(WEST ORANGE, OCTOBER 25) - Schundler for Governor Campaign Manager Bill Pascoe issued the following statement hours before the start of the fourth debate of the gubernatorial campaign:

“For three debates now, Jim McGreevey has refused to rule out tax increases. Instead, he offers a mealy-mouthed “commitment” to run a government that “lives within its means.” That rhetoric makes it sound as if he is on the side of New Jersey’s already overburdened taxpayers.

“But the fact of the matter is “living within your means” in McGreevey-Speak, doesn’t really mean that at all, as the following excerpt from a New York Times story of October 22, 1997 reveals:

“Defending his vote in the Legislature for Governor Florio's $2.8 billion tax increase, Mr. McGreevey compared Mr. Florio to Mrs. Whitman, and criticized her for borrowing money for the pension fund to cover her budget gaps.

"The difference is Governor Florio lived within his means," Mr. McGreevey said.

“A vote for Bret Schundler is a vote for lower taxes and a stronger economy, and a vote for Jim McGreevey is a vote for higher taxes that will weaken our economy. If we can’t trust him to “talk straight” with the voters of New Jersey, how can we trust him not to raise taxes and hurt our economy?”