In short, the investments we need to create jobs and build a strong economy are being shortchanged as leaders from both parties continue to drink the tax-cut Kool-Aid. At the federal level, this folly can be masked for a while because Washington can run annual deficits. States can’t. Yet states are increasingly balancing their budgets by passing their bills to the next generation — none more so than New Jersey.

Governor Christie says he wants to lower taxes for low-income working families, but, unfortunately, his actions have spoken louder than his words.

While making sure hard-working New Jerseyans earn enough to support their families is a worthy goal on its own, it’s not just families with low-wage breadwinners who benefit from an adequate minimum wage. We all do.

Robust and equitable job growth in New Jersey requites a balanced approach by the state in its budgeting and economic development strategy. That approach must include revenues and shared sacrifice across the board. Simply put, there’s just no other way to climb out of this hole we find ourselves in.

Over the past two years, the state has approved more than $1.2 billion in tax subsidies for corporations and developers, all in the name of economic development. It’s a flawed strategy, however.

Fairness demands those with the greatest means — especially those with income of $1 million or more a year — should pay at least an equal share. That doesn’t happen now.

The governor’s vetoes represented unprecedented cutbacks in state services and will affect more than 1.5 million residents, mostly low-income working families with children.

A scorpion and a frog meet on the bank of a stream, and the scorpion asks the frog to carry him across on its back. The frog asks, “How do I know you won’t sting me?” The scorpion says, “Because if I do, I will die too.”

Cuts had to be made. The state saved $45 million by reducing the state Earned Income Tax Credit. That meant the poorest workers in the state got what amounted to a $300 reduction in their benefit for the year. That’s about one week’s wages for a single mother with two children working at minimum wage. See how that works?

On a per capita basis, New Jersey ranks seventh among states for income tax revenues, according to U.S. Census data. As a percentage of personal income, New Jersey ranks 19th among states.