On Monday, NTU Foundation released a line-by-line study of what Newark Mayor Cory Booker and former Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan would support if elected as Senator of New Jersey. We found that, of the policies we were able to quantify and score, Mayor Booker would increase spending by $33 billion and former Mayor Lonegan would decrease the federal budget by $68 billion. However, that's not the whole story. Both candidates had large holes in their agendas by either offering proposals that were too vague to be matched with current legislation or CBO cost estimates or they failed to even address an issue category (both said nothing regarding changing veterans programs).
What you should take away from this study: While it appears that Booker would grow the federal government and Lonegan would shrink it, both needed to offer taxpayers more information and details on exactly what they would do. This is something that plagues many campaigns and races, be it Senate races in 2010 or the 2012 GOP primaries. Both candidates touted themselves as the best choice for New Jersey and for improving the lives of Americans but neither laid out how they would accomplish such goals.
What you should espeically pay attention to: The largest proposal of each candidate. Booker would seek to pass comprehensive immigration reform legislation that has already worked its way through the Senate. The bill would increase spending by $20.2 billion each year and, similar to previously introduced measures, would increase border security spending and remake the immigration process. Lonegan has pledged to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which NTUF found would result in a $63.9 billion spending decrease each year.
Check out the breakdown of each policy categories below and the infographics of both Booker and Lonegan.
Break Down of Proposed Spending by the Two New Jersey Senatorial Frontrunners (in millions of dollars and annualized) | ||||
Proposal Category | ||||
$3,190 | Economy, Transportation, and Infrastructure | ($4,300) | ||
$9,180 | Education, Science, and Research | Unknown | ||
$8 | Energy, Agriculture, and the Environment | Unknown | ||
$267 | Government Reform | Unknown | ||
Unknown | Health Care | ($63,900) | ||
$20,388 | Homeland Security and Law Enforcement | Unknown | ||
Unknown | National Defense and International Relations | Unknown | ||
Unknown | Veterans | Unknown | ||
Unknown | Miscellaneous | Unknown | ||
$33,033 | Total | ($68,200) | ||
| Source: NTUF BillTally System | ||||