Posted on Leave a comment

Trump Taps U.S. Congressman Mick Mulvaney Director of the Office of Management and Budget

Congressman Mick Mulvaney

December 17,2016

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, President-elect Donald J. Trump today announced his nomination of U.S. Congressman Mick Mulvaney of South Carolina as Director of the Office of Management and Budget.

Congressman Mulvaney brings a wealth of experience on economic, budgetary, and fiscal issues to his new role. Rep. Mulvaney has long been a strong voice in Congress for reining in out-of-control spending, fighting government waste and enacting tax policies that will allow working Americans to thrive. Rep. Mulvaney believes getting America’s fiscal house in order is a key component of President-elect Trump’s America First plan to create millions of jobs and grow the economy.

“We are going to do great things for the American people with Mick Mulvaney leading the Office of Management and Budget,” said President-elect Trump. “Right now we are nearly $20 trillion in debt, but Mick is a very high-energy leader with deep convictions for how to responsibly manage our nation’s finances and save our country from drowning in red ink. With Mick at the head of OMB, my administration is going to make smart choices about America’s budget, bring new accountability to our federal government, and renew the American taxpayer’s trust in how their money is spent.”

“It is a great honor to be appointed Director of the Office of Management and Budget,” said Congressman Mulvaney. “The Trump administration will restore budgetary and fiscal sanity back in Washington after eight years of an out-of-control, tax and spend financial agenda, and will work with Congress to create policies that will be friendly to American workers and businesses. Each day, families across our nation make disciplined choices about how to spend their hard earned money, and the federal government should exercise the same discretion that hardworking Americans do every day.”

A lifelong resident of the Carolinas, Rep. Mulvaney attended Georgetown University where he graduated as an Honor Scholar – the highest award given to students of the Georgetown School of Foreign Service – in International Economics, Commerce and Finance.  After college, Rep. Mulvaney attended law school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on a full academic scholarship. He then completed his formal education at Harvard Business School’s OPM program in 2006.

Rep. Mulvaney has broad business experience across many fields. After practicing law, following graduating law school, the entrepreneurial spirit captured him and he started his own law firm. Later, he ran his family’s real estate business and then went on to start a small homebuilding company, and owned and operated his own restaurant.

Rep. Mulvaney has used his educational, professional, and business background to bring a focus on jobs, business and the economy to his work in Congress. He currently serves on the House Financial Services Committee as well as the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

In Congress, Rep. Mulvaney co-authored Cut, Cap, and Balance Act, which curbed and capped needless federal spending, and provided for a Balanced Budget Amendment to the Constitution. Additionally, Rep. Mulvaney’s Congressional office has returned hundreds of thousands of dollars from its office budget to the U.S. Treasury over the past few years.

Rep. Mulvaney and his wife Pam were married in 1998, and are the proud parents of triplets.

Posted on Leave a comment

VISIT RIDGEWOOD AM ROTARY AND LEARN MORE ABOUT RIDGEWOOD AND THE BENEFITS OF ROTARY

Rotary_Club_Logo_THUMB
December 17,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood AM Rotary has been active in Ridgewood for thirty years. Its members come from not just Ridgewood, but also twenty-three of the surrounding towns and communities. Expand your horizons. Expand your network Learn more about Rotary. Join us for one of our weekly meetings.

Visit our website at www.ridgewoodamrotary.org and our Facebook page at: www.facebook.com/TheRotaryClubofRidgewoodAM.

You may be our guest at one of our weekly breakfast meetings each Thursday morning, 7:30 a.m.–8:30 a.m. at:

“Roots”
17 Chestnut Street
Ridgewood, NJ

Please use the rear entrance in the parking lot. If you have any questions or would like to attend, please call John or Greg at 201-760-9489

Posted on 1 Comment

Village Tea Shop Goes Above and Beyond

Village Tea Shop

December 17,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, this is a first in a new series of articles for the Ridgewood blog promoting our local merchants and restaurants.
It seems the Village Tea Shop out did themselves taking care of a resident.

