Raising the gas tax: Is New Jersey finally dead to you?

New Jersey 101.5 video

Most of the show Friday afternoon was spent fielding calls from listeners who were beyond angry with their so-called leaders. The state Senate and Assembly voted to increase the gas tax by 23 cents per gallon starting Nov. 1.

One woman called in and said the feeling was as if her dog had just died. There's a pervasive sadness along with the anger that I'm picking up on in our callers. Could it be that after so many years of political games that this was finally the move that makes people realize it doesn't matter which party is in charge or who the governor is, they will never do right by us?

Think about it. Go back to the Florio years and the runny-egg ban and toilet paper tax. We needed a Republican. Along came Christine Todd Whitman. But her fiscal gambles blew up in our faces after she left office and only served to make Jersey worse.

A parade of one buffoon after another followed. McGreevey resigned in disgrace. Jon Corzine was so widely hated that this blue state elected another Republican.

Then that guy, Christie, shoots himself in the foot in a political payback scheme that results in federal charges against members of his crew. He once could do no wrong, but now his favorability rating is in the toilet with no sign of redemption.

Post continues below video.

Then came this.

A governor who prided himself on not raising taxes raises one at a whopping $1 billion. Sure, they'll song-and-dance you to death about "tax fairness" and the other cuts they made. The cuts they made do not affect the average, middle-class working person.

They'll dazzle you with the paltry reduction in sales tax that only offsets the average gas tax increase if one buys $43,350 worth of taxable goods every year. Obviously if it's the average person we're talking about, they aren't that wealthy.

I think this time, this might really be the last straw in our relationship with our leaders. Much like there comes a time in a personal relationship when you have had the same fight for the 200th time and you realize things just are never going to work out. This could be the time we walk away.