Video: Chris Christie rips feds after clerical error costs New Jersey $400 million in school funding
posted at 9:02 pm on August 25, 2010 by Allahpundit
Via Cubachi, a textbook example of how to turn a mistake to one’s political advantage. To be clear: The error here was made by his own staff, not the Department of Ed. They were applying for “Race to the Top” money and accidentally inserted 2010 budget numbers in the space where 2008 numbers were requested. Rather than call them to ask for the correct information — and despite the fact that Jersey officials actually did give them the proper numbers at an oral presentation two weeks ago — the feds simply processed the application and, based on the incorrect info, determined that NJ missed the cut for almost half a billion dollars in funding. (They finished three points behind Ohio on the DOE’s application scorecard; had they filled out the application correctly, they would have finished slightly ahead.)
So what’s a governor to do knowing that voters won’t be pleased at this innocent yet costly goof? Well, if he’s smart, he uses it to reinforce his grand critique of big government, indicting a mindless bureaucracy for penalizing Jersey students over a harmless, easily fixable error. Chris Christie, smart guy. Exit question: Anyone else think the DOE would have picked up the phone if Corzine was still governor?
Blowback
Note from Hot Air management: This section is for comments from Hot Air's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that Hot Air management agrees with or otherwise endorses any particular comment just because we let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with our terms of use may lose their posting privilege.
Trackbacks/Pings
Trackback URL
Comments
Comment pages: 1 2 Next »
You know whose administration didn’t foul up their “race to the top” application? Charlie Crist’s. That’s who.
/ducks
lorien1973 on August 25, 2010 at 9:06 PM
Good gawd,two binders,it looks worse than
the 2 Billion pages of Pelosi’s need to
read it later after a vot’n for it Health
Care!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
canopfor on August 25, 2010 at 9:06 PM
Fat Reagan scores again. I have a man crush.
portlandon on August 25, 2010 at 9:06 PM
stupid and political, but feds shouldn’t be involved with education.
No dept of education
Oil Can on August 25, 2010 at 9:09 PM
No, they would have hand carried it to her.
conservative educator on August 25, 2010 at 9:10 PM
Probably not. My cousin’s boss, a super Dem, got a grant app axed for using the wrong font.
Hey, this is just the beginning of the feds pulling your strings.
PattyJ on August 25, 2010 at 9:10 PM
Exit question: Anyone else think the DOE would have picked up the phone if Corzine was still governor?
=============================================
Somebody at the DOE,would rush over a bag of
cash,and tell Corzine to *wink-wink*,fix it!!
(sarc).
canopfor on August 25, 2010 at 9:10 PM
The MSM media is using the stabbing of a NYC cabbie by a guy who worked for a group that supported the Mosque to “prove” the “bigotry” of the right caused it…….and people everywhere are showing it’s BS, doing research and this is the news??
Think batting down that narrative is a little more important.
AYNBLAND on August 25, 2010 at 9:11 PM
Not working for this federal government. All you people in NJ better start getting used to this kind of treatment from the feds. You are going to be made an example of, for electing the wrong kind of guy for governor.
Tommy_G on August 25, 2010 at 9:11 PM
Democrat parents in NJ are going to be none to happy about this either.
meci on August 25, 2010 at 9:12 PM
With $400 Million Dollars on the line, you would think that the federal government would have been nice enough to give Christie a call and ask him to correct the error. But nooooo.
SoulGlo on August 25, 2010 at 9:12 PM
“Are you guys just down there checking boxes like mindless drones, or are you thinking?”
==================================
Space Cadet ZombieObamaVoterBotDrones!!!
canopfor on August 25, 2010 at 9:13 PM
If explained, which he did, only an imbecile would see the story/fault in the clerical error.
But their are imbeciles among us…
winston on August 25, 2010 at 9:13 PM
I wish he was president….
Canadian Infidel on August 25, 2010 at 9:14 PM
Eh…honestly, no. Faceless red-tapeworms are the same regardless of party, why do you think the death panel meme caught fire? Americans understand what the cubical dwelling minions of government are capable of.
