Pressure is mounting for Trenton to reform public employee payouts
APRIL 6, 2014, 10:35 PM LAST UPDATED: SUNDAY, APRIL 6, 2014, 11:33 PM
BY LINH TAT
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD
It’s a practice that’s unheard of these days in the private sector — carrying over days, weeks, even months of unused leave time and collecting a hefty check at retirement. Yet it’s common for public employees, who continue to cash in at taxpayers’ expense.By the numbers
Municipalities with the highest |
payout liabilities of unused sick |
and vacation time:
Bergen County
Hackensack $18,875,368
Fort Lee $7,922,232
Ridgewood $6,492,123
Englewood $5,656,052
Teaneck $4,077,603
Passaic County
Clifton $14,788,633
Paterson $12,756,523
Passaic $5,387,942
Wayne $1,564,929
Bloomingdale $748,587
Source: New Jersey Department of Community Affairs 2011 data
A series of six-figure payouts that have forced towns to borrow millions of dollars have placed a renewed focus on the perk afforded to public workers for decades.
As the cases have mounted, the Legislature has yet to strike a deal for statewide reform. It’s a tug of war between those who want to scrap the benefit entirely and others who want to preserve it for existing longtime workers. Somewhere in the middle are town officials who are left to make up their own rules and negotiate with unions, while struggling to keep property taxes in line.
A 2 percent cap on property tax levy increases has put the pressure on towns to stop the payouts. At the same time, a loophole allows them to borrow the money — a quick fix that will pile on years of debt for taxpayers.
Mozilla CEO’s exit tests Silicon Valley’s tolerance
By Gerry Shih April 4, 2014 9:25 PM
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Tech workers in Silicon Valley debated on Friday whether Mozilla CEO Brendan Eich got the comeuppance he deserved or was himself a victim of intolerance when he resigned under pressure this week amid outrage over his opposition to same-sex marriage.
Some, especially a dating website that had urged its users to boycott Mozilla’s popular Firefox web browser, cheered Eich’s resignation after less than two weeks as CEO of the nonprofit software company. Others viewed him as a victim and called his critics intolerant of people with different views.
Mozilla co-founder Eich, who invented the programming language Javascript, donated $1,000 in 2008 to support Proposition 8, which sought to ban same-sex marriage in California. Voters approved the measure, but it was struck down last June by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Eich did not respond to requests for comment on Friday, but he had posted an apology on his blog before he resigned for the pain his stance had caused. His views about gay marriage had been known within Mozilla for nearly two years, but controversy erupted after he was appointed CEO in late March.
Megyn Kelly Declares CAIR Is ‘Not Getting’ a Retraction for Covering Film on Islamic Women
By Randy Hall | April 4, 2014 | 22:33
On Tuesday, the host of The Kelly File on the Fox News Channel discussed Honor Diaries, a documentary intended to depict the “systematic, institutionalized misogyny against Muslim women around the world.”
The first segment aired on Monday and drew a demand for an apology from the Council of American-Islamic Relations. Twenty-four hours later, Megyn Kelly told CAIR: “Well, guess what — you’re not getting it.”
She made that remark during another segment discussing the film on Tuesday with two guests: Agnieszka Karoluk, senior communications coordinator for CAIR-Chicago; and human rights attorney Brooke Goldstein, whom Kelly stated “first brought this issue to our attention.”
Kelly began the discussion by stating there’s “a growing backlash tonight over a film that is trying to bring attention to the so-called ‘honor violence’ inflicted on Muslim women around the world.”
“The film is called Honor Diaries,” she noted, “and while it has been shown dozens of times on U.S. college campuses — not to mention at the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva — several U.S. universities have postponed or flat out-and-out canceled screenings of the film” after groups like CAIR complained that the documentary is “Islamophobic.”
The Fox News host then showed a clip of the film in which the female narrator stated that in Muslim-majority societies, the system “is really the basis of a lot of harm that is perpetuated against women.”
