By Matt Rooney | The Save Jersey Blog
All speculation officially ended today in Kenilworth, Save Jerseyans:
Christie Transcript:
You can’t do everything and you can’t say yes to everyone. And I’ve inherited a state where we’ve had folks who’ve come before me of both parties, both parties, who’ve said yes to everything. I hate to have to be the guy to say no. Nobody likes – listen none of us like to look someone in the eye – like that lady over there, who wants me to invest in historic preservation and promotion in the state, it’s a great idea, but I got to look at her and say “great idea, but I can’t”. And that’s just something small compared to what you’re talking about, because every job that we create in this state is a great moment for a family. For a family who gets to have a good paying job, who gets the feeling of self-worth that comes from a job that has meaning in their life and lets them provide for their families. And it helps the state because that person becomes a greater part of the fabric of the state too. They volunteer to coach little league. They volunteer and work at a reading lab. They volunteer and work at a homeless shelter. They help to make the state a better place and they raise children, who want to stay here. That’s what we need to be shooting for. But if we continue to say yes to everyone and everyone says I’m entitled to this and I’m entitled to that, I want, I want, I want, I deserve. You know it just doesn’t work that way. You know I used to ask my mother all the time when I was a kid, we’d go to the store someplace and I would ask her, “can we have that, can I buy that?” And my mother used to say to me all the time, “absolutely, Chris, no problem. Go home, get the money off the money tree in the backyard and then come back and buy it.” And I’d be like, mom we don’t have a money tree in the backyard and she’d say exactly. Right? Ok, so you know, we need to start saying that to each other, like I want that, I was promised that, I need this. Well listen man, I don’t have a money tree. Every dollar I spend comes from you. Comes from you. Directly or indirectly. Every dollar I spend, so that’s what we’ve done, that’s what we still need to do and it’s possible. it’s within reach, but you got to make hard decisions. You got to have the will to be able to do this stuff. You got to have the will to say no to people. And it doesn’t make you popular with everybody. But the fact is, I didn’t run for this job to be the prom king, okay? And I don’t think you voted for me twice based on my charm and good looks, right? So, you hired me to do a job that you knew was going to be a tough job and that you thought other people have failed at doing and that’s why I get up every morning and try to do.
