State budget: Playing chess in a house of cards

Gov. Chris Christie is about to unveil his fourth state budget, and if previous spending plans are any indication both sides will be looking to push the pain off into the future.

While the governor has developed a reputation for being someone willing to make the tough decisions, his track record on the budget is spotty at best. He has, as required by law, balanced the budget, but he has not done as promised. He is as guilty as his Democratic predecessors of dipping into the bag of of magic one-shot budget fixes to do so.

Christie fans will demur, but the governor has delayed payments into the pension plan and set unrealistic ally high revenue projections to ensure that the spending plans met constitutional muster.

Despite this, expect to hear him pat himself on the back again for making tough choices. Not that the Democrats have proven any better. The reality is that every governor beginning with Jim Florio has dipped into the trick bag — with help from legislators of both parties — so we really shouldn’t expect much from any of the folks who ply their trade on the floor of the Legislature.

Author: hankkalet

Hank Kalet is a poet and freelance journalist. He is the economic needs reporter for NJ Spotlight, teaches journalism at Rutgers University and writing at Middlesex County College and Brookdale Community College. He writes a semi-monthly column for the Progressive Populist. He is a lifelong fan of the New York Mets and New York Knicks, drinks too much coffee and attends as many Bruce Springsteen concerts as his meager finances will allow. He lives in South Brunswick with his wife Annie. View all posts by hankkalet