Kelly then asked Karoluk: “Why would CAIR want to silence this film?”
For Democrats, a problem with seniors
By Alexandra Jaffe
Democrats are facing a senior problem that could get even worse this year.
The party has traditionally had trouble with older voters, losing them by 16 points in 2010 — when Republicans picked up 63 seats — and 12 points in the 2012 presidential race.
Seniors are the GOP’s most reliable voting bloc in midterm years, turning out in higher numbers than Democratic base voters. And a recent Gallup poll showed seniors have become even more Republican over the last two decades, and in 2013 48 percent considered themselves Republican.
“Democrats have to perform better with seniors than they did in 2010. They got shellacked with seniors in 2010. I don’t think the goal here is to win, but I definitely think the goal is to narrow the gap,” he said.
After a rough few months with the rocky rollout of ObamaCare, Democrats are more optimistic because of better-than-expected health care enrollment numbers out this week, but Republicans are pledging to continue to hammer Democrats on the law.
Photo credit: Boyd A. Loving Ridgewood bank teller assaulted by man attempting to cash bad check
April 6 2014
Boyd A. Loving
4:37 PM (15 minutes ago)
Ridgewood NJ, A teller at the TD Bank branch located at 133 Franklin Avenue, Ridgewood was assaulted on Sunday afternoon at approximately 3:15 by a man attempting to cash a fraudulent check. Witnesses to the incident described the alleged perpetrator as being an obese African American male who fled the scene driving a grey sedan with out of state license plates. An investigation is currently underway by Ridgewood PD detectives. The bank branch was closed for the day shortly following the incident. The female bank teller, who sustained minor injuries after being struck in the face, was treated at the scene by members of Ridgewood EMS.
APRIL 6, 2014 LAST UPDATED: SUNDAY, APRIL 6, 2014, 1:21 AM
BY RICHARD NEWMAN
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD
* More than three dozen in New Jersey may be too weak to make it on their own
More than 1,400 U.S. community banks, including more than three dozen in New Jersey, may be too weak to make it on their own and are ripe, or near ripe, to be acquired by stronger institutions, a study says.
Despite an improving economy, at least one-fifth of the more than 6,700 U.S. banks with less than $10 billion in assets are candidates to be sold, mainly because of inadequate capital levels and poor earnings potential, says the study, called “Bleeders and Leaders: Redefining the 2014 U.S. M&A Banking Market,” released Thursday by New York City-based Invictus Consulting Group LLC.
The 10 states with the highest percentage of banks that fall into the consulting firm’s “must sell” or “should sell” categories are Vermont, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Florida, Washington, Michigan, Colorado and South Carolina.
38 banks
In New Jersey, 38 of 107 banks with less than $10 billion in assets fall into one or the other of those “must sell” or “should sell” groups, with 25 labeled “must sell” and 13 as “should sell.”
“Must sell” means the bank has “low capital levels and poor earnings, plus limited strategic options,” Invictus said. The “should sell” banks have “poor earnings, but better capital adequacy.”
The report, which is intended mainly for bankers, does not identify individual banks.
Invictus CEO Kamal Mustafa, one of the authors of the study, said Thursday in a phone interview that Invictus performed stress tests on the banks, similar to those regulators require of the country’s largest banks, to come up with the rankings, taking into account individual bank’s capital levels and such factors as whether they have a lot of the riskier types of loans on their books, such as construction loans and home equity lines of credit.
Ridgewood Police , Chief Michael Feeney Jr.Police Academy June 26th through July 2nd 2014.
The Ridgewood Police Department will be hosting the Chief Michael Feeney Jr.Police Academy June 26th through July 2nd 2014. The Academy is open to Ridgewood residents ages 10 to 14. Applications are available at the Riddgewood Police desk 131 North Maple Ave.
