PrintApril 30, 2011
Chris Christie has an Obligation to Run
The recent decision by Standard & Poor's to reduce the forecast of their rating of U.S. debt has forced a reevaluation of all the candidates for President now jockeying for position in the Republican field.
I am well aware that Governor Chris Christie has been encouraged to consider running for President of the United States, and he has been consistent, admirably consistent in fact, in stating that he will not run. He has said that he feels an obligation to New Jersey voters to fulfill the term of office to which he was elected, and to do what he thinks is best for the people of New Jersey.
Again, these are truly admirable positions, and I really respect his views on them.
Please allow me to point out one fact that, while obvious, still needs to be occasionally aired out and examined. If the United States should effectively become a third world nation (and there is every indication of that actually occurring in the not too distant future) the State of New Jersey will not be exempt from that disaster. The devaluation of our currency that has resulted from out of control spending and borrowing applies to all our money. Again, the money that people put in their savings accounts in New Jersey is not specially protected. It is not worth more than the money of our fellow citizens in New Mexico, or Illinois or Oregon.
Because of the mismanagement of our government and the ideological basis for what passes as leadership in Washington, decisions have been made to prevent drilling for domestic supplies of energy. When these decisions are coupled the so called "quantitative easing" of the money supply and the unrest in the Middle East, not only do energy costs soar, but the ripple effect throughout our economy is ravaging the net worth of even those Americans who still have a job.
In looking forward to the 2012 elections, our current President, working in tandem with the Democrat Majority Leader in the Senate, has concluded that jawboning the problem will work perfectly in portraying himself as thoughtful, concerned and willing to negotiate on these issues of uncontrolled spending, overly controlled energy exploration, mandated observance of nonsensical, but politically correct, "education" policies, continued subsidies for agriculture, waiving the legal and financial obligations of their healthcare law for political allies, and finally using Executive Orders as a club to limit our First Amendment rights to support the political candidate of our own choosing, it becomes perfectly clear that there will be absolutely no improvement in the financial, economic, employment or national security position of the United States should Barack Obama repeat his 2008 victory.
Governor, the country cannot afford that risk.
I pay my taxes. I don't want to, mind you, but I pay them. In fact I hate paying my taxes, since I know the vast majority of each and every dollar is wasted. I pay them for the same reason I spent two fun-filled years in Vietnam. I feel an obligation to do what I can for my country. But never think that I pay my taxes, or serve my country because I want to give bureaucrats, who fancy themselves as "elite" members of the body politic, control over my destiny. I resist that idea with everything that I hold dear. But we live in a democratic republic, and certain sacrifices are part of the social contract that we sign with ourselves to exist as a nation. Are those sacrifices painful? Absolutely! Sometimes, they are deadly. There are some fifty thousand names on a wall in Washington that identify those who made the ultimate sacrifice. This is one of the drawbacks of democracy...you must be involved. On the other side of the coin, I have to admire the way Winston Churchill described the situation: "Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all those others that have been tried."
Well, Governor Christie, now it's your turn to be involved, to make one of those painful sacrifices. The potential field of possible Republican presidential candidates currently consists of "re-treads" who have run in the past -- and lost -- or do not have the personal magnetism to offset that of Barack Obama, nor have his bully pulpit, nor his command of the main stream media nor his union backed "shock troops." You are the only potential GOP candidate who has the presence on the stump to nullify Obama's advantages, and you can present ideas in both logical and reasonable terms in such a way that even the Democrats in New Jersey voted for you.
So, Governor, it is up to you. Are you willing to make the sacrifice that the country is asking from you? Are you willing to put the welfare of all Americans at a level at least as high as those of New Jersey?
Unless you are, you will have made the decision, by default, to place all Americans at the same level - a much lower level, a level of crippling debt, a drastically reduced standard of living, an increasingly obnoxious bureaucracy and ever decreasing levels of liberty and personal potential.
Please, sir, reconsider your decision not to run for the Presidency. The nation needs you, now. Not in 2016, or 2020. Now. When the nation needs a true leader, that leader has a moral obligation to make the sacrifice and answer that need.
Jim Yardley is a retired financial controller, Vietnam veteran and libertarian (small "l"). Jim blogs at jimyardley.wordpress.com, or he can be contacted directly at james.v.yardley@gmail.com
