In his speech Tuesday, Mr. Christie urged leaders to pass a "full, clean Sandy aid bill," declaring, "Some things are above politics".
But in the last dozen years, lawmakers have shown great creativity in manipulating that number to keep it low, by simply declaring some things no longer part of the general fund.
On the title track, Nipsey declares, "Spoke some things into the universe and they appeared / I say it's worth it, I won't say it's fair / Find your purpose or you wastin' air"; it was both a call to action and a well-earned exhale.
Or it would be, at least, but for the rogue fan who comes on in the middle of the whole thing, and declares: "Some may not be there all the time, but keep the faith nevertheless".
If only I could be glib and declare: The more things change, the more things stay the same.
It felt liberating, though wildly incongruous, to declare these things publicly.
Let me first declare two things: Firstly, I voted "yes" in the referendum.
Congress could not call some mere words treason, because the Constitution prohibits it, but there is no constitutional limitation on the power of Congress to declare those things a crime against the law which Congress has done in this act.
"And," he said, "the lawyer told me I couldn't declare certain things that I later found out I could".
When the situation was not temporary, but long lasting, it meant not being able to live an independent life, to have to declare personal things to social welfare professionals, being dependent.
