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Gov. Chris Christie today defended his starring role in publicly funded tourism ads that Democrats say gives him an unfair advantage in the race for governor. “I’m happy and proud to have me and my family in those ads and I hope that what they do is they bring people to the Jersey Shore,” the Republican governor said at a campaign event where he got the endorsement of Burlington Mayor Jim Fazzone, a Democrat. “There’s nothing political about the ads.” The Star-Ledger was first to report that Christie, First Lady Mary Pat and their four children will appear in six...

Gov. Chris Christie has warned potential investors there is no guarantee the state will make its required pension payments in future years, an admission that underscores a looming financial crisis he and future governors face as retirement costs are expected to explode before the decade ends. The disclosure, buried in a 156-page bond prospectus for investors, also casts doubt on one of the key commitments Christie and leading Democrats made to public employees as part of the 2011 health and pension reform: Workers would shoulder a greater share of pension costs in exchange for the state making required payments to...

Shortly after Barack Obama won reelection in November, New Jersey governor Chris Christie pointed out that Republicans’ cloudy political prospects had a bright silver lining. “One of the reasons you have 30 Republican governors in America, and why we’re the only organization to add Republican strength,” Christie said, “is because people see us getting things done.” Christie’s stance countered most of the elite postelection commentary, which gleefully pronounced the Republican Party’s political irrelevance. But the governor was right. Since Obama first took office in 2008, Republicans have picked up a net nine governorships, bringing their total to 30 states,...

The governor won’t meet with a leading New Jersey warmist critic. Hello from the Paul Robeson Center for The Arts, located on Paul Robeson Place, just a few blocks down from Princeton University. They like their hardcore communists here in Central Jersey. But they also make really great coffee, which is why I make it a point to meet up with my long-time lefty friend in Palmer Square where we have plenty of options. In print, we’ll call her “Moonbeam,” to prevent our association from destroying her standing in the community, and to make it clear that her environmental policy...

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is swatting down criticism from GOP ranks that he isn’t conservative enough, saying in an interview airing Friday that he’s a “damn good Republican.” “Is it a fair question to ask that if you ran as a Republican for president of the United States, what Republican Party do you see that would support your candidacy out there right now? How would you survive a primary process on the current set-up of the Republican Party?” NBC’s Brian Williams asked Christie, who is considered to be mulling a 2016 run. “Listen, I think very well. I’ll worry...

First lady Michelle Obama on Wednesday said New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) suffers from adulthood obesity and is an example of why her "Let’s Move" campaign is such an important initiative. Speaking Wednesday on the "Today" show, the first lady was asked to comment on reports that Christie secretly underwent a medical operation in February to help him lose weight. “The one thing I will say is that there are millions of people like the governor who struggle with adulthood obesity, and that’s one of the reasons why 'Let’s Move' is so important,” she said. “Because we want to...

Christie reveals secret stomach surgery to lose weight By TARA PALMERI and BETH DEFALCO Last Updated: 3:59 AM, May 7, 2013 Posted: 3:01 AM, May 7, 2013 EXCLUSIVE New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie secretly underwent lap-band stomach surgery to aggressively slim down for the sake of his wife and kids, he revealed to The Post last night. The Garden State governor agreed to the operation at the urging of family and friends after turning 50 last September.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is taking heat from the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals after he killing a spider on his desk in front of a class of fourth graders. In a video titled, 'Governor Christie Saves School Children From Spider,' his fearless spider-swatting skills are witnessed to cheers from his daughter, Bridget’s classmates after it caused a commotion on his desk. He tells the children after delivering it a quick slap by his palm that it's just one of the many perks of being governor. 'Any bugs on your desk you're allowed to kill them...

It's been six month since one of the most destructive natural since Hurricane Katrina hit the eastern seaboard, and while there's been a good deal of progress on cleanup and rebuilding, there are still thousands of displaced people and closed businesses waiting for the rebuilding phase to pick up the pace: Tens of thousands of people remain homeless. Housing, business, tourism and coastal protection all remain major issues with the summer vacation — and hurricane — seasons almost here again. …By many measures, the recovery from Sandy, which struck Oct. 29, has been slow. From Maryland to New Hampshire, the...

