In the shadow of crumbling highways and under the weight of soaring rents, Rep. Josh Gottheimer is dangling the mirage of a 15% property tax cut before New Jersey’s weary taxpayers in the hope that his “Soprano State” version of trickle-down economics.
But this is no lifeline—it is a ledger of lies, a fiscal sleight of hand ripped from the playbook of his frequent ally, Republican President Donald Trump.
Gottheimer, often hailed as Trump’s “favorite Democrat in Congress” for his willingness to court MAGA favor, now peddles a fantasy economic plan of trickle-down austerity with a “Soprano State” twist on it.
“My question isn’t whether taxes will fall, but which schools will close, which firefighters will be laid off, and which communities will wither to fund his hollow pledge,” said Lisa McCormick, the anti-establishment progressive shook up the Democratic 2018 US Senate primary.
“Josh Gottheimer must name which one of every six dollars spent on our children’s classrooms, our towns’ safety, and our counties’ roads he plans to vanish,” McCormick demanded. “This isn’t reform—it’s arson. And New Jersey cannot afford to burn.”
Acknowledging that New Jersey has the highest property taxes in the nation, McCormick insisted the math is merciless.
More than $34.5 billion was raised from New Jersey property owners last year to support local school districts plus municipal and county governments, according to data posted by the Department of Community Affairs.
“Property taxes fund nearly half of local government and school budgets,” said McCormick. “A 15% cut would gut over $5 billion annually from services that bind the fabric of communities. If he is planning to replace the regressive property tax with a broad-based alternative, like an income tax, he should say so. If he is plotting to upend the ridiculous ‘home rule’ system behind New Jersey’s municipal madness, then Gottheimer ought to have the courage to tell us his plan.”
“Before promising to force down ballot elected officials into making teacher, police and firefighter layoffs, Gottheimer—a career politician who’s never managed so much as a lemonade stand—must offer a clear and complete blueprint for his demolition project,” said McCormick. “Gottheimer echoes the empty populism of his GOP idols, promising painless salvation while whispering to donors that ‘efficiencies’ will magically spare the vulnerable.”
“But in a state where the average property tax bill rose last year to a record-high $10,095,—the highest in the nation—there are few ‘efficiencies’ left to mine, only flesh and bone,” said McCormick. “For all I know, Gottheimer is scheming to give his donors a fake badge and let them take a chainsaw to New Jersey’s local governments, the way his pal Trump sold the federal government and its troves of personal data to Elon Musk.”
“Contrast this recklessness with the steady hands of Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop and Newark Mayor Ras Baraka,” said McCormick. “Fulop, who transformed a post-industrial city into a beacon of inclusive growth, and Baraka, who turned Newark’s fiscal crisis into a renaissance of affordable housing and community policing, have navigated the gritty reality of governance.”
McCormick noted that the state’s political machine, allergic to accountability, rallies behind Gottheimer and his ilk. Self-described Blue Dog Democrat Mikie Sherrill and George Norcross minion Steve Sweeney, favorites of lobbyists and corporate PACs, cling to a playbook written for donors, not struggling workers.
“Their platforms, polished by consultants, blur the line between Democrat and Republican—a fact underscored by their silence as New Jersey’s teachers reel from betrayal,” said McCormick, citing recent reports reveal that NJEA President Sean Spiller diverted $35 million in union dues to fuel his vanity gubernatorial bid, siphoning funds meant for classroom supplies and pension protections into a quixotic campaign.
Teachers, already stretched by inflation and underfunded schools, now battle their own leadership but even contenders who are competing with Spiller have declined to talk about the elephant in the room, which is corruption,” said McCormick. “They do not want to raise an issue over the source of another candidate’s money because that can so easily be used as a weapon against them.”
“Faux progressives like Josh Gottheimer, Mikie Sherill, and Steve Sweeney cannot hold a candle to Steven Fulop and Newark Mayor Ras Baraka,” said McCormick. “They’ve balanced budgets without breaking promises, raised wages without raiding services, and—critically—never groveled for Trump’s approval. Their visions are rooted in substance, not soundbites.”
“Gottheimer’s tax gambit is more than a lie—it is a distraction,” said McCormick. “A diversion from his record of cozying up to corporate interests while voting to shield private equity tycoons from paying their fair share. A smokescreen to obscure the truth that New Jersey’s crisis stems not from high taxes, but from a rigged system that lets billionaires offshore wealth while working families drown.”
The choice is stark: Succumb to the illusion of painless cuts, or demand leaders who confront hard truths with courage, not cowardice.
McCormick amplifies the rage of those forgotten by power brokers and argues that Fulop and Baraka offer roads and rails, instead of magic beans.
New Jersey deserves more than a salesman in a suit. It deserves stewards who know that governance is not a tweet, a slogan, or a backroom deal—but the sacred duty to protect the many from the greed of the few.
Gottheimer’s 15% fantasy is a pile of debt that future generations will pay in shuttered libraries, crumbling bridges, and broken dreams. The time for illusions is over.