>March 12 (Bloomberg) — Republicans said they won a parliamentary victory as they try to fight Democrats’ efforts to pass legislation to overhaul the U.S. health-care system.
Republicans said President Barack Obama has to sign a Senate health-care bill into law before the House and Senate can approve changes to it under a process called reconciliation. The Senate parliamentarian told Republicans that a reconciliation bill has to “make changes in law,” said Don Stewart, a spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
“This would be another headwind for Democrats in the House” who oppose provisions in the Senate bill, said John Sullivan, a health-care analyst at Boston-based Leerink Swann & Co. “Their biggest fear has been that they vote for the Senate version and they never get the relief they’re looking for.”
Jim Manley, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, declined to comment.
The prospect of longer odds for passage sent U.S. stocks up yesterday…
> …using an email list from the Village of Ridgewood(rpp) to further one’s personal gain (getting petition signatures for public office) should be more than likely to be considered as an unethical matter.
If ethics play any part in submitting the required number of petitions in order to run for a seat on the council, those that were acquired by unethical means and submitted, justly should be thrown out (considered as null and void).
Who can forget how the rpp conducted a so called ‘survey’ on the Village of Ridgewoods website, and eventually its unethetical ways were called out by the council to redo a proper and unbiased survey. Remember, ethics go a long way.
>A controversial resolution supporting Bergen County’s plan to extend the Saddle River Area Bike Path north to Linwood Avenue was unanimously approved by Ridgewood Village Council members on Wednesday evening. Concurrent with construction of the new bike path segment, County officials have agreed to relocate a “Bark Park” away from nearby Ridgewood homes to another area within the Ridgewood Wild Duck Pond area. It is believed that the “Bark Park” would not have been relocated if Village Council members had refused to allow construction of the bike path over 100 feet of Village of Ridgewood owned property.
However, the Council’s planned introduction of two (2) ordinances associated with establishment of permit parking fees in the Graydon Pool parking lots was scrubbed. Council members had proposed charging Ridgewood High School students $425 per school year to park in either Graydon lot. Parking there is now free. Several residents spoke out against the proposed ordinances during Wednesday evening’s Village Council Public meeting, even though Mayor David T. Pfund announced in advance that Council members would not be introducing either ordinance.
> Broad business coalition opposing health care bill
Mar 9, 2:01 PM (ET)
WASHINGTON (AP) – Major business groups say President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul is a job killer, and they’re launching a multimillion-dollar ad campaign to take that message to voters.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers, and groups ranging from contractors to retailers said Tuesday the Democratic health care bills would raise their expenses, while failing to control health care costs.
Advertisements will start airing nationwide Wednesday on cable television and shift in a few days to 17 states, targeting moderate and conservative Democrats whose votes are critical to passing the bill in the House. The campaign is estimated to cost between $4 million and $10 million, with the insurance industry paying part of the cost.
The Ridgewood Board of Education (BOE) announced that layoffs in the village’s schools will be necessary to manage the 2010/2011 budget. At its meeting last night, the BOE outlined the reduction in school administration and salaries. A district-wide meeting was called Monday afternoon to inform teachers and administrators of cuts that seem all but inevitable.
According to the current budget outline, approximately $2.1 million, listed under “proposed initial payroll cuts,” in personnel reductions are anticipated, as well as a $1.4 million cut in purchasing costs, which includes textbooks and school supplies.
School administration may see $221,736 in cuts. For grades one through five, an $81,738 reduction in salaries is listed; for grades six through eight, a $282,813 reduction in salaries may be necessary; and for grades nine through twelve, a salary reduction of $224,944 could be on the horizon.
“I just want to say,” said board member Sheila Brogan, “none of these cuts are good cuts.” School faculty spoke during the public comment portion of the BOE meeting, and expressed outrage that they weren’t informed sooner. Michael Yannone, a teacher at Ridgewood High School, wanted to know why actual numbers were not presented to teachers at the meeting earlier in the day.
“This seems really odd that this information wasn’t made available,” he said. “Here’s the information that we wanted at the meeting and couldn’t get.” Superintendent Daniel Fishbein said the board needed to be informed first of the proposed cuts.
“People should know that there’s a glaring zero for cuts here at the Education Center,” Yannone said, referring to the fact that there are currently no proposed reductions in staff at BOE headquarters.
> Garrett: How to deal with our fiscal mess Sunday, March 7, 2010 BY SCOTT GARRETT The Record
Scott Garrett represents New Jersey’s Fifth Congressional District.
