Hand picked crowds what do you expect BOOING?

What a shame for a Republican governor to face the same lack of cooperation, at the state level, that the Democratic President faces from a Republican Congress. And as for 'unfairly targeting' wealthy New Jersey residents, I think they can afford a little targeting, if it helps with Christie's budgetary problems. But better to tax the poor, right?

I attended this event and felt hopeful for the future of our state after listening to Governor Christie. He's trying to slow the endless taxing and spending that's driving both individuals and businesses out of our state (and businesses take jobs with them). I support what he's trying to do.

I was there today and I am not a supporter of the Governor. First of all, these are NOT town halls, they are campaign events, complete with banners and a slick video announcing that Christie has saved New Jersey from the brink of disaster. I thought I was playing a Roman citizen in a production of Julius Caesar, and someone was about to offer a crown to Christie. First, Christie gave a long encomium to himself and then, I am convinced, the majority of the questions that followed were staged. They are not really questions; they are opportunities for Christie to wax wonderful about himself and all his accomplishments. Of course no one mentioned the 500 pound gorilla in the room-- no, not Christie, but the riveting New York Times three-day exposé that shows him inextricably entwined in the corrupt and shameful privatization of New Jersey's half-way house/prison system (read all three if you haven't). I was going to talk about how the privatization of NJ schools is having the same disastrous, mercenary effects, but since I didn't flash him the prearranged sign of devotion, he didn't call on me.

Of course it was staged and no he will not do anything about property taxes. That isn't going to change until the formula for funding schools changes. He is the perfect Govenor for a State that is represented by NJ, Housewives and Jersey Shore. He is basically a bully and largely ignorant of any real way to improve the lives of the people of NJ. He will wind up trashing NJ Education which has up till now put NJ in the top 5 States for decades.

Christie is the best hope for our state. He is taking on many of the imbedded problems that have driven our taxes up. The economy had been very good for most of the past 20-30 years and the numbers have gone unchecked across most towns, definitely in Montclair. Montclair's BOE finally started paying attention to and doing work to research what was in its numbers, and for two years in a row, they have come up with surpluses in excess of $10 million. To a lesser extent, we'd see surpluses like this on the Municipal side if the leadership were willing to require transparency and accountability for all departments.

If meritocracy were put in place for the municipal workers and the school systems, we'd see a lot more productivity with better results for the town services for the residents and educational product for the students. We are lucky to have someone willing to address the hard issues that Christie is addressing as our Governor.

>> And as for 'unfairly targeting' wealthy New Jersey residents, I think they
>> can afford a little targeting.

That's what criminals say when they kidnap rich people's children for ransom - "hey, they can afford it!"

At the end of the day, I care mainly about taxes and a fairer government. As far as I am concerned, our cities have sucked the life out of our state with virtually no results to show for it. Despite the Abbott funding disaster, schools in all of our major cities continue to be complete failures. County government is wasteful and duplicative - AND should be abolished with abandon. I have NEVER heard any politician even suggest this. At the state level, there should be more focus on core services that benefit everyone and less on ancillary ones, particularly roads, public transport and public safety. To get our budget under control, public workers are going to have to concede some of their benefits which are very generous by today's standard.

What most people, particularly the baby boomers, still don't understand is that our nation is in great flux. GONE is the prosperity of the past 50 years. In a world of rising consumption and dwindling resources, the harsh reality being played out every day is that we MUST to do with less, STARTING NOW. The overspending sins of the past 40 years have come home to roost. The rhetoric is that the "rich" should just pay more. Not only is the concept of "rich" a total fallacy (with exception of the Bill Gates' of the world) but the economics do not support this view. We are ALL being dragged down not just by exterior forces but by America's increasing mediocrity, and then we are told that those of us who still can should PAY for it!

It's getting harder for the Governor to run his ongoing campaign meetings and hide behind Corzine's record, Codey's comments or the fact that some in the legislaturre want another look at the Governor's questionable tax shortfall math. He has always expected a smooth rubber stamp from the "Christicrats" controlled by Demacratic political "Bosses" in both the north and south. But just because HE (and his corporate ,out of State backers) think it should be law doesn't make it right for New Jersey.

The man with more Chin's than a Chinese phone book likes to look good in front of people picked to support him..This man makes Snooki look like an Ivy League Grad

My property taxes have gone up almost 12% since Mr. Christie became governor. He promised they would go down. Certainly cuts were made to our township's schools, large cuts. The NJ Transit fare I pay to midtown has been raised over 20% and off-peak has been eliminated making that increase over 35%. I read many police officers have been furloughed in NJ. The tolls on the Turnpike and Parkway are higher. Yet I have seen no tax relief whatsoever from this governor, just unfulfilled promises, name-callng and blame and a lot of self-promotion. My bottom line is that I pay thousands(!) more in taxes, fares and tolls for greatly diminished schools, transportation and police.

Glen, unless you bought another house or had an unfortunate reassessment, your property taxes could not possibly increase 12%. There is a statutory 2% cap, and extra 2% bump is allowed once. During Christie's term, that would amount to 8.1% maximum. Either you lie, or your township violates the law (signed by none other than Gov. Christie).

And last summer Congressman Frelinghuysen cancelled Federal Funds to upgrade the rail lines in NJ to save money.

Glen, Welcome to New Jersey, The TAXING STATE !!

you uniondemocrats have destroyed Jersey......time for you to move to greece

how dumb are Jersey democRATs? Pretty dumb

"Town Hall" means "Open to the Public". This was not a town hall.

Sorry - the state was not built by Christie. Union workers were the people who made this a good place to live. As the numbers decline, so do the taxes they pay decline. Less money for the state to operate on. Christie cost the state more than a billion dollars his first year in office, from giving a tax break to his his friends and losing the $400 million Race to the Top grant due to his failure to stay on top of the application. Then he continues to fail to pay the mandated state portion of public retirement funds, and blames the workers who have had to pay for his failures for those failings. Recently we see how his push to privatize public services have led to massive abuses. He has taken care of himself and his buddies, and made many members of the public believe he cares about them.