Say good night, Chris.

Christie Knew About Lane Closings, Ex-Port Authority Official Says

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/01/nyr ... e.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0

Wow.

In response to subpoena, more documents will be released next week, right?

I'm glad that I'm not a journalist. It's has to be a really time consuming task to put the pieces together.

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I think you were shooting for hypocrisy, but nice try. I defend my own beliefs, I don't put my neck out for any politician. I haven't really spent much energy defending Christie. My position for the most part has been: why are you all speculating about things for which you have no proof? As of yet, Christie hasn't been proved to be directly responsible for anything. I also said if/when he is, I'll be right there with you saying resign. It would be a MIRACLE if any of the lefty douchbags on here ever took a moderate stance on anything. I'm not holding my breath.

So, nice try Pebs, but...no.

Also, it's the folks like atsushi who are really sad. They defend these politicians (or likewise, attack the other side) much like people who speak about their favorite sports teams as "WE won the game" it's pretty funny.

Maybe this has already been posted...

NJ Republicans want to use leftover campaign funds for GWB defense

http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/ ... _money_amid_scandals.html

Really? They could do that!?

I guess Giuliani still believes Christie is innocent?

http://www.politico.com/story/2014/01 ... edia-coverage-102906.html

Okay then.

Taxpayers will be paying for Mastro, Gov. Chris Christie legal representation.

wow. if giuliani is beginning to question christie's integrity, then christie must be innocent

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And yet you continue to defend Christie... Irony must be a tasty breakfast snack.

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That PATH station absolutely needs an upgrade, however what they are building there looks awful. No surprise that the brother gets inside track information on Port Authority projects and the guy cashes in.

As an aside, it should be noted that the Harrison mayor supported Christie?s re-election bid.

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Huckabee and I have mutual friends. By all accounts, he?s a good guy that means well (unlike the crass lardass we are putting up with). The only downside on Mike is that his ideas are pretty far out there.

http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article ... ristie-knew-bridge-orders

Not that I think what Giuliani thinks has any relevance here, but even he has a doubt about Christie's claim of ignorance!

http://www.salon.com/2014/01/30/chris ... s_finally_takes_its_toll/

Mr. Trump, please run! That would be my dream-come-true!

Trump is considering to run for the governor of NY, right?

Before Bridgegate, I would have liked to see Christie vs. Clinton....although I still stand by my earlier statement that he is not going to survive GOP primaries.

But if he should survive, it would have been the only potential match-up that has an element of suspense, and it would have been more interesting, intellectually.

With other candidates (perhaps with an exception of Jeb Bush), the race is over already. No suspense. Not fun. So now that Christie is much less likely to even run, in my mind, I decided to look for comedic values in GOP candidates.

How about Donald Trump? I would love to see him run. That's like a continuous comedy on news every day!

How about Ted Cruz? Boy, I would love to see the GOP base get excited and get crushed in the general election. Perhaps then will we see the end of "He is not conservative enough" argument?

chris christie is a national hero! an example of how to get bi-partisanship to work!

Jam for Christie, Clear Lane for Clinton in an Early Look at the 2016 On-Ramp

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/ ... look-at-the-2016-on-ramp/

Chris Christie?s 18 State Secrets:

http://www.wnyc.org/story/chris-chris ... 58c0d-64048489e6-70662941

No wonder there hasn't been a new bridge or tunnel link to NY - even a bike and pedestrian tunnel linking the 2 cities would undermine the profits to the Port Authority and jeopardize their high incomes!

(He told one top legislator that he had learned from his experience as United States attorney not to email; texts were harder to trace.)


For Christie, Politics Team Kept a Focus on Two Races

By KATE ZERNIKE and DAVID W. CHEN JAN. 29, 2014

His campaign called them ?the Top 100,? the swing towns that Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey wanted to win as he prepared for a re-election campaign. Capturing these towns, sometimes referred to as mini-Ohios or mini-Floridas, would validate the governor?s argument that he would be the most broadly appealing Republican choice for president in 2016.

