In Box EXTRA.
Governor Christie recently appeared at a “Town Hall” meeting in the up-scale Republican stronghold of Hopatcong, to a standing room only crowd of about 500 well-wishers who gave him a standing ovation. He took the opportunity to blame Democrats for any rise in property taxes and promised “you won’t believe what will happen in New Jersey,” if he is given a Republican legislature in the upcoming elections.
We think that may be a fair statement. We can hardly believe what has happened already. The Republican determination to place as much of the tax burden on the middle class as possible, a national obsession, has no stronger champion than Chris Christie. His attacks on teachers, government workers and unions have only been kept in bounds by the break exercised by having a Democrat majority in the legislature. Like every major Republican politician, Christie has steadfastly refused to tax the rich. No wonder they like him in upscale Hopatcong!
The vast gap between the rich and the rest of us – a chasm even bigger than it was in the “Gilded Age” of the 1890s, when the infamous robber barons built fabulous mansions in Newport and on 5th Ave. while paying their workers starvation wages is evidently the social paradigm the modern Republican Party seeks to emulate. We have Republicans to thank for unregulated banking and investment that produced the catastrophic real estate boom and bust. We have Republicans to thank for a war fueled national debt that has spiraled into trillions. We have Republicans to thank for nationwide assaults on such hard-won basic worker rights as collective bargaining. We have Republicans to thank for absolute refusal to tax the rich at anything even remotely resembling a fair share. And why is this? All we need do is look to Republican campaign coffers and see where the money comes from.
Yes indeed – if the Democrats lose their majority in the next election, it will indeed be hard to believe what will happen in New Jersey. One of the things that won’t happen, however, is any forward movement on anything to benefit the LGBT community. It has been made very clear the Republicans do not care about gays. Christie doesn’t care about the middle class or gays. He has clearly said he doesn’t care when faced with huge worker rallies at the State House. He has clearly said he doesn’t care about those who disagree with him and he surely doesn’t care about gays.
Chris “I don’t Care” Christie. It is not too soon to begin working for candidates in the next election who do care. Christie got elected in part because the gay community didn’t care enough to marshal the votes to keep him out. Let’s not make that mistake again.
In Box EXTRA.
Governor Christie recently appeared at a “Town Hall” meeting in the up-scale Republican stronghold of Hopatcong, to a standing room only crowd of about 500 well-wishers who gave him a standing ovation. He took the opportunity to blame Democrats for any rise in property taxes and promised “you won’t believe what will happen in New Jersey,” if he is given a Republican legislature in the upcoming elections.
