>Gas tax hike: Are there any reasonable alternatives?
The fiscal “fuel” gauge on the state Transportation Trust Fund, which pays for major road bridge and rail projects, is in the red zone and headed for “E.” By next year, all revenue from the state’s 14.5 cent-per-gallon gasoline tax will be used to pay off $11 billion in debt racked up over the years. That would leave no money to do road, bridge and transit projects, and would potentially jeopardize more than $1 billion in federal money the state needs to match. (Higgs, Gannett)
Three years after the Civil War ended, on May 5, 1868, the head of an organization of Union veterans — the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) — established Decoration Day as a time for the nation to decorate the graves of the war dead with flowers. Maj. Gen. John A. Logan declared that Decoration Day should be observed on May 30. It is believed that date was chosen because flowers would be in bloom all over the country.
The first large observance was held that year at Arlington National Cemetery, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C.
The ceremonies centered around the mourning-draped veranda of the Arlington mansion, once the home of Gen. Robert E. Lee. Various Washington officials, including Gen. and Mrs. Ulysses S. Grant, presided over the ceremonies. After speeches, children from the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Orphan Home and members of the GAR made their way through the cemetery, strewing flowers on both Union and Confederate graves, reciting prayers and singing hymns.
Local Observances Claim To Be First Local springtime tributes to the Civil War dead already had been held in various places. One of the first occurred in Columbus, Miss., April 25, 1866, when a group of women visited a cemetery to decorate the graves of Confederate soldiers who had fallen in battle at Shiloh. Nearby were the graves of Union soldiers, neglected because they were the enemy. Disturbed at the sight of the bare graves, the women placed some of their flowers on those graves, as well.
Today, cities in the North and the South claim to be the birthplace of Memorial Day in 1866. Both Macon and Columbus, Ga., claim the title, as well as Richmond, Va. The village of Boalsburg, Pa., claims it began there two years earlier. A stone in a Carbondale, Ill., cemetery carries the statement that the first Decoration Day ceremony took place there on April 29, 1866. Carbondale was the wartime home of Gen. Logan. Approximately 25 places have been named in connection with the origin of Memorial Day, many of them in the South where most of the war dead were buried.
Official Birthplace Declared In 1966, Congress and President Lyndon Johnson declared Waterloo, N.Y., the “birthplace” of Memorial Day. There, a ceremony on May 5, 1866, honored local veterans who had fought in the Civil War. Businesses closed and residents flew flags at half-staff. Supporters of Waterloo’s claim say earlier observances in other places were either informal, not community-wide or one-time events.
By the end of the 19th century, Memorial Day ceremonies were being held on May 30 throughout the nation. State legislatures passed proclamations designating the day, and the Army and Navy adopted regulations for proper observance at their facilities.
It was not until after World War I, however, that the day was expanded to honor those who have died in all American wars. In 1971, Memorial Day was declared a national holiday by an act of Congress, though it is still often called Decoration Day. It was then also placed on the last Monday in May, as were some other federal holidays.
Some States Have Confederate Observances Many Southern states also have their own days for honoring the Confederate dead. Mississippi celebrates Confederate Memorial Day on the last Monday of April, Alabama on the fourth Monday of April, and Georgia on April 26. North and South Carolina observe it on May 10, Louisiana on June 3 and Tennessee calls that date Confederate Decoration Day. Texas celebrates Confederate Heroes Day January 19 and Virginia calls the last Monday in May Confederate Memorial Day.
Gen. Logan’s order for his posts to decorate graves in 1868 “with the choicest flowers of springtime” urged: “We should guard their graves with sacred vigilance. … Let pleasant paths invite the coming and going of reverent visitors and fond mourners. Let no neglect, no ravages of time, testify to the present or to the coming generations that we have forgotten as a people the cost of a free and undivided republic.”
The crowd attending the first Memorial Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery was approximately the same size as those that attend today’s observance, about 5,000 people. Then, as now, small American flags were placed on each grave — a tradition followed at many national cemeteries today. In recent years, the custom has grown in many families to decorate the graves of all departed loved ones.
The origins of special services to honor those who die in war can be found in antiquity. The Athenian leader Pericles offered a tribute to the fallen heroes of the Peloponnesian War over 24 centuries ago that could be applied today to the 1.1 million Americans who have died in the nation’s wars: “Not only are they commemorated by columns and inscriptions, but there dwells also an unwritten memorial of them, graven not on stone but in the hearts of men.”