The IPCC’s Latest Report Deliberately Excludes And Misrepresents Important Climate Science
by Dan McGrath on March 31, 2014 in Extreme weather, Failed predictions, IPCC, Junk Science,Mythical Consensus, Real Science, Sea Levels
By Joseph Blast
This week, the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is releasing its latest report, the “Working Group II Contribution to the Fifth Assessment Report.” Like its past reports, this one predicts apocalyptic consequences if mankind fails to give the UN the power to tax and regulate fossil fuels and subsidize and mandate the use of alternative fuels. But happily, an international group of scientists I have been privileged to work with has conducted an independent review of IPCC’s past and new reports, along with the climate science they deliberately exclude or misrepresent.
Our group, called the Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC), was founded in 2003 by a distinguished atmospheric physicist, S. Fred Singer, and has produced five hefty reports to date, the latest being released today (March 31).
So how do the IPCC and NIPCC reports differ? The final draft of the IPCC’s Summary for Policymakers identifies eight “reasons for concern” which media reports say will remain the focus of the final report. The NIPCC reports address each point too, also summarizing their authors’ positions in Summaries for Policymakers. This provides a convenient way to compare and contrast the reports’ findings.
New Jersey trout season opener low-key after outbreak
APRIL 5, 2014, 11:20 PM LAST UPDATED: SATURDAY, APRIL 5, 2014, 11:57 PM
BY CHRISTOPHER MAAG
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD
Dylan Cordes hopped onto a concrete wall Saturday and started counting fish. It was easy. The moment his slim shadow fell across the water, the surface of Silver Lake in Park Ridge broke into a dozen concentric circles, known to all fishermen as the universal sign of fish caught lollygagging.
“Trout!” said Cordes, pointing. “There’s four. There’s another one right there.”
From the dam’s wall he scanned both shores. There was not another fishing rod in sight. For a few minutes on Saturday, the first day of the trout fishing season, Cordes had the entire lake to himself.
“I can’t believe there’s nobody here. This place is usually a zoo on opening day,” said Cordes, a fisherman for 18 of his 19 years. “This is a really weird year.”
Indeed, New Jersey has never seen a trout fishing season opening day like this one. An outbreak of disease among farmed fish forced state officials to radically change their procedures for stocking New Jersey’s waterways for this annual rite of early spring.
Spring Trout Fishing Information Season Opens Saturday, April 5 at 8:00 a.m.
Pequest Open House March 29 & 30; Opening Day of Trout Season Just Around the Corner – DEP News Release, 3/24/14
As the winter that would never seem to end finally draws to a close it’s time to start thinking trout!
Many anglers are aware the Division has been diligently working on this upcoming trout season for several months in respects to necessary adjustments to the program as a result of Furunculosisat the Pequest Trout Hatchery. The Division greatly appreciated input from anglers in respect to these changes as the Division sought to conserve and protect our wild trout resources and other year round trout fisheries while continuing to provide an attractive spring stocking program.
Although this has resulted in a number of changes to the Division’s traditional stocking program there are intriguing aspects to these changes that will offer unique opportunities for anglers this year. The Division reminds anglers that there are no human health risks associated with the bacterium which causes Furunculosis.
Over 250,000 trout will be stocked for Opening Day – 60,000 more than previous years!
87 waterbodies will receive more trout than ever before!
Rainbow and brown trout will be stocked for Opening Day instead of brook trout that most waters typically receive! A small pilot study completed by the Division last year demonstrated rainbows were caught 2 to 1 over brook trout in 8 ponds.
Four new river sections added to the program for this year only! In addition, two other waterbodies not scheduled to be stocked will receive trout this year.
Bonus Broodstock Program continues with ten lakes to receive 30 rainbow trout weighing in at over 5 pounds!
1000 jaw-tagged rainbows are being stocked as part of the Hook-a-Winner Program
Catholic Church and faithful see confession in a new light
APRIL 6, 2014 LAST UPDATED: SUNDAY, APRIL 6, 2014, 12:26 AM
BY HANNAN ADELY
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD
One of loneliest places in church these days is the confession line. The act of confessing one’s sins, a requirement for Catholics, has sharply fallen over several decades with evolving views on sin, penance and the stature of the priesthood.
