Correspondent E.F. writes in response to ‘Puter’s post on Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ). ‘Puter’s correspondent disagrees with ‘Puter’s take, and puts together a vigorous defense of his position. E.F. states:

Wisest Gormogon Puter

It can never hurt to flatter your Gormogons right out of the gate. We’re attention whores. Well, mostly ‘Puter and Czar. As a tip for the future, comment on your love of Czar’s beard’s unkemptness. He eats that up.

I have to take issue with your man crush on our bloated Garden State Governor Bluto Christie. Chris Christie is raping the suburban homeowner in NJ. How you say? Well the state aid cuts to schools comes mainly from our property tax relief fund. The NJ state income tax and 1/2% of our sales tax is constitutionally mandated to be property tax relief. As your humble servant, I just remind you we the people of the Garden State pay the highest property taxes in the nation. Which leads me to the Christie cuts.

First, ‘Puter’s not certain that calling Gov. Christie fat is a convincing argument. It didn’t work for ex-New Jersey governor John Corzine (D-NJ). And ‘Puter’s not certain that cutting school aid equates to rape of the taxpayers, but ‘Puter will cut E.F. some slack.

‘Puter’s not certain about E.F.’s argument regarding the constitutionally mandated property tax relief fund. If the claim is that the governor’s illegally dipped into the fund, ‘Puter’s not heard anything about it. If the claim is that the proposed budget cuts are going to quickly deplete the fund, causing skyrocketing local property taxes as a result, ‘Puter thinks that’s probably correct.

E.F.’s next point, that New Jersey pays some of the highest property taxes in the nation, is correct, depending on the measure. According to this site, based on data from 2006 through 2008, New Jersey had 6 of the top 10 counties for median real estate taxes (the remaining 4 are in New York), 0 of the top 10 counties for real estate taxes as a percentage of home value (all 10 are in New York, and ‘Puter lives in one of them) and 6 of the top 10 counties for real estate taxes as a percentage of homeowner income (the remaining 4 are in New York). This is not to dispute E.F.’s characterization that New Jersey’s property taxes are an abhorrent crime against God and man, but more to say that on property taxes, ‘Puter’s home state of New York sucks equal to or greater than as much as New Jersey.

E.F. continues:

Christie is cutting state aid to public schools. What isn’t being reported is that NJ still operates under the Abbott v. Burke ruling of some 30 years ago. Abbott forced equal funding for 31 specific school districts (Newark, Trenton, Camden, and surprisingly enough Hoboken). What Abbott has become is the ultimate vacuum for all state aid. These 31 districts suck up roughly 55% of ALL state aid. The 560+ other school districts are left to fight over what’s left. The kicker is Christie and his Jersey City (another Abbott district) Hack Schundler told the school districts to expect a 15% cut in aid. What they did is cut 5% of the entire school budget. You say so what. Well the suburbs get less cash as a % of funds from property tax relief than we do for property taxes and Christie’s plan wiped out state aid to 59 school districts (which send over a billion a year to Trenton in income taxes alone). Many school districts lost between 15% and 100% of their entire state aid. No democrat has ever done this. Christie’s property tax cap is also a fantasy. As a reference it costs over $30,000 a year to educate a pupil in Asbury Park (yes an Abbott district). Newark’s superintendent makes over $280,000 per year for little to no results.

Yes, Gov. Christie is cutting aid to state school districts. He has to do so; that’s where the money is. When it comes to clearing a deficit, someone’s ox is going to get gored. Here, it’s the local property taxpayers.

E.F. is correct about the Abbott decision. ‘Puter agrees that this decision was an unconstitutional usurpation of the legislative function by the judiciary. That is, it’s the legislature’s job to appropriate funds and direct funding of certain items, not the judiciary’s. And Gov. Christie agrees with ‘Puter and E.F. The governor directly criticized the Abbott decision by name.

‘Puter characterizes E.F.’s argument as follows: Gov. Christie is a horrible governor because (1) he needed to balance the budget and clear a deficit so (2) the governor cut school aid (3) which because of the Abbott decision disproportionately impacts net taxpaying districts and (4) therefore either (a) E.F.’s property taxes are going to soar in order to pay for current programming levels or (b) E.F.’s local schools are going to suck because of the resulting program cuts.

That’s a legitimate viewpoint. But ‘Puter doesn’t see how Gov. Christie is to blame. Programs either have to be paid for or cut. Gov. Christie’s just changing how the programs are paid for, and E.F. justifiably takes exception.

‘Puter’s take is slightly different, however. Gov. Christie is confronting a looming budget deficit head on by cutting spending where he can. In so doing, he is pushing the costs down to where they ought properly be borne: the local school districts (and taxpaying voters) that have ramped up programs and given unsustainable union contracts for years. Individuals in the school districts continued to vote for school board members who would promise the world for free, long after it was apparent a day of reckoning was fast approaching. By pushing the pain down to the grass roots, Gov. Christie is increasing the likelihood of a tax revolt, which may have been his plan all along. Raising taxes to an uncomfortable level will cause taxpayers to take a long, hard look at where their hard-earned dollars are going, and the taxpayers are likely to demand fundamental change. Forcing the people who are getting the benefit of the schools (and the contracts) to pay for them is hardly unfair. (‘Puter realizes that the Abbott beneficiaries are not paying for their goodies, but that’s the Supreme Court’s fault, not Gov. Christie’s. And yes, E.F., that doesn’t make it suck any less.)

