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I just had a question deleted. Here it is: politics.stackexchange.com/questions/2639/why-did-the-christie-administration-deny-hurricane-sandy-aid-to-hoboken

Title: Why did the Christie administration deny Hurricane Sandy aid to Hoboken?

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, under increased scrutiny due to the "Bridgegate" scandal, is facing a new allegation. In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, 80% of the city of Hoboken, New Jersey. was underwater. The city applied for relief money from the New Jersey state government, but it was only given $342.000 from the state's $290 million flood mitigation fund. The mayor of Hoboken claims that Governor Christie's staff had threatened to withhold the money unless the mayor approved a development project run by Christie's friends.

So my question is, is there any public information as to what the stated reason was at least for Hoboken to get so little of the money?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank You in Advance.

EDIT: According to this USA Today article, Hoboken "had requested $100 million for Hoboken, which was devasted by the storm. The city received $342,000

So why was this deleted, and can I request that it be undeleted?

The criticism in the comments (by the user Chad) seemed to be that the wording of the question was biased, but that wasn't my intention. As far as I'm concerned, this is just a straightforward factual question, designed to find out whether the state government has released any information about why the funds were denied.

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    I didn't delete the question, but here are some observations: Your title still says that aid was denied, even though you know that at least some aid was given. You're speculating on some vague theory about it. Things like that distract people from the question. – Sam I am says Reinstate Monica Jan 24 '14 at 20:28
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    I'd suggest that you'd proof-read your entire question, and deal with those issues, and any similar concerns that you might find. – Sam I am says Reinstate Monica Jan 24 '14 at 20:29
  • @SamIam Would it help if I changed the title to "Why did the Christie administration give so little Hurricane Sandy aid to Hoboken?"? Also, I'm not speculating about the Mayor's allegation, I'm trying to find out whether there's any factual basis to her allegation, by seeing whether the state government had given some reason for why it denied the rest of the money. – Keshav Srinivasan Jan 24 '14 at 22:03
  • If your question is about the accuracy of the mayor's allegation, than ask a question about the mayor's allegation. Tacking it on at the end makes it look like you're making, or agreeing with the allegation. – Sam I am says Reinstate Monica Jan 24 '14 at 23:53
  • A good take-away here would be to read your questions in full after you write them, and pretend that they're questions by someone else. Try to identify things that people might take issue with, and fix those. – Sam I am says Reinstate Monica Jan 24 '14 at 23:54
  • @KeshavSrinivasan - only if you can prove that aid given was indeed "little" compared to unbiased reasonable expectation. Either that, or as the REAL question: how much money was reasonable to give given damages overall, budgets etc.... – user4012 Jan 25 '14 at 14:42
  • @DVK But I'm not trying to find out whether Hoboken got a "reasonable" or "fair" amount of money. I'm trying to find out why it got less than it requested. – Keshav Srinivasan Jan 25 '14 at 15:28
  • @KeshavSrinivasan - Oh, I can answer that without knowing ANY details about anything. Yes. I've never met or seen a human or a political entity that doesn't request more money that either is available or it will get. – user4012 Jan 25 '14 at 15:30
  • @DVK I don't want speculation. I want to know whether the NJ state government has actually released any public information about why it only gave 342,000 of the 100 million requested. – Keshav Srinivasan Jan 25 '14 at 15:51
  • @KeshavSrinivasan - In order for your question to make any sense and be anything but slanted (see "only" qualifier as to why it's slanted), you need to show why they should have been given 100M instead of 0.3M. Otherwise the answer is "because that's how the budget was divided". Just because Hoboken went all "gimme", doesn't mean they were supposed to be given anything requested. – user4012 Jan 25 '14 at 16:46
  • @DVK But I'm not talking about what Hoboken should have been given. I just want to know why it was given one amount rather than another. "Because that's how the budget was divided" isn't satisfactory; that's like saying "it was given that amount because they decided to give them that amount". But I'm trying to find out why they decided to give them that amount. – Keshav Srinivasan Jan 25 '14 at 16:56
  • @KeshavSrinivasan - Using Hoboken's request as a benchmark is not a good way to ask THAT question. If all your question contained was "they were given XXX. what were the reasons that was the amount" I'm pretty sure it'd have neither gotten deleted nor downvoted so much. Instead your question has a clear anti-Christie bias. (and this is from someone whose only reaction to the whole Christiegate was 2 statements: "Karma" and "Supping with the devil, long spoon and all"). – user4012 Jan 25 '14 at 17:33
  • Unless you can document why $100M was a reasonable expectation (or that 0.3M was UNreasonable), your question shouldn't mention the former and should not express opinion (e.g. "too small") on tha latter. – user4012 Jan 25 '14 at 17:36
  • @DVK What I'm trying to find out is why they didn't receive the 100 million they requested. Whether it was a reasonable expectation or whether they should or shouldn't have gotten it is irrelevant. – Keshav Srinivasan Jan 25 '14 at 17:39
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    @KeshavSrinivasan - Generally, when asking for money one is not owed, the onus is on the asker to justify the reasonableness of their request. Not on the giver to justify the unreasonableness. – user4012 Jan 25 '14 at 18:52
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I deleted it because it was going to turn into a discussion, not a question.

