Christie Should Be Toast Because Of New Jersey’s Fiscal Mess

BY BUDDY NEVINS

 

 

This weekend proved that old saw — politics makes strange bedfellows.

One only had to look at fiscally conservative Gov. Rick Scott embrace Gov. Chris Christie, who heads the most fiscally reckless state in the union.

Oh, we never saw that embrace.  Republican handlers kept Christie far away from the media.

The New Jersey governor didn’t want to answer questions about the growing Bridgegate scandal.  Scott didn’t want that scandal to rub off on him.

So no pictures, please. No interviews. Not even cell phone videos have surfaced yet.

Bridgegate is bad enough.

But what is not being talked about is an equally important aspect of Christie’s reign: New Jersey’s abominable financial health.

Christie runs the most financially profligate state government in the nation, according a study released last week.

The Mercatus Center at George Mason University study ranked New Jersey’s fiscal condition dead last in the United States.

Christie’s New Jersey was ranked 50th out of 50.  No other state is in worse fiscal shape.

Illinois. Nope. It is 48.

Massachusetts. No. It’s 47.

California. Nada. It’s 46.

Florida was 6 out of 50. The Sunshine State is handling money right, according to the report.

The Mercatus Center gets some funding from the Koch Brothers. The study was done by an analyst at the federal Government Accountability Office, Dr. Sarah Arnett.

New Jersey was marketed down for its poor budget solvency – having enough revenue to cover debts.  The state also didn’t have enough revenue to cover long-term debts like pensions.

Connecticut was 49the worst.

“New Jersey and Connecticut face similar problems: tax revenues that have not kept up with expenditures, use of budget practices that only appeared to balance their annual budgets, and significant debt levels as a result of decades of using bonds without being able to pay for them (State Budget Crisis Task Force 2012). In addition, both states have underfunded their pension systems, resulting in billions in unfunded liabilities,” the study said.

Bridgegate is not much of an issue with GOP voters yet.

According to the Rasmussan poll done a day after the scandal broke, Christie continues to be viewed favorably by 61 percent of the GOP voters nationwide. That compares with 62 percent in 2012.

That favorability figure will drop as the media keeps up its relentless coverage of Bridgegate.  Christie has the disadvantage of being close to the national media HQs in New York. Christie has the disadvantage of Bridgegate being a sexy story, which is easy to understand and explain.

But let’s not forget about New Jersey’s deplorable financial condition under Christie.

After all, Christie is a Republican. Don’t Republicans brag they are fiscally responsible.

 



14 Responses to “Christie Should Be Toast Because Of New Jersey’s Fiscal Mess”

  1. Ana Gomez-Mallada says:

    It stands to reason New Jersey is a financial mess. So is the Federal government and for much the same reason. Democrat control. BOTH Chambers of the New Jersey Legislature are solidly controlled by the Democrats.

    Really Buddy, doesn’t it concern you that
    – the IRS examines the tax returnes of people oppossed to the President’s agenda more than others;
    – that 4 Americans were killed at Benghazi but the President of the United States set his mouthpiece Susan Rice out to every Sunday morning talk show to tell everyone is was NOT a terrorist attach, just some Moslems TO’d at an unflattering portrayal of Mohammed in a movie. A lie designed to prevent shock which could have reflected in the ballot box.

    Let’s worry about THOSE gates before we worry about a traffic snarl in NY/NJ.

  2. welcome wagon says:

    I hear Commissioner LaMarca gave a very spirited and highly partisan introduction in Plantation.

  3. Sam The Sham says:

    Christie is a Big Government Progressive RINO.

  4. Dean Ledbetter says:

    I stand with Ana Gomez. This is nothing more than a bunch of dems getting worked up about burying Christie with Bridgegate while their real concern should be for the dead we brought back from Bengazi and the arrogance of an administration that continues to feed the American public lie after lie after lie. When are the scales going to fall from their eyes so that they can see the truth? When are they going to shun a media that panders to partisans while the truth lies buried by bickering over inconsequential political poppycock. Wake up! Wake up! We are dying in debt! Our freedom is forgotten and abused by those whose job it is to protect it. Get real Buddy. Bridgegate is no Sandinista scandal, but the Bengazi lies and Obamacare lies far exceed the weight of Watergate.

  5. Rico Petrocelli says:

    Welcome Wagon, Chip is the Former Chair of his party (R), former elected councilman from LHP, and the duly elected Republican County Commissioner in a Democratic County.

    What would you expect?..Come on, only City and Judge races are non-partisan, and even then everyone knows…

    Both parties do the exact same thing, it’s the only thing we both do, support our Party, if not, why be a part?

    Rico Petrocelli

  6. Right on Rico says:

    Good for Chip for slamming the Dems and having the balls to back of Gov Christie and Gov Scott. Chip is a great Commissioner, I remember when he put Commissioner Jacobs in her place when she voted to put Obama community activist navigators in County buildings to promote Obamacare.

  7. Sam The Sham says:

    More out in the news today for Chistie. He will die the death of a thousand cuts. True or not, all the allegations will be doggedly pursued by the Hillary loving media who see Christie as a threat to HRC. They will hound him until his candidacy collapses.

  8. Duke says:

    Chris Christie is obnoxious and arrogant. I knew it for the first time when I saw him address a constituent who asked him a very legitimate question and he went off on her. A woman asked him if having his children in private school affects his judgment when dealing with public school funding. He then got very defensive and said.. “Hey Gayle, you know what? It’s none of your business where my kids go to school.” I knew right there and then he is nowhere near presidential material. He is basically Tony Soprano with a law degree. His chickens are coming home to roost. He’s done.

  9. Broward Resident says:

    Republicans are so out of touch in understanding the issues that are important to Americans.
    We all see through the rhetoric that equates to how they can stuff their pockets with money at the expense of those with less political capital.

  10. Sam The Sham says:

    Broward Resident is so out of touch in understanding the issues that are important to Americans.
    We all see through Broward Resident’s rhetoric that equates to how he can keep feeding at the public trough and stuff his pockets with money that someone else earned while ordering everyone around to make himself feel good.

  11. Duke says:

    I don’t think Christie will make the cut. If he did, he has little to no shot against Hillary. I can envision a Hillary commercial with film footage from the town hall meeting where the soccer mom asks the Governor a very legitimate question about state funded education, and he proceeds to obnoxiously and arrogantly berate her. It’s not the only time he has done it. He does it to constituents and reporters. I can just see a tv spot with several snippets of this type of behavior, thus showing a consistent pattern of disrespecting constituents. That stuff may play out ok with the boys in Bayonne, but nobody west of there will care much for it. The thing speaks for itself. If Chris Cristie is the best that repubs have to offer-up in 2016, Hillary is going to have smooth sailing.

  12. Ana Gomez-Mallada says:

    I can see a Christie commercial with Hillary asking “What difference does it make?” In response to questioning about Benghazi.

  13. Sam The Sham says:

    Actually, the only thing I like about Christie is when he tells off idiot questioners and stupid journalists who can only ask what kind of freebies the governor has for them.

    Obama has this country with one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel. The Hildebeast would push us in and bury us. Her progressive socialism will have us so far down the rabbit hole we will never get out in one piece. I shudder to think where we will be in 7 years if she gets in. These so called scandals and investigations of wrongdoing on Christie’s part have Hillary’s hoof prints all over them. They will, in the end, amount to nothing, but in the meantime will ruin Christie.

  14. Duke says:

    I can see a Rick Santorum commercial with Hillary asking “what difference does it make?” in response to Benghazi, but not a Christie commercial. He won’t be in the mix in the next presidential election.