But now Pope Francis and church leaders, in a push to draw people back to confession, are highlighting what clergy say are the healing, uplifting aspects of the sacrament and focusing less on themes like punishment and condemnation..
The Paterson Diocese and Newark Archdiocese are using websites, newspaper ads and highway billboards to get the message out. Under diocesan guidance, local churches have also added one extra day a week to hear confession during Lent, the period before Easter when penance is considered a Catholic duty. And the pope, in an image seen and talked about around the world, confessed to a priest last week in public view.
But will these efforts change attitudes among Catholics, many of whom believe confession no longer is a necessary part of the faith?
Ridgewood’s new administrator gets a running start
APRIL 6, 2014 LAST UPDATED: SUNDAY, APRIL 6, 2014, 1:21 AM
BY CHRIS HARRIS
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD
RIDGEWOOD — Her official first day was Monday, but Roberta Sonenfeld got a head start as Ridgewood’s new village manager three weeks ago.
Sonenfeld, a 17-year village resident and the first woman to hold the village’s top administrative office, said she “wanted to hit the ground running.” So, following her appointment in mid-March, she started meeting one-on-one with several of the village’s directors.
“We discussed anything that they wanted to talk about,” Sonenfeld said, including any “outstanding issues or concerns” they had.
“I also attended all of the departmental budget reviews, and met with our attorney for an update on all important legal issues,” said Sonenfeld, 59, who has three decades of experience in upper management for several financial institutions.
Sonenfeld has already met with Bergen County Executive Kathleen Donovan and Bergen County Administrator Ed Trawinski, and “agreed that the answer to stemming the tide of higher and higher property taxes is for each municipality to do things differently than we are doing them today and to engage the county where it makes sense,” the new manager said.
$405,000 in RIDGEWOOD
MLS # 1409972
249 PROSPECT ST, RIDGEWOOD, NJ 07450
3 Bedroom, 1 Full Bath,
1 Half Bath, COL
Roy D. Pagano, Broker Associate
Ronald R. Pagano & Company
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 5:00 P.M. Sun. 4/6
9
$449,900 in RIDGEWOOD
MLS # 1410219
528 FRANKLIN TPKE, RIDGEWOOD, NJ 07450
4 Bedroom, 2 Full Bath, C/C
Jenny Lindberg, Sales Associate
Coldwell Banker, Ridgewood
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 4/6
19
$498,000 in RIDGEWOOD
MLS # 1404165
258 E GLEN AVE, RIDGEWOOD, NJ 07450
2 Bedroom, 2 Full Bath, C/C
Ghada Abbasi, Sales Associate
Coldwell Banker, Ridgewood
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 4/6
24
$549,000 in RIDGEWOOD
MLS # 1411026
31 HIGH ST, RIDGEWOOD, NJ 07450
3 Bedroom, 1 Full Bath,
1 Half Bath, COL
Pam Christian, Sales Associate
Keller Williams Village Square Realty
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 4/6
16
$559,000 in RIDGEWOOD
MLS # 1405137
944 BARNES DR, RIDGEWOOD, NJ 07450
5 Bedroom, 2 Full Bath,
1 Half Bath, COL
Susan D. Preziosi, Sales Associate
Coldwell Banker, Oradell
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 4/6
25
