Christie is ‘tired of hearing about the minimum wage’

Poor Chris Christie. The embattled Republican governor realizes there are millions of Americans struggling to get by, working for a minimum wage that hasn’t budged in far too long, and he’s tired – not of so many working for so little, but rather, or hearing about these workers’ plight.

In a speech to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce this week, the New Jersey governor told the business lobby:

“I gotta tell you the truth: I’m tired of hearing about the minimum wage. I really am. 

“I don’t think there’s a mother or father sitting around a kitchen table in America tonight who are saying, ‘You know, honey, if our son or daughter could just make a higher minimum wage, my God, all of our dreams would be realized.’”

I see. Some leaders get tired of seeing people struggle. Other leaders get tired of hearing about those who are struggling, and just wish the complaints would go away. In Chris Christie’s world, the purchasing power of $7.25 an hour may continue to drop, and millions of hard-working Americans are effectively working for poverty wages, but he just wishes they’d stop bothering him.

For context, it’s probably worth noting that the governor of New Jersey makes $175,000 a year – the fourth highest salary of any state chief executive in the nation.

Also note the part of his comments related to children: as if the minimum wage is primarily for young people.

Whether Christie is tired of hearing the truth or not, the fact remains that the vast majority of Americans who work for the minimum wage are over the age of 20. About half of them work full time.

It’s not about creating economic conditions in which “all of their dreams would be realized”; it’s about creating economic opportunities for those who are struggling to keep their heads above water and combatting systemic poverty.

Of course, there’s a reason this might be a sensitive subject for the Garden State governor.

Christie vetoed a bill in 2013 that raised the state’s minimum wage to $8.50 an hour, which was “too much, too soon,” in his words. The federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. New Jersey voters later approved a ballot initiative raising the state’s minimum wage to $8.25 an hour. That rate took effect in January.

No wonder Christie is tired of hearing about this: he’s on the wrong side and being reminded of this is apparently annoying.

But if the governor finds it irritating to hear about Americans working for poverty wages, he should perhaps try to imagine how irritating it is for those who actually get paid $7.25 an hour.

Chris Christie: Gay Marriage Should Not Be 'Imposed' From the Supreme Court

Saying that each state "should have the ability to decide on their own," New Jersey governor and likely 2016 GOP presidential candidate Chris Christie said earlier today that the issue of gay marriage should not be 'imposed' from the Supreme Court.

NJ.com reports:

However, Christie said gay marriage shouldn’t be decided by the nation’s high court. 

“I do not believe that this is something that should be imposed from the United States Supreme Court down to the states,” he said.

Christie, who has always been opposed to same-sex marriage, added that he's enforced his own state's high cout ruling last year permitting gay marriage "vigorously" and "made sure that it was enforced fairly and directly in this state."

Back in July, Christie reiterated his belief that Republicans shouldn't give up their opposition to gay marriage just yet.

Perhaps once 2016 comes around though?

Christie is FINISHED: Former Campaign Manager Says Christie Knew About Bridgegate!

Governor Chris Christie’s fall from grace continued yesterday, even as he announced his Presidential ambitions.

While speaking to the Fiscal Summit, Christie addressed the Bridgegate scandal that has plagued him in recent months.  Referring to the 2016 election, Christie said, “I think this will be a footnote by the time any of these decisions are made.”

Unfortunately for Christie, the scandal may get worse before it gets better.  According to Bill Stepien, Christie’s former campaign manager who lost his job when the scandal broke, the Governor was fully aware of the plan to shut down lanes on the George Washington Bridge.

Stepien said, “[H]e told Christie about the GWB traffic plans on Dec. 12, a day before the governor told reporters his staff didn’t know about them. Christie issued a public apology on Jan. 9, claiming he was lied to by members of his staff on the controversy. Stepien’s lawyer, Kevin Marino, blasted an internal investigation the governor ordered that concluded Stepien had misled Christie about the politically motivated September closures.”

