(Government) Jobs are Up in the Garden State!
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Governor Christie and Republican Presidential Candidates Have a Great Lesson to Learn, and Teach, If They are Willing
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December brought bad news for the Garden State as local governments in New Jersey increased their payrolls by 2,400 employees, canceling out the 2,000 jobs lost in the private sector in December, according to the state’s most recent employment report.
While state government lost the highest amount of jobs (11,800) in 2011, the local government sector was the third-largest growing sector in the state (9,800 new jobs), according to Patrick O’Keefe, director of economic research at J.H. Cohn.
Regardless of where state government jobs were added or (mercifully) eliminated, New Jersey continues its transformation to a wealth transfer (distribution) state that is slowly eating itself alive.
To wit, New Jersey is relyng more and more on the upper income earners by increasing their taxes so it may move such money to state and local government workers (whether through state support or higher real estate taxes) and the upper earners are moving out of the state (or finding ways to shelter their income from taxes) which decreases the tax base and burdens a shrinking pool of people and businesses (think: New York City in the mid-1970s). One of the more ironic scenarios would be to have a state with no one but government workers left as a tax base. It would be almost humorous, if not so tragic, to see the typical big government suspects come to the realization that their constituency could not support themselves. In other words, only the much maligned private (wealth creation) sector (a.k.a “The Rich”) can pay for government.
Which leads us to Governor Christie who recently proclaimed “‘New Jersey is back.” Well, not quite. And not because Mr. Christie hasn’t tried; he’s done a yeoman’s job at taking on the entrenched interests in this state (union leaders, politicians) to make it a viable economic climate as it once was, long ago. But with a 9% unemployment rate, private industry fleeing the state and budget deficits that threaten annually, re-election slogans are not what’s needed. The Governor needs to convey to the New Jersey electorate that the job has just begun: several decades of mismanagement under both Republicans and Democrats cannot be reversed in a couple of years, even by the Herculean Chris Christie.
Mr. Christie has begun such fiscal renovation project by pushing a major tax decrease, which has put the Democrats on the defensive and has them scrambling for their own tax-cut plan. And a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal has him asking for the “1%” to come to his state. This smartly continues his rehabilitation agenda for the Garden State, but this is only the beginning of a very long journey that his successors will still be addressing, if they take on the task. Still, he must continue to press his argument that New Jersey, as anywhere, needs wealthy people and should not punish them regardless of the Dickensian sweatshop caricature that may have been drawn up.
And Republican Presidential candidates would do well to appreciate and teach the benefits of the wealthy who provide capital to spur and sustain economic growth. As Newt Gingrich has (wrongly) decided to attack Romney and capitalism, he may well find himself backtracking should he become the Republican nominee or even President. As to Mr. Romney, it’s almost as if he were from a different economic system (Europe?) and is completely incapable of defending the free-market system he has done so well in and prospered from. The electorate is tired of the failed re-distributionist policies for the past 3 years and is seeking someone who will provide a clear choice between wealth creation (sustainable indefinitely with the right policies) and wealth transfer (a limited amount of time as such relies on wealth-creation).
Ronald Reagan showed over 30 years ago which policies would be successful and last and which would not; now Messrs. Romney and Gingrich must decide what hand they wish to play.
-I.M. Windee
