Tag Archives: christie

We Are Live-Blogging the GOP Debate in South Carolina

by MadelaineM07 Posted on January 15, 2016

Mother Jones

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Overall, this was sort of a boring debate, though it heated up a bit at the end. On a substantive level, there’s not much to say: nobody really said anything new. I guess that’s just the nature of things when you get to the sixth debate. My take:

Bush: He relentlessly tried to be reasonable. Apparently he thinks that eventually this will be a winning strategy, and maybe he’s right! But not tonight. He didn’t do anything to help himself.

Carson: At his best, he was in snoozeville. At his worst, he was incoherent. He’s a goner.

Rubio: He’s a hard duck to analyze. Rubio basically has a bunch of index cards in his head, and he recites one of them whenever he gets a question. The thing is, his index cards aren’t bad. And he recites them reasonably well. But eventually they just get old. That’s how it felt tonight—until he pulled out a brand new index card and attacked Cruz hard at the end. It was a good attack! It might help him. Maybe.

Trump: Fairly quiet by his standards. He did well responding to Cruz about “New York values.” His closing statement about the sailors was probably effective. His endless prevarication on the 45 percent tariff was a loser. Not his most dynamic performance, but he did OK. His numbers will probably go up.

Cruz: He was good tonight. He handled the natural-born citizen thing pretty well. Trump pwned him on New York values, but that helped Trump more than it hurt Cruz. His explanation of his tax plan was pretty much incomprehensible, and it was made worse when Rubio went after it, but I think that was his only real stumble. He’s a good debater, and probably picked up a few points tonight.

Kasich: He seemed like an island, totally disengaged from everyone else on the stage.

Christie: As always, he tried to seem like (a) the adult in the room and (b) the toughest guy in the room. It worked OK tonight, and he might pick up a point or two. But nothing more.

Overall, I’d say Trump, Cruz, and Rubio might gain a bit. Bush and Carson will drop a bit. Kasich and Christie will stay in nowhere-land.

Transcript here.

10:20 – Kasich: Mailman father blah blah blah. Bush: “Detailed plans count.” Oh Jeb…. Christie: Dammit, America is a hellhole and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Carson: Zzzzz. Rubio: Obama wants to ruin America. Hillary too. Cruz: Benghazi! Radical Islamic terrorism! Political correctness! Trump: If I’m president, we will win on everything we do.

10:19 – Time for closing statements. Everyone breathes a sigh of relief.

10:13 – Bush: We just heard a big spat between two “backbench” senators. Burn!

11:11 – Ooh. Big attack on Cruz from Rubio. Cruz says half the things Rubio said were false. But what about the other half?

11:04 – “We want Rand! We want Rand!” Well, don’t we all?

11:01 – Is it a blind trust if Don, Eric, and Ivanka Trump run the company? Um, no. Pretty sure it’s not. But I’ve actually been a little curious about what Trump would do with his company if he won.

10:57 – Christie says current Republican Congress “consorted” with Barack Obama. Quelle horreur!

10:55 – Big fight between Rubio and Cruz. Now Christie comes in to break it up. Let’s talk entitlement reform!

10:52 – Rubio says that Cruz’s tax plan would be bad for seniors. He’s right, but I doubt anyone understood what he said.

10:49 – Carson just gave an answer that I flatly didn’t understand. I’ll have to review it later.

10:46 – It’s tax time. I’m guessing everyone is in favor of cutting them. Especially on corporations and the rich.

10:43 – Now Cruz says his business tax is like a tariff. No, it’s not. But who’s counting, anyway?

10:41 – Cruz says Trump and Bush are both right about China. Such a peacemaker. The answer is a flat tax. Wait, what? What did I miss?

10:40 – Boos when Trump attacks Bush. The arena must have a big Bush cheering section.

10:39 – Trump also wants a trade war against Japan.

10:38 – Rubio: the answer to all our problems is to do the opposite of Barack Obama.

10:36 – So…Trump says the NYT lied, but I guess they didn’t. Imagine that. Trancript here.

10:35 – OK, but what about the tariff, Donald? Blah blah blah. Biggest bank in the world has an office in his building. But he’s totally open to a tariff.

10:35 – Did Trump call for 45 percent tariff on China? He says, of course not. He says he’d only do it if he stayed mad at them. Or something.

