I Love This Man!

[Shady]

Does that take into account the 1.8 billion deficit the NJ EI fund has, oh wait Christie moved that off the books. No it doesn't? How about the 3.1 Billion Christie decided not to put into the state workers pension plan the State owes to it? Shady you might not know this because you don't know anything but NJ is already 200 billion in debt on that pension how is putting off the contribution the state owes a good thing? Oh so this is just how Republican's "balance a budget". What a sad day. What a dummy.

All lies and distortions. In other words. Complete nonsense.

[punked]

All lies and distortions. In other words. Complete nonsense.

They aren't Shady. Those are the hard truths the only reason he "balanced" the books is because he moved all the unbalanced parts off books or moved them until next year. What a dummy.

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/20100701_Editorial__The_Jersey_steamroller.html

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/07/nj_unemployment_insurance_fund.html

Edited July 5, 2010 by punked

[Shady]

They aren't Shady. Those are the hard truths the only reason he "balanced" the books is because he moved all the unbalanced parts off books or moved them until next year. What a dummy.

More lies. Stop lying. Please.

[punked]

More lies. Stop lying. Please.

Citation provided. OHHHHH NOES whinny Shady faces the truth ignores it and cries.

[TimG]

All lies and distortions. In other words. Complete nonsense.

Can you provide more backup? Moving liabilities off the books is a common trick used to balance budgets by governments of all stripes. I think a little more evidence is required to show that Christie did not use those tricks.

[Shakeyhands]

Complete nonsense. Just accept that your boy lost the election and move on already.

Btw, looks like gold is up to $1216. Just for the record, when you first flapped your gums about it, gold was at $1177!

I believe that historically gold is up when economies are bad...

[punked]

Can you provide more backup? Moving liabilities off the books is a common trick used to balance budgets by governments of all stripes. I think a little more evidence is required to show that Christie did not use those tricks.

Check my links out they outline that at very least 5 billion was put off the books, probably more it took 2 seconds of reading news from NJ and the budget to see this "balanced budget" was bull crap. The media in NJ is reporting it, Shady is not.

[August1991]

Check my links out they outline that at very least 5 billion was put off the books, probably more it took 2 seconds of reading news from NJ and the budget to see this "balanced budget" was bull crap. The media in NJ is reporting it, Shady is not.

I'm no expert on NJ (in fact, I loathe the place and usually try to get through it as quickly as possible or bypass it completely; I feel sorry for anyone forced to live there) but it seems obvious to me that Christie has managed to reduce government spending. And that's a win in my books.

I like this quote though:

By the time the Legislature signed off on a state spending plan at 2 a.m. Tuesday, the governor was already scheduled to appear on two cable news networks to tell his version of the story Wednesday morning, according to a 1:21 a.m. Tuesday e-mail from his press secretary.

...

Each of these events and proclamations reveals a politician who attacks policy like a game of chess, nimbly using cool intellect and well-trained instinct to control the battlefield.

"One of the things past governors have failed to do, particularly Gov. Corzine, was to control the agenda through the media. And the reality is that because of Christie's effective use of the media in shaping public opinion, he got the budget he wanted from a Democratic Legislature," said Montclair State University political scientist Brigid Harrison. "He used the media and he shaped public opinion in such a way that the Democrats felt their hands were truly tied."

Philadelphia Inquirer

This is how to play the only kind of politics that matter!

[punked]

Don't forget putting money off budget so he can lie and call it balanced August.

[lukin]

The governor is 100% correct about teachers' unions, not only there, but also here in Canada. Teacher unions care nothing about the education of children. They want power and then more power.

[punked]

The governor is 100% correct about teachers' unions, not only there, but also here in Canada. Teacher unions care nothing about the education of children. They want power and then more power.

Must be why they use their union dues to pay their members to continue their education in getting masters degrees you know because they don't care about the quality of education their members have to help the students they teach. Wait a minute that is the opposite of that they do it to make better teachers for our children.

[Shady]

Does that take into account the 1.8 billion deficit the NJ EI fund has

Yes, actually it does take that into account. Not only that, Christie and the legislature added new restrictions on workers who are fired for misconduct. From you link.

The high incidence of fraud comes as New Jersey — like many other states — struggles to plug a shortfall in its jobless fund. Last week, with the fund facing a $1.8 billion deficit, the Legislature established a task force to study the fund’s insolvency, and tightened benefit restrictions for workers who are fired for misconduct.

How about the 3.1 Billion Christie decided not to put into the state workers pension plan

Yes, that's exactly what he did. The New Jersey state unions are bankrupting the state. There is no money. And the existing pension system is set up like a ponzi scheme. It needs to be reformed, and he's doing it.

Here's my favourite part of punked's link.

Christie's first budget as governor is harsh medicine. But in a state where the average property-tax bill is nearly $7,300, he is on the right track.

That's from the link punked provided! Word for word!

[punked]

Yeah yeah Shady when faced with the actual facts you turn your scream lies into something different.

BTW Christies budget contains a cap trade system based on what Obama has suggested Shady. It has its own Public Option called family care in it, and the original budget from the legislature was actually only a billion more then the one Christie signed.

http://www.northjersey.com/news/opinions/lonegan_062410.html

Sorry Shady it isn't balanced, it contains everything you hate and he is a liar.

