Governor Christie ventured deep into George Norcross country to speak about the tough realities of this year’s budgetary woes. It was another sign of raw political courage by the former prosecutor as he seeks to slay the treasure-hogging dragon of Trenton.

His appearance in Camden County, home of New Jersey’s most corrupt tax-levying political dictatorships (both county-wide and in many municipalities) and the site of our state’s own third world theme park known as Camden, probably caused many of the vile serpents of political corruption in the Norcross machine to run and hide under the nearest rock.

It was against the backdrop of this rampant fiscal debauchery and pay-to-play landscape that Governor Christie soberly announced that “seventy billion dollars worth of wealth has left New Jersey in the last four years,” thanks to the ridiculously high tax rates (income, property and sales) foisted upon the state by years of liberal utopian budgeting.

He also pointed out the sad reality that in the political Olympic sport of taxing the snot out of citizens, New Jersey is currently the national champion when taking all areas of taxation into consideration. Thank you Mr. Corzine.

Speaking of the Wizard of Wall Street, Governor Christie also brought up the fact that Mr. Corzine continues to, as Save Jersey Blogger Matt Rooney puts it “seriously wound the Garden State from beyond the political grave” in his last minute deal to ban Governor Christie from firing a single public employee until January 2011.

As Christie stated, “My lawyers have now told me that I am bound by that deal. If I could stop it, I would, except the previous governor tied my hands. I cannot lay off one state worker, I cannot furlough a state worker until January of 2011. That was a great election-year deal he made for us. It is an exquisite pair of handcuffs he put on his successor, but I guess he didn’t think he was going to have a successor.”

It is just this kind of frank talk and political courage that will keep Christie in the public’s good graces even as he makes many very tough and unpopular spending cuts. It is also precisely the contrast of this responsible adult leadership soaked in common sense with the childish schoolyard stunts like Mr. Corzine’s parting gifts that is finally waking the sleeping giant of the New Jersey electorate to look “queasily upon what they have done” all these years, as the Bard might say.

It’s bad folks. Just how bad has been nefariously hidden from the light of day by the magic and dark arts of Corzine and his fellow Wall Street wizards. The state has been robbing the pension plans of teachers and public workers, as well as the unemployment insurance trust fund for years to balance budgets, while subsidizing inept money losing industries like public transportation for years just to stay in the good graces of the unions.

On top of that, the serious financial burdens levied by our government have created such a hostile business environment that New Jersey is “disproportionately affected” by the economic malaise permeating the nation under Obama-Biden’s socialist dirge.

Political leaders from both parties have too long ignored the financial woes in our state, choosing to punt the problems down the line to some future generation to deal with. Thankfully, Governor Christie tells us that the day to deal with it is today.
While serpents and scoundrels from Trenton call Christie’s attempts to seriously deal with the problems “immoral” New Jersey residents seem to understand that tough choices need to be made to stave off financial armageddon. Christie believes the people are ready to hear the truth.

As Governor Christie closed his remarks in enemy territory, he in essence closed with the classic “if I die, I die” approach to governing. A politician dedicated to solving problems and not preserving his own personal career and gravy train. In New Jersey. In Camden County. It was a sighting akin to the Loch Ness Monster or Big Foot.

It’s a wondrous thing to hear a politician say these things. In a political age where the president and his pals in congress see poll after poll, town hall meeting after town hall meeting, and election after election repudiating their vast socialist agenda as not a rebuke of their schemes, but rather a sign of our inability to understand what’s good for us, it is refreshing to see a politician not only listen, but give the American people the respect they are due.

This article originally appeared on my Examiner.com page. You can view it on that site, by clicking here.

New Jersey Transit is currently dealing with a number of major financial problems.  They just had about thirty million dollars cut from their state subsidy by Gov. Chris “Awesome Like A Rock Star” Christie, and there’s talk of more cuts in next year’s budget.

(Personally I hope Christie gets them started on the road to privatization sooner rather than later, but that’s just me)

And what exactly is going on, according to this press release, on March 20 at 2 PM in the NJ Transit Concourse of New York City Pennsylvania Station?

Big party!  Big celebration!  It’s the one year anniversary of the launch of the only express train from New York City to Atlantic City, ACES.  From the release:

The celebration will feature music, giveaways and a cake from Charm City Cakes (featured company of the Food Network’s ACE of Cakes) as a way to say thank you to ACES’ riders.

