Chris Christie's stump speech always includes a passage about how the tough choices had made with regard to pensions, but those choices deserve some healthy scrutiny (Andre Malok/Star-Ledger)
Star-Ledger
on August 27, 2014
There is a curiously overlooked story from David Sirota that examines the mutually profitable kinship between Gov. Chris Christie and Wall Street hedge funds, and the most curious part is that some of them receive an extraordinary amount of New Jersey business – specifically, the stewardship of state pension funds -- after being identified as the guys who bankrolled the political career of Christie himself.
Among the findings that might make your head explode:
1. There has been a 300-percent spike in management fees over the last three years. Somehow, that seems a bit high, but then, he’s a man who likes to pay for premium services.
2. We spent $400 million last year alone to manage these funds – and the funds' 15.9-percent returns are well below the 17.4 national average, according to an analysis firm.
3. Some funds are managed by Elliott Associates, which is run by uber-vulture Paul Singer -- a Christie sugar daddy that you should know, because he’s the kind of guy who can bring entire governments to their knees. Yes, that includes our own.
One paragraph for your perusal:
The state has sent more pension money to big-name Wall Street firms like Blackstone, Third Point, Omega Advisors, Elliott Associates and Grady's old firm, The Carlyle Group. Additionally, the amount of fees the state pays financial managers has more than tripled since Christie assumed office. New Jersey is now one of America's largest investors in hedge funds. The "maximized returns" have yet to materialize. Between fiscal year 2011 and 2014, the state's pension trailed the median returns for similarly sized public pension systems throughout the country, according to data from the financial analysis firm, Wilshire Associates. That below-median performance has cost New Jersey taxpayers billions in unrealized gains and has left the pension system on shaky ground. Meanwhile, New Jersey is now paying a quarter-billion dollars in additional annual fees to Wall Street firms -- many of whose employees have financially supported Republican groups backing Christie's reelection campaign.
There are a few questions that need to be answered here, starting with this one:
Does this story deserve more traction, or have we grown so anesthetized by our leaders taking gargantuan risks with our money to benefit his political cronies?
That's not a rhetorical question.
Wednesday, August 27, 2014
Chris Christie's hypocrisy on full display in Illinois
Chris Christie is the man who wasted $12 million on a special election presumes to instruct Illinois on proper poll etiquette.
Star-Ledger
on August 27, 2014
Time once again to hop aboard the traveling hypocrisy circus, governed by the man who never misses an opportunity to employ the same tactics he pretends to deride.
Gov. Christie was in Illinois Tuesday, stumping for some private equity guy running for governor who won’t release his tax returns, and he gave his usual breathtaking show of chutzpah by accusing the sitting governor, Pat Quinn, of manipulating the turnout in November.
“He will try every trick in the book. I see the stuff that’s going on,” said the omnipotent Oz. “Same-day registration all of a sudden this year comes to Illinois. Shocking. I’m sure it was all based upon public policy, good public policy to get same-day registration here in Illinois just this year, when the governor is in the toilet and needs as much help as he can get.”
Just two problems with that. First, it wasn’t the Democrats who got same-day registration passed, it was the Illinois Board of Elections, which consists of four Republicans and four Democrats. And Christie’s candidate, Bruce Rauner, supported it.
Second: Every study shows that same-day registration works superbly in the other 11 states it is used, increasing turnout by 10 percent, eliminating arbitrary deadlines, and facilitating poll access for mobile voters such as college students – while safeguarding against fraud.
"Debilitating stupidity" -- Dick Armey on Chris Christie's 2013 election chicanery
But Christie, now a leader of the party that champions voter suppression, calls same-day registration a maneuver that “would make New Jersey blush.”
Really, that’s precious.
Remember this comes from a governor who knows something about manipulating votes. He spent $12 million in taxpayer funds to hold a special election in October last year and called for a special election so that he wouldn't have to appear on the ballot with Cory Booker in November. He knew that Booker's candidacy would draw out the Democratic base, and he was determined to avoid it, so that he could run up his own margin of victory.
Now, that should make the man blush.
There were a lot of predictable reactions to this shameless hypocrisy, but the most memorable came from the unlikeliest of sources: “Debilitating stupidity," former Republican leader Dick Armey called it on CNN. "Dimwitted."
But that’s voter suppression, and Chris Christie has fully embraced the method. And on Tuesday, he whined about his inability to exercise it.
Star-Ledger
on August 27, 2014
Time once again to hop aboard the traveling hypocrisy circus, governed by the man who never misses an opportunity to employ the same tactics he pretends to deride.
Gov. Christie was in Illinois Tuesday, stumping for some private equity guy running for governor who won’t release his tax returns, and he gave his usual breathtaking show of chutzpah by accusing the sitting governor, Pat Quinn, of manipulating the turnout in November.
“He will try every trick in the book. I see the stuff that’s going on,” said the omnipotent Oz. “Same-day registration all of a sudden this year comes to Illinois. Shocking. I’m sure it was all based upon public policy, good public policy to get same-day registration here in Illinois just this year, when the governor is in the toilet and needs as much help as he can get.”
Just two problems with that. First, it wasn’t the Democrats who got same-day registration passed, it was the Illinois Board of Elections, which consists of four Republicans and four Democrats. And Christie’s candidate, Bruce Rauner, supported it.
