You know what i said at 308 eastern? we want a million jobs an hour. that’s what we want. what we got looked like a good report. i said let’s get the calculator out and i did. so did my sources and big blogs many people read like zero hedge. the labor force participation rate if you look at nonseasonally adjusted, a fresh low going back to april of ’83. if you look at seasonally adjusted a fresh low participation rate going back to december of ’81. what does that mean in english? shrinkage. shrinkage. 1.2 million people are now not considered unemployed anymore. they just have left the system. we need to concentrate on the internals and eventually we want to watch the fixed income market to see if some of this sets in as people do their ciphering. back to you.
> ‘Islamist Firster’ president not what he claimed By Charles Hurt-The Washington Times
ANALYSIS/OPINION:
GOLAN HEIGHTS — Surveying the live minefields, cratered roads and mortar-pocked concrete buildings along the border here between Syria and Israel, it is hard not to be reminded of the historic and monumental disappointment President Obama has been.
When he was campaigning to become the most powerful man in the last standing superpower on Earth, he spoke passionately about changing the world, restoring America’s greatness and bringing more peace and fairness to everyone.
>‘Hybrid’ charters will meld online lessons with conventional instruction
A great deal was made of the Christie administration’s last round of charter school approvals, and the lack of any suburban charters on the list.
But the urban ones that were approved are interesting in themselves, including two in Trenton and Newark that are trying a new model of education, mixing online learning with face-to-face instruction in a setting unlike any other in the state.
The person making the pitch is Ben Rayer, a self-described education “entrepreneur” out of Philadelphia who won approval to bring the new model to two of New Jersey’s toughest cities. (Mooney, NJ Spotlight)
>Ridgewood News editorial: Keep voting in April
Thursday, January 26, 2012
The Ridgewood News
Governor Christie recently gave local school boards the option to decide whether to move elections to November in a cost-saving effort. The Ridgewood Board of Education made the right decision this week when members voted to keep elections in April.
>DANIEL FISHBEIN: Individuality at every level Thursday, January 26, 2012 By DANIEL FISHBEIN COLUMNIST
Sometimes families who move into the village are surprised when I tell them they are welcome to enroll their school-age children, even if it is in the middle of the year. When this happens I am both equally surprised and also reminded of the many aspects of public education that we take for granted, including the fact that everyone is welcome and school-age students are accepted independent of when they arrive in town or whether or not they have learning issues.
Legislation ensures the basic tenet that all children have the right to a public education, and as a public school system, the Ridgewood district operates according to the corresponding, and large, body of federal and state laws. But the Ridgewood district is unique because it dares to ascribe to the notion that the highest educational standards should be implemented alongside that legislation.
This vision of excellence has long been established as a core value of a Ridgewood education. I am fortunate to lead such a great public school district in a community that values this highest level of comprehensive education for all students. As part of that vision of excellence, the Ridgewood Public Schools is committed to celebrating all of our students and the individuality of each school, at every level.
>36 Obama aides owe $833,000 in back taxes Andrew Malcolm Political News & Commentary
How embarrassing this must be for President Obama, whose major speech theme so far this campaign season has been that every single American, no matter how rich, should pay their “fair share” of taxes.
Because how unfair — indeed, un-American — it is for an office worker like, say, Warren Buffet’s secretary to dutifully pay her taxes, while some well-to-do people with better educations and higher incomes end up paying a much smaller tax rate.
Or, worse, skipping their taxes altogether.
A new report just out from the Internal Revenue Service reveals that 36 of President Obama’s executive office staff owe the country $833,970 in back taxes. These people working for Mr. Fair Share apparently haven’t paid any share, let alone their fair share.
Previous reports have shown how well-paid Obama’s White House staff is, with 457 aides pulling down more than $37 million last year. That’s up seven workers and nearly $4 million from the Bush administration’s last year.
Nearly one-third of Obama’s aides make more than $100,000 with 21 being paid the top White House salary of $172,200, each.
>5 RHS students were inducted last month into the high school’s new Donahue Fellowship program.
RHS music students Catherine Janson (’15), Johnny DeCesare (’15), Matthew Casale (’14), Miranda Canilang (’13), and Trey Shore (’12) were inducted last month into the high school’s new Donahue Fellowship program, honoring the life and memory of 2003 RHS grad Connor Donohue. The Fellows were selected based on their love of music, motivation to study music seriously, and willingness to serve as a mentor and role model to other musicians. Acceptance into the Fellowship includes weekly private music lessons, monthly music seminars with a professional musician, master classes with faculty at local universities, and opportunities to attend concerts in the area.
