Free Republic

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...

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.”

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.

That honor now goes to New Jersey. Tax reforms passed in the latest budget represent big improvements for corporations, but not so much for individuals. ... Still, New York remains a burdensome place to earn a living. The reforms did not change the state's poor rankings for having high sales taxes (No. 38), individual income taxes (No. 49) and unemployment taxes (No. 45). Meanwhile, the governor announced Tuesday that the state tax department collected nearly $4 billion in evaded taxes in the past year, a 5% or $200 million increase compared to the year earlier.The state collects about $87 billion...

Two former associates of Gov. Chris Christie do not have to hand over documents to a legislative committee investigating the traffic jam scandal engulfing the governor, a New Jersey judge ruled Wednesday. Former Christie loyalists Bridget Kelly and Bill Stepien had been fighting subpoenas calling for them to turn over documents regarding the plot to create traffic jams in Fort Lee to retaliate against the town’s Democratic mayor. The legislative panel asked for the court’s help in getting the two to comply with the subpoenas. Calling the decision one involving “complicated and untested jurisdictional issues,” Judge Mary Jacobson expressed reservations...

"...If we don't run Chris Christie, Romney will be the nominee and we'll lose."

A federal grand jury is investigating NJ Governor Chris Christie’s involvement in the George Washington Bridge traffic scandal and heard hours of testimony Friday from Christie press secretary Mike Drewniak. The US Attorney in New Jersey is taking the investigation extremely seriously, and recently increased the number of investigators on the case from three to 10, sources told the Post.

Republican pundit Charles Krauthammer said that when Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie embraced President Barack Obama after Hurricane Sandy a week before the 2012 presidential election, he was essentially giving Obama a lap dance. “I think many Republicans are extremely upset with what was described in the press as giving Obama a bear hug,” Krauthammer said on Sunday in a debate with Obama strategist David Plouffe, according to Politico. “I saw it slightly differently, I thought it was more of like a lap dance. Not a phrase I would use on television, since the image is too disturbing.”

Christie apologized for the gaffe. Not long after his speech, Christie met with Adelson privately in the casino mogul’s office in the Venetian hotel and casino, which hosted the RJC meeting. The source told POLITICO that Christie “clarified in the strongest terms possible that his remarks today were not meant to be a statement of policy.” Instead, the source said, Christie made clear “that he misspoke when he referred to the ‘occupied territories.’ And he conveyed that he is an unwavering friend and committed supporter of Israel, and was sorry for any confusion that came across as a result of...

The lawyer who led an investigation that determined Gov. Chris Christie was not involved in the bridge closure scandal told Fox News’ Megyn Kelly Thursday there is not a “shred of evidence” Christie knew anything. Randy Mastro, a former federal prosecutor, released a report on his team’s investigation Thursday. The report relied on interviews with officials in the Christie administration, including the governor, and 250,000 documents. Mastro said on “The Kelly File” his investigation was exhaustive and thorough, and in the end completely exonerated Christie. “There is not a shred of evidence that Governor Christie knew anything about this lane...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: After the president met with Pope Francis, Il Papa, he then went over to the Villa Madama, the headquarters of the Italian prime minister, Matteo Renzi. They had a joint press conference that was interrupted. The cable nets actually cut away from this for news about Governor Christie. I kid you not. Here is what we got of Obama's joint presser (not all of it, but some of it) with the Italian prime minister, Matteo Renzi. OBAMA: My day started with the great honor of meeting His Holiness, Pope Francis. I've been incredibly moved by his compassion,...

It’s really very, very simple for New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. New Jersey’s absurd citizen control fetish doesn’t play well in New Hampshire, Iowa, Colorado, Minnesota, Missouri, Utah, Nevada, South Carolina, North Carolina, Arizona, or Michigan. These state comprise the first two months of the 2016 Presidential primary season, and the majority of Republican voters in these states are either very pro-gun to begin with, or are trending towards passing much more Second Amendment-friendly laws. Any candidate that doesn’t do well in these early primaries can kiss their Presidential aspirations goodbye, and one of the fastest ways to sink...

