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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: http://cdn.epictimes.com/wp-content/...ce-400x267.jpg http://media.nj.com/politics_impact/...2156-large.jpg National political blog Politico have picked up their pompoms and gone back to cheering him on: Quote:
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: Quote:
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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! Quote:
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
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I was appalled to come across this at CNN: Quote:
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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 reform Quote:
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":
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:
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Meanwhile, you can't fault Christie for standing up for his legal alma mater -- or can you? Quote:
And a sad legal note: The 70-year-old head Port Authority attorney passed away over the weekend: Quote:
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...But he did not shoot the deputy...
Christie's Sandy Recovery Chief to Be Replaced by Second In Command
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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:
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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! Quote:
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: Quote:
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). Quote:
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." 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:
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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:
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The state worker pension money that Christie screwed up has been tallied:
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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:
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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.
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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:
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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:
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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: Quote:
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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!
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http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-s...e-117083203794Since 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.
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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:
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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:
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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: Quote:
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"...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:
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In honor of the premiere of Dave's musical in London, here's a two-act tragedy staged by the Christie troupe:
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This guy is scum. How did the people of New jersey manage to miss that when they elected him TWICE?
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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:
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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? Quote:
“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! Quote:
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A big chunk of Christie's Ebola plan has crashed shortly after takeoff.
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As for the "government-regulated facilities," the first subject of the policy didn't care for the accommodations: Quote:
Here's a photo of her -- note the pale skin and reddish hair! Quote:
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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: Quote:
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! Quote:
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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.
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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. Quote:
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).”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?
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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...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: Quote:
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! Quote:
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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: Quote:
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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.
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Don't throw away those expired New Jersey lottery tickets just yet
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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
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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: Quote:
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