Month: May 2012

Governor Christie has vetoed a bill that would have created health care exchanges in New Jersey under Obamcare
May 10.2012
the staff of the Ridgewood blog

(RIDGEWOOD -NJ) Governor Christie has vetoed a bill that would have created health care exchanges in New Jersey under Obamcare .The veto makes Chris Christie the first governor in the nation to veto such a bill, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Christie told reporters ,“I am concerned that a hastily created exchange in New Jersey will impose unnecessary obligations upon the state’s taxpayers,” Christie said in a statement. “The very constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act is cloaked in uncertainty, as both the individual mandate to procure health insurance as well as the jurisdictional mandate to establish an exchange may not survive scrutiny by the Supreme Court.”

The national health care law or Obamacare is currently the subject of a Supreme Court review; a decision from the nation’s high court on the constitutionality of Obamacare is expected at some time in the next few months.

New Jersey’s Legislature passed a bill that would establish health care exchanges that would help implement ACA’s questionable individual and employer mandates. A medical exchange is has been billed as a marketplace for people to purchase health insurance plans.

But critics like Cato Institute’s Michael Cannon over at the Daily Caller ; Obamacare gives federal bureaucrats a chokehold on New Jersey’s health insurance markets no matter who runs the exchange, because it requires state-run exchanges to do everything a federal exchange would do. Obamacare has already stripped New Jersey of its sovereignty. The only question is, should New Jersey also pay for the privilege?

The bill before Christie would also subject the state to a second unnecessary tax: Obamacare’s employer mandate. If employers fail to offer a government-defined package of health benefits, Obamacare whacks them with a tax of up to $3,000 per employee. When you tax hiring, you get fewer jobs.

Due to an odd quirk in Obamacare, however, that tax is only enforceable if a state creates an exchange itself. It disappears in states that don’t create exchanges.

Photo by Boyd Loving

Five Car Motor Vehicle Crash Slows Route 17 South In Ridgewood
Boyd A. Loving
5:10 PM

(RIDGEWOOD-NJ) A five (5) vehicle crash on Route 17 southbound between Paramus Road and Linwood Avenue caused major slowdowns beginning just before 4 PM on Thursday.

Several non-life threatening injuries were reported; 2 persons were transported to The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood by members of the Ridgewood Volunteer Ambulance Corps.

An ambulance responding to the scene was itself involved in a minor accident in which a Gateway Road resident’s vehicle was damaged.

photos by Boyd Loving

Three vehicles were towed from the scene by City Wide Towing Service of Fair Lawn.

Responding were Ridgewood PD, Ridgewood FD, and Ridgewood EMS

Photo by Boyd Loving

This just in.. Village Holiday party will be better than ever!!!

The Village Holiday party for town employees will be bigger and better this year than ever before. This event, which in previous years was completely subsidized by personal donations from Mayor Killion and Deputy Mayor Riche, will now be sponsored by the Democratic Party. After a successful Democratic sweep by Aronsohn, his party cronies, who were major contributors during his campaign, will become major sponsors to Village events. Rumor has it that there will be pony rides, magicians and even a special guest appearance by George Clooney and Sean Penn. Oh boy!!! A grand time will be had by all.

Obamacare : Tax credit won’t get small businesses to offer health insurance

While more than 95,000 small employers in New Jersey are eligible to receive a tax credit from the Affordable Care Act to offset the cost of their workers’ health insurance, according to a report, an employment expert said the credit will not increase small businesses’ participation in providing insurance.

Small businesses with fewer than 25 full-time workers and average wages of less than $50,000 must cover at least 50 percent of each employee’s health insurance premiums to qualify for the tax credit — which covers up to 35 percent of costs of the insurance they provide to their workers, increasing to 50 percent in 2014.  (Eder, NJBIZ)

https://www.njbiz.com/article/20120509/NJBIZ01/120509814/Expert:-Tax-credit-won%27t-get-small-businesses-to-offer-health-insurance-

Sweeney swings ‘big stick’ to push towns to share services or lose state aid

To Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester), nothing underscores the need for the state to take a tough approach to shared services to cut property taxes more than what happened in his home county when Wenonah looked into consolidating police services with neighboring Mantua.

“Wenonah has the highest property taxes in Gloucester County, and residents would have saved $400 a year in property taxes,” Sweeney noted at a recent New Jersey Conference of Mayors seminar in Atlantic City. Furthermore, the police chief and sergeant in Wenonah’s seven-member police department were about to retire, so merging with Mantua’s 29-member force should have been easy.  (Magyar, NJ Spotlight)

https://www.njspotlight.com/stories/12/0509/2051/

Former N.J. Gov. McGreevey hails Obama’s support of gay marriage, calling it ‘a moral turning point’

Former Gov. Jim McGreevey whose secret affair with a male aide led to the downfall of his administration, said President Obama’s position marked a turning point in American history.

“The President’s decision today represents a moral turning point that civil liberties and the basic dignity of all persons ought to be respected,” McGreevey told The Star-Ledger just moments after Obama publicly re-staked his position in support of gay marriage.  (Giambusso, The Star-Ledger)

https://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2012/05/former_nj_gov_mcgreevey_hails.html

N.J. union-work leaves cost taxpayers more than $30 million

New Jersey paid more than $30 million over five years for labor representatives to conduct union business while on leave from government jobs, according to a State Commission of Investigation report.

