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.

http://www.rocktivity.com/Graphics/pulaski.jpg

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!

Jimmy Fallon Show Update
 

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!!! :eek:

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!

A tale of two Christie-wired law firms
 

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!

...But he did not shoot the deputy...
 

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.

The casinos are dying -- long live the casinos!
 

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:

http://www.rocktivity.com/Graphics/c...eMapCasino.png

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? ;)

The Summer Blockbuster That Wasn't
 

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!

At Least Eight Billon Reasons Why Christie "had to" loot New Jersey's Pension Funds
 

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.

We've heard very little about the state-level investigation since the federal investigation started -- that's because, as it turns out, they've been told by the federal investigators not to call any more "major" witnesses:
As long as the state panel contains a member who has been implicated in the scandal, there's not much it can do anyway, since there may be a spy in the enemy camp. But it looks like they've found something to do:
So it looks like one panel's minor witness can be another panel's major one, LOL!

The state worker pension money that Christie screwed up has been tallied:
Ah yes, kickbacks, smarmy connections, recusals, conflicts of interest -- same as it ever was. But how does this all translate into what it means for those of us who voted us in?
When this happens in countries not run by white males, it's called treasury looting. THIS is the act he's trying to take to the White House?

On the second day of Bridge(t)-Gate my boss said to me..."Shut up!"
 

While the state investigative panel hasn't had much to do until lately, their staff attorney has been keeping busy:
If the PA cops who would be patrolling the bridge were formally notified that the lanes were being closed off, why would it be "inappropriate" to discuss it among themselves? More important, how can it be possibly be defined as a "secret?" From the summary (6-page PDF):
So I guess the next step is to find out who ordered the cones, who set them out, and who paid them to do it? Coming soon: Michaels' and Licorish's sides of the story.

The above posts are so depressing all I can think of to say is: you just can't make this shit up - even if you tried very, very hard.

Earlier today, the former governor of Virginia and his wife were convicted of 20 corruption crimes between them. He turned down a deal where his wife would be freed if he pleaded guilty to only one crime. Now they're looking at around 20 years each, 85% of which they'll have to serve just to qualify for parole.

And about two weeks ago, the Feds indicted the governor of Texas for abuse of power. He tried to cut off funding to -- WAIT FOR IT! -- the prosecutors who specialize in investigating state-level corruption!

So far, the Feds have Christie dead to rights on participating in the Bridge(t)-Gate coverup, and on allowing Dave Samson to run the Port Authority along with a law firm whose clients did business with the Port Authority. So I hope no one has any bright ideas about holding the Feds hostage for an immunity deal!

This week, Chris Christie got to celebrate his birthday with a seventh downgrading of New Jersey's state credit bond rating, starting a record for one New Jersey governor. He also got a present of sorts from his old friend Port Authority Police Lt. Thomas "Chip" Micheals, who did his best to blame everything on Wildstein when interviewed by the legislative committee's attorney:
I thought the police were trained to be good at observing and remembering minute details, especially when they don't quite fit. Michaels has no idea who told him there was going to be lane closure? He thought Wildstein's question was weird, but thought nothing of discussing it with his brother? He can't remember whether he drove Wildstein around at his invitation or at Wildstein's request? Did he contact the Fort Lee police with Licorish's knowledge, at Licorsh's order, or out the goodness of his heart? And if Wildstein should be seen as at fault, how does Michaels explain this?
Well, that would mean that somebody else organized it, wouldn't it? And wouldn't that somebody else most likely be the person who gave Wildstein his job? That's why Michaels was given a desk job this January -- and here I was thinking it was to shield him from all the Bridge(t)-Gate media attention! :rolleyes:

Next up: What Chip's boss has to say...

This week marks the first anniversary of the Fort Lee lane closures, which Christie decided to distract from -- I mean, celebrate -- by trying to make sports betting at racetrack and casinos legal:
Considering that Fishman is heading the New Jersey federal investigation of Bridge(t)-Gate, it's not that surprising that Christie is trying an end run. Here's hoping that the descretionary savings of NJ's cash-strapped gamblers can help make up for his budget deficit -- especially since another Atlantic City casino may be closing and New Jersey's credit has been downgraded for a record eighth time on Christie's watch!


