I will protect your pensions. Nothing about your pension is going to change when I am governor. - Chris Christie, "An Open Letter to the Teachers of NJ" October, 2009

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Unbelievably Bald-Faced Lying

"Ask the Governor" September 29, 2010. Start at 5:05:
Eric Scott, Millennium Radio News: You mention that 2% cap. We know the pension contributions could go up as much as 22% on the municipal and county level. Health benefits are going up at least 12%. Both of those categories are outside that 2% cap.
Chris Christie: Right, but here's the thing: on the pension side of it, we're now making up for the short-sided policies of the Corzine Administration, when they allowed people to defer pension payments that they now have to pay back with interest. So we're going to have to play catch-up on that.
Here, courtesy of NJEA, are the state contributions to the teachers' pension for the last 15 years:

And who was the governor from 2006-09? Jon Corzine.

How much did Chris Christie contribute to the pensions in his last budget? Nothing - and he may not pay in next year, either:

But at a news conference in July, Christie said that New Jersey might not pay the $512 million owed under the new law next year, saying it would depend on the state's fiscal situation.
The governor defended withholding payments this year by saying he did not want to contribute money to a broken system, sidestepping the fact that a key reason the system is broken is that the state has not paid its fair share.
There is no other word for this: Chris Christie is a liar.

By the way, although he was somewhat tough on Christie at other times, Eric Scott did not challenge him on this claim at all.

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