Ugh. Sometimes you have to absolutely hate the mainstream media. If you’re a New Jersey resident, you might have been subjected to a recent report from the Associated Press that stated Governor Chris Christie’s staff was making a ton more money than former Governor Money Bags – I mean Jon Corzine’s – staff was making.
Well, once again we have a situation where the Associated Press did almost no fact checking once the information was put in front of their biased little faces. Either that or they blatantly wanted to produce a story that was heavily negative against Governor Christie. Anyway, here’s the response coming out of the Governor’s office to the Associated Press’ unbelievably inaccurate story:
An Associated Press story late today made several false statements and faulty assumptions about the Governor’s Office payroll costs under Governor Chris Christie when comparing it against payroll of the prior administration.
The AP story falsely stated that Governor Christie’s payroll was nearly $2 million more than that of the prior administration. Payroll and staff reports on both the Governor’s Office website and given to the Asbury Park Press as part of an OPRA request show the total salary of all employees to be $8.9 million for 117 employees.
The AP story erroneously reported that the Corzine Administration salary total was only $7 million. In fact, there were a large number of employees not included in the Corzine Administration numbers. Adding those employees – so-called “mobility” personnel on loan to the Governor’s Office from other departments – would bring the total salaries to more than $8.3 million for the Corzine Administration. The difference covers at least a dozen of these “mobility” personnel utilized during the Corzine Administration, with a total salary of more than $1.1 million between them.
In contrast, the Christie Administration included and identified by name all its employees – including approximately 15 people on mobility from other agencies – when it posted the administration salaries two weeks ago on the Governor’s Office website, which was also the identical information provided to the Asbury Park Press at the same time.
“We have gone to great lengths to be open and transparent in all regards, including in the reporting of salary and personnel,” said Press Secretary Michael Drewniak. “In the AP’s haste to get out of the gate first, it did so with a story that was half-reported, full of errors of fact and omission and despite administration warnings that it was wrong. We hope the AP will retract its story.”
The AP story also reported that the Corzine Administration had only 17 people earning salaries of $100,000 or more. In fact, there were at least an additional nine employees earning more than $100,000. Again, the story failed to include “mobility” employees or seek to verify all 2009 salaries in the Corzine Administration.
Also, in comparing the total salary numbers between the administrations, the AP story failed to note that Governor Christie receives a salary of $175,000, as allowed by law. His predecessor declined a salary due to his independent wealth.
The story also doesn’t take into account the new position of Lieutenant Governor, which has no budget. The Governor’s Office provides some staff and resources to support the Lieutenant Governor’s Office, which by statute does not include any staff.
Finally, Governor Corzine was unmarried during his term and, therefore, had no staff for a First Lady. The First Lady, Mary Pat Christie, has two staff members in the Office of Protocol.
Wait, so when you compare apples to apples (which you really can’t do because this Governor is taking a salary, this Governor has a wife, and this Governor has a Lieutenant Governor) it turns out that Corzine still remains the king of reckless spending?! WOW, I’m shocked! (sarcasm)
While I wouldn’t run the numbers myself, I’d assume that if you add up how much MORE it would have cost to run the Corzine administration with all of these additional expenses, his budget would have been in excess of Christie’s $8.9 million total Governor’s Office budget. But why would any of the mainstream media sources want to actually run those numbers anyway? Idiots…
So you are taking the Gov’s administration at it’s word??? How trusting of you. The AP may not have done it’s homework as well as it could have, however your article is based on the Gov’s staff being 100% honest. Come on!!! It’s not like they have any incentive to be less than honest.
So you are taking the Associated Press at its word? How trusting of you. The Governor’s office clearly did their homework and attacked the lies in this story as soon as it was printed. Your comment is based on the Governor’s office lying about the information in the Associated Press article. Come on! It’s not like the Governor’s office has any incentive to be less than honest.
Sorry, I had to manipulate the words in that comment because they literally work both ways.
