Tag: Chris Christie

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Christie signs arbitration cap on raises for police, firefighter unions

Gov. Chris Christie Discusses Candidates For Sen. Lautenberg's Seat

Christie signs arbitration cap on raises for police, firefighter unions

JUNE 24, 2014, 9:56 AM    LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, JUNE 24, 2014, 5:16 PM
BY MICHAEL LINHORST
STATE HO– USE BUREAU
THE RECORD

A cap on raises police and firefighter unions can get in certain contract disputes is now law – again.

The 2-percent limit on raises first became law in 2010 as part of the state’s effort to limit the growth of property taxes. The law expired this year at the end of March.

After weeks of negotiation, a bipartisan bill extending the cap emerged earlier this month. Governor Christie signed it at a ceremony outside the State House today, surrounded by top Democratic and Republican legislative leaders.

“The arbitration cap has worked,” Christie said, citing a slower growth in property taxes in recent years.

“We’re continuing what we started and renewing the bipartisan arbitration cap, which is going to continue to rein in the cost of government and stem the property tax crisis on behalf of New Jersey’s overburdened taxpayers,” said Christie, a Republican.

The cap prevents police or fire unions that settle contract disputes in interest arbitration from winning raises of more than 2 percent. The new law extends that cap until the end of 2017.

The bill passed unanimously in the Assembly and Senate earlier this month

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/christie-signs-arbitration-cap-on-raises-for-police-firefighter-unions-1.1040420#sthash.hOvgLq8w.dpuf

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Christie calls for more aggressive foreign policy

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Christie calls for more aggressive foreign policy

By STEVE PEOPLES
NEW YORK (AP) — Courting powerful Jewish donors for the second time in two months, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie called Sunday for a more aggressive foreign policy that defends American values abroad — even in “in some very messy, difficult places.”

“The rest of the world watches in desperation and hope that America will realize and act upon once again its indispensable place in the world,” Christie, a prospective Republican presidential contender, said in a keynote address Sunday at the Champions of Jewish Values International awards gala in New York. “We must lead.”

He charged that America must represent the strongest military and economic power, but also “the strongest moral power for what is good and what is right in the world.”

The appearance offered Christie a second chance to impress deep-pocketed Jewish donors after stumbling in a recent speech to the Republican Jewish Coalition. Sunday’s event also featured Gov. Rick Perry of Texas, Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey and major political donor Sheldon Adelson.

The gathering comes as donors — none bigger than Adelson — begin to size up the crowded field of potential Republican presidential candidates ahead of the 2016 contest. While billed as a nonpartisan affair, there were political references throughout the evening.

Asked if he was running for president, Perry told reporters: “I’m being governor for the next nine months. To be real honest with you I don’t know what I’m gonna do after that.”

https://news.yahoo.com/christie-calls-more-aggressive-foreign-policy-005146068–election.html

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Agreement between American Dream developers and North Jersey labor unions announced

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Agreement between American Dream developers and North Jersey labor unions announced

APRIL 28, 2014, 8:10 AM    LAST UPDATED: MONDAY, APRIL 28, 2014, 10:55 PM
BY JOHN BRENNAN
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD

More than three years after Governor Christie came to the Meadowlands Sports Complex to trumpet a new vision for the stalled McGreevey Xanadu shopping and entertainment project, he returned on Monday to unveil revised plans with officials from Triple Five, the new developer of the revamped project now dubbed American Dream Meadowlands.

The latest announcement came with plenty of new details, including a revised opening date target of fall 2016; the unveiling of a planned 20-story “drop ride” billed as the world’s tallest; and renderings of the proposed 639,000-square-foot indoor amusement park and water park that will feature 80-foot-high glass walls that allow drivers on nearby highways to see in — and park revelers to see out.

Joining Christie were countless construction workers, including more than 100 who stood behind the governor as he promised to make sure that Triple Five will prioritize “getting that ugly outside [color scheme] the hell off the building.”

