What else could New Jersey use $12 million for?

What else could New Jersey use $12 million for?

Throwing common sense and fiscal discipline aside, Gov. Chris Christie today announced he is unnecessarily holding a special election to replace the late Sen. Frank Lautenberg in October rather than including the race on the ballot for New Jersey's regularly scheduled November elections. Christie's willingness to needlessly throw away 12 million in taxpayer dollars for the sole reason of boosting his own reelection campaign tears down the myth of Christie as a bold and principled governor. Today's decision was not that of a leader, but one of a craven, self-interested politician. While Christie may not care what it costs, taxpayers surely do. What else could New Jersey do with $12 million? A lot. Here's a sampling, courtesy of American Bridge:

• Rebuild 1.3 miles of boardwalk in Asbury Park. [USA Today, 12/5/12]
• Fund two months of food bank and soup kitchen assistance for areas affected by Hurricane Sandy [Letter to Speaker Boehner From Office of the President, 12/7/2012]
• Pay for 150% the cost of rebuilding the Belmar City Boardwalk ($8 million) [NPR, 5/26/13]
• Restore over half of Christie’s cuts to medical services for the elderly (he cut them $21M). [NJ.com,6/29/12]
• Pay for all of the non-profit grants awarded by the Hurricane Sandy Relief Fund with nearly $1M to spare. [Hurricane Sandy New Jersey Relief Fund, Viewed 6/4/2013]
• The entire cost of funding New Jersey’s Family Success Centers. [Christie Announcement Of Family Center Funding, 10/9/12]
• The cost of funding New Jersey’s Cancer Education and Early Detection Program [Office of the Governor, October, 2012]
• The cost of increasing local aid grants for improving street, safety and quality of life improvements by 15% (the state has spent $76.2M). [NJ.com, 5/1/13]
• More than the entire budget of the Skills4Jersey Training Grant Program (it’s $11M). [Notice of Grant Opportunity, Fiscal Year 2013]
• Brand new high tech fire trucks, police vehicles, ambulance vans, and other emergency management equipment, as recently granted by the federal government to Jersey City. [NJ.com, 6/9/12]
• Restore the vetoed tax cut for Jersey Shore production, with $11.5M to spare. [NYT, 9/26/11]

EW Jackson on GOP ticket: "More homogeneous than almost any ticket ever"

Today on WMAL, EW Jackson put to rest any talk about disagreement or space between himself and Ken Cuccinelli. Jackson said:

"We are in fundamental agreement. I've heard that this ticket is probably more homogeneous than almost any ticket ever in the history of Virginia, So there's no stark disagreement between us."

Cuccinelli & EW Jackson See Eye-To-Eye On Planned Parenthood Attacks

Another day, another offensive video showing just how extreme the Cuccinelli-Jackson ticket really is. As we learned last week, EW Jackson made his infamous Planned Parenthood-KKK comments in an effort to defend Ken Cuccinelli from attacks about his comment comparing abortion to slavery. Today, POLITICO unearthed video from 2011 showing Cuccinelli using a similar argument to attack Planned Parenthood and its founder Margaret Sanger (an attack that was debunked by FactCheck.org that year).

EW Jackson on KKK comment: I was just supporting Cuccinelli

In a new Daily Caller article, EW Jackson explains his comment that "Planned Parenthood has been far more lethal to black lives than the KKK ever was."

JACKSON: "By the way, my comment about abortion was in support of Cuccinelli’s comparison of the moral dilemma abortion presents, just as slavery did. He had made the point that Americans always eventually see the moral implications of bad ideas and take corrective action. That was the only point he made and got slammed for it. I defended the point."

Take The Quiz: Rep. Gary Miller Or A Bluth?

WASHINGTON – There’s always money in the banana stand government land. At least, that seems to be the case for Rep. Gary Miller (CA-31). His actions may fall short of light treason, but Miller’s shady real estate deals are still reminiscent of a certain California family. Theirs is the story of a wealthy family who lost everything, and the one son who had no choice but to keep them all together. His is the story of a real estate development family, and their favorite son who made no choices but to make them rich together. American Bridge wonders if you can tell the difference, at MillerOrBluth.com.

Partners In Slime Cuccinelli And Jackson: Extreme Attacks On President Obama

Extreme and conspiratorial attacks accusing President Obama of tyranny and lying about his birthplace and religion are usually found in angry, anonymous Internet comments and tea party message boards. But now, thanks to 'Partners in Slime' Ken Cuccinelli and EW Jackson, Virginians can find fringe attacks on the president at the top of the GOP ticket.

The verdict is in: Virginia GOP ticket is a disaster

Virginia’s Republican gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli did not get to choose his running mate. But E.W. Jackson is everything – short of experience, competency, and electability – Cuccinelli could have hoped for in a Lieutenant Governor.

With the spate of recent headlines, one might question why Cuccinelli would say of Jackson “I’m glad he’s on this ticket”:

Todd Akin, Virginia Style (Roll Call)

Virginia Republicans Panicking Over Their Choice for Lieutenant Governor (National Journal)

Bill Bolling: GOP pick E.W. Jackson's remarks ‘indefensible’ (POLITICO)

Virginia Republicans Aren’t Flocking To Anti-Gay Lieutenant Governor Hopeful (BuzzFeed)

But Cuccinelli and Jackson share a radical conservative worldview that is too extreme for Virginia. Jackson’s sudden emergence has caused his comments to draw the majority of the attention of late. Don’t forget that the man Republicans have nominated at the top of the ticket has his own history of outrageous comments that make Cuccinelli and Jackson a perfect match.

VIDEO: Cuccinelli-Jackson: Too Extreme for Virginia

After praising EW Jackson as a "committed devotee" and "a powerful voice," Ken Cuccinelli fully embraced his new running mate yesterday, saying,…

VIDEO: Cuccinelli praises EW Jackson as "committed devotee" & "a powerful voice"

Over the weekend, Virginia Republicans nominated the extreme activist EW Jackson. Let's see what Ken has to say about him.

CUCCINELLI: You all have heard the powerful voice of EW. He's a committed devotee of first principles and a great speaker about them and how they apply in our lives and what it means for government whether we follow them or not.

Bridge Briefing: Cuccinelli, Personhood & Birth Control

Cuccinelli Cosponsored Personhood Legislation That Would Criminalize Common Forms Of Birth Control As Well As Abortions Resulting From Rape Or Incest

In 2007 Cuccinelli Cosponsored A So-Called “Personhood” Bill. On January 10, 2007, Sen. Cuccinelli cosponsored legislation that would expand “the right to enjoyment of life” protected by Article 1, § 1 of the Virginia Constitution to “preborn human beings from the moment of fertilization.” The bill was rejected by a 43-53 vote in the Virginia House of Delegates on February 2, 2007. [HB 2797, 2/5/07] Legislation That Defines A Fertilized Egg As A Human Being Would Ban All Abortions, Including Those Resulting From Rape And Incest, And Would Declare Common Forms Of Birth Control, Like The IUD, As Murder. According to New York Times, “A constitutional amendment facing voters in Mississippi on Nov. 8, and similar initiatives brewing in half a dozen other states including Florida and Ohio, would declare a fertilized human egg to be a legal person, effectively branding abortion and some forms of birth control as murder. […]The amendment in Mississippi would ban virtually all abortions, including those resulting from rape or incest. It would bar some birth control methods, including IUDs and ‘morning-after pills,’ which prevent fertilized eggs from implanting in the uterus. It would also outlaw the destruction of embryos created in laboratories.” [New York Times, 10/26/11] More research after the jump.