A second breach of the Office of Personnel Management by hackers believed to be associated with China exposed sensitive security clearance information of intelligence and military personnel, officials confirmed Friday, potentially creating an intelligence disaster for U.S. spies stationed abroad.
“During the investigation into the cyber intrusion of OPM that compromised personnel records of current and former Federal employees announced last week, OPM along with its interagency partners became aware of the possibility of a separate intrusion affecting a different set of OPM systems and data,” a senior administration official said in a statement.
Officials investigating the OPM hack announced last week discovered the second breach on Monday, the official said.
“On June 8, as the investigation proceeded, the incident response team shared with relevant agencies that there was a high degree of confidence that OPM systems containing information related to the background investigations of current, former, and prospective Federal government employees, and those for whom a federal background investigation was conducted, may have been exfiltrated,” the official said. “Since the investigation is ongoing, we are in the process of assessing the scope of the information that has been compromised, but we expect OPM will conduct additional notifications as necessary.”
Recipient of Women’s Choice Award® for Providing Exceptional Patient Care and Treatment in Cancer Care
Ridgewood NJ, For the second consecutive time The Valley Hospital has been named a Women’s Choice Award® recipient as one of America’s Best Hospitals for Cancer Care, acknowledging Valley’s dedication to providing exceptional patient care and cancer treatment care for women and their families.
According to the American Cancer Society, more than 1 million people in the U.S. are diagnosed with cancer each year. This award signifies Valley’s commitment and passion towards an extraordinary healthcare experience for women and all patients. By carrying the Women’s Choice Award seal, Valley has joined an elite network of hospitals committed to a global mission to empower women to make smart healthcare choices.
“We are proud to be recognized as one of the nation’s best hospitals for cancer care for the second consecutive year,” said Audrey Meyers, President and CEO of The Valley Hospital and Valley Health System. “It’s a testament to the priority Valley nurses, physicians and staff place on delivering high-quality, compassionate care to our patients and their families.”
A recent study from the Center for Talent Innovation showed that women make the majority of health care decisions for themselves (94 percent) and also make choices for others (59 percent). It also indicated that they often lack confidence in the decisions they are making due to hectic schedules, lack of reliable information and a general sense of distrust in the industry. More than half of women (53 percent) think they can get the best health information from the Internet, but 31 percent of these women do not trust the information they receive online.
“Now more than ever, the Women’s Choice Award seal serves as a validation to women that they are selecting the best hospitals for their own care and that of their family,” said Sharyn S. Lee, RN, MS, FACEHP, President of the Women’s Choice Healthcare Division.
The Valley Hospital is among the elite group of 331 hospitals who have earned the 2015 Women’s Choice Award by meeting the highest cancer care accreditation standards of the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer, as well as for their excellence in clinical performance with regard to patient safety measures, and for their high recommendation rate, a measure that is very important to women in choosing a hospital.
Studies have shown that each patient who is dissatisfied will inform up to 10 other people of this dissatisfaction (Health Administration Press). This evidence further exemplifies the important focus on keeping as many people satisfied with their care as possible.
“Women have many choices when it comes to cancer care, but now they can make informed choices based on rigorous evidence based criteria. As a cancer survivor who faced a challenging journey to recovery, I wish I had the Women’s Choice Award as a resource to spare me unnecessary fret and error,” said Delia Passi, Founder and CEO of the Women’s Choice Award. “When faced with cancer you owe it to yourself and your family to get the best treatment,” added Passi.
Richard Wolf, USA TODAY4:44 p.m. EDT June 14, 2015
WASHINGTON — The future of same-sex marriage and President Obama’s health care law hang in the balance as the Supreme Court’s 2014 term draws rapidly to a close this month. But those aren’t the only big issues on the justices’ plate.
Free speech and fair elections. Religious liberty and racial discrimination. Clean air and capital punishment. All await rulings over the next three weeks as the court completes action on 20 cases remaining this term. The next decisions will come Monday morning.
Here’s a look at the Elite Eight:
• Same-sex marriage. In a decision likely to come on the term’s last day — possibly June 29 or 30 — the court will decide whether gays and lesbians have a constitutional right to marry or whether state bans against same-sex marriage can remain in place.
Six cases from Ohio, Michigan, Tennessee and Kentucky have been consolidated for the court’s consideration. In them, 32 total plaintiffs are asking for the right to marry or to have marriages licensed elsewhere recognized in their home states. Most legal experts predict the court, led by Justice Anthony Kennedy, will rule in favor of the gay and lesbian couples.
