You must not be from around here. The fiscal mess New Jersey finds itself in right now is almost entirely of its own making. It began with Governor Whitman's irresponsible tax cuts, financed by a raid on the state pension funds, and continued under the Democrats, who haven't had the guts (so far) to address the problem. Corzine may have the guts; wheher he's got the political chops to get the Democrats in the legislature to follow him is another story.

It is all part of Grover Norquist's Grand Plan.  The states are just a bit ahead of the federal governement, that's all.

In the Bible someone ask Jesus about paying taxes and he held up a coin with the caesar's profile on it and said, Render unto God that which is God's. render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's.
In '96, Bob Dole had a campaign slogan, "We want you to keep more of your money in your pocket.

Jesus understood economic better the Bob Dole because as a method of economic exchange, money is a form of public commons, much like the road system.

Wealth isn't an absolute, but a percentage of the larger whole. So the only legitimate question is how to effectively grow the larger economy.

Since only as much money can be saved as can be effectively invested, beyond which it creates asset inflation and is better spent to create more demand, the ability to save should be judiciously spread around and not monopolized by the few.

The demand side of the economy will re- assert itself.

in New Jersey, but you have to add on the wretched No Child Left Behind with all its glorious federal mandates and absolutely no federal funding. This is on top of what already is the biggest portion of how our tax dollars are spent in The Garden State.  Let's not forget the Medicaid changes, too.

Thank goodness a poll released this week clearly shows that Floridians do not want a President Jeb. Hopefully, the rest of the country will listen to those of us who have lived under 8 years of his crap while enduring 5 years of the brother's crap. We are double losers.

Hopefully, the rest of the country will listen to those of us who have lived under 8 years of his crap while enduring 5 years of the brother's crap. We are double losers.

Floridians certainly are double losers now. Unfortunately, you could become triple losers if the GOP picks Jeb as its candidate in 2008. I really doubt that our voters have the intelligence to turn down another screwing by a Bush. The next one will be smarter, almost a certainty, since he couldn't possibly be dumber, but that only means the damage he can do is multiplied by increased competence at doing it. You folks in the land of hurricanes need to catch this Bush in some sexual activity and do it quickly - Red states just don't abide sexual activity in a president.

No, it'll be a bar, where everyone knows your name and no one disagrees with the owner.

Cloudy,

I didn't make a very clear point in that regard, but you have developed the general idea a bit further.

The currency is a function of the state, whatever its basis, the people, the nation, or the head.

We have managed to combine the bottom up process of democracy with the top down unit of the Republic. We just have to keep working at the rough edges. The Communists spent seventy years finding a better society doesn't come at the price of subjugating the individual and we are exploring the opposite lesson, that a better individual isn't created at the expense of society. There is a balance.