I don't even know where to begin.

Maybe by pointing out that the budget just passed in Trenton to run the state government is the largest ever at $37.4 billion. Maybe that should be written out. $37,400,000,000.00. I would take even one of those extra zeros added to my paycheck. The point is, all that money they have to play with comes from us. Whether our income taxes, corporate taxes, whatever, the government doesn't earn a thing. They just take. In return they are supposed to provide the basic necessities for us to exist and function as a society. Maintain the roads, enforce the laws, etcetera. One of the basics should be providing a functional system of water.

They say $37,400,000,000.00 is not enough. They now want to tax your tap water.

State Senator Bob Smith, a Democrat from Middlesex, says the infrastructure that delivers water to the state is crumbling and needs fixing. I do not doubt this. He says they need to tax your tap water to accomplish this. That's the part I doubt.

He also says this is not a tax. He says it is a "user fee." Under his proposal you will be taxed $0.10 for every 1,000 gallons of water you use. He claims this will add "only" $32 a year to the "average" home.

Let's get this straight. It IS a tax. A tax on a basic necessity of life. New Jersey already has a public utility franchise tax on water system operators of $0.01 per every 1,000 gallons they deliver to a customer. You can bet one way or another you're paying that whether directly or indirectly. That's been around since 1984 and it was supposed to "ensure clean drinking water in New Jersey." Now they are trying to hype this new tax proposal with scares of what happened in Flint, Michigan and how it could happen here in New Jersey if we don't do something. Why did the public utility franchise tax not ensure clean drinking water? Why do we now need to still worry about lead in our water supply?

Because they mismanage our money. Plain and simple. They take too much of our money and squander it. Because we are voting in the same incumbents without holding them accountable. Basically, because they can. And they can, because we let them.

Again, I'm not saying the threat of a decaying infrastructure isn't real. What I'm saying is they have a lump sum of $37,400,000,000.00 of our money from which to figure out how to properly budget and fix the problem and they are incapable of doing it. Tell you what. Instead of just raising more taxes, how about we start cutting. And I'm not talking just spending. I'm talking about incumbents. Cut them out of our lives and take back your state New Jersey. It's the only chance you have. If you let them get away with taxing our water, how long is it going to be before they inexplicably find a convoluted justification for taxing our air?

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