Ridgewood NJ, Massive peaceful protests marked the first full day of Donald Trump’s presidency as marchers converged on Washington and in cities and towns around the globe. Coined the Women’s March on Washington various liberal women’s groups descended on DC,”vowing to keep the pressure on an administration that has sowed worldwide unease”
The Ridgewood blog has one question, what’s with the outfits and Vagina costumes? Were women protesting fashion sense?
Paramus NJ, A 64-year-old, 12-inch, cast iron gas main cracked in Paramus last week. Traffic snarled on Rt. 17 while we made emergency repairs…again. That was the third time in two years we’ve had to patch up this section of pipe. Installation of a replacement gas main is underway.
After decades of freezing and thawing, unprotected steel and cast iron pipes can become brittle and crack, and the joints that tie them together can leak. Along that stretch of Rt. 17, nearby construction may be another contributing factor. We have 4,000 miles of this cast iron pipe, and another 1,000 miles of unprotected steel, in our system. That’s the largest inventory of any utility in the U.S. We have so much old piping because PSE&G has been serving customers for 113 years.
As part of a $905 million program approved by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, we’re replacing old pipes three times faster than in the past. Last year alone, we installed 189 miles of new gas mains across our service area, including nearly 6 miles in Paramus. And we’re replacing them with highly durable plastic piping and protected steel pipes that rarely leak and will ensure safe, reliable gas service now and in the future.
For us to replace all this pipe in Paramus, we are working closely with Paramus Mayor Richard LaBarbiera. Mayor LaBarbiera knows the investments PSE&G is making in his town’s infrastructure ensure residents and businesses will continue to have safe and reliable gas service. By working together, we are minimizing disruption and able to complete the work safely. And we are all grateful to the residents of Paramus for their patience.
We expect to have the pipes along that stretch of Rt. 17 replaced by April. There is never a good time to close traffic lanes. So while the work is a one-time inconvenience, rest assured we won’t be back to make repairs on those new mains for a long, long time.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Trump administration may no longer enforce a rule requiring individual Americans to carry health insurance or pay a penalty if they do not, a senior White House official said on Sunday
Speaking on ABC’s “This Week” program, Kellyanne Conway, counselor to the president, said President Donald Trump “may stop enforcing the individual mandate.”
Separately, on CBS’ “Face the Nation” show, she reiterated Republican promises that no one would lose their health insurance under Obamacare while a replacement is being developed.
“For the 20 million who rely upon the Affordable Care Act in some form, they will not be without coverage during this transition time,” she said.
On Friday Trump signed an executive order concerning the 2010 healthcare law, urging U.S. agencies to “waive, defer, grant exemptions from, or delay the implementation” of provisions deemed to impose fiscal burdens on states, companies or individuals.
Healthcare experts had speculated that Trump could expand exemptions from the individual mandate.
By MaryAnn Spoto | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on January 18, 2017 at 1:50 PM, updated January 18, 2017 at 7:16 PM
TRENTON — New Jersey has to build thousands more units for its low-income residents to make up for the 16 years that the state didn’t address those needs, the state Supreme Court ruled Wednesday.
In a decision addressing New Jersey’s long-stalled regulations governing affordable housing, the state’s highest court said towns must take into consideration the need for housing that existed within their borders between 1999 and 2015. That’s the so-called gap period when the Council on Affordable Housing failed to adopt new rules.
The 6-0 decision, the latest in decades of Mount Laurel rulings governing affordable housing in New Jersey, rejects the assertion that only 37,000 units are needed and that the gap period calculations are not necessary because that need no longer exists.
“The decision says that the promise of the Mount Laurel decision is real for tens of thousands of families and people with disabilities and the New Jersey Supreme Court said our commitment to fight discrimination remains good law,” said Kevin Walsh, executive director of Fair Share Housing Center, the advocacy group that has taken the lead in enforcing Mount Laurel obligations.
by
Justin Sink
and
Margaret Talev
January 21, 2017, 6:02 PM EST January 21, 2017, 6:26 PM EST
Spicer insists that inauguration crowds larger than reported
Photographs show far fewer people on Mall than Spicer claimed
Donald Trump’s press secretary, Sean Spicer, took to the White House briefing room for the first time on Saturday to lash out at news organizations and accuse them of false reporting about the size of the crowd at Trump’s inauguration the day before.
“This was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, period, both in person and around the world,” Spicer said. “These attempts to lessen the enthusiasm of the inauguration are shameful and wrong.”
