‘fellergate

From CNN:

Hot piece of land in Hoboken at center of Christie-Zimmer dispute

Most issues in Hoboken, New Jersey, ultimately boil down to real estate.

So it’s no surprise to the residents of the small city that the dustup between their mayor and Gov. Chris Christie’s administration centers around three square blocks in the north end of Hoboken.

With multimillion-dollar high-rise views of the New York City skyline, beautifully restored 19th century townhouses on quiet side streets, and trendy restaurants, bars and boutiques along the main drag, real estate is a prime commodity in the city that gave us Frank Sinatra and the reality television show “Cake Boss.”

The Rockefeller Group, a major real estate holding company in the United States, wants to add to that landscape with a mixed-use development. Among the proposed apartment buildings and commercial spaces is a 40-story tower. It would be the city’s tallest structure.

Mayor Dawn Zimmer favors a plan that would divert water from the Hudson River into a new green belt around the city. The plans for that green belt skirt the Rockefeller Group’s coveted development site.

Zimmer said she isn’t opposed to developing those three blocks. But she has concerns about congestion and a strain on public services in the fourth most densely packed city in the United States.

“My No. 1 priority is to do what’s right for Hoboken,” Zimmer said CNN’s State of the Union with Candy Crowley. “We have severe needs and we have to look at this comprehensively.”

At the center of the controversy is Zimmer’s claim that two members of Christie’s administration made it clear to her that Sandy recovery funds distributed by his office would be contingent on her approval of the Rockefeller Group’s development project.

The real estate company denied any knowledge of a quid pro quo relating to its project. A statement from the Rockefeller Group said: “We have no knowledge of any information pertaining to this allegation. If it turns out to be true, it would be deplorable.”

This entry was posted in New Development, New Jersey Real Estate, Politics. Bookmark the permalink.

108 Responses to ‘fellergate

  1. anon (the good one) says:

    @NFLJesus: NJ Gov Chris Christie just delayed the Super Bowl until it endorses him.

  2. Fast Eddie says:

    live, from the train station! does this mean I get to buy a house now? lol!

  3. Grim says:

    Cake boss association a negative for ‘boken. The fact that the author would put that next to Sinatra is downright insulting.

  4. anon (the good one) says:

    @billmaher: Boy, the Republicans are really circling the wagons around #ChrisChristie! But who has that many wagons?

  5. grim says:

    4 – Surprised to see that level of discrimination from the democrats. I suppose it’s ok to call a republican a kike or a nigger too?

  6. Comrade Nom Deplume, a.k.a Captain Justice says:

    [5] grim,

    It’s called a double standard unless you’re on the left. Then it’s called “justice”.

  7. Juiice Box says:

    Rockefeller group is a Japanese Holding Company.

  8. grim says:

    Self righteous hypocritical bigots

  9. anon (the good one) says:

    “How Chris Christie Can Survive Political Scandal:

    Compensate for all of the traffic he blocked by getting rid of stop signs for a while

    Try to adhere to the values he held before becoming a politician, back when he was just an innocent young lobbyist for major energy companies and financial firms

    Make sure he includes at least a dozen children behind him in every speech given over the next few weeks

    Buy his second family a new house to keep them quiet and happy

    Help bolster his everyman appearance by funneling millions of dollars through Super PACs to produce nationwide ad campaigns that make him look better

    Tuck the head into the body and shield the internal organs by curling into tight ball

    Trust that fellow elected officials understand his lack of culpability in the matter and that no self-respecting presidential candidate would dare mention the scandal in the 2016 election

    Receive eternal political redemption by slaughtering the first born on the third full moon of the year deep in the New Jersey Pine Barrens
    Accidentally spill a big cup of coffee on every copy of every newspaper with stories about his scandal

    Hold large, elaborate public event in which Christie lies hidden under a pile of ashes and then jumps out with large wings attached while shouting, “Out of the ashes rises the Phoenix!”
    Stick to his guns and call out the mayor of Fort Lee for the rat bastard he is”

  10. Comrade Nom Deplume, a.k.a Captain Justice says:

    They wouldn’t survive in my part of the state.

    BTW, it’s now okay to talk like that. I’m just quoting Cuomo.

  11. Comrade Nom Deplume, a.k.a Captain Justice says:

    [9] anon

    anon, is it too much to ask for some originality? So far, the only talent you’ve displayed is annoying arsehole. Please show us a fingerprinting or something!

  12. Comrade Nom Deplume, a.k.a Captain Justice says:

    S/b fingerpainting. Damn autocorrect.

  13. Ottoman says:

    5 – Christie’s weight is fair game when he uses his bible to discriminate against gay couples by invoking the alleged “2000 year old tradition of marriage” over and over yet he ignores its admonitions against his fat azz:

    Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh: For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.
    – Proverbs 23:20-21

    Hey, maybe that’s why he’s going down in flames! LOL

    One of the funniest parts of this is the port authority funded study determined only the 3 blocks owned by Rockefeller should be designated redevelopment worthy. Dummies were so greedy they couldn’t fudge it and throw in a few more blocks for coverage.

  14. chicagofinance says:

    anon….care to peruse some history about the Clinton and Whitewater? Nah…too much effort. For the record, Slick Willie is my favorite President in my lifetime hands down…..I don’t even think it is a race…..

  15. grim says:

    and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.
    – Proverbs 23:20-21

    Going to use this one to justify sleeping in later than usual this week. Thanks JC!

    BTW – Foot of snow for his inauguration is clearly god’s wrath.

