Tag: Democrats

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Report: More than half of immigrants on welfare

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Alan Gomez, USA TODAY12:08 a.m. EDT September 2, 2015

More than half of the nation’s immigrants receive some kind of government welfare, a figure that’s far higher than the native-born population, according to a report to be released Wednesday.

About 51% of immigrant-led households receive at least one kind of welfare benefit, including Medicaid, food stamps, school lunches and housing assistance, compared to 30% for native-led households, according to the report from the Center for Immigration Studies, a group that advocates for lower levels of immigration.

Those numbers increase for households with children, with 76% of immigrant-led households receiving welfare, compared to 52% for the native-born.

The findings are sure to fuel debate on the presidential campaign trail as Republican candidates focus on changing the nation’s immigration laws, from calls for mass deportations to ending birthright citizenship.

Steven Camarota, director of research at center and author of the report, said that’s a much-needed conversation to make the country’s immigration system more “selective.”

“This should not be understood as some kind of defect or moral failing on the part of immigrants,” Camarota said about the findings. “Rather, what it represents is a system that allows a lot of less-educated immigrants to settle in the country, who then earn modest wages and are eligible for a very generous welfare system.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/09/01/immigrant-welfare-use-report/71517072/

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Martin O’Malley Rails at Democrats for Debate Schedule ‘Rigged’ to Aid Hillary Clinton

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5:41 PM ET5:41PM ET
By Patrick Healy and Maggie Haberman

MINNEAPOLIS – Martin O’Malley had one clear chance to make waves within the Democratic National Committee, and he seized it, delivering a fiery speech Friday that condemned his party’s leadership for what he called a process “rigged” to help Hillary Rodham Clinton — namely, curtailing the number of presidential primary debates.

Accusing party leaders of trying to keep Democratic ideas hidden as the Republican presidential candidates spew “racist hate” from their debate lecterns, Mr. O’Malley, the former Maryland governor and mayor of Baltimore, questioned the decision to hold “four debates and four debates only” before the first four states finish voting.

“This is totally unprecedented in our party’s history,” Mr. O’Malley said. “This sort of rigged process has never been attempted before. Whose decree is it exactly? Where did it come from? To what end? For what purpose? What national or party interest does this decree serve? How does this help us tell the story of the last eight years of Democratic progress?”

While Mr. O’Malley never named the party’s chairwoman, Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida, his remarks about the debates were clearly aimed at her – and she sat looking grim throughout, barely clapping, and appeared angry when she shook his hand once he finished.

He did not name Mrs. Clinton in his speech, either, but Mr. O’Malley was asked afterward if he thought the debate schedule had been arranged for her benefit. “Yes, I think so. Don’t you?” he replied.

https://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/08/28/martin-omalley-rails-at-democrats-for-debate-schedule-rigged-to-aid-hillary-clinton/?_r=1

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Black Lives Matter movement: Bad for Democrats, good for Republicans

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By Shermichael Singleton

Recently Hillary Clinton had a fairly contentious  conversation  with Black Lives Matter activists in New Hampshire. At times she seemed to lecture and at others she was obviously down right annoyed.

“You can keep the movement going,” Clinton urged, “and through it, you may change actually some hearts, but if that’s all that happens, we’ll be back in 10 years having the same conversation because we will not have all of the changes that you deserve to have because of your willingness to talk about this.”

At one point during the 15-minute discussion, Clinton pointed: “I believe you change laws, you change allocation of resources, you change the way systems operate.”

It was obvious Clinton strongly disagreed with the methodology of the Black Lives Matter activists. With her dismissive nods and disgruntled looks, the divide between the activists and Clinton was evident, and should be a cause of concern for the Democratic Party and its presidential hopefuls.