Contrary to E.F.’s claim, Democrats did cause New Jersey’s massive cash shortfall, including the predictable fallout on local property taxpayers. Gov. Corzine (D-NJ) presided over years of profligate spending, as did local school districts. Further, New Jersey’s Democrat-controlled legislature routinely budgeted money to reimburse school districts for their profligate spending on teachers’ unions, one of the Democrat party’s largest supporters. Essentially, school districts and the legislature paid for today’s votes with tomorrow’s dollars. And guess what? Today is now tomorrow. Time to pay up. This is the situation Gov. Christie was confronted with upon assuming office.

To blame Gov. Christie for cleaning up Gov. Corzine and the Democrat’s budget mess is a bit like ‘Puter blaming the firemen for getting his Hello Kitty Underoos collection all wet, while not blaming at all Sleestak who started the fire while playing with the Czar’s thermite stash.

E.F.’s points concerning the cost to educate a kid in Asbury Park and superintendents’ salaries are well taken, but these are simply a part of the disease. States spend too much on education and require too little in the way of results for the money spent. Blaming Gov. Christie for cutting off some of the lifeblood of this Ponzi scheme seems ill-advised.

E.F. continues:

Christie is not offering an amendment for fair and equal distribution of property tax relief. Christie is not offering this as a ballot initiative. You will see when Christie renominates Wallace (a black liberal to NJ Supreme Court).

Christie is no conservative and is raping the suburbs like Corzine never thought. In fact he cut aid to his home town by 99.7% (Mendham).

‘Puter responds thus. First, give the guy some time. He was just elected, and has already taken on numerous special interest groups, not least of all with his budget. And it is nearly impossible to unwind a government entitlement program, which the Abbott decision is, overnight. If Gov. Christie hasn’t taken concrete action on cleaning up the Abbott mess by the end of his first term, E.F will be right to start complaining. As to E.F.’s statement that Gov. Christie will reappoint Justice Wallace to the New Jersey Supreme Court, ‘Puter admits he does not know what Gov. Christie will do. And neither does E.F. know. If Gov. Christie reappoints Justice Wallace, ‘Puter fully expects to receive an “I told you so” email from E.F. ‘Puter promises to post the email and reassess his support for Gov. Christie as a conservative.

As to the claim that Gov. Christie is hurting the suburbs worse than Gov. Corzine ever did, ‘Puter refers the reader to his discussion of Democrat responsibility for the consequences of their actions above.

E.F. concludes with some links to various other resources which, while offering additional information, ‘Puter found unpersuasive.

So, to E.F., thanks for offering ‘Puter your thoughts. ‘Puter thinks we agree that soaring property taxes stink. We simply disagree as to who is to blame for that.

Keep the feedback coming, readers. If you offer good feedback, you’re likely to get a response from your Gormogons, whether by email or via blog post. We don’t mind dissent and disagreement, so long as it’s respectful and constructive. Except for GorT, who vaporizes dissenters.

'Puter

Always right, unless he isn’t, the infallible Ghettoputer F. X. Gormogons claims to be an in-law of the Volgi, although no one really believes this.

’Puter carefully follows economic and financial trends, legal affairs, and serves as the Gormogons’ financial and legal advisor. He successfully defended us against a lawsuit from a liquor distributor worth hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid deliveries of bootleg shandies.

The Geep has an IQ so high it is untestable and attempts to measure it have resulted in dangerously unstable results as well as injuries to researchers. Coincidentally, he publishes intelligence tests as a side gig.

His sarcasm is so highly developed it borders on the psychic, and he is often able to insult a person even before meeting them. ’Puter enjoys hunting small game with 000 slugs and punt guns, correcting homilies in real time at Mass, and undermining unions. ’Puter likes to wear a hockey mask and carry an axe into public campgrounds, where he bursts into people’s tents and screams. As you might expect, he has been shot several times but remains completely undeterred.

He assures us that his obsessive fawning over news stories involving women teachers sleeping with young students is not Freudian in any way, although he admits something similar once happened to him. Uniquely, ’Puter is unable to speak, read, or write Russian, but he is able to sing it fluently.

Geep joined the order in the mid-1980s. He arrived at the Castle door with dozens of steamer trunks and an inarticulate hissing creature of astonishingly low intelligence he calls “Sleestak.” Ghettoputer appears to make his wishes known to Sleestak, although no one is sure whether this is the result of complex sign language, expert body posture reading, or simply beating Sleestak with a rubber mallet.

‘Puter suggests the Czar suck it.