More bad news: Christie says he's the new Reagan

On West Passaic Street in Maywood, two trees appear to have been trimmed by passing NJ Transit buses and trucks.

By Victor E. Sasson
Editor

Do you remember President Ronald Reagan's "trickle-down" economics?

Reagan's two terms in office (1981-89) seemed like an eternity to many Americans, who believe he was the worst president we ever had until George W. Bush took office.

As a reporter for The Record, I was assigned to do a story on Reagan's budget cuts, and my Page 1 story detailed how he had slashed social programs for minority children, among others.

Now, Governor Christie has "compared himself to Ronald Reagan," The Record reports in a Page 1 column today on the GOP bully's TV appearances on Sunday.

Reporting every fart

It looks like The Record has committed itself to chronicling Christie's every word, every fart and every mean-spirited act, and to spinning them for what they mean for his presidential aspirations in  2016.

That election is three long years away, and if Christie actually gets the nomination, he faces certain defeat at the hands of Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Reader weighs in

Reader David B. Simpson of Tenafly is already sick of all the space The Record is devoting to its "endless speculation about Governor Christie's presidential ambitions and the prospects of his success" (Your Views, A-13).

Instead, Simpson says, The Record's "journalistic function" is to provide "a genuine factual  inquiry into the performance of Christie in office as to whether he really is accomplishing what he claims."

Take a hike

Hey, Simpson, don't you know Editor Marty Gottlieb and his gang of Christie-loving columnists and reporters don't give a shit what you think? 

And you have a nerve telling Gottlieb and the Borg family how to perform their "journalistic function."

Simpson voted for Christie, but bemoans the governor's "one-shot gimmicks to close budget gaps, and his willingness to subsidize public projects with extensive public money, such as in the case of the failing casinos of Atlantic City and the monstrous Xanadu project in the Meadowlands [American Nightmare]."

"You owe it to the people of New Jersey, and the nation, to provide an unvarnished portrait  of Christie's tenure in office, identifying both successes and failures," Simpson's letter says.

Don't hold your breath.

Hackensack mystery

For Veterans Day, the front page also carries a story about 1st Lt. Raymond Sachtleben, a World War II pilot from Hackensack whose B-24 bomber crashed in an English village in 1944.

The cause of his death was shrouded in mystery until villagers, a researcher in New Jersey and Hackensack High School students worked together on a memorial and a Web site (A-1 and A-8).

Clueless readers, including a boater, continue to consult Road Warrior John Cichowski on MVC rules and regulations, apparently unaware he has lost it completely (L-1).

Restaurant focus

Better Living's cover story reports on children who followed their parents into the restaurant industry (BL-1).

Issues faced by restaurant goers -- including service, tipping, rising prices and the quality of the food served by restaurants -- continue to be largely ignored.