The 'Jersey Guy' Should Be Honest About His Record In Jersey

(Trenton) - Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg issued the following statement on Wednesday urging Governor Chris Christie to start telling the truth about his failed economic record in New Jersey as he heads to the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida:

"Governor Christie has promoted the fiction of a 'Jersey Comeback' for far too long as he travels the country, essentially ignoring the facts of a failed economic record that now includes the highest unemployment rate in 35 years and the loss of 12,000 jobs in July. We are all anxious to see good news but his refusal to face the facts is an insult to the unemployed and everyone struggling to make ends meet. As he prepares to give his speech at the Republican convention he should start telling the truth about an economic record that is failing to turn New Jersey's economy around.

The most recent jobs report showing a 9.8 percent unemployment rate is not only the worst in more than three decades, it places New Jersey far above the national average of 8.3 percent and ranks us as the fourth worst in the country. We rank 47th in economic output, the poverty rate is the highest it has ever been and the mortgage foreclosure rate is the second highest in the country. And, the governor is responsible for a 20 percent increase in property taxes over two years.

These figures are not anything to be happy about, but they are the truth. For working people in New Jersey they make up the terrible truth they have to live with. The longer the governor insists on promoting his fictional account of a Jersey comeback the longer it will take to get a real comeback going.

 

The governor wants people to believe that he is a straight talking 'Jersey guy' and his supporters claim that 'he's the same guy at home as he is on his political roadtrips.' But that isn't the truth because the story he tells of a Jersey comeback is not real. He should start telling the truth about his economic record - it's the right thing to do."

###