JUNE 14, 2015 LAST UPDATED: SUNDAY, JUNE 14, 2015, 1:21 AM
BY DAVE SHEINGOLD
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
A proposal to raise gas rates more than 11 percent over five years to help pay for $1.6 billion worth of upgrades to the region’s power grid is scheduled for public review Monday in Hackensack.
At 3:30 and 6:30 p.m. in the Bergen County Administration Building, state regulators will take comments on a proposal by Public Service Electric and Gas Co. to raise residential natural gas rates 11.2 percent over five years to replace hundreds of miles of aging, leak-prone gas mains and tens of thousands of gas connections to homes and businesses in its northern and central New Jersey territory, including parts of Bergen and Passaic counties.
For PSE&G, the state’s largest utility, the project would be its second major improvement proposal in the past three years.
The increase would gradually raise the average residential bill by $8.60 a month from 2016 to 2021. Small businesses, such a pizza parlor or a laundry, would see increases of about 8.2 percent, or an average of $13.46 per month, although PSE&G said increases were likely to be offset by continuing drops in the price of natural gas, which makes up the majority of gas bills in New Jersey.
The project would mark the first phase of a 30-year plan, which includes possible additional rate increases beyond the first five years, to make gas distribution safer, more durable, and better able to serve modern residential and commercial needs.
The plan comes fresh on the heels of the state Board of Public Utilities’ approval in 2014 of PSE&G’s Energy Strong program, which uses annual rate increases to help fund $1.2 billion worth of upgrades, mostly to the company’s electric grid, over three years.
[ObamaCare] is working…We haven’t had a lot of conversation about the horrors of Obamacare because none of them have come to pass. You got 16 million people who’ve gotten health insurance.
It hasn’t had an adverse effect on people who already had health insurance. The overwhelming majority of them are satisfied with the health insurance…
The costs have come in substantially lower than even our estimates about how much it would cost. Health care inflation overall has continued to be at some of the lowest levels in 50 years. None of the predictions about how this wouldn’t work have come to pass.
Barack Obama, June 8, 2015
Sometimes it seems President Obama lives in a parallel universe where facts are floating around to be plucked out of suspended animation. Never more so than on the effects of the Affordable Care Act.
So let’s see whether anything he says on the new law, including that it “is working,” comports with the facts:
● No “adverse effect on people who already had health insurance.”
In 2013, as Obamacare’s policies were phasing in, nearly 5 million policyholders across 31 states and the District of Columbia were notified that their current coverage was being discontinued. This doesn’t include nearly 20 states that weren’t tracking these numbers so the total could have been several million more. In California alone, 1.1 million policies were canceled.
In March, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that Obamacare will result in a total of 1 million fewer people enrolled in employment-based coverage in 2015, increasing to 8 million fewer enrolled in employment-based covered by 2018. That’s a lot of people who haven’t been able to keep the health insurance that they like.
● “The overwhelming majority of people are satisfied” with the new law.
Real Clear Politics has reviewed the major polling results on ObamaCare over the last two months. It finds that the average result is that 43% of Americans support the law and 53% oppose it. AMay Gallup poll found more than twice as many respondents (24%) say the law has hurt their families than say it has helped them (10%). Most say it has made no difference. This sounds a lot more like dissatisfaction with the new law.
● “Health care inflation overall has continued to be at some of the lowest levels in 50 years.”
Oh really. The costs to Americans for health insurance in the new ObamaCare era are soaring across the country. The latest numbers for premium increases show the following dismal news for families. In California, approved rate increases going into effect this year are running up an average of about 10%, or five times the rate of inflation (which actually turned negative in the most recent 12 months). In Florida, 33 of 36 approved rate hikes were greater than 10%.
Next year might be even worse. In Ohio, the average rate increase request for 2016 is 17.8% as of June 9, 2015. In Virginia, the AETNA Life Insurance Company small group plan proposed an increase of 59.71%. In Texas, more than half of the rate hike request are greater than 20%. In Illinois, the popular Blue Cross Blue Shield Preferred Individual plan wants a 38% rate hike. Numerous other plans costs will rise by 50%.
● “We haven’t had a lot of conversation about the horrors of Obamacare because none of them have come to pass.”
President Obama must not listen to young people. An analysis by my colleagues Ed Haislmaier and Drew Gonshorowski at The Heritage Foundation finds that removing ObamaCare regulations for those in their early 20s would lower health insurance by 44%. Much of this cost differential stems directly from the arbitrary ObamaCare mandate that age related variations in health care premiums not exceed a ration of 3:1. That part of the law alone increased premiums for young adults by one-third. The typical 21 year old would save about $1,100 in premiums by jettisoning the regulations.