NEW JERSEY is in a fiscal crisis,” said Governor Christie in his address to the New Jersey Legislature regarding the budget for fiscal year 2010. Christie is staring down the barrel at the brutal consequences of excessive taxing and spending, and he is not cowering under its shadow. And make no mistake, the shadow is intimidating.
New Jersey has the highest state and local taxes in the country in addition to having toll roads and a 7 percent sales tax. Total unfunded pension and medical benefit liabilities are $90 billion because of underpaid pension contributions and astronomical retirement payouts and benefits.
All of this, and New Jersey has a $2 billion 2010 budget gap and a projected $11 billion dollar budget gap for 2011.
The most sobering numbers come from the manner in which New Jersey residents have responded to Trenton’s reckless behavior. A recent study found that more than 300,000 households have departed from New Jersey between 2004 and 2008, taking $70 billion in wealth and more than $1 billion in charitable donations with them.
People are now forced to flee our great state because of grotesque tax hikes levied to support a bloated and unmanageable debt. Although Trenton thinks it has the ability to print money, it has forgotten that taxpayers of New Jersey do not have bottomless pockets.
While Christie is not the first governor to inherit fiscal problems, he is the first in recent memory to deal with them in a direct, honest and collaborative manner. Instead of wishing away the problems of excessive spending and taxation, he is asking lawmakers to stop “protecting their piece of turf” and “join the sacrifice, come to the center of the room and be part of the solution.”
I applaud his efforts and I fully support the governor in his crusade.
As New Jersey prepares to take the difficult steps to find real solutions, those of us serving in Washington, D.C., need to begin confronting the federal government’s similar fiscal problems. Like New Jersey, the federal government’s spending problems are also very real.
According to Moody’s Investors Services, unless there are significant changes in the coming decade, the United States could lose its AAA credit rating. The consequences of this downgrade range from terrible to catastrophic.
Despite a dedicated 12.4 percent payroll tax used to fund it, the federal pension system (Social Security) has promised approximately $17 trillion more in benefits than it can pay for.
Despite projections that the government health care programs (Medicare and Medicaid) are underfunded by $121,000 per person, the Democrats in Congress announced as their biggest domestic priority the creation of a new health care measure.
Despite warnings, such as the one issued by Moody’s, that current levels of borrowing by the federal government are unsustainable, President Obama proposed a budget that would double the national debt in five years.
And despite the president’s calls for bipartisanship, most of the major legislation passed this past year has featured bipartisan opposition and only partisan support.
As unpleasant as they may be, these are the facts and no one disputes them. What were once problems of the future have become problems of the present; the day when Congress and the president will have to come to grips with excessive government spending is quickly approaching. I hope that when that day comes, we can look to Christie’s bold approach to fixing New Jersey as an example of dealing with the problems in a responsible, collaborative way.
Scott Garrett represents New Jersey’s Fifth Congressional District.
Residents in Ridgewood’s South Broad Street area have formed a group to challenge the Village Council’s recent decision to pass a zoning change that will allow a large building which neighbors argue will be out of character with the area.
Rita Blacker, who lives on nearby Woodside Avenue, told The Ridgewood News that neighbors have formed the Ridgewood Ad Hoc Committee to Fight Spot Zoning in response to the council’s decision to allow West Bergen Mental Health to demolish and rebuild a home it owns at 234 S. Broad St. The home houses four adults with Asperger’s syndrome.
The new design may be about 42 feet high, and it will include 10 apartment units for adults with Asperger’s and one unit for a live-in counselor.
“There was a lot of unhappiness throughout the community with the decision of the town council,” Blacker said.
The committee has already met and reached out to state politicians, including N.J. Sen. Kevin O’Toole.
“Senator O’Toole wanted everyone to know that they could contact his office as well to show their disappointment with the spot zoning,” Blacker said.
Blacker said she was concerned that the council’s decision has set a precedent which could be applied to any property in the village. The issue is not about affordable housing of individuals with Asperger’s syndrome, she said, but rather how the situation was handled and how people were notified about the decision.
Dozens of residents rallied at a Feb. 24 council meeting to no avail, when the governing body voted 3-2 to allow for the zoning change on West Bergen’s single piece of property.
Blacker also mentioned how the proposed expansion at The Valley Hospital will increase the village’s Council on Affordable Housing obligation, and those housing units will have to be built somewhere in Ridgewood.