Donors are also viewing Christie as a cancer to the Republican  Party.  At the same time Governor Christie was speaking to the Fiscal Summit:

[H]is Wall Street donors were pronouncing him dead, and shopping for another candidate. According to the AP, “Shortly after Christie discussed his White House ambitions in Washington on Wednesday, Republican donors gathered for a hedge fund conference in Las Vegas shared a decidedly pessimistic view of Christie’s presidential prospects. Even self-proclaimed Christie fans said his political brand probably has suffered permanent damage, acknowledging they’ve been forced to look elsewhere for a business-friendly presidential contender.”

Just after Hurricane Sandy, Christie came across as a reasonable Republican.  He appeared to be somebody who could work across party lines, while placing blame at his own party when necessary.  Then, Christie’s brashness was fully revealed when political retribution scandals started to break.  The image he worked so hard to create post-Sandy had been destroyed.  Christie needs to come to terms with what everybody else has realized—his political career is over.

REVEALED: Christie officials put pension cash into fund that backed donor’s companies

This past weekend, Pando has been reporting on the rapidly growing scandal over New Jersey handing millions of dollars of public pension money to VC firm General Catalyst after a partner in the firm, Charles Baker, made a sizable donation to governor Chris Christie’s state party. The story, which involves state and federal pay-to-play rules, is made all the more explosive by the fact that Baker is currently a Republican candidate for governor of Massachusetts.

Today, however, comes potentially the most interesting twist yet. Pando has discovered evidence appearing to show that the specific General Catalyst investment fund into which the Christie administration moved public money later became a key investor in a pair of companies at which Baker himself sits on the board.

In other words, we already knew that Baker donated money to Chris Christie, after which New Jersey moved millions of dollars in public money to a VC firm for which Baker serves as a partner. Now we know that the specific fund which received the NJ pension investment later made an investment in companies on whose board Baker serves. (See below for timeline.)

Read more

JOY BEHAR ROASTS CHRIS CHRISTIE - 'YOU'RE TOAST'

Video has emerged of the April 1 roast of former New Jersey Governor Brendan Byrne attended by Chris Christie, in which many of the speakers uncomfortably rattled the governor over the Bridgegate scandal. Among them was Joy Behar, who stuck the knives in.

New Yorker writer Ryan Lizza described the roast:

Joy Behar, the former co-host of “The View,” was even more pointed. “When I first heard that he was accused of blocking off three lanes on the bridge, I said, ‘What the hell is he doing, standing in the middle of the bridge?” After another barb, Christie interrupted her. “This is a Byrne roast,” he said. He stood up and tried to grab her notes. The audience laughed awkwardly. “Stop bullying me,” Behar said as he sat down. Christie said something out of earshot and Behar responded, “Why don’t you get up here at the microphone instead of being such a coward?” Christie stood up again and moved in front of the lectern as Behar retreated.  “At least I don’t get paid for this,” he said.

Christie sat down and Behar continued, though she was noticeably rattled. “I really don’t know about the Presidency,” she said. “Let me put it to you this way, in a way that you’d appreciate: You’re toast.”

Finally Someone Admits GOP is a Bunch of Koch Whores

In a rare moment of honesty, Chris Christie spoke the truth about what the Republican Party stands for at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) today. Christie told the  audience Republicans need to have a positive message as he proclaimed:

We have to start talking about what we’re for and not continuing to rail against what we’re against is because of one simple reason, our ideas are better than their ideas.

And according to Chris Christie, what are Republicans for? They are for the Koch brothers. Christie blasted Democrats and defended the Koch brothers by stating:

What they’re for in Washington, D.C. is to have the leader of the Senate Democrats stand up and rail against two American entrepreneurs (the Koch brothers) who have built a business, created jobs and created wealth…Harry Reid should get back to work and stop picking on great Americans.