Rogue on August 25, 2010 at 9:14 PM
o.m.g.
<3
What a stand-up executive; not throwing some guy under the bus for a simple mistake to save face. Speaks volumes.
lansing quaker on August 25, 2010 at 9:15 PM
Christie FTW.
“You wanna take shots? Take shots at me.”
Brass. Balls. We need more politicians willing to say that.
Red Cloud on August 25, 2010 at 9:16 PM
Second the motion.
listens2glenn on August 25, 2010 at 9:16 PM
And we expect government workers to read a doctor’s handwriting when we go to Fed Pharmacy to get a prescription filled?
txag92 on August 25, 2010 at 9:17 PM
So,the moral of the story is,if you have a Republican Governor,and you Snafu’d,a small glitch,he won’t rat
you out,or mention your name,
however,if you work,under a Socialist Progressive LibTard,
you will be scapegoated,crucified,your name will be on CNN,
MSNBC in a nano-second,and Purple-Shirted Goons will be har
assing your home and family!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
canopfor on August 25, 2010 at 9:17 PM
Ohio… our Democrats suck, but they are good at filling out paperwork.
myrenovations on August 25, 2010 at 9:17 PM
First, the Governor has amazing class.
Second, what information could I school possibly have to give to get a grant that needs 1,000 pages? They have to be kidding. In an Administration that is so interested in the environment – maybe they should think about the incredible waste of paper. Did they not think of on-line applications where the error could have been fixed with the use of the delete key. Incredible…
marnes on August 25, 2010 at 9:18 PM
His explanations seem so much clearer than Scooter’s.
a capella on August 25, 2010 at 9:19 PM
In the future, NJ Teachers should encourage their students to double check their work before they hand it in.
wren on August 25, 2010 at 9:19 PM
If he keeps doing things like this, I may have to pull a Ken Mehlman.
TampaBayBull on August 25, 2010 at 9:19 PM
And we expect government workers to read a doctor’s handwriting when we go to Fed Pharmacy to get a prescription filled?
txag92 on August 25, 2010 at 9:17 PM
txag92: That translation will cost extra,ahem!!:)
canopfor on August 25, 2010 at 9:19 PM
He accepts responsibility on his end and then goes after the federal government for incompetence on the other. We need more like this guy.
amerpundit on August 25, 2010 at 9:21 PM
In NJ, the buck stops at the governor’s desk.
At 1600 Pennsylvania, on the other hand…
cs89 on August 25, 2010 at 9:21 PM
A man who protects the money of the people will protect the freedoms of the people.
-Blatantblue
;]
blatantblue on August 25, 2010 at 9:22 PM
In the future, NJ Teachers should encourage their students to double check their work before they hand it in.
wren on August 25, 2010 at 9:19 PM
wren:Pifff,hire a Student Government Check Their Work
Worker to srutenize it!
That’ll free up more time to brainwash the students!
(sarc).
canopfor on August 25, 2010 at 9:22 PM
We need … NEED … this man as president.
Rod on August 25, 2010 at 9:23 PM
I’m offended that the Federal Government is holding a contest to distribute our tax dollars to a limited number of states, based on some political definition of the “top”.
MayBee on August 25, 2010 at 9:23 PM
Especially when your administration is responsible for this http://dailycaller.com/2010/08/25/one-job-whitehouse-gov-needs-to-create-or-save-proofreader.
Cindy Munford on August 25, 2010 at 9:24 PM
Especially since some states would have had to lower their current requirements to apply.
Cindy Munford on August 25, 2010 at 9:25 PM
Ohio… our Democrats suck, but they are good at filling out paperwork.
myrenovations on August 25, 2010 at 9:17 PM
myrenovations:Lol!!
canopfor on August 25, 2010 at 9:25 PM
and there is a MAN, who stands up and takes the crap and turned that pile of crap on BHO’s head! Brilliant.
