Thursday - March 04, 2010

stop playing the petty politics of yesterday

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (R) speaking to the council of mayors, at the NJ League of Municipalities meeting, using the Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid analogy:

We need to understand we are all in this together. And you know, all of you know in your heart, what I am saying is true. You all know that these raises that are being given to public employees of all stripes, we cannot afford. You all know the state cannot continue to spend money it does not have. And you all know that the appetite for tax increases among our constituents has come to an end.

And so the path to reform and success is clear. We know what it is. We just have to have the courage to go there. What we are doing is showing people that government can work again for them, not for us. Government has worked for the political class for much too long.

There’s no time left. We have no room left to borrow. We have no room left to tax. So we merely have room left now, to do this. We are all reaching the edge of a cliff. And it reminds me a bit of that part of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid where the had a seminal decision to make. So what did they do? They held hands and they jumped off the cliff.

We have to hold hands at every level of government, state county, municipal, school board. We have to hold hands and jump off the cliff.

I firmly believe we will land and we will be fine. It does not mean it will not be a scary ride on the way down. And it does not mean there won’t be moments of fear and moments of apprehension.

But for certain, the troops of the decades of overspending and overborrowing and overtaxing have gained on us. And they are armed and they are ready to get us. So the ruination of New Jersey’s economy, and of the quality of life we want all our citizens to have, is certain if we don’t take this course. So I hope that makes the decision for all of you a lot easier.

It’s time for us to hold hands and jump off the cliff. It’s time for us to do the difficult things that need to be done and to stop playing the petty politics of yesterday, of pitting us against each other, of setting up false choices, of lying to people and telling them they can have what they want and do not have to pay for it because someone else will. Someone who’s smarter or richer or more successful, or telling them that this is just the price you have to pay to live in this state.

We are going to make the leap because that’s what people elected me to do. We are going to make the leap because it is the responsible thing to do. We are going to make the leap and we are going to do it together because that is what leadership demands for us. That is what the responsibility of the offices we hold requires of us.

Forget about the next election. Forget about the next editorial in the newspaper, and forget about the next angry letter or phone call you are going to get from someone who wants something for nothing.

He did the whole thing without a teleprompter too. Not even notes written on his hand. Not much emotion, no grand physical gestures, no mighty soaring rhetoric. Just the truth.

Now let’s see him swing that axe, and start chopping. And keep chopping. Let the chips and the blood fall where they may.

When I went into the treasurer’s office in the first two weeks of my term, there were no happy meetings. They presented me with 378 possible freezes and lapses to be able to balance the budget. I accepted 375 of them.

My God, I think we elected a Conservative. And Christie was the middle of the road guy during the Republican primary! Steve Lonegan made him look like Casper Milquetoast.

A partial transcript can be found at Mish’s, and the video, all but the last 20 seconds of it, can be found here at NJN Online.

NRO thinks he’s been drinking the truth serum.

Ace agrees too. Gosh.

Moe Lane notes that Christie is carrying a 52% approval rating in this blue to the bone state, and seems to think this guy could actually be from Texas.

Texas? Cha. How do youse freakin say “yee freakin ha” wid a freakin Texas accend? Maybe we should loin how.

Posted by Drew458     on 03/04/2010 at 06:02 PM   
Filed Under: • Republicans •  
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