It was pure joy to watch an enraged Gov. Chris Christie go Jersey on House Speaker John Boehner Wednesday. And it was effective. An hour after the turbo-charged tirade, Boehner backpedaled his way to safety by giving in.

So maybe Christie should try the same stunt on one of Jersey’s own, U.S. Rep. Scott Garrett.

Dumbfounding as it may be, Garrett's office says he may vote to oppose Hurricane Sandy relief when the bulk of the aid faces its critical vote on Jan. 15. No decision yet.

Incredible? Yes. Garrett (R-5th District) seems to have lost sight of the fact that his job during a crisis like this is to help his constituents recover.

And remember that New Jersey gets 55 cents back for every $1 paid in federal taxes. That qualifies us as the nation’s leading saps. Turning down aid for Sandy would make us a lock for the Saps Hall of Fame.

Could Garrett actually be this nuts? Sadly, yes. He is one of 11 members of Congress who voted against aid for victims of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

And his attitude hasn’t changed since then. In November, he was the only New Jersey congressmen from either party who refused to sign a letter urging House leaders to provide prompt aid to Sandy victims.

His office won’t discuss that move, but it is telling. You may have noticed, too, that he didn’t make a peep of protest when Boehner tried to delay a vote.

Garrett is an ideologue in the worst sense. He is ineffective in Congress because he doesn’t make deals, and is driven wholly by his messianic drive to shrink government.

If he were running the show, the rich would have kept all their tax breaks, but millions of unemployed people would be getting no benefits today. He voted against the extension.

The elderly would be getting no help buying prescription drugs. He opposed that, too.

The banks would have been allowed to collapse, and the recovery from the recession would be left to the magic of the market without a dime in stimulus spending.

Even disaster aid would be left to the private sector. During a CNN interview on Sandy relief he put it this way: “I have a problem” with the idea that “the government is able to spend this money better than the private sector.”

Kathleen Donovan is the executive of Bergen County, about half of which is represented by Garrett. She is a centrist Republican, a conservative who is careful about the public dime, but is governed by the quaint notion that results matter.

She’s been spending a lot of time in Moonachie and Little Ferry, two towns that were submerged when the Hackensack River roared over its banks, driven by high winds and high tides, and knocked the life out of hundreds and homes and businesses.

The county has spent several million dollars trying to help. It established shelters. It brought in emergency fuel during power outages. But Donovan knows it’s not much. People are living in homes that are only partially rebuilt, with roofs in place but moldy internal walls knocked out. Many of them have no money to finish the job.

“I will be calling him (Garrett) and having a conversation to help convince him how desperately we need this money,” she says.

Garrett is caught in a kind of vise. If he votes for Sandy aid, he will rightly be called a hypocrite after having rejected help for the victims of Katrina. If he votes against the aid, he will be public enemy No. 1 in many parts of this state.

And he will likely face a primary challenge from a centrist in Bergen County. County Administrator Ed Trawinski, the former mayor of Fair Lawn, says he may run. Some are whispering about Assemblyman David Russo (R-Bergen), or former county Executive William “Pat” Schuber.

Garrett’s office says he will support the $9 billion package that comes up today, which will help replenish the federal flood insurance program. The big vote comes in 11 days, and it could go either way.

So maybe Christie should use his powers of persuasion on Garrett, as he did on Boehner. If not, then maybe 2014 will be remembered as the year that centrist Republicans, in New Jersey at least, started to push back against the archconservative.

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