NJ ‘Givenor’ Phil Murphy strikes again (Opinion)

Yay, the state parks and beaches will be open on July 4th! But at what cost? If you think this is just a tax increase on millionaires and it won't affect you or our state's economy, think again. If you thought Senate President Steve Sweeney and the Democratically controlled legislature were going to let this budget pass without it hurting everyone, you were wrong.

Oh sure, it appeases the government establishment and unionized workers in their hopes of getting back what Christie "took" from them. But if they're smart, they'll be cashing in their chips and leaving town like a lot of New Jerseyans already have or will be. There's only so much money and liberty you can take from people before they pack up and move on.

I thought the good people in government didn't want people smoking cigarettes. Well this new budget will raise taxes on vaping, a way many people have used to get off of cigarettes and improve their health. Corporate taxes will increase by 2.5 percent this year in a state already hemorrhaging businesses over the last few years, seriously limiting job opportunities here. This new budget deal taxes, among other entities, people who make over $5 million a year. I also don't envy or resent them. I don't even know anyone who makes near that kind of money, but I do know they live in big houses and pay huge property taxes. They also drive expensive cars or boats, and someone has to sell and service those things. They also pay a lot of people to work for them.

It definitely has a ripple effect. Taxes will be levied on home and ride sharing services. All the people that supplement their incomes by using their homes for Airbnb or their cars for Lyft or Uber will be affected by this budget. When even the tax and spend fiends like Steve Sweeney fought against this budget, we should all be worried about the future here. A future here, where a carpet bagging, toothy grinned multi-millionaire will be long gone when the thing collapses and the real trouble begins.

Just like the last guy, 'Givenor' Murphy has higher aspirations than being your governor, and he's acting like a plague of locusts on the taxpaying citizens and economy of New Jersey. But he's so nice and he's so polished and polite and the got the right letter in parenthesis at the end of his name, that few in the establishment media or politically correct society will challenge him with any real force. That is why young, old, and everyone in between that I run into, with rare exception, is looking for an exit strategy. We could fill up four hours a day, every day on the air with people who are looking or planning to get out of this state.

For those of us with family ties or commitments too strong to break, it's beyond frustrating. It's frightening. Where or when will this end? So we can all breathe a collective sigh of relief that Island Beach State Park is open to the public and not just one fat guy and his family, but this 4th of July doesn't really embrace the concept of freedom here in New Jersey. It's more like that scary summer blockbuster movie from years past. "THE GIVENOR GIVES IT TO YOU...HARD!" I'd rather watch that one on Netflix... from North Carolina!

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