The features

Key components of American Dream Meadowlands, according to the project developer’s website and previous announcements this year:

More than 400 retailers, restaurants, and services, including “global retail |influenced by high streets from Bond Street to La Rambla to Soho”
639,000-square-foot indoor amusement park and water park complex
Indoor ski and snowboard park |12 stories high and 800 feet long
Observation wheel similar to the |London Eye
200-foot “drop ride” similar to |bungee jumping
Performing arts center that seats 2,400 to 3,000
National Hockey League-sized |ice rink
180,000-square-foot movie complex with more than 5,000 seats |(700 of them VIP)
Aquarium featuring more than 10,000 “sea creatures”
18-hole miniature golf course

The event provided Christie with an opportunity to come through on a pledge he made to construction workers when they endorsed his reelection last year: to put them back on the job. The Republican governor secured the support of many unions, including Laborers International Union of North America, which had backed Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine four years earlier. The unions cited Christie’s vocal support of American Dream and other developments as well as his signing of the New Jersey Economic Opportunity Act, which offers corporate tax breaks to companies that create and retain jobs in the state. Many Laborers’ Union workers were noticeable in the audience, clad in orange T-shirts.

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/agreement-between-american-dream-developers-and-north-jersey-labor-unions-announced-1.1004344#sthash.NBJJ48lc.dpuf

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Chris Christie in no position to slam Colorado on cannabis

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Chris Christie in no position to slam Colorado on cannabis

Pity the poor saps who live in the beautiful Rocky Mountain State, where voters decided in a referendum that marijuana should be legal, beginning this year.

Now their quality of life has deteriorated, according to our governor.

“See if you want to live in a major city in Colorado, where there are head shops popping up on every corner, and people flying into your airport just to get high,” Chris Christie said on a radio show Monday. “To me, it’s not the quality of life we want to have here in the state of New Jersey. And there’s not tax revenue that’s worth that.”

Of course, if Christie were truly concerned about quality of life, he would not have sabotaged our medical marijuana program with his foot-dragging, as patients wallow in chronic pain.

But let’s put that aside for a moment. We are talking about marijuana legalization here — an idea most New Jerseyans and even municipal prosecutors support.

A New Jersey lawmaker has proposed a bill that would legalize, regulate and tax marijuana like liquor, predicting we could raise $100 million a year in revenue. That’s certainly a big plus. Colorado collected more than $2 million in recreational pot taxes in January. (Star-Ledger Editorial Board)

https://www.nj.com/opinion/index.ssf/2014/04/christie_in_no_position_to_slam_colorado_on_cannibis_editorial.html#incart_river

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Chris Christie: Tired of Obamacare? Elect new president

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Chris Christie: Tired of Obamacare? Elect new president

Chris Christie had some advice Tuesday for a constituent worried about Obamacare: “Elect a new president.”

The exchange occurred during a town hall-style event the same day that the GOP New Jersey governor, a potential White House hopeful, came under fire for his own support for Medicaid expansion under the health care law.

How is it going to affect the seniors, their insurance?” asked a woman who said she was from Toms River, NJ. “A lot of the doctor staff here are saying that they’re going to get out of it now. What do we do?”

“Yeah, well, elect a new president,” Christie said to applause at the Ocean County event.

Christie said there are areas where he and President Barack Obama agree — and spent much of the event detailing his administration’s efforts to work with the federal government on Superstorm Sandy recovery and expedite a sometimes-sluggish aid process. (Titus/Politico)

https://www.politico.com/story/2014/03/chris-christie-obamacare-2016-104239.html#ixzz2v5xkQpvW

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New Jersey’s Debt Reaches Record $40.4 Billion in 2013

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New Jersey’s Debt Reaches Record $40.4 Billion in 2013

New Jersey debt rose 4.1 percent to $40.4 billion in fiscal 2013, the highest growth rate in four years even after Governor Chris Christie’s pledge to reduce the pace of borrowing.

Obligations, which include those for retiree health care, rose 9.2 percent to $78.4 billion, according to the annual debt report released today at a meeting of the state Commission on Capital Budgeting and Planning in Trenton.