  16. grim says:

    http://www.jokes4us.com/yomamajokes/yomamasofatjokes.html

    Yo Momma so fat, I bumped into her and said “Sorry, my mistake.” And she said “Did you just say steak?!”

  17. grim says:

    Already coming down in North Jersey

  18. Street Justice says:

    It’s going to be a fun drive home this evening….

  19. freedy says:

    6 to 12 inches of snow expected for the New York Metro area, there is a Kvetching Advisory in effect this afternoon

  20. Chuchundra says:

    I’m not a big fan of the Christie fat jokes. I think they are a distraction from the real issues at hand and they make Christie critics look like sniggering third graders.

    But it’s funny to see some of the righties clutch their pearls and retire to their fainting couches over a few fat jokes after shrugging their shoulders for years at the torrent of racist, misogynistic, homophobic invective that spews daily from the uncorked id of the right-wing noise machine.

  21. Phoenix says:

    15 Chifi,
    Ratio 85/3.5b. Would a 75/6b be the ratio that signals the end of the middle class?
    At what rate is this accelerating? Which will come first, end of m/c or end of PAT?

  22. xolepa says:

    Does anyone notice that Grim has upped his level of rhetoric the past few weeks? Believe me, I don’t mind it at all. I’m just curious as to what personal experience of late has left him a little more bitter at things that are happening around us.

    I, as always, side with him.

  23. Juice Box says:

    I gather the FBI gets the night off too.

    TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie’s inauguration party tonight on Ellis Island has been canceled due to the weather, the planning committee announced this morning.

    http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2014/01/snow_cancels_chris_christies_inagural_ball_on_ellis_island.html#incart_m-rpt-1

  24. Michael says:

    15- That’s pretty insane that 85 people have more wealth than 3.5 billion. I don’t even think I can wrap my head around that. Insanity. Seriously, how can 85 people have more wealth than 3.5 billion people combined?!?! Can’t be good for the overall economy.

  25. nwnj says:

    #25 Reval on his latest tax bill?

  26. nwnj says:

    #26

    I’m sure they’d prefer to avoid the additional attention that the inaguration will bring anyway, so it’s a no brainer. Let the storm pass, literally and figuratively.

  27. grim says:

    Income/Economic mobility isn’t about the poor becoming more well off, it’s about having equal opportunities to move up or down. To have “perfect” economic mobility, the probability of someone becoming poor is equal to that of them becoming rich. It works both ways, don’t think folks want to acknowledge that.

    Easy to imagine a la-la-land where economic mobility is a one way street up, but that isn’t how the concept works.

  28. grim says:

    25 – Just making waves

  29. grim says:

    26 – That would have made a spectacular arrest scene, can you imagine? FBI barges in and arrests Christie and his cronies just as he starts his speech.

    That would be true Jersey style corruption, John Stewart would be proud. Oliver Stone would be directing the movie.

  30. JJ says:

    My real estate tax bill is the bomb. I am getting a check back for 40% of the 2013 taxes paid and getting 40% off my 2014 taxes. They are cancelling break for 2015 as it is assumed it sandy damaged is fixed.

    Current property tax is $8,600, so this year year will be $5,160. When I bought house in December 1999 the property taxes were $5,900.

    Since I am in AMT and cant deduct property tax I love grieving them to death.

    I also read the Sandy damage form several times and no where did it state I had to own property at time of Sandy. It just stated property had to be damaged in Sandy and I had to submit receipts or insurance proof of damage. I called assessor office three times and no one could answer. Since the town and state of NY is not paying for it they told me put it in and see what happens. So I also filed for it on the condo I bought. That is a long shot but what the heck I have seen stupider things happen.

  31. Godzilla shoveling snow says:

    I saw this at another site and copy and paste it:

    Yves here. I must confess I have not been paying much attention to the Chris Christie scandal, partly because it is on the periphery of this blog’s beat and in part because the reason it’s remained national news is that Christie was widely seen as a contender in the 2016 presidential election. Like Lambert, I find it painful to think much about 2016 now. And remember the seven dwarves of 1992? Viable candidates can emerge from crowded fields late in the game.

    Even so, it’s been obvious that this story has gotten more media play than it seems to deserve and the Republicans are going to extreme lengths trying to preserve Christie as a national figure. Gaius’s story gives a plausible explanation as to why that’s taking place.

    By Gaius Publius, a professional writer living on the West Coast of the United States and contributing editor at AmericaBlog. Follow him on Twitter @Gaius_Publius and Facebook. Cross posted from AmericaBlog

    The Chris Christie story is becoming clearer and clearer.

    I don’t mean the George Washington Bridge story, though thanks to people like Steve Kornacki and his MSNBC associates, that’s becoming clear as well.

    I mean the story behind the story. Who’s sabotaging Chris Christie to force him out of office and off the national stage? And who’s supporting him in his bid for the power of the presidency?

    About the latter — who’s supporting Christie’s White House ambitions — we have the invaluable Chris Hedges. Your bottom line — every mean SOB billionaire, from Wall Street to the Koch Bros, wants Christie in office. And every element of the “security and surveillance apparatus” — the NSA, the Pentagon, presumably the CIA- and FBI-aligned forces as well — also want him in power, at least as Hedges sees it.

    I’ll give Hedges’ key point first, then a broader sampling of this interesting and readable article. Hedges, writing in Truthdig (my emphasis and paragraphing):

    Christie is the caricature of a Third World despot. He has a vicious temper, a propensity to bully and belittle those weaker than himself, an insatiable thirst for revenge against real or perceived enemies, and little respect for the law and, as recent events have made clear, for the truth.

