Free Republic

The scandal over a made-up study that badly disrupted traffic at the George Washington Bridge may not be New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's biggest problem after all. Less than a year after the charismatic governor was the toast of the Republican Party and a leading contender to run for the White House in 2016, the story was supposed to be about a New Jersey economy that he had managed to turn around and budget problems he had been able to solve. That narrative appears to be unraveling.

Charlie Birnbaum’s parents were Holocaust survivors whose patch of the American Dream was a modest Atlantic City home near the ocean. Their son has held on to it — through hurricanes, economic slumps and even his mother’s murder. Today, it may be taken away when the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority asks a state court to give it Charlie’s property. The CRDA basically argues it has the right to take whatever properties it wants and do with them whatever it wants to reshape Atlantic City whatever way it wants. Traditionally, to seize someone’s property through eminent domain, you had to show...

Gov. Chris Christie’s foreign policy speech Sunday night is facing some criticism at home — from a fellow Republican. State Sen. Michael Doherty (R-Warren), one of the most conservative New Jersey lawmakers, said Christie’s vision for America’s role in the world is unsustainable. “During his speech yesterday, Governor Christie advocated for an aggressive, interventionist foreign policy,” Doherty wrote in an email to the Star-Ledger. “He sounds like a Woodrow Wilson progressive who is out of step with the views of the American people.”

Challengers see themselves in the Texas senator, even in races where their odds of an upset are considered steeper than Cruz’s surprise victory over a GOP establishment figure two years ago. He’s made endorsements in the Oklahoma and Nebraska Senate races, plus the Nebraska gubernatorial race, and sent almost $26,000 to federal candidates through his leadership PAC. “Ted Cruz would be extremely helpful as an endorser and a fundraiser,” said C. Edmund Wright, a consultant to longshot South Carolina Senate hopeful Lee Bright, in an email. “Rand Paul and Mike Lee would be great also.” But, he said, “the reason...

Here Is What I Would Tell the Rutgers Graduating Class of 2014… I hear Condoleezza Rice stood you up. You may think it was because about 50 students—.09 percent of your student body—held a “sit-in” at the university president’s office to protest the selection of Secretary Rice as commencement speaker. You may think it was because a few of your faculty—stale flakes from the crust of the turkey pot pie that was the New Left—threatened a “teach-in” to protest the selection of Secretary Rice. “Sit-in”? “Teach-in”? What century is this? I think Secretary Rice forgot she had a yoga session...

Courting powerful Jewish donors for the second time in two months, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie called Sunday for a more aggressive foreign policy that defends American values abroad — even in "in some very messy, difficult places." "The rest of the world watches in desperation and hope that America will realize and act upon once again its indispensable place in the world," Christie, a prospective Republican presidential contender, said in a keynote address Sunday at the Champions of Jewish Values International awards gala in New York. "We must lead." He charged that America must represent the strongest military and...

Gun control supporters appear poised to force New Jersey's Republican governor, Chris Christie, often discussed as a potential presidential candidate in 2016, to show where he stands on the Second Amendment. On Monday, the state's Senate passed A2006, legislation to lower the state's magazine-capacity limit from 15 rounds to 10 rounds, by a vote of 22-17, mostly along party lines. The bill will be sent to Christie for signature or veto after the Assembly, which previously approved it by a vote of 46-31, approves technical changes made to the bill by the Senate. Once the bill reaches Christie's desk, he...

Sunday on CBS's "Face the Nation," former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Hillary Clinton would make a "spectacular candidate" for president in 2016. “I think she would be a spectacular candidate on the Democratic side. Bloomberg also praised former Gov. Jeb Bush (R-FL) and Govs. Chris Christie (R-NJ) and Scott Walker (R-WI) pointing to their "executive experience"on the potential candidates on the Republican side of the ticket.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie doesn’t relish the idea of campaigning against Jeb Bush in 2016. In fact, a presidential primary tussle with the former Florida governor would be “stressful,” Christie acknowledged Tuesday. “You like to run against people that you don’t like, not run against people that you do like and respect, so of course it would be stressful,” Christie said on New Jersey radio station 101.5′s “Ask the Governor” program. “I am close with the Bush family … [Jeb] has been a wonderful friend to me, especially during [superstorm] Sandy and the aftermath,” he added. When asked about...

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said Wednesday that he is thinking about running for president and that by the time 2016 arrives the controversy over last year’s George Washington Bridge lane closures “will be a footnote.” Christie told a conference in Washington that after months of investigation “there hasn’t been one suggestion that I knew anything about” orders from staff aides to close access lanes that caused traffic snarls in Fort Lee. When asked by CBS’ Bob Schieffer if he’s thinking of running for president and when he’ll make a decision, Christie said: “Yes, and later.”

