From John Wisniewski, Chairman of NJDC

NY Times: Christie’s Talk Is Blunt, but Not Always Straight
Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey has built a national reputation as a straight talker who will answer tough questions. But a close look at his public statements over the past year shows that some do not stand up to scrutiny.

“Clearly there has been a pattern of the governor playing fast and loose with the details,” said Brigid Harrison, a political science professor at Montclair State University.

His misstatements, exaggerations and carefully constructed claims belie the national image he has built as a blunt talker who gives straight answers to hard questions, especially about budgets and labor relations. Candor is central to Mr. Christie’s appeal, and a review of his public statements over the past year shows some of them do not hold up to scrutiny.

Misstatements have been central to Mr. Christie’s worst public stumbles — about how the state managed to miss out on a $400 million education grant last year, for example, and whether he was in touch enough while he was in Florida during the blizzard in December…

Some overstatements have worked their way into the governor’s routine public comments, like a claim that he balanced the budget last year without raising taxes; in truth, he cut deeply into tax credits for the elderly and the poor. But inaccuracies also crop up when he is challenged, and his instinct seems to be to turn it into an attack on someone else instead of giving an answer.
Mr. Christie fired Bret D. Schundler, his education commissioner at the time, accusing him of lying about the hearing. But Mr. Schundler said he had warned the governor before the news conference that what he was about to tell reporters was false. “His entire point was he likes to be on offense rather than defense,” Mr. Schundler said days later. “He wanted to make this all about the Obama administration’s picayune rules rather than our error.”
A few months later, in November, when the Assembly speaker, Sheila Y. Oliver, a Democrat, and the governor were sparring over pension issues, she said she had requested a meeting with the governor. Mr. Christie called that “a lie.” Ms. Oliver’s office promptly produced text messages from the Assembly staff making the request.

“Everything is an assault, which makes it hard for adversaries to catch their breath and question the substance of what he’s saying before he moves on to the next thing,” said Assemblyman John Wisniewski, the state Democratic chairman.

After the record snowfall in December, Mr. Christie defended his decision to stay on vacation in Florida with his family, saying that he had spoken with the acting governor, Stephen M. Sweeney, during the storm. When Mr. Sweeney, a Democrat and the State Senate president, said they had not talked, the governor attributed his own misstatement to lack of sleep.

The governor sometimes wanders into gray areas.

As a Republican in a Democratic-leaning state who promotes himself as a paragon of straight talk, he might need to stick to the truth more than most.

$1 Billion in Property Tax Hikes from Chris Christie’s Failed Policies Average 4.1% property tax increase follows 23% hike after Christie failed to fund Property Tax rebates
(Trenton) – When asked about an average 4.1% increase in property taxes for New Jersey homeowners in 2010, equating to nearly $1 billion in property tax hikes, the Christie administration recently called it a “transition period.” Following that failed attempt to downplay the impact on New Jersey families, Christie once again tried to blame someone else. New Jersey Democratic State Committee Chairman John Wisniewski offered the following response to the administration’s attempt to ignore the largest property tax increase in years:

“The failed priorities of giving money away to millionaires by Chris Christie and New Jersey Republicans cost middle class families over $1 billion last year in property tax hikes,” said Wisniewski. “Instead of shared sacrifice, Chris Christie has placed the sole burden for fixing our problems on the backs of workers and families causing the largest property tax increase in years. Whether its continued job losses or large property tax increases, the results continue to show the failure of Chris Christie’s policies. Instead of working with Democrats to solve our problems, Chris Christie has continued to do what he does best: Blame someone else for them.”