Blacks vote heavily Democratic and are a stronghold for the Democratic Party.  However, with the recent deaths of unarmed African-Americans, Black Lives Matter has grown into a national movement. The movement has increased awareness and political activism among young African-Americans with chapters sprouting up across the country.

https://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/presidential-campaign/251599-black-lives-matter-movement-bad-for-democrats-good

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Obama said to give Biden his blessing

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August 25, 2015, 10:12 am
By Jesse Byrnes

President Obama has given Vice President Biden his “blessing” to launch a 2016 bid for the White House if he chooses to run, a senior Democrat told CNN on Monday.

Obama and Biden met for a private lunch at the White House on Monday, where the president gave Biden the green light for launching a 2016 bid, CBS News also reported.

While Biden does not need Obama’s permission, the president made it clear to Biden that he would not stand in the way or advise him against running, the senior Democrat told CNN.

https://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/251876-obama-said-to-give-biden-his-blessing

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Residents See More than a bike lane they see the East West Divide in Ridgewood

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August 25,2015
the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, Bike lanes are still major concern for safety at the Ridgewood rail underpass. Most observers failed to see the logic from the beginning of of the construction  for changing from two lanes to one and adding extremely dangerous bike lanes under the trestle .

Like the ADA elevators to nowhere that proceeded it resident were quite skeptical at its introduction . Contrary to the elevators ,which seem good for a laugh , the bike lane presents a clear danger to bikers . Not to mention the slow down to emergency services through town .
Recent developments like the continued effort to fill the “east side” with sports fields  have refocused a light on what may have been the real purpose of the so called ‘ “traffic calming”.  Resident now speculate that it is another attempt to inhibit traffic into the west side of town making it more difficult for new residents living in the new high density housing to enter the west side . There also seems to be a movement growing to bus any new children to Hawes school and not to the select schools in the west side like Orchard and Willard  .
Residents again speculate that the bike lane is being used as an excuse to further divide the town like Englewood , giving certain types of politicians a voting block to ensure their perpetual election.
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Sanders Surges, Clinton Sags in U.S. Favorability

Bernie Sanders

by Lydia Saad

PRINCETON, N.J. — Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ favorable rating among Americans has doubled since Gallup’s initial reading in March, rising to 24% from 12% as he has become better known. Hillary Clinton’s rating has slipped to 43% from 48% in April. At the same time, Clinton’s unfavorable rating increased to 46%, tilting her image negative and producing her worst net favorable score since December 2007.

Sanders’ increased favorability reflects the broader increase in the public’s familiarity with him since March. Overall, 44% of Americans are able to rate him today, up from 24% in March. Not only has the percentage viewing him favorably increased, but also the percentage viewing him unfavorably has risen, up eight percentage points to 20%.

Clinton’s Inauspicious Rivals

Clinton maintains a higher absolute favorable rating from Americans than any of her official rivals for the 2016 Democratic nomination. In contrast to the relative prominence of numerous candidates on the Republican side, she remains the only Democratic candidate known well enough by a majority of Americans for them to rate her, which helps Clinton maintain a higher overall favorable score.

Sanders is still an unknown to a majority of Americans, with just 44% able to rate him compared with Clinton’s 89%. Total familiarity drops still further among the other three announced Democratic candidates: to 23% for former Virginia Sen. Jim Webb at 23%, former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley at 22% and former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee at 17%. With slightly more Americans viewing each of these candidates unfavorably than favorably, their favorable scores reach no more than 11%.

https://www.gallup.com/poll/184346/sanders-surges-clinton-sags-favorability.aspx

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Reader says Ridgewood’s Village government will be co-opted

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As sure as you’re born, a parking garage erected by Ridgewood’s village government will be co-opted for use by out-of-town commuters in accordance with the preferences of those seeking to dismantle New Jersey’s deeply ingrained “home rule” tradition and replace it with a new oligarchical style of regional government. Imagine a regional, multi-county board of overseers populated by Gwen Hauck-type cloned hand-puppets easily manipulated by nameless, faceless third-party wealthy power brokers. That’s what many forward-thinking progressive statists see in their dreams. They don’t give a whit about mere business owners and their parking concerns…

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House Dem wants to nearly double gas tax

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file photo by Boyd Loving

By Keith Laing – 07/08/15 12:49 PM EDT

Rep. Rick Larsen (D-Wash.) is co-sponsoring a bill to increase the federal gas tax to help pay for transportation projects across the nation.

