Free Republic

Immigration is a complex problem. So is the long-term question of how the United States should handle the influx of tens of thousands of children from Central America. Beyond the legal mandates, we owe them basic human decency. On the other hand, to say that they should all simply stay here for good begs big questions about encouraging more children to make this journey, and the rights of all the people abroad who are waiting their turn in line. Unless you believe in open borders, it’s all thorny. What seems right for an individual child can seem wrong systemwide. But...

GREENWICH, Conn. (AP) -- Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said Monday he doesn't have plans to campaign for New York's Republican candidate for governor because he doesn't campaign for candidates he doesn't think can win. Christie was in Greenwich, Connecticut, to raise cash for GOP candidate Tom Foley when he was asked whether he planned to spend any time campaigning in New York, where Republican challenger Rob Astorino, the Westchester County executive, trails incumbent Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo by a large margin in public polls. "You know, I will spend time in places where we have a chance to...

Looking ahead to 2016, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is the odds on favorite against Vice President Joe Biden among Iowa Democrats for her party’s nomination. But, she would find a general election matchup against either Kentucky Senator Rand Paul or New Jersey Governor Chris Christie very competitive. Clinton edges former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, and has an early lead over Florida Senator Marco Rubio, Texas Senator Ted Cruz, and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. There is a wide gender gap in these matchups. Although each of the potential Republican candidates has a more positive than negative rating with GOP...

A close aide to Gov. Chris Christie sent him text messages related to fallout from the lane closures at the George Washington Bridge and later deleted them, she told a legislative committee in Trenton on Thursday. Regina Egea, then the governor's liaison to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, said the messages discussed testimony...

Making his first trip to Iowa in more than 940 days, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie declared, "I don't care about being loved. I care about being respected." "I tell them what I think and then everyone else will get to decide. They don't go in there and say, "Are you conservative enough? Are you liberal enough? Are you moderate enough?" That's not what people say, " he said. "They say, "Do I trust him? Can I count on him to tell me the truth? Is he somebody who can be a competent steward of our country's future?""

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie blamed the Obama administration for the influx of immigrant children at the southern border, but didn't rule out the prospect of accepting children in New Jersey on a case-by-case basis. "I have great empathy for that situation, but frankly the administration has done an awful job in securing our border, and they need to do that," Christie told reporters in Marion, Iowa, where he campaigned for incumbent Gov. Terry Branstad. "I don't think ... it matters one bit what your Hispanic population is, as to whether or not you're going to offer help and assistance,"...

New Jersey governor Chris Christie appointed an ethics chief and ombudsman to his administration this week, before traveling to Iowa to headline a Republican Governors Association event that is being seen as an attempt to jump-start his stalled presidential ambitions. Speaking at the RGA event, an organization he leads, is considered Christie’s most public re-entry to the 2016 Republican presidential field since he faced questions about top advisers using lane closures on the George Washington bridge for apparent political payback. The ethics chief’s position grew out of the same scandal. Christie hired attorneys to investigate his own administration and the...

In what could be the latest move toward a 2016 presidential bid, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) offered a wide-ranging critique of President Obama’s domestic and foreign policies. Speaking to reporters at the National Governors Association on Saturday, Christie labeled Obamacare, the administration’s signature legislation, a “failure on a whole number of levels” and said it should be repealed. “But has to be repeal and replace with what. It can’t just be about repeal,” Christie told the audience. “What I’ve said before is, what Republicans need to be doing is putting forth alternatives for what should be a better...

New Jersey governor Chris Christie’s administration has awarded a public subsidy worth more than a quarter of a billion dollars to a politically connected manufacturing firm. Holtec International, which makes components for power plants, this week secured a $260m tax break from the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) – the third-biggest corporate subsidy that the state has awarded. George Norcross, a powerful Democratic Party “boss” in southern New Jersey, who reportedly struck an important non-aggression pact with Christie, a Republican, during Christie’s re-election campaign, sits on the company’s board of directors. Holtec had been threatening to move 160 workers...

