35,000 NJ residents protest of budget cuts and no media attention

[bigdarryl]

the tea baggers only can wish they get 35,000 out and they get all the media coverage if they get 1000 people out .http://www.myfoxphilly.com/dpp/news/local_news/New_Jersey_Budget_Rally_05_23_10

[BrklynLiberal]

1. Guess that new governor over there is not going to win any popularity contests after all.

Guess when the people there voted for lower taxes, they forgot that would mean fewer services and fewer government jobs.....

I did hear about this on the radio this AM

[bigdarryl]

3. and cutting police officers all over the state who supported this guy.

[customerserviceguy]

4. I would argue

that voters who elected Christie were looking for him to be the hatchet man. I know I get a lot of NJ customers complaining like hell to me about their taxes, and I don't have a single thing to do with them in my job.

Frankly, I can envision a lot of Christie voters seeing the protests on this website and local TV and saying, "Good, that's what I wanted him to do."

[vi5]

17. Not really.....

All during the campaign he was ridiculously vague. Lots of talk about needing to take tough action but he carefully and cautiously avoided laying out any specific plans. So I think there were probably a fair amount of public employees (teachers, cops, etc.) who didn't think he'd be this big a dick and decided to vote for him thinking his plans simply included just lowering their taxes.

I could see if he laid this out in advance, then your assertion would be right. But he was purposely short on details all through the campaign.

[customerserviceguy]

19. I think his voters knew what he was going to do

They didn't need him to describe it in detail.

I guess we'll see in November 2013 when he goes for re-election.

[vi5]

25. People are naive.....

...they hear what they want to hear. Again, as someone who actually lives here I know a ton of people who were all gung ho on him coming in and lowering their taxes but thought he'd cut all this supposed waste to be able to do it.

The didn't bother to ever think that the waste was their own jobs and the services that make people want to live in this state to begin with.

[golfguru]

32. Like he said...only way we will know how voters feel

is if Christie loses in 2013.

[vi5]

33. No doubt, this is true....

I think he'll flip some people who didn't vote for him, with his tough talk and excessive slashing which maybe people will perceive as strong. But he'll lose the people who were naive and thought the cuts would all come from things that didn't affect them.

[customerserviceguy]

2. Two years ago

I was working full-time, for the past year and a half, I've been working part-time, first at 20 hrs/wk, then at 30 hrs/wk. I guess I haven't got a massive amount of sympathy for those who have staved off the cuts that has happened in the private sector in the last couple of years.

It's their turn now.

[bigdarryl]

5. here we go with the private sector BULLSHIT!! PLEASE this guy is

giving people who make 400,000 and more TAX CUTS!!!! and talking about laying off someone making 25,000 a year for the state

[customerserviceguy]

6. If my company cut me back to the 20 hours

I'd be making about 25K again. Why is what happened to people in the private sector bullshit? Is it only important when public sector employees have cutbacks?

Still, having trouble working up sympathy.

[bigdarryl]

7. you don't cut POLICE OFFICERS when you got serious crime in the citys like Camden

these are the same MORONS who show up at an Officers funeral when he or she gets killed.And stand up talking about how they support police mostly the rethugs

[customerserviceguy]

12. Oh, I know Camden

I have customers there. You could add the army that we have in Iraq, and not make a dent there.

In any case, country-club NJ is sick of paying for Camden, Newark, and Paterson, etc.. I hear it every workday.

[BrklynLiberal]

8. That is right. He VETOED the reinstatement of the millionaire's tax in NJ after the NJ State

legislature passed it.

This guy is not doing the right thing.

[customerserviceguy]

13. Maybe

but all I can tell you is that there are lots of people in well-to-do neighborhoods that are moving out, and they give me forwarding addresses in the Carolinas. If you get enough of that, you are left with an empty shell in NJ.

It probably won't make much difference either way, my lady and I sure plan on blowing this place when we retire. Her sister and brother-in-law plan on selling their NJ residence later this year, and just moving to South Carolina where they already have a condo on a golf course.

[BrklynLiberal]

14. The history of NJ has LONG been that the younger people come there to make money, and then

when they are ready to retire..they leave, usually for warmer climates. Been happening like that for decades.
Heard a whole show on it on the radio a couple of says back

[customerserviceguy]

16. Perhaps

but I've talked to a lot of folks whose families have been there for generations, who are now leaving. Christie's an ass, but the state's voters knew that when they elected him. As I said, they wanted a hatchet man, and they got one.

[vi5]

18. Ah, the "moving to the Carolinas" bullshit.....

I've lived in Jersey all of my 40 years. Since I was in elementary school in the 70's I remember hearing all my big mouth, tough talking uncles and family friends and all that talk about how they were going to move to North Carolina and live like a king for what it cost them to live up here.

Yeah, you know what? They're all still here. Good luck to anyone finding the same type of job you can find it dense, company rich NJ and/or New York city which for a good chunk of NJ residents is just an hour away.

And even those that do make the move and go somewhere else, there are 10-20 more recent college graduates more than happy to move here and make their wealth. And if the people moving are wealthy CEO's and execs at the many corporations we have here in NYC, then again I'm sure there are more than 2 or 3 more who are more than happy to move here and fill those positions.