Now I’m pretty sure this had to be planned well in advance - if you’ve ever watched Ace of Cakes, you know they’re usually very busy and spend a great deal of time on multiple projects with ridiculous amounts of planning.  I’m personally a fan of theirs, having been won over by last season’s finale involving the 100th Episode cake they did for ABC’s hit series, “Lost”.  Their cakes are masterpieces of design and delicacy, and I’ve got to say, I’m fairly certain they don’t usually include a price tag.  In fact, I’d be hard-pressed to find an episode where they mention prices.  Any casual viewer of the show can tell, though, it’s got to be a dang high price tag with the sorts of things they’re willing to do.  These are pieces of art, art that is obviously too rich for most people.

My question is, then: who paid for this?  Who thought that doing something like this would be a good idea in a recession and when the threat of service cuts and fare increases is looming closer every day?  Only NJ Transit could have such hubris as to assume the taxpayer would eat the cost of this.

Granted, the ACES train is not strictly funded by NJ Transit - the funding comes from three major casinos in Atlantic City and NJ Transit, along with the use of Amtrak’s reservation system (NJ Transit does not have a reservation system, nor did they think it prudent to build one for such cases - probably the only good idea they’ve had in the past several years).  The fact is, though, people will look at this and say, NJ Transit is using our money for THIS?  Throwing a party, buying showpiece cakes?  Really?

I don’t want there to be any misunderstanding here - my rage isn’t towards Charm City Cakes at all, I don’t begrudge them making money off of what they do.  They’re very good at it and deserve the ability to charge whatever they want for the beautiful work they do.  I know I certainly couldn’t ever do what they do, and I happily and strongly encourage the free market to continue providing them with the ability to make as much money as they can doing the wonderful things they do week in and week out.

I’m exceedingly upset with the appearance of hubris or the lack of foresight on the part of NJ Transit in allowing this to continue with the controversy over fares and a tendency to spend without limits that has characterized the organization for years and has placed them squarely in the situation they are in right now.

Hope it tastes good, guys.

In all seriousness, if this guy can deliver on what he’s saying in this speech, he should be our candidate in 2012.  He won’t need more than 2 years to do what needs to be done in NJ; most of his changes will happen in this year and next.

But holy cow, this is the kind of executive we need in the White House:

http://njn.net/television/webcast/ontherecord.html

[If someone with the ability to embed videos can do that, I'd appreciate it.]

I am so proud to be a New Jerseyan right now.  I never thought I would write those words… ever.

-TS

The New Ledger sat down with Governor Rick Perry a few weeks ago, and in the course of talking about Perry’s success (and his working principles of governing) came this exchange:

TNL: …do you think Republicans will win if they embrace that sort of approach in other states with all their challenges? And what does that look like?

Perry: Well, look at a state like Virginia, where Bob [McDonnell] just won by doing something very similar. He said we’re going to stop spending irresponsibly, we’re going to cut taxes, we’re going to encourage and enable those who risk their capital — job creators — and having what I would describe as a progressive energy policy, where he’s going to drill offshore in a way that’s environmentally sensitive and happens to be supported by his two Democratic senators.

That’s all pretty simple. These are not complex things — they’re challenging, but they’re straightforward. It’s not about understanding what you need to do as much as it is about having the courage to do it.

You look at a state like California. There are going to be some really tough decisions that have to be made to save that state. If Jerry Brown gets up and says “I’ve figured out a way to make this less painful,” well, here, smoke this — because at the end of the day, it’s going to be painful. Because that’s a state that has for too long made the easy decisions instead of the hard decisions.

If you are a state that has just said yes all the time to everything, there is a comeuppance, a day of reckoning for you. It’s right now.

It’s ‘right now’ in New Jersey, too.

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Moe was ahead of the curve and discussed New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s budget speech to the state legislature here.  But all who have not yet seen the entire speech should run - not walk - to see it in its entirety.

Video can be found here.  Text will be posted after the jump.

It is difficult to describe the extent to which New Jersey is a Democratic machine state.  This was a speech delivered to a hostile Democratic-controlled legislature smarting from Christie’s decisive victory in November.  Yet the new governor minced no words, and offered no quarter.  He went directly at the Democrats and their entrenched and entitled interests that have for years used state coffers as their own personal slush fund, nearly bankrupting New Jersey in the process.  And he challenged them to join him in changing the way Trenton does business, or be exposed to the harsh light of the truth.

