As a country, our most important day comes on the first Tuesday after the firstMonday in November every four years – It’s a Presidential Election Day. On Tuesday, November 8, 2016, voters across the country will line up at polling places to voice their opinion about who should serve as our next commander-in-chief. However, by that time, about 40% of the vote already will be in. Christopher Durkin, PolitickerNjRead more
Jeff Black Jeffrey_Black
January 21, 2016 — 4:46 AM ES
Concerns over protectionism and U.S. reputation bubble up
Ex-White House advisor still thinks Trump will be nominee
If Donald Trump as president of the United States is the ghost that’s stalking Davos, many among the global elite hope he’ll be banished by spring. Others see that as wishful thinking.
“I think the nominees will be Donald Trump for the Republicans and Hillary Clinton” for the Democrats, Donald Baer, a former White House adviser under President Bill Clinton, said at a panel co-hosted by Bloomberg and WPP Plc. “The next year will be a very uncertain, chaotic period.”
The prospect of Trump in the White House is ratcheting up anxiety among the 2,500 business and political leaders gathered at the Swiss ski resort for the annual World Economic Forum. With less than two weeks before voting in primaries gets under way and Trump in the Republican Party lead, those who fear a rise in protectionism and economic mismanagement are speaking out against the billionaire property developer.
by BREITBART NEWS17 Jan 2016467
During a radio interview Sunday, Juanita Broaddrick revealed a shocking new detail about her history with Bill Clinton.
She says that within a few weeks after Clinton allegedly raped her, he started to call her repeatedly with the aim of meeting again.
“I was shocked to say the least that he would have the audacity to call me after what he did to me,” Broaddrick said, speaking on “Aaron Klein Investigative Radio,” the popular Sunday night radio program.
She said that just a few weeks after the 1978 alleged sexual assault, “He called the nursing home that I owned and they patched the call through to my office and I didn’t know that it was him. And he immediately said, ‘Hi, this is Bill Clinton. I was just wondering when you were coming back to Little Rock again.’
“This just caught me so off guard. I had not expected anything like this at all. And I told him I would not be coming back to Little Rock again and definitely would not ever be seeing him again. And I hung up.”
But that wasn’t the end of it. Broaddrick told Klein that Clinton, at the time the attorney general of Arkansas and candidate for governor, called the nursing home where she worked on numerous occasions throughout the next six months.
By PATRICK HEALYJAN. 16, 2016
Advisers to Hillary Clinton, including former President Bill Clinton, believe that her campaign made serious miscalculations by forgoing early attacks on Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and failing to undercut his archliberal message before it grew into a political movement that has now put him within striking distance of beating Mrs. Clinton in Iowa and New Hampshire.
According to Democrats close to the Clintons and involved with her campaign, Mrs. Clinton and the former president are also unnerved by the possibility that Mr. Sanders will foment a large wave of first-time voters and liberals that will derail her in Iowa, not unlike Barack Obama’s success in 2008, which consigned Mrs. Clinton to a third-place finish. They have asked her advisers about the strength of the campaign’s data modeling and turnout assumptions in Iowa, given that her 2008 campaign’s predictions were so inaccurate.
As the Democratic rivals prepare for what is likely to be a contentious televised debate on Sunday night, the Clintons are particularly concerned that her “rational message,” in the words of an aide, is not a fit with a restless Democratic primary electorate. Allies and advisers of the Clintons say Mr. Sanders is clearly connecting with voters through his emotional, inspiring rallying cry that the American economic and political systems are rigged for the wealthy and powerful. By contrast, Mrs. Clinton has beenstressing her electability and questioning the costs of Mr. Sanders’s ideas.
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
FreeRepublic blocks Ted Cruz Eligibility Issue story re-posted from the Ridgewood blog
Mark Levin Addresses Ted Cruz Eligibility Issue posed by Ridgewood Resident at Bookends Book Signing
Mark Levin: Reader says not so fast Mark
https://theridgewoodblog.net/mark-levin-reader-says-not-so-fast-mark/
Mark Levin’s Visit to Bookends Revives old Controversy on eligibility requirements to run for or hold the office of President of the United States
By T. BECKET ADAMS (@BECKETADAMS) • 1/13/16 2:50 PM
NBCUniversal’s about-face last year on severing ties with GOP front-runner Donald Trump came after it realized the billionaire businessman’s 2016 presidential campaign had become a legitimate phenomenon, according to network executives.
