Christie for President

Christie never heard of the First Amendment. I guess they don't teach Constitutional Law at the New Jersey Third Tier Toilet School of Law (aka Seton Hall):

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/09/16/2010-09-16_christie_njtransit_right_to_can_koranburn_creep.html#ixzz0zk3qqAKB

Christie has been accused by critics of using his office's role in crafting deferred prosecution agreements to award lucrative federal monitoring positions in no-bid contracts to friends, supporters, and allies. Questions first arose after Christie awarded a multimillion dollar, no-bid contract to David Kelley, another former U.S. Attorney, who had investigated Christie's brother, Todd Christie, in a 2005 fraud case involving traders at the Wall Street firm, Spear, Leeds & Kellogg.[21] [22] Kelley had declined to prosecute Todd Christie, who had been ranked fourth in the investigation-initiating U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) complaint among twenty traders who earned the largest profits for their company at the expense of their customers. The top three were indicted, as were eleven other traders.

Christie was similarly criticized for his 2007 recommendation of the appointment of The Ashcroft Group, a consulting firm owned by Christie's former superior, the former United States Attorney General John Ashcroft, as a monitor in a court settlement against Zimmer Holdings, an Indiana medical supplies company. The no-bid contract was worth between $28 million and $52 million.[24][25] Christie defended the decision, saying that Ashcroft’s prominence and legal acumen made him a natural choice. Christie declined to intercede when Zimmer's company lawyers protested the Group’s plans to charge a rate of $1.5 million to $2.9 million per month for the monitoring.[20][26] Shortly after the House Judiciary Committee began holding hearings on the matter, the Justice Department re-wrote the rules regarding the appointment of court monitors.

Christie also faced criticism over the terms of a $311 million fraud settlement with Bristol-Myers Squibb. Christie’s office deferred criminal prosecution of the pharmaceutical company in a deal that required it to dedicate $5 million for a business ethics chair at Seton Hall University School of Law, Christie's alma mater. The U.S. Justice Department subsequently set guidelines forbidding such requirements as components of out-of-court corporate crime settlements.

Christie is also responsible for the most expesnive clerical error in history ($400 million to be exact):

N.J. Senate leaders say Gov. Chris Christie owes President Obama an apology over 'Race to the Top' gaffe

Last week, Gov. Chris Christie said President Obama should apologize to New Jersey residents for allowing a “clerical error” in its “Race to the Top” application to cost the state its chance at up to $400 million in federal education funds.

Today, following a series of revelations about the error and the subsequent blame game, the state Senate’s top two Democrats said the Republican governor now owes Obama an apology.

“The disparaging and partisan attack on our federal education officials that you engaged in during last week’s press conference was a shameful attempt to rationalize a careless error by your administration that cost New Jersey taxpayers $400 million in federal funding,” wrote Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester) and Senate Majority Leader Barbara Buono (D-Middlesex) in a letter to Christie.

“The blame that you foisted on the Obama administration was misdirected and your display completely at odds with the actions expected of a state leader,” they continued.

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/08/nj_senate_leaders_say_gov_chri.html

Same old pres- diversion attacks. Christie is just what NJ needs- someone who will stand up to the unions and special interests to benefit everyone.

The ones who don't like it are the ones who like free rides and handouts.

I was not a big fan of Christie but what he has done so far is pretty impressive. Need that same attitude to smack the NY transit union. If not the fare will be $5 each way for a smelly subway ride.

chris christie is the man!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Republicans need more people like him. Practical men who will take the necessary steps to get the fiscal house in order.

So go ahead, keep your heads in the sand. Christie is just a hypocrit who BOUGHT his gig as US Attorney by raising $300k for Bush's first presidential campaign.

We don't need anymore' bush like 'center left republicans Christie surprised me , but he's still part of the establishment ruling class. We need ron paul candidates to restore this country.

I agree with you President, If Christie keeps this up, New Jersey may actually solve it's fiscal issues and lower taxes. And town meetings, and communicating with residents of the state? The guy is a nut!
-------- --------------

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie will unveil legislation that aims to trim a $46 billion pension deficit by scaling back benefits and suspending cost-of-living increases, said a person familiar with details of the proposals.