10:30 – Bush still trying to be reasonable. It’s so crazy it might work!

10:29 – “Radical Islamic terrorism.” Say it. SAY IT!

10:24 – Trump: “There’s something going on and it’s bad.” I guess that’s Trump’s campaign in a nutshell.

10:22 – Bush: “You can’t make rash statements.” Exciting as always!

10:21 – Jeb Bush steps up and defends letting Muslims into the country. Good for him.

10:19 – No follow-up, of course.

10:18 – These guys have lots of criticism of Obama, but they sure are shy about proposing actual concrete measures to step up the fight against ISIS.

10:15 – Should we send 20,000 ground troops to Iraq to fight ISIS? Carson says we should just give the military whatever they ask for. That’s it. And we should send in lots of special ops to put ISIS on the run. Uh huh.

10:11 – The fights between Trump and Cruz have been amusing, but generally speaking this debate has been pretty boring. Lots of canned applause lines and not a lot else.

10:10 – Does Saudi Arabia suck? Kasich says they need to stop funding radical clerics and madrasses. But what if they don’t?

10:07 – Ooh. Bush brings out the old Jerusalem chestnut. Go Jeb!

10:05 – New York values? William F. Buckley came out of Manhattan! New Yorkers were great after 9/11! So there.

10:01 – Sorry for the hiatus. So what’s going on? Guns? Looks like everyone is in favor of guns, guns, and more guns.

9:37 – The hamsters that power motherjones.com seem to be tired tonight. Sorry about that. If you’re having trouble commenting, keep trying!

9:34 – Cruz mostly treats natural-born citizen controversy as a joke. Probably smart.

9:31 – Audience booing Trump again.

9:30 – Audience booing Trump when he starts talking about polls.

9:27 – Audience not happy that Neil Cavuto asks Cruz about whether he’s a natural-born citizen. Cruz calls it a “birther” theory.

9:23 – Ah, an old favorite: Cruz turns a million-dollar loan from Goldman Sachs into an attack on the liberal media. That never gets old, does it?

9:20 – Trump says Syrian refugees are Trojan horses.

9:19 – Carson: What if someone hit us with an EMP, cyber-attack, and dirty bomb all at once? That would be pretty bad.

9:18 – Carson already whining about not getting enough questions.

9:17 – Rubio: Benghazi! Also: Obama has betrayed Israel, gutted the military, and apologized on ten world tours. That’s quite the memorized applause list.

9:13 – Bush: ISIS has a caliphate the size of Indiana! Also, US military has been totally gutted. Can’t even project power anymore.

9:11 – I wonder if anyone is going to acknowledge that American sailors did cross into Iranian waters near a major military base?

9:09 – If economy collapses next January, Kasich will balance the budget. That should work great.

9:06 – Cruz just can’t wait to bring up the American sailors. Ugh. Apparently he would have nuked Tehran immediately upon their capture.

8:57 – “The pirates are fighting in advance.” Huh?

8:48 – What will Donald Trump say tonight? In just a few minutes we’ll find out!

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We Are Live-Blogging the GOP Debate in South Carolina

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Chris Christie Used to Be Against Terrorist Suspects Getting Guns

by EzraNevile Posted on December 11, 2015

Mother Jones

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Days after a mass shooting in San Bernardino, California, killed 14 people, and one day after President Barack Obama called for more gun safety measures in a speech addressing the attack, GOP presidential candidate Chris Christie bolstered his support of gun rights. As news surfaced that the assault weapons used in San Bernardino were purchased legally due to a loophole in California’s assault weapons ban, Christie said during a radio interview that Obama’s call for limits on assault weapons was “absurd.”

This was one of the New Jersey governor’s many recent efforts to showcase his pro-guns stance. Last month, he conditionally vetoed a bill that would have made it harder for domestic abusers to own guns. He also recently vetoed a bill that would have required law enforcement to be notified when a person who had been institutionalized for mental illness seeks to expunge his mental health record when applying for a gun permit. And in the past year, he pardoned five people in New Jersey who were charged with unlawful possession of a firearm.

