Showing posts with label Gov. Chris Christie. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gov. Chris Christie. Show all posts
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
"For adults, look to the statehouses," where Chris Christie and Mitch Daniels are pioneering new styles as governors
For adults, look to the statehouses. Look in particular to New Jersey and Indiana, where Govs. Chris Christie and Mitch Daniels are forging a limited-government Republicanism that connects with people and solves problems. They are models of how to take inchoate dissatisfaction with the status quo, launder it through political talent, and apply it in a practical way to governance.
Christie has just concluded a six-month whirlwind through Trenton that should be studied by political scientists for years to come. In tackling a fiscal crisis in a state groaning under an $11 billion deficit, he did his fellow New Jerseyans the favor of being as forthright as a punch in the mouth. And it worked.
Christie traveled the state making the case for budgetary retrenchment, and he frontally took on the state's most powerful interest, the teachers' union. He rallied the public and split the Democrats, in a bravura performance in the lost art of persuasion. At the national level, George W. Bush thought repeating the same stalwart lines over and over again counted as making an argument, and Barack Obama has simply muscled through his agenda on inflated Democratic majorities. Christie actually connected.
He matched unyielding principle (determined to balance the budget without raising taxes, he vetoed a millionaires' tax within minutes of its passage) with a willingness to take half a loaf (he wanted a constitutional amendment to limit property taxes to 2.5 percent, but settled with Democrats for an imperfect statutory limit). He'll need an Act II to get deeper, institutional reforms, but New Jersey is now separating itself from those other notorious wastrels, California and Illinois.
When it comes to demeanor, Mitch Daniels is to Chris Christie what Miss Indiana is to Snooki. In his quieter way - and in less dire circumstances - the skinflint second-term governor has slimmed down and improved his state's public sector. He inherited a $200 million deficit in 2004, which he turned into a $1.3 billion surplus - just in time for it to act as a cushion during the recession. He has reformed government services and rallied his administration around one simple, common-sense goal: "We will do everything we can to raise the net disposable income of individual Hoosiers."
Both Christie and Daniels are happy (or, in the case of the latter, pleasant) warriors. They both are distinctive politicians, not what a political consultant would cook up in his laboratory (Christie has too much girth and Daniels too little hair). They both feel the weight of responsibility as the chief executives of their states in a way that hyperbolic congressmen and commentators don't. They prove that Republicans can govern, that budgets can be tamed, and that politics can work, so long as serious men and women put their shoulders to the wheel.
In short, they are adults. Their like can't gain control of Washington soon enough.
Christie has just concluded a six-month whirlwind through Trenton that should be studied by political scientists for years to come. In tackling a fiscal crisis in a state groaning under an $11 billion deficit, he did his fellow New Jerseyans the favor of being as forthright as a punch in the mouth. And it worked.
Christie traveled the state making the case for budgetary retrenchment, and he frontally took on the state's most powerful interest, the teachers' union. He rallied the public and split the Democrats, in a bravura performance in the lost art of persuasion. At the national level, George W. Bush thought repeating the same stalwart lines over and over again counted as making an argument, and Barack Obama has simply muscled through his agenda on inflated Democratic majorities. Christie actually connected.
He matched unyielding principle (determined to balance the budget without raising taxes, he vetoed a millionaires' tax within minutes of its passage) with a willingness to take half a loaf (he wanted a constitutional amendment to limit property taxes to 2.5 percent, but settled with Democrats for an imperfect statutory limit). He'll need an Act II to get deeper, institutional reforms, but New Jersey is now separating itself from those other notorious wastrels, California and Illinois.
When it comes to demeanor, Mitch Daniels is to Chris Christie what Miss Indiana is to Snooki. In his quieter way - and in less dire circumstances - the skinflint second-term governor has slimmed down and improved his state's public sector. He inherited a $200 million deficit in 2004, which he turned into a $1.3 billion surplus - just in time for it to act as a cushion during the recession. He has reformed government services and rallied his administration around one simple, common-sense goal: "We will do everything we can to raise the net disposable income of individual Hoosiers."