    He is gripped by a bottomless hedonism that includes a demand for private jets, huge entourages, exclusive hotels and lavish meals.

    Wall Street and the security and surveillance apparatus want a real son of a bitch in power, someone with the moral compass of Al Capone, in order to ruthlessly silence and crush those of us who are working to overthrow the corporate state. They have had enough of what they perceive to be Barack Obama’s softness. Christie fits the profile and he is drooling for the opportunity.

    Activists, Democratic and Republican rivals for power, liberals, reformers and environmentalists will, if Christie becomes president, see the vast forces of the security state surge into overdrive to stymie and reverse reform, gut our tepid financial and environmental regulations, further enrich the corporate elite who are pillaging the country, and savagely shut down all dissent. The corporate state’s repression, now on the brink of totalitarianism, would with the help of Christie, his corporate backers and his tea party loyalists become a full-blown corporate fascism.

    Several things to note here. First, working from the bottom of the quote up, reread the list of those who will feel the club if Christie wins big power. The vulnerability of “Republican rivals” makes Republican opposition to Christie make perfect sense. For other Republicans, a Christie win won’t be a Republican win — it will be a Christie win. And only that. And New Jersey Republicans especially have first-hand knowledge of the kind of vindictive threat he poses.

    Second, notice the comment about Christie having the “moral compass of Al Capone,” and how lack of conscience makes him a perfect candidate for the conscienceless national spook state (my phrasing), Wall Street billionaires, and the industrial and corporate billionaire-elites like David Koch. They would unite their fists in one man — Chris Christie — and he would act crushingly in their behalf, at least according to Hedges. This is a stark portrait indeed. Ancient kings were like this man; bad ancient kings.

    Finally, in the very first paragraph in the quote, Hedges mentions something I didn’t know but could have inferred — that Christie is “gripped by a bottomless hedonism that includes a demand for private jets, huge entourages, exclusive hotels and lavish meals.” Bottomless hedonism? We’re way past fat jokes and into ancient kings territory again. Emperor Nero comes to mind. If true, this is a whole different beast, this Christie.

    About That “Bottomless Hedonism”

    In case you think that Hedges’ hedonism comment is just a guess, here’s a little more from the article:

    The Romney campaign, which reluctantly agreed to Christie’s incessant demands for private jets, ungainly entourages and expensive hotel rooms in return for campaign appearances by the governor in behalf of the GOP nominee, decided against selecting him as running mate because, as the authors write, Romney’s vetters were “stunned by the garish controversies lurking in the shadows of his record.”

    And:

    A 2010 U.S. Department of Justice inspector general’s investigation of Christie’s spending patterns in the federal job he held before he became governor, the book [“Double Down: Game Change 2012”] notes, called Christie “the U.S. attorney who most often exceeded the government [travel expense] rate without adequate justification” and someone who offered “insufficient, inaccurate, or no justification” for stays at exclusive hotels such as the Four Seasons.

    And:

    In addition, the inspector general’s report raised questions among Romney’s vetters about “Christie’s relationship with a top female deputy who accompanied him on many trips,” the book [“Double Down: Game Change 2012”] said.

    I dare you to think Emperor Nero when reading these three quotes. Remember, Hedges was a first-rate mainstream reporter before he exited the mainstream. He’s still a first-rate reporter. Do you think this depiction is wrong?

  32. Anon E. Moose says:

    Chu [23];

    they make Christie critics look like sniggering third graders.

    Which is precisely their mental level. More so revealing than denigrating, which work well, as far as I’m concerned. Go turn on Letterman tonight and listen to him tell another ‘CC is SOOO fat…” joke. At least Leno has the balls to poke fun at his O-ness and the Lefties (not a bad band name, huh?) once in a while, too. If Letterman can’t find a single thing funny to say about his own ideological side, he needs to pack it in. Then again, “No enemies to the left” has a long history with the Bolsheviks.

    Good to hear from you again. Best to you and yours in the village.

  33. Comrade Nom Deplume, a.k.a Captain Justice says:

    [34] Godzilla,

    Facts worthy of corroboration at least however given Hedges overt partisan reporting on other (okay, all) issues, I can’t help but be skeptical of his conclusions and even his facts.

    Speaking of partisan, Cuomo basically tells a percentage of upstate voters, you, or at least your voices, aren’t welcome here (and a veiled threat of harm), and the stories on CNN and MSNBC are zero. But they are all over claims that Christie bullied Carl Lewis.

    I think if I call Salon and claim that Christie bullied me, I’d get a front page spread.

  34. Comrade Nom Deplume, a.k.a Captain Justice says:

    [35] moose,

    I gotta admit, a small part of me is relishing the prospect of an active partisan war.

  35. Street Justice says:

    Godzilla: You lost me at “tea party loyalists”. They are in no way loyal to him. In fact, they hate his guts.

    Dude who wrote that is just another Christie hater…

  36. Street Justice says:

    Sean Hannity leaving New York over Gov. Cuomo slam of pro-lifers

    http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/jan/21/sean-hannity-leaving-new-york-over-gov-cuomo-slam-/

    Conservative radio host Sean Hannity delivered a harsh response to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s remarks against pro-lifers living in New York: I’m packing my bags and leaving.

    Mr. Cuomo said in a recent radio interview that pro-life conservatives have “no place in the state of New York because that’s not who New Yorkers are.”

    Mr. Hannity replied, via his syndicated radio show, Breitbart.com reported: “Now I want to tell you something — I was born and raised in New York. I want you to know that, and I can’t wait to get out of here. I really can’t. I don’t want to pay their 10-percent state tax anymore. I live in the second-highest property taxed county in the entire country in Nassau County. I can’t wait to sell my house to somebody who wants it. I can’t wait to pay no state income tax down in Florida or Texas. I haven’t decided yet, but I’m leaning Florida because I like the water and I like to fish.”

