Month: June 2013

Newark Mayor Cory Booker ready to run for Senate seat, but behind on fundraising
Friday, June 7, 2013    Last updated: Friday June 7, 2013, 11:21 PM
BY  MELISSA HAYES, HERB JACKSON AND CHARLES STILE
STAFF WRITERS
The Record

Once considered the presumptive front-runner to replace Frank Lautenberg, Cory Booker is racing to compete with two well-funded veteran congressmen in a primary nearly a year earlier than he expected — something he told supporters Friday that puts him at a financial disadvantage.

A celebrity among Democrats, known nationally for his social media presence and exploits as Newark’s mayor, Booker is expected to announce his U.S. Senate bid today. But he kicked off his campaign Friday with a conference call urging supporters to donate.

“I cannot get around the country like I planned,” Booker said, according to a person in on the conference call.

In a Democratic primary, Booker will likely face Rep. Rush Holt, who already declared he is running, and Rep. Frank Pallone, who has been gathering signatures and is expected to announce his candidacy this weekend.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/essex/Newark_mayor_Cory_Booker_to_hold_conference_call_with_supporters.html

Reader says intensity of development proposals since election unprecedented

Has anyone noticed that right after DEPUTY MAYOR ALBERT PUCCIARELL was elected these project started to intensify along with his idea of relocating the municipal garage in Glen Rock and sell off land that the garage now stands.

Let not forget the two purposed parking garage and the Arts center that Mayor Paul Aronsohn promised to get elected. So between Mayor Paul Aronsohn , DEPUTY MAYOR ALBERT PUCCIARELL and Councilwoman Hauk have it all laid out so get use to it.

Reader says  the Valley Expansion is a townwide issue. It’s not just the direct neighbors of the hospital
Thed

While there will be benefits to improving the hospital, we must remember that Valley is a business and is significantly concerned with expanding its empire to generate more money for Audrey et al. I feel that if Valley wants to improve, it should reduce the number of rooms/size, and therefore will require less parking expansion etc.

In any event, neighbors have a right to protect their families, their neighborhood’s character, and the value of their property.

I seem to remember the neighbors of the water tank in the heights arguing that the tank was going to be too large. They got that significantly scaled back. And a water tank does not generate traffic and other externalities.

Single rooms are NOT required. Only NEW rooms are required to be single. Valley has proven itself to not be trustworthy. I wouldn’t take their word on what it takes to run a hospital as they talk out of both sides of their mouths — on one hand, they said that PV shouldn’t reopen because there are too many beds and overcapacity, and now that it’s open, they see no need to scale back their monstrosity.

We should not trust what Valley says is right or necessary just because they say it – they have their own self interest at heart. They have not negotiated in good faith and have left the bulk of the expansion unchanged. They are in a constrained location that will only cause them problems in the future if they need to further expand — so why do it now and here??

I’m not making it an east or west issue. I am simply stating to those that are saying that this is a NIMBY issue are often hypocritical when it comes to projects near them.

And, by the way, I’m sure that the Heights users are more of a drain on the water system with larger lawns etc. than others. Just sayin’

Deflating Hospitals’ Arguments for Obamacare Medicaid Expansion
Edmund Haislmaier and Alyene Senger
June 6, 2013 at 11:55 am

The Obamacare Medicaid expansion debate continues in the states, and many hospitals are lobbying their state lawmakers to accept the expansion.

The hospitals argue that because Obamacare cut their payments for charity care—so-called disproportionate share hospital (DSH) payments—they need their states to expand Medicaid coverage so as to increase the number of insured patients to make up for the loss of DSH payments.