To ensure the sacrifices of America ’s fallen heroes are never forgotten, in December 2000, the U.S. Congress passed and the president signed into law “The National Moment of Remembrance Act,” P.L. 106-579, creating the White House Commission on the National Moment of Remembrance. The commission’s charter is to “encourage the people of the United States to give something back to their country, which provides them so much freedom and opportunity” by encouraging and coordinating commemorations in the United States of Memorial Day and the National Moment of Remembrance.
The National Moment of Remembrance encourages all Americans to pause wherever they are at 3 p.m. local time on Memorial Day for a minute of silence to remember and honor those who have died in service to the nation. As Moment of Remembrance founder Carmella LaSpada states: “It’s a way we can all help put the memorial back in Memorial Day.”
This Memorial Day, nearly three-out-of-four Americans (74%) have a favorable opinion of the U.S. military, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. Just 12% hold an unfavorable opinion, and 13% are not sure.
These figures have held steady for the past two years.
Thirty-five percent (35%) of Adults say they have a relative or close friend currently serving our country in Iraq or Afghanistan, down nine points from a year ago.
Forty percent (40%) also say they’ve lost a relative or close friend who gave their life while serving in the military. Fifty-two percent (52%) have not lost a relative or close friend in the line of duty, but eight percent (8%) more are not sure
>Patrick & Sons Super Cellars 32 South Broad St, Ridgewood 201.444.0012
——————-Rewards Beer Deal ———————-
Corona Extra or Light Your choice 24-12oz bottles loose pk case
$22.99 Our local distributor offered us a one shot sale on this most popular of traditional summer brews and we’ve passed the savings on to you. We haven’t seen this price in several years. Let’s hope its de’ja vu all over again! While supplies last thru 6/30/10
Start the summer right……..on the hammock….…we sell limes!
>Towns Challenge New Jersey Voters’ Wishes By WINNIE HU Published: May 27, 2010
“To have the Village Council go through and save a dollar a month is a joke,” said Greg May, 39, a recording engineer who is among the 25,000 residents of Ridgewood. “It almost makes me feel like what good was my vote? I think that’s the general consensus.”
Ridgewood’s school budget was defeated, by a vote of 2,639 to 2,537, for the first time since 2003. Afterward, school officials identified $100,000 in lower-than-expected transportation costs, and the Council decided not to seek any further reductions. (The district had already planned to lay off 21 teachers and 33 classroom aides to offset an expected $3 million reduction in state aid.)
The result: the average tax bill will increase by $355 instead of $367.
James Foytlin, 48, who runs a popular Web site, The Ridgewood Blog, said there was now talk in town of recalling members of the Council. “It’s just ridiculous,” he said of the $100,000 cut. “I’m sure the school board spends more on paper clips.”
Even so, the $100,000 cut was still too much for one councilman, Paul S. Aronsohn, 43, a public relations consultant, who wanted to reduce the municipal budget rather than school spending to lower property taxes. “I felt like the budget was being balanced on the backs of students,” he said. “I completely understand the need for tax relief, but I don’t think we should take it all out of the schools.”
Patrick A. Mancuso, another member of the Council, acknowledged that the $100,000 cut would make little difference, but said it was a start. He has asked village and school officials to begin looking for ways to save money in the 2011-12 budget by sharing equipment and services like vehicle and property maintenance.
“People say, ‘Are you kidding?’ ” he said. “At least we’re trying to demonstrate that we hear you, we’re going to try harder, we’re going to start now, and that’s important.”
RIDGEWOOD – Village officials plan to lay off 27 staffers by early August, according to Village Manager Ken Gabbert.
The layoffs include 24 full-time employees, Gabbert said in a press release. There will be eight retirements this year. An additional three staffers are no longer employed by the village.
“The Village will offer retiring and laid off staff support services during this difficult time,” the release said. “Services will include Job Assistance Workshop, Department of Labor Information Session, Employee Assistance Program and Local employment resources. Services will be offered directly to any staff desiring the assistance.”
The New Jersey Civil Service Commission approved the reduction and elimination with the initial layoffs effective in mid-July.
Amendments to the 2010 Village budget will be introduced on June 2 and adopted on June 9. This year’s budget shows a 5.2% increase in municipal taxes, a total of $3,588 per average residence and $182 over last year. Expenditures in 2010 have been cut by $802,039, a 1.9% reduction from last year’s level, according to Gabbert.
As you all know, we have a fiscal crisis in New Jersey: a $10.9 billion deficit on a $29.3 billion budget.
At 37 percent, it’s the worst budget deficit percentage in America-worse than California, worse than New York, worse than Illinois-and we need to take bold steps to deal with it.
On March 16, we put forward a budget with $10.9 billion in reductions against proposed spending of the Corzine administration.
