Bob Braun’s column today cut through the nonsense and offered a basic translation of the arguments made yesterday before the state Supreme Court. The issue, as he pointed out, is a political one:
Here’s the real question: Will a court under siege buy into the governor’s political views about spending or will it find the collective nerve to tell Chris Christie his oath of office requires him to obey all constitutional mandates, including the one to maintain a thorough and efficient school system?
It’s simple: Without the justices’ permission, the governor’s budget, adopted by the Legislature, cut $1 billion from a school aid formula the court, just a year before, ruled constitutional if funded. To cut that billion, Christie—and lawmakers—had to make choices.
Like not raising taxes on rich people. A political choice.
Braun’s point, essentially, is that all budgeting choices are political choices, meaning they come down to specific policies and priorities. The governor opted to slash school spending rather than ask New Jersey’s top tax bracket to pay a bit more to fund government.
As Braun points out — and I’ve written numerous times — our elected officials at all levels of government balance myriad interests in crafting budgets. What is a permissible level of taxation? Who should pay? How? What kinds of programs should we provide? Which should get more money and which should get less? These are political questions and need to be hashed out in the political arena, honestly and openly.
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