Staff members in the governor?s office created tabbed and color-coded dossiers on the mayors of each town ? who their friends and enemies were, the policies and projects that were dear to them ? that were bound in notebooks for the governor to review in his S.U.V. between events.

Long after most of the State House had been shuttered for the night, Mr. Christie?s aides worked on spreadsheets, documenting calls and meetings with key players in the towns ? one Republican called it ?political Moneyball? ? as the governor tried to win endorsements and friends.

Officially known as ?intergovernmental affairs,? the operation was a key element of the permanent campaign that allowed Mr. Christie to win twice in a largely Democratic state. It was led by Bill Stepien, his two-time campaign manager and deputy chief of staff, and then by Bridget Anne Kelly, who succeeded him in his role in the governor?s office.

They were part of what one high-ranking Republican called ?the crew? around Mr. Christie: friends who strategized at Mr. Christie?s kitchen table in Mendham and socialized with him in the governor?s box at MetLife Stadium.

Now this operation is at the heart of the growing scandal over the closing of lanes at the George Washington Bridge in an act of political retribution against the mayor of Fort Lee, N.J.

Mr. Christie has said that he had not been aware of his office?s involvement in the maneuver, and nothing has directly tied to him to it. But a close look at his operation and how intimately he was involved in it, described in interviews with dozens of people ? Republican and Democrat, including current and former Christie administration officials, elected leaders and legislative aides ? gives credence to the puzzlement expressed by some Republicans and many Democrats in the state, who question how a detail-obsessed governor could have been unaware of the closings or the effort over months to cover up the political motive.

Mr. Christie fired Ms. Kelly after it was revealed that she sent an email calling for ?some traffic problems in Fort Lee.? He cut ties with Mr. Stepien, whom he had recruited to run the state?s Republican Party and work for Mr. Christie in his role as chairman of the Republican Governors Association. With a legislative committee and the United States attorney?s office looking into the lane closings, nearly every one of Mr. Christie?s most trusted staff members, along with his re-election campaign, is under subpoena.

?With any governor, but especially with Chris Christie, it?s impossible to separate politics from policy, but clearly Stepien was politics first, policy second,? said David Pringle, the campaign director for New Jersey Environmental Federation, who served on the transition team after the organization endorsed Mr. Christie in 2009 but backed his Democratic opponent last year. The group has since accused Mr. Christie of abandoning his principles on the environment.

?There wasn?t anything of significance that Stepien did without the governor being aware of it,? Mr. Pringle said.

Mr. Christie relied on two kinds of loyalists to run his office. There were his trusted aides from his days as United States attorney: Kevin O?Dowd, his chief of staff and nominee for attorney general; Jeffrey S. Chiesa, who was his chief counsel and attorney general; Charles B. McKenna, until recently his chief counsel; Michele Brown, whom he put in charge of appointments and then economic development; and Michael Drewniak, his chief spokesman.

Then there were the political people, primarily acolytes of former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani of New York and former Representative Robert D. Franks, who died in 2010: Mr. Stepien, who led the office of intergovernmental and legislative affairs, and became a deputy chief of staff; Ms. Kelly, who succeeded Mr. Stepien in those roles when he left to run the re-election campaign; and Maria Comella, Mr. Christie?s communications director.

In general, the aides from Mr. Christie?s tenure as United States attorney tended to policy and the day-to-day functions of the governor?s office, while the others oversaw his political strategy.



(See floorplan of New Jersey State House:)
Read more here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/29/nyr ... ds.html?ref=nyregion&_r=0

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That's a sad list of candidates.

http://www.politico.com/story/2014/01 ... -gop-hopefuls-102813.html

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Good God!

http://nbcpolitics.nbcnews.com/_news/ ... as-scandals-continue?lite

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http://www.northjersey.com/news/Gover ... in_Harrison.html?page=all

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More and more dirty stuff is coming out. I don't think it will stop anytime soon.

