Report: Christie, Ryan, Axelrod to headline Romney retreat

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.), and Obama strategist David Axelrod will headline a retreat being planned by former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, the Boston Globe reports.

The June forum will also feature former senators Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson, who chaired their eponymous debt-reduction commission, and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, the chairman of the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, according to an e-mail obtained by the newspaper.

“As I indicated in your invitation, I have drawn speakers from government and business to identify key opportunities ahead,” Romney writes. “And I have made sure to invite presenters from both sides of the aisle.”

The event, dubbed "Experts and Enthusiasts," will be held in Park City, Utah and is sponsored by Solamere Group, the private equity firm where Romney now serves as chairman. The firm was founded by Romney's son, Tagg, and Spence Zwick, the finance chair of his campaign.

Last year, Romney held a similar retreat in the Utah resort town for hundreds of his campaign's top donors. Campaign staff and major Republican political figures including former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice briefed donors.

According to the Globe, attendance to the event is expected to run $5,000, although is not considered a political donation.

The event will be Romney's first foray back into public life since his electoral defeat, with the exception of an appearance earlier this year at the Conservative Political Action Conference. At that time, Romney pledged to remain active in public life.

“I am sorry that I will not be your president,” he said. “But I will be your co-worker, and I will work shoulder-to-shoulder alongside you."

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Poll: New Jersey voters divided on potential Christie presidency, but weight not a factor

New Jersey voters are divided over whether Gov. Chris Christie (R) would make a good president, but the governor's weight isn't a factor, according to a new poll.

The Quinnipiac Poll released Tuesday found that 41 percent said Christie would make a good president, while 44 percent say he would not make a good president. Forty-six percent of voters say Christie should run for president in 2016, the poll also found. Meanwhile, 47 percent say he should not run.

Christie has repeatedly been mentioned as possible presidential candidate. Observers have also speculated that the New Jersey governor's weight might play a factor in the governor deciding whether to run for president and, if he decided to run in 2016, the strength of his candidacy.

But New Jerseyans don't care about their governor's weight, according to the poll. Four percent said they are "enthusiastic" about a presidential candidate who is overweight and 64 percent said they are comfortable with an overweight candidate. Just 17 percent say they have "reservations" about a candidate who is overweight, and 4 percent said they are outright uncomfortable with the idea.

Seventy percent of New Jersey voters approve of the job Christie is doing, the poll found, while 23 percent disapprove. Christie's approval rating has trended around the 70 percent range for the last three months, according to Quinnipiac.

Those high job-approval numbers spill over into the New Jersey governor's race, where Christie holds a lead of 90 percent to 4 percent among Republicans and 69 percent to 15 percent among independents. The Quinnipiac poll found Democratic state Sen. Barbara Buono leads Christie among Democrats 53 percent to 29 percent.

Broken down by gender, Christie leads 65 percent to 21 percent among men and 55 percent to 29 percent among women.

The Quinnipiac poll also surveyed New Jerseyans on same sex marriage. The Supreme Court began hearing oral arguments on a same-sex marriage case on Tuesday. The poll found 64 percent of those surveyed support same-sex marriage legislation, while 30 percent oppose it.  Seventy-two percent support a same-sex marriage referendum on the state ballot in November, while 22 percent opposite a referendum.

While the top New Jersey Republican enjoys high approval ratings in the state, more New Jersey voters also approve of the job President Obama is doing than those who disapprove. Fifty-four percent say they approve of Obama's job performance, while 42 percent say they disapprove. In February, the poll found 57 percent approve while 40 percent disapprove.

The poll was conducted between March 19 and 24 among 1,129 registered voters in New Jersey. The poll had a margin of error of 2.9 percentage points.

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Chris Christie Clarifies He ‘Does Not Believe In Conversion Therapy’

Earlier this week, the New Jersey Senate Health, Human Services, and Senior Citizens Committee voted to advance a bill that would ban ex-gay therapy for minors. Among the testimony the committee heard was a powerful pronouncement from high school senior Jacob Rudolph, who declared, “I am not broken, I am not confused, and I do not need to be fixed.” Rudolph has been petitioning Gov. Chris Christie (R) to announce his support for the bill, but Christie said after the committee’s vote that he was still undecided about the harmful treatment and wouldn’t make up his mind on the legislation until it arrived at his desk. Now he’s clarified that he opposes ex-gay therapy, according to spokesman Kevin Roberts:

ROBERTS: Gov. Christie does not believe in conversion therapy. There is no mistaking his point of view on this when you look at his own prior statements where he makes clear that people’s sexual orientation is determined at birth.

The statement stops just short of indicating whether he intends to sign the legislation, but it’s a powerful endorsement nevertheless. Christie admitted in 2011 that he believes people are born gay and that homosexuality is thus not a sin. Still, he vetoed marriage equality legislation, so his actions as governor do not quite align with his respectable basic understanding of homosexuality.

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Chris Christie Vetoes Help For Homeowners In State Plagued By Foreclosures

Our guest blogger is David Sanchez, a Special Assistant with the Center for American Progress Action Fund’s Economic and Housing Policy Teams.