The measure, which was originally sponsored by Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), would increase the gas tax by 15 cents over the next three years, matching a proposal that was included in the 2011 Simpson-Bowles budget reform proposal.

Larsen said Wednesday that he is becoming the 35th co-sponsor of the measure because the gas tax, which helps pay for the nation’s infrastructure projects, has not been increased since 1993.

“When I talked with local transportation leaders, the message I got was that Congress needs to act quickly,” he said in a statement about the proposed legislation, which is known as the Update, Promote and Develop America’s Transportation Essentials (UPDATE) Act.

“Federal funds make up about a quarter of Washington state’s transportation budget each year,” Larsen continued. “We cannot have a big league economy with little league infrastructure. Raising the gas tax for the first time in more than 20 years will mean states and cities can count on funds to upgrade aging bridges, make rail crossings safer and expand transit options to reduce traffic congestion.”

The new support for the legislation to increase the gas tax comes as lawmakers are searching for money to pay for an extension of federal infrastructure funding that is currently set to expire on July 31.

Congress has been grappling since 2005 with a transportation funding shortfall that is estimated to be about $16 billion per year, and they have not passed a transportation bill that lasts longer than two years in that span.

The 18.4 cent-per-gallon federal gas tax has been the main source of transportation funding for decades, but it has not been increased since 1993, and more fuel-efficient cars have sapped its buying power.

https://thehill.com/policy/transportation/247212-house-dem-wants-to-nearly-double-gas-tax

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Corzine, ex-MF Global officials agree to settle investor lawsuit

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JULY 8, 2015    LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, JULY 8, 2015, 1:21 AM
FROM STAFF AND NEWS SERVICE REPORTS |
WIRE SERVICE

Ex-New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine and other former officials of failed brokerage MF Global Holdings Ltd., which Corzine headed, have agreed to pay $64.5 million to settle an investor lawsuit.

The proposed settlement, which requires a judge’s approval, apparently marks the first time Corzine has agreed to pay victims of MF Global’s spectacular collapse in 2011, which triggered a slew of lawsuits and an FBI investigation.

In agreeing to the settlement, Corzine and the other defendants denied any wrongdoing, according to a filing Tuesday in Manhattan federal court. Corzine’s lead attorney, Andrew J Levander, declined to comment on the settlement, which will be paid by MF Global’s insurance company.

MF Global filed for bankruptcy on Oct. 31, 2011, after a $6.3 billion bet on bonds of some of Europe’s most indebted nations, orchestrated by Corzine. Clients alleged in lawsuits against Corzine and other former executives that more than $1.6 billion that should have been segregated was transferred to other parts of the company during a liquidity crisis.

The settlement follows an earlier accord reached with PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, which agreed in April to pay $65 million to rid itself of claims tied to botched audits. Underwriters, including Citigroup Global Markets Inc., Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. and Goldman Sachs & Co., separately agreed in May to pay investors $74 million. That settlement was approved by a judge on June 26.

The plaintiffs also reached a separate settlement last month with Commerz Markets LLC, a unit of Frankfurt-based Commerzbank AG, which agreed to pay $933,000.

Corzine, a former Wall Street broker who rose to become co-chairman of Goldman Sachs, had entered politics by winning a U.S. Senate seat as a Democrat, representing New Jersey for five years before winning election as governor in 2005.

Corzine took MF Global’s helm in March 2010, shortly after leaving the governor’s office following his defeat by Chris Christie in his bid for reelection.

 

https://www.northjersey.com/news/business/mf-global-suits-settled-1.1369796

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TRUMP ON CRIMINAL ILLEGALS: ‘BOTH SIDES NEED TO GROW UP AND PUT AMERICA’S INTERESTS FIRST’

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by ALEXANDER MARLOW6 Jul 20153186

Univision and NBC may claim to be distancing themselves from Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump over his recently stated opposition to criminal illegal aliens, but Trump’s strong stance against criminal illegals has been well established for years and buttressed by governmental data.