It comes down to expectations versus reality. I expect that when a traditionally high-integrity news group like the Associated Press puts out an article that the facts are checked and the information is legitimate. I also don’t expect blatant lies to come out of the Governor’s office – especially this Governor who ran on a platform of, “I’m going to do X, Y, and Z.” And then was elected and did X, Y, and Z (a rarity in New Jersey).
Although I have to admit, Frank, that I can’t imagine immediately thinking that the Governor’s office is being less than truthful based off of seeing a blog entry like this one. I hope you don’t automatically write off everything that comes out of this or any other office and, instead, review the information and make an independent decision based on the materials presented.
Joe, I do not take the AP at it’s word. My point is that the truth is probably somewhere in between. Unless you think the AP has an axe to grind (I have no idea).
I think the AP has declined on their journalistic standards over the last 5 – 6 years. Anyhow, the AP has retracted their original story and admitted their mistakes:
http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_15980/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=CWhq6vR9
In regards to politics I’m relatively young, but I’ve not seen an honest politician in my lifetime – especially in Jersey. So know that before I go into this I have no intention of ‘running to the aide’ of any current or former governor of this fine state.
First I’ll say let’s tone down the mud slinging. No one’s trying to slander your precious GOP with ‘liberal media’ lies or intentional misinformation. The AP recognized and corrected their mistakes- most respected news agencies don’t tend to take erroneous reporting lightly. That said, the Governor’s statement above is misleading. Even according to the AP’s corrected story, Christie is still spending on avg ~4.5k more per salary at a total of 440k more than his predecessor on salaries. That’s a lot of dough with a lot of folks unemployed. NJ’s unemployment is still higher than the national average, too.
As an individual personally affected by Christie’s rampage through NJ’s school systems I think that his staff should have been subjected to the same types of cuts as our school systems. In an economic down-turn and high rates of unemployment if we *must* lay off or undercut government employees, let’s do so across the board and come up with alternative ways to save money. Small percentage salary cuts to all government works or 2 weeks additional unpaid vacation – we can save some jobs if we get creative. Would you rather have 3% decrease to salary or unemployment?
Christie’s semantics of “I’m not after the teachers, I’m after the unions” are shrouded misleading statements of propaganda. He’s led us to believe the unions are wrongdoers and therefore it is just to cut these positions. Really, I get his point about seniority and tenure but you don’t have to lay people off to resolve that. The two things: money and tenure, are unrelated. Let’s revise union agreements so we can hold bad teachers responsible. Problem solved. What’s that? We’re still in debt! YES – so let’s talk about that fact – don’t distract me with union hate speak. Let’s talk about the issues when we’re addressing the issues. Stop all the BS.
The union responses have been brutal as well, so I’m not offering amnesty to either party. My point is that clever campaigning as pulled the wool over NJ’s eyes – now we’ve laid off a good number of our teachers because Christie hates the unions. Is this really a good thing as we spiral deeper into ignorance as a nation? (okay, there’s MY loaded comment for the day). Seriously though, the US is not even close to top 10 in general education rankings.
What’s my point to all this? Don’t take any of it at face value. I promise you this guy’s just as crooked as the last guy.
Michael,
Thank you for the comment. Please see my responses embedded in the text below.
Best,
Joe
In regards to politics I’m relatively young, but I’ve not seen an honest politician in my lifetime – especially in Jersey. [Join the club, though I have to admit – Chris Christie ran on a platform of, “I am going to break the NJEA,” and that’s what he’s been focused on since he was elected. You have to have some respect for a politician who says, “I’m going to do A,” and then once he’s elected he actually does “A.”]
So know that before I go into this I have no intention of ‘running to the aide’ of any current or former governor of this fine state. [As a fellow New Jerseyans, I don’t think any of our state’s citizens would run to the aid of any elected politician.]
First I’ll say let’s tone down the mud slinging. [I agree that the hate speech coming out of the NJEA is mudslinging and that it really needs to come to a stop immediately. They “joke” about praying for the Governor’s death? Come on – that’s not right. And I’m a religious guy who is actually offended that my form of worship was used as an attack in an NJEA e-mail. That’s disgusting and I’m waiting for my apology from the NJEA. In the mean time, I really do pray that they stop the mudslinging – it’s not setting the right example for “the children.”]