The measures would roll back a 9 percent increase in pension benefits that was enacted through legislation in 2001, and suspend cost-of-living increases for at least three years, said the person, who declined to be identified because he isn’t authorized to speak ahead of Christie’s announcement next week.

Christie, 48, the first Republican elected New Jersey governor since 1997, began holding town-hall meetings this month to outline “The Christie Reform Agenda,” a plan to cut government spending, create jobs and overhaul ethics regulations. Christie skipped a scheduled $3 billion state pension payment this fiscal year, saying he wouldn’t put money into a “broken” system.

‘Headed Toward Disaster’

Legislators in 2001 changed the formula used to calculate pensions for new retirees by dividing the number of years worked by 55, rather than 60, which in effect resulted in a 9 percent benefit enhancement. Christie is seeking to reverse that legislation and return to at least 60 for current workers, the person said. Legislators previously rolled back the higher benefits for workers hired after May 22, according to state bond documents.

“Trenton politicians have consistently expanded pension benefits without paying for them,” Christie’s office said in statements outlining the governor’s Reform Agenda.

Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon, a Republican from Red Bank, said the rollback would save the state $300 million annually. O’Scanlon has previously sponsored a bill that would return benefits to the earlier level, starting in January 2011.

“If we don’t do this our pension system is going to fall apart,” he said today in a telephone interview. “We’re headed toward disaster if we don’t all come together and solve this.”

Funding Deficit

The funding deficit in New Jersey’s pension system climbed by more than a third to $46 billion last year, from $34 billion in June 2008, because of investment declines and a failure to make full contributions, according to annual financial reports. The system now pays out benefits to about 250,000 retirees, according to state bond documents.

The system was more than 100 percent funded in 1998, until the Legislature began reducing annual contributions. From 2000 to 2006, the state never exceeded 30 percent of the required contribution, and by 2008, the total funding level had fallen below 73 percent, according to a February report by the Pew Center on the States.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-09-10/christie-said-to-propose-new-jersey-pension-benefits-rollback-next-week.html

So your not at all concerned that Christie is violating the First Amendment rights of a tea partier?

What the hell do they teach these days at Seton Hall Law anyway?

the leader of the regime is on tv demonizing business again.

and you're here endlessly saying the same thing over and over and over and over.

The_President = Superintendent of West NY making close to $300k with a bottom ranked district YOY?..

it's for the kid$$$ riiighhht

i consider myself moderate left, and i really hope Christie hopes the Hudson one day to take care of the leeches here in NY

One can't be blind to the alliance/relationship Democrats have forged with unions, especially those that contract with government. It must dawn on electorate, that support in elections is being exchange for support during contract negotiations.

Christie made a salient remark when discussing Corzine's spending the entire $1,000,000,000 education money given to him by Obama in one year as opposed to spreading it out, and all during an election year.

And one can't be blind to the alliance/ relationship the Republicans have forged with corporations, epsecially those that contract with government.

Christie was so corrupt as US Attroeny in forcing defendants into defrerred orpsoecution agreements to donate moey to Seton Hall Law, the DOJ actually changed the rules to ban such practices due to Christie's abuse of them. Even the Conservative WSJ called Christie out for this.

All pres has are ad hominem attacks. Weak, as always. Notice that he can't say anything about Christie's statements in the video RS posted.

Keep sucking off the private sector pres, you seem to thrive on it.

LIC,
If you read between the lines, you'll find that Christie scares the hell out of Alpo

The Deferred Prosecution Racket

Corporations suffer a peculiar vulnerability. The rules of criminal
liability allow federal and state prosecutors to unduly punish those
corporations that fall within their crosshairs. But the recent
emergence of deferred prosecution agreements (DPAs) to force
major changes in corporate governance should give pause to even
the most ardent populist.
A DPA is a provisional settlement of a criminal lawsuit whereby the prosecutor agrees to suspend
-- but not to dismiss -- any prosecution in exchange for the corporation's promise to reform its
internal operations in specified ways. A sensible settlement can split the difference, by having a
defendant pay half the maximum fine or sentence. But with corporations they take on an entirely
different -- and sinister -- complexion.

