>75% Say Free Markets Better Than Government Management of Economy, Political Class Disagrees
Friday, July 23, 2010
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 75% of Likely Voters prefer free markets over a government managed economy. Just 14% think a government managed economy is better while 11% are not sure. These figures have changed little since December.
Polling released earlier this week showed that Americans overwhelmingly believe that more competition and less regulation is better for the economy than more regulation and less competition.
Not surprisingly, America’s Political Class is far less enamored with the virtues of a free market. In fact, Political Class voters narrowly prefer a government managed economy over free markets by a 44% to 37% margin. However, among Mainstream voters, 90% prefer the free market.
Outside of the Political Class, free markets are preferred across all demographic and partisan lines. This gap may be one reason that 68% of voters believe the Political Class doesn’t care what most Americans think. Fifty-nine percent (59%) are embarrassed by the behavior of the Political Class.
>THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN UPTON NY HAS ISSUED A
* TORNADO WARNING FOR… PASSAIC COUNTY IN NORTHEAST NEW JERSEY… NORTHERN ESSEX COUNTY IN NORTHEAST NEW JERSEY… SOUTHERN BERGEN COUNTY IN NORTHEAST NEW JERSEY…
* UNTIL 815 PM EDT…
* AT 735 PM EDT…NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO 8 MILES WEST OF WEST MILFORD…MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 45 MPH.
* OTHER LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO BLOOMINGDALE…POMPTON LAKES…WAYNE…FAIRFIELD…HAWTHORNE… CALDWELL…RIDGEWOOD…PATERSON…PARAMUS…BLOOMFIELD…PASSAIC… HACKENSACK…MORNINGSIDE HEIGHTS…TETERBORO…RUTHERFORD… RIDGEFIELD…LYNDHURST…FORT LEE…ENGLEWOOD AND BERGENFIELD
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…
WHEN A TORNADO WARNING IS ISSUED BASED ON DOPPLER RADAR…IT MEANS THAT STRONG ROTATION HAS BEEN DETECTED IN THE STORM. A TORNADO MAY ALREADY BE ON THE GROUND…OR IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP SHORTLY. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS DANGEROUS STORM…MOVE INDOORS AND TO THE LOWEST LEVEL OF THE BUILDING. STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS. IF DRIVING…DO NOT SEEK SHELTER UNDER A HIGHWAY OVERPASS.
THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE DURING A TORNADO IS IN A BASEMENT. GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR OTHER PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE…SEEK SHELTER ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF THE BUILDING IN AN INTERIOR HALLWAY OR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET. — USE BLANKETS OR PILLOWS TO COVER YOUR BODY AND ALWAYS STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.
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>PJ… Why no story on how Ridgewood has been screwing over Glen Rock, Midland Park, and Wyckoff on the water rates?
How come no story on how the new bathrooms on vets field are non ADA compliant and have to be redone?
How about the storm drains on Crest that were filled in and now the water runs into the residents homes..
How about all the white powder that was all over the road in the rain storm the other day out of the water tank? Where have ya been my friend… we all count on you!
> Donovan Defends Support for Investment in “White Elephant” Xanadu
An Open letter:
Dear Dennis:
There you go again. Trying, clumsily I might add, to misrepresent my positions. But this time you’ve shown that you don’t know the difference between a bailout and an investment. Let me help you.
What I have tentatively endorsed for Xanadu is a tightly controlled public investment in a project which has already received more than $2 billion of private investment with more on the way. This investment would be unlike the deal you and your Democrat friends made with your cronies at EnCap. You remember. The deal which resulted in the public loss of tens of millions of taxpayer dollars. The deal which generated a scathing report from the Inspector General and is now rumored to be under investigation by the US Attorney.
The investment in Xanadu will create thousands of construction and full time jobs and be repaid by revenues generated by the development. Dennis, do you oppose investing in job creating projects? Don’t you want to help unemployed Bergen County residents?
You said that the investment I support is a “bailout” for billionaires. Dennis, if you’re referring to Steve Ross of the Related Companies I’ll bet he’s surprised he needs a bailout–he’s not even there yet, is he?
Dennis, no wonder the County’s finances are in such bad shape. But now that you know the difference between a bailout and an investment I hope that you’ll join with me in supporting economic growth and job creation at Xanadu. Working families in Bergen County are hoping that you’ve seen the light.
Thursday, July 22, 2010 BY JASON BRAFF The Ridgewood News STAFF WRITER
The Board of Education (BOE) is going to get by with a little help from its friends.
About a dozen local parent-based sports organizations have committed to help fund a lease-purchase agreement for field lights at Ridgewood High School’s (RHS) Stadium Field and Stevens Field.