He took no questions from reporters and he did not say specifically how many people the White House believes attended the inauguration. He said three large sections of the Mall that each held at least 200,000 people were “full when the president took the oath of office.”
He alleged that some photos of the inauguration were “intentionally framed in a way” that minimized the crowd, without providing examples or evidence.
Mark Krulish , Staff Writer, @Mark_KrulishPublished 12:35 p.m. ET Jan. 20, 2017 | Updated 12:38 p.m. ET Jan. 20, 2017
In coming years, there will be a rapid growth in the population aged 65 and over as the Baby Boomer generation heads into retirement.
While the national trend may not reflect the reality of every single municipality in the country, a group of Ridgewood residents is looking to make a difference in its own community, to make the village a better place for residents to grow old.
His message to America: Remember those things I said in the campaign? I meant them. I meant it all.
By
PEGGY NOONAN
Jan. 20, 2017 6:49 p.m. ET
Washington
I was more moved than I expected. Then more startled.
The old forms and traditions, the bands and bunting, endured. I thought, as I watched the inauguration: It continues. There were pomp and splendor, happy, cheering crowds; and for all the confounding nature of the past 18 months, and all the trauma, it came as a reassurance to see us do what we do the way we do it. A friend in the Southwest, a longtime Trump supporter, emailed just before the swearing in: “I have been crying all morning.” From joy.
I found myself unexpectedly moved during the White House meeting of the Trumps and the Obamas, at the moment Melania Trump emerged from her car. She was beautiful, seemed so shy and game. There are many ways to show your respect for people and events, and one is to present yourself with elegance and dignity.
Revised website features issue pages for energy policy, foreign policy, economic policy, expanding the military, bolstering law enforcement and rethinking trade.
By
DAMIAN PALETTA
Updated Jan. 21, 2017 11:13 a.m. ET
WASHINGTON—The Trump administration overhauled the White House’s website Friday and published action plans that ranged from building a wall along the Mexico border to pulling back from trade deals, transforming a number of populist campaign themes into concrete agenda items.
The revised website created six different issue pages for energy policy, foreign policy, economic policy, expanding the size of the military, bolstering law enforcement, and rethinking trade.
The changes include removing language about climate change and the White House’s commitment to LGBTQ issues. The only speech listed on the website is President Donald Trump’s inaugural address from earlier Friday, pared back from the hundreds of speeches previously listed—just as the incoming Obama administration wiped the slate clean in 2009.
Mr. Trump’s administration also took over the @potus Twitter handle. Archived tweets from President Barack Obama’s administration moved to a new handle, @potus44.
Robert E. Moffit, Ph.D.Senior Fellow
Center for Health Policy Studies
President-elect Donald Trump has repeatedly promised voters he will repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. Now he and his congressional allies have an obligation to fulfill that promise.
Despite some hysterical claims to the contrary, Congress isn’t going throw millions of Americans out of coverage. Under Obamacare, most newly insured people have been enrolled in Medicaid, a welfare program, while the bulk of those covered in the troubled exchanges are getting generous taxpayer subsidies. Thus far, at least, congressional leaders appear focused on avoiding further disruption and securing a smooth transition, particularly for those enrolled in the exchanges and Medicaid.
Meanwhile, there is another, more pressing, problem. There are more than 10 million people in the individual market who get no ACA taxpayer subsidies for their insurance yet are being hit with staggering premium increases.
Moreover, there are also approximately 15 million Americans in the small group markets – small-business employers and employees – who are likewise facing escalating premiums.
In the Obamacare exchanges, the average increase in the benchmark plan premium will be 25 percent for 2017 in the 39 states using the HealthCare.gov platform, and the exchange deductibles are positively breathtaking. For plans with the lowest premium costs, the so-called bronze plans, the average deductible for single coverage is $6,000 annually, while family coverage climbs to more than $12,000.
Premium subsidies aren’t available for many in the middle class. A single person making more than $47,000 is out of luck for help in offsetting her premium costs. And if she makes roughly $15 an hour, she will likely be ineligible for cost-sharing subsidies.
Trump and Congress are inheriting unstable insurance markets. In droves, millions of Americans expected to sign up in the exchanges have not; middle class folks, especially young folks, clearly don’t see much value in high-priced insurance with crazy deductibles.
So a larger proportion of older and sicker people, whose claims costs are often higher than their premium contributions, are driving costs higher. And the individual mandate penalty, which is riddled with exemptions, isn’t much of an incentive to buy Obamacare coverage.
