ON JANUARY 9th, less than a week before he was due to step down as New Jersey’s governor, Chris Christie delivered his eighth and final state of the state address, in which he boasted of his “consequential accomplishments” in office. He also warned his successor, Phil Murphy, a Democrat, who takes over on January 16th, that the state should not revert to the policies of the past. During his 90-minute address there was no acknowledgement that Mr Christie’s tenure had been tainted by Bridge-gate, a public corruption scandal. Nor was there any mention of his failed presidential bid. He had, he said, left the state, “much, much better than it was eight years ago”.
In some ways he is right. Mr Christie inherited an enormous budget deficit, which he cut without blinking. His hard-nosed line vetoing of budgets ultimately saved the state $7.3b in spending over eight years. He helped reform the pension system and cut property taxes and unemployment. Mr Christie also took unusual approaches to old problems. For instance, he...Continue reading
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