Five Guys: Obamacare will boost burger prices
March 11, 2013 | 4:22 pm
The fight over Obamacare, so far held at the 30,000-foot level, is about to hit home. The latest impact hot off the grill: prices of burgers and hot dogs at Five Guys, the national chain that started in Washington, are going to rise to cover the president’s mandated insurance coverage.
“Any added costs are going to have to be passed on,” said Mike Ruffer, a Five Guys franchise holder with eight of the popular restaurants in the Raleigh-Durham, N.C. area. He will need all the profits from at least one of his eight outlets just to cover his estimated added $60,000-a year in new Obamacare costs.
What’s more, he’s iced plans to build another three restaurants until after the administration explains the exact rules and penalties employers will face. The law’s plan to have those available March 1 has been pushed back to October.
Preserving your Precious Heirlooms and Antiques with Bari Falese
Sunday, March 24 from 1:30–4:00 p.m. at the Ridgewood Public Library Auditorium
Ridgewood NJ, Have you ever wondered how best to care for and preserve that precious heirloom given to you by a relative? Do you have an antique piece that you want to preserve for future generations? Join Bari Falese at the Ridgewood Public Library on Sunday, March 24 at 1:30 p.m. Bari, an expert conservator with 30 years of experience, will speak about the care, cleaning, and storage of your heirlooms and antiques. She will help the audience understand the importance of preservation, how to use archival materials for care and storage, and how to triage items that have been damaged over time.
There will be a $5 admission charge to hear Bari speak. For an additional $5, Bari will look at your heirloom or antique item and give you actionable feedback on preserving it. If you would like Bari to look at your precious item, please register by emailing us.
This program is sponsored by The Ridgewood Historical Society and the Ridgewood Public Library. Proceeds raised will help support the Schoolhouse Museum and their preservation efforts.
Our expert Bari Falese has over 30 years experience in museums, galleries and conservation laboratories. She is a conservator and a curator. \ She has designed, prepared, and installed exhibits and been responsible for the care, assessment, and preservation of textiles, artifacts, and ephemera.
Bari has completed studies in ceramics, silver, pewter, painting, sculpture, printing, and textile arts. She holds a BA in Studio Art and in Chinese Studies and an MA in Studio Art. She completed a second masters degree at Seton Hall University in Museum Studies. In addition she has studied textile conservation at F.I.T.
Bari worked at the Newark Museum as assistant registrar. She currently works as an assistant textile conservator at The Textile Conservation Laboratory at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in New York City. She is the sole proprietor of MTS as a consultant to museums, historic societies and private clients. For the last four years Bari has been a consultant at the Schoolhouse Museum helping to design and install exhibits.
Since 1997 Bari has taught preservation workshops to audiences ranging from Science Scouts to Elderhostel groups. She offers programs on the care of objects in museum settings and in the home. Bari continues to be a guest instructor for the Seton Hall University Museum Professions MA Program.
The Valley Hospital introduces revised expansion plan at public hearing
Monday March 11, 2013, 11:13 PM
BY MARY JO LAYTON
STAFF WRITER
The Record
RIDGEWOOD — The Valley Hospital plans to move some outpatient services to new locations and eliminate one underground floor of a proposed new building to ease the impact of construction under a new “smaller” expansion plan, a lawyer for the hospital testified at a public hearing on Monday night.
The attorney, Jonathan Drill, told the Ridgewood Planning Board that the proposed 910,000 square feet of floor space at the new hospital represents a 21 percent decrease from the previous proposal of 1.17 million square feet. The revised plan also reduces the amount of bedrock that must be removed, minimizing noise and vibration and decreasing construction time, a major concern for many residents.
The proposal represents a scaled-down version of Valley’s controversial “Renewal” — the hospital’s $750 million plan to double in size that the Village Council rejected as “an aggressive overexpansion” in 2011.
The hearing, which drew nearly 100 residents and hospital officials, was the first of several scheduled on proposed changes to the master plan to allow the hospital to expand on its 15-acre campus, which is bordered by well-kept two-story homes and a middle school.