    Mr. Hannity’s hosted his radio show in the city since the late 1990s. His leaving means he will join the ranks of fellow conservative radio stars Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck, both of whom recently left for homes in Florida and Texas, respectively.

    “Gov. Cuomo, I’m going to leave and I’m taking all of my money with me — every single, solitary penny,” Mr. Hannity said, Breitbart reported. “And by the way governor, because I work here — there’s a whole bunch of people that work for me and benefit because I do two shows. And I guess maybe some of them will be out of work, governor. I’m sure you’ll take care of them.”

  37. JJ says:

    You know what I love Cuomo!!! He is the best. His dad Mario even spoke at my college graduation. I dont like Chris Christie. Funny they are both middle aged Italian Catholics but Christie just looks like a fat blowhard.

    Plus he screwed everyone in Sandy. Where did all that money go? He gave very very little to homeowners. Yet he got just as big a pot as NY

  38. Street Justice says:

    They both suck.

  39. Painhrtz - Disobey! says:

    not that I care what hannity has to say, but i know my fair share of upstate gun owning conservatives and they are through the roof over the cuomo comment. they love where they live but they are done and looking to move. Pig man can get away with it because he has the NYC Albany coridor locked up. not enough votes in upstate to oust him, and he is using the statist baseball bat of F*ck you that’s why.

  40. Street Justice says:

    Anybody who has a job working at the Remington plant must be pooping in their pants right now.

  41. JJ says:

    But Sandra Dee must be a better cook that Christies wife.

    Christie looks like the Met Life blimp

    Street Justice says:
    January 21, 2014 at 12:23 pm

    They both suck.

  42. Comrade Nom Deplume, a.k.a Captain Justice says:

    [44] street,

    Hard to say. Three manufacturers moved operations or headquarters out of the state, but those were smaller companies. Remington received a lot of subsidies to build and expand in New York; New York would probably come after them if they tried to relocate. Also, Remington’s beef with New York had to do with micro stamping but that is unlikely to become law.

    It’s one thing for South Carolina or Texas or Tennessee to offer incentives for a company of 100 people to move; it’s another thing to come up with enough incentives to get a larger company to move, especially when you are battling the home state in incentives. I could easily see New York digging in and outbidding any other state to keep Remington because the optic of losing a manufacturer that large will resonate.

  43. 1987 Condo says:

    #43..there are probably somrthing like 5,000 NYers that provide 90% of the income tax revenue to NYC and NY State, Cuomo probably identified each of them and figures everyone else is a net detractor!!! LOL!

  44. Comrade Nom Deplume, a.k.a Captain Justice says:

    [43] pain,

    What you will see more of, but may not hear much about it, is a number of business owners pulling up stakes in New York and moving their headquarters to places like Florida, even if they leave operations upstate. If they are organized as pass-through entities, then their income is not subject to New York taxes. Provided that they don’t run the risk of a reprisal audit from Albany, they can be loud about taxation and the SAFE Act. But if they keep operations in New York, and travel there periodically, they will be quiet about it because they don’t want to be audited.

  45. Dissident HEHEHE says:

    This piece gives some further detail re that piece of land in Hoboken and the connection’s to Christies buddies at the Port Authority:

    Hoboken Mayor: Christie Team Shook Us Down for Sandy Relief

    http://talkingpointsmemo.com/cafe/hoboken-mayor-christie-team-shook-us-down-for-sandy-relief

    As I said yesterday I doubt Zimmer is lying. Her major selling point is that she’s not a crook like the rest of the Hudson county pols – and given their unending efforts to oust her and prevent her from getting anything done there’s no other conclusion you can make other than she isn’t a crook.

  46. Dissident HEHEHE says:

    The Cake Boss still packs them into that joint.

    No matter the weather there’a a line of tourists and people from out of town in line to get an overpriced cannoli and perhaps a glimpse of one of the D-list celebrities “in action”.

    It’s a good bakery but nothing worth waiting in line over.

  47. Libtard in Union says:

    Guys…the real story is the public sector pensions. Pay attention! The partisan crap is your diversion. Baa!

    Do the math. Current formula is as follows:

    10% of base (no contribution from overtime). Was 8.5% until 2011. Collect pension at 50 based on average salary of last three years including overtime.

    Math does not work. Run some scenarios. See for yourself. And government keeps getting larger. Doesn’t help that wealthy don’t contribute a fair share.

    But no. Pay attention to the fat guy and the liar that other guy who pokes girls with cigars. Baa!

  48. Libtard in Union says:

    Or the cake boss.

  49. xolepa says:

    (51)
    ‘Doesn’t help that wealthy don’t contribute a fair share’

    What is their fair share? Can you please show the studies?

  50. Libtard in Union says:

    I shouldn’t say contribute a fair share. Sorry. Let me correct that to say that our tax system favors the ultra wealthy both in regards to tax treatment and their ability to maintain such ultra wealth.

    Invest in barbed wire.

  51. Libtard in Union says:

    I don’t need a study. I remember reading that when Corzine was governor, he paid something like 12% of his 79 million income in taxes. That year I paid 28% of my 6 figure income in taxes. Seems fair to me.

  52. JJ says:

    Cuomo is a businessman. He in no way shape or form screws high income people.