And here's the state legislative committee attorney interview with Port Authority Police Deputy Inspector Darcy Licorish. To be perfectly honest, it's pretty dull going, but the plot picks up once you get past the middle:
And it does deliver a surprise ending:
It was part of Licorish's standard responsibility to report things of importance? Why would he consider it "important" to inform his superiors about a traffic study that they should have told HIM about? The purpose of Licorish's email was to cover his ass, because he KNEW something was going on that shouldn't have been!


P.S. As of the end of August, Christie's self-exoneration bill, which New Jersey taxpayers are still footing, now stands at more than seven million dollars.


P.P.S. It's come out that Christie's lieutenant governor Kim Guadagno was subpoenaed by the state attorney general in July. She's the one who said:

"(Hoboken) Mayor Zimmer’s version of our conversation in May of 2013 is not only false, it is illogical and does not withstand scrutiny when all of the facts are examined."

when she could have said: "Mayor Zimmer is lying."

Which might explain why she's recently signed a law requiring all New Jersey high school students to be trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) -- the way things are going for Crew Christie, they should expect a spike in cardiac distress episodes!

Another one of those amazing Christie coincidences!

In case you've forgotten, here's why Christie feels that MSNBC is picking on him:

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-s...e-117083203794

Maddow Catches Chris Christie In MAJOR Story Change/Contradiction

Since the NBC network has been so mean about leaking stories unfavorable to Crew Christie, I suppose it's only fair that an anonymous "federal official" (Christie used to be a federal attorney) with favorable news to leak would beat a path to their door. We don't know who these federal officials are -- how far up the ladder are they? Are they connected to lead investigator Paul Fishman? Are they connected to the investigation at all? The only direct quotes are from a former federal prosecutor and a think tanker. And the second story admits that investigations have not ended: there's more on Christie's plate than Bridge(t)-Gate. So why is this "news" at all?

In American sports, there's a psychological tactic known as "working the refs," where coaches complain about minor referee calls aggressively in hopes of intimidating them into making major calls in their favor just to keep them quiet. Christie is hoping that if he huffs and puffs loudly enough, people (especially Rachel Maddow) will start backing off. Come to think of it, HOW does Christie know that investigators have found nothing -- because they told him so, because he's innocent, or because knows he's destroyed any evidence that points at him?

Christie has lost an OPRA ruling. That stands for Open Public Records Act, which deals with citizen and media requests for copies of government documents, including mail and email correspondence. It also mandates that all online state government business be conducted on state government e-mail servers -- using Yahoo and Gmail is illegal, which is what Kelley and Wildstein did.
Well, we know how good Christie is at paying attorney fees, aren't we? He's made the firm of Gibson Dunn Crutcher seven million dollars richer -- less what they donated to Christie's Republican Governor's Association. Here's hoping that when The Record's attorneys receive their fees from Christie, they'll remember to do the same!

Christie-Lit!
 

There's certainly enough available on Chris Christie to fill a book, so I guess it shouldn't be surprising that someone has done exactly that. And this particular someone was a New Jersey mayor who escaped Christie's partisan political dragnet, but not without cost:


For a bigger picture of Bid Rig, there's The Jersey Sting: Chris Christie and the Most Brazen Case of Jersey-Style Corruption Ever. It involved "three mayors, five Orthodox rabbis, two state legislators...a (former) stripper...(and)...Solomon Dwek, who perpetrated a $50 million Ponzi scheme before copping a plea and wearing a wire as a secret FBI informant." Strangely, though, it didn't involve a lot of fellow Republicans...

Moonlighting as head of the Republican Governor's Association has required Christie to go on cross-country fundraising tours. He brags of raising record amounts, but that's hard to tell as regulations allow the donors and their amounts to be kept private. But not anymore:
I'm not buying the coding error story: I think this happened deliberately. Either the RGA has a mole, anonymous hackers have struck -- or orders have been issued from higher up to start pushing Christie away from the 2014 midterm elections if not out of the 2016 presidential race.