Trenton, New Jersey (My9NJ) - Lately, Governor Christie has been looking slimmer during his town hall meetings and some reports say he lost about 100-pounds from the lap band surgery he underwent a year ago. Dr. Charles Simone formerly worked with President Reagan and he took the time to discuss Christie’s weight loss and health. “It’s very gratifying to see that he lost so much weight and given all the priorities he’s gone through recently and emotionally,” he said.

New Jersey has followed Arizona and Texas into the Dark Side, banning sales of Tesla Motors cars. I feel like I’m living a chapter from Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged. The part of Hank Reardon is being played by Tony Stark Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors (and CEO of SpaceX, and transportation visionary and software designer and physicist). James Taggart is played by Chris Christie, governor of New Jersey, Luddite in Chief.

Though Karl Rove, Ronald Reagan, and Barry Goldwater weren’t in attendance at the 2014 edition of the Conservative Political Action Conference last week, the contrasting visions each had for the Republican Party were well represented. Championing Rove’s cynical realpolitik wing that believes in winning simply for winning’s sake was New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who essentially told the CPAC audience the GOP should keep doing what lost the last two presidential elections — but do it even worse. Showing he’s either out-of-touch with reality or really just a liberal, Christie even said Republicans have lost because they’ve been nominating candidates...

Mike Huckabee - "These are the things that I know. I know there is a God, and I know this nation would not exist had he not been the midwife of its birth. And I know that this nation exists by the providence of his hand, and if this nation forgets our God, then God will have every right to forget us. I hope that we repent before we ever have to receive his fiery judgment."

Actually, although I have video of his speech, I don’t have video of the reception he got. You’ll have to trust David Freddoso and Eliana Johnson on that: The crowd gathered at the Conservative Political Action Conference rose to its feet as Chris Christie exited stage left…Christie’s remarks were highly anticipated, not only because of the lingering scandal but also because CPAC brass dinged him last year by leaving him off of the guest list. Today, the governor was greeted with murmurs and some quiet cheers; he drew more excitement from the audience as he proceeded…Christie returned to a familiar...

C’mon. In the new America, you’re not really an adult until you’re 26. Maybe longer, depending on the next unilateral executive rule change.This case had to end this way, didn’t it? Rachel Canning, a senior at Morris Catholic High School, went to court to force her parents, Sean and Elizabeth Canning, to pay her child support, her private school tuition, medical and related bills, college expenses and legal fees. Canning is an honor student and athlete, but her parents have stopped paying her bills because, they say, she would not obey their rules…Her parents countered that she voluntarily left home...

Full Title - "Lawyer on Chris Christie’s SCHOOL FUNDING task force is bankrolling teen suing parents for college cash" The prominent New Jersey attorney who is funding the legal costs of 18-year-old Morris Catholic High School senior Rachel Canning in her lawsuit against her own parents serves on Gov. Chris Christie’s School Funding Task Force. The attorney is John P. Inglesino, the managing partner at Inglesino, Wyciskala & Taylor, LLC, a 10-attorney firm in Parsippany, N.J. Gov. Christie’s School Funding Task Force exists to eradicate abuse and fraud from New Jersey’s education system, explains the Common Sense Institute of New...

TRENTON New Jersey Democrats on Monday proposed legislation that would limit the ammunition capacity of gun magazines, 14 months after a massacre at a Connecticut elementary school revived a national debate about the role of guns in America. The bill, announced by the Legislature's Democratic leadership at a Statehouse news conference with parents of children slain at Sandy Hook Elementary School in December 2012, would reduce magazine capacity to 10 rounds, from 15. It also would ban semiautomatic rifles with fixed-magazine capacities that exceed 10 rounds. "When you meet families that lost their loved ones, it's pretty hard to explain...