Since he was a federal prosecutor, Governor Chris Christie has been known for charging full ahead into problems. William McGurn has a great column in today's Wall Street Journal about New Jersey's new governor and his hard-chargin' style. In "Reaganism, New Jersey Style," McGurn argues that Christie is charging ahead to tackle to myriad problems in the state, talking to New Jersey voters like adults about the hard choices they face.
McGurn writes: "Mr. Christie knows he needs to put the hard choices before the state's citizens, and to speak to them as adults. He's doing just that. One reporter for the Newark Star-Ledger summed up Mr. Christie's rhetoric this way: "[F]inally we have a governor who is as teed off as the rest of us at how government spending and taxes have skyrocketed over the past decade."
McGurn also includes some of Christie's responses to those who argue that higher taxes and more spending are the answer. "The top 1% of taxpayers in New Jersey pay 40% of the income tax," said Christie. "In addition, we've got a situation where that tax applies to small businesses. I'm simply not going to put my foot on the back of the neck of small business while I want them to try to grow jobs by giving more revenue to New Jersey."
It's refreshing to hear a governor, especially one from New Jersey, speak frankly about pressing fiscal issues, and why more spending and higher taxes are not solutions. The fiscal problems in New Jersey are very serious. The Garden State is nearly $11 billion in the red, the state and local tax burden is the second highest in the nation, and taxpayers are leaving the state in droves. Given the dire situation in New Jersey, let's hope Governor Christie continues to charge ahead.