All-purpose news and politics thread: Two Steps Beyond!

[worstblogever]

Haven't gone to a state park yet, but I've seen pictures like this online:



and I'm starting to wonder who put them up and if Christie was behind it? I mean, it's so Trumpian if you think about it.

From what I have read, the Assembly Speaker did what he did because he was concerned that the budget was going to have a negative effect on the NJ Health Care.

LOL. Ain't nobody gonna buy that bucket of tripe now, with Christie partying it up on said "closed beach".

[Daryl]

"Asked if this was fair, Christie said: “Run for governor, and you can have a residence there.”

"I got mine. Screw you." At least Christie was honest about it. I am still surprised he isn't already part of Trump's administration but yeah, this seems to bolster his credentials. Damn.

[Kirby101]

What the Budget impasse is about. Christie has already raided the State Pension fund. Now he wants to raid a surplus in the Health fund.

Bankrupt tomorrow for bad governing today, the GOP way.

[Tami]

I think Christie is trying to take the state down with him

As N.J. welfare programs shrink, advocates raise concern

As potential cuts to the federal Medicaid program command headlines, advocates in New Jersey are raising concerns about shrinking state programs for the poor.

Funding for several state welfare programs, including assistance for people at immediate risk of becoming homeless, has decreased 50 percent since fiscal 2015, according to New Jersey Policy Perspective, a left-leaning think tank.

Meanwhile, the benefit for a family of three under the state’s public assistance program for poor families remains at $424 a month, where it has been since 1987.

Advocates are pressing lawmakers to increase benefits in the upcoming state budget and to reverse a separate $5 million cut to legal services for the poor proposed by Gov. Christie.

[Kirby101]

I think Christie is trying to take the state down with him

As N.J. welfare programs shrink, advocates raise concern

But he continues to give massive giveaways to fat cat developers of questionable projects.

[worstblogever]

Outside of maybe Brian Sandoval in Nevada, there's a long, long list of terrible GOP governors at the moment.

[Tami]

Christie is so easy to make fun of, I can't wait til he's gone and hopefully we have a Democratic Governor next.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Christie is so easy to make fun of, I can't wait til he's gone and hopefully we have a Democratic Governor next.

Clearly Christie is in full "don't give a damn" mode. He knows his term will soon be up and doesn't care what people, including his constituents think of him, provided of course he ever did care. If he fails to land a job in Mango Mussolini's Abominable Administration, he'll probably end up a talking head on Faux News. Meanwhile, thank every god in the heavens he wore a shirt in that picture, there ain't enough brain bleach on the planet that could shield my mind from the horror of his Michelin Man physique bared for all to see.

[Mister Mets]

I think Christie is trying to take the state down with him

As N.J. welfare programs shrink, advocates raise concern

A politician can be opposed to a policy you like (assistance for the poor) without believing that it will actually harm the state.

[Tami]

A politician can be opposed to a policy you like (assistance for the poor) without believing that it will actually harm the state.

There is a clear line between 'belief' and 'facts'. A politician can believe the world is flat, Little Green Martians killed JFK, and dogs and cats are conspiring to take over the world ... that doesn't make it true. [Cats, maybe. Dogs can be pretty dumb]

[Tami]

America’s Future Is Texas

With right-wing zealots taking over the legislature even as the state’s demographics shift leftward, Texas has become the nation’s bellwether.

Texas is as politically divided as the rest of the U.S., but a recurrent crop of crackpots and ideologues has fed its reputation for proud know-nothingism and retrograde thinking.

I’ve lived in Texas for most of my life, and I’ve come to appreciate what the state symbolizes, both to people who live here and to those who view it from afar. Texans see themselves as a distillation of the best qualities of America: friendly, confident, hardworking, patriotic, neurosis-free. Outsiders see us as the nation’s id, a place where rambunctious and disavowed impulses run wild. Texans, it is thought, mindlessly celebrate individualism, and view government as a kind of kryptonite that weakens the entrepreneurial muscles. We’re reputed to be braggarts; careless with money and our personal lives; a little gullible, but dangerous if crossed; insecure, but obsessed with power and prestige.

Texans, however, are hardly monolithic. The state is as politically divided as the rest of the nation. One can drive across it and be in two different states at the same time: FM Texas and AM Texas. FM Texas is the silky voice of city dwellers, the kingdom of NPR. It is progressive, blue, reasonable, secular, and smug—almost like California. AM Texas speaks to the suburbs and the rural areas: Trumpland. It’s endless bluster and endless ads. Paranoia and piety are the main items on the menu.

[Mister Mets]

There is a clear line between 'belief' and 'facts'. A politician can believe the world is flat, Little Green Martians killed JFK, and dogs and cats are conspiring to take over the world ... that doesn't make it true. [Cats, maybe. Dogs can be pretty dumb]

But that's not the claim you make when you said "I think Christie is trying to take the state down with him." That requires the belief that Chris Christie is actively trying to harm New Jersey by this policy, which seems unlikely, even taking into account his flaws as a politician and as a human being.

I think one of the problems in current political discourse is the belief that politicians aren't just mistaken; they're evil, and that they always know that what they're doing is going to be harmful. And that's not how it goes. People will have different views on issues like the best use of the public purse.

[Tami]

But that's not the claim you make when you said "I think Christie is trying to take the state down with him." That requires the belief that Chris Christie is actively trying to harm New Jersey by this policy, which seems unlikely, even taking into account his flaws as a politician and as a human being.

I think one of the problems in current political discourse is the belief that politicians aren't just mistaken; they're evil, and that they always know that what they're doing is going to be harmful. And that's not how it goes. People will have different views on issues like the best use of the public purse.

I was being partly facetious. the other part comes from having lived in NJ my whole life and knowing how screwed up NJ politics can be, equally from both sides of the political spectrum.

Remember, Christie is the Gov who, if not out right ordered it at least set up the political environment in which Bridgegate could happen. I'm not so willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

My comments don't apply to politicians as a whole, just to Chris Christie. Maybe you still have some love for him, but most New Jerseyians don't.

[Malvolio]

Christie is so easy to make fun of, I can't wait til he's gone and hopefully we have a Democratic Governor next.

So wait a minute. That baseball cap is supposed to shield Christie's entire body from the sun? Well, I suppose someone who denies that global warming is caused by humans would also have a problem figuring out how to shield himself from getting a sunburn.

[Judge Dredd]

How is Christie still in office you just hear nothing good about the man and the nonsense he brings to the table.