Gov. Chris Christie was basking in his own aura much more than I thought he would after winning big over Barbara Buono, who was given no support by the Democratic establishment at all. How big you ask? Buried in a NY Times article about the GOP's reaction to Christie's dilemma, I found that the bully of Fort Lee planned to go on a European victory tour to try and convince Americans that he is a foreign policy guru as the 2016 election creeps into focus.
Unfortunately for him, things aren't going as well as he would have liked at this point since the Bridegate scandal broke and the word came out that twenty subpoenas have been issued, many of them for his inner circle.
This has caused the very sad governor to change his travel plans around.
On a conference call with Gov. Chris Christie’s most loyal donors a few nights ago, his brother, Todd, pressed for last-minute cash to pay for the governor’s inauguration, a daylong fete ending on Ellis Island.
Then the governor himself came on the line, trying to convince his listeners that he was moving beyond the George Washington Bridge scandal and getting back to work, according to two participants.The next day, state investigators sent 20 subpoenas to his inner circle and the inquiry widened.
This was supposed to be a season of triumph and celebration for the governor of New Jersey — a chance to bask in his landslide re-election victory in a Democratic state, embark on a European tour to bolster his foreign policy credentials and emerge as the modern face of a Republican Party desperate to win back the White House.
Now, the foreign trip is in limbo as Mr. Christie tries to rebuild his credibility. His biggest political assets, his personality and spontaneity, have been all but absent as he evades reporters’ questions and holds few public appearances. And Republicans around the country, including those who saw him as their party’s most compelling candidate for president in 2016, are calling in with advice, sobering in its candor.
I doubt New Jersey voters would have been happy to see that since their state is an economic disaster.
Chris Christie's New Jersey Is Least Solvent State
More bad news for Gov. Chris Christie: New Jersey is dead last in the nation in terms of its fiscal solvency, according to a new report.
The study, released this week by the free-market Mercatus Center at George Mason University, ranked each state's financial health based on a variety of measures, such as cash on hand to pay its current bills, budget surpluses or deficits, unfunded liabilities and ability to provide adequate public services.
The Mercatus study used 2012 data.
New Jersey came in last on two of those measures — budget and long-term solvency — and finished in the bottom 15 in two others. The state's per-capita budget deficit, for example, was $727 in 2012, worst in the nation. On average, states were running a per-capita surplus of $364.
New Jersey also has one of the highest levels of per-capita long-term liabilities — $7,935 — nearly three times the national average. And its "net asset ratio" is -1.33, the worst in the nation.
And yet he was going to hobnob with foreign leaders while his people suffer.
