Month: February 2012

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CBO: Longest Period of High Unemployment Since Great Depression

CBO: U.S. enduring the longest period of high unemployment since the Great Depression
By ALEX M. PARKER
February 16, 2012

After three years with unemployment topping 8 percent, the U.S. has seen the longest period of high unemployment since the Great Depression, the Congressional Budget Office noted in a report issued today.

And, despite some recent good news on the economic front, the CBO is still predicting that unemployment will remain above 8 percent until 2014. The report also notes that, including those who haven’t sought work in the past four weeks and those who are working part-time but seeking full-time employment, the unemployment rate would be 15 percent.

https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2012/02/16/cbo-longest-period-of-high-unemployment-since-great-depression

>COMPARING SWEENEY, DEMS’ AGENDA; TO GARRETT AND REPUBLICANS’ AGENDA
Posted on February 15, 2012, 8:00 PM

In stunning contrast, the ideological difference between the socialism of liberal Democrats; and the conservative, freedom loving Republicans of New Jersey, has played out in both Trenton and Washington over the past week.

Let’s start in Trenton.  The Senate, under Senate President Sweeney passed their single most important piece of legislation – same sex marriage.  Everything else was put on hold: legislation to help citizens with our highest in the nation tax burden; legislation to create jobs and encourage business growth; legislation to allow communities to consolidate and share services; and legislation dealing with teacher tenure reform. In other words, issues the Democrats campaigned on and would help New Jersey citizens start to climb out of the economic debacle we find ourselves mired in – almost 10% unemployment, tens of thousands more underemployed, and record foreclosures, continue to wait to be addressed.

To add insult to injury, and again being tone deaf to the problems our state is facing, New Jersey Democrats want to bring a whole new kind of socialized housing to New Jersey.  They won’t work to fix the economic disaster permeating throughout our 8,722 square miles, yet have now hatched a plan to create even more dependency on the backs of your pain and suffering.

https://conservativenewjersey.com/comparing-sweeney-dems-agenda-to-garrett-and-republicans-agenda

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Occupy Movement Gets A PAC
February 16, 2012 4:00 PM

ATLANTA, Ga. (CBS Atlanta) – The Occupy movement has decided to fight fire with fire.

Last week, John Paul Thornton of Decatur, Ala. filed to create a PAC for the Occupy Movement. “PAC” is an acronym for a political action committee, or an organization that campaigns for or against candidates, legislation, and ballot initiatives.

https://atlanta.cbslocal.com/2012/02/16/occupy-movement-gets-a-pac/

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Garrett: Another year, another trillion-dollar budget deficit, another failed promise
Feb 13, 2012

WASHINGTON, DC – Rep. Scott Garrett (R-NJ), Vice Chairman of the House Budget Committee and Chairman of the Budget and Spending Task Force for the Republican Study Committee (RSC), issued the following statement today after President Obama released his $3.8 trillion fiscal year 2013 budget:

“Another year, another trillion-dollar budget deficit, another failed promise.  This is what we have come to expect from a president that routinely renounces his leadership responsibilities for political expedience.  Rather than take serious the spending-driven debt crisis dragging down our economy under the weight of uncertainty, the president has proposed another trillion-dollar-plus in deficits, higher taxes and a goody bag of spending increases for pet projects benefiting his political cronies.  While the president has chosen to ignore his responsibility to the American people, House Republicans will once again introduce and vote on a budget that will put us on course to balance the budget, preserve our entitlement programs and reform our cumbersome tax system.”

Key fact from the House Budget Committee on President Obama’s budget:

$47 trillion of government spending over the next decade, a net increase over current spending projections;
$1.9 trillion in new taxes to fuel more government spending;
Four straight years of trillion-dollar-plus deficits with no plan to reduce debt;
Exploits discredited budget gimmick by “not spending” nearly $1 trillion that was never going to be spent.

Click here for a bicameral fact sheet prepared by the House Budget Committee and Senate Budget Committee.

>Sebelius Didn’t Consult Bishops on Contraception Deal

By Jennifer Corbett Dooren

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Wednesday that she didn’t consult with Catholic bishops before the Obama administration announced a change in its contraceptive coverage largely meant to appease the bishops.