But for most of his two decades in politics, Christie has been a supporter of gun safety measures. In 1993, during his failed campaign for state Senate, he cited Republican efforts to repeal New Jersey’s assault weapon ban as his inspiration for entering politics. He repeated his support of the assault weapons ban in 1995 when running for the state Assembly. In his 2009 gubernatorial campaign, Christie voiced his opposition to a federal bill that would have made it easier for permit holders to carry firearms across state lines. As governor, he signed nearly a dozen pieces of legislation restricting guns in 2013, including one that barred individuals on the federal terror watch list from obtaining a permit to buying a gun in New Jersey. His consistent support for gun control has earned him a C, the lowest rating from the National Rifle Association among the top GOP presidential candidates. In 2014, New Jersey was voted one of the worst states for gun owners by Guns & Ammo magazine.

Yet late last month on CNN, Christie refused to express support a proposed bill in Congress that seeks to close this same terror watch list loophole nationwide, saying that he believes this sort of rule-making should be left to states.

When he’s been questioned about his newfound support of gun rights, Christie has insisted it’s an authentic evolution. “I have grown up a bit and changed my view and been educated on it,” Christie said on Face the Nation last Sunday, when asked about his previous support for an assault weapons ban. Christie said his views began to change when he became a prosecutor and saw that firearms are necessary for law enforcement to manage crime.

Though the NRA has yet to revise its rating for the candidate, Christie has won critical support in New Hampshire—a key primary state and also a GOP electorate that tends to oppose stricter gun control. Last month, Christie won the endorsement of the state’s largest newspaper, the New Hampshire Union Leader. He’s since been endorsed by the state’s House and Senate majority leaders, and several other political figures.

Christie’s revamped position on guns seems to have convinced many of New Hampshire’s leaders that he could win a pro-gun constituency. But the most fervently pro-gun groups in the state aren’t sold. On Wednesday, the New Hampshire Firearms Coalition, one of two major gun rights groups in the state, sent an email blast to its members warning them to be wary of Christie’s purported Second Amendment bona fides.

“Don’t be fooled!” writes NHFC in its message, outlining Christie’s pro-gun-control history. “The truth is Chris Christie has been an anti-gun activist for his entire political career…Being pro-gun is doing the right thing when no one is looking.”

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Chris Christie Used to Be Against Terrorist Suspects Getting Guns

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Chris Christie Really Wants You to Know He Doesn’t Like Black Lives Matter

by CharlesHumes Posted on November 11, 2015

Mother Jones

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At Tuesdays kids-table presidential debate in Milwaukee, Gov. Chris Christie (N.J.) tried to remind Republicans why they ever liked him in the first place—by getting really angry at everyone. Here are some of the targets of Christie’s attacks:

China: A former US attorney, Christie appeared to take the Chinese government’s hack of a massive database of federal employees personally. “If the Chinese commit cyber warfare against us, they are gonna see cyber warfare like they’ve never seen before,” he promised. Christie explained that his administration would then leak embarrassing details from its counter-hack of the Chinese government. “They’ll have some real fun in Beijing when we start showing them how they’re spending money in China.” In case there was any remaining ambiguity about his position on China, he unloaded on the Obama administration for not challenging China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea. As president, he promised that his first move on China (even before he launched a cyber war, evidently) would be to fly Air Force One over China’s artificial islands. “That’ll show them I mean business,” he said.

Black Lives Matter: Christie has won praise for his campaign-trail compassion on substance abuse. That empathy doesn’t apply to victims of police violence. He ripped into Democratic politicians for, he alleged, turning their backs on police officers. “They’re not standing behind our police officers across the country, they’re allowing lawlessness to rein across this country,” Christie said. He promised things would be different if he’s elected: “When president Christie’s in the Oval Office, I’ll have your back.” Christie returned the subject unprompted later, even connecting support for Black Lives Matter to overseas engagements with ISIS. “When the president doesn’t support law enforcement officers in uniform, he loses the moral authority to command anyone in uniform,” he said.

Hillary Clinton. More than anything else, Christie wanted to talk about the Democratic front-runner, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. “She is the real adversary tonight, and we better stay focused as Republicans on her,” Christie said right off the bat. And he lived up to his word, responding to every question as if he were her likely opponent rather than an also-ran. He came prepared with a series of one-liners. (“The bottom line is this: Hillary Clinton’s coming for your wallet everybody”) and promised to “prosecute” her on the debate stage next fall. Clinton’s quip at the first Democratic debate that the enemies she’s proudest of in her career were Republicans also struck a nerve. Christie called it “the most disgraceful thing I’ve seen in this entire campaign.”