Chris Christie has a message for Democrats. Stop picking on the Koch Brothers. Yes, the heroic Governor of New Jersey has come to the rescue of the most vulnerable Americans, Charles and David Koch. The beleaguered billionaires need the government to stand up for them against these bullying attacks from the commoners and from that mean Harry Reid. So without a second thought, Chris Christie voiced in his own words what Democrats have been saying for quite some time. The Republican Party is now little more than an entire political party devoted to making the lives of Charles and David Koch better while giving the rest of the nation the shaft.

Chris Christie’s simple straightforward admission of the Republican Party’s priorities should serve as a reminder to the rest of America who the conservative movement represents. No matter how well they wrap their policies in populist or patriotic rhetoric the Republican Party has decided that its job is to fight for the Koch brothers and protect them from the rest of the American people. Chris Christie said so much at CPAC. We appreciate the Governor of New Jersey’s  brief but heartfelt moment of candor. Now we have his words on record.

Chris Christie is FINISHED: Gave Pieces Of 9/11 Wreckage As Gifts To Political Cronies!

Pssst…GOP. You want to know why you’re failing, and everyone with an ounce of moral integrity hates you? Because here’s something nobody’s ever heard anyone say before. “Sources report that Bernie Sanders gave away twisted chunks of 9/11 wreckage as gifts to political supporters.” You know what else nobody’s ever heard? “Hillary Clinton caught sending $25 million worth of hurricane disaster relief funds to political allies in areas undamaged by hurricane.”

And yet, in yet another sick turn of scandal in a scandal-plagued year, both of those things can be said about one man: Tea Party darling Chris Christie.

Yes indeed, the New York Times just reported on yet another Christie scandal, this one with a truly sickening twist. As head of the Port Authority, Christie had access to pieces of wreckage from the 9/11 attacks on New York. Prior to his 2013 re-election, Christie disbursed pieces of the wreckage to certain New Jersey mayors who topped his list of must-have endorsements in the state.

Those mayors lower on Christie’s must-have list got consolation prizes in the form of private tours of the National Sept. 11th memorial and the new WTC construction site; those less inclined toward morbid interests simply got Port authority money for jobs programs and new firefighting equipment…even in towns nowhere near any port. And that isn’t the first time Christie’s gotten his pound of fat from the deaths of 3,000 New Yorkers: When New York got more than a bit up in arms when Christie ‘s top appointee Bill Baroni (who has since resigned in the wake of BridgeGate) said:

 

“For the Port Authority, the World Trade Center wasn’t just a building that we built. It was our home. Its rebuilding is a passion to the Port Authority, and it’s a passion to our governor and lieutenant governor.”

Baroni and Christie later managed to wrangle that passion for rebuilding the Port Authority’s home into more than $1 billion in rebuilding funds from the government. Not to rebuild the towers, mind you…but to raise the road-bed of the Bayonne Bridge and rebuild the Pulaski Skyway. Not that Christie hadn’t already had some practice diverting funds earmarked for disaster relief and rebuilding — e.g. the disbursement of Sandy funds to political allies. And you can bet that was a contributing factor to his slow death at the polls — for the first time, Christie’s disapproval ratings (at 41 percent) are higher than his job approval ratings. Turn out that those who play with fire get caught in their own burning buildings.

Is there anything at this point about Tea Party Christie that HASN’T earned the adjective “morbidly” yet?

NJ’s Largest Newspaper Calls For Christie To Resign Or Be Impeached

The editorial board of the Newark Star-Ledger, New Jersey’s largest newspaper, is calling on Governor Chris Christie to resign or be impeached if allegations made on Friday are true. The allegations were made by an old friend of the governor’s, David Wildstein. Weinstein works for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

Wildstein claimed, through his lawyer, that he has proof that Christie knew about the closure of lanes on the George Washington Bridge when it was happening. If true, the evidence would directly contradict two hours of public denials Christie made on January 13th. A statement from his press conference on that date is quoted in the editorial:

I had no knowledge of this — of the planning, the execution or anything about it… I first found out about it after it was over.