“A HUGE thank you to my friend May from the Village Tea Shop in Ridgewood. She just rang my doorbell and completely surprised me with a hot cup of wellness tea with ginger honey because she heard from my friend Geary that I am down and out with a crummy virus. I am not at the tea shop (as the posting indicates) but I am sipping the delicious tea in my easy chair and envisioning myself there right now. Maybe in a few days . . . Thank you May! And for my Facebook friends that are local, you need to get to the tea shop and try their amazing products. Good for the body and soul!”

The Village Tea Shop is a small cozy shop serving a large selection of organic and fair trade teas from around the world. Crafted tea drinks, smoothies, bubble tea, and yes coffee.

10 S Maple Ave
Ridgewood, New Jersey
@VillageTeaShop
Call (201) 857-0230

if you have a situation where you felt a merchant or restaurant went above and beyond email us at [email protected]

Posted on Leave a comment

Help For Michele

Help For Michele

December 17,2016

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, some of you may remember Greg May, he ran for Ridgewood School Board a number of years ago . Greg’s sister needs our help .

I am writing this on behalf of my sister. In the beginning of November, she was viciously attacked and held captive for a couple days. During that time, her attacker assaulted her and threatened her life. During her escape she suffered numerous injuries, including a fractured vertebrae and a broken ankle. While her attacker was arrested and given a bail of $500,000, he was able to post bail and is now walking the streets while awaiting trial. I unfortunately can not go into more details as there is an ongoing criminal investigation; however, we are thankful that she was able to escape with her life. Since her attacker was bailed out, we had to quickly move her from the hospital in the town she was living at and move her into hiding for her safety as her attacker had already violated a no contact order. We really don’t know what her attacker is capable of as he has tried to contact her and find her location since he was released on bail. As you could imagine this has caused quite a hardship for my sister. At this time, she has no job and no means of support outside of her family. She is using the services provided by the state but sadly we have had to move her out of her state of residency for her own safety thus making her ineligible for some of the state sponsored programs. She is facing a long road to recovery and is in need for some assistance. We are hoping we can raise $20,000 to help her cover some of her medical expenses, counseling, and basic daily living expenses. She currently is disabled and is not going to be able to work for approximately six months according to her doctors. From the conversations we have had from the prosecutor and lead detective, we are expecting her attacker to be going to trial sometime in mid 2017 so we have to keep her in hiding till her attacker goes to trial. Her world has really been turned upside down and wrecked. My sister would appreciate any help folks could give. Any monies donated will go to supporting her daily living expenses like food, shelter and such and to help cover her medical and counseling expenses. Thank you in advance and I will post any updates we can as long as it doesn’t compromise her safety or jeopardize the criminal case against her attacker.

https://www.gofundme.com/help-for-michele

Posted on 13 Comments

Reader says Knudsen and Sedon went through Hades for two years with the Three Amigos insulting them at every turn.

3 amigos in action Ridgewood NJ

file photo by Boyd Loving

Knudsen and Sedon went through Hades for two years with the Three Amigos insulting them at every turn. They do not deserve this kind of treatment from Voigt. It really must grate on them. If you think about it, that must be the desired result — to demoralize them, wear them out, and persuade them not to run for re-election. They are certainly under no obligation to run again but Ridgewood would be very fortunate if they were to do so. We need as many people like them as we can get in elected office. The amount of destructive energy the Three Amigos mustered and expended on a regular basis while in office was prodigious. They were constantly conniving and dissimulating, spewing their duplicitous rhetoric like possessed Energizer Bunnies. How good officeholders can justify dealing with that kind of stuff without resigning on the spot is a mystery but we are lucky here in Ridgewood.

Posted on 2 Comments

Russian President Vladimir Putin Says Put Up or Shut Up

vladimir-putin-4

Kremlin slams ‘extremely scurrilous’ US hacking accusations

AFPDecember 16, 2016

Tokyo (AFP) – The Kremlin on Friday slammed Washington for pointing the finger at President Vladimir Putin over cyber attacks targeting the US election, after Barack Obama pledged to retaliate against Russian hacking.