The only people Christie didn’t beef with were his fellow also-ran candidates on stage. The New Jersey governor explicitly refused to respond to a challenge from Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal. And in that respect, he won by default, as the only candidate who seemed to remember that the point of the smaller stage was to get off it.

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Chris Christie Really Wants You to Know He Doesn’t Like Black Lives Matter

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Soon We Will All Be Little More Than Organic FedEx Packages

by RosaLadner63 Posted on August 30, 2015

Mother Jones

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On Saturday the New York Times ran this headline: “Christie Proposes Tracking Immigrants Like FedEx Packages.” We are, of course, supposed to be scandalized by this. After all, if “anchor babies” is dehumanizing to immigrants, surely treating them like FedEx packages is nothing short of brutalizing. The article goes on to explain:

Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey said on Saturday that if he were elected president he would combat illegal immigration by creating a system to track foreign visitors the way FedEx tracks packages. Mr. Christie, who is far back in the pack of candidates for the Republican presidential nomination, said at a campaign event in New Hampshire that he would ask the chief executive of FedEx, Frederick W. Smith, to devise the tracking system.

Uh huh. This is, of course, part of the Trump-inspired “can you top this” game of being tough on illegal immigration. That’s a bit of a yawn, though, since we went through the same thing during the 2012 primaries. What’s more interesting is that Christie’s schtick is Trump-inspired in an entirely different way: pretending that business people can be slotted effortlessly into government positions where they’ll kick some free-market ass and get our government moving again. Trump started this by claiming that he’d send Carl Icahn over to China because he’s a “killer” and would quickly put the Chinese in their place. Now Christie is following suit.

So what’s next?

Hillary Clinton says she’ll hire Bill Gates to run Obamacare.
Ted Cruz says he’ll get the Koch Brothers to whip the EPA into shape.
Ben Carson says he’ll ask Warren Buffett to run the IRS.
Scott Walker says that Jeff Bezos is the man to fix the GSA.
Bernie Sanders says he’ll pick Oprah Winfrey as his education czar.
Jeb Bush says he’ll bring in Sergei Brin to run the CIA.
John Kasich says he’ll nominate Mitt Romney to get the VA on track.

Who else would be able to fix up an inept government agency in a few months? Or maybe it should be the other way around: Are there any government agencies that couldn’t be reformed in short order by the right kind of steely-eyed business leader?

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Soon We Will All Be Little More Than Organic FedEx Packages

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Chris Christie Is Sitting on a Bill to Seize Guns From Domestic Abusers

by BradySawers Posted on July 14, 2015

Mother Jones

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For the past three weeks, a bill to crack down on gun possession by domestic abusers has been languishing on Chris Christie’s desk. The bipartisan bill would give New Jersey courts and police greater authority to enforce current state gun laws against suspected and convicted abusers, but so far Christie has refused to say whether he will sign or veto it.

Christie’s silence coincides with what political observers see as his shift toward more permissive gun laws as he revs up his campaign for the GOP presidential nomination.

It also comes at a time when New Jersey lawmakers are scrambling to strengthen legal protections for victims of domestic violence, spurred by the June 3 murder of Carol Bowne in Berlin Township by her ex-boyfriend, a convicted felon. On June 25, the New Jersey legislature passed A-4218, the bill now awaiting action from Christie. Democrats had introduced the measure in February, but it sat in committee; after Bowne’s death, it advanced speedily.

A spokesman for Christie’s office said it does not discuss pending legislation until the governor’s office has given the bill “a thorough review.” If Christie does nothing for 45 days, the legislation will become law when the General Assembly reconvenes.

At the time of her death, Bowne was trying to obtain a gun permit for her self-defense. Christie responded to the murder by creating a commission to determine if any state firearms laws “infringe on New Jerseyans’ constitutional rights” and require modification. His announcement came on the night of June 29, just hours before he kicked off his campaign for president.

State Senator Gabriela Mosquero (D), one of the bill’s sponsors, says it is not unusual for a bill to sit for several weeks.* But Christie’s swift creation of the committee, via executive order, has caused her and other Democrats to suspect that Christie is concerned about pressure from gun rights groups.