In his 2011 bestselling book, Time to Get Tough, Trump held both Republicans and Democrats responsible for the nation’s failed immigration policies and cited Government Accountability Office (GAO) data revealing the economic costs the nation’s 351,000 criminal aliens imposed on U.S. taxpayers at the time.

“Both sides need to grow up and put America’s interests first—and that means doing what’s right for our economy, our national security, and our public safety,” wrote Trump. “According to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) 2011 report, America’s prisons house 351,000 criminal aliens who committed a crime after having already broken the law by entering America illegally.”

Trump added, “Making taxpayers pay for 351,000 criminals who should never have been here in the first place is ridiculous.”

https://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/07/06/trump-on-criminal-illegals-both-sides-need-to-grow-up-and-put-americas-interests-first/

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Star-Ledger Ed Board Accused of McCarthyism

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Star-Ledger Ed Board does McCarthyism better than McCarthy

June 25,2015

By Scott St. Clair (https://savejersey.com/ )
The Star-Ledger hit a new low of innuendo and guilt-by-association smear tactics in editorially trying to link racists to the Republican Party. You get an A+ in McCarthyism and dirty tricks, but an F in integrity and respect for any point of view other than your own.The editorial’s not-so subliminal message is that Republicans who disagree with the paper’s editorial board or President Obama on policy do so for racially-motivated reasons.

Why not consider that maybe, just maybe, those who disagree do so because the policies are horrible, not in the national interest and complete failures?

Despite the insistence of some, it’s not a tautology that considering Obamacare a waste of money and a failure is racist. Wanting to secure our borders and control who comes into the country isn’t ipso facto bigotry. And maybe those of us who don’t want to see Medicaid expanded believe it’s too expensive and fiscally irresponsible.

clinton goreSmall and insecure thinking slaps the race card to cripple what should be legitimate debate.To paraphrase the words of attorney Joseph Welch in 1954 when he rebuked McCarthy: “You’ve done enough, Star-Ledger. Have you no sense of decency, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?”

The True History of the Democratic Racist Party

https://theridgewoodblog.net/the-true-history-of-the-democratic-racist-party/

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Democrats use Confederate flag flap in South Carolina to solicit donations

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Somethings never change

By Victor Morton – The Washington Times – Monday, June 22, 2015

National Democrats tried Monday evening to raise funds off the South Carolina Confederate flag flap.

In a blast email sent after 7 p.m. Monday, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee said the issue of the Confederate flag, which zoomed to the front of national consciousness after a white supremacist was charged with nine counts of murder after a shooting at a historic black church in Charleston, was “not over yet.”

The email says Gov. Nikki Haley’s announcement is not legislation and asked recipients to answer the question, “Should South Carolina take down the Confederate flag from its state Capitol?”

It reads, “41,338 people have recorded their answer — but we still haven’t heard from you,” it asks the subscriber by name.

A person cannot answer the survey question at the DCCC site without putting in an email address, which gives the DCCC the ability to solicit contributions.

Once the person answers the question and provides an address, the page reads, “Thanks for taking the instant poll today! Now take the next step: Donate $3 or more to support Democrats, and we’ll send you this free ‘Yes. I Voted Obama’ sticker in the mail!”

Read more: https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/jun/22/democrats-use-confederate-flag-flap-south-carolina/#ixzz3dt5IKkaW

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President Jimmy Carter to Speak at the Y

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President Jimmy Carter to Speak at the Y
Wed, July 08, 2015
Time: 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Location: YWCA Bergen County, YMCA of Ridgewood, 112 Oak St., Ridgewood, NJ 07450

YWCA Bergen County and Ridgewood YMCA, in cooperation with Bookends Bookstore, is proud to welcome former President Jimmy Carter, to the Y to discuss his new book, A Full Life.