Former Trenton Mayor Tony Mack was sentenced to four years and 10 months in prison on his six counts of corruption Thursday by Judge Michael Shipp in federal court. Mack also got a $3,000 fine, $500 for each count of corruption. Before the sentence was handed down, Judge Shipp denied a motion that had been filed by the Macks to throw out the original trial. Stay with The Trentonian today for more details on this story.

R.I.P.: Robert J. Cormier, beloved priest and adventurer WEDNESDAY, MAY 14, 2014 BY MARTIN BARILLAS A beloved Catholic priest, author, and seasoned adventurer, Fr. Robert J. Cormier succumbed to an accident while climbing a route on the treacherous Mount Hood in Oregon. The New Jersey native was 57 years old. The sheriff of Hood River County identified Father Cormier as the climber who had fallen more than 1,000 feet on the morning of May 13. Searchers saw his body soon after his fall and reported that there were no visible signs of life. An effort to retrieve the body will...

ASKED last month to name his role model, Ras Baraka mentioned Marion Barry, a former mayor of Washington, DC best known for smoking crack and running a City Hall of staggering incompetence and corruption. Washingtonians remember Mr Barry as a terrible manager, but he sure gave a rousing speech. That is perhaps why Mr Baraka admires him. It is also why, on May 13th, Newark elected Mr Baraka as its new mayor with 54% of the vote...Mr Baraka (pictured), a school principal, is as close to African-American royalty as one can get in Newark. His late father was a poet...

NEW YORK (WABC) -- A TSA Supervisor was arrested at Kennedy Airport accused of setting up a meeting in the Dominican Republic to engage in sexual activity with minors. Vernon Lythcott was arraigned Friday afternoon in federal court. A judge set bail at $250,000. He works as a TSA screening supervisor. He's being charged with elicit sexual conduct with a minor in a foreign country and faces up to 30 years in prison. Prosecutors allege Lythcott engaged in sex acts with two 15-year-old girls during a January trip to the Dominican Republic.

New Hope High School, located just southeast of Huntsville, Ala., announced today that former Alaska governor Sarah Palin will deliver the commencement address at the school’s upcoming graduation ceremony. Madison County School Superintendent Dr. David Copeland said the grandmother of one of New Hope’s graduates is a personal friend of Palin’s and played a key role in getting the former Republican Vice Presidential nominee to agree to speak. New Hope will graduate about 75 students during the May 21 ceremony, the smallest graduating class in the Madison County school district. “We normally don’t have to give out tickets to graduations,”...

The politician was charged with misusing tens of thousands of dollars in taxpayer funds — even spending some of the money on a $750 designer handbag. ... A city councilman's career is going to hell in a Louis Vuitton handbag. Councilman Ruben Wills, 42, of Jamaica, Queens, was arrested Wednesday on charges of stealing $30,500 in government money, and using some of it for shopping trips to Nordstrom and Century 21 and the purchase of a $750 Vuitton bag at Macy’s. Wills, a Democrat, was slapped with a dozen charges, including scheming to defraud, grand larceny and falsifying business records....

In the fall of 2010, Mark Zuckerberg announced on Oprah that he'd be making a generous gift to Newark, New Jersey. As Oprah said in her Oprah way, "one ... hundred ... million ... dollars" would be given to Newark Mayor Cory Booker and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie as the three began the Startup:Education foundation. The plan was to turn Newark into what Zuckerberg called "a symbol of educational excellence for the whole nation," spent on retaining the best teachers, and creating environments that would produce successful students and, one day, graduates. Newark is a city wrought with crime....

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's longtime press secretary says he's confident his boss of 14 years had no knowledge of or involvement in the scheme that shut traffic near the George Washington Bridge in a political payback plot. The spokesman, Michael Drewniak, called the plot reckless and perplexing in an opening statement Tuesday before a New Jersey legislative committee that's investigating last September's lane closings. Drewniak has also testified before a federal grand jury that's separately investigating the lane closings.

On May 12th the New Jersey Senate passed A2006, which bans detachable magazines with a larger than ten-round capacity and bans .22 rifles with fixed magazines larger than ten rounds.

PARAMUS (WABC) -- A crowd of frightened shoppers trying to exit a department store after smoke seeped in from a nearby car fire knocked over a metal support frame, leading to mistaken reports of gunshots and the evacuation of the upscale mall, authorities said Sunday. A car fire caused tires to explode at about 8 p.m. Saturday at the Garden State Plaza in Paramus. As smoke from that fire entered the store, workers told customers to leave. The moving crowd knocked over a large metal display stanchion on the store's main level, causing noises that many confused for gunshots. Another...