“He quickly released his executive order as a way of showing he is serious about victims of domestic violence,” Mosquero says, adding that her inquiries to Christie’s office have been met with radio silence. “He could have signed our bill the same day. I’m not sure what he’s waiting for.”

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Chris Christie Is Sitting on a Bill to Seize Guns From Domestic Abusers

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Chris Christie Is Officially Running for President. Here Is Everything You Need to Know About Him.

by Tyler5177jc Posted on June 30, 2015

Mother Jones

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New Jersey’s brash and outspoken Gov. Chris Christie is expected to officially launch his presidential campaign today, making him the 13th contender in the crowded GOP field. Christie will launch this effort in his hometown of Livingston, New Jersey, at Livingston High School, where he was class president for all four years he went there.

In 2011, Christie was widely considered a leading presidential contender. The Koch Brothers were early supporters, and David Koch was “inspired” by him, describing him as a “hero” and “my kind of guy.” Christie didn’t end up running in that campaign cycle and backed Mitt Romney instead. Still, even after his lackluster and Christie-centric speech at the 2012 Republican Convention in Tampa, Christie, though not embraced by the conservative wing of the GOP, was seen as a strong potential candidate for the 2016 race.

Then in 2013 Christie became entangled in the Bridgegate Scandal. An internal investigation cleared the New Jersey governor of any direct connection to the politically motivated traffic jam (two political aides took the fall), but he could not shake suspicions that he used his office (or allowed his underlings to use his office) to inconvenience thousands of people in order to punish political foes. More importantly, the episode raised questions about Christie’s dealings in other matters and prompted investigations that are still under way.

Now Christie consistently ranks toward the back of the pack in polls, and the Koch brothers have found other “heroes.” However, as Mother Jones blogger Kevin Drum put it, he “could maybe catch on if something really lucky happens.” But it might have to be really, really lucky.

From Bridgegate to bullying to battles with journalists, here is what you need to know about Christie:

Christie is currently waging 23 court battles to keep state documents secret. What does the New Jersey governor not want you to know?
His Social Security proposal is cruel and callous.
Here’s a look at his bridge scandal, explained. (In short: Emails indicate that a senior aide ordered a nasty traffic jam in Fort Lee as political payback.)
He has denied a bridge for political revenge nine times.
Good news! He actually believes in global warming 🙂
That said, he also believes parents should have a “choice” when it comes to vaccines.
Check out this audio of Christie letting loose at a 2011 Koch Brothers confab.
Here’s how the right will try to destroy him.
Christie once endorsed the use of cruel pig crates. Jon Stewart proceeded to skewer him on the Daily Show.
Mother Jones DC Bureau Chief David Corn spoke with MSNBC’s Chris Matthews about what Christie’s bridge scandal means for 2016.
Here are some reasons why Christie will NOT be our 45th president.
Watch eight videos of Christie yelling, belittling, and name-calling.

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Chris Christie Is Officially Running for President. Here Is Everything You Need to Know About Him.

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The Pope Says Climate Change Is Real. Catholic GOP Candidates Disagree.

by INVFlorauj Posted on June 16, 2015

Mother Jones

Since ascending to the Catholic Church’s top perch in March 2013, Pope Francis hasn’t shied away from taking political stances that rankle conservatives. He has said evolution and creationism aren’t mutually exclusive. Asked about gay priests, he responded, “Who am I to judge?” And he has embraced a populist approach to tackling income inequality.

Now the pope risks drawing conservative ire on climate change. In a document set to be released on Thursday—which leaked to an Italian publication and was published as an act of “sabotage against the pope,” according to a Vatican official—Francis will apparently call for a strong, multi-country push to curb global warming and the “human causes that produce and accentuate it,” according to the Guardian. The message will reportedly call out climate deniers, saying “the attitudes that stand in the way of a solution, even among believers, range from negation of the problem, to indifference, to convenient resignation or blind faith in technical solutions.”

There’s a growing contingent of congressional Republicans who are Catholic, and a number of the party’s leading presidential candidates (or potential candidates) are Catholic. If those candidates’ past statements on climate change are any indication, they could soon find themselves at odds with the pope over the looming encyclical. Here’s what they’ve said:

Rick Santorum: “The church has gotten it wrong a few times on science, and I think we probably are better off leaving science to the scientists and focusing on what we’re good at, which is theology and morality.”

