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Hoboken Mayor: Christie Withheld Sandy Funds as Political Payback

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posted on Jan, 18 2014 @ 06:46 PM
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You just can't make this crap up. I don't know what is more frightening; Politicians that don't represent the best interests of the American people or those that do. I mean really, just how the heck did this guy get (much less stay) in office?

Rumor has it he wants to run for President....


The mayor of Hoboken, N.J., is accusing Gov. Chris Christie's administration of withholding Superstorm Sandy relief money from her city after she refused to approve a redevelopment project he favored. Mayor Dawn Zimmer, appearing Saturday on MSNBC's "Up With Steve Kornacki," said Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno and Richard Constable, Christie's community affairs commissioner, delivered messages from the governor early last year to warn her that the relief money would be blocked if the project wasn't approved. Zimmer, a Democrat who has been supportive of Republican Christie, did not approve the project. And when she requested $127 million in hurricane relief to help in Hoboken's rebuilding efforts in the wake of Sandy, which left the city 80 percent under water in October 2012, the city got a mere $142,000 to cover a backup generator and $200,000 in recovery grants. “The bottom line is, it’s not fair for the governor to hold Sandy funds hostage for the city of Hoboken because he wants me to give back to one private developer,” Zimmer said Saturday.

Link to full story

Why can't Politicians be immediatly recalled for such blatant acts of corruption?
Why are Americans not standing on this idiots door step or at the very least blocking his path to the doughnut shop?

Our politicians are not just corrupt, they are embarrassing.
edit on 18-1-2014 by Mamatus because: added content.



posted on Jan, 18 2014 @ 06:55 PM
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reply to post by Mamatus
 

A find worth bumping a couple of times. Who wants him for POTUS now? Worst thing is, it sounds too plausible to be made up. Glad I'm not underwater right now.



posted on Jan, 18 2014 @ 07:06 PM
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reply to post by Mamatus
 


Does anything really surprise you anymore? Politics as usual. Try and find one U.S. politician in that isn't corrupt. You'd have better luck trying to find Waldo in photos of Mars.

Side note: So I went over to BSNBC opps I mean MSNBC just now.. The front page about made me throw up. Besides that, how does a news source get away with such bias and still call it "journalism"? I didn't hear much from them with all the Obama scandals.

For that reason, I'm just going to ignore anything that comes from MSNBC, they are officially not a news source to me. Much like most of MSM news.
edit on 18-1-2014 by kx12x because: (no reason given)



posted on Jan, 18 2014 @ 07:17 PM
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reply to post by kx12x
 


Welcome to the vomit puddle. Sadly there are too few people looking down to notice it.



posted on Jan, 18 2014 @ 09:30 PM
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I find it extremely odd the way they prepared for sandy in the days prior to the storm. Most of NJ wheeled transit (taxis, busses light rail cars, ect..) where mostly parked in Hoboken right next to the Hudson river. which was one of the first parts of New Jersey to start flooding, and a lot like what happened with New Orleans barely had any fail safe operations in effect to prevent much of that flooding. The automobiles placed there also contributed to further contamination to the ground water, sewage and river pollution in the days that followed the storm. Seeing as i grew up in NYC, only moved 3 years ago to NJ due to high rent and cost of living being ridiculously high, I still have lots of family living in the NYC area(a 15 minute bus ride from Far Rockaway), Jersey was pretty much entirely cut off from New York, with few exceptions. I was forced to stay in Jersey the entire time.

In my opinion... i say this with utmost respect to anyone who lost property and family in the storm, but why put most of the states transportation in the line of fire, unless you are looking to get that money back in the way of disaster relief funds?

I whole heartedly believe the claims of Hobokens mayor about Christie and his staff. too many stupid decisions to be coincidental on top of the complete douchery he's being accused of.
edit on 18-1-2014 by thedudedoesnotabide because: added to post.



posted on Jan, 18 2014 @ 09:47 PM
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I'm guessing his career is over.
Its a shame, I was under the impression that the man was doing a fine job.



posted on Jan, 18 2014 @ 10:19 PM
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reply to post by Mamatus
 


It doesn't strike you though that this mayor, almost a year and half years after Hurricane Sandy, that these politicians are coming out of the woodwork to ride the coattails of this?

