01008)). Judicial Watch seeks:
All complaints received by ICE concerning the [Declined Detainer Outcome Report]
All records concerning the suspension of the weekly publication of the [Declined Detainer Outcome Report]
All records identifying the reporting methodologies used to create the [Declined Detainer Outcome Report]
Judicial Watch released several spreadsheets compiling statistics on the nature of criminal activities illegal aliens had committed during the first four months of 2017; a nationwide list of jails that failed to cooperate with the ICE detainer program; and the top 50 jurisdictions that failed to cooperative with the ICE detainer program.
Leading the pack of counties denying detainers between July 2015 were Ventura County, CA (188); Miami-Dade, FL (93); Denver, CO (74); Clark, NV (68); and Los Angeles, CA (57).
Nationwide, A total of 284 detainers involving serious offenses were declined during the first two months of fiscal year 2017, including, in part, various forms of assault (16); drug-and-alcohol-related charges (39); weapons charges and crimes against persons and property (18).
The Declined Detainer Outcome Reports highlighted state and local governments that did not comply with ICE’s detainer program (also known as sanctuary cities). According to one new ICE email, the DDOR was meant to easily understood:
So an American citizen sitting at home can open the report, see the total number of detainers issued in a week, detainers issued to jurisdictions that don’t cooperate, the confirmed declined detainer list, and the list of all jurisdictions that don’t honor detainers. A snapshot, in essence.
In an April 6, 2017, email from Acting Director of Homeland Security, Thomas Homan, to Homeland Security staff in response to complaints about errors in the DDOR from U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer’s (D-NY) office, Homan said:
Certainly but NYC is extremely uncooperative. We will provide the information and work with OPLA and OGC staff to engage. They removed our officers from Rikers Island and will not honor detainers. I met with them personally last year in an effort to gain more cooperation. We will review asap.
In at least one instance, local law enforcement actions went beyond a simple lack of cooperation with ICE to turn over detained illegal aliens to outright obstruction of ICE’s efforts to pick up illegal immigrants in local custody. For example, according to a March 21, 2017, ICE email: “Hennepin County Adult Detention Center released an alien out the front door of the jail as an ICE officer was waiting in their sally port to take him into custody.”
“These new documents confirm that sanctuary policies are dangerous and help the worst of worst criminal element,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “The complaints of sanctuary politicians aside, the Trump administration must catalogue the continued threat to the public safety caused by lawless sanctuary policies.”
In April, Judicial Watch obtained 204 illegal alien Detainer Requests denied to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) by the Travis County, Texas, Sheriff’s Office. The illegal aliens protected by the Sheriff’s Office were charged or convicted of 31 acts of violence, 14 thefts or burglaries, and three acts or threats of terrorism. Forty-four of the denied requests were for inmates originally detained by Homeland Security and temporarily transferred to Travis County (home to the state capital in Austin) for disposition of state or local charges.
According to CNN, the Trump Administration suspended publication of the Declined Detainer Outcome Reports on April 11, 2017, after only three weeks and three total reports due to “complaints.” The Hill further reported that according to ICE spokeswoman Sarah Rodriguez, the Declined Detainer Outcome Reports were halted in order to “analyze and refine [the organization’s] reporting methodologies.”
The Declined Detainer Outcome Reports highlighted state and local governments, often referred to as sanctuary cities, that did not comply with ICE’s detainer program:
ICE places detainers on aliens who have been arrested on local criminal charges and for whom ICE possesses probable cause to believe that they are removable from the United States, so that ICE can take custody of the alien when he or she is released from local custody. When law enforcement agencies fail to honor immigration detainers and release serious criminal offenders, it undermines ICE’s ability to protect public safety and carry out its mission.
Ridgewood NJ, New Jersey Governor’s race gets ugly as a Democratic press release circulating in New Jersey with the names of more than a dozen Hispanic pastors denouncing Republican gubernatorial nominee Kim Guadagno’s ad linking Democratic gubernatorial nominee Phil Murphy to a violent crime committed by an undocumented immigrant.