Evidence of the gravity of the situation is only a mouse-click away. In one such notable
agreement, the U.S. attorney for New Jersey, Christopher J. Christie, put the screws to Bristol-
Myers Squibb, which got into hot water because of a potential securities violation for inflating its
quarterly earnings by a business practice known as channel stuffing. BMS told its distributors that
they had to take into inventory large amounts of BMS products immediately, with the
understanding that down the road they could return the excess for a refund. The alleged securities
violation arises from the overstated earnings quarterly reports, without indication of any expected
future write-offs.

The naïve reader might think that a DPA should prohibit the firm from engaging in future conduct
of the sort that got it into hot water in the first place. But Mr. Christie had larger ambitions. The
most striking evidence of the abuse of power is paragraph 20 of the agreement, which requires
BMS to "endow a chair at Seton Hall University School of Law," Mr. Christie's alma mater, for
teaching business ethics, a course that he himself could stand to take.

All these key provisions flunk the most elementary standards of business rationality -- if the object
of these DPAs is to restore the confidence of shareholders in the firm. How can any firm act
decisively with a government mole in its midst? What other firm would seek to acquire BMS,
knowing that they must thereby give Mr. Christie the keys to its boardroom? And what purpose do
shareholder funds serve, other than to impose random transfers among shareholders?

http://www.ilta.org/whatsnew/december2006/0612%20deferredprosecution.pdf

Wow The_President, you really picked an issue that resonates with the masses. Keep it up!

The_President = NJ Teacher Union Official making $550,000 of taxpayer dime??

it's for the kid$$$$

http://www.businessinsider.com/head-of-nj-teachers-union-got-paid-over-twice-as-much-as-the-governor-2010-9

pimp on playa ;)

Even the Star Ledger calls Giordano "over-paid". Wonder how this makes out of work New Jersey residents feel when they pay their sky-high property taxes. I'm sure Giordano has some special skills that are worth the half million in comp.

http://blog.nj.com/njv_tom_moran/2010/09/unions_putting_up_stiff_resist.html

but if you lower taxes union workers would have to lower their standard of living like every body else has in this recession. shouldn't unions be protected. I think the state should also buy a union menbers house at pre-crash levels. I'm sure unions would agree.

Maybe I wasn't watching Fox News, but I thought I saw that Christie's blunders already cost his state billions.

$400 million is a big sum, but only one person on streeteasy could equate that with "billions".

Was the race sponsored by Donald Trump and/or Mark Burnett? This is how the federal government wants kids to be educated? By contest?

Christie's error cost NJ $400 million.

Here is what happened: In the Race to the Top application, Christie included info for the wrong fiscal year. Christie then claimed in a press conference that the feds NEVER asked for the correct info. Christie was caught in a lie, however, because the US Dept. of Education released a video of NJ's Race to the Top presentation, in which they asked for the correct info not once, but TWICE. Yet NJ never provided the right info.

Pretty pathetic. Good thing that the guy responsible was fired, just like the idiot state employee who burned the Koran.

This does make you wonder about why federal rules are in a contest like some Mark Burnett reality show.

> Pretty pathetic. Good thing that the guy responsible was fired, just like the idiot state employee who burned the Koran.

exactly! the state of NJ is under severe financial stress. the koran burner is making NJ the favor of standing out as an obvious pain-less way to cut spending while improving services. what's not to like?

"the koran burner is making NJ the favor of standing out as an obvious pain-less way to cut spending while improving services."

How does firing the Koran burner save NJ money when any federal judge with half a brain will re-instate him with back pay?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_itVyZKmrM&feature=player_embedded

Retired Teacher Supports Christie

Joan, a retired teacher writes ...

Hello Mish

I'm a retired teacher, who remembers all too well the teachers who were completely incompetent in math skills. They may have been poor at reading too. I used to fancy an education methods course entitled: "How To Teach Without Knowing Nothing".

