In terms supposedly relating to their "fiery" or "brave" personalities but they never get into the nuts and bolts of Christie's policies or their real world results, same as Ryan and so many others because, in reality, they are, to a person, incompetent, corrupt frauds.
Christie has made a shambles of New Jersey's economy, giving away literally billions to his political cronies and corporations who in return rewarded New Jersey taxpayers with one of the highest unemployment rates in the nation. Christie has consistently vetoed any increase in taxes on millionaires while property taxes have skyrocketed while he increased fees, transit fares and tolls, effectively creating a shadow taxation system on the middle class and poor.
Christie has shoveled millions of dollars into his politically connected friends' privatization schemes, like his current education secretary Chris Cerf, former head of a charter school corporation that he blatantly lied about his relationship with, and his former education secretary Bret Schundler, funding theirs and others' charter school schemes, funneling taxpayer money to them while destroying our once top ranked public education system. Privatizing prisons so his mentor and former law firm boss, Bill Palatucci, can profit off of scandalous conditions in his Community Education Center private hell holes while Christie vetoes any legislation aimed at investigating or holding CEC and others responsible.
Christie's economic and social policies are a disaster for New Jersey just like Ryan's insane, misanthropic policies are a disaster for our nation. Yet the media keeps talking about these two fools and Romney as if they're serious contenders with valid ideas when they're nothing more than the same bullshit peddlers whose wealth centric policies broke the entire world in 2008.
Here are the facts on media darling Chris Christie. His "bold leadership" and how "he has fearlessly tackled his state’s most difficult challenges, while looking out for hardworking taxpayers." Why doesn't our "free press" expose this instead of the bullshit cult of personality garbage they're feeding low information voters?
http://www.onenewjersey.org/christie-by-the-numbers/
Christie By The Numbers
How Long Does It Take Governor Christie to Say “No”?
54 minutes – Length of October 4th vanity press conference, announcing intent not to run for President of the United States
10 seconds – Amount of time it took Governor Christie to veto the millionaires’ tax
Below are the real numbers that are hurting our state and all the families who live here.
Jobs Lost
9.6% – New Jersey’s unemployment rate (NJ Spotlight, 7/23/2012)
1.4% – how much higher New Jersey’s unemployment rate is than the national average. The farthest the state has been above the national average in 30 years. (NJ Spotlight, 7/23/2012)
174,100 – Net private sector jobs lost (NJ Spotlight, 7/23/2012)
170,400 – jobs lost in New Jersey since December 2007, when the Great Recession hit (NJ Spotlight, 7/23/2012)
16,600 or 2.8% – Public sector workers laid off (NJ Spotlight, 7/23/2012)
41st – New Jersey’s business climate ranking (CNBC, 7/10/2012)
47 – Out of 51 nationally, New Jersey’s government job growth rate since January 2010 (Capitol Quickies, 11/22/2011)
45 – Out of 51 nationally, New Jersey’s private- and public-sector job growth rate since January 2010 (Capitol Quickies, 11/22/2011)
45,000 – Number of permanent jobs Christie cost New Jersey by killing the Access to the Region’s Core tunnel project (The Star-Ledger, 10/28/2010)
30,700 – Jobs lost in New Jersey from December 2009 to December 2010 (NewJerseyNewsroom.com, 1/19/2011)
16,300 – Jobs lost in New Jersey in December 2010 alone, including 13,300 private sector jobs (NewJerseyNewsroom.com, 1/19/2011)
10,000 – Teachers and school employees laid off in 2010 due to Christie’s budget cuts (Daily Journal, 12/29/2010)
6,000 – Number of construction jobs New Jersey lost when Christie decided to end the Access to the Region’s Core tunnel project (The Star-Ledger, 10/28/2010)
2,200 – Police officers laid off in New Jersey in 2010 due to Christie’s cuts to municipal aid (The Star-Ledger, 1/16/2011)
Federal Funding Lost
$186 – Federal aid lost per each individual in New Jersey (NJ Spotlight, 7/23/2012)
$145,000,000 – Amount owed to the federal government for Medicaid mismanagement (The Star-Ledger, 1/12/2012)
$171,000,000 – Minimum expected losses from 2012-2018 as a consequence of Christie pulling New Jersey out of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (Environment New Jersey, 2/15/2102)