James Petrino, director of New Jersey’s public-finance office, told panel members that the increase was driven by borrowing for the Transportation Trust Fund, which finances road and mass-transit work, and by pension and health benefits. Christie, a second-term Republican, last year lowered budget allocations to the transportation fund as revenue trailed projections, and borrowed $875 million instead.

Until 2013, New Jersey reduced the pace of borrowing for four consecutive years. The 4.1 percent rate was more than double 2012’s 1.9 percent and is the highest since 2009, when it was 4.9 percent and the state owed $35.5 billion. Under previous governors, New Jersey debt more than doubled over a decade, and it has the nation’s third-highest tax-supported burden, according to a report last year from Standard & Poor’s. (Young/Bloomberg)

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-02-19/new-jersey-debt-reaches-record-40-4-billion-in-2013.html

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Chris Christie attacks N.Y. Times, David Wildstein

Chris Christie

Chris Christie attacks N.Y. Times, David Wildstein

Bridgeaplooza Is the story more about media bias  ?

By MIKE ALLEN | 2/1/14 5:19 PM EST

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), after a low-key initial response to Friday’s explosive allegations about his bridge-closing involvement, mounted a pugilistic defense late Saturday afternoon, attacking The New York Times and a former political ally in an email to friends and allies obtained by POLITICO.

“Bottom line – David Wildstein will do and say anything to save David Wildstein,” the email from the governor’s office says, referring to the former appointee who reignited the controversy. A letter from Wildstein’s lawyer on Friday asserted that “evidence exists … tying Mr. Christie to having knowledge of the lane closures, during the period when the lanes were closed, contrary to what the Governor stated publicly in a two-hour press conference.”

Read more: https://www.politico.com/story/2014/02/chris-christie-new-york-times-david-wildstein-102987.html#ixzz2s76esOKs

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Bergen Record Continues Christie Smear Campaign :Sorry but the Whole Point of Agencies like the Port Authority is POLITICAL PATRONAGE

VenessaatPA_theridgewoodblog.net_

Bergen Record Continues Christie Smear Campaign :Sorry but the Whole Point of Agencies like the Port Authority is POLITICAL PATRONAGE

Any thing you can say about Christie you can say about any Governor since the Port Authority was established

Again we ask WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN THE LAST 40 YEARS ?

The Tolls are $13 dollars to cross the GWB and not a word was spoken?

The Port Authority has been the dumping ground for politicians on the run since its inception including Jerry Speziale, the former Passaic County sheriff .
 
MacGreevey , Cozine , Cuomo  have all made political based appointments to the Port authority

Again We are not defending Christies actions or inaction’s but as a commuter sitting in traffic 5 days a week  we are more than outraged at the total disregard for the public until some politician gets inconvenienced .

Analysis: Christie’s approach on Port Authority different than his handling of other agencies

Saturday, January 25, 2014    Last updated: Sunday January 26, 2014, 12:30 AM
BY  JOHN REITMEYER
STATE HO– USE BUREAU
The Record

Chris Christie launched his first term as governor in 2010 by putting pressure on what he said was New Jersey’s “shadow government” of unelected authorities, boards and commissions. He vetoed a $5 million contract at one agency. He rejected a $1.27 million change order at another. And he even said no to a $37,500 lobbying deal.

 

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/Analysis_Governor_Christies_approach_to_Port_Authority_stands_out.html#sthash.qsxJbFha.dpuf

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Bridgeaplooza Democrats are wary of overplaying their hand on Christie…oops too late

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Bridgeaplooza Democrats are wary of overplaying their hand on Christie…oops too late

Democrats, especially those outside New Jersey casting an eye toward the 2016 presidential race, are excited that investigations sparked by the George Washington Bridge scandal might bring down Governor Christie.

But the reality, some Democrats say, is that the investigative committees created in the state Senate and Assembly face a risk of shooting too high and missing, thus giving Christie a way to say he’s done nothing wrong.

“We have to be careful that this isn’t seen by the public as just a political game, a game of ‘Gotcha’ against the governor,” said Rep. Rush Holt, D-Mercer.

Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., the Paterson Democrat whose district includes Fort Lee, was more blunt.