Schools of education at the college level were complicit in supporting this scandalous incompetence, at least according to what I experienced. Governor Christie hit the nail on the head, I believe.

Joan

http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2010/09/views-from-trenches-business-owner.html

Chris Christie is one of the only people in public service focused on cutting deficits and the union contracts that led to them. Until somebody takes on the lazy unions and their outrageous pensions, more and more cities and states and go further and further in debt and eventually the taxpayers will bail them out. I wish Christie were a little more liberal on social issues but I will vote for almost any candidate who realizes that spending by state and local governments are going to lead to a bigger bailout than the banks and autos combined.

oops, things are not looking so bright for Christie. Perhaps Christie should lay off the [INSERT NAME OF JUNK FOOD].

New Jersey's Chris Christie for president? Home-state voters say no.

But a poll released Tuesday finds that almost two-thirds of New Jersey voters would not vote for their tough-talking, budget-slashing governor for president, compared with just 25 percent who would. He doesn’t get many Garden State votes for vice president, either.

The issue that appears to be most damaging to Christie is his decision to change a historically liberal state Supreme Court. The resulting furor has damaged the reputation of the court, said former Democratic Gov. Brendan Byrne in a NJ.com interview on Monday. According to the Quinnipiac poll, residents say(45 percent versus 39 percent) that it's a bad idea to shift the political philosophy of the court. [Editor's note: The original version was modified to give the correct party affiliation of Mr. Byrne.]

“Is he trying to reform an aggressive and activist court, or is he interfering?” asks Carroll. “Overall, on the court thing, the voters are not on his side.”

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/The-Vote/2010/1221/New-Jersey-s-Chris-Christie-for-president-Home-state-voters-say-no

This guy is so fat. fat people are a disgrace

my mistake: food addicts deserve compassion.. like crakheads

He's like Guiliani now; more popular in Texas than in his home state or city. He's also not addressing the pension problem in Jersey. The state is in deep do do.

Too early to call whether Christie tackles the pension issue in N.J.

The article says Christie has a good approval rating in NJ. It says his approval rating is higher than that of the NJ Teachers Union.

You really think that NJ voters are so upset with him because of his views of political philosophy of the NJ courts???

I have not heard that Christie is unpopular in New Jersey. Where is this coming from a teacher's poll?

I love it, someone to finally admit some truth, and the Democrats freak out.

He's making some REALLY tough choices and the folks seem to support him.

> He's also not addressing the pension problem in Jersey.

He is absolutely trying. He spent much of his time on 60 minutes talking about it.

The polls, from Quinnipiac and Rutgers-Eagleton, show Christie's approval rating in New Jersey slipping a bit, with significant majorities skeptical that he'd make a good president or vice-president.

The Quinnipiac survey shows Christie with a 46 percent job approval rating, with 44 percent disapproving. That's down from his 51 percent approval rating last month.

And the most important poll:

For the first time in many months, Obama's approval rating has inched ahead of Christie's. The president's approval in New Jersey is now at 50 percent, up four points from last month -- and the first time he's gotten majority approval since June.

The Rutgers poll found 39 percent giving Christie positive ratings, with 54 percent rating him negatively. The 28 percent of voters who consider his job performance "poor" is the second-highest for any first-year governor in the history of the poll.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2010/12/chris_christies_pepsi_problem_1.html

"He is absolutely trying. He spent much of his time on 60 minutes talking about it."

Talking about problems is not the same as fixing them. Talk is cheap.

Gov. Christie's approval slips in New Jersey

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) enjoyed widespread popularity during his first year in office, but a poll released Tuesday shows that his approval rating is beginning to slip.

Voters in the Garden State split over Christie's performance, with 46 percent giving him a positive approval rating and 44 percent giving a negative rating. Forty-seven percent approve of his governing style opposed to 48 percent who disapprove, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll.