    I was surprised that his program to help Sandy folk did not hold income against him. In fact I was told it is taxpayer funded by someone at the program and as a high income earner I pay a ton of taxes so only right I get some back. She even said I am the best customer, a customer who is paying in a lot more than I got back.

    NJ did a lot of stuff income based. To me it is screwy. The folks who pay the most in get the least out.

    1987 Condo says:
    January 21, 2014 at 1:30 pm

    #43..there are probably somrthing like 5,000 NYers that provide 90% of the income tax revenue to NYC and NY State, Cuomo probably identified each of them and figures everyone else is a net detractor!!! LOL!

  53. JJ says:

    12% of 79 million in taxes this year is around around 10 million
    I would say he paid his fair share.

    Libtard in Union says:
    January 21, 2014 at 2:21 pm

    I don’t need a study. I remember reading that when Corzine was governor, he paid something like 12% of his 79 million income in taxes. That year I paid 28% of my 6 figure income in taxes. Seems fair to me.

  54. Michael says:

    51- What about the people that die and never get to collect their pension after contributing for a lifetime or the people who pass away a year or two after they retire. You need to add that to the equation.

  55. xolepa says:

    (58) The widows get the pensions. That’s if they married in the first place.

    Don’t get me involved in the alternate lifestyle experience. However, I will involve myself: My company has many union shops/locations. Guess who discriminates legally (benefit wise) against the L&G community?

  56. Comrade Nom Deplume, a.k.a Captain Justice says:

    [53] xolepa

    That’s the question, isn’t it?

  57. xolepa says:

    That’s right, the unions do. The company cannot do that against its non-bargaining employees.

    Did you hear that? Those unions sure know how to bargain.

  58. Michael says:

    51- Also, you do realize the state has not really contributed anything to the pension system for a long time. Meaning, it has not cost the state anything. That’s why I find it funny to hear people complain about the pension system. Complaining about a safety system that is in bad shape because the money was raided by the politicians and the end result is to yell at public workers for having a pension because these same politicians (theifs) told you that it’s the worker’s fault. You know the line….”Get him, it’s all his fault, he has a pension!!!” Like a pension is such a bad thing. Shows how dumb the avg citizen is. They love to beat down workers but refuse to go at the real problem. The real problem is the wealthy puppeteers who are playing the avg citizen like a puppet. I mean 85 people have more money combined than 3.5 billion people. How is that even possible? Just please explain how 85 people can have more value than 3.5 billion combined? Makes me want to puke thinking about that absurd #.

  59. anon (the good one) says:

    @MotherJones: Chris Christie is Losing the Invisible Primary http://t.co/PCAgKhXIaF

  60. anon (the good one) says:

    @piersmorgan: Shootings at Widener University, Pennsylvania and Purdue University, Indiana in last 24hrs are 34th & 35th school shootings since Newtown.

  61. grim says:

    I still firmly hold my position that pension contracts are all null and void. Go find the politicians that made those promises and ask them why they made promises that couldn’t be kept, and where the money is.

    Don’t look at me for the money, I had nothing to do with it. The fact that a crooked politician signed a contract is irrelevant to me, null and void. Close the pensions, appoint trustees, reinvest the remaining funds outside of state and local government control.

  62. Dissident HEHEHE says:

    Thanks Piers Morgan. Does he have a running toll on car accident deaths and stabbing since then?

  63. njescapee says:

    Why Palm Beach, Florida Is The ‘New Greenwich’ For Wall Streeters

    Read more: http://dujour.com/article/wall-street-billionaires-exodus-to-palm-beach-south-florida/38964#ixzz2r499TRyM

  64. 1987 Condo says:

    #66…all pensions are now subject to nullification or at least revision based upon the Federal Court rulings regarding the Detroit pensions. It will become a political issue to determine how much they will be reduced but there is no requirement to pay if the money is not there.

  65. anon (the good one) says:

    for this site, a carjacking running toll would be more appropriate

    Dissident HEHEHE says:
    January 21, 2014 at 3:12 pm
    Thanks Piers Morgan. Does he have a running toll on car accident deaths and stabbing since then?

  66. Painhrtz - Disobey! says:

    Probably not

    nom my favorite about that hypocrite cuomo offering tax free for ten years knowing his policies are going to drive out businesses. Consequences how do they work?

  67. Dissident HEHEHE says:

    Pension Contracts

    A politician promises public union members if you vote for me I’ll make sure you get better pensions and benefits.

    Public union members vote politician into office.

    Union contract comes up and politician and union choose the most union friendly arbitrator they can find to oversee the “arms length negotiations”.

    Union gets their oversized pension and benefit promises and the politician gets assured votes for the rest of his/her career.

    This arrangement actually had some sustainability, at the taxpayers expense of course, until the private sector started sending thousands of decent paying jobs overseas and replacing them with Wal-mart greeters and drive thru window workers.

    Now there’s no longer the tax base to support the scam.

  68. JJ says:

    Trouble with that is they usually have a spouse. Equally troubling in govt unions the spouse at time of death is entitled to it.

    My mother in law worked at a private company years ago that voluntarily offered pensions. In her plan you have to chip in a bit extra each month to get spouse covered which she did. And ONLY spouse at time of retirement is covered.

    A NYC cop could retire and move to florida with his wife. She passes away and at age 68 marries a 45 year old piggly wiggly bleached blonde divorcee. When cop dies the second wife gets pension and free medical for life too. She could live to 95 easy. Now you are talking almost 80 years of pension for 20 years of work.

    They should not cover spouses that you marry after you quit. That is crazy.

    Michael says:
    January 21, 2014 at 2:27 pm

    51- What about the people that die and never get to collect their pension after contributing for a lifetime or the people who pass away a year or two after they retire. You need to add that to the equation.

