FEMA To Survey Blizzard Damage To N.J.

MRC's Double Standard on Officials On Vacation During Disasters
MRC's Double Standard on Officials On Vacation During Disasters Topic: Media Research Center In a Dec. 29 NewsBusters post, Scott Whitlock was upset that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was criticized for being on vacation in Florida when a major blizzard hit his state. Whitlock huffed: Both CBS's Early Show and NBC's Today covered the anger in the New York/New Jersey region over the blizzard and the problems with the recovery. Neither of them, however, mentioned Christie." But Whit...

As Blizzard Bills Add Up, NJ Turns to Feds
Six hundred and ten thousand dollars. In Neptune Township down the Jersey Shore, $610,000 is the preliminary Price Tag for the clean up following last week's historic blizzard. "A significant Snow Storm would cost us $100,000," said Michael Bascom, Neptune's Chief Financial Officer, who then added "This is a disaster." Multiply that by the hundreds of municipalities both bigger and smaller than Neptune, and you begin to understand why Governor Chris Christie didn't hesitate l...

Obamas to return from Hawaii vacation
The first family arrives back in Washington on Tuesday from their Christmas Vacation in Hawaii. The president has no public events scheduled but in private is expected to sign a bill overhauling the U.S. Food Safety system. In the afternoon, Obama is to meet in the Oval Office with Defense Secretary Robert Gates. Ill. mom who disappeared after crash found dead Democrat Dayton sworn in as Minn. Governor Ill. mom who disappeared after crash found dead Steve Chapman: Does Pornography cause sexua...

With Jersey Deep in Snow, Gov. Christie had Fun in Sun
Meaning no disrespect to the world’s most famous and lovable rodent, but New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s (R) response to last week’s massive Snow Storm that hammered the Garden State and other East Coast states, was literally Mickey Mouse. While tough and dedicated New Jersey state workers—the same workers Christie has spent his tenure attacking—cleared snow-covered roads and worked to keep residents safe and warm, Christie was vacationing at Disney World. In fact, he’

Women Will Have Authentic Leaders in Upcoming Congress
Marjorie Dannenfelser, the president of the Susan B. Anthony List, has a new article at Politics Daily talking about how women will have real, authentic leadership in the upcoming session of Congress. While pro-abortion women like Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her friends will no longer be calling the shots in the House, new pro-life women will be there and in the Senate who will stand up for the pro-life values a majority of women share. The 2010 Elections represent not just a good result for pro-li...

Ill. mom who disappeared after crash found dead
Family members of a northern Illinois mother of four who left behind a slipper and footprints in the snow when she vanished after a car accident that killed her husband had to wait through the holidays before finally learning that she too had died. The body of 40-year-old Tanya Shannon was found Monday in a LaSalle County field about three-quarters of a mile from where she and her husband crashed into a light pole while returning during a Snow Storm from a holiday party in the early morning hour...

Christie returns to NJ; finds himself on the defensive
As reported on last week, there was more than just a blizzard that hit New Jersey last week as political debates sprung up in Governor Chris Christie's absence. Normally, it would not have been a Big Deal if Lieutenant Governor Kim Guadagno had not chosen to also leave the state at the same time. Senate President Stephen Sweeney was able to manage the state and guide it through the blizzard and ensure everything was taken care of. However, Christie was still out of the state and for too many he ...

Chris Christie on absence during NJ Blizzard: Video
Never has so much Controversy surrounded a trip to Disneyland than NJ Governor Chris Christie's decision to commit to his Family Vacation plans over the state of NJ during last week's powerful Snow Storm. Christie's dicey decision might just compel Superbowl winning quarterbacks to shovel snow upon winning the big game. During a news conference in Monmouth County, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie explains why he and Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno were both out of the state at the same t...

Chris Christie Should Do His Second-Most-Important Job Properly
Steve Benen flags Chris Christie’s defense of leaving the state governorless amidst the snowstorm by, among other things, saying “My first and most important responsibility, in my view, is as a husband and a father.” In a Real Talk sense, I think this is false. But be that as it may. What about Christie’s work in his second most important job? New Jersey, historically, hasn’t had the office of Lieutenant Governor. But the state authorities decided very recently th...

Today's Chris Christie Lesson in Government
Many politicians (see Michael Bloomberg) would wilt under this kind of pressure, but not NJ Gov. Chris Christie: To all the critics of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's Florida Vacation during one of the worst snow storms in his state's history, the governor has one message: chill out. Christie weathered a storm of attacks this week following his decision to keep a planned post-Christmas holiday with his wife and four Children to Disney World, while the Garden State dug itself out of up to t...

If it's not Tuesday, this must be Philadelphia
I was watching CNN's "Reliable Sources" with Howie Kurtz, and the main theme was the media going crazy over the holidays over ridiculous stories -- all of which had roots in Philadelphia. There was President Obama hailing Michael Vick's rehabilitation and the Eagles' role, Ed Rendell and the "wussification of America," and Chris Christie's National Lampoon Christmas Vacation in Wallyworld. Ridiculous? It all seemed like major news to me! Anyway, here we are and the Eagles a...

Quote of the Day
"I wouldn't change the decision even if I could do it right now. I had a great five days with my Children. I promised that." -- New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), telling the Newark Star Ledger that his wife warned him to not "even think about" canceling their Florida Vacation when a Snow Storm hit. ...