No one’s trying to slander your precious GOP with ‘liberal media’ lies or intentional misinformation. [My “precious GOP,” huh? I guess you missed the part where I’m an Obama voter and an independent. I guess you missed the previous entries on this blog where I’ve lambasted the GOP both locally, regionally, and nationally. And how about where I supported Chris Daggett for Governor until his Lieutenant Governor candidate endorsed in-state tuition for illegal immigrants? Did you sort of look over that just so you can paint me with a broad brush as a conservative to help prove your point? Boy, I hope that this comment isn’t going to turn into a poorly-hidden liberal tirade…]
The AP recognized and corrected their mistakes- most respected news agencies don’t tend to take erroneous reporting lightly. [I reported the correction either the day after or the second day after it was posted. I’m sure you saw that in your research on my stance.]
That said, the Governor’s statement above is misleading. Even according to the AP’s corrected story, Christie is still spending on avg ~4.5k more per salary at a total of 440k more than his predecessor on salaries. That’s a lot of dough with a lot of folks unemployed. NJ’s unemployment is still higher than the national average, too. [So then you don’t take into account that Christie is not independently wealthy like his predecessor and thus needs to take the $140 thousand salary? And you don’t take into account that Christie is married and thus we have an Office of the First Lady (with associated costs) once again? And you don’t take into account that we now have a voter-mandated Lieutenant Governor with her staff and their salaries? Heck, I’d say that if Christie, the Office of the First Lady, and the Office of the Lieutenant Governor only add $440 thousand to whatever Corzine was spending, that’s a huge success! But let’s be realistic, you can’t really compare apples to apples here because Corzine didn’t have all of the additional, mandatory expenses that Christie has now. Even so, though, you have to admit that if Corzine had to pay for all of these additional costs, his overall budget would probably have been as high if not higher than Christie’s budget.]
As an individual personally affected by Christie’s rampage through NJ’s school systems [Wait. Let’s stop right here. What “rampage” are you talking about? Let’s try to deal in reality, okay? Are you talking about how Christie campaigned on a platform of cutting spending and then, once elected, how he cut spending in every single department of the state? Or are you talking about the stone-faced local unions that absolutely refuse to budge on their 4% – 12% annual pay raises? I’ve heard Christie speak live twice and twice he has indicated his strong support for teachers and the very difficult work that they do. It would seem to me (and a majority of New Jersey voters) that the “rampage” hitting the school systems is being caused by local administrators that do not want to give up their exorbitant salaries and unnecessary administrators that do not want to hear that their job as the Assistant to the Secretary to the Board Secretary’s Assistant is an example of government waste.]
I think that his staff should have been subjected to the same types of cuts as our school systems. [As indicated above, when you take into account the reality that Christie has to pay for more staff members than his predecessor, then you can see how he has already cut his staff from what it would have likely cost under Corzine’s administration.]
In an economic down-turn and high rates of unemployment if we *must* lay off or undercut government employees, let’s do so across the board and come up with alternative ways to save money. [From Chris Christie’s budget address: “Every single department of state government will be reduced:
Agriculture, down 24%;
Banking, down 12%;
Children and families, down 4%;
Community affairs, down 35%;
Corrections, down 7%;
Environmental protection, down 2%;
Education, down 8%;
Health and senior services, down 6%;
Human services, down 4%;
Labor, down 6%;
Law and public safety, down 7%;
Military affairs, down 2%;
The public advocate, down 25%.
State, transportation and treasury, down 11, 3, and 39%, respectively.
Every department of state government has been asked to tighten its belt. And we will demand local governments do the same. We cannot and should not make state government shrink only to let local government expand” So it looks like you and Christie agree on this topic!]
Small percentage salary cuts to all government works or 2 weeks additional unpaid vacation – we can save some jobs if we get creative. Would you rather have 3% decrease to salary or unemployment? [You’re preaching to the choir now. If I was a government employee I’d remember two things first and foremost. One, that I’m a government employee and my job is not an entitlement, rather a position that I fill when the government has the money to pay me (the teachers must not have been taught this in their civics classes, which is scary). And two, if I had to choose between having a job versus taking a pay cut or being forced to use vacation time – I’m taking a pay cut and using vacation time!]