  69. Comrade Nom Deplume, a.k.a Captain Justice says:

    [72] dissident

    “Now there’s no longer the tax base to support the scam”

    Sure there is. Once the Feds bail out the democratic state and muni pensions, they’ll be a huge tax base.

  70. grim says:

    73 – But he paid his fair share

  71. grim says:

    Looks like they found the smoking gun, and it’s connected to bridgegate – From the Record:

    Port Authority study favored politically connected builder for Hoboken redevelopment

    A planning report heavily favored the politically connected builder of a proposed $1.1 billion development that is at the center of a dispute between the governor’s office and Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer. The mayor alleges that the Christie administration withheld Sandy recovery money from her city because she did not favor fast-tracking the massive project.

    Of the 10 industrial and commercial properties that the report recommended for redevelopment, nine were owned by a subsidiary of The Rockefeller Group, records show.

    The Rockefeller Group is represented by the law firm of David Samson, a close Christie adviser whom Christie appointed as chairman of the Port Authority, which paid for the planning study.

    Michael Sullivan, one of the report’s authors, said Monday that his team did not favor The Rockefeller Group and that the Port Authority had limited involvement in the report’s preparation.

    Dwayne Doherty, a spokesman for the Manhattan-based Rockefeller Group, declined to comment on the project Monday because it is being investigated by federal authorities and a legislative committee.

  72. anon (the good one) says:

    another Republican

    @PostRoz: Former Va. Bob McDonnell, his wife Maureen, both indicted on federal corruption charges in Richmond.

  73. grim says:

    I rescind my weight discrimination comments above. Baby Got Back came up on the playlist, and I’ve since changed my mind.

  74. Ben says:

    Public workers are force to opt into the pension system. The state refuses to give them the ability to opt out. Right now the pension payments come from the pockets of existing workers, not you. The only people that are going to get screwed in the end are the existing crop of workers. In fact, the taxpayer has made out on this deal. The state has contributed zero since Whitman, despite their obligations. I’m not quite sure why anyone feels they have a legitimate beef with regard to this issue. The only people that should be pissed off are the ones who see a pension payment in every paycheck they have.

  75. Libturd at home says:

    I’m glad the state stopped contributing Michael. In what demented universe do you support a retirement system where the average cop pays in less than 200K and gets paid out between 2 and 4 million. This doesn’t include the free health care for him and his wife for life as well. Baa!

  76. Phoenix says:

    The police will always be union and always get their full bennies. Cannot have an angry bunch of trained men with guns running the streets. The enforcers will always get their cut.
    The teachers are not a fighting force, tend to be female, and are not armed to the teeth.
    They will take the brunt of it. They will be replaced with so-called “better” charter school employees. These charter schools will attach to your tax bill like a tick on a dog.
    The only thing that will drop is quality, you will not see one thin dime shaved off your tax bill. If you have a kid you better find a way to get him/her into private school unless you want a made-to-order slave child.
    Watch the video Education, INC on Frontline. Shows you exactly how private ticks latch onto public money. Take away GOVT money and more than half of colleges would vaporize overnight.

  77. grim says:

    79 – Perhaps we need to push for the ability for workers to opt out?

    Of course, we know what happens when that takes place, the pensions go insolvent, some immediately, some in a few years. We’re not talking short-fall, we’re talking zero balance.

  78. JJ says:

    Actually cops pay nothing into retirement. They just take all they can get as if 20 years worth of free donuts was not enough

  79. Libturd at home says:

    Just end the pensions like most public companies did. Older workers were screwed. Younger workers lose little. Pretty easy solution. 401Ks baby, with their wonderfully hidden fees for all!

  80. Libturd at home says:

    Meant private. Sorry. Tired after the two hour drive home from Union Man people need to get snow tires :P

    The Scorpions kicked ass.

  81. Godzilla sunning in the snow says:

    Grim 79 – Perhaps we need to push for the ability for workers to opt out?

    Actually NYC has this. If you are a NYC non-uniformed employee, the pension is optional (the old tier 1 was great with pay in for only 10yrs vs -the present tier 6 stinks with its pay until you retire with percentage based on income) and if you put more than 7.5% into the NYC Def Comp dual 401k/457B plan (ach may i remind you allows up to $17,500 a yr Traditional or Roth) then you don’t get to pay FICA tax. Guliani made the pension mandatory for the uniformed services.

    The closest thing NJ has with this is the SACT ( Supplemental Annuity Collective Trust) with only about 3% of eligible public workers using it. It’s essentially a State Treasury managed fee -free S&P 500 fund link to your pension account. You make after tax contributions (pre-tax for teachers -which is being phased out for a statewide 403b). When you retire you get an annuity based on contributions and earnings apart from your pension or you get a check for contributions and a rollover to IRA for earnings. This account predates all 401k/403b, ERISA laws.

  82. Street Justice says:

    I think we should give teachers guns.

  83. Godzilla sunning in the snow says:

    Forgot – Both NY State (Optional Ret Plan ) and NJ State (Alternative Benefit Plan) have 403B plans in lieu of pension for higher education and hospitals. In short researchers, scientist and many physicians work on research grants and are not likely to stick around the 10 yrs to be vested in the public pension, so they have these plans with TIAA-CREF being the most popular provider.

    NJ State use to put 8% and employee 5%. NY State has roughly the same, over 20 yrs ago they used to do 12%. These employer contribution numbers may seem high, but actually they are low compare to many private universities. From memory I can tell you that NYU gives anywhere from 5% to 15% based on position.