Gov. Chris Christie on Friday unveiled a multi-faceted plan to curb gun violence in New Jersey that includes expanding government-funded mental health treatment, requiring parental sign-off before children can buy or rent violent video games, and mandating that ID presented by would-be gun-owners is government-issued. The Republican’s plan also includes a ban on the sale of Barrett .50-caliber semi-automatic sniper rifles, bail reforms that would make it harder for people suspected of violent gun crimes to be released, and provisions to make it easier for courts and health care professionals to involuntarily commit people they consider violent to a psychiatric...

Gov. Chris Christie unveiled gun control and violence prevention measures that are as comprehensive as they are ambitious. Christie acknowledges there is no way to prevent all violence in our society, but he says it is the job of government to question, to scrutinize and to demand more in an attempt to address the problem. The plan calls for expanding New Jersey’s already strict gun control laws, expanding government-funded mental health treatment, making it more difficult for kids buy or rent violent video games, requiring that would-be gun owners show government-issued IDs and bolstering penalties for gun-related crimes. “It’s hard...

This undated photo provided by Shawn Moore shows his son Josh, 10, holding a rifle his father gave him for his 11th birthday, at their home in Carneys Point, N.J. (Shawn Moore) TRENTON, N.J. – New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is asking the attorney general to probe the state's visit to the home of a man who uploaded a photo on Facebook of his 10-year-old son holding a military-style rifle.

After initially saying he was undecided on the topic, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is against gay conversion therapy. Christie faced criticism when he said earlier in the week he wasn’t sure if he would sign legislation banning the practice on minors. “Governor Christie does not believe in conversion therapy,” spokesman Kevin Roberts said in a statement to the New Jersey Star-Ledger. “There is no mistaking his point of view on this when you look at his own prior statements where he makes clear that people’s sexual orientation is determined at birth.” Gay conversion therapy, also known as reparative therapy,...

Here's something of a surprise given Chris Christie's last-second Sandy-fueled embrace of President Obama during the final days of the 2012 presidential election, via Politico: Romney, whose supporters and aides were furious that Christie complimented the president’s response to Hurricane Sandy, has given the maximum contribution possible, $3,800, to the New Jersey governor’s reelection bid, a source familiar with the donation said. We probably shouldn't make too much of a $3,800 check—Romney didn't exactly have to sit down with his family and rework his budget to carve out the cash, and he's cut plenty of such checks in the past—but...

Doesn’t CPAC realize that 2012 already happened? Glance over the list of CPAC invitees and scheduled panels, and it makes you wonder if the organizers are aware that the 2012 election has already come and gone, not with the most glowing of possible results. Sometimes — as with the decision to exclude GOProud from the event altogether — one might be less charitably tempted to wonder whether the organizers knew that, say, 1998 had already come and gone. The event seems to have both feet firmly planted in the past. Here, from the schedule, is a summary of the events...

IN POLITICS, snubs are more important than invites. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican and social conservative, has been refused a speaking spot at the Conservative Political Action Conference to be held this week just outside Washington. CPAC, as it is known, is the Ames Straw Poll without the fun. The Ames Straw Poll held in Iowa has free drinks, free eats, free face painting and free country music followed by a bunch of speeches and a meaningless presidential straw poll. CPAC has a bunch of speeches and a meaningless presidential straw poll. Previous CPAC straw poll winners have...

Circular firing squads are about as helpful as they sound, yet they are something at which some Republicans excel. I do my best to avoid engaging in them. To paraphrase President Reagan, my 80 percent friend is not my 20 percent enemy. But sometimes my 80 percent friends do something 100 percent stupid, and pretending they didn’t could cause more damage than calling them out on it. Consider Sen. John McCain. Few have honed their circular firing squad skills to the level of the senior Senator from Arizona. McCain fancies himself a lot of things – a conservative, a leader,...

