According to The New York Times, New Jersey’s Assembly passed a bill 46 to 32 today that would “sharply increase what state and local workers must contribute for their health insurance and pensions, suspend cost-of-living increases to retirees’ pension checks, raise retirement ages and curb the unions’ contract bargaining rights.”
New Jersey’s government estimates the bill will save $132 billion over the next 30 years.
This legislation could not have come sooner for New Jersey. The state’s pension funds’ future liabilities currently exceed their assets by $54 billion.
Governor Christie continues to do what Washington cannot — reduce the bloated size of government and rein in union entitlements.
It is a shame that he is not running for President.
Reflections of a Rational Republican 
Give it time. If he gets positive results in New Jersey, he might decide to make the attempt in 2016.
It’d be an interesting campaign, if nothing else.
That said, watching him against Obama would be like watching matter and anti-matter collide.
Christie is still an experiment-in-the-making. He has certainly demonstrated leadership, but it’s way too early to tell if anything he’s done will bear fruit. I seem to remember a certain Governator who won some early successes with bipartisan support when he took office and who seemed to be on his way to winning a political Oscar (there was even talk about changing the Constitution to allow him to run for Prez). Fast-forward a few years and we now see California in deeper trouble and Ahhnold mired in scandal and self-destruction. I totally agree with one thing Christie said: Obama needs to be directly involved in solving our fiscal mess.
Chuck,
I think your characterization of Christie is spot on. He is certainly taking action in his state, but we won’t know for several years if these actions will result in a more productive state. It should be interesting to watch though.