Posted on

>CLEANUP OF GYPSY POND October 2nd

>

ducks



CLEANUP OF GYPSY POND October 2nd

“Hey folks, Gypsy Pond is in Ridgewood, sure anyone who wants to organize another cleanup, let me know! Gypsy Pond is located directly off the Rock Road extension; adjoining the rr tracks, there will be signs. 


Would love more folks to organize cleanups of all our ponds, etc. Let me know your name, and we’ll be happy to work with you. 


In a couple of hours, a group of volunteers, with the Village’s help and equipment, can do wonders.


We all live in the community, lets all help to clean it up.


The only caveat: if you are cleaning waterways, etc that belong to the Village, you actually do need permission, and then you get equipment (bags, rakes, and pickups) from the Village which is more than willing to help out. “


Ellie Gruber 


Ridgewood Wildscape Association

What is the Ridgewood Wildscape Association?

Dr. Ann Dunham was a Ridgewood resident for 60 years and a nature consultant for the public schools.  As a living memorial to her, the R.W.A. was formed in 1976 .

 The purposes of the Association are:

1) To promote, in cooperation with the Village of Ridgewood and the Board of Education, the  preservation and maintenance of undeveloped Village-owned land

2)  To provide nature education services and enjoyment for all Village residents and friends

To support these efforts by joining the R.W.A. and receiving the newsletter,

You may send a $5.00 Annual Membership fee to:

Andrew Antista, 139 Liberty Street, Ridgewood, NJ  07450

Ridgewood Wildscape Association : https://www.ridgewoodwildscape.org/

Posted on

>IRS Data Show Most Millionaires Pay Taxes at Higher Rate Than Middle Class

>IRS Data Show Most Millionaires Pay Taxes at Higher Rate Than Middle Class
Published September 20, 2011
| FoxNews.com

President Obama and his advisers are presenting the “Buffett Rule” as the cure for an epidemic of millionaire tax scofflaws, but national statistics show millionaires by and large are paying taxes at a much higher rate than middle-class families.

And their income taxes make up a significant portion of the federal budget pie.

Data compiled by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center show households pulling in more than $1 million pay about 29.1 percent of their income in federal taxes. By contrast, households making between $50,000 and $75,000 pay about 15 percent.

The so-called Buffett Rule has become the political centerpiece of the president’s deficit-reduction program. Named after Warren Buffett, the provision would ensure people making more than $1 million a year pay taxes at a higher rate than the middle class.

Read more: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/09/20/irs-data-show-most-millionaires-pay-taxes-at-higher-rate-than-middle-class/#ixzz1YVzspMeg

Posted on

>Buffett’s math is a bit off

>Buffett’s math is a bit off
By S.A. MILLER, Post Correspondent
Last Updated: 8:28 AM, September 20, 2011
Posted: 12:30 AM, September 20, 2011

WASHINGTON — Billionaire investor Warren Buffett isn’t as undertaxed as he and President Obama seem to think.

Buffett recently said that he paid only $6.9 million in taxes last year — just 17.4 percent of his earnings, compared to an income tax rate of about 36 percent paid by his employees.

“My friends and I have been coddled long enough by a billionaire-friendly Congress. It’s time for our government to get serious about shared sacrifice,” Buffett wrote last month in the New York Times.

Such grousing was enough to convince Obama to name his latest tax-the-rich scheme the “Buffett rule.” But it doesn’t tell the whole story.

And yesterday, Obama invoked Buffett’s name again in his case for imposing higher taxes on the wealthy, when he said: “Middle-class families shouldn’t pay higher taxes than millionaires and billionaires.’’

“It’s hard to argue against that. Warren Buffett’s secretary shouldn’t pay a higher tax rate than Warren Buffett. There is no justification for it,’’ Obama said.

Buffett actually was taxed twice on his investment income

Read more: https://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/buffett_math_is_bit_off_7mGzoYiwPfsJcnWaIoptFJ#ixzz1YVzEeh89

Posted on

>FACT CHECK: Are rich taxed less than secretaries?

>FACT CHECK: Are rich taxed less than secretaries?
By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER – Associated Press | AP

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama says he wants to make sure millionaires are taxed at higher rates than their secretaries. The data say they already are.

“Warren Buffett’s secretary shouldn’t pay a higher tax rate than Warren Buffett. There is no justification for it,” Obama said as he announced his deficit-reduction plan this week. “It is wrong that in the United States of America, a teacher or a nurse or a construction worker who earns $50,000 should pay higher tax rates than somebody pulling in $50 million.”

