Columnist Andrea Peyser says Hillary sets back the battle for “girl power’’ by decades
By Andrea Peyser
April 9, 2015 | 10:55pm
Hillary Rodham Clinton is the first dame ever to have clawed her way to the dizzying heights of American politics through a combination of ruthless cunning and the unabashed pity doled out by gullible voters, most of them Democrats.
She’s a lady whose star power is not based on her intellect or contributions to the common good, but on her willingness to excuse randy husband Bill Clinton for turning her into a fool.
Widely considered the Democratic Party’s best hope for keeping the White House in 2016, the former first lady, US senator from New York and secretary of state sets a rotten example for her sisters everywhere.
So why can’t feminists, Hillary’s fellow Democrats and even some Republicans face the truth? Supporting the candidacy of this calculating symbol of Tammy Wynette’s song “Stand By Your Man’’ represents a grotesque insult to the fairer sex.
April 9, 2015, 12:13 PM Last updated: Thursday, April 9, 2015, 2:07 PM
By MELISSA HAYES
state house bureau |
The Record
The state Division of Taxation is taking steps to recoup $1.6 million in rebates it overpaid nearly 3,800 taxpayers, following an investigation by the Office of the State Comptroller.
The comptroller’s office released the findings of its investigation into property tax relief programs for multi-unit properties Thursday along with steps it said the division is taking to remedy the problem.
The report estimates that thousands of homeowners have received larger property tax credits than they were entitled to because they claimed 100 percent residency of a multi-unit dwelling when applying for the Homestead Property Tax Credit and Property Tax Reimbursement programs and the state property tax deduction. The programs are provided to taxpayers who meet certain income limits, senior citizens and the disabled. Only a portion of the credits and rebates are supposed to be applied when an applicant lives in a multi-unit dwelling.
The report recommends that the Division of Taxation require local tax assessors to report the number of residential units in each property in the municipality to close what Acting State Comptroller Marc Larkins calls a “gap in the oversight of property tax relief programs.” Each municipality has the information on record, but the state doesn’t require that it be shared.
Bill Berloni, Broadway’s go-to dog trainer for stage canines, will get a TV showcase this summer with a new reality TV series set to begin airing in August on Discovery Family Channel.
Both a well-known specialist in the Broadway industry as well as a vocal proponent of the humane rescue and training of animals, Berloni will be seen in the series in all aspects of his life, ranging from his professional work as a trainer to his activism to his life at home, where he lives with his family and more than 25 animals he’s rescued. Produced for DFC by production and distribution company Earth Touch, the series — currently known by the working title “From Wags to Riches With Bill Berloni” — will bow in August as part of “Pawgust,” the network’s monthlong focus on dogs.
On NJTV cooking show, New Jersey governor keeps presidential plans to himself
By HEATHER HADDON
April 7, 2015 9:36 p.m. ET
Gov. Chris Christie calls his pasta sauce “gravy,” once cooked many of his family’s meals, and believes garlic should be browned before being tossed into the skillet.
These tidbits were revealed in a new show marrying cooking and politics that debuts on New Jersey public television Wednesday. Whether the New Jersey Republican will run for president, however, wasn’t disclosed.
“Good try, though,” Mr. Christie quipped at host Nick Acocella when he tried to get the governor to divulge if he’s running for higher office.
A longtime New Jersey political analyst, Mr. Acocella featured Mr. Christie as his first guest on the “Pasta & Politics” show, to air on NJTV. The men converse about state politics as they cook a meal together, and then sit down to clink wine glasses and have a taste.
I agree with The Jersey Journal editorial that U.S. Sen. Bob Menéndez, D-NJ, need not resign while the accusations against him are clarified through the formal legal system (“Menendez indictment taints his image, but he should not resign;” (Tuesday, 4/07/15).
