to continue to draw and divide between one wing of the party and the other. >> i think that chris christie'sience in foreign policy extends to jersey city. i think they better get a foreign policy for new jersey because some people don't like to go there very often. i don't think christie -- has he been any place in the world beside new jersey and new york to collect money? you know what you never hear out of people like christie, we never hear what are you going to do about it? what are the answers? as far as the dick cheney is concerned, this is a guy who led us into the war in iraq and disaster and made iran a major power in the middle east. >> i'm sorry, how do you blame dick cheney -- >> because the iranians took advantage of the iraqi war and they were held in check by saddam hussein. >> that's right. >> you blame bush for everything. >> no, i don't. >> we see that chris christie is trying to dip his toe into his foreign policy. it's he's a former federal prosecutor, he was a very good governor for the state of new jersey. does that transcend to the presiden presidency. he's continuing

candidate charlie baker donated $10,000 in may 2011 to the state party committee of governor chris christiew jersey. seven months later, a christy controlled fund contributed $25 million to which baker is a member. even that he was not an actual employee in the strict legal sense of the firm general catalyst partner. even though 33 documents suggest otherwise. so it's possible baker did not violate new jersey laws, but baker would have to explain a great deal more to make it clear. the same may be true from the chris christie administration. joining me now from denver is the author of that piece. all right, david, baker's folks are saying you're out of line, this was completely innocuous, and he's not really part of this firm. convince me they're wrong. >> well, i think he's already tried to convince you that you're wrong when he filed as his employer on 33 separate documents the same firm in question. the fact remains that charlie baker made a $10,000 contribution to the new jersey republican state committee a few months before the new jersey pension fund controlled by chris christie gave

chuck todd, chris christie in terms of his appearance there and the whole story of chris christie being the butt of some jokes, what do you make of what happened over the weekend? >> that one joel mchale riff that you guys played, that was brilliant. that was just really well delivered. he hit the timing and it was pretty funny. but i agree with you. i saw governor christie.

thanks mostly to chris christie's tax policies today marks the sixth time -- sixth!hat new jersey has had its credit rating downgraded just since chris christie has been governor. with with today's announcement governor chris christie ties the all-time record for the most credit downgrades in the course of any one governor's time in office. so that happened today. also as statewide elections took place in nebraska and west virginia new jersey had local elections. basically there are leks all the time in new jersey. they had local elections in one part of the state. another round in a few weeks. if you want to hear about norj new jersey where the bridge shut down happened, this is the democratic party headquarters for the democrats of fort lee, new jersey. the mayor and two city council candidates, they are pictures standing at the access lanes to the george washington bridge. the lanes that were shut down as part of a political vendetta by the christie administration that's yet to be explained. if you missed it as the wrap around on the door you may have also seen it

this is chris christie's playbook.just catching up with him now. >> there was also the issue that you had a sort of independent, technocratic guy who was part of the legislature -- >> dr. kevorkian. >> he basically said, look, you're projecting these very optimistic, rosy scenarios about low employment, high growth, and he took hatchet to the guy, killed him. and now he's got the shortfall. >> absolutely. so the governor, when you don't agree with the governor, when you show facts to the governor, all he does is personal attack. but here's the reality. all right? the governor worked with a small number of democrats to move this pension reform. the real promise, the promise that he made to new jersey was that they were going to fix the system, ask public sector workers to pay more. and in exchange, he was going to fully fund this. they were going to put in one seventh each year, growing, growing -- >> that's the key, the social contract. the promise was, yes, it's going to be tough, you'll pay more and get less in benef

if chris christie isn't able to fill the slot it's jeb bush.ill it is slot has a good chance of winning. it's that person against a field shock full of conservatives. >> michael, take us inside the republican party. this divide that existed maybe between the money elites in the party, the ones ready to fund chris christie. maybe jeb bush versus the grassroots energy. i always think back to the trois campaign. it was supposed to be wide open on the republican side. george bush shattered records with fund raidersing. all the money people got behind him. one of the people raising money for him was chris are christine. that's how he got his appointment. if all the money people line up with jeb -- >> they are all dispersed. i don't need the kind in of network then governor and former president bush had to create the momentum i need. we saw the beginnings of that the in 2012 when shelden edelson said i will focus $25 million on this this candidate. between the koch brothers and others, they have a new network that's being created in which they can gi

