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Senator Anthony Bucco Calls on Governor Murphy to Lift People Up ,Not Pull Them Down

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Trenton NJ, Senator Anthony Bucco (R-25) said Governor Phil Murphy’s talk of advancing “tax fairness” is really just an excuse to tax more to spend more.

“Governor Murphy’s interest in ‘tax fairness’ is just an excuse to tax more to fund an expensive progressive agenda that New Jersey will never be able to afford,” said Bucco, the Senate Republican Budget Officer. “If the governor were truly concerned about ‘fairness,’ he would find ways to lift struggling people up by cutting their taxes, instead of pulling down those who have managed to succeed in New Jersey by increasing tax burdens that are already excessive.”

Bucco suggested cutting taxes for lower-income workers or increasing the Earned Income Tax Credit as non-punitive tax policy changes that the governor could pursue with bipartisan support.

“If the governor continues to equate ‘tax fairness’ with ‘tax increases,’ that should be seen as a clear sign that his rhetoric is nothing more than convenient cover for a money grab that would allow him to spend more.”

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New Jersey Makes the Top Ten states with the Highest Expenditures on Public Welfare

Phil Murphy

December 1,2017

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Washington DC, Congress is trying to make headway on tax reform, President Donald Trump said earlier this month that welfare reform will be one of the next big items on the White House agenda.
New Jersey is already in the top 10 states in total amount of Welfare expenditures .  We can only speculate that Phil Murphy’s “sanctuary state ”  will increase that number dramatically .

Here is the top ten states with the highest expenditures on public welfare. Note the enormous difference between California and New York and the rest of the country.

1. California – $103 Billion

2. New York – $61.4 Billion

3. Texas – $35.4 Billion

4. Florida – $27.2 Billion

5. Pennsylvania – $26.7 Billion

6. Illinois – $21 Billion

7. Ohio – $20 Billion

8. Massachusetts – $18.6 Billion

9. New Jersey – $17.3 Billion

10. Michigan – $16.3 Billion

Note that the top ten states listed above spend more on public welfare ($346.9B) than all of the bottom forty states (plus the District of Columbia) combined ($262.7B). Regardless of how populated any particular state is, you want to pay attention to these numbers because they foreshadow future budget problems. When you consider the fact that many states run operating deficits and have enormous debt problems, you begin to wonder if some of these numbers are sustainable for the long term.

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N.J. relaxes rule barring convicted drug users from getting welfare

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By Susan K. Livio | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on November 30, 2016 at 1:18 PM, updated December 01, 2016 at 2:16 AM

TRENTON — A drug possession conviction is no longer a barrier to receiving welfare benefits in New Jersey under a compromise bill Gov. Chris Christie signed into law Wednesday.

Childless adults who undergo outpatient drug treatment may qualify for public assistance, despite a conviction for drug possession in their backgrounds. Previously, inpatient treatment was the requirement.

The bill’s sponsors say the old restrictions inhibited a person’s ability to become self-sufficient. The legislation is among others aimed at reducing poverty in the state, which has remained stubbornly high in the post-recession era.

“It can be tremendously hard to turn one’s life around after a drug conviction because of all the doors that close in their face due to legal constraints, especially for those who don’t have family or friends to rely on for assistance,” said state Assemblywoman Liz Muoio (D-Mercer), one of the bill’s prime sponsors. “Financial assistance, job training, and education — all of these things provide hope and a chance at a new start.”

https://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2016/11/convicted_drug_users_who_get_treatment_may_get_wel.html?utm_campaign=Observer_NJ_Politics&utm_content=New%20Campaign&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=New%20Jersey%20Politics#incart_river_home

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Wall Street fears that Americans are dead broke

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By Post Staff Report

November 13, 2015 | 11:52am

The American consumer appears to be tapped out.

Despite cheaper gas and interest-free car loans that stretch six years, auto sales in October posted a surprise decline, the Commerce Department said Friday — while retailers continued to post disappointing sales for the three months ended Oct. 31.

Wall Street, fearful that consumers are running out of cash heading into the crucial Christmas retail season, are selling off retail stocks and everything else sensitive to consumer spending.

The Dow Jones industrial average has fallen over 600 points, or 3.4 percent, over the last eight trading sessions. The S&P 500 is down 3.7 percent over the same span.

Overall, retail sales edged up 0.1 percent last month after being unchanged in September, Commerce reported. Economists had forecast sales increasing 0.3 percent.

Car sales fell 0.5 percent in October after rising 1.4 percent in September, according to Commerce.

“Admittedly, this is a not a great start to the fourth quarter, which is important as we head toward the holiday shopping season,” said Jennifer Lee, a senior economist at BMO Capital Markets in Toronto, told Reuters.

Late Thursday, Nordstrom reported profits and sales for the three months ended Oct. 31 that missed Wall Street forecasts. Its shares on Friday morning got clobbered, falling 17.9 percent, to $52.11. Its shares are down 33 percent this year.

Other chains on Friday morning were tumbling as the entire retail sector is coming under attack. JC Penney is down 16 percent, Kohl’s was down 7.3 percent and Macy’s is off 4.2 percent.

https://nypost.com/2015/11/13/wall-street-fears-that-americans-are-dead-broke/?utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_source=NYPFacebook&utm_medium=SocialFlow

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Report: More than half of immigrants on welfare

Obama-Golf

Alan Gomez, USA TODAY12:08 a.m. EDT September 2, 2015

More than half of the nation’s immigrants receive some kind of government welfare, a figure that’s far higher than the native-born population, according to a report to be released Wednesday.

About 51% of immigrant-led households receive at least one kind of welfare benefit, including Medicaid, food stamps, school lunches and housing assistance, compared to 30% for native-led households, according to the report from the Center for Immigration Studies, a group that advocates for lower levels of immigration.

Those numbers increase for households with children, with 76% of immigrant-led households receiving welfare, compared to 52% for the native-born.

The findings are sure to fuel debate on the presidential campaign trail as Republican candidates focus on changing the nation’s immigration laws, from calls for mass deportations to ending birthright citizenship.

Steven Camarota, director of research at center and author of the report, said that’s a much-needed conversation to make the country’s immigration system more “selective.”

“This should not be understood as some kind of defect or moral failing on the part of immigrants,” Camarota said about the findings. “Rather, what it represents is a system that allows a lot of less-educated immigrants to settle in the country, who then earn modest wages and are eligible for a very generous welfare system.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/09/01/immigrant-welfare-use-report/71517072/

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Why welfare, minimum wage make it harder for poor Americans to succeed

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Why welfare, minimum wage make it harder for poor Americans to succeed

By John Stossel

Published October 08, 2014
FoxNews.com

Fifty years ago, President Lyndon Johnson declared “War on Poverty.” It sounded great to me.

I was taught at Princeton, “We’re a rich country. All we have to do is tax the rich, and then use that money to create programs that will lift the poor out of poverty.” Government created job-training programs for the strong and expanded social security for the weak.

It seemed to work. The poverty rate dropped from 17 percent to 12 percent in the programs’ first decade. Unfortunately, few people noticed that during the half-decade before the “War,” the rate dropped from 22 percent to 17 percent. Without big government, Americans were already lifting themselves out of poverty!

https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2014/10/08/why-welfare-mimimum-wage-make-it-harder-for-poor-americans-to-succeed/