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/134605-gov-christies-approval-slips-in-new-jersey

Chris Christie Never Resolves to Lose Weight For the New Year

The New Jersey governor and GOP superstar says he never sticks to diet resolutions, just like the rest of us. He's tried about 35 times in his life, but only with "varying degrees of success." So, the year 2011 isn't big enough to get him to shed the pounds, and 2012 probably won't be either. But come 2014 now...

http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2010/12/chris_christie_never_resolves.html

And during the blizzard, Christie and his Lt. Gov both high tailed it out of town, so a Democrat is in charge of the state! I hope Chrisite is having fun in Disney World. I hope he does not run into any of those pesky teachers.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/12/27/931891/-Cory-Booker-and-Chris-Christie-deal-with-the-blizzard-in-New-Jersey

"I have not heard that Christie is unpopular in New Jersey."

Of course you haven't. They don't talk about such things on the right wing echo chamber.

> Talking about problems is not the same as fixing them.

Talking about is part of addressing, which is the original assertion. Which has now been shown incorrect.

And, wait, did a leftie just say approval rating has something to do with quality? And those midterm elections meant nothing for obama, right?

I see, double standard...

> Of course you haven't. They don't talk about such things on the right wing echo chamber.

Just like they don't talk about obama unpopularity and the democrat shellacking. in the left wing echo chamber.

"And those midterm elections meant nothing for obama, right?"

The midterm results were perfect for Obama. First, he kept the Senate (thank you Christine O'Donnell/ Sharron Angle) and now he can put all of the blame when things go wrong on the Republicans in the House.

I love it..... now Democrats *wanted* to lose the house.

Yeah, got it... suuuuuuuure.

The old pee wee herman defense.

Reagan and Clinton got crushed in the midterms and both won re-election by wide margins.

Reagan's policies caused economic growth and Clinton embraced Republican policies. Neither apply with Obama.

Obama will have a huge win in '12...

"Reagan's policies caused economic growth and Clinton embraced Republican policies."

Can you elaborate? What economic policies are you talking about? The Reagan tax increases?

Taxes: What people forget about Reagan

After Reagan's first year in office, the annual deficit was 2.6% of gross domestic product. But it hit a high of 6% in 1983, stayed in the 5% range for the next three years, and fell to 3.1% by 1988. (By comparison, this year it's projected to be 9% but is expected to drop considerably thereafter.)

So, despite his public opposition to higher taxes, Reagan ended up signing off on several measures intended to raise more revenue.

"Reagan was certainly a tax cutter legislatively, emotionally and ideologically. But for a variety of political reasons, it was hard for him to ignore the cost of his tax cuts," said tax historian Joseph Thorndike.

Two bills passed in 1982 and 1984 together "constituted the biggest tax increase ever enacted during peacetime," Thorndike said.

There were other notable tax increases under Reagan.

In 1983, for example, he signed off on Social Security reform legislation that, among other things, accelerated an increase in the payroll tax rate, required that higher-income beneficiaries pay income tax on part of their benefits, and required the self-employed to pay the full payroll tax rate, rather than just the portion normally paid by employees.

The tax reform of 1986, meanwhile, wasn't designed to increase federal tax revenue. But that didn't mean that no one's taxes went up. Because the reform bill eliminated or reduced many tax breaks and shelters, high-income tax filers who previously paid little ended up with bigger tax bills.

http://money.cnn.com/2010/09/08/news/economy/reagan_years_taxes/index.htm

"According to a recent Treasury Department study, TEFRA [ The Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982] alone raised taxes by almost 1 percent of the gross domestic product, making it the largest peacetime tax increase in American history."

http://old.nationalreview.com/nrof_bartlett/bartlett200310290853.asp

And this comes from the National Review, not some liberal blog.

> What people forget about Reagan

What socialist is ignoring about reagan.

The Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981 decreased taxes far more than anything else raised them. Even if you want to give socialist his point on the 1% increase, it came after a 4% decrease!

socialist = zero credibility.

"The Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981 decreased taxes far more than anything else raised them."

Did you read the CNN article?

"All told, the tax increases Reagan approved ended up canceling out much of the reduction in tax revenue that resulted from his 1981 legislation."

