NBC The Today Show -- January 9, 2013
(Transcript Below)
Matt: President Obama's not the only one having a difficult time with Congress. New Jersey's Republican governor, Chris Christie, made some headlines recently when he called out GOP Republicans for postponing a vote on disaster aid for Sandy victims. ... Time Magazine ... put this face on the cover of this week's issue with the headline "The Boss". They're referring to the fact that this is your time to take the reins of the Republican Party. Are you going to do it?
"I'm going to be governor of New Jersey. That's my job, and the only reason you get this attention is if you're doing your job well and you're being an advocate for the people that elected you, and that's all this is about. It's not about me trying to take control of anything other than take care of the people of New Jersey."
Matt: You blasted some Republicans in Congress last week...said they showed callous indifference, selfishness, duplicity. They were practicing toxic politics, strong letter to follow. Those aren't the words of a guy who's happy with his party.
"No, because Sandy is and was above politics in every other element except for what happened in the Congress a week ago, and so what I was trying to point out very clearly was there are people suffering in New Jersey, there are people suffering in New York, and they need to be taken care of, and remember this Matt: we've now waited seven times longer than the victims of Katrina waited for federal aid. Not right."
Matt: Republicans are going to have to deal with the issue of guns as are all Americans, Democrats included. Were you supporting the state ban on assault weapons or a federal ban on assault weapons?
"State... What I'd say is that states need to make some of these decisions like we've made in New Jersey. We have the second-toughest gun laws in America, only behind the state of New York, but I think if all you talk about is that Matt, you're shortchanging this conversation. This young man in Connecticut was obviously, seriously mentally ill. Why do we have such a stigma about mental illness treatment? Why aren't we dealing with substance abuse treatment Matt? ...All you're focusing on right now is gun control. What about the violence in our video games? You know, you and I both have children. We don't allow those games into our house. We've made that decision because we think it desensitizes our children to the real effects of violence. I mean, the fact is we need to have the conversation about all these things. We had a woman Matt in Camden who decapitated her child and then killed herself high on crack. If we don't deal with the substance abuse issues and the mental illness issues that lead to violence, we're shortchanging this conversation."
Matt: In your State of the State address yesterday, you cast New Jersey as the alternative to what you termed the dysfunctional, dispirited, and distrustful government in Washington. Why is New Jersey a better example?
"Well, because in divided government in the last three years, we've passed a cap on property taxes. We've done meaningful pension and health benefit reform. We've done a new drug rehabilitation program where for first-time offenders, you don't get sentenced to jail; you get sentenced to rehabilitation. We've done a lot of things in this state. I vetoed three income tax increases when I had to, so we've had our confrontations when we've had to. But we've done a lot of things.
Matt: Let's talk about compromise. We are barreling toward fiscal cliff part two, all right? Some people say the debate coming up could be worse over the debt ceiling and spending. Do you want to see the Republican Party stand firm and refuse to raise the debt ceiling until there are severe, dramatic and severe spending cuts? Are you willing to risk that again?
"Listen, what I think we need to do is stand firm on getting some real, significant spending reductions. We've now done what the President wanted to do. He wanted to raise taxes on the highest-earning Americans, and Republicans have now acquiesced to that. Now it's time for the President to stand up and say here's what I'm going to do on spending. He hasn't done it; he needs to do it, and if he's going to be a credible partner and compromiser, then he's going to have to step up and do those things too.
Matt: And if Republicans refuse to raise the debt limit, if those spending cuts are not deep enough.
"Let me tell you, we've got a bunch of different options at our disposal. You have the continuing resolution coming up in March. You have a number of other things that you can do that includes the debt ceiling, but my point is you've got to get to the table and start working now. If we wait until the week or so before to actually start talking to each other, we're not going to get it done."
