Tough-talking Chris Christie showed his breaking point Monday when he interviewed by phone with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt, and expressed his concern for Syrian refugees coming to his state. And as far as Christie goes, he’s not having any of these people in New Jersey, not even “orphans under 5!”
“I do not trust this administration to effectively vet the people who are proposed to be coming in in order to protect the safety and security of the American people, so I would not permit them in,” Christie said.
Hewitt then asked, “What if they were orphans under the age of 5?”
“You know, Hugh, we can come up with 18 different scenarios. The fact is that we need appropriate vetting, and I don’t think orphans under 5 should be admitted into the United States at this point. You know, they have no family here. How are we going to care for these folks?” Christie said. “The fact is, you can come up with a number of different scenarios, Hugh, but in the end, I don’t trust this administration to effectively vet the people that they’re asking us to take in. We need to put the safety and security of the American people first.”
The governors of Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Texas, Iowa, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Massachusetts have gone further as to move formally to block refugees from relocating into their states – at least for now.
It should be noted that governors cannot turn people away from their state. They simply cannot say who can and cannot come in.
You did it Christie! You finally figured out a way to improve your poll numbers among the Republican voter. With your veto, which will make it harder to vote in New Jersey, the Republican base is sure to shower you with some new found adoration!
The measure, known as the Democracy Act, was passed in June by the Democratic-controlled legislature, and was strongly backed by voting rights advocates. It would have guaranteed two weeks of in-person early voting, including on weekends, would have automatically registered New Jerseyans to vote when they got a driver’s license or state ID, and would have established a system of online voter registration.
Christie’s decision sparked an outpouring of criticism from voting rights and good government groups.
“Automatic registration is good for the country, and good for New Jersey,” said Myrna Pérez, deputy director of the Democracy Program at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, which had pushed for the legislation. “The Democracy Act would have made our registration lists more accurate and up to date, and voting more flexible and convenient. We are extremely disappointed Governor Christie chose to veto a bill with these kinds of proven benefits. Instead of passing laws that make it harder for Americans to vote, lawmakers must work to modernize our voting system for the 21st century.”
Christie’s move wasn’t unexpected. Soon after the bill passed, he expressed skepticism about it on his radio show: “Is it really too much to ask to ask somebody to fill out a form to execute their right to vote?” he asked. “Is it really so much to ask people that if they’re in the state that they show up on Election Day and vote? The polls are open from six in the morning til eight in the evening.”
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie addresses the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at National Harbor, Maryland, outside Washington, DC on February 26, 2015. AFP PHOTO/NICHOLAS KAMM (Photo credit should read NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images)
Well, that’s what you get when you’re running for your party’s presidential nomination and can’t even average 3% approval in the polls.
With the next Republican debate happening on Fox Business, the network announced the candidates and Chris Christie, who found himself on the previous three debates, will find himself eating at the kids table this time around.
The Network announced candidates must have a polling average of at least 2.5% in the four most recent polls. To make the earlier debate, candidates must average at least 1% in one of the four most recent polls.
Republicans Lindsey Graham, George Pataki and Jim Gilmore did make the cut.
On the main stage of the Fox Business Network debate in Milwaukee, Wisconsin will be:
Donald Trump
Ben Carson
Marco Rubio
Ted Cruz
Jeb Bush
Carly Fiorina
John Kasich
Rand Paul
Before the announcement was made, Christie spoke with a reporter from NBC and said, “either way, I’ll be in Milwaukee Tuesday night debating the big issues of our country, putting my voice onto those issues and that’s what really matters the most. But would I pick it? No of course not.”
Chris Christie has a BIG mouth, but he might have bitten off more than he can chew here.
Christie has been busy lately trying to climb out of the poll-hole his campaign started in, and he figured attacking the President would get him out of that hole. But I’m not sure Christie expected the President and the White House to fight back!
Christie’s attack on the president says that Mr. Obama is responsible for whatever anti-police sentiments in America today. Yes, that attack plays good with the Republican base that hates everything Obama, but it is not based in reality. In an interview on MSNBC, Christie said, “We have liberal policies that tie the hands behind the backs of police officers and then when incidents happen, accuse them of misconduct first and then do the investigation later,” Christie said Monday. “And you’ve got a president of the United States who does not support law enforcement. Simply doesn’t.”
