Idle threat to cut state park funds
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
"Cuts and consequences" (Editorial, April 7) criticized me by name for opposing Governor Corzine's plan to cut state funding to state parks by $8.8 million. These cuts would eliminate swimming areas, campgrounds and park centers.
I oppose these cuts because they are the kind of cuts politicians threaten when they don't want to make cuts. They hurt people, so that the resulting outcry allows the politician to argue that cuts are unpopular – and then we go deeper into debt.
I have before me a list of real waste that should be cut before we effectively close down our state parks. My list is 63 pages long. I invite The Record editorial board to sit down with me and go through them, and then to write about them, perhaps advocate for them.
And as for hypocrisy: Before you go applying that word to me, perhaps you should look into your own souls first.
Last year, New Jersey taxpayers spent $7.6 million on a program that provided public funding for political campaigns in three trial legislative districts. Your newspaper supported that program, but then went further.
Not content with spending $7.6 million on just three districts, you wanted to expand the taxpayer funding of political campaigns to include all 40 districts. This would cost upward of $100 million.
In "Clean slates" (Editorial, Dec. 20, 2007), you argued for spending even more on politicians when you wrote that candidates in party primary elections should be included in the program as well. This could easily raise the program's cost to beyond $200 million.
New Jersey spends just $34 million on our state parks. So here you are supporting cuts to our state parks while advocating that millions in taxpayers' money be spent on funding political campaigns. It seems rather foolish to me.
Last year, my district was selected for the trial program, and I can tell you from firsthand experience that we should not be spending our tax dollars to pay for political campaigns.
Instead of calling someone who disagrees with you a hypocrite, stop and think for a moment about that kind of "shrill rhetoric." I support our state parks. You want to spend millions to fund political campaigns. Let us respectfully agree to disagree.
Alison Littell McHose
Franklin, April 11
The writer, a Republican, represents New Jersey's 24th District in the Assembly.
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