  84. Street Justice says:

    What? I know some of you guys were thinking it.

  85. Phoenix says:

    Street
    Naah. Just let them keep the ones they take from the kids.

  86. Ben says:

    Perhaps we need to push for the ability for workers to opt out?

    Of course, we know what happens when that takes place, the pensions go insolvent, some immediately, some in a few years. We’re not talking short-fall, we’re talking zero balance.

    When Christie first took office, one of the things written into legislation was an opt out option for the pension plans. The entire bill was one big ass whooping to the teachers. The union spent millions of dollars lobbying to get one thing removed from the bill as compromise for democratic support for the bill. It was to remove the opt out provision. The union was hell bent on forcing participation.

  87. Michael says:

    79- Exactly what I was saying in my earlier post. Why do so many people complain about pensions when the state doesn’t even pay it. The state took out money from these funds not put in.. Tax payer’s should be happy that they have been ripping off these lucky govt employees all these years.

  88. Michael says:

    We get mad at people on welfare or people collecting a pension but not at this corporate welfare. This is stealing plain and simple.

    “A large body of academic research has reached a strong consensus about stadium spending: Public financing of sports stadiums provide nice political wins for politicians wanting pictures of ground breaking ceremonies and a media buzz. But, for the taxpayer and for economic development, they have almost no effect. That’s because the taxes poured into the new stadium are taken out of other people’s hands. The result we all see is the stadium; the things we don’t see are all of the other purchases and investments that could have been made.”

    http://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2013/11/22/atlanta-braves-1-hapless-taxpayers-fleeced-to-pay-for-their-stadium-0/

  89. Michael says:

    Nfl should be embarrassed of themselves. So wrong in so many ways!!!

    “The National Football League is about two things: producing high-quality sports entertainment, which it does very well, and exploiting taxpayers, which it also does very well. Goodell should know—his pay, about $30 million in 2011, flows from an organization that does not pay corporate taxes.”

    http://m.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2013/10/how-the-nfl-fleeces-taxpayers/309448/

  90. chicagofinance says:

    Quite a pair!

    Pimco is also elevating a new generation of fund managers to upper management in naming Andrew Balls and Daniel Ivascyn as deputy chief investment officers.

    In 2013, Mr. Ivascyn’s fund took in $7.8 billion in new money from investors, having attracted $12.6 billion in 2012, according to Morningstar Inc. Mr. Ivascyn last week was named by Morningstar as its fixed-income portfolio manager of the year for 2013.

    Pimco Income is up nearly 11% a year for the last three years, a pace that nearly doubled the average returns of its competitors.

    London-based Mr. Balls, meanwhile, was often the public face for Pimco’s views on the European debt crisis as head of the firm’s European portfolio management.

  91. chicagofinance says:

    REVIEW & OUTLOOK
    The President Inhales
    He ought to change federal drug law rather than refuse to enforce it.

    To the delight of dorm rooms everywhere, President Obama has all but endorsed marijuana legalization. “We should not be locking up kids or individual users for long stretches of jail time when some of the folks who are writing those laws have probably done the same thing,” he told the New Yorker magazine. Let’s try to see through this political haze.

    Mr. Obama also muses to an admiring David Remnick that while pot is “a bad habit and a vice” and not something he would encourage his daughters to try, “I don’t think it is more dangerous than alcohol.” He called the Colorado and Washington legalization experiments “important for society,” while offering no comment on the federal Controlled Substances Act that he has an obligation to enforce equally across the country.

    Marijuana remains a Schedule I substance under that 1970 law, meaning that it has a high risk of abuse. “No more dangerous than alcohol” is still dangerous, given the destructiveness of alcohol-related disease and social ills like drunk driving. There’s an industry related to mitigating alcohol problems, after all.

    We tolerate drinking because most adults use alcohol responsibly, and by all means let’s have a debate about cannabis given how much of the country has already legalized it under the false flag of “medical” marijuana. But an honest debate would not whitewash pot’s risks.

    A growing body of medical research shows that the psychoactive substance in marijuana may cause permanent cognitive damage when used by adolescents, such as impaired memory and learning. The drug can trigger psychotic episodes, especially among vulnerable late adolescents, and the price decreases and social normalization of recreational use will increase the number of underage potheads.

    “Middle-class kids don’t get locked up for smoking pot, and poor kids do,” Mr. Obama added. Actually, almost nobody gets locked up for pot. Americans collectively smoke for three billion days a year and use has increased 38% since 2007, according to a Rand Corp. analysis of federal health survey data, yet there were merely about 750,000 marijuana-related “arrests” in the U.S. in 2012. In the official FBI statistics that can mean anything from a ticket or summons to a full booking.

    Very few people are incarcerated for simple possession, which makes up about 88% of arrests. There are currently about 40,000 state and federal prisoners serving time for marijuana-related convictions, and most have violent criminal histories. Most judges must be persuaded that someone is a true danger to society to sentence prison for mere drug use.

    Mr. Obama is also kidding himself if he thinks drug legalization will be a boon to the poor. His own history of drug use is well known, but most users aren’t the privileged students of the Punahou School. Like all human vices, the misery of addiction is always worse for those who lack the resources and family support of the affluent.

    Mr. Obama is now the President, not a stoned teenager riffing with his Choom Gang, and he might have set a better example. Parents trying to teach their kids to make better choices than getting high are at a disadvantage when the person in charge of upholding the law says breaking the law is no big deal.

