Quote:
"We cannot allow (our) reputation...to be dragged through the mud -- it has to stop here and now...
"Many people hold me ultimately responsible...(but) I cannot monitor everyone all of the time. If people want to do wrong they will also try to hide it...It must fall to me to bear the responsibility for the reputation and well-being of our organization and to find a way forward to fix things...
"(The) next few months will not be easy -- I am sure bad news will follow...but (now) we have the opportunity to begin on what will be a long and difficult road to rebuilding trust..."
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I wouldn't blame anyone for thinking that's a Christie quote, but it's actually from
FIFA World Cup president Sepp Blatter.
Blatter's problem, like Christie's, is that there's a federal investigation of him because some of his direct underlings have been caught taking bribes and such. Like Christie, Blatter was re-elected despite the resulting controversy, considers himself exonerated since he wasn't directly implicated and says he's ready to get his house back in order and move on. Well, Christie's quest to "rebuild trust" has recently gotten some "bad news:"
Quote:
NJ Watchdog: Details of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s $82,000 spending spree at NFL games remain a mystery – despite a release of expense account receipts by the governor’s office.
Receipts for Christie’s purchases at New York Giants and Jets home games during the 2010 and 2011 seasons are missing from 597 pages of receipts New Jersey Watchdog obtained through an Open Public Records Act request...(and there is no) documentation for more than $247,000 in expenses –- two-thirds of the $360,000 Christie has spent from his state expense allowance -- since he took office in 2010...
“We have produced to you all of the receipts/invoices/bills that we located,” stated Heather Taylor, the governor’s records custodian and chief ethics officer. “We are not withholding any records based on an OPRA exemption.” ...(A)dded Kevin Roberts, Christie’s press secretary, “Every dollar of expenses associated with the discretionary fund has been tracked and accounted for in full.”
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Well, uh, no, not quite -- not if there's more than $82K to be accounted for, and what wasn't reimbursed to the state should have had income tax paid on it. I've theorized that that maybe he's joined Jon in making food donations to the homeless, as have others:
Quote:
Newsweek: Over the course of two football seasons, Christie made 58 purchases at the stadium, running up an average concession stand bill of $1,424.
The stadium sells hot dogs for $6 a pop, so if he spent the entire $82,594 on wieners, that adds up to 13,765 of them. If brisket was more his style, the governor could have purchased 6,882 sandwiches at $12 each, or if he was only in the mood for cold ones, he could’ve downed 16,518 12-ounce cans of beer at $5.
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Not compassionate and NOT funny: there are people who have genuine, serious health problems with their food intake, and suggesting that Christie ran up the bill unassisted is downright offensive! Here's a newspaper that took a more realistic approach:
Quote:
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St. Louis Today: In order to better quantify the concessions binge Christie embarked on, sports research engine PointAfter.com developed a "Christie Concessions Index"...show(ing) the amount of single beer/hot dog combos Christie could have purchased at each (National Football League) stadium with that $82,000...New York Giants/New York Jets: 7,544...
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Over two American football seasons, two teams (the Giants and Jets both play at Met Life Stadium) and a total of 32 regular season home games, that averages out to treating 233 guests per game -- but I don't think the governor's sky box holds that many. However, it turns out that MetLife Stadium has 82,000
seats, so maybe the governor has been pre-paying a three-cent discount per seat per game. As for the other $247,000, I suspect that he bribed Sepp Blatter with it in hopes of bringing the FIFA World Cup to MetLife Stadium -- finally, a rational explanation!
"Receipts? I ain't got to show you no stinking receipts!"
P.S. Sepp Blatter announced his resignation today, much to the publicly expressed delight of FIFA's sponsors...hint, hint...