Socialist, come on, Pretend you aren't related to a retired postal worker or retired air traffic controller.

Reagan was in office for 8 years and his VP as President for the next 4. After 12 years of policy and governance, you really want to say that the U.S. was in a worse position?

George H.W. Bush was one of the worst presidents we ever had. Another tax and spend Republican. "Read my lips..."

The U.S. was better in 1979 than in 1992?

The U.S. was better in the early 70s and 50s than it was in 92.

As long as you were white and male.

Can't really claim success if its standing on the backs of others, can you?

Socialist, just to be sure of your reference points, is the U.S. better today than in 92?

Yes, there is a spectrum. At the ends of the spectrum, the 20% getting food stamps probably want more benefits more taxes. And the other end of the spectrum, less benefits & less taxes. I'm just saying that polling the whole population to ask the one question isn't as insightful as if you did some segmentation.

it depends

The average compensation of a CEO in 1980 was about 40 times that of the average worker in his company. Today it is more than 500 times!

is that good??

In 1979 the American worker's average hourly wage was equal to $15.91 (adjusted for inflation in 2001 dollars). By 1989 it had reached only $16.63/hour. That's a gain of only 7 cents a year for the entire Reagan decade.

is that good??

When the Shah was overthrown in January 1979, the United States lost its chief ally and outpost in the Soviet-border region, as well as its military installations and electronic monitoring stations aimed at the Soviet Union. Washington’s cold warriors could only eye Afghanistan even more covetously than before.

too bad

The average compensation of a CEO in 1980 was about 40 times that of the average worker in his company. Today it is more than 500 times!
is that good??

It's not good, but I'm not sure it's bad. And it's driven by globalization, not just by U.S. domestic matters.

In 1979 the American worker's average hourly wage was equal to $15.91 (adjusted for inflation in 2001 dollars). By 1989 it had reached only $16.63/hour. That's a gain of only 7 cents a year for the entire Reagan decade.
is that good??

Yes, that annual 7c is, as you point out, OVER the rate of inflation.

When the Shah was overthrown in January 1979, the United States lost its chief ally and outpost in the Soviet-border region, as well as its military installations and electronic monitoring stations aimed at the Soviet Union. Washington’s cold warriors could only eye Afghanistan even more covetously than before.
too bad

And 10 years later the Berlin Wall fell.

Socialist, will you be voting for Barbara Buono?

Chris Christie is dropping the poundage. "luciellebluth" called it in her comment months ago, said he looked like he was losing weight.
Maybe the lap-band surgery is prep for running for President next election.
Socialist: will you be voting for Hillary? Obama pulled a fast one on the Clintons. He was all kissy-kissy with Hillary and tolerated Bill in return for some Clintonian-climbing. Now, he's backing away from the Clinton kissy-kissy for Hillary's run.
Read it in the paperback edition of Ed Klein's "The Amateur".
Ed could get audited by the IRS for this updated book.

http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2013/06/major_democratic_donors_flock.html

TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie is cashing in donations from top Democratic fundraisers and other traditionally liberal donors across the country, even nabbing the support of a handful of rainmakers aligned with President Obama and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, a Star-Ledger review of state and federal records shows.

The checks are flying into the Republican governor’s war chest from all sorts of unlikely places — the hedge fund run by liberal billionaire George Soros, for example, and the politically progressive halls of the University of California, Berkeley.

The nascent support from Democratic donors is an early sign of Christie’s fundraising prowess in a potential run for the White House in 2016, experts and Democratic donors said, and dovetails with recent polls showing him gaining popularity nationally among Democrats and independents.

Thanks, Riversider.
Christie will wipe the floor with Hillary during debates.

are you against abortion?

Truth, Hillary will be formidable.

It's a forgone conclusion that she's in it for 2016. Bill Secured Obama's support in exchange for his own in 08, and if you watched the Bengazi hearings, you heard just about every Democrat cheering Hillary on for a 2016 run.

That said, Christie is a breath of fresh air and does no mince words. What you see is what you get.

Until he's actually president.

