4th and 5th of July in Cranbury and Citizens call to action

[CitizensTaxRevolt]

4th and 5th of July in Cranbury
Posted by Ed Kietlinski on July 4, 2008 at 11:00am

We are all celebrating 4 of July and the 5th in Cranbury with fireworks, BBQ, good wine and music. We are celebrating our American quest for independence from the unfair laws, taxes and the stubborn rule of England. Do you remember some of the reasons that our forefathers started a revolution, sacrificed their lives, their fortunes and their souls? It is good to reflect on our history, it reminds us why we fought so hard to protect these good things in America and why we should still fight so hard to protect them in Cranbury.

4th of July celebrates our independence. What led up to that, was a series of issues like taxation without representation that angered the American population. There was a tax on goods sold, a tax on trade, even a tax on News and papers, etc. Did you know for every newspaper or document you were taxed and needed to buy a Stamp it was known as the Stamp Act.

Would we be so brazen and patriotic if something like this happened to us today??? I find myself asking this on the 4th. What if you were taxed for sending/reading an email or using the internet (its corollary to what the Stamp Act was doing? and we ARE being taxed for telcom services) What if every time you went to work to earn money for your family you were taxed (1099 form)? What if you went to the mall and were taxed for anything you purchased (NJ sales tax)? Would you revolt like our forefathers did for these same reasons? You wouldn’t because you now have representation that our patriots fought for this new democratic government.

So now its 2008, we have some of the same taxation that America went to war for against the English King and rule - but now we govern ourselves. This time we have "Taxation WITH Representation" but do we as taxpayers represent ourselves when unfair taxes are demanded from us?????

This all comes full circle to Cranbury and the unfair Tax burden that COAH 3rd round is forcing on our citizens - if you havent already deduced. Affordable housing is honorable but at a burden of one to one ratio expected from Cranbury in the near future the Taxes imposed on us are unreasonable and a disproportionate amount of tax burden is being placed on you as a Cranbury taxpayer. What are citizens doing about it?

The leaders in the TC are fighting it through the political channels, some residence of Cranbury are very vocal and go to the Trenton meetings, some even go public trying to change the system and inaccurate public opinion in the press,forums,etc. But many have been on the sidelines too busy, or worse detracting from COAH focusing on the library.

I would remind every Cranbury taxpayer that we should not just rely on our local TC to solve this issue alone. They need your help with the inaccurate portrayal of Cranbury in the public opinion arena. Recent articles in the Times and the Press have painted Cranbury as a uncaring and rich community that shrugs its affordable housing responsibility and that is just plain wrong. So this 4th of July (and the 5th in the Cranbury) walk up to a neighbor and talk about what you can do to help change public oppinion or help the Citizens Committee. The more public you are about how these high taxes will forever change your quality of life as a Mom or Dad supporting their family here in Cranbury, the more it can change public opinion and they with know about the dire plight of Cranbury and how fixing COAH should be of prime importance for Gov Corzine. Get angry about the COAH taxes, angry about the inaccurate formulas, and angry about how that changes your quality of life in a dire way if COAH is not fixed.

http://www.CranburyNJ.info

[Guest]

Well said.

I think a person from every household in Cranbury should attend the township meeting on Monday night. This will affect ALL of us. It is not just the money (which is a huge issue), but it's our freedom to choose our way of life that is being taken from us little by little and step by step and most people don't even realize it until it's too late. This (COAH) is being shoved down our throats by legislators who are beholden to developers and special interest groups and we have to fight back strongly.

(and now for another tax - I recall seeing recently where the water companies are considering adding a water use tax.)

[Guest]

I think Mayor Stout is being low key in the COAH fight and dealing with it through political channels because his priority isn't Cranbury but his own political ambition. He wants to run for higher office as a member of the NJ Democratic party. So where he should have expressed open outrage at Democrats in State government who supported the A-500 bill, he couldn't because he can't afford to alienate his future patrons.

Which makes him just another corrupt NJ politician. Cranbury deserves better.

[fred thomsen]

Remember that guy in the movie Popeye. "10 cents breathing air tax, 5 cents asking questions tax"

It doesn't seem so funny anymore.

[Cranbury Conservative]

I totally agreed the first post from Ed, and it was well put. Hopefully everyone or at least many of us in town can get involved and continue what has become a fight for the town of Cranbury as well as a fight against the policies of the politicians who are in control of our State.

We are being attacked in Cranbury simply because we are hard working people who have tried to make better lives for ourselves and unfortunately the current regime in charge of this State is on its way to making New Jersey a welfare State through many ways which may or may not be apparent to us all.