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This is FUNNY!!

Like I said before, nothing is more fun than watching left wing jerkoffs use scripted talking points to put down right wing jerkoffs for using talking points.

At the end of the day watching anyone vehemently defend any politician (I.e. the guys that rule you but don't ever actually give a shit about you), is sad.

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Governor Christie's brother invested in houses near new PATH station in Harrison


See more at: http://www.northjersey.com/news/Gover ... html#sthash.YjiJzI2T.dpuf

NEWS ALERT - Benghazi!!!!!!




never-mind. nothing for Monroe today.

His numbers are sliding........

http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2014/01 ... versal-on-chris-christie/

I think CC's attitude towards his windfall of Sandy money is best summed up by a quote from one of our great political philosophers, former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich:

"I?ve got this thing and it?s fuckin' golden, and, uh, uh, I?m just not giving it up for fuckin? noth?ing. I?m not gonna do it. And, and I can always use it. I can para?chute me there.."

Our rotten prick of a governor back in the news again.

http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/ ... ed_hi.html#incart_m-rpt-2

Christie used Sandy funds for senior complex in town where mayor endorsed him

Matt Friedman/The Star-Ledger By Matt Friedman/The Star-Ledger
Email the author | Follow on Twitter
on January 28, 2014 at 4:43 PM, updated January 28, 2014 at 4:57 PM

TRENTON ? Gov. Chris Christie helped channel $6 million in federal Sandy recovery dollars to a project conceived years before the storm struck, in an Essex County town that was not particularly hard hit .

The funding, pushed for personally by the Republican governor, was announced less than two weeks before the town?s Democratic mayor formally endorsed him for reelection.

The development is an $18 million senior center and housing complex in Belleville called Franklin Manor. One third of the cost ? $6 million ? is being paid for by a $1.8 billion pot of federally funded Community Development Block Grants to help the state recover from Sandy.

Christie administration officials say the project will help those displaced from the storm from other towns, and was approved partly because it was already planned and would quickly fill that need. But statements from the governor and officials from Essex County and Belleville at the project?s unveiling barely mentioned storm recovery, focusing almost exclusively on how the 137-unit housing project would help keep Belleville?s seniors in town.

Now ? With the George Washington Bridge scandal raging and the mayor of Hoboken claiming top Christie administration officials blackmailed her by threatening to withhold Sandy funds ? an affordable housing advocate and a prominent Democrat are questioning whether the Christie administration is fairly distributing federal Sandy aid.

"We don?t know the whole story of what happened here yet. But Governor Christie should not be ordering Sandy funds directed to pet projects," said Adam Gordon, a staff attorney for the Fair Share Housing Center.

"What it points to is the need for further inquiry into how Sandy funds were part and parcel of the governor?s campaign for reelection," said state Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D-Union). "And how they were misused for political purposes rather than going to those who really in need."

The project, which had been in the works for years, was jump-started in the spring. In late April, Belleville Mayor Raymond Kimble had a breakfast meeting with Christie and Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo at McLoone?s Boathouse in West Orange. It was the same restaurant where the two men, along with many other Essex County Democrats, would endorse Christie on June 11.

On May 1, when The Star-Ledger asked about the breakfast meeting, Kimble said he planned to endorse Christie and "I think the governor is going to help the town of Belleville with certain projects we need."

On May 29, Christie was in Belleville for the ceremonial ground breaking of the complex that included Kimble, DiVincenzo and others .

Kimble praised the governor at the event. "Because of Gov. Christie?s commitment, senior citizens will be able to remain in their hometown, where they belong," Kimble said.

Christie then described his direct involvement.

"When Joe and the mayor and the council came to the state, came to Commissioner Constable, came to the HMFA and said ?can we help?? This project was so worthy and to be honest so overdue that I felt like there was no time to wait," Christie said. "...I start calling (Department of Community Affairs Commissioner) Rich Constable and (New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency Executive Director) Anthony Marchetta every day and we get on them and things get done, and I think that?s what people expect of government now," Christie said.

