Quote:
Your anti union, anti NJEA comments seem misplaced.....it seems that the NCLB (No Child Left
Behind Act) is responsible for higher educational minimums for teaching assistants.
Does it seem practical, with $3 a gallon gas, for the high concentration of NJ residents who
live across from NYC to drive 2 hours to Delaware to avoid paying sales tax? I lived in Manhattan
several years ago, and I shopped in NJ. Even with the one percent proposed increase, NJ will still
attract NY shoppers because your tax will still be lower than in NY. What does it cost in pkwy or
turnpike tolls to drive to Delaware and back?
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The union guidelines were first bandied about before the NCLB and came into effect in 2003. Bottom line is always revenue, so it was an easy choice for them, not for those of us who got pushed aside.
Now that Manhattan has the tax free days a couple times a year, coupled with the proposed increase here(and gas prices), sales will drop off daily; the longrun is anyone's guess.
Delaware is still a good possibility for many who live close enough; it's a half hour out of Philly and I95 isn't a toll road. 7% on a relatively large purchase, ie; computers or large appliances would more than make up in savings what's spent getting there. Then there's internet buying which would undoubtedly increase.
NJ residents are jaded. Regardless of his wealth and therefore personal interests, we've had the thumbscrews in so long, he could walk on water and we'd question it. Seven months in is barely enough time to thoroughly go item by item on budgetary concerns, even though there had to be a balanced budget by July 1. The property rebates came at a time of surplus and slowly the government here ate away every nickel.
If Corzine is so rich (as, I'm sure many of the state senators are), they can work on a voluntary basis. Fat chance of that though.