This was not easy to do, so I want to start off by saying that while I stand firmly behind the cuts we proposed, please don’t take my firm stance in favoring those cuts as meaning that I don’t know how painful they are.
Everybody would love to be governor in a time when you can just give things away and make everybody your friend and make everybody happy.
That’s not the time that I’m getting to be governor.
I feel an obligation to stand up and do what the people elected me to do, which is to get our government under control, and to start to reduce the amount of money that people have to pay to the government in taxes.
But if all we do is cut, and we don’t get at the underlying problem, we’re just going to be back in this spot year, after year, after year.
New Jersey Is On An Unsustainable Fiscal Course
Over the last ten years, municipal spending has grown by 69 percent, and property taxes have grown by 70 percent, until New Jersey property taxes are now the highest of any state in the nation.
This is an unsustainable course.
For nearly 30 years, the citizens of New Jersey have placed in the hands of politicians-mostly politicians from Trenton-the responsibility for fixing property taxes. And in every gubernatorial election since 1973, we’ve had folks dancing around this property tax problem, putting band-aids on it, but not doing a thing to address the structural issues that allow politicians to hike property taxes year, after year, after year.
We can’t increase municipal aid, increase aid to school districts, and increase property taxes without end. At some point, the people’s ability to pay runs out.
And now we’re there.
With property taxes up 70 percent in ten years, people in New Jersey are now voting with their feet, and they’re leaving.
Senior citizens are leaving the homes that they raised their families in, heartbroken because they can’t pay the property taxes anymore.
Young couples can’t buy their first homes, not because of home prices, but because of the property taxes.
And middle class families are suffering from 9.8 percent unemployment in New Jersey, the highest in the region-higher than Pennsylvania, higher than Connecticut, higher than New York. Many of them are finding that after they’ve lost their jobs, they’re going to lose their homes as well, because their property taxes got raised beyond their ability to pay.
In every poll you’ll ever see, New Jerseyans say our biggest problem is property taxes.
So how do we fix it?
The Centerpiece of the Solution: Cap 2.5
First and foremost, we have to impose discipline on every level of the political system. I propose that we start with Cap 2.5, a constitutional amendment to cap property tax increases at no more than 2.5 percent per year.
For 30 years, politicians in Trenton have been passing the buck, and property taxes have gone up and up and up. The people of New Jersey have had enough.
I believe in less government, lower taxes, and empowering local officials who act on behalf of the people who elected them. I came here to do what the people sent me to do.
That may lead to a disagreement or two. Just recently, I had a friendly little exchange with a reporter you might have seen….
But anyone who comes to this discussion talking about “you can’t cut this” and “you can’t cut that” who doesn’t have some way to pay for it besides jacking up property taxes is just joining that pathetic, 30-year tradition of passing along the problem for the next guy to deal with.
When we enact a constitutional amendment to limit property tax increases to no more than 2.5 percent across the board annually, we will have put in place the foundation for getting our fiscal house in order for the first time in a generation.
With that in place, then and only then can we begin to look at doing-in a sustainable way-what New Jerseyans want for urban revitalization, education, and every other big-picture issue.
Proposed legislation that would change the way affordable housing is apportioned and built in the state may not survive a constitutional challenge. That was the finding of the Office of Legislative Services regarding the bill (S1) sponsored by state Sens. Raymond J. Lesniak, D-Union, Christopher Bateman, R-Somerset, and Jeff Van Drew, D-Cape May. The OLS analysis, in a letter dated April 13 but released Wednesday by the Fair Share Housing Center in Cherry Hill, says the Legislature does not have the statutory authority — under the two state Supreme Court Mount Laurel decisions in the 1970s and 1980s — to amend the Fair Housing Act and abolish the Council on Affordable Housing, which the legislation would do. (Bowman, Gannett)
If you’ve been to Europe a couple of times, you may think you’ve seen it all. But on a continent that’s roughly the size of the United States, chances are that you’ve only scratched the surface.
Destinations that are household names to many European travelers are barely a blip on the radar for most Americans. Europeans bask on the beach in Cyprus, linger in sidewalk cafes in Tallinn and Dubrovnik, visit spas in Budapest and go horseback riding in the Czech Republic. They eat pastizzi – flaky pastries stuffed with ricotta cheese – in Malta’s sunny capital of Valletta and sample reindeer stew with Laplanders in Finland. This year they’ll be flocking to Istanbul, which will be marking its selection as the 2010 European Capital of Culture with a ballet competition, a youth festival, a new opera house and much more.
Even in wildly popular countries, off-the-beaten-path adventures abound for those who know where to look. So, even if you think you’ve “done” Europe, ask the travel consultants at The Travel Center / American Express for recommendations on intriguing things to see and do this year. They’ll make you see the continent in a whole new light.