And jockeying for reelection from day one.

columbiacounty
about 2 hours ago
Posts: 11907
Member since: Jan 2009
ignore this person
report abuse
are you against abortion?

are you an abortion?

>And jockeying for reelection from day one.

More fat jokes? Shame on you.

http://streeteasy.com/nyc/talk/discussion/35441-will-christie-appoint-a-dem-to-fill-senate-seat

Riversider: Hillary may be formidable but she's not going to be able to respond to questions during the debates with: "What difference, at this point in time does it make?"

The Benghazi hearings only proved to me that Hillary is not the one I want to answer that 3am phone call.
(Obama actually received the call much earlier in the day, did nothing and it appears that nobody attempted to call him again that day or night with an update. Certainly not at 3am.)

It does appear that the Dem tide is turning and Christie is getting support.

Hillary’s sorry state of affairs
Probes into her department’s sex scandals were quashed, memo says
By S.A. MILLER and GEOFF EARLE, Post Correspondents
Last Updated: 10:52 AM, June 11, 2013
Posted: 12:57 AM, June 11, 2013

WASHINGTON — A State Department whistleblower has accused high-ranking staff of a massive coverup — including keeping a lid on findings that members of then-Secretary Hillary Clinton’s security detail and the Belgian ambassador solicited prostitutes.

A chief investigator for the agency’s inspector general wrote a memo outlining eight cases that were derailed by senior officials, including one instance of interference by Clinton’s chief of staff, Cheryl Mills.

Any mention of the cases was removed from an IG report about problems within the Bureau of Diplomatic Security (DS), which provides protection and investigates crimes involving any State Department workers overseas.

“It’s a coverup,” declared Cary Schulman, a lawyer representing the whistleblower, former State Department IG senior investigator Aurelia Fedenisn.“The whole agency is impaired.

“Undue influence . . . is coming from political appointees. It’s coming from above the criminal- investigation unit,” added Schulman, whose client provided the document with the revelations.

Some of the revelations were first reported by CBS News.

Among the bombshell findings:

* A DS agent was called off a case against US Ambassador to Belgium Howard Gutman over claims that he solicited prostitutes, including minors.

“The agent began his investigation and had determined that the ambassador routinely ditched his protective security detail in order to solicit sexual favors from both prostitutes and minor children,” says the memo.

“The ambassador’s protective detail and the embassy’s surveillance detection team . . . were well aware of the behavior.”

Undersecretary of State for Management Patrick Kennedy ordered the investigation ceased, and the ambassador remains in place, according to the memo.

Gutman was a big Democratic donor before taking the post, having raised $500,000 for President Obama’s 2008 campaign and helping finance his inaugural.

* At least seven agents in Clinton’s security detail hired prostitutes while traveling with her in various countries, including Russia and Colombia.

Investigators called the use of prostitutes by Clinton’s security agents “endemic.”

The liaisons with prostitutes allegedly occurred in the same hotel where Clinton slept, according to sources familiar with the incident.

But the agents involved got little more than a wrist-slap. Three were removed from the security detail, given one-day suspensions and reassigned.

“No further investigations have occurred regarding the remaining four, despite the possibility of counterintelligence issues,” says the memo.

According to the memo, members of the Special Investigations Division (SID) approached the agent who was probing “and reportedly told him to shut down the four investigations.”

The incident in Colombia occurred prior to the scandal involving President Obama’s Secret Service detail in Cartagena, Colombia, but the State Department’s misconduct did not come to light until now.

The memo references a “rumor” that after the Secret Service hooker scandal broke, Clinton asked the agent-in-charge of her security detail whether any “similar activities” had happened. “The response was: ‘No,’ ” according to the memo.

* The case in which Clinton enforcer Mills allegedly intervened centered upon Brett McGurk, Obama’s nominee to be US ambassador to Iraq.

McGurk’s expected nomination fell apart after a computer hack exposed his racy e-mails and an extramarital affair with Wall Street Journal reporter Gina Chon.

According to the memo, the SID “never interviewed McGurk, allegedly because Cheryl Mills from the Secretary’s office interceded.”