There has also been the steep reduction in health plan competition since the inception of the exchanges in 2014. By underpricing the product, perhaps in hopes of federal bailouts, and then failing to recover sufficient revenues, many of the plans have been losing money, and major plans have withdrawn from the exchanges altogether.
The Obama administration’s political remedies to enhance competition in the exchanges have either failed or become another excuse for more taxpayer bailouts. Note the stunning collapse of the co-op program – 18 out of 23 have disappeared from the markets – and the equally important but overlooked dismal performance of the federally sponsored multistate plans administered by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. They enroll just 440,000 people, or 4 percent of the entire exchange population.
The new president and Congress must act decisively to stabilize the insurance markets that exist as well as lay the groundwork for the improved markets they envision. Through a combination of early administrative and legislative actions, they can reduce costs and stabilize the insurance markets. Among the many other provisions to be enacted or implemented, they must do at least the following:
– Reduce the costs in the individual and small group markets by liberalizing insurance rules, particularly the federal benefit and insurance rating rules, which artificially drive up premium costs for young families.
– Reduce the costs of employer-sponsored insurance. Administratively, this can be done by liberalizing the “grandfather rules,” thus allowing employers greater flexibility to alter or modify their plans, delaying the employer mandate reporting and penalty requirements. Legislatively, Congress should kill the employer mandate entirely.
– Provide individual tax relief for Americans buying health insurance if they do not or cannot get health care coverage through the place of work.
Trump and Congress must move quickly to prevent even greater disruption to the badly damaged health insurance markets. While Obamacare was designed to insure the uninsured, now Obamacare costs threaten to un-insure those who are insured. It’s time to act.
By Johnny Kampis / January 18, 2017 / News / 2 Comments
The Government Accountability Office says many federal agencies’ financial books are in such bad shape that they cannot be audited.
In a report released last week, the GAO said material weaknesses in accounting procedures “hamper the federal government’s ability to reliably report a significant portion of its assets, liabilities, costs and other related information.”
The GAO said those weaknesses also:
Affect the federal government’s ability to reliably measure the full costs and financial performance of certain programs and activities.
Impair the federal government’s ability to adequately safeguard significant assets and properly record various transactions.
Hinder the federal government from having reliable financial information to operate in an efficient and effective manner.
The GAO said its report on the U.S. government’s consolidated financial statements for fiscal years 2015 and 2016 “underscores that much work remains to improve federal financial management.” The agency couldn’t even express an opinion on the balance sheets because of the weak financial reporting.
“It’s another way of saying ‘we wash our hands of this,’” Bill Bergman, director of research for Truth in Accounting, said of the internal government watchdog.
Bergman said the sorry situation is nothing new. The GAO has highlighted such sloppy record-keeping for two decades. And he said such dismal reports wouldn’t fly in the private sector.
“A private corporation wouldn’t have a record like this for so many years,” Bergman told Watchdog.org.
GAO noted that 34 percent of the federal government’s reported assets and 18 percent of its reported net cost relate to federal entities that were unable to issue audited financial statements, were unable to receive audit opinions on the complete set of financial statements or received a disclaimer of opinion on their statements.
The GAO called out the Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Defense, in particular, for weak internal controls.
The agency also took a shot at the Department of the Treasury and the Office of Management and Budget, noting that some of the “numerous recommendations” GAO made to those agencies in previous years to address internal control deficiencies remain unaddressed. The secretary of the Treasury and director of OMB are required to annually submit financial statements for the U.S. government, audited by the GAO, to the president and Congress.
“It’s a sad state of affairs,” Bergman said. “It comes with the territory when you’ve got a government this big and this complex.”
The recent NJ Supreme court case pinning untold thousands of units of affordable housing obligations on “recalcitrant” municipalities who fought against them in court shows without any doubt that the judiciary in New Jersey has arrogated to itself governmental powers that, if they could be legitimately be exercised at all, should have been committed exclusively to the legislative branch. Heaven help us, because whatever real differences that exist between New Jersey and the average banana republic state are becoming very difficult to find. The unfortunate exodus of decent citizens from New Jersey can only increase from here on out.
