NJ and GA Democratic Party Leaders Issue Statements Ahead of Christie / Deal Campaign Events

DPG Chairman Porter says Christie’s visit “makes as much sense as trying to wash Ebola off your hands with water.”

Release:  Thursday, October 16, 2014

Atlanta, GA – Just weeks from Election Day, Georgia Governor Nathan Deal can’t make the sale on the case that he deserves reelection. And it’s no wonder. Under Deal, Georgia’s economy is falling behind the rest of the country, eroding the middle class, and failing to recover from the economic crisis as quickly as other states.

With RGA Chair Chris Christie visiting Georgia to campaign for Deal, the big question is who’s been a worse steward of their states’ economy?

“A governor’s job is to improve the economy, not to stifle it. Unfortunately, just like Governor Christie’s record in New Jersey, Nathan Deal appears to be taking what’s good about the Peach State and making it rotten,” said John Currie, the Chairman of the New Jersey Democratic State Committee. “Georgians should remind Chris Christie that he’s got his own messes back home, and that they don’t need him making theirs worse. Unless, of course, they want a politician who abuses power, mismanages resources and breaks promises, all while raising property taxes on the state’s most vulnerable. If that’s the case, they can keep him.”

Georgia and New Jersey economies under Deal and Christie paint a bleak picture.

• Both states continue to be plagued by above-average unemployment rates. New Jersey’s unemployment rate is more than half a point above the national rate, and one of the worst in its region. Georgia’s unemployment rateis the highest in the entire country, sitting above eight percent while the national rate has dipped under six percent.

• While the nation’s employment level has now reached and surpassed where it was before the recession, Georgia and New Jersey are still behind. New Jersey has recovered less than halfthe jobs it lost during the recession. The weak New Jersey economy recently suffered its record eighth consecutive downgrade during Chris Christie’s tenure as governor, and saw its $1.3 billion budget hole grow by $275 million. Georgia has recovered just 78 percent of the jobs lost during the recession and has had slowest jobs recovery in the nation

• Both states have been plagued by unacceptable poverty levels. Nearly a third of New Jerseyans are living in poverty – including 780,000 children – the highest level in half a century. In 2013, New Jersey was one of only three states in which poverty rose. In Georgia, even many who work full time live in poverty because their wages are so low. About 120,000 working-age Georgians work full-time but live in poverty, 20 percent more than in 2010.

“There’s a special place for folks like Chris Christie and Nathan Deal, but it ain’t in Georgia,” said Democratic Party of Georgia Chair DuBose Porter. “I’m not sure why the governor of New Jersey is campaigning for Deal—it makes as much sense as trying to wash Ebola off your hands with water. But I guess when you’re at the bottom of every ranking that matters, you’ll take advice from just about anyone.”

Georgia can’t afford four more years of Nathan Deal. Christie’s visit is a reminder to Georgia voters that it is Republicans’ failed economic policies that are holding their state back.

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BACKGROUND

CNN (10-14-14) – Gov.’s Ebola myth: Water kills it

AJC (10-13-14) – Nathan Deal’s administration defends ‘water kills the Ebola virus’ remark

Bureau of Labor Statistics

Salon (9-22-14) – GOP governor has hilarious theory for his state’s terrible unemployment rate

NJ.com (9-10-14) – Citing Christie’s pension cuts and budget issues, S&P downgrades N.J. debt rating

NJ.com (9-9-14) – N.J. budget shortfall was $275 million worse than Christie thought, document shows