Forget about Chris Christie for President

[Guest]

New Jersey's credit rating just got downgraded by Fitch. Any Republican candidate is going to hit Obama over the head with the credit downturn. Seems like Christie has his own problems on that score now. His fault or not, it's his problem.

http://www.businessinsider.com/new-jersey-is-downgraded-by-fitch-hurts-christ-christie-2011-8

[Guest]

richielion -
he's got another problem, too - one of the largest standard bred farms [400 horses from foal to broodmare] is shutting down and shuttering its barns because of the lack of support for the horse racing industry from the administration. the farm's owner expects that more breeders will be leaving, too!

the gov leased the two major race tracks to one industry guy [jeff gural] and to an owner of resorts casino [morris bailey] and then pulled the subsidies from a.c. gambling out of the racing purses. a.c. used to subsidize the purses rather than permit video gaming terminals into the tracks. a.c. is dying - 39 consecutive months of losses [to delaware, ny, and pa] - and the gov is going to pour $$ into the boardwalk area in hopes of restoring the city to its former grandeur. the loss of this business to local businesses selling supplies, feed and neighboring farms selling alfalfa and timothy hay is going to put a big economic hurt on these locals!

[Guest]

richielion -
he's got another problem, too - one of the largest standard bred farms [400 horses from foal to broodmare] is shutting down and shuttering its barns because of the lack of support for the horse racing industry from the administration. the farm's owner expects that more breeders will be leaving, too!

the gov leased the two major race tracks to one industry guy [jeff gural] and to an owner of resorts casino [morris bailey] and then pulled the subsidies from a.c. gambling out of the racing purses. a.c. used to subsidize the purses rather than permit video gaming terminals into the tracks. a.c. is dying - 39 consecutive months of losses [to delaware, ny, and pa] - and the gov is going to pour $$ into the boardwalk area in hopes of restoring the city to its former grandeur. the loss of this business to local businesses selling supplies, feed and neighboring farms selling alfalfa and timothy hay is going to put a big economic hurt on these locals!

Somehow I don't think this is an issue that would matter on a national level, but it's and interesting story.

[Guest]

richielion -
he's got another problem, too - one of the largest standard bred farms [400 horses from foal to broodmare] is shutting down and shuttering its barns because of the lack of support for the horse racing industry from the administration. the farm's owner expects that more breeders will be leaving, too!

the gov leased the two major race tracks to one industry guy [jeff gural] and to an owner of resorts casino [morris bailey] and then pulled the subsidies from a.c. gambling out of the racing purses. a.c. used to subsidize the purses rather than permit video gaming terminals into the tracks. a.c. is dying - 39 consecutive months of losses [to delaware, ny, and pa] - and the gov is going to pour $$ into the boardwalk area in hopes of restoring the city to its former grandeur. the loss of this business to local businesses selling supplies, feed and neighboring farms selling alfalfa and timothy hay is going to put a big economic hurt on these locals!

The states, even more than the nation, are having to come to grips with the reality that government can no longer be all things to all people and/or all causes. There are endless worthy ideas: increased pay and benefits for state employees, more parks and recreation, highway expansion, industry support, expanded Medicaid benefits, head start programs, etc. The challenge of governing is to balance the priorities with the income available. Does the state require more first responders more than expanded head-start? Are class size limits more essential than expanded care to the elderly under Medicaid? Should we expand the prisons or expand the programs for drug rehabilitation?

We can all, or mostly all of us, agree that all these programs are worthy. What is difficult is to say that we will totally eliminate one so that the others can be adequately funded. Doing just a little of everything leads to accomplishing nothing. I do not envy Chris Christie or any of our other governors. Unlike our President they can no longer hide reality behind another debt limit increase. It's time for those with courage and the willingness to accept responsibility to step up and those that are afraid of the hard decisions to leave.

[Guest]

He would still have my vote.

[Guest]

He would still have my vote.

I'm a little surprised by that. May I ask why you would favor Gov. Christie if he were the Republican nominee? I guess I've assumed by previous posts that you were more a knee jerk Democrat vote.

