Christie makes good on veto threat for $31.7 billion N.J. budget

Governor Chris Christie, with little more than a day to go to meet a statutory deadline, erased $361 million in Democratic spending initiatives before he signed a $31.7 billion New Jersey budget for fiscal 2013.

The first-term Republican vetoed what he described as measures that “represented a step backward” by Democrats, in a statement sent from his office yesterday. The spending plan includes $347 million in tax relief for businesses and $1.03 billion for state pensions, according to the statement.   (Young and Dopp, Bloomberg)

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-30/christie-makes-good-on-veto-threat-for-31-7-billion-n-j-budget.html

Sorry Charlie :Ballot issues arise after Rangel’s apparent primary win
CNN Political Unit

(CNN) – While Rep. Charles Rangel of New York celebrates a major primary victory this week – his toughest challenge in 42 years – the state is stepping in on ballot complaints that could wind up changing the results.

New unofficial numbers released Saturday night by the New York City Board of Elections show Rangel ahead of his main challenger, state Sen. Adriano Espaillat, by only two percentage points – 44% to 42% – with just 802 votes separating them and more than 3,000 votes unaccounted for.

https://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/06/30/ballot-issues-arise-after-rangels-apparent-primary-win/

WSJ CHIEF ECONOMIST: 75% OF OBAMACARE COSTS WILL FALL ON BACKS OF THOSE MAKING LESS THAN $120K A YEAR
By: Jim Hoft
6/30/2012 11:44 AM

Take Your Medicine, America…

Stephen Moore, Senior Economics Writer with the Wall Street Journal, told FOX and Friends this morning that nearly 75% of Obamacare costs will fall on the backs of those Americans making less than $120,000 a year.

https://www.humanevents.com/2012/06/30/wsj-chief-economist-75-of-obamacare-costs-will-fall-on-backs-of-those-making-less-than-120k-a-year/

D.C. area power outages after storm could last for days

By Donna St. George, Ted Trautman and Mihir Zaveri, Updated: Sunday, July 1, 12:22 PM

As the temperature crept past 90 degrees at noon on Sunday, the number left to swelter without out power in the Washington region crept down by degrees, but many people will be without air conditioning, lights and refrigeration for days to come.

The number without power was dropping by the hour — 739,187 at noon, down by almost 40,000 since 8:30 a.m. — but many people were forced to seek refuge in malls, coffee shops and emergency shelters.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/power-outages-could-last-for-days/2012/07/01/gJQA3JVjFW_story.html?hpid=z1

Christie orders special legislative session, pushing tax-relief plan

SATURDAY, JUNE 30, 2012
BY MELISSA HAYES AND STEPHANIE AKIN
STAFF WRITERS
THE RECORD

Governor Christie got his restructuring of higher education and mandatory drug treatment for non-violent offenders through the Legislature. But he didn’t get his 10 percent income tax cut, and so on Saturday he demanded that legislators get back to work.

He ordered them to appear in Trenton on Monday for a special legislative session to consider his tax cut, a plan the governor has pitched across the state and at several Republican events across the country since he proposed it in January.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/Christie_calls_for_special_session_pushing_tax-relief_plan.html

file photo

Governor Christie vetoes Trenton Land Grab the New Jersey Residential Foreclosure Transformation Act
June 30,2012
the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ , Gov. Chris Christie vetoed the New Jersey Residential Foreclosure Transformation Act Friday that amounted to a huge land grab by the state , It would have paved the way for the state to assume even more debt for the purpose of buying up foreclosed properties and turning them into low-income housing.

Critics dubbed the bill the “Neighborhood Destruction Act” fearing it would make the state a huge land owner with little care as to how it would disrupt and destroy neighborhoods and depress and already depressed real estate market. Under the act the state would seize foreclosed property and pretty much do as it pleased putting anything from a Jail to a drug rehab next to your local school.

The New Jersey Residential Foreclosure Transformation Act was passed in the state Senate June 25 and in the Assembly June 28. In his veto message, Gov. Christie objected to proposals adding spending separate from the Appropriations Act, calling the practice “a thinly veiled attempt to circumvent the tough choices required to meet the constitutional obligation of passing a balanced budget.”