RIDGEWOOD SUMMER DAY CAMP – DEADLINE FOR ENROLLMENT IS MONDAY, JUNE 15TH
Registration is ongoing for Ridgewood Summer Day Camp, with the deadline for acceptance on Monday, June 15th. After that time campers will be waitlisted and accepted as space allows.
The camp is best described as days filled with fresh air, sunshine, new friends, fun, games, and special memories. Favorite annual events include a talent show, Graydon Pool splash party, carnival and special theme days. New events will include a visit from EquiShare/PonyShare, complete with pony stations to learn about grooming and feeding, with introduction to instructional riding. U.S. Sports Institute will offer a fun olympic event, Total Golf Adventures will provide golfing instruction, UnderGround Skateshop will provide exciting skateboard demonstrations, and we will offer a Day Camp Movie Night on the Beach at Graydon (free to all campers and their families).
The 2015 summer season will begin on Tuesday, June 30th, and run for six weeks through Friday, August 7th. Village children entering grades 1 through 6 will enjoy arts and crafts, organized games, swimming, special events and optional trips. Camp will be held at The Stable, Graydon Pool, Maple Park, Veteran’s Field, the Community Center at Village Hall and Leuning Park, Monday through Friday, from 9:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Children are to bring/purchase* a lunch and beverage. Bus transportation from Village locations is available to all. Locate the Parent Manual on our Recreation homepage at www.ridgewoodnj.net/recreation. This important source of information should be reviewed with your child to avoid confusion and concerns children may have.
*New this year, a variety of healthy sack lunches will be available for purchase from the Water’s Edge Café at Graydon Pool with daily delivery to camp. MUST PRE-ORDER. Visit the Recreation homepage referenced above to view details on how to order, as well as the variety of lunches offered.
The registration fee for camp is $525.00, which includes two camp T-shirts and optional bus transportation. Off-site trips are optional with limited space; prices vary and registration will be accepted on a first-come, first-serve basis. All campers must possess a 2015 Graydon Pool membership badge. Visit www.ridgewoodnj.net/graydon to purchase online via Community Pass.
Don’t wait as camp is filling quickly. You may register online at www.ridgewoodnj.net/communitypass (payment by Visa/Mastercard). For registration assistance and/or special needs, please visit the Recreation Office at The Stable, 259 North Maple Avenue, or call the office at 201-670-5560.
JUNE 12, 2015 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, JUNE 12, 2015, 12:31 AM
BY MATTHEW BIRCHENOUGH
ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
RIDGEWOOD — The number of inexperienced players that took the field at the start of the lacrosse season for the Ridgewood High School girls team provided an easy target for outside observers to express concern about the squad’s chances.
Head coach Karla Mixon knew it wouldn’t be a problem.
“I knew that this team was a special team,” Mixon said at the program’s season-ending banquet, held Wednesday at The Woman’s Club of Ridgewood. “I was able to see that talent in the tryouts… I wasn’t too worried about that.”
The young Maroons proved their coach right, opening the year with 23 straight wins before falling to Summit, 6-5, in the semifinals of the State Tournament of Champions last week.
The loss came with controversy after officials disallowed a potential go-ahead goal late in the game by Ridgewood after ruling it was scored with an illegal stick. Summit’s Julia Persche scored the game-winner with seconds remaining, but video of the goal showed that a Summit teammate took Persche’s stick and appeared to adjust it during the celebration before handing it back to Persche.
Ridgewood called for a stick check, but officials deemed it legal and the goal counted.
The setback was a tough way for the Maroons to end their season, but it could not erase the history that the team had made.
The 23-1 record tied the 2011 squad for the best mark in program history, and the team once again claimed the Stars and Stripes Division title.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A major federal union says the cyber theft of employee information is more damaging than it first appeared, asserting that hackers stole personnel data and Social Security numbers for every federal employee.
The Obama administration had acknowledged that up to 4 million current and former employees are affected by the December cyber breach of Office of Personnel Management data, but it had been vague about exactly what was taken.
But J. David Cox, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, said in a letter Thursday to OPM director Katherine Archuleta that based on incomplete information OPM provided to the union, “we believe that the Central Personnel Data File was the targeted database, and that the hackers are now in possession of all personnel data for every federal employee, every federal retiree, and up to 1 million former federal employees.”