Ridgewood officials consider junking Central Garage
Monday March 11, 2013, 12:45 PM
BY DARIUS AMOS
STAFF WRITER
The Ridgewood News
The Village Council’s recent review of Ridgewood’s fleet maintenance budget for 2013 has reopened the ongoing discussion on the Central Garage, particularly its future operation and potential relocation.
More than one village official has already deemed the Central Garage, the Chestnut Street location where all village and school district vehicles are serviced, as a “big and clumsy” facility, and the Ridgewood Council has been asked to consider several options when it finally determines the fate of the aging fleet services operation.
“It seems to me that facility is inefficient as a place to service the many vehicles. I draw that conclusion not because I’m an expert on maintenance vehicles, but upon talking to the experts,” said Deputy Mayor Albert Pucciarelli, who since his election to the council last spring has championed changes at one of the main public works department properties.
Allendale moving on water privatization contract
Monday, March 11, 2013
BY ALLISON PRIES
STAFF WRITER
The Record
ALLENDALE — The council plans to vote today on a draft contract that would privatize the operation of its water system. The contract, if approved at today’s special meeting, would go before the public at the council’s March 28 meeting.
The contract awards the job of managing the water system to United Water, the low bidder for the job, at a rate of $590,000 per year for five years. The payment to the utility could increase annually based upon the average of two commonly used inflation indices, Mayor Vince Barra said.
The special meeting was called because the draft contract was not ready for the council’s Feb. 28 meeting. A vote is needed in time for the council to issue a public notice 14 days before its March 28 meeting, when the public hearing on the contract would be held, he said.
The privatization is expected to save the borough about $193,000 per year, which will be used to stabilize water rates, Barra said.
Former Newark Airport TSA screener says the job does little to keep fliers safe
Last Updated: 10:11 AM, March 10, 2013
Posted: 1:14 AM, March 10, 2013
t is perhaps America’s most unsafe airport. Despite being the launching point for one of the planes hijacked on 9/11 — Flight 93, which crashed in Pennsylvania — Newark Airport has had numerous security violations since. The latest: a fake bomb that made it past Transportation Security Administration officers. Here, a Newark TSA screener who recently left the agency tells how silly policies and lazy workers do little to stop real threats:
A LOT of what we do is make-believe.
I’ve had to screen small children and explain to their parents I had no choice but to “check” them. I would only place my hands on their arms and bottom half of their legs, and the entire “pat-down” lasted 10 seconds. This goes completely against TSA procedure.
Because the cameras are recording our every move, we have to do something. If someone isn’t checked or even screened properly, the entire terminal would shut down, as this constitutes a security breach.
But since most TSA supervisors are too daft to actually supervise, bending the rules is easy to do.
Did you know you don’t need a high-school diploma or GED to work as a security screener? These are the same screeners that TSA chief John Pistole and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano refer to as a first-class first line of defense in the war on terror.
These are the employees who could never keep a job in the private sector. I wouldn’t trust them to walk my dog.
Ridgewood Open Houses Sunday March 10
March 8, 2013 By Michael Shetler Leave a Comment
Open Houses in Ridgewood, NJ
Starts: 03/10/2013 01:00 pm
Duration: 3 hours:
Ridgewood, NJ
07450
Michael Shetler is a local resident and NJAR Circle of Excellence recipient (2009, 2011) who is happy to serve you in this area. For more information about any of these local homes for sale please call Michael at 201.421.0506 cell or 201.445.4300 office.
Address List Price Bedrooms List Broker
1 451 BERKSHIRE RD $448,000 4 COLDWELL BANKER, TENAFLY
2 610 ROBERT ST $450,000 4 WEICHERT REALTORS RIDGEWOOD
3 443 VAN EMBURGH AVE $579,900 3 GILSENAN & CO.