The people of this great Garden State of ours elected him, not the few elitist editorialists in other newspapers who are ridiculously jumping into a suspicious grandstanding frenzy by farcically calling for the resignation of the current highest-ranking and most senior elected Hispanic in the United States. Incidentally, he was also the first Hispanic elected to the New Jersey Senate, as well as to the U.S. House of Representatives and finally to the U.S. Senate. Ironically, these appear to be the same media outlets who have routinely given the benefit of the doubt to other indicted politicians who are not Hispanic.
Moreover, as Jersey Journal columnist Augie Torres has humorously suggested (Sat. 04/04/15), the official indictment reads like a Hollywood script, and I would add, to be read with Nino Rota’s “THE GODFATHER” classic theme playing in the background.
Of note, the 100 senators constitute the most exclusive U.S. club, 90 of whom I understand are multi-millionaires; but our senior New Jersey senator is among the 10 poorest, given that he has dedicated his adult life to public service.
Granted that I may not agree with a number of Menéndez’s domestic policy stances; yet, his courageous leadership in foreign policy is widely admired. Notwithstanding some below-the-belt xenophobic, ethnocentric and even racist comments posted online in response to Journal editorials, Bob must be pleased with the additional support that he is receiving from Jewish circles nationwide on account of his strong position vis-á-vis Israel.
AFTER BOMBER’S CONVICTION, JURY TO DECIDE LIFE OR DEATH
BY DENISE LAVOIE
AP LEGAL AFFAIRS WRITER
BOSTON (AP) — Now that a jury has convicted Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on all charges, even more is at stake in the next phase of the federal trial: The same 12 people must decide whether the 21-year-old lives or dies.
Tsarnaev was found guilty Wednesday of 30 counts against him, including conspiracy and deadly use of a weapon of mass destruction. Seventeen of those charges are punishable by death.
The verdict was considered practically a foregone conclusion since Tsarnaev’s lawyer admitted he participated in the bombings.
The former college student was found responsible for the deaths of three people who died in the bombings as well as the killing of a Massachusetts Institute of Technology police officer who was gunned down days later as Tsarnaev and his now-dead brother, Tamerlan, attempted to flee.
In addition to the people who were killed, more than 260 others were injured when twin pressure-cooker bombs packed with shrapnel exploded near the marathon’s finish line on April 15, 2013, turning the traditionally celebratory home stretch of the world-famous race into a scene of carnage.
Pension reform is like the weather: Everybody talks about it, but nobody does anything about it.
Despite years of dire warnings that pension shortfalls could become the monster that ate state budgets, little progress has been made to reduce the gap. Since changes must occur, it’s time to understand the causes of the crisis so past mistakes will not be repeated.
Pensions in Pennsylvania and New Jersey are staggeringly underfunded. This misery, though, has lots of company. Recently, the Dallas Morning News wrote an editorial about the looming crisis in Texas, which it called “an embarrassment.”
Not being alone is no excuse. Public-sector pensions are promissory notes between the public, through their elected representatives and government workers, for future payments. Unfortunately, politicians have been very willing to fail their fiduciary responsibilities.
Pension plans are underfunded because governing bodies have underfunded them. Contractually agreed-to plan payments have been diverted to other uses, and the trend continues. In New Jersey, a state court recently ruled the Christie administration violated a 2011 pension-reform law by not making this year’s required pension payment.
Let’s be clear: The failure to make necessary pension payments was not because of an inability to pay. The funds that should have gone to the pension plan went, instead, to fund other programs and to keep taxes from rising. The fiscal capacity to fund the pensions was there. The political will was not.
Who got the billions of dollars that didn’t go into the pension plans? The beneficiaries were individuals and businesses who paid lower taxes, and programs that received extra funding. In other words, everyone, which is why this is a politically feasible transfer of income.
Pitching himself as a different kind of Republican, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) on Tuesday officially announced he will seek the GOP nomination for president.
“I have a message that is loud and clear and does not mince words” Paul said at a campaign rally in Louisville to a group of about 1,000 supporters at the Galt House Hotel. “We have come to take our country back.”
