He found fame in the 1980s impersonating Frank Sinatra, President Ronald Reagan and countless others on “Saturday Night Live,’’ followed by numerous Hollywood gigs, stand-up routines and a drive-time radio show.
So for Joe Piscopo, the weeknight scene at a high-dollar fund-raising gala in the tuxedo-packed Starlight Roof room at the Waldorf Astoria hotel seemed perfect for a little Ol’ Blue Eyes.
But Mr. Piscopo pocketed his “New York, New York” for the night — literally, as he travels with an instrumental version of the song on his iPhone for just such occasions — opting instead to trade a Jersey-centric joke or two with Stephen Baldwin, encourage guests to donate, offer praise to the hosts and scoot offstage.
“I could have rocked that room, I really could have rocked it,” he said. “But then all of the sudden I’m the court jester and the credibility of someone who is representing the people of a state goes away.”
Kean Urges NJ Senate Democrats to Spend Less Time Criticizing Washington & More Time Working to Fix New Jersey
February 19,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Trenton NJ, Senate Republican Leader Tom Kean called on New Jersey Senate Democrats to spend less time criticizing Washington and more time working to fix problems here in New Jersey:
Senate Republican Leader Tom Kean called on Senate Democrats to stop working for headlines and start working for New Jersey. (SenateNJ.com)
“With Senate Democrats so focused on federal affairs in Washington, they’ve ignored work on reforms they have the power to advance in Trenton that could have a real impact on the lives of every New Jerseyan.
“They’ve planned votes to express opposition, but they haven’t planned any votes on cutting property taxes, nor have they planned votes on creating opportunities for students and job seekers, or on ethics reforms that would help to rebuild trust in our government institutions.
“Rather than work for headlines, Senate Democrats should start working for New Jersey.”
Senate Democrats blocked efforts by Senate Republicans to bring the following three bills up for a vote that would address New Jersey’s crisis of affordability and help to rebuild residents’ trust in government.
S-1557 (Beck) – Provides full forfeiture of pension of elected or appointed official convicted of any crime touching office. S-1888 (Doherty) – Establishes State Transportation Cost Analysis Task Force. S-2554 (Kyrillos) – Sets level for health care benefits; requires employee contributions; prohibits reimbursement of Medicare Part B; adds member to SHBP/SEHBP plan design committees; requires retirees to purchase health care through exchanges.
As the New Jersey Senate debated a pair of symbolic resolutions on immigration last week, a new bill that has the potential to devastate our state budget and cause unbelievable harm to New Jersey taxpayers was introduced by Senate Democrats with little fanfare.
This new legislation, S3007, follows a proposal floated by President Trump to withhold federal funds from so-called sanctuary cities that refuse to cooperate with federal immigration law enforcement efforts.
The president’s proposal has yet to become actual federal policy or law.
Still, Democrats in the state Senate rushed forward with an ill-conceived response which would require the state to reimburse local governments for the loss of any federal funds resulting from their status as a sanctuary jurisdiction.
Our concern with S3007 centers on the great cost that may result from this reckless bill. We worry about the harm it could cause to hard-working New Jersey families that already struggle to get by in our extremely expensive state.
The potential impact of this legislation on our friends and neighbors is beyond immense.
Ridgewood NJ, public frustration continues to grow towards the New Jersey Assembly spending so much time and energy attacking President Trump instead of focusing on any of New Jerseys myriad of serious problems.
Trenton is ignoring everything from property tax relief, school funding, pension payments and reform, the list is endless. New Jersey ranks the number one state to move out of, and ranks near the bottom in almost every economic category, but instead of working on the difficult issues the state faces , Trenton Democrats and some Republicans assisted by the New Jersey media are engaging non-stop Trump bashing.
Assembly, New Jersey, 39th, Republican Holly Schepisi summed it up best ,”Tomorrow we have a “special” voting session in Trenton to vote on such pressing NJ matters as providing guidance to our municipalities on affordable housing, fixing the Pension crisis, reforming the school funding formula…..just kidding! Instead of fixing any of NJ’s major issues, we are voting on at least seven political resolutions targeting our President.”
Schepisi went on to call out her ccolleagues, ” Over the past several days several of my colleagues in the State Legislature have indicated they would try to move forward legislation protecting “Sanctuary Cities” who lose federal funding by mandating the State of NJ pay these cities any monies lost by their refusal to comply with federal law. While I understand the motive behind such bills seeks to protect the legislators’ constituent cities, the practical implications are financially destructive for all of the non-sanctuary areas of the State.
New Jersey is almost broke. We have not made a full payment on our pension obligations in decades. A majority of our schools receive virtually no funding from the State. Indeed most of the areas I represent receive less than $500 per student per year. On the flip side, below are just some of the numbers of aid currently being provided to our “Sanctuary Cities”. If these bills were to go through, the State would be on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars of additional aid into these communities. MONEY THAT DOES NOT EXIST.
