Former Gov. Whitman Opens Consulting Firm To Use What She "Learned About Problem Solving"

Editor's note: The Ocean County Observer recently ran a fawning news article about former Governor Christie Whitman's new "consulting" business and how she won't lack for clients because of her "experience" in state government in New Jersey.

"I was looking for a way to stay involved in a policy position and use what I've learned about problem solving," Whitman told the Associated Press, her tongue tucked firmly but noticeably in her cheek.

Problem Solving Not Whitman's Strong Point

Because "problem solving" was not Whitman's strong point, at least when she was governor. Her strong point was problem creating, a talent which, even after a pause for the McGreevey embarrassment, some taxpayers remember, and not with warm and fuzzy fondness.

Whitman and the Republican legislature nearly made New Jersey state government insolvent because she (and they) never understood that increased spending combined with tax shortfalls produces budget deficits, a lesson that still has not been learned in such places as Dover Township and the DMUA.

Whitman And McGreevey: Two Worst NJ Governors

In a string of mediocre governors, Whitman and McGreevey stand out as two of the worst governors in New Jersey history, and the verdict is not yet in about whether McGreevey's lying and posturing and corruption and pandering and incompetence make him worse than Whitman.

Time will tell. Maybe it's a tie.

Dick Hughes And Al Driscoll: Where
Are You When We Need You?

Property taxes are exponentially higher in many New Jersey communities because of Whitman's stupidity and policy blunders. She left a $5.2 Billion budget deficit without a word of advice about how to fund it.

All McGreevey did was make it a little worse.

Now Christie will use her talent for "problem solving" to harass clients with her offices in Washington DC and Gladstone in Somerset County.

We wish her good luck, and her clients as little damage as possible in her new venture, as we reprint an article originally published on February 13, 2003:

Whitman's Dismal Deficit And Fiscal Irresponsibility Legacy Still Nags At New Jersey Taxpayers, Especially Those In Ocean County Communities

After Screwing Up Nearly Every Aspect Of The State Government, Former Governor Says She's Tired Of Hearing About It; Says McGreevey Should Shut Up And Fix It.

Asbury Park Press Says "New Jersey Taxpayers Are Weary Of Paying The Bills She Left Behind"

Dover Township - The eight hundred pound gorilla in Governor Jim McGreevey's office is the corrosive and destructive and costly legacy of his predecessor, former Republican Governor Christine Todd Whitman.

All of the plans McGreevey made regarding new initiatives for senior citizens, mental health, handicapped citizens and further local property tax relief have been vaporized and subordinated to the crushing obligation to maintain state government services and fund the enormous budget deficits he inherited from Whitman and her profligate interim successor, "Acting" Governor Donald DiFrancesco.

Illegal And Unconstitutional $2.5 Billion State Budget Deficit

The year Whitman left office (2001) produced huge new spending orgies in the face of a huge illegal and unconstitutional budget deficit.
In May of 2001, the Star Ledger noted the new 2002 fiscal year budget, which did not even take effect until the following July 1st, was more than $2.5 billion out of balance.

The revenue numbers turned out to be wildly inflated by Whitman and DiFrancesco, so that by the time McGreevey took office, with still six months to go in the Whitman-DiFrancesco lame duck budget year, the deficit had reached an unprecedented $4.5 billion and climbing.

$400 Million In Lame Duck Pork

The lame duck Republican legislature only made matters worse with a $400 million lame duck pork barrel spending extravaganza that threw money at every special interest wish list in New Jersey during a series of December 2001 lame duck legislative sessions.

Whitman said a couple of months ago that McGreevey should stop criticizing her record of screwing up every corner of the state government before she abandoned her New Jersey constituents and left for Washington to inflict further injury on the federal government.

"New Jersey Taxpayers Are Tired Of Paying
The Bills She Left Behind" -Asbury Park Press

The Asbury Park Press and others said McGreevey's criticism was on the mark, however, and Whitman should expect it to continue because "New Jersey taxpayers are tired of paying the bills she left behind."

As McGreevey completes his first year in office, Whitman's dismal record, in part, remains as follows:

-Whitman and DiFrancesco produced an illegal $2.5 Billion State Budget Deficit. The state budget was at least $2.5 billion out of balance a month before the 2002 budget year even started on July 1, 2001.

-Whitman's political patronage operation handed out big salaried jobs to every Republican job seeker in NJ, wasted hundreds of $$Millions and destroyed the morale of thousands of career state employees.

Massive Increase In The State's Debt

- Whitman and the Republican legislature enacted a massive increase in the state's debt, money she squandered in the stock market with pension system losses of more than $22 BILLION in 22 months. This plus inflated pension payments to overpaid political hacks put the state's pension system in jeopardy.

- Whitman's fiscal mismanagement and failure to confront the state's overdevelopment emergency set the stage for enormous local property tax increases, including a probable $40 million annual tax increase in Dover Township and the Toms River school system over the next several years.

The Haines Pension Scam Adjustments

- Christie also victimized retired career public employees with an eleventh hour change in legislation which handed the bulk of pension payment increases to the same worthless political appointees she hired at inflated salary and benefit costs.

Click here for previous Christie Whitman article and continue to log on to www.OceanCountyPolitics.Com  for more on the big Whitman-Inspired state budget deficits.

This article originally prepared for publication on 2/13/03. The editor's note was prepared for publication 3/25/05.

For More Background On The Whitman Debacle, Please Click Here For Another OCP Article, This One Published May 17, 2004