American and Latin American Politics, Society, and Culture
WaPo bulletin:
Chris Christie not running for president in 2012, source says
Christie has called a 1 pm press conference in Trenton to announce the decision.
We need him in NJ.
UPDATE, 1:03PM,
“New Jersey, whether you like it or not, you’re stuck with me.”
Christie confirms he’s not running.
VIdeo:
Governor shoots down ‘Jersey Shore’ tax credit
Christie suspended the film tax credit program in 2010 to close a budget deficit, but the 2009 season still qualified for the credit.
“I have no interest in policing the content of such projects,” Christie said in a statement. “However, as chief executive I am duty-bound to ensure that taxpayers are not footing a $420,000 bill for a project which does nothing more than perpetuate misconceptions about the State and its citizens.”
To those of you who don’t live in New Jersey, please be advised that orange-dyed overexposed (in every meaning of the word) inebriated louts are the exception, not the rule, to the Garden State’s inhabitants.
Jersey Shore is awful enough that companies pay the orange-dyed “stars” not to use their products:
The Situation doesn’t usually require a lot of motivation to lose the shirt. But Abercrombie & Fitch wants him to go one further — the company has offered to pay “Jersey Shore” cast members to stop wearing clothes carrying their brand.
The preppy teen retailer said Tuesday it would pay a “substantial payment” to Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino or any cast member who stops wearing its clothing on the popular MTV reality show because the series is “contrary to the aspirational nature of the brand.”
Coach didn’t like Snooki carrying their purse to the bar, either.
Thank you, Governor Christie for ending the $420,000 Jersey Shore tax break.
And, A&F, you can pay me to not wear your clothes any time, too.
Cross-posted in The Green Room.
Rafael Correa’s in the vicinity because of the UN General Assembly, so the thought he would drop by Union City High School on Friday.
Not so, said the city’s residents:
“It is evident that President Correa has associated with Fidel and Raul Castro of Cuba and Hugo Chavez of Venezuela,” said Union City Mayor Brian Stack in a statement. “Even associating with such regimes sends a terrible message to the world and condones the many evils that have been imposed on the residents of those nations.”
“For these reasons, I refuse to welcome President Correa to Union City.”
The announcement by Stack comes a day after he met with Cuban exile leaders who were outraged after learning that Correa – who is in the New York/New Jersey region because of the United Nations General Assembly — was going to be featured at an Ecuadorian event at Union City High School on Friday.
The Cuban exiles pressed for Correa to be dis-invited because of what they denounced as his oppressive government in Ecuador and his support for the Communist regime in Cuba as well as Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
“The mayor said he was going to cancel the event,” said Sergio Gatria, an exile leader who was at the meeting, which was held at the headquarters of the Former Cuban Political Prisoners organization. “He said he had no idea that his was planned at the high school, and that as long as he’s mayor, no dictator, or sympathizer of dictators and terrorists, would be welcome to Union City.”
“Correa supports dictators, is an oppressive leader and hobnobs with [Iranian President] Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. This man is a sworn enemy of the United States. It is an affront to this community to roll out the red carpet for someone like that.”
In Ecuador, 7 radio broadcasters face sanctions for airing freedom of expression debate. Earlier this month, Reporters Without Borders asked Correa to stop attacks on the press, and
that the Ecuadorean government address several facets of its media policy and the proposed communications law that would create a state media oligopoly and regulate the awarding and confiscation of radio and television broadcasting rights, and to cease making offensive statements about the press
Correa’s visit to UCHS had been arranged by Ecuadorian officials.
because we just had a mild tremor, lasting for a minute or so. Apparently it was a 5.8 earthquake in Washington, DC, with epicenter in Mineral, VA.
More at Instapundit, and Mr. Bingley, who’s on a 25th floor.
UPDATE
Stacy’s already starting an earthquake victim’s relief fund, and an on-the-epicenter interview,
Oh yes,
Jim McGreevey, 54, is the spiritual counselor to 40 female inmates at the Hudson County Correctional Center.
Via The Feed.
As the US debt shot up $238 billion to reach 100 percent of gross domestic project after the government’s debt ceiling was lifted, noted tax cheat Timothy Geithner may resign,
After the resolution of the debt-ceiling impasse, rumors have been flying that the last senior member of Barack Obama’s original economic team will call it quits. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner refused to answer questions about his plans yesterday on ABC’s Good Morning America
The rumor is that Jon Corzine may take the job.
Interestingly, MF Global, Corzine’s employer, just added what the Wall Street Journal calls a “quirky clause“,
Mr. Corzine’s current employer, MF Global Holdings Ltd., is promising to compensate investors who buy his company’s bonds with an interest-rate bump if the chief executive and former U.S. senator jumps ship for a government job. In essence, the securities deal assigns a value on the man filling the corner office: a one-percentage-point cherry atop the $300 million bond offering, or up to $15 million.
And not just “any job”, either (emphasis added),
According to a “Key Man Event” clause in the bond prospectus, the carrot doesn’t kick in for any old government job. Rather, it gets paid only if Mr. Corzine leaves MF Global “due to his appointment to a federal position by the President of the United States,” and the Senate confirms him before July 1, 2013. That is nearly six months into the next presidential term.
MF Global’s value hasn’t improved during Corzine’s tenure, but it certainly looks like someone will make a bundle from his departure.
UPDATE,
The NYT headline reads, “Pressured by White House, Treasury Secretary Is Expected to Stay at Post“, but, as Doug Mataconis points out,
The New York Times gives this story the headline “Pressured by White House, Treasury Secretary Is Expected to Stay at Post,” but from the tone of the article it’s pretty clear that this is what the White House officials quoted in the story hope is the case. Indeed, the story itself may be an effort to turn the lobbying of Geithner up a notch.
Clearly, the NYT is not in the MF Global orbit.
Christie’s Too-Good Reasons for Not Running
As was the case with Mitch Daniels, Chris Christie’s reasons for not running, ironically, prove that he would have been a worthwhile candidate.
His family comes first, along with the fact that
3) I’m staying in New Jersey. I am not just going to quit halfway through my term. The people trusted me, and I feel like I owe that trust and faith some fidelity.
The paradox, that is, that the best qualified are not the ones who would choose to run, is what makes politics what it is.
