Governor Not Deterred By Death Wishes From Right Wingers

And by "right wingers", I of course mean thug union bosses.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie refused to back down Tuesday from his demand that teachers take a pay freeze and start contributing to their health care benefits as the state teachers union declined to take action against a local boss who prayed for the governor's death.

...Christie, a first-term Republican, told Fox News that he met with New Jersey Education Association Chief Barbara Keshishian on Monday to discuss the schools funding formula and an e-mail sent by Bergen County Education Association President Joe Coppola that mocked the governor.

...Keshishian apologized for the memo but refused to oblige Christie's request that Coppola be fired.

"If a member of my staff ... had said something like that about her, they'd be demanding his resignation. But you know what? They wouldn't have had to wait because I'd have fired him,' Christie said. He said Kershishian responded to the request by saying no.

"And she left my office, in a huff," he added.

Meanwhile, Christie is sticking to his "no more means no more" plan when it comes to high paid, low producing state employees. He's taking the standard liberal whining and throwing it back in their faces.

The children will be the ones to suffer from your education cuts. "The real question is, who's for the kids, and who's for their raises? This isn't about the kids. Let's dispense with that portion of the argument. Don't let them tell you that ever again while they are reaching into your pockets."

Your policies favor the rich. "We have the worst unemployment in the region and the highest taxes in America, and that's no coincidence."

Why not renew the 'millionaire's tax'? "The top 1% of taxpayers in New Jersey pay 40% of the income tax. In addition, we've got a situation where that tax applies to small businesses. I'm simply not going to put my foot on the back of the neck of small business while I want them to try to grow jobs by giving more revenue to New Jersey."

Budget cuts are unfair. "The special interests have already begun to scream their favorite word—which, coincidentally, is my 9-year-old son's favorite word when we are making him do something he knows is right but does not want to do—'unfair.' . . . One state retiree, 49 years old, paid, over the course of his entire career, a total of $124,000 towards his retirement pension and health benefits. What will we pay him? $3.3 million in pension payments over his life, and nearly $500,000 for health care benefits—a total of $3.8 million on a $120,000 investment. Is that fair?"

If Republicans and conservatives are ever going to instill some fiscal sanity on out of control governments, it's going to take not only true believers like Christie but people who can fight the liberals at their own soundbite game.

I'm not sure how this will turn out, it's New Jersey after all, but Republicans around the country really need to keep an eye on this. As New Jersey native Frank Sinatra might have said, if fiscal sanity can make it there, it can make it anywhere.

posted by DrewM. at 03:22 PM

| Access Comments