You know, it’s remarkable what someone can do in elected office when they don’t give a rat’s ass about things like personal charm or being liked or even being re-elected. For example, New Jersey’s governor, Chris Christie.
New Jersey is in a fiscal mess. Now, to be fair, it’s not the worst state financially — I think California takes that cake — but Joisey is in big trouble. Christie ran for office on a no-nonsense platform to fix that mess.
And the big guy is as good as his word. He’s currently expecting his state to run about $11 billion short of the money it needs for the next year — and that’s out of a budget of $28 billion. (For those not up on your math, that’s about 40% short of what they need.) So Christie didn’t take an axe to the state’s spending.
Desperate times call for desperate measures, And sometimes you don’t need someone who looks like a leader, but like a plumber, or a truck driver, or a mover, to do the dirty work, the hauling, the heavy lifting.
Christie was elected to office in November of 2009, and his term isn’t up until January of 2013. He isn’t running for re-election right now. One gets the impression that he isn’t going to give that possibility a second thought for a few years. He’s too concerned with the here and now.
The people of New Jersey elected Christie their governor, and he’s doing exactly what he promised to do. And unless he’s impeached or something, he’s going to be the governor for the next few years.
We need a lot fewer politicians who look good on cameras, and a lot more who understand what needs to be done, and how to do it.
Christie is a Republican, but there’s no reason why one party has to hold a monopoly on common sense and responsibility.