Both Christie and Daniels are happy (or, in the case of the latter, pleasant) warriors. They both are distinctive politicians, not what a political consultant would cook up in his laboratory (Christie has too much girth and Daniels too little hair). They both feel the weight of responsibility as the chief executives of their states in a way that hyperbolic congressmen and commentators don't. They prove that Republicans can govern, that budgets can be tamed, and that politics can work, so long as serious men and women put their shoulders to the wheel.
In short, they are adults. Their like can't gain control of Washington soon enough.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Unstoppable Chris Christie does it again, capping property taxes
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) scored another in a series of major political victories, signing a bill capping the growth of property taxes and municipal spending at 2% annually. The bill replaces the Garden State’s previous cap, at 4%, which the governor assailed as ineffectual due to 14 exemptions that allowed local governments to virtually ignore the law. The new cap, which Christie pushed the Democratic-controlled legislature to enact, requires municipal councils to get approval from the voters before going over the lower limit.
The bill is the result of a compromise between Christie and Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-Camden). Christie had proposed a 2.5% cap as part of a package of 33 bills, which he dubbed a “toolkit” for local government to get skyrocketing spending and property taxes under control. Christie’s proposal would have amended the state constitution to include the 2.5% limit and mandated the approval of a supermajority of 60% of voters for a local council to exceed the cap, with debt service as the lone exception.
The bill is the result of a compromise between Christie and Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-Camden). Christie had proposed a 2.5% cap as part of a package of 33 bills, which he dubbed a “toolkit” for local government to get skyrocketing spending and property taxes under control. Christie’s proposal would have amended the state constitution to include the 2.5% limit and mandated the approval of a supermajority of 60% of voters for a local council to exceed the cap, with debt service as the lone exception.
Monday, July 12, 2010
As the nation stews with political corruption, stupidity and incompetence, the can-do spirit springs inelegantly to life in NJ
FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP, N.J. — A momentous deal to cap property taxes was all but done, but Gov. Chris Christie was taking no chances, barnstorming the state to commiserate with squeezed homeowners and keep pressure on the Legislature.
Outside a farmhouse here in central New Jersey last week, buttoned up in a dark suit despite the triple-digit heat, Mr. Christie promised to tackle rising pension costs, transportation financing, municipal spending — all while poking fun at his opponents, the news media and, mostly, himself.
When a reporter suggested that the governor do a rain dance, he said, “Don’t want to miss that, baby.” And in the rare instance of his withholding judgment on an issue, he said he preferred to know something about the issue before opining, although, he added, tongue in cheek, that actual knowledge was not necessarily a requirement.
It was a model taste of Mr. Christie, six months into his term as governor: blunt, energetic, clearly enjoying himself.
And having his way.
Outside a farmhouse here in central New Jersey last week, buttoned up in a dark suit despite the triple-digit heat, Mr. Christie promised to tackle rising pension costs, transportation financing, municipal spending — all while poking fun at his opponents, the news media and, mostly, himself.
When a reporter suggested that the governor do a rain dance, he said, “Don’t want to miss that, baby.” And in the rare instance of his withholding judgment on an issue, he said he preferred to know something about the issue before opining, although, he added, tongue in cheek, that actual knowledge was not necessarily a requirement.
It was a model taste of Mr. Christie, six months into his term as governor: blunt, energetic, clearly enjoying himself.
And having his way.
Saturday, July 3, 2010
NJ is Ground Zero in the fight between taxpayers and unions
New Jersey is ground zero in the national fight between taxpayers and government unions, with new Republican Governor Chris Christie trying to pull the state from the brink of tax-and-spend bankruptcy. This week he struck a budget deal with Democrats that makes modest progress, but the real game is now afoot over his proposal to impose a cap on property taxes.
