In State of the State, Governor Christie Briefly Addresses Political Scandals

Christie opened his State of the State speech with an apology to the people of New Jersey.

"Mistakes were clearly made.  And as a result, we let down the people we're entrusted to serve.  I know our citizens deserve better.  Much better.  Now I'm the governor and i"m ultimately responsible for all that happens on my watch - both good and bad."

Governor Christie provided no details on the George Washington Bridge traffic scandal.  And he failed to directly address the investigation into his use of Sandy recovery funds in his "Stronger than the Storm" ad campaign.  But the governor says the state is not defined by the negative attention his administration's receiving. 

Instead, Christie says the government needs to concentrate on reducing the rising pension and debt services costs that could reach one billion dollars.

"That's nearly one billion dollars that we can't spend on education; that we can't invest in infrastructure improvement; that we can't use to put more cops on the street; that we won't have available to use to increase access to healthcare."

Christie says the people of New Jersey need to collaborate in order to figure out how to better spend the state's money.

"If we continue in an era where we believe we can choose everything, let me suggest to you that we're really choosing nothing."

Christie says he'll outline plans to reduce costs when he announces his budget next month.  And he says his administration will respond to all appropriate inquiries regarding the traffic and Sandy scandals.  They could undermine the remainder of his second term, which has only just begun, as well as his bid for the 2016 Presidential election.