Chris Christie On Obama's Super Committee Involvement: 'What The Hell Are We Paying You For?'

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) slammed President Barack Obama at a press conference in Camden, N.J. Monday for the super committee's failure.

"I was angry this weekend listening to the spin coming out of the administration about the failure of the super committee," said Christie. "The president knew that it was doomed for failure so he didn't get involved. Well, then what the hell are we paying you for? It's doomed for failure so I'm not getting involved? Well, what have you been doing exactly?" he said.

(Video above via Christie's YouTube account.)

The president, however, released a plan (pdf) to Congress entitled "Living Within Our Means and Investing in the Future," outlining $3 trillion in net savings over the next decade. Obama blamed Republicans' refusal to raise taxes for the failure of the super committee.

The Obama administration has also dismissed the idea that the president would change the construction of the automatic spending cut triggers, scheduled to take effect in 2013, to lessen the impact on defense spending. The automatic cuts contain $600 billion in defense cuts and $600 billion in Medicare and domestic spending cuts.

The 12-member super committee, formally known as the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, was set to come up with $1.2 trillion in savings, but failed to meet its Nov. 23 deadline.

Christie announced in early October that he would not run for the Republican nomination for president in 2012. He endorsed former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney for president.

Christie said both the Occupy Wall Street movement and the Tea Party movement "look at Washington D.C. and they look at a president who is a bystander in the Oval Office." He added that both movements come from the same frustration about government. Obama and Vice President Joe Biden have expressed that the movements arose from similar frustrations.

Comments

[Kele-De]

05:46 PM on 12/05/2011

Christie is going to be President in 2016. I am a Liberal (the Democratic-Farmer-Labor type) and I will probably vote for him unless he turns into one of the religious crazies or aligns himself with them. It is important to have balance in the White House and for a GOPer, Christie seems to have a rational, open mind. His family is pretty down to Earth and in the interviews I have seen him do, he appears genuine and frank.

[atila]

12:37 AM on 12/06/2011

If you're a liberal I'm from Mars.

[Kele-De]

01:18 AM on 12/06/2011

I know, I am disappointed in myself, but it is the truth.

[sharpstick]

11:34 AM on 12/06/2011

As you should be.

http://www.trentonian.com/articles/2011/01/24/news/doc4d3dcafe09685793106413.txt

http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/10/chris-christies-presidential-baggage.php?ref=fpa

[Nelle]

10:08 AM on 12/05/2011

Optimus Prime says: "That's a question you should ask yourself Megatron!"

[duriostellaj]

06:10 AM on 12/01/2011

What a contrast - the genuine gov against the spun, researched, strategic, all about re-election president.

The pres makes up cute titles, gives a speech and thinks he's done while governors are doing the hard work.

[Lo Chiaro]

08:40 PM on 11/30/2011

Now that you mention it; I think the GOP should refund all their paychecks for running the USA and the global economy into the ground. Accountability anyone??

[blb0027]

07:45 PM on 11/30/2011

I'm not even gonna read wkat all the lefties are saying about Christie. I know you can't stand him. Obama did this, Obama did that. Yeah right. Obama will do what ever it takes to make the economy look like it is doing good for the election. Isn't this the same guy that wanted to have a dialogue with Iran. How's that working out for ya Barry?? What a freaking joke. Bring it Christie!! I love it!!

[panobuz]

06:58 PM on 12/01/2011

So what do you suggest? Start another costly war with Iran? Spoken like a true GOPer.

[Ryan Szalay]

06:14 PM on 11/30/2011

When people are poor raising taxes to make sure the government has enough money is pretty stupid. The problem of people being broke and companies not hiring won't be solved by TAKING more money. If government wants to fix themselves then they should do it themselves. Last time I looked I had no problems that the government could fix for me. So why would I care if the government had a problems unless they wanted money from me to fix it? Americans need to stop relating their happiness to the efficiency of our government. Look at the past four years. Government has done absolutely nothing domestically. Yet somehow we all survived. We all will wake up tomorrow. As for Christie he is right. A President leads. Even Bush led our nation. Many times he dragged us kicking and screaming but we still went where he decided we should go. Americans hate their Congress, don't understand their Judiciary, but follow their President. From day one Obama looked to work with government as just another cog in the machine. To cooperate. That is his fundamental flaw. The Presidency is not a compromise position. It is a leadership position. The President says this is what I want done and in exchange I may or may not let some power wash down your way. Obama squandered all of his political capital by refusing to grab the reigns and lead us.

[luvobama]

06:26 PM on 11/30/2011

so many words.  so little thought.

[kibibi]

07:12 PM on 11/30/2011

for few words and brilliant! LOL

[Steve Gebeloff]

10:58 PM on 11/30/2011

Translation: Obama had a chance to be one of the great presidents; he BLEW IT

[Darlene Johnson]

03:36 PM on 12/01/2011

So well said cannot add to it , but you watch the left they will find fault because they cannot or donot understand.

[Neuron Flash]

05:24 PM on 11/30/2011

I know what Mr. Christie was being paid for when he was Attorney General and IGNORED evidence that a Murdoch subsidiary was hacking a competitors data base.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505123_162-42749415/inside-news-corps-alleged-us-computer-hacking-scandal/?tag=bnetdomain

The question is whose payroll Chris Christie on.

[ShanaJuly]

04:49 PM on 11/30/2011

HEY CHRISTIE:

The "Super Committee" is what JOHN BOEHNER WANTED. John Boehner famously stated he got "98 per cent" of what he wanted during the debt ceiling negotiations and this fake, doomed committee was part of it. NOW, the republicans want to blame President Obama for JOHN BOEHNER'S FAILURE and once again are counting on the majority of Americans to be ill informed or just plain stupid...