Christie’s semantics of “I’m not after the teachers, I’m after the unions” are shrouded misleading statements of propaganda. [The assumption that Christie is using “semantics” in his rhetoric and that he’s, essentially, lying about his intent shows that you probably are a hard left kind of guy, regardless of your political age. If you can’t take a man at his word (and remember that this is the only Governor to have said, “I’m going to do A,” and then was elected and actually did “A”), then you probably have an inherent distrust of people that no political discussion could fix. With respect to “propaganda,” again – Christie says that he’s attacking the unions and that all that I’ve seen or heard from him. I’ve not once heard him say, “Teacher Jane at XYZ Elementary is overpaid and SHE needs to be fired!” Let’s deal in reality.]
He’s led us to believe the unions are wrongdoers and therefore it is just to cut these positions. [New Jersey is unique in that EVERYONE knows the NJEA is too powerful and actually hurts the state. Why do you think Christie isn’t being blocked by his Democratic-controlled Legislature? Because they know, too, that the NJEA needs to be stopped. The difference between Christie and the Democrats or previous Republican politicians before him is that he doesn’t mind getting hit back by the NJEA. And, as a taxpayer, that’s a good thing for us – which is also something that we all seem to believe in since Christie’s approval rating (depending on the poll) is either at 50% or above 50% consistently.]
Really, I get his point about seniority and tenure but you don’t have to lay people off to resolve that. The two things: money and tenure, are unrelated. Let’s revise union agreements so we can hold bad teachers responsible. Problem solved. [And so this is the part of your discussion where your idealism (the part that’s not drowning in rampant liberalism) cannot be achieved. And this is also the part where I agree with you wholeheartedly (sorta…). First, given the structure of the contracts that are already in place, seniority and tenure ARE the big problems in NJ education. Second, Christie and Commissioner Schundler have tried over and over again to get the NJEA and its sub-organizations to open up their contracts and allow for bad teachers to be held accountable. The NJEA won’t do it (and they’re blatant about not wanting to do that, too, which is why the public has – in large part – turned against them). In fact, NJ lost out on a portion of $4.35 BILLION (with a B) in federal education dollars because the NJEA refused to allow bad teachers to be held accountable. Talk about something to be ashamed of…]
What’s that? We’re still in debt! YES – so let’s talk about that fact – don’t distract me with union hate speak. Let’s talk about the issues when we’re addressing the issues. Stop all the BS. [We’re in debt in large part because of irresponsible spending over the last twenty years. When you look at why we were overspending, it was because we were growing state, county, and municipal government. When you look at the reasons why we were growing each level of government, it was because of increased union strength at each level. You can’t solve a problem if you don’t understand the causes of the problem. In New Jersey, unchecked union strength is a cause of our fiscal problem so they absolutely must be addressed. I have yet to hear any hate speech coming from the Governor – he’s certainly not praying for the NJEA’s death as they are his. All jokes aside, though, not addressing the teachers’ union is like being asked to solve X + Y = Less Spending, but not knowing what X or Y are!]
The union responses have been brutal as well, so I’m not offering amnesty to either party. [Well, that’s good to hear.]
My point is that clever campaigning as pulled the wool over NJ’s eyes – now we’ve laid off a good number of our teachers because Christie hates the unions. [This is so not the truth. Teachers and administrators are being laid off or will be laid off because, in the eyes of their district, they are seen as expendable. Look, we can keep every single person employed if we just cut extracurricular activities. However, some districts will deem cheerleading more important than a young math teacher. Other districts will deem a 74 year old history teacher as more important than a 23 year old English teacher. It’s just the way it is. But to suggest that Christie has a direct role in that decision shows a severe lack of understanding of how the school budgeting process works in this state. And it seems to me that to say that someone “hates” another person or group is, in itself, hate speech. I thought we were going to stop that?]
