Governor Christie is wasting no time in setting to work to solve New Jersey's financial problems. He's declared a state of financial emergency and frozen all state spending. He's cutting state aid to school districts with surpluses, cutting state subsidies to New Jersey transit, and is looking into rich union contracts. He promises more cuts in the future (http://wcbstv.com/local/governor.christie.freezes.2.1487727.html).
While Christie still has to prove himself on a long four year road, he's off to not-to-be-missed start. In eight short weeks he's cut 13 billion from New Jersey's state budget deficit (http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2010/04/22/the_thunder_roars_in_trenton_105267.html). Unlike most politicians, Governor Christie apparently has no sacred cows when it comes to stopping the financial bleeding and making the tough choices. (http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/11/nj_unions_worry_christie_will.html). Check out the video below for Christie and his "honest and refreshing" style.
Why even mention all this? I recently got a mailer asking me to join a group protesting the cuts Governor Schwarzenegger has made to our California state beaches and parks, resulting in reducing the number of lifeguards and hours of opening. As Californians, unless we want our government to continue "solving" our financial problems by increasing taxes followed by increasing spending, then we need to be able to take a long, hard look at our own sacred cows and reevaluate. Consider this: California, according to just about every study and report (http://downloads.pewcenteronthestates.org/Beyond_California_Appendix.pdf), is in much worse condition than New Jersey is, with even higher revenue losses, unemployment, foreclosures and an even bigger budget "gap". While there are lots of important things, right now we need to stand by the principle that nothing is more important than limited government run by responsible people who remember that they are accountable to us and are committed to actually solving our tough financial problems ... not just pretending to.
To find out more about proven Constitutional conservatives running for election on JUNE 8th, please check out other conservative groups such as StopTaxingUs.com, and ICaucus.org.
Governor Christie on . . . Gov. Christie: