This is not Schadenfreude

In describing Chris Christie’s fall from grace, many journalists have asserted that those of us who have sensed Christie’s incompetence and dubious ethical conduct from Day One are basking in the glow of schadenfreude. Not me.

I take no joy in Christie’s trials and tribulations. To me, he’s just another George W Bush political hack who got lucky and leveraged electoral victories first against an unpopular and charismatically-challenged incumbent and later against a challenger who was abandoned by her own party.

I take no joy in the fact that his presidential ambitions have gone down the toilet. The Republicans will end up nominating someone else in 2016, most likely someone even worse than Christie, and that is bad for the Republicans and bad for America.

I take no joy in the fact that aside from his personal failings, the damage that he’s done to New Jersey will take more years to undo than the eight (or possibly fewer) years that he will have occupied the Governor’s office. We’ve lost the momentum in rebuilding our infrastructure, are behind the rest of the nation in restoring some modicum of equity to the middle class, our business climate rankings have plummeted, and no progress has been made on an equitable tax system. Our environment has suffered under Christie, making future remediation more difficult and expensive.

I take no joy in the fact that this so-called corruption buster has become the epitome of the stereotypical New Jersey corrupt political boss. I take no joy that my beloved state continues to be the butt of jokes for late-night comedians.

I take no joy in the fact that our electoral system and our electorate is flawed, opting for “style” over substance, favors over ethics, and the continued influence of big money over the best interests of the average citizen.

Chris Christie will never be President. If he is unable to complete his term as Governor, his future will not be bleak. He’ll become a high-paid talking head on Fox “News”, or a high-paid lobbyist, or a high-paid investment advisor on Wall Street.

So there’s no joy in my mind about the unfolding downfall of an egotistical fraud. Let’s close this sordid chapter in New Jersey history and use it as a lesson to improve things as we move forward.

Christie Bullied a Local (and World) Hero

When Olympic medalist Carl Lewis announced that he was going to run for the State Senate back in 2011, a sense of pride permeated his hometown of Willingboro. Even though Lewis was living and running in the eighth district at the time (Willingboro is in the seventh), Lewis' roots in South Jersey were legendary. He established the Carl Lewis Foundation, coached track for youngsters in Willingboro and was involved in physical fitness advocacy throughout South Jersey.
Today, it was reported that when Lewis decided to run for the State Senate against Dawn Marie Addiego (who was originally appointed to the seat to fill a vacancy), Chris Christie threatened to withdraw support for a statewide physical fitness program in which Lewis was involved. You've got to give Christie credit - strong-arming a nine-time Olympic gold medal winner.

There was another problem, though. Even though Lewis owned homes in the seventh and eighth districts and held a New Jersey driver's license, he had voted in California in 2009 and after a protracted court battle he was declared ineligible to run for the senate seat. New Jersey's residency requirements are somewhat ambiguous, and the courts ruled in the GOP's favor. Addiego subsequently ran unopposed, and was re-elected in 2013 when the Democrats stood up an unspectacular conservative candidate not much different than the incumbent. There was some talk about running Lewis for Congress against Jon Runyan in 2012, but at the time, Lewis said, "there is zero chance I'm running for Congress."

District 8 is a Republican district, and Lewis would by no means have been a shoo-in. But the fact that Christie tried to bully him out of running and undoubtedly urged the GOP to pursue the lawsuit is another example of the behavior of the governor that is being exposed by BridgeGate, and the Hoboken Sandy relief effort.

This week, I spoke with Chris Walker, former Executive Director of the Carl Lewis Foundation and currently a Willingboro councilman. Walker emphasized that these revelations, although interesting in the context of Christie's travails, are not new, and that the threat to withhold support from Lewis' programs was reported in the press back in 2011. Walker went on to tell me that this is just another example in the pattern of Christie's behavior, and that he felt that the current investigations into that behavior are justified.

Lewis is now living in Houston, working as a volunteer track coach at his alma mater, the University of Houston, and serving on several Boards of Directors for local agencies there.

New Jersey's loss is Texas's gain. One has to wonder how much of this is due to Christie and the GOP.

Photo: Carl Lewis at his announcement to run for NJ Senate in April 2011. Senate President Steve Sweeney is at the right of the photo and Chris Walker is between Lewis and Sweeney.

Bridgegate is Not as Important as You Think

When the history of the Christie reign is written, Bridgegate will be an interesting, but unmemorable chapter.

That's not to say that this scandal is unimportant today, but the long-term effect of the ersatz "traffic study" will pale in comparison to many of Christie's other blunders.

What will be the overall effect of Bridgegate?

Maybe a 91 year-old woman died because of the delay in emergency response services due to Christie's traffic jams, but that's uncertain. But how many anonymous people have died and will die due to Christie's callous disregard of the availability of health care to poor and middle-class New Jerseyans?

Thousands of kids were late for school because their busses couldn't navigate through the unnecessary traffic. But millions of school kids will suffer due to Christie's negligence of public education, his vilification of schoolteachers, and his promotion of education profiteers.

