It’s a perfectly good vacation destination.
Federal investigators have ordered a probe into whether Gov. Chris Christie’s administration improperly spent millions of dollars of relief meant to encourage tourists to New Jersey after the devastation of Hurricane Sandy.
The probe comes as Mr. Christie is struggling with the most difficult crisis of his political career after it was revealed that people in his administration schemed to close local lanes onto the George Washington Bridge as political punishment for the Democratic mayor of Fort Lee. On Monday, New Jersey Democrats announced a new committee to investigate the closings.
This is not the first time Mr. Christie has come under criticism for the Hurricane Sandy funds: Many of the television advertisements used in the campaign, called “Stronger than the Storm,” prominently featured the governor and his family, which drew complaints from Democrats around the state who said it was more focused on promoting Mr. Christie than the Jersey Shore.
The commercials were paid for with money from a federal disaster relief package New Jersey received that included $25 million for a media campaign. The audit by the Department of Housing and Urban Development will look into how the contract was awarded.
An investigation by The Asbury Park Press last year found that the public relations firm that won the contract, MWW Group, based in East Rutherford, charged $2 million more than a competitor that submitted a comparable proposal.
A key difference in the bids, the newspaper reported, was that the MWW Group proposal prominently featured the governor in the ads.
Following the reports in The Asbury Park Press, Representative Frank Pallone, a Democrat and longtime critic of Mr. Christie, sent a letter to the Department of Housing and Urban Development asking the agency to looking into the matter.
“While promoting tourism at the Jersey Shore in the wake of Hurricane Sandy is certainly a worthy endeavor, recent reports have led me to believe that the state has irresponsibly misappropriated funding allocated by Congress from the Sandy aid package and taken advantage of this waiver for political purposes,” Mr. Pallone wrote in August.
The New York Times, “Christie Faces Inquiry Into Use of Hurricane Relief Money.”
The hits just keep on comin’.
(via inothernews)
thinkprogress.org
Chris Christie Vetoes Bill Allowing Transgender People To Amend Birth Certificates
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie doesn’t want transgender people to obtain amended birth certificates without undergoing sterilizing surgery.
i think i’m just going to reblog a bunch of stuff about why chris christie is terrible.
Okay, Christie won again, which we all knew would happen. He’s a horrible person but he likes Springsteen and that encourages people to vote for him.
On the plus side, all the people I voted for locally won, and the Dems retained the state legislature. Plus, a minimum wage increase with mandatory cost of living increases passed by a LOT. You know, a bill Christie vetoed himself. Weirdo New Jersey.
WHAT ARE U SERIOUS NO ONE ELSE CALLS IT MISCHIEF NIGHT OUTSIDE OF NJ THIS IS A JOKE
WHAT THE HELL IS THIS DOES NO ONE ELSE SAY MISCHIEF NIGHT ?????
here in ohio we call it the night before halloween
It is Halloween eve
LAUGHING IRL
BLESS U NJ
WTF IS HALLOWEEN EVE? IT’S MISCHIEF NIGHT.
lol at Jersey being like YO WE’RE DOING A THING.
I still hope to make Halloweeeen (All Hallow’s Eve Eve, see what I did there) catch on someday.
this is hilarious because the night in question came up the other day, and I was like, “Devil’s Night! The night before Halloween! The night when everybody eggs the principal’s house and TPs his car!” and J literally had no idea what the fuck I was even talking about.
Whaaaaaat I’m not from NJ and I call it Mischief Night. Did you guys not sneak out of your house the night before Halloween and TP someone? This is insane to me. I feel really badly. EVERYONE WHO HAS NEVER HEARD OF MISCHIEF NIGHT IS COMING OUT WITH ME TO PUT EGGS IN SOMEONE WE HATE’S MAILBOX.
I HAD ZERO IDEA THIS WAS A REGIONALISM. WHAT??? THANK GOD LEA IS WITH ME
Lea and the Incredulous Jersey Natives is my new band name.
Mischief Night always and forever.
NO. NO. I HATE THIS. THIS IS NOT OKAY. NOBODY IS ALLOWED TO HAVE THIS THING. I AM PAINTING YOU ALL RED.
BLUE STATE FOR LYFE
WHAT ARE U SERIOUS NO ONE ELSE CALLS IT MISCHIEF NIGHT OUTSIDE OF NJ THIS IS A JOKE
WHAT THE HELL IS THIS DOES NO ONE ELSE SAY MISCHIEF NIGHT ?????
here in ohio we call it the night before halloween
It is Halloween eve
LAUGHING IRL
BLESS U NJ
WTF IS HALLOWEEN EVE? IT’S MISCHIEF NIGHT.
lol at Jersey being like YO WE’RE DOING A THING.
I still hope to make Halloweeeen (All Hallow’s Eve Eve, see what I did there) catch on someday.
this is hilarious because the night in question came up the other day, and I was like, “Devil’s Night! The night before Halloween! The night when everybody eggs the principal’s house and TPs his car!” and J literally had no idea what the fuck I was even talking about.
Whaaaaaat I’m not from NJ and I call it Mischief Night. Did you guys not sneak out of your house the night before Halloween and TP someone? This is insane to me. I feel really badly. EVERYONE WHO HAS NEVER HEARD OF MISCHIEF NIGHT IS COMING OUT WITH ME TO PUT EGGS IN SOMEONE WE HATE’S MAILBOX.
I HAD ZERO IDEA THIS WAS A REGIONALISM. WHAT??? THANK GOD LEA IS WITH ME
Lea and the Incredulous Jersey Natives is my new band name.
When it comes to women, they don’t get rights. They get restrictions… I have five daughters and eight granddaughters, and the one thing I worry about more than anything else is their health. I like to see their happy faces. I like to see them feeling good… So I want them to have doctors making decisions, not some employer who has a self-righteous moral view that he wants to impose on my daughter, my granddaughter, my wife. Nuh uh. On our side of the aisle, we believe that women are capable of making their own healthcare decisions.
Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), is a man who trusts women. Lautenberg made these comments at today’s hearing on the Blunt Amendment. (via menwhotrustwomen)
Swoon.
Go, Lambda Legal, go. I’m still angry about the 2009 state legislature vote, with good reason.
n9evepulgas