“The expansion of Valley Hospital affects more than the people who live around that area,” Blacker said. “I don’t think people really understand or know that. And there’s going to be a point when South Broad Street is not going to be able to absorb all of these housing units. It’s going to be physically impossible, and other areas are going to have to start absorbing these units.”
>Caught in the middle of ABC Channel 7 vs Cablevision? Here’s how you can still watch the Oscars Sunday, March 7th 2010, 1:24 PM
If you have Cablevision and ABC has gone dark on your TV, here are some alternative ways to follow tonight’s Academy Awards:
ONLINE: Starting at 6 p.m., the red carpet arrivals will be streamed live online at Oscar.com. If you have a Facebook account, you can even ask some of the stars questions.
Oscar.com will also have a “Backstage Cam” showing footage from behind the scenes and press room interviews of winners after they’ve left the stage.
Red carpet coverage from the Associated Press will also be available at www.livestream.com/academyawards, starting at 6 p.m. The AP stream is also on Facebook: become a fan of AP Live to see it.
ABC’s Oscars site has not announced plans to stream the actual ceremony live, but clips should be posted frequently at abc.com.
Clips should also show up quickly at the official Oscars YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/user/Oscars) and on Hulu.com
Unofficial live streaming may be available at video sites like justin.tv, tv.com, ustream.com, freedocast.com, and atdhe.net.
This Russian site claims it will carry live stream of the telecast: watch-oscar-online.com
ON A BLOG: Hundreds of sites are live-blogging the ceremony. Best bets include Entertainment Weekly, Film.com, the Onion’s A.V. Club, the LA Times and, presumably, oscarsliveblog.com
ON TWITTER: search for the hashtag #oscar for a flood of news and opinion from micro-bloggers across the land.
ON YOUR IPHONE: Several free apps promise to update results as they are announced, including the AT&T Film Awards app and the Vanity Fair Hollywood app. The AP’s Livestream feed can also
FROM A CUSHY THEATRE SEAT: If you have $150 and some fine duds, head to the official Oscar watching party at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall. Viewers get hors d’oeuvres, cocktails and live jazz before the show and can watch the telecast from theater seats on a giant screen. The open bar runs all evening. More info at www.nycgo.com/OscarNight.
AT A FRIEND’S HO– USE: Lean on pals who have Time Warner, RCN, Verizon, a satellite dish or Direct-TV to host an Oscar party.
In these times of economic distress, massive job losses, shrunken businesses, bloated governments and runaway public spending, we’ve been waiting for some politician (other than Ron Paul) to stand and tell the truth. Politicians excel at “kicking the can down the road” — that is, postponing the inevitable reckoning for unsustainable spending until they are either safely out of office or dead.
But behold! The newly elected governor of New Jersey, Republican Chris Christie, stood in front of 200 of his state’s mayors last week and told them basically that there is no more road down which to kick that proverbial can. In his speech at the New Jersey League of Municipalities, Mr. Christie began by calling the legislature’s $29 billion budget something out of “Alice in Wonderland.” He told the collected hizzoners that the old game of tax and spend was over. He described unhappy meetings in his treasurer’s office, where he was presented with 378 possible freezes and lapses to be used to balance the budget. He accepted 375 of them.
One would think this frank talk would get a lot of media coverage, but as important as I think it to be, the only way I learned about it was from Mike Shedlock’s invaluable blog, Mish’s Global Economic Trend Analysis. The talk was 24 minutes long and contains blunt descriptions of New Jersey’s huge fiscal problems and the necessary, painful steps that must be taken to remedy them.
“Our citizens are already the most overtaxed in America,” the governor said. “U.S. mayors hear it all the time. You know that the public appetite for increasing taxes has reached an end.” Later, he said, “You know, at some point, there has to be parity between what is happening in the real world and what is happening in the public sector world. The money does not grow on trees outside this building or outside your municipal building. It comes from the hard-working people of our communities who are suffering and are hurting right now.
“And so we need to get honest with each other,” Mr. Christie said. “In this instance, the political class [is] lagging behind the public on this. The public is ready to hear that tough choices have to be made. They’re not going to like it. Don’t confuse the two. But they are ready to hear the truth.” The truth is, for New Jersey and any number of other states and municipalities, it’s useless to pretend; we can have no more of telling people that somebody else is going to foot the bill when that’s no longer true.
