Chapter 1 Blog

http://www.courierpostonline.com/article/20081017/OPINION/810170317/1046

Summary:

This article talks about how New Jersey and its people are attempting to deal with the great financial crisis that has recently taken over all of the United States. Apparently, America is in a much worse shape than most politicians had thought (Christine Gregoire). Taxing authorities have now come to the conclusion that they must lower taxes. Just last Thursday, Governor Jon Corzine released a $150 million economic plan to create a more efficient government. As most people believed that their property taxes would have to go up in order to pay for this new “plan.” However, they were wrong, Corzine’s plan heavily depends on distributing money again and speeding up future projects. The New Jersey Turnpike Authority and Schools Development Authority have now been asked to produce an astonishing $4.5 billion in capital projects to make more than 120,000 jobs. The state proposed also to redirect money in order to prevent the foreclosure of homes as well as minimize the property taxes for seniors. This plan seems great but needs to be handled with care.

Connections:

The connections that I was able to make between this article and the chapter are related to the taxing authorities. In this case, they needed to make a drastic change with what they enforced upon the people of New Jersey and they did. Even though they are taxing us on several things, mainly our income, they do not have all the power because as you can see they need to make necessary adjustments according to what is going on in the present. This is a prime example of how taxing authorities do their order of business with real life investors. Also, they aid us by using that money for future projects that will later benefit the entire area, city, or state. Within the chapter there are many references towards the taxing authorities but all that we really know is that they calculate the numbers and deductions off of our wages. The article shown gives us a glimpse of their reality because they must play a much larger role in the government then we know about right now.

Personal Reflection:

I feel that this is a good approach to solving the financial downfall in New Jersey but there have been plenty of others who have proposed ideas such as this and have failed miserably. It is quite interesting to see how Jon Corzine decided not to pile up the property taxes as that is what happens in most case but instead switches it up completely. Redirecting all of the money taken in by the government into new areas in order to seek a new and better outcome for the public is a quite brilliant idea. Even though it has probably been thought of, where Corzine chose to put the money was very smart because he seems to really care for the city of New Jersey. I would never have thought to invest the money in this way and by speeding up projects, more of the money can be handled properly in order to create newer and more advanced plans for the future. This plan has my full support because New Jersey, even American for that matter needs help and I believe that this is the way to go.

-Jason K.