Gov. Chris Christie’s call for a special legislative session yesterday was described by Democrats, including Senate President Steve Sweeney as political theater. So is the so called “bipartisan tax cut plan” touted by the governor yesterday a viable option? Senior Correspondent Desiree Taylor sat down with PolitickerNJ Editor Darryl Isherwood to get his take on the speech and the reaction.
The softer, gentler tone of the governor’s speech caught many Democrats and Christie watchers by surprise, considering the strident, hard line approach he had been taking against what he has been calling “Corzine Democrats” at recent town hall meetings.
“It was interesting because if you followed it last week, [he] spent it beating up on Democrats,” said Isherwood. “He had some choice things to say about Sen. Paul Sarlo, the Senate Budget Committee chairman all week, was beating up on the Corzine Democrats. And he came to town yesterday and he was a little quieter and gentler and talked abut bipartisanship and talked about working together to come up with tax relief for the citizens of New Jersey.”
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The compromise plan the governor spoke of is a plan that he and Steve Sweeney came up with about a month, says Isherwood. “They were ready to announce a plan and they had gotten this deal together, were ready to announce it and got scuttled at the last moment by, depending on who you talk to, angry Democrats who were annoyed that Steve had gone around them and made this deal with the governor.”
In response to the governor’s speech, Democratic lawmakers stood by their position that a tax cut would be dependent on actual state revenue.
“They say ‘if and when it does, we’re happy to provide tax relief [when] the money is there but, we’re being responsible.'” So in Democrats’ minds, says Isherwood, they’ve already passed a tax cut plan. “So as Steve Sweeney said, it was theater, it was much ado about nothing.”
The other point Democrats raise, says Isherwood, is the fact that the tax relief would not be felt immediately.
“Even if it was passed today, you wouldn’t see that tax relief until you filed your tax return … so the earliest you’re going to see it is, say February of 2013.”
And it’s a point that Democrats wanted to drive home at a press conference after the governor’s speech.
“Steve [Sweeney] even said, addressing the reporters in the room, ‘get this out to the people of New Jersey: this is not immediate tax relief.” Their message essentially, says Isherwood, is “whether it’s passed today or it’s passed in December 31, you get that check at the same time.”
According to Isherwood, some say Christie’s talk of compromise and gentle tone may have something to do with his television appearances planned for today.
“After the speech, they released a public schedule and he had 3 or 4 TV appearances today to push that same message. So that was interesting. A lot of people said ‘now I get the softer tone yesterday.'”
In the short term, Isherwood says the governor has the easier task of selling his message. As governor, he has the bully pulpit and the media darling has no problem attracting national airtime.