OCTOBER 23, 2014, 3:35 PM LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2014, 11:27 PM BY JOHN REITMEYER STATE HO– USE BUREAU | THE RECORD
Frustrated by Governor Christie’s move to take New Jersey out of a multistate program aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions, Democrats pushed ahead Thursday with their latest plan to challenge the governor on climate change.
Advocates of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, which forces power companies to buy credits for every ton of carbon their plants emit, have praised it as an effective way to combat climate change while also boosting the state’s green-energy sector.
But Christie, a Republican who is considering a run for president in 2016, has argued that it does nothing to help the environment while at the same time increasing electricity costs in New Jersey. He announced the state’s withdrawal from the coalition in 2011.
Democrats who control the Legislature in recent years have sent Christie bills to reinstate New Jersey’s membership in the coalition, only to see the governor veto them.
Now, boosted by a recent state appellate court ruling and success they’ve had blocking another Christie initiative this year, lawmakers moved forward with their latest attempt to reverse the governor, one that they say will be successful. Christie’s representatives did not respond to a request for comment, but a spokesman for the Department of Environmental Protection said the state is making strides to prevent greenhouse gases on its own.
The Senate on Thursday approved a resolution that declares rules passed by the state DEP to formalize the withdrawal from the coalition to be in violation of the legislative intent of a 2007 law they passed after the state agreed to join the program.
Hackensack among 3 NJ hospitals to be trained to receive Ebola patients
OCTOBER 22, 2014, 6:03 PM LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2014, 6:50 AM BY LINDY WASHBURN AND MELISSA HAYES STAFF WRITERS | THE RECORD
Governor Christie named three hospitals Wednesday – including Hackensack University Medical Center – to receive intensive training and support so they are prepared to treat any Ebola patients in New Jersey.
The three volunteered to be designated as the state’s treatment centers for patients with the highly contagious disease, the state Health Department said. Officials at the hospitals say they’ll learn from both the good and bad experiences of medical centers around the country that have treated Ebola patients.
Naming three hospitals out of the 72 in the state allows officials to concentrate resources, as nurses’ groups and a state lawmaker have recommended. The three — Hackensack, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick and Newark’s University Hospital – will have help from a group of experts from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention scheduled to visit this week.
Ebola is most likely to enter New Jersey via a passenger arriving at the airport or at the port, officials believe, so hospitals located relatively nearby with the resources to handle the disease were chosen. University Hospital already has served as the receiving hospital for any passengers from Newark Liberty International Airport considered to have potential cases of Ebola or other communicable diseases, under an agreement with the CDC.
Chris Christie Previews 2016 Campaign: ‘It’s Time to Start Offending People’
“I don’t care if I’m loved. I want to be respected.”
BY TIM ALBERTA
October 21, 2014 New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie launched a preemptive strike Tuesday against some potential Republican rivals for the White House, saying the “experiment” of promoting a lawmaker to president has failed—and arguing that Republicans must nominate a governor in 2016.
Christie, chairman of the Republican Governors Association, began his speech to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington by lauding his counterparts across the country. Then he turned on a dime, pivoting in apparently premeditated fashion from 2014 to 2016. He urged attendees to support GOP governors this fall—not only to help them win reelection, he said, but to build a roster of credible presidential contenders.
“To have any chance of electing a Republican president, there’s a bunch of things we need to do. But the first is to have a good bench of Republican candidates,” Christie said. “And I am convinced that the next president of the United States is going to be a governor—and needs to be.”
Christie continued: “We have had an experiment of a legislator who has never run anything getting on-the-job training in the White House. It has not been pretty. And so we need to have a big and broad bench of good, experienced Republican governors to select from in 2016.”
The remarks may well represent Christie’s most forceful intra-party offensive to date, a preemptive and unprompted attack against unnamed “legislators”—including Sens. Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, and Ted Cruz—who almost certainly will be competing with him in 2016.
In a brief interview with National Journal after his speech, Christie was unapologetic about his remarks — and acknowledged they wouldn’t be well-received by certain presidential aspirants.
“Listen, I just say what I believe, and whoever is offended is offended,” Christie said.
NJ Governor Christie joins Jeff Bell on the Campaign trail
October 20,2014
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Morristown NJ, Governor Christie joined Jeff Bell on the Campaign trail today at the Morristown Diner .Governor Chris Christie joined Jeff Bell for a meet and greet and a speech to voters in Morris County this morning. .
The Governor has hosted two fundraiser for Bell and said that he plans on joining Bell along the campaign trail.
Today’s event marked the first time Bell and Christie have campaigned together, apart from fundraisers.
