Chris Christie Back-Patter
17 Jan
Boy, Chris Christie sure does think highly of the job he’s doing so far as Governor.
Nevermind that property taxes are still on the rise, rebates have been deferred, state aid has been cut for school districts and municipalities, payments into the pension system are still being skipped, tuition continues to increase and the earned-income tax credit has been scaled back.
And all that before dealing with the estimated $10.5 billion deficit New Jersey’s upcoming budget faces.
He did prevent taxes for those making over $1 million a year to go up, so that’s got to count for something, right?
Governor Christie is the worst governor that new jersey has ever had! He doesnt care about police crime fire fighters teachers students the poor the middle class or the unemployed. He only cares about his rich friends! He is a union buster and only carestía about making a name for himself in politics he doesnt care about the real people of new jersey. Why doesnt he donante his salary to help? Why doesnt he put the millionaire tax back insta of taking it from the middle class? What is his issue with police fire fighters and teachers? Did he have a bad experience with them that now he is in a position to get back them? Ive been teaching 25 years and my husband has ms and cant work we are waiting on ssd on paper it says i make 70000 but in reality i Take home 40000 that means 30000 hora for tales pension medical ss unemployment aflac. We live paycheck to paychecki live in a mobile home my cae insurance is 493 a month. This governor needs to help the state not Lose money for it and Blame other people he needs to go before he destroy new jersey for his rich friends!
The Goober of NJ (Chris Christie) has firmly established himself as the one you can’t believe when facts are in dispute.
First, the Goober branded Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver a liar over her contention that she sought a meeting regarding the Goober’s purported “tool kit.” Rather than explain his lack of courtesy and obstinate behavior, the Goob branded Ms. Oliver a liar. Fortunately for the Assemblywoman a record of her repeated attempts at scheduling that meeting and a record of the Goober’s refusals exonerated her from the Goober’s scurrilous slanderous allegations.
Not one to learn from his mistakes Christie flailed about like a madman when his incompetence cost our State 400 million dollars, first he blamed the Obama Administration, when videotape exposed the Goob as a liar on that front he changed targets and again falsely branded someone a liar, this time it was Brett Schundler and once again the e-mail exchanges exonerated another victim of the Goober’s pathology.
Then came the infamous trip to Disneyland and Goober’s contention that he was in touch with acting Governor Sweeney throughout the storm. Guess what, the Goober lied again.
This pattern of projecting his own shortcomings upon his opponents is readily apparent and is not limited to factual disputes. The Goober rails against pay to play yet secretly set up a pay to play mechanism called reform NJ. Before that he took $24,000 in campaign contributions from ex federal judge Herbert Stern. Coincidentally the Goober had given ex judge Stern a three million dollar no bid contract to Stern so that Stern could “monitor” UMDMJ.
Let’s not forget that the Goober’s brother somehow escaped indictment after engaging in 167 illegal trades that netted nearly 2 million dollars in profits. Could a no bid contract worth millions of dollars have encouraged the US Attorney for the Southern District of NY to ignore all of Todd Christie’s crimes? That prosecutor (David Kelly) went after Todd Christie’s bosses and his subordinates, he went after traders who engaged in fewer unlawful trades and he went after traders who engaged in trades of lesser value than the criminal trades of Todd Christie however he claims that the millions of dollars directed to him by the Goober played no part in his decision to allow a criminal to walk away with the money of innocent parties scott free.
Then the whopper of all no bid contracts went from the Goober to John Ashcroft at a rate of 2.9 million dollars per month.
The antiRobin Hood is stealing from the poor, giving to the rich and lying to everyone along the way.
Now he is caught at the back door taking money from a hospital that is pushing an “undisclosed policy agenda”.
See one stripe and you’ve seen the whole tiger, we’ve seen the stripes, the claws and the teeth of this tiger, the only question left is how many innocent victims will be eaten by this tiger before we form a posse and put him in a cage?
PS : The Goober also characertized the pensions of firefighters and cops as a sacred trust and gave a solemn vow not to go after those pensions, if that’s how he honors a solemn vow what’s a mere promise from a pathological liar?
Bill’s little cut and paste comment assault upon the Governor which appears on a regular basis and in multiple media outlets is tiring and torn from the failed playbook of the Corzine campaign and recent rhetoric of present day obstructionists. Let’s examine the issues together, shall we?
Sheila Oliver:
You say the Assemblywoman kept “a record of her repeated attempts at scheduling a meeting.” Did she try to discuss the matter with the Governor? No. The Governor was right. This is a monumentally irrelevant issue which, not even Sheila Oliver is pursuing. Once again, you found another shadow to fight. Reality prevails Round 1- Brennan 0, Reality 1
RTTT:
Bret Shundler ADMITTED that he made the mistake. The first mistake was to agree with the NJEA concessions without first conferring with the Governor. The application had to be revamped last second to include provisions regarding merit pay and others which were REQUIRED by the RTTT application. The second mistake was three part; a. not including the FY 2008-2009 financial information b. not having the information faxed, emailed or otherwise to him during the RTTT interview and c. not being clear with the governor regarding the interview. Round 2- Brennan 0, Reality 2.