“If we make this a Democrat versus Republican thing, we’re stupid,” Pascrell said. “We need to simply get the facts out and let the chips fall where they may.”

What happened with Bill Clinton may provide an example. A broad swath of the public was outraged that the president had sex with an intern and lied about it. But after a failed attempt led by Republicans in Congress to impeach Clinton for lying in a civil deposition about cheating on his wife, public opinion eventually turned, to the point that today Clinton is arguably one of the most popular Democrats in the country.

To be sure, the comparison has flaws. Clinton’s redemption took a long time, and his offense could never be explained away as the act of overzealous aides who played hardball politics a little too roughly. (Jackson/The Record)

https://www.northjersey.com/columnists/Democrats_are_wary_of_overplaying_their_hand_on_Christie.html#sthash.bh8weC6Q.dpuf 

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Readers Question Blog Coverage of Bridgeaplooza

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file photo Boyd Loving

Readers Question Blog Coverage of Bridgeaplooza

Let me get this straight. This political blog is based in New Jersey and after 20 subpoenas are issued for the office of the Governor of New Jersey, you only have one article and its about the Governor’s fall girl. Ok, so much for Laissez-faire Point of View to New Jersey State. Nothing to see here. You must think she dreamed the whole thing up herself. She’s a secretary, for crying out loud. What makes anyone think she makes policy decisions like shutting down the George Washington Bridge. She gets coffee and relays messages for the Governor. Anyone thinking she has anything to do with this is delusional. Is Christie that big of a con man that he can convince one person that this rogue employee hatched up some scheme of political payback that looks eerily similar to all the payback schemes he has been involved with. He is vindictive, petty, a bully and I can only hope that she finally wakes up and spills the beans on her “fine” boss.

Unfortunately John people are more worried about the lunch delivery ban at the High School , perhaps if the press would have put half the energy they have in this story in to the last 500 corruption scandals in New Jersey over the last 20 years and far bigger ones at the national level you might actually have a point but alas the media particular the north jersey media has ignored over looked or po po-ed everything so the public is just numb to it.
Chemistry.com

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It’s a Jersey Thing: Why Chris Christie – or Any Pol From the Garden State – Can’t Go National

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It’s a Jersey Thing: Why Chris Christie – or Any Pol From the Garden State – Can’t Go National
Nick Gillespie|Jan. 15, 2014 5:32 pm

I’ve got a new column up at Time.com which discusses what being from New Jersey means for Chris Christie, the embattled governor of the greatest state in the country. Snippets:

Shows such as The Sopranos and Boardwalk Empire only make sense in a place like New Jersey, where everyone has a chip on their shoulder, is hustling to make a buck, and is desperate for prestige (as South Park memorably summarized it in 2010, “It’s a Jersey thing”). That’s the reason, too, that Abscam, the FBI sting operation that informs the plot of the acclaimed new movie American Hustle, was centered around Atlantic City and took down mostly New Jersey politicians, too. Even more than the typical elected official, Garden State pols want money, power, and respect.

But as Tony Soprano (played so memorably by the late Jersey native James Gandolfini), could tell you, the same forces that spur ambition and success also carry within them their own demise. It quickly becomes difficult to know when serious lines are being crossed or the wrong messages are being sent to the people around you….

It’s telling that in his rise to national prominence, Gov. Christie captured headlines less for what he did than how he did it. Where other Republican governors have implemented major structural changes to collective bargaining (Wisconsin’s Scott Walker) or educational policy (Louisiana’s Bobby Jindal), Christie has essentially governed as a big-government conservative, spending more money each year he’s been in office and doling out conventional corporate welfare to favored constituents. The State of the State address he delivered yesterday didn’t change any of that.

What’s made him famous — or infamous, depending on your politics — was his willingness to shout down teachers, reporters, and even voters that he deemed idiots or worse. In short, it’s his Jersey attitude, not his policies, that have put him on top of potential Republican presidential candidates….

https://reason.com/blog/2014/01/15/its-a-jersey-thing-why-chris-christie-or

https://ideas.time.com/2014/01/15/why-pols-from-new-jersey-arent-born-to-run/#ixzz2qUBXfUIy

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Despite ‘Bridgegate,’ ie Bridgeapoolza Christie’s Approval in New Jersey Still 59%

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Despite ‘Bridgegate,’ ie Bridgeapoolza Christie’s Approval in New Jersey Still 59%

88% (including 75% of Democrats) say knowing what they know now they would still vote for Chris Christie as their governor.

