So, here we go again.  I grew up in NJ and live there now with my family.  I think NJ is a beautiful state.  I think that the majority of the state is quite picturesque, contrary to whatever you may have seen on the Sopranos.  With that said, it is generally agreed upon that NJ has the WORST state and local government of any of the 50 states.  We are losing businesses in droves, property taxes are the highest per capita in the nation (State property tax collections per capita by state) and I believe that overall the citizens are taxed more than anywhere else in the country.  This travesty can generally be laid at the feet of the State and Local governments, but I also lay this at the feet of the apathetic voting (or not voting) public in NJ. 

With that said, Governor Corzine is going to be traveling the state hosting Town Hall meetings to discuss his monetization proposal for the NJ Toll Roads.  Now, I don’t blame Jon Corzine for proposing this.  I recognize that the NJ budget situation is abysmal and something needs to be done.  However, what I do blame him and the rest of the "public servants" in Trenton for is not reducing spending.  The fact is that taxes continue to go up and nobody appears to be doing anything to curb the spending and the programs that continue to suck the life out of the NJ taxpayers.  It is assumed that there is this never ending bucket of money complements of the taxpayers of the state of NJ.  This should be criminal and for that I blame the apathetic non-voting public for not holding their elected officials accountable for this.  Now what we have is a situation where the working person will continue to pay the price through the increase in toll prices that will increase systematically to pay for this program.  Nowhere in the proposal do I see anything about a cutback in services or spending.

Considering the Garden State Parkway tolls were supposed to be eliminated when the construction bonds were paid off (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garden_State_Parkway) it is amazing to me that we as citizens continue to allow ourselves to be taken advantage of like this.