Four years ago, voters in New Jersey signaled a massive change in the nation's political mood when with Republican challenger Jack Ciattarelli nearly upset incumbent Gov. Phil Murphy (D) in this blue state. The message was clear: Republican policies are ascendant. Since then, federal Republicans have taken back both houses of Congress and the White House.

The off-year elections this fall in New Jersey and Virginia are once again poised to be national political bellwethers. In the case of New Jersey, the election offers voters a referendum on the blue state model of governance: high taxes, increasing energy costs and burdensome regulations.

Nowhere are the consequences of this model more evident than with small businesses. For years, Main Street entrepreneurs in the Garden State have been fighting uphill battles against some of the most hostile economic policies in America. The Tax Foundation ranks New Jersey as the second-worst state for doing business, behind only New York.

Consider taxes. New Jersey's top individual income tax rate, paid by many small "pass-through" businesses, is 10.75 percent, and its second-highest rate is 9 percent — among the most punishing in the nation. The state's corporate income tax rate is the

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