But the White House shot back.
Press secretary Josh Earnest called Christie’s claim that Obama does not support police “particularly irresponsible,” suggesting it’s an attempt to “turn around” his struggling presidential campaign.
“They’re not surprising for somebody whose poll numbers are closer to an asterisk than they are double digits,” Earnest said.
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie addresses the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at National Harbor, Maryland, outside Washington, DC on February 26, 2015. AFP PHOTO/NICHOLAS KAMM (Photo credit should read NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images)
The New York Times, the epitome of The Media. Republicans don’t like the media and often refer to media establishments as “lamestream.” So having a top shelve media outlet call for his departure, Chris Christie is sure to send out his fundraising letter, telling his supporters to donate, because the lamestream media is calling for him to “go home.”
The New York Times Editorial Board took the time to pen an article, urging Christie – a bottom feeder in the presidential polls – to go home and take care of the crises in New Jersey!
It’s that time in the ever-long presidential campaign when candidates lacking money and mojo are starting to go back to their plows. Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey should join them.
Mr. Christie has been called a lot of things, but until Wednesday’s debate performance, “barely there” was not among them. In eight minutes of speaking time, Mr. Christie said little of substance. As for his parting pitch that he’s “deadly serious about changing this culture” of government, well, his constituents in New Jersey know better.
This isn’t strictly about Mr. Christie’s fitness for the presidency. His role in New Jersey’s budget crisis, betrayal on affordable housing and the interlocking scandals on his watch, from Bridgegate to “the chairman’s flight,” say a great deal about that.
The point is that New Jersey is in trouble, and the governor is off pursuing a presidential run that’s turned out to be nothing more than a vanity project. Mr. Christie’s numbers are in the basement, and he’s nearly out of campaign cash. This is his moment, all right: to go home and use the rest of his term to clean out the barn, as Speaker John Boehner would say.
Needless to say, Chris Christie responded to the Times call for him to bow out, and he has apparently decided that the troubles in his state are not as important as his selfish goal to have the word ‘president’ attached to his name. In a tweet back to the Times, Christie said, “Can’t read the article because I don’t have a subscription, but I can tell you this – I am not going anywhere.”
Of course!
.@nytimes Can’t read the article because I don’t have a subscription, but I can tell you this – I am not going anywhere.
That’s what happens when your McDonalds smoothie is almost finished. You go to the quiet car of your commuter train and you start yelling at everybody. I do it all the time. I totally understand.
The Governor was on his way home after a Sunday show appearance in Washington, D.C., during which he accused some Black Lives Matters followers of calling for killing cops and blamed President Obama for this “lawlessness”. That bomb thrown, Christie proceeded to raise a ruckus in the sacred quiet car, according to a witness quoted by Gawker, yelling at his Secret Service because he didn’t get the seat he wanted and then barking into his phone complaints like “this is frickin’ ridiculous” and “seriously?! seriously?!”.
Melissa Cronin at Gawker explained that first the Governor almost missed the train, then he didn’t get the seat he wanted and then, to add insult to injury, he got kicked out of the quiet car. Bad Sunday.
A (named) passenger told Gawker:
He got on last minute yelling at his two secret service agents I think because of a seat mixup, sat down and immediately started making phone calls on the quiet car. After about 10 minutes the conductor asked him to stop or go to another car. He got up and walked out again yelling at his secret service. He was drinking a McDonald’s strawberry smoothie.
I remember the days when the office of the presidency was respected, and it didn’t matter who was occupying that office – whether he/she was a Democrat of Republican – Americans generally awarded some level of respect to that person.
Those days are long gone.
Since Republicans realized that disrespecting the president was the patriotic thing to do, and since the Republican politicians realized that their patriotic followers were all for disrespecting the president, they have fell over themselves trying to out disrespect each other. The Republican politician capable of hauling the most filth to the president get the most love from the patriots in the Republican party.
Speaking on Morning Joe this morning, Chris Christie, currently running for the same office he is disrespecting, chalked up some love from the people in his party when he called Obama the “weakling in the White House.”
