Chris Christie won the Governor election with less than 50% of the vote. That means more than half of the voters wanted someone other than him to govern.
He has consistently abused his power. He pulled rank as a US Attorney to get out of a ticket when he went the wrong way down a one way street, and also pulled rank when he got a speeding ticket in an unregistered car to avoid being towed. He failed to disclose his close financial relationship with top assistant Michele Brown, a conflict of interest. He gave huge no bid contracts to his boss (John Ashcroft) and the man who didn't prosecute his brother for securities fraud, while 19 others were prosecuted. He governs with a personal vendetta to the detriment of New Jerseyans.
Those are just off the top of my head. And they aren't "partisan policy disagreements". They are basic character traits of a man with a short temper who is set in his ways, come hell or high water. We already had a nightmare of a similar "leader" that just left the White House. And Christie is a disciple of that regime.
And this current situation with the $400 million in education funding that NJ students now lose out on after he took over the application process - accusations and documented support from Bret Schundler that Christie again is playing fast and loose with the facts all while lashing out at anyone who dares to point out the truth.
Understanding that many in the corporate media are overwhelmed and overworked, it would be nice to see some more reporting on this very disturbing pattern of reckless behavior and how these ethical issues on Christie's part are a danger to the state and its future. Christie has shown that he does not negotiate in good faith - if he even negotiates at all. He is not one to be trusted, and his word has been proven over and over to conflict with his actions and reality.
The $1 trillion Iraq war has gone from early successes, to the chaos of civil war, to a surge, and now to the draw-down to 50,000 troops. After eight years there has been immense suffering and loss on the part of Iraqi, American, and allied partners. President Obama spoke about the war Tuesday night from the Oval Office. New Jersey veterans, family of the fallen, and those who help returning vets have their opinions.
The President began his speech saying, "Good evening. Tonight I'd like to speak to you about the end of of our combat mission in Iraq." He went on to explain that violence will not necessarily end. Cranbury resident Sue Niederer, who lost her son, Army Lt. Seth Dvorin, to an explosion in February 2004, was quoted by the Star Ledger as saying, "The combat mission is in no way over. There's 50,000 of our soldiers over there and they have guns."
After eight years of different missions, Obama's goal is to create a "sovereign, stable and self-reliant country." He feels this goal is achievable. The true measure of the war, however, is yet to be written. There is no doubt its cost has been high.
Remarkable documents released yesterday by fired NJ Commissioner of Education Bret Schundler illustrate - if they're accurate - where this Race to the Top fiasco leads. Despite his bombast and attempts to offload fault on the loss of nearly half a billion bucks into NJ's public schools, onto Schundler, Obama, teachers, Rahm Emanuel and anybody else, these events may show there may be some deep problems in Chris Christie's administration. How decisions are made, and carried out. Competence. Transparency. Possible cover-up.
As the US ends its combat mission in Iraq, Blue Jersey honors those New Jerseyans who served there. Sketches of a few who made the ultimate sacrifice.
Schundler releases chronology, emails and documents regarding Race to the Top
Called a liar by Gov. Chris Christie, his fired Education Commissioner is firing back. Documents, timelines, emails to top Christie aide Maria Comella, and drafts of letters to US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, shown in stages with edits by Christie Chief of Staff Richard Bagger. Taken together, if Schundler's documents are accurate, they illustrate that the "lie" Schundler was fired for was not what Christie made it appear.
Property tax hikes in New Jersey will hit 23.5 percent factoring in loss of rebate
Christie's budget eliminated NJ SAVER homestead rebate for this year. Homeowners who qualified for the rebate last year saw an average check of $1,037 to offset a statewide average tax bill of $7,291. Average homeowner tax bill went up in 379 towns, down in 35, unchanged in just 1.
Against what most courtroom observers consider a legal long shot, lawyers for the Fort Dix Five filed a multipronged appeal Tuesday seeking to have the convictions of the jailed suburban terrorists overturned.