During 20 minutes of remarks, there was only one passing reference to Hurricane Sandy, made by Essex County Joseph DiVincenzo. And it had nothing to do with the senior center. Instead, speakers talked about how Belleville had long been in need of a place for its seniors.

"This is where many of you have raised your families, where you?ve lived your lives," Christie said. "And you shouldn?t have to leave the place where you raised your children and lived your lives in order to be able to have affordable housing for yourself as you get older."

Before the state could get the federal funds for Sandy recovery, it had to develop an "action plan" for the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, which it submitted in March.

Part of the grants would go toward creating affordable rental housing for displaced residents in the nine counties hurt the most by the storm, which included Essex. And, according to the state?s action plan, "priority will be given to projects serving communities most impacted within these counties."

While Belleville suffered some flooding, downed trees and week-long power outages for some residents, Kimble in a phone interview said he did not know of any residents who were displaced. "Not to my knowledge," he said.

A May 29 press release from Essex County did mention, deep down, that "since the project is located in one of the nine counties most impacted by Sandy, the project may assist senior citizens affected by the storm." And DiVincenzo told a local publication that "the priority is going to be for [accepting] Belleville seniors," but that "when you take money from various levels of government, you can?t stop people outside Belleville from coming in and using the facility."

Despite the low emphasis on Sandy victims, Christie administration officials said it was appropriate to channel recovery money into the project, and that it would help seniors whose homes were wrecked by the super storm.

"The (Community Development Block Grant) funding was gap financing that helped 35 projects get off the ground," Anthony Marchetta, the executive director of the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency, said in a phone interview. "We use criteria issued by the agency and the action plan to determine which projects got funded. This project met those criteria."

Marchetta said the project would be marketed to those displaced by Sandy. And he said it?s common for projects that were planned long before Sandy hit to get help from state government to create more affordable housing. "These types of projects take a long time to get to the point where you can actually fund and go forward and approve," he said. "It takes a lot of lead time."

Marc Ferzan, executive director of the Governor?s Office of Recovery and Rebuilding, noted that Essex County was determined by the federal government to be one of the hardest-hit counties by Sandy and that the new housing in Belleville will free up space for displaced residents, whether or not it?s taken up by Sandy victims.

"There?s a certain rental population out there, and if the Belleville stock is depleted, that population has to go somewhere else. And that puts a strain on rental costs. So it is all inter-connected," he said.

Ferzan said that about 20 projects were approved along with Belleville's, and that it?s important to create rental housing near residents who were hurt by Sandy: "You?ve got to find shovel ready opportunities in the individual counties that can be built in real time, because otherwise these folks are twisting in the wind."

A spokesman for the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, which supplied the funds, declined to comment.

Gordon, of the Fair Share Housing Center, said he sees nothing wrong with the project itself. But Christie?s involvement in securing the funds, as well as the project?s vague connection to Sandy recovery, raises red flags, he said.

"When the governor makes these kinds of demands, it undermines the public?s faith in the fairness and openness of Sandy recovery. The governor needs to allocate critical Sandy aid based on objective criteria," Gordon said.

The state judged projects that applied for the fund on several criteria, including whether it was in one of the nine most affected counties by Sandy, rent affordability, local support and readiness to proceed. Franklin Manor scored a 70 out of 105, according to documents provided by DCA. The minimum score was 55.

Ben Smilowitz, executive director of the Washington-based Disaster Accountability Project, said such issues always arise with large infusions of recovery funds.

"Does this reek of politics? Sure. But so does everything else," Smilowitz said. "Anyone looking at this can see what?s going on here. But is it within the governor?s powers? Probably."

Kimble emphasized that the developer, not the town, applied for the money and that his endorsement of Christie "had nothing to do with him releasing those funds." He also noted that Belleville did not get other Sandy recovery funds that many towns received.

"If you look at that list, you can see Belleville received nothing. We deserved some funds," he said.