It certainly didn't help that his latest self-exoneration gambit backfired, or that the taxpayer bill he's run up for it has hit nine million dollars. And it's probably just another one of those crazy Christie coincidences that stories about several other Republican presidential hopefuls have appeared within the past seven days:

All signs point to Jeb Bush prepping for 2016 presidential run

Jeb Bush campaigns for 2014 GOP candidates, weighs presidential bid during stops in NC

Romney 2016 is for real

Rick Santorum Returns

Ted Cruz Is Prepping a Foreign Policy-Focused Presidential Campaign

The last thing Christie needs is something ELSE going embarrassingly wrong on his watch, especially something that involves corporate donor money!

Christie just completed a three-state fundraising/Republican governor endorsement tour -- one that suggests that he has indeed been put on the back burner as far as the midterm elections is confirmed.

In Pennsylvania, he endorsed the incumbent Republican governor who is so far behind in the polls, HE made a speech introducing Christie when it's supposed the other way around. And speaking of polls, a recent one places Christie's negative ratings above his positive ratings in New Jersey for the very first time!

Just before he left, though, Christie engaged in a little money laundering on the official state Web site:
Also, that Open Public Records Act court ruling Christie lost has already come back to haunt him -- the Bergen Record newspaper got the state government emails they requested:
This week, Christie spoke before the New Jersey NAACP, an African-American civil rights organization, where he announced:

"...I'm never running for public office in New Jersey again. The only job left for me to run for is United States Senate, and...I would rather die than be in the United States Senate...I would be bored to death."

That's sounds very final -- and not a word about running for president? May that decision already been made for him already...

A closer look at the New Jersey State Investment Council:
Whatta guy! Generous, considerate, innovative, AND a multi-tasker -- no wonder Christie fell for him. But look at the thanks he gets!
Investigated? Between functioning as a public official in charge of the state pension fund, having a financial interest in TWO different private firms, manipulating New Jersey taxpayer money through them, and collecting compensation from all of them, when is Mr. Grady supposed to find the time to be investigated? Surely he has quite ENOUGH on his plate!

In honor of the premiere of Dave's musical in London, here's a two-act tragedy staged by the Christie troupe:
But what's a good tragedy without an epilouge?
Dave was rumored to be working on a musical version of A Bronx Tale. But I guess he figured, "Why bother -- it would NEVER sell!"

This guy is scum. How did the people of New jersey manage to miss that when they elected him TWICE?

The Ebola crisis has come to the New York/New Jersey metropolitan area in the form of a doctor who traveled from West Africa and was diagnosed ten days later. But you'll be happy to know that New York and New Jersey governors Cuomo and Christie have joined forces with the federal Centers For Disease Control to build a strong first line of defense:
Now, if only Christie could get those lazy, overpaid, pension-grubbing healthcare unions to toe the line. Three years ago, they torpedoed a deal that would have allowed a national hospital network to take over a hospital in Jersey City that soon went bankrupt. Which Christie had every right to be unhappy about: the hospital network's charity "wasted" a $25,000 donation to the New Jersey governor's mansion restoration fund!

But since the network got to buy another New Jersey hospital back in August, that's water under the bridge(t), right? Apparently not: those uppity nurses have once again interfered with Christie by trying to contribute some expertise into how New Jersey hospitals should deal with Ebola. Of all the nerve -- I mean, what the heck do a bunch of nurses know?
His response? During his monthly radio show, Christie was dismissive of their concerns, saying flatly,

“I’ve generally found the nurses union to be unhelpful."

Well, here's a newsflash, guv -- nurses and other hospital personnel are not in the business of being helpful to you, but to all of us. Our own Richie Sambora worked in a hospital for six weeks, and describes his main job duties as "cleaning up blood, pee and puke." It just so happens that Ebola is SPREAD through infected blood, pee, and puke -- so along with the nurses, you damned well better have some janitors sitting at your protocol table, too!
One hundred and eighty degrees isn't my idea of a "slight" change of course, but it's nice that Christie has finally found the nurses union to be helpful after all!

A big chunk of Christie's Ebola plan has crashed shortly after takeoff.
The flaw in the plan is as big as Christie himself: If it's true that Ebola isn't contagious unless you're displaying its symptoms, surely it would be easier to prevent potentially contagious people from taking Ebola overseas if they had to wait 21 days BEFORE being allowed to fly. Or is the Port Authority in such bad financial shape it can't afford to wait for the plane ticket income?