These judges are like gods. They can take decisions without much worry about people’s lives in the name of “common good”. How is it possible to not take residents’ concerns into consideration but just shove it to them?!?! HoHoKus may be asked to build close to 300 affordable units. How crazy is this? A tiny , nice place right next door to Ridgewood. How can 300 units fit in there. If HHK is asked for 300 how many will Ridgewood be asked for? It has to be over 1000. There are plans to build where Granny’s attic is and also to take away the lower parking lot by the train station. Add to this the looming Valley building by N Maple and you don’t have a village anymore. In a few years if nobody does something about this (residents are all asleep or occupied with Trump’s upcoming “disasters”) we won’t have a village anymore but a city called Ridgehokus.
by DAVID HARSANYI January 20, 2017 12:00 AM @DAVIDHARSANYI
Betsy DeVos wants better education for minority and low-income kids. There’s something perverse about an ideology that views the disposing of an unborn child in the third trimester of pregnancy as an indisputable right but the desire of parents to choose a school for their kids as zealotry. Watching President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for education secretary, Betsy DeVos, answer an array of frivolous questions this week was just another reminder of how irrational liberalism has become.
Democrats often tell us that racism is one of the most pressing problems in America. And yet, few things have hurt African Americans more over the past 40 years than inner-city public-school systems. If President Obama is correct and educational attainment is the key to breaking out of a lower economic stratum, then no institution is driving inequality quite as effectively as public schools.
Actually, teachers’ unions are the only organizations in America that openly support segregated schools. In districts across the country — even ones in cities with some form of limited movement for kids — poor parents, typically those who are black or Hispanic, are forced to enroll their kids in underperforming schools when there are good ones nearby, sometimes just blocks away.
By S.P. Sullivan | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on January 19, 2017 at 5:43 PM
TRENTON — The head of the New Jersey State Police on Thursday decried a deal struck between the United States and Cuba because it did not require the return of convicted cop killer Joanne Chesimard.
Earlier this week, the White House announced an agreement on law enforcement cooperation with Cuba, part of President Barack Obama’s effort to normalize relations between the two countries.
The Associated Press reported the State Department and Cuba’s Interior Ministry agreed to share information on international criminal activity including human trafficking and terrorism.
Chief Justice Roberts, President Carter, President Clinton, President Bush, President Obama, fellow Americans, and people of the world: thank you.
We, the citizens of America, are now joined in a great national effort to rebuild our country and to restore its promise for all of our people.
Together, we will determine the course of America and the world for years to come.
We will face challenges. We will confront hardships. But we will get the job done. Every four years, we gather on these steps to carry out the orderly and peaceful transfer of power, and we are grateful to President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama for their gracious aid throughout this transition. They have been magnificent.
Today’s ceremony, however, has very special meaning. Because today we are not merely transferring power from one Administration to another, or from one party to another – but we are transferring power from Washington, D.C. and giving it back to you, the American People.
For too long, a small group in our nation’s Capital has reaped the rewards of government while the people have borne the cost.
Washington flourished – but the people did not share in its wealth. Politicians prospered – but the jobs left, and the factories closed. The establishment protected itself, but not the citizens of our country. Their victories have not been your victories; their triumphs have not been your triumphs; and while they celebrated in our nation’s Capital, there was little to celebrate for struggling families all across our land.
That all changes – starting right here, and right now, because this moment is your moment: it belongs to you! It belongs to everyone gathered here today and everyone watching all across America. This is your day. This is your celebration. And this, the United States of America, is your country.
What truly matters is not which party controls our government, but whether our government is controlled by the people. January 20th 2017, will be remembered as the day the people became the rulers of this nation again.
The forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer.
Everyone is listening to you now. You came by the tens of millions to become part of a historic movement the likes of which the world has never seen before. At the center of this movement is a crucial conviction: that a nation exists to serve its citizens.
Americans want great schools for their children, safe neighborhoods for their families, and good jobs for themselves.
These are the just and reasonable demands of a righteous public. But for too many of our citizens, a different reality exists: Mothers and children trapped in poverty in our inner cities; rusted-out factories scattered like tombstones across the landscape of our nation; an education system, flush with cash, but which leaves our young and beautiful students deprived of knowledge; and the crime and gangs and drugs that have stolen too many lives and robbed our country of so much unrealized potential.
This American carnage stops RIGHT HERE and stops RIGHT NOW. We are one nation – and their pain is our pain. Their dreams are our dreams; and their success will be our success. We share one heart, one home, and one glorious destiny.
The oath of office I take today is an oath of allegiance to all Americans. For many decades, we’ve enriched foreign industry at the expense of American industry;
Subsidized the armies of other countries while allowing for the very sad depletion of our military; We’ve defended other nation’s borders while refusing to defend our own;
And spent trillions of dollars overseas while America’s infrastructure has fallen into disrepair and decay.
We’ve made other countries rich while the wealth, strength, and confidence of our country has disappeared over the horizon.
One by one, the factories shuttered and left our shores, with not even a thought about the millions upon millions of American workers left behind.