baker happened to give chris christie money. his fun happened to get my money.t is the problem from any kind of legal or rule-breaking sense, even if it turns out he is associated with the fund. >> because chris christie first and foremost has a responsibility under new jersey division of treasury rules to not give out pension contracts to friends whose employees are associates. that is in the rules. associates have given money to chris christie or really any state politician in new jersey. so first and foremost is the question of whether is the due diligence from new jersey in the middle of the culture of corruption. there is anybody even looking at the rules in the christie administration? secondly the larger problem is, this comes out of a problem where people, as you suggested before, have been spending money on campaign contributions for pension contracts. the problem if is that pension money is supposed to be invested soley with the fiduciary regard for the money of retirees and not supposed to be spent with regard to whether the pension fund person or the

and new jersey governor chris christie saying a 2016 run is still very much on the table. but bridgegate may the least of his problems as the garden state finances take a turn for the worse. >>> welcome to "the journal editorial report." i'm paul gigot. washington doesn't work. that was president obama's message at a high dollar fund-raiser in manhattan this week where he told attendees we have a party on the other side that has been captured by ideology that says no to everything. if the president wants to get to the true root of gridlock in washington, he may also want to look at the democratic controlled senate where harry reid shut down debate refusing to allow a vote on all but nine, that's right, nine republican amendments since last july. topic several bipartisan -- stopping several bipartisan bills cold. i'm joined by ke eed by dan hen james freeman, washington columnist, kim straussel. kim, describe to us what harry reid is doing. >> look, here has been the long standing deal in the senate, paul. the minority party would agree to move on to a bill, give the vote f

you saw chris christie.bloomberg talking about hillary clinton, that same conference from chris christie was, bill clinton was they asked him about karl rove's remarks, here is what he said. >> first they said she faked her concussion. now they say she's auditioning for a part on "the walking dead." and there's nothing to it. i was sort of dumbfounded. they went to all this trouble to say that she had staged what was a terrible concussion that required six months of very serious work to get over. something she never low balled with the american people. never tried to pretend didn't happen. >> schieffer: you know the news there really, which got overlooked is he said it took six months to overcome this. up to this point we were talking -- >> that was not the official story. still hard now to get the story following up on that. that is what is interesting about this response to what seems to be different from what we've heard from the clinton camp before here. they responded in a way that suggested there was a

chris christie did away with that. that would be more revenue new jersey might have right now if he hadn't done that. but his people said this gets down to pension costs, public pension system, which has been mismanaged of the programs. the focus from the christie people is going to be, we need to do something along those lines again. i think what you're hearing from the rating agencies is, he should have acted on revenues. >> there's two sort of problems here. as you mentioned, he's sort of dodging and weaving on bridgegate charges still. take a listen to his conversation about that today. >> i told them i had nogs to do with it. now you've had all kinds of people looking at this for nearly four and a half months now, and there hasn't been one suggestion that i knew anything about it. >> is he going to be able to pivot away from this? >> look, he can frame it that way. it's true the state legislative committee is looking into this. i don't think there was anything particularly explosive in these two high profile heari

. >>> coming up, chris christie's problem just keeps growing. new testimony provided what many have suspected, a direct link now, a missing link between his government and his campaign operations. the whole idea of checking out who's with him and putting in the punishment. >>> plus, for the first time, president obama speaks out about the va scandal and this is no phoney irs or benghazi nonsense, this is a big deal. the president is going to have to get on top of it. we'll see. so far, no one is fired, that could be the problem. >>> also, the primary day story you might have missed, how did biker candidate and "hardball" guest do yesterday? you can probably guess, but i'll tell you. >>> finally, a scheme by house republicans to give school lunches for this summer living in the country. get that, living in the country, rural areas, but dropping lunches for kids in the city, you know, urban kids, got it? really fair, huh? we're going to catch them on this one. this is "hardball," the place for politics. >>> congressman cummings is the committee's

chris christie at his best is very politically talented.is will the gop establishment get over bridgegate and give him the money he needs to really drive into a republican primary. >> what do you hear, gloria, about jeb bush, his enthusiasm? >> look, i think after chris christie had all these problems that there are a lot of funders out there who suddenly became very interested in jeb bush. more than anything else, they want to win. and they want somebody who can be an inclusive candidate. what they liked about christie is that, you know, you elect presidents and reaction to the one that went before. so if barack obama is cool and no drama obama and a little bit more of the academic, chris christie is the trublg teth tel your face. if it turns out he's not the truth teller that they thought he was, then they start looking elsewhere. but jeb bush carries a lot of other baggage. so they're going to have to see how he conducts himself, what happens with the christie investigation. i twha this does is makes the establishment kind of hold back a