The Fellowship was established by RHS alumni Colin Mead (’03), Val Allevi (’02), MichaelAaron Flicker (’01), Director of Bands Jeffrey Haas, and is currently led by Alison Crossley (’01). The Fellowship is a recognized non-profit organization and operates solely on fundraising and donations. Donations can be sent to: Donohue Fellowship c/o Valerie Allevi, 411A Gregory Avenue, Weehawken, NJ 07086. Checks should be made payable to RHS Band Council Alumni. Any questions about the Fellowship can be sent to [email protected]
I’m about to use a dirty word. It’s the “M” word. Not everyone dislikes the word. In fact, the “M” word is a word the President and others on the Left are quite fond of. So what is the word? Mandate – the antithesis of freedom. Compulsion, force, coercion, and requirement, are all common synonyms of the “M” word. Obama and his allies quite simply love to mandate.
To name a few Obama mandates: Obamacare mandates that all Americans carry health insurance by 2014 or face a stiff penalty. The Dodd-Frank financial industry overhaul, through the controversial Volcker Rule,mandates that by July of this year certain banks cannot buy and sell securities for their own benefit. In the name of energy efficiency, through a special office of the Department of Energy, the Administration mandates what kind of appliances the American people can buy for their homes. Obama has mandated that the cars Americansbuy must achieve 56 mpg, i.e., fully electric powered engines, by 2025. Also in the name of energy efficiency,Obama has mandated that we can only buy a certain type of mercury-filled light bulb.
The reason why the “M” word comes so easy to the President and others on the Left, is that they are starting from a very different point. The Left claim that American principles include fairness, equal opportunity, and equal responsibility for all. Now I have read the Declaration of Independence, and I have read the Constitution,and I have read the Federalist Papers, and I simply cannot find these so-called “principles” in any of these documents. What I found are words like freedom, liberty, pursuit of happiness, and natural-born rights. These are America’s founding principles.
Besides trampling our natural-born freedoms, disregarding the Constitution, and treating the American people like we are too stupid to make decisions for ourselves, mandates like these also have significant negative economic consequences.
Many of these mandates increase the cost of doing business. For instance, the rules and regulations imposed by President Obama alone have increased the cost of doing business in this country by tens of billions of dollars.If business can afford to, they will pass along the increases to their customers as higher prices – like a hiddentax increase. They may also sell fewer goods or services, or they will lay off, or simply not hire more workers. What ever the consequence, mandates like those favored by the Left have significantly negative effects on the U.S. economy.
Now, the Obama Administration is imposing a new mandate: as part of Obamacare regulations the President is mandating most health plans to fully cover contraception without co-payments or deductibles.
The new rule will not affect government-administered, i.e., publicly funded, health care. Those on public assistance already have their birth control fully subsidized. Instead, private health plans will now be required to provide birth control to all their participants, including those who would have already been on birth control with or without the mandate. So, guess what? Those of us who have health insurance will soon be paying higher monthly premiums to subsidize the cost of birth control and a laundry list of other family planning items. After all, the manufacturers of these products are not going to provide them for free. (They cost millionsto manufacture, not to mention the significant research and development costs that go into developing many of these products, and let’s face it, there is nothing wrong with maximizing profits.) And the health insurers who pay for them are not going to just eat the cost. They are going to pass them along to their customers, i.e.,premium-paying Americans – folks like you and me who have health insurance and pay premiums out of our own pockets.
The government’s basis for the new mandate is to reduce the downstream healthcare costs associated with unwanted pregnancies. Putting the moral issues against the mandate, which are significant, aside, the government’s cost-benefit analysis appears to be seriously flawed.
The government, not surprisingly, is overstating the benefit associated with the new mandate. For instance, the number of unintended pregnancies in the U.S. per year covered by the mandate is not as high as the government would have us believe. In fact, although the government claims millions will annually benefit from the mandate, no more than 500,000 unwanted pregnancies would be covered by it. Furthermore, no one is claiming, I’m sure,that the new mandate will motivate the use of birth control in all of these cases or that birth control will preventunintended pregnancies 100% of the time.