4 249 CANTERBURY PL $688,000 4 PROMINENT PROPERTIES SOTHEBY’S INTERNATIONAL REALTY-RIDGEWOO
5 43 ETHELBERT PL $739,000 4 BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS REAL ESTATE RAND REALTY, HARRINGTON
6 695 WALL ST $749,900 4 REALMART REALTY, LLC
7 425 WASTENA TER $799,000 4 WEICHERT REALTORS RIDGEWOOD
8 415 OAK ST $806,000 4 WEICHERT REALTORS RIDGEWOOD
9 198 ORCHARD PL $815,000 4 KELLER WILLIAMS VILLAGE SQUARE REALTY
10 348 QUEENS CT $934,500 6 CENTURY 21 VAN DER WENDE ASSOCIATES
11 206 CLAREMONT RD $949,000 6 COLDWELL BANKER, RIDGEWOOD
12 279 BELLAIR RD $1,249,000 5 TARVIN REALTORS
13 200 N MURRAY AVE $2,295,000 5 TARVIN REALTORS
Why the Obamacare Medicaid Expansion Is Bad for Taxpayers and Patients
By Nina Owcharenko
March 5, 2013
Medicaid needs reform, not expansion. This federal–state health care program provides health care to over 60 million Americans and consumes a growing portion of state and federal budgets. Research shows a long history of Medicaid enrollees having worse access and outcomes than privately insured individuals.[1] Due in part to low reimbursement, one in three doctors refuses to accept new Medicaid patients.[2] Despite access issues, Medicaid spending continues to grow. In 2010, total federal and state spending on Medicaid exceeded $400 billion.[3]
Instead of reforming Medicaid, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) expands eligibility to all individuals earning less than 138 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL).[4] The Medicaid program is already struggling to provide care to its core obligations—a diverse group of low-income children, disabled, pregnant women, and seniors. Adding more people further exacerbates Medicaid’s underlying problems.
The expansion of Medicaid fuels a larger trend under Obamacare: government coverage supplanting private coverage. By 2021, 46 percent of all Americans will be dependent on the government for their health care. Of this group, 86.9 million will be on Medicaid/Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), followed by 64.3 million on Medicare and 23.4 million enrolled in government exchanges.[5] This will push U.S. health care closer to a government model.
The Temptation of Medicaid Expansion
Obamacare provides additional federal funding to the states for this new expansion population. Starting in 2014, the federal government would pick up 100 percent of the benefit costs for the newly eligible population for three years. Thereafter, this enhanced federal funding would gradually decline to 90 percent in 2020.
Obamacare also directed states to expand eligibility or risk forgoing all of their federal Medicaid dollars. The Supreme Court, however, ruled on behalf of 26 state plaintiffs that this “all-or-nothing” proposition was coercive. To rectify this, the Court essentially made the expansion optional, meaning that a state could reject the expansion but not lose its existing Medicaid funding.
Today, governors and state legislators are weighing this option as they develop their budgets for the coming year. Proponents use a variety of unrealistic arguments in support of the Medicaid expansion:
It provides states with an influx of new, generous federal revenue. This will cause states to spend money that they otherwise would not have spent. Moreover, due to the structure of Obamacare, states will likely have to absorb many currently eligible but not enrolled individuals as well as those who lose their existing employer coverage. These effects would add to the cost.[6]
It will result in savings as the cost of uncompensated care declines with expanded coverage. Heritage data analysis shows that in the first few years, when federal funding is at its peak, states may see some savings. Over time, however, in the majority of states, Medicaid spending will accelerate and dwarf any projected uncompensated care savings.[7] These savings are also contingent on states enacting legislation to further reduce uncompensated care funds (Disproportionate Share Hospital [DSH] payments) on top of the $18 billion of federal cuts enacted under Obamacare. Heritage analyst Ed Haislmaier predicts that “governors and state legislators should expect their state’s hospitals and clinics to lobby them for more—not less—state funding to replace cuts in federal DSH payments.”[8]
Finally, contrary to the theory that expanding Medicaid would cause the number of uninsured to decline and reduce the need for uncompensated care, a similar expansion in Maine found the opposite effect. In Maine, uncompensated care increased, and the number of uninsured in the targeted population (those below 100 percent of FPL) saw limited change.[9]
Rejecting the expansion will mean that other states get more. The federal share of Medicaid is based on a formula calculation and actual expenditures. Rejected funds do not go into a general fund for redistribution to other states. The fewer states that expand, the less the federal government spends. States that draw down on these new federal funds fuel the fiscal crisis in our country.