While participating in a panel discussion Sunday on ABC’s “This Week,” President George W. Bush’s former chief strategist Matthew Dowd continued the senseless attacks on former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin by political elitists on the right . Dowd was critiquing the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) for not inviting New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), while welcoming Palin, who he said “wasn’t competent enough to keep a Fox News contract,” according to The Raw Story. “CPAC, to me, has totally diminished its credibility as an organization,” Dowd said. “And you invite Sarah Palin, who wasn’t competent enough to keep a...

What happens at CPAC 2013 will divide the past from the future. Conservatives will chose between nostalgic pleasantries or a dynamic horizon. Conservatives will consolidate one way or another. In my view, conservatives will choose the future and they will choose Ted Cruz and Sarah Palin. There is a division today in what is called conservatism, although it should be called something else. It has been forming for several years and will come to clarity and decision in CPAC 2013. The new directions — states’ rights, sound money and constitutional government — of what might be called the gnarly conservatives...

Ask Siri: “What is CPAC 2013? There is an app in the iTunes store called CPAC 2013. You must know something about this event!” Siri is a smart woman. She responds: “CPAC 2013 is the largest annual gathering of conservative activists in the country and is celebrating its 40th anniversary in Washington, D.C., March 14-16, at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center. CPAC’s organizers expect to meet or exceed last year’s attendance record—meaning over 10,000 activists. This is a big feat considering that this is a year after an election where conservatives suffered some major losses. This indicates that...

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has become the eighth Republican governor to agree to expand Medicaid coverage in his state under the provisions of Obamacare. Is the last line of Republican resistance to Obamacare disintegrating? In 2011, 26 states joined a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the provision of Obamacare, which forced them to participate in expanding Medicaid coverage as a condition to continue to participate in the program. The Supreme Court ruled in their favor last year, negating the mandatory requirement, so it is now voluntary for states to expand Medicaid coverage. The Congressional Budget Office still estimates...

Via the Andrea Tantaros Show, I assume his point here about the urgency of economic renewal will form the core of his CPAC speech so consider this a sneak preview. Interesting little exchange between him and Tantaros: She seizes on his message about opposing political correctness to steer him towards criticizing Christie’s and GOProud’s exclusion on those grounds, that it’s a form of conservative PC. But that’s not really where he takes it. He comes back at her, essentially, with something similar to Mitch Daniels’s idea of a “truce” on social issues. We need a big tent right now because...

What can you do with a man like Chris Christie? The answer, according to many with the conservative movement: Throw him overboard. And while we're at it, let's toss the gays over the side too. The popular governor of New Jersey has certainly angered many conservatives, including this humble scribe. During the crucial final days of the presidential election, Christie didn't merely embrace President Obama, he all but endorsed him. Then, during the congressional fight over the disaster-relief bill for victims of superstorm Sandy -- a bill with more pork in it than a Jimmy Dean factory -- Christie denounced...

Governor John Kasich rode to victory on the 2010 Tea Party wave, campaigning as a budget hawk, promising to cut taxes and balance the budget. He raged against Obamacare and out-of-control federal spending. Speaking to Bill Cunningham a few months before his election, Kasich said of Obamacare: It’s all taxes, it’s smoke and mirrors, it’s always tomorrow, it’s never today, it’s always tomorrow. … What they’re doing on this health care bill and everything else they’re doing is just spending like there’s no tomorrow. Big government, big debt. And look, everybody’s worked up about it. And the country doesn’t...

The popular New Jersey governor angers conservatives — again — by announcing he'll go along with ObamaCare's Medicaid expansion New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, still in the GOP dog house for saying nice things about President Obama's handling of Superstorm Sandy mere days before the November election, angered conservative critics once again this week by announcing that he would expand Medicaid under ObamaCare. The news came as the organizers of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), the annual enclave of the nation's conservatives, said they didn't invite Christie to this year's gathering because he has a "limited future" in the...

