Former Goldman Sachs executive Phil Murphy leads the state’s Democratic gubernatorial primary ahead of Tuesday’s election.
By Daniel Marans
Phil Murphy, the front-runner in New Jersey’s Democratic gubernatorial primary, faces new questions about his tenure at Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs with the election just days away.
The campaign of attorney Jim Johnson, Murphy’s closest competitor in the race, criticized Murphy for serving as president of Goldman Sachs Asia at a time when the division profited from an investment in Yue Yuen Industrial, a Taiwan-based shoemaker. Human rights groups claim to have documented widespread labor abuses by Yue Yuen, including the company docking workers’ already modest pay for mistakes and running factories where machines sometimes severed workers’ hands and fingers, according to an NJ Advance Media report.
“Murphy’s record at Goldman Sachs undercuts what he says on the campaign trail to working families, and it shows that he should not be trusted when he promises to disavow money in politics,” Johnson campaign manager Jocelyn Steinberg said in a Friday statement. “Voters in New Jersey don’t need any more political gimmicks ― they deserve an explanation from Phil Murphy about his time at Goldman Sachs before they head to the polls on June 6.”
Tired of Being Number One in all the wrong things? Hope to see representation from all of our communities on June 15, 2017. Help be part of the solution !
June 3,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
WESTWOOD NJ, Assemblywoman Holly Schepisi will initiate a series of statewide legislative hearings to address New Jersey’s affordable housing crisis. The first will be held on June 15 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Bergen Community College’s Technology Education Center room 128.
One candidate for New Jersey Governor GOP Joseph Rudy Rullo has promised to dissolve COAH altogether while other candidates have only spoken in vague generalities or ignored the subject all together.
“The tough job of finding a solution cannot wait another day,” said Schepisi (R-Bergen). “If the state Legislature won’t hold meetings on court-forced overdevelopment, I will.”
Schepisi will be joined by other invited guests, including fellow legislators, mayors, town officials and planners, engineers, traffic experts, board of education members, environmental groups and other interested parties.
She said the hearings will examine ways to provide a better way toward affordability for the residents of this state while protecting towns from a recent state Supreme Court ruling that could force the construction of up to 1.5 million unneeded housing units to satisfy a fictitious population increase of 3.35 million in the next nine years – while Rutgers projects a population increase of only 219,000.
“We have reached a critical juncture in the State of New Jersey. We are the most costly, the most densely populated with the highest number of outmigration because people can no longer afford to live here. Instead of smart discussions regarding how to implement change to reduce living costs for all of our residents, the legislature’s inaction is forcing communities to potentially double their housing population in just the next nine years, destroying all existing housing prices while increasing property taxes,” said Schepisi. “We need to stop the court’s action and fix this issue while we still can.”
Schepisi recently introduced two bills to freeze municipal affordable housing obligations through the end of the year, and establish a commission to study the issue and determine each town’s obligations. As a result of the failure of the legislature to move any of these initiatives forward, Schepisi has decided to hold her own hearings and provide the transcripts and testimony to the NJ Legislature.
Over forty-five municipalities in Bergen, Gloucester, Morris, Essex, Union, Somerset, Mercer, Passaic and Hudson counties have passed a resolution urging action by the legislature to stop such discrepancy. The resolution also supports Schepisi’s bills to temporarily halt affordable housing litigation and create a special commission.
Washington Twp NJ, A red colored 4-door Toyota was totaled and its adult female driver injured during a crash into a utility pole at the intersection of Amherst Drive and Pascack Road, Washington Township late Thursday morning, 06/01. Washington Township firefighters used the Jaws of Life to free the victim from the wreck. She was transported by ambulance to Hackensack University Medical Center’s (HUMC) North Campus in Westwood. A paramedic team from HUMC North also responded to the incident. Washington Township PD is investigating the crash’s cause. There was at least one (1) witness to the event. The official vehicle belonging to Washington Township’s assistant fire chief sustained minor damage at the scene when it was accidentally struck by a paramedic team’s pickup truck.
A $1.1 billion bond offering to help complete construction of the American Dream mall in the New Jersey Meadowlands went forward this week, nine months after the sale was originally planned.
In the story of the mall’s creation, the delay was a minor speed bump. Thirteen years after it was first announced, the project is on its third developer and is being built in the face of growing doubts about the viability of shopping malls and retail stores across the country. The associated-risks section of the bond offering runs to 38 pages.
