New Jersey governor and Republican rising star Chris Christie appeared on Friday’s TODAY Show with Matt Lauer to discuss a landmark pension reform package that passed through the state’s legislature this week. The changes are expected to save more than $100 billion over the next 30 years by raising costs for public workers. Teachers and public employees, two very powerful political forces in New Jersey, are seeing red following the bipartisan passage.
Although Democrats have a 47 to 33 majority in the assembly — the bill passed by a vote of 46 to 32. The state senate, controlled 24 to 16 by the Democrats, passed a reform package earlier this week with a 24 to 15 vote.
“It’s an example of bipartisanship that the President and Congress can only aspire to,” Christie said Thursday.
The Newark Star-Ledger noted that Christie will continue his “nationally televised victory lap” by appearing on “Meet the Press” this Sunday.
Here is the 6 minute exchange between Christie and Lauer, including a clip in which Christie bluntly tells off a voter who is critical of him for sending his children to a private Catholic school. He also makes it clear he has no interest in running for President in 2012 and talks about having lunch recently with former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani.
Lauer asks of the lunch: “Did he say ‘are you running’ because I’m considering it? And if you’re running, I don’t think I can win…”
To which Christie responds: “No, he didn’t say exactly that…”
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