$3,000,000,000 – The largest Federal Transit Administration grant in American history, lost when Christie killed the Access to the Region’s Core tunnel project (Asbury Park Press, 12/27/10)
$60,000,000 – Amount of federal Race to the Top education funding lost for the second year in a row (The Star-Ledger, 12/16/2011)
$400,000,000 – Race to the Top federal education funding lost because Christie refused to compromise and work with teachers’ union on application for funding (The Star-Ledger, 10/10/10)
$9,000,000 – Federal funding for family planning services for uninsured women lost when Christie spending $1.1 million in state money on the program (Associated Press, 2/4/11)
$1,200,000 – Paid to politically-connected lobbying law-firm Patton Boggs for fighting demands from federal government to return $271,000,000 spent on Access to the Region’s Core project (NorthJersey.com, 7/5/11)
Corporate Bailouts, Mismanagement & Abuse of Taxpayer Money
15% – Decrease in revenue from Fiscal Year 2011 (NJ Spotlight, 7/23/2012)
$5,500,000,000 – Increase in New Jersey’s pension liability from 2010 to 2011 (The Star-Ledger, 1/25/12)
$2,832,000 – Shortfall in Christie’s payment to New Jersey’s pension fund for 2012 (The Star-Ledger, 1/25/12)
$2,100,000 – Shortfall in Christie’s payment to New Jersey’s pension fund for 2013 (The Star-Ledger, 1/25/12)
$828,000,000 – Amount in tax credits, grants, and other initiatives doled out through to the private sector from the Economic Development Authority (The Star-Ledger, 1/18/2012)
$591,400,000 – Amount spent since 2006 on the now-canceled ARC Tunnel project (NorthJersey.com, 10/9/2011)
$279,000,000 – Loss to NJ taxpayers as a result of Governor Christie canceling the ARC Tunnel project (NorthJersey.com, 1/8/2012)
$261,000,000 – Cost of twenty years worth of state tax breaks supported by Christie for Revel casino construction project in Atlantic City (Associated Press, 3/24/2011)
$200,000,000 – Cost of tax breaks Christie promised to the foreign company that took over development of Meadowlands Xanadu project (NorthJersey.com, 5/3/2011)
Infrastructure
55% – New Jersey highways in poor or mediocre condition (NJ Spotlight, 7/23/2012)
35% – New Jersey bridges which are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete (NJ Spotlight, 7/23/2012)
Cost Increases
$2,600 – Under legislation signed by Christie, the approximate minimum increase in annual cost of health care premium for public employee making $65,000 to $70,000 who needs family health care (BusinessInsurance.com, 6/28/11)
82%+ – Percentage of New Jersey towns that saw some increase in the average property tax bills in 2011 (The Star-Ledger, 1/8/2012)
25% – Increase in fares for NJ Transit rail and commuter bus lines since Christie took office (Asbury Park Press, 4/14/10)
10% – Increase in fares for local bus and light rail fares since Christie took office (Asbury Park Press, 4/14/10)
138 – Hours a week a minimum wage worker in New Jersey would need to work to afford a two-bedroom unit at Fair Market Rent (National Income Housing Coalition, 2012)
Property Taxes
20.4% - Net property taxes higher since Christie took office (NJ Spotlight, 1/30/12)
11% - Amount of income a New Jersey household spends on property taxes (The national average is just 3%)
3.3% – Average property tax increase in 2010 for New Jersey’s homeowners (Asbury Park Press, 9/2/10)
23.5% – Average property tax increase in 2010 for New Jersey’s homeowners after the cut of homestead rebate is accounted for (Asbury Park Press, 9/2/10)
518 – Municipalities that saw increase in average 2010 property tax bill (NJ Department of Community Affairs, Division of Local Government Services)
494 – Municipalities that saw increase in 2010 property tax rates (NJ Department of Community Affairs, Division of Local Government Services, Property Tax Information)
Fundraising & Campaigning
$8,000,000 – Campaign cash raised by Christie in 2010 for Republican campaigns around the nation (NJ.com, 10/31/10)
20,000 – Miles traveled by Christie as he crisscrossed America attending rallies and fundraisers for Republican candidates in 201o (NJ.com, 10/31/10)
15 – States visited by Christie while campaigning for fellow Republicans throughout the country in 2010 (NJ.com, 10/31/10)
Misplaced Priorities
$300,000 – Taxpayer dollars used in January 2010 to lure businesses from Illinois to New Jersey. To-date, not a single business has relocated.