“At this point they need to either stop talking about this or finally present some sort of proof. Otherwise this looks extremely scurrilous,” Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists during a visit to Japan.

Obama on Thursday warned that the United States would take action against Moscow after the White House accused Putin of direct involvement in cyber attacks designed to influence the US election.

“I think there is no doubt that when any foreign government tries to impact the integrity of our elections that we need to take action,” Obama told NPR radio.

“And we will, at a time and place of our own choosing.”

The outgoing US president’s remarks dramatically upped the stakes in a dispute between the world’s leading nuclear powers over interference that may have swayed last month’s tight election in which Republican billionaire Donald Trump defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Obama’s threat came after the White House ratcheted up allegations over the Russian hacking by personally tying Kremlin strongman Putin to the attacks.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/kremlin-slams-extremely-scurrilous-us-hacking-accusations-100047216.html

Posted on 3 Comments

Democratic donors call for Clinton campaign post-mortem

Hillary Clinton

The wealthy Democrats who helped pump over $1 billion into Hillary Clinton’s losing effort want answers.

By GABRIEL DEBENEDETTI

12/15/16 06:15 PM EST

NEW YORK — When Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine greet the very top fundraisers and donors to their failed campaign at New York’s Plaza Hotel on Thursday evening, many of them will have one question in mind: Where’s the autopsy?

The call for a deep and detailed accounting of how Clinton lost a race that she and her donors were absolutely certain she’d win didn’t begin immediately after the election — there was too much shock over her defeat by Donald Trump, and overwhelming grief. Her initial conference call with top backers, which came just days after the outcome, focused primarily on FBI Director Jim Comey’s late campaign-season intervention.

But in the weeks since, the wealthy Democrats who helped pump over $1 billion into Clinton’s losing effort have been urging their local finance staffers, state party officials, and campaign aides to provide a more thorough explanation of what went wrong. With no dispassionate, centralized analysis of how Clinton failed so spectacularly, they insist, how can they be expected to keep contributing to the party?

https://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/hillary-clinton-campaign-donors-post-mortem-232715

Posted on Leave a comment

Trump to Nominate David Friedman as U.S. Ambassador to Israel

David Friedman as U
December 16,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ,  President-elect Donald J. Trump on Thursday announced the nomination of Mr. David Friedman to serve as the United States Ambassador to Israel.

Mr. Friedman, a renowned attorney who has been counselor to some of the world’s top businessmen and companies, was one of the President-elect’s principal advisors on the US-Israel relationship during the campaign.

When Israel proclaimed itself an independent republic in 1948, the United States was the first country to extend formal recognition of the new government. From that moment forward, the two nations have enjoyed a special relationship based on mutual respect and a dedication to freedom and democracy.

With Mr. Friedman’s nomination, President-elect Trump expressed his commitment to further enhancing the US-Israel relationship and ensuring there will be extraordinary strategic, technological, military and intelligence cooperation between the two countries.

“The bond between Israel and the United States runs deep, and I will ensure there is no daylight between us when I’m President,” said President-elect Trump. “As the United States’ Ambassador to Israel, David Friedman will maintain the special relationship between our two countries. He has been a long-time friend and trusted advisor to me. His strong relationships in Israel will form the foundation of his diplomatic mission and be a tremendous asset to our country as we strengthen the ties with our allies and strive for peace in the Middle East. Nothing is more critical than protecting the security of our citizens at home and abroad.”

Mr. Friedman, whose bar mitzvah was held at the Western Wall in Jerusalem 45 years ago, is a fluent speaker of Hebrew and a lifelong student of Israel’s history. On Thursday, he expressed his resolve to be a rock-solid partner with the Israeli leadership as our two countries seek to advance our mutual interests and keep our people safe.

“I am deeply honored and humbled by the confidence placed in me by President-elect Trump to represent the United States as its Ambassador to Israel,” said Mr. Friedman. “I intend to work tirelessly to strengthen the unbreakable bond between our two countries and advance the cause of peace within the region, and look forward to doing this from the U.S. embassy in Israel’s eternal capital, Jerusalem.”