The Christie administration is ‘dangerously out of control’.

The editorial board said that, if the charges are true, the governor must resign or be impeached:

Because that would leave him so drained of credibility that he could not possibly govern effectively. He would owe it to the people of New Jersey to stop the bleeding and quit. And if he should refuse, then the Legislature should open impeachment hearings. By the governor’s own standard, lying is a firing offense.

And fire Christie did, as he sought to assign blame. Specifically, his deputy chief of staff, Bridget Kelley, was given the axe. At the time, he said that there was no excuse for “lying to a governor” in her handling of the scandal. The Star-Ledger, of course, raises the question of what excuse can there be for a governor to lie to the citizens of an entire state? The editorial cites the bridge scandal, even before the latest revelations, as evidence that the Christie administration is “dangerously” out of control. However, “if the governor himself was involved, this moves to a new level.”

The editors already called on Gov to quit Republican Governors Association.

It’s been less than a week since the paper called on Christie to step down as head of the Republican Governors Association. Their reasoning was that he promised in his inaugural address to put all his energy into making New Jersey “all it could be”. That promise was almost immediately followed by his entanglement in two major investigations. The first is Bridgegate. The second stems from charges by the mayor of Hoboken. She claimed that her city was denied a fair share of Hurricane Sandy relief funds, as an act of political revenge.

When Christie was running for re-election last fall, the Star-Ledger gave him a tepid endorsement. Their support was given in spite of what the editors called his “measurable failures” and the conclusion that “he is much better at politics than he is at governing.” They reasoned that his opponent, Democratic state Sen. Barbara Buono, was even more “deeply flawed”. Their main objection seemed to be that Buono defended teachers’ unions and chose to uphold traditional schools over charters. In what might be seen as an unfortunate choice of words, the paper described Buono as lacking “the strategic savvy to be a successful governor.”

The editors apparently have buyer’s remorse over their “savvy” governor. They not only didn’t get the ‘successful’ official they were hoping for, but are anticipating a dismal future for the state if Christie tries to hold onto his job:

Wildstein’s statement means that others who have been implicated in this scandal will probably come forward now as well, hoping to strike deals with prosecutors before their testimony becomes redundant. And all this will happen as the administration answers dozens of subpoenas, and grapples with both criminal and legislative investigations.

Both his governorship and presidential aspirations may be gone.

They can’t see how the governor can function under these circumstances. The editorial ends by repeating that, if the allegations are true, “the governor must go”. Hopefully, the citizens of New Jersey and its legislature see the situation the same way. The nation, however, can be thankful that it has dodged a bullet. It looks increasingly impossible that the governor will be the GOP’s nominee for president in 2016 — or, hopefully, ever.

Christie Asks for Public’s Patience While He Comes Up with New Story

Responding to fresh charges that he knew about the controversial lane closures on the George Washington Bridge last fall, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie today asked for the public’s patience while he makes up a new story. 

“Today you have heard some allegations that are shocking and explosive,” he told reporters at a hastily called press conference. “All I ask is that the people of the great state of New Jersey give me sufficient time to invent a new story that explains my way out of this.” 

Governor Christie said that he had spent the past few hours in closed-door meetings trying to come up with a new narrative that absolves him of any guilt in the bridge scandal, but while he was definitely denying the allegations, “so far, we don’t have a winner.” 

“We’ve been tossing around everything from my not remembering events correctly to my having a bad reaction to medication,” he said. “We even floated the idea of my being under too much pressure and having to ‘blow off steam.’ As I said, we don’t have a winner yet. But I want to reassure the people of New Jersey that I am working very hard on this.” 

The Governor said he understood that “things don’t look very good for me right now,” but he urged the public against rushing to judgment, adding, “I will get back to you with a well-crafted and plausible story as soon as possible.”

