Chris Christie -Gate- for Prez?

Aside from his brash (aka; rude) manner of bashing New Jersey Teachers and middle class working families who have been counting on their pensions for retirement, Chris Christie has a lot of baggage to drag into the race for Prez.

Bridgegate ~ Chris Christie's most infamous screw up. Either he knew about the lane closures or he had no control over the staff he appointed. Could he really have been that clueless? Or was he striking back in his typical school yard bully fashion at a Democratic Mayor in Fort Lee? One of the busiest bridges in New Jersey goes into gridlock for four days and he knew nothing about it? Maybe he should have turned on the news that day...

Sandy-gate ~ Although he was all, "Get off the Beach!" in his blue fleece and acting like he cared, after the flood water retreated, so did Governor Christie.  Leaving families out in the cold, Chris Christie overspent on a commercial ($25 million) to say the Jersey shore was open, yet he failed to mention New Jersey families might not make it to the beach since they had no homes. Rebuilding might be more important to these families than planning a va-ca.  It was over four months before the Sandy Relief Funds collected/controlled by his wife, Mary Pat were released.  When the press reported on this Christie barked back with weak excuses, but then the first funds went to....not Sandy victims.  It's now three years after Superstorm Sandy hit the Jersey Shore and the victims of Sandy are still trying to rebuild their homes. Where's Governor Big-Mouth now? Sandy-gate grade? Fail.

Pension-gate ~  Is the New Jersey pension system a mess? Maybe, but with Chris Christie what's okay for his double-dipping buddies, doesn't trickle down to the working class. Maybe he should have fixed that before bashing hard working teachers here.   Here's another list of his fight against teachers.

Exxon-gate ~ Did Christie sell out New Jersey for his corporate buddies? Exxon donates big $$$ to the Republican Party and Christie cuts them a deal to the detriment of New Jersey. Pay to Play, Mr. Christie? Shouldn't Christie have let others handle this settlement since it was definitely a conflict of interests?

Party-gate ~ New Jersey taxpayers foot the bill for Christie to race around the country with his security team. There there was that 80K that Christie spent on football games. Next time you pay that tax bill know what you're paying for.

Lawsuit-gate ~ Although Chris Christie promised "transparency in Government" in is campaign for Governor, he evidently didn't mean what he said. The lawsuits for him to release public records hits a new high. New Jersey taxpayers foot the bill for his $1 million lawyer buddy deal to clear his name on Bridgegate, yet that law firm has no records of anything done to gather evidence that (they claim) cleared him.  Google "Chris Christie Lawsuits" and the list is pages long.

Property taxes have risen under the Christie Administration making our Corzine years look like a party. He campaigned on transparency in Government but continues to hide financial records. With all the problems in New Jersey...can America afford Chris Christie and all his "gates" in the Oval Office?

Jeb Bush & the Social Security Solution

Jeb Bush thinks we should privatize Social Security. You know, that program that's flush till like 2035 or near there, but every republican is using to bait the voters?  Does he say this because big business hasn't made a mess of anything else? "Wall St. Bail Out??? What bail out? The one Wall St. never paid back to the American public?

Eh. Easy come, easy go.

Then there's the health care biz in the US before Obama care required them to use more of your premiums for actual health care? (Before then your premiums went to pay for the big bonuses for the CEO's.)

Yeah, I'd trust big biz. We could always just bail them out when they trash it, right?

Jeb also wants to raise the retirement age. Probably because he's not worried about his own retirement.

With a net worth of $10 million, does Jeb really understand what he'd doing to the middle class? Maybe not, but I'm betting he does understand big biz. Which is probably why he wants to hand them your Social Security.

Bottom line~
Social Security does need help, but turning it into a business can only spell trouble. What if Jeb and his friend$  just chipped in a little more to keep the system going? The EconomicPopulist has a great idea, check out his solution to the Social Security problem. I think he's on to something.

Christie vs Wildstein ~ Showdown @ High Noon

However Bridgegate and the rest of the Christie mess plays out, there's no doubt David Wildstein will play a big part in the outcome.

Philly.com reports that Wildstein is claiming Christie disclosed confidential Grand Jury information to him. Which would be a violation of state? or maybe federal law? The problem is, Can Wildstein prove it?

From all reports, Wildstein claims to have evidence in the Bridgegate case. If he kept records then, would he have other documented information on something like this Grand Jury thing? In 2013, NorthJersey.com reported Wildstein would buy up domain names of certain political figures, including Barbara Buono and her running mate, Milly Silva. (bounosilva.org and millysilva.com) He also purchased a domain name for Pat Foye, Port Authority executive who had harsh words about the bridge closures. (patfoye.com)  Very creepy that someone would buy the domain name for random people. Right now none of these pages seem to be owned by anyone. Domain names are usually purchased for anywhere from one to three years or beyond, so whatever he bought probably expired. Maybe these folks should go get their names before they fall back on Wildstein's radar.
Either way, this gives us a peek into the mind of the man who just may bring Christie down. He's a man who likes to gather websites and maybe he's got a stash of other evidence somewhere. By all appearances, he's a smart man who just might cover his ass in all situations. The Bridgegate trial is set for November so I'm sure we'll find out.

