GOP NJ Lawmakers To Channel Budget Discontent

It also eliminates the property tax deduction for homeowners younger than 65 who make more than $150,000 annually, prompting Republican gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie to call the spending plan "an assault on the middle class."

Soon after the budget was introduced in March, Republicans began soliciting comments from residents fed up with years of Democratic rule. Of the 227 e-mail messages submitted to the Assembly GOP's Web site so far, about three dozen were picked to be read during its voting session.

One is from Agnes Falk, a 65-year-old retiree, who said she is being squeezed out of "my beloved New Jersey" by skyrocketing property taxes, car insurance and other expenses.

"We are leaving our friends and family," Falk said of a pending move to Delaware where she'll pay $1,400 in property taxes rather than the $10,000-plus she pays in New Jersey. A registered Republican who is active in Matawan municipal politics, Falk said she blames Democrats for making the state increasingly unaffordable.

Donna Cifuentes of Tabernacle also admonished Democrats for wasteful spending.

"The forever pensions and health care needs to stop," the registered Republican wrote. "You need to live like the people who elected you."