As for the "government-regulated facilities," the first subject of the policy didn't care for the accommodations:
https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014...ox_speaks_.JPG

Here's a photo of her -- note the pale skin and reddish hair!

As for going "above and beyond the guidelines already set up by federal officials":
And that isn't the only thing that's due to be released soon!
Way to command respect on the international stage, Governor Soprano!

Nurse Kaci Hickcox is now at her home in Maine and following the newest CDC protocols for health personnel, which for her level of risk for allows for visitors and going out as long as she's not showing symptoms.

Meanwhile, Christie is in full wound-licking but blame-deflecting mop-up mode:
But some good did come of all this -- Nurse Hickcox has taught us that forehead temperature scanners are not reliable. All Ebola protocols should immediately be amended to require that above-normal forehead scanner readings be confirmed with an oral thermometer reading.

Of course, Hickox has only won the battle, not the war. If she should happen to go contagious within the next 15 days, Christie could literally ride her into White House. So we'll adjourn this case for now -- but first, a parting gift:


2017 UPDATE: War winning accomplished!

Since it has been long since established that Christie is a serial intimidator, I haven't felt a need to chronicle every one of his verbal attacks on those who dare to challenge him publicly. But the time has come to make an exception.
Those remarks were directed toward Spring Lake resident, Waretown restaurant owner, and former Asbury Park city council member Jim Keady, who would just like to know why nearly a nearly a billion dollars in Sandy recovery money is still "sitting in Trenton" while thousands have been waiting for it for nearly two years.

Like I said, Christie has blown off hecklers on camera before. But this is the first time that a heckler has had the cameras pointed at him afterwards.
Even more significant, Mr. Keady was then interviewed on national television by Al Jazeera and those meanies at MSNBC (who have been picking on him all along, of course). And most significant, a Democratic political action committee has decided to see if Christie's bluffing by filing -- WAIT FOR IT!!! -- an Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request:

At an event commemorating the two-year anniversary of superstorm Sandy on October 29, 2014, Governor Christie claimed “I've been here when the cameras weren’t here and did the work (on Sandy recovery).”

We respectfully request a list of all trips to which Christie was referring - specifically trips to the Jersey Shore to work on Sandy recovery, where no “cameras” – from the media or the Governor’s office – were in attendance to record the event.

Sixty years ago, the reign of one of America's most morally corrupt political leaders began to end when one person dared to ask him in public: Perhaps we're going to end up owing Nurse Hickox an even bigger debt than we thought.

P.S. Mr. Keady might be able to find the answer to his question by calculating two years' worth of interest on 800 million dollars -- interest that no one will notice isn't there.

Intimidating scum at that...... I just had a friend of the family call me from California and tell me that she saw that "putdown" live on TV. She wanted to know, once again, why the fcuk New Jersey elected this guy?

Sandy-Gate at a glance, via the New York Daily News:


The non-disbursed total is actually closer to $945 million? I stand corrected. And I like I said, calculating the interest on it might give us a clue as to the reason why it hasn't been disbursed.

P.S: From the "Hands Up Who DIDN'T See This Coming" department:

Remember this guy Robert Grady, who's running the New Jersey pension fund AND private financial firms that collect fees for handling the New Jersey pension fund?


Well, you can forget about him now:

...As Chris Christie draws closer to a run for president, there's intensifying scrutiny of donations flowing to his political organizations from executives at financial firms that manage ever-larger slices of New Jersey's $80 billion state pension system. Now, the Christie political confidant at the center of many of those questions is resigning. During today's meeting of the New Jersey State Investment Council, private equity executive Robert Grady announced he is stepping down from the chairmanship...

...(C)ampaign finance documents revealed that under Grady’s leadership, the state has awarded lucrative pension management contracts to hedge fund, private equity, venture capital and other so-called “alternative investment” firms whose executives made campaign contributions to Christie's campaign, his state party, the Christie-led Republican Governors Association and the Republican National Committee. The donations included a $10,000 contribution from Massachusetts Republican Gov.-elect Charlie Baker to the New Jersey Republican State Committee just months before Baker’s firm was given a New Jersey pension investment...

