Corzine's budget is proving a hard sell

The Philadephia Inquirer reports:

Gov. Corzine's own Democrats want nothing to do with his budget.

The majority party's lawmakers don't like his cigarette tax, his hospital tax, his alcohol tax, his water tax, and especially not that sales-tax hike.

The way the freshman governor wants to spend the $30.9 billion in his budget isn't earning him any friends in Trenton, either.

The spending plan Corzine proposed last month is a blueprint for long-term fiscal changes that would pay down debt and contribute to the state's pension obligations. Lawmakers say those steps may be wise when the treasury is flush but are no salve for a financial crisis.

"I don't see any enthusiasm for this budget on either side of the aisle," said State Sen. Wayne Bryant (D., Camden), powerful chairman of the Budget and Appropriations Committee. Corzine should prepare to make some "serious adjustments" before the budget's approval in June, he said.

I guess some people want to raise the cost of medical care.