Some cliche about noses & faces comes to mind.

Way to help folks out of the Depression there Gov Christie

So much for tax revenues from the 6k jobs

Penny wise, pound foolish as usual

The only tunneling that will be done on a bipartisan basis is straight into the Treasury.

LOL at the link at the Republicans being the party of paychecks.

Lies, more lies, theft, more lies, crapping on the Constitution, more lies, racism, more lies,…..etc. etc. I can think of a lot examples of what the Republican Party is the party of. Paychecks doesn’t even make the list.

Republicans are the Party of Paychecks and the Democrats are the Party of Food Stamps. What utter stoopid.

Hey, New Jersey, ya gets what you wanted.

in other news, Christie announces that the laid off slackers who are living large on unemployment will be drug tested until their benefits are cut off.

Wait a minute. I live in NJ and I’m not a fan of christie, but it seems that he did the right thing here. This whole thing has been a long time in the making and was probably not ever right. When you are dealing with transportation engineering in NJ, you are dealing with some of the least competent thinking about transportation, and dealing with the politics of the interstate transportation administrators with their inflated salaries and egos you have to be careful. This NJ pundit is extremely conservative and usually is criticizing christie for being too liberal, but he does lay out the problem concisely.

Sounds like someone wasn’t getting the proper amount of kickback. It’s New Jersey, ferchrissakes.

The GOP IS the party of paychecks, folks. Get with the program. Big fat old paychecks, otherwise known as payola, for the rich and powerful. Just not anything for thee and me, doncha know?

The GOPig Party of “PAYCHECKS SMALL ENOUGH TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR FOOD STAMPS”!!

I, also, live in NJ and you have to understand that the Democrats here are fat, dumb, and lazy. They’ve had things their way long enough to have become stuffed and sluggish. Christie has caught them flatfooted on every issue he’s raised. Read the article BearCountry links. Christie is a shit politician but the NJ Democrats are losers and they’re handing him one triumph after another.

Political powerplay, disregarding NJ citizens (afterall they didn’t all vote for him anyway) as he throws his hat into the Republican 2012 presidential primary race. Christie is placing himself as #1 opposition player against the Obama Administration.

“So much for tax revenues from the 6k jobs”

How about saving the taxpayer how many billions?

Sometimes when you don’t have the money, you don’t spend it.

True but this is the exact type of work that has a far reaching ripple effect. Those 6k jobs would put money into the economy of New Jersey and New York – buying food, clothing, shelter, maybe even cars and trucks. All of those purchases, and the corresponding other purchases from the asphalt companies and all the support contractors would go a long way to paying for the work itself. Income taxes, sales taxes on the purchases, people using the money to live.

I was driving when I heard this announced, so I missed some details, but someone interviewed cited potential 40,000 jobs, possibly including ones that New Jersey residents would have access to by use of the tunnel to get to NYC. Not sure.

Also, the reason NJ couldn’t afford it, it seems, is that Christie refused to raise the state tax on gasoline. No figures on how much it would have to be raised. But under the current cirucmstances, from 6 to 40k jobs, to the need for improved infrastructure – don’t we all know transportation issues require constant expenditures? – to providing for better traffic flow now and in the future – it’s hard to believe cancellation was the best option.

To me, it seems another casualty of “we cannot ever raise taxes again, ever, no, huh-uh, not for no reason whatsoever, nossir.” If the project was worth doing, it was worth a few cents more for gasoline. eCAHN’s old cliche seems apropos here.

OT, Wanna know how f++king crazy the sick bastards of Jersey are now?

They’re considering a plan to hunt/shoot feral cats!
I live in Jersey and the thought of shooting homeless cats has to be one of the most barbaric, cruel concept of animal control I’ve heard in a long while.. This is the mentality of America now.
Hunting kitty.
We move closer to Third World tactics every day.

Please sign the petition to stop this insanity. You don’t need to be a resident to sign.
http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/campaign.faces?siteId=3&campaign=FeralCats

dakine…

Must I remind you of the hoodwinking and bamboozling that the late great Ted Kennedy provided for magnificent city of Boston…

“The Big Dig” C’mon, Jersey is at least as corrupt as Boston, no?

The Big Dig was the most expensive highway project in the U.S.[2] Although the project was estimated in 1985 at $2.8 billion (in 1982 dollars, US$6.0 billion adjusted for inflation as of 2006[update]),[3] over $14.6 billion ($8.08 billion in 1982 dollars)[3] had been spent in federal and state tax dollars as of 2006[update].[4] A July 17, 2008 article in The Boston Globe stated, “In all, the project will cost an additional $7 billion in interest, bringing the total to a staggering $22 billion, according to a Globe review of hundreds of pages of state documents. It will not be paid off until 2038.”[5] At the beginning of the project, Congressman Barney Frank joked, “Wouldn’t it be cheaper to raise the city than depress the artery?”[6] The project has incurred criminal arrests,[7][8] escalating costs, death, leaks, and charges of poor execution and use of substandard materials. Former Massachusetts Attorney General Thomas Reilly demanded that contractors refund taxpayers $108 million for “shoddy work”.[9] On January 23, 2008, it was reported that Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff, the consortium that oversaw the project, would pay $407 million in restitution for its poor oversight of subcontractors (some of whom committed outright fraud), as well as primary responsibility in the death of a motorist. However, despite admitting to poor oversight and negligence as part of the settlement,[10] the firm is not barred from bidding for future government contracts. Several smaller companies agreed to pay a combined sum of approximately $51 million.[11]

