The "Thomas Jefferson of New Jersey"

The battle lines are drawn. It's Republican Governor Chris Christie versus the Unions: Teachers Union and State Worker Unions, who according to NJ.com dumped in $814,000 to Democrats in New Jersey last year, much of that going to defeat Christie.

From NJ.com:

delivering a major budget speech today, laying the groundwork to make a range of cuts that will include $475 million in state aid to schools, according to people familiar with his plans. New Jersey Democrats... are infuriated that he had not consulted with them.

Most politicians and political experts agree the war between Christie and the unions is unique in Statehouse history. No previous governor ever opposed the unions so directly and with such gusto, and the unions never fought back so readily.

However, Christie is gaining support from taxpayers and even some libertarians for his budget cutting efforts. So much so in fact, that one prominent NJ Libertarian economist Dr. Murray Sabrin of Ramapo College has even posed the question: Is Christie "New Jersey's Jefferson?" Sabrin was the 2006 Libertarian Party nominee for US Senate. He is also an associate at the Ludvig von Mises Institue.

From Murray Sabrin.com, Feb. 12:

if Democrats had a clue about how the economy works, they would realize that state revenues are very sensitive during the course of the business cycle. When the economy started to turn down more than two years ago, that should have set off alarm bells in the governor’s office and in the legislature. Instead, they collectively buried their heads in the sand and hoped the economy would turn around quickly.

In his address Governor Christie made the following remarks.

“And make no mistake: our priorities are to reduce and reform New Jersey’s habit of excessive government spending, to reduce taxes, to encourage job creation, to shrink our bloated government, and to fund our responsibilities on a pay-as-you-go basis and not leave them for future generations. In short, to make New Jersey a home for growth instead of a fiscal basket case.

“Let us live within the means the people are already providing us and not take more of their hard-earned wages and savings from their pockets.”

In his first inaugural address Thomas Jefferson said: “… a wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government….”

Governor Christie may turn out to be New Jersey’s Thomas Jefferson. Let’s hope so for the people of New Jersey and future generations.