“If you’re a print shop and you are a gay man, should you be forced to print ‘God Hates Fags’ for the Westboro Baptist Church because they hold those signs up?”former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA)
Enjoy that slice of victory cake. It tastes like…What the hell is that
J.D. Tuccille|Apr. 6, 2015 10:12 am
I hoped the culture-war silliness might have ended by this week, but this morning the headlines contain the tale of a pediatrician unwilling to treat the child of a lesbian couple, and yet another successful fundraiser for a business (this one a florist) facing official sanctions after refusing to sell wedding flowers to same-sex customers. So lets talk about why it’s a bad idea to force people who don’t like you to do business with you.
One of my favorite movie scenes is from The Pope of Greenwich Village. A New York City traffic cop turns a neighborhood against him by towing every car in sight and shaking down a local bar for free drinks.
What are they going to do about it, right?
What they’re going to do is slip horse laxative into his drink at the bar—and then lock the door behind him when he goes outside to get back to work. Hilarity ensues in the street.
This obsession on the part of the Three Amigos and their supporters with tagging specific people with specific posts perceived as being critical to the regime is getting old and only reinforces the continuing need for PJ to maintain the policy of permitting residents to post anonymously within the bounds of propriety. To hear their arbitrary detractors tell the tale, nothing Mr. Sedon or Ms. Knudsen might wish to raise as an issue could ever resonate with the electorate, much less prompt a member of the public to chime in with praise for them at theridgewoodblog.com. This is utter nonsense, of course, because we have two real gems in Knudsen and Sedon, each for their own unique set of fine characteristics and true qualifications. They are striving for and achieving real non-partisan transparency in local government, a sisyphian task if there ever was one. Or perhaps herculean? given the large amounts of manure being generated every week in our version of the Augean Stables.
April 6, 2015 Last updated: Monday, April 6, 2015, 8:39 AM
The Ridgewood News
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Planning Board deliberations regarding multifamily housing in downtown Ridgewood previously scheduled for April 7 will be carried until Tuesday, April 21.
Councilwoman Susan Knudsen, a member of the Planning Board, announced last Wednesday night at the Village Council meeting that the public hearing for the land use element of the Master Plan AH-2, B-3-R, C-R and C Zone Districts would be moved to 7:30 p.m. on April 21 in the Sydney V. Stoldt Jr. Court Room.
The delay was attributed to information from the League of Municipalities regarding the state Supreme Court decision on affordable housing in early March, said Knudsen, which ruled that the courts would decide affordable housing rules, at least temporarily. Knudsen said the information would hopefully be available on April 20.
At the Planning Board’s March 17 meeting, it was suggested that board members compile a list of elements to work through with Village Planner Blais Brancheau.
https://www.northjersey.com/news/downtown-housing-hearing-moved-to-april-21-1.1303434
April 6, 2015 Last updated: Monday, April 6, 2015, 8:39 AM
The Ridgewood News
Print
Planning Board deliberations regarding multifamily housing in downtown Ridgewood previously scheduled for April 7 will be carried until Tuesday, April 21.
Councilwoman Susan Knudsen, a member of the Planning Board, announced last Wednesday night at the Village Council meeting that the public hearing for the land use element of the Master Plan AH-2, B-3-R, C-R and C Zone Districts would be moved to 7:30 p.m. on April 21 in the Sydney V. Stoldt Jr. Court Room.
The delay was attributed to information from the League of Municipalities regarding the state Supreme Court decision on affordable housing in early March, said Knudsen, which ruled that the courts would decide affordable housing rules, at least temporarily. Knudsen said the information would hopefully be available on April 20.
At the Planning Board’s March 17 meeting, it was suggested that board members compile a list of elements to work through with Village Planner Blais Brancheau.
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee lambasted Americans Saturday for being more outraged at Indiana’s new religious freedom law than President Obama’s Iran deal.
He called the uproar over the Religious Freedom Restoration Act a distraction from Thursday’s announcement of a tentative nuclear proliferation deal with the Middle Eastern nation.
Huckabee made the remark on CNN’s “Smerconish”:
“Somebody who is a blogger made an observation this week that – I thought it was interesting – that there’s been more pressure this week to put sanctions on Indiana than on Iran. I thought that was a pretty wise observation, and it’s been a real almost distraction from something that is a whole lot more significant in terms of our national security than anything that’s been occupying the front pages here.”