Jeb Bush: Bush has said anybody who thinks the science on climate change is settled is “arrogant.”

Chris Christie: The New Jersey governor’s views might be the most in line with the pope’s: “I think global warming is real. I don’t think that’s deniable. And I do think human activity contributes to it.”

Bobby Jindal: While acknowledging that human activity has had an impact on the climate, Jindal has decried Obama’s environmental regulations as “reckless and based on a radical leftist ideology that will kill American jobs and increase energy prices,” according to the Associated Press.

Marco Rubio: “I do not believe that human activity is causing these dramatic changes to our climate the way these scientists are portraying it. That’s what I do not. And I do not believe that the laws that they propose we pass will do anything about it, except it will destroy our economy.”

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The Pope Says Climate Change Is Real. Catholic GOP Candidates Disagree.

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This Likely GOP Presidential Candidate Actually Believes in Global Warming

by MillaZ18sqebdk Posted on May 11, 2015

Mother Jones

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a potential contender for the Republican presidential nomination, thinks climate change is real and caused—at least in part—by human activity, according to MSNBC.

Christie said he believes there’s “no use in denying global warming exists” but that he’s skeptical about most of the mainstream approaches to dealing with it. That includes cap-and-trade programs and unilateral steps to reduce America’s carbon footprint, such as President Barack Obama’s proposed restrictions on power plant emissions.

Christie’s comments essentially matched those he made in back in 2011, the last time he spoke publicly about the issue. In some respects, his position is refreshingly distinct from those of his probable rivals in 2016. Many of the GOP contenders—for example, Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, and Marco Rubio—sit somewhere on the spectrum of climate change denial. But at the same time, Christie’s track record in New Jersey suggests that as president, he’d be unlikely to actually do much to confront global warming, even if he thinks it’s happening. As Climate Progress put it:

As governor, Christie withdrew New Jersey from the nine-state Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a cap-and-trade program aimed at reducing emissions, in 2011. Last year, Christie called RGGI “a completely useless plan” and said that he “would not think of rejoining it.” Christie even vetoed an attempt by the New Jersey state legislature to rejoin RGGI…New Jersey also doesn’t have a statewide climate change plan—the state is the only one on the eastern seaboard to not have one in place or be in the process of developing one, according to the Georgetown Climate Center.

Christie’s logic—that even if climate change is real, there’s nothing we can do to stop it—is out of step with mainstream science. And it ignores the growing international political momentum around climate action, which Obama has sought to lead. Moreover, if Christie thinks that kind of rhetoric is going to help him score points with Republican voters in the wake of the federal indictments handed down last week in the Bridgegate scandal, he has a long way to go: The latest polling puts Christie behind all of his serious opponents for the nomination.

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This Likely GOP Presidential Candidate Actually Believes in Global Warming

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Top Chris Christie Crony Pleads Guilty for Role in Bridge Scandal, Two Others Indicted

by AidaWithrow Posted on May 1, 2015

Mother Jones

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On Friday, federal prosecutors indicted two top aides of GOP Gov. Chris Christie for their roles in orchestrating a massive traffic jam as political payback against a New Jersey mayor. Bridget Ann Kelly, a former deputy chief of staff in Christie’s office, and Bill Baroni, the former deputy executive director of the Port Authority, have been charged with several counts each of conspiracy to commit fraud.

The indictments came just hours after another close Christie ally, former Port Authority official David Wildstein, pled guilty to federal charges for ordering the lane closures that caused three days of gridlock in the town of Fort Lee. The news is grim for Christie, who is preparing to make a bid for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination.

Wildstein’s plea and the looming indictments are a result of a 16-month federal investigation into the George Washington Bridge scandal. In September 2013, Port Authority officials shut down several access lanes in the town of Fort Lee, New Jersey, setting off a mammoth traffic jam that lasted for days. Christie’s office denied involvement. But the following January, a judge released texts and emails suggesting that Christie’s inner circle masterminded the traffic debacle as political payback against Fort Lee’s Democratic mayor. The mayor, Mark Sokolich, had refused to endorse Christie for reelection earlier that year.

