Showing posts with label Chris Christie. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chris Christie. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Some quick thoughts re Charlie Cook of the Cook Political Report, his unique role in D.C., his feelings about tonight's GOP debate in Las Vegas, and the 2016 presidential campaign thus far... @CharlieCookDC






The National Journal
What’s on the Line in Las Vegas - For some of the Republican wannabes, Tuesday’s debate could matter a lot.
Charlie Cook, December 14, 2015

As we get older, some of us ac­cu­mu­late pet peeves. For me, this is one: when journ­al­ists write of an up­com­ing event as tan­tamount to a turn­ing point in the his­tory of civil­iz­a­tion, or at least since the in­ven­tion of sliced bread. In polit­ics, many im­port­ant events shape elec­tions, and a suc­ces­sion of events big and small make up what we call the cam­paign. For some of the can­did­ates, Tues­day night’s Re­pub­lic­an de­bate in Las Ve­gas, sponsored by CNN and Face­book, is crit­ic­ally im­port­ant; for oth­ers, even a strong per­form­ance would likely be too little, too late. There are likely to be no ad­di­tion­al events between now and the first week of Janu­ary—noth­ing that’s planned, any­way—that can change the dy­nam­ics of this race.


Read the rest of the article at http://www.nationaljournal.com/s/126039













I first met Charlie Cook of the eponymous Cook Political Report in 1992, when I had a 5-6 month gig at Roll Call newspaper in DC in-between some interviews I was having for some fulltime jobs at trade associations and law/lobbying firms, starting in the spring before the 1992 General Election that Bill Clinton won. 

This was in the pre-Internet era when Doug Bailey's The Hotline was faxed daily to eager subscribers aroung the Beltway and the country, and their most-eagerly anticipated 'coverage' in the 15-20 pages we'd print out were whatever crazy smart or crazy cruel thing that Mary Matalin had said in defense of President Bush or against Bill Clinton and the Democrats, and she pulled no punches, much to everyone's delight and constant amazement in the office. 
(If only Twitter had existed then!)

This was back when Roll Call was co-owned by Arthur Levitt before President Clinton nominated him to be SEC Chairman, and the paper was edited by James "Jim' Glassman
Which is to say, before it was owned by The Economist, and before The Hill existed.

Charlie's then-independent Cook Political Report was then-located in the same office around the corner from DC's Union Station as us, a few blocks north of the Senate side of Capitol Hill. 
It's while there that among other things, that I first met future Washington state's U.S. Senator Patty Murray months before she won her Senate primary and before her consultant's "mom in tennis shoes" ad campaign became a bit of a national thing via CNN.

That came about because a colleague in the Washington state Senate had once, foolishly, said she was “just a mom in tennis shoes. Go home. You can’t make a difference.”
Then as well as now, sometimes, left to their own devices, your opponents create your golden opportunity.

So, naturally, given all this, we were all VERY curious what Murray would wear for her first appointment with Charlie, which we all knew in advance would be crucial to her, and if positive,would likely have a tidal wave effect on DC PACs and the Beltway Dem money crowd IF she impressed him and his staff.

Surprise! She made a point of wearing sneakers with her smart professional outfit, looking like most of the women I'd just seen on the Metro train a few minutes before, wearing some sort of Anne Klein II thing. 
Murray's now the highest-ranking woman in the Senate.

In large part because of his amiable personality and disposition towards fairness -and his remarkable lack of a large ego despite his renown- as well as his zeal for facts and analytics, and his crazy memory for arcane facts, Charlie is probably the most-universally respected person I ever met in my 15 years in DC from 1988-2003.

Dave 


Thursday, September 29, 2011

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie: A Perspectives on Leadership, Ronald Reagan Presidential Library; Majority in WSJ reader poll support 2012 run


Reagan Foundation video: A Perspectives on Leadership Forum with New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. September 27, 2011, Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, Simi Valley, California.
http://youtu.be/apledlOUVfs

Wall Street Journal
After Christie Speech, the Answer Is Still 'No'
By Jonathan Weisman
September 28, 2011

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie delivered a muscular plea for national unity in a speech Tuesday at the Ronald Reagan presidential library. Although he and those close to him have said repeatedly he won't run for president, the California appearance nonetheless stoked speculation he would enter the Republican nomination contest.
Read the rest of the article at:

FYI: Wall Street Journal reader's poll as of 2:11 a.m. September 29, 2011
Should New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie run for the Republican presidential nomination?
2108 total votes with 66.4% responding that Gov. Christie should run


Newark Star-Ledger
Gov. Christie speech reactions: Candidates and pundits sound off

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Ronald Reagan Presidential Library http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/

President Reagan Foundation http://www.reaganfoundation.org

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on making tough decisions -Fox News Sunday; he's NOT interested in running for President in 2012


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ScqNYCVb1g

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTiHz9D1ckA
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on making tough decisions -Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace, January 16, 2011; he's NOT interested in running for President in 2012



Governor Christie Responds To Teacher During Town Hall

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkuTm-ON904


New York Times
Public Workers Facing Outrage as Budget Crises Grow
By Michael Powell
Published: January 1, 2011

FLEMINGTON, N.J. — Ever since Marie Corfield’s confrontation with Gov. Chris Christie this fall over the state’s education cuts became a YouTube classic, she has received a stream of vituperative e-mails and Facebook postings.