The Time Chris Christie Shut Down a Public Television Station That Did a Tough Story on Him

There’s a fair amount of Schadenfreude this week among the New Jersey press corps, as they wait for the other shoe to drop in Chris Christie’s Bridgegate scandal and wonder if it’s Michael Drewniak, Christie’s press secretary and his “id,” as one official calls him. Drewniak is on the hot seat after it emerged last week that he got dinner with former Port Authority official and Christie friend David Wildstein two days before Wildstein resigned. “If Drewniak can’t explain what he did at dinner with David, he’s going to be gone, because the press corps in New Jersey hates him with a passion,” says a Democratic strategist. “If you put him on the train to D.C. this week and turned the lights off it would be like Murder on the Orient Express — he’d have 50 slashes in him. You can only be a jackass for so long before everyone wants to knife you.”

As a reporter, it’s hard not to feel your stomach turn while sifting through the documents released from Governor Chris Christie’s office last week, as Drewniak brushes off reporters’ inquiries about the closures (“Fuck him and the S-L [Star Ledger],” he wrote, and then called a reporter “a fucking mutt”). Christie's office wasn't always this way: When he was nominated to be U.S. Attorney by George W. Bush in 2001, remaining in the job until he became governor, he was adept at befriending reporters.

Bruce Springsteen and Jimmy Fallon Rip Chris Christie in 'Born to Run' BridgeGate Spoof

Bruce Springsteen joined Jimmy Fallon this week to mercilessly mock Chris Christie in a "Born to Run" spoof about BridgeGate, made more painful for Christie as he's a huge Springsteen fan.

"I gotta take a leak!"

NJ Governor Chris Christie Vetoes Transgender Rights Bill

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie today vetoed a bill that would have allowed trans people to change the name on their birth certificate without undergoing gender reassignment surgery, Think Progress reports. 

 

Wrote Christie in his veto statement:

A birth certificate is an important legal document. In many instances, the production of a birth certificate is a prerequisite to obtaining other critical identification documents that factor into decisions concerning employment, financial services, education, and travel. Birth certificates are often required to complete myriad security-related tasks. Accordingly, proposed measures that revise the standards for the issuance of amended birth certificates may result in significant legal uncertainties and create opportunities for fraud, deception, and abuse, and should therefore be closely scrutinized and sparingly approved.