Mr. Friedman is a founding partner of Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman LLP, a national law firm with approximately 350 attorneys. For the past 35 years, he has specialized in litigation and bankruptcy law, playing a leading role in restructuring many of the nation’s most complex financial and business operations. Mr. Friedman has been widely recognized for his outstanding contributions to the legal profession, and has been named one of the 500 leading lawyers in the United States.

Mr. Friedman has been a generous philanthropist to Jewish causes, including United Hatzalah of Israel, a nationwide volunteer service of first responders providing aid to all injured Israelis, regardless of race, religion or ethnicity, and Aleh Negev, one of the world’s most advanced facilities for the care of severely disabled children.

Under his leadership and at the President-elect’s direction, the US-Israel relationship will be a model of cooperation and respect.

Posted on 1 Comment

Who’s “normalization of hateful rhetoric and behavior” is it anyway ?

civility_the_ridgewoodblog

December 16,2016

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, Its the idea we have the problem with not the people proposing it. Folks is manners learn them they are not just for other people.While we have been told in no uncertain terms, that this is “nothing like the anti-free speech civility committee” we are always concerned and suspicious about “good intentions” of people as well as the whole idea of “intolerance” seems to have morphed into ; if you say anything I disagree with you are automatically  “intolerant” . This is not a justification for poor manners but sorry folks there is just some bull sh$t no one should have to put up with. There we go with the”normalization of hateful rhetoric and behavior”.  So another words if I don’t do or say exactly what you like and what you want all the time I am hateful. No that’s not going to work sorry just watch TMZ or any of your favorite garbage on TV and you will see nothing but the atrocious behavior.Oh that’s right the rules are different for some of us I forgot but again we saw too much of that with the ex-Hudson county Mayor Ridgewood used to have so I think I’ll pass on that as well.

Friends,

Some residents and I in New Jersey have created a movement called ‘Gate The Hate’ in which we are reaching out to our local town leaders/clergy and getting them to make a statement against intolerance. Below is a video statement that the mayor of the town where I reside just put forth last night as a result of our outreach.

The purpose is to get our local leaders to publicly acknowledge the normalization of hateful rhetoric and behavior, to treat it as non-partisan and to publicly condemn it. This action should not be seen as a ‘one off and we’re all good’ affair but in terms of creating a relationship with our local leaders which can be built upon.

Our hope is to have this action spread from town to town and across our country. If you are interested in learning more or becoming involved, please pm me.

Thanks for your time and all of your effort to protect our great nation.

Dana

Posted on Leave a comment

Car Ends Up in Drainage Ditch in Ridgewood

Car Ends Up in Drainage Ditch in Ridgewood

photo courtesy of Boyd Loving’s Facebook

December 16,2016

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, The adult male driver of a Ford Thunderbird failed to observe a “Dead End” sign and drove his vehicle into a drainage ditch on Franklin Avenue near the PSE&G right-of-way in Ridgewood on Thursday evening, 12/15. The undamaged vehicle was winched out of its predicament by a hydraulic lift tow truck. The driver, who was attempting to locate the Bone Fish Grill in Paramus, was uninjured in the mishap. Ridgewood PD officers stood by with the driver until towing company representatives arrived.

Posted on 2 Comments

Rep.Scott Garrett Meets With the Trump Transition Team

scott garrett trump tower
December 16,2016

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, Rep. Scott Garrett  may get his revenge despite the conservative’s recent election loss.It’s being reported that Rep. Scott Garrett has met with the Trump Transition Team and he may get a job at the Federal Housing Finance Agency or the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) .

Scott Garrett, a veteran House Republican who lost his re-election bid last month, met with Trump transition officials in New York Thursday morning, as a sign he is under consideration for a top position in the Trump administration.

While New Jersey voters turned their backs to Garrett and instead elected Democrat Josh Gottheimer, a former Microsoft Corp. executive who tied his fortunes to Hillary Clinton trading a veteran policy wonk for a substanceless out of power Clintonista with no political clout.

