>Obama nixed pipeline aimed at boosting US supplies…
Oil Back At $100: Higher Prices Here To Stay As Pipelines Ease Cushing Oversupply
Despite a U.S. economy that moves forward at snail’s pace and Europe teetering on the brink of collapse, oil prices surged past $100 a barrel in New York Wednesday. Feeding the price action was Enbridge’s acquisition of the Seaway Pipeline from ConocoPhillips and its announcement that it would reverse the pipeline’s direction, easing oversupply caused by a bottleneck in Cushing, Okla., the national price point for crude oil.
Reversing the Seaway Pipeline would bring an additional 150,000 barrels of crude oil per day to the Gulf Coast, where ConocoPhillips, Chevron, Exxon Mobil, BP, and others have refineries, Enbridge said. The company bought Conoco’s 50% interest in the Pipeline for $1.15 billion on Wednesday, and along with now partners Enterprise Products, are expecting the reversal to occur by the second quarter of 2012. By early 2013, they expect the capacity of the reversed Seaway Pipeline to reach 400,000 barrels a day following pump station additions and modifications.
> Obama Nominee for Social Security Board Favors Rationing Health Care 4:17 PM, NOV 15, 2011 • BY JEFFREY H. ANDERSON
Is it just a coincidence that the people that President Obama nominates to fill high-level governmental posts tend to favor government-directed health care rationing? Last year, Obama nominated Donald Berwick to head Medicare and Medicaid. Now he’s nominated Henry J. Aaron to head the Social Security Advisory Board.
Berwick, to whom Obama issued a dubious recess appointment to circumvent the usual Senate confirmation, has become notorious for statements like, “The decision is not whether or not we will ration care — the decision is whether we will ration with our eyes open” — and, in progressive-speak, “The social budget is limited.”
>Another ObamaCare Glitch Congress made a legal mistake while rushing through the health law. Now it’s come back to haunt the administration. By JONATHAN H. ADLER AND MICHAEL F. CANNON
Even if ObamaCare survives Supreme Court scrutiny next spring, its trials will be far from over. That’s because the law has a major glitch that threatens its basic functioning. It’s so problematic, in fact, that the Obama administration is now brazenly trying to rewrite the law without involving Congress.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act offers “premium assistance”—tax credits and subsidies—to households purchasing coverage through new health-insurance exchanges. This assistance was designed to hide a portion of the law’s cost to individuals by reducing the premium hikes that individuals will face after ObamaCare goes into effect in 2014. (If consumers face the law’s full cost, support for repeal will grow.)
The Ridgewood blog is proud to announce the winner of the 2011 best Pizza in Ridgewood Contest ; Coming in first place with with 27% of the vote Renatos Pizza followed by A Mano the 2009 winner with 13% and Sicilian Sun with 13 % of the vote and Brooklyn Pizza with 12% and Puzzo’s the 2008 winner with 10% of the vote .
Congratulations to all our participants
A Mano 74 13%(won VA,OH,RI and MI ) Renato’s Pizza 157 27% (won NJ ,PA,NY,VT, IL,IA,MN,FL,OK.AZ.and CA) Puzo’s 58 10% Brooklyn Pizza 72 12% (won MO and AK) Sicilian Sun 76 13% (won GA ,MA and WI) La Bella Pizza 49 8% (won WA) Roma Pizza 12 2% Pizza Fusion 41 7% Ridgewood Pizza 38 7% (won TX) Total Votes : 577 Total States 22
The tasters general concurred with the voting results remarking on how many extra ordinary places to buy great pizza in Ridgewood there are.
New arrivals in town seemed to go for Brooklyn Pizza, town workers Ridgewood Pizza, old timers Renatos and Sicilian Sun ,Westsiders Puzzo’s and A-Mano . Many tasters remarked that they liked the pizza at A- Mano but most went to A-Mano to eat other items on the menu. The general consensus was for thin crust though the winner Renato’s and Puzzos offers old style chewy crust .
>Montclair approves medical marijuana dispensary, will Ridgewood be next?
A New Jersey medical marijuana dispensary has approval to open in Montclair but is still awaiting the final go-ahead from the state.
Greenleaf Compassion Center announced Tuesday that it had received zoning-board approval about two weeks ago for a storefront in the North Jersey town.
It’s the first medical marijuana alternative treatment center in New Jersey to announce that it has a local zoning board approval.
