Tag: new jersey

The WSJ Christie interview.

No, he is not available for national office: NJ is currently using him. Go get your own.

More of this, please:

NJEA President Barbara Keshishian visited his office this week to apologize for a recent email sent to thousands of teachers by a union official that included a mock prayer for the governor’s death. According to [NJ Governor Chris] Christie, the conversation went something like this: He accepted her apology immediately but asked if the email sender would be fired for “doing something that monumentally stupid.” When the union chief questioned why the man should be fired, Mr. Christie promptly ended the meeting.

That’s from the WSJ’s interview with Christie, which will be refreshing reading for conservatives who may be just a little tired of situations where political rhetoric exceeds actions.  In this particular case, the issue of the apology is just a vehicle for the real message: to wit, the Governor of NJ is not afraid of the teachers’ unions, so if the latter wants to win their current dispute with the former they’re going to have to fight for once.  Given that support for freezing teacher pay in NJ is two-to-one in Christie’s favor, the governor is in good shape here.

Continue reading The WSJ Christie interview.

Meet Diane Gooch (R CAND, NJ-06).

She’s running in the 6th Congressional district for NJ, which happens to be the district that I grew up in.

Diane’s website is here: see here and here for the Rasmussen polls mentioned in the interview.  Interestingly, NJ-06 went for Christie in the last election.

Moe Lane

Crossposted to RedState.

Chris Christie (R, NJ) zeros out faith-based program!

Sixty-five million dollars’ worth. The entire budget, in fact:

Gov. Chris Christie is taking $65 million, the entire allocation, from the state’s global warming fund, and $5.9 million, from the toxic waste site cleanup program, to help close the over $10 billion deficit in his $29.3 billion 2010-11 state budget, the state environmental protection commissioner said Monday.

In discussing the Department of Environmental Protection’s proposed $380.6 million budget before the Assembly Budget Committee in Trenton, Commissioner Bob Martin said he hopes the loss of the $65 million, funding for the state’s role in a regional effort to combat global warming, will only be for one year. He told the committee that DEP staff will continue to attempt to work against global warming and so-called greenhouses gasses despite the lack of money.

(Via Cubachi, via @MelissaTweets) I am confident that Bob Martin will be able to continue working against global warming. In fact, I am confident that he will be just as successful at it this year as he was last year: and you may take that statement any way that you like.

Moe Lane

Crossposted to RedState.

‘Health care do-over!’ sayeth… New Jersey.

They sayeth that, in fact, by a lot.

The Rutgers-Eagleton Poll released Thursday finds 81 percent of respondents wanting changes to the health care system, while 17 percent believe the current system works well enough.

But only 22 percent say Congress should pass the current reform proposals, while 68 percent want lawmakers to start over.

That’s two-thirds of adult voters in NJ who are calling for a mulligan. What’s the breakdown for likely ones? – And that’s a question that probably keeps the people on the list below up at nights:

Congressman HCR Christie?
Robert Andrews Yes Yes
John Adler No Yes
Frank Pallone Yes Yes
William Pascrell Yes Yes
Steven Rothman Yes No
Donald Payne Yes No
Rush Holt Yes Yes
Albio Sires Yes Yes

The list, of course, is the Democratic Congressional delegation for NJ. Payne and Holt Rothman [Oops!] are probably not too worried – they’re the only legislators on the list who had their counties carried by Corzine in the last election – and John Adler read the tea leaves a while back anyway.  The rest of them need to… think about things.

Quickly.  There’s only seven and a half months until the election.

Moe Lane

Crossposted to RedState.

Texas and New Jersey: perfect together.

No, really.

UPDATE: Welcome, Instapundit readers. And Campaign Spot readers.

The New Ledger sat down with Governor Rick Perry a few weeks ago, and in the course of talking about Perry’s success (and his working principles of governing) came this exchange:

TNL: …do you think Republicans will win if they embrace that sort of approach in other states with all their challenges? And what does that look like?

Perry: Well, look at a state like Virginia, where Bob [McDonnell] just won by doing something very similar. He said we’re going to stop spending irresponsibly, we’re going to cut taxes, we’re going to encourage and enable those who risk their capital — job creators — and having what I would describe as a progressive energy policy, where he’s going to drill offshore in a way that’s environmentally sensitive and happens to be supported by his two Democratic senators.

That’s all pretty simple. These are not complex things — they’re challenging, but they’re straightforward. It’s not about understanding what you need to do as much as it is about having the courage to do it.

You look at a state like California. There are going to be some really tough decisions that have to be made to save that state. If Jerry Brown gets up and says “I’ve figured out a way to make this less painful,” well, here, smoke this — because at the end of the day, it’s going to be painful. Because that’s a state that has for too long made the easy decisions instead of the hard decisions.

If you are a state that has just said yes all the time to everything, there is a comeuppance, a day of reckoning for you. It’s right now.

It’s ‘right now’ in New Jersey, too. Continue reading Texas and New Jersey: perfect together.

Gov. Chris Christie (R, NJ) plants one right between the eyes.

I grew up in New Jersey, and I can assure you this: all over the state, suddenly-embattled Democratic legislators and apparatchiks are now routinely referring to Gov. Christie as “that fat [insert expletive here]” – with a wide range of choices for the expletive. Why?