The new Trump Administration has prioritized many of Scott Garretts main issues including the repeal of Dodd-Frank, repeal of Obamacare and removing the too big to fail provisions from virtually all Federal agencies.

Garrett showed up at Trump Tower in Manhattan at about 10 a.m., according to the press. Garret declined to say whom he was meeting with but told reporters it was neither President-elect Donald Trump nor Mike Pence, with whom Mr. Garrett is said to be close too.

Garrett a longtime critic of federal housing policy is reported interested in a role at the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees the government mortgage giants, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, according to people familiar with the matter.

The National Association of Realtors Congressional Fund spent $1.3 million supporting Gottheimer, including $146,000 for online ads, $529,000 for mailings and $590,000 for TV ads .Garrett crossed the Realtors group by pushing a bill in 2013 that would have scaled back the role of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-backed companies that buy mortgages from lenders.

Posted on 4 Comments

Pedestrian struck by a motor vehicle at the intersection of Ackerman Avenue and Rock Road in Glen Rock

Glen Rock man struck

photo courtesy of Boyd Loving’s Facebook page

December 16,2016

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Glen Rock NJ, An adult male resident of Glen Rock was struck by a motor vehicle at the intersection of Ackerman Avenue and Rock Road in Glen Rock on Thursday evening, 12/15. The victim sustained non life threatening injuries to his arm and lower extremities. He was transported by a Glen Rock EMS ambulance to The Valley Hospital. A paramedic unit from The Valley Hospital assisted Glen Rock EMS with on scene evaluation of the patient. The driver of the vehicle involved in the incident remained at the scene and was cooperating with Glen Rock PD.

Posted on Leave a comment

Measures of Economic Optimism Are Shooting Up All Over the Place After Trump’s Win

Pence and  Trump

A morning in America moment?
by
Luke Kawa
December 15, 2016, 11:39 AM EST

It feels like another ‘Morning in America’ moment — the animal spirits are just waking up.

Following the election, a number of indexes that track confidence have jumped, with respondents citing the potential for deregulation and tax cuts once President-elect Donald Trump takes office as the cause of their increased confidence.

Homebuilders are the latest segment of the economy to testify to this surge in optimism.

The National Association of Homebuilders’ index of sentiment soared to an 11-year highin December, despite the sizable rise in bond yields since the election.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-12-15/measures-of-economic-optimism-are-shooting-up-all-over-the-place-after-trump-s-win

 

Posted on Leave a comment

New Jersey Ranked 43rd in, Best and Worst Run States in America Survey

Sweeney & Prieto

43. New Jersey

Debt per capita: $7,378 (5th highest)
> 2015 Unemployment rate: 5.6% (tied-19th highest)
> Credit rating: A2/A-
> Poverty: 10.8% (8th lowest)

December 16,2016

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, New Jersey has among the smallest reserve funds of any state. According to analysis by the Pew Charitable Trusts, New Jersey would be able to operate just eight full days with its budget reserves alone, less than a third of the average across all states. New Jersey also has just 42.5% of the assets it needs to meet its future pension obligations, nearly the smallest share of any state. Credit ratings agency S&P recently downgraded New Jersey’s bonds from A to A-, nearly the worst rating in the country. The agency cited the underfunded pension as one of the main reasons for the downgrade as well as the recently announced tax cut.

The “tax cuts”, which will amount to an estimated $1.4 billion in lost revenue a year by 2021, have been criticized as politically expedient and financially irresponsible as New Jersey struggles to balance its budget. New Jersey’s credit rating has been downgraded 10 times under Gov. Chris Christie, more than any other governor in U.S. history.

While most residents will not see a deal to raise New Jersey’s gas tax by 23 cents a gallon, to 37.5 cents as a “tax cut”  or in reality , despite Governor Christies war with the media most people realize that the nails have long been driven into New Jersey’s economic coffin. The Massive flight of personal assets as well as businesses, running from the state’s high tax anti-business climate has significantly eroded the tax base over years making a major financial shake-up in the state a foregone conclusion.