I readily admit that with extremely rare exception, I would never even consider voting for a Democrat at this point in time. "This point in time" has currently spanned from 1994 till the present.

[Guest]

I'm a little surprised by that. May I ask why you would favor Gov. Christie if he were the Republican nominee? I guess I've assumed by previous posts that you were more a knee jerk Democrat vote.

I readily admit that with extremely rare exception, I would never even consider voting for a Democrat at this point in time. "This point in time" has currently spanned from 1994 till the present.

Really? My "This point in time" spans to 1979.:D

[Guest]

Somehow I don't think this is an issue that would matter on a national level, but it's and interesting story.

maybe not yet...but the guy is caught in the middle of a big issue re port authority tolls/projects...travellers/commuters can't afford the increases - but projects like raising the bayonne bridge are critical to maintaining the port of newark as a prime east coast shipping center. if the larger ships npw carrying cargo can't get under that bridge shiping will go elsewhere - and so will the jobs. p.a. votes on toll increase tomorrow - will see what cuomo and christie negotiate after that.

he's got the lt. gov trying to figure out how the state can help verizon end the strike [with some degree of corp tax breaks, i guess] because one of the issues there is deunionizing their call centers so that the jobs can go overseas while the workers go on unemployment.

the gov does not want to be tagged as one who cannot keep jobs in new jersey...a job loser rather than a job generator...that could become the national issue.

[Guest]

The states, even more than the nation, are having to come to grips with the reality that government can no longer be all things to all people and/or all causes. [snip]
We can all, or mostly all of us, agree that all these programs are worthy. What is difficult is to say that we will totally eliminate one so that the others can be adequately funded. Doing just a little of everything leads to accomplishing nothing. I do not envy Chris Christie or any of our other governors. Unlike our President they can no longer hide reality behind another debt limit increase. It's time for those with courage and the willingness to accept responsibility to step up and those that are afraid of the hard decisions to leave.

what you post is so correct...nor do i envy gov christie...especially since i am on the losing end of some of his recent legislation...and stand to lose yet more in the near future...regardless, as a retiree, i can roll up my tepee and head off into the sunset...just don't care for my options - yet!

however, what is difficult to understand is why the gov flat out refuses to do what his neighboring state competition is doing with gambling which is diversifying by adding video gaming terminals on their horse racing grounds...a primary reason why the residents of ny, pa and de no longer come to a.c.! state dept of tourism has told him so. the gov has stated that he is totally against meeting the competition headon in that way for personal reasons - and is convinced that his investment in a.c. is more appropriate. god bless him, i hope he's right, because the place is the pits! the borgata hotel and casino is even up for sale! if those owners no longer want to be part of n.j. makes me wonder sometimes why i do! ;)

[Guest]

My view is that the gambling industry does little in the long run to better a state. Short of places like Monaco in the long run gambling on a large scale leaves people and places in ruin. That is my opinion and accept that I may be wrong. Chris Christie or any governor that is making a good faith effort to get a state's financial house in order have an uphill battle.

[Guest]

If the call-center-workers-to-overseas issue is indeed true, then it makes my point all the more valid.

The slavish devotion of the GOP to the corporate masters (different in name only from the Democrat masters) will not result in job creation. The corporations are beholden to their owners - the SHAREHOLDERS. Verizon's dividends and stock price growth aren't enough for them. They are under a mandate to continue growing revenue and, one way to do that, is to race to the bottom on costs.

It's *shareholder expectations* that would be the root of this strike if the root cause as said earlier is true.

[Guest]

I'm a little surprised by that. May I ask why you would favor Gov. Christie if he were the Republican nominee? I guess I've assumed by previous posts that you were more a knee jerk Democrat vote.

I readily admit that with extremely rare exception, I would never even consider voting for a Democrat at this point in time. "This point in time" has currently spanned from 1994 till the present.

Maybe some of my opinion comes from gut. I have heard him and read some of what he has done and like his direction. Christie would fair well in most parts of the country. I fear if Perry gets the nomination, we will have a Democrat for 4 more years. Christie sounds like an American to me when he speaks. Others seem to have too narrow of an opinion where the country need to go.