According to Christie, the President of the United States is a “weakling” because he has not spent the lives of Americans and the military in another war, this time, a war with Russia. Christie claimed that if he were president, the first thing he would do is implement a no-fly zone in Syria, and start a war with Russia if Putin disobeyed.
“And my first phone call would be to Vladimir,” Christie said. “And I’d say, ‘Listen, we’re enforcing this no-fly zone. And I mean we’re enforcing it against anyone, including you. So don’t try me. Don’t try me. Because I’ll do it.”
It’s August and the Back to School sales are ramping up in earnest, at least here in the nor’east. The sales started in July for the more southerly US climes, but that’s because they’re already back in the classrooms. In any event, it’s time once again to be thinking about education, and the issue is now near the top in this presidential election.
One of the more popular articles making its way around electronica is this one that essentially summarizes the findings of John Hattie, an educational researcher who’s written a slew of books on best practices. He suggests that achievement standards, focusing on smaller class sizes, and pouring more money into the educational system are not the answers and have little effect on student performance. He also questions school choice as a viable public policy. Of course, politicians on the right and left will pick and choose what they want from his message, with Democrats wanting more money and Republicans wanting more accountability, as if the two were completely opposite.
Educational access, attainment and benefits have been tied to the relative wealth of families and communities for the better part of United States’ history, so it should be no surprise to anyone that we are presently confronted with a system that’s as fractured as our income gap. Schools in wealthy communities tend to perform better than those in less wealthy and poor communities and the willingness of politicians to spend money where it should be spent (key concept) lends itself to schools where teachers can teach and students have every opportunity to learn.
Most of the Republican candidates for president support the free-market, pro-corporate model for schools, and the results have been disappointing at best to demoralizing at worst. Governors Scott Walker (falling in the polls) and Chris Christie (can you fall below zero in you polls?), have done more to demonize public school teachers than the other candidates and promise to do the same to the rest of the country if they are elected. Jeb Bush supports the Common Core standards, which really isn’t going to endear him to any particularly large constituency, but he’s also against public unions. The other candidates want local and state standards, which have not worked in the past and will not help student performance in the future.
The Democrats want more money for universal pre-school and aid to schools in poor and depressed areas of the country. Hillary Clinton has also recently unveiled a higher education policy that focuses on student debt. She would probably never get $350 billion over ten years from a Republican Congress, but her plan would put pressure on the right to relieve millions of students from crushing loans that are sapping their economic prospects. The Republican candidates have joined her in trying to address the debt issue, but right now the best we can say about them is that they’re market-oriented, including Marco Rubio’s plan to have wealthy investors essentially buy an interest in your future earnings in return for their investment in your education. I wonder if he’s also going to provide students with a free saddle so that your investor can sit on your back.
Given the years of blame and economic hardship that teachers have had to endure, it’s no wonder that there’s a shortage. And given the attitude that many national and state leaders have about teachers, it’s no wonder that qualified students are looking at other fields of endeavor. The truth is that we pay a great deal of lip service to wanting a highly qualified, well-trained teaching staff at every school, but the best and brightest are not stupid; they see what’s going on in education and are increasingly turned off to it. And since we don’t have the best and brightest going into government, the solutions will be doubly difficult to come by.
ASHLAND, NH - JULY 1: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) waits to speak at a town hall meeting at the American Legion Dupuis Cross Post 15 July 1, 2015 in Ashland, New Hampshire. Christie announced his presidential candidacy yesterday. (Photo by Darren McCollester/Getty Images)
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) – (Photo by Darren McCollester/Getty Images)
Poor Chris Christie.
After five years of berating people on YouTube, telling teachers, members of the armed services and other assorted citizens of New Jersey who just want their voices to be heard to essentially shut up, and after creating this persona of a man who tells the facts as they are (not just as he sees them, but as the ARE), and furiously trying to cash in every available political, economic and questionable chip at his disposal, this guy can’t even poll 5% of registered Republican voters ahead of next month’s National Night Out Against Crime GOP Presidential Debate.