Second: Every study shows that same-day registration works superbly in the other 11 states it is used, increasing turnout by 10 percent, eliminating arbitrary deadlines, and facilitating poll access for mobile voters such as college students – while safeguarding against fraud.
"Debilitating stupidity" -- Dick Armey on Chris Christie's 2013 election chicanery
But Christie, now a leader of the party that champions voter suppression, calls same-day registration a maneuver that “would make New Jersey blush.”
Really, that’s precious.
Remember this comes from a governor who knows something about manipulating votes. He spent $12 million in taxpayer funds to hold a special election in October last year and called for a special election so that he wouldn't have to appear on the ballot with Cory Booker in November. He knew that Booker's candidacy would draw out the Democratic base, and he was determined to avoid it, so that he could run up his own margin of victory.
Now, that should make the man blush.
There were a lot of predictable reactions to this shameless hypocrisy, but the most memorable came from the unlikeliest of sources: “Debilitating stupidity," former Republican leader Dick Armey called it on CNN. "Dimwitted."
But that’s voter suppression, and Chris Christie has fully embraced the method. And on Tuesday, he whined about his inability to exercise it.
Friday, August 22, 2014
Gov. Chris Christie's costly legal bills are mounting burden for N.J. taxpayers
By Times of Trenton
on August 22, 2014
The good people of New Jersey, already shelling out top dollar to keep their cash-strapped state running, have a new burden to carry: their governor’s legal bills.
The law firm representing Chris Christie and his administration in connection with the George Washington Bridge scandal has submitted its latest invoice — for a cool $6.5 million. Added to related government legal costs that We the People will be shouldering, the total comes to $8.5 million. And the meter is still running.
See anyone out there eager to dig into his pocket to dig Christie out of a hole many believe he dug for himself? Neither do we.
The recent bills came from the law firm of Gibson Dunn & Crutcher for an internal investigation which (surprise!) absolved the governor of wrongdoing in last fall’s incident, in which multiple lanes on the heavily trafficked bridge were inexplicably closed, causing massive gridlock.
This is hardly the first time the governor has shown a cavalier attitude toward taxpayers’ wallets. Remember that last year, he ordered a special election to replace the late U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg, just three weeks before a regularly scheduled November election.
His official reason? Christie didn’t want to cause “voter confusion.” The unofficial version? He didn’t care to share the ballot with the highly charismatic Cory Booker.
That thinking ran up an estimated tab of $12 million above and beyond the cost of a general election.
And then there are those town hall meetings — more than 120 so far — where the governor famously gets to insult teachers and call ex-Navy SEALS idiots. Billed as opportunities to interact with constituents, these gathering, often limited to a select audience, smell more to us like taxpayer-funded campaign rallies.
Meanwhile, costs for the legislative investigation into the bridge closings — closings many believe were meant as retaliation after Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich, a Democrat, declined to endorse Christie — also continue to mount, even as federal authorities conduct their own probe.
By as early as April, the New Jersey Legislative Select Committee on Investigation, which Democratic lawmakers have used to get a handle on the bridge events, had spent at close to half a million in state funds for a legal team led by Reid Schar, a former federal prosecutor.
File under: Department of Redundancy Department.
The real tragedy is that all this money could have been so much more wisely spent — say, to restore the $7.5 million that under the Christie administration is no longer underwriting women’s health initiatives such as mammograms and cancer screenings.
on August 22, 2014
The good people of New Jersey, already shelling out top dollar to keep their cash-strapped state running, have a new burden to carry: their governor’s legal bills.
The law firm representing Chris Christie and his administration in connection with the George Washington Bridge scandal has submitted its latest invoice — for a cool $6.5 million. Added to related government legal costs that We the People will be shouldering, the total comes to $8.5 million. And the meter is still running.
See anyone out there eager to dig into his pocket to dig Christie out of a hole many believe he dug for himself? Neither do we.
The recent bills came from the law firm of Gibson Dunn & Crutcher for an internal investigation which (surprise!) absolved the governor of wrongdoing in last fall’s incident, in which multiple lanes on the heavily trafficked bridge were inexplicably closed, causing massive gridlock.
This is hardly the first time the governor has shown a cavalier attitude toward taxpayers’ wallets. Remember that last year, he ordered a special election to replace the late U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg, just three weeks before a regularly scheduled November election.
His official reason? Christie didn’t want to cause “voter confusion.” The unofficial version? He didn’t care to share the ballot with the highly charismatic Cory Booker.
That thinking ran up an estimated tab of $12 million above and beyond the cost of a general election.
And then there are those town hall meetings — more than 120 so far — where the governor famously gets to insult teachers and call ex-Navy SEALS idiots. Billed as opportunities to interact with constituents, these gathering, often limited to a select audience, smell more to us like taxpayer-funded campaign rallies.
Meanwhile, costs for the legislative investigation into the bridge closings — closings many believe were meant as retaliation after Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich, a Democrat, declined to endorse Christie — also continue to mount, even as federal authorities conduct their own probe.
By as early as April, the New Jersey Legislative Select Committee on Investigation, which Democratic lawmakers have used to get a handle on the bridge events, had spent at close to half a million in state funds for a legal team led by Reid Schar, a former federal prosecutor.
File under: Department of Redundancy Department.
The real tragedy is that all this money could have been so much more wisely spent — say, to restore the $7.5 million that under the Christie administration is no longer underwriting women’s health initiatives such as mammograms and cancer screenings.
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