In Newark,19-percent of all city residents are undocumented entrants. Newark currently receives $206.7 million in federal aid, amounting to $733 per resident or $2,932 per family of four. This aid is on top of an additional $742 million in school aid given to Newark by the State of New Jersey and $31 million in transitional aid also given by the State of New Jersey.
Jersey City, also a sanctuary city with more than 10 percent of residents being undocumented, receives $148 million in federal aid on top of $417 million in school aid given by the State of New Jersey.
Other NJ sanctuary cities include:
Trenton – $10 million in federal aid, $229 million in State school aid
Camden- $52 million in federal aid, $280 million in State school aid
Union City – $32.5 million in federal aid, $179 million in State school aid
West NY – $17 million in federal aid, $94 million in State school aid
Inability to replenish ‘rainy day’ savings account is significant problem for Garden State
Missed revenue projections have sent Gov. Chris Christie scrambling to close sizable budget shortfalls in recent years, and a new report recommends several key policy changes that New Jersey could enact to help insulate itself against forecasting problems in the future.
Some of the suggestions follow basic rules of commonsense, like being more transparent and putting aside more money each year so that unexpected budget problems don’t have a major impact on important programs and services.
But other recommendations take on the budget-forecasting process itself, including suggesting the Christie administration should consider consensus forecasting, where input is taken from legislative staff and outside economic advisors, and also updating annual projections more regularly to keep tabs on any problems as they develop during the fiscal year.
Trenton NJ, on Wednesday February 8 the state of New Jersey announced that Due to the impending severe winter storm, the State of New Jersey has authorized the closing of state offices on Thursday, February 9, for all non-essential employees. Essential employees should report to work on their regular schedule.
The winter storm is expected to continue throughout the day, bringing heavy snow, gusty winds and reduced visibility throughout the State. Current road conditions are available at the New Jersey Department of Transportation website at www.NJ511.org.
New Jersey is one of 23 states still trying to boost its tax revenue levels to pre-recession levels, according to a Pew Charitable Trust report.
At its peak, the fourth quarter of 2007, the state took in $8.7 billion in revenue. It hit a low point at the end of 2011, with only $7.1 billion in revenue that quarter.
As of the end of 2016, the state’s quarterly tax revenue was 10.9 percent lower than the third quarter of 2008, Pew found, as the state took in $7.8 billion.
Ridgewood NJ, Senate Republican Leader Tom Kean called on New Jersey Senate Democrats to spend less time criticizing Washington and more time working to fix problems here in New Jersey:
Senate Republican Leader Tom Kean called on Senate Democrats to stop working for headlines and start working for New Jersey. (SenateNJ.com)
“With Senate Democrats so focused on federal affairs in Washington, they’ve ignored work on reforms they have the power to advance in Trenton that could have a real impact on the lives of every New Jerseyan.
“They’ve planned votes to express opposition, but they haven’t planned any votes on cutting property taxes, nor have they planned votes on creating opportunities for students and job seekers, or on ethics reforms that would help to rebuild trust in our government institutions.
“Rather than work for headlines, Senate Democrats should start working for New Jersey.”
Ridgewood NJ, As inauguration day approaches for president-elect Donald Trump, NJ politicians continue to make fools out of themselves. While some are sitting out the inauguration, others are protesting or criticizing Trumps cabinet picks.
Yesterday “environmental advocates” in New Jersey leveled scathing criticisms of Trump’s cabinet picks and issuing warnings that environmental protections stand to be significantly weakened under his administration. They were accompanied by former governors Jim Florio and Christine Todd Whitman who called on all sides in the state’s 2017 gubernatorial race to draw up plans to counteract environmental deregulation at the state level. State level , folks this is New Jersey who are you kidding?
This is the same Christine Todd Whitman who stole money from New Jersey Pensioners, and who initiated the Pension crisis we currently find ourselves in with her actions. This is also the same Christine Todd Whitman that as head of the EPA and assured rescue workers that the air was fine at the World Trade Center site post 9/11.This is the same Jim Florio who looked to tax New Jersey out of business before it became fashionable.
New Jersey is by all negative measures, taxes, quality of life, cost of living, job growth leading the nation in failure.
Recent reports suggest 37% of people in N.J. are among the working poor and New Jersey leads the nation 5 years in a row for the state with the most people moving out of. New Jersey’s Pensions are in crisis, drug addiction is rampant, crime is on the rise, cities roads and bridges are dilapidated. The reality is if you live in New Jersey you far bigger things to worry about than who gets sworn in on January 20th. Maybe politicians who do not attend the inauguration will donate their days pay to the state to help pay for some of their mistakes. Otherwise we suggest its time to get to work and do your job.