“[T]he poll numbers are astounding, and he’s everywhere,” NBC’s entertainment chairman Robert Greenblatt told reporters. “He’s on every news show, every morning show, every nightly show, every cable news show.”
NBCUniversal made a big show last summer of announcing that it had cut all business ties with Trump after he said Mexico was sending degenerate drug dealers and rapists to the United States.
“At NBC, respect and dignity for all people are cornerstones of our values,” a spokesperson said at the time, explaining that it couldn’t idly stand by as the former reality TV star besmirched all illegal immigrants. “Due to the recent derogatory statements by Donald Trump regarding immigrants, NBCUniversal is ending its business relationship with Mr. Trump.”
Obama’s Last State Of The Union Viewership Dips In Early Numbers
by Dominic Patten
January 13, 2016 9:25am
With all of the Big 4 running it live, the very last State of the Union address of Barack Obama’s presidency saw jokes and barbs about those running to succeed him, a call to cure cancer, pleas to pass the big Pacific Rim trade deal and Paul Ryan’s debut in the Speaker’s chair over POTUS’ shoulder. Overall, the President also offered an optimistic assessment of the nation in his just over an hour speech but the incumbent conceded he hadn’t been able to overcome the harsh bipartisan battles that have characterized his term in office.
If early numbers are anything to go by, Obama wasn’t able to get more eyeballs to watch his speech either. With an average audience of 18.1 million watching the 9 – 10 PM coverage on ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC, Obama’s speech was down 8% from the early numbers of last year’s January 20 talk to Congress.
Heading into the twilight of his term in office that continues the POTUS downward viewership trend. Obama’s 2015 SOTU was down 7% from his 2014 speech in the early Big 4 audience averages – which was down from the year before. In the final viewership numbers, the 2015 speech ended up being a SOTU low for the President – which we could see as the case this year.
https://deadline.com/2016/01/state-of-the-union-ratings-barack-obama-viewership-1201681973/
Clinton machine stumbles
Dick Morris: Women are leaving Hillary
By Dick Morris – 01/12/16 05:52 PM EST
All polls are now pointing in the same direction: Hillary Clinton is tanking.
The most recent Fox News poll, taken after the new year began, shows her losing to Ted Cruz, 50 percent to 43 percent; to Marco Rubio, 50 percent to 41 percent; and even to Donald Trump, 47 percent to 43 percent. The latest Democratic primary poll, by Investor’s Business Daily, shows the former secretary of State nursing only a 4-point lead over Bernie Sanders, 43 percent to 39 percent. The RealClearPolitics average of New Hampshire polls has Sanders ahead by 6 points — and in Iowa, the candidates are tied in the RCP average, which Clinton led for months.
Beneath the overall head-to-head data, the internals of the polling show a sharp erosion of support for Clinton among women and very little change among male voters.
Among women, she has lost her lead over Cruz, falling from 13 points ahead in a Fox News poll on Dec. 17 to 3 points behind in Fox’s Jan. 7 survey. Among men, she moved from 15 points behind Cruz in December to 14 points back in January.
So while Clinton has lost 16 points among women against Cruz, she is essentially unchanged among men.
The Fox News poll had similar findings for a match-up between Clinton and Rubio. And against Trump, she went from beating The Donald among women by 26 points in December to only 12 points in January.
So why are women leaving Hillary? Bill.
https://thehill.com/opinion/dick-morris/265636-dick-morris-women-are-leaving-hillary
By Larry Higgs | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on January 04, 2016 at 8:11 AM, updated January 04, 2016 at 10:59 AM
Replacing bridge decks on several ramps and overpasses between I-78 and Route 1&9 in Newark: The $17.9 million project is expected to start in early 2016 and be completed in early 2017
Repaving 6.6 miles of I- 80 East express and local lanes between
Paterson, Elmwood Park and Hackensack: The project is scheduled to start this summer and be completed before the winter of 2016,
While there is uncertainty about how the state will pay for road and bridge projects after 2016, drivers will see plenty of flashing arrows and orange cones that come with the promise of smooth pavement, wider lanes and sturdier bridges.
Drivers might consider 2016 the year of the bridge, because the state has many massive multi-year bridge projects. Work continues on the $1 billionrehabilitation of the Pulaski Skyway, building a new Route 7 Wittpenn bridge, finishing the Route 18 overpass over Route 1, and replacement of the Routes 37 and 72 bridges to Jersey Shore barrier islands.
