Income tax relief? Depends on how much you make in New Jersey

At the core of Gov. Chris Christie’s new budget proposal is a plan to cut income taxes for everyone by 10 percent. It sounds great, but if you’re a family making $50,000 a year, all you’ll end up seeing is a measly $80.

This is part of a series from political blogger and cartoonist Rob Tornoe.

At the core of Gov. Chris Christie’s new budget proposal is a plan to cut income taxes for everyone by 10 percent. It sounds great, but if you are a family making $50,000 a year, all you’ll end up seeing is a measly $80.

What will a millionaire receive? $7,300.

So while a millionaire will be able to pay for a nice vacation to the French Rivera, most New Jerseyans will only be able afford the taxi to the airport to wave goodbye.

If the blatant give-away to the rich wasn’t bad enough, Christie’s budget will cost $1.15 billion a year when it’s fully phased in. That billion, with a “b”, with about 40 percent of it going to wealthiest one percent.

After offering to give a family enough money to fill their tank with gas, I’m sure Christie would just respond to calls about class warfare by saying he’s so sick of hearing them complain. “Just shut-up already!”

I think Christie’s reasoning for proposing income tax cuts that overwhelmingly favor the rich while busting a hole in revenues says it all.

“Why not cut income taxes when your fiscal house is in order?”

Is Christie talking about the fiscal house that Fitch Ratings downgraded back in August to AA-, one of the lowest in the nation?

Or is it the fiscal house that has allowed net property taxes to increase 20 percent since 2009?

I think Christie’s focus on a different house, a White House, has blinded him to the problems of the fiscal house closer to home. Sixteen-hundred Pennsylvania can wait, Governor. Voters need real relief, not red meat.

Rob Tornoe is a political cartoonist and a WHYY contributor. See more of his work at RobTornoe.com.