I've had very good questions downvited, closed and deleted myself:

https://politics.stackexchange.com/questions/1310/what-percentage-of-american-terrorism-is-domestic-vs-muslim (What percentage of American terrorism is "domestic" vs. Muslim?) See this meta: What is not constructive about the terrorism question?

https://politics.stackexchange.com/questions/992/do-liberals-and-conservatives-have-consistent-if-differing-opinions-of-the-nat

What incentive would the House or Senate have to ever adjourn if NRLB v. Canning is upheld?

I thought your question was good. I just frankly didn't trust the community enough here to keep it civil.

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  • OK, thanks for clarifying. I was afraid it was a problem with my question. – Keshav Srinivasan Jan 29 '14 at 16:29
  • @Chad If you ever did, I'd have to verify that your account hadn't been hijacked :) – Affable Geek Feb 3 '14 at 20:16
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Your question has multiple problems.

  • Unnecessary and unrelated details: Why do we need to know about other scandals to answer this question? For example, "President Clinton, under increased scrutiny of the Monica Lewinsky scandal, offered $20 billion in loans to Mexico to stabilize the peso. Can the President loan money to a foreign country without Congress's approval?"

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, under increased scrutiny due to the "Bridgegate" scandal

  • Leading language: It is best to make only statements of facts (hopefully ones that can be verified with references) in your questions.

Why did the Christie administration deny [...] but it was only given [...] Hoboken to get so little of the money.

  • Forum signature: You have been informed multiple times that signatures on StackExchanges Q&A sites are expressly forbidden. I have removed them multiple times, and noted the reason (which you receive a notification of) and you seem to be unwilling or unable to change.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank You in Advance.

  • Title/Body mismatch: It isn't clear what you are asking.

Why did the Christie administration deny Hurricane Sandy aid to Hoboken?

is there any public information as to what the stated reason was at least for Hoboken to get so little of the money?

So why was this deleted, and can I request that it be undeleted?

I don't think it needed to be deleted. Questions that get -4 net votes are removed from the front page, and are not visible to new users. You can request all you want, but no one has to listen. The general consensus that the moderators use is that users can vote to undelete the question, (which is amusing because it requires 3 people with 4000 reputation to do so. It was actually more amazing previously because there weren't 3 people with that much rep, but now you need unanimous consent)

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  • So if it's unlikely that I can get it undeleted, what's the best course of action? Am I allowed to modify my question and repost it, or is that against the rules? – Keshav Srinivasan Jan 25 '14 at 16:08
  • @KeshavSrinivasan, I have no idea why I continue to help you...but, have you taken any steps to address the issues with the question? – user1873 Jan 25 '14 at 17:44
  • Well, if and when I can either get the question undeleted or repost it, I do intend to make changes to it. But that's a moot point until I can get the question back. – Keshav Srinivasan Jan 25 '14 at 17:49
  • @KeshavSrinivasan, why don't you post what you think it should look like here in meta. Then people can upvote/downvote it. If you get DVK, Affable Geek, and I to agree with that wording it can be undeleted. – user1873 Jan 25 '14 at 17:53
  • That seems like a difficult bar to clear. But in any case, tell me this, is it against the rules to post a modified version of a question that has been deleted? – Keshav Srinivasan Jan 25 '14 at 17:56
  • @KeshavSrinvasan, the "rules" are whatever the moderators say they are. I would ask for moderator approval before attempting that. "Difficult bar to clear?" Seems to be just as much effort on your part to post how you think the question should be worded here, than to open a new question. – user1873 Jan 25 '14 at 18:00
  • @KeshavSrinivasan have you tried to edit the question? – Sam I am says Reinstate Monica Jan 25 '14 at 18:56
  • @SamIam When I click try to click the edit button it just says "Post is deleted." – Keshav Srinivasan Jan 25 '14 at 19:03

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