By Adam Bitely
After November’s elections, the casual political observer would have cast the results as follows. In Virginia, a strong conservative candidate had become governor, and in New Jersey, a moderate Republican had been elected in a state that seemed impossible to win in. However, that analysis is tragically flawed.
Consider the following. In New Jersey, a state plagued by strong public sector unions and a budget that just cannot be balanced, newly elected Governor Chris Christie has been faced with making decisions that even the supposedly strong conservative Bob McDonnell in Virginia chose not to make. Christie has taken on the public sector unions headstrong and has not relented.
In a recent Washington Examiner column, Christie is credited with cutting 375 out of 378 state programs. As well, he has made education cuts, including all-out spending freezes, and has promised to sign any reform bill on public sector union pension and benefit programs.
As far as Christie is concerned on public sector union pensions, which are funded by the taxpayer, he is promising reform. As Christie said, “until reform is enacted, we cannot in good conscience fund a system that is out of control, bankrupting our state and its people and making promises it cannot meet in the long term.”
This is all quite different from what Governor McDonnell has done in Virginia.
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