Stories Add Up as Bully Image Trails Christie

In 2010, John F. McKeon, a New Jersey assemblyman, made what he thought was a mild comment on a radio program: Some of the public employees that Gov. Chris Christie was then vilifying had been some of the governor’s biggest supporters.
He was surprised to receive a handwritten note from Mr. Christie, telling him that he had heard the comments, and that he didn’t like them.
“I thought it was a joke,” Mr. McKeon recalled. “What governor would take the time to write a personal note over a relatively innocuous comment?”
But the gesture would come to seem genteel compared with the fate suffered by others in disagreements with Mr. Christie: a former governor who was stripped of police security at public events; a Rutgers professor who lost state financing for cherished programs; a state senator whose candidate for a judgeship suddenly stalled; another senator who was disinvited from an event with the governor in his own district.
In almost every case, Mr. Christie waved off any suggestion that he had meted out retribution. But to many, the incidents have left that impression, and it has been just as powerful in scaring off others who might dare to cross him.
Now, the governor is dogged by another accusation of petty political revenge. Two close political allies ordered the abrupt shutdown of two local access lanes on the George Washington Bridge in September, gridlocking Fort Lee, N.J., for four days. The borough’s mayor said it was punitive because he had declined to endorse the governor’s re-election.
The governor mocked the suggestion as preposterous. But Democrats in New Jersey — and privately, some Republicans too — say it would hardly be out of character for Mr. Christie. As the governor prepares to run for president, the accusation has reinforced his reputation as a bully.
“Every organization takes its cues from the leadership as to what’s acceptable and what’s not, and this governor, in his public appearances, has made thuggery acceptable,” said Assemblyman John S. Wisniewski, the Democrat leading the hearings that have exposed the role of the governor’s aides in the lane closings. “For the governor to say, ‘I knew nothing about this’? He created the atmosphere in which this is acceptable.”
It was the governor’s penchant for confrontation that first propelled him onto the national stage in 2010. As he pushed to cut public employee benefits, his staff celebrated video clips of him dressing down teachers at town hall-style meetings by posting them on YouTube. (“You want to come up here? Come up here,” the governor said to one teacher, a fellow Republican, who hesitated until the governor’s security state troopers gave him no choice. Wagging a finger, Mr. Christie lectured the man, then dismissed him from the hall.)
But his confrontations are not always that public.
In 2011, Mr. Christie held a news conference where he accused State Senator Richard J. Codey of being “combative and difficult” in blocking two nominees. Mr. Codey, a Democrat who had served as governor following the resignation of James E. McGreevey, responded that he had not only signed off on the nominations, but had held a meeting to try to hurry them along.
Three days later, Mr. Codey was walking out of an event in Newark when he got a call from the state police superintendent informing him that he would no longer be afforded the trooper who accompanied him to occasional public events — a courtesy granted all former governors. That same day, his cousin, who had been appointed by Mr. McGreevey to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, was fired, as was a close friend and former deputy chief of staff who was then working in the state Office of Consumer Affairs.
“I understand politics, that a new administration comes in,” Mr. Codey said, but he believed this was not about Mr. Christie bringing in his own people. “This was all about sending a message.”
The governor laughed at the allegation of retribution, and his spokesman belittled the Democratic Party chairman who complained about it.
Later that year, the governor was pressing hard on Alan Rosenthal, the Rutgers political scientist whom Republicans and Democrats had chosen as the tiebreaking member of the commission that was redistricting the state’s legislative districts. Mr. Christie wanted Mr. Rosenthal to vote for the map put forward by the Republicans on the commission, but instead he chose the Democrats’ plan, saying it offered more stability.
Soon after, Mr. Christie used his line-item veto to cut $169,000 for two programs at Mr. Rosenthal’s institute at Rutgers.
The apparent payback is not always directed at Democrats — Mr. Christie can be just as hard on Republicans in an attempt to enforce party discipline.
In 2010, when a blizzard paralyzed the state, State Senator Sean T. Kean, a Republican, told a reporter that the “one mistake” the Senate president and governor had made was not calling earlier for a state of emergency, which might have kept more cars off the roads.
Mr. Christie was smarting from criticism that he had remained at Disney World during the storm. When he returned, he held his first news conference in Mr. Kean’s home district. Shortly before, a member of the governor’s staff called Mr. Kean and warned him not to show up. His seat was eliminated in redistricting the following year.
Mr. Kean, now in the Assembly, declined to comment. At the time, an anonymous administration official told The Star-Ledger that Mr. Kean got what he deserved.
Last year, another Republican, State Senator Christopher Bateman, voted against the governor’s plan to reorganize the state’s public medical education system. Mr. Bateman had been working with the governor to get a judge appointed in his home county. Suddenly, after months when it looked as if it would happen, the nomination stalled.
Mr. Bateman, too, declined to comment. But last month, when it came time for Republicans to elect a new leader in the State Senate, he first expressed support for the current leader; then, when Mr. Christie supported someone else, he voted for the governor’s candidate.
(Indicating the governor’s ability to use favor as well as fear, all the Republicans who voted for his preferred candidate, who lost, were rewarded with tickets to the governor’s box at a recent New York Giants game. “I felt kind of cheap,” one said, but added, “to say no is an insult.”)
The governor’s close lieutenants often deliver the message. Bill Baroni, one of the two appointees now accused of exacting revenge with the bridge lanes, once called Bill Lavin, an officer with a state firefighters’ union, after hearing him on the radio.
Mr. Lavin had told the interviewer that the unions and the governor had been talking past one another, and needed to start talking to one another. He thought he was extending an olive branch to the governor.
Mr. Baroni, then a Republican state senator, called Mr. Lavin with a message from the governor, and then used an obscene phrase to describe what the governor thought he should do.
Mr. Baroni declined to confirm or deny the incident in The Star-Ledger; he did not respond to messages seeking comment.
“What he said a couple of times,” Mr. Lavin recalled, “was: ‘The governor told me to make sure you don’t get this message mixed up; say these exact words.’ ”

