Christie Crime Digest-Volume IV

[rocktivity]

153. This Blows Bridge(t)-Gate Out Of The Water...

Because he has no clandestine underlings to blame it on.

NJ.com (February 2014): The New Jersey Legislature plans to revive a bill giving Gov. Chris Christie the authority to raise salaries for top staff, enact a pension change that benefits a few elected officials and clear the way for Christie, a possible 2016 presidential candidate, to earn income from a book deal while in office...

To help secure votes for the proposal...(a)ll 120 legislators would see a $30,000 increase in the size of their budgets for staff salaries, bringing the total to $140,000 per legislator. The legislators pay their chiefs of staff and other aides out of that annual allocation, an amount that has not increased in more than a decade. Legislators themselves continue to earn $49,000 and would not see a raise.

The bill could reach Christie's desk as soon as next Friday, the lawmakers said. Among other things, it includes a provision that adds book fees to the list of income state officials like Christie are allowed to receive. Current law prohibits such outside income while in office.

NJ.com (February 2015): Every winning presidential candidate in the last 60 years has first published a book. So where is Gov. Chris Christie's?...(T)he 2016 field of GOP contenders have been teeing up 2016-aimed books at rapid-fire pace...

Under New Jersey state law, a sitting governor is barred from "receiving or agreeing to receive, whether directly or indirectly, any compensation, salary, honorarium, fee, or other form of income from any source, other than the compensation paid or reimbursed to him/her by the State for the performance of official duties." But that could change in the coming weeks or months.

Late last year, lawmakers worked on a deal that would rewrite the law to allow Christie to profit from a book deal in exchange for more money for legislative staff and judicial salaries..."We've got a lot of people working in these offices for far less than they'd make in the private sector, so if a bill comes up that lets the governor to profit from a book, and also increases the allotment for staffers, I'd certainly be open to it," said Assemblyman Declan O'Scanlon...

Assemblyman John Burzichelli (D-Gloucester) said his bill to allow Christie to profit from a book could again gain traction if the governor "really wants it," noting that Christie may become increasingly motivated with each passing week. "The clock is ticking with his circumstances," he said.

NJ.com (December 2016): Tension is likely to be high at the Statehouse...as New Jersey lawmakers are scheduled to begin considering a pair of controversial bills linked to Gov. Chris Christie...

One (bill) the governor's office says could save money but critics warn could seriously hurt the state's newspapers. The other measure would loosen a state ethics law to allow Christie -- a Republican who is entering his second and final term -- to profit from a book deal while still in office. At the same time, it would allow millions of dollars in raises for high-ranking government employees that proponents say are long overdue. Both bills -- which have bipartisan support and are updates of past legislation that failed -- are being fast-tracked through the Democratic-controlled state Legislature.

NJ.com: ...(a) legal ad... is a notice that is required by law to be advertised in a local newspapers to meet public disclosure rules. Legal ads can be (placed by) municipalities announcing government actions or disclosing delinquent taxpayer notices...(B)usinesses and individuals are sometimes required to place public notices...The bill would allow businesses to place the ads for free.

Advocates say it would...save municipalities money...because (they) could post notices online and wouldn't need to spend anything on advertising...(T)he municipality would have to create a "notice website" that would have to be secure and searchable...cost(ing) money to establish and maintain...infrastructure, personnel and technology requirements...

The New Jersey Press Association estimates 200 to 300 jobs could be cut from the newspaper industry that's already reeling from a record decline in ad revenue if it loses public notice advertising...Christie has had a rocky relationship with the state's press.

It doesn't sound like his relationship with political expediency is doing well, either. Sure, the argument could be made that he ought to be able to write a book, and no doubt legislative raises are long overdue. But to turn them into Siamese twins -- at long last, has he no shame? And WHY does he still want to do the book? He no longer needs it as an instrument of national recognition. It's been about a year since his wife left her $750K part-time job -- maybe they're just hurting for money. But the real point is, each time he's tried to slip this deal through, the public has shouted it down for the smarmy backroom deal that it is...hmm, maybe Bridge(t)-Gate isn't the ONLY "rock" in Chrisite's relationship with the press!


rocktivity