a lot less bus about chris christie.ne source put it this way, not much buzz at all because some of us are, quote, still waiting on jeb bush. that's it on "inside politics." thanks for sharing your sunday with us. happen many mother's day. "state of the union" starts "state of the union" starts right now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >>> benghazi, monica lewinsky. today, get together the facts on benghazi or exploiting it for politics. >> we will not take any shortcuts to the truth. accountability or justice. >> this is a stunt. this is a political stunt. >> house democrats ponder a boycott of the new benghazi committee and flesh cnn poll numbers show a healthy majority of americans do not want to repeal obama care. looking at it all through the prism of an election year with congresswomen debby wasserman schultz and

today, governor chris christie's press secretary went before the new jersey legislative panel investigating the traffic problems in ft. lee. in short, the answer to that question is, a lot of adjecti s adjectives. >> strange, unnecessary and idiotic, abuse, shocking and disorienting. cavalier, reckless and perplexing episode. >> that was just in his opening statement. he asserts he nor the governor had any involvement what so ever in this whole, strange, idiotic perplexing episode. he got the first press inquiry on bridgegate on september 17th of last year, days after the lane closures ended. he detailed the response when he went to the key players in the saga starting the deputy chief of staff, bridgette kelly. >> she was kind of just back of the hand, dismissive, oh, it's nothing, you know, it's port authority stuff. >> it's, you know, ahh, port authority stuff. and what port authority point man, david wildstein? >> he was very matter of fact, this is about traffic study. we have conducted a traffic study, no big deal. it's going to be short lived. >> if there is anything this has proved

chris christie has a lot of strengths still. no doubt, though, that jeb bush can build a battle ship that can go up against hillary clinton's battle ship. i think a lot of donors as the establishment tends to do will go with the safer pick, the one they've known for generations. >> we've talked about this before, part of the reason chris christie is where he is today is because he was a big fund-raiser for george w. bush. >> yeah, it's really ironic turn of events. he and his adviser and his brother todd were all, i believe, pioneers and rangers themselves. and it was their fund-raising and their efforts on behalf of bush that gave them the entree that in return gave them christie as a potential top prosecutor. in a sense, it launched his career. in a second sense it could snuff out his presidential ambitions in the same stroke. >> mark, you know, there's been a lot of discussion in recent weeks about this book and we've been talking about it for many weeks. one of the things that the 2016 race seems to prove is his contention t

governor chris christie. and it turns out it's a trend because here's the third. in 2012 a republican governor was elected in north carolina, pushing through really big tax cuts. and once again, the shocking lack of revenue that follows big tax cuts blows up the north carolina budget. the state got huge deficits, totally unexpected. we had no idea that cutting taxes would reduce tax revenue. that budget emergency was away apparently the republicans didn't see coming at all has the north carolina legislature going back this week for a special short legislative session to figure out what to do with their, surprise, huge budget def silt that they did to themselves. so far unlike kansas and new jersey there's no word as to whether north carolina's bond rating is also in trouble. you might want to keep an eye on that. but also keep an eye on whether or not north carolina's republican governor, pat mccrory, plans to accept any blame for what has happened to his state under his policies. in kansas and new jersey the

president obama at last night's white house correspondents' dinner with a dig at new jersey governor chris christie said a few things about governor christie. we're going to give you a little sample and then i want your comic review. >> washington seems more dysfunctional than ever. gridlock has gotten so bad in this town, you have to wonder, what did we do to piss off chris christie so bad? >> i promise tonight will be both amusing and over quickly, just like chris christie's presidential bid. chris christie is here. he's actually here tonight. wow, sir, you are a glutton -- for punishment. >> the obama clip was so funny we thought we should play it twice. what did you think? >> i laughed a lot. president obama has immaculate timing as everybody always says and he's got the perfect delivery. i thought the comedian was probably -- he took the most risks of anyone else i have ever seen. he was over the top, but at least he was bipartisan in his over the topness. one of the jokes i thought was pretty funny was about the healthcare.gov which is so bad there's nothing to compare it to. that's become th