But this argument is faulty for a variety of reasons; here are the three main ones:

DSH payments through 2015 will not be based on whether a state expands Medicaid. The Obama Administration has recently released a proposed rule to allocate the first two years of DSH cuts using the most recent data on state uninsured rates. That means that the allocation will not vary based on whether states have agreed to expand Medicaid next year.
Even under the planned DSH payment cuts, most hospitals will still be profitable. For instance, in Ohio, a recent investigative study reported data extracted from tax filings by 88 Ohio hospitals and hospital systems, finding that the vast majority would remain profitable even without any charity care offsetting payments. The investigators found that “26 reported no direct offsetting funds for charity care,” only 16 “reported negative revenue minus expenses—or would have, absent charity care offsets,” and only 30 “reported charity care offsetting funds that exceeded 1 percent of their total revenue.” Lawmakers in other states would be well advised to conduct similar investigations and compare the facts to what they are hearing from hospital lobbyists.
There is ample money for charity care. Contrary to the “poor mouthing” that state lawmakers hear from their hospitals, there is, in fact, plenty of money in the system, though much of it is currently misallocated. A report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), based on 2007 data, found that “41 states made DSH payments to 717 hospitals that exceeded the individual hospitals’ uncompensated care costs as calculated by the auditors” (emphasis added). Furthermore, the GAO separately reported that, in addition to DSH payments, hospitals also receive billions more in other (non-DSH) supplemental Medicaid payments.

The hospitals made their deal with Congress and the Obama Administration, not with state lawmakers. If they now have a complaint, they should take it to Washington. Their problem is with Obamacare, not with the states.

https://blog.heritage.org/2013/06/06/deflating-hospitals-arguments-for-obamacare-medicaid-expansion/?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=FHCP

NSA PRISM program taps in to user data of Facebook, Yahoo and others

• Top secret PRISM program claims direct access to servers of firms including Google, Apple and Facebook
• Companies deny any knowledge of program in operation since 2007

The National Security Agency has obtained direct access to the systems of Google, Facebook, Apple and other US internet giants, according to a top secret document obtained by the Guardian.

The NSA access is part of a previously undisclosed program called PRISM, which allows officials to collect material including search history, the content of emails, file transfers and live chats, the document says.

The Guardian has verified the authenticity of the document, a 41-slide PowerPoint presentation – classified as top secret with no distribution to foreign allies – which was apparently used to train intelligence operatives on the capabilities of the program. The document claims “collection directly from the servers” of major US service providers.

Although the presentation claims the program is run with the assistance of the companies, all those who responded to a Guardian request for comment on Thursday denied knowledge of any such program.

https://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/06/us-tech-giants-nsa-data

Reader thinks “The Road Warrior” needs to get his research team new batteries for its GPS

The Road Warrior needs to get his research team new batteries for its GPS or should dust off its old Hagstroms as Linwood Ave is nowhere near the underpass & Garber Square is on the Westbound side of the tracks. He’s probably referring to the intersection at Franklin Ave. & N. Broad St. or the one on the west side Garber Square & West Ridgewood, both of which right on reds are rarely observed or enforced, are both extremely dangerous & an accident waiting to happen.

For an Indy 500 overview of champion right on red racing a surefire contender is the intersection of Ridgewood & Forest in Westwood. Alvy singer (Woody Allen) declared in Annie Hall that the only good thing about California is that you can make a right on red.

Reader Says The people of Ridgewood are sick of Aronsohn, Pucciarelli, and Hauck.

If a councilman was a vendor to the village there was a problem or dissatisfaction with the product it would be very intimidating for the employee to complain about it when the vendor votes on your promotions and pay raises, this occurs whether or not the councilman votes on the contract award. This is where the real conflict of interest arises , that’s why council people should not be vendors

The main issue here is that this has been a PUBLIC inquisition in which all the documents were not available up front and the clear purpose was to malign Mr. Riche rather than to solve the problem. Our Mayor, Deputy Mayor, and Councilwoman Hauck have shown themselves to be nasty and bullying and therin lies the huge problem with our Council. The innuendos and outright accusations coming from the three of them are beyond inappropriate. They have absolutely no business running our town and representing our interests. I think they are trying to intimidate Mr. Riche into resigning his position so they can have even more control, especially with the Valley issue coming up.

The large array of citizens who spoke against their horrible behavior on Wednesday night was really impressive. It was not one or two naysayers, but a long line of people. Some spoke more eloquently than others, but all of them used very harsh adjectives like despicable, disgusting, shameful, and more. Contrary to any reports, there were only two who spoke against Mr. Riche, the rest were bashing the Council for their mismanagement of this situation. Hauck even suggested that people in the audience were being hurtful to her with their statements, seriously, this is not about hurt feelings but about publicly maligning a man when it should have been handled in private. Between Hauck’s fragile composure on the verge of tears and Pucciarelli’s big fat ego trying to save face and Aronsohn’s bulldog tactics to press forward at all costs, it amounted to a colossal mess.