One teachers union official in Brick received $1,375 in “perfect attendance” bonuses “even though he devotes all of his work time to union business,” the report found. Eleven officers with the state Corrections Department don’t report to prison jobs and still qualify for overtime.  (Young, Bloomberg)

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-09/n-j-finds-paid-leave-for-union-work-costs-taxpayers-millions.html

Former FBI Agent, Wes Rigler, to join the firm as Director of Investigations

NEW YORK, May 09, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Corporate Resolutions Inc., a global business investigations and consulting firm, today announced it has hired Wes Rigler as Director of Investigations in the firm’s New York headquarters, in a move to expand its premiere investigations team.

As Director of Investigations, Mr. Rigler will rely on his career in local and federal law enforcement to coordinate and oversee corporate investigations and monitoring assignments for Corporate Resolutions. Mr. Rigler spent 28 years with the FBI focusing on organized crime investigations and labor racketeering, and conducted many investigations that ultimately led to the successful prosecution of numerous corrupt labor leaders and contractors.

In 2007, Mr. Rigler was nominated for the FBI Director’s Award for his role in the investigation of corrupt union officials of Local 825 of the International Union of Operating Engineers. Before joining the FBI, Mr. Rigler was an officer with the Ridgewood Police Department in New Jersey, and has also served in the United States Army. Mr. Rigler received his Bachelor of Science degree from William Paterson University and attended Pace University School of Law.

“We’re thrilled to bring Wes aboard as Director of Investigations,” said Ken Springer, President of Corporate Resolutions. “His wealth of experience in investigations, stemming from 28 years with the FBI, will help to keep Corporate Resolutions at the forefront of the corporate investigations and fraud prevention industry. We look forward to working with Wes and we’re sure that his skills will prove invaluable to Corporate Resolutions’ client base, both now and in the future.”

US Chamber of Commerce Endorses Scott Garrett

May 9, 2012

With the goal of advancing “legislation that encourages economic growth, job creation, and a less intrusive federal government,” the US Chamber of Commerce recently announced it has endorsed Congressman Scott Garrett for re-election in 2012. Congressman Garrett has a strong record of supporting job creators, most recently shepherding the Jumpstart our Business Startups (“JOBS”) Act to passage in the House of Representatives. This bill was ultimately passed by the Senate and signed into law by the president. It’s no wonder the Chamber of Commerce says that re-electing Scott Garrett will help “get our country back on track.”

Village Council Elections: isn’t finally time to hoist up “liberal enclave” banner

OK, Can we now stop the pretense that Ridgewood is a “right leaning” town?

In the 2008 Democrat primary:
– Ridgewood was one of only 4 towns in Bergen county to vote for Obama over Clinton

In the 2008 Presidential election:
– Ridgewood went for Obama over McCain with a 22% margin
(Bergen county went for Obama over McCain with an 17% margin)

And now:
– Ridgewood elects a self-serving career Democrat politician by a wide margin (in Aronsohn) who was openly backed by the Democrat party (financially and logistically).

I think it is time to take down the “right leaning town” banner under the Ridgewood name and hoist up the “lliberal enclave” banner and welcome the Democrat Party machine and their cronies into town.

Industry groups slam wage-equality bills as duplicative, harmful to economy

While legislators today called on Gov. Chris Christie to support bills that would narrow the wage gap between women and men, employer groups are voicing concerns about the legislation’s duplicative nature and legal repercussions.

The four-bill package, sponsored by Assemblywoman Pamela R. Lampitt (D-Voorhees), chairwoman of the Assembly Women and Children Committee, would require employers to notify workers about their right for gender pay equity; allow employees to share pay information with others without punishment; make public contractors report information about their employees’ pay to the state; and oblige employers to repay employees for discriminatory pay differentials with no statute of limitations, regardless of when the initial biased decision took place. The bills recently passed the Assembly, and companion legislation has been introduced in the Senate.  (Eder, NJBIZ)

https://www.njbiz.com/article/20120508/NJBIZ01/120509842/Industry-groups-slam-wage-equality-bills-as-duplicative-harmful-to-economy-

As budget deadline looms, Gov. Christie pushes to reform teachers’ tenure, lower N.J. taxes

With fewer than two months before the state budget is due, Gov. Chris Christie said this morning he wants the state Legislature to deliver laws changing the tenure system for public school teachers in a way that will result in decreased taxes for New Jersey residents.

“I want to make one thing really clear to the state Legislature: Do not send me watered down B.S. tenure reform,’’ he told a crowd of more than 450 at a town hall meeting in Monmouth County.  (Spoto, The Star-Ledger)

https://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2012/05/as_budget_deadline_looms_gov_c.html

High Marks for Transit Hubs
By JILL P. CAPUZZO
Published: March 22, 2012

WANT to know which New Jersey train stations have the most plentiful supply of parking spaces relative to town population? There’s a list for that. Or what about stations in the areas with the greatest number of jobs? There’s a list for that. Or transportation hubs with the densest populations? There’s a list for that as well.

In fact, there are dozens of lists, charts and graphs that analyze land use, infrastructure, populations and living conditions surrounding all 243 transit stations in New Jersey. The extensive inventory is the result of a three-year study by NJ Future looking to stratify census data from neighborhoods near the state’s transit hubs with an eye toward directing potential development in those areas.

https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/25/realestate/new-jersey-in-the-region-high-marks-for-transit-hubs.html