The Trade-Off Dilemma
Committing to an expansion creates a dilemma for the states. To control Medicaid spending, states typically fall back on predictable techniques to manage costs, such as limiting reimbursements to health care providers and limiting services, which ultimately limits access to care. These Medicaid cost controls, however, go only so far. Today, Medicaid consumes over 23 percent of state budgets, surpassing education as the largest state budget item.[10] As Medicaid spending continues to rise, other important state priorities such as education, emergency services, transportation, and criminal justice are squeezed.
Finally, if states resist balancing among spending programs, the alternative is generating more revenues with tax increases. But higher taxes come with a steep price: They reduce economic growth. With most states still experiencing anemic growth, tax increases on top of already higher taxes at the federal level are not an appealing option.[11]
Fueling the Country’s Fiscal Crisis
Any positive assumptions about Medicaid expansion also assume that federal funding remains unchanged. With deficits running over $1 trillion a year, the country’s fiscal future is in need of reform. Federal spending on health care entitlements, including Medicare and Medicaid, is the largest driver.[12]
Even this Administration recognizes that such entitlement spending, including Medicaid, is unsustainable. The President’s fiscal year (FY) 2011 budget outlined several Medicaid reform policies, including setting an across-the-board blend rate for federal reimbursement and limiting the states’ ability to leverage provider taxes for the state share of matching funds. Although the Administration attempts to distance itself from its own proposal, any serious efforts toward entitlement reform must include Medicaid.
In spite of this fact, several Democrat and Republican governors that support Medicaid expansion condition their support on federal funding remaining untouched. In essence, pro-expansion governors are telling Washington, “don’t touch entitlement spending.” This reliance on federal revenues exacerbates the country’s fiscal challenges and could also affect states’ own fiscal health. Recently, Moody’s cited Missouri’s reliance on the federal government, including Medicaid funding, as adversely affecting its credit rating outlook.[13]
Setting Good Policy
There are several recommendations that the states and Congress could adopt to help mitigate the crisis that Obamacare has exacerbated:
Reject the Medicaid expansion. Greater dependence on federal dollars tangles the states in bad fiscal policy and bad health care policy. States that reject the expansion avoid relying on unsound federal revenues, stretching an already thin program beyond its means and adding millions to a failing program.
Scale back existing eligibility where possible. Some states have allowed Medicaid to grow beyond its original intent by moving middle-class families into a welfare program. To restore Medicaid as a safety-net program, states should review eligibility levels, scale back eligibility where possible, and restore the program’s focus on its core Medicaid functions.
Advance a separate, state alternative. Instead of using a flawed Obamacare model, states should put in place an alternative. States should develop a state solution tailored to the specific needs of this new population rather than placing them in a one-size-fits-all Medicaid option.[14] A non-Medicaid, state-based approach, especially for this targeted population, would give states the control to design policies best suited to addressing the needs of their citizens without onerous Medicaid constraints.
Congress should eliminate the federal enhanced Medicaid match. To avoid the argument that states rejecting Medicaid are leaving federal dollars on the table, Congress should level the playing field by removing the new, enhanced federal dollars. This would remove/minimize the temptation of excessive and unsustainable federal funding and restore fiscal constraint at the federal level. States would still be able to expand eligibility but would have to do so with the traditional (non-enhanced) federal matching rate. If Congress ignores this opportunity to restrain federal spending, it could “block grant” the enhanced federal dollars to the states to develop their own state-specific approaches, including alternatives outside of Medicaid.
Alternate Solution Needed
Medicaid is already spread too thin. Adding a new and complex population to this program does not solve its challenges; it only makes them worse. States should resist, and Congress should remove, this temptation. Both should begin to lay out a better and more sustainable alternative than a failing government health program to care for the less fortunate.