Christie has called Grady a "friend of mine for nearly 40 years" whom he relies on for political advice...

With friends like Christie's, who needs friends? Everyone!

Conflict of Interest, She Wrote

The latest to fly the Christie Crew coop is his number one aide, chief of staff Kevin O'Dowd. Bridge(t)-Gate stopped him from his promised promotion to New Jersey's attorney general -- after all, how objective could he be about investigating the person who hired him, especially since someone who has worked with all nine of the Christie Crew members who are being investigated now runs the state ethics committee?

Anyway, Mr. O'Dowd will be working as the "senior executive vice president and chief administrative officer for Cooper University Health Care...responsible for...business and organizational development... marketing, human resources, compliance oversight, and corporate real estate and development." All for which he is very well qualified for with his background as a prosecutor in the US Attorney's Office Health Care Fraud Unit!

As consolation prizes go, I guess he came out ahead both professionally and financially. And there's no doubt his wife Mary is proud -- no doubt at all:
You see, Ruth Charbonneau just happens to be Mary O’Dowd's chief of staff, and Mary O’Dowd just happens to be New Jersey's health commissioner!

So exactly how will that work? One of the commission's duties is setting regulations for the health care systems. Does she plan to rule one way for everyone except Cooper University Health Care, and look the other way if Charbonneau rules the other way? As for Mr. O'Dowd, how does he make it look in the eyes of Cooper's competitors that there is even the mere possibility of Cooper having a pipeline to the health commission that they don't?

But I hope I'm not coming across as being anti-romantic. I mean, you know you've got a good marriage when you love your spouse so much, you outsource a piece of your job!

The latest from the Crew Christie Personnel Department, and just in time for feeling thankful:

Since July 1, Joseph G. DiVincenzo has been working at the New Jersey Department of Education as an "education program development specialist" at a salary of around $90,000 US. According to the job description, it involves “the design, production, and delivery of curricula, training, program improvement, and related education services to education agencies to ensure achievement of mandated goals and to meet existing and emerging needs...”

According to DiVincenzo's father, "As a teacher for six years, Joe graduated with a master’s degree in educational leadership and earned certifications that qualify him to be a school administrator, principal, supervisor, school business administrator, K-5 elementary education teacher and grade 6-8 math teacher."

Lovely -- except that DiVincenzo's father is Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo...AND that Joe Jr. was SO qualified, the job was apparently never advertised! I myself just applied for a job at New Jersey non-profit agency. If they decide to contact me, they will do so after December 3, and if they decide to hire me, it will be before December 15 -- information I got from the job posting. It's possible that the agency has already made a hiring decision and are covering themselves by going through the motions of a hiring process. But that's the way it's SUPPOSED to be done.
Shame on Cipparulo and Rosenstein! They should "give thanks" that taxpayer resources WEREN'T wasted on contacting and interviewing people applying for a job that was never available -- and think of the trees that were saved because no resumes had to be printed out!

Some post-Thanksgiving leftovers
 

It turns out the that the 32-year-old daughter of a cousin of Christie's wife had a $95,000-a-year job as a school system administrator in Camden, New Jersey -- at least, until very recently after someone complained about the possible nepotism at a school board meeting.

Hopefully she worked there long enough to qualify for a state pension:
I doubt restoring proper tax rates will be among their "recommendations." Hey, maybe the lost income can be made up with revenue from the New Jersey lottery!
Superstorm Sandy? But that happened a whole year PRIOR to Northstar coming into the picture! I realize that there are people waiting for Sandy money to this day, but it didn't shut the ENTIRE state down!
Why should I believe Northstar can run the lottery more cost-effectively? And why weren't they fired for daring to claim that Sandy hurt their business when the state had record ticket sales in spite of it?
That's what I get for asking rhetorical questions.

Nonetheless, there is a silver lining: The Revel casino has been sold; online gambling income is negligible; and now New Jersey is losing money on the lottery -- Chris Christie has finally won a trifecta!

