Fri Jun 25, 2010 at 02:30:00 PM EDT
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While he's busy calling everyone else a bully, Governor Christie is playing hardball with members of his own party trying to get them to come on board and support his budget deal. Back in February after just taking office, this is what he was saying:When people are struggling - that is not the time to raise taxes and fees," Christie told reporters during a Statehouse news conference. But now as he seeks to avoid embarrassment by not getting his own party on board with his plans, the Governor is singing a different tune:Doherty and other members of the committee had a Thursday breakfast meeting with Chris Christie at Drumthwacket during which the Governor called for the Republican members of the committee to hold their noses and vote for the hikes, my sources say.
There's something to be said for this sort of thing when you've got a budget deadline looming and a deal has to be made. But when Doherty refused to budge, he got kicked off the committee by state Senate Minority Leader Tom Kean Jr., who put himself on the committee.
This is not a good move when it comes to the Governor. One of his big campaign promises was that he would veto any new taxes. And calling those taxes "fees" is not going to fool anyone, especially when they're "fees" on hospital stays and ambulatory-care visits, as in S2143, which is sponsored by Kean. That's right, a tax by another name is still a tax, no matter how many times Christie tells you it's not. And if you're not with him, you're against him and can get lost, even when you're in his own party. So while it's unlikely Christie will drop the talking point that he won't sign a budget raising taxes, maybe the media can start to ask a few more questions when he spouts the nonsense.
Oh and by the way, where was this holding your nose and going along that he wants everyone else to do when the Governor was vetoing the bill giving a tax cut to millionaires? Must be more of those Christie rules. |
| Jason Springer :: Christie singing a different tune: Hold your nose and vote for the tax hikes |
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