Willie on August 25, 2010 at 9:26 PM
The Cincinnati Enquirer was trumpeting the $400 million today. Now I know–it’s really Joisy’s money. Feds should be out of this area, but who’s handling Joisy’s paperwork? Snookie?
BuckeyeSam on August 25, 2010 at 9:26 PM
I love this man!
wi farmgirl on August 25, 2010 at 9:27 PM
Christie just doesn’t understand. It’s all about COLOR. He’s a RED governor. Would never have happened to a BLUE governor. Nuance.
GarandFan on August 25, 2010 at 9:27 PM
400 million? Quit your whining. These days that is not even real money. /
CWforFreedom on August 25, 2010 at 9:28 PM
Chris Christie,as Governor,during my term,
there will be a “Under Da Bus Free Zone”!!
canopfor on August 25, 2010 at 9:28 PM
I’ve worked for a lot of non-profits and I can attest that the government could not care less who you are when you apply. If you use the wrong color pen, you’re done. If you double space instead of single space, forget it. It’s a brutal process.
SnarkVader on August 25, 2010 at 9:29 PM
I guess New Jersey’s teachers unions won’t have the PAC funds they need to counter the Republicans in the next election cycle. Pity…
unclesmrgol on August 25, 2010 at 9:30 PM
count it.DOE would’ve thrown in another 5% for their fellow union knee cappers as well if corzine was still the guv. Alas, they have the lovable fat man….
ted c on August 25, 2010 at 9:30 PM
Is there a chance that the mistake was made by a useless liberal bureaucrat who was too distracted while raising money to run anti-Christie ads?
BuckeyeSam on August 25, 2010 at 9:30 PM
Hell yes, they have a pretty good track record of favoring Dems in all things.
wi farmgirl on August 25, 2010 at 9:30 PM
Man I really like this guy.
‘You wanna take shots?? Take shots at me’.
‘I take responsibility’…
Is responsibility even in Obama’s vocabulary???
I wonder what the application approval guy’s UNION has to say about the whole thing.
Mr. Christie, please get NJ’s $hit in one bag and run for President.
BigWyo on August 25, 2010 at 9:30 PM
Breaking: All precincts have now reported in Alaska. Joe Miller finishes in the lead.
amerpundit on August 25, 2010 at 9:31 PM
What a guy!
Mojave Mark on August 25, 2010 at 9:32 PM
BOOOYAH! THANKS
ted c on August 25, 2010 at 9:32 PM
Were Corzine still governor, the DC douches would have filled the forms out for him. They LOVED being able to find minutia to decline Fat Reagan. (Whoever came up with that name… fantastic.)
Keep pounding CC. You’re my future president.
Sugar Land on August 25, 2010 at 9:33 PM
TA DA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
===========================================================
News Service
New Jersey loses out on Race To The Top Funding
—————————————————-
“New Jersey’s failure to win Race to the Top funding is a direct result of Gov. Christie’s misguided decision to hijack the grant application process for his own political purposes. His decision to reject the collaboration required by the US Department of Education cost New Jersey a chance at $400 million
================
http://www.njea.org/news-and-publications/news-room/news-service
canopfor on August 25, 2010 at 9:33 PM
“Fat Reagan”…that’s just plain FUNNY!!! I have one question for you though, what do we call him when/if he loses the weight?
TampaBayBull on August 25, 2010 at 9:34 PM
Meet the alpha male of politicians.
He would make obama wet his panties.
carbon_footprint on August 25, 2010 at 9:36 PM
Breaking: All precincts have now reported in Alaska. Joe Miller finishes in the lead.
amerpundit on August 25, 2010 at 9:31 PM
amerpundit: Excellent,the march to November continues,
uninterrupted;thanks for the Intel!!
canopfor on August 25, 2010 at 9:36 PM
Oh yea, he did bow to Christie.
carbon_footprint on August 25, 2010 at 9:36 PM
West/Christie/2012!!
canopfor on August 25, 2010 at 9:37 PM
Oh man! So much testosterone.
carbon_footprint on August 25, 2010 at 9:38 PM
Go Chris
MainelyRight on August 25, 2010 at 9:40 PM
RELAX!!
it’s not like the government controls our Health Care…
Justrand on August 25, 2010 at 9:41 PM
A man who protects the money of the people will protect the freedoms of the people.