And the costs associated with the mandate will likely be higher than the government anticipates. Indeed, those who currently have at least a portion of their birth control covered by their insurance will now have 100% of the cost covered. And some of those not currently on birth control – and not counted as an unwanted pregnancy because they didn’t get pregnant – when offered a free lunch may start using a contraceptive. It will cost insurance companies more to fully cover birth control. These increased costs will simply be passed along ashigher premiums. There is no such thing as a free lunch.
Assuming the mandate is even authorized by the Constitution, which I submit it is not, the benefit to society should significantly outweigh the increased costs in order to justify the invasion of our freedom. Once again, it does not.
Mandates are a dirty word not only because they destroy our freedom and keep us under the heavy hand of the nanny state, but they also are invidious because they often impose tax increases on the American people without anyone noticing or batting an eye.
Ian Linker is an attorney living in Ridgewood, New Jersey and is a former Republican candidate for the U.S.Senate from New Jersey.
>NEW DATE: Assemblymen Scott Rumana and David Russo will speak at the Education Center on Tuesday, February 7 at 7:30 p.m
Assemblymen Scott Rumana and David Russo will speak at the Education Center on Tuesday, February 7 at 7:30 p.m. The public is invited to come to 49 Cottage Place, floor 3, to hear them address hot education topics in the Legislature at this time.
Topics to be discussed include: Teacher Tenure Reform Charter Schools Vouchers School Funding School State Aid
Please rsvp to Kathy Kiedaisch in the Superintendent’s Office at [email protected] or 201-670-2700, ext. 10530.
8 N.J. charter schools approved to open in Camden, Newark, Trenton, Jersey City, Vineland-Millville
Eight new charter schools that would open in September in Camden, Newark, Trenton, Jersey City, and
Millville-Vineland have been approved by the state Department of Education.
In Camden, the Charter School for Global Leadership would educate 600 children in grades 9 to 12, the City Invincible Charter School would enroll 600 children in grades K to 8, and the Hope Community Charter School would take 330 children for grades K to 4. (Hester, New Jersey Newsroom)
> Ridgewood preparing for potential weekend snowstorm
FRIDAY JANUARY 20, 2012, 12:52 PM BY JOSEPH CRAMER STAFF WRITER THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
With the first substantial snowfall since October expected this weekend, officials and village staff are preparing street services to address ice and snow on Ridgewood’s roads.
Compared to the unexpected pre-Halloween weekend snowstorm, which caused widespread street closings and power outages, expectations are that this weekend’s snow will be much less severe. Current forecasts place the total accumulation between 2 and 5 inches, with snowfall expected to begin late Friday night and continue into Saturday, ending in the afternoon.
January Promotion offers FREE ONE WEEK Trial Membership.
Prospective members are invited to sign up for a free one-week trial memebership to sample virtually all that the two organizations have to offer.
This unique promotion offers facility-wide access to YMCA/YWCA programming, including fitness, sports, enrichment classes for children, youth, adults, and seniors; lap swimming in two heated indoor pools; and access to the Bolger Fitness Center’s cardio and strength equipment and group exercise classes. (Participants must be 13 and older to use the YMCA Strenght Training Facility and 16 and older to access the BFC.)
Complimentary Trial Membership Passes are available to first-time members only from January 1 throught 31. For details or to sign up for a free week, call 201-444-5600 x313 or x 341. Visit the YM/YW at 112 Oak Street Ridgewood, NJ 0745
>Herald News: Show patience with bullying law FRIDAY, JANUARY 13, 2012 HERALD NEWS
UST five months into one of the toughest anti-bullying laws in the nation, some schools want out.
Onerous paperwork, long hours and cost are several reasons cited by the Ridgewood and River Vale school districts, which are supporting a Warren County school district’s move to have the law overturned.
By all accounts the new requirements are overly time-consuming. Since time also means money, the hit taken by school budgets can be far more than just the cost of running anti-bullying programs. The law didn’t come with any extra funding, however, and schools are bucking what they see as yet another unfunded mandate.
Their distress is understandable, especially since their spending is now restricted by the new 2 percent property tax cap. But not even half a year has elapsed since the law went into effect, and it is simply too early to throw it out entirely. The wiser course is to wait out the year, and then make specific, data-driven suggestions to lawmakers about the best ways to adjust the legislation.