[kibibi]

05:20 PM on 11/30/2011

see! your a person who pays attention and that's why I fanned you,
Obama 2012

[luvobama]

06:27 PM on 11/30/2011

Exactly.  F & F

[blake86303]

04:33 PM on 11/30/2011

Chris is absolutely right. Man, I wish he would run,I would vote for him.

[traceymarie]

08:26 PM on 11/30/2011

wait....last week you were voting for caine, before that bachmannpaulperryromneysanitarium

[panobuz]

07:07 PM on 12/01/2011

I wish he would too, he would be so easy to take apart!

[kellygreen]

02:11 PM on 11/30/2011

Yo, Christie.

Go read The Constitution. You will find that turning about a budget, and funding the government is the job of the CONGRESS, not the President. The job of the President is to run foreign relations, implement and enforce the laws that the Congress, be Commander-in-Chief, and to be the voice that respents the nation as a whole. Rather than individual States and Districts.

Blaming the President for the fact that this Congress cannot fulfill one of its most BASIC constitutional obligations makes about as much sense as blaming Congress for the fact there were no WMDs found in Iraq.

[Steve Gebeloff]

04:00 PM on 11/30/2011

The President submits a budget to Congress. The only thing Obama submitted since he took office was voted down by a Dem majority Senate by 90 votes.
His foriegn affairs record is not good. He does not inforce the laws passed by Congress; in particular the immigration laws. It looks like he only represents the unions and other groups that contribute to his war chest.

[aalondawson]

04:07 PM on 11/30/2011

What's it like in that "Bubble"?

[jackoat04]

08:56 PM on 11/30/2011

You must be a hard core fox news viewer because there is nothing more solid than false speak, misinformation, and absence of facts. I feel you man!

[Kevin Krooss]

01:40 PM on 11/30/2011

Christie calls for Obama to run Congress.

I'm all for that!

[kibibi]

04:02 PM on 11/30/2011

yep and maybe then something will get down
Obama 2012

[strattc]

06:28 PM on 11/30/2011

Dems controlled the both houses for 2 years and couldn't get anything done...so you had your chance...

[Steve Gebeloff]

04:05 PM on 11/30/2011

I'm glad Christie didn't run for President. He has a lot more work to do here in NJ to clean up the mess Corzine left us.
Corzines appeal to NJ voters was his promise to give his constituents more out of the system than they put in. We can see how that worked out. I wonder if that is how he sold investors on MF Global.

[panobuz]

07:12 PM on 12/01/2011

The more I scroll down this page the bigger fool you become.

[chancho24]

12:28 PM on 11/30/2011

If his grades ever get revealed, something tells me that you are going to have a lot of egg on your face.

[kimmiesm]

04:48 PM on 11/30/2011

So having his grades revealed will cancel out all the mess he's created??? That will automatically prove that despite his bad decisions he is an intellect?

[greeneyes51654m]

12:39 PM on 11/30/2011

Fanned and Faved!

[Servility]

11:39 AM on 11/30/2011

So if you had a choice between a president that tackles the debt issue and one that takes a hands off approach, which president would you want?

[Llib Noswad]

12:31 PM on 11/30/2011

So, which one are you favoring? Romney or Ginrich?

[Servility]

01:56 PM on 11/30/2011

Whichever one can beat Obama!

[chancho24]

12:33 PM on 11/30/2011

How should he have tackled it?

You have a group of Cons saying they will oppose raising taxes on the 1% courtesy of Grover Norquist.
Obama KNEW this super committee was not going to work even if he had put his two cents in.
Repubs were hoping to use that against him.
Now the Cons have the automatic triggers working against them, as the public knows that they failed. I say Obama played it masterfully!
No amount of spin can change that fact.

[panobuz]

07:21 PM on 12/01/2011

Well said and now John Boehner will agree to tax cuts for the middle class but doesn't want to pay for them by taxing the 1%. I wonder what that will do for the deficit? Oh yeah bush said tax cuts will pay for themselves.

[chancho24]

11:06 AM on 11/30/2011

Republicans like Christie, and the rest of their ilk, are tossing a red herring at the American People.
They are acting like they care about the national debt...THEY DON"T!
In the 8 years of Bush, spending was unprecedented! Two wars out of the books, and massive fraud on Wall Street. They are merely using Obama as their scapegoat to cover their tracks while claiming they are the party of fiscal responsibility. Laughable!
Look at their job creating actions, blockage of a jobs bill, and now blocking extension of tax cuts for the middle class that will raise their taxes, and of course, they will try to blame Obama for this. These people are not interested in governing, they are playing political games. 11 months of Boehner's Congress has yielded nothing.
Nothing!

[Servility]

11:38 AM on 11/30/2011

What specific actions has Obama taken to demonstrate he his serious about dealing with the debt? He hasn't even have a budget!

[chancho24]

12:11 PM on 11/30/2011

Once more with the spin...

[jerseyrambo]

12:21 PM on 11/30/2011

He submitted a budget, it didnt get single vote from either party.

[jerseyrambo]

12:11 PM on 11/30/2011

How about harry reid put the 15 jobs related bills congress sent him up for a vote.

[chancho24]

12:34 PM on 11/30/2011

Job related...Barhahahahahahahaha!!!!
Don't make me laugh!

[Steve Gebeloff]

04:18 PM on 11/30/2011

How about Obama complained that the Congress was holding up three trade bills when they were sitting on his desk since he took office? Won't find that on the HP

[chancho24]

10:54 AM on 11/30/2011

The hilarious part is seeing Christie lecturing from what appears to be a kitchen...

[cschieda]

11:02 AM on 11/30/2011

You must be a dullard if you find that hilarious. With the problems our country faces today their is nothing hilarious about the situation. Grow up.

[chancho24]

11:08 AM on 11/30/2011

Flagged.