Christie calls Obama's debt-reduction proposal 'posturing'

Gov. Christie used the setting of a pharmaceutical conference Thursday to deliver what amounted to a Republican response to a speech this week in which President Obama criticized the GOP's deficit-reduction plan.

"I don't need to have a master political strategist in the White House. I prefer to have a leader," Christie said, arguing that Obama was "posturing" for reelection with his strategy to cut the $14.3 trillion national debt.

"We've got to stop allowing people to pretend to be leaders by sticking their finger up in the air to see which way the wind's blowing and then running to the front of that pack and pretending to lead," the governor said.

Christie didn't make specific critiques, but he alluded to Obama's proposal to save $4 trillion over 12 years, which would rely less on changes to Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare and more on cutting spending, lowering interest on the national debt, closing tax loopholes, and ending George W. Bush-era tax cuts to high-wage earners. Christie's argument adhered to the conservative doctrine of minimal governmental role in the private sector and lower taxes.

"We're not running a charity here," he said. "We have to make sure government is out of the business of regulating, taxing, and penalizing people who are trying to create jobs."

Christie has criticized Obama and some congressional Republicans for failing to tackle the "big things" at the federal level, such as Social Security and Medicare. At the same time, he has praised Obama for his work on education and defended Michelle Obama for tackling the issue of child obesity.

Christie's speech was not entirely partisan. He acknowledged that "certain" Washington Republicans were "playing politics and trying to maneuver things." And he compared himself, as he often does, to Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo in New York, who recently scored a budget deal that doesn't raise taxes.

"When I see what Gov. Cuomo is doing across the river, I think it's true: I think we were separated at birth," Christie said.

"This is not a red-and-blue issue. This is a black-and-white issue. This is about balancing the books."

The White House had no comment Thursday, and Cuomo's office did not respond to a request for comment.

By taking aim at large targets, such as Obama, Christie has fueled speculation that he has his heart set on the White House. But at a Wednesday news conference, he repeated that he would not run for president or vice president in 2012.

According to a Rutgers-Eagleton Poll released Thursday, most New Jerseyans endorse that decision. Among the registered voters who responded, 22 percent said they supported a 2012 bid by Christie, with 65 percent in opposition and 12 percent unsure. The margin of error was plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

In his 30-minute speech Thursday at the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association's annual meeting in Jersey City, Christie contrasted Obama's fiscal policy with how Christie has run things in New Jersey, particularly his efforts to improve the state's business climate.

There are a third fewer business regulations now than when he took office, and major corporations once on their way out of New Jersey have decided to stay, he said.

Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals recently said it planned to move its New York operation to a consolidated facility in the Garden State.

"We need to get government's foot off business' neck in New Jersey," he said.

Christie was the warm-up act, of sorts, for another politician with stage presence. Next up was former President Bill Clinton.