Simple market based alternatives were ignored by the bill and the legislation would have created a new state super agency called the New Jersey Foreclosure Relief Corp., which would operate under the jurisdiction of the state Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency and would be vested with the authority to float an unlimited number of bonds backed by the state. Sticking the tax payer with a huge debt .Proceeds from the bond sales would finance the purchase of foreclosed homes, with additional funds coming from municipalities’ affordable housing trust funds.

STATEMENT OF SENATOR AND CANDIDATE FOR U.S. SENATE JOE KYRILLOS ON SUPREME COURT DECISION

Middletown, June 28…State Senator and Candidate for U.S. Senate Joe Kyrillos released the following statement today regarding the Supreme Court’s ruling on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act.

“Today’s Supreme Court decision may have confirmed the constitutionality of the legislation, but one fact remains: the massive, expensive health care overhaul voted for by Senator Menendez is bad policy.

Government run healthcare spends money we don’t have, loots Medicare, limits patient choice, and continues to place a cloud of uncertainty over our economy. Congress can and must repeal and replace it with more sensible reforms like providing coverage for those with pre-existing conditions.

Here in New Jersey, we’ve seen how the Corzine-Menendez pattern of raising taxes, spending more and leaving the bills to future generations does not work- it left us nearly bankrupt.

We need change in Washington. Real, meaningful change. The same kind of change Governor Christie is bringing to New Jersey. And I intend to deliver that kind of change as your Senator.”

MENENDEZ SAYS AFFORDABLE CARE ACT IS NOT A TAX INCREASE

Kyrillos calls on Menendez to end his assault on New Jersey Families

Middletown, June 29… Yesterday, Senator Bob Menendez said the massive health care overhaul he voted for was “far from a tax increase” actually calling it a “tax cut.” Really, Senator?

Senator Joe Kyrillos is calling on Menendez to end his continued assault on New Jersey families and his support for the largest tax increase in 20 years.

“Bob Menendez thinks the largest and most obscene tax increase in the last 20 years is a tax cut. Clearly, Bob Menendez has been in Washington so long and voted in favor of higher taxes so much that he can no longer tell the difference. This is bad policy and a massive tax increase on New Jersey families and businesses that will kill economic growth and job creation.

“This is a fundamental difference between Sen. Menendez and me. I don’t believe that a tax increase on New Jersey’s families is reform. He does. I believe it’s the same old Corzine – Menendez pattern of raising taxes and increasing spending that leaves the bill for future generations. We have seen how that story ends – it left us nearly bankrupt.

“New Jersey families need jobs and economic security, not higher taxes. They deserve real reform that includes coverage for those with pre-existing conditions, makes healthcare more accessible and affordable, but not a massive, mandatory tax.”

In case Senator Menendez needs a clearer definition of what “tax increase” means, we have listed those in the Affordable Care Act below…..

$123 billion – Surtax on Investment Income

$87 billion – Hike in Medicare Payroll Tax

$65 billion – Individual Mandate Excise Tax and Employer Mandate Tax Combined

$60 billion – Tax on Health Insurers

$32 billion – Excise Tax on Comprehensive Health Insurance Plans

$23 billion – “Black liquor” tax hike

$22 billion – Tax on Innovator Drug Companies

$20 billion – Tax on Medical Device Manufacturers

$15 billion – Raise “Haircut” for Medical Itemized Deduction from 7.5% to 10% of AGI

$13 billion – Flexible Spending Account Cap – aka “Special Needs Kids Tax”

$5 billion – Medicine Cabinet Tax

$4.5 billion – Elimination of tax deduction for employer-provided retirement Rx drug coverage in coordination with Medicare Part D

$4.5 billion – Codification of the “economic substance doctrine”

$2.7 billion -Tax on Indoor Tanning Services

$1.5 billion – HSA Withdrawal Tax Hike

$.6 billion – $500,000 Annual Executive Compensation Limit for Health Insurance Executives

$.4 billion – Blue Cross/Blue Shield Tax Hike

Minimal – Excise Tax on Charitable Hospitals

Minimal – Employer Reporting of Insurance on W-2

TOTAL – $479.2 billion