The construction worker awakening
Image via Wikipedia William McGurn: ... Suddenly, it's a different world. In this Recession, for example, Construction Workers are suffering from Unemployment levels roughly double the national rate, according to a recent analysis of federal jobs data by the Associated General Contractors of America. They are relearning, the hard way, that without a growing economy, all the labor-friendly laws and regulations in the world won't keep them working. What's more, "blue-collar union workers are be...

Christmas Blizzard 2010: Chris Christies Katrina, Or Much Ado About Nothing?
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is defending his absence from the state during last week's blizzard: I would have been doing the same thing here as I...

Obamas to return from Hawaii vacation
WASHINGTON (AP) — The first family arrives back in Washington on Tuesday from their Christmas Vacation in Hawaii. The president has no public events scheduled but in private is expected to sign a bill overhauling the U.S. Food Safety system. In the afternoon, Obama is to meet in the Oval Office with Defense Secretary Robert Gates. British Cabinet Secretary: ‘I have declared war on Mr. Murdoch’ Is an internship the new entry-level job? Did a CNBC reporter not get his contract ...

Obamas to return from Hawaii vacation
WASHINGTON — The first family arrives back in Washington on Tuesday from their Christmas Vacation in Hawaii. The president has no public events scheduled but in private is expected to sign a bill overhauling the U.S. Food Safety system. In the afternoon, Obama is to meet in the Oval Office with Defense Secretary Robert Gates. ...

Obamas to return from Hawaii vacation
WASHINGTON—The first family arrives back in Washington on Tuesday from their Christmas Vacation in Hawaii. The president has no public events scheduled but in private is expected to sign a bill overhauling the U.S. Food Safety system. In the afternoon, Obama is to meet in the Oval Office with Defense Secretary Robert Gates. ...

Brown sworn in as California's 39th governor
Reporting from Sacramento — Edmund Gerald Brown Jr. was sworn in as California's 39th Governor Monday — 36 years after first taking the same oath — warning of shared sacrifice and hard choices ahead to help the state out of its Financial Crisis. Striking a serious tone but with a strong undercurrent of optimism, Brown read, uncharacteristically, from prepared remarks. In a 17-minute address, the Democrat spoke of the coming Austerity and of overcoming adversity. But he also ...

Weymouth leads way in federal fire funds
A dozen cash-strapped Bay State fire departments will share nearly $2 million in Federal Aid to buy new trucks, gear and pay for salaries and training. Receiving the most money is the city of Weymouth, which landed $971,000 under the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Firefighter grant program. Harwich received $220,000 while New Bedford got $137,000 and Newburyport netted $250,000. The other towns receiving funds were Easthampton, North Adams, Amherst, Adams, Fitchb...

Weymouth leads way in federal fire funds
A dozen cash-strapped Bay State fire departments will share nearly $2 million in Federal Aid to buy new trucks, gear and pay for salaries and training. Receiving the most money is the city of Weymouth, which landed $971,000 under the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Firefighter grant program. Harwich received $220,000 while New Bedford got $137,000 and Newburyport netted $250,000. The other towns receiving funds were Easthampton, North Adams, Amherst, Adams, Fitchb...

Roves US Attorney Project Comes Full Circle
Remember the entire point of Karl Rove’s plot to fire a bunch of US Attorneys and replace them with partisan hacks? It was to advance the Political Career of the new USAs. Perhaps his most prominent success on that measure is Chris Christie. Though Christie abandons his state even in the face of blizzards-and then blames the resulting chaos on New Jersey’s cities-he is still (implausibly) mentioned as a potential 2012 Presidential Candidate. But the true measure of Rove...

Judicial nominations could become election issue in 2011
With one of the New Jersey Supreme Court's seven chairs already empty, and another chair scheduled to become empty this fall, the Supreme Court could become a hot election issue in 2011, when the entire legislature is up for re-election. The New Jersey State Constitution provides that terms in the New Jersey Senate run for two years immediately following legislative redistricting, and four years after that, until the taking of the next Census. Thus Senators must stand for re-election in years en...

Gas bag Bill OReilly to Mary Katharine Ham: as a conservative, youre ok with people dying
Gas bag Bill O’Reilly to Mary Katharine Ham: ‘as a conservative, you’re ok with people dying” It’s a new year for the gas bag Bill O’Reilly, but it’s the same arrogant, snotty, attacking of Conservatives and sucking up to progressive Liberal Democrats.  The start of the show debuted some new music, after O’Reilly’s two week Vacation. The first interview was with Congressman Peter King of New York, a Republican. O’Reilly was his usual arrogan

Note to publishers: Journalists can smell a plagiarized holiday message
Read what Wilmington, Del. News Journal publisher Howard Griffin sent to his staff (below the MORE link) on Dec. 23, and then read “The History of Christmas.” The Journalist who forwarded Griffin’s message writes: “I find this copy-and-paste approach to ethics unconscionable. If a newsroom employee were to have been found plagiarizing, he or she would be disciplined and probably fired. But the publisher thinks it’s OK? That’s rotten.” I e-mailed the publ...

Bus bomb wounds 15 soldiers' children in Pakistan
Police say a remote-controlled bomb tore through a bus carrying Children of paramilitary Soldiers in southwest Pakistan. Fifteen Children were wounded, five of them critically. Area Police Chief Abdul Latif says the attack occurred Tuesday in Turbat, 435 miles (700 kilometers) from Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province. The bus was being escorted by two other Military vehicles, but they were not hit. Militant Baluch nationalist groups are active in Turbat. The groups are part of a low-leve...