Bruce Springsteen Mocks New Jersey Governor

Dear God - I sometimes forget how damn good Jovi's version is.

And as for having enough class - pffftttt.......Christie doesn't have any. If he does he keeps it well hidden. About the only thing I have ever found to admire or like him for is his love of Bruce's music. No accounting for taste is there?

Just when he thought it was safe to wade back into the political spotlight...

What with the federal investigators not leaking reports to the media 24-7, things seem to have gotten downright peaceful in Christie Land. So quiet, in fact, that Christie thought it was safe to come out of his shell, if you'll pardon the expression...

He's apparently decided to forgive Jimmy Fallon for that nationally humiliating little incident with Bruce Springsteen by turning up on his show:



National political blog Politico have picked up their pompoms and gone back to cheering him on:

And he told a group of donors in Utah, “Don’t be so nervous. I’m not that worried about it. I hope none of you are worried about it, though I expect some of you are...But you’ll get over it. It will be fine.”


Well, it's lovely that he's been looking more fit. But though they haven't gotten a lot national press attention, there are some reasons why Christie may have less of an appetite lately which have have nothing to do with his stomach being stapled. According to MSNBC:
Vox Media picks up the story:

With online gambling revenues offering no relief and a record six credit downgrades for a New Jersey governor, Christie needed the help of the state supreme court to push through gigantic state worker pension cuts. And by the way, did you know that the legal bill New Jersey is paying for Christie is now around three million dollars?


But the Feds' silence may not last much longer. I put this up a while back because I thought it was weird that Christie was using federal money to repair the Pulaski Skyway by claiming it was a "feeder" route to the Lincoln Tunnel.



The Securities And Exchange Commission thought it was weird, too -- and rumor has it that the Feds think it's so weird, they've opened up an entirely new investigation!

Jimmy Fallon's final dance with Christie was called the "This Bridge Is Closed." He pretended to get mad and leave in a huff. It it helps, try to imagine him doing this in an orange jumpsuit, LOL!

I was appalled to come across this at CNN:
You APOLOGIZED, Jimmy? You wimp! I realize that you most likely did it in jest, but the LEAST you could have done was blame it on the federal government -- look at how well that works for HIM!!!

An orange jumpsuit is the only attire I want to picture Christie in. This whole Lincoln Tunnel Access plan was bogus from the beginning but a good portion of The Port Authority was in on it from the start. All they had to do was say NO and it wouldn't have happened.

Unfortunately Christie had already stacked the Port with his own appointees so it wasn't that easy to say NO.

Just in time for the Fourth of July holiday weekend (when it would get the least exposure):

Cuomo-Christie Port reform group resolves to consider reformSounds pretty good if you don't think about it TOO much. I mean, if the current PA culture doesn't allow for raising concerns to management, then how can we be confident that this very panel and its output aren't just more "products" of that culture? For instance, what would have happened if someone had asked why there was an unequal number of appointees on the panel? Or if someone had wondered if having a nominee for the PA chairmanship on the panel might look like a conflict of interest? And will the forthcoming "outside expert" also be hired by one of the governors, or would having one appointed federally be a more objective idea?

Anyhow, while they're "resolving to consider" reform (as opposed to resolving to deliver it), I've got some "specific next steps" I'd like to "propose":

• Fire anyone is who is profiting from businesses who do business with the Port Authority -- and fire the people who hired them.
  
  
• Don't close bridge lanes unless PA people on both sides of the bridge approve and have worked out emergency service plans.
  
  
• Stop forcing employees to divert federal money to state transportation projects. Fire employees who have done so. Better yet, bust them for racketeering!

Have a great Independence Day weekend!

With Christie's exoneration report published, and $10,000 of the $3 million in taxpayer money they were paid donated to the Christie-headed Republican Governors Association, life at the law firm of Gibson Dunn is getting back to normal:
It's comforting to know that they're not spending Sandy money on their own needs. But they don't seem to be spending it on anyone else's needs, either! What are they waiting on, bank interest?


Meanwhile, you can't fault Christie for standing up for his legal alma mater -- or can you?
Tongues are beginning to loosen, inhibitions are beginning to recede. Here's hoping that this is just the beginning of a tidal wave of Christie regime victim stories!


And a sad legal note: The 70-year-old head Port Authority attorney passed away over the weekend:
Cause of death appears to be a heart attack. Hopefully the position's independence will remain when Van Etten's successor is chosen. Let's see if Christie's smart enough to NOT try to throw his "weight" around!

Christie's Sandy Recovery Chief to Be Replaced by Second In Command

Indispensable? Effective? With the survivors needs always coming first? Well, that explains why there are investigations into Christie's:

• Using Sandy funds for his Stronger Than The Storm tourism commercial
  
  
• Hiring a Sandy contractor whose law firm donated $25K to Christie's Republican Governor's Association
  
  
• Firing said contractor with no public notification (Replacement not hired for six months)
  
  
• Giving Sandy money to towns that were less afflicted by Sandy but whose mayors endorsed Christie
  
  
• Taking 10 months to hire "independent" financial monitoring contractors, one of whom employed Christie's brother

And let's not forget that Christie vetoed an extra level of transparency, which might have solved all these problems before they even began -- which the state congress tried to override.