it's about principle. >> let's talk about chris christie because there was an interesting story in "the" today about donors who like both guys but seem to be -- perhaps they were in christie's camp. in 2012, donors tried to get christie to run late in the game. they are looking at jeb bush and what is going on. in fact, a former chair of the south carolina republican party, barry wint said, they feel good about jeb. they don't have any questions about his integrity. that's a pretty pointed quote in a story about jeb versus chri y christie. >> the republican party, you talk about the establishment, is the bush people. george h.w. bush became chairman of the rnc. another thing going on here is chairman of the south carolina republican party and the south is going to be difficult for chris christie. i mean, that's going to be tough. >> quickly, do you think chris christie is going to look at jeb warily for the next few months? >> surely. as mitt romney was becoming the nominee, he was getting drafted. now the draft effort is for somebody else and he's not the popular girl at the dance anym

a long and storied history with chris christie, one of the deputies when christie served as u.s. attorney and served in the new jersey attorney general's office when christie stepped down. in 2012, governor christie unsuccessfully attempted to appoint kwan to the state supreme court. joining me now, the host of msnbc's "up," resident chris christie expert, steve kornacki. thanks for joining me. >> sure. >> when i heard about the kwan pea piece of the investigation, did kwan advise barone to lie and if he didn't, who was involved in crafting the notion of a traffic study? do you think that's the most kind of relevant question to be asking at this point? >> yeah, i mean, look, the thing about the testimony was, in especially in hindsight, but at the time, it was so over the top in terms of what -- it wasn't just claiming there was a traffic study. this was -- he went on and on, repeatedly throughout his testimony, talking about how these lanes only exist for the people of ft. lee, they're ft. lee only lanes, special lanes only for the people of ft. lee, 4% of the traffic on the bri

it's been a long night but i promise tonight will be both amusing and over quickly, just like chris christie's lot of these tonight so buckle up, governor christie. excuse me, extender buckle up. all right. >> ooh, snap, i don't know about that one, fat joke at the end. he appeared to take it all in stride and told reporters that he found it really funnily and exactly what he expected. when i ran into him later he seemed in a fine spirit he was doing well. take a look at the pictures of that encounter, vanity fair and facebook managed to pony up the evidence -- joe and mika. but chris christie joined the fray and seemed to be doing well and said he's focusing on policies that matter back at home and liked the fact that sometimes we do cover education policies, not all about a bridge. but also look at him. he looks great, fat jokes may be not merited even if they are not -- >> i think if you're going to be aggressive, you have to be clever. a chris christie fat joke at this point -- it's not smart and not really funny. to me it was over the line. i like the bit he did about bridge gate where he

been a long night but i promise that tonight will be both amusing and over quickly, just like chris christie'sso buckle up, governor christie. excuse me, extender buckle up. oh. i deserve that. i agree on that one. you're right on. now allow me to tell you a little bit about myself. my name is joel mchale. i'm on an nbc show called "community." [ applause ] that's exactly what i thought. i also host a show called "the soup" which is on the e! netwo network. e is the channel that your deeply closeted gay son likes to watch. democrats, it's the same channel that your happy openly gay son likes to watch. e is also home to the kardashians who, believe it or not, are republicans. and i know that because they're always trying to screw black people. yep. now just the men. okay. it's an honor to be here tonight at the washington hilton. i'm tingling with excitement. or maybe that's just the bed bugs. i hope you all enjoyed your dinner. the filet tonight was grass fed beef freshly dragged off the bundy ranch. the steaks are tasty once you pull off the tiny white hoods. oh, you like him. let the record

if your dad were to run, chris christie might not. chris christie were to run jeb bush mate not.t's going on? >> i don't have any insight. i talk with my dad. he is leaving the option open but he will make a his assessment later. he hasn't indicated one way or the other. i think he is assessing it seriously. he is visiting with leadership throughout the money, raising money in key battleground states and making sure -- >> what do you think would hold him off? >> there is a variety of issues. i mean, he is a businessman. so he has to consider that. he has to consider the rigors on family life. that's something that any candidate has to consider. and whether -- >> everyone seems to say that -- i'm sorry. this is his time. will never have quite a moment like this. whether you like him or not, agree or disagree, that this is his time and -- if he wants on run, this is the time to do. >> it i don't think he views it in his analysis as to whether or not he can win or lose. i think it is whether or not our country needs the right kind of leadership to turn things around and make our cou