On average, the wealthiest people in America pay a lot more taxes than the middle class or the poor, according to private and government data. They pay at a higher rate, and as a group, they contribute a much larger share of the overall taxes collected by the federal government.

https://news.yahoo.com/fact-check-rich-taxed-less-secretaries-070642868.html

Posted on

>ACCESS RIDGEWOOD EVENTS ARE THIS WEEKEND, SEPTEMBER 23-25

>ACCESS RIDGEWOOD EVENTS ARE THIS WEEKEND, SEPTEMBER 23-25

Students and staff will be participating in the Village-wide Access Ridgewood events from Friday through Sunday, September 23-25. Friday’s events will take place throughout the district schools; Saturday will feature a Community Fair and musical performances in the public library auditorium and courtyard; and on Sunday, an ecumenical service will take place at Ridgewood’s First Reformed Church. The events on Saturday and Sunday are open to everyone:https://tinyurl.com/3lkos8j

Posted on

>Democrats’ Fine-tuning a controversial tenure proposal – quietly

>Democrats’  Fine-tuning a controversial tenure proposal – quietly


The Democrats’ leading bill to change teacher tenure in New Jersey is unlikely to get another public viewing until after the election, but its chief sponsor has begun a series of private meetings to fine-tune and amend the controversial measure.

State Sen. Teresa Ruiz (D-Essex) always claimed that the bill she filed this summer was just a starting point. In some of her first extensive comments on the bill since then, the Senate education committee chairman yesterday said the work to revise it has begun in meetings she started last week with stakeholders and others.
“We have given people enough time to get their hands around it and study the bill,” she said in her Trenton office. “Now we’re having open dialogue as to what stakeholders think works and doesn’t work and how to change it.”

The amendments won’t necessarily be at the core of the bill, she said, which would revamp how teachers earn and retain tenure protections. In its current version, Ruiz’s bill would grant tenure after a teacher completed four years with satisfactory reviews and take it away after two consecutive years of unsatisfactory grades.  (Mooney, NJ Spotlight)

https://www.njspotlight.com/stories/11/0919/2236/
Posted on

>NJEA accepts evaluation program

>

NJEA accepts evaluation program

It may be too early to call it détente, but the state’s largest teacher union has told local chapters to cooperate with a state pilot program that will help create a new evaluation system for teachers.

The New Jersey Education Association said Monday that it wants its teachers involved in helping to craft the job reviews, which Gov. Chris Christie wants to use to help award or take away tenure and determine raises.
“We’re glad they’re doing it as a pilot program; we want it to be successful,” NJEA spokesman Steve Baker said. “We want it to get good data as to how it’s working, whether it’s going to work.”

Newly appointed state Deputy Education Commissioner Andrew Smarick also talked about collaboration Monday in a presentation to the state Senate Education Committee.  (Method, Gannett)

https://www.dailyrecord.com/article/20110919/NJNEWS10/309190040/Teachers-union-accepts-evaluation-program
Posted on

>State Senate is pushing a revamped bill to overhaul the state Sunshine Law

>State Senate is pushing a revamped bill to overhaul the state Sunshine Law


The Senate is pushing a revamped bill to overhaul the state Sunshine Law, key lawmakers say.
Bill sponsor state Sen. Loretta Weinberg, D-Bergen, said she’s been paying close attention to reports of elected officials’ prohibited email quorums and ensuing county prosecutors’ investigations.

Weinberg says this session’s proposed overhaul of the Sunshine Law, or Open Public Meetings Act, would increase fines for first violations from $100 — set in 1994 — to thousands of dollars per violation, to generate revenue and force officials and prosecutors to take violations more seriously. It will specify that email and text message quorums are prohibited.

“I’ve had so much input from so many different people and legislators on board, it’s rather dizzying,” Weinberg said Monday. “My feeling about government is if you don’t want it in public, there must be something wrong, except for the obvious sensitive negotiations.”  (Rosen, Gannett)

https://www.app.com/article/BZ/20110920/NEWS01/309200037/Sunshine-Law-fines-issue
Posted on

>New Jersey Senate committees approve 10 job-creation bills

>

New Jersey Senate committees approve 10 job-creation bills

State Senate committees on Monday approved 10 bills, including proposals to create tax breaks and loans for businesses that hire, as part of legislative efforts to spur job creation

The bills, many proposed previously, were taken up by various committees meeting in the Statehouse.
Senate President Stephen Sweeney said the Legislature must focus on jump-starting the slow economy. Unemployment in New Jersey is at 9.4 percent, state data show.

“Today was just the beginning. We will be working over the coming weeks and months on both existing and newly developed ideas to get our economy moving again,” said Sweeney, D-Salem, Gloucester, Cumberland.
The Senate Economic Growth Committee approved a proposal by Sen. Jim Whelan, D-Atlantic, to create a Small Business Loan Program within the state Economic Development Authority. Under the bill, small businesses that hire workers could receive loans with interest rates of no more than 2 percent.  (Froonjian, Press of Atlantic City)

https://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/press/new_jersey/new-jersey-senate-committees-approve-job-creation-bills/article_353ee640-e31d-11e0-bfe4-001cc4c03286.html
Posted on

>Bergen County Executive Kathleen Donovan will address League of Women Voters of Ridgewood

>Bergen County Executive Kathleen Donovan will address League of Women Voters of Ridgewood

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2011
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

The League of Women Voters of Ridgewood will host Bergen County Executive Kathleen Donovan as the keynote speaker at its annual fall luncheon on Wednesday, Oct. 12.

Donovan will address the league’s priority to encourage women to become involved in local, county and state politics. Questions from the audience will be accepted.