—Nina Owcharenko is Director of the Center for Health Policy Studies and Preston A. Wells, Jr., Fellow at The Heritage Foundation.
Opportunities remain scarce for young people after years of debt-fueled government spending
Washington, DC – (3/8/13) – Generation Opportunity, a national, non-partisan organization advocating for Millennials ages 18-29, is announcing its Millennial Jobs Report for February 2013. The data is non-seasonally adjusted (NSA) and is specific to 18-29 year olds:
The youth unemployment rate for 18-29 year olds specifically for February 2013 is 12.5 percent (NSA).
The youth unemployment rate for 18-29 year old African-Americans for February 2013 is 22.8 percent (NSA); the youth unemployment rate for 18-29 year old Hispanics for February 2013 is 13.4 percent (NSA); and the youth unemployment rate for 18–29 year old women for February 2013 is 11.5 percent (NSA).
The declining labor force participation rate has created an additional 1.7 million young adults that are not counted as “unemployed” by the U.S. Department of Labor because they are not in the labor force, meaning that those young people have given up looking for work due to the lack of jobs.
If the labor force participation rate were factored into the 18-29 youth unemployment calculation, the actual 18-29-unemployment rate would rise to 16.2 percent (NSA).
“In 2008, the national debt was $10 trillion, and youth unemployment was spiraling out of control. Five years later, our national debt has nearly doubled to close to $17 trillion, and young people have even less economic opportunity. Perhaps it’s time to admit that government is the problem, not the solution,” said Evan Feinberg, President of Generation Opportunity and one of the first Millennials to run for Congress. “Young people agree: 72 percent believe we should reduce government spending to create economic opportunities. After four years of debt-fueled government spending, far too many young people – nearly one in six – are still out of the game. This is unacceptable – my generation won’t put up with it for much longer.”
Mountain of donated books needs sorting, Paterson library chief says
March 7, 2013, 10:06 AM
BY ALLISON TROBIANO
STAFF WRITER
The Record
As a Central Jersey volunteer group Wednesday morning delivered another 1,000 children’s books for the Big Book Drive, the coordinator of the effort sent out an appeal for volunteers to help sort an avalanche of donated books in preparation for a major distribution event in April.
Cynthia Czesak, Paterson’s library director and book drive organizer, said the drive has been a “tremendous success,” with an estimated 10,000 books already collected. The Big Book Drive is an effort of the Paterson library and The Record and the Herald News to collect as many new or gently used books as possible to give to Paterson children to take home.
With heaps of books in boxes at the Southside library branch at 930 Main St., and untold hundreds more gathering at partner libraries in Allendale, Maywood and Ridgewood, Czesak says the new priority is recruiting volunteers to sort the donated volumes.
“There are already some individuals and groups who have volunteered to help, but we will need all the help we can get,” she said, having begun setting up a sorting project in hopes of beginning on Saturday.
Ridgewood has super hopes for Super Bowl
Friday, March 8, 2013
BY CHRIS HARRIS
STAFF WRITER
The Record
RIDGEWOOD — The village has already started planning several special events for the week leading up to next year’s Super Bowl at the Meadowlands in an attempt to lure football fans to Ridgewood’s shops and restaurants.
The council on Wednesday heard from resident John Saracino, who sits on a 20-member village committee devised with a singular mission in mind: make Ridgewood a draw for tourists coming to the area for 2014’s big game.
Saracino said Ridgewood and Montclair were both chosen by the official host committee behind Super Bowl XLVIII as places to visit before kickoff.
The local committee that Saracino sits on will “organize Super Bowl-related events in the village,” all geared toward attracting residents of Bergen and Rockland counties to Ridgewood’s downtown.
One of the committee’s suggestions, Saracino said, would be to throw an event similar to Ridgewood’s annual Winterfest, which in 2012 boasted scenic horse-drawn carriage rides and ice sculpture demonstrations.
“We’re looking at concepts and ideas,” Saracino said, “including a fairly significant festival like Winterfest, just a level up.”