I am not defending Christie, but come on...where was he when he was supposedly being denied funds? Why wait til now? Do people even bother to think critically or do we just soak up what we are told to feel and think...my guess, the later.

This is exactly why I wrote a small thread here on the precarious position of the press regarding the bridge nonsense. Because they pushed hard, they have unleashed the People to find the truth. Counter that to say Bengahzi, or the IRS, or Fast and Furious, or NSA spying programs and the press is silent.

I mean come on, they have, in less than a week, already established a special committee to "get to the bottom" of it all.



posted on Jan, 18 2014 @ 10:37 PM
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what i don't get? there's still anybody in the u.s. that sees something like bridge gate and doesn't realise holy muffins batman, they're ALL like that! but having one politician call another politicain crooked? is like a wino complaining that the dumpster stinks ! anyway, keep right on voting, einstien warned us all about that !

edit on 1182014 by tencap77 because: spelling



posted on Jan, 18 2014 @ 10:39 PM
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reply to post by ownbestenemy
 


she* and who's to say she didn't try and speak out prior to this and is just being heard now. I would suggest taking a bit of your own advice and read some of the articles before formulating an opinion.



posted on Jan, 18 2014 @ 10:43 PM
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reply to post by ownbestenemy
 


There coming out now because they were afraid of Christie.

It’s only now that the could say something about him and not immediately be retaliated against

Now they have the protection of transparency against this political thug.

But you better believe if he skates he will retaliate against those who are now coming forth with proof of his thuggery.



posted on Jan, 18 2014 @ 10:45 PM
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thedudedoesnotabide
reply to post by ownbestenemy
 


she* and who's to say she didn't try and speak out prior to this and is just being heard now. I would suggest taking a bit of your own advice and read some of the articles before formulating an opinion.


Sorry, *she*; but the point still stands. I did research any claims prior and came up with nothing. If you have something to provide that can substantiate her claims, that would help. But as it is now, it gives the perception of coattailing on the ends of the bridge debacle.



posted on Jan, 18 2014 @ 10:53 PM
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reply to post by ownbestenemy
 


Read my previous post, living in hoboken when the storm happened i have first hand account of how much negligence occurred at the time, which is why I can see how such claims could be substantiated... all speculation however. not to mention this type of strong arming happens quite often in politics well outside of jersey, not too far of a stretch to assume something peculiar was going on.



posted on Jan, 19 2014 @ 12:48 AM
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thedudedoesnotabide
reply to post by ownbestenemy
 


Read my previous post, living in hoboken when the storm happened i have first hand account of how much negligence occurred at the time, which is why I can see how such claims could be substantiated... all speculation however. not to mention this type of strong arming happens quite often in politics well outside of jersey, not too far of a stretch to assume something peculiar was going on.


Granted but is that negligence due to Gov. Christie or his administration or your own mayor? There are articles pertaining to Hoboken that point to a negligent city council.



posted on Jan, 19 2014 @ 07:42 AM
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reply to post by Mamatus
 

there is no way it will right itself



posted on Jan, 19 2014 @ 10:11 AM
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Christie is actually one of the better politicians around this part of the country. if for no other reason than that he is up front about the fact that he is an ass. It's much easier to swallow than the other option where the guy sugars you up front and sours you from behind, which is the most common type it seems nowadays.

At least with Christie you know what you are getting. He exists in a world of politics that is managed by thugs and bullies, and he has always been honest and up front about that fact, at least to some degree. He is a player that doesn't try and hide the hard truths about politics and it has been kind of refreshing to our community. Most of the people in this side of the world have known and appreciated this about him for quite a while. It's not at all a surprise to us that this is all coming out, and it doesn't concern us all that much either. What's worse and should be more alarming is the pack of hyenas circling his behind, because you can be assured that THEY will not be near as transparent as he has proven to be. They will lie and cheat just as much if not more than he ever would.

It's the culture of modern politics . What should be concerning is the fact that some are resorting to childish games, which begs the realization that there isn't much hope left without some sort of cataclysmic rearrangement of the current political order. You could look at any of the old stories in Roman politics right before the end of that era and compare them to the politics right here around the NYC area and probably make perfect character comparisons. The stories might even match up with all the drama that goes on. One day we will read about all this and laugh at how it was all so ridiculous, then cry about the fact that we did nothing, thinking all the while it was actually important to us.