-Blatantblue
;]
blatantblue on August 25, 2010 at 9:22 PM
blatantblue:Your phrase, me likey!!:)
canopfor on August 25, 2010 at 9:42 PM
What’s the big deal – it’s less than half a billion dollars.
You can’t even build one real school for that much….
ElRonaldo on August 25, 2010 at 9:44 PM
Exit answer: My first thought when I saw the headline. I almost want some enterprising reporter to find an e-mail to that effect (i.e., “Screw NJ, they elected a Republican governor”). What choice would Obama have but to sit down with Christie and his Sec of Ed for a beer?
Scranton on August 25, 2010 at 9:49 PM
We no longer have bureaucrats. We have a Caste of Mandarins.
Wind Rider on August 25, 2010 at 9:50 PM
He has mad political skillz.
terryannonline on August 25, 2010 at 9:54 PM
“I take responsibility”
Words that Obumba has never spoken.
Man love this guy!!!
Dingbat63 on August 25, 2010 at 9:57 PM
NC’s governor (“Bev” Perdue democrat shill) got a do-over…why can’t Christie?
SouthernGent on August 25, 2010 at 9:58 PM
Presume this is a rhetorical question?
Dingbat63 on August 25, 2010 at 10:02 PM
That’s enough to build just one school, right?
Countdown until all states are given $400M so their self esteem is not hurt: 3 2 ….
pedestrian on August 25, 2010 at 10:04 PM
Please Dear God In Heaven, Let This Man Run for Prez in 2012.
sbvft contributor on August 25, 2010 at 10:05 PM
fap fap fap fap
TY for the Christie pron.
GnuBreed on August 25, 2010 at 10:08 PM
Obama would have flown in himself to help correct the problem.
Caper29 on August 25, 2010 at 10:08 PM
I once submitted an application on behalf of Atlantic City for redevelopment money. There were a couple of clerical errors in my app. The reviewer called me and I got him the right info. Obama just didn’t want to give any of his stash to the Big Man. Dick.
sbvft contributor on August 25, 2010 at 10:09 PM
Make him head of the Department of the Treasury.
That way he won’t have to deal with illegal aliens, assault weapons, or the Ground Zero Mosque, all of which he’s wrong on.
MadisonConservative on August 25, 2010 at 10:11 PM
NJ doesn’t need that big government handout anyway.
ernesto on August 25, 2010 at 10:15 PM
What is this taking responsibility he speaks of? I am unaware of this concept in govt.
Jim708 on August 25, 2010 at 10:15 PM
You’d have to fight me for him, sister.
Vyce on August 25, 2010 at 10:19 PM
Me too but HA seems strangely wary of the mosque story. It’s only the hugest political story in the media, but as I type this, there’s not a single post on it anywhere on the home page.
Missy on August 25, 2010 at 10:19 PM
Barry O? Is that you?
Vyce on August 25, 2010 at 10:20 PM
+1..Nice post MadCon..Totally agree..:)
Dire Straits on August 25, 2010 at 10:21 PM
Chazz on August 25, 2010 at 10:22 PM
This was a hit job, he knows it, and he gets the point across.
Hening on August 25, 2010 at 10:27 PM
Hold on Jersey, you’ll pay dearly short term, but your Governor is stellar for the rest of us lowly 49 (or is it 56?)
Call them out Christie, at least you’ll make a mark.
seesalrun on August 25, 2010 at 10:31 PM
You all are the smartest ones on this board tonight!
http://missourieducationwatchdog.blogspot.com/2010/08/teacher-and-cato-institute-hit-bullseye.html
The governors who are going after this bait and switch routine should be challenged by the citizens and their state legislators. It is nothing but a grab for more educational control and will plunge states into more debt because of unfunded mandates.
manateespirit on August 25, 2010 at 10:33 PM
Exactly what I was thinking through that whole clip.