The budget deal for fiscal 2011 closes a $10.7 billion gap, and the overall spending level of $29.4 billion is the lowest in five years. Democrats had said Mr. Christie's budget was dead on arrival in March, but in the end they agreed to most of his spending cuts. The Governor also vetoed a "millionaire's tax" that would have raised the top marginal income tax rate to 10.75% from just under 9%, though he did accept some new fees on insurance and hospital beds.
The budget's biggest weakness is its lack of long-term structural reform, as the state's labor agreements are left untouched. It also kicks to future years a $3 billion payment to a state pension fund that is underfunded to the tune of $46 billion. Mr. Christie says he won't put more money into pensions without reforms in overgenerous benefits, but sooner or later the state will have to come up with more pension money.
All of which makes the showdown over property taxes especially important for reform prospects and Mr. Christie's political future. The Governor wants to cap annual property tax increases at 2.5%, on the model of the successful cap that Massachusetts imposed in 1980. Over the next 27 years, property taxes in the Bay State rose 22% compared to 68% nationwide and 102% in New Jersey.
The cap is crucial to preventing local Garden State school districts, which are dominated by teachers unions, from raising taxes and thus defeating whatever spending restraint Mr. Christie can impose on Trenton. The unions know this, which is why they've spent some $7 million in TV ads portraying Mr. Christie as the scourge of police, firefighters and children. The Governor's approval rating has held up well despite the onslaught, which may reflect that voters understand the state's new fiscal reality. New Jersey's property taxes and its overall state and local tax burden are the nation's highest, and the state hasn't created a single net new private job in a decade.
The budget deal for fiscal 2011 closes a $10.7 billion gap, and the overall spending level of $29.4 billion is the lowest in five years. Democrats had said Mr. Christie's budget was dead on arrival in March, but in the end they agreed to most of his spending cuts. The Governor also vetoed a "millionaire's tax" that would have raised the top marginal income tax rate to 10.75% from just under 9%, though he did accept some new fees on insurance and hospital beds.
The budget's biggest weakness is its lack of long-term structural reform, as the state's labor agreements are left untouched. It also kicks to future years a $3 billion payment to a state pension fund that is underfunded to the tune of $46 billion. Mr. Christie says he won't put more money into pensions without reforms in overgenerous benefits, but sooner or later the state will have to come up with more pension money.
All of which makes the showdown over property taxes especially important for reform prospects and Mr. Christie's political future. The Governor wants to cap annual property tax increases at 2.5%, on the model of the successful cap that Massachusetts imposed in 1980. Over the next 27 years, property taxes in the Bay State rose 22% compared to 68% nationwide and 102% in New Jersey.
The cap is crucial to preventing local Garden State school districts, which are dominated by teachers unions, from raising taxes and thus defeating whatever spending restraint Mr. Christie can impose on Trenton. The unions know this, which is why they've spent some $7 million in TV ads portraying Mr. Christie as the scourge of police, firefighters and children. The Governor's approval rating has held up well despite the onslaught, which may reflect that voters understand the state's new fiscal reality. New Jersey's property taxes and its overall state and local tax burden are the nation's highest, and the state hasn't created a single net new private job in a decade.
Monday, June 21, 2010
Gov. Chris Christie wins again, sustaining veto of N.J. tax hike
TRENTON, N.J. - Democrats in the New Jersey Assembly have failed to override the Republican governor's veto of a tax surcharge on millionaires.
Monday's vote was strictly along party lines. All 47 Assembly Democrats voted for the override and all 33 Republicans voted against it. The measure needed seven GOP votes to advance.
The one-year surcharge would have raised about $600 million by increasing income taxes nearly two percent on the state's 16,000 highest wage earners.
It would have put the top earners into a 10.75 percent tax rate on income above $1 million.
Gov. Chris Christie vetoed the tax last month after the Legislature passed it along party lines. The governor vetoed the tax because it would deter hiring, Christie spokesman Michael Drewniak said.
Monday's vote was strictly along party lines. All 47 Assembly Democrats voted for the override and all 33 Republicans voted against it. The measure needed seven GOP votes to advance.