To address the actual story here that is being told from the mayors perspective. I would say what does she expect? Is she oblivious about how the game of politics works? Is she herself completely innocent of these types of behavior??? Punishment and reward, these are the currency of politics and without them nothing would ever get done at all, for good or not. What is power, if not the ability to withhold information or resources. How does one expect any politician to make a difference if he does not try and build power over his peers and use it to forward his agenda. I would challenge her to try and paint a picture of how we could govern ourselves without using these types of behavior.

I think that those in power underestimate the common person's ability to swallow the truth. I believe that everyone would be better off if these kinds of things were accepted and laid out for all to see. It would force us to weigh the good with the bad, as well it might bring us to the point where we could focus on bigger and more important issues. It might make it more comfortable for those in power to focus on heavier topics if they could see that we understood and accepted the "devil that's in the details" so to speak. I have always been of the opinion that an honest ass is much more palatable than a liar who pretends to be on your side until you are not convenient any more.
edit on 19-1-2014 by Quauhtli because: ...



posted on Jan, 19 2014 @ 10:28 AM
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reply to post by Quauhtli
 


What has done him in (or though he's only half-baked so far) is that he's not punishing the Mayor, he's punishing the citizens. The people who needed Hurricane Sandy relief money. Like the bridge closing, it's the mindset of not a politician but a possible psychopath. One who doesn't care what the people of a city are feeling, but only cares about hurting one person at the expense of many.



posted on Jan, 19 2014 @ 11:13 AM
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reply to post by Aleister
 


Money is like grease to these people. If they are doing their job right they will use it to keep as many cogs running as smoothly as possible for the benefit of the machine as a whole. One would not be able to know for sure whether his decision to withhold moneys was a good one unless they were afforded the ability to see all of his other options at the time. Just a couple of weeks ago the community was judging Christie based on his work as a whole, and everyone seemed to like him, now they are judging him based on emails that his staff have sent and received. I think that the only way to truly accuse the guy of punishing "the people" of Hoboken would be to look at all of the other places that have received money from Sandy relief and make judgements there accordingly. Seems to me that there are a lot of people crying about not getting enough relief money for a whole host of reasons.

Don't get me wrong here, I'm not defending the guy so much. I live in New York and don't know all that much about him, just what I hear coming across local news. This whole thing just seems a lot like another pot calling the kettle black kind of situation.


ETA.
I would like to add though that I thought he handled that press conference very poorly. He doesn't carry dishonesty very well and it shows. This may or may not be a bad thing in my opinion. I think that the true test of a good politician is how they handle the pack of hyenas that is inevitably going to circle from time to time. His test in this case was an epic fail. Now we will see if he learns anything from it or not. I think he is in the right place and the right time to use it to his and our advantage if he plays his cards right. That said, it's not totally under his control any more, the propaganda machine is a tough nut to crack for guys in his predicament.
edit on 19-1-2014 by Quauhtli because: (no reason given)



posted on Jan, 19 2014 @ 11:16 AM
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reply to post by ownbestenemy
 


Yeah, I got that too.


"I know it’s very complicated for the public to really understand all of this, but I have a legal obligation to follow the law, to bring balanced development to Hoboken.”



And it really ISN'T all that complicated.



posted on Jan, 19 2014 @ 12:59 PM
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As a resident of New Jersey, I can tell you I voted for him a second time around because I was a fan of his more upfront, less than politically correct, way of doing things. It seemed to be more effective and refreshing in politics, where phoniness runs rampant. As I'm sure most know, people in New Jersey can be known to be rather *abrupt* and I liked his no BS attitude. But now that The Fort Lee and GWB bridge issue has surfaced, along with an interesting article I read not too long ago from my local newspaper cataloging his repeated bullying tactics aimed at anyone who doesn't agree...I'm not so much of a fan any more. He would clearly be a fool to run for President, as even without all of these stories surrounding the way he runs his office, the rest of the country finds his brusque personality offensive and off-putting.



posted on Jan, 19 2014 @ 01:02 PM
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Madame Hillary's only serious opposition in 2016 has been taken out at the knees. Brilliant! You've got to hand it to the Clinton's they are outstanding politicians.



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