Chris Christie as POTUS would be a detriment to liberty
Governor of New Jersey Chris Christie has been frequenting New Hampshire these past couple days. As the Boston Globe reported, statewide surveys have shown that he has dropped from the top-tier candidates; taking a back seat to the libertarian-leaning Rand Paul who currently places first.
Christie’s policy speeches on the economy, social security, drug policy, and national security, and his record as New Jersey governor show that he’s not exactly the right fit for an electorate which seems more in favor of liberty.
Here are 7 reasons why a President Chris Christie would hurt our liberties and economy with the failed policies of the past.
1. He wholeheartedly supports dragnet surveillance
While in New Hampshire yesterday Christie demanded a clean extension of the Patriot Act, even section 215 which is used by the government to justify bulk collection of metadata. He called those who support ending the illegal program “civil liberties extremists” (as if supporting the entire Bill of Rights is somehow bad or radical) and Edward Snowden a “criminal who hurts our country.” Christie said any fear of government surveillance of Americans’ communications is “baloney” because according to him “it hasn’t happened.” A strange thing to say considering we know nine U.S. companies agreed to give their customers’ data to the NSA and CIA.
RELATED: Rand Paul’s Epic Filibuster Assaults Unconstitutional Spy Program
2. He welcomed Common Core to New Jersey
In 2013 Christie praised Common Core, saying:
“We’re doing Common Core in New Jersey and we’re going to continue. And this is one of those areas where I’ve agreed more with the President than not,” Christie said on video to the audience at a school summit in Las Vegas on August 2013.
Christie signed onto the Common Core Standards in 2010 and continued to stand by the policy until November 2014 when he began publicly criticizing the testing standards, saying he was becoming frustrated with the implementation process.
RELATED: Top 10 Most Idiotic Common Core Homework Assignments
At a GOP dinner in New Hampshire in February, Christie said he was all for standards, but added that his “concern” is about “the federalization” of the implementation which is “taking away parental control of education.”
It’s unclear how Christie could not have predicted this as a side effect when in March he stated clearly, “We signed on to try to get funds during a really difficult fiscal time.”
New Jersey was one of the states to ask the federal government for funds through a “Race to the Top” program. Receiving grant money from the federal government to implement a program meant to nationalize testing standards won’t exactly allow a state to have localized control.
3. He will never legalize marijuana
The brutal War on Drugs would continue under a Christie Administration.
The New Jersey Governor stood firmly against legalizing marijuana in the state in the past, giving these harsh words in March towards the revenue raised by legalizing and taxing marijuana:
“I’ve had many taxpayers at town hall meetings who will ask me about, why not legalize marijuana to make the taxes go a little higher? To me, that’s blood money. I’m not going to put the lives of children and citizens at risk to put a little more money into the state coffers, at least not on my watch.”
Christie called legalization a “slippery slope” because “Every bit of objective data tells us that it’s a gateway drug to other drugs.”
As late as April, Christie showed no signs of backing down on the heels of a possible presidential run, saying on a Jersey radio station:
“See if you want to live in a major city in Colorado where there’s head shops popping up on every corner and people flying into your airport just to come and get high. To me, it’s just not the quality of life we want to have here in the state of New Jersey and there’s no tax revenue that’s worth that.” He continued… “And if people want legalized marijuana in the state, elect a new governor.”
4. He advocates a perpetual war footing
At the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Christie said Monday that “American power is in retreat.” Indeed, he believes America should be the policeman of the world, calling for us to “lead the world” with an enlarged military. Christie believes by bolstering our presence with an increase to 500,000 Army soldiers, 185,000 Marines, 350 Naval ships from the current 260 ships, and an expanded Air Force, we can take on what he believes are growing threats.
A Christie administration would be “applying pressure” to “threats” like Russia, China and North Korea. Christie especially feels that Russia needs to be countered with a heavier NATO presence in Eastern Europe.
Of course, we all know such a policy would have to be coupled with compromises to our liberty. Indeed, Christie was quite outspoken in his support for the Patriot Act, reminiscing about his time as a U.S. attorney where he used it “to go after terror.”
RELATED: Chris Christie Says We Must Sacrifice Liberty For Security
5. He has called for “the right balance” on gun rights
“We’ve got to make sure we have public safety, but on the other hand we have to protect people’s rights both as sportsmen and hunters and for self-protection too, find the right balance,” Christie told a group of New Hampshire voters at Chez Vachon in Manchester.
The New Jersey Republican governor was not even invited to address the NRA’s annual conference in Nashville this year. The NRA, which many gun rights advocates feel is not as strong of a second amendment defender as The NAGR, had consistently given him a “C” grade before his reelection in 2013.
In April 2013, Christie proposed gun control legislation that banned future purchases of the Barrett .50 Caliber, strengthened the state’s background checks of mental health records, and required gun buyers to present a valid government photo ID, along with the already-mandatory Firearms Purchaser Identification Card. He also proposed increasing restriction on violent video games for kids and penalties for gun-related crimes.
Guns & Ammo magazine ranked New Jersey the second worst state for gun owners in 2014.
6. He embraced Obamacare for New Jersey
Breitbart reported in March that Christie told a town hall audience at the Van Derveer Elementary School Gymnasium in Somerville, “Expanding Medicaid was the right decision for New Jersey.” He toured the state touting a budget that cut the New Jersey’s charity aid for hospitals in exchange for adding more low-income NJ residents to the state’s Medicaid program.
Presidential candidate Rand Paul chided Christie for expanding Medicaid in his state:
“On the case of the New Jersey governor, I think embracing Obamacare, expanding Medicaid in his state is very expensive and not fiscally conservative.
Many Republican governors I would say are conservative did resist expanding and accepting Obamacare in their states. That fact, I would say, would lead towards you making the conclusion that it is not a very conservative proposal.”
As of April, Medicaid enrollment in New Jersey has bloated by 400,000. Making speeches about cutting Social Security spending if elected president can’t undo the fact that he helped New Jersey contribute to the future billions that will be spent on Medicaid in the coming decade.
7. New Jersey has some of the highest property taxes in the U.S.
Bergen County had the third-highest property tax rate in the country, and the highest in New Jersey at approximately $9,546 per capita. New Jersey Spotlight reported last May that NJ’s net property tax increase was much higher under Christie than even his Democrat predecessor Governor Corzine.
Christie published his plan to reform the nation’s tax code in the Wall Street Journal last Tuesday and later elaborated in a policy speech in New Hampshire. However, John Mckinnon reported:
In some respects, Mr. Christie’s plan stands out for not proposing a sharp reduction in tax revenue—unlike some other candidates and would-be candidates who want to cut taxes by hundreds of billions of dollars over the coming years.
Mr. Christie wants to raise roughly as much in taxes as the current system. He said he would accomplish that goal by eliminating or modifying existing tax deductions and credits, but he put off-limits the deductions for charitable contributions and home mortgages—among the costliest in the tax code.