[customerserviceguy]

20. That's the thing about retirement

You don't need a job. Look, I'm not saying that everybody's moving, but significant numbers are. Your mileage may vary.

[vi5]

24. Oh well.....

..there goes all those people who are planning on retiring in NJ.

Look, I'm more than happy to have anyone who wants to live in this state live here. It's a great place to live and I like it.

But we who live here have been hearing of this horrible exodus that is going to take place due to NJ property taxes. And how it's going to destroy the NJ economy. We heard it in the 70's...we heard it in the 80's....and we heard it in the 90's and 2000's.

People leave, more people come. It's the way it's always been and unless some massive catastrophe strikes us here that causes all of these major corporations to suddenly leave NJ and NYC, this exodus ain't going to happen. In fact one of my former companies left and moved down to North Carolina. And you know what happened? They found that for most corporate level functions, the labor pool they had down there was not enough to sustain the business and keep it moving in a competitive level of quality. So they came back up here within 5 years.

It's a shame about the retirees, but is that the type of exodus that is really going to have a devastating impact on the economy? I doubt it. Always willing to admit when I've been proven wrong, but......I can always send a lot of people your way who told me the same thing 5-10 years ago about leaving as soon as they weren't working anymore and who are now retired and living happily in NJ.

Also, my parents live on a street filled with multi million dollar houses. They go on the market when people move (usually corporate execs getting transferred to other jobs) and you know what? None of them are currently sitting empty. Same thing with the houses in my more modest neighborhood.

[Jennicut]

31. All the over 60 people in CT seem to want to leave too.

But the people with young kids and single people like Connecticut. There are some really good schools and jobs here. We have high property taxes too though still lower then NJ. But they pay for the things we want. Oh well, less traffic for us, right? 95 is the worst.

[dsc]

28. I have to say we are getting a fair number of younger New Jersey people

down here in NC. I work in a high school here and we have several families from Jersey. Though they aren't making 400k a year.

[boppers]

9. I didn't hear about it in Oregon...

Anybody want to give me a summary of what's going on?

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

10. I'm sorry, but they voted for this guy, so they deserve him. My father, who lives in Jersey City,

said that he begged people not to revolt against Corzine, no matter how bad they perceived him to be. All governors suffer when the economy experiences a downturn. That hurts governors because they often are forced to raise taxes or cut popular programs to balance the budget. State constitutions require that state budgets are balanced.

Now, they got a disgusting Repuke now as a governor who is 100% worse than Corzine could ever be. But, they voted for him, so they have to live with that vote. And for those who didn't get out and vote, the most irksome thing is for them to complain. If you don't vote, then you don't get to complain!!

[BrklynLiberal]

15. Exactly. Been saying that for decades.

"If you don't vote, then you don't get to complain!!"

[JustAnotherGen]

11. I didn't vote for him

So I'm not going to take the 'what did you expect'? I DID expect this - the killer? The killer - for those outside of the state. He's cut education - and forbid local communities from raising their local taxes to make up the missing money. These tea types always rail against centralized government- then turn around and use the 'centralized state government' to turn their state into a cesspool of ignorance. It's shameful. You don't cut education, services to the elderly, children, disabled - i.e. the weakest in our state. Eh? Not good folks. Not good.

[NJmaverick]

21. K & R

[msanthrope]

22. It was all over the local radio here in Philly. n/t

[senseandsensibility]

23. Someone should send all these glaring examples

of lack of coverage of true grassroots protests compared to the teabaggers to Keith or Rachel. Obviously, sending it to anyone else would be useless. All the others are part of the reason why the teabaggers are pushed on us 24/7.

[hay rick]

26. Newspaper coverage.

Both the Newark Star Ledger and Gannett's Asbury Park Press made the demonstration a top-of-the-fold page one story.

Online articles here: http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/05/nj_public_workers_rally_stateh.html
and here: http://www.app.com/article/20100522/NEWS03/5220320/1007/NEWS10/Thousands-rally-against-budget-cuts

The Gannett paper makes sure to emphasize right-wing talking points:
"...despite claims by organizers that the event included more than 100 community groups, most of the participants wore T-shirts, hats or buttons indicating membership in a public employee union."
and-
"Union leaders and many protesters demanded that Christie sign a tax hike on the state's wealthiest residents, even though the governor last week vetoed a bill that would have done that.
The so-called millionaires' tax would have, at best, raised an estimated $600 million, while the state's structural deficit this year approached $11 billion and the state pension systems have $46 billion in unfunded liabilities."

No musings about the need for shared sacrifice here.

[Divine Discontent]

27. honestly, you know damned well folks, that if the teaklan got 35000 together it'd be on MSNBC & all

the other channels, esp. Faux Noise (all day for 24 hours!)

[NJGeek]

29. Njea mostly

Special interest - nor a widely represented group. No one likes the teachers union in NJ right now

[brentspeak]

30. Funny, I live in NJ, and haven't heard much animosity towards the teachers' union

or much of any conversation concerning the teachers' union, for that matter.

[Cha]

34. Thanks! KICK!