Jeff was treated like a rock star by the enthusiastic crowd , even taking time out to sign autographs .
Readers Ridicule Extreme Bias in Media Reporting of “Bridgegate or Bridgeapolooza” reporting
The Record and it’s parent company are dying a well deserved slow death. Good riddance.!
This all may be true. The one thing that Im concerned with is that poor horse. The Governor is sure asking that horse to do a lot.
so this news will slow the record to only 5 bridgegate stories per week?
I guess you didn’t see the retraction by NBC and the correction of Brian Williams by NBC news. OH well
Finally, it’s not “time for another GWB/let’s see if we can nail Christie” story from the Record. Also , what’s up with their hideous “sense of humor” Christie/GWB songs ad infinitum obsession? Tough choice between NoDoz or Excedrin.
You won’t find this news in The Record! Bridgegate every day of the year, but no mention of the above. Libtard Rag!
CNN was running a “Has Christie redeemed himself yet since Bridgegate” story.
SEPTEMBER 21, 2014, 10:25 PM LAST UPDATED: MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2014, 12:32 AM BY CHRISTOPHER MAAG STAFF WRITER THE RECORD
When Governor Christie, citing potential cost overruns, canceled a project to build new tunnels under the Hudson River, many thought the effort to build rail connections between New Jersey and New York was dead, possibly forever.
Just weeks after Christie’s announcement, however, powerful forces in both states announced initiatives to jump-start the process in other forms. Now, the first phase of one of these projects, a Hudson River tunnel from New York Penn Station, is nearly complete. Other plans, such as expanding Penn Station, extending the New York subway to Secaucus, and modernizing New Jersey’s railroad tracks, are making quiet progress. But plans, approvals, and, most important, funding for the largest portions of the project have not been secured.
Each of these parallel efforts is a race against time. It may take years — even decades — to muster the money and political will necessary to complete new cross-Hudson tunnels. Meanwhile, the 104-year-oldtunnels that carry 160,000 commuters every day will fail completely within 20 years, Joe Boardman, CEO of Amtrak, announced in April.“All this planning will take years, and that’s part of the problem,” said Richard E. Barone, transportation director at Regional Plan Association, a non-profit planning group. “The system is bursting at the seams. We have no choice but to figure this out.”
Attention Bergen Record and GOP 2016 hopefuls: Chris Christie is poised to reclaim frontrunner status
Influential Republicans in early presidential primary states believe New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is poised to once again become a frontrunner for the party’s 2016 nomination, following a news report that federal scrutiny of a bridge-closing scandal has not implicated him.
“If he had been found in the wrong, he would have been irreparably damaged,” said Matt Moore, chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party. “This is hugely helpful.”
Not having the episode “hanging over his head puts him back where he started from,” said Chuck Laudner, an Iowa-based strategist for former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum’s 2012 presidential campaign. “He’s still a rock star and a compelling guy, even if he is too moderate for some conservatives. We’re glad he’s on our team.”
After 9 Months, Federal Probe of GWB Closure Finds No Link to Christie, Federal Sources Say
By Jonathan Dienst, Joe Valiquette and Pete Williams
‘Bridgegate’ Investigators Find No Link to Chris Christie
Will Democrats Refund Taxpayers ?
Friday, Sep 19, 2014 • Updated at 9:23 AM EDT
The U.S. Justice Department investigation into Gov. Chris Christie’s role in the George Washington Bridge lane closure scandal has thus far uncovered no evidence indicating that he either knew in advance or directed the closure of traffic lanes on the span, federal officials tell NBC 4 New York.
The September 2013 closures — where several entrance lanes to the George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee were shut down, causing a traffic nightmare for commuters — has been the subject of several federal and state investigations.
NJ GOP gets fundraising solicitation from Cake Boss for Christie’s birthday cake
HOBOKEN – Celebrity baker Bartolo “Buddy” Valastro, Jr., the head baker at Carlo’s Bakery in Hoboken, is also known as the “Cake Boss.” Famous throughout New Jersey from his reality television show on TLC, Valastro has made his support of Gov. Chris Christie clear, endorsing him for re-election in 2013 and allowing the Republican governor to campaign in his famed store on Washington Street in Hoboken. (Bonamo/PolitickerNJ)
Reader says Don’t blame the State Workers on Pensions
NJ Gov. Chris Christie’s pension moves cost taxpayers and retirees billions Aug 25th 2014 3:05PM
By RYAN GORMAN
Embattled New Jersey Governor Chris Christie faces another possible scandal – this time for possibly costing tax payers nearly $4 billion after diverting state pension funds to Wall Street firms.