The OPM data file contains the records of non-military, non-intelligence executive branch employees, which covers most federal civilian employees but not, for example, members of Congress and their staffs.
The union believes the hackers stole military records and veterans’ status information, address, birth date, job and pay history, health insurance, life insurance, and pension information; and age, gender and race data, he said.
Also Thursday, Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democratic Senate leader, said that the hack was carried out by “the Chinese” without specifying whether he meant the Chinese government or individuals. Reid is one of eight lawmakers briefed on the most secret intelligence information. U.S. officials have declined to publicly blame China, which has denied involvement.
JUNE 12, 2015, 6:47 PM LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, JUNE 12, 2015, 9:43 PM
BY CHRISTOPHER MAAG
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
NJ Transit is moving forward with its plan to close a $56 million budget gap by increasing fares and cutting service, the agency said Friday.
The decision runs counter to the sentiments of the overwhelming majority of elected officials, union representatives and commuters who spoke against the changes at a series of nine public hearings throughout the state.
NJ Transit’s proposal remains virtually unchanged from when it was first announced in April. The average rider will see fares increase by 9 percent, with the highest fare hike at 9.4 percent. Service cuts will include eliminating the last evening trains on the Pascack Valley and the Montclair-Boonton lines, and cuts to bus routes in South Jersey.
A report issued Friday by the agency included a resolution that would impose the fare hikes and service cuts. That resolution is scheduled to be discussed Tuesday at a public meeting of NJ Transit’s customer service and administration committees. The meeting, which starts at 9 a.m. at NJ Transit headquarters in Newark, will be the last time members of the public can comment on the proposal before it is presented to the full board on July 15.
Board members will likely vote on the final package then, said Nancy Snyder, a spokeswoman for NJ Transit.
YWCA Bergen County to co-sponsor Free Emergency Preparedness Event Connect with your Community at Emergency Reach Out YWCA Bergen County and Paul Davis Restoration are co-sponsoring Emergency Reach Out: Learning Emergency Preparedness & Connecting with your Community, on Saturday, June 13, 2015 from 10:00am to 3:00pm at YWCA Bergen County, 112 Oak Street, Ridgewood, NJ. This FREE event will instruct you on how to be prepared in a natural disaster or emergency. A team of leaders and experts will provide know-how and tools to get you and your loved ones ready for any “just in case” scenario. Included in the day’s activities will be seminars, classes, educators, guidance & answers, vendor tables, raffle prizes & gifts and free coffee, breakfast treats and afternoon ice cream! For more information, please contact Donna Meyer at 201-995-3589 or [email protected].
JUNE 12, 2015 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, JUNE 12, 2015, 12:31 AM
BY MARK KRULISH
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
Last week, the Ridgewood Planning Board ended a five-year process of work session meetings, testimony from experts, board deliberation and public comment hearings with the approval of a master plan amendment that will allow for higher density and mixed use housing projects in the Central Business District (CBD).
The amendment allows housing in the AH-2 zone, an affordable housing district encompassing the Brogan Cadillac site on South Broad Street, the B-3-R zone, which includes the Ken Smith property on Franklin Avenue and the section of North Maple Avenue between East Ridgewood and Franklin avenues, and the C-R zone, which is a small plot of land on Chestnut Street intended for commercial and mixed use development.
These zones will allow 30 units per acre of for-sale affordable housing and 35 units per acre of for-rent affordable housing and cap the height of the buildings at 50 feet. The original amendment allowed for as much as 50 units per acre, but was scaled back in a revised amendment presented to the Planning Board in late April.
Throughout the process, developers representing three potential housing projects presented testimony regarding their respective proposed developments. The projects presented were The Dayton, a 106-unit complex in the old Brogan Cadillac lot; the 52-unit Enclave proposed for the intersection of East Ridgewood and North Maple Avenues; and Chestnut Village, a 52-unit luxury development slated for Chestnut Street near the village’s central garage.
The Obama administration is moving forward with regulations designed to help diversify America’s wealthier neighborhoods, drawing fire from critics who decry the proposal as executive overreach in search of an “unrealistic utopia.”
A final Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) rule due out this month is aimed at ending decades of deep-rooted segregation around the country.
The regulations would use grant money as an incentive for communities to build affordable housing in more affluent areas while also taking steps to upgrade poorer areas with better schools, parks, libraries, grocery stores and transportation routes as part of a gentrification of those communities.
“HUD is working with communities across the country to fulfill the promise of equal opportunity for all,” a HUD spokeswoman said. “The proposed policy seeