Dear Editor:
Chris Christie came to office as a no-nonsense United States Attorney who promised to clean up New Jersey once and for all. As a former Christie supporter, I am quite dismayed at what the Governor has become. While his friends may refer to him “as the greatest governor ever” I believe he has become the greatest enabler of waste, mismanagement, inefficiency, and corruption this state has ever seen. Christie has aligned himself with questionable career politicians and has shown a tendency to defend their indefensible acts. To make matters worse, he rewards them with our tax dollars. For those who believe Christie is the savior of the Republican Party and stands by conservative values, I say think again. Christie has abandoned the people in favor of political party bosses who control votes and patronage.
When it was revealed that Essex County Executive Joe DiVincenzo was using campaign contributions to take trips and play golf our Governor responded by stating:
“From my perspective, I think you’d much rather have donors paying for these kinds of things than having vendors pay,” Who does Christie think these donors are? These donors are the vendors and lawyers doing work in Essex County. Therefore it is a form of pay to play which Christie is now condoning.
When Christie’s Supreme Court nominee Phillip Kwon came under fire for questionable business transactions his family was involved in (which led to a settlement where the federal government kept $159,629 of Phillip Kwon’s mother and wife’s money), Christie responded by stating:
“I think they’re victims of some bad advice,” he said. “I hope they fired the accountant.”
If you or I engaged in the same activity the Kwon family engaged in we would not be firing our accountant, we would be hiring an attorney to represent us in federal court. Rather than allow Mr. Kwon to be fully vetted Christie believes our elected officials have no right to question his nominee and he should be quickly and quietly confirmed.
Recently Union City Mayor/Senator Brian Stack was caught filing a false certification for state aid. Based on the false certification Union City received 25 million dollars in state aid. After Stack was caught misleading the state, State spokesperson Lisa Ryan stated:
“The state knew Union City hadn’t adopted a pay-to-play law when Stack said in the application that it had.” So just to be clear; the state knew Stack filed a false certification, knew he did not have a pay to play ordinance and Christie still gave him $25 million. If I went to a bank and filed a false mortgage application and got caught I am sure the FBI would be knocking on my door. Or at the very least, the bank would deny me a mortgage.
Christie has allowed himself to be used by a bunch of career political bosses. History judges people and I believe history will show that Christie was nothing more than a career politician looking to advance his own personal agenda.
Joe Blaettler