COLLETTI FOR STATE SENATE

Higher Integrity, Lower Taxes

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COLLETTI CHIDES CORZINE, CONIGLIO FOR CHAMPIONING MASSIVE INCOME REDISTRIBUTION PLAN

Elmwood Park -- Calling the state budget signed into law today by Gov Jon Corzine “a massive income redistribution plan,” State Senate candidate Robert Colletti said “New Jersey’s unrestrained spending continues to whittle away at the quality of life of the middle class families such as those in Bergen County.”

“There is very little in this fiscal year 2008 budget for middle class families,” said Colletti, the Republican senate candidate in District 38 ( central Bergen County) “Billions of dollars will continue to pour out of Bergen County to Democrat strongholds like Newark, Paterson and Camden.”

Colletti said he cannot believe that Sen. Joseph Coniglio would vote for a budget that hurts Bergen County taxpayers. “It's mindboggling to think that once again, Sen. Coniglio voted for a budget that increases spending and increases tax burdens on Bergen County’s middle class residents,” said Colletti. 

“Sen. Coniglio is part of what’s wrong with Trenton’s lawmakers. They cannot stop spending taxpayer money.”     

Colletti noted that despite Corzine’s persistent claims that the FY- 2008 budget is fiscally responsible, it isn’t.  “You can’t call it fiscally responsible when the governor and the legislature have increased state spending by $2.5 billion amidst a state financial crisis.”

Colletti said not only does the budget reflect a massive spending increase, it fails to deal with the state’s pension funding crisis, the explosion in the cost of public employee health benefits, and it creates the false impression that people will be getting tax relief.  Colletti said the Democratic Party’s so called property tax relief plan is based largely on the increase in sales tax the legislature voted for last year.

“The homeowners aren’t getting property tax relief, they are getting an election year gimmick that gives them their own money from the increased sales tax,” said Colletti. “And to next year the legislature will increase the sales tax again and call it tax relief.

“The fact is that hard-working, middle class families in Bergen County will not be getting property tax relief. They will be paying for a variety of social programs from Gov. Corzine’s and Sen. Coniglio’s liberal agenda.  This isn’t tax relief, its income redistribution that is making New Jersey unaffordable for the middle class.

“What this budget reflects more than anything," added Colletti is the lack of political courage in Trenton to cut costs and rein in social spending,” he added.