soccerguy- it is not about violating the law it is about making political points. It will be interesting to see if the Governor handles this in his usual combative manner. The area hit and suffering was his political base- without the vote tidal wave he received in Monmouth and Ocean he does not win.
I definitely agree that it looks bad politically. 99% of politics is what it looks like you are doing, not what you are actually doing, perhaps he needs to take a course in political theater so he can better act the part of a concerned politician.
His personality is one reason he lost the primary as a freeholder in Morris county. Morris county is die hard republican and if you win the primary you are elected. He was the incumbent and apparently had enough people in the county annoyed at him that he lost to a challenger.
I think those "suck it and live with it" speeches go down well to people he's not talking about. To those he's telling it to....can't imagine anyone likes it.
soccerguy- it is not about violating the law it is about making political points. It will be interesting to see if the Governor handles this in his usual combative manner. The area hit and suffering was his political base- without the vote tidal wave he received in Monmouth and Ocean he does not win.
I agree that the Lt Governor should be there. Obviously that was the point of the law. However, I guess the law did not actually say that, so they are SOL.
I think that, too, is beside the point (if I understand hayden correctly.)
What I'm inferring from hayden's posts is that the state DID fix their laws by creating the position of Lt. Governor, and yet the exact problem they tried to fix still happened anyway, which makes it that much more frustrating, and even angering, because one would think - givin the purpose of having a Lt. Governor in the first place - it would be only natural for the Governor and Lt. Governor to coordinate such that there was never a time when they were both out of the state.
The state may now decide to fix it's laws (again) as soccerguy suggests, but that's shutting the barn door after the horse is gone.
If my understanding is right then I agree with hayden on this one.
__________________
It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so.” – Mark Twain
Mid-Western Oregon got a new record on Tuesday, Dec28. 1.7 inches rain in 24 hrs.
Storm sewers backed up from leaves and flooding streets. Snow fall Dec 29 at half inch. Governor is at home, we think? Governor only has a week left in office. and and
-- Edited by longprime on Thursday 30th of December 2010 12:11:55 AM
this is the same deal with Presidents taking vacations...
do you think these politicians go incommunicado when they go on vacation? Do you think they cannot make phone calls? Surely the governor can talk to people from his fancy hotel room and tell them to put the plows on the road just as well as he can from his office building. Do you think the governor personally shovels all the highways, so now they won't be clear until he gets back?
You guys are all missing the key point ! The point is that the governor ISN'T the governor when he has both feet out of the state. He can make all the phone calls he wants to, but all he can do is say, hey how's it going. He legally can't issue orders, make directives, or sign anything unless he is physically within the state boundaries. There are several states which have this legal issue.
That's why NJ just passed an amendment to the Constitution creating the position of lieutenant governor (Christie is the first gov to have a lieutenant gov), so that when the gov is out of state, there is still someone in the executive branch who can act as gov. And that's the problem - the very first liertenant gov of the state, and she went on vacation to Mexico. The sole reason for her existence (and her salary) was to be in NJ when the gov wasn't - and she was in Mexico instead. That's why NJ is so up in arms.
For anyone who saw the national news about this, you will notice they referred to the president of the state legislature as the "acting governor", and he's a different party than Gov Christie. It's because he legally became the governor, but he can't do much because all the people he'd have to direct are all a different party, and don't want to pay attention to him.
then NJ should fix its laws. The President can still make decisions from outside the country, can't he? There is no reason for governors to not be allowed to handle issues when they are away.
geeps- drifts were over 4' trucks were getting stuck. The real issue is did the State refuse to clear exit ramps from State highways thus creating logjams as cars got stuck. The resulting mass of cars stuck on the highway made it impossible to adequately plow.
By the way the forecast called for at least 18 inches down in the Ocean/Monmouth area.
Note that, for Ocean and Monmouth counties, this is a huge amount of snow. Usually the southern ocean counties don't get nearly as much snow, so they're not prepared for it. Ocean County is not Michigan. This was a huge snowstorm.
^ Not everyone can afford SUVs. And yes, if I pay taxes for the roads, I expect them to be well maintained. If they were private roads, that would be a different story.
It's the old personal responsibility issue all over again. I live where it snows, so I wouldn't be without an SUV to get around if roads are bad. If some roads are not plowed well, I can still go where I need to go. On the other end of the spectrum, people cry like babies because their beloved government couldn't make it safe to drive their Prius out of the garage.
Tom was that 'forecast' really a forecast or just put up the day before the storm?? This was not like other blizzards when they knew it was coming days ahead. In fact the predictions kept changing frequently in the days leading up to the snowfall.
If the issue is that they both left the state then that should be an issue storm or not. That is a fair point - I don't know the presidence or protocol there. Regardless, I think NJ would have had severe problems without budget cuts and with the Governor in place. It is just very difficult to deal with 12-30 inches of snow all at one time in a very populated area.
Cities like Buffalo who typically get large snowfalls each year are better equiped to deal with it. Here in E PA we don't have swing plows. When we get a huge snowfall we really need them but it doesn't make sense to buy them for the once in 10 year experience.
