Designer Birth Certificates

“Property taxes are high on my radar and trying to see what the answer to that is. I don’t know the answer on it yet, but we’re trying to whittle away at all of the other things that we need to get off of our plate so we can try and figure out what that solution will be,” (Assembly Speaker Vince Prieto, NJ101.5, 01/04/15)

“We’re trying to do the best that we can on property taxes and it’s difficult times especially since we have not rebounded (economically) as quickly as our surrounding states,” (Assembly Speaker Vince Prieto explained, NJ101.5, 01/04/15)

"New Jersey has the highest property taxes in the nation, and that seems unlikely to change soon. (Assembly Speaker) Prieto called the problem 'a tough one' that he's 'looked hard and heavy' trying to solve. He's still not sure how to accomplish reform."  (NJ.com, 04/13/15)

View fullsize

Don't worry.  There are items on the agenda that the Democrat majority is tackling.  Items like designer birth certificates.

That's right. If the Democrat majority has its way, a man will soon be able to change his birth certificate to state that he is a woman -- without undergoing a sex change operation.  Yes, the Democrats have said that you can "officially" be a woman and still have a penis.  What this will do to women's sports is anyone's guess.

We've entered the era of the designer birth certificate.  We understand that legislation is being prepared that will allow someone to change his or her race on their birth certificate to reflect how they "identify".  Another idea being discussed would allow you to change your "year of birth" -- provided a licensed health care provider could attest that this age-change would make you "feel" better about yourself.

Of course, none of this will actually change anything for real.  Sex is determined by the 23rd chromosome pairing in each individual's DNA.  A mere act of the Legislature is powerless to alter that.  What the Legislature is doing is making New Jersey's birth certificate into a kind of vanity license plate.  It will eventually lose its meaning as a document of standing -- to be replaced by scientific testing to accurately determine what is real.

Look, this is all the Democrats are capable of.  This is what you get from Speaker Prieto and the Democrat majority -- bathroom politics.  They are too challenged to wrap their minds around freeing the people from the State's excessively high property tax burden. 

And it doesn't end with property taxes.  New Jersey continues to have the highest unemployment rate in the region and a higher unemployment rate than the nation as a whole.  That's not counting the under-employed and those who have simply given up looking for work.  New Jersey's business climate is rated last in the nation, so don't look for those new jobs any time soon.

The state can't pay its pension contributions without raising taxes on someone (what will that do to the business climate?) and it can't afford to maintain its roads and bridges without increasing the tax burden on working people. 

Month by month, New Jersey remains among the top three states with the highest foreclosure rates -- at nearly double the national average.  That's the culmination of the Legislature's failure to address property taxes (which push people -- especially older people -- out of their homes) and jobs.  

Hunger is on the rise in New Jersey -- and it is no longer confined to just the cities.  To suburban food banks come the newly poor.  They arrive in their soon to be repossessed SUVs and take what is available home to the mortgage they can't pay.  New Jersey is one of only three states that saw a jump in poverty and an increase in the poverty rate -- a million people now live in poverty in New Jersey, according to the U.S. Census. 

Poverty is at a 52 year high.  A third of New Jersey's children are now living in poverty.  630,000 children live in a household described as "poor" and over 700,000 children would go hungry if not for government programs.  How the hell does the Legislature have time for vanity birth certificates?

Unfortunately, it's about money.  After the Democrat-controlled Legislature failed to pass same-sex marriage in 2010, the board of Garden State Equality laid down the law:

Smarting over the state Senate’s refusal to pass marriage equality and disillusioned at the moment with the Democratic Party majority, Garden State Equality’s 85-member Board of Directors unanimously decided against giving financial contributions to political parties and their affiliated committees.   

Under the new policy, Garden State Equality will make financial contributions only to individual candidates and to non-party organizations that further equality for the LGBT community, according to a release issued this morning by the organization.

“No political party has a record good enough on LGBT civil rights that it can rightfully claim to be entitled to our money on a party-wide basis,” said Steven Goldstein, chair of Garden State Equality.  “No longer will we let any political party take our money and volunteers with one hand, and slap us in the face with the other when we seek full equality."  (Politickernj.com, 02/08/10)

The Democrats got the message.  Designer birth certificates went to the front of the line.  Poor children don't write checks. 

The Democrat majority has shown that they are incapable of taking on the real problems working people face in New Jersey.  They are failures.  Every week that finds them in their committees, addressing issues that matter only to the lobbyists and special interests who fund them, is another failure.  Every day that passes without them clearing the deck to address the issues of high taxes and jobs is another failure.

These Democrat failures should be thrown out.  Some may be this November.  But those who get away should be taken on from within their own party in the primaries of 2017.  It doesn't matter if it's a challenge from the Left or the Right, so long as it is a challenge by someone who is serious about taking on the problems that are destroying the lives of the people. 

New Jersey needs an adult Legislature.  Instead of vanity birth certificates, families need to get out from under foreclosure, people need work, children need food, and taxpayers need a break.

Since 1991, Bill Winkler has provided research for more than 400 candidates. These have included candidates for Governor, U.S. Senate and Congress – as well as state and local races – and include studies for the Republican National Committee, Republican Senatorial Committee, National Republican Congressional Committee, Republican Governors’ Association, Republican Attorneys General Association, and over two dozen Republican State Committees