Drivers also will see large projects continuing on the states major toll roads, including the last phase of Garden State Parkway widening in Atlantic County, the continued work on new interchanges at Exit 14A and 9 on the New Jersey Turnpike and on a new deck on the turnpike’s Hudson County extension.
Work also is starting on new projects in 2016, including:
The first phase of a larger project to rebuild the interchange between Routes 3, 46, Valley, Notch and Rifle Camp Roads in Clifton. This includes construction of a new service road on Great Notch Road, a new bridge over Route 46 at Clove Road and reconstruction of the existing Notch Road Bridge, said Dan Triana, a state department of transportation spokesman.
Published: Jan 4, 2016 10:57 a.m. ET
The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged about 400 points in early trade Monday as a 7% drop in Chinese shares stoked a global selloff in stocks.
The Dow DJIA, -2.42% plunged nearly 411 points to 17,015, led by a drop in DuPont Co. DD, -4.08% and American Express Co. AXP, -3.24%
The S&P 500 SPX, -2.32% fell about 45 points to 1,998, led by a decline in technology stocks, financials and industrials. Only the S&P 500’s energy sector showed a modest gain as Middle Eastern tensions helped lift crude-oil prices.
“It is not surprising to see such a selloff considering negative headlines from China and tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia. What is surprising is that it is happening on the first day of the year,” said Ryan Larson, head of equity trading at RBC Global Asset Management.
“While trading desk are busier than they normally would be on Mondays, this is not a panic selling, it’s orderly. We are likely to see this kind of volatility a lot in 2016,” Larson said.
The S&P 500-tracking “SPY” ETF opened down nearly 2%. According to Bespoke Investment Group analysts, since the SPY SPY, -2.24% began trading in 1994, the ETF has opened lower on the first trading day of the year only twice in 22 years, and never by more than 1%.
Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite COMP, -2.86% tumbled by 138 points to 4,869 as tech stocks took the brunt of Monday’s drop.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-stocks-set-for-tumble-at-open-as-china-fears-return-2016-01-04
January 02, 2016, 09:05 pm
By Elliot Smilowitz
Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump says the nuclear deal with Iran is so bad, he is close to wondering whether it was done poorly on purpose.
“It’s almost like there has to be something else going on,” he said Saturday night at a rally in Biloxi, Miss. “I don’t think there is, I just don’t think they’re competent.”
Trump said he couldn’t believe the U.S. would agree to a deal with Iran that did not include the return of Americans held prisoner in Iran.
“Who would make that deal?” he asked, suggesting Tehran was celebrating as the agreement was being negotiated.
https://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/gop-primaries/264598-trump-iran-deal-was-so-bad-its-suspicious
DECEMBER 30, 2015 LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2015, 9:59 AM
BY BY DIANA OLIVEIRA
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
Working behind the scenes at a broadcast of a presidential primary debate can be chaotic. Anything can go wrong at any moment, and the technical crew is expected to think on its feet and try to salvage potential disasters.
The role is an embodiment of stress. But 20-year-old Ashling Stanek was unaffected by the pressure of being a runner for ABC’s Martha Raddatz and George Stephanopoulos at last Saturday’s Democratic debate. In fact, backstage was where the Saint Anselm College junior felt most comfortable.
“I’m least stressed when there’s lots to do, and when I’m busy and moving and figuring everything out,” said Stanek.
A 2013 Ridgewood High School graduate, Stanek is currently a member of the Kevin Harrington Student Ambassador program at the college’s New Hampshire Institute of Politics (NHIOP) in Manchester, N.H. Her position at NHIOP – the center features presentations by renowned speakers, authors and scholars almost daily – has helped her become involved with networks like WMUR, ABC, MSNBC, ESPN and CSPAN. She met the majority of the 2016 presidential candidates, some of them multiple times. She was, therefore, more than qualified to be selected to take part in ABC’s weekend-long coverage of the Democratic primary debate on campus.
Growing up, Stanek regularly sat with her father and discussed what was in the news, specifically the goings-on in Washington, D.C. So, she was understandably thrilled when she learned she’d be putting her longtime knowledge of politics to good use and witnessing political action in person as a member of the production’s crew.