In March, the state approved six nonprofit organizations to operate the clinics to sell marijuana to patients with certain medical conditions such as glaucoma and terminal cancer. (Gannett)
>YMCA: EVERYTHING DIABETES DAY HEALTH FAIR Saturday, November 19, 2011 – 9:00am – 12:30pm
Come join us on November 19 for a day of information for adults or children with diabetes or those at risk for diabetes. The fair will be held from 9:00am to 12:30pm at the Ridgewood YMCA, 112 Oak St., Ridgewood, NJ.
Special Presentation at 11:00am by Valley Hospital – “Healthy Eating for Diabetics” Recipes and cooking demonstrations Fitness and health screenings including blood pressure, glucose testing, BMI and more! Talk to certified diabetes educators Free giveaways and resources Visit with Trader Joe’s, Rite Aid and others
Don’t miss this FREE EVENT. All are welcome.
For further information, please contact Megan Heller at 201.444.5600 x375.
>Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno hails role of small businesses in being jobs generators at Jersey City kickoff of Global Entrepreneurship Week
The state is counting on budding entrepreneurs to help officials reduce unemployment rates, Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno told roughly 80 business people yesterday as the fourth annual Global Entrepreneurship Week kicked off at Jersey City City Hall.
“So long as we continue to collaborate like this . . . I am certain we will be able to put all of our people back to work,” Guadagno said.
“I am absolutely positive that over the next several years we will be able to outpace our neighbors in job growth and job creation.”
Yesterday’s “Start Something New Jersey” event kicked off a week of a activities organized by the Jersey City-based nonprofit Rising Tide Capital and its corporate and community partners. (Hack, The Jersey Journal)
>Secret Service Searched Occupy D.C. Camp For Person Who Shot At White House
RYAN J. REILLY NOVEMBER 16, 2011, 6:00 AM 11311 47
The Secret Service searched Occupy D.C. on Monday for a man suspected of firing bullets at the White House on Friday, one of which was stopped by the building’s ballistic glass.
Protestor Ralph Wittenberg told TPM on Tuesday evening that authorities came through “searching for a so-called terrorist who shot at the White House, with no warrant, they went into everybody’s tents.”
A person handling media requests for Occupy DC confirmed the searches and said they were led by the Secret Service. The agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
>State Planning Commission approves strategic growth plan without specifying where the growth will be
The Christie administration’s revamped strategic plan for targeting growth in New Jersey won speedy approval yesterday from the State Planning Commission, despite concerns of smart growth advocates that the draft plan lacked any details about where the growth would be directed.
In a meeting in the Statehouse Annex, the commission unanimously approved the plan with little debate and without hearing any comments from the public — much to the annoyance of people who showed up to talk about the initiative.
The plan is a radical reworking of a State Plan and Redevelopment Plan put in place a decade ago that failed to be reflected in policies carried out by governmental agencies. It was unveiled last month by the administration after a process criticized by some for excluding their involvement. It now will be the subject of public hearings in which critics and advocates can weigh in on how the draft plan should be improved. (Johnson, NJ Spotlight)
>Grim portrait of recovery at New Jersey economic summit
Slow, steady, and grinding: That’s the read on the recovery offered by economists gathered at yesterday’s Garden State Economic Forum.
It may take the state four years to get back on track, said Loretta Mester, director of research at the Federal Reserve Bank in Philadelphia.
“There is pain here,” she said of New Jersey’s high unemployment rate.
The economists who took the stage Monday presented data to help shape public policy on jobs, taxes, and spending at a time when economic growth is not expected to rise above 3 percent. Despite overall high unemployment, however, patterns emerge when the data is analyzed, including sectors where there are jobs, especially for workers with advanced degrees. (Lehren, NJ Spotlight)
VOTE for the Best Pizza in Ridgewood 2011 LAST DAY
The Ridgewood blog Best Pizza 2011 Poll will close today at 6pm so please cast your final votes . The secret tasters are done . On closing the poll results will be tallied and the poll will be immediately removed from the blog with the results of both the poll and the tasters announced that evening.
Please feel free to sample as many of the participants Pizza as possible because an informed voter is the best voter . You can post your comments and reviews of various tastings under this post . Feel free to submit comments and tips to the Ridgewood blog :onlyonesmallvoice@gmail.com
>Valley Renewal: dinner to speak on their behalf ?
PJ, I got my hands on this email from a friend, isn’t it interesting how the people attempting to expand their hospital are bribing others to speak on their behalf by buying them dinner? Someone needs to point out this serious conflict of interest at the meeting.