Hard to argue with that assessment today of all days, but … Mitt Romney’s also been invited this year. The future doesn’t get any more limited than that. Also, since when is one’s prospects in the GOP a litmus test for whether you’re CPAC-worthy or not? Every time someone objects to GOPround’s exclusion, the rejoinder inevitably comes that it’s the “Conservative Political Action Conference,” not the “Republican Political Action Conference.” Okay, in that case, who cares about Christie’s future in the GOP? Either his ideas are conservative enough or they aren’t. Verdict: They aren’t. Or rather, one isn’t. New Jersey...

Gov. Chris Christie will expand the state's Medicaid program to cover 300,000 uninsured New Jersey residents, The Star-Ledger learned today. The governor's new budget, which he plans to unveil at joint session of the Legislature this afternoon, also relies on state revenue growth of 4.9 percent and delays some property tax rebates for local taxpayers, according to three sources with knowledge of the budget plan who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The governor's revenue forecast this year is a much smaller jump than the optimistic 8 percent growth of last year, a goal he has not met. The sources...

I t's time to talk about the way our politicians look. Maybe such superficialities shouldn't matter. But fact is, they do. In the modern era, it's pretty clear that when it comes to the White House, we don't elect bald men, short men, men with beards, men with glasses, or (since Taft) fat men. This is unfair, but it's also reality. And it's something to consider when we examine potential 2016 contenders. Let's start with Chris Christie, who has been in the news this week for his weight. It all started when a doctor publicly expressed fears that Christie, whom...

I think the answer is clear: no. I also think the question deserved to be asked. My own history with obesity is here, in all its gory glory. Fat stigma is an anathema to me, and I wish that we could ignore the issue entirely. We can't. And that means that the fat of Christie's will inevitably bleed over into the zone that perpetuates stigma and stereotypes. We have to find a way to judge Christie's weight in the context of what the job of being presidential entails, and then, at the same time rigorously segregate it from any other...

Sandy-related salvo against the Obama administration, Gov. Christie slammed the National Flood Insurance Program today, saying that the pace of its payouts to victims of Sandy has "stunk." During a news conference in this small community on the Raritan Bay that was ravaged by Sandy, Christie said that 30 percent of flood insurance claims, which are paid by the federal government, have been resolved, compared to 85 percent of homeowners' insurance claims, which are paid directly by insurance companies. "I've been as patient as I'm going to be...and now I'm going to turn my special brand of love and affection...

MenendezÂ’s Replacements Three potential interim senators floated to replace troubled Democrat BY: Lachlan Markay February 1, 2013 3:30 pm A small group of New Jersey politicians are being floated as likely replacements for embattled Sen. Bob Menendez (D., N.J.), who is under investigation by the Senate Ethics Committee over his relationship with a donor facing allegations of political corruption and fraud.New JerseyÂ’s constitution gives governors the ability to appoint interim senators. After appointing an interim senator, the governor then has the choice of either calling a special election or waiting until the 2013 general election to fill the seat...

I'm intrigued and oddly impressed at how obviously Rand Paul's maneuvering for 2016. First the trip to Israel, then the bill to nullify any executive actions taken by Obama on guns, now this double-barreled shot at grassroots conservatives' new bete noire. One of the things about the elder Paul that some people loved and others found off-putting was that he never seemed terribly interested in ingratiating himself with mainstream conservatives. If you're a fan, maybe you took that as proof of principle, that he was above gladhanding political nonsense towards people foolish enough not to embrace libertarianism wholeheartedly. If you...

Chris Christie is immensely popular and is a huge favorite for reelection in New Jersey this year, with voters from across the political spectrum giving him the thumbs up. When it comes to the national conservative base, though, the governor is at risk of earning a different one-finger salute. Christie is already on probation with some conservatives for his praise of President Obama’s work on Hurricane Sandy in the closing days of the 2012 election — something a few critics have even suggested put the president over the top. Now the potential 2016 presidential contender has lashed out at the...