When Budget Cuts Become Stab Wounds
 

It looks like Christie will be able to count on getting the unfit parent vote.
For some reason, people forced to be held accountable to child protection agencies tend to be particularly vulnerable to taking things personally and reacting violently. Nonetheless, the decision to remove state police officers from ALL child welfare agencies went into effect twenty-three days ago...and this went into effect twenty-one days ago:
Happy to report that the caseworker was released from the hospital last week. Unhappy to report that this resulted in more Christie versus union drama:
No "harsh words" about the decision to create vulnerable caseworkers by irresponsibly making their police protection walk out and leave them without so much as a metal detector? Not even any apologetic words to the caseworker who got "hurt" (21 wounds from a steak knife) and could just as easily have gotten killed?
Well, I have to take Crew Christie's side in this case -- it doesn't make sense to carry out a threat if making the threat gets you the desired result. I believe the technical term for Drewniak's reaction is "sore losing!"

Don't throw away those expired New Jersey lottery tickets just yet
 

But wait -- there's more:
Northstar's request that the revenue be lowered because of Hurricane Sandy not only "predated" their relationship with New Jersey, it was a "nonsensical wild-eyed stretch" of an excuse that should have been seen right through. Was Christie too complicit, too gullible, or too stupid not to?

And look whose head pops up yet again -- David Samson's, like the proverbial monster that can't be destroyed! As busy as he is, he even had time to run a lobbying group? Will wonders never cease!

Kevin O'Toole Doesn't Let Being Implicated In Bridge(t)-Gate Stop Him From Criticizing the Interim Report
It is far from shocking that Wisniewski would stick up for the report -- aside from being a Democrat, he helped spearhead the state-level investigation. And it is far from shocking that O'Toole would criticize the report, being a Republican. But it IS shocking that with three other Republicans on the committee, they chose as their spokesperson on this matter the one member whose name showed up on a Bridge(t)-Gate email:
You'd think that since his name doesn't appear in the report, O'Toole would have enough sense to follow his mentor's advice -- "sit down and shut up." Anyway, here's the report -- a 136-page PDF. And I have no choice but to take Wisniewski's side: Having a spy in the enemy camp had to have made it that much harder to do a good job!

No such luck.
That's their idea of leadership, huh? Are they SURE there isn't anything MORE important for the New Jersey assembly to work on?
Never mind that Christie's cabinet would have as much earning power as the governor, but allegedly not as much political power (how would that work?). And never mind that New Jersey hasn't got any extra money to throw around thanks to Christie's fiscal mismangement. It's just that you would think that BECAUSE New Jersey hasn't got any extra money to throw around thanks to Christie's fiscal mismangement, he would have more important things to do with his spare time than write books. But let's not overthink this.

Maybe $175,000 simply isn't enough for a New Jersey governor to live on, and with four kids, Christie simply needs the extra income though his wife works. And let's be fair: if he can't manage the state's finances, SHOULD we expect him to be good at mangaging his own?

Do yourself a big favor, Governor Soprano: also tell O’Scanlon and Burzichelli to sit down and shut up. And if O'Toole is going to insist on calling attention to himself, somebody do ME a favor and hit him with a subpoena, please -- a BIG one!

Once upon a time, not so long ago, there was hedge fund company called Angelo Gordon & Co. One of their clients was tne New Jersey Treasury Department, who paid Angelo Gordon fees for managing their state pension fund investments.

In 2011, the New Jersey Treasury Department decided to take their money away from Angelo Gordon -- but it didn't make them sad, because the Treasury continued to pay them the fees!

Then one day, the people at Angelo Gordon found an abandoned orphan on their front doorstep, who they decided to take in and give a job, and everyone lived happily ever after. The name of that orphan? Mrs. Chris Chrsitie!

Now before you start crying "Foul!" it turns out that there's a perfectly logical explanation for this:
So there. But what IS an "illiquid investment", exactly? Mrs. Christie's Secret Service code name? The new diet her husband is on?
So it's cheaper to pay the fees from New Jersey taxpayers than to take a loss by selling? Then it's a good thing we have Mrs. Christie looking out for us. The moral of this fairy tale: "Behind every great man there's a woman...helping him stuff his pockets."