Absolutely Absurd!

Our lovely state of NJ is in debt. And a lot of it. $32 billion dollars in debt. Sounds pretty much typical for this country.

Our esteemed Governor Corzine came up with a plan a couple days ago to relieve us of this debt.

What a joke.

Many of our New Jersey roads are toll roads. Corzine's plan is, beginning in the year 2010, increase said tolls by 50%. And every four years, increase the tolls by another 50%...

He also proposes to add tolls to a stretch of Route 440, which is now toll-free.

Corzine thinks this pretty much only affect commercial vehicles and out-of-state traffic.

Well, he's dead wrong. Many, many, many of New Jersey residents commute to work on a daily basis on these toll roads! I'm fortunate that with the move, I don't have to travel the toll roads any longer. But prior to this year, I traveled the Garden State Parkway to work on a daily basis. I paid $2.10 a day in tolls, a total of $42.00 a month. Here's how the increase, if approved would affect a commuter, like myself, on a yearly basis.

Year Monthly Toll Expenditure

2007 $42.00

2010 $63.00

2014 $94.50

2018 $141.75

2022 $212.62

2026 $318.94

That's almost an increase of 10 times over a twenty year period. Gee, lets stop and think. Add that to the increased prices of gas, property taxes that never stop rising, and the astronomical cost of living in this state.

This plan would pay off half of New Jersey's debt. Tell me, how is it our responsibility to clean up the mess that others have left???

Just needed to vent.