New Jersey is facing a twin crisis of foreclosures and lack of affordable housing, but Gov. Chris Christie (R) recently vetoed two bills that would have brightened the outlook for New Jersey residents struggling to afford homes.

The first bill would have empowered New Jersey’s Housing Mortgage and Finance Agency to purchase foreclosed homes and transform them into affordable housing. In doing so, New Jersey would combat the crime and blight brought about by vacant homes, while also increasing housing opportunities for low- and moderate-income families.

The bill had support not only from housing advocates, but from a broad swatch of businesses. What’s more, it would have been implemented without requiring state appropriations.

The second bill would have improved New Jersey’s program to help unemployed or underemployed homeowners make their mortgage payments. This program, funded by a $300 million grant from the federal government’s Hardest Hit Fund program, has badly underperformed for years: according to the most recent statistics, the program has denied assistance to more than double the number of applicants it has helped, and it has spent less than one twentieth of the funds available (although changes have recently been announced that may improve the program). The bill would have mandated that the program respond to applicants and issue aid more quickly.

Christie’s decision to veto these bills is puzzling, to say the least, given the challenges facing New Jersey’s housing market and families. While the housing market is improving in most of the country, it’s getting worse in New Jersey. New Jersey’s percentage of homeowners who are not current on their mortgages increased the most of any state in 2012, and delinquencies remain especially elevated in areas affected by Hurricane Sandy.

Likewise, New Jersey has the second highest percentage of homes in the foreclosure process, with as many as 150,000 foreclosed homes soon to be on the market.

At the same time, New Jersey faces a dire shortage of affordable housing units, with half of all homeowners and an even larger number of renters facing cost burdens.

Unfortunately, Christie’s inaction on New Jersey’s housing challenges is nothing new. Instead of helping New Jersey homeowners, Christie used all of the state’s share of the landmark National Mortgage Settlement to fill budget holes in the state’s general fund. Christie is also attempting to weaken the process by which New Jersey guarantees that affordable housing will be built in communities across the state.

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Democrats dis-'like' Zuckerberg's Christie fundraiser on Facebook

By Alicia M. Cohn - 01/24/13 03:43 PM ET

The Democratic and Republican governors associations are engaging in a war of "likes" and "dislikes" on Facebook Thursday afternoon over Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.

Zuckerberg announced Thursday that he would host a political fundraiser, for the first time in his own home, for New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) on Feb. 13. The fundraiser will support Christie's reelection as governor.

The Democratic Governors Association (DGA) is using Facebook to show its "dislike" of the move by the social network's founder, posting a thumbs-down graphic with the news and inviting supporters to sign a petition to call on Zuckerberg to cancel his fundraiser for Christie.

The Republican Governors Association (RGA) is promoting the news as well, in a post that urges supporters to use the thumbs-up button. "This definitely deserves a lot of LIKES!" the RGA wrote.

The RGA also sent a barbed tweet at its Democratic counterpart making a pointed comment about the number of states currently represented by Democratic governors.

We're not surprised to see @demgovs more concerned with Zuckerberg than winning governors races. It's why they only have 19 out of 50 govs.

— The RGA (@The_RGA) January 24, 2013

In a statement, a spokeswoman for Facebook said Mark and Priscilla Zuckerberg "admire [Christie's] leadership on education reform and other issues."

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House Republicans stab Hurricane Sandy victims and Chris Christie in the back

In the annals of the most immoral disgraces in the history of the American Congress, the action of House Republicans to kill assistance to victims of Hurricane Sandy is among the most disgraceful and revolting, a testament to why Republicans have lost three of the last four national elections, and a deliberate insult to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie as well as Americans in all affected states.

Christie cares deeply about his constituents and might consider leaving the Republicans and joining the only national party that shares his passion for serving and protecting the people of New Jersey: the Democratic Party.
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Christie Rejects State-Based Health Exchange

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) declined to set up a state-based insurance exchange under the healthcare law Thursday — the same day he met with President Obama on Hurricane Sandy aid.

The move will be welcomed by conservatives who blamed Christie for praising Obama's response to the storm. Sandy hit just before the election and distracted national media coverage from Obama's campaign against Mitt Romney, who lost.

In a statement, Christie said New Jersey would default to a federally run exchange because the Obama administration did not provide enough information on alternatives. He also said an exchange would be "extraordinarily costly" for the state in spite of massive federal grants to build it.

"We will comply with the Affordable Care Act, but only in the most efficient and cost effective way for New Jersey taxpayers," Christie said in a statement.

"I will not ask New Jerseyans to commit today to a state-based exchange when the federal government cannot tell us what it will cost, how that cost compares to other options, and how much control they will give the states over this option that comes at the cost of our state’s taxpayers." 

In a technical sense, Christie vetoed a bill that would have begun to establish the exchange.

At least 17 states are declining to create their own marketplaces, and most are governed by Republicans who continue to oppose the healthcare law.

The decisions pose a huge challenge to the Department of Health and Human Services, which must step in and do the work itself. All exchanges must be up and running by Jan. 1, 2014.

Christie was in Washington Thursday to discuss recovery aid with Obama. He also met with White House chief of staff Jack Lew, budget director Jeffrey Zients and other senior officials, according to reports.

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