Marie Corfield, a teacher in Flemington, N.J., challenged Gov. Chris Christie over state education cuts at a town hall meeting in September. Their tense exchange was posted on YouTube.

“People I don’t even know are calling me horrible names,” said Ms. Corfield, an art teacher who had pleaded the case of struggling teachers. “The mantra is that the problem is the unions, the unions, the unions.”

Read the rest of the article at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/02/business/02showdown.html




New Jersey Governor Chris Christie: Day of Reckoning
Governor Christie speaks on accountability at a Town Hall meeting in Perth Amboy, N.J., June 15, 2010
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Evtt-R7Rmdw

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Logic & reason are orphans once again in Hallandale Beach - In bad economy, 10% wage increase for HB city employees. The Day of Reckoning is Here!



CBS News Sixty Minutes: State Budgets: Day of Reckoning

December 19, 2010 4:59 PM

Steve Kroft reports on the precarious financial conditions many states are facing and what they're doing about it.
Length 13:50

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7166293n&tag=related;photovideo



In the City of Hallandale Beach, it just never ends...

Agenda for Wednesday morning's Hallandale Beach City Commission meeting is at: http://www.hallandalebeachfl.gov/files/2011-01-05%20Regular/Agenda%20Outline%20for%202011-01-05%2010-00.htm

Below, my good friend and Hallandale Beach civic activist Csaba Kulin gets some things off his mind -and hopefully into yours- about the city's budget problems, which in the opinion of many well-informed people in this community are directly attributable to the benefits paid by city taxpayers to city employees, many of whom, in my opinion, fail to deliver a dollar's worth of service for a dollar's worth of salary.

There's an entire forest of deadwood in this city that needs to be clear-cut.


The Sixty Minutes video above is referenced in his email to the powers-that-be at Hallandale Beach City Hall.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Csaba Kulin
Date: Tue, Jan 4, 2011 at 3:24 PM
Subject: Ten (10% wage increase for HB employees



Honorable Mayor, Vice Mayor, Members of the City Commission and City Manager Mark Antonio,

Every time the Hallandale Beach City Commission meets it is a "clear and present danger to the financial well being of the residents of Hallandale Beach".

It is no different tomorrow when you will vote on a total on 10 % wage increase to the Local 2009, Florida Public Employees Council #79 members. The 10% is made up of 3% Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) effective July 8, 2010, 3% COLA effective October 1, 2010 and 4% ratification bonus. This contract will expire September 30, 2011.

I do not blame the union for trying to get the best deal for their members and the City Manager (CM) was not in a very strong bargaining position. First, he has to work with the effected employees, second, the City Manager just got a 10% salary increase himself. Why would the union agree anything less than 10%. Remember when I argued for a "symbolic" pay freeze of the CM, you did not listen to me. The CM could have taken the "high road" during negotiations and argue that "I did not get a pay increase either". You have contract negotiations coming up for the fire and police unions. What makes you think they will take anything less than Local 2009 got?

A few weeks ago "60 Minutes" had a segment on it, the Wall Street Journal had two articles (December 23 and 24) about it and the Mayor's last article in the South Florida Sun Times talked about public employee compensation, benefits and pension benefits and the need to control it. Bloated salaries and "gold plated" benefit packages are bankrupting local governments. According to some experts, State, County and City financial difficulties will dwarf the housing crisis in magnitude. Everyone talks about it but nobody is willing to do anything about. We all know it is coming but no one has the backbone to say "STOP". Every journey starts with the first step. You missed the last opportunity to say "NO" when you hired the CM, will you miss this opportunity to say "NO again"?

The Federal Government froze wages for two years, Social Security recipients did not get a COLA for the second year in row and everyplace you look private employers introduce new "compensation plans" which is pseudonym for cut in pay. Is there any reason the City could not freeze wages for a couple of years?

The COLA's and the 2.5 salary reduction re-reinstatement in the Budget Amendments added a little over 1 million to the 2010/2011 Budget.
Now I like to get an answer to a couple questions I have.
  • How much this new contract will cost the City in the 2010/2011 Budget?
  • Is this 10% on top of the COLA already approved in the Budget Amendments?
  • With the original Budget Amendments and this latest one, how much is the deficit in the General Fund Budget?
  • Where is the extra money is coming from?
Sincerely,
Csaba Kulin
President, Fairways North, Inc.
VP, United Condominium Associations of Hallandale Beach

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New Jersey Governor Chris Christie: Day of Reckoning

Governor Christie speaks on accountability at a Town Hall meeting in Perth Amboy, N.J., June 15, 2010
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Evtt-R7Rmdw

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