Wall Street mega firms Blackstone, Third Point, Omega Advisors, Elliot Associates and The Carlyle Group have reportedly pocketed $3.8 billion dollars in fees since 2010 at a rate triple what was paid to pension fund managers prior to Christie assuming office.
Christie advisor Robert Grady notably had a long career at The Carlyle Group prior to joining the government, according to the International Business Times.
The switch was made in 2010 to give the state “diversified portfolio and maximize returns while appropriately managing risk,” Grady told the trade publication Institutional Investor in a report headlined “New Jersey ups the ante.”
The Carlyle Group has received $450 million in state pension funds while ranking among the top fee earners on Wall Street, according to state disclosure documents.
All management fees paid to firms by the pension have skyrocketed from only $125.1 million in 2009 to nearly $400 million in 2013, according to the New Jersey State Investment Council, which oversees the pension.
Those higher fees coupled with underperforming assets have left the pension with a benefits gap bigger than the state’s entire education budget.
This while the pension eked out a return of only 11.8 percent last year while similar funds average nearly a full percent higher, according to the IB Times.
Both pension funds used by teachers in California saw returns well over 18 percent in June alone, the Associated Press reported. They had expected returns of only 7.5 percent for the whole year.
New Jersey’s fund is also invested at a rate of just over 25 percent in financial firms, according to the NJSIC, more than double any other sector.
At least one person voted against Christie’s diversion plan, and he told the IB Times this outcome was inevitable.
“All the leading players on the [New Jersey State Investment Council] were from the alternative universe and all of their decisions were driven by a political agenda and an investment ideology which had no relationship to facts on the ground,” said Jim Marketti.
“And the facts were that you simply couldn’t justify these investments on the basis of what they cost in fees to generate a dollar of new returns.”
A New Jersey official defended the moves, saying that the state’s pension has earned a return this year of 15.9 percent.
Similar funds are averaging returns of well over 17 percent, according to the IB Times.
This is just the latest in a series of bizarre scandals for Christie that have included the “Bridgegate” traffic tie-up at the George Washington Bridge, the possible bullying of at least one high-profile mayor (Hoboken’s Dawn Zimmer) over Superstorm Sandy recovery funds and scrutiny of real estate deals around the state.
The questionable quandries have put a dent in his reported presidential ambitions as Christie defends the pension problems by saying they are proof retirement benefits to retirees – earned through decades of service to the Garden State – need to be cut.
There’s no word on whether “The Governor” would also demand fees paid to Wall Street also be cut.
The problem with this article is it fails to mention all the graft of prior administrations , looking to blame only Christie while both Corzine and Mac Creepy ( and most of them since Whitman) have far worse records managing the state pension funds ,Mac Creepy even hired non wall street totally unqualified advisors to manage money .
Remember large returns come at a price and you get what you pay for . If they are over charging well that typical politicians ,but the real issue is simple math , while you cant blame most of the workers for taking the checks , you can blame politicians looking for those union contributions to their political campaigns ,while the taxpayer has no representation at the bargaining table ,its a very significant conflict of interest.
The crux of the issues is with all pension systems is that it takes 10 or more workers paying in to take care of every retiree, but productivity and technology continue to shrink the work force .Less workers equal less money being paid in . To make up we increase salaries and hire more people than we should .
Thus a lot of unproductive dead wood . The private sector found this out a long time ago with US Steal, Bethlehem Steal and the auto industry .
After a certain point you read the law of diminishing returns and for the tax base it becomes totally unsustainable ,.
For example in 1900 it took 5000 people to make 1 ton of steal , in 1980 it took 50 , so now the 50 were paying the pensions for 4950 people…ouch .
States like New Jersey are well past the breaking point ,with companies and taxpayers high tailing it out of here , leaving fewer and fewer people to pick up the tab .
Depending on huge returns on wall street for prolonged periods of time is foolish and very dangerous as the article points out fees need to be cut , money borrowed needs to be returned with interest,and retirees living out of state need to be taxed on their pension at a higher rate as well as current state employees need to pay a far
‘Unless there are changes made to the system itself, we cannot tax our citizens enough, even if we wanted to,’ governor says
PARSIPPANY -Gov. Chris Christie this afternoon tried a flanking move in his public pensions and benefits chess game with the Democratic Legislature, leaning on the optics of what he promised will be an apolitical squad of fiscal experts. (Pizarro/PolitickerNJ)
Christie creates special commission to study pension problems
AUGUST 1, 2014, 1:38 PM LAST UPDATED: SATURDAY, AUGUST 2, 2014, 12:36 AM BY JOHN REITMEYER AND MICHAEL PHILLIS STATE HO– USE BUREAU THE RECORD
Governor Christie has become the latest governor to call for a commission to study New Jersey’s pension problems, creating a non-partisan panel to provide him with options as he continues a public campaign that focuses on cutting benefits for public workers.