Passaic Democrats call for probe of sheriff's abrupt resignation
Passaic County Dems call for an investigation into the abrupt resignation last month of Sheriff Jerry Speziale, alleging county GOP officials got him a high-paying public job so he would abandon his reelection bid.
Local
North Plainfield: Yeah, it's probably not a good idea to be buying pot in the Rescue Squad ambulance, as 2 squad members were arrested for in nearby Plainfield.
Camden: Postponing decision whether to close one of its two remaining library branches.
Ramsey: Candidate for vacant seat launches bid for same seat in November.
Yay! WiFi on the choo-choo!
You might be able to blog on NJ Transit trains soon without a wireless card. (Did that just sound as geeky as I thought it did?)
This is an Open Thread. What do you think of this Schundler stuff, Blue Jerseyans?
A few minutes ago, former NJ Education Commissioner Bret Schundler, fired a few days ago for "lying" to Governor Christie about events connected to the state's bungled Race to the Top funding for NJ schools, released documents he believes will set the record straight that he is telling the truth, and it is the governor who is not being truthful. From the chronology, comes this extraordinary quote. Schundler:
I have thought about the possibility that beyond my being a scapegoat for his misstatement, the Governor might be angry at me for not telling him the interview was videotaped. In my defense, I never believed I needed to say, 'Governor, stick to the truth, there's a videotape.' Perhaps I should have.
First is a 7-page written chronology which begins with the dizzying events of the last few days, including a press conference called to blame the Obama administration for the funding loss, in which the governor said something Schundler says the governor knew was not true. Next come emails between Schundler and Maria Comella, a spokewoman and top staffer to Christie. Next is a draft of a letter to US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, submitted to Christie Chief of Staff Richard Bagger. It makes, as he says, points he knew the Governor's office wanted, but does not include a claim that Schundler's team provided the federal interviewers with the data NJ's application was missing. Finally come two rewrites Bagger did of Schundler's Duncan letter. In the first, you will see that an assertion has been added - apparently untrue - that Schundler provided those missing figures to the federal interviewers. In the second, Bagger has removed the false claim that Schundler provided those missing numbers to the interviewers, because Schundler had insisted that was not true. Schundler says he transferred Bagger's second rewrite to his letterhead, signed and emailed it to Washington, following up with a pdf of that letter.
This is all breaking now. We haven't had much time to sift through it, but I wanted to get it all up now to you raw, so you could begin to read it for yourself. Schundler provided all these documents, and we uploaded them from the first place we saw them, Asbury Park Press:
I have thought about the possibility that beyond my being a scapegoat for his misstatement, the Governor might be angry at me for not telling him the interview was videotaped. In my defense, I never believed I needed to say, 'Governor, stick to the truth, there's a videotape.' Perhaps I should have.
There's been a lot of talk about lies, who said what when, getting to the bottom of things, changing stories, etc. All of this can get confusing and obscure the basic facts of the Christie-Shundler blunder.
The Christie Administration's incompetence cost New Jersey's schools almost half a billion dollars.
Really, do we need to focus much on anything else?
As the U. S. ends its combat mission in Iraq, we honor those New Jerseyans who served there. Below are sketches of a few who made the ultimate sacrifice.
Cpl. Michael E. Curtin, 23, Howell - March 2003 The first New Jerseyan killed during the war in Iraq, he was a graduate of Howell High School where he played on the school football team and enjoyed recreational hockey and baseball. He worked as a tool-and-die apprentice for three years before enlisting in 2001. He was killed when a suicide bomber attacked an army checkpoint on a highway. His family said, "The outpouring of support, generosity and condolences on the loss of Michael has been truly overwhelming."
Pfc. Min Soo Choi, 21, River Vale - March 2005 Shortly before leaving for duty in Iraq, Army Pfc. Min Soo Choi gave his high school guidance counselor a special assignment: take care of my baby sister. "He was big brother looking out for his little sister," the guidance counselor said. A 2003 graduate of Pascack Valley, he was a member of the varsity golf team and a good student. His goal was to later join the FBI and become an American citizen. He was killed when an explosive device detonated near his patrol in Abertha one month after he was deployed. He was a native of South Korea.
