By Uncle Irvin
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (R) inherited a fiscal nightmare when he was sworn in in January of 2010.
Eight months later, Christie is being invited to speak all over the country about his war on government corruption, waste, and government employees.
Christie has declared war on bloated, defined-contribution pensions for government employees and schoolteachers.
As Christie has pointed out, there’s no moral reason that taxpayers should have to subsidize excessive spending and public pension plans.
One has to be blind not to see a tsunami of enraged taxpayers and voters, Tea Party members and many others, turning against elected officials who are scared to control the greed of government unions.
2 comments
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RS says:
October 30, 2010 at 8:31 am (UTC -4)
My question is, who is going to pick up the tab for the federal services that are cut or eliminated? How would the states finance the increased burden? Wouldn’t it be an increase in state and local taxes? Nothing is free. Cutting federal/state/local waste, fraud, and abuse is mandatory for more efficient and cost effective programs. But while shifting federal programs to the states may offer opportunities for federal tax cuts, won’t it raise taxes at the state and local levels?
Marc says:
October 30, 2010 at 8:44 pm (UTC -4)
Christie is against defined BENEFIT plans, not defined contribution plans. A school district or municipality can budget for defined contributions, they know what their cost will be. It is the defined contribution, nothing more, nothing less. Defined benefit plans mean the governmental body can be on the hook decades in the future, if assumptions about inflation, investment returns, employee turnover, etc. are wrong.