Despite the 24/7 coverage of “Bridgegate” by much of the mainstream media, and the endless speculation about other potential Christie scandals, the New Jersey Governor still has 59% approval among adults in his state, according to aMonmouth University Poll:

https://www.truthrevolt.org/news/despite-bridgegate-christies-approval-new-jersey-still-59

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Bipartisanship: Democratic noise machine targets Christie

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Bipartisanship: Democratic noise machine targets Christie

For years, Chris Christie was one of the country’s most gifted political thespians: More than any other contemporary Republican, he mastered the art of crafting dramatic moments for TV and online consumption and watching the nation thrill to the raw force of his personality.

Now, the New Jersey governor, whose aides once took pride in creating viral videos of his town hall smack-downs, is battling a set of adversaries wielding many of the same media tools against him.

The Garden State’s unfurling retribution scandal — in which at least three Christie associates have been tied to a scheme to deliberately disrupt traffic near the George Washington Bridge — has quickly become a case study in the evolution of the powerful messaging apparatus that national Democrats have built in the Obama era.

The Christie uproar would be a sensational story under any circumstances, thanks to the governor’s status as a leading presidential contender and a set of raw facts that are alternately troubling and profoundly entertaining. Christie’s aides and appointees didn’t need much help getting themselves into deep trouble. But with only a minor show of force from an array of entities on the left, “Bridgegate” has become a full-blown national political maelstrom.

And this time, Christie may not be stronger than the storm.

Most voters following the Bergen County intrigue likely found out about it last week, when the Record newspaper obtained emails showing that Christie’s deputy chief of staff had sent a message apparently green-lighting the closure of lanes on the George Washington Bridge.

But for nearly a month prior to the publication of those emails, the Democratic National Committee was plugging away at an anti-Christie message that has now become the talk of the political world and that a web of liberal groups, politicians and talk-show hosts have joined together to amplify. (Burns/Politico)

https://www.politico.com/story/2014/01/democrats-new-jersey-governor-chris-christie-george-washington-bridge-scandal-102118.html#ixzz2qMzv9Kee

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Chris Christie and the "black helicopter theory"

>Chris Christie and the “black helicopter theory”


Desperate to nail Christie the main stream media pulls out the “black helicopter” theory .
Perhaps the mainstream media wouldn’t mind telling everyone where they were during the creation of $56 billion Pension deficit or the $66 billion health care problem or perhaps the $500 million more for the failed Abbott schools ? And what about the $6.4 billion gone missing from the school construction authority or the $3 billion gone from Highway Transportation trust fund ? Where was the media during the 9% or was it 13% pay raise for state workers ,but hey the State of New Jersey only has an annual $10 billion dollar deficit . Should I go on it’s gonna be a long night…..


In Ridgewood we spend more for golden toilets at Vets field  than the Governor did .Sorry folks but what Ridgewood parent wouldn’t fly to their kids LAX game in a chopper if they could or they probably do . It’s for the children and you know you would . Sorry but this helicopter story is just too much of an insult to everyones intelligence even in a state that brought you the Jim McGreevy follies , ‘the Jersey Shore   ” and the “Jersey House Wives”  TV shows.


PJ Blogger

Gov. Christie calls Assemblywoman Vainieri Huttle a ‘jerk’ for criticizing his use of State Police copter

Gov. Chris Christie Thursday criticized Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle (D-Bergen) for criticizing him for using a State Police helicopter to fly from Trenton to Montvale Tuesday to watch his son Andrew play in a high school playoff baseball game. Vainieri Huttle charged the governor wasted taxpayers dollars flying to the game where he then stayed until the 5th inning before flying off to a political meeting in Princeton.  (Hester, New Jersey Newsroom)

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