From the Asbury Park Press:
10. New Jersey has the highest property taxes in the nation.
9. New Jersey has the highest health insurance costs in the nation.
8. Only parts of California and Hawaii have higher housing costs than Central and North Jersey, and rents in New Jersey are the second highest in the nation. That’s driving many of New Jersey’s best, brightest and wealthiest out of state.
7. Thanks to the recent 16 percent increase in the state sales tax, New Jersey is tied with two other states for the highest rate in the nation. (And now Gov. Corzine is suggesting the Legislature consider allowing local communities to impose their own sales taxes.)
6. Only four states have a higher top income tax rate than New Jersey.
5. New Jersey’s energy, insurance and regulatory costs are among the highest in the nation.
4. The political bosses and public employee unions dictate government policy. Corzine’s ex-squeeze heads the state’s most powerful union, and Corzine pledged at a union rally protesting badly needed benefit givebacks, “I stand with you. I’ll fight with you.”
3. New Jersey has a well-deserved reputation for political corruption — a reputation that has been enhanced by its last two laughingstock attorneys general.
2. New Jersey’s once-vaunted labor pool is no longer the envy of the pharmaceutical and communications worlds.
1. The state’s lawmakers have shown themselves to be completely inept at solving problems needed to help the state prosper.
You forgot:
11. Even casual fridays require $300 jeans.
From the Record:
Analyst tells Mills to drop Xanadu
Shares of Mills Corp. tumbled 30 percent Friday as a top analyst suggested the company should stop work on the Meadowlands Xanadu entertainment and retail complex.
“Mills should cease construction,” analyst Ross Nussbaum of Banc of America Securities wrote in a note to investors Friday, adding that he sees “any additional equity spent on the project as good money chasing after bad.”
…
Mills’ Xanadu project was selected by state officials as the development of choice in their bid to transform the Meadowlands sports complex. But as the company’s fortunes sink, its critics grow louder.
“We’re becoming a laughingstock with this project,” said state Senate President Richard Codey. “At what point do we say, ‘Take this project off the respirator?’ ”
Nussbaum’s downgrade to “sell” came a day after the company said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing that the project’s cost, originally estimated at $1.2 billion, is likely to reach $2 billion. The company, which filed after markets closed Thursday, also said auditors Ernst and Young now believe “there is serious doubt” that Mills can continue as a “going concern,” because of debts that are due by the end of the year.
…
Codey, who as acting governor often tussled with Zoffinger, scoffed at that sentiment.
“Some people need to get in touch with reality,” Codey said. “I hear the next tenant they sign up will be a bankruptcy law firm.”
Brendan Gilfillan, a spokesman for Governor Corzine, said only that “the governor’s office continues to monitor the situation.”
Well, this is “democrazy”. If people vote for corrupt union-controlled democrats they truly deserve all this.
Who are these people who complain all the time?
IT IS YOUR FAULT! STOP BLAMING OTHERS!
If you want a change, don’t vote for tax-raising union-controlled politicians who appoint activist judges who make executive budget decisions.
Last time I checked people of NJ voted for tax-raising pro-activist judge union-loyalists.
God I’m happy I don’t live in NJ. It is bad in NY but at least not as bad .
NJ may be to far gone.
Man, where do you start.
And its getting worse.
Wait till the bill comes for
the meadowlands.
Was this one of Letterman’s top 10 lists?
from David Letterman archive, there ar only two references to real estate
August 04, 2003
Top Ten Real Reasons Colin Powell Is Stepping Down
10. Tough to get anything done when boss is on vacation six months a year
9. Whenever it’s Rumsfeld’s turn to pay the pizza guy, he always seems to have left his wallet at NORAD
8. Fed up after being overlooked on Secretary’s Day three years in a row
7. Got a better offer from the North Korean government
6. Angered because Bush would not let him hire State Department dancers
5. According to long-term weather forecasts, 2005 will be a great year for golf
4. Doesn’t want to miss a second of CBS smash hit “Cupid”
3. Wants to open his own State Department
2. Just attended a seminar about how anyone can get rich buying real estate with no money down
1. New Ben Affleck/Jennifer Lopez movie made him lose the will to do anything
July 29, 1998
Top Ten Things on Clinton’s To Do List
10. Meet with advisors to settle on prison nickname.
9. Erase score-keeping marks from Air Force One lavatory.
8. Get hillbilly friends to ride past Kenneth Starr’s house, hit mailbox with baseball bat.
7. Call FTD — Send “You Better Not Talk Bouquet” to Cokie Roberts.
6. Check out Paula Jones after nose job. Hit on her?
5. Wedding gift for Barbra and what’s-his-name.
4. Have Webster’s Dictionary change definition of the word “lie” so it has a more positive ring to it.
3. Executive order re-opening New York City sex shops.
2. Explore possible “I’m gay” defense.
1. Check out real estate prices in hell.
Funny stuff CF,
Hey do you have a name picked out yet? If you want to avoid a situation where everyone names their kid the same including you, check outhe Social Security website. The year my first kid was born her name was in the top 10 but for the last 10 years it has been #1.
http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames/
Our short list:
1. Booooyyyaaaa
2. David [in honor of David Lereah]
3. Benny
4. Bubble Boy
5. NJ Immigrant
6. Tax Credit
we may just settle on “Hunter” though ;-)
let’s not count chickens………
Fair enough,
Nice selection. I did not notice any similarity to the SSN sight. Btw both of my girls got a nick-name of tax credit.
you cant live in jersey and not know about coruption. But i agree with the other guy. Why the hell are you electing a wall st broker who would continue McGreevy’s legacy of multibillion dollar debt. I only wish I was old enough to vote, because aparently the general public is always swayed by rhetoric