State taxes, that pesky subject
is definitely not a glamorous topic. It doesn’t get installanches. It won’t get me invited to Charlie Rose, and I won’t be asked to hang out with Andrew Sullivan at the party-after-the-broadcast. I won’t be the next Paris Hilton of bloggers. Lucky magazine won’t have me for a fashion spread. Larry Kudlow‘s not exactly knocking at my door, begging that I make a TV apperance.

And yet I persevere. Obviously either I don’t blog for the Instapundit-Charlie Rose-celeb of it all, or I’m crazy. You decide.

NJ taxes is a huge source of blogging material. Public spending has gone beyond the realm of “out of control” to the “way out there” category. Just visit Enlighten-NJ to read about teacher and public employee benefits:

The $2.2 billion annual state price tag for teacher and public employee health insurance and retirement benefits is expected to triple in just five years. At the current pace, those costs will soar to $6.7 billion by the time the state budget is drafted in 2009, and account for more than one-fifth of all state spending.

In another post, this one on education spending, Enlighten-NJ notes

So how does our state stack up? New Jersey ranks number 1 in terms of expenditures per student, 4th in average teacher salary and ranks 29th in student achievement. Is this a satisfactory level of performance? Not for our money and not for our children.

Prepare yourself for the state’s educators to raise the “money for the children” club as Acting Governor Codey’s budget is debated. It’s time for New Jersey’s education establishment and other associated tax receivers to take some responsibility for schools and children that don’t achieve minimal standards.

Roberto writes on how this affects the middle class,

As has been noted before, the NJ Saver rebates averaged between $600 and $800 and went to homeowners making less than $200,000. Add in the increased sales taxes and the likely increases in local taxes and a middle class homeowner can easily be out $1000 this year. And if you’re fed up and decide to sell your house and move to Pennsylvania, the state will hit you on the way out when you sell your house. On a home sale of $330,000, the realty transfer tax will go from around $1450 to almost $2500.

And SmadaNek has the numbers.

No, I won’t be going on Charlie Rose, but I’m in good company. For those of you thinking, “It’s all about you, Fausta, isn’t it”, maybe you’re right, but I submit the following thought: It’s all about you, and your money.