Because that fat [insert expletive here] just told the unions that elections have consequences, and he’s one of them.

Governor Christie tells legislature NJ is in financial crisis

Continue reading Gov. Chris Christie (R, NJ) plants one right between the eyes.

Because the GOP hasn’t humiliated Corzine *enough*…

…the Democrats are thinking about giving us another bite at that particular apple.  To summarize this… scheme:

  • Jon Corzine resigns prior to January.
  • Richard Codey becomes acting Governor (remember: no Lt. Gov before this election).
  • Frank Lautenberg (currently 85 years old) resigns as Senator.
  • Codey appoints Corzine Senator.

(H/T: The Campaign Spot)  Let me add the next step:

  • Republicans pick up an unlooked-for Senate seat via a 2010 special election.

…which is probably not Corzine’s intent; but then, neither was losing the governor’s race.  As for this prospective race… a recent loser, a Democrat, and an incumbent in 2010.  That would be perfect, thanks.

Moe Lane

PS: I have no personal animus against Senator Lautenberg, but it’s not my fault that he’s in his mid-eighties and still decided to run for re-election in 2008.

Crossposted to RedState.

Politico compares Obama to Bush.

Or, the bloom is off the rose.

So, Axelrod’s trying his best to convince people that the fact that independent voters in two states won by Obama broke heavily for the Republican gubernatorial candidates is much less important than a three-point win in a district where conservatives made it clear that they’d rather lose than not be listened to by GOP party leadership.  His best is actually not all that great, given that he’s suggesting (of all things) that candidates next year embrace the President – just like Bill Owens did!  Yes, and just like Jon Corzine did, and just like Creigh Deeds did; so this was sufficiently eyebrow-raising that the Politico was nigh-forced to editorialize:

The cheerful public line from the White House carried an echo of Obama’s immediate predecessor, George W. Bush, another president whose political operation reported sunny skies no matter the weather.

It’s bad when they compare you to Bush.  Although it’s also unfair: the previous administration did things.  This one just whines about how hard it is to do them.

Moe Lane

Crossposted to RedState.

FrankJ on yesterday’s elections.

There is a certain amount of snark in this comment – gee, you think? – but it does lead to a question:

Anyway, the main message of the election was Obama sucks and is stupid and everyone now hates him. Obama campaigned in both Virginia and New Jersey, and the Democrats lost hugely in both (well, by 18 points in Virginia, and 4 points in New Jersey which is huge when you consider how blue that state is and how much money Corzine spent). Obama didn’t campaign in NY23 (instead he sent the charismatic powerhouse Joe Biden), and the Democrat won. Lesson learned: If Obama offers to campaign for you, tell him you have swine flu and he should stay away.

Why was it that the two races that the President most directly involved himself in were the two races where said involvement had no effect on the final results? Neither FrankJ nor I really think that ‘everyone now hates’ the administration; but if the President’s intervention had any positive results in NJ or VA neither of us caught it, and we’re both experienced political junkies. So what happened?

Moe Lane

Crossposted to RedState.

A hearty ‘Good morning!’ to some of our elected officials!

Now that the elections in NJ and VA are over – and now that there’s going to be some really critical votes coming up on both cap-and-trade and health care rationing – I just wanted to greet some members of the two states’ Congressional delegations.

  • Robert Andrews, NJ-01 (Burlington/Camden/Gloucester)
  • John Adler, NJ-03 (Burlington/Camden/Ocean)
  • Frank Pallone, NJ-06 (Middlesex/Monmouth/Somerset/Union)
  • William Pascrell, NJ-08 (Essex/Passaic)
  • Steven Rothman, NJ-09 (Bergen/Hudson/Passaic)
  • Donald Payne, NJ-10 (Essex/Hudson/Union)
  • Rush Holt, NJ-12 (Hunterdon/Mercer/Middlesex/Monmouth/Somerset)
  • Albio Sires, NJ-13 (Essex/Hudson/Middlesex/Union)

(Link)

  • Glenn Nye, VA-02 (Accomack/Northampton)
  • Robert C Scott, VA-03 (Charles City/New Kent/Surry/Henrico/Prince George/Hampton/Newport News/Norfolk/Richmond)
  • Tom Perriello, VA-05 (Greene/Campbell/Bedford/Albemarle/Nelson/Fluvanna/Buckingham/Cumberland/Appomattox/Prince Edward/Charlotte/Lunenberg/Franklin/Henry/Pittsylvania/Halifax/Mecklenberg/Brunswick)
  • Jim Moran, VA-08 (Arlington/Alexandria/Fairfax)
  • Rick Boucher, VA-09 (Lee/Wise/Dickenson/Buchanan/Scott/Russell/Tazewell/Washington/Smyth/Bland/Giles/Grayson/Wythe/Pulaski/Montgomery/Carroll/Craig/Floyd/Patrick/Allegheny/Roanoke/Henry)
  • Gerry Connolly, VA-11 (Fairfax/Fairfax/Prince William)

(Link)

Hi!

WE SEE YOU.

Moe Lane

Crossposted to RedState.