Christie Paul split.jpg

Gov. Chris Christie (left) and U.S. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky are possible Republican candidates in the 2016 presidential race.

(File photos)

LITTLE FERRY — Gov. Chris Christie today dismissed Rand Paul as another "Washington politician," and in the same breath smacked the U.S. Senator from Kentucky for his state's dependence on federal dollars.



"I find it interesting that Senator Paul is accusing us of having a gimme, gimme, gimme attitude toward federal spending when in fact New Jersey is a donor state, we get 61 cents back on every dollar we send to Washington. And interestingly Kentucky gets 1.51 on every dollar they sent to Washington," Christie said. "So if Senator Paul wants to start looking at where he's going to start to cut spending ... maybe he should start cutting the pork barrel spending that he brings home to Kentucky."



"So maybe Senator Paul could, ya know, deal with that when he's trying to deal with the reduction in spending on the federal side," Christie continued, "but I doubt he would because most Washington politicians only care about bringing home the bacon so that they can get re-elected."



Christie's comments fuel an ongoing national security spat between two Republicans considered early contenders for the GOP presidential nomination in 2016. The war of words started Thursday when Christie criticized Paul and others for what he called a "strain of libertarianism" coursing through both parties as a "very dangerous thought" more than a decade after the Sept. 11 attacks.



"You can name any number of people and he's one of them," Christie said, stealing the spotlight from three other Republican governors who joined him on a Colorado panel. "These esoteric, intellectual debates — I want them to come to New Jersey and sit across from the widows and the orphans and have that conversation. And they won't, because that's a much tougher conversation to have."

Paul

defended his opposition

to warrantless federal surveillance programs and said Christie provoked him.

"They're precisely the same people who are unwilling to cut the spending, and their 'Gimme, gimme, gimme — give me all my Sandy money now,'" Paul told reporters, after a fundraiser outside Nashville on Sunday. "Those are the people who are bankrupting the government and not letting enough money be left over for national defense."

Ironically, Christie's comments today came during a news conference where he announced more disbursements from a $180 million federal program to help residents stay in their flood-damaged homes.

"I was asked a question at a forum in Aspen and I gave an answer. Now I know for politicians in Washington, D.C., this is a completely foreign concept. They think that there has to be some like master plan behind every utterance you make," Christie said, adding: "I have nothing personal against Senator Paul. If we disagree on certain issues, we disagree. His response seems to that he has something personal against me, but that's OK, get in line on that front."

Paul will speak at a fundraiser at the Women's National Republican Club in New York City in a few weeks, Politico.com reported this morning. Asked if Paul is targeting Christie's donor base, the governor said, "I couldn't care less, I'm not worried."



Christie also shrugged off a question about Paul's desire to shutdown the government to defund Obamacare. Christie has blasted Obama and the Affordable Care Act, but would take no position on Paul's approach. "It's not for me to judge," Christie said.

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