First, the bad news: In addition to the closing of the The Atlantic Club casino in January, three more of Atlantic City's eleven casinos are scheduled to close at the end of this summer:
Atlantic City has a competition problem -- not only from its own casinos, but from the ones that have sprung up in nearby New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and Connecticut. People are either gambling closer to home or staying home and gambling online -- the people left in this economy who can afford to, that is.

Casinos need gamblers. Gamblers, whether jet-setting high rollers or bus-chartering day trippers, need discretionary income to gamble WITH -- plus money for hotels, meals, travel. And weak economies don't produce enough people with enough discretionary income.

But that brings us to the good news. Chris Christie's latest development projects will give what New Jerseyites with limited discretionary income need most: A mall, an amusement park, and maybe TWO casinos!
NOW do you understand why Samson didn't take a salary while he was running the Port Authority? It would have been unethical!


As for the casinos, gamblers who normally traveled as much as two hours to AC can now be at a casino in half the time. To help Atlantic City gambling in general and Revel in particular, Christie pledged to hold off opening additional casinos in New Jersey. But if people are no longer traveling to southern New Jersey to gamble, then maybe the time HAS come to open a casino in northern New Jersey that could at least recover the gamblers that have been lost to New York and Pennsylvania. That's sensible thinking -- IF there are enough gamblers in the area with enough money to show up regularly. This, however, is not sensible thinking:
It's map time again:



TWO casinos and mega amusement parks only eleven miles (18 Km) apart? An amusement park has already been promised to the Meadowlands. And with the congestion the Meadowlands area already has, placing the casino in Jersey City would be surely be the smarter move -- minus the amusement park (if the Meadowlands is going to have one) and hotel (since there are already several in the area and there won't be any reason for northern New Jersey gamblers to spend the night).

Again, a casino in Northern NJ could bring back the tax revenue that Atlantic City has lost to the other states. But what with the shopping and entertainment venues already in the area barely keeping their own heads above water, this sounds like too much of a gamble to take just to break even.

Seeing as how he has already crapped out with online gambling and the funding and building of Revel, I don't expect Christie to face up to how fiscally and logistically irresponsible these plans are. Here's hoping he'll reject them simply because Democrats want it and he's a Republican -- that is to say, here's hoping he'll reject them on general principle.

P.S. Since it's a safe bet (if you'll pardon the expression) that the Showboat, Revel, and Trump Plaza will want to take in as much as possible before closing, I would definitely take my gambling business elsewhere -- to casinos that have "more to lose," if you know what I mean?

Christie's media team have released their idea of a summer blockbuster -- a video trailer for his forthcoming state pension reform plan. The good guys? Christie and pro-wrestler turned action movie hero Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. The bad guys? State workers with pensions and health plans. The plot? Vanquish the bad guys with "heavy artillery" budget cuts. The premiere of the original video? July 15, 2014 on Christie's official Youtube page. The final showing of the original video? July 15, 2014 on Christie's official Youtube page!


The reviews?

"The state’s economy is in ruins, and yet the governor is mocking the pain and suffering he’s causing middle-class families. Sadly, the governor’s bizarre Hollywood fantasy is not the action drama his team imagines, it’s a horror film that never seems to end."
-- John Currie, Chairman, New Jersey Democratic Party

"I was quickly sickened after watching Governor Christie’s latest Hollywood video...(P)ublic safety personnel are not the cause of the current pension situation.."
-- Eddie Donnelly, President, New Jersey Firefighters Mutual Benevolent Association

"Christie has long touted a couple of laws he signed overhauling the pension system...as his biggest achievement during his first term...But that was before Christie had to backtrack this year after his administration was far off the mark in forecasting state revenue for April...(Christie) cut two legally required pension payments in the state budget...spurring lawsuits from public-worker unions..."
-- Salvador Rizzo, Reporter, NJ.com news

"Christie’s staff even spliced some shots of one of Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson’s movies...But Johnson asked not to be included in the video, leading to its removal."
-- Matt Katz, Reporter, WNYC

"Christie’s most popular YouTube videos attract hundreds of thousands of viewers, and have helped build his brand as a potential presidential candidate. This one was posted around lunchtime and removed by about 7:30 p.m."
-- Salvador Rizzo

Click here or below if you wish to to see the original. Someone copied and re-posted it to YouTube before Crew Christie put up a version minus The Rock (and minus the ability to post comments). But if even this disappears, fear not -- a backup plan is already in place. Stay tuned!

Some folks at Pension-Gate.Blogspot.com and One New Jersey.org have done the math:

Throw in the three million he's spent on his self-exoneration, and it adds up to around $8.1 billion, which is why Governor Soprano was "forced" to solve the "crisis" that the state workers "created" by withholding nearly $5 billion from their pension funds.