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie slammed the National Rifle Association’s latest ad in which they accuse President Barack Obama of hypocrisy for sending his children to a school where they are protected by armed guards. Christie called the ad “reprehensible” and said that the NRA should not be “dragging people’s children” into the gun control debate. RELATED: NRA: Those Who Think New Ad Is About First Daughters Are ‘Missing The Point Completely’ “I think any of us who are public figures, you see that kind of ad and you cringe,” Christie said on Thursday at a news conference in Trenton....

Conservatives are taking aim at the pork-laden $50.7 billion Superstorm Sandy aid package that Northeastern governors and lawmakers hope to push through the House this coming week. Too much of the aid will go to recovery efforts for past disasters and other projects unrelated to the late-October storm, they say. The bill includes $150 million for what the Commerce Department described as fisheries disasters in places as far afield as Alaska and Mississippi, and $50 million in subsidies for replanting trees on private land damaged by wildfires. … The objections have led senior House Republicans to assemble a $17 billion...

Let me say on the record that I don’t really care about New Jersey. I know very little about it. But, I know this much: I don’t want to live there and I don’t want the rest of the United States to resemble New Jersey. For me New Jersey is the Joe Piscopo character asking anyone and everyone “Are you from Jersey? I’m from Jersey.” Also, I’ve never seen the TV show “Jersey Shore,” but still I don’t like it. And know that I don’t want the rest of the country to resemble it, either. It’s the state that elected...

Gov. Chris Christie, R-N.J., called for a comprehensive approach to reducing gun violence Wednesday on "CBS This Morning," saying, "If all we talk about is just controlling guns, which we should talk about, then we're not doing enough." Christie said, "In New Jersey, we have the second toughest gun laws in America already," but suggested that restrictions on firearms are insufficient. The governor decried the "stigma about mental illness treatment in this country" that prevents mentally ill people from seeking help as one contributing factor to gun violence. He also spoke to the need to "talk about substance abuse" and...

Republican Gov. Chris Christie may have “prayed” for Superstorm Sandy because it has provided political cover for his failed economic policies, the Democratic leader of the state Senate said Monday. Senate President Stephen Sweeney, the state’s most powerful elected Democrat and a possible contender for his party’s nomination for governor, said Christie’s jobs plan before the late October storm was a disaster and now the reconstruction will provide an economic boost through thousands of new construction jobs. … “His jobs package is a hurricane,” Sweeney said during a press conference on Monday, the day before Christie was set to deliver...

(CNN) -- New Jersey, one of the bluest states and where President Barack Obama won 58.3% of the vote in November's presidential election, is poised to re-elect Chris Christie, the state's incumbent Republican governor, this fall. Having been deeply engaged in New Jersey politics since his youth, Christie seems to relish his role as one of the nation's most powerful and prominent governors. Yet many are wondering whether Christie's popularity in the Garden State has come at the expense of his presidential prospects. --snip-- At the same time, Christie's decisions to distance himself from the House GOP and to stand...

10) Richard Mourdock's Campaign: After defeating Richard Lugar, he should have been able to easily retain the GOP’s Senate seat in a state that Mitt Romney won by 10 points. He PROBABLY would have pulled it off, too -- if, in a display of tone deafness comparable to the Democrats turning Paul Wellstone's memorial into a campaign rally, he hadn't decided to weigh in on abortion and rape after Todd Akin made the issue nuclear."I struggled with it myself for a long time, but I came to realize life is that gift from God. And I think even when life...

A pork-barrel feast of goodies for federal agencies to fix museum roofs in D.C. and aid fisheries in Alaska, cooked up in the middle of the night, is not the way to aid hurricane victims or run a government. As if the fallout from agreeing to a bad deal that raises the debt by $4 trillion and accepts a 41-1 ratio in tax hikes to spending cuts weren't enough, Speaker of the House John Boehner has New Jersey's Chris Christie on his case. "There's only one group to blame," the New Jersey governor said of the Sandy relief bill that...

