The rules of the game have changed in Trenton.
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie wasted no time yesterday in vetoing two tax increases passed by the Democratic legislature. Christie signed his disapproval of the measures reinstating an expired surcharge on “millionaires” almost before the ink was even dry on their pages.
State Senate President Steve Sweeney, who is also a private sector union boss, let his thuggish ways show just a bit after Christie rejected the bills. Sweeney taunted the governor from the back of the room. “We’ll be back, Governor.”
Christie dismissed him, “Okay. We’ll see,” he said.
Read the rest.
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Gov Christie, New Jersy, calls S-L columnist thin-skinned for inquiring about his ‘confrontational tone’ |
In the four months since Chris Christie was sworn in as the 55th Governor of the state of New Jersey, he’s earned himself a few nicknames and prayers for his death. “Governor Krispy Kreme” or Governor Bully by his Leftist detractors on most NJ websites where they congregate. A liberal Newark Star-Ledger columnist prefers the double-entendre of Governor Wrecking Ball. Admirers, including George Will, have appropriated the name of a local minor league team for the Governor – the Trenton Thunder.
Me? Geek that I am, I call him Governor Kratos.
Anybody who plays video games knows the thoroughly fearless mortal protagonist of the God of War series of games on the PlayStation. Kill Ares, the god of War? Sure. Kill Zeus? Okay. Kill all the gods and the Titans? [Ed. Note: that's Kratos fighting Kronos - father or Zeus] Why not?
Anyone who decides, as Christie clearly has, to take on what one of the most powerful and corrupt political machines in the country without so much as a moment of hesitation, is surely as brave as a mortal deciding to go kill a god or face a 100 foot Titan without flinching.
No, he is not available for national office: NJ is currently using him. Go get your own.
More of this, please:
NJEA President Barbara Keshishian visited his office this week to apologize for a recent email sent to thousands of teachers by a union official that included a mock prayer for the governor’s death. According to [NJ Governor Chris] Christie, the conversation went something like this: He accepted her apology immediately but asked if the email sender would be fired for “doing something that monumentally stupid.” When the union chief questioned why the man should be fired, Mr. Christie promptly ended the meeting.
That’s from the WSJ’s interview with Christie, which will be refreshing reading for conservatives who may be just a little tired of situations where political rhetoric exceeds actions. In this particular case, the issue of the apology is just a vehicle for the real message: to wit, the Governor of NJ is not afraid of the teachers’ unions, so if the latter wants to win their current dispute with the former they’re going to have to fight for once. Given that support for freezing teacher pay in NJ is two-to-one in Christie’s favor, the governor is in good shape here.
Gov. Chris Christie is taking $65 million, the entire allocation, from the state’s global warming fund, and $5.9 million, from the toxic waste site cleanup program, to help close the over $10 billion deficit in his $29.3 billion 2010-11 state budget, the state environmental protection commissioner said Monday.
In discussing the Department of Environmental Protection’s proposed $380.6 million budget before the Assembly Budget Committee in Trenton, Commissioner Bob Martin said he hopes the loss of the $65 million, funding for the state’s role in a regional effort to combat global warming, will only be for one year. He told the committee that DEP staff will continue to attempt to work against global warming and so-called greenhouses gasses despite the lack of money.
Martin said while he does not anticipate that DEP employees will be among the 1,300 state workers Christie plans to layoff in January, the commissioner does intend to move to save $1.4 million at that time by reducing the workweek of employees, at least those in management, the state parks, and Highlands Permitting from 40 hours to 35 hours.
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.
To summarize: Christie is executive-ordering out 2.2 billion from the existing NJ budget to make up for the shortfalls from the previous administration (while noting that the days of optimistic estimated revenue projections from the state government were over); the centerpiece to this is a reduction of school aid by half a billion, tied to existing surpluses in districts – essentially, a spend-what-you-have program. This – coupled with a subsidy cut to NJ Transit, with an explicit instruction to the entity that it’s going to have to revisit its union contracts – is of course infuriating the union wing of the NJ Democratic party, particularly since Christie is not calling for offsetting tax hikes*. Christie’s response?