Partly blaming unrest in the Middle East on President Barack Obama, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said Saturday that Obama has not spoken firmly and forcefully on Israel’s behalf and that the country no longer trusts it has the full support of the United States because of him. The Republican governor’s remarks came as Israel targeted civilian institutions with suspected ties to the militant organization Hamas and declared it would step up its bombardment of northern Gaza. Israel says it is acting in self-defense against Hamas rockets. …

A new Zogby Analytics poll of likely Republican primary voters in 2016 shows Rand Paul starting to build a lead over better known – and more establishment – GOP figures. In the poll, Rand polls 20%, followed by “Establishment” candidates New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush with 13% each. In fourth place is Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker with 8%, then Florida Senator Marco Rubio 7%, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindahl 4%, and New Mexico Governor Suzanna Martinez, Ohio Governor John Kasich, and South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley all with 1% each. Rand does well among all...

Gov. Chris Christie vetoed a gun control bill Wednesday that would have banned ammunition magazines holding more than 10 rounds. In his veto message, the Republican governor rejected the idea that limiting the number of bullets that guns can hold will put an end to mass shootings, calling it a "simplistic" and "trivial" approach. The bill would have reduced the legal ammunition capacity from 15 to 10 rounds.

The Showboat Atlantic City Hotel and Casino is closing after more than 27 years of operation, according to an official with the city’s largest casino workers union. Unite HERE Local 54 president Bob McDevitt said Showboat’s 2,100 employees will receive WARN Act notices Friday. The federal law requires covered companies to give workers at least 60 days notice if plans are in place to shut down a job site or execute mass layoffs. “We were notified earlier today from Caesars that they’re issuing WARN Act notices to Showboat employees tomorrow and we immediately began notifying our members,” McDevitt said Thursday...

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is joining the parade of ambitious Republicans courting religious conservatives as the early jockeying for the next presidential contest intensifies. Christie was to deliver his first major address to an evangelical conference on Friday, the second day of the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s annual meeting, which brings hundreds of social conservative leaders to Washington. He’ll be joined on a packed agenda that also includes the GOP’s 2012 vice presidential nominee, Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, and tea party firebrand Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. […] This group of potential presidential contenders largely represents a wing of the...

The following is mostly satire. Hillary Clinton, the Prince Charles of American politics (in more ways than one), has a new book out that she’s busy promoting. It’s called “Hard Choices.” She said, for example, her most difficult choice on the night of the Benghazi consulate attack was whether to have scotch, vodka or gin. In one interview, Hillary said that when she and Bill left the White House they were “flat broke.” She admitted to one interviewer that, "all the silverware we took from the White House were practically worthless". To escape their positively Dickensian condition, Hillary tried her...

Gov. Chris Christie appears confident in his presidential prospects despite the ongoing bridge scandal that has tarnished his national reputation. During an appearance on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” that aired late Thursday night, Christie was asked whether, “hypothetically,” he thinks he could beat Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton in a one-on-one matchup. …

New Jersey could be downgraded again because of its growing budgetary imbalance and underfunded public pension, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services warned on Monday. S&P had already cut the state's rating to 'A+' in April. Wall Street's two other main credit rating agencies soon followed in slicing the state to a single-A rating. That put New Jersey among the three lowest-rated states, along with California and Illinois.

Steve Lonegan, a libertarian-leaning former mayor, is running slightly behind self-funded insurance executive Tom MacArthur in a sharp-elbowed New Jersey GOP primary race for a House seat. The two candidates clashed repeatedly during a May 21 radio show, when MacArthur portrayed Lonegan as a big spender, and Lonegan portrayed MacArthur as a crony capitalist tool of the Chamber of Commerce. Lonegan said that MacArthur won the chamber’s support by agreeing to back the “comprehensive immigration reform” plan, which would increase levels of immigration. “You have to answer ‘yes’ to that question to get that endorsement,” Lonegan said.

The gun ban that has gone to Governor Christie for signature has been described as a "gun magazine restriction",  but it bans numerous common sport and hunting rifles.   The ban has no exemption for rifles with fixed magazines, including most common .22 rimfire rifles that are used for sport and small game hunting, and almost never used in crime.  Assembly Bill 2006 bans rifles that meet this definition: (4)   A semi-automatic rifle with a fixed magazine capacity exceeding [15] 10 rounds. The bracket and underline show the existing and proposed law.  There are no exemptions for grandfathering.   Anyone...

In nearly four and a half weeks, the ABC, CBS and NBC morning and evening news shows have offered 110 minutes to an evolving Obama administration scandal involving secret lists designed to keep veterans from receiving proper medical treatment. Back in January, it took those same network shows just four and a half days to churn that much coverage for Chris Christie's Bridgegate.