However, despite admitting to poor oversight and negligence as part of the settlement,[10] the firm is not barred from bidding for future government contracts. Several smaller companies agreed to pay a combined sum of approximately $51 million.[11]

So we can never have large highway public works projects ever again because some of the ones in the past had some corruption? For that seems to be what you are saying, So I guess we just let it all fall into decay and never ever spend any money at all trying to make things more efficient, right?

Edit: I’m not excusing corruption – it seems that the way to forestall corruption is to have oversight, something that I recall was woefully lacking on the Big Dig from a string of R governors there

And, that’s one reason they shouldn’t be allowed to divert that ‘earmarked’ money to anything else. If it’s earmarked it CAN’T be spent on anything else or Christie goes to jail!

Republicans: Let people eat their tax savings.

Wars, yes.

Infrastructure, no.

Am I the only one who thinks that Christie’s a dick? Shouldn’t voters in northern NJ be supremely pissed off right now?

Well, mass transit, stimulus jobs, improving infrastructure are so yesterday. In the U.S. of tomorrow where Republicans are in charge, you’re on your own. If those construction workers want to work can’t they sell apples on the corner? Could they not renounce their union membership? Could they not grovel at the feet of Lord Christie, asking for more gruel?

The “good” morons, I mean “citizens”, of the Garden State elected this paragon of Republican virtue. No my friend, the electorate in the U.S. has been so dumbed down and indoctrinated they truly are nothing more than morons. A democracy cannot long endure when the citizenry are uninformed, ill-informed morons, but then the Republicans and their fellow plutocrats know that.

Are they hunting the cats for food or is it merely to recapture the spirit of Daniel Boone or Davy Crockett?

dakine1…
First of all the governor in MA is a figurehead. Nothing gets done in Boston without filling the pockets of both Democratic leaders in the House and Senate. I do not believe Republicans have had a majority in either one in 50 years.Secondly the the governor is powerless in MA without having the mayor in his backpocket. That would again be a democrat in Thomas “Mumbles” Menino.
William Weld… Yeah his policies were so conservative that Clinton nominated him for ambassador to Mexico.

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*** ModNote: While we encourage rigorous conversation, personal insults are discouraged***

How does that Bible verse go? You shall reap what you sow.

A local reporter said Christie may be trying to blackmail the Feds into promising to pay any overages — which, intrestingly, would give NJ officials a blank check….

Oh, God, yes, do you know what we need? Less work to replace the crumbling infrastructure in the Northeast. It’s not like people are literally dying or anything.

You see, when the pumps shut down, the tunnels collapse, and the entire thing submerges? Delaware will be beach-front bikini territory. AND YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS

you see less people with disposable income and thus less demand will uhhhh bring…the…economy…back…to serfdom I don’t know, I have a hard time following the logic (as does anyone else with half a brain).

I supposed somehow “saving the money” is better, as if it’ll do anything but either sit in a bank account, or be used for tax cuts for rich folk, which is essentially the same thing.

There are some dumb motherfuckers who actually think New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie could be a viable presidential contender for 2012.

Glad you asked.
The hunt would be to control the population. Many states including Jersey currently use the TNR (trap, neuter, release) program. It has been very successful in keeping the numbers in check as well as being humane.
In reality, hunting feral cats is not about population control but population decimation.

A few months back I learned who is really behind the plan to kill feral cats nationwide. It’s a quid pro quo between the corporate monster Salazar and The Audobon Society. Audobon has been blaming feral cats for the decline in songbirds for years. Hard to fathom their deliberate denial of reality of the decline in birds due to climate change, industrial pollution, and manmade habitat destruction.

The quid pro quo is Audobon relinquishes their stewarship of protected parcels of land smattered around the country so Salazar can sell it off for corporate pillaging such as timber. In turn, Salazar quietly implements a plan to kill off millions of feral cats. No surprise that the beast Christie and the corrupt Dems of Jersey jump on board.

When is a protest in Trenton about this going to happen. There are thousands upon thousands of us, union members or not, who are ready to march. This cannot stand. A protest should be scheduled IMMEDIATELY. We must demand it!

Agreed. They voted for him and he is giving them what they voted for.

This guy is an idiot. Everyone up here knows it too and the people of NJ are finally realizing it more and more each day. He screwed up his little “Race to the Top” submission and now is screwing this up. All the while he’s been trying ever so to cut property taxes. He hasn’t done one right thing since he sleazed his way into the Governor’s office.