“I’m really interested into going into media production,” said Stanek. “I was really excited to finally get the opportunity to work with all the technology.”
https://www.northjersey.com/news/politics/resident-meets-the-candidates-1.1482352
If Hillary plays the sexism card, then Bill’s behavior is fair game.
Dec. 29, 2015 6:35 p.m. ET
Donald Trump last week used some typically coarse language to describe Hillary Clinton,who responded by accusing Mr. Trump of sexism while announcing that she is unleashing Bill Clinton to campaign for her. This was too ripe an opening for Mr. Trump, who is now attacking Hillary for acquiescing in Bill’s predations against women.
Mr. Trump is rude and crude, but in this case he is raising an issue that rightly bears on the 2016 election campaign and the prospect of a third Clinton term. Mrs. Clinton wants to use her gender both as a political sword and shield to win the White House. The purpose is to make male politicians less willing to take her on, while reinforcing her main and not-so-subtle campaign theme that it’s time to elect the first woman President.
So she and her allies will try to spin any criticism as sexist. Even politically correct Bernie Sanders got this treatment after he said during a debate this autumn that “all the shouting in the world” wouldn’t keep guns out of the wrong hands. Mrs. Clinton later said that “I haven’t been shouting, but sometimes when a woman speaks out, some people think it’s shouting.” Against Republicans, she’ll play the “war on women” theme non-stop.
Yet no one in American politics better personifies a war on women than Mrs. Clinton’s husband. For readers too young to recall the 1990s, we aren’t merely referring to Trumpian gibes about female looks or “Mad Men” condescension. Mr. Clinton was a genuine sexual harasser in the classic definition of exploiting his power as a workplace superior, and the Clinton entourage worked hard to smear and discredit his many women accusers.
Start with “bimbo eruptions,” the phrase that Mr. Clinton’s Arkansas fixer Betsey Wrightused to describe the women who had affairs with Bill. Gennifer Flowers almost derailed his primary campaign in 1992, until Hillary stood by her man on CBS’s “60 Minutes” and the media portrayed Ms. Flowers as a golddigger.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-clinton-war-on-women-1451432109
by JEFF POOR29 Dec 20151,635
In filling in for talk show host Rush Limbaugh on Tuesday, conservative commentator Mark Steyn drew a comparison between Bill Cosby, who has lost much of his exposure after allegations that he may have raped numerous have come to the forefront, and former President Bill Clinton, who reportedly will be campaigning for his wife, Democratic presidential Hillary Clinton.
Steyn pointed out that one has become persona non grata while the other has been universally embraced as “the most beloved guy in America.”
“I mean that as a seriously question incidentally,” Steyn said. “Why is Bill Cosby finished? He was the most beloved guy. We keep hearing Bill Clinton is the most beloved guy in America. ‘If Bill Clinton was on the ticket, he’d sweep all 50 states. It would be a landslide. Americans love Bill Clinton.’ They loved Bill Cosby – nice grandfatherly Bill Cosby. But somehow, for some reason – you don’t see ‘The Bill Cosby Show’ on TV anymore. You don’t see it on the rerun channels. He is not appearing anywhere.”
Report: 191M voter records exposed online
By Katie Bo Williams – 12/28/15 09:50 AM EST
Security bloggers and researchers claim to have uncovered a publicly available database exposing the personal information of 191 million voters on the Internet.
The information contains voters’ names, home addresses, voter IDs, phone numbers and date of birth, as well as political affiliations and a detailed voting history since 2000.
While in most states, voter registration lists are a matter of public record, many have regulations restricting access and use.
For example, South Dakota requires those requesting access to voter data to confirm that the information “may not be used or sold for any commercial purpose and may not be placed for unrestricted access on the internet.”
Security researcher Chris Vickery discovered the breach and reported it to DataBreaches.net, which has since reached out to law enforcement, as well as the California attorney general’s office.
“When one of their attorneys asked, ‘Well how much data are we talking about?’ and I read her the list of data fields and told her that we had access to voter records of over 17 million California voters, her response was ‘Wow,’ and she promptly forwarded the matter to the head of their e-crime division,” writes DataBreaches.net’s anonymous admin.
Steve Ragan, a security blogger for the security and risk management website CSO, has alsoinvestigated the breach, noting that none of the political database firms he identified and reached out to in connection with the database claimed ownership of the IP address where the files are posted.
https://thehill.com/policy/cybersecurity/264297-report-191m-voter-records-exposed-publicly-online
