# Christie Lied to Sandy Victims about Rebuilding Reimbursement **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [July 12, 2013, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christie-lied-to-sandy-victims-about-rebuilding-reimbursement/663287 "2013-07-12T04:36:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christie-lied-to-sandy-victims-about-rebuilding-reimbursement/663287/1 "2013-07-12T04:36:27Z")
"(He) was satisfied with one answer he heard: If you build now, you will be reimbursed, Christie said. So Appleby, who is unemployed, went ahead with rebuilding his home. But now, more than three months later, reimbursement for Appleby is no longer the case, and in fact it never was. Money already spent on work on homes such as Appleby’s cannot be recouped under the $600 million Reconstruction, Rehabilitation, Elevation and Mitigation program set up after the town hall meeting and administered by the state Department of Community Affairs." > **[Sandy victims say talk of reimbursement proves empty](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/07/11/sandy-victims-say-talk-of-reimbursement-proves-empty/2511013/)** > > Governor indicated in March that homeowners who rebuilt would be reimbursed. And some people like him as a Presidential candidate? ---
**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christie-lied-to-sandy-victims-about-rebuilding-reimbursement/663287/2 "2013-07-12T04:44:38Z")
If we eliminate everyone who ever makes a statement in error, or correct but based on information that changes, the list of candidates is going to be pretty short. Particularly in this case, which you didn’t adequately summarize (the article points out that there were additional steps to be taken, which the homeowner didn’t). Plus, I bet all the news coverage makes reimbursement show up in short order. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christie-lied-to-sandy-victims-about-rebuilding-reimbursement/663287/3 "2013-07-12T04:46:29Z")
Thinking it over “lied” is the wrong phrase. Probably he didn’t have a clue what the regulations were and made no attempt to find out and simply pumped out some bullshit which sounded good to the media. Obviously he couldn’t care less that this caused people substantial losses. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christie-lied-to-sandy-victims-about-rebuilding-reimbursement/663287/4 "2013-07-12T04:57:40Z")
There’s some things about this story that don’t seem to jive: > [@](#): > > So Appleby, who is unemployed, went ahead with rebuilding his home. > [@](#): > > “I listened to them, and I did what they said, and now I feel thrown under the bus,” said Appleby, who figures he put out $70,000 under the assumption he would get it back. Where does an unemployed person get $70k? Is panhandling that lucrative in New Jersey? I’d also like to see some cite from the OP that Christie lied about this. From the article it isn’t clear at all that Christie knew (or should have known) that what he was telling the town hall meeting was false. Plus, and this is prolly a personal failing on my part, it’s hard for me to feel much sympathy for a guy with a 3000 sq. ft. home on the beach of a barrier island (where the median home price seems to be more than $500,000) who, while jobless, still has more than $70,000 sitting around that he can use to initiate home repairs. ETA: I see the OP has retracted his accusation of lying. What’s the problem that is being decried, then? ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christie-lied-to-sandy-victims-about-rebuilding-reimbursement/663287/5 "2013-07-12T14:33:29Z")
[quote=“Snowboarder\_Bo, post:4, topic:663287”] Where does an unemployed person get $70k?/QUOTE] Savings, I assume. Unemployed doesn’t mean the same thing as poor. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christie-lied-to-sandy-victims-about-rebuilding-reimbursement/663287/6 "2013-07-12T18:56:44Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > > [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > > > Where does an unemployed person get $70k? > > Savings, I assume. Unemployed doesn’t mean the same thing as poor. Again, I find it hard to conjure up much more than the barest sympathy for someone with $70,000 in savings who lives in what is likely a $750,000+ home on the beach. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christie-lied-to-sandy-victims-about-rebuilding-reimbursement/663287/7 "2013-07-12T19:30:39Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Again, I find it hard to conjure up much more than the barest sympathy for someone with $70,000 in savings who lives in what is likely a $750,000+ home on the beach. Yeah, it seems the term “unemployed” is being thrown around to try and paint a certain picture here, which just isn’t accurate. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christie-lied-to-sandy-victims-about-rebuilding-reimbursement/663287/8 "2013-07-12T19:43:58Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > Yeah, it seems the term “unemployed” is being thrown around to try and paint a certain picture here, which just isn’t accurate. Exactly. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christie-lied-to-sandy-victims-about-rebuilding-reimbursement/663287/9 "2013-07-13T14:40:40Z")
I happen to agree with the OP that what Christie did is deserving of a lot of criticism. I just don’t understand the need to attempt to disqualify him as a Presidential candidate, as if any Presidential candidate in history has been without sin. Unless the OP has never supported an actual Presidential candidate, ever, then he’s throwing stones while supporting sinners, so to speak. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christie-lied-to-sandy-victims-about-rebuilding-reimbursement/663287/10 "2013-07-13T15:38:32Z")
Reading the linked article: > [@](#): > > “Appleby’s home now stands 9 feet in the air while he decides whether to wait for grant money or move ahead with the project, **tapping into retirement money to complete it**.” I don’t think this is Christie’s fault but the rebuilding maze following Sandy has been a nightmare and very hard to follow. The guy probably has most of his net worth tied into a house that without fixing up means he jobless and without his main investment. He has to fix it to prevent more damage and preserve his investment. He is an older man probably with poor employment prospects and thought he would get money back based on what Christie said. Hopefully he will. The various State & Federal agencies need to make this simpler. If Christie can do something to help out, he should but but it seems like FEMA has been the single biggest obstacle. Even the regs on who needs to raise their houses is still up in the air and it 9 months later. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christie-lied-to-sandy-victims-about-rebuilding-reimbursement/663287/11 "2013-07-13T16:20:07Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Reading the linked article: I don’t think this is Christie’s fault but the rebuilding maze following Sandy has been a nightmare and very hard to follow. The guy probably has most of his net worth tied into a house that without fixing up means he jobless and without his main investment. He has to fix it to prevent more damage and preserve his investment. **He is an older man** probably with poor employment prospects and thought he would get money back based on what Christie said. Hopefully he will. > > The various State & Federal agencies need to make this simpler. If Christie can do something to help out, he should but but it seems like FEMA has been the single biggest obstacle. Even the regs on who needs to raise their houses is still up in the air and it 9 months later. (bolding mine) Acording to the article he is 48 years old. That’s not “an older man”, that’s solidly in the middle of life. As for his job prospects, I don’t think that a guy with [this resume](http://www.indeed.com/r/Charles-Appleby/c22d93943eebf3b2) is gonna be jobless unless he wants to be jobless. How many checks for WIC could we write for what this guy needs to rebuild his [$729,000 home](http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/215-10th-Ave-Seaside-Park-NJ-08752/39694492_zpid/)? I rather feed children than feed this “welfare king”. Fuck him.