Budget chairs go after Christie quote

Testing out their attack dog tonsils in a gubernatorial election year, legislative budget chairs state Sen. Barbara Buono (D-Metuchen) and Assemblyman Louis Greenwald (D-Voorhees) each gave a tongue lashing to GOP gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie.

The presumptive Republican frontrunner for governor, Christie told NPR radio show host Brian Lehrer last Friday that “Governor Corzine has the responsibility for putting together this budget, and my responsibility is to critique what he’s done.” 

Both potential candidates for lieutenant governor on a 2009 ticket headed by Corzine, Buono and Greenwald said Corzine proposed a 2010 budget protecting education, health care, seniors, the most vulnerable, and $1 billion of property tax rebates, while executing $4 billion in spending cuts. 

Revving up their respective soundbites, they said they would like to know what Christie wants to do besides criticize.

“The people of New Jersey deserve honest budget solutions from the people presenting themselves as leaders,” said Buono.  “In the midst of a national recession, the time for opposition criticism without presenting solutions has passed us by.  It is unacceptable to simply criticize while presenting zero alternatives and the people of New Jersey expect more from their leaders.”

Tearing into a Republican soft spot, Greenwald invoked President George W. Bush.

“Quite frankly, it is short-sighted and irresponsible of any candidate for leadership to revert back to the old George W. Bush ways of political rhetoric and criticism without alternatives in the absence of presenting a real budget,” Greenwald said. “Imagine if last year President Obama and Senator McCain never spoke about their visions for Iraq, the world economy and universal healthcare to provide people the opportunity to hear their views on the key issues confronting our nation.”