Sent: Tuesday, November 15, 2011 09:19 Subject: RRV News Update
We have received this invitation from The Valley Hospital for a special event that is being hosted next Tuesday in Ridgewood. All RRV members are invited.
Please join Audrey Meyers, President and CEO of The Valley Hospital, for a special event to thank supporters of The Valley Renewal.
When: Tuesday, November 22 Where: Park West Tavern 30 Oak St., Ridgewood Time: 6:00 – 7:30 pm RSVP: 201-291- 6330 by Friday, November 18 Refreshments and hors d’oeuvres will be served.
Immediately following our celebration, please join Audrey at Ridgewood High School for what may be the Village Council’s final public comment meeting on Renewal. Your attendance at this meeting is critically important!
The Christie administration pushed back on Democrats’ efforts to revive a tax surcharge on New Jersey’s wealthiest residents by releasing data Monday indicating that higher taxes help drive top income earners out of the state.
Charles Steindel, the Treasury Department’s chief economist, said a survey of national economic data showed that higher taxes caused an out-migration among residents earning more than $125,000 a year, including small-business owners. The number who leave is modest, he acknowledged, but the effect occurs every year, so the result is cumulative.
“There is a relationship between the state’s tax rates relative to the rest of the nation and the net amount of out-migration of both people and income from the state,” Steindel said. “The higher the tax rate the state has, generally the more people it will lose every year.” (Delli Santi, The Associated Press)
>Chris Christie job growth plan draft accepted by NJ planners
Gov. Chris Christie’s blueprint for New Jersey economic and building growth picked up steam Monday when state planners accepted his administration’s draft State Strategic Job Growth Plan, though critics panned the document for what they said were weak protections of the state’s natural resources.
The action taken at the meeting of the State Planning Commission is part of a lengthy process to adopt a final plan.
The Republican governor rolled out the draft plan Oct. 19, saying it was a sorely needed update on the 2001 state plan. Similar documents have been drawn up dating back 25 years. (Jordan, Gannett)
>Courts Gone Wild: New Jersey has almost forgotten what it was like to live in a state governed by laws, rather than men.
Senator Doherty has really been taking his Fair School Funding show on the road in a big way. Last night, I learned that Ridgewood is about the fiftieth municipality he’s visited so far in an effort explain his fair school funding plan.
Most residents, voters, and taxpayers not steeped in the fine points of municipal law in New Jersey are probably not aware of the extent to which the Supreme Court has been blatantly legislating from the bench. In fact, the Supreme Court has been usurping the power of the New Jersey legislature for so long, and with so little effective criticism, that almost the whole body of lawyers in this state can be considered complicit.
New Jersey’s two law schools, Rutgers School of Law|Newark and Seton Hall Law School are not immune from criticism either. The professors in these schools know that the Supreme Court has overstepped its authority. Nevertheless, because they agree politically with the policies, they refuse to say what they know.
Really–politically (if not economically) speaking, it’s as if we live in North Korea. The populace of New Jersey has almost forgotten over the course of two generations what it was like to live in a state governed by laws, rather than men. The New Jersey Supreme Court has no right to mangle or reinvent our state constitution for its political purposes!
Don’t forget that the Supreme Court’s “Mount Laurel Doctrine” is based on its having found in the New Jersey state constitution a right to affordable housing. The fact that no such right exists in the Constitution was no impediment to the Supreme Court inventing and enforcing it.
The current school funding problem is the child of similar misbehavior on the part of the New Jersey Supreme Court, dating back at least to 1985, when the NJ Supreme Court issued its first ‘Abbott’ decision. In that decision, the court ruled that to satisfy the New Jersey Constitution, the State must assure urban children an education enabling them to compete with their suburban peers. The weak-kneed response by the New Jersey legislature to this Abbott decision, and to the some twenty further Abbott decisions that the Supreme Court has issued since, has been to simply raise state-backed per-pupil spending on urban children through the roof while allowing state-backed per-pupil spending on suburban children to dwindle almost to nothing in school districts like Ridgewood.
Not that the New Jersey Supreme Court would ever agree, because it is so full of itself it can’t bear to be criticized, but the school funding formula that is used now is clearly unconstitutional. It mandates hugely unequal spending.
By contrast, Doherty’s plan to equalize state-backed per-pupil spending is clearly constitutional. It is also easy to explain. Best of all, it is eminently fair. Ridgewood’s VC and Board of Ed should both pass resolutions in support of it
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