QOTD 
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Wed Sep 01, 2010 at 11:28:57 AM EDT
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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.
(read about it below the fold)
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Wed Aug 25, 2010 at 09:07:00 AM EDT
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Derek Roseman, spokesman for Senate President Stephen Sweeney and the majority Senate office, gets our quote of the day, off the story on the mind-numbing news that New Jersey lost out on on $400 million dollars in the federal Race to the Top program because an application Gov. Christie signed off on contained an error of the kind you get when you don't read simple instructions.
Roseman gets our QoTD:
These points should have been a gimme. This is like losing 200 points on the SAT because you didn't write your name on the top sheet.
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Wed Jul 07, 2010 at 12:15:00 PM EDT
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Governor Christie yesterday joined Queen Elizabeth at a wreath laying ceremony at Ground Zero. Fred Snowflack offered this take on Christie's journey to the service:Hmm ... In just about 15 years or so, he's gone from battling adversaries on the freeholder board to rubbing elbows with monarchy. It's almost surreal. Only in America, or rather, only in America and England. No one is disparaging the event they attended, but cue the jokes about how King Christie met the Queen and in fact, Jane Roh with the Courier Post was thinking the same thing:King Christie, meet Queen Elizabeth. The unions will have a field day with this one: http://bit.ly/c0zHse #christie #nj
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Thu Jul 01, 2010 at 10:09:51 PM EDT
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Governor Christie has found his latest law that has been signed that he wants to change. He's having a written and verbal battle with Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson Coleman over the recently enacted prison reform law. The Assemblywoman is not pleased at all with the response she received from the Governor saying that she is endangering public safety by granting certain state prison inmates parole six months before the end of their sentences. She offered this response:"This is a further illustration of the governor having no idea what it's like to be at the lowest end of the food chain in society," said Watson Coleman. "I will not sponsor legislation nor will I work on it, nor will I support it or vote for it, that repeals this reform measure into our parole system and our corrections system." This one seems like it's far from over.
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Wed Jun 30, 2010 at 01:13:06 PM EDT
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Blue Jersey Quotes of the Day usually come out of the mouths of politicians, speaking truth or talking smack. Today's, though, comes from smart cookie Jay Lassiter, whose fingers itched after he read this from Gov. Chris Christie: "We want to get the government out of the way. And out of your pocket."
Jay's talk-back to the Gov is our QoTD:
Of course it's the same party that wants the government deep in your bedroom, your fallopian tubes and your medicine cabinet.... but as long as they are out of my pocket i guess it's ok, right?
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Sat May 29, 2010 at 08:30:20 AM EDT
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Gov. Chris Christie, who made opposition to a medical marijuana law for ill New Jerseyans a campaign issue, now says he supports the law passed right before his inauguration and won't make it more restrictive like he said he would when he was running. But Christie wants to delay the kickoff of NJ's program until January or July, 2011. And that prompted our Quote of the Day from Sen. Loretta Weinberg:
I understand this governor has some questions, but I would like to point out to everybody, including the governor, this is the law.
Tick Tock, Governor. Tick Tock. Bear in mind that when the lady in the video talks about a July start, she was talking about July this year, not next year.
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Fri May 21, 2010 at 09:17:00 AM EDT
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In its reporting of yesterday's whiplash veto of a Democratic package of bills including the millionaires' tax and a restoration of senior benefits, politickernj picked up a killer quote. First the windup:
Someone in the press corps asked Christie about a quote from earlier yesterday, attributed to Majority Leader Joe Cryan, who suggested headlines should read: Christie to seniors: Drop Dead. Now, the pitch. Christie's response is the Quote of the Day:
I long ago stopped caring about what Joe Cryan said about anything.
Yeah, or almost anybody else besides the yuk-yucking yes-men (and women) who bind around him and think his every moment is brilliant. As Adam pointed out, Christie is The Unitary Executive, his way pointed by George Bush, schooled in the art by Karl Rove. And like Bush, Christie not only doesn't care what the other Party thinks, or reporters think, but he doesn't give two figs for you either.
