Editors try to sell Christie tax cut

Governor Christie

 

Christie plays salesman

That headline on the front page of The Record today seems to be a couple of years overdue. Hasn't Governor Christie been trying to sell snake oil to middle-class taxpayers since he took office more than two years ago?

The editors seem intent on selling Christie's proposed 10 percent tax cut (over three years) and helping him shift attention away from rising property taxes and his broken campaign promise to lower them.

Columnist Charles Stile even has the nerve -- on Page 1 today -- to call the plan "populism."

Here's one definition of "populism" I found on the Internet:

"A political philosophy supporting the rights and power of the people in their struggle against the privileged elite."

That Stile is such a moron, and Editor Liz Houlton's news copy editors are no better, failing to catch that huge contradiction. 

Cut Stile

Christie has catered to the "privileged elite" -- many of whom support him -- since he took office, vetoing the millionaires' tax, refusing to raise the gasoline tax on their gas guzzlers, and on and on.

Christie's plan to cut income taxes will benefit the wealthy far more than the middle class, yielding only an $80 savings for someone earning $50,000 a year.

When is Editor Marty Gottlieb going to clean house and get rid all of the paper's tired columnists -- Stile, Mike Kelly, John Cichowski and Bill Ervolino  -- and their tired editors?

Senior road kill

Over at the lazy assignment desk run by Editor Deirdre Sykes, her flunkies have become experts at rewriting press releases, such as the report on senior drivers and traffic fatalities (A-4).

The report recommends more driver education to keep seniors safe, but incredulously, the story mentions only one program, in Midland Park.

Sykes leads her Local section today with another story about Charles J. Ann, the Fort Lee man from South Korea who is charged with killing his girlfriend on Monday, student Aena Hong, by knocking her down with his car and repeatedly running her over (L-1).

The allegation only adds to the negative image of Asian drivers.

Bus-ted

The main element on the front of Local is an Ash Wednesday story with a photo of an Episcopal  priest providing "ashes to go" to a commuter who is about to board a bus in Clifton, under a bright headline: 

"MASS TRANSIT"

Unfortunately, the headline only serves to remind readers of how little mass-transit coverage ever gets into the Woodland Park daily, including the Road Warrior column.

Wrong address

The only Hackensack news in Local is a crime story (L-3), but in Better Living, a new restaurant on Prospect Avenue is featured in a highly promotional Starters column that amounts to free advertising (F-1).

The writer, Joyce Venezia Suss, incorrectly says Marrone's 160 is at "160 Prospect St.," but the data box with the column has "160 Prospect Ave."

The pricey restaurant serves one heart-stopping dish: filet mignon topped with blue cheese. 

Suss doesn't say whether any of the meat or poultry served there is naturally raised, despite entree prices of $16.95 to $36.95.