I see that the democrat Governor and democrat legislators have reached an agreement on how best to increase the amount of tax the state can squeeze out of New Jersey’s taxpayers. As such, in the end, it really didn’t matter much which democrats won the argument.

Throughout this mess, our Big Spending Governor has acted more like a union boss than the State’s CEO, and the legislators, who wallow in the Political Swamp, seemed most concerned about figuring out ways to impose new taxes under the voters’ Radar.

The state, which became a national joke as a result of Governor McGreevey’s antics, is faring no better now, and there is absolutely no reason to think things will improve going forward, unless we do something to fix things.

Here’s my suggestion for fixing the disgusting black hole that is New Jersey politics. It’s simple.

Step 1. On Election Day, be sure you know who the incumbent candidate is. The political party doesn’t matter. Just make sure you know who currently holds the office.

Step 2. Vote for the other candidate.

I know you’re thinking, ”Yo, Jimbo. There’s no guarantee that we’ll wind up with better people.” To which I respond, ”Yo, can it get any worse?”

It doesn’t get much closer than it did this morning.

I was out doing the regular morning “walk”. I stopped at the intersection of two streets that are relatively busy at that time in the morning, intending to cross. When the light turned green, I began to cross the street (in the crosswalk), when I noticed a car in the cross street entering the intersection in the opposite direction, intending to make a left turn. That happens often, and the driver is supposed to stop in the intersection to permit pedestrians to cross.

Problem today was that an SUV not only didn’t stop in the intersection, but accelerated through the turn. By the time I realized that the driver of the SUV had no intention of stopping, I was directly in front of the SUV, which by this time was four feet away and still accelerating.

Reflexes that I did not realize I still had, caused me to do a big leap forward, resulting in the SUV missing me by inches. Indeed, had the leap not caused me to bend forward, I suspect I would have been clipped by the driver’s side rearview mirror as the car passed me without ever slowing down, never mind braking. That’s how close it was.

I looked over my right shoulder in time to share an expletive with the woman driving the SUV, who, while still driving forward, looked back at me with a shocked expression on her face. She never stopped.

I am certain that the woman never saw me until she saw me leap out the way, and had I not seen the SUV, I would be road pizza right about now.

The episode added a bit more “cardio” to the walk, for damned sure.