Reader says Every taxpayer in town should read the Tiger Team report
The Tiger Team may have finished what they were asked to do. You may not appreciate what those people did for the Village. But, I do, as do most people I know in Ridgewood.
Fortunately, their recommendations were documented in their report, which the Village Council has and should be using as a road map to guide their efforts to reduce village expenses, improve municipal operational efficiency, reduce property taxes and preserve municipal jobs. Ken Gabbert has demonstrated that he is unable or unwilling to focus on these things and the Village Council needs help.
Every taxpayer in town should read their report. I was shocked by it. People may have differing opinions about some elements of the recommendations presented. But, we can all be in agreement that the facts are scary and we cannot continue with “business as usual” in the operation of Ridgewood. We need immediate long-term structural changes to some of our departments and to our union contracts.
AFP – A number of countries are aggressively trying to control the Internet, a top US diplomat cautioned Thursday, insisting Washington would give no ground when it comes to curbing freedoms on the Web.
“Many Middle Eastern countries, Russia, China and others are I believe going to take an increasingly aggressive stand to try to control the Internet,” Alec Ross, the State Department’s outgoing senior adviser on innovation, told reporters in Geneva.
The fact that many countries appeared to be investing heavily, “billions and billions of dollars”, in next generation surveillance technologies was an indication of their intentions to clamp down on Internet freedoms, Ross warned.
The clamp-down was coming amid a clear shift of power all over the world from governments and other state hierarchies towards citizens and networks of citizens, he said during his last press conference before leaving his government position.
“Anyone who understands power understands that power is not given up willingly,” he said, adding that the rush to buy surveillance technology appeared to have really taken off after the Iranian election protests in 2009.
RHS 2013 National Merit Scholarship Award finalists
RHS 2013 National Merit Scholarship Award finalists Vidushi Sharma, Thomas Lum, Anna Lenore Nathanson and Kyo San Ku pose for a photo with Principal Tom Gorman and Guidance Counselor Laura Moore.
The National Merit Scholarship Program is a United States academic scholarship competition for recognition and university scholarships administered by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC), a privately funded, not-for-profit organization. The program began in 1955. NMSC conducts two annual competitions for recognition and scholarships: the National Merit Scholarship Program, which is open to all students who meet entry requirements, and the National Achievement Scholarship Program (est. 1964) in which only African American students participate. The highest achieving students in the National Merit Scholarship Program are designated as National Merit Scholars, representing less than 1% of the initial pool of entrants.
The corporation’s headquarters are located in Evanston, Illinois. Finalists and semifinalists are also given recognition for their academic and extracurricular achievements. Commended Students are named on the basis of a nationally applied Selection Index score that may vary from year to year and is typically below the level required for participants to be named Semifinalists in their respective states. Each year’s Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®) is the qualifying test designated for entry to a particular year’s competitions.
Reader says it will be extremely difficult for the Ridgewood Garage to demonstrate that they are more cost efficient than other alternatives.
The Village has been very satisfied with the quality of work from Paramus Garage. In fact, I have heard numerous stories about how long it takes for the Ridgewood Garage to complete very simple jobs. Ridgewood vehicles have been taken to other facilities to have things like oil changes done in a matter of hours, after the Ridgewood Garage said the work would take days.
This is a simple matter of economics. If Ridgewood’s Garage employees are more responsive and perform the necessary work at the lowest total cost, the facility should be kept. However, if Paramus or another town’s garage facility is more responsive and can perform the necessary work at a lower cost (fully burdened labor and OH, including accurate pension and benefit obligations must be used in this comparison), the Ridgewood Garage should be shut down and outsourced to those facilities.
This does not take into consideration the additional revenue that could be generated if the Village enters into a long term lease arrangement for a higher use development on the site that could benefit the community.
I expect that it will be extremely difficult for the Ridgewood Garage to demonstrate that they are more cost efficient than other alternatives. This is not a complicated analysis to perform. So, the Village Council should get the data and make the information available to the public for discussion and a decision.