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Tue May 11, 2010 at 01:30:00 PM EDT
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We told you yesterday about the proposal from Democratic Legislative leaders of both houses to have a one-year surcharge on the income tax of those making more than $1 million per year to pay for property tax rebates and prescription drug benefits for senior citizens. Here is how Speaker Oliver drew the contrast:"We don't believe that 600,000 older adults should be subjected to shared pain and shared sacrifice when one half of one percent of the top wage earners of this state are being asked for nothing," Not Surprisingly, Christie said he would veto the proposal. The Democrats should send him the bill and make him veto it. Then they should continue to draw the contrast over who the Governor is fighting for. I will say that I hope this is the line in the sand for state Democrats, because it won't make much sense if they keep compromising with themselves, while the Governor just keeps saying no until he gets what he wants.
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Sat May 08, 2010 at 11:14:39 AM EDT
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Here's the latest from Steve Sweeney on the NJ Supreme Court:
"What I told the governor personally is that 'I'm advising you and that I don't consent,' "...
"The courts have to maintain their independence, period," Sweeney said. "If I put this nominee up, I'm part of politicizing this court."
Christie's actions are said to be "within his rights" but it's quite clear he has violated the "unwritten constitution" of traditions and interpretations that governed for generations. Once such parts of the "fabric of societ" were a concern of conservatives but those days are long gone. To be a conservative today is to be a radical.
Now, if discussing traditions turns you off, and you'd prefer stats senators discussing the entire episode in terms of lollipops click through and scroll down.
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Thu Apr 15, 2010 at 08:57:00 AM EDT
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NJ Dept of Community Affairs Acting Commissioner Lori Grifa went before the Assembly Budget Committee yesterday. Plenty was discussed including how Urban Enterprise Zone cities will manage after the funding's slashed. Asw. Joan Quigley speculates:
The state needs the money, and the mayors are telling me the cities need the money, but the state's bigger than the cities. So they're taking it.
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Sun Apr 11, 2010 at 03:09:46 PM EDT
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The rhetoric continues to heat up regarding the extension of the tax on the Super rich. As Governor Christie has dug in his heels and it appears that Steve Sweeney and the Democrats in the Legislature have as well:"We're not backing away," Sweeney said in a telephone interview. "We have two strong-willed personalities. He was elected governor, not king." Sweeney has said he will introduce legislation to renew the surcharge if it's not included in the budget. We're headed for a showdown.
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Fri Apr 09, 2010 at 10:30:00 AM EDT
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Governor Christie may not be good at math, but State Treasurer Andrew Sidamon-Eristoff says that State Sen. Paul Sarlo, the budget chair has his numbers right on the impact of Governor Christie's budget. Check out this exchange from yesterday's hearing:"We take that $1.5 billion, $447 million, $848 million in rebates, that equals $2.8 billion in property tax relief cuts, is that correct?"
"The math part is okay," says the treasurer.
"I characterize it as property tax relief cuts based on the nonpartisan Office of Legislative Services," Sarlo says. All the while, the Christie administration continues to say they won't have a budget with tax increases. They say the cuts don't necessarily mean higher taxes, but in many places, that is exactly what will happen. The bottom line is that the Christie Administration is passing the buck to municipalities and school districts. People will be paying more, regardless of how it's framed.
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Thu Apr 08, 2010 at 04:00:00 PM EDT
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The rhetoric heated up at the Assembly budget hearing yesterday and no doubt it will continue ot get hotter as we head to the June 30 deadline for the state to pass its budget. Assemblywoman Nellie Pou wants people to look past the words of the Governor:"Gov. Christie wants to tax hospitals, working poor families, businesses and senior citizens while eliminating property tax relief for the middle-class and seniors and slashing school aid, all while digging in his heels to protect the wealthy," said Assemblywoman Nellie Pou. "Just because the governor says this budget is built on shared sacrifices doesn't make it so." But Christie and people who support him will continue to say that raising taxes is not an option. And for some reason, they're able to get away with it, not matter how many headlines come out talking about tax increases as a consequence of the actions.
