NJ Gov. Christie, In Philly, Says Leaders Must Make Tough Calls
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- New Jersey governor Chris Christie was the keynote speaker on Tuesday morning at the Committee of Seventy's annual breakfast in the grand ballroom of the Bellevue Hotel, in center city Philadelphia.
Christie was nearly an hour late for the breakfast sponsored by the political watchdog group, forcing some tap dancing from organizers and some jokes from fellow politicians like Congressman-elect Pat Meehan (R-Pa.):
"The DRPA's not letting Christie across the bridge, that's the problem."
The Delaware River Port Authority has been a frequent target of Christie's austerity efforts.
With Pennsylvania's governor-elect, Tom Corbett, saying he'll follow Christie's leads in governing, Philadelphia mayor Michael Nutter had this special message for Christie:
"If you could please significantly increase funding to the largest city in the State of New Jersey, I would greatly appreciate that," said Nutter, who runs the largest city in Pennsylvania.
All joking aside, Governor Christie's message to the breakfast crowd was that leaders need to lead instead of pander to voters and special interests.
"The people of New Jersey didn't elect me for my charm and good looks," said Christie. "They elected me because they wanted somebody to go down there and clean things up."
Reported by Jim Melwert, KYW Newsradio 1060.