$579,000 in RIDGEWOOD
MLS # 1401791
329 FRANKLIN AVE, RIDGEWOOD, NJ 07450
4 Bedroom, 2 Full Bath, COL
Rita Lutzer, Sales Associate
RE/MAX Properties-Saddle River
Open House: 12:30 P.M. – 3:30 P.M. Sun. 4/6
11
$595,000 in RIDGEWOOD
MLS # 1329267
22 POMANDER WALK, RIDGEWOOD, NJ 07450
4 Bedroom, 3 Full Bath,
1 Half Bath, DUPLEX
Jay Bouton, Sales Associate
Coldwell Banker, Allendale
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 4/6
25
$625,000 in RIDGEWOOD
MLS # 1408522
102 CIRCLE AVE, RIDGEWOOD, NJ 07450
3 Bedroom, 1 Full Bath,
1 Half Bath, COL
John Vaughan, Sales Associate
Weichert Realtors Ridgewood
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 4/6
12
$649,000 in RIDGEWOOD
MLS # 1330303
301 MEADOWBROOK AVE, RIDGEWOOD, NJ 07450
4 Bedroom, 3 Full Bath,
2 Half Bath, COL
Cathy Denis, Broker Owner
Century 21 Mainstream
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 4/6
– See more at: https://www.njmls.com/NJ/BERGEN/RIDGEWOOD-open-houses#sthash.fvEEmC99.dpuf
$679,000 in RIDGEWOOD
MLS # 1410746
53 CREST RD, RIDGEWOOD, NJ 07450
4 Bedroom, 3 Full Bath,
2 Half Bath, COL
Peter C. Marron, Jr., Sales Associate
Marron Gildea Realty, Inc.
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 4/6
12
$775,000 in RIDGEWOOD
MLS # 1407927
130 WOODSIDE AVE, RIDGEWOOD, NJ 07450
5 Bedroom, 3 Full Bath, COL
Suanne Ohl, Sales Associate
Coldwell Banker, Ridgewood
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 4/6
23
$880,000 in RIDGEWOOD
MLS # 1410197
564 VAN DYKE ST, RIDGEWOOD, NJ 07450
5 Bedroom, 4 Full Bath,
1 Half Bath, COL
John Sun, Sales Associate
Furumoto Realty Inc.
Open House: 9:00 A.M. – 12:00 P.M. Sun. 4/6
19
$959,000 in RIDGEWOOD
MLS # 1410128
145 DOREMUS AVE, RIDGEWOOD, NJ 07450
5 Bedroom, 2 Full Bath,
1 Half Bath, COL
Melissa Shiel, Sales Associate
Coldwell Banker, Wyckoff/Franklin Lakes
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 4/6
14
$999,000 in RIDGEWOOD
MLS # 1410756
403 COLONIAL RD, RIDGEWOOD, NJ 07450
4 Bedroom, 2 Full Bath,
1 Half Bath, COL
Gina Fierro, Sales Associate
Weichert Realtors Ridgewood
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 5:00 P.M. Sun. 4/6
19
$1,050,000 in RIDGEWOOD
MLS # 1404714
538 VAN DYKE ST, RIDGEWOOD, NJ 07450
5 Bedroom, 3 Full Bath,
1 Half Bath, COL
Rose Hueneke, Broker Associate
Keller Williams Village Square Realty
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 4/6
16
$1,095,000 in RIDGEWOOD
MLS # 1407185
234 PALMER CT, RIDGEWOOD, NJ 07450
4 Bedroom, 3 Full Bath,
1 Half Bath, COL
Ettie Rais, Sales Associate
Coldwell Banker, Ridgewood
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 4/6
20
$1,099,000 in RIDGEWOOD
MLS # 1408326
869 HILLCREST RD, RIDGEWOOD, NJ 07450
4 Bedroom, 3 Full Bath,
1 Half Bath, COL
Laura Gill, Sales Associate
Coldwell Banker, Ridgewood
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 4/6
23
$1,175,000 in RIDGEWOOD
MLS # 1400092
197 LINCOLN AVE, RIDGEWOOD, NJ 07450
5 Bedroom, 3 Full Bath,
1 Half Bath, COL
Mary E. Soriano, Sales Associate
Coldwell Banker, Saddle River
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 4/6
19
$1,180,000 in RIDGEWOOD
MLS # 1411343
564 FARVIEW ST, RIDGEWOOD, NJ 07450
5 Bedroom, 4 Full Bath,
1 Half Bath, COL
John Sun, Sales Associate
Furumoto Realty Inc.