“Without that interview, SID has been unable to close the case,” the memo concludes.

The memo cites an e-mail from Mills showing her agreeing to a course of action, “but then reneging and advising McGurk to withdraw his name from consideration for the ambassadorship.”

McGurk withdrew right before consideration by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

* The document states that a security officer stationed in Beirut, Chuck Lisenbee, allegedly engaged in sexual assaults against local guards.

A diplomatic security higher-up called the investigation a “witch hunt” and gave agents only three days to look into the charge, the memo says.

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the agency was conducting internal investigations of all the cases that have come to light, and wouldn’t ignore serious charges against top officials.

“We take allegations of misconduct seriously and we investigate thoroughly,” she said.

“The notion that we would not vigorously pursue criminal misconduct in a case, in any case is preposterous.

“And we’ve put individuals behind bars for criminal behavior,” she said.

“Ambassadors would be no exception.”

Psaki said State has brought in outside officials with law-enforcement backgrounds to assist in the investigation. The agency that conducts internal investigations is bringing in “experienced law-enforcement officers” to conduct a review, she said.

Officials at The State Department declined to comment on the specific allegations.

Gutman said today in a statement,"I am angered and saddened by the baseless allegations that have appeared in the press and to watch the four years I have proudly served in Belgium smeared is devastating.

"I live on a beautiful park in Brussels that you walk through to get to many locations and at no point have I ever engaged in any improper activity."

Still, even the IG, which is supposed to be independent, bowed to pressure to remove mention of these embarrassing cases, according to internal documents.

At a December 2012 meeting to prepare the report, Assistant Secretary of State for Diplomatic Security Eric Boswell said he was “stunned” by the findings, and requested that the cases should be omitted.

“He proposed that the subject ‘should be withheld’ from the inspection report until INV’s process determines if ‘there is something there,’” according to notes from the meeting.

“Boswell said putting the subject in the report would ‘generally damage [Department of State],’ would ‘probably damage the Department,’ and would be used by ‘every defense lawyer around,’” according to the notes.

They further said that he wanted to wait to see if something “came of it.”

Fedenisn, the whistleblower, did not take the notes but was charged with keeping them, according to her lawyer.

The draft report, marked “Sensitive But Unclassified,” cites several examples of undue influence “from the top floor of the department, raising serious concerns about the quality and integrity” of investigations.

That statement was removed from the final report issued March 15.

The final report also removed mention of “an ambassador accused of pedophilia and another such senior official had [Diplomatic Security] stop an investigation of an ambassador designate.”

“Hindering such cases can result in counterintelligence vulnerabilities and can allow exploitive criminals to continue their activities,” said the draft report.

“Moreover, the interventions frustrate, even demoralize,” dedicated agents, it went on.

Fedenisn’s lawyer, Schulman, said that his client came forward after a long career as a State Department special agent and IG investigator because she was “thrust into this.”

“She did it because it was the right thing to do,” he said. “Aurelia courageously has come forward with nothing to gain at all . . . Nobody gives you a prize for this.”

He said that Fedenisn, who retired in December, has been threatened by State Department officials with criminal charges.

“She wants to go back to her life,” said Schulman. “She’s not looking for fame.”

smiller@nypost.com
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/hillary_sorry_state_of_affairs_YVapkHqM3mz6CVjehZOh7K

se, why?

"Chris Christie Hits Back At Rand Paul Remark On Sandy Aid"

meeee-ooooowww!!!!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/30/chris-christie-rand-paul_n_3677558.html

What a surprise, Jason is into cats.

"Chris Christie’s one problem: Conservatives hate him

The New Jersey governor leads a poll he probably wishes he didn't: Republicans' least favorite candidate"

http://www.salon.com/2013/08/08/chris_christies_one_problem_conservatives_hate_him/

Chris Christie merits serious consideration. One thing that did Romney in was catering to the right too much during the primaries, which made it very difficult to get centrist voters in the national election. In the end, the ultra-right wing will get behind Christie(if he's the nominee) and will not vote for Hillary Clinton.

Who will be the candidate for retarded people?