Chris Christie's accomplishments?

Via Mike

I don't get it.

Some of the most notable conservative personalities in America are clamoring for New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie to jump into the GOP presidential contest as a kind of political savior.

For the life of me, I don't understand it.

Can I ask a simple question that I hope clarifies my total skepticism?

Like it or not, here it is: Exactly what has Chris Christie accomplished in New Jersey as governor that makes him such an ideal candidate for the presidency?

I welcome answers to this question. It is not rhetorical. I especially look forward to hearing from residents of New Jersey – conservatives who want the whole nation transformed the way their state has been transformed under the leadership of Chris Christie.

I don't live in New Jersey, but I was born there. I have family there, and I am a frequent visitor. I am acutely aware of the problems New Jersey faces and how those problems were created and exacerbated by largely one-party rule for decades. And, don't get me wrong, I'm gratified that a Republican came along and won the governorship.

By now, however, Chris Christie should have some kind of a track record of executive leadership that his supporters can point to in extolling his virtues as a presidential candidate. I haven't heard a single one.

Give me one – just one.

I don't see any.

Has New Jersey been transformed under his leadership? Is it now a great place to live and work and start a business? Is it on its way to becoming one? How? Why? What has Chris Christie actually done to make it so?

If you can't point to such accomplishments, and I don't think any conservative can, then what his supporters really like is Chris Christie's rhetoric. They like his ideas. They like his platform. They like what he stands for.

Among other problems with Chris Christie's ideas – and this should be a disqualifier for any Republican officeholder, let along presidential contender – is that he is an enthusiastic, ardent supporter of cap-and-trade, which turns the biggest political hoax of the 21st century, catastrophic, man-made climate change, into a wealth-transfer scheme and regulatory nightmare unlike anything previously known. Christie loves cap-and-trade – and has actually instituted it with other neighboring states in a scheme known as the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, using some of the proceeds to pay off New Jersey's deficits. He is also using state money to subsidize so-called "green" technology much the way Barack Obama has.

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