[TimG]

Yes, that's exactly what he did. The New Jersey state unions are bankrupting the state. There is no money. And the existing pension system is set up like a ponzi scheme. It needs to be reformed, and he's doing it.

Did he actually negotiate or legislate cuts to the pension or did he simply defer payments? If he simply deferred payments then he is playing a shell game because the liability is still there.

[punked]

Did he actually negotiate or legislate cuts to the pension or did he simply defer payments? If he simply deferred payments then he is playing a shell game because the liability is still there.

He deferred them a long standing tradition in NJ politics might be why the state is now on the hook for 200 billion in pension liabilities in the near future.

[August1991]

Don't forget putting money off budget so he can lie and call it balanced August.

Punked to call a budget "balanced", politicians use every trick in the book imaginable. Have you read David Stockwell?

It seems however that Christie did not increase government spending/outlays (current or promised). That to me, is a plus.

-----

Perhaps more important, Christie knows how to get his specific policy message over various interest groups, through the media, to the voters likely to vote for him. In this modern world, that's considered tough to do.

Apologists of Stephen Harper use that "tough to do" argument as an excuse for Harper's poor poll ratings. They argue that Harper should employ "incrementalism", shift the goal posts, before he delivers the true message.

Well, this guy Christie - a mere NJ governor - seems to know how to speak to his voting public.

[lukin]

Must be why they use their union dues to pay their members to continue their education in getting masters degrees you know because they don't care about the quality of education their members have to help the students they teach. Wait a minute that is the opposite of that they do it to make better teachers for our children.

Can you re-write this so that it makes sense?

[punked]

Can you re-write this so that it makes sense?

Yes your assertion is silly. Teacher unions pay for their members to get their master degrees so they can be better educators. It is dumb to say an organization made up of educators does not care about education. Maybe you don't like the teacher unions also fighting for living wages for their members but to say they don't care about education is just wrong.

[punked]

Punked to call a budget "balanced", politicians use every trick in the book imaginable. Have you read David Stockwell?

It seems however that Christie did not increase government spending/outlays (current or promised). That to me, is a plus.

-----

Perhaps more important, Christie knows how to get his specific policy message over various interest groups, through the media, to the voters likely to vote for him. In this modern world, that's considered tough to do.

Apologists of Stephen Harper use that "tough to do" argument as an excuse for Harper's poor poll ratings. They argue that Harper should employ "incrementalism", shift the goal posts, before he delivers the true message.

Well, this guy Christie - a mere NJ governor - seems to know how to speak to his voting public.

That might be true if he wrote the budget. He did not the Democratic legislator did, and then Christie cut 1 billion in tax credits. Check out my link.

[lukin]

Yes your assertion is silly. Teacher unions pay for their members to get their master degrees so they can be better educators. It is dumb to say an organization made up of educators does not care about education. Maybe you don't like the teacher unions also fighting for living wages for their members but to say they don't care about education is just wrong.

They pretend they care about education. Where do teacher unions pay for their members to get their useless masters of education degree? The so-called educational experts have destroyed public education in many places. These experts are found in teacher unions and governmental departments of education. You obviously don't know very much about the sorry state of public education.

[punked]

They pretend they care about education. Where do teacher unions pay for their members to get their useless masters of education degree? The so-called educational experts have destroyed public education in many places. These experts are found in teacher unions and governmental departments of education. You obviously don't know very much about the sorry state of public education.

Got you. You hate education. I think I would rather put educators in charge as opposed to you seriously you could hid your contempt for education while arguing for it because no one can take you seriously while you talk about how much you hate it.

I know that public education has lead to the highest literacy rates in the world, it has lead to technological explosion, and it has made us the smartest generation to ever live. You might have problems with it but attacking like it is horrible is wrong.

[TimG]

I know that public education has lead to the highest literacy rates in the world, it has lead to technological explosion, and it has made us the smartest generation to ever live. You might have problems with it but attacking like it is horrible is wrong.

The trouble with education is the monopoly that teacher unions have. This leads them to confuse their self interest with the best interest of students. A move to independent charter schools which gave parents choices and broke the union monopoly would dramically improve the system.

[punked]

The trouble with education is the monopoly that teacher unions have. This leads them to confuse their self interest with the best interest of students. A move to independent charter schools which gave parents choices and broke the union monopoly would dramically improve the system.

If you don't like Unions then enroll your children in private school. However teacher unions have not lead to anything I believe it was only a few months ago a school board in the US fired all their teachers. They then hired non unionized teachers, test scores did not improve.

[TimG]

If you don't like Unions then enroll your children in private school.

People who do that should be able to take all of the funding that would have gone to the public school and use it to pay the tuition on the private schools. Charter schools are a formal way to manage these transfers. There is no justification for a system where the only way to get public funding is to use a system controlled by a teachers union monopoly. Simply firing the union and keeping the monopoly does not help. The system needs competition.

[lukin]

There are plenty of good teachers who do a lot of good work with students, not only in the classroom, but with extra-curricular activities. There are also teachers who do nothing extra with kids, and do a poor job of teaching students. These two groups of teachers get paid exactly the same because of unions. How is that for the betterment of public education.

My daughter was in a junior high class in which most of the time was spent painting and drawing things. She did very little critical thinking or writing. When I questioned the teacher she said she was following the curriculum. I was very disgusted by this as I pay a good chunk of taxes to education. I respect teachers who teach my kids, not the teachers like the one my daughter had.