We can only hope it dawns on everybody watching this that the very same obtuse federal bureaucrats who turned down that one thousand page application merely because one page was misformatted (though later corrected!) are the same ‘best & brightest’ who will be deciding which medical procedures everyone’s sick children will qualify for in the event of catastrophic illness, or indeed whether anyone’s child will qualify for treatment at all.
If the Obama Administration can withhold half a billion dollars from every single one of the schoolchildren in a state as populous as New Jersey for such a ridiculously picayune reason, does anybody really believe these ‘mindless drones’ in DC would think twice about withholding from any one of our grannies the treatment they will eventually require for reasons just as trivial and just as capricious?
leilani on August 25, 2010 at 10:36 PM
Muphry’s Law strikes again.
The Monster on August 25, 2010 at 10:40 PM
Not really.
He starts out by showing the 1000+ page application, presumably to explain why his staff made the error. ‘Hey look, there’s so much crap to fill out, no wonder we erred.’
Then he turns right back around and claims the feds shouldn’t have made a mistake by reading the EXACT SAME !000+ page application.
The Guv loses respect from me for this.
Chest_Rockwell on August 25, 2010 at 10:45 PM
This Ohioian would rather have a Governor will big brass balls like this one!
jackal40 on August 25, 2010 at 10:45 PM
Who’s the hottie with the spooky eyes, standing behind him?
SWLiP on August 25, 2010 at 10:54 PM
Due to personal circumstances (good, bad, and indifferent) I’m moving. The top running place for me to move to is New Jersey. I just may get my wish of Christie being my governor after all! Good bye New York! (I still love the Yankees.)
hadsil on August 25, 2010 at 10:54 PM
Me too. Also, several of the teachers I know want nothing to do with this money.
myrenovations on August 25, 2010 at 10:55 PM
You’re wrong. That is the job of those federal bureaucrats to process submitted applications. They have to be 100% correct all of the time. For example, you fill out a mortgage application and submit it to the mortgage banker. He reviews it and if he finds an error, wouldn’t you want the chance to correct it?
Mirimichi on August 25, 2010 at 11:02 PM
Actually its already happening via the FDA and Avastin (the breast cancer drug) and ProAmetine-a drug that my girlfriend is on-one of only 2 drugs approved for the condition she has. Orthostatic Hypotension.
Because the FDA says they didn’t do post-approval trials. Which they DID
And she’s 23 freaking years old.
When she found out she damn near threw herself out the window, because w/o this medicine she has no quality of life whatsoever!
SgtSVJones on August 25, 2010 at 11:02 PM
Why is he applying for this pork anyway?
Abolish the DOE.
faraway on August 25, 2010 at 11:04 PM
A little note on that $400 Million to Ohio. I am in Wayne County, we have some 8 or 9 school districts, Wooster has some 3000 students k-12, and all of Wayne County got $0.00 of the $400 Million. Why? Well, we are responsible, we have good teachers and score well on the state tests, Wooster School District made cuts for the past 4 years as levy after levy failed (till this year), so we are on budget, so we are penalized. Also, the Governor needs to buy votes, so the usual suspects got all the money. But the county got $0.00 while one school in the county next to us with less than half the students of Wooster got $400,000.
WoosterOh on August 25, 2010 at 11:12 PM
He’s applying for the pork because his state is (or at least was until very recently, I don’t have later numbers) the biggest ‘donor state’ in the union, meaning that New Jersey pays Washington far, far more in fed taxes than it gets back from the beltway kleptocrats. That pork is their money they’re reduced to begging idiotic bureaucrats to get back from DC, not the Obama Administration’s.
leilani on August 25, 2010 at 11:26 PM
Wait this is supposed to endear me to Christie more?
Sorry, not happening.
Comes off as whiny, and if you hate bloated bureaucracy then don’t grovel for federal money.
ClassicCon on August 25, 2010 at 11:29 PM
Comment pages: 1 2 Next »