From George Will:

Bringing Thunder-ous change to New Jersey: He inherited a $2.2 billion deficit, and next year’s projected deficit of $10.7 billion is, relative to the state’s $29.3 billion budget, the nation’s worst. Democrats, with the verbal tic — “Tax the rich!” — that passes for progressive thinking, demanded that he reinstate the “millionaire’s tax,” which hit “millionaires” earning $400,000 until it expired Dec. 31. Instead, Christie noted that between 2004 and 2008 there was a net outflow of $70 billion in wealth as “the rich,” including small businesses, fled. And he said previous administrations had “raised taxes 115 times in the last eight years alone.”

So he closed the $2.2 billion gap by accepting 375 of 378 suggested spending freezes and cuts. In two weeks. By executive actions. In eight weeks he cut $13 billion — $232 million a day, $9 million an hour. Now comes the hard part.

Exactly! Closing a budget gap CANNOT mean raising taxes in this economy. The only responsible thing for government to do is what struggling families are forced to do: tighten their belt. Without needing laws to be passed, and simply by executive order, he managed to trim $13 billion from the budget??? [Why can’t Deval Patrick do this](http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2010/01/mass_gov_deval_patrick_propose.html)?