hey, chris christie was the u.s. attorney for seven years.got to be a lot of career prosecutors, a lot of people in that office who still know him, like him, loyal to him. knowing the office a little bit and knowing the politics of new jersey a little bit? what can you tell us about that. is that a legitimate concern in your mind? >> i think it was until we started learning otherwise. christie took a lot of people with him to trenton when he became governor. but of course, there are a lot of people still left there. and this is one of the concerns that dawn zimmer had expressed in her diary about not being comfortable with going to the u.s. prosecutor in newark because of this fact. because christie still had friends there and there was a genuine concern that a current u.s. attorney wouldn't be willing to investigate one of their own. our understanding, though, based on reporting is that fishman, in fact, didn't really like the way christie politicized the office when he was in it. didn't like the way christie leaked to the media. so fishman'

seemed to be playing the role of good soldier willing to fall on his sword but now he's suggesting chris christieas not telling the truth on december 13th. in a letter his lawyer said he advised governor christie on december 12th, one day before the press conference, that he did have prior knowledge. he's seeking a retraction of the claims. it's been alleged he falsely assured christie he had no prior knowledge of the lane closures. to quote the letter, to state as the report does that mr. stepyan lied to mr. christie, a man who whom he was unshakeablely loyal is reprehensible. we reached out and he said there's no basis for any correction and added that our report stands as. joining me brian murphy, assistant professor of political history. this strikes me as a big deal for two reasons. one, stepyan has been a good soldier and is no longer inside the tent. and two, he's saying christie lied to everyone. >> that's right. christie had a conversation with them where they discussed this on the 12th and christie went out on the 13th and said nobody was involved on my staff in this. >> he says it's cl

. >> reporter: tony, one of the key assertions chris christie has made was now been contradicting by his campaign manager. he said he did not have prior knowledge and no one on his staff had prior knowledge as well. but an accusation comes as christie has been trying to convince donors and organizers there is nothing to the bridge gate scandal. >>> two other candidates former governor jeb bush and marco rubio are now being encouraged to run by condoleezza rice. >> marco rubio, i have great respect for. i like his immigration stance.

if president obama is cool and no drama obama, chris christie is the truth teller in your face. urns out that christie is not the truth teller that they thought he was, then they start looking elsewhere. jeb bush carries a lot of other baggage. so they're going to have to see how he conducts himself, what happens with the christie investigation. i think a what this does is makes the establishment hold back a little bit more to see how it all plays out. >> not us. we're talking about it 798 days to go. >> i think bill clinton back there was just like old times. >> it's fun to watch. great to hear from you guys. >>> when we come back, we have a miracle baby and a hero cat and sisters who actually like each other. we're going to cleanse our palettes next. one a day men's 50+.ake a complete multivitamin with 7 antioxidants to support cell health. age? who cares. sfx: car unlock beep. vo: david's heart attack didn't come with a warning. today his doctor has him on a bayer aspirin regimen to help reduce the risk of another one. if you've had a heart attack be sure to talk to your docto

. >>> governor chris christie's problems in new jersey are more about budgets than bridges these days. as politico notes today, the latest challenge centers on the state's economic troubles and that was made quite clear on sunday with a giant front page headline in the star ledger. the garden state's unemployment is well above the national average. the jobs recovery is still lagging and the real estate market is also in tough shape. christie's administration is facing a $1 billion budget gap. for the fifth time since he took office, the state's credit rating has been downgraded. the governor says to undercut the governor's message of an economic miracle in new jersey and chris christi he's troubles open the door for trouble for other potential presidential contenders, including mike pence. former congressman says he is, quote, listening to fellow republicans who are urging him to run in 2016. supporters site grassroots support plus legislative experience in both washington and the state capital. a big question is whether he can drum up the huge financial backing necessary to launch a

jeb bush is 61, chris christie is 51, rand paul 51, ted cruz, 43, marco rubio about to turn 43.mocratic side, hillary clinton, 66, elizabeth warren, 64, joe biden, 71. mark o'malley one of the prospective candidates, 51. was this an age issue, a sexist interview? >> i think it was a little bit of a clinton issue. whenever we find out who is actually running, chris christie, this is something people talk about with him all the time. we'll go over all the medical records, ask these questions. to molly's point, sometimes it's not just the fact that you're asking the question or raising the point, it's how you're doing it and what you're putting behind that. i think with a woman and a woman who is older, i think this is an area where men in particular are going to have to be careful. >> bill clinton, i made the point that he made it a legitimate issue by saying it took six months. what was so unusual or maybe not unusual was for him to come out to squiggly and defend her. he defended her on benghazi. manu, i don't know if you loved it, they were loving it. talk about that. you know