Christie signed an executive order on Friday at an event in Parsippany. It calls for the creation of a panel he says will be non-partisan and include at least five members. Its task will be to review New Jersey’s public employee benefits, which he says have become difficult for the state to afford.
“The study commission’s charge is to think long term,” Christie said. “No idea is off the table.”
Christie said the call for a study commission will not cut short his No Pain, No Gain publicity campaign, in which his focus is on a need to cut benefits rather than raise taxes to make them more affordable.
“I’m going to continue to travel across the state and talk about the problem,” Christie said on Friday. “The problem doesn’t change.”
When the DREAM Becomes a Nightmare Jul. 21 By Matt Rooney | The Save Jersey Blog
Governor Chris Christie is as effective a speaker on the issues of taxes, entitlement reform and school choice as you’ll ever find, Save Jerseyans. Plain spoken but substantively on-point; the clarity with which he speaks makes apolitical Americans want to get up and follow him and good faith dissenters concede the logic of his argument.
The so-called “YouTube moments” concerning ^^ are what we remember and, at least until Sandy and Bridgegate, they’re what defined his brand. Just as often, however, Chris Christie talks like what he is by training: a lawyer. And I don’t mean that in a disparaging way (I am one!). All the same, it can get him into trouble.
Immigration comes to mind as a prominent example.
It all started back in 2008, before he was even governor, when U.S. Attorney Christie inartfully tried to explain the difference between criminal illegal entry into the United States and civil penalties associated with overstaying a visa’s lifespan. I went easy on him at the time, but it was a lot more difficult to rationalize his support for a New Jersey version of the DREAM Act signed into law at the end of 2013.
Impossible, in fact.
Conservatives including yours truly warned that “compassionate” legislation would lead to a “magnet state” effect, inducing more illegal immigration without reforming the system to ensure equity for all of the affected parties. In short, a result with anything but a compassionate outcome! Opponents predictably scoffed at the criticism by trotting out the same old lame and unsubstantiated allegations of xenophobia.
Today, I get to say “I told you so” and it gives me absolutely no pleasure…
Governor Chris Christie Promises New PARCC Approach Jul. 01 Chris Christie, Common Core, Education no comments By Matt Rooney | The Save Jersey Blog
Both sides of the aisle have big problems with Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) testing, Save Jerseyans, so during an under-reported exchange at last week’s town hall meeting in Haddon Heights, Governor Chris Christie told a teacher participant that he’d pitch a fresh proposal to address those concerns in 7-10 days.
The stakes are growing as the landscape darkens. New Jersey is facing extreme fiscal pressure as another budget fails to meet basic obligations without borrowing, and the Republican 2016 prospect is hoping to roll out a new pension and benefits reform package soon, too, all while presidential speculation and Bridgegate rumors keep Trenton on edge and his Administration off-balance.
What would a new approach to PARCC/Common Core even look like? Here’s what he had to say…
Judge: Christie can cut pension contribution payment
JUNE 25, 2014, 12:32 PM LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, JUNE 25, 2014, 11:06 PM BY MELISSA HAYES AND JOHN REITMEYER STATE HO– USE BUREAU THE RECORD
Governor Christie won in court Wednesday, but the victory will likely be short-lived as he heads for a showdown with the Legislature over pensions and taxes today, a fight likely to go right back before the same judge.
POOL Superior Court Judge Mary C. Jacobson asks a question arguments Wednesday, June 25, 2014, in Trenton.
At stake is the security of the state pension system, tax rates for New Jersey’s wealthiest residents and the viability of the next state budget. This fight between Christie, a Republican, and Democrats who control the Legislature comes as both have struggled to move the state out of a sluggish economy and have seen New Jersey’s credit rating downgraded six straight times.
The Legislature is readying today to advance a new state budget — supported by revenue from tax hikes that Christie opposes — that would make a bigger state payment into the pension fund and one that Christie has threatened to reject with his veto pen.
That could send the issue right back to state Superior Court Assignment Judge Mary C. Jacobson of Mercer County, who said Wednesday that Christie is allowed to reduce the pension contribution in the current fiscal year, which ends midnight Monday, by nearly $900 million to help close a $1 billion revenue shortfall.
