Republicans love them some money -

and when they get it, they don't want to let it go.

From Newsworks...

----------- Hurricane Sandy victims are still waiting

March 18, 2013
By Rob Tornoe for NewsWorks


If Rudy Giuliani can be called the "Mayor of 9/11," then Chris Christie should be the "Governor of Sandy." A large portion of his overwhelming popularity in the state still stems directly from his immediate action following the devastating effects of Hurricane Sandy.

In those dark and storm-ravaged days, Christie put partisanship aside, just weeks away from the election, and teamed up with President Obama to cut the red tape and provide immediate relief to storm-battered residents. He also chastised House Speaker John Boehner and members of his own party for their delay in voting for a $60 billion Hurricane Sandy relief bill, which could explain why he wasn't invited to the big conservative shindig CPAC last weekend.

We all remember the words he used to describe Boehner and his fellow Republicans - "selfish and duplicity," the "palace intrigue," "the callous indifference to the people of our state," "disgusting." Need I go on?

So I wonder if behind closed doors in their hilltop home in Mendham, Christie is throwing the same harsh language his wife's way.

It was reported last week that Mary Pat Christie's Hurricane Sandy New Jersey Relief Fund has not paid out a single penny to hurricane victims, despite raising over $32 million.

While the charity finally announced it was distributing the first $1 million to agencies in Monmouth and Ocean counties last week, it represents just 3 percent of the total amount the charity has raised. Compare the sap-like speed of Mary Pat's charity with the Robin Hood Foundation's quick turnaround of the $67 million raised by the 12-12-12 Concert for Sandy Relief. Robin Hood has already awarded more than $50 million in grants to dozens of nonprofit groups, and expects to have commitments in place for the remaining money by the end of the month.

While there is some value in Mary Pat being "judicious," speed isn't the only problematic aspect of Mary Pat's charity. Another potential issue is the opportunity for special interests to cozy up and donate millions of dollars in funds in order to influence or buy access to her husband.

Predictably, Mary Pat dismissed this idea, but while her intentions may be 100 percent pure, a peek at the list of the charity fund's top donor reveals big donations from the state's largest corporations, like AT&T, Hess and Toys 'R Us, who have each pledged over $1 million each.

The opportunity for big corporations to donate to the charity is a potential way for them to evade state laws that prohibit industries like utility companies and banks from donating to political campaigns. So it should come as no surprise that utilities are among the most generous contributors to Mary Pat's charity. Not only that, the charity's board is a veritable who's who of influential lobbyists, philanthropists and corporate representatives, like political confidant Bill Palatucci and former Christie chief of staff Rich Bagger, who have connections of Christie's re-election efforts