Gonna burn it right now:
"Leaders ‘not telling the truth’ on entitlements, Christie says" by Jim O’Sullivan Globe Staff April 14, 2015
MANCHESTER, N.H. — Looking to reinforce the image of an unvarnished truth-teller from outside Washington, potential presidential candidate and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie rolled out an entitlement restructuring blueprint Tuesday that he said would save more than $1 trillion over 10 years. First of all, they are not "entitlements."
Citizens paid taxes into the program with the contract that the government would acre for the funds properly. They have been looted instead.
And, once again, it's SOCIAL SERVICE CUTS not WAR MACHINE or WALL STREET austerity!
Insisting that “leaders in Washington are not telling people the truth,” Christie said that wealthier older Americans should receive reduced benefits, a sweeping systemic change that he said would salvage the country from “long-term decline.”
Yeah, we ALL KNOW THAT and we ALL KNOW WHY!
Speaking at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College, with students seated behind him, Christie said, “We need to tell the truth to the very people that some of us aspire to lead.” His speech kicked off three nonconsecutive days of touring the Granite State, host of the first-in-the-nation presidential primary.
Okay. Start with the immutable laws of physics and those WTC towers dropping down into dust at free-fall speed -- particularly that one a bit after 5 p.m. when they thought no one was watching and when most people were in rush hour traffic.
After that, well, pick any topic you want.
Christie said he would also raise the Medicare retirement age and expand the system that requires more affluent seniors to pay more for care, known as “means testing.”
He just lost the elderly vote -- and we show up!
On Medicaid, the two-term governor called for a system under which the federal government sends states fixed amounts based on the number of enrollees, with flexibility for different types of enrollees, kept under a cap allowed to grow with inflation.
It's called RATIONING! Don't worry, though. The political cla$$ have great health plans paid for by the taxpayers they are screwing. You can't have their choices of plan, though, because that would cost too much.
Christie’s foray into New Hampshire comes as he seeks to reboot 2016 prospects that once looked rosy, but have been largely dimmed by home-state woes, including the George Washington Bridge traffic scandal.
I'll cross that bridge when I come to it on Saturday.
Asked after his speech whether he was considering a White House run, Christie told reporters, “Yeah, I’m thinking about it.” He said his decision would probably come in the late spring or early summer.
That's when the bridge will be complete -- or not.
Christie’s first town hall meeting outside his home state is scheduled for Wednesday, and his sustained New Hampshire tour has drawn a crush of Garden State, regional, and national media attention.
Does it look like it's grabbing a whole lot here?
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Addressing entitlements provides Christie with weighty subject matter and a clear line of attack on President Obama, who along with Congress has sought but failed to produce a “grand bargain” that would set the programs on a path to long-term sustainability.
Funny pun, ha-ha, as he asks us all to slim down.
On Tuesday, Christie ripped Obama for rendering the United States a “debtor nation.”
Not to defend the current cretin occupying the White House, but that has been going on before he got there. W Bush kept the wars off budget and borrowed for 'em!
C'mon, Chris! HALF-TRUTHS do NOT CUT IT!
The subject also allows Christie to capitalize on his status as a governor, distanced from Beltway grappling over long-range dilemmas. Several of the other declared or probable presidential contenders carry Washington-heavy résumés, while Christie referred repeatedly to his work in Trenton.
Pfffft!
He brushed off early primary polls consistently showing him lagging behind other Republicans.
He also took issue with the perception that he is an ideological moderate.
C.J. Foote, who called himself a recovering heroin addict and referred to drug use as the “Black Plague of our generation,” said he was pleased with Christie’s response, which he said emphasized treatment rather than prison time for first-time offenders.
I've said it before, I'll say it again: the reaction to that evil scourge is compassion and awwwwww. Try getting a medical marijuana program for sick and suffering people off the ground though. Tells you a lot about who is smuggling and selling those drugs (CIA mostly) and if you follow the money-laundering I'm sure you will come across a bank (bottom line benefits from drugs are big).
