Christie: Nation Turning Into 'People Sitting On a Couch Waiting for Their Next Government Check' Addressing national Republicans, Christie said he hasn't seen a less optimistic period in the country in his lifetime. "Government's telling them stop dreaming, stop striving, we'll take care of you," he said at a theater at the New York Historical Society. "We're turning into a paternalistic entitlement society. That will not just bankrupt us financially, it will bankrupt us morally." "We'll have a bunch of people sitting on a couch waiting for their next government check," Christie said.