And he’s not even the loudest guy in the room. Donald Trump has taken care of that. And he’s still polling near or at the top of the Republican field despite having little, if any, chance at winning any of the primaries. Of course, many have said the same thing about Christie. The main difference is that Governor Christie also has a record he’s trying to run on, while Trump will make his headlines, fulminate on FOX come 8/6, then go back to making piles of money in real estate.
Meanwhile, the good governor will run on…what? The stagnant New Jersey economy? Remember that Christie thought he could buff his conservative bona-fides by cutting income taxes only to be met head-on by an economy that was still shedding jobs and a citizenry that still needed social services he had cut during his first years in office. He’s also trying to run on the idea that he hasn’t raised taxes, but if you live in the Garden State and try to access government services, you know that fees have gone through the roof from everything from new license plates to getting state certification for public jobs.
Now he’s being called to task for not approving the railroad tunnels that would have eased the congestion between New Jersey and New York, and in a week where train service was severely affected by the weather (the heat made the power lines sag, so the trains couldn’t run), the state’s media is again reminding voters what a terrible decision that was. Yes, the governor did say that the project might have cost taxpayers a lot of money, but he then took that same money and used it to fix the state’s roads so he wouldn’t have to raise the gas tax. Because Republicans cannot ever raise taxes. Even when it’s a pretty good idea. Like when gas prices are low. Like now.
Christie’s response? Absolutely laughable. He said that if he got elected president, he would push to have the tunnels built as long as all stakeholders paid an even share. Can you see the right wing GOP House approving such a measure? Neither can I. The hypocrisy is thick around here.
And if you thought Bridgegate was the only scandal in Trenton, here comes another one. It seems that a whistleblower has won his case that will force the government to unseal secret grand jury testimony alleging that Christie quashed an investigation into some of his political buddies. It’s really a small town issue, but the governor has made it into a potentially problematic case for his campaign. I’m sure the other 86 people running for the GOP nomination will remind voters of Christie’s clouds.
If he’s in the debates in August, and I’m assuming he will qualify, Christie thinks that policy will win the day. The reality is likely that he’ll get a few questions, but most of the attention will go to Bush, Rubio, Walker, Paul and Trump. Christie will be able to tell us all about how we need to slash Social Security and Medicaid, but that won’t separate him from the field.
He won’t even be the biggest big mouth in the room.
Ready for the summer? Well hold on because the next 15 days will be key to determining the shape of the presidential race.
First up is Jeb Bush. The smart one. The able one. The one who thinks through his actions before taking them. The one with the long-term policy proposals that are not exactly aligned with the conservative wing of the Republican Party. The one who is daddy’s favorite.
The one whose brother absolutely ruined the Bush name. Dang.
Jeb is not a bad candidate and he’s making an effort to separate himself from George W. The extent to which he can do that will determine whether he successfully fends off more base-friendly candidates like Scott Walker, Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz. Right now, it looks like many Republicans are wary and might be looking elsewhere. If Jeb can raise enough money and scare off some other candidates, he can win, but he’ll have to convince many right wing voters of his commitment to their cause.
Governor Chris Christie is also getting ready to announce his run fresh off a victory courtesy of a New Jersey State Supreme Court ruling in his favor on the landmark state worker’s pension and benefits bill he negotiated with the Democratic legislature in 2011. He’s running on his ability to work with the opposite party, but the problem is that he’s repudiated his own law and the court ruled it to be unconstitutional. Now the Democrats have sworn not to negotiate further with him. Will he mention any of this?
Of course not. Christie will shamelessly repeat that he can work with Democrats, but that train has left the station. Plus, he has the Bridgegate scandal to answer to and a problem making himself stand out from the rest of what will probably be a 15 candidate field. His first job is to make sure that he’s polling high enough to be included in the first GOP debate in August. He’s good in debates and in front of crowds, so I wouldn’t count him out yet. But he’s got a tough race ahead of him.
Hillary Clinton also began her push for the presidency yesterday. She gave a good speech and is clearly focusing on the middle class and income inequality. She’s a bit farther to the left than her husband, but the Democratic Party is also more liberal these days. Her problem is similar to Jeb’s in that we know a great deal about her and her past. She has a clearer road to the nomination, but she does need to be mindful about giving too much to the Sanders-Warren wing of the party.
