2017 candidate for governor Phil Murphy favors a gas tax hike to pay for the depleted state Transportation Trust Fund (TTF), but opposes the estate tax phase-out championed as part of a Democratic-Republican deal in the legislature. Max Pizarro, PolitickerNJ Read more
by PATRICK HOWLEY14 Jun 20166,948
WASHINGTON, DC — Hillary Clinton received a classified intelligence report stating that the Obama administration was actively supporting Al Qaeda in Iraq, the terrorist group that became the Islamic State.
The memo made clear that Al Qaeda in Iraq was speaking through Muhammad Al Adnani, who is now the senior spokesman for the Islamic State, also known as ISIS. Western and Gulf states were supporting the terrorist group to try to overthrow Syrian dictator Bashar al Assad, who was being propped up by the Russians, Iranians, and Chinese.
In August 2012, a “SECRET” classified memo was sent to various top Obama administration officials and agencies, including to the State Department and to Clinton’s office personally.
“The document is an IAR, an intelligence information report,” said Christopher J. Farrell, who serves on the board of directors of Judicial Watch, which obtained the document. “It is produced by somebody within the Defense intelligence agency (DIA). It is reporting from the field by an intelligence agent” who could be a U.S. government agent, a defense attaché, or a source.
“It’s a report from the field back to headquarters with some intelligence that somebody is willing to bet their career on,” Farrell said.
Farrell confirmed that the report was sent to Clinton’s office, based on the recipient marking “RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHINGTON DC.”
The report identifies Al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) as being one of the principal elements of the Syrian opposition, which the West was choosing to “support.”
I am not a Christie fan but I will give him credit for trying to reel in the unsustainable pension and medical benefits public employees receive. it has to change. I don’t think it is right that money was diverted from the teacher’s pension fund starting with Christie Whitman and that has to be repaid. For heaven’s sake, it is time to freeze pensions and move onto 401K style plans and keep medical costs in line with what private sector receives. Long gone are the days when public employee salaries were lower than the private sector so delayed remuneration in the form of pensions, etc. made up the difference. As for Ridgewood’s current travesty with the NJEA and our BOE – I’m just sick. I wish all these complaining teachers could be replaced. And, yes, I’m one of those who wears the cloak of anonymity because I have kids in school and I know the teachers retaliate. Many are not as dedicated to their students and the field of education as they profess.
“Residents will have to pay for the Mayor and Village Managers legal fees.” TRUE. Which begs the question, why would Roberta, Paul et. al do something so blatantly out of step with the law so as to cause taxpayers to spend money to fight them legally, in addition to taxpayers footing any legal bills they have? Additionally, where is Matt Rogers? The bond counsel has been providing legal advice on these matters to date…why has he not weighed in?
This is a horrible precedent to set for our Village…I would think residents would be outraged if the Village was promoting one presidential candidate over another on the website. Thank you to Gail, Lorraine and everyone else involved with these efforts. It is sad it came to this, there was no need for Paul, Roberta etc to go this far as they had a lot of support on their side, but now everything is tainted.
June 16,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood
Ridgewood NJ, An employee’s conduct is subject to the laws of the state and the regulations of the employing agency. With respect to those jurisdictions operating under Title 11A of the the New Jersey Civil Service Act, the following provisions apply: “a person holding a position in the career service or senior executive service shall not directly use or seek to use the position to control or affect the political action of another person or engage in political activity during working hours.” N.J.S.A. 11A:2-23
file photo by Boyd Loving
Am completely sickened by what people write on this blog about our elected officials. Gwenn, Paul, and Albert are some of the smartest, most devoted town leaders we have had in Ridgewood.
The electorate of Ridgewood voted FOR the parking garage by a 2-1 majority.
Why are you costing us more money with a $45,000 NEW referendum? Where were you the first time we voted? You came too late to the game, and you may win after all, but you haven’t done it by posting nasty things on this blog or with costly lawsuits and second referendums.