But the current developer, Triple Five Group, contends that American Dream’s blend of retail stores and entertainment venues — the sprawling complex is to include a six-acre indoor water park, a Ferris wheel, movie theaters and an indoor amusement park, as well as Saks Fifth Avenue, Hermès, Toys “R” Us and Old Navy — is the future and the “complete opposite of a traditional mall.”
Between 20% and 25% of the nation’s shopping malls will close in the next five years, according to a new report from Credit Suisse that predicts e-commerce will continue to pull shoppers away from bricks-and-mortar retailers.
For many, the Wall Street firm’s finding may come as no surprise. Long-standing retailers are dying off as shoppers’ habits shift online. Credit Suisse expects apparel sales to represent 35% of all e-commerce by 2030, up from 17% today.
Ridgewood NJ, so far left “comedian” Kathy Griffin Channels ISIS, and the Democrat Mayor of New York City sponsors a convicted terrorist as grand marshal of the Puerto Rican day parade .
In July of 2016 Democrat critic and Center for Security Policy founder Frank Gaffney said on SiriusXM radio , “I’m sorry for Democrats – I used to be one myself – who are now being completely disenfranchised by a party that is aligned with our enemies, and not with America,” Gaffney declared. “They will doom all of us, if they had their way.”
In Dinesh D’Souza: The secret history of the Democratic Party , D’Souza says Andrew Jackson established the Democratic Party as the party of theft. He mastered the art of stealing land from the Indians and then selling it at giveaway prices to white settlers.
D’Souza goes on Democrats like Senator John C. Calhoun invented a new justification for slavery, slavery as a “positive good.” For the first time in history, Democrats insisted that slavery wasn’t just beneficial for masters; they said it was also good for the slaves.
Later the Ku Klux Klan was founded in 1866 in Pulaski, Tennessee by a group of former confederate soldiers; its first grand wizard was a confederate general who was also a delegate to the Democratic National Convention. The Klan soon spread beyond the South to the Midwest and the West and became, in the words of historian Eric Foner, “the domestic terrorist arm of the Democratic Party.”
So I guess it is no surprise that the Democrat party of today represents anti American sentiments of ISIS , supports terrorism, pro illegal immigrant, is anti free speech, pro state-ism, and anti freedom . While the Democrats along with their union allies are deeply entrenched in New Jersey it may behoove many readers to remember that New Jersey voted for George B. McClellan for president and not Abraham Lincoln . Yes in the election of 1864 McClellan won only 3 states , and yes one state was New Jersey.
It is highly likely that a number of states will attempt to jump on the bandwagon over the next couple of years and legalize marijuana for recreational purposes. New Jersey, which is currently governed by anti-drug warrior Chris Christie, is undoubtedly expected to be the main focal point of the legalization debate heading into 2018.
In fact, State Senator Nicholas Scutari, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, recently introduced a piece of legislation aimed at establishing a statewide cannabis trade. The proposal, which is designed to give adults 21 and over the freedom to purchase marijuana in a manner similar to beer, will begin shaping “New Jersey’s legal recreational marijuana program for years to come,” Scutari wrote in a special guest column for the Star Ledger – See more at: https://thefreshtoast.com/cannabis/details-of-new-jerseys-recreational-marijuana-bill-revealed/#sthash.4XJo9iEK.dpuf
Emerson NJ, Emerson PD units, along with multiple paramedic teams and ambulances, rushed to an address on Colonial Road in Emerson on Sunday afternoon, 05/28, in response to reports of a child that had been found unresponsive in a back yard swimming pool. A victim was reportedly transported by a Emerson EMS ambulance to Hackensack University Medical Center’s main campus. No further information about the victim, nor his/her condition, was readily available.
The only way to stem our tide of outmigration is to bring our economic policies in line with our direct regional competitors — Pennsylvania and New York
NJBIA president and CEO Michele Siekerka
New Jersey has many positive attributes. We added almost 60,000 jobs in 2016, the state’s largest gain since 2000, according to the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development. We have among the best K-12 public education systems in the nation and a highly skilled workforce including the highest concentration of scientists and engineers in the world — more than 225,000 statewide.
New Jersey also has a strong transportation network. We are home to the Port of New York and New Jersey, the third largest seaport in North America and the largest and busiest maritime cargo center on the East Coast. And we are among the national leaders in logistics and distribution. New Jersey is also a great recreation state with more than 130 miles of shoreline, beautiful parks, and mountains.
