An ongoing feud between potential 2016 contenders bubbled to the surface again Wednesday when Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) took a pointed shot at New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s (R) use of federal funds for Hurricane Sandy relief.
Paul told Philadelphia radio host Dom Giordano that the federal funds helped Christie secure a resounding re-election victory.
“Well, his victory was, in large form, based on that he got a lot of federal money for his state,” Paul said, as quoted by CBS Philly. “The problem is … unlimited spending is sort of – you could call it moderate, or even Liberal, to think that there’s an unlimited amount of money, even for good causes.”
The senator then continued to question Christie’s conservative credentials.
“If you’re a conservative Republican, the federal government will be involved in certain things, but when you spend money, particularly when you’re at trillion dollars in the hole, it shouldn’t be just this, ‘gimme, gimme, gimme all my money’ without any considerations or strings,” Paul said. “It should be, ‘Yes, this is why it’s necessary, but this is also why I’ll cut spending somewhere else.’”
And Paul echoed what he said last week, telling Giordano that it was wrong for Christie to star in the federally subsidized ad campaign to promote tourism on the Jersey Shore.
“It should be against the law for any politician to put their image on TV at taxpayer expense,” Paul said.
Paul and Christie have a running quarrel that dates back to the summer, when the two high-profile Republicans sparred over national security and Sandy relief.