The wealth of our middle class has been ripped from their homes and then redistributed across the entire world.
But that is the past. And now we are looking only to the future.
We assembled here today are issuing a new decree to be heard in every city, in every foreign capital, and in every hall of power.
From this day forward, a new vision will govern our land.
From this moment on, it’s going to be America First. Every decision on trade, on taxes, on immigration, on foreign affairs, will be made to benefit American workers and American families. We must protect our borders from the ravages of other countries making our products, stealing our companies, and destroying our jobs. Protection will lead to great prosperity and strength.
I will fight for you with every breath in my body – and I will never, ever let you down.
America will start winning again, winning like never before. We will bring back our jobs. We will bring back our borders. We will bring back our wealth. And we will bring back our dreams.
We will build new roads, and highways, and bridges, and airports, and tunnels, and railways all across our wonderful nation.
We will get our people off of welfare and back to work – rebuilding our country with American hands and American labor.
We will follow two simple rules: Buy American and Hire American.
We will seek friendship and goodwill with the nations of the world – but we do so with the understanding that it is the right of all nations to put their own interests first.
We do not seek to impose our way of life on anyone, but rather to let it shine as an example for everyone to follow.
We will reinforce old alliances and form new ones – and unite the civilized world against Radical Islamic Terrorism, which we will eradicate completely from the face of the Earth.
At the bedrock of our politics will be a total allegiance to the United States of America, and through our loyalty to our country, we will rediscover our loyalty to each other.
When you open your heart to patriotism, there is no room for prejudice.
The Bible tells us, “how good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity.”
We must speak our minds openly, debate our disagreements honestly, but always pursue solidarity. When America is united, America is totally unstoppable. There should be no fear – we are protected, and we will always be protected.
We will be protected by the great men and women of our military and law enforcement and, most importantly, we are protected by God.
Finally, we must think big and dream even bigger. In America, we understand that a nation is only living as long as it is striving.
We will no longer accept politicians who are all talk and no action – constantly complaining but never doing anything about it.
The time for empty talk is over. Now arrives the hour of action.
Do not let anyone tell you it cannot be done. No challenge can match the heart and fight and spirit of America.
We will not fail. Our country will thrive and prosper again. We stand at the birth of a new millennium, ready to unlock the mysteries of space, to free the Earth from the miseries of disease, and to harness the energies, industries and technologies of tomorrow.
A new national pride will stir our souls, lift our sights, and heal our divisions. It is time to remember that old wisdom our soldiers will never forget: that whether we are black or brown or white, we all bleed the same red blood of patriots, we all enjoy the same glorious freedoms, and we all salute the same great American Flag. And whether a child is born in the urban sprawl of Detroit or the windswept plains of Nebraska, they look up at the same night sky, they fill their heart with the same dreams, and they are infused with the breath of life by the same almighty Creator.
So to all Americans, in every city near and far, small and large, from mountain to mountain, and from ocean to ocean, hear these words: You will never be ignored again. Your voice, your hopes, and your dreams, will define our American destiny. And your courage and goodness and love will forever guide us along the way.
Together, We Will Make America Strong Again. We Will Make America Wealthy Again.
We Will Make America Proud Again.
We Will Make America Safe Again….
and Yes, Together, We Will Make America Great Again. Thank you, God Bless You, And God Bless America.
Donald J. Trump
45th President of the United States
While everyone’s been gearing up for President Trump’s inauguration, the Clinton Foundation made a major announcement this week that went by with almost no notice: For all intents and purposes, it’s closing its doors.
In a tax filing, the Clinton Global Initiative said it’s firing 22 staffers and closing its offices, a result of the gusher of foreign money that kept the foundation afloat suddenly drying up after Hillary Clinton failed to win the presidency.
It proves what we’ve said all along: The Clinton Foundation was little more than an influence-peddling scheme to enrich the Clintons, and had little if anything to do with “charity,” either overseas or in the U.S. That sound you heard starting in November was checkbooks being snapped shut in offices around the world by people who had hoped their donations would buy access to the next president of the United States.
And why not? There was a strong precedent for it in Hillary Clinton’s tenure as secretary of state. While serving as the nation’s top diplomat, the Clinton Foundation took money from at least seven foreign governments — a clear breach of Clinton’s pledge on taking office that there would be total separation between her duties and the foundation.
Is there a smoking gun? Well, of the 154 private interests who either officially met or had scheduled phone talks with Hillary Clinton while she was secretary of state, at least 85 were donors to the Clinton Foundation or one of its programs.