Snow:
Bill, this issue is less viable than Frosty the snowman’s legs in August. On this one you actually lose a point. Brennan -1, Reality 3
Reform Jersey Now:
RJN is a nonprofit issue oriented Political Organization which was established to advance the reform agenda, not the candidacy of Chris Christie. Of course you don’t understand how or why people would organize and get involved to further issues and not people. RJN has concluded its operations. Chris Christie is not an officer or trustee of RJN. The law is not on your side. Brennan -1, Reality 4
Judge Stern:
As part of a deferred prosecution agreement with UMDNJ in 2006, then US attorney hired former US Attorney and former Federal Judge Herbert Stern to investigate UMDNJ and the rampant fraud. The contract over 7 years was over 2 years, involved seven people and produced results. According to a 2007 report, Stern’s team identified $400 million of documented fraud, waste or abusive practices at UMDNJ. The Stern investigation led to the indictment and conviction of Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Wayne Bryant, and pushed the UMDNJ trustees to implement key compliance reforms. (by the way, nice job borrowing from Steve Lonegan’s campaign flyers.) Brennan -1, Reality 5
Todd Christie:
You actually call him a criminal when in fact he committed no crime. He was not indicted because he did nothing wrong. Allegations are easy to make, (you are fully familiar with the process) but not even an indictment was brought. The SEC found NO criminal conduct by Todd Christie and David Kelley, a Clinton appointed U.S. Attorney, did not prosecute Todd. Kelley served as chief of the organized crime and terrorism unit in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. His resumer includes leading the investigations of the 2000 millennium attack plots and the October 2000 attack on the USS Cole in Yemen, and for prosecuting Ramzi Yousef for his role in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. He was named Special Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia acting as co-lead prosecutor of John Walker Lindh. Kelley obtained convictions of WorldCom CEO Bernie Ebbers in his prosecution for accounting fraud and Martha Stewart in the ImClone stock trading case.
As far as a contract to monitor a deferred prosecution agreement awarded to Kelley of Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP (founded by a former U.S. Attorney), David was appointed monitor of Biomet, Inc., which designs, manufactures and markets products used primarily by musculoskeletal medical specialists in both surgical and non-surgical therapy, in overseeing governance reforms. That contract was awarded in September of 2007 and continued until March of 2009.
At the conclusion of the deferred prosecution agreement, the press release by Biomet stated “The Company satisfied its obligations under the DPA and has received a Notice of Dismissal of the Complaint filed against it in this matter in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. Neither the DPA nor the Complaint alleged that the Company’s conduct adversely affected patient health or patient care. The Company remains a party to a Corporate Integrity Agreement with the Office of the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which will continue through September 2012. Biomet’s President and Chief Executive Officer, Jeffrey R. Binder, stated: “Biomet is pleased to have successfully satisfied the requirements of the DPA. Over the past 18 months we have worked to strengthen the compliance policies and procedures for Biomet Orthopedics, such that we believe those current practices are best-in-class. We appreciate the productive manner in which our federally-appointed Monitor provided oversight and guidance throughout the term of the DPA. Biomet remains committed to upholding the highest standards of ethical and legal conduct and plans to continue the enhancement of its compliance programs throughout its global operations.”
If there is someone who was qualified to determine whether Todd Christie should have been prosecuted, it was David Kelley and he decided against it. Brennan -1, Reality 6
John Ashcroft:
This monitoring contract was awarded as part of one of seven approved deferred prosecution agreements in the seven years Chris Christie served as U.S. Attorney for NJ. The 2007 contract was completely in accordance with the DOJ guidelines for awarding monitoring contracts under deferred prosecution agreements. Then US Attorney Christie did not negotiate the fees in the contract. Ashcroft Holdings LC was engaged to monitor Zimmer Holdings. Zimmer, which makes artificial hip and knee replacements, was one of five companies to reach either deferred prosecution or non-prosecution agreements with the Department of Justice. The DOJ had been investigating claims that the companies paid doctors to promote and use their products. Pallone whined about the process that was in place since the inception of such agreements but NEVER questioned the qualifications of Ashcroft. It was yet another political moment which went nowhere. As Chris Christie testified before congress, Zimmer could have rejected Ashcroft, but after interviewing him, they were thrilled to have him as the monitor. The complexity of the case and scope of the investigation warranted the fees. And ultimately, the money paid in deferred prosecutions comes from the corporation involved, not from taxpayers.
For more on the Government Accountability Office’s observations about Deferred Prosecution Agreements, and how they work, see the DOJ report to the House Judiciary Committee from 2009 http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d09636t.pdf
Brennan -1, Reality 7
Bill Brennan:
Because Bill does not seem to understand the difference between an allegation and actual reality, without further comment, below are actual quotes from two of several cases which do not appear to have been appealed further which are available for public consumption through Google which involve Bill Brennan:
“BRENNAN v. NORTON, UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT Nos. 01-1648, 01-1740, 01-1898
Brennan asserted two retaliation claims against (b)(7)(C).First, he claimed that (b)(7)(C) told Lt. Montgomery and others that Brennan was taking medication that caused psychotic behavior. (b)(7)(C) does not dispute that in March of 1995 he told Montgomery that Brennan was taking medication that had possible side effects of euphoria, insomnia, and possible psychotic behavior.
(Court finding)However, Brennan was actually taking such medication, and we do not see how (b)(7)(C)’s disclosure of that information to supervisors responsible for firefighters’ safety establishes retaliation.”
“State v. Brennan, 344 N.J. Super. 136 (App. Div. 2001).
Defendant William Brennan was charged with disrupting a public meeting, N.J.S.A. 2C:33-8, and defiant trespass, N.J.S.A. 2C:18-3b. He was found guilty of both offenses in municipal court and appealed to the Superior Court, Law Division. After a trial de novo on the record, Judge Joseph Conte found defendant guilty of defiant trespass, but not guilty of disrupting a public meeting.
The mayor told defendant he was discourteous, abrasive, immature and antagonistic.
We need not detail that testimony, but the consensus was that defendant was agitated, upset and red in the face. Some of the witnesses described him as menacing, alarming, rude, disrespectful, frustrated and “tending to be disruptive.” There was a concern that the situation was getting out of hand.
Defendant’s judgment of conviction is accordingly affirmed.”
Final Score:
Brennan -3 Reality 7