The whole world is screaming this “Network” mantra, from the
Middle East to Occupy Wall Street, from the Tea Party Patriots to the manic
masse in Europe. “ Too Big to Fail” is a failing argument, and statehouses across
the country are grappling with entitlement spending that threatens the solvency
of the sovereign states and the federal government. People are out of work,
tired of politicians who spend every day in office making sure that they have a
job.
I am mad, too. I got mad when my Congresswoman voted for
ObamaCare, even when a supermajority of voters in this country rejected the
outrageous and unfunded mandate. I got glad when I saw Federal Prosecutor Chris
Christie take back the Governor’s mansion in Trenton, pushing aside money,
incumbency, and a lot of support from an unpopular progressive president who
has done more to regress the health and welfare of this country than any other
executive in modern history.
There is no politician who epitomizes “Enough Already!” to
Big Government than the Big Governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie. Whether a
boon or bane, Christie has a bone to pick with high taxes, excessive
regulations, and too much spending, and he does not run away from the challenge.
After the previous Governor socked the state with tax hikes and wasteful
spending, a Republican has come to the rescue, refusing to raise taxes and
subsidize overgenerous public sector benefits.
From Day One, Christie photocopied a front-page article to his desk with his
stern demeanor, entitled “The Answer is No!” He has said "No" when voters across
the country have gotten comfortable with more spending, higher taxes, and on
accountability from our leaders. He has the guts (no disrespect intended) to tell of our Do-Nothing
while Attempting-to-do-Everything President “What they hell are we paying you
for?”
In Southern California, where I live, fiscal conservatism was
married easily with social liberalism along the South Bay, a wealth suburb of Los
Angeles. My former Congressional Representative, Jane Harman, pretended to be a
Blue Dog Democrat for years, supporting the declining aerospace and air force
industries near Los Angeles International Airport. At the end of her last term
in Congress, she sold out her country and supported a massive health insurance mandate, one
that threatens to damn our liberties and our fiscal responsibilities for the
next generation. While she and her liberal cabal were crowing about the lack of
bipartisanship in Washington, Governor Christie was tussling with Democratic
elements in New Jersey and found common ground, much of which has saved the Garden
State from the weed-wacker of fiscal bankruptcy.
Christie intimidates teachers’ unions, who have prayed for
his death. To their frustrated chagrin, he schools them, his state, and the
country that We the People cannot afford to pay retired public workers until
the day they die and cover their medical expenses the entire time. Christie
delineated this argument perfectly in one townhall meeting, where he illustrated, without
raising his voice or belittling his constituents, that while the federal government picks up 78%
and New York 82% of a public pension, New Jersey was picking up 96% for its
workers. This is unsustainable, and no one argued with him. He outlines the
truth, draws the line in the stand, and forced his opponents to line up and go
down, one at a time.
He is the only Republican to command enough respect to tell my
Governor, Jerry Brown, that it is just plain stupid to raise taxes during an
economic downturn. Instead of fiscal reform, Governor Brown authorized an
abortive Dream Act, which Candidate Christie cogently refused to endorse for
economic reasons. My state legislators are banning the sale of domestic animals
and tanning for minors, while the state is hemorrhaging multi-billion dollar
deficits every year. They passed one balanced budget with smoke-and-mirrors,
all wafted away once the real math came through. In New Jersey, there has been
a balanced budget every year that
Christie has been in office. He has cut spending, cut taxes, and cut the crap. Although
my governor provided a plan to end public sector pension pilfering, he has not
commanded the skill, the thrill, or the will to get his liberal ilk to take the
pill and do what is best for the tarnished Golden State. He could learn a lot
from Christie and the governor’s team in the Garden State.
One reader responded to one of my letters that maybe I ought
to come to Trenton and dodge a few bullets, as it appears that my open
enthusiasm for New Jersey’s governor offends the local, vocal opposition. Frankly, I would prefer that Governor
Christie come dodge a few bullets here in Sacramento, where party loyalty and crass
public union pandering are threatening to eviscerate our credit, scare away
business, and impoverish our already emaciated public sector.
Governor Christie, would you mind taking the reins in
Sacramento for a year or two? We really need someone to go “New Jersey”
on our sad-sack Sacramento political class!
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