Fiscal Conservative Chris Christie

[MrJayremmie]

... has his state downgraded to AA- from AA.

This is three days old, but didn't see it posted.

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2011/08...-downgrade-in-line-with-moody-sp-rating-cuts/

Another rating agency has some bad news for New Jersey.

Fitch Ratings has downgraded New Jersey’s general obligation bonds to AA- from AA.

The agency also downgraded the rating on the state’s open space preservation bonds and its appropriations-backed debt.

The downgrade came as no surprise to Gov. Chris Christie, but says it would’ve been different had Fitch not mentioned how the state cut spending and reformed pension and health benefits.

“They gave us credit for the pension and benefit reform that we passed this year,” said Christie. “Imagine if we hadn’t passed that pension and benefit reform, what that report would have looked like.”

But the report also noted the state’s budget remains structurally unbalanced, for which Christie blamed past fiscal mismanagement.

He admits this may mean the state will pay higher interest rates in the short-term, but says New Jersey pays its bills.

Fitch is the third rating agency this year to downgrade the state’s bond rating but the first to do so since the Legislature passed the landmark pension and health benefits legislation.

Moody’s cut the state’s bond rating one notch in April, citing the slow economic recovery and mounting employee retirement costs.

Standard & Poor’s cut its rating in February, making New Jersey’s credit rating among the lowest of all the states.

Good thing this guy isn't running for President.

I do think I remember this guy criticizing Obama during the Federal Gov't's debt fiasco. Kinda funny.

 

[BLAZER PROPHET]

A post about New Jersey reminds me of a joke I once heard.

Seems this young couple were going at it hammer & tongs in the back seat of his car. She moans, "Oh darling, kiss where it smells!" So he drove her to New Jersey.

 

[BLAZER PROPHET]

... has his state downgraded to AA- from AA.

This is three days old, but didn't see it posted.

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2011/08...-downgrade-in-line-with-moody-sp-rating-cuts/


Good thing this guy isn't running for President.

I do think I remember this guy criticizing Obama during the Federal Gov't's debt fiasco. Kinda funny.

So if I read this correctly, Moody's liked what he has been doing [The downgrade came as no surprise to Gov. Chris Christie, but says it would’ve been different had Fitch not mentioned how the state cut spending and reformed pension and health benefits.

“They gave us credit for the pension and benefit reform that we passed this year,” said Christie. “Imagine if we hadn’t passed that pension and benefit reform, what that report would have looked like.”] and seemed to place the blame on Obamanomics and union retirement plans [Moody’s cut the state’s bond rating one notch in April, citing the slow economic recovery and mounting employee retirement costs.].

Well, that makes sense. Seems like Christie has things moving in the right direction.

 

[maxiep]

Here's part of Fitch's text

Fitch Ratings downgrades the State of New Jersey’s outstanding general obligation (GO) bonds to ‘AA-’ from ‘AA’.

Fitch also downgrades to ‘AA-’ from ‘AA’ the rating on the Garden State Preservation Trust’s open space revenue bonds. Additionally, Fitch downgrades to ‘A+’ from ‘AA-’ the ratings on the state’s appropriation-backed debt and other related debt, which is detailed at the endof this release.

The Rating Outlook for all affected bonds is revised to Stable from Negative.

The downgrade of the state’s GO rating to ‘AA-’ from ‘AA’ reflects the mounting budgetary pressure presented by significant and growing funding needs for the state’s unfunded pension and employee benefit liabilities, particularly in the context of a weak economic recovery, a high debt burden, limited financial flexibility, and persistent structural imbalance.

Despite recent, significant action to contain future growth in the state’s accumulated pension liability, continued funding level deterioration is projected through the medium term as full funding of the actuarially required contributions is phased in, resulting in sizeable increases in annually required contributions. Fitch believes that meeting the requisite increases in pension contributions will be challenging and is likely to conflict with other long term challenges, such as property tax relief, school funding, and infrastructure needs.

Management has proactively responded to past revenue weakness, and growth in state spending has been contained. Nevertheless, the state’s budget remains structurally imbalanced inclusive of unfunded pension contributions. Reserve balances are expected to remain narrow, offering limited flexibility to absorb unforeseen needs.

Reading the text, it doesn't look bad for Christie at all.