Emperor Christie's New Clothes

There is no doubt anymore as to what this guy is about:

Gov. Chris Christie's concern that he was being criticized publicly for appearing to cave into demands of the state teachers' union that ultimately cost the state the opportunity to receive $400 million in federal education aid, Bret Schundler declared Thursday.

In an appearance before the Senate Legislative Oversight Committee in Trenton, the ousted state Education Commissioner, who was fired by Christie after the so-called "Race to the Top'' funding application finished out of the money in August, said the governor killed a compromise that led to the key endorsement of the bid by the New Jersey Education Association because, in part, he heard a radio talk show host charge he was caving into the union....

"The governor said the money did not matter to him," Schundler said as he recalled an angry phone call from Christie three days before the application was due in Washington on June 1.

OK, let's get this straight, once and for all: Chris Christie does not care about policy at all. He is a small man with small vendettas and he will sacrifice his vaunted "commitment" to his ideals in a second if he thinks it will gain him political points or damage his opponents.

He is, for lack of a better word, a schmuck. Exactly the kind of guy who would shut down the largest public works project in the country just to distract from the embarrassment of Schundler's testimony today.

Dems, here's the plan: No more deals. No more photo-ops with Oprah. No more press conferences to announce deals on tax caps (I'm talking to you, Senator Sweeney). Christie simply can't be trusted.

And, may I add - Barbara Buono is the bomb:

After the hearing, Buono said, "With former commissioner Schundler finally able to speak freely, we have been able to hear the exhaustive point-by-point details as to what went wrong for the first time. And the answer seems to be plenty.

"It's unconscionable that the Race to the Top application was rewritten more with an eye towards punishing the NJEA than it was towards rewarding our schools,' Buono said. "It's unconscionable that an application that meant so much was created and edited in a piecemeal fashion, and never once given the final thorough reading it deserved. It's unconscionable that the decision to scrap a hard-won compromise that would have propelled our application was based on the criticisms of a radio talk-show host. And, it's unconscionable that $400 million for our schools took a back seat to politics.

"It's easy for the governor to call Mr. Schundler's testimony a lie at a press conference,'' Buono added. "But until anyone from the administration subjects themselves to the same rules Mr. Schundler did this morning, those are just more words from an administration that has tried in vain at every turn to subvert the Legislature's investigatory power as a coequal branch of government."

You heard the lady, Governor: put up or shut up.