Air quality in Fort Lee and surrounding areas suffered because cars and trucks were sitting idly, spewing out carbon monoxide and other toxic gasses. But that pales in comparison to the destructive impact of Christie's unilateral pull out from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.

Christie will not be impeached, nor will he resign over this matter - even if it is proven that he had prior knowledge (of which I have no doubt.) Maybe Bridgegate will scuttle his presidential ambitions, but his party wouldn't have nominated him anyway. He's just too sane and rational to rise to the top of the pile of cacophonous clowns that have hijacked the Party of Lincoln. The more important (and scary) fact is that New Jersey is stuck with his out-of-touch agenda for the next four years.

So let the investigation continue. It is important that the public know all of the facts. More of Christie's underlings will be punished, as they should be. But the man at the top will escape with, at worst, a slap on the wrist. Getting rid of Wildstein and Kelly needed to happen, but there are more than enough Christie cronies out there to fill those positions.

Hopefully when this is over, when Christie's luster is tarnished, the mainstream media will focus on the real harm that Christie's actions have done to our state, and on the problems he will exacerbate in the next four years.

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Oh, and finally, a message to those Democratic mayors who supported Christie’s re-election. Good luck in collecting what was promised to you.

Something is Rotten in Drumthwacket

Conventional wisdom has it that the closing of lanes on the George Washington Bridge was done by Christie loyalists, most likely with a wink and a nod from the Governor, in order to punish Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich (or to punish Senator Loretta Weinberg, if you buy into the Rachel Maddow theory.)

The problem is that this hypothesis makes no sense. If Christie wanted to punish Sokolich and the people of Fort Lee for supporting Barbara Buono, there would be subtler and more effective ways of doing so.

Does anyone really believe that a tie-up at the bridge and subsequent jams in the streets of Fort Lee would be immediately pinned on the mayor? Were there any editorials in the local papers on the day of the traffic jam excoriating Sokolich? Are Christie’s minions so incompetent that they think a traffic jam in North Jersey would point back to Sokolich or Weinberg?

If Christie wanted to punish Sokolich, there are other, more direct ways to do so. His biggest club would be the fiscal one. Reducing state aid to a municipality or school district that he doesn’t like is Christie’s modus operandi. The state’s eminent domain power could be invoked to place undesirable things like high-voltage power lines or sewage treatment plants in the town. Another way that Christie could punish Fort Lee residents is to perpetuate traffic jams by cancelling the ARC tunnel. (Oh wait! He already did that.)

NJ Governor's Mansion
Drumthwacket

There’s got to be more to this story than a short-lived traffic jam. Ideally, an independent special prosecutor should be brought in. Speaker-elect Prieto has indicated that he is amenable to extending the subpoena power of Assemblyman Wisniewski’s Transportation Committee. The Governor and his direct reports (Counsel Charles McKenna and Chief of Staff Kevin O’Dowd) must testify under oath about what they knew and when they knew it. Same for Christie’s mouthpiece, Michael Drewniak. Port Authority Chairman David Samson must testify under oath as to what orders he received from Trenton and what actions he took unilaterally. Until that happens, the stench of lies and obfuscation will permeate Christie’s second term.

For now, the idea that Christie is taking political retribution on a mayor by creating a traffic jam makes as little sense as the “traffic study” explanation that was perpetrated by Mr. Wildstein.

Beyond Obamacare

Healthcare.gov will be fixed. People will sign up and reap the benefits of universal health coverage starting in January. So what’s next?

No doubt, the Republicans will continue their quest to reverse the limited progress made to date. They will try to deny coverage to many, eliminate the cap on “administrative” costs to insurance carriers, and cut preventative care, which saves lives and money.

Democrats are counting on the projected ubiquity and success of Obamacare after January to lock it in and to shut down the GOP’s incessant and futile efforts to repeal. They’re wrong. Just take a look at other successful programs like Food Stamps. The Republicans are not hesitant to take food from children and veterans in the name of fiscal responsibility. They’re not even hesitant to shut down the government in the name of fiscal responsibility either, knowing that their shutdown cost tens of billions of dollars. And some Democrats are complicit, confusing “blackmail” with “compromise.”

But for now, let’s assume Obamacare survives the wounds being inflicted by the mean-spirited GOP. Like Medicare and Social Security, the Affordable Care Act will be meshed within the fabric of society while still being constantly attacked. So what’s next?

Recognizing that Obamacare is not health care reform, but rather insurance reform, the next logical step would be to join other developed nations that have better health outcomes in implementing some type of single-payer health care system – Medicare for all.  But that will be a challenge for the next generation. In today’s environment, when the mantra of one political party is “I’ve got mine. Too bad for you,” transformational change in health care is going to be a long, hard struggle. Add to that the lobbying power of insurance companies, whose profit is based on the maladies of the American people, and you have a recipe for the status quo at best, and regression at worst.

Even though it may take a generation to make the real improvements to American health care through single-payer, that’s no reason not to start the effort now. But there are other things we can do in the short term to make real progress, too.

One of the best parts of Obamacare is that it mandates free preventative care. This not only improves outcomes, but early detection of diseases also results in less expensive treatment, helping the fiscal balance sheet.