Huckabee, who’s considering another run at the White House in 2016, also attributed the drama over the religious freedom laws in Indiana and his home state to the growing pressure from the gay community nationwide:
“The reason that those corporations put the pressure on Indiana and Arkansas was because the militant gay community put the pressure on them,” he said, singling out Apple’s business with Saudi Arabia and Wal-Mart’s business in China.
“I think these corporations really ought to either be consistent — quit making money from these countries that are really oppressing human rights, and quit bowing to the pressure, and just sell their stuff, that’s what they’re in business for – sell stuff.”
Both company’s CEOs came out strongly against the Indiana and Arkansas laws, respectively:
“Statement on HB 1228: Every day, in our stores, we see firsthand the benefits diversity and inclusion have on our associates, customers and communities we serve. It all starts with our core basic belief of respect for the individual. Today’s passage of HB1228 threatens to undermine the spirit of inclusion present throughout the state of Arkansas and does not reflect the values we proudly uphold. For those reasons, we are asking Governor Hutchinson to veto this legislation. – Doug McMillian, Wal-Mart CEO”
Huckabee’s comments on Saturday echoed those he made to Tony Perkins, the host of the Family Research Council’s “Washington Watch,” on his radio show Wednesday:
According to Mediaite, the former governor said of the gay rights activists fighting RFRA legislation in Indiana and Arkansas:
“It won’t stop until there are no more churches, until there are no more people who are spreading the Gospel, and I’m talking now about the unabridged, unapologetic Gospel that is really God’s truth.”
Huckabee, whose supporters recently launched a super PAC for his potential 2016 bid, told Smerconish that he will announce his intentions later this Spring.
April 15 is right around the corner, and millions of Americans will find themselves paying more in taxes than ever thanks to Obamacare.
The law is more than a fundamental change to the country’s health care system. It also is a massive tax hike. As The Heritage Foundation’s Federal Budget in Pictures shows, according to the most recent scores, Obamacare will increase taxes by nearly $800 billion for the period of 2013-2022.
Obamacare contains 18 separate tax increases. A few of the biggest include a tax on “Cadillac” health insurance plans, which doesn’t take effect until 2018, long after President Obama and many in Congress who voted for the tax in 2010 have departed Washington. Also, there is a tax on health insurance premiums and a higher rate on the Hospital Insurance payroll tax for single filers with incomes above $200,000 ($250,000 for married filers) that also applies to investment income.
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At a time when the already-onerous tax code has created a significant drag on the economy, Obamacare’s tax hikes only do more damage. Many Americans have found themselves afflicted by higher health insurance premiums, driven up, in part, by new taxes on insurers. Increased rates on capital gains and dividends from the wage and investment tax hike discourage saving and investment, resulting in fewer jobs created and lower wage growth.
Because of Obamacare, Americans are paying much higher taxes and those taxes are hurting the economy. Though some bipartisan efforts exist to repeal some of the new taxes that benefit special-interest groups, including the medical device tax, an incomplete approach won’t be sufficient to overcome the detrimental effects of this law.
Congress should repeal Obamacare and all of its tax increases.
Pushback by Atlantic City’s police and firefighter unions will likely be the single biggest impediment to the financial rescue of the city. The unions cannot – must not – be allowed to win this fight. And the only questions are: How long will the battle take and how ugly will it get? (Perskie/for PolitickerNJ)
The resurgence of Islamic terrorism and President Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran is shaking up the race for the White House, pushing national security to the forefront of the GOP primary debate.
The primacy of foreign policy could be a problem for Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), the libertarian Tea-Party favorite, who is set to launch his presidential campaign next week in Louisville. He proposed steep defense cuts when he first came to the Senate and has expressed wariness about foreign military interventions.
On the other hand, the new dynamic could help Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who have touted their experience on the Foreign Relations and Armed Services committees, respectively, as they make the case for their candidacies.
