Americans love their freedom and independence. Regardless of this, there is a thirst for real leadership at the same time.

Currently we have an absence of leadership by a president who does not know how to govern and is now on a one-year campaign to try and fool the American people one more time.

More hope and change, I guess?

Fortunately, here in New Jersey we have a real leader and effective change agent in the form of Gov. Chris Christie.

Christie does not do nuance. He is plain spoken and bold. In his State of the State address last Tuesday, Jan. 17, Christie was magnificent.

Gov. Christie spoke directly about "the dark decade" and the various tax, borrow and over-spending schemes that crippled New Jersey in the last decade.

Sixty thousand private-sector jobs have been created during Gov. Christie's first two years in office. By comparison, New Jersey lost 117,000 private-sector jobs in the year before Christie became governor.

Christie calls it "the New Jersey Turnaround." He also talked about the lack of leadership at the national level and how the president has squandered America's position of "strength and leadership around the world."

One of the light moments of the address came as Gov. Christie said, "even some of my friends had some colorful nicknames for me," as he then slowly turned and looked behind him to Senate President Steve Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver. It was very funny and the Assembly chambers burst out in roaring laughter.

In an effort of true and necessary bi-partisanship, Christie thanked Sweeney and Oliver for being partners in New Jersey's progress during 2011.

Next Christie pivoted to 2012 and the opportunity we have to show "the state and the nation what's possible."

Then came the blockbuster as Gov. Christie called for a 10 percent reduction in income taxes for every citizen of New Jersey across the board (over the next three years). The Democrats didn't wait two minutes after the speech to blast Christie and played the divide-and-conquer game that they love so much. Instead of welcoming much-needed tax relief for all, they somehow turned it into a billion dollars lost for public education – twisted, inventive logic at best.

Christie also wants to fully restore the earned income tax credit. Christie remains committed to public education reform, calling it "a time to act regarding real teacher tenure reform."

It's probably one of the few professions where job performance has almost no bearing on job security.

Christie also introduced the idea of tax credits in order to provide scholarships for low-income students.

I talk and write all the time about the fact that elections have significant consequences. Just pause for a moment and give thought to what New Jersey would look like right now had former Gov. Jon Corzine won re-election.

The truth is, Corzine is a nice man. But his failed, liberal policies were disastrous and during the peak of a Great Recession, he would not have had the capacity to lead, nor make the required structural changes to our state government.

Christie has navigated New Jersey through some of the most difficult financial times in our history. Additionally, you never hear about this, but, Gov. Christie is the first governor in ages to not have to go back to the Legislature to ask for more money to run the business of state.

We had better hope that Mitt Romney, on his way to becoming president, doesn't convince Gov. Christie to either become vice president or attorney general.  This would be great for all of America, but very bad for New Jersey. The Christie reform agenda needs to continue to play out for the next six years.

Then, and only then will New Jersey be back on a business/tax friendly path. Citizens and businesses spent the better part of a lost decade migrating out of New Jersey for states with lower taxes and a more business-friendly environment.

In an unrelated major development, state Sen. Joe Kyrillos, R-13th, has officially converted his exploratory effort into a an actual campaign committee and he will formally announce his candidacy for the United States Senate in the very near future.

Kyrillos granted "Hurley in the Afternoon" the only interview on the day of his big announcement (Jan. 19, 2012).

Kyrillos, who will challenge in the June primary to seek the right to take on Sen. Bob Menendez in the general election, will be our featured speaker at my annual Congress Hall Dinner set for Friday, April 20, 2012.

Harry Hurley is president of Harry Hurley Consulting and Communications, LLC. He hosts the daily talk radio program "Hurley in the Afternoon" noon-4 p.m. weekdays on Longport Media, News Talk 1400 WOND Radio. He has hosted various programs for local television and is the editor and publisher of his news and information website, www.HarryHurley.com. Comment at www.shorenewstoady.com.