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Sun Apr 04, 2010 at 01:23:45 PM EDT
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Speaker Oliver isn't mincing words about where we are headed with the disagreement over the Governor's budget proposal and cuts:"I think there's going to be a budget showdown," she said. "And again this is going to take us back to that whole ideological, philosophical divide of the two parties and what we believe in." The rhetoric on both sides is setting things up for a budget showdown. We'll have to see whether the actions of all involved back up the talk that has already gone on.
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Thu Apr 01, 2010 at 12:30:00 PM EDT
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Trenton Mayor Doug Palmer has not been shy about his disapproval for the Governor's plans to cut back on state aid. Trenton is seeing $43 million in aid cut and we get this from the Mayor about what the situation is:"Right now it looks pretty bad. We've been put in a position where we are just rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic and Gov. Christie is an iceberg coming right at us," Palmer says the money is owed to the city because they have to pay their rent. The Governor is saying they have to go through the process to compete for aid. I'l like to be able to tell my mortgage company that they have to go through a process to compete for my money.
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Sun Mar 28, 2010 at 01:53:10 PM EDT
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Following three days of public hearings, the head of NJ Transit signaled there may be a slight reprieve to the hit riders are about to face:"I would suspect that it probably is going to be adjusted," he said following a hearing at the East Brunswick Community Arts Center Theater.
"At this time, a 25-percent increase is an extraordinary, extraordinary burden, so we'll take that into consideration," he said. Many who attended said its a tax hike, not a fare hike. NJ Transit said they'll make adjustments where there are unintended consequences. The NJ Transit Board is scheduled to meet on April 14th with the changes going into effect May 1.
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Mon Mar 08, 2010 at 07:30:21 PM EST
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The problems of the broke unemployment fund have roots on both sides of the aisle, but the Christie Administration has focused on the actions of Democrats in recent years. The Auditor took a stroll down memory lane and found that people close to the Governor had a hand in creating the mess:But The Auditor has found a number of those controversial maneuvers were enacted when Republicans ran the Legislature in the 1990s, and Christie chief of staff Rich Bagger - then a state lawmaker - voted yes four times from 1992 to 2002.
Derek Roseman, spokesman for Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-Gloucester), enjoyed this stroll through legislative history. "In Trenton," Roseman said, "politics is often like loading a mousetrap with dynamite: Even when making your point, you might accidentally blow up half your house." That revelation prompted a more subdued response from Christie's communications people saying that both sides created the mess and now everyone could join together fixing it. But lets see how long it takes before they go back to blaming all the ills of our state on the Democrats.
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Tue Mar 02, 2010 at 09:06:00 AM EST
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Sen. Loretta Weinberg explaining why she voted no on Chris Christie's choice for state Treasurer, gives the Quote of the Day:
Christie has the prerogative and every right to do as he sees fit in his role as governor, but to deny what the outcome of some of these acts are is a little bit Alice in Wonderland and I expected the Treasurer to be a lot more factual and appropriate.
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Thu Feb 25, 2010 at 08:27:59 PM EST
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Blue Jersey user Princetonblue asked, and now Democratic Chairman Wisniewski comes through with the quote of the day:
Once again Governor Christie is showing what his priorities are and unfortunately they don't include the middle class taxpayers of this state. He is asking New Jersey's unemployed for $50 a week to fix the UI fund, while giving huge tax cuts to those making $400,000 and over. That's wrong."
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Thu Feb 25, 2010 at 01:30:00 PM EST
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The smoking gun got a hold of some of the 550 complaints filed against NJ Toll Collectors in the last 18 months and some of them are eye opening. They've gotten the attention of Assemblymen Wisniewski and Moriarty, who want some answers about the complaints and customer service training for employees. Here's how Assemblyman Wisnewski characterized the complaints:"They range from rude to obnoxious to just unspeakable," I read some of them and that quote is pretty much right on. And then there was this runner up quote in response from the Transporation Commissioner:Simpson, who has been on the job for only three weeks, also was trying to learn specifics about customer service training. But he vowed that if motorists were abused by toll collectors and it could be corroborated, "I will personally rip the toll-taker out of the lane." The Assemblymen are asking for more stories to be emailed to them and said they may schedule hearings on the complaints. I use EZ Pass so I don't normally talk to the toll collectors, but it seems like I'm missing out.
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