"YOU PEOPLE! JUST DO YOUR JOB!"

That's what Chris Christie shouted today while his wife smiled at New Jersey public school teacher, Melissa Tomlinson, who dared approach him at the Rutgers football game rally and ask the question, "Why do you portray New Jersey Public Schools as 'failure factories?'"

 

Dave Weigel of Slate snapped a picture of the incident and posted it to twitter (left).

Everyone knows Chris Christie loves to be rude and shout at people. Shouting at public school teachers is a 'thing' of his that he enjoys. 99% of the time the people he chews out are women.

The teacher who was bold enough to ask Christie this question admits she was shaking when he jabbed his finger in her face and shouted at her, but she's still proud of what she did. We're proud of her too.

It's a shame Christie will most likely be relected governor on Tuesday, which is probably why he felt it was no big deal to be photographed shouting at a single woman who dared to ask him a question. So nice to see what he really thinks of his constituents and how he treats them.

Another reason NOT to vote for him tomorrow!!

GOP Presidential Candidate Chris Christie: I Never Hugged Obama

It’s official. NJ Governor Chris Christie has begun his bid for the GOP Presidential Nomination.

He is still blaming Congress for the 3-month delay last year in receiving Sandy Aid. By the way, Christie (R-I hate big government spending until a natural disaster hits my state) you are welcome for the $50 billion package. Sorry you couldn’t get it sooner, but as you pointed out at the time, your party was the problem.

Also, Christie is insisting that he never hugged President Obama. The Governor is saying it was merely a handshake. Disregard any picture with the two men hugging.

Most famously, the two are side-by-side, arms behind the other’s back. It’s a hug two politicians would do if both wanted their faces in the picture.

Tough times for Christie. He and Bruce Springsteen are no longer buddies. Same sex marriage is now legal in his state. Sell that in the GOP debates big guy.

It is remarkable how many people disregard the rudimentary technology of cameras and recording equipment.

Christie gushed like a schoolgirl about Obama in the immediate aftermath of Sandy. The President took the Governor’s calls at all hours. He was thrilled that Obama came immediately after the storm subsided to survey the damage.

Governor, Ted Cruz is already looking to represent the GOP in 2016.

Good luck with your denials but even Tea Party folks can find pictures of you online- hugging the President.

As for your insistence it was only a handshake, explain to the crazy wing of your party why you even touched him.

NJ Governor Chris Christie Makes Final Case To Delay Implementation Of Same-Sex Marriage Ruling

On September 27th, a New Jersey judge, Mary Jacobsen, ruled that same-sex marriage must be made legal now that the federal government recognizes it. Now, Chris Christie and his administration have made a last ditch effort to delay the legalization of marriage, which would go into effect on October 21st. Governor Christie, who believes that marriage should be put to the ballot and vetoed a marriage equality bill last year, filed with the state on Monday. 

 

The Associated Press reports:

In a filing Monday, the state says allowing gay couples to marry starting in two weeks would make it difficult for the state's top court to reverse course should it agree with the Christie administration's anti-gay marriage stand.

The administration wants implementation of the ruling by Judge Mary Jacobson in Trenton delayed while higher courts consider the appeal.

Gay rights advocates say no stay should be granted because couples are hurt by a delay. Monday's filing came in response to their opposition to the delay.

What do you think of Christie's argument? Does it hold water, or will Judge Jacobsen's ruling stand?

