Taxing us to death

Roberto at DynamoBuzz notes the acting Governor's run at property tax rebates, and follows up with another tax hike that hasn't hit my local paper yet:

the Bergen Record reports that Codey is looking to extend the 6% sales tax to goods and services that are currently tax free. Stuff like fees charged by professionals such as doctors, lawyers and accountants, health club memberships and haircuts are not taxable, at least not yet. NOTE TO CODEY: Don't pull a Florio and tax tiolet paper. It took the democrat party almost 10 years to recover from that one.

He also notes that Codey has placed a "ban" on out of state travel and "frozen" hiring. These supposed spending cuts will save peanuts, and only until the bureaucrats in Trenton find a way to circumvent them. Check out the state's vacancy announcement site, where as of this post there are 97 openings, 27 of them posted this week!
Among the critical needs are Social Workers, Housing Assistance Field Rep, Medical Records Administrators, Mental Health Program Coordinator, Laboratory Technicians, and a Real Estate Appraiser. Most interesting is the vacancy for the Amistad Commission Executive Director (Posting # STA-2004-012), which pays $80-95,000 (based on experience) for someone who

Provides leadership to the Amistad Commission, insuring that the provisions of the legislation establishing the Commission and plans developed by the Commission are successfully implemented. Develops proposals for approval by Commission; translate proposals into programs and activities. Plans and organizes all meetings of the Commission and its committees. Maintains official records and files. Hires and supervises Commission staff, both full and part-time, as well asconsultants. Serves as principal contact between the Commission and its constituencies.

As a position in and of itself, I can see the need for an executive director to keep a commission on track, but what really kills me is one of the job requirements:

Five (5) years of progressively responsible administrative and/or education job experience.

Since when is someone with five years experience worth that kind of cash? This is just one example showing New Jersey has a serious problem with prioritizing and controlling its spending. It is a drunken sailor on shore leave after six months at sea. The shore patrol needs to come along and put the sailor in the tank.