The one-year surcharge would have raised about $600 million by increasing income taxes nearly two percent on the state's 16,000 highest wage earners.
It would have put the top earners into a 10.75 percent tax rate on income above $1 million.
Gov. Chris Christie vetoed the tax last month after the Legislature passed it along party lines. The governor vetoed the tax because it would deter hiring, Christie spokesman Michael Drewniak said.
Friday, June 18, 2010
New Jersey Dems surrender, agree to vote for Gov. Chris Christie's budget and pretend Christie will take a fall
What looked to be an impending showdown between the Democratic-controlled New Jersey legislature and Republican Gov. Chris Christie over the state budget for fiscal 2011 may be over before it ever began. Democrats in the state assembly publicly conceded this week that Christie’s $29 billion budget would pass largely intact with Democratic support.
The move comes on the heels of last week’s collision between Christie and State Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-Camden). Sweeney delivered two bills reinstating New Jersey’s expired “millionaire’s tax” to the governor’s office in the State House, only to see Christie veto the bills almost as quickly as he received them. Sweeney promised that the Democrats would return with a similar tax increase soon, but reports indicate that there was no stomach among Democrats either to attempt a veto override or pass another version of the tax.
Rather than confront Christie and his veto pen again, Democrats have decided to allow the budget to go through. However, they are going to try and force Republicans to “own” the proposed cuts to programs for the elderly and the poor by insisting that those bills be initiated and sponsored by the minority. Most Democrats will then vote against the bills, supplying only the eight votes in the Assembly and four in the Senate needed for the measures to pass each house.
The chairman of the Assembly Budget Committee, Assemblyman Lou Greenwald (D), explained that the Democrats’ strategy is designed to pin responsibility on Republicans in the legislature for Christie’s proposed cuts. “The Republican Party is going to own this budget,” he said. “We will get them the necessary votes to pass it, but they will own it.”
Senate Budget Committee Chairman Paul Sarlo (D) similarly challenged Republicans to stand up for Christie’s budget. Referring to the Democrats’ claim that Christie’s reductions in state aid to municipalities and a one-year elimination of property tax rebates contained in the budget will cause property taxes to go up. “Show us some sponsors,” he said. “Show us some people willing to stand up for these tax increases.”
If Democrats are trying to put them on defensive, however, New Jersey Republicans are not taking the bait. Senate Minority Leader Tom Kean (R) told HUMAN EVENTS last week that his caucus would be glad to sponsor any bills necessary to implement Gov. Christie’s budget. “If the Democratic majority is either incapable or unwilling to sponsor the bills, we certainly will do so,” Kean said.
The move comes on the heels of last week’s collision between Christie and State Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-Camden). Sweeney delivered two bills reinstating New Jersey’s expired “millionaire’s tax” to the governor’s office in the State House, only to see Christie veto the bills almost as quickly as he received them. Sweeney promised that the Democrats would return with a similar tax increase soon, but reports indicate that there was no stomach among Democrats either to attempt a veto override or pass another version of the tax.
Rather than confront Christie and his veto pen again, Democrats have decided to allow the budget to go through. However, they are going to try and force Republicans to “own” the proposed cuts to programs for the elderly and the poor by insisting that those bills be initiated and sponsored by the minority. Most Democrats will then vote against the bills, supplying only the eight votes in the Assembly and four in the Senate needed for the measures to pass each house.
The chairman of the Assembly Budget Committee, Assemblyman Lou Greenwald (D), explained that the Democrats’ strategy is designed to pin responsibility on Republicans in the legislature for Christie’s proposed cuts. “The Republican Party is going to own this budget,” he said. “We will get them the necessary votes to pass it, but they will own it.”
Senate Budget Committee Chairman Paul Sarlo (D) similarly challenged Republicans to stand up for Christie’s budget. Referring to the Democrats’ claim that Christie’s reductions in state aid to municipalities and a one-year elimination of property tax rebates contained in the budget will cause property taxes to go up. “Show us some sponsors,” he said. “Show us some people willing to stand up for these tax increases.”