$80.50 – The amount a family earning $50,000 a year would save under Christie’s proposed income tax cut (PolitiFact, 1/22/2012)
$7,265.75 – The minimum a couple earning $1,000,000 a year would save under Christie’s proposed income tax cut (PolitiFact, 1/22/2012)
$10,000,000,000 – The cost of Christie’s proposed income tax cut (Associated Press, 1/30/2012)
33 – Number of trips Governor Christie has taken as of May 2011 with State Police Helicopters (The Star-Ledger, 6/2/2011)
56 – Number of taxpayer-funded GOP rallies under the guise of town halls (PolitickerNJ, 9/22/2011)
Poverty
8.4% – Mortgage loans in foreclosure. One out of every twelve mortgages in New Jersey is in the foreclosure stage. This number continues to spike as rates nationally have fallen to the lowest levels since 2008. New Jersey now has the 2nd highest percentage of mortgage loans in foreclosure in the nation. (New Jersey Newsroom, 7/18/2012)
30% – New Jersey residents who hold jobs and rely on food stamps as of 2010 (The Star-Ledger, 7/30/2012)
15.5% – New Jersey residents who are underemployed (The Wall Street Journal, 7/30/2012)
$200 – Lost, per family, in tax credits aimed at low-income workers during the past two tax years (NJ Spotlight, 8/8/2012)
5% – Cut in tax credits aimed at low-income workers in Christie’s 2010-2011 budget (NJ Spotlight, 8/8/2012)
48 out of 50 - New Jersey’s rank when it comes to serving school breakfast to low-income children, many of whom come to school hungry and unable to concentrate on their school work (Advocates for Children of New Jersey, 1/31/2012)
$7.25 - New Jersey’s minimum wage – the bare minimum allowed under federal law (The New York Times, 11/29/2011)
25% – A four-year increase of the number of New Jersey students receiving free or low-cost school lunches (The New York Times, 11/29/2011)
1 in 7 – Children in the state considered poor in 2010 (NorthJersey.com, 11/18/2011)
1 in 15 – Households receiving food stamps in 2010 (NorthJersey.com, 11/18/2011)
23.2 – Percentage food stamp usage is up in New Jersey since 2009 (NorthJersey.com, 11/18/2011)
24 – Percentage increase since 2000 in the number of New Jersey children living in poor neighborhoods (NJSpotlight.com, 3/8/2012)
7 – Percent that New Jersey’s homeless population rose between 2009 and 2011(NJSpotlight.com, 4/19/2012)
Program Cuts
$1,295,000,000 – Total of Christie cuts to state aid to schools in 2010. (The Star-Ledger, 12/29/2010)
$173,000,000 – Christie cut to state higher education aid in 2010. (The Star-Ledger, 6/23/2010)
$149,000,000 – 2012 Christie budget cut in aid to New Jersey’s struggling cities (The Star-Ledger, 7/1/2011)
$75,000,000 – 2012 Christie budget cut in state and federal funds hitting nursing homes across the state (The Star-Ledger, 7/1/2011)
$55,000,000 – 2012 Christie budget cut to higher education scholarships for low income students (The Star-Ledger, 7/1/2011)
$10,000,000 – 2012 Christie budget cut to legal services for the poor (The Star-Ledger, 7/1/2011)
$537,000* – 2012 Christie budget cut to Newark center for abused children, *restored under pressure (The Star-Ledger, 7/1/2011 & New Jersey Newsroom 7/18/2011)
Christie’s Promises – Still Empty After All These Years
15 – Number out of 397,809 total workers in state & local governments and school offices enrolled in Christie’s new high-deductible health plan (The Bergen Record, 12/6/2011)
$9,940,000 failure – Governor Christie promised $10 million savings this year from changes to health benefits. Actual savings? $60,000. (The Bergen Record, 12/5/2011)
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