Open House: 9:00 A.M. – 12:00 P.M. Sun. 4/6
– See more at: https://www.njmls.com/NJ/BERGEN/RIDGEWOOD-open-houses#sthash.fvEEmC99.dpuf
$1,295,000 in RIDGEWOOD
MLS # 1408430
31 CHELSEA PL, RIDGEWOOD, NJ 07450
4 Bedroom, 3 Full Bath,
1 Half Bath, COL
Christine Park, Sales Associate
Coldwell Banker, Fort Lee
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 4/6
21
$1,349,000 in RIDGEWOOD
MLS # 1409956
384 HIGHVIEW TER, RIDGEWOOD, NJ 07450
5 Bedroom, 3 Full Bath,
1 Half Bath, COL
Mary Tarvin Passaro, Broker Associate
Tom Tarvin, Broker Associate
Tarvin Realtors
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:30 P.M. Sun. 4/6
22
$1,349,000 in RIDGEWOOD
MLS # 1410795
820 MORNINGSIDE RD, RIDGEWOOD, NJ 07450
4 Bedroom, 4 Full Bath,
1 Half Bath, COL
Mary Tarvin Passaro, Broker Associate
Tarvin Realtors
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:30 P.M. Sun. 4/6
19
$1,399,000 in RIDGEWOOD
MLS # 1343418
436 FARVIEW ST, RIDGEWOOD, NJ 07450
5 Bedroom, 4 Full Bath,
1 Half Bath, COL
David H. Larsen, Sales Associate
Keller Williams Village Square Realty
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:30 P.M. Sun. 4/6
24
$1,495,000 in RIDGEWOOD
MLS # 1403728
184 BEECHWOOD RD, RIDGEWOOD, NJ 07450
5 Bedroom, 4 Full Bath,
1 Half Bath, COL
Jennifer Springer, Sales Associate
Tarvin Realtors
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:30 P.M. Sun. 4/6
25
$1,499,000 in RIDGEWOOD
MLS # 1405414
269 LOTTE RD, RIDGEWOOD, NJ 07450
6 Bedroom, 4 Full Bath,
1 Half Bath, COL
Nancy Slott, Sales Associate
Marron Gildea Realty, Inc. Ridgewood
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 4/6
21
$1,675,000 in RIDGEWOOD
MLS # 1411067
220 GREENWAY RD, RIDGEWOOD, NJ 07450
5 Bedroom, 3 Full Bath,
1 Half Bath, COL
Elizabeth Fernandez, Sales Associate
Marron Gildea Realty, Inc. Ridgewood
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 4/6
25
$1,695,000 in RIDGEWOOD
MLS # 1406885
302 GLENWOOD RD, RIDGEWOOD, NJ 07450
5 Bedroom, 3 Full Bath,
1 Half Bath, COL
Frances Ekblom, Sales Associate
Tarvin Realtors
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:30 P.M. Sun. 4/6
15
$1,795,000 in RIDGEWOOD
MLS # 1408782
395 HIGHLAND AVE, RIDGEWOOD, NJ 07450
5 Bedroom, 4 Full Bath,
1 Half Bath, COL
Frances Ekblom, Sales Associate
Tarvin Realtors
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:30 P.M. Sun. 4/6
25
$1,799,000 in RIDGEWOOD
MLS # 1410479
256 HEMPSTEAD RD, RIDGEWOOD, NJ 07450
7 Bedroom, 5 Full Bath,
3 Half Bath, COL
Irene Palatucci, Sales Associate
Prominent Properties Sotheby’s International Realty-Ridgewoo
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 4/6
– See more at: https://www.njmls.com/NJ/BERGEN/RIDGEWOOD-open-houses#sthash.fvEEmC99.dpuf
$1,995,000 in RIDGEWOOD
MLS # 1343181
237 MOUNTAIN AVE, RIDGEWOOD, NJ 07450
6 Bedroom, 4 Full Bath,
1 Half Bath, COL
Victoria Wilkinson, Sales Associate
Solutions Realty, LLC
Open House: 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 4/6
15
$2,249,000 in RIDGEWOOD
MLS # 1407897
330 BEDFORD RD, RIDGEWOOD, NJ 07450
5 Bedroom, 5 Full Bath,
2 Half Bath, COL
John Vaughan, Sales Associate
Weichert Realtors Ridgewood
Open House: 12:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. Sun. 4/6
– See more at: https://www.njmls.com/NJ/BERGEN/RIDGEWOOD-open-houses#sthash.fvEEmC99.dpuf
Liberals Are Using Campaign Disclosures to Intimidate and Harass
Hans von Spakovsky
April 3, 2014 at 6:24 pm
The resignation of Mozilla CEO Brendan Eich over a personal $1,000 donation he made in 2008 in support of California’s Proposition 8 shows the dark side of campaign disclosure laws and how liberals are using them to intimidate, harass, and bully anyone who disagrees with them on social and cultural issues. The Mozilla staffers and others targeting the company are engaging in the type of intolerance and coercive behavior that they are always accusing others of exhibiting.