Unfortunately though, even with early detection, people will still suffer from chronic ailments like diabetes, cancer, mental illness, and other diseases that will require long-term, expensive treatment. But that doesn’t have to be. With the help of government, scientific research has eliminated similar diseases like polio, smallpox, and malaria. We should strive for the same thing with today’s diseases. For example, cures for cancer would not only save lives, but would dramatically reduce health care costs.

Unfortunately, funding for medical research is one more area that the troglodytic Republicans in Congress feel they must attack. Politics trumps science as evidenced by George W. Bush’s unilateral shut down of embryonic stem cell research early in his first term. (As an aside, I wonder how many lives would have been saved if the Supreme Court had allowed the Florida vote count to proceed in 2000.)

Today’s House of Representatives has a dangerous anti-science bias. Funding for medical research should be increased, not slashed. Sure, it will cost money in the short term. So did the research that led to the polio vaccine. But thanks to the foresight of previous generations, we are not paying billions of dollars to treat people with polio. This generation needs the same foresight. We need to elect representatives who understand that good scientific research pays off with savings in money as well as in lives.

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A version of this diary was originally posted on Blue Jersey

Coulda, Shoulda, Woulda in Two Words

Well, New Jersey is stuck with Governor Chris Christie (or later, Governor Kim Guadagno) for four more years. People decided to vote for a myth perpetuated by an Orwellian taxpayer-funded propaganda machine instead of a candidate who represents their best interests. And whose fault is that? Democrats.

Buono could have won if she had the support of the party. Buono should have won in a “blue” state. Buono would have won if she had had the requisite financial support to get her message out.

Not all Democrats were Christie enablers. People like Senator Loretta Weinberg and Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson Coleman were proactive supporters of the challenger. On the national level, Governors Martin O’Malley and Deval Patrick came to New Jersey to stump for Buono. To all of them, I have two words: Thank You.

Some supporters were late to the game, like DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman-Shultz and then-Mayor Cory Booker.  To these late-to-the-game players, I also have two words: “Nice try.”

Some key Democrats opted out of getting involved. Quite an un-patriotic thing to do. Bill and Hillary Clinton supported their friend Terry McAulliffe in Virginia but couldn’t they have made one appearance in the Garden State? Barack Obama had his photo op with Chris Christie but treated Buono as if she were invisible. Joe Biden swore in Jeff Chiesa and Cory Booker but acted as if Amtrak never went past the 30^th Street Station. To them, I have two words: “Why not?”

But the big problem is that many Democrats proactively supported His Arrogance. “Democrats” like Brian Stack and Joe DiVincenzo are traitors to their party and should not receive one cent of support from the party coffers. Other Democratic organizations gave lip service to the Buono campaign and went through the motions, but their support was shallow and non-convincing. To all those “Democrats”, I also have two words.

To New Jersey Democrats Who Plan to Vote for Christie on Tuesday

The person you vote for is your prerogative. People who always vote strictly on party lines are probably not really thinking things through. Heck, I’m a Democratic committeeperson but have occasionally opted for a Republican either because I really felt that candidate was better than his or her opponent or I wanted to strengthen the two-party system by voting for a sane Republican. Unfortunately, they are a dying breed.

My guess is that you’re voting for Christie for one of two reasons.

Let’s get the first reason out of the way first, because it’s insidious but probably not that pervasive unless you are a Democratic officeholder. You’ve either negotiated a quid pro quo with the Christie campaign or you’re allowing yourself to be bullied so that your municipality doesn’t suffer from the Wrath of Christie. You’re the anti-Buono – not because you don’t like the Democratic candidate, but unlike Buono, you are sacrificing your principles for political gain. To that I say, “shame on you.”

The more likely reason that you’re voting for Christie is that you have fallen for his propaganda – the mythical persona created by his campaign and his staffers, and abetted by the media. In his 1968 campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, George Romney said that he was “brainwashed” by the generals on the status of the Viet Nam war. It doomed his campaign, but in 20/20 hindsight, we know that Romney was right.

Today, many Democrats and Independents are being brainwashed by a taxpayer-funded propaganda machine that would make the KGB drool. YouTube videos show Christie triumphantly standing on a reconstructed boardwalk, while blocks away Sandy-damaged homes are littering the shore landscape and their owners are still displaced. Christie campaign material touts a balanced budget, even though every governor in recent history has met that constitutional mandate. What’s not mentioned is that Christie’s accomplishment was done on the backs of public workers, the middle class, and the poor using one-shot gimmicks. You’re being fooled into believing that Christie is a moderate Republican because he’s not as crazy as Rand Paul and Ted Cruz, but you’re ignoring the fact that Christie is in the pocket of the same Koch Brothers who granted Steve Lonegan his 15 minutes of fame. Repeatedly.

So, my fellow Democrats – take the easy path and don’t do your homework. Vote for Christie because you buy into his myths and that’s the easy thing to do. Let New Jersey slip further back into an economic morass while your taxes are used to provide breaks for the wealthy. And a year from now, enjoy your voter’s remorse as you pass my car on the Turnpike with my bumper sticker that reads, “Don’t blame me – I voted for Buono.”