The groups have pledged to the BOE a payment of $106,000, which would cover the first year of the lease-purchase agreement, and would subsequently pay no less than 40 percent of the full payment for each of the four remaining years of the lease.
The BOE voted to accept a bid costing about $500,000 to install both sets of lights at a meeting on Monday night.
“In the development of the bond referendum, the idea of lights being put in the fields was discussed and was a part of the planning, but it was made clear that without assistance we would not be able to afford this,” Fishbein said at the meeting.
The private groups will donate about $40,000 a year to the board in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 to help offset the annual cost of $105,000. The total project will cost $498,500, according to Assistant Superintendent for Business Angelo DeSimone. The $65,000 a year that the board will be responsible for will come out of its budget for those four years. According to DeSimone, however, the board hopes to subsidize those costs through another fundraising effort from private groups that offered to help raise money for naming rights on the new turf fields.
“We’re going to be looking at other ways to raise money to defray the costs of the lease payment,” DeSimone said in an interview after the meeting. “But right now the board is committed obviously to the full financial obligation. The right answer as we sit here today is that we’ll have to put the next payment in the school budget.”
In December, voters passed a $38 million bond referendum, which will cost the average taxpayer about $300 a year for the next 25 years, by less than 100 votes; the money will help fund major renovations and additions across the district. Fishbein said the bond referendum bids accepted for the first rounds of referendum projects have come in favorable to the district, and district officials hope the savings may be able to help subsidize the final years of the lights payment if it has not been already paid for through donations.
>California Official’s $800,000 Salary in City of 38,000 Triggers Protests
Hundreds of residents of one of the poorest municipalities in Los Angeles County shouted in protest last night as tensions rose over a report that the city’s manager earns an annual salary of almost $800,000.
An overflow crowd packed a City Council meeting in Bell, a mostly Hispanic city of 38,000 about 10 miles (16 kilometers) southeast of Los Angeles, to call for the resignation of Mayor Oscar Hernandez and other city officials. Residents left standing outside the chamber banged on the doors and shouted “fuera,” or “get out” in Spanish.
It was the first council meeting since the Los Angeles Times reported July 15 that Chief Administrative Officer Robert Rizzo earns $787,637 — with annual 12 percent raises — and that Bell pays its police chief $457,000, more than Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck makes in a city of 3.8 million people. Bell council members earn almost $100,000 for part-time work.
City Attorney Edward Lee said the council members couldn’t discuss salaries in public without advance notice. The council then adjourned for a private session. About an hour later, the council members returned, and Hernandez read a statement saying the city would prepare a report on the salaries and seek public comment at the next council meeting, scheduled for Aug. 16.
Residents shouted in protest. Lee said he would have the room cleared if people continued to speak out of line. Police Chief Randy Adams said the fire department wanted to end the meeting because the crowd outside was blocking the door.
RIDGEWOOD, N.J. – The co-owner of Ridgewood, New Jersey mortgage brokerage firm Diversified Financial Group, d/b/a Residential Mortgage Corporation, and a former firm employee, both pleaded guilty today to wire fraud conspiracy in connection with a mortgage fraud scheme. In the process, the broker named the firm’s co-owner, Bergen County Improvement Authority Chairman Ronald J. O’Malley, as a co-conspirator in the fraud scheme.
Edward Olimpio, 47, of Boonton, New Jersey, and Rachell Fischbein, 28, of Hillsdale, New Jersey, both entered guilty pleas before United States District Judge Susan D. Wigenton, admitting that they conspired with each other and others – including a co-conspirator who during the relevant time period served as the Chairman and a Commissioner of the Bergen County Improvement Authority (BCIA) – to commit wire fraud in connection with fraudulent mortgage and home equity loans brokered by Residential Mortgage between 2006 and 2009.
According to an unnamed source, the BCIA commissioner named in court today was current Chairman Ronald J. O’Malley.
The federal court Information identifies the co-conspirator as “CC-1”, who “was a co-owner and principal of Residential Mortgage” along with Olivio. According to online sources of corporate information, such as Dunn & Bradstreet’s Hoovers service, O’Malley is on record as an owner and officer of Residential Mortgage.
Things are getting so bad in Newark that the mayor has ordered the government to stop buying toilet paper.
It’s part of Newark Mayor Cory Booker’s belt-tightening plans that include reducing most city workers to a 4-day work week and shuttering city pools. Booker estimates that the pool closures alone would save $250,000. He also says that no gas will be purchased for municipal vehicles that are not deemed critically important.