Before Eich resigned, he pointed out that he had kept his personal beliefs out of Mozilla and that they were not relevant to his job as CEO. He was exactly right, although that did not prevent him from resigning. In a startling display of irony that was obviously lost on her, Mozilla Executive Chairwoman Mitchell Baker, who approved of Eich’s resignation, said it was necessary because “preserving Mozilla’s integrity was paramount.” She seems not to recognize that forcing a founder of the company to resign because of his personal beliefs that have nothing to do with his qualifications as a corporate officer is the exact opposite of “integrity.”
Eich is certainly not alone in his predicament. As the Heritage Foundation previously pointed out, other supporters of Proposition 8 in California have been subjected to harassment, intimidation, vandalism, racial scapegoating, blacklisting, loss of employment, economic hardships, angry protests, violence, death threats, and anti-religious bigotry. All committed by individuals claiming they are simply trying to gain “acceptance” and who complain about the supposed intolerance of society over their lifestyle.
What has been happening in recent years is no different then what racist government officials in Alabama were trying to do in the late 1950s when they subpoenaed the NAACP’s membership lists. Fortunately, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the state in NAACP v. Alabama (1958), holding that the state’s actions violated the Fourteenth Amendment and interfered with the free associational rights of the NAACP’s members.
While campaign finance reformers are constantly touting the benefits of the disclosure of political contributions as a means of preventing corruption, they fail to explain how that objective is served by requiring disclosure of donations in referendum campaigns. There is some logic in disclosure of contributions to candidates who then have the ability to initiate, support, or pass legislation that may benefit contributors if they are elected. But no such logic attaches to donations against or in support of ballot propositions that are approved by all of the registered voters of a state. There is no candidate or potential legislator who can somehow be “corruptly” influenced through contributions.
Moreover, the ability and right to engage in anonymous political speech and activity – and making contributions is a form of political speech – used to be considered common sense. The Federalist Papers were published under pseudonyms and one of the most famous and stirring pieces of writing in American history – Thomas Paine’s Common Sense – was first published anonymously because of the danger to its author for publishing such revolutionary ideas. The same threats those authors and others throughout our history have faced for expressing ideas not in conformity with the ruling passions of the day are today being faced by Americans like Brendan Eich.
The required disclosure of contributors like Brendan Eich to referenda is now being used to harass and intimidate them for their political opinions. Those who bullied Eich into resigning, particularly the employees of Mozilla, should be ashamed of themselves for their behavior. They apparently believe that anyone who disagrees with them on controversial legal and social issues should be driven from the workplace, no matter the economic and personal consequence to that individual and his family.
