You’re not going to hear a better argument against behemoth bureaucracy than this one from Chris Christie.
NRO wonders if The Obama administration might be being vengeful against the conservative Christie:
I’m not usually the conspiratorial type, but watch Gov. Chris Christie explain how the Obama administration disqualified the state of New Jersey from hundreds of millions in education funds because some clerk in Trenton turned in the wrong excel spreadsheet.
Democrats in Washington have already shown a willingness to withhold federal education dollars from states that don’t follow their preferred tactic for navigating the recession: giving teachers raises like it’s the Gay ’90s. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is more punishment for a state that committed the crime of balancing its budget.
August 26, 2010 at 4:04 pm
What's the old saying? "The only people that don't make mistakes are those that don't do any work." Kudos to Gov Christie for his response. I wish we had a governor like him.
August 26, 2010 at 4:11 pm
Chris Christie for President of the United States of America.
August 26, 2010 at 5:02 pm
WHY is common sense so hard to find these days? Here is a man with common sense, and he seems like a brilliant beam of light in our confused country.
August 26, 2010 at 5:29 pm
Christie is da man!
August 26, 2010 at 5:45 pm
I second Philomena!
Chris Christie for President!!
August 26, 2010 at 6:14 pm
Well said, Governor. We need many more like him. Enough to fill all the governors' offices, and all the seats in Congress.
August 26, 2010 at 6:17 pm
He seems to have a bit of character and class from the videos I've seen of him, going after the bureaucracy, big labor, etc. I don't know enough about his stance on social issues yet to say I back him 100% (for example, he seems to favor only moderate restrictions on abortion, and he also seems to support same-sex civil unions while opposing gay "marriage."), but coupled with the right running mate I'd back him.
August 26, 2010 at 6:51 pm
The thing is, everyone, that if the application had been more complete in other areas, the three points from the spreadsheets error would NOT have mattered.
Washington is stupid, Trenton dropped the ball. As admirable as Christie's efforts are, the school funding issues will not change unless the terrible Abbot decision is overturned.
August 27, 2010 at 11:10 am
Chris Christie needs to stop eating! He's huge. And he wants to balance the budget. Let him balance his waistline. It's disgusting. Were in a recession and all he does is EAT!
August 27, 2010 at 4:04 pm
Um… Early Riser, do you have *any* idea how stupid, bigoted and crass that makes you sound?
August 27, 2010 at 9:17 pm
I don't care what he looks like, I love the Guv. He refused to throw a little person under the bus, and now I hear he has fired the head honcho for lying to him. Whatta man!
And take a look at that *** application *** that takes two humongous binders to hold it — wtf?
August 28, 2010 at 3:01 pm
Early Riser,
Apart from the crass nature of your comment, if you'd paid any attention to the man, you might know that he has lost weight since his election, and has said very clearly he recognizes he has a responsibility to his family, and to those who elected him, to reduce his weight.
September 1, 2010 at 6:17 am
Christie is such a liar and a piece of scum it's not even funny. He's making Schundler into a complete scapegoat. Schundler was the one who warned Christie about this – and it was no simple clerical error. The Race to the Top application takes into account much more things than "clerical errors." The whole point is that the states are supposed to support the whole program the grant pays for – and Christie didn't follow ANY of the guidelines.
And when he fails – he blames it on a clerical error! And after he talks about how he won't fire anyone, he fires Schundler, a fine public servant.
Christie is lying to our faces and people love it because it's an anti-government rant full of "bravado." I'm ashamed to be a Republican right now.
September 1, 2010 at 6:21 am
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/08/draft_copy_of_race_to_the_top.html
I wish so badly that Daggett had been elected governor. I wanted a wonky Republican, one who actually does look at the fine print instead of this.