The event will begin at noon at Old Paramus Reformed Church, 660 E. Glen Ave., Ridgewood. The cost is $20 per person; all are welcome.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/130123273_Kathleen_Donovan_will_address_League_of_Women_Voters_in_Ridgewood.html

Posted on

>It’s not just millionaires who’d pay more under President Barack Obama’s latest plan to combat the deficit.

> It’s not just millionaires who’d pay more under President Barack Obama’s latest plan to combat the deficit.


New government fees pepper Obama deficit plan
More than $130B in new government fees pepper Obama deficit plan

Andrew Taylor, Associated Press, On Monday September 19, 2011, 3:37 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — It’s not just millionaires who’d pay more under President Barack Obama’s latest plan to combat the deficit.

Air travelers, federal workers, military retirees, wealthier Medicare beneficiaries and people taking out new mortgages are among those who would pay more than $130 billion in new government revenues raised through new or increased fees. These fees are advertised as “savings” in administration budget documents.

Airline passengers, for instance, would see their federal security fees double from $5 to $10 for a nonstop round-trip and triple to $15 by 2017, raising $25 billion over the coming decade. Federal employees would contribute $21 billion more to their pensions over the same period. Military retirees would pay a $200 fee upon turning 65 to have the government pay their out-of-pocket Medicare expenses. They’d also pay more for non-generic prescription drugs.

And it’ll cost corporate jet owners a new $100 fee for each flight.

The fees aren’t taxes. They’re charged to people who use government services or receive benefits like taxpayer-subsidized health care, and the fees typically defray the government’s cost of providing a service. The fee on corporate jets and other private passenger planes, for example, would raise about $1 billion a year to help finance the cost of air traffic control. Recreational flyers won’t have to pay.

Many of Obama’s proposals are retreads from earlier budget proposals, including those submitted by his predecessors. They’re rejected year after year. Some ideas, like requiring wealthier veterans to pay more for their health care, whip up opposition from powerful interest groups. Others, like the bigger security fee for flyers, seems too close to a ticket tax increase.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/New-government-fees-pepper-apf-4120540659.html?x=0&.v=2

Posted on

>Obama calls for broad tax increases : Wants three dollars in taxes for each dollar of cuts

>Obama calls for broad tax increases : Wants three dollars in taxes for each dollar of cuts
By Stephen Dinan-The Washington Times Sunday, September 18, 2011

President Obama on Monday proposed a deficit reduction plan that calls for about $3 in new tax increases for every dollar in additional spending cuts as he seeks to put his imprint on the ongoing talks with Congress over reducing the government’s staggering debt.

In a plan his advisers described as his ideological vision rather than a compromise offer to Hill Republicans, Mr. Obama also threatened to veto any plan Congress sends him that makes changes to Medicare benefits without also raising taxes on the wealthy, which he argues is central to a “balanced” approach.

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/sep/18/obama-call-broad-tax-increases/

Posted on

>Cleaver: If Obama wasn’t president, we would be ‘marching on the White House’

>
Cleaver: If Obama wasn’t president, we would be ‘marching on the White House’
By Alicia M. Cohn – 09/18/11 03:48 PM ET

Unhappy members of the Congressional Black Caucus “probably would be marching on the White House” if Obama were not president, according to CBC Chairman Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.).

“If [former President] Bill Clinton had been in the White House and had failed to address this problem, we probably would be marching on the White House,” Cleaver told “The Miami Herald” in comments published Sunday. “There is a less-volatile reaction in the CBC because nobody wants to do anything that would empower the people who hate the president.”

https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/182209-cbc-chairman-if-obama-wasnt-in-office-we-would-be-marching-on-white-house

Posted on

>Why Obama should withdraw

>Why Obama should withdraw
Steve Chapman is a Tribune columnist
September 18, 2011

When Ronald Reagan ran for re-election in 1984, his slogan was “Morning in America.” For Barack Obama, it’s more like midnight in a coal mine.

The sputtering economy is about to stall out, unemployment is high, his jobs program may not pass, foreclosures are rampant and the poor guy can’t even sneak a cigarette.

His approval rating is at its lowest level ever. His party just lost two House elections — one in a district it had held for 88 consecutive years. He’s staked his future on the jobs bill, which most Americans don’t think would work.

The vultures are starting to circle. Former White House spokesman Bill Burton said that unless Obama can rally the Democratic base, which is disillusioned with him, “it’s going to be impossible for the president to win.” Democratic consultant James Carville had one word of advice for Obama: “Panic.”

https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-chapman-obama-reelection,0,622512.column

Posted on

>Ridgewood Wildscape Association : CLEANUP OF GYPSY POND October 2nd

>Ridgewood Wildscape Association

COME ENJOY OUR WILDSCAPES!

CLEANUP OF GYPSY POND

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2011

1PM-3PM

ALL ARE WELCOME!

Sunday, October 2; 1 – 3pm Carpool from Temple Israel 12:45 or meet at Gypsy Pond. Wear old clothes, all equipment provided by the Village of Ridgewood

keep tuned for more information, but please mark your calendars for this great event in cooperation with the interreligious community, Ridgewood Environmental Advisory Committee, AM Rotary, and others

Information: mandegruber@gmail.com

show?id=mjvuF8ceKoQ&bids=56753