Less than 24 hours after the state assembly sent a same-sex marriage bill to his desk New Jersey Governor Chris Christie followed through on his promise to veto the measure, and continued his call for a ballot question. In his veto, the governor cited a continued belief that citizens should decide whether or not to redefine the state’s legal definition of marriage, and included a proposal for the creation of an ombudsman to oversee compliance with the state’s existing civil union laws. Many say the existing laws are both flawed and discriminatory. State Senate President Steve Sweeney(D) condemned the move, saying that Governor Christie, “had a chance to do the right thing, and failed miserably.” (image courtesy of flickr user bobjagendorf) source
Think twice before you pass that red light: American Traffic Solutions, a company that makes red-light traffic cameras, just threw up this video of car crashes and near-misses its traffic cameras caught in the past year — in New Jersey alone. Some of the crashes are quite troublesome; others are harrowing near-misses. Someone will likely give this clip Benny Hill theme music at some point. Really, honestly, it’s begging for one. source
He will pass on a $12 million severance package, AP reports. The former New Jersey governor, who has been the target of much scrutiny as a result of shady business practices (it appears he bet the business on the Euro debt crisis using investor money, and lost, meaning that the investor money is gone), quit his job early Friday. “I feel great sadness for what has transpired at MF Global and the impact it has had on the firm’s clients, employees and many others,” he said in a statement. “I intend to continue to assist the company and its board in their efforts to respond to regulatory inquiries and issues related to the disposition of the firm’s assets.” source
I’d like to suggest that in addition to the many photos of the two together, Obama’s own words will come back to haunt him. - Seth Mandel
Uh, yeah, they’re not kidding. Beyond the fact that Corzine was a huge fundraiser for Obama, see this comment Obama made in 2009 about the former New Jersey governor, now in the midst of a Lehmann Brothers/Madoff-style scandal:
Like many of us in public life today, Jon is a leader who’s been called to govern in some extraordinary times. He’s been tested by the worst recession in half a century — a recession that was caused by years of recklessness and irresponsibility and a do-nothing attitude. It was caused by the same small thinking that has plagued our politics for decades — the kind of thinking that says we can afford to just tinker around with our problems, we can put off the tough decisions, defer the big challenges. We can just tell people what they want to hear instead of what they need to hear.
Well that’s not the kind of leader that Jon Corzine is.
MF Global CEO Jon Corzine: Surprisingly calm dinner host. On October 24, the former Goldman Sachs head and ex-New Jersey governor spoke to a bunch of traders during a steak dinner at the Helmsley Park Lane Hotel in NYC. Some guests called him “delightful.” But he had to leave early because he had an earnings call the next day. The next day, MF Global announced the bottom fell out. Less than a week later, they filed for bankruptcy. Talk about holding it together. (Above: Jon Corzine playing affable dinner host at another party. Amanda Gordon/ Bloomberg)
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who only a few days ago was being pushed to run for president himself, will endorse Mitt Romney before tonight’s debate.
The nod from the tough-talking Christie may help give Romney a boost among Tea Party types who have so far remained wary of the former Massachusetts governor. And the timing - heading into tonight’s critical debate, as Rick Perry tries to fight his way back - gives even more weight to Romney’s frontrunner status.
We expect Christie to skew the debate in Romney’s favor, but honestly, we’re more curious abut what Herman Cain’s gonna do tonight, because he’s suddenly way more high-profile than he was during the last debate.
Also… check out our coverage of tonight’s debate, which we’re doing with our friends at DC Decoder!
Now is not my time.NJ Gov. Chris Christie announces he will not run for president (via brooklynmutt)
Chris Christie: Not jumping in? Both the National Review and ABC News are reporting this (ABC News via a Breaking News banner), which should be reported as such: “Guy who said he wasn’t running for president dozens of times before says it for 76th time.”
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longertweets asks: I don't see a problem with the ladies of The View criticizing Chris Christie for being fat. I think in this day and age if you can expect your leader to be morally righteous, by not being involved in extramarital affairs, the least you can do is expect them to be healthy. I don't know why the media has not made more of an issue about his weight. Everyone can point out that people are too young, too old, too much of a woman to run for office but it's taboo to say someone's too fat to run?
» SFB says: Chris Christie’s weight isn’t his politics. End of story. Sure, he could be healthier, but we should be accepting of people different from us. (And who claims people are “too much of a woman”? Age arguments are slightly more understandable, but kind of in the same boat.) It’s a cop-out when there are more important issues. There are so many better reasons to criticize him than for his weight, and if it were any other job in the country where mental agility was the key requirement, precluding someone from this job for this reason would be discriminatory. If that’s what we focus on as a society, we’re a terrible society. — Ernie @ SFB
Pile on him because you dislike his views. Pile on him because he blocked popular initiatives like a long-term commuter rail project. Pile on him because he took a state-owned helicopter to go to a high-school baseball game. Pile on him because he doesn’t like Snooki. But for the love of God, who gives a crap if he’s fat? We’ve had at least five presidents considered medically obese, one of which (Teddy Roosevelt) is considered top-tier by historians. Christie’s weight didn’t preclude him from becoming governor, ladies of “The View.” Why should it cost him a chance to become president, if that’s what he wants?
In all seriousness, even if Christie suddenly did a complete 180 and decided to run, we’re pretty sure this video would kill his campaign before it got started. It’s difficult to run for president when there’s footage of you saying, “I’m not ready to be president.” Republican donors should either accept the field they’ve got, or move on to lobbying someone else (like Bob McDonnell, for example, who looks as close to the stereotype of “president” as you can get).
I’m sure that he’s not going to run. If he’s lying to me, I’ll be as stunned as I’ve ever been in my life.Todd Christie, brother of NJ governor Chris • Making it clear that he doesn’t think his brother will jump into the 2012 GOP presidential race, and making it seem rather definitive. It’s worth mentioning that Christie has long maintained he isn’t going to run, but the hyper-reactivity of the media to last week’s debate has seemed to dictate that the GOP field needs a new voice (and one moderate enough to be electable). source (via • follow)
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