Undiscovered Countries
Large swaths of Europe were once hidden behind the Iron Curtain. Now a whole new world awaits curious American travelers:
*The Baltic region: The tiny countries of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania are rich in history. Don’t miss the charmingly preserved central cities of Tallinn, Riga, and Vilnius, each a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
*Croatia: Gorgeous Dubrovnik, the new building of the Zagreb Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Adriatic diving sites off the coast of Istria are just three highlights of this Balkan country.
*Hungary: Spend a few days in Budapest, with its lovely baroque and Art Nouveau buildings and famed thermal baths. Then hop a train to Lake Balaton, the largest lake in Central Europe, where you can enjoy just about any water sport, from sailing to kite surfing.
*Romania: Top draws include resorts along the Black Sea and sites associated with Dracula in castle-dotted Transylvania.
If new revenue projections hold, there could be steep cuts above those already announced by the Christie administration.The Asbury Park Press obtained an analysis by the Office of Legislative Services saying taxes and other revenue for the budget year that ends June 30 will be $402 million less than expected. (Ingle, Gannett) https://blogs.app.com/politicspatrol/2010/05/25/falling-revenue-could-cause-bigger-cuts/
>6th Annual Wiffle for Cancer Tournament : Have Fun for a Good Cause!
6th Annual Wiffle for Cancer Tournament on Sunday, June 13 The 6th Annual Wiffle for Cancer Tournament takes place on Sunday, June 13, 2010, at Benjamin Franklin Middle School, 335 North Van Dien Avenue, Ridgewood, starting at 12:00 noon. There are 3 to 5 players on a team and a $50/team entry fee. For further information about the tournament and sign up go to https://www.wiffleforcancer.org. All proceeds of the tournament will benefit the Nick Currey Fund for Ewing’s Sarcoma Research. The Fund was established in memory of Nick Currey, Ridgewood High School Class of 2004, who lost his 14-month battle against Ewing’s Sarcoma on November 3, 2005. So come out, have some fun and do some good!
>MEMORIAL DAY SERVICE Sponsored by American Legion Post 53
American Legion Post 53 invites everyone to attend the Memorial Day service at 11AM on Monday, May 31 in the park by the monument in Van Neste Square. Bring chairs or blankets to sit on. Also, the Americal Legion will be placing American Flags at the sites of all the veterans buried in Valleau Cemetary. American flags have been placed on sites of veterans at Valleau Cemetary.
May 25 (Bloomberg) — New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said the state is “careening our way toward becoming Greece” and can’t afford the cost of benefits and pensions for current workers.
The governor, speaking today to members of the Manhattan Institute, said his state must reduce its tax burden and control government spending. He has proposed a constitutional amendment to cap growth in property taxes, the main source of funding for schools and towns, at 2.5 percent a year.
“Higher taxes are not going to solve the problem,” said Christie, a Republican who took office Jan. 19. “We’ve got to change the course.”
New Jersey’s tax revenue will fall $767 million short of targets over the next 13 months, the state Legislature’s chief budget analyst told lawmakers today. The $29.3 billion spending plan Christie proposed in March for the fiscal year starting July 1 “will have to be modified to respond to this reality,” analyst David Rosen said.
Christie already proposed $10 billion of spending cuts to close a record $10.7 billion budget deficit. He declined to say following his speech how he plans to close the additional gap.
Pensions, Benefits
Greece agreed this month to cut wages for government workers, raise sales, fuel and alcohol taxes and overhaul the state-run pension system in return for 110 billion euros ($136 billion) in emergency loans from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund.
New Jersey, like Greece, has a high proportion of public workers who have been entitled to benefits such as free health insurance that outstrip taxpayers’ ability to pay for them, Christie said. In the past decade the state added 11,000 public- sector jobs as it lost more than 120,000 private positions, he said.
Politicians in New Jersey have bowed to public unions for too long, failing to cut teacher benefits and enacting civil- service laws that have tied governments’ hands in trimming workforces, Christie said. Over the last decade, municipal spending has grown by 69 percent, and property taxes have climbed by 70 percent, according to the governor’s office.
The average New Jersey household paid $7,281 in property taxes last year, the highest rate in the nation, according to the state Department of Community Affairs.
“Things that used to be considered sacred cows, the third rails of politics, no longer are,” said Christie. “They’ve been replaced by the issue of affordability.”
–Editors: Stacie Servetah, Pete Young
To contact the reporter on this story: Terrence Dopp in Trenton at [email protected]
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Tannenbaum at [email protected]