We have the redistribution of wealth from all of the taxes we pay which are then distributed through all of the various entitlements which are then dolled out in an effort to pander to the voting base of the party currently in charge. We then we have affordable or as I like to call it un-affordable housing which will be one of the largest tax burdens ever seen not only New Jersey, but in all of the United States.

As was said in the earlier posts lets start by showing up Monday to hear what the TC has planned to help us in this fight for Cranbury as we know it. Then let’s work towards electing the right people at the various levels of local and state government regardless of party affiliation.

If we do not all get engaged and engaged now then its game over we loose.

[Guest]

[Ed K]

Whatever you think of any of the TC or your political party affiliation, we will still need all of us Cranburyians working together to fix COAH, we shouldn't have any of this infighting it's a waste of energy and momentum. Its hard enough to work with the politics in Trenton, forget about Cranbury political differences - I know every citizen wants to protect Cranbury (including every TC member.)

I respect Stout because he figured out how to get reelected 2ce, and got his projects approved in our system. He knows how to get things done, if you don't like what he's doing, then do something about it; don't just moan about it. I have talked to him about my disagreements, he is open to discussions.

It is my opinion that Cranbury may need his type of political connections in Trenton fixing COAH and representing Cranbury. I have to believe my mayor is doing this as a priority for our community and his own family. Time will tell.

But its not his seat that will be vacant in the next election, if you want to change things in Cranbury, don't just complain about it on the boards, change it. Run for office, or support someone that believes in your own POV that is running, and be vocal at TC meetings.

The #1 issue for Cranbury is fixing COAH, not the Library, not the ball field, not the upcoming elections, parking, or political partitionship. All is mood if the #1 issue is not fixed for Cranbury (COAH!!!!!!!!!! needs to be fixed) otherwise Cranbury becomes history.

[Guest]

The #1 issue for Cranbury is fixing COAH, not the Library, not the ball field, not the upcoming elections, parking, or political partitionship. All is moot if the #1 issue is not fixed for Cranbury (COAH!!!!!!!!!! needs to be fixed) otherwise Cranbury becomes history.

[Guest]

Exactly. The focus should be on COAH. Tell Stout and his TC majority that. They clearly don’t get it. They continue to distract us with pet projects that take time, focus and if successful much needed money away from the COAH defense. And where other townships and their mayors and councils have been very vocal on this issue, Stout is publically silent. Not only that, but he has gone to great lengths to silence and undermine independent efforts to citizens to speak out on it instead. And he refuses to allow anyone not a personal friend or politically beholden to him to join any committees or boards. He is a politically partisan control freak who is neutralizing our effort to fight this at the worst possible time because of his own ambitions.

We’re stuck with him for a while. But the solution can’t be to simply accept that and trust that he will do the right thing. We have already seen that he won’t. The first priority is we need to elect a new TC member this November who will oppose Stout and his politics and force the council to take on COAH. Then we need citizen groups to ignore Stout’s efforts to undermine them and take up the fight directly. Stout is too busy worried about being in the good graces of the State Democratic leaders responsible for this mess in the first place.

[Cranbury Conservative]

I hope to see everyone who is posting here Monday night at the TC meeting so we can all listend to the TC's plan going forward.

[Guest]

You ment "partisanship" right? I also agree with you, it should be about our Cranbury future, and what we citizens should be doing to protect the quality of life in NJ.

I work hard, travel for hours to work in NY just so my family can enjoy a better life here in Cranbury. I wish COAH would give me some of that tax money so I can live closer to my JOB. I would be happy with just my own tax dollars back, I'm not even asking for a handout... and other NJians tax dollars at all --- but if COAH wants to give me some of that tax money - I need it.

My family is crammed into our lil house, we need a new stove and fridge, and I have lots to fix around the house. The people living in the COAH homes are better off then I AM. They have a new home, new kitchen, new rooms, and they live closer to work then I do. Is this why I voted for Corzine to turn this state into a new socialist state, or worse?

I like our small town values, I like our schools, I like our neighbors, our church, our history. WHY IS NJ GOVERNEMENT FORCING SPRAWL ON US. Why is COAH and the Gov forcing towns like Cranbury to build. Who is running NJ GOVERNMENT? Is it the builders and developers now? Or are the NJ Democrats following Lenin's socialistic ideals and implementing it here in NJ? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenin

Good post ed - I'm angry and am going to the meeting monday to find out what I can do and what the TC is doing.