When David Rosen, the top budget analyst for New Jersey's legislature, said in 2012 that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's budget projections were unrealistic and would lead to a sea of red ink, Christie
minced no words in attacking Rosen:
Christie criticized Rosen immediately, calling his office partisan and saying "they shouldn't be given any credibility." He added, "They're background noise to the New Jersey comeback."
Weeks later, Christie went further, going after Rosen personally in what the Star-Ledger called "a fiery 20-minute tirade." He called Rosen, widely respected among legislators of both parties for years, a "Dr. Kevorkian of the numbers" and asked, "Why would anybody with a functioning brain believe this guy? … How often do you have to be wrong to finally be dismissed?" Christie went on: "It should be humiliating to him. Nobody in this state believes David Rosen, anymore, nobody. And nobody should. He's so wrong, for so long, that his credibility is now gone."
Well, it turns out even Rosen
was optimistic, but he was closer to being right than Christie:
Governor Christie’s predictions for tax collections have missed the mark, amounting to an $800 million shortfall that leaves little time and few places for the governor and lawmakers to find savings.
And today, Moody's expressed alarm about New Jersey's
fiscal situation:
New Jersey’s $807 million revenue shortfall is a “credit negative development” for a state that has already had to cut spending and lower its revenue forecast this fiscal year, Moody’s Investors Service said in comments released Wednesday morning.
And how is Christie responding to this? By raising money ... for a fellow Republican's gubernatorial re-election campaign ... in Iowa.
Twice. Because when you're running for president, you need to have priorities, and priority number one is winning the nomination.