Christie has a busy New Hampshire schedule this week, with stops in Manchester, Newmarket, and Portsmouth on Tuesday, along with a sit-down with the editorial board of the Union Leader newspaper. Also on Christie’s schedule are visits to Manchester and Londonderry on Wednesday; then a conference of top national Republicans in Nashua and a town hall meeting in Exeter on Friday....
--more--"
Christie stopped by a Ben & Jerry’s?
"Chris Christie confronts a crossroads at N.H. GOP Summit" by Jim O’Sullivan Globe Staff April 17, 2015
MANCHESTER, N.H. — Chris Christie, the governor of New Jersey once considered a leading contender for the GOP’s presidential nomination, has spent much of the week here charming the locals, pitching his brand of tough-talk conservatism — and trying to put it all back together.
The Granite State has emerged as something of a crossroads for Christie, who will dutifully assemble with a host of other GOP hopefuls in Nashua this weekend for the First-in-the-Nation Republican Leadership Summit, a state party fund-raiser and command performance for 19 prospective presidential contenders.
I will be shopping around for a candidate later (hint, hint).
But the gathering may hold more import for Christie, who said he will probably decide on a campaign in late spring or early summer, than any other potential candidates.
“It is terrible to say that this is late, but so many people have gained so much ground,” said Juliana Bergeron, the state’s national GOP committeewoman. “If he does poorly here, it might not matter how he does in the other states.”
Recent polls, still more than nine months from the date of the primary, show Christie behind Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin, former Florida governor Jeb Bush, and US Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky — but still in competition.
Controversies in his home state, including the George Washington Bridge traffic scandal, have damaged his national brand and dented his poll numbers.
Christie gamely waded into the rapidly evolving primary fight this week, opening with a Tuesday policy address at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics, where he proposed curbing entitlement benefits for affluent older Americans. He hosted his first town-hall meeting outside his home state, where he has held more than 130 such sessions.
Appearing relaxed and comfortable, he held court for about an hour-and-a-half at a Londonderry Lions Club, fielding questions on topics like vaccinations, Iran, Cuba, college costs, and entitlement programs.
Like a king!
Putting Christie in settings like those, along with a string of retail politics stops that showcased his everyman appeal and apparent candor-at-all-costs approach to interacting with voters, are part of an overall strategy to redraw the Republican field with Christie again at the head of the pack in New Hampshire, but his stances on issues like immigration and gun control hamstring his chances in Iowa, whose caucuses make it the only state before this one on the nominating calendar, and whose primary electorate is among the country’s most conservative.
Oh, look, ANOTHER STAGED and SCRIPTED CAMPAIGN!
Christie last year signed a state law granting in-state tuition rates to illegal immigrants, and his administration has proposed stricter requirements on gun sellers....
--more--"
Now he's hitting the diners?
Time to cross the bridge:
"Newly released records show four commissioners at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey were allowed to bypass regular security lines and received other perks when they flew out of airports run by the agency. The Port Authority released the records Thursday. Newspapers sought the documents after learning the FBI has requested records from United Airlines and an airport in South Carolina. The special treatment is normally reserved for governors and other high-profile travelers who are accompanied by security details. The Port Authority has been receiving deep scrutiny since revelations early last year that approach lanes to its George Washington Bridge were shut down as part of political payback."
Almost time for me to fly, and what perks do you think they are talking about? Were the fees waived?
And Christie thought the whole thing was stowed away and wouldn't affect the campaign.
Also see: 2 indictments, guilty plea in N.J. bridge case
Christie is not implicated (surprise), but a David Wildstein, a former Port Authority official and a high school friend of Christie’s, pleaded guilty and was called a “liar.”
In any event, I think a candidate that shows a vituperative streak should be disqualified for president. So Nixonian.
UPDATE: Chris Christie discusses opioid epidemic in N.H.
