When Chris Christie was governor of New Jersey, Democrats would send him Progressive bills that attempted to tax the wealthy at a more appropriate rate. This Democrat, Stephen Sweeney, blocked the now Democrat governor when while he’s attempting to do the right thing. But there is more.
This ThinkProgress article should give everyone pause. It’s titled “The Democratic Governor of New Jersey wants a tax hike on millionaires. Democrats are blocking him.” What? That could not possibly be true. While Republican Chris Christie was governor of New Jersey, Democrats attempted a justifiable tax hike on the state’s multimillionaires many times.
When New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) campaigned on a proposal to hike incomes taxes on the very richest sliver of his state, he would have expected to find easy traction with state lawmakers. They had sent such a tax package to Murphy’s predecessor Chris Christie (R) half a dozen times in the preceding years, seeing it vetoed each time.
But something funny happened on the way to the statehouse. Murphy’s partisan allies flipped, suddenly blanching at the 2-percentage-point hike on income over a million dollars that Murphy says would bring in three quarters of a billion dollars in new revenue.
And statehouse Dems aren’t keeping their newfound disagreement inside the tent. They’re actively collaborating with Christie, one of the Garden State’s most famous unemployed residents, to strategize against Murphy’s budget.
Christie was overheard making calls to Republican lawmakers and telling them he was “coordinating” with state Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D) to whip votes in favor of a tax plan that relies on short-term cash injections from corporate taxes and an amnesty program for people who owe the state money. A fellow Amtrak passenger heard the former governor tell the lawmakers he was calling to “feel out if they would support a budget veto override” after Murphy said he would rather let the state government shut down than agree to drop the millionaire’s tax to reflect Sweeney’s about-face.
Not all Democrats are created equal. Not all Democrats are created Progressive. But those who object to making America more equitable earns the title of FAILED DEMOCRAT.
Read the following: New Jersey’s complete Democratic takeover points out the cancer within.