Wildstein was also the founder of PolitickerNJ, where he used a pen name (Wally Edge) to drop information on the political world in NJ. A site I actually liked to check out from time to time.

Christie claims he never knew Wildstein in high school yet then handed him a job worth big bucks that had no official job description. Wildstein's resume was not on file when requested by a reporter. Hmmm, what could that mean?

If this alleged Grand Jury spill is true, Christie did this only to give his fellow Republicans an edge in the election. So, if laws were broken, what would Christie face? Contempt charges or, since it was a federal grand jury, would it be more?

New Jersey Plays Where's Waldo with Chris Christie

Our wandering Governor is AWOL again for the month of June, being everywhere but there for New Jersey residents. Check out the Washington Post update of our out-of-state governor.   We could post Where's Christie everyday and let the residents who elected this guy take guesses on where he's at.

The line up for his June travels
June 2nd he starts a nice little va-ca with Gov. Rick Scott. You know, the one who's pushing to restrict women's rights regarding abortion? Probably a good fit since one of the first things Christie did when he took office was to cut funding to Planned Parenthood and family planning clinics. (Clinics closed in the poorest part of the state.) So, lets watch him buddy up with Scott who thinks he knows the vagina better than those who own one.

Next Christie is off to New Hampshire for a "Tell it like it is" event. Very funny Mr Christie. While you're telling it like it is, can you tell us what happened to the Sandy funds?

Then he has to hit Iowa up because...well, you know...he has to win Iowa or he loses his chance as the contender in the big race. It's why, even though 90% of New Jersey is against gestation crates for pigs, Christie voted for them. He couldn't do that to the Iowa farmers. Wait! Whose Governor is he? Sometimes it's hard to figure who he's working for...maybe, himself? No one explains it better than Jon Stewart. 

Then it's back to New Jersey? No, Christie goes to Utah to play with Mitt Romney and the other GOPpers because what the heck would he do in New Jersey anyway? Govern? Help the victims of Sandy who are still not in their homes? Maybe do something about rising taxes? Education? Pension problems?

I guess the GOP is paying for these travels, but I really want to know if they're picking up the room and board for all the State Troopers who have to tag along? Anyone know?

So, there's the line up for the Where's Christie in June show.... Who needs Where's Waldo when we have a wandering Governor?

Christie, Wildstein, & that Forgotten Court Case

In January 2014, a civil action suit was brought against Chris Christie, Bridget Kelly, David Wildstein, Baroni, Stepien, Drewniak for the traffic tie up caused by closing 3 lanes on that infamous bridge into/out of Fort Lee. It seeks damages for residents and business owners.

Brings to light the fact that a lot of businesses were affected when traffic snarled all over Fort Lee. If the roads were clogged, people couldn't get to work, couldn't go shopping, couldn't take the kids out after school...if they could even get to school through all the traffic. Four days of this, almost a week, can be a really big financial detriment to the shops and businesses. I have to wonder how long it took them to recover?

According to the lawyer for the residents, Wildstein and Kelly never responded to the complaint and so could be found in default.

The other's named in the suit did respond. They asked for a dismissal. I'm guessing that's just what lawyers do, try to get stuff dismissed. Would that be possible? So many emails go back and forth between these political appointee mobsters that the evidence is kind of overwhelming. If you read Wildstein's indictment you see a lot of back and forth between the major players and some of it was kinda nasty. If this gets dismissed, there is something seriously wrong with our justice system.

Let's see...they used a bogus traffic study to hurt a mayor because he wouldn't come out publicly to endorse Christie. When did bullies take over Trenton?
Oh wait! Christie was elected in 2009? That's when the bullies took over.
How embarrassing for New Jersey....

Playing Politics with the Media

Its been reported that the Christie administration is doing everything it can to set the Open Public Records Act back into the dark ages. It doesn't matter what the law says...if Christie doesn't want you to see it, the laws will be damned.

The ACLU (you know, those guys who do their best to protect your civil rights?) gave Chris Christie "D" on protecting the civil liberties of New Jersey residents. Check out his report card here.

His office has been fraught with scandals from day one. Sandy Fund Scandal, Bridgegate, OPRA problems....
His tool box didn't work; by cutting all state aid he left every community in NJ scrambling to make up the loss of revenue. What did they have to do? Raise Taxes. Gov Christie left them no choice.
Then he attacked teachers, pensioners and the media who reported on his actions. Because, you know, its everyone else's fault.

