Key Points in Barbara Buono’s Economic Plan for New Jersey – newjerseynewsroom.com

BY MICHAEL HAYNE

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

COMMENTARY

Despite lacking Christie’s vast unlimited campaign coffers and still mostly known as the lead singer from U2, Barbara Buono unveiled her economic plan for the state. Naturally, her plan contrasts sharply with Lord Special Election.

Unveiled yesterday, Buono’s plan primarily focuses on shoring up a forgotten middle class under Christie, giving tax incentives to small businesses to chip away the state’s still high unemployment, and promises to restore all the cuts that Christie made to the safety net. Christie attack ads paint her as a typical “tax and spend liberal” in state where Trenton throws around money like Adam ‘Pac-Man” Jones in a strip club, but Republicans voted for a lot of that legislation and Buono, known for a feisty independent streak, doesn’t always vote with her party.

“My plan reflects an understanding that economic growth begins with the middle class. We will create better jobs in New Jersey not just by offering tax credits to corporations, but by investing in our workforce, schools, working families, small businesses and

infrastructure,” said Buono (NJ.com)

One major economic issue that sharply divides the two is the minimum wage. Christie vetoed the plan and has disregarded workers rights by mostly subsidizing corporations. So Buono’s plan shifts tax subsidies away from corporations and toward the 95 percent that are categorized as small businesses, with emphasis on those in advanced fields like biotechnology and life sciences. Much like most Democrats, she also places a role on addressing education and education spending. Her plan involves keeping tuition affordable, in part by increasing scholarships and student aid, and to restore the state as a leader in research. Tuition might actually be affordable if the students didn’t have to subsidize football coaches’ bloated salaries and auditions to make even more obscene salaries in the NFL. She also intends to renew the state’s commitment to clean energy, which has all but vanished under Christie. Christie raided funds toward the clean air and clean water to plug budget gaps.

Now if only people knew who she was.