Despite these great assets, New Jersey remains a significant outlier, both nationally and regionally when comparing competitiveness and affordability including our state’s high cost of living and its heavy tax burden. New Jersey’s border states, Pennsylvania and New York, continue to be the No. 1 and No. 2 outmigration states for New Jersey residents and are challenging our competitiveness.
To reverse this trend we must examine our policies on taxation, revenue generation, and spending, and we must do so through the filter of competitiveness and affordability.
It’s no secret that young adults today are experiencing milestones — purchasing a home, getting married, having a child — later in life compared to previous generations.
But a new report from the U.S. Census Bureau digs even deeper and finds a statistic that’s hard to ignore: A quarter of 25-to-34-year-olds still living at home are considered “idle” — meaning they have no job or schooling to attend.
More than 2 million older millennials fall in this category nationwide, according to the report. The majority are men and most are aged 25 to 29. About half are white.
“In 2005, the majority of young adults lived independently in their own household, which was the predominant living arrangement in 35 states. A decade later, by 2015, the number of states where the majority of young people lived independently fell to just six,” the report said.
In New Jersey, most young people are not living independently.
Potential 2017 gubernatorial candidate Philip Murphy and his family pose for their yearly holiday card.
It’s dangerous to be in an Agustin Torres column before he’s had his morning coffee. The Jersey Journal‘s political editor absoulutely unloaded on presumed Democratic gubernatorial candidate Philip Murphy in Saturday’s Journal, accusing Murphy of an unrelenting string of synonyms for “out of touch rich guy.”
It’s clear that Murphy annoys the often-cranky Torres even more than the usual politician. He says of Murphy, who headed the Frankfurt office of Goldman Sachs from 1993-1997 and later served as national finance chair for the DNC, “His place of residency is on another planet” who aspires to Huey Long populism but cannot “relate to the masses” because he is not “one of them.”
Glen Rock NJ, A two (2) vehicle Friday afternoon, 05/26, collision at the intersection of Hamilton and South Maple Avenues in Glen Rock injured one (1) adult female, who was transported by ambulance to Hackensack University Medical Center’s main campus. The victim, who is pregnant, appeared to have sustained non life threatening injuries. Both vehicles involved in the crash were removed from the scene by a flatbed tow truck. Glen Rock PD and EMS responded along with a paramedic team from St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center.
Paramus NJ, A two (2) vehicle Thursday morning, 05/25, crash near the intersection of West Ridgewood Avenue and Roosevelt Boulevard in Paramus injured the driver of a gold colored mini van, whose vehicle careened off of the rain slick roadway up onto the lawn of a nearby home. Paramus PD patrol officers and a Bergen County Sheriff’s Department Patrol Division K9 officer aided the victim until an ambulance arrived and transported her to The Valley Hospital. The other driver complained of back pain, but refused ambulance transport. Both heavily damaged vehicles were removed from the scene by separate flatbed tow trucks.
Fair Lawn NJ, At approximately 1:45 PM on Thursday, 05/25, Fair Lawn PD, EMS, FD, and Heavy Rescue personnel responded to a report of a chemical release with multiple injuries at Fair Lawn High School, 14-00 Berdan Avenue, Fair Lawn. Upon arrival, first responders observed that the entire building was being evacuated. The chemical was determined to have been pepper spray that had been released via canister in a stairwell of the building. Although there were reports of students choking and gasping for air, no one was transported to the hospital for treatment. Fair Lawn PD is investigating the source of the pepper spray canister.
Paramus NJ, A head on crash in Paramus early Wednesday afternoon, 05/24, was apparently caused when the driver of a vehicle involved experienced an unknown medical emergency. The crash occurred when a 4-door Buick traveling southbound on Paramus Road veered into the northbound lanes and was hit by a Mercedes sedan. The collision occurred near 85 Paramus Road. Paramus PD, EMS, and a paramedic team from Hackensack University Medical Center responded to the incident. The Buick’s driver was transported by ambulance to Hackensack University Medical Center’s main campus with unspecified injuries/in unknown condition. A paramedic team was on board the ambulance during its hospital run. Both vehicles involved were removed by tow trucks. An occupant of the Mercedes sustained a minor arm or leg injury. She was not transported from the scene by ambulance. Paramus PD is investigating the incident.
