Eighty thousand dollars can buy a lot of beer and hot dogs.
That's how much New Jersey's Republican Gov. Chris Christie splurged on food and drinks at NFL games he attended since taking office five years ago,
New Jersey Watchdog (NJW) reports.
During Christie's term in office, he has spent $360,000 from his discretionary funds, with over 80 percent of that spent on food and drink, NJW reports.
Of that amount, the chronically hefty Christie's food and drink tab for 2010 and 2011 NFL football games at MetLife Stadium came to $82,594, an amount reimbursed to the state by the New Jersey Republican Party in 2012.
At that point, Christie stopped charging football food/drink charges to his state debit card, but continued to purchase $102,495 from grocery stores for food and beverages, NJW notes.
Shortly after Barbara Walters pointedly queried Christie about his weight in 2013, Christie underwent Lap-Band surgery, with the result that he dropped 85 pounds and his grocery bill plunged from the $64,687 he spent in the 36 months before the surgery to just $31,236 for the 26 months after his operation.
Christie's spokesman Kevin Roberts told NJW, "Whenever the governor hosts an event in his official capacity, the discretionary account is available to pay for those costs associated with official reception and hosting and related incidental expenses. The official nature and business purpose of the event remains the case regardless of whether the event is at the State House, Drumthwacket (the governor's official residence), or at a sporting venue.
"Nonetheless in early 2012, the governor made the decision that costs associated with hosting at the sporting venues were better paid with non-state funds, and those expenses incurred during 2010 and 2011 were reimbursed by the NJGOP. This week, to ensure this remains the case in full, the NJGOP reimbursed the Treasury for an additional $3,367.22 to deal with an accounting anomaly,"
the Washington Post reported.
The Post just couldn't resist poking fun at Christie, noting that his football chow fund was more than the $72,000 average annual median salary in New Jersey, nearly three years' tuition at Rutgers, 1,270 hours of anger management therapy or enough to get 1,048 240-pound men drunk to the New Jersey DUI limit.
While Christie's expenditures are not listed in great detail, a bill by Assemblymen Troy Singleton, D-Burlington, and Vince Mazzeo, D-Atlantic, could correct that in the future, requiring full receipting for every expenditure to be reported annually and publicly on the State Ethics Commission website.
"New Jersey taxpayers have every right to know where their hard-earned money goes," Mazzeo told NJW.
"Any governor who makes a responsible and appropriate use of this expense account should have no objection to complying with what’s required under this bill."
Singleton said, "There is a growing sense of cynicism in politics today and it is imperative for those of us in public office to overcome that cynicism by ensuring a more transparent and accountable system,” added Singleton.
NJW currently is suing Christie to force him to provide details of the nearly $1.2 million he has spent on the New Jersey State Police Executive Protection Unit, including $492,420 in 2014, which NJW says is 22 times greater than that spent during former Gov. John Corzine's last year in office.
NJW obtained records of 1,230 expenditures between 2010 and April of this year in its investigation.
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