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Monday, January 17, 2011

Christie Says Congress Shouldn’t ‘Paper Over’ State Deficits

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie urged Republicans in Congress not to “paper over” the problems facing deficit-wracked U.S. states with an additional round of stimulus spending.

Christie, a Republican entering his second year in office, said he has asked federal lawmakers not to approve additional money. Christie said states must cope with the expiration next year of funding under the 2009 American Reinvestment and Recovery Act.

“It’s time to make some tough decisions,” he said today in an interview on Fox News. “It’s time for us to belly up to the bar and make the tough decisions.”

Christie’s comments come as 40 states have projected deficits that may reach $140 billion in the 2012 fiscal year, according to a December report from the Washington-based Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. President Barack Obama’s stimulus bill contained $140 billion to help states cope with the recession, the group said.

Christie has warned of cuts to New Jersey’s Medicaid program as it faces a $1.4 billion deficit due to the loss of $900 million from the federal government and the requirement to maintain services at levels mandated by the U.S.

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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Christie's right, transparency is key to change for the better. Balancing of budgets, reformation of past waste and accountability in everything government does and spends. Solutions to economic survival require light on past waste not the continued darkness. It can work, but like everything today, cutbacks are a necessity and will hopefully be made manditory. Everything else in the world has rolled back downhill, only selfish fools want to stay the same.