    If the President believes that marijuana prohibition is an injustice, he has an obligation to propose his own legislative reforms, instead of unilaterally suspending the enforcement of federal drug laws that don’t fit his political agenda. Why not start with the State of the Union address? Whatever Mr. Obama’s personal views on marijuana, his picking and choosing from the U.S. code is far more corrosive to the rule of law and trust in government.

  92. Michael says:

    Don’t complain about people on welfare or blame govt workers for your taxes if you watch the nfl. The only difference between the nfl and the welfare recipient is that the nfl has no need for the welfare but willingly takes it.

    Lol the Louisiana tax payer has to pay the saint’s owner 6 million a year just so he doesn’t have a wondering eye to move the saints. Screw the boma phone, this dude hits the lottery every year at the tax payer’s expense and he doesn’t even need the money to survive.

  93. Njescapee says:

    Brrrr it’s a chilly 66 degrees here in Key West tonight.

  94. Libturd at home says:

    I just cleared the snow from two long driveways. Baby, it’s cold outside.

  95. chicagofinance says:

    DENVER — Standing — literally — in the shadow of Sports Authority Field at Mile High, where the Broncos dispatched the Patriots on Sunday in the AFC Championship Game to advance to Super Bowl XLVIII at MetLife Stadium, is a place called: “Mile High Recreational Cannabis.’’
    This is where many of the football tailgaters go to pick up their party goods for the game, but instead of a six-pack of beer, they’re buying game-day joints — legally since Jan. 1, when the sale of marijuana became legal in Colorado.
    This brings an entirely new meaning to the words “Mile High’’ for many fans going to the stadium to see their beloved Broncos.
    Because for the first time in 48 Super Bowls, each team, the Broncos and Seahawks (Washington), reside in a marijuana-legalized state, this game should be nicknamed “Bud Bowl’’ — with apologies to Anheuser-Busch.
    After taking a Tuesday tour through some of the recreational weed shops about town speaking to Denver fans, the consensus was this: The Broncos are going to win the Super Bowl and their fans are going to have a hell of a lot more fun than anyone in the country watching.
    “I prefer sitting down and watching the game stoned instead of being drunk; you remember more,’’ said Rodney Martinez, one of the workers behind the counter at Mile High Recreational Cannabis, where there were about 10 jars of different strains of weed that offer varying degrees of highs.
    On the first day of the year, when stores were first legally permitted to sell, Erin, from the Mile High Recreational Cannabis store, said there was a line snaking out of the store and around the block all day with people waiting more than three hours to score a gram or three.
    On the day before the AFC Championship last week there was a line around the block all day.
    “We’re so close we share a driveway with the stadium,’’ Erin said with a hint of pride in her voice. “It was like, grab-and-go.’’
    It is not, however, a simple grab-and-go for everyone in Denver.
    A contradicting twist to legalization of marijuana is the fact it does not apply to everyone. If for example, Peyton Manning or Champ Bailey decided they wanted to take the edge off and partake, if caught they would be suspended by the NFL.
    Von Miller, the Broncos’ best pass rusher, was suspended for six games this season for violating the league’s banned substance policy, and there were reports marijuana was one of the substances.
    “It is hypocritical for the athletes not to be able to use this when everyone else can,’’ a Broncos fan named Troy said after making a purchase at the LoDo Wellness Center, a downtown recreational distributor that also draws many Broncos fans.
    The use of marijuana has become almost mainstream in Denver, matter-of-fact.
    When I got into my rental car at the Denver Airport last week, the first thing I noticed was the scent of marijuana — obviously from a previous renter smoking weed rather than Marlboros.
    When I walked out of a restaurant from lunch Tuesday on the corner of Blake Street and 16th — in the middle of downtown Denver — there were four friends hanging around on the sidewalk casually passing a joint around and rolling some others.
    There are two common kinds of strains: Indica, which is described as a more relaxing high, and Sativa, which is described as a more energetic high.
    You do not even need to smoke to get yourself high here; these places sell cookies, brownies, caramels, chocolates truffles, Tootsie Roll-like treats and even sodas. The edibles sell so fast, the stores are usually sold out in a day or two until their distributors reload.
    “We had a lot of San Diego and New England fans in here before the playoff games buying edibles and joints, but there were no Charger or Patriots fans in after those games,’’ Jay, who works at the LoDo Wellness Center, said rather gleefully.
    For those who have inhaled while in Denver, the airport has green bins where people can deposit whatever leftover pot they have before going through security screening.
    Where does all that excess go?
    “The TSA,’’ Erin surmised. “The TSA is getting high as [bleep].’

  96. chicagofinance says:

    What that article profiles is depressing……people use pot differently than alcohol. It is really fcuked up. What a disaster…..

  97. chicagofinance says:

    How did the parents fail to name this guy Richard?

    chicagofinance says:
    January 21, 2014 at 7:43 pm
    Quite a pair!

    Pimco is also elevating a new generation of fund managers to upper management in naming Andrew Balls and Daniel Ivascyn as deputy chief investment officers.

    In 2013, Mr. Ivascyn’s fund took in $7.8 billion in new money from investors, having attracted $12.6 billion in 2012, according to Morningstar Inc. Mr. Ivascyn last week was named by Morningstar as its fixed-income portfolio manager of the year for 2013.

    Pimco Income is up nearly 11% a year for the last three years, a pace that nearly doubled the average returns of its competitors.

    London-based Mr. Balls, meanwhile, was often the public face for Pimco’s views on the European debt crisis as head of the firm’s European portfolio management.

  98. Comrade Nom Deplume, a.k.a Captain Justice says:

    [104] chifi

    I did know an attorney named Richard Head.

    Obvious joke aside, he is a really decent person.

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