And don’t forget that we have two big Supreme Court decisions yet to be announced between now and June 30 on marriage equality and ACA subsidies. By July 1 we’ll have a good idea of how the candidates will need to adjust their messages in light of whatever the court decides.
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie looks on while giving his State of the State address in the assembly chamber in Trenton, New Jersey, January 8, 2013. Christie renewed his calls to the U.S. Congress on Tuesday to quickly pass the full $60.4 billion Superstorm Sandy relief package, saying victims in New Jersey had been short-changed. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3C83X
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie REUTERS/Carlo Allegri (UNITED STATES – Tags: POLITICS) – RTR3C83X
It’s one thing when you have something to run on. It’s quite another when you have to run away from your record. That’s the position Governor Christie finds himself in on the eve of his long-awaited announcement that he will run for president. Most candidates have a signature issue or can point to improving conditions in their state. What can Christie run on?
There’s no New Jersey economic miracle.
His attorneys argued in court that the one significant legislative achievement of his term, a state workers pension and benefits reform bill, was, in fact, unconstitutional, which will require another round of pension cuts and significantly higher health care premiums for state workers.
Property taxes continue to rise.
Funding for education has been cut.
Businesses and the very wealthy continue to enjoy the governor’s protection from tax hikes while middle class workers have seen their wages stagnate to erode further.
He created an atmosphere of fear and contempt in his administration and hired aides who shared his vengeful attitude, which resulted in the Bridgegate scandal that is still rocking the Statehouse.
But you know what? None of this Governor Christie’s fault. How do I know? Because he said so.
On the economy, Christie is taking credit for slowly improving conditions in the state, where unemployment still lags behind the national rate. What he isn’t saying is that job growth during his tenure is 48th nationally, ahead of only Mississippi and New Mexico. His reaction?
“We inherited a wrecked ship,” he said, “and we’ve now made it sea-worthy.”
Arguable, but the bigger issue is where the Governor is steering that ship. Right now it’s going in circles and is perilously close to the rocks. The truth is that after more than 5 years, Christie’s economic plan is dead in the water. The state budget chief said as much in 2013 and Christie mocked him as a fiscal Dr. Kevorkian. And thankfully, the Democratic Legislature killed his proposed tax cut. That really would have sunk the ship. Christie now wants to take his fiscal genius to a national level. For anybody making under $100,000, that would be real suicide.
His proposed national economic plan, just released, calls for the highest tax rate to be cut from 39.6% to 28%. That’s an enormous tax break for the wealthy that will redistribute more income to the upper class and require cuts to the programs that most Americans want and that many desperately need.
As for hiring the best and brightest for his administration, the governor is now saying that he can’t be held responsible for what his aides did on his behalf. Says he:
“I obviously spent time thinking about that, because it’s an obvious question,” the governor said. “But no, I really don’t think so. I think, unfortunately, there are going to be times when people that work for me do things that are completely out of character.”
“I’m accountable for what happened because I’m the governor,” he added. “But you can’t be responsible for the bad acts of some people who wind up in your employ.”
The buck, obviously, stops…there, but never here.
My Ouija Board just spelled out, “I am not a crook.”
Governor Christie has spent a good deal of time during his term in office criticizing people who don’t recognize that he’s telling us the truth on taxes, on pensions, on the role of government and, mostly, on being responsible for our future. His hypocrisy knows no bounds.
David Wildstein, the former Port Authority Executive appointed by New Jersey Governor, Chris Christie, finally admitted what the rest of the country already knew, that lanes on the world-famous George Washington Bridge was intentionally closed to spite the mayor of Fort Lee for not endorsing Chris Christie’s 2013 bid for governor.
According to reporting by The New York Times, other Christie administration officials are also expected to be indicted in the Bridge-Gate Plot that brought the bridge and other areas in Fort Lee to a stand still. These officials include Christie’s former Chief of Staff Bridget Kelly and a Christie appointee at the Port Authority, Bill Baroni.
Meanwhile, Chris Christie, the governor who claimed he had no clue what was happening right under his nose in his own administration, is seriously considering a run for president… seriously!
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