The True Nature Of Christie's Corruption...

[Laxman]

lies in the long term policy damage he is inflicting in pursuit of his personal political goals. I keep saying that the bridge is just the excuse to start turning over the rocks. Here's an interesting article that discusses the squandering of billions in Sandy recovery aid:

While the byzantine details of the George Washington Bridge lane closures capture the attention of the public and the media, the state faces issues that have the potential to negatively effect New Jersey residents for generations to come. The failure to adequately plan New Jersey’s recovery from Sandy and the inability to properly allocate the billions in recovery aid will be the real scandal. 16 months after Sandy, the state has managed to spend money on housing projects in Belleville and New Brunswick that were on the books before the storm and pay millions to outside, politically connected, contractors to help administer and distribute homeowner assistance. This includes a $10 million settlement to fired contractor HGI and $5 million more for a Christie family beach movie. Think about what that money alone could have done. There is no sign of a transparent coordinated plan that addresses the breadth of issues that the state is facing.

What New Jersey needs is a common sense approach to recovery that goes beyond the distribution of individual assistance that helps people rebuild homes damaged by Sandy’s flooding. An integrated and comprehensive plan that recognizes the threats of climate change and sea level rise in a densely populated coastal state should, at a minimum, provide the guiding principals for recovery. What it appears that we have gotten is a muddled and highly political system for distribution of Sandy money without a clear vision or discernible long-term goals. More disturbingly, it appears that aid may have been distributed (or not) based in part upon political considerations. There is nothing more corrupt than squandering the state’s long-term future in exchange for short-term political advantage.

you can read the full article here: http://enviropolitics.wordpress.com/2014/02/18/your-tax-dollars-at-work-or-not/ it's well worth 5 minutes of your time. It hits Christie kind of hard in a way that doesn't seem mean-spirited.

[Dread Pirate Roberts]

1. But the bridge is so much more exciting!

Its all just a big pattern of abuse and corruption. This is the crap that really hurts because it has real consequences for people's lives. Not that the bridge traffic didn't, its just that this is going to leave a mark.

[malaise]

4. Without the bridge none of this was going to be exposed

Give thanks for Bridgegate.

[Dread Pirate Roberts]

5. You've got that right!

without the bridge he would be happily working his way towards the republican nomination. Nobody would have looked into any of these other things and nobody would have had the guts to speak out against him Give thanks for Bridgegate is absolutely right!

[Laxman]

6. I Just Had A Very Interesting Discussion....

this evening with one of the FEMA folks who would like to remain anonymous. I was told that when they arrived in NJ they were instructed by the governor's office that they couldn't go into any towns without permission permission from that office and that they would only be working with "republican" towns on recovery. This person was leaning towards making these "instructions" public but fears for his/her job.

[Beach Rat]

2. The specter of ugly politics casts a shadow over all recovery efforts

Lived down to expectations. The stories of corruption are "ominously credible". Wow. That's good stuff!

There were many members of Congress who were reticent to allocate billions in aid to our state after Sandy. Fears that the money would be squandered stood in the way of what seemingly should have been an easy and non-partisan vote to help our region recover form the storm’s devastation. Sadly, it seems that we have lived down to those expectations. Because of the approach that New Jersey has taken, especially in stark contrast to the approach taken in New York, the specter of ugly politics casts a shadow over all recovery efforts. Money given to projects unrelated to Sandy but championed by a political ally? Sandy money contingent on support for a project put forward by a close adviser? Aid flowing to towns with mayors who supported the governor and denied to those who didn’t? These questions have all arisen. They would be easily answered and dismissed (and probably wouldn’t have come up in the first place) if the state had taken a different tact. Instead, they all seem ominously credible.

Sometimes I wish I lived in a different state. Sometimes this is a really interesting place to live.

[Laxman]

3. Be Honest...

there's no place you would rather live than NJ. Its in your blood.

[Laxman]

7. Just In Case....

there's someone out there who hasn't seen the $5 million Christie family at the beach movie here it is: (Warning: the song tends to make you bleed from the ears)