If Democrats are trying to put them on defensive, however, New Jersey Republicans are not taking the bait. Senate Minority Leader Tom Kean (R) told HUMAN EVENTS last week that his caucus would be glad to sponsor any bills necessary to implement Gov. Christie’s budget. “If the Democratic majority is either incapable or unwilling to sponsor the bills, we certainly will do so,” Kean said.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
New Jersey rallies behind Gov. Christie's budget balancing
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) and the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA), the state’s powerful teachers’ union, have been locked in mortal combat over Christie’s plans to balance New Jersey’s budget.
Christie has rescinded planned state aid to school districts for the remainder of the current fiscal year, sought changes to pension rules, and demanded that teachers contribute 1.5% of their salaries toward the cost of their benefits package and accept for a one-year wage freeze. The union has opposed him at every turn, running ads statewide accusing the governor of attempting to balance the budget on the backs of the middle class and at the expense of students.
Christie has been getting the better of the fight. His pension changes were enacted by the Democratic-controlled legislature earlier this year, and New Jerseyans turned out in record numbers in April to heed the governor’s call to vote down their local school budgets if teachers in their districts did not agree to the wage freeze and benefits contributions. Sixty percent of school budgets went down to defeat, the most ever in the state.
Now, as he attempts to close a gaping $11 billion gap in a total budget of just under $29 billion, Christie has proposed cutting state aid to school districts in fiscal year 2011 by close to $850 million. The NJEA is again calling foul. But after a spring of opposing New Jersey’s brash new governor with little to show for it, the teachers’ union finds its public support eroding.
A new Fairleigh Dickinson University/Public Mind poll released Tuesday found public opinion on the NJEA slipping nine points from the last survey in March. Forty-four percent of New Jersey registered voters now say they have an unfavorable view of the NJEA, compared to 35% two months ago. That number includes 26% who say they have a “very unfavorable” view of the union, up seven points since the last poll. Just one-third of voters now say that the view the NJEA favorably, and only 15% say their view is “very favorable.”
By contrast, the poll found that public support for some of Christie’s education initiatives fares better than the union. A plurality (43%) agreed that one pay scale for all teachers “tends to treat the most valuable teachers unfairly,” a nod toward the governor’s plan to institute merit pay for individual teachers in the state. A slightly larger plurality (46%) favors sending education vouchers to low-income families trapped in failing public schools, even if the money is used to finance private-school tuition. And an overwhelming majority of voters say that school administrators making over $200,000 a year are “overpaid considering what other important public employees make.”
Christie has rescinded planned state aid to school districts for the remainder of the current fiscal year, sought changes to pension rules, and demanded that teachers contribute 1.5% of their salaries toward the cost of their benefits package and accept for a one-year wage freeze. The union has opposed him at every turn, running ads statewide accusing the governor of attempting to balance the budget on the backs of the middle class and at the expense of students.
Christie has been getting the better of the fight. His pension changes were enacted by the Democratic-controlled legislature earlier this year, and New Jerseyans turned out in record numbers in April to heed the governor’s call to vote down their local school budgets if teachers in their districts did not agree to the wage freeze and benefits contributions. Sixty percent of school budgets went down to defeat, the most ever in the state.
Now, as he attempts to close a gaping $11 billion gap in a total budget of just under $29 billion, Christie has proposed cutting state aid to school districts in fiscal year 2011 by close to $850 million. The NJEA is again calling foul. But after a spring of opposing New Jersey’s brash new governor with little to show for it, the teachers’ union finds its public support eroding.
A new Fairleigh Dickinson University/Public Mind poll released Tuesday found public opinion on the NJEA slipping nine points from the last survey in March. Forty-four percent of New Jersey registered voters now say they have an unfavorable view of the NJEA, compared to 35% two months ago. That number includes 26% who say they have a “very unfavorable” view of the union, up seven points since the last poll. Just one-third of voters now say that the view the NJEA favorably, and only 15% say their view is “very favorable.”
