Natalie Gonnella
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This week Governor Chris Christie scored a major victory in the battle against unsustainable spending, taking on both the New Jersey legislature and the state's influential unions.
Saving $130 billion over the next 30 years, Christie secured a remarkable compromise with state Democrats, sparing New Jersey residents from an excruciating tax burden largely caused by unfunded pension/benefit liabilities previously promised to state workers.
A lesson in leadership that many in Washington could learn from, here's a look at what pundits, politicians and publications have had to say about Christie's taxpayer triumph:
In his op-ed in the WSJ this weekend, Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell said of Christie's achievement:
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's monumental achievement this week in passing a bill to reform his state's public-employee benefits is a prime example. As Gov. Christie said Friday, underfunded pension and health-care obligations are "the core problems of government spending in the country."
This is the kind of leadership Americans want right now: straight talk about the fiscal mess we're in and a plan to solve it.
In a Editorial in this morning's paper, New York Post Editors applauded Christie's leadership:
Christie's reform won't fill that entire hole, but will help avert disasters down the road. And he got help from top Democrats in the Legislature, including Senate Majority Leader Steve Sweeney, who's a union boss in his day job.
The result is a compromise, to become law next week, that spares taxpayers from shouldering an unbearable burden.
This is what happens when you govern with your eyes open. Kudos to Christie, once again.
Weighing in on the impact of the compromise, Jonathan S. Tobin blogged:
The ability of the blunt-speaking and controversial governor to build a bipartisan coalition for fiscal sanity is just as amazing as the victory itself. While building a national reputation as a man who is not shy about telling opponents what he thinks of them, Christie was still able to find common ground with Democratic mayors and county officials (some of whom have seats in the legislature) to work out a deal that would help the taxpayers....Christie’s rout of the unions provides a model for leaders of both parties to follow as they attempt to save their states and the federal government from the fallout of generations of treating entitlements and state worker benefits as the third rail of politics.
In her recent interview with the New Jersey Governor, the Washington Post's Jennifer Rubin commented:
Far from being a rock-and-sock-’em partisan he’s figured out how to pass bipartisan, sweeping reform with no tax hikes and in the face of hostile unions and media. That’s an impressive item on the resume, whether for vice president or for president, if not for 2012, then perhaps for 2016.
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