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Gov. Christie, a Tunnel, + Jobs
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OAW
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Apr 10, 2012, 09:12 PM
 
Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey exaggerated when he declared that unforeseen costs to the state were forcing him to cancel the new train tunnel planned to relieve congested routes across the Hudson River, according to a long-awaited report by independent Congressional investigators.

The report by the Government Accountability Office, to be released this week, found that while Mr. Christie said that state transportation officials had revised cost estimates for the tunnel to at least $11 billion and potentially more than $14 billion, the range of estimates had in fact remained unchanged in the two years before he announced in 2010 that he was shutting down the project. And state transportation officials, the report says, had said the cost would be no more than $10 billion.

Mr. Christie also misstated New Jersey’s share of the costs: he said the state would pay 70 percent of the project; the report found that New Jersey was paying 14.4 percent. And while the governor said that an agreement with the federal government would require the state to pay all cost overruns, the report found that there was no final agreement, and that the federal government had made several offers to share those costs.

Canceling the tunnel, then the largest public works project in the nation, helped shape Mr. Christie’s profile as a rising Republican star, an enforcer of fiscal discipline in a country drunk on debt. But the report is likely to revive criticism that his decision, which he said was about “hard choices” in tough economic times, was more about avoiding the need to raise the state’s gasoline tax, which would have violated a campaign promise. The governor subsequently steered $4 billion earmarked for the tunnel to the state’s near-bankrupt transportation trust fund, traditionally financed by the gasoline tax.
Report Disputes Christie’s Basis for Halting Tunnel - nytimes.com

A lot of money wasted. A lot of jobs lost. All to to boost Gov. Christie's political fortunes? Discuss!

OAW
     
OAW  (op)
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Apr 10, 2012, 09:16 PM
 
There goes the "amp" bug again. Will a mod please fix the thread title?

OAW
     
ebuddy
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Apr 11, 2012, 07:36 AM
 
Originally Posted by OAW View Post
Report Disputes Christie’s Basis for Halting Tunnel - nytimes.com

A lot of money wasted. A lot of jobs lost. All to to boost Gov. Christie's political fortunes? Discuss!

OAW
Why is this being delivered as if somehow damning to Christie? Sounds like the cost projections span quite a range, will require Federal assistance that may not be timely, in a troubled economy where an increase in gas taxes on an already exploding expense will have a lasting impact on a wide array of services both public and private.

Somehow Christie makes good on a campaign promise while our CIC breaks them as if they're entirely meaningless and Christie is the questionable character in this?

My conclusion: Kudos to Christie!
ebuddy
     
OAW  (op)
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Apr 11, 2012, 01:23 PM
 
Originally Posted by ebuddy View Post
Why is this being delivered as if somehow damning to Christie?
This was a multi-state project of which NJ was one participant. For Gov. Christie to state that NJ was on the hook for 70% of the cost when it was really 14.4% is an egregious mistake at best ... and an outright fabrication at worst. The huge disparity between those two figures doesn't lend itself to any other reasonable conclusions. So if Gov. Christie opposed the project that's fine. "But you ain't got to lie Craig! You ain't got to lie!"

OAW

PS: 10 cool points for the first person to identify that movie reference.
     
mduell
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Apr 13, 2012, 01:37 PM
 
Are they both talking about construction costs or ongoing mx/op costs?
     
OAW  (op)
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Apr 16, 2012, 02:55 PM
 
The article makes it seem like the construction costs .... but doesn't use that word specifically.

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