Police officers, firefighters and sanitation workers would not be affected by the furlough plan. City workers were already bracing for furloughs starting in August. The number of unpaid days would increase from 11 to 19 with Booker’s plan.
The city budget shortfall is $70 million and Booker plans to meet the revenue shortfall with budget cuts instead of property tax increases.
“Taxes can not be the answer,” Booker said.
Booker says property taxes in Newark have gone up 76 percent in last decade and 19 percent in the past five years.
>Christie- Parochialism could kill Meadowlands – A.C. overhaul
Gov. Chris Christie said Wednesday that parochialism among factions in and out of Trenton could derail his ambitious plans for an overhaul of the Meadowlands and Atlantic City.The governor was referring to a study issued by his advisory commission on New Jersey Gaming, Sports and Entertainment that recommends massive changes to both areas including public private partnerships and the possible privatization of some state owned venues, the creation of a “Clean and Safe” Tourism District in Atlantic City potentially run by the state and aid to the Xanadu shopping and entertainment complex to help the troubled project come to completion. (Isherwood, PolitickerNJ)
The Kasschau Memorial Shell is an outdoor amphitheater located on Veteran’s Field, behind Village Hall
at 131 N. Maple Avenue. It was dedicated in 1958 as a tribute to Frank Kasschau, an accomplished and
beloved musician in Ridgewood.
The Kasschau Memorial Shell operates under the auspices of the Village of Ridgewood, Department of
Parks and Recreation, to provide a variety of free quality family entertainment twice weekly from early
June through mid-August. In addition, many local organizations and businesses provide much needed
funds to support these programs.
2010 Schedule of Programs – 8:30 p.m. performances
7/22/2010 McVey Family and Friends Broadway and Beyond Sponsored by A.M. Rotary and Boiling Springs Savings Bank Bring a chair and enjoy this free concert under the stars! Begins at 8:30PM on Vets Field.
7/27/2010 Rio Clemente – Bishop of Jazz Sponsored by Hudson City Savings Bank Bring a chair to Vets Field and enjoy a free concert under the stars! Begins at 8:30PM.
7/29/2010 Yester Daze Doo Wop Sponsored by the Ridgewood News
8/3/2010 Marlene VerPlanck Sponsored by Valley National Bank and Village of Ridgewood Tuesday, august 3 at 8:30PM on Vet’s Field enjoy American and Popular Jazz at a free concert under the stars! Bring a chair and enjoy!
We have just received a shipment of these extremely rare pre-embargo cuban cigars.
Quantities are very limited.
The Tobacco Shop of Ridgewood | 10 Chestnut Street | Ridgewood, New Jersey 07450 Phone: 201-447-2204 | Email: [email protected] Hours: Monday – Saturday 10:00AM – 5:30PM and Thursday Night 6:30PM – 8:30PM
Published: July 21. 2010 4:00AM PST Bank of the Cascades once again received an extension from two investors who have offered to buy $65 million of stock if the bank raises an additional $85 million in other private investment, now by July 30.
The extension is the third since December, when Bank of the Cascades withdrew its public offering of $93 million in stock because of bad market conditions. Instead, the bank said in February it would raise the $85 million in private offerings by May 31, which was later extended to June 30 and July 15.
The bank first entered into a purchase agreement with the investors, a New York-based hedge fund and the company’s largest investor, in September 2009, according to a previous article in The Bulletin. If Bank of the Cascades raises the $85 million, the hedge fund, known as Two-Forty Associates LLC, agreed to invest $45 million. David Bolger agreed to add in $20 million, according to the article.
>N.J. Gov. Christie plans takeover of Atlantic City casino district, sale of Meadowlands Racetrack
Gov. Chris Christie will announce plans for an unprecedented overhaul of New Jersey’s troubled gaming industry Wednesday — including a complete takeover of the Atlantic City casino and entertainment district, and the sell-off or shutdown of the struggling Meadowlands Racetrack. The Atlantic City takeover removes virtually all local control from the gaming district, from police protection to garbage pickup. (Margolin/Sherman, The Star Ledger)
>Christie Won’t Raise New Jersey Taxes to Fill $10.5 Billion Budget Gap
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie won’t raise taxes to close a $10.5 billion deficit next year, a gap almost matching the record hole he and lawmakers filled in the current $29.4 billion budget, his spokesman said. The fiscal 2012 deficit estimate by David Rosen, chief budget officer for the non-partisan Office of Legislative Services, is based on using existing revenue sources to fund all state programs and obligations. Christie, a Republican who took office in January, cut services and spending to close a $10.7 billion gap in this year’s plan without raising taxes. (Dopp, Bloomberg)