We need a table where people sit down together and discuss the misunderstandings here–not a social media blitz that calls information propaganda. The REAL propaganda is on this blog.
A state environmental cleanup program may have to start work or stop paying its employees.The results of an Office of Legislative Services audit of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection were released Monday, showing that the NJDEP is five years behind on a deadline for ranking toxic sites in the state to establish which sites to clean up first. NJDEP employees, that report said, continued to be paid salaries from a fund intended to finance clean-up efforts that never began. JT Aregood, PolitickerNJ Read more
Ridgewood NJ, Rep. Scott Garrett (NJ-05) released the following statement in response toreports that Boeing has reached a multibillion-dollar deal to sell commercial passenger planes to Iran. Boeing is one of the largest beneficiaries of the Export-Import (Ex-Im) bank which perpetuates corporate welfare to mega corporations by handing out taxpayer-backed loans.
“This agreement between Boeing and the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism is extremely troubling and shows that crony capitalism remains alive and well in Washington. Not only has Boeing lobbied for years to keep the taxpayer-backed Export Import bank alive, it now has also used its powerful position to take advantage of the ill-conceived nuclear deal with Iran. This agreement is bad news, not just for taxpayers but for our national security.”
Boeing was lobbying Congress to keep their Ex-Im bank subsidies at the same time it was seeking carve outs from the Obama Administration to do more business with the dangerous Iranian regime. Garrett has been an outspoken critic of the Ex-Im bank and the Iran nuclear deal.
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood Nj, New Jersey Assemblymen Tim Eustace continues his over the top grandstanding against Congressmen Scott Garrett. Eustace has been making the rounds protesting Garrett’s “alleged” and I repeat “alleged” remarks and organizing media events like protesting Fidelity investments on Route 17 in Paramus over donations to the Garrett campaign . Unbeknownst to Eustace and much of the New Jersey media a small mutual fund office in Paramus does not control corporate policy for Mutual Fund giant Fidelity’s corporate donation policy .
Assemblyman Tim Eustace told PolitickerNJ that the congressman’s statements “ridiculous.” According to Eustace, one of New Jersey’s only openly gay assemblypeople, Garrett’s stance on the LGBT community (he allegedly made statements last year that he wouldn’t support the Republican Party’s fundraising arm because of support for gay candidates) and his NRA backing make his statements “hypocritical.”
Eustace then jumped the shark by saying ,“I thought it was ridiculous,” Eustace told PolitickerNJ. “Here is a man who doesn’t even believe LGBT people deserve equal citizenship, that we have the right to run for office. Here is somebody who is fully invested by the NRA. These congressmen are the reason assault weapons are on the streets. He comes out in support of them but didn’t actually mention LGBT people at all.”
LGBT people deserve equal citizenship, really Tim ? According to Eustace and people like him Republicans present a far greater threat then Islamic Jihad ? Humm tell that to the people in the WTC on 9/11 or thats right they are dead .
Eustace like many seemed shocked that the terror group ISIS would target the gay community ,apparently Tim has missed the memo that ISIS like all Islamic Jihadist groups are sworn to kill gays and enslave women as well as eliminate all western style freedoms .
To make this clear because so many seem in denial ,Sharia law mandates that homosexuals be killed and is not from ISIS or al-Qaeda. It is from sharia which is based on Muslim scripture.
While other gay groups have quickly learned that they are not safe under the current administration and have begun arming themselves like Pink Pistols or changing there support for Donald Trump who has like many sounded the alarm continuously for years ,Eustace and his band of media hounds continues to misrepresent their cause and place themselves and others in grave danger.
