...For restoring my faith in the voters of even that very "Blue" northeastern enclave.
On Tuesday the voters of New Jersey voted down 2 of the 4 ballot initiatives on spending grounds - voting down a proposed one penny rise in the state's sales tax, supposedly fund property tax relief and another that would've borrowed $450 Million to fund Embryonic Stem Cell (ESC) research.
The only monetary ballot initiative that passed in the Garden State was one that allowed the state to borrow $200 million to "buy land for conservation and recreation, to preserve farmland, acquire flood-prone land in the Delaware, Passaic and Raritan river basinsand fund historic preservation projects.
ALL three of those referendums broke down along the same 57 - 43 lines.
Most interesting, at least to me, was New Jerseyans voting down the $450 million to fund ESC research, despite that 71% of the New Jerseyans polled this summer claimed to support ESC research.
As Star Ledger reporter, Tom Moran siad, "The meaning (of this election) was unmistakable. Voters no longer trust Democrats to handle their money."
Loretta Weinberg, a Democrat from Bergen County said, "We better straighten up and get our house in order. This progressive Blue state is asking questions about what we Democrats actually stand for. The dialogue is going to be different now."
If voters in New Jersey don't trust Democrats enough with their money, even enough to trust them with funding ESC research, supported by those voters almost 3 to 1, then maybe that explains why the new Democratic Congress' approval rating remains more than 10 points BELOW G W Bush's anemic numbers.
Apparently fiscal restraint and lowering taxes really IS important to the vast majortiy of voters Democrat AND Republican.
At any rate, THANKS New Jersey! You did good!!!
