We Need More Chris Christie’s

April/15/2010 16:39PM
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A Republican who won the governor’s race in a Democratic seat, Chris Christie was criticized in the campaign for promising nothing. Nothing, but to fix the broken budget. Doesn’t everyone pledge that? Why should anyone listen to or vote for anyone running on that ticket? Look at California. A lame duck governor can’t even fix the budget. He’s a girly man when it comes to budget cutting. Look at Michigan where Granholm is just holding on until Obama gives her a big job, maybe Supreme Court Justice. Or,she may lose that to Napolitano, the governor who broke the Arizona budget.

It’s a tough cycle to fix a big budget. Proposals are made. Protests follow. The media attacks. The opposition comes on every proposal. The unions threaten to strike.The Democrats want tax increases for the rich.. No need to cut the budget. If it’s a school, sports will go away. If it’s a city, police and fire will go away. If it’s a state, parks, child services, education, and public safety will suffer.

Here’s how Christie is handling all this. First, New Jersey has a deficit of $11 billion on a state budget of $29.3 billion. I’ve been involved in some big budget cuts in my business career, but never a third of the total budget. Mr. Christie says, we will have a smaller government that lives within it’s means. Tough job, tough words.

The first to scream is the Education Association. They say the children will be hurt. Christie’s response, they aren’t worried about the kids, they are worried about their own pocketbooks. Don’t ever let them tell you the care about the kids.

Then it’s you favor the rich. He says, we have the worst unemployment in the region and the highest taxes in America. Get it, they go together.

Then, why not renew the millionaires tax. Response, the top 1% pay 40% and it applies to small businesses. I’m not going to put my foot on the neck of small business in NJ, when I want them to grow jobs.

Budget cuts are unfair. His response. One state retiree, age 49, paid $124,000 towards his retirement, pension, and health insurance. What will we pay him? $3.3 million in pension payments, and $500,000 in health benefits. A $3.8 million return on a $120,000 investment . Is that fair?

State budget cuts shift the pain to cities. Response. In 2009 the private sector lost 121,000 while the cities and school boards added 11,300 jobs. It’s their turn to suffer pain.

Finally, he says people can carp and complain all they want, the media can attack him, the unions can attack him, but the simple truth is he won’t sign a tax increase so the state has no choice. Quit talking and let’s start cutting.

Can we find a Chris Christie to run for president in 2012?

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