New Jersey Gov. Christie yesterday presented a budget that cuts state spending by 5 percent. New Jersey Democratic legislators, the New York Times says, “were quick to characterize Mr. Christie’s proposal as falling disproportionately on the backs of the middle class, the poor, the elderly, schoolchildren, college students and inner-city residents, while leaving largely unscathed the wealthy and most businesses.” Gosh, did the Democrats leave any interest group out? Did they fail to demonize anyone that it should have? more

That’s the conclusion of The Tax Foundation, a “non-partisan” lobby group founded in 1937 that is pushing for — guess what? —sound tax policy. (Good luck with that!) The Tax Foundation also found that over 50 million nonpayers included families making over $50,000. Essentially, the gub’ment (say with best Michigan Militia accent) uses the tax code to “funnel money” to groups of people they want to reward, the Foundation concludes. more

If you are in Congress and a Democrat, it sure is fun affecting populist Demagoguery to beat up on those money grubbing Wall Street and the “shadow” banking system. But check out the gub’ment’s (pronounce with a Michigan Militia accent, please) own role in the home mortgage market. more

Amazing. About 60 percent of taxpayers surveyed expect to get a refund on their 2009 taxes. So, quite literally: most people are clients of the state, that is, they receive handouts from the government. The non-partisan Tax Foundation has been railing about this problem for some time. As Natasha Altamirano writes on the Tax Foundation’s blog, fiscally troubled states and the federal government’s “tax systems are heavily reliant on high-income earners, out-of-control spending, promises that can’t be met and millions off the tax rolls.” more

The Wall Street Journal reports today that in 2009 the number of unionized workers who labor for the gub’ment (say in your best Michigan Militia accent) exceeded union members in the private sector. (The numbers come from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The opinion piece makes the point that private sector employees—even union members—are subject to the “vagaries of the marketplace and economic growth.” And private union employment took a hit last year, losing 10.1 percent of private union jobs. more

I have never understood the concept of the fiscal multiplier effect, wherein the government takes money out of the private economy and then disperses to fund, say, fixing roads and other infrastructure projects. Advocates say that is “creates jobs.” How can that be? Really, it’s a zero sum game — just confiscating money by the government to fund pet projects that could be spent or invested by private people, probably in a more efficient manner. As George Will said in a column last week: more

Yeah, we now, if it weren’t for the pork-laden $787 billion stimulus package, why, we would be in a depression. We can argue over the “fiscal (er, federal pork) multiplier effect” on the economy until we are blue in the face. (I still don’t get how confiscating money from the private sector and redistributing it to the public sector creates real, sustainable net economic growth and jobs.) Quite simply, I agree with a comment in today’s Investor Business Daily: Obama will call for a three-year freeze on non-military spending, currently $447 billion, but the paper says, “A limited spending freeze may have scant impact, but the politics are sound, experts say.” more

Today’s New York Times reports that SIFMA, the lobby group for the big broker/dealers, has hired a “top Supreme Court litigator” to fight Obama’s proposed tax on banks. The theory is a bank tax unfairly and punitively singles out big banks and, therefore, may be unconstitutional. more

Real estate funds and REITs have come roaring back since December lows. Even commercial real estate REITs have been soaring since December. Residential REITs (apartments and manufactured homes) have been on a tear this year. But, one wonders, how healthy is the residential real estate market really? There is some evidence to suggest that the residential housing debacle ain’t over. more

Talk about optimism. Consensus analysts’ earnings estimates for S&P 500 companies for 2010 are now at $77.61 per share—that’s a 30.5 percent jump over 2009 estimated earnings, ThomsonReuters said today in its weekly “This Week in Earnings” report. more