By contrast, the poll found that public support for some of Christie’s education initiatives fares better than the union. A plurality (43%) agreed that one pay scale for all teachers “tends to treat the most valuable teachers unfairly,” a nod toward the governor’s plan to institute merit pay for individual teachers in the state. A slightly larger plurality (46%) favors sending education vouchers to low-income families trapped in failing public schools, even if the money is used to finance private-school tuition. And an overwhelming majority of voters say that school administrators making over $200,000 a year are “overpaid considering what other important public employees make.”
Friday, April 23, 2010
Gov. Chris Christie takes on New Jersey's teachers and bloated school bureaucracy, and still lives
You haven’t made it in New Jersey until organized labor wants you dead. By that measure, Chris Christie is already one of the most influential governors in the Garden State’s — shall we say, colorful history. Just a few months into his term, Christie has taken the fight to the blood-engorged leech of a public sector so quickly and so hard that one teacher-union apparatchik sent an e-mail to thousands praying for his untimely demise.
But Chris Christie lives. And nearly two-thirds of the state’s bloated school budgets are not so lucky, having perished at the polls — the local tax levy proposed by each school district in New Jersey is subject to voter approval — in greater proportion than in any year since 1976. This is undoubtedly a win for New Jersey taxpayers, who recognize the necessity, if not the palatability, of Christie’s strong fiscal medicine in a state that teeters on the brink of bankruptcy even as it pays the highest tax burden in the nation.
Faced with an $11 billion hole in a $30 billion budget, Christie used his broad constitutional discretion (New Jersey’s is arguably the most powerful governorship in the Union) to wield not a scalpel or an axe, but a scalpel the size of an axe against a Trenton machine rivaled only by Chicago and Albany in sheer size and scope.
As part of his efforts, he cut state aid to school districts by about 5 percent of their total budgets. Predictably, as school boards across the state pondered cutting programs like music and athletics to make up for the shortfall, the powerful New Jersey Education Association and its affiliates raged at the prospect of layoffs, even though new teacher hires in the state have grown far faster than enrollment, and have continued to grow even as the rest of the economy shed jobs.
“Think of the children!” the unions cried. But Christie called the bluff, promising to restore aid for districts whose staffs agreed to one-year pay freezes (not even cuts mind you, much less permanent ones) and to pay 1.5 percent of their salary into their exorbitant benefits packages (the vast majority currently pay 0 percent). Of the state’s 591 active school districts, fewer than two dozen have so far agreed to the concessions.
But Chris Christie lives. And nearly two-thirds of the state’s bloated school budgets are not so lucky, having perished at the polls — the local tax levy proposed by each school district in New Jersey is subject to voter approval — in greater proportion than in any year since 1976. This is undoubtedly a win for New Jersey taxpayers, who recognize the necessity, if not the palatability, of Christie’s strong fiscal medicine in a state that teeters on the brink of bankruptcy even as it pays the highest tax burden in the nation.
Faced with an $11 billion hole in a $30 billion budget, Christie used his broad constitutional discretion (New Jersey’s is arguably the most powerful governorship in the Union) to wield not a scalpel or an axe, but a scalpel the size of an axe against a Trenton machine rivaled only by Chicago and Albany in sheer size and scope.
As part of his efforts, he cut state aid to school districts by about 5 percent of their total budgets. Predictably, as school boards across the state pondered cutting programs like music and athletics to make up for the shortfall, the powerful New Jersey Education Association and its affiliates raged at the prospect of layoffs, even though new teacher hires in the state have grown far faster than enrollment, and have continued to grow even as the rest of the economy shed jobs.
“Think of the children!” the unions cried. But Christie called the bluff, promising to restore aid for districts whose staffs agreed to one-year pay freezes (not even cuts mind you, much less permanent ones) and to pay 1.5 percent of their salary into their exorbitant benefits packages (the vast majority currently pay 0 percent). Of the state’s 591 active school districts, fewer than two dozen have so far agreed to the concessions.
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