What’s next? Special reeducation camps for anyone who disagrees with them?
The president tries to put a good face on ObamaCare.
By
PEGGY NOONAN
Updated April 4, 2014 7:44 p.m. ET
Put aside the numbers for a moment, and the daily argument.
“Seven point one million people have signed up!”
“But six million people lost their coverage and were forced onto the exchanges! That’s no triumph, it’s a manipulation. And how many of the 7.1 million have paid?”
“We can’t say, but 7.1 million is a big number and redeems the program.”
“Is it a real number?”
“Your lack of trust betrays a dark and conspiratorial right-wing mindset.”
As I say, put aside the argument, step back and view the thing at a distance. Support it or not, you cannot look at ObamaCare and call it anything but a huge, historic mess. It is also utterly unique in the annals of American lawmaking and government administration.
Its biggest proponent in Congress, the Democratic speaker of the House, literally said—blithely, mindlessly, but in a way forthcomingly—that we have to pass the bill to find out what’s in it. It is a cliché to note this. But really, Nancy Pelosi’s statement was a historic admission that she was fighting hard for something she herself didn’t understand, but she had every confidence regulators and bureaucratic interpreters would tell her in time what she’d done. This is how we make laws now.
Her comments alarmed congressional Republicans but inspired Democrats, who for the next three years would carry on like blithering idiots making believe they’d read the bill and understood its implications. They were later taken aback by complaints from their constituents. The White House, on the other hand, seems to have understood what the bill would do, and lied in a way so specific it showed they knew exactly what to spin and how. “If you like your health-care plan, you can keep your health-care plan, period.” “If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor, period.” That of course was the president, misrepresenting the facts of his signature legislative effort. That was historic, too. If you liked your doctor, your plan, your network, your coverage, your deductible you could not keep it. Your existing policy had to pass muster with the administration, which would fight to the death to ensure that 60-year-old women have pediatric dental coverage.
The leaders of our government have not felt, throughout the process, that they had any responsibility to be honest and forthcoming about the major aspects of the program, from its exact nature to its exact cost. We are not being told the cost of anything—all those ads, all the consultants and computer work, even the cost of the essential program itself.
What the bill declared it would do—insure tens of millions of uninsured Americans—it has not done. There are still tens of millions uninsured Americans. On the other hand, it has terrorized millions who did have insurance and lost it, or who still have insurance and may lose it.
Newark-based Star-Ledger newspaper cutting 167 jobs
The Star-Ledger’s announcement of 167 job cuts — among 306 layoffs made by owner Advance Publications Inc. Thursday — reflect long-running troubles at the state’s largest newspaper, which has felt the impact of a nationwide drop in newspaper readership and advertising revenue.
Thursday’s cuts are the latest in a series of layoffs and buyouts since 2008 at the Newark paper, a New Jersey institution that has won three Pulitzer Prizes but lost millions of dollars in recent years. The cuts include 40 jobs in the newsroom, which is not unionized, bringing it to a staff of about 116, down from a high of 350 before the first buyout in 2008.
In addition to the Star-Ledger cuts, 124 full and part-time jobs were eliminated at other daily and weekly papers owned by Advance Publications Inc., in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and 15 at the company’s web site, NJ.com.
The layoffs are part of a plan announced last week by Advance to create a new company, NJ Advance Media, based in Woodbridge, to provide advertising, marketing and news content to The Star-Ledger, the three other daily papers in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and NJ.com. The company plans to focus on efforts to grow its digital operations.
Star-Ledger employees were called in Thursday for one-on-one meetings, where they were either told they were being let go or offered a job with the new company. The new jobs, in some cases, carried salaries more than 5 percent lower, along with reduced benefits, according to employees who asked not to be identified. According to the newspaper, the cuts included the entire full-time business staff and positions in sports, features, photos and news. (Lynn/The Record)