He's turning into the most expensive Governors New Jersey ever had to the tune of over 8 million dollars in lawyer bills of taxpayer money.

Now Mr. Tax & Spend Christie wants to be Prez? Well, if he's elected all I can say is Welcome to the dictatorship of Christieville. Taxes are up in every town in NJ since he took office, he's attacked pensions and paydays. New Jersey is quickly becoming a state only the rich can afford.

Gun Control Options

Gun control and protecting schools has come up again and all the politicos are now debating what to do. Give teachers guns! Put cops in schools! Take guns away! Give more people guns!

Decisions Decisions....

Bottom line...we have a problem but no..more guns won't help the problem. Should we ban certain guns? Yeah, probably. Why would any normal person need an assault weapon? It's not a personal protection weapon, its an...."assault" weapon. There's our first clue. Unless there's a reason you have to have a weapon that kills several people in a short blast...you don't need it. No one needs it unless you're a soldier on duty somewhere in a war zone.

Teachers with guns?  Um...no way. No teacher I ever met every said they wanted to be a teacher to carry a gun and shoot people. They don't want to keep the peace and they don't want to wave a gun above the heads of children. They didn't want to be a police man when they grew up. They wanted to teach and to help the kids that came into their classrooms. So let them teach. Don't force them to be something, do something they never wanted in the first place.

Cops in schools? Better idea. I know after Columbine I felt better when I saw the police officer wandering the halls of our local high school. He was a man trained in criminal apprehension, use of firearms and in making life and death decisions at a moment's notice. (Things teachers are not trained for)

Gun control. How about we make guns at least as difficult as getting a driver's license? Tests, both practical and written, then send in a application with basic information and some psychological evaluation questions.  Would that hurt anyone's right to bare arms?

I'm just an average person. Yet tomorrow I could go buy a gun and fire it. I've never held a gun, know nothing about them, but I could have one soon and who knows where that would lead?

Outting a Pregnant 17 year old~Shame on Sarah!

Aside from the fact that Sarah Palin outted her 17 year old daughter on national television for her own political gain (Bad mommy!), she is also supporting the marriage of a child. Oh yes, 17 year old's are children (they can't even vote yet!)
So here's a thought. The reason Palin outed her daughter is because some random blogger suggested that maybe baby Trig actually belonged to her daughter and not her. After all, her daughter missed like 5 months of school and when Sarah's water broke (leaked?) she waited two hours in Texas so she could give a speech, then traveled over 10 hours back to Alaska and then drove another hour to a hospital to deliver the baby. I know it was her fifth child but please! Isn't the health and safe delivery of a child a priority over giving a damn speech? Especially since it was a child with developmental issues? I guess Sarah didn't think so. Politics first, ya know.
So here's my theory (don't hate me~its just a thought)
What if her daughter really isn't pregnant? What if this is all a made up lie to show us Palin really is an outstanding member of the moral majority? Could Trig really belong to the daughter and this was just a pathetic attempt to cover it?
So if her daughter really does deliver a baby in December as scheduled...I'll apologize.
If not? We'll know Palin lied to us.
Still very un-cool to out your daughter on national TV.

McCain he is a changin' ...and changin'...and....

Did McCain run out of material or is he just into stealing the ideals of others when his own fail?
His whole campaign has been crapping on Obama about wanting change. Yet, last night he starts talking about how we need change. Does this man just wait to see which way the wind is blowing on a particular morning before he takes a stand? And then he blows off the leader of his own party, his president because he's ashamed of him? McCain! You voted with Bush over 90% of the time. Make up your mind!
And stealing? Ask Jackson Browne whose song he stole (that means take without permission) to use in his campaign. When Browne sued (here) did McCain just look around for another theme song to steal?
Ask the Wilson sisters who's work was used even after they requested the McCain campaign to leave their music out of his campaign.
So if downloading music is illegal...what does this say for McCain and crew?

New Jersey, land that I love

I've often thought that there is no place more perfect then New Jersey. We have four amazing seasons, a beautiful shoreline, mountains, lakes and half a claim to the Delaware river. We have Cape May (beautiful), Atlantic City (bring your wallet!) and shopping (Oh the Shopping!!!)

And we're a blue state! Can it get any better?

There are no mudslides, tornados (ok, few and far between), barely any hurricanes and if you can deal with the occasional Nor'easter...its bliss.

Then there's the politics. That's where the beauty stalls. From trying to over tax our toll roads to upping the sales tax I sometimes get the feeling that we're being driven out.

So, what's your opinion? Tell me about your New Jersey.