What role, if any, the Catholic Church played in reshaping the policy has gotten heavy attention since President Barack Obama announced the deal Friday. The compromise requires religious employers like schools and charities to offer contraception in employee health plans but wouldn’t require them to pay for it, instead shifting the costs to health-insurance providers.

https://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2012/02/15/sebelius-didnt-consult-bishops-on-contraception-deal/

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Valley Health System Welcomes Tri-State Area’s Largest Cardiac Electrophysiology Program

Audrey Meyers, President and CEO of Valley Health System and The Valley Hospital, is pleased to announce that Valley Health System has acquired the cardiac electrophysiology medical practice Arrhythmia and Cardiology Consultants of New York and New Jersey, and established a new medical program called The Arrhythmia Institute.  Performing more than 2,500 procedures annually, the Arrhythmia Institute is the largest cardiac electrophysiology program in the New York metropolitan area.

Based at The Valley Hospital and in New York City, the practice was founded in 1991 by Jonathan S. Steinberg, M.D., who has held the position of Valley’s director of electrophysiology services for the past 15 years.  The Arrhythmia Institute, part of the Valley Heart and Vascular Institute, will have offices located within Valley’s main campus in Ridgewood, N.J., and at 5 Columbus Circle in New York City.

“Dr. Steinberg and his colleagues who comprise The Arrhythmia Institute have brought national and international recognition to Valley for their innovative research and advances in electrophysiology treatment procedures,” says Meyers.  “This exciting acquisition will broaden our research capabilities in cardiology and enhance our award-winning cardiac care for patients with heart disease.”

Cardiac electrophysiology is a specialized area of cardiology that involves the diagnosis, treatment, and management of arrhythmias, disturbances in the heart’s intricate electrical system.

Dr. Steinberg and his Arrhythmia Institute colleagues have been instrumental in developing and evaluating new electrophysiology techniques and treatments, including catheter ablation to treat atrial fibrillation, laser lead extraction for pacemakers, and heart failure device therapy.  The Valley Heart & Vascular Institute was the first heart center in New Jersey to acquire a Stereotaxis magnetic navigation system, which pinpoints the exact area of heart tissue that is causing the organ to beat too fast, too slow, or irregularly so that doctors can treat the arrhythmia.

Dr. Steinberg, who is director of The Arrhythmia Institute, notes that joining Valley Health System will provide his patients with increased access to complex, sophisticated electrophysiology procedures as well as a broad array of other expert Valley services.  

“Our dedication to our patients remains constant,” says Dr. Steinberg, a Professor of Medicine at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.  “By partnering with Valley, we gain the commitment and resources of a leading health care system to reach out to new patients in the tri-state area, as well as to expand and refine our use of cutting-edge procedures to treat heart arrhythmias and heart failure.”

Joining Dr. Steinberg at The Arrhythmia Institute are electrophysiologists Suneet Mittal, M.D., Director of the Electrophysiology Laboratory; Mark W. Preminger, M.D., Director, Implantable Arrhythmia Devices; Aysha Arshad, M.D., Director, Lead Extraction Program; Tina Sichrovsky, M.D., attending physician; and Dan L. Musat, attending physician. Also with the group is non-invasive cardiologist Siu-Sun Yao, M.D., Director, Noninvasive Cardiac Imaging.

The Arrhythmia Institute’s New Jersey office is located at The Valley Hospital, 223 N. Van Dien Avenue in Ridgewood in Bergen County, and can be reached by calling 201-HeartDR (201-432-7837).  The New York City office is located at 5 Columbus Circle and can be reached by calling 212-HeartDR (212-432-7837).

>With demand strong, EDA shelves residential Urban Transit Hub applications

>Ridgewood’s Habernickel Family Park to open in springtime

WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 15, 2012, 3:34 PM
BY JOSEPH CRAMER
STAFF WRITER
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

With adequate open space now available and favorable winter weather conditions allowing for steady conversion work, the Irene Habernickel Family Park project is expected to be completed and open to the public for the spring season.

The long-running project, which began in late 2010, is entering its final stages, with remaining work largely consisting of paving and installation of greenery and utilities. The property, formerly a horse farm, was acquired by the village in 2004 and eventually selected as a location for a family park.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/139385223_Ridgewood_s_Habernickel_Family_Park_to_open_in_springtime.html