Specialist Jamal Rhett, 24, Palmyra - August 2010 A graduate of Burlington County Institute of Technology in 2003 and student at Bloomfield College and Burlington County College, he joined the military in 2007. On his second tour in Iraq as a combat medic, he hoped one day of becoming a physician's assisitant. He was killed after insurgents attacked his convoy vehicle with grenades in Baqubah, near Bagdad. Michelle Watson, his mother, said, "As I've learned in my life and place of worship... The greatest thing a man can do is lay down his life for his friends."
Sgt. Stephen Sherman, 27, Neptune - February 2005 A 1996 A graduate of High Technology High School in Lincroft, he served as a nuclear, biological, chemical noncommissioned officer, directing other soldiers in the use of detection and decontamination equipment. He was killed when an improvised explosive device went off near his truck on a road in Mosul. His mother said, "Stephen was a great son, grandson, brother, nephew, cousin and a dedicated soldier who was devoted to making the world a better place."
Captain Maria Ortiz, 47, Pensauken - July 2007 A graduate of the University of Puerto Rico in 1990, she joined the reserves the next year. She was the third woman with ties to NJ who died in Iraq. Reportedly born in Pensauken, it was not clear how much time she spent there. Her mother lives in the area. She was assigned to Kirk Army Health Clinic as Chief Nurse General Medicine before being assigned to Iraq in 2005. She was killed by mortar fire in Bagdad. She received numerous commendations including a Bronze Star.
You can read about other NJ soldiers fallen in Iraq here.
Gov. Christie wants us all to move on off his bungled Race to the Top application that cost the state nearly half a billion bucks. Get over it. Stop mentioning it. Don't ask no questions. Ah, and that application for $268 million in federal aide to replace teacher jobs he hasn't applied for? What? Well, I support public edu... hey, is that Mika Brzezinski? How's my tie? I'm the Decider!
Christie's got his man. He wants to offload all of this onto former Education Commissioner Bret Schundler: "Don't lie to the governor," says the Governor. But there are signs Schundler, with whom I agree on nearly nothing, but who even political foes can see may be being unfairly maligned, is tired of hearing himself impugned for what he maintains he did not do. Christie demands this all to evaporate on his explanation that Schundler told him (and his staff) that he gave the missing Race to the Top info the funding reviewers in D.C., when he did not. But Schundler says the opposite, that he told Christie (and his staff) that he did not give that info to them. Schundler now says it's the Governor who's lying:
The Governor is saying I misled him and that is absolutely untrue.
That becomes important because it is not clear that Schundler knew the required information was not in the application, and because the application was hastily changed over Memorial Day weekend, though details there are sketchy, to date. What hand Schundler had in making those changes - unclear, to date. A reported draft of the application with edits, in Schundler's handwriting removing budget information federal officials request in the application, has not been produced to date, and the Christie administration has not responded to requests for those documents.
The "mystery" of the fatal "error" is not solved. The push by the Governor to close the books on this matter may be an effort to deflect attention from the timeline of the Race to the Top application and blunders, from how processes work in the Christie administration, and in who made what decision and when. It cannot be as simple as a Governor already caught by federal video in one very public untruth simply announcing he's done talking. And that is because he is now in the chain of persons whose actions need to be investigated. As a person who stands to gain politically from no further transparency on this matter - who stands to gain if no further questions are asked, if records and notes are not subpoenaed, if officials and support personnel are not called to testify - his opinion of how the investigation should proceed should no longer matter.
Did you miss last night's scintillating edition of BlueJerseyRadio? You know, the one where Jeff and I served up the pithiest political dish in the land? The one with chairman John Wisniewski rallying the troops to keep flogging Governor Christie whose latest hissy cost New Jersey students nearly a half billion dollars?