This speech should be required viewing for every Republican seeking office in 2010, both candidates for governorships and legislative seats at the federal and state level alike.  The actions Governor Christie describes taking to balance the state budget are conservative leadership on display - the kind of leadership the Republican Party, and the nation at large, has been searching for in vain since November of 2008.  There will be much more to hear from Governor Christie in the weeks and months ahead, and not just on the budget.  With this speech, he has thrust himself onto the national scene in a way that even his upset victory could not.  Republicans have a new rising star in the Governor of New Jersey.

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I grew up in New Jersey, and I can assure you this: all over the state, suddenly-embattled Democratic legislators and apparatchiks are now routinely referring to Gov. Christie as “that fat [insert expletive here]” - with a wide range of choices for the expletive. Why?

Because that fat [insert expletive here] just told the unions that elections have consequences, and he’s one of them.

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Yes we can or yes we will? It is about time Obama stepped out of the hypothetical and into reality. After all, he was elected because he promised a fundamental change in Washington. It is little wonder then that after an underwhelming first year in office, conservatives and liberals alike are wondering when he will finally take ownership of this presidency. If recent news is any indication, Obama may be forced to do so soon, if for no other reason than blaming Bush, rather than coming up with working policies, is falling flat.

The Bush attacks are coming from all over:

• A campaign advertisement for Jon Corzine closed with “Chris Christie: Bush’s friend. Bush’s policies. Bad for New Jersey.
• A radio ad from Creigh Deeds in the Virginia gubernatorial race featured dialogue like, “George Bush – what a disaster for our economy,” “What I can’t figure out is why this Bob McDonnell wants to do it just like Bush” and “Creigh Deeds: a little more Mark Warner and a LOT less George Bush”
• Or the Massachusetts Democratic Party which ran a mailer for the Coakley campaign that said , “What can Brown do to you? He can reward corporations that ship your job overseas just like George W. Bush.”

So what do all of these have in common (beyond a backhanded shout-out to George Bush)? They all lost; with two of the races representing upsets in key Democratic states.

But not all liberal pundits have learned from the mistakes. In his recent article “Democrats Need to Learn the Blame Game” James Carville argues that,

“Democrats would not be playing the blame game with one another for the loss for the healthcare debacle if they had only pointed fingers at those (or in this case, the one) who put Americans (and most of the world) in the predicament we’re in: George W. Bush.”

If this is the best strategy Democrats can come up with to try and regain the momentum they have lost over the past year, consider me ecstatic. After all, as Steve Hidebrand, a top aide on Obama’s presidential campaign told Politico,

“Voters are pretty tired of the blame game. . . What a stupid strategy that was.”

But more importantly, it sends a signal that the Democrats are out of ideas. The public, fearful of a the words “trillion” and “debt” being used so often in the same sentence had long abandoned many of the Democrat’s plans. The stimulus was a waste. The bailouts were a bust. The only arrow left in the Democrat’s quiver was supposed to be the one that would win the war – health care. But with Scott Brown’s upset bid signaling that the public didn’t want the Democratic health care plan, the party has been left searching for answers. Thus far the only thing they have been able to come up with is a freeze on discretionary spending that Obama previously called “a hatchet” when we really need, and “a scalpel.”

With their fragile house of cards, constructed in back room deals and glued together with the mortar of Barack Obama’s personality, now in ruins, Democrats are resurrecting their favorite villain…George Bush. But going negative won’t work. Not for the party whose slogan in 2006 was “A New Direction for America.” And it especially won’t work with the young adults who carried him into office.

Young adults engaged in campaigns and showed up at the polls in record numbers based on the promise of “change.” They wanted change from the passing the buck blame game that had become politics as usual in Washington. A grassroots campaign which mobilized and organized enormous numbers of young adults convinced people that Barack Obama was that change. As Patrick Ruffini explained on the NextRight ,

[W]hat happens when the campaign goes away? What happens when the enthusiasm inevitably ebbs and the hard work of governing begins? The immediate benefits of a bottom-up strategy become less clear. You revert to traditional instincts, where powerful obstacles stand in the way of getting things done — even amongst your base, and the wielding of massive political machinery cannot be left to amateurs.

More than simply reverting to top-down governing, it appears that the Democratic leadership has relapsed ever further – to playing the blame game.

As 2008 made clear, we are tired of leaders passing the buck, we want results. It is time for the President to take ownership of the mistakes he has made on the economy, on health care, and on the stimulus. Young adults are smarter than to have their attention diverted from the recent causes of our lack of progress. It’s time to put the Bush-blaming to bed. But do Democrats have any ideas left to take its place?

- Brandon Greife, Political Director