NJ Republican Who Voted Against Marriage Equality Now Vows to Override Christie Veto

Two weeks ago, two Republicans, Holly Schepisi and Declan O'Scanlon, and two Democrats, Wayne DeAngelo and Gabriela Mosquera, said they would be voting to override Chris Christie's 2012 veto of the marriage equality bill. 

Another Republican who voted against the marriage equality bill in 2012 now says he'll vote to override Christie's veto if the vote comes up, Politicker NJ reports:

Assemblyman Chris A. Brown said during a Wednesday evening legislative debate he would vote to override the Republican governor’s veto. Brown’s announcement marks the first time during the lead up to an override vote that a lawmaker who voted against the same-sex marriage bill last year publically announced they would change their vote. 

“This is a decision I came to on my own,” Brown said following the debate after telling Atlantic City residents civil rights shouldn’t be decided by a ballot referendum – as Christie has advocated. 

“I just believe when it comes to civil rights, I don’t believe it’s appropriate for the public to vote on it,” he said.

NJ Governor Chris Christie Says He'll Appeal Ruling Legalizing Gay Marriage

Hours after Judge Mary Jacobson said that New Jersey's constitution is being violated by a ban on same-sex marriage and ordered it to be lifted by October 21st, Governor Chris Christie's administration said it would appeal the ruling, the AP reports:

On Friday, Christie refused to take questions about the ruling, instead issuing a brief statement through a spokesman.

“Gov. Christie has always maintained that he would abide by the will of the voters on the issue of marriage equality and called for it to be on the ballot this Election Day,” said spokesman Michael Drewniak. “Since the Legislature refused to allow the people to decide expeditiously, we will let the Supreme Court make this constitutional determination.”

Christie vetoed a marriage equality bill passed by both houses of the legislature in February 2012. A legislative override of that veto has been gaining steam in recent weeks, with several prominent Republicans announcing that they would be on the side of equality.

Queen Elizabeth Rips Chris Christie on Gay Marriage

Moments after approving a new law legalizing gay marriage in England and Wales, Queen Elizabeth II of Britain unleashed a blistering attack on New Jersey Governor Chris Christie for “lacking the guts” to do the same.

The British monarch’s brutal evisceration of Gov. Christie stunned observers, who did not know that she was such a close follower of his gay marriage stance.

“I don’t like to badmouth people,” she said. “But I’m the head of a monarchy that began in the ninth century, and I’m apparently more modern than Chris Christie.”

After shocking observers with her opening salvo, she continued to tear Gov. Christie to shreds.

“Look, I know he has to appeal to the crazy right wingers in his party,” she added. “But the fact is, he’s not as forward-thinking as an eighty-seven-year-old lady who wears a crown on her head. It’s pathetic.” Asked if she had advice for Gov. Christie, the British monarch said, bluntly, “Just sign the damn bill, Chris.”

Responding to a reporter’s question about the upcoming royal birth, Elizabeth replied, “Tell you the truth? I’m just glad the kid’s not being born in New Jersey.”

NJ Senate Passes Bill Banning Gay Conversion Therapy, Sends It to Chris Christie

New Jersey's Senate voted 28-9 to approved a ban on gay conversion therapy for minors, giving it final legislative passage, and sending it to Governor Chris Christie for his signature, the Star-Ledger reports:

Gov. Chris Christie has publicly stated his opposition to conversion therapy, so supporters are hopeful he will sign it into law. Opponents say the bill violates the rights of parents to make decisions for their children.

"This practice is an abuse of the term therapy and it is abuse in no uncertain terms," said Troy Stevenson, executive director of Garden State Equality, a gay rights organization that lobbied for the bill's passage. "Any attempt to take an immutable and fundamental aspect of a person's character and change it to suit someone else's will is selfish and often soul destroying for the victim. The legislation passed today will save lives; it will protect our youth; and it is vital that the Governor sign the bill as soon as possible."