Tickets are $33 each and include a signed copy of the book. Tickets and books are required and must be purchased in advance by visiting Bookends Bookstore at 211 Ridgewood Ave in Ridgewood or calling (201) 4445-0726.

No photo or personalization will be done at the signing.

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Assembly Republicans say Democrats, not Christie, to blame for N.J. economy

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TRENTON — Facing a difficult battle to take control of the lower house of the state Legislature in November, state Assembly Republicans defended Gov. Chris Christie’s stewardship of New Jersey’s economy on Thursday.

“Some people want to blame the governor. The governor has been the only thing between your wallet and the state Assembly Democrats, period,” Assembly Minority Leader Jon Bramnick (R-Union) said at a press conference Thursday in front of the Statehouse, standing with several members of his caucus and a couple non-incumbent candidates.

“He’s vetoed or blocked all of the tax-raising attempts by the Democrats,” Bramnick said.

Democrats hold a 48-32 majority in the Assembly, and have been in command of the lower house since 2002. With just a few competitive Assembly races expected in November, most who pay attention to state elections give Republicans little chance of taking control.

Christie, a Republican, has an approval rating in the 30s in New Jersey as he travels around the country preparing for a widely expected run for president.

Federal data released Wednesday showed that New Jersey’s economy was one of the slowest growing in the nation in 2014.

https://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2015/06/assembly_republicans_say_democrats_not_christie_to.html

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Readers say NJ Supreme Court Decision will have Far Reaching Impact

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If the matter was rejected by NJ’s Supreme Court, it’s highly unlikely that The Federal Supreme Court would go the other way. The SCOTUS tends to lean slightly more to the right than their NJ colleagues. There’s also massive nationwide ramifications for the SCOTUS to consider here, as this same issue applies throughout the country. Many States and local Governments are operating at near bankruptcy. The fat lady is doing voice scales in her dressing room.

Yep, we need some real longer-term, structural change in NJ govt spending. A few ideas being thrown around include open bidding NJ state road & infrastructure projects to private sector firms to cut out union & Mafioso graft, increased pension contributions and health insurance premiums paid by state & municipal employees and retirees for health. Asking state & municipal workers to roll back many of the pension enhancements they’ve been given since the 1990s under Florio and Whitman, i.e. maximum pensionable income should be capped like California at $110K, with pensions at 50% of that, ie $55K, in-line with current PFRS avg $57K. New employees should be moved to 401(k) style defined contribution plans, not defined benefit anymore so that politicians can no longer interfere in pension funding issues and raid the funds for Union pet projects like Xanadu, and bye-bye to accumulated leave payouts upon retirement at up to six months of avg final comp rate – “use it or lose it”. Taxes are probably going up too if all of these concessions are made, the sooner the better.

Probably worth looking at, here’s the road map to putting state finances on a more sustainable path now that Christie can get on with it https://www.state.nj.us/treasury/pdf/FinalFebruaryCommissionReport.pdf

 

Read the NJ Supreme Court’s full pen/ben decision here

In a long-awaited decision today that comes as a boon to Gov. Chris Christie and a blow public sector unions, the state’s Supreme Court ruled that the Republican’s administration does not have to make a slated contribution to a beleaguered pension and benefit system, striking down an earlier lower court decision that ruled the opposite.

In the 115 page document, Justice Jaynee LaVecchia wrote on behalf of the majority that the court cannot be a mediator of fiscal troubles “in place of the political branches.”   (Brush/PolitickerNJ)

Read the NJ Supreme Court’s full pen/ben decision here | New Jersey News, Politics, Opinion, and Analysis

 

New Jersey’s Top Court Rules Christie Can Skip Pension Payments

New Jersey’s highest court ruled on Tuesday that Gov. Chris Christie could skip the pension payments he promised to make in the signature law of his tenure, averting a huge fiscal crisis just weeks before the state closes its books for the year.  (Zernike/The New York Times)

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/10/nyregion/christie-wont-be-forced-to-make-pension-payments.html?_r=0