Wildstein has admitted to ordering the lane closures that led to the traffic jam. The Port Authority official, who went to high school with Christie, was described as the governor’s “eyes and ears” inside the agency. But after the bridge scandal burst into public view, Christie sought to distance himself from Wildstein. Wildstein resigned his Port Authority position in December.

The messages released in January revealed that Kelly and Baroni had also helped order the lane closures. The day of the traffic jam, Kelly wrote to Wildstein: “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee.” “Got it,” Wildstein replied.

Christie has repeatedly denied having any prior knowledge of the lane closures. On Friday, Wildstein’s lawyer said that “evidence exists” which proves that Christie knew about the lane closures.

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Top Chris Christie Crony Pleads Guilty for Role in Bridge Scandal, Two Others Indicted

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Chris Christie Is Now Waging 23 Court Battles to Keep State Documents Secret

by TammaraGrinder Posted on February 4, 2015

Mother Jones

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On his first day as governor of New Jersey, Republican Chris Christie promised “a new era of accountability and transparency.” But five years later, local reporters and watchdog groups accuse Christie’s administration of making unprecedented efforts to keep public records a secret.

Stonewalled my the Christie administration, media outlets have been forced to sue to obtain even routinely disclosed information, such as payroll data. Rather than release documents connected to the George Washington Bridge scandal, pay-to-play allegations, possible ethics violations, and the out-of-state jaunts Christie has made while weighing a run for president, Christie’s office and several state agencies have waged costly court battles. As the 2016 presidential primary race draws closer, and Christie considers jumping in, his administration is fighting 23 different open records requests in court.

“The track record is abysmal,” says Jennifer Borg, general counsel for the North Jersey Media Group. Her organization, which publishes The Record, has sued the state for public documents a half-dozen times since Christie took office. When a judge determines that the state withheld records illegally—which happens frequently—her group wins legal fees. As of September 2014, Christie’s administration had paid $441,000 to North Jersey Media Group and other media outlets for records. And that doesn’t count the cost of government lawyers’ time.

The fight has become so expensive for the state because when newspapers go to court for these records, they usually win. But winning doesn’t automatically produce the sought-after records. “We can and do beat them in court. But as long as they’re appealing—I don’t want to call it a Pyrrhic victory, but we’re not going to get the records,” says Walter Luers, an attorney who helped a transparency project run by the state Libertarian Party sue for public access for Christie’s travel expenses. “Appeals take two to three years. We’re already into the presidential elections. By the time we get these records, Christie could have a new address.”

Christie’s reluctance to let these records go is understandable. On Tuesday, for example, The New York Times published an investigation of ritzy trips, underwritten by megadonors and foreign leaders, the governor has taken abroad. Some of those accounts were based on public documents that local newspapers obtained through lawsuits.

Below is a roundup of the Christie administration’s most closely-guarded secrets.

Out-of-state travel. Christie has traveled around the country to raise money for the GOP and to test the waters for a 2016 presidential run. But no one knows whether it’s influential donors or taxpayers who are footing the bill for Christie’s travels. Last year, New Jersey Watchdog, a conservative news site, demanded to know who picked up the tab for more than 60 unofficial trips Christie took out of state beginning in 2012. Christie’s office denied its request, and a judge tossed Watchdog‘s resulting lawsuit in July for being too broad.

In a separate request, New Jersey Watchdog asked for records detailing Christie’s out-of-state air travel expenses. That request also went to court, and the judge ordered the governor’s office to release some travel documents. The records showed the state reimbursing an unknown third party thousands of dollars for Christie’s trip to the 2013 Super Bowl in New Orleans.

Taxpayer-fueled fundraising. Because Christie’s travel is connected to his fundraising work as the Republican Governors Association chair, the RGA probably paid for many of his trips. But The Record, one of Jersey’s largest newspapers, and WNYC, a radio station, requested documents indicating whether taxpayers shouldered any of Christie’s travel costs—such as overtime for the security detail that always accompanies the governor—while he raised cash for the GOP.

Christie’s office sent WNYC “a document so heavily redacted as to be all but meaningless,” says Laura Walker, the president of New York Public Radio, which owns WNYC. The outlet is suing for unredacted files. The Record also went to court for the documents, and the state and the newspaper are trying to reach a settlement.

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Chris Christie Is Now Waging 23 Court Battles to Keep State Documents Secret

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