Anyway - snow melts. In NJ it will melt probably before the next snow fall. Temps in the 50's this weekend.
justamom- the issue is that both left the State. By the way the forecast called for at least 18 inches down in the Ocean/Monmouth area. No matter how they spin it there are two issues- budget cuts matter- most DPW staff were cut so less people available to work on plowing and the State not plowing the off ramps on the highways. The second issue is why did the governor allow the Lt Gov to take vacation the same time as him.
Be fair. The issue is not him leaving the state. Governor's leave their states all the time. The forcast did not call for anything close to 30 inches of snow. They called for something like 6-10 inches. Once the snow starts falling there is little to do but wait it out. I can imagine the outcry if he had decided to fly back and his plane somehow got to land while thousands of other travelers were stranded.
this is the same deal with Presidents taking vacations...
do you think these politicians go incommunicado when they go on vacation? Do you think they cannot make phone calls? Surely the governor can talk to people from his fancy hotel room and tell them to put the plows on the road just as well as he can from his office building. Do you think the governor personally shovels all the highways, so now they won't be clear until he gets back?
You guys are all missing the key point ! The point is that the governor ISN'T the governor when he has both feet out of the state. He can make all the phone calls he wants to, but all he can do is say, hey how's it going. He legally can't issue orders, make directives, or sign anything unless he is physically within the state boundaries. There are several states which have this legal issue.
That's why NJ just passed an amendment to the Constitution creating the position of lieutenant governor (Christie is the first gov to have a lieutenant gov), so that when the gov is out of state, there is still someone in the executive branch who can act as gov. And that's the problem - the very first liertenant gov of the state, and she went on vacation to Mexico. The sole reason for her existence (and her salary) was to be in NJ when the gov wasn't - and she was in Mexico instead. That's why NJ is so up in arms.
For anyone who saw the national news about this, you will notice they referred to the president of the state legislature as the "acting governor", and he's a different party than Gov Christie. It's because he legally became the governor, but he can't do much because all the people he'd have to direct are all a different party, and don't want to pay attention to him.
Wait... the state can't afford to take care of its snow? They still have ice and snow on the roads weeks after a storm? Meh. Normal to us here in MI.
Anyway, I don't see anything really wrong with the gov going away. It might cause a large image problem though. It was really just a dumb move on his part if he intends to stay in politics. Just imagine the attack ads. "When the phone rings at 3 AM, do you want a man who is afraid of snow to answer it?"
Yesterday, New England shore houses were being flooded from storm breakers.
The area is going to be called a disaster area and eligible for FEMA aid and subsidized loans. If you live next to the water, you should expect to get wet up to your privates.
If you want to keep them dry, seek higher parts or have better protection that is not necessarily dependent on someone else.
If there is a hurricane, things get wet and blow about.
If there is an earthquake, buildings fall.
Are we going to spend ourselves to bankruptcy for things that are temporary or on things we should have been prepared?
Where we live also in western PNW, Oregon which gets a bit more rain and snow than western WA, I've noticed that some roads are cleared fairly quickly and others will clear themselves when the weather changes in a 1-2 days. I can wait.
We also have a Prius. Another with studded tires. The Prius stays in the garage and out of harms way. The Civic gets the beating. When gas gets to be $5/gal, guess which car is going to be in the garage.
Good for Christie. Hope he enjoys the DisneyWorld.
-- Edited by longprime on Tuesday 28th of December 2010 11:00:17 PM
this is the same deal with Presidents taking vacations...
do you think these politicians go incommunicado when they go on vacation? Do you think they cannot make phone calls? Surely the governor can talk to people from his fancy hotel room and tell them to put the plows on the road just as well as he can from his office building. Do you think the governor personally shovels all the highways, so now they won't be clear until he gets back?
"But should not individuals be responsible for their own snow? If you can't afford a hummer or equivalent, stay home."
Ha! That cracks me up. I live in the pacific northwest, where people scoff at SUV's and swoon at hybrid vehicles (let's all hold hands now and hum....). We actually have special parking spots at some places for the "fuel efficient vehicles" and of course bike riders are revered.
A couple of winters ago, we had a major snowstorm, and the city plowed the streets to make them "adequate for SUV's" and they certainly couldn't put salt on the roads, because salt could possibly find its way into THE OCEAN. It was hilarious. The city was practically shut down. Our Prius was completely stranded, couldn't make it out of our driveway. Thank God we also have an SUV!!
There are big problems in 2 republican counties- Monmouth and Ocean- people are unable to leave their homes and the major streets are also a mess. A couple issues have come up- cuts in State Aid has resulted in most towns laying off large % of their department of public work crews and private crews that are normally called in once there is about 3-4inches of snow were not called in by most towns until there was a foot of snow. This was to save costs. Another issue breaking is that the State has refused to plow the off ramps of the highways claiming it is a local obligation. This was never done before the State always handled it. Last year under Corzine we had quite a few significant storms and they were all handled very smoothly.
Didn't NJ just start having a lieutenant governor for precisely this reason, that when the gov was out of state there would be someone in the executive branch to step in? How in the world did they not coordinate calendars?
Christie was warned that his state was about to experience a snow emergency. His response? "I'm going to Disneyland!" The lieutenant governor, a Republican, also left on vacation, leaving the state in the capable hands of the Senate President, a Democrat. When the state did in fact get inundated by snow as predicted, they didn't bother to come back. They're still on vacation as I write this.
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