Chris Christie

GREENWALD: CHRISTIENOMICS WOULD 'BLOW UP' STATE BUDGET

(Trenton) – Assembly Budget Committee Chairman Louis D. Greenwald today warned that the economic policies not tossed aside by Chris Christie not only would blow up the state's budget but also turn the clock back on nearly a decade's worth of efforts to position New Jersey on a permanently firm fiscal footing.

With less than a week to go before the election, the two-year-old specter of asset monetization has been raised again – and Gov. Corzine hopes to put the subject to rest as soon as possible.  

In a press conference with reporters this morning, Corzine said that a New York Times report that says he told the paper that he was considered revisiting a scaled back version of the program was inaccurate.  

Below is a transcript of this morning’s news conference pertaining to the Times story, provided by the Corzine campaign (emphasis theirs):  

Q: Do you believe that a toll plan should be brought back?

GOVERNOR CORZINE: “NO! No toll increases, no leasing.  Off the table.  Not gonna happen. PERIOD!”

Q: Did they get it wrong?

GOVERNOR CORZINE: “They got it wrong because they focused on the fact that we may raise money out of our rest stops on properties that surround the turnpike. No toll increases...no leasing of the turnpike.  Off the table, not happening PERIOD! And you know I think if you read that article you will also see that Mr. Christie has backed away from every single promise that he talked about during the campaign, particularly during the primary, about how he was gonna roll back the sales tax, how we was gonna increase rebates, how he was gonna put more money into school funding.  All of those things are out the window.  

Only one thing is he standing with--he's gonna keep tax cuts for people who make over 400,000...the very wealthy. That is going to drive property tax increases for every single middle class New Jerseyan.  That's what the Star Ledger said, that's what multiple analysts who have looked at that suggestion. Tax cuts for the wealthy don't work if you want to support the middle class.  And that's the only promise he maintained in that particular article.”

Contacted by PolitickerNJ.com, the Times stood by the accuracy of its story. 

QUIGLEY: CHRISTIE ADMITS DEMOCRATIC APPROACH
TO BALANCING BUDGET THE RIGHT WAY TO ATTACK
STATE'S FISCAL PROBLEMS

(Jersey City) – Assemblywoman Joan Quigley today welcomed Republican Gubernatorial Candidate Chris Christie back to reality with the news that he has realized his economic proposals would doom the state to fiscal ruin.

WISNIEWSKI: CHRISTIE EVEN MORE OF A MYSTERY
THAN BEFORE

(Sayreville) - Even with his endorsement of Democratic fiscal policy in today's editions of the New York Times, Assemblyman John Wisniewski said Chris Christie is even more of a mystery to voters than he was before today's flip-flop.

Parsippany Town Hall

PARSIPPANY - Mayor Michael Luther four years ago won by 39 votes in a town of 50,000 against a Republican Party undermined by a civil war.

This year, the Democratic mayor's challenger, Councilman Jamie Barberio, believes he will win, in part because he trusts he has a better vision for Parsippany, but also because he helped weld his party back together and stands a better chance mechanically to drive voters into his column.

"There's not a single Republican official who doesn't back me," Barberio told PolitickerNJ.com. "One of my goals before I set out to run was securing their support. I knew I had to close the gap with every Republican I could think of." 

In a gubernatorial election year in particular, a unified GOP helps when one considers the numbers of registered voters in Parsippany: 6,860 Democrats versus 9,710 Republicans with 11,564 independents usuaully leaning reliably Republican.

STATEMENT FROM SENATE PRESIDENT CODEY
ON CHRISTIE’S CONTRADICTIONS

 
(TRENTON) - Senate President Richard J. Codey (D- Essex) released the following statement today:

“Republican gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie finally admitted yesterday in the New York Times what we have already known, his entire campaign has been based on empty promises and failed economic policies.  Christie now says he will not restore property tax rebates, will not roll back the sales tax, will use "one-shot" revenues to close the budget deficit, and will not reduce income taxes.  Christie is learning quickly that it's one thing to make promises as the candidate for governor and another thing to have to explain how you would implement these promises once you are in charge.

“The truth is the only economic policies that Chris Christie is staying true to are the same failed economic policies that George Bush employed that got the country into this mess, and now Christie wants to bring them to New Jersey.”

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STATEMENT FROM SPEAKER ROBERTS
ON CHRISTIE’S CONTRADICTIONS

(TRENTON) - Assembly Speaker Joseph J. Roberts Jr. (D-Camden) issued the following statement today:

"We at least finally know this much about Chris Christie - even his vague promises of treats have been nothing more than tricks, unless you're fortunate enough to be among the super wealthy.
"Christie's mishmashed campaign has shown its true self. This George W. Bush-disciple is in this to give tax breaks to the rich and massive corporations while stripping away benefits and protections for New Jersey's middle class.

Movement conservatives have been upset with the campaign strategy of Chris Christie, his positions on energy issues, and his self-association with Barack Obama.  I also have written columns on this website critical of both the Republican candidate and his campaign.  In many ways, I have been more disappointed by Christie than any other Republican statewide candidate over the past two decades.

Aside from party loyalty, however, there is one issue that motivates me to continue to strongly support Chris Christie for Governor:  the appointment of justices to the New Jersey Supreme Court.  During the next four years, two New Jersey Supreme Court justices will reach the mandatory retirement age, and two others will be up for reappointment.  

Gov. Jon Corzine arrives Thursday night in Harrison.

HARRISON - Shoved into the swamps of Hudson and for years all but forgotten except to post-industrial artifact watchers on passing trains, disgruntled people whose cars got towed from Newark to the impound lots, and the clutch of blue collar workers who live between bridges, Harrison welcomed Gov. Jon Corzine tonight to the Polish National Hall.

"What's he doing here?" wondered a hard-nosed party insider observing the governor as Corzine pressed into the packed crowd with Mayor Ray J. .McDonough and a band of Hudson diehards, including Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy, County Executive Tom DeGise, Assemblyman Vincent Prieto (D-Secaucus), and Assemblywoman Joan Quigley (D-Jersey City).

After distributing 1,000 pumpkins to North Bergenites, state Sen. Nick Sacco (D-North Bergen) arrived at the event when Corzine, Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine, McDonough and attendant dignitaries were already onstage.

He offered an explanation.

Referring to the disparity between Democrats and Republicans in the town (2,835 to 276), Sacco told the cheering crowd, "You know, I've always said the best organization is in Harrison, which continually turns out the largest plurality of Democrats in the state."

DNC Chairman Tim Kaine, left, enters the Polish National Hall on Thursday night and is greeted by Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy

HARRISON - In New Jersey this evening to stump for Gov. Jon Corzine, Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Tim Kaine said his organization has committed another layer to the final week street-level campaign operations of Gov. Jon Corzine.

"We're putting in a chunk of dough from contributions we have received over the last couple of months and ours and Obama's best people are helping out," said the governor of Virginia (term-limited out of office at the end of this year) and 2008 short-list candidate for vice president. 

Just days before President Barack Obama's final campaign rally across the river for Corzine in Newark on Sunday, Kaine made three campaign stops here in New Jersey for the governor today, finishing at the Polish National Hall at a bi-annual party fundraising event hosted by Harrison Mayor Ray J. McDonough.

"The issue is there are good partners and there are bad partners, and President Obama recognizes the fact that Gov. Corzine is a good partner for the White House," Kaine told PolitickerNJ.com. "I think the governor's opponent is a guy who talks a good game but who's pretty empty ultimately with no economic experience."