The following post originally appeared on my Examiner.com page. You can access the original posting by clicking here.
Shakespeare once posed the question “to be or not to be” in his famous tragedy Hamlet. In today’s political culture New Jersey residents are treated to the contrasting economic policies of “to spend or not to spend.”
Locally in our state capitol of Trenton, we have our new governor boldly proclaiming:
“Today, we are fulfilling the promise of a smaller government that lives within its means. Today, we begin doing what we promised we would do. The defenders of the status quo have already begun to yell and scream. They will try to demonize me. They will seek to divide us rather than unite us. But even they know in their hearts, if not yet in their minds – it is time for a change. “
Nationally in Washington we have Vice President Biden, when he isn’t busy mumbling “God rest her soul” about an Irish leader’s mom who is still alive in a moment eerily similar to his 2008 campaign appearance calling upon a man in a wheelchair to “Stand up!” repeatedly, telling us we need to spend more to get out of debt and that higher taxes are patriotic.
While Governor Christie cuts over $10 billion dollars from the state budget in Trenton in hopes of bringing back fiscal solvency to our bankrupt state government, President Obama is attempting to “fundamentally transform” America by outspending all previous forty-three presidents in his first year alone.
Governor Christie promises that “today, we stop sweeping problems under the rug. We will not hide our problems until another day. And we are certainly not increasing the tax burden we place upon our people,” as he brings common sense back into the tabulation of the state budget. By contrast, President Obama’s folks intentionally structure their radical socialist government ursurpation of the healthcare industry so that we begin paying extra taxes this year (2010) to fund the project that won’t begin running until 2014 just so that it can look like it is fiscally stable on paper (by comparing 10 years of taxing and paying for it with in actuality only 6 years of paying out and even then it barely breaks even.)
By the time the American people realize that they have been bamboozled, Obama will be long gone, no doubt canoodling with Anita Dunn and Bill Ayers in the world of academia while they admire the glorious revolution of genocidal madman/human rights violator and harbinger of Communism, Chairman Mao.
Obama and his allies in congress plot to use taxpayer money to fund abortion because as unnamed democratic operatives have reportedly told Representative Bart Stupak, “If you pass the Stupak amendment, more children will be born, and therefore it will cost us millions more.” As Stupak laments, “Money is their hang-up. Is this how we now value life in America? If money is the issue — come on, we can find room in the budget. This is life we’re talking about.”
In New Jersey, however, Governor Christie has cut all $7.6 million dollars dedicated from the state to Planned Parenthood. All of it. In New Jersey, the state with the second highest teenage abortion rate in the country.
Since taking office in January, Governor Christie has already saved the state $13 billion in spending, which amounts to $9 million dollars per hour since taking office. By contrast, President Obama’s budget deficit has reached record heights, and this is before factoring in the ridiculous amounts of money that will be necessary to keep the Obamacare behemoth financially solvent.
Governor Christie has proposed not only line by line spending cuts, but a spending cut in every department of the state. Meanwhile, President Obama has increased spending across the board–except in defense spending, which he decreased–we don’t want the peaceful and misunderstood Jihadists or the president’s new best friends in Iran, Venezuela or Cuba to get offended by our arsenal.
New Jersey’s budget is being negatively impacted by the Obama stimulus money. The money which was supposed to be spend little by little over a period of years was spent in one lump sum by the Wizard of Wall Street Jon Corzine and then added as an additional expense in this fiscal year without any idea of how to fund it.
In other words, the stimulus worked just as Governor Palin and Governor Perry warned us that it would. It created new “jobs” or “programs” that the state then had to pick up the tab on the following year. Obama’s stimulus is having the same effect across the country where states are begging for more table scraps from our glorious leader as they face even worse budget deficits thanks to Obama’s goodies.
By contrast, Governor Christie is putting into place strict guidelines that will help force local municipalities and school districts to tighten their own financial belts as well or risk losing all state support. In so doing, Christie is ensuring that his frugality at the state level is not merely passed on to the taxpayer by drunker sailor themed spending binges by local government. This was the reason that Christie Whitman’s economic policies did nothing to help New Jersey’s taxpayers and actually made the situation we are currently in much worse.
In his budget address, Governor Christie cited the example made by Massachusetts when it faced a similar budget crisis. By placing a mandatory cap on the growth of government the state was able to go from 3rd place to 33rd place in terms of its property tax burden.
Christie builds a model for success, by making bold moves supported by the will of the people designed to bring about common sense. His approach to governing thus far is one of a tough, no-nonsense reformer.
Should we expect anything less from the man who was a successful prosecutor who took down corruption throughout the state and in both parties prior to his election?
On the other hand, “change” agent President Obama looks not to other successful models of economic growth or healthcare reform, but to failed dictatorships and the failed ideology of Marxism to find inspiration. Although even Communist China is becoming more free market oriented in order to grow its economy, President Obama still enamored with Marx’s idea of utopia, seems hellbent on abandoning capitalism completely. His healthcare plan is but a “first step” to “fundamentally change” the system from market-based to government-based. (A goal admitted by Rep. Rob Andrews as reported in a previous column.) Socialism has failed everywhere it has been tried, and yet the greatest, most prosperous nation in the history of the world is abandoning its union with free market capitalism in pursuit of the harlot of socialism.
Should we expect anything less from a man who was raised by communist wolves at every turn of his life?
The people of New Jersey have front row seats to the epic battle of dueling ideologies in the era of hope and change. Perhaps little New Jersey, who played such an important role in America’s first struggle for freedom, will once again lead the way for America.
PG DeFreese
Moe Lane
Caleb Howe
Dan Spencer
James Richardson
