newjerseynewsroom.com

BY ADELE SAMMARCO

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

Last week, New Jersey’s tough-talking Governor issued a warning to the state’s Democrats telling them he is no longer going to be “nice.”

Chris Christie, well known for his trademark in-your-face-style, is facing off with Dems over tax cuts and spending.

"We have to call them out," Christie told a group of more than 500 attendees of the South Jersey Chamber of Commerce luncheon in Cherry Hill Thursday. "I've been pretty nice until now. That ends today."

Further adding insult to injury, the Republican Governor called Democratic legislators "hypocrites" and called for what he described as "adult supervision for that circus we have in Trenton" and a "guardian at the gate."

Still basking in the national spotlight of his RNC speech, Christie said his popularity and poll ratings “rise and fall by what comes out of my mouth."

This sharp-tongue rhetoric is nothing new for Christie who has always sparred with the Democratic majorities of the state's Legislative houses over policy initiatives, tax cuts and spending.

Earlier in the year, Christie called for an across-the-board 10 percent property tax cut, but Democrats said they needed to exercise caution and set aside funds in order to pay for the first year of a tax cut if the state did not meet the Governor's revenue projections.

Revenues did happen to fall far short of what Christie had projected, and now the Legislature could be forced to cut from the $31.7 billion budget before the fiscal year ends June 30th.

In the meantime, the Governor has taken it on the road with nearly 100 town hall-style events under his belt meant to showcase his accomplishments throughout the state while chastising Democrats at every turn. On Christie's target list, Democratic Senator Barbara Buono of Middlesex, who is gearing up to run against him next year. Christie challenged a summer enrichment program in New Brunswick sponsored by Buono, who said he is only deflecting from the real issue of jobs leaving the state.

"He ought to know he can't bully his way to creating jobs," said Buono.

Undeterred, Christie criticized such legislative initiatives that plan to put kitchens in day-care centers, subsidize towns with large tax-exempt cemeteries, and promote responsible fatherhood.

“The Legislature acts as if Trenton has a money tree,” Christie said according to the Daily Journal, "I will be the person, as popular or unpopular as it may be at the moment, to look the purveyors of old politics in Trenton in the eye and say one simple word: No."

Christie did speak, however, about increasing private-sector jobs, but did not address the state's current 9.9 percent unemployment rate, that's well above the national unemployment rate of 8.1 percent.

Despite the lack of jobs in the state, a Monmouth University/Asbury Park Press poll released Thursday found 53 percent of respondents approved of Christie's job performance, while 35 percent disapproved. Among registered voters, 55 percent approved, while 36 percent disapproved.

Democratic Assemblyman John S. Wisniewski of Middlesex, Chair of the Assembly Transportation, Public Works and Independent Authorities Committee, as well as the state’s Democratic Party, wrote to the Star-Ledger Friday, "With a net 20 percent property tax increase since 2009 and 9.9 percent unemployment, these are tough times for all New Jerseyans."

Wisniewski believes the income gap between the wealthy and middle class is growing with more families living in poverty and says the Governor’s top priority has been campaigning for his party outside the state, so much that he has become "missing in action."

“No one person is responsible for an economy’s unemployment,” wrote Wisnewski, “But the Governor has shown a startling lack of leadership on job creation. In fact, he has enacted policies that directly put people on the unemployment line.”

Democrats point to Christie canceling the commuter rail tunnel under the Hudson River which cost the state an estimated 50,000 jobs and say the failed tunnel is just one example of the Governor’s contribution to the Garden State's dismal unemployment.

In the spirit of bi-partisanship, Democrats say they have tried to work with the Governor and passed a package of more than two dozen bills to address the sluggish economy, offering a plan to create jobs, attract businesses, spark long-term economic growth and help the unemployed find work, but say the Governor vetoed two business tax initiatives specifically designed to create jobs, only to propose similar bills just days later, delaying efforts.

Public service employees have been hard hit by the recession which caused massive layoffs for the state's teachers, police officers and firefighters. At the end of last year, the state had 4,000 fewer police officers.

In June, the Legislature passed a bill to help businesses struggling with the credit and finance industry by extending building permits, yet Democrats say the Governor dragged his feet on signing it. When he eventually did approve the measure, Wisnewski said it cost businesses three months work, raising the question of whether his out-of-state travels had taken precedence over his responsibility to the citizens of New Jersey.

Wisnewski added as then Gubernatorial candidate in 2009, Christie once stated, “I don’t know how, when unemployment continues to go up, that you can say that’s a success."