SETTLEMENT AGREED ON, STRIKE CALLED OFF, TAXES TO GO UP

"This is the budgetary equivalent of a game of three-card monte."...Sen. Robert Littell (R-Sussex)

"How ludicrous is it that in this theater of the absurd, we're raising the sales tax to provide direct property tax relief while cutting rebates at the same time."...Sen. Joseph Kyrillos Jr. (R-Monmouth)

"The public is denied the opportunity to see what's going on while it's going on. Instead of having government under glass, we have government under a rock."...Assemblyman Richard Merkt (R-Morris)

"This was all about Democrats behaving badly.''...Assemblyman Kevin O'Toole (R-Essex)

Just as a union will call a strike for higher wages, the Bozo-coifed Gov. Jon Corzine had called a strike for higher taxes. The budget was approved early this morning, and the strike called off.
The disagreement among Democrats was not whether to raise taxes, but on which taxes to raise.
And raise them they did. A Republican proposal which would have cut spending by over $2.2 billion (With a B) was never even given serious consideration. Instead, Democrats raised taxes by $1.5 billion (With a B), and even made sure to throw in some pork for loyal supporters.
Sounding more like a union activist than the leader of state government, Corzine had declared his solidarity with public employee unions. This was totally expected, as Carla Katz, President of Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 1034, is Corzine's former girlfriend; she had her mortgage paid off by Corzine. Local 1034 surprisingly went on to endorse Corzine.
He was just rewarding his supporters.
In addition to the casinos, Corzine's government shut-down even affected flood victims along the Delaware River.
So, the shutdown has ended, the state will be reopened by Monday and everything will be back to normal.
Till next year.