The True Nature Of Christie's Corruption... [View all]

[Laxman]

lies in the long term policy damage he is inflicting in pursuit of his personal political goals. I keep saying that the bridge is just the excuse to start turning over the rocks. Here's an interesting article that discusses the squandering of billions in Sandy recovery aid:

While the byzantine details of the George Washington Bridge lane closures capture the attention of the public and the media, the state faces issues that have the potential to negatively effect New Jersey residents for generations to come. The failure to adequately plan New Jersey’s recovery from Sandy and the inability to properly allocate the billions in recovery aid will be the real scandal. 16 months after Sandy, the state has managed to spend money on housing projects in Belleville and New Brunswick that were on the books before the storm and pay millions to outside, politically connected, contractors to help administer and distribute homeowner assistance. This includes a $10 million settlement to fired contractor HGI and $5 million more for a Christie family beach movie. Think about what that money alone could have done. There is no sign of a transparent coordinated plan that addresses the breadth of issues that the state is facing.

What New Jersey needs is a common sense approach to recovery that goes beyond the distribution of individual assistance that helps people rebuild homes damaged by Sandy’s flooding. An integrated and comprehensive plan that recognizes the threats of climate change and sea level rise in a densely populated coastal state should, at a minimum, provide the guiding principals for recovery. What it appears that we have gotten is a muddled and highly political system for distribution of Sandy money without a clear vision or discernible long-term goals. More disturbingly, it appears that aid may have been distributed (or not) based in part upon political considerations. There is nothing more corrupt than squandering the state’s long-term future in exchange for short-term political advantage.

you can read the full article here: http://enviropolitics.wordpress.com/2014/02/18/your-tax-dollars-at-work-or-not/ it's well worth 5 minutes of your time. It hits Christie kind of hard in a way that doesn't seem mean-spirited.