New Jersey Republican Gov. Chris Christie says the answer to his state’s budget woes is spending cuts, not tax increases. And he’s not just walking the walk.
During a speech at the annual Goldwater Institute dinner in Scottsdale, Ariz., last week, he described his thinking after learning that the state faced a $2.2 billion budget deficit when he took office in January.
“I had two choices,” Christie says. “First, I could sit down with leaders of the Democratic Legislature and try to negotiate a way to cut $2.2 billion from the budget, knowing they were wringing their hands with glee that they would force the new governor to raise taxes.”
Second, “I could decide to impose $2.2 billion in spending cuts by executive order. “Which one do you think I picked?”