“We have no time left,” said the governor, “We have no room left to borrow. We have no room left to tax. So we merely have time left to do this. We are all reaching the edge of a cliff. And it reminds me a bit of that part of ‘Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid’ where he had the seminal decision to make. So what did they do? They held hands and jumped off the cliff. We have to hold hands at every level of government, state, county, municipal, school board. We have to hold hands and jump off the bridge.”
full story : https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.smith0305,0,7737968.column
Ron Smith’s column appears Fridays in The Baltimore Sun. His e-mail is [email protected].
The Village Council is considering a plan to add more parking at the Hudson Street municipal lot that bears some similarities to the one previously abandoned at the North Walnut Street Redevelopment District.
At its meeting Wednesday, the council floated the idea of issuing request for proposals (RFP) to get design concepts and cost estimates for three different options at the site. The first two options would be to add one or two parking decks to the surface lots. The third would be a parking structure that would include big-box retail spaces to attract anchor stores and possibly a developer who would finance the construction in exchange for tax abatements.
“In looking over this, I’m looking for more of a [North] Walnut Street type deal, where it limits the cost to the village, but yet we receive the parking,” Killion said. “In order to do that there has to be retail, and to answer some of the [Ridgewood Chamber of Commerce’s] questions about having these box stores and anchor stores to bring in business. I know the location isn’t prime, but it is in the CBD [Central Business District] area.”
Killion added that if something is built at the Hudson Street site, it would have to fit in architecturally with the surrounding area.
“I don’t want to see a precast formed parking lot in the middle of the [area],” Killion said.
Councilman Paul Aronsohn requested that a study be performed that would look at the impact of additional retail in the CBD, and he asked for an explanation of the difference between a redevelopment district and a special improvement district, which are two options the council would have in moving forward.
“I think we all want parking at no cost to the village, I think that’s fair to say,” Aronsohn said.
Village Attorney Matt Rogers said that the redevelopment district approach, which was taken with the North Walnut Street site, allows the municipality more leeway in dealing with potential developers regarding the building design. Also, he said, the municipality does not have to accept the lowest bidder and it could work with developers through the RFP process. The drawback is the length of the process, which involves a Planning Board review and recommendation to the council for a vote.
Declaring the Hudson Street site a special improvement district would speed up the process and could be done through a council ordinance, but the village would have little leeway in design changes and it would have to accept the lowest bidder for the project, Rogers said.
Mayor David Pfund said the village entered into discussions with the Chamber of Commerce “years ago” about a possible special improvement district, but because state statute requires that all businesses in the area would have to pay extra taxes to cover the cost, the chamber was uninterested in pursuing that option.
Councilman Pat Mancuso suggested using Hudson Street as a “measure” to find the “least expensive route and the fastest route” to get additional parking in the CBD. He said if the village’s plans for additional parking at Hudson Street are successfully carried out, the council should look to place similar parking structures at other municipal lots around the CBD.
“Add one deck [at Hudson Street], and at least demonstrate to the CBD and the residents that we are moving in that direction,” Mancuso said.
Village Manager Ken Gabbert said there currently are 80 spaces at the Hudson Street lot, and an additional deck would net 70 additional spaces, for a total of 150 spaces.
Councilwoman Anne Zusy said she was in favor of adding a retail component to the project.
“I’m not so sure 150 parking spaces or 70 is going to cut it, given the residents and people who shop in town and also commuters,” Zusy said.
>In the Hong Kong cut-throat world of Chinese education, star tutors drive Ferraris and earn $1.5-million salaries
By Isabella Steger Contributor / March 2, 2010
Their confident faces smile out from billboards across the city. Their promotional grins are plastered across double-decker buses, subway light boxes, even on TV.
In China, kindergarten costs more than college China leads surge of foreign students into US colleges Big market for tutoring These are Hong Kong’s “star tutors,” accorded near-celebrity status for their ability to make learning fun and help students pass exams in everything from English to chemistry.
Tutoring is common in Asia, where intense emphasis on grades and exams means parents are willing to shell out. More than half of Hong Kong’s youths get assistance outside school, a recent survey found.
The industry here is especially competitive and commercialized as tutors mimic the city’s showbiz industry to attract students and grab a share of the $460 million market.
“Those images of fame and stardom have been sustained and re-invented in different forms, resulting in tutors now packaging themselves as the superstars of the education sector in order to appeal to students,” says Gerald Postliglione, a professor at the University of Hong Kong.
