Chris Christie Pays for His Fiscal Sins, Sort of

Governor Pays State for State Helicopter Rides to Son’s Baseball Games

Yesterday The Dismal Political Economist reported on how NJ Governor Chris Christie, the “hard as nails” opponent to state spending and so-called fiscal conservative used the state helicopter to go see his son play in a high school baseball game.

Today the NYT Times reported that Christie had agreed to repay for some of the trips.

As a refund, Christie has paid $1,232.30 to the state treasurer for Tuesday's trip to the game, while the New Jersey Republican State Committee paid $1,232.29 for the trip back to Princeton, said party spokesman Rick Gorka.

Christie also reimbursed the state $919.20 for a May 27 trip to another game of his son's, Gorka said.

This is not the first time Christie has been criticized over spending. Last year, the website Politico reported that as a federal prosecutor, Christie stayed at luxury hotels using taxpayer money.

The Dismal Political Economist used to say that wouldn’t it be nice if the Party of Family Values actually had some.  Now he can say wouldn’t it be nice if the Party of fiscal responsibility actually practiced themselves when spending state money on themselves.

Of course, this tendency is not limited to Republicans.  Governor Beverly Perdue of North Carolina could well lose her race for re-election for confusing the State Plane with a Campaign Plane.