Sen. Barbara Buono: Christie's 'delusional. Or just very confused'
Sen. Barbara Buono and Gov. Christie traded barbs over a job creation bill being pushed by Democrats.TRENTON — It was both a call for bipartisanship and a full frontal assault on Gov. Chris Christie.
Senate Majority Leader Barbara Buono and Assembly Majority Leader Joseph Cryan called on Republican lawmakers Monday to support a package of bills intended to spur the state’s economy and create jobs, and for Christie to sign them. But they also accused the governor of hurting the state’s poor and middle-class while favoring the rich.
"Through 2010 what he should have been doing is strengthening the social safety net," said Buono (D-Middlesex). "We can help by creating jobs and stimulating the economy by helping everyone make ends meet ... No amount of (Christie’s) signature nasty and dismissive attacks, delivered with a sneer and dripping with sarcasm, will help our friends, our family and our neighbors."
Buono and Cryan also took shots at the governor because Reform Jersey Now, an organization formed to promote his agenda and tied to his closest advisers, took donations from organizations with hundreds of millions of dollars in state contracts. At a press conference Friday, Christie said the group had done more to promote transparency than Democrats had by voluntarily disclosing its donors. "He’s delusional. Or just very confused. Or lying has become, oh I don’t know ... Maybe his lying has become pathological," said Buono.
Christie spokesman Michael Drewniak fired back at the Democrats, "Barbara Buono and Joe Cryan are among the chief stewards of the fiscal mess with which this Governor is dealing every day to repair by being a realist and making hard decisions in the interest of all New Jerseyans," he said.
The Democratic bills, which will be considered in both houses Thursday and Monday, include an on-the-job training program with potential employers for people on the unemployment rolls, an overhaul of the corporate tax code, the restoration of tax credits for television and film studios that shoot in-state, tax credits for historic property restorations, and grants to attract and keep businesses in New Jersey.
Some Republicans and the liberal-leaning New Jersey Policy Perspective have questioned whether the state will recoup lost revenue from the programs through increased economic activity.
Republicans co-sponsored some of the bills but noted Democrats have ignored seven GOP bills they want added to the agenda.
"Jobless New Jerseyans don’t care who controls the agenda. They just want us to do everything that we can to put them back to work," said Senate Minority Leader Tom Kean, Jr. (R-Union).
Previous coverage:
• N.J. Democrats call on GOP to support bills to boost state economy
• N.J. bill would allow job training to unemployed without jeopardizing benefits
• N.J. credit card debt lawsuits surge in bad economy
• Tough economy causing surge in credit card debt litigation in N.J.
• Protest planned at office of Assemblyman Alex DeCroce over unemployment remark
• Gov. Christie plans to sign bill capping police, firefighter raises at 2 percent through arbitration
• Gov. Christie cites N.J. job growth in past month as proof his policies are working