Professor Elam

Wed March 3 2010

I know some of the students believe I have been exaggerating what is about to happen in the US economy. Well, listen to what newly elected New Jersey Gov Chris Christie has to say about budget cutting in his state, notably rated the worst to do business in the USA. He is referencing the famous scene in Butch Cassidy where in desperation, the two outlaws jump off  a high cliff into a river. We have about two to three generations that have never experienced hard times, and recoil at the very thought of it. For New Jersey, those times have arrived. 

t's time for us to hold hands and jump off the cliff. It's time for us to do the difficult things that need to be done and to stop playing the petty politics of yesterday, of lying to the people telling them they do not have to pay for it because someone else will.

We are going to make the leap because that's what people elected me to do. We are going to make the leap because it is the responsible thing to do. We are going to make the leap and we are going to do it together because that is what leadership demands for us. That is what the responsibility of the offices we hold requires of us.

Forget about the next election. Forget about the next editorial in the newspaper, and forget about the next angry letter or phone call you are going to get from someone who wants something for nothing.

One thing is certain. The alternative will lead to certain defeat. And so it is time for us to show courage, and resolve. And we can do it because we are from New Jersey. And I have never, in all my travels around the country, met a group of tougher people than we all have the opportunity to lead.