Just one week remains until members of the Bergen County Republican Organization (BCRO) will decide if current chairman Bob Yudin will remain in his post or if his challenger former Assemblyman Paul DiGaetano will usurp the chairman’s spot. OnJune 21, members of the organization will gather to vote in the bi-annual reorganization. Alyana Alfaro, PolitickerNJ Read more
A day after the largest mass shooting in American history, Governor Christie urged leaders to strengthen the country’s fight against terrorism – including acknowledging “radical Islam” as an inspiring source of the violence. Dustin Raciopi, The RecordJRead more
Al Barlas is the Essex County Republican chairman. He is a Muslim American who immigrated to the United States from Pakistan. He is also a Donald Trump supporter. Alyana Alfaro, PolitickerNJ Read more
According to a new poll from Morning Consult, most voters don’t believe that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s Democratic nomination—the first major party presidential nomination to likely go to a woman—is “historic.” Alyana Alfaro, PolitickerNJ Read more
June 15, 2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Hackensack NJ, A group of Ridgewood residents filed a lawsuit in Superior Court today, challenging a decision by the Bergen County town to place a political propaganda video and written propaganda on the municipal website “expressly advocating a “yes” vote on a bond referendum to finance a parking deck, which is slated to go before Ridgewood voters on June 21, 2016, and have urged voters to view this one-sided presentation. This action is brought to redress these violations of law.”
The filing comes less than a week after Ridgewood officials began distributing an 11-minute political video and four-page parking referendum guide, via the Village of Ridgewood website, urging voters to support an $11.5 million bond issue to build a parking deck on Hudson Street. The town’s mayor, manager, CFO, and engineer, along with the architect and contractor hired to design the garage. All appear in the video.
Ridgewood voters will go to the polls on June 21 to decide whether or not to adopt an ordinance that would allow Ridgewood to bond 11.5 million for a parking garage at Hudson Street. The $11.5 million is associated with what is known as Design D- 325 spaces, 4 stories, 5 levels, 5 ft over the footprint of the existing lot.
Ever since a 1953 ruling issued by former U.S. Supreme Court Justice and New Jersey Supreme Court Justice William Brennan, it has been illegal for local governments in New Jersey to use public resources to influence voters on a local election. While towns are allowed to send evenhanded factual material to voters, the ruling says it is “outside the pale” and “not lawful” for towns to spend money on political materials urging voters to pass or reject referendums.
According to the lawsuit, the video and the 4 page parking referendum guide on the village website, are “propaganda” that contains a “one-sided, slanted and unjust presentation” of the parking vote. Using “extravagant and dramatic language,” the ads argue in favor of the referendum’s passage, while disparaging the referendum’s opponents.
“The use of Ridgewood’s municipal funds to pay for political marketing is unconscionable,” said resident Gail McCarthy..
The lawsuit comes two days after Ridgewood’s mayor, Paul Aronsohn and village manager, Roberta Sonenfeld, were accused, by the New Jersey Foundation for Open Government, of state ethics law violations for their roles in the political video.“Aronsohn and Sonenfeld are certainly entitled to their own opinions about the referendum, but they are not entitled to use taxpayer dollars to aggressively promote a one sided opinion to the public,” added resident Lorraine Reynolds.
The lawsuit asks for an injunction declaring the advertising illegal, and asks for a formal accounting of all public money and time spent promoting the referendum. If the referendum succeeds, the suit also serves notice that the voters will seek to have the election set aside as being based on “payments and expenditures that are contrary to law, and not authorized by the election or other laws” of the State.
Dear Neighbor,
I’m writing about the upcoming garage election and specifically about something that has happened which now puts the whole process into question.
On June 9th, a ‘Vote yes’ video and other materials were posted on our Village website, along with an e-notice that was sent out by our Village Manager, which directed residents to this site. To use government funds to make such slanted materials and to post them on a government website goes beyond inappropriate.
NJ Fog, a government watch group, has filed a formal complaint against Mayor Aronsohn and Village Manager Sonenfeld, which can be viewed here.
It is imperative that every resident knows about the situation.
So, I am asking you to a) share this email with every resident that you know and b) contact the Ridgewood News at 201-612-5400 and ask for either Alexandra Hoey or Jaime Walters to request that this issue be given a front page article, which it deserves. Please call them this morning as they go to print shortly.
Thank you for doing your part to protect our Village.
Sincerely,
Dana