Ridgewood Nj, Joseph Rullo, a longshot GOP candidate who entered the race more than a year ago in 2015 has been in nonstop campaign mode.
Rullo is patterning his campaign on the Trump campaign with a heavy use of social media, and drain the swamp mantra pointed at Trenton.
Rullo promises as Governor I will reduce property taxes, repeal the .23 gas tax, dissolve the transportation SLUSH fund, Veto all tax increases, cut billions in political earmarked jobs and contracts, eliminate state income taxes on pensions for retirees and add 1 billion in new revenue sources to further lower taxes. I Will dissolve the Transportation Trust Fund and consolidate all highway authorities eliminating redundant high-level management positions, eliminate high-cost earmark & specialty contracts tied to contributors. It will produce millions in savings with shared services and purchases. I will eliminate tolls and repeal the gas tax with the savings from the new efficient transparent highway entity. I will also eliminate 1.3 billion in pension fees to NYC politically connected brokerage houses and replace with licensed brokers in the state investors division to pay towards pension payment. Superintendents and business administrators need to be reduced drastically. Instead of having one superintendent and business administrator per school district, we need to cut the number to one per county. By consolidating superintendents & business administrators, we can save $50 million per year by eliminating superintendents alone. And will work to also eliminate municipal tax assessors to one per county. I will fire hundreds of high-salary patronage jobs like indicted Port Authority’s David Wildstein, as an example, saving hundreds of millions of dollars to cut taxes.
After winning 7 polls Rullo tells the Ridgewood blog If the election were held today without the rigging, we would win huge.
When asked yesterday if he feared backing Trump in very blue New Jersey, Rullo called Hillary a gun grabber.
Rullo told NJ.com “People are understanding that in Trenton, it’s all about helping friends and family and contributors,” he added. “I am prepping a massive overhaul of Trenton. I’m not in the establishment.”
By Erin Petenko | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on January 10, 2017 at 8:16 AM, updated January 10, 2017 at 4:47 PM
EDITOR’S NOTE: This story has been updated to reflect the correct percent reduction of teen births between the 2006-2010 Census and the 2011-2015 Census.
Young people are waiting longer to settle down, and some are not doing it at all.
When they do, they are having children at a slower rate than their predecessors, according to data from the 2011-2015 American Community Survey snapshot.
The median age of first marriage in New Jersey has increased about a year since the 2006-2010 survey. At the same time, the number of male and female residents who have never been married has increased 5 percent.
Large cities such as New Brunswick, Camden and Newark have some of the highest percentages of never-married residents.
Former NJ gov faces a big fine, but agency wanted the big house
By Ken Kurson • 01/06/17 7:30am
Five years after he oversaw the collapse of commodities brokerage MF Global Holdings Ltd., CEO Jon Corzine is finally paying the piper. The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) sued Corzine for financial indiscretions at MF Global that saw the firm transfer some $700 million of customer money to its own accounts (they also loaned $175 million in customer funds to their U.K. subsidiary). The CFTC agreed to accept $5 million.
The settlement brings to a conclusion an epic run of bad luck for the former New Jersey Governor. His bankrupting of MF Global in October 2011 came less than two years after he lost his re-election bid to Chris Christie (Corzine’s entry into politics had only occurred 9 years before that, when his partners at Goldman Sachs ousted him as CEO when he lost a power struggle to co-CEO Henry Paulson.
With the exception of this account in the Wall Street Journal, all of the press about the settlement missed two key points that distinguish this settlement from most of its kind.
By The Associated Press
on January 04, 2017 at 7:00 AM, updated January 04, 2017 at 7:46 AM
ATLANTIC CITY — Billionaire investor Carl Icahn says his shuttered Trump Taj Mahal casino is not for sale, and he appears content to sit on it for a while.
Icahn told The Associated Press Tuesday night he does not want to sell the casino, which he closed on Oct. 10 after a bitter strike with Atlantic City’s main casino workers’ union.
But he plans to surrender its casino license, and wants to make sure that anyone who might buy it in the future can’t use it as a casino unless they pay his company an unspecified fee.
Icahn’s company filed a deed restriction preventing a future purchaser from using the Taj Mahal as a casino.
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.
By S.P. Sullivan | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on December 13, 2016 at 5:17 PM, updated December 14, 2016 at 7:18 AM
TRENTON — A New Jersey state trooper has been suspended without pay after an internal investigation found he was pulling over women to ask them out on dates and falsifying police records to cover it up, authorities said.
Marquice Prather, 37, was arrested Friday on records tampering charges and released without bail, according to the state Division of Criminal Justice, which brought the charges.
Officials say the State Police Office of Professional Standards began investigating the trooper after several woman lodged complaints about his behavior on the road.
