Christie: Washington Needs 'Fiscal Sanity'

Wednesday afternoon, NJ Gov. Chris Christie spoke in Washington, calling on the federal government to get tough on entitlement reform and spending cuts.

This afternoon, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie gave a speech at the American Enterprise Institute calling for the federal government to show the courage to reform entitlement programs – and showing off a little of that ‘RINO-tough’ attitude that he’s being increasingly known for.

In an address, Christie accused politicians in D.C. and President Obama in particular of speaking only to “the candy of American politics”, that is, the luxuries of American political options – things like high-speed rail and internet.

But if we don’t address ballooning entitlement programs, Christie says, America is not going to be able to deal with the niceties of smaller things like high-speed rail:

I fear that, after watching how things are going for the last month or two, that we are missing an opportunity… Let me suggest to you that what game is being played down here is irresponsible and dangerous... when we say entitlement programs, we should be specific.

Christie dismissed the notion that social security is “the third-rail of American politics”, arguing that politicians who show courage on reform would be rewarded. Indeed, in his address he barged ahead to call for entitlement reform:

You're going to have to raise the retirement age for social security. We have to reform Medicare because it costs too much… We have to fix Medicaid because it's not only bankrupting the federal government, it's also bankrupting every state government... We are on the path to ruin.

Gov. Christie himself admitted that the reputation of New Jersey had not been sparkling of late, with the state known only “for political corruption, The Sopranos, the Real Housewives of New Jersey, and now – regrettably – the Jersey Shore”.

His goal is to change that by making New Jersey known for its success in three areas: maintaining fiscal responsibility, reforming pensions and health benefits, and improving the education system.

Christie cited his FY2010 budget as his first step towards “fiscal sanity”: with a $2.2 billion budget deficit and facing the possibility of the state government not being able to make payroll, he found $2.2 billion to continue making payments. In his latest budget, he faced an $11 billion budget deficit and balanced the budget by cutting spending from every single government department – without raising any taxes.

The governor also addressed what has become his trademark attitude: confrontation.

“There is a time and a place for partisanship... I’m not disagreeing with folks just for the sake of disagreeing... I save my energy for the fights of consequence,” said Gov. Christie. “I'm fighting now because this is the time that matters the most for New Jersey’s future and America's future. We are teetering on the edge of disaster… Leadership is not about waiting. I got four years as governor of New Jersey. I don't have time to wait.”

But even as he drew comparisons between what he has done for his state and what needs to be done for the country at large – he compared his pension and benefit reforms to what needs to be done to federal entitlements – and talked at length about his disappointment with the progress in D.C., Christie insisted strenuously once again that he has no wish to run for president.

"What do I have to do, short of suicide, to convince people that I'm not running [for President]?" asked Christie jokingly.

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