Posted on 2/17/2011, 2:39:29 PM by SeekAndFind
New Jersey governor Chris Christie said today he believed President Obama was “missing an historic opportunity” “to do the big things” that will right the course of the country for the next generation.
“I look at what’s happening in Washington right now and I’m worried,” Christie told an audience at the American Enterprise Institute, after an introduction from Henry Olsen that described him as “the most consequential governor of New Jersey in at least 100 years.” He said the president’s speech in Arizona had encouraged him that Obama had the momentum to deliver a State of the Union address that would tackle difficult issues. He even “feared as a Republican” that the president would use the speech to “cement reelection.”
“What I was looking for that night was for my president to stand up there and challenge me,” Christie said. Instead, Obama focused on “investments” (Christie used air quotes) like high-speed rail and electric cars, calling them “the big things” (a phrase, Christie noted, that he had used in his own State of the State speech two weeks prior).
“Ladies and gentlemen, that is the candy of American politics. That’s not the big things,” Christie said.
The big things, according to Christie, are entitlements: Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. He slammed the president for playing chicken with congressional Republicans on much-needed reforms, and challenged the notion that Social Security remains a “third rail” in American politics.
“We’re going to have to raise the retirement age,” Christie said. “Ho! I just said it, and I’m still standing here. I didn’t vaporize into the carpet.”
“The world has changed,” he said, and though leaders would face risks for taking on popular spending programs, they would also be “rewarded for courage,” pointing to his own improving popularity numbers as evidence.
But Christie also said that “unlike some others,” he did not want to see the president fail, and that he believes Obama has time to do the right thing. Nor did the governor spare Republicans. He called out, in particular, the GOP challengers from around the country he campaigned for last year.
Saying that he had staked his “reputation” on them, he warned them that it is “put-up-or-shut-up time.”
“If people who I campaigned for don’t stand up and do the right thing [on entitlements], the next time they’ll see me in their district is with my arm around their primary opponent.” He also offered implicit support for the Republican plan to reduce non-defense discretionary spending by $100 billion this year. Drawing from his own experience cutting salutary but expensive programs in New Jersey, he said the focus in Washington should be on what’s “necessary,” not what’s desirable “in the abstract.”
“You’ll have folks tell you that every bit of federal spending is laudatory and necessary. It’s not.”
Christie had some advice for reformers in Washington and across the country on how to tackle obstruction. Relating the story of his own epic budget battle with New Jersey’s Democratic legislature, Christie contrasted his reaction to the threat of a government shutdown with that of his predecessor, Jon Corzine. Corzine, a Democrat, had shown reporters a cot in the governor’s office, on which he intended to sleep until the crisis over (how much to raise) the state sales tax was resolved.
When Democrats threatened Christie with a government shutdown if he vetoed an income-tax hike they favored, Christie said, he told them: “Take a look at me, you think I’m sleeping on a cot?”
“If you want to shut down the government, that’s fine,” Christie reportedly told Democratic leaders in the legislature. “I’m gonna get in those black SUVs, go to the governor’s residence, go upstairs, open a beer, order a pizza, and watch the Mets.” Christie’s hard-line tactics worked, and the state’s budget — sans the tax hike — was passed two days early.
He offered praise for his counterpart across the Hudson River, newly elected New York governor Andrew Cuomo, saying that the similar paths taken by a Republican in a blue state and “the son of a liberal icon” prove “that these problems and issues are not partisan.” “For God’s sake, even Jerry Brown” is talking about tackling public-sector compensation, Christie said.
After his speech, largely delivered off-the-cuff, Christie took questions from the audience. The very first was the umpteenth iteration of “will you run in 2012.” Christie joked that he had already threatened to commit suicide to prove he wasn’t interested in running, and that now he might actually have to follow through.
“I’m not stupid, I see the opportunity,” Christie added, but said seeing opening is not a sufficient reason to run.
He also answered a question about Obamacare, clarifying that his state hadn’t joined a Florida lawsuit against the Affordable Care Act for “fiscal” not “philosophical” reasons. “I don’t need to be hiring lawyers,” Christie said, to become just one of many states already testing the bill’s constitutionality. He also called for the Supreme Court to give Obamacare expedited review.
CLICK ABOVE LINK FOR THE VIDEO OF CHRISTIE's SPEECH
Oh brother. A slam on Rush.
How about learning the context, there, Christie? Everyone who loves America wanted Obama to fail because of his POLICY. His policy, we all agree, brought bad results. If Dear Reader HAD failed, those bad results would have been thwarted.
Look at it this way: Green Bay wanted Pittsburgh to FAIL. And vice-versa.
Get over this bipartisan bull****.
Which is fine with me. Rush has been a Christie booster, though, and he HATES getting dissed. His wounded ego won't like this comment one bit.
Bankruptcy would be better? Then you get nothing. That's how PONZI scams work.
We need to be responsible about SS funding— if not it will go broke
Everybody’s afraid of the “black” President.
Chris Christie is a RINO with two horns.
Always was, always will be.
A protege of Chrissie Whitman and Tom Kean Senior with all their political flaws.
I wish real conservatives here would research this clown before treating him like the Second Coming.
Dare I say it?
“Reaganesque”.
Well, if Christy wants to see Obama suceed, then I guess that means he supports Obama Care, Gun Control, Trillion dollar stimululs packages, High taxes, intrusive govt. regulation.
Sand thing is Christy does support at least some of those.
Snookie would vote for him.
Rush is interesting. He’s inspiring. Brave.
Rush is a lot of things, but he’s sometimes COMPLETELY out to lunch.
He’s completely clueless about “free trade”.
I live in NJ and Christie is the real deal. He is no Whitman or Kean, he is smart, street smart he knows how and when to pick a fight.
We would hate to lose him, but the rest of the country would be lucky to get him.
I live in NJ and Christie is the real deal. He is no Whitman or Kean, he is smart, street smart he knows how and when to pick a fight.
We would hate to lose him, but the rest of the country would be lucky to get him.
“Sure, why not screw the average American who’s paid into the system for his/her entire working life?”
Kind of what I was thinking, as well. Why should Americans pay for the out of control spending of these political hacks.
Why should I have to work longer, because of their MISTAKES.
So Christy wants to fix the system by continuing to force you to contribute, while making sure that enough people die before getting a dime to make the program limp along for another few decades.
Would he 'defund' Planned Parenthood; PBS - as well; or before hitting Social Security?
So Christy wants to fix the system by continuing to force you to contribute, while making sure that enough people die before getting a dime to make the program limp along for another few decades.
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