Taxes, the Economy, and Outmigration

NJEA: Higher taxes, who has been complaining about the sales tax anyway?

“Increasing the gas tax makes sense. But it’s irresponsible to negotiate a deal that raises this tax while reducing other state revenues … And who has been complaining about the sales tax, anyway?”

— NJEA Executive Director Ed Richardson, 2016.

Apparently not Richardson. After all, he is a multi-millionaire, himself, having been paid $2.98 million of taxpayer dollars from 2013-2016. Maybe Mr. Richardson has forgotten that gas and sales taxes are the least progressive taxes. They are the same for everyone and thus hit middle-class New Jerseyans much harder than they hit a one-percenter like Richardson. Perhaps that is why he totally disregards their impact on middle-class New Jerseyans – including teachers, who make $76,000 a year. Where is the tax “fairness” in that?

There’s a reason why the NJEA has constantly pushed for higher taxes.

Beware The Downward Spiral: The Economic Consequences Of New Jersey’s Special-Interest-Dominated Status Quo

“If I were relocating to some state that had a huge unfunded [public sector] pension plan I’m walking into liabilities. I say to myself, ‘Why do I want to build a plant there that has to sit there for 30 or 40 years?’ Because I’ll be here for the life of the pension plan, and they will come after corporations, they’ll come after individuals … they’re going to have to raise a lot of money.”

– Warren Buffet, 2019. 1

If Warren Buffet is asking this question, then American businesses are asking this question.