If you were watching at 3 p.m., you saw Gov. Chris Christie’s State of the State address here live. We’ve now posted a recorded version as well. For the full text of his speech, go here. In the speech, Christie announced that the “New Jersey Comeback” had begun and proposed a 10 percent income tax cut across the board.

And if you missed Oprah Winfrey’s interview with the governor, which aired Sunday on her OWN network, you can see it on her website. Here’s the segment where they both talk about their problems with weight.

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20 replies on “Watch Christie’s State of the State Address”

  1. So did anyone read the “Mayor Fried Takes DOT job” post before it vanished? I didn’t get a chance to. Why did it vanish? Premature? Untrue? No guts no glory baristanet….

  5. Come on, Deb…..How’s about posting the time so people can hit your stream on time. Call the Gov. and ask him what time they’re putting down the coffee & dessert.

  8. Oh, I guess he did it early so he wouldn’t miss dinner with the family. So? Did he say anything interesting?

  9. Just caught the last 10 minutes of it. Ick. Maybe I missed the salient parts, but it seemed all badly acted dramatic swaying, hands to chest, hands clasped, hands fluttering in a conservative jazz dance, insincerely earnest about the battle to come, like a rhinocerous sensing the season of rut. Not helped by either Oliver or Sweeney solemnly standing behind with their own personal political agendas loaded into the pinball machine of oily NJ politics. We pay the highest property taxes and income taxes in the nation. A Scott Walker battle against public workers is no solution — nor is their blind defense. We haven’t had good leadership since Kean or Byrne (although I might include the pugilist Florio with the low political I.Q.) Apparently Christie has told Oprah that he’ll be ready on 2016. God help us. He’s no better than the mayor of Toronto.

  10. “We can no longer sustain the current pension system. This is devastating state and local governments. We need pension reform and we need it desperately”

    Christie?
    Walker?
    Nope, Cuomo said it yesterday.

    It’s time.

  11. No one’s claiming the pension system doesn’t need to be reformed — but it doesn’t have to be done by villifying public workers. Cuomo has also raised taxed on the wealthiest — by a small amount, and closed tax loopholes here & there to raise revenue.

  12. I think we need pension reform too. Reform, not complete elimination of the right to bargain collectively. Public workers didn’t give away the store, it was public officials that made some pretty bad deals with union leaders in order to get their votes. Corruption stinks regardless of which side it’s on. Get rid of lump sum amounts for sick days or vacation days not taken, have a defined age at which benefits can begin (something with a “6” in front of it) and don’t allow public employees to collect a two full pensions, or a full pension and a full salary etc.
    And yes, we can raise taxes on the wealthiest earners.

  13. I have to say I’m loving Mitt Romney these days. Fifteen percent tax bracket. Oh, Mitt, you’re my hero! I’ll bet even that wanker deadeye pays 17 or 18 percent.

  15. Collective bargaining for public unions has to come to an end. They are paid by the tax payer but continually negotiate against them for a better deal. They are already protected by civil service laws and have protections most of us don’t have including private sector union members. At least private sector union members have competition and are ‘under the gun’ to perform. Who is the public sectors competition?

    Jsygurl you are right politicians gave away the store and the fact that these public unions can make or break them is proof enough to me the system needs to end. I don’t like the combination of politicians looking for fundraising money and wanting to be re-elected and a powerful union that can make or break them negotiating together against the tax payer…not a good recipe. There is no need for public collective bargaining.

  16. The easy way for pension reform is to file for bankuptcy. There’s an ABC list of companies who do it all the time. The latest was Hostess.

  17. The easy way for pension reform is to file for bankuptcy.

    What a great idea! So, Whitman raids the pension fund for tax cuts we can’t afford, McGreevey and Corzine don’t pay into the fund, Christie barely pays any into the fund, and your solution is to file for bankruptcy. Nothing like letting a bunch of retired geezers pay for the sins of pompous millionaire politicians.

  18. Sure Nick. Bankruptcy to avoid pension obligations is now a business model.
    The USPS will be next up to try it.

  19. Hey Roo,

    Mitt has only one route to take here, and that is to promote a fairer, flatter, tax reform proposal for everyone, otherwise he’s toast. The democrats just got one of the biggest gifts that they could have ever hoped for. Let’s not get bogged down in the the whole double taxation argument, wherein the income was originally taxed at the higher rate and the aggregate level of taxation is the appropriate one. The 15% rate on risk capital is supposed to stimulate the investment of those funds farther out the risk spectrum, thereby stimulating economic activity, promoting employment, etc. It is called “risk capital” because the investor is potentially subject to a principal loss. Potentially a total loss. This is the same reason that everyone’s favorite pinatas, the hedge funds, are taxed at the same rate.
    Mitt has achieved economic Nirvana. His income flows exclusively from a large diversified portfolio of investments that earns grows from the reinvestment of compound interest and the appreciation of equity value. Good for him. He can now do pretty much whatever he wants. He’s chosen the pursuit of power, disguised as public service, since he can already check off the wealth box on his list of personal accomplishments. From his perspective the great majority of the vaunted and vilified “1%” stand as a distant mob of the great unwashed. He’s more in the .001%, if you like numbers.

    The nomination isn’t his yet, but the parade of the horribles has largely gone by. The only way that Romney stands a chance of getting elected is to do what looks beyond the scope of his abilities, and that is to take some serious political risk and promote a plan for growth that appeals to the majority of the potential voters by whom the true economic burden must be borne, the working, tax paying, middle class. He needs to address the runaway entitlement culture, promote the growth of business, and restore people’s faith in government. A smaller and more efficient government that isn’t preoccupied with the redistribution of it’s citizens wealth. Bring the country back to the center, and you’ll be surprised how people’s attitudes about taxes can change.

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