Is this really a good thing as we spiral deeper into ignorance as a nation? (okay, there’s MY loaded comment for the day). Seriously though, the US is not even close to top 10 in general education rankings. [I know and I agree. However, there are charter schools in the poorest urban districts in New Jersey (i.e. Newark) that score 100% on standardized testing (which is higher than their wealthy, fully-funded suburban counterparts). Meanwhile, these charter schools have 20 and 30 students per classroom. Educating large groups can be done at certain grade levels! I don’t think a Kindergarten through third grade class would be the place to increase class sizes, but results have shown that when teachers show up to teach and administrators show up to operate a discipline school, real learning can occur – even with 30 kids in a classroom.]
What’s my point to all this? Don’t take any of it at face value. I promise you this guy’s just as crooked as the last guy. [Seems to be more hate speech (or at the very least a negative endorsement of your own comment), but I thank you for the comment and wish you well. Thanks!]
PWNED!!!!!!!!
First of all, Let’s be clear, Christy was elcted by the Rich and the Insurance industry. Christy , the Fat Man, And I do mean FAT, is out for the Blood and guts of the unions and the teachers. Because they wouldn’t elect him and werenot supporting his “revenge Agenda”. Corzine, May not Have been Married(but that was his Chioce and his business.) Yet, Corzine was not trying to hurt people that way that Christy, the fat man is. His massive cuts to education here in New Jersey, will doom school kids to years of substandard education. Is it any wonder that he was booed and heckled at the Rutgers Commencement?. While he is trying to downsize the Unions and break them, has anyone,(like his doctor) told him that if he doesn’t downsize his weight, that he will have to be buried in a piano case.? As fat as he is, would that even be possible.? And by the time his term is over as Govenor is over, New Jersy won’t be just the National Joke that it has become, it will be the first state that will become A state wide “Ghost Town”. And even the rich and the insurance industry will abandon New Jersey as well. Hello, has anyone remembered that Christy Whitman also ruined New Jersey as well?.
Thank you for showing everyone why the real world laughs at the completely moronic statements that the Christie haters post online.
“Waaaah! He’s fat! Waaaah!!!”
Say anything that makes sense and maybe you’ll actually have a decent argument. Until then, I respond to your comment of “He’s fat,” with “You’re a complete moron and quite possibly the dumbest person in New Jersey.” Dummy.
I think this Governor that we have is the best so far! Try to listen to what he is saying and it should make sense if you have 1/2 a brain. Teachers need to keep their salaries, but too many Superintendants need to go along with the Teachers Union! Why do we have so many Superintendants and office Administrators per district? This giant got out of hand with our tax money and the only people who approve of this is the ones feeding off the old corrupt system. Keep going Christy everyone I know is cheering you on……..
If Christie truly cares about balancing the state budget, the first thing he should have done is take a salary cut. Sorry, but he’s making $175,000 plus the perks which come with being Governor. He should also have given a salary cut to all those who choose to work for him in the Governor’s office. This idea that it’s terrible how much others are making but we need to rasie the salaries of those working for me is a nice little bit of hypocrisy.
And if you’re going to cut budgets in all departments, perhaps they should start by cutting those of the highest paid members of those departmenst, not try to take it out of the hide of middle class working men and women who made a commitment to work for the state and are now being screwed by the state.
It’s interesting that those not at the top of the bureaucracy seem to have to pay for those who are. Christie hasn’t called for an across the board cut for those making over $100,000 in the bureaucracy, yet if he really wanted to help the middle class in NJ, he would try to find ways to keep the middle class employed. Instead, he’s simply gutting everything and having people laid off who can’t afford to be laid off. Do we really think it’s a good ides to lay off half of the Camden Police force?
As for the school issue – there are 439(?) school districts in NJ, some with nothing more than an elemetary school. You want to cut back on superintendents; make it mandatory that some of these districts consolidate. But Christie won’t do that either, because there are powerful Republican as well as Democratic interests in districts who like having their 1 school district and paying their superintendent until they can send their kids to private school.
Gov Christie does have a wife you are correct, a wife who makes over $400,000. No wonder he doesn’t want to raise taxes on the rich.