The problem is that the pastors claim they did not endorse or give permission to use their names on anti-Guadagno release. At least two of the pastors included so far on the Spanish-language release including one who is the father of a Guadagno adviser says their names were added without their knowledge, let alone their permission.
The Lieutenant Governor Kim Guadagno said on Facebook ,”It is beyond the pale for Phil Murphy to go as far as to create a fake organization and forge the signatures of Hispanic clergy members to falsely attack Kim Guadagno,” said Guadagno Spokesman Ricky Diaz. “It should give all New Jerseyans pause that Phil Murphy would take advantage of men of the cloth to lie to the people of New Jersey. Phil Murphy should immediately take responsibility and apologize to these clergy members.”
The Murphy campaigns denies any involvement in the press release .
Trenton NJ, The 2% cap on the raises police and fire unions can win in arbitration saved property taxpayers nearly $3 billion and should be renewed before it expires in December, but Top Democrats in New Jersey including Phil Murphy, the party’s nominee for governor quickly rejected the idea .
A report released on Thursday concluded the law limiting the raises that police and fire unions can win in arbitration should be renewed in an effort to keep property taxes in check.
From the executive summary …. in order to enable public employers to restrain increased costs within the 2% tax levy cap, public employers needed a tool to restrain increases to police and fire salaries, especially when labor disputes are submitted to interest arbitration. The data reviewed by the Task Force confirms that the 2% cap has provided that tool. Since the inception of the law, the average annual base salary increase provided in interest arbitration awards subject to the 2% cap is 1.85%. Even in voluntary settlements to which the 2% cap does not apply, the data confirms that the cap law has had a profound effect.
Indeed, the data shows that for interest arbitration cases subject to the 2% cap settled before an interest arbitration award was issued, the average annual increase to base salary was 1.80%. These numbers are a stark contrast to the average annual increases that were reported to PERC prior to the effective date of the 2010 amendments.2 Not surprisingly, with the right reforms in place, the rate of property tax growth in New Jersey has declined significantly.
While the cap law significantly reduced the growth of labor costs, the Governor Appointees have not uncovered any evidence that these reductions have negatively impacted crime rates or the ability of public employers to recruit qualified candidates for police and fire positions. In summary, the Governor Appointees conclude that the 2010 and 2014 amendments to interest arbitration have effectively addressed the concerns that were at the heart of this bi-partisan legislation. Accordingly, its recommendations set forth herein include the permanent continuation of the most critical elements of those amendments – namely, the procedural changes requiring expeditious resolution of all interest arbitration proceedings and the 2% cap – to ensure that the progress made over the last five years is not lost. (https://www.njassemblyrepublicans.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/2017-Governors-Appointees-Arbitration-Report.pdf )
Ridgewood NJ, if you are opposed to COAH/Fair Share Housing in NJ? Being overrun with developers taking advantage of its unfair, unconstitutional formula? Express your protest at the voting booth on Election Day! One of its major funders is the Philip and Tammy Murphy Family Foundation and, as we know, Phil Murphy is the Democratic nominee for NJ Governor.
FOUNDATIONS
Bridge of Books Foundation
David L. Kirp Fund
Eustace Foundation…
Lauren Rose Albert Foundation
NJ SIM Foundation
100 Who Care
Pennsylvania Automotive Association Foundation
*Philip and Tammy Murphy Family Foundation*
Robert P. Kelly Family Foundation
Siegel Family Fund (a donor-advised fund of USAA Giving Fund)
Walsh Family Fund of the Community Foundation of NJ
Ridgewood NJ, form the your tax dollars at work! . State Workers who are CWA Shop Stewards got a paid day off at taxpayers expense to conduct “union business” on Monday. that “business” was a rally for Billionaire gubernatorial candidate Murphy. in addition to their regular state salary, the Murphy machine is paying them $15/hr to show up. Maybe they should be prosecuted as state employees taking a bribe!