The people of Ridgewood are sick of Aronsohn, Pucciarelli, and Hauck.

Ars Musica to debut new piece in Ridgewood
Friday, June 7, 2013
INTERVIEW BY GLORIA GEANNETTE
MANAGING EDITOR
The Ridgewood News

Editor’s Note – Ars Musica invited contemporary composer Martha Sullivan to create a work to be included in their Stravinsky & Bruckner: A Masterworks Concert, to be performed on Saturday, June 8. Here Sullivan answers some questions about the commissioned work.

Ridgewood News: Can you tell us why Kelly Crandall requested an Armenian theme for the piece?

Martha Sullivan: I think the big picture story here is that choral music creates community. Ars Musica, being a choir, is of course a group of people, and they all do this one thing together that’s very special. This definition applies to any choir. However, there are nuances that make each group of singers unique in how they build community.

A good musical director, like Kelly Crandell, chooses repertoire according to what will actually mean something to the singers in the group. In this case, Kelly asked me to write something that would relate to Armenia or Armenian themes because Ars Musica and its board have a strong Armenian membership, and Ridgewood boasts a strong Armenian community. By choosing music that addresses what people care about, a director helps his singers feel invested in the project, shows them that the music truly belongs to them.

https://www.northjersey.com/arts_entertainment/music/210521161_Ars_Musica_to_debut_new_piece_in_Ridgewood.html

Rep. Garrett: ‘Obamacare a House of Cards About to Collapse’
Thursday, 06 Jun 2013 06:10 PM
By Bill Hoffmann

Rep. Scott Garrett of New Jersey says he’s skeptical the IRS — mired in scandal for targeting conservative groups and being probed by Congress — can properly enforce Obamacare.

“As the investigations go on . . . and show that it’s not just two rogue agents, its people all the way up the line, we should not have any confidence that Obamacare will be administered correctly,” Garrett told guest host David Nelson on Newsmax TV’s “The Steve Malzberg Show.”

Garrett, a member of the Committee on the Budget and the Committee on Financial Services, said exacerbating enforcement is the fact that many young people will not want to join the mandatory Affordable Care Act.

“In order for [President Barack Obama’s] grand plan to work, everyone has to come on board,” Garrett said.

“They need the young people to come on who are healthy in order to subsidize the older people, like me, who have higher medical expenses.

“The problem with this system is it’s a take-all system so that a young person can basically say . . . I’m not going to opt in and pay the exorbitant price that it will cost . . . I’d rather pay the responsibility fee.”

Read Latest Breaking News from Newsmax.com https://www.newsmax.com/politics/garrett-obamacare-house-cards/2013/06/06/id/508543#ixzz2VXJzORQC

Ridgewood Art Institute celebrates young artists
Friday, June 7, 2013
BY  EILEEN LA FORGIA
STAFF WRITER
The Ridgewood News

“It’s inspirational to see what children from all ages can do,” said Ridgewood Art Institute instructor Rebecca Leer. R.A.I’s. 54th Annual Young People’s Scholarship Exhibition fills the three gallery rooms at the 100-year-old barn through Saturday, June 15.

Kelsey Brentnall won the top $5,000 scholarship for her painting ‘CRIM.’Joe Mancini won the $3,000 scholarship for his self-portrait.’Rainy Night’ by Jamie Soohoo’Afternoon Break’ by Alice Zhang’Drawing of Skull’ by Esther Chow

“Our connection to the community is very important to us at R.A.I., and the support from family and friends is so incredible,” said instructor Laura Paray.

Each instructor gives a scholarship to one of their current students. Instructors also award scholarships to non-member young artists. The exhibition features 140 artworks by young students.

The Members Scholarships were awarded to high school seniors planning to study art in college: Kelsey Brentnall, $5,000; Joseph Mancini, $3,000; and Kayla Osborne $2,000.

“We draw a large number of young students from Ridgewood but also from surrounding communities,” said Paray.

https://www.northjersey.com/arts_entertainment/art/210522031_Ridgewood_Art_Institute_celebrates_young_artists.html