Star tutors spare no costs on publicity. Even tutors who belong to one of the four major chains here must self-promote. But successful tutors can command hundreds of students.
Those at the very top see their lives splashed across the pages of the city’s gossip magazines, revealing how many luxury cars they drive or properties they own. Some reports put their salaries as high as $1.5 million a year. One English tutor, Richard Eng, is famous for his love of Ferraris.
Critics worry that the emphasis on good looks and brand names sends youths the wrong message, but some tutors say the gimmicks are indispensable – and that the results are real. “The marketing is only for attracting students – we still need to deliver to keep the students coming back,” says Antonia Cheng, an English tutor at Modern Education, a major chain.
Ms. Cheng says she tries to make English fun, using interactive methods and discussing contemporary issues. Cheng gives out her phone number; many tutors also are on Facebook.
“Teachers communicate in a way we understand, unlike at school, which we find really boring,” says Casper Chan, a high-schooler.
Tutors have capitalized on changes roiling the educational system since 1997, when Hong Kong reverted to China. The government introduced “mother-tongue teaching” to popularize Cantonese in the classroom, but that weakened English proficiency and was scrapped. It also recently switched to a more US-style “3-3-4” system for junior high, high school, and college. This year it introduced liberal studies in high school, to improve critical thinking skills.
“There’s been a lot of confusion … in the last few years. Tutor centers have to be result-oriented,” says Trino Chan, who recently opened his own center. “When the system doesn’t deliver what parents expect, they are willing to pay for tutors. This is why there will always be money to be made in tutoring in Hong Kong.”
>NJ TRANSIT ANNOUNCES INTERNAL CUTS, SPENDING FREEZE TO HELP FILL BUDGET GAP
March 2, 2010 NJT-10-019
NEWARK, NJ — NJ TRANSIT today implemented an emergency spending freeze and told employees that it will reduce its workforce by more than 200, rollback spending on retirement accounts, and cut executive salaries.
A total of more than $30 million in reductions have been identified to help solve a combined $300 million budget gap projected for FY 2010 and 2011. The force reduction represents about 2% of the total workforce, and includes both union agreement and non-agreement employees.
“These are extremely painful steps, but unavoidable ones. We must close our serious budget shortfall, and we at NJ TRANSIT must do our part by making this the leanest, most efficient agency possible, without compromising safety,” said Executive Director James Weinstein. Weinstein noted that the workforce reduction will be the deepest one-year reduction in NJ TRANSIT’s 30-year history.
Meanwhile, the corporation’s contributions to employee 401K accounts will be reduced by one-third, and executive salaries will be cut 5%. These reductions follow in the wake of hiring and salary freezes that began last year, as well as unpaid furloughs for administrative (non-agreement) employees.
NJ TRANSIT officials also have identified cost reductions in parts, fuel, utilities, and contracts that will be renegotiated to avoid escalations. The emergency spending freeze allows the agency to halt spending that is not directly tied to operations or that is not critical for safety.
The agency also is continuing to develop fare and service change plans to respond to this financial crisis. Those proposals will be announced next week.
“Unfortunately, fare and service changes will have to be a part of NJ TRANSIT’s overall response to this financial crisis,” Weinstein said. “I know this will be painful for our customers. I welcome their suggestions and ideas as well as those of the public.”
He added: “The decisions we must make will not be easy. But together we can get through this very difficult time, and NJ TRANSIT can emerge a strong, stable agency that will be ready to respond to the transit needs of New Jersey citizens.”
About NJ TRANSIT
NJ TRANSIT is the nation’s largest statewide public transportation system providing more than 895,000 weekday trips on 240 bus routes, three light rail lines and 12 commuter rail lines. It is the third largest transit system in the country with 165 rail stations, 60 light rail stations and more than 18,000 bus stops linking major points in New Jersey, New York and Philadelphia.
>I’m a teacher who sometimes posts on this blog. I have one nagging question. How would one measure ‘merit’? Let’s assume we’re talking about an art teacher, a music teacher, etc. Is there some type of test you propose to give the kids? Would that prove the teachers’ merit? What about special education teachers?
If I’m a good teacher, I may get more kids in my classes that have 504 plans and IEP’s (google it) because “I can handle it” or maybe my schedule works better with the services that these kids get. Now if you test my classes, my kids would score lower overall. Do I get punished?
The second that someone can explain to me exactly HOW merit pay would work, I would jump on board. Maybe then I would finally make what I am worth.
