Tough Love Indeed

I Live and work in New Jersey. I commute every day up and down the NJ Turnpike, so I pay tolls every day. Yesterday, our Governor (D) announced a new proposal to raise revenue to balance the state budget, which is grossly in debt, as told by the Philadelphia Inquirer:

Under his plan, fares would be raised by 50 percent every four years between 2010 and 2022, as well as by an additional cumulative amount of perhaps 3 percent annually to reflect inflation. The inflationary hikes, plus the 50 percent increases, would be bundled together and phased in together only at the four-year points.

Unbelievable. Here is what Corzine had to say about this:

The Democratic governor said the toll hikes would be controversial and a form of "tough love."

Unbelievable.

In the article, they actually calculated a typical commute:

Under the plan, a typical car driver on the New Jersey Turnpike would be charged $2.05 in tolls in 2010 for a trip that costs $1.20 now. In 2014, the driver would pony up $5.85. Such a driver would take a 23-mile daily trip on the turnpike, the administration said.

My current one-way trip costs $2.10 so in 2014, I'll be paying $10.25. That's an increase of about 488%.

In the world of loony liberal logic, 'tough love' will never take the form of cutting spending, reducing the size of government, reforming government waste and fraud:

Nor, Corzine said, could the state cut its way back to fiscal health. To do so, he said, would "impossibly damage" New Jersey's ability to fund schools, cushion local property taxes, and protect public safety and welfare.

By Corzine's account, the state can only turn to the highway tolls, more than half of which are paid by truckers or out-of-state drivers, as the governor noted.

Unbelievable. Who can even afford to live here anymore? Only those who SHOULD be a recipient of tough love.