Am I the only one who notices just how smoothly and effortlessly the Democrat Party plays the American people and establishment Republican leadership?Basic timeline:Last week of October: Hurricane Sandy visited destruction upon the East Coast, most severely New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut.First week of November: With the presidential election just days away, Obama lands in New Jersey to get bear hugged by Gov'r Chris Christie in order to give off a semblance of "bi-partisanship," and to secure extra votes from stupid Americans who actually thinks Obama caaaares about them. (Indeed it worked: Exit polls showed many still-undecided voters ended up pulling...

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie launched a ruthless assault on Republican House Speaker John Boehner Wednesday after the GOP leader pulled the plug on a Hurricane Sandy relief bill.

“Superstorm” Sandy killed more than 100 people, destroyed thousands of homes and businesses, and left millions without food, water, electricity, sanitation or shelter for days or even weeks. Our thoughts and prayers remain focused on its victims, many of whom are still grieving as they struggle with the storm’s wintry aftermath and try to rebuild their lives. Unfortunately, too many politicians continue to use the storm to advance agendas, deflect blame for incompetence and mistakes, and obfuscate and magnify future risks from building and development projects that they have designed, promoted, permitted and profited from. Sandy was “unprecedented,” the...

New Jersey GOP Gov. Chris Christie makes it clear that he’s considering running for president in the future, after deciding against it for the 2012 election. … GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney suffered in November for appearing out-of-touch with the concerns of average Americans, Christie said. …

The "Lincoln" director and Obama supporter, one of The Hollywood Reporter's 2012 Rule Breakers, says the New Jersey governor "put party politics aside for the greater good" and also cites Nelson Mandela and Bill Clinton among his heroes. [SNIP] [SNIP] THR: Daniel, is there a British historical character who interests you in the way America is fascinated by Lincoln? Day-Lewis: The quality of fascination is incomparable, really. But I was very interested in Richard Hillary, a pilot who died in World War II. I don’t know if you’ve read Sebastian Faulks’ wonderful book The Fatal Englishman. He takes three lives...

He may have embraced the president just before the election, but New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is keeping his distance from Obama when it comes to implementing Obamacare. Politico: ******* Echoing complaints from other Republican governors who have declined to build the key component of the president's health law, Christie stressed unanswered questions and potential costs. "We will comply with the Affordable Care Act but only in the most efficient and cost-effective way for New Jersey taxpayers," he said in a statement. But he said the federal government hasn't told states what they need to make the assessment. "Thus far,...

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama has met with New Jersey Republican Gov. Chris Christie at the White House. Christie is in Washington Thursday to talk about aid to help his state recover from Superstorm Sandy. Obama is expected to ask Congress for about $50 billion in additional emergency assistance.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is sitting atop many Republicans’ you-know-what-list these days, after what seemed like some unnecessarily excessive displays of ultra-bipartisan praise of Obama in the pre-election wake of Hurricane Sandy. Yes, everyone understands that he's the Republican governor of a blueish state and that some well-placed schmoozing to the federal government can help him gain more federal resources for his domain, but it did seem kind of over-the-top, especially after Romney gave him the keynote slot at the Republican National Convention. As Allahpundit already noted, it's tough to believe that Christie wasn't milking the situation for all...

I keep thinking, "Christie can't possibly come back from this." And then I think, "Wait, did we actually just nominate John McCain and the guy responsible for RomneyCare?"Never underestimate the Republican capacity to forgive, my friends. But behind the scenes, the intensity of the reaction from those in Mr. ChristieÂ’s party caught him by surprise, interviews show, requiring a rising Republican star to try to contain a tempest that left him feeling deeply misunderstood and wounded... The tensions followed Mr. Christie to the annual meeting of the Republican Governors Association in Las Vegas last week. At a gathering where he...