Its not what you might think. Mike Shedlock links to a video of Governor Chris Christie (R-NJ) giving a speech to New Jersey’s mayors on the need to cut spending. Here’s a quote:
In the time we got here, of the approximately $29 billion budget there was only $14 billion left. Of the $14 billion, $8 billion could not be touched because of contracts with public worker unions, because of bond covenants, because of commitments we made accepting stimulus money. So we had to find a way to save $2.3 billion in a $6 billion pool of money.
When I went into the treasurer’s off in the first two weeks of my term, there was no happy meetings. They presented me with 378 possible freezes and lapses to be able to balance the budget. I accepted 375 of them.
There is a great deal of discussion about me doing that by executive action. Every day that went by was a day where money was going out the door such that the $6 billion pool was getting less and less. So something needed to be done.
People did not send me here to talk, the people sent me here to do…
…There’s no time left. We have no room left to borrow. We have no room left to tax. So we merely have room left now, to do this. We are all reaching the edge of a cliff. And it reminds me a bit of that part of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid where the had a seminal decision to make. So what did they do? They held hands and they jumped off the cliff.
We have to hold hands at every level of government, state county, municipal, school board. We have to hold hands and jump off the cliff.
I firmly believe we will land and we will be fine. It does not mean it will not be a scary ride on the way down. And it does not mean there won’t be moments of fear and moments of apprehension.
But for certain, the troops of the decades of overspending and overborrowing and overtaxing have gained on us. So the ruination of New Jersey’s economy, and of the quality of life we want all our citizens to have, is certain if we do not take this course.
Liberals believe we can’t swim (if you’ll recall the line from the movie) – that without massive and continual government spending, our whole economy will fly apart. You can hear it from Obama on down – if they hadn’t spent all that money in 2009 (and if they don’t spend more in 2010), then things would have been worse.
To be sure, the most recent GDP numbers would have been worse – but for the millions who have lost their job after Obama promised his spendulus would save their jobs, it could not have got worse. For the millions who’s home values have dropped like a rock, it could not have got worse. For the small businesses which had to close up shop, it could not have got worse. For the construction workers, it could not have got worse. On and on – sure, Obama’s banksters are riding high as are government employees. It could have got worse for them, that’s for sure.
You feel better that it didn’t?
It is time, in Governor Christie’s excellent phrasing, to hold hands and jump. It is time for us to dare to balance our budget – even if it means a massive number of programs will have to be cut, and half the employees of the federal government will have to be let go (if we did, it still wouldn’t equal even 1/6th of the private sector employees who have lost their jobs).
We can do this, Americans. If we could endure a Civil War and Great Depression and World War Two, then we can handle balancing our budget. Sure, it will be a bit frightening, for some – but the results will be good. I promise you, no one will starve, and no one will lack the basic necessities of life (and real necessities – the poor of America are currently very strange poor, as a very large number of them have computers and flat screen tv’s and late model cars): we Americans, holding hands, will take care of each other.
All we need is the political courage to do it – we need a President with the guts shown by Governor Christie, and a Congress willing to back the President up.
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