What a great interview. Christie begins the interview by talking about Snowmageddon that occurred while he was in Disney World and dismisses his critics by saying that no one complained that the streets of New Jersey were being cleared like they did in neighboring New York. Even to Mayor Giuliani’s criticism of him for being out of state, he just chalks it up to a bad morning for the Mayor saying that maybe he didn’t get his Bran that morning. He does emphasize his great respect for the Mayor though as it was certainly just a light hearted jab.
But the reason Christie comes to the big couch is to discuss the fact that New Jersey has gone from 10% unemployment when he came into office to 9.2% now. He cut 2 billion in spending because of their deficit problems along with cutting the corporate tax rate and vetoing a tax increase. And Wallah, they are already experiencing increased revenues which is also indicative of job growth. But he humbly says they can’t do a victory lap though because there is still so much work to be done.
But one thing that impresses me as much as his fiscal successes in New Jersey is the fact that despite all the cries that he should run for POTUS, he is not using his first year as a stepping stool to get to higher office. He says that he made a commitment to New Jersey and he intends to keep it. I applaud him for that because there just isn’t enough of that going around.
Enjoy!
—