jeb bush against hillary clinton or chris christie against hillary clinton christie is going to be fare assertive and aggressive whereas governor bush will do it on intellectual plain which i'm not sure is going to be very effective against an icon against mrs. clinton. >> first thing you have got to do is get your party to nominate you. chris christie in the eyes of some conservatives is not conservative enough. that's true also with bush. it should be added. the same thing can be said of bush. so, you know, the first contest, the one that he would have to win to ever face hillary clinton is one in which he has got to win over some conservatives or at least hold on to enough of them that the hard right is not able to defeat him. and i think his bluff and blunt style, his sort of candor and his spirit that, you know, we can do this and i'm the guy strong enough to lead may be just the thing. i think people are eager to hear that i think they believe at least those in the republican ranks believe that we're suffering from a presidency characterized by weak leadership as christie himself

is he at least no longer a problem campaigning with chris christie? >> yeah, i think so. the whole bridgegate scandal is really only of interest to people who don't want to see chris christie -- >> the investigation does go on. and what has come out isn't helpful to him but nobody is paying attention. >> at this point in the political season, people aren't as tuned in. unless it's something that's going to dramaticly affect their lives and their pocket book, it's not as much of a liability. >> paul walker. it's a reminder that wisconsin is still more blue than purple. >> and it's so divided. there's that great series in the paper about how divided milwaukee is. but this entire state is so and off for him, and this not a gimme election for scott walker. and some of these candidates could spend half of the time in other states across the country, but he is locked in lacrosse, milwaukee. >> many think that when walker, when all of the dust is settles, and jeb bush and chris christie, and if he wins, he will i ignite the republican party. >> if the republican party were ratio

i promise that tonight will be both amusing and over quickly like chris christie's presidential bid. isky. -- governor christie. [laughter] i deserve that. i agree on that one. allow me to tell you a little bit about myself. my name is joel mchale. i am on a show called "community." [laughter] that is exactly what i thought. i also host a show called "the soup." attendance, e in e is a channel that you're deeply closeted gay son wants to watch. eat - e is also home to the cardassians. they are trying to screw black people. [laughter] now just the man. [laughter] it is an honor to be here tonight. i am tingling with excitement. maybe that is just a bedbug. [laughter] i hope you all enjoyed your dinner. the freshly fred dragged off the ranch. stakes are very tasty once you pull off the tiny white hoods. [laughter] let the record show. my show is being broadcast on c-span. c-span is like one of those paranormal activity movies. it is grainy shots of empty rooms interrupted by shots of people that you pretty sure died a few years ago. [laughter] stay tuned, after the correspondents dinner

the best moment was when he made fun of chris christie.'m not a fan of the fat joke, it's too easy and done but i think we have a clip of it. could we role it? >> governor you want bridge jokes, half and size. i could go half and half. i know you like a combo platter. now i get that, i'm sorry for that joke, governor christie. i didn't know i was going to tell it but i take full responsibility for it. whoever wrote it will be fired. but the buck stops here, so i will be a man and own up to it, just as soon as i get to the bottom of how it happened because i wasn't aware it happened until just now. >> oh my goodness. >> beautiful joke, exquisite joke. victor, i said coming into this, an element of truth, a nugget of truth is what makes the comedy the best. >> absolutely. >> was anybody squeamish? i don't know why, i have a hard time seeing people get, you know, kind of what do i say -- >> ribbed? >> i like a good ribbing but those were, i just wonder was anybody, was chris christie a little peeved? >> i think he has a great sense of humor a

this is governor christie giving a talk today at a fiscal summit, all about his chris christie wisdomn fiscal matters and fiscal conservatism. governor christie had to give that long planned talk this morning, just hours after the credit rating in new jersey got downgraded for the sixth time. mr. christie has now tied the record for credit rating downgrades in his state. in the morning after the sixth downgrade, he has to give the, you know, look at my fiscal policy talk, to a national audience. this is very awkward. beyond that awkwardness, here's good old david serotta and "the boston globe" reporting on a $10,000 donation made to the new jersey republican state committee by charlie baker. charlie baker, the republican candidate for governor in massachusetts. mr. baker, in addition to being a candidate, is also a partner at a financial firm called general catalyst in massachusetts. and a few months after charlie baker gave that donation to the new jersey republican party, his company, general catalyst, got told that they were getting $25 million new jersey pension money. general cat