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The Exporting of New Jersey

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It’s amazing – people get upset and say stop the exporting of America. The labor unions in particular are very supportive of this mantra. However, when it comes to our own state – everyone is silent. Of course most people don’t look at this particular issue as “Exporting of New Jersey”, but that is EXACTLY what it is and it has been going for at least a century and is only get worse.

So what exactly is the exporting of New Jersey and why should New Jerseyans be upset? Well New Jersey exists in a unique situation, namely between two major US cities. New Jersey, instead of working at at attracting businesses to our great cities, we bend over backward subsidizing New York and Philadelphia and thus export our jobs and OUR tax dollars to these cities.

When I look at the trains and cars going over the bridges and tunnels to NY and Philadelphia – I don’t see commuters- I see our money leaving our state and being funneled into the coffers of these cities. Now – there is a proposal to build a second rail tunnel to New York – which NJ politicians ignorantly support. We will be spending billions on this tunnel only to subsidize New York. But it isn’t only New York that is at issue now, there is also a proposal to expand a rail line to get southern New Jersey residents into Philadelphia. What about worrying about Camden and Newark???? Two cities that would increase the bottom line of the NJ state budget.

New Jersey is very quickly becoming a mere suburb of New York Philadelphia. Our cities, instead of being the corporate powerhouses they could and should be – are becoming mere neighborhoods that supply workers for these cities across the rivers. People complain about New Jersey taxes, well states thrive off their cities. Cities are the life blood of the state – without thriving cities, it is very difficult to have a thriving state economy. This is the situation that New Jersey finds itself in. To be financially stable cities need FOUR components, commerce, corporations, residents and entertainment. Without these three components, a city can not thrive. Commerce allows the residents to shop, corporations give jobs (generally high paying) and of course entertainment give the residents things to do after hours. because of our lack of investment – and thus tax base in our cities, the New Jersey state budget has to subsidize much of our cities, while exporting all these capable workers out of state and completely BY PASSING our cities.

If New York was part of New Jersey, or Philadelphia was – it would be a different situation. But what is happening in New Jersey is only slightly different than exporting our jobs to China. The only difference is that at least we have the residents. The problem is that residents put the MOST strain on an economy – not businesses. With residents you need hospitals, schools, libraries, bigger police force, fire department – all that costs tax payers money. Businesses don’t require more schools and don’t put as much of a strain on police, fire and hospitals and they don’t require libraries and other extras. Businesses are known as ratables because they bring in more money than what they require to support. They are the life blood of the city.

All those new corporate skyscrapers in Philadelphia and New York are basically being paid for with YOUR New Jersey tax dollar! Think what our cities would be like if instead of those office buildings going up in foreign cities, they were going up in OUR cities.

We don’t need a second rail tunnel to New York and we don’t need an expanded rail line into Philadelphia – what we need are politicians who support New Jersey, work for New JERSEY and find ways to encourage businesses to build corporate skyscrapers in our great cities.

It’s time that New Jerseyans took a stand and support New Jersey and demand our politicians to fight for New JERSEY interests.

Recently I was talking to someone about tourism and the benefit to New Jersey’s economy. Whenever a New Jerseyan goes to a museum in Philadelphia, or a play in New York – they are taking that money out of the New Jersey economy and putting it to work in Pennsylvania or New York State. Pretty much the same thing happens with exporting our jobs, in some cases in a much worse way too. People don’t only work in the cities they are employed, they also shop there and visit the entertainment venues. I should know, when I first moved back to New Jersey, I had a contract in Center City in Philadelphia. I went to the restaurants, I went shopping after work before catching my train. All that money was leaving the New Jersey economy and going into Pennsylvania. The only way for New Jersey to get that money back was for a Pennsylvanian to visit New Jersey and spend their money here. However, the mere visitor does not solve the problem of our struggling cities, to solve that we need to provide jobs. To provide jobs we need corporations.

Until New Jerseyans stop looking at New York and Philadelphia as extensions of new Jersey and instead look at what they are – foreign cities, New Jersey will always have a budget problem. We will continue to subsidize these cities. Our transportation costs are so high because we need the highways to bring the workers to NY and Philadelphia, we continue to subsidize and expand our rail and bus service which benefits New York and Philadelphia.

(Washington, D.C). – United States Senators from New Jersey and New York today joined to express support for the Trans-Hudson Express (THE) Tunnel Project.

In a letter to U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta, Senators Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Charles Schumer (D-NY) said the new rail tunnel is needed to meet the region’s increasing demand for commuter rail service and keep the economy growing.

Over the past 20 years, daily commuter rail trips between New Jersey and New York City have doubled, but the demand is hitting a bottleneck in the current 100-year old, two-track passenger tunnel under the Hudson River.

“This tunnel will keep commuters moving and keep our region’s economy strong,” said Senator Lautenberg. “It will also make us less vulnerable to an accident or terrorist attack.”

“The Trans-Hudson Tunnel would provide critical upgrades to our mass transit system and would fuel the continued expansion of our region’s economic growth,” said Senator Menendez.

“Expanding transportation capacity for our region is essential as traffic increases in the New York and New Jersey areas,” said Senator Clinton. “This is an important project for all those moving through New York, and the region, and I support going forward with the proposal to address increased economic and transportation capacity in the region.”

“As the Hudson Valley grows, we need to keep it moving. We can give Hudson Valley Commuters back 25 minutes a day by providing a one-seat ride between the Hudson Valley and mid-town Manhattan. It will not only improve traffic flow, but will improve overall quality of life,” Senator Schumer said. “The tunnel and new 34th Street station will be a shot in the arm for West Side Redevelopment and bring thousands more commuters and visitors in to Midtown every day.”

Let me make ONE thing clear – the only thing that this tunnel will help out is New YORK – it completely by passes our cities and does nothing to help them. While they struggle – we export our jobs over the rivers. Any politician who supports this tunnel – is NOT supporting our cities or our state. New York gets all this redevelopment and what does New Jersey get??? I support NO new tunnel – and instead support lowering business taxes to encourage businesses to MOVE from New York and build in Jersey City, Bayonne, Newark, Elizabeth, Hoboken, etc. I want to see the cities of Camden and Trenton grow and thrive – becoming models of redevelopment and success stories that other cities thrive to recreate. If we had our residents commuting to OUR cities, we wouldn’t need this second rail tunnel or an expanded rail system to Philadelphia and not only would we save billions in the unnecessary construction, but we would take in billions from the corporate taxes and commerce that would be generated in our cities.

Remember, this is YOUR tax dollars at work! Demand that OUR politicians support New Jersey!

The New Jersey mantra that ALL New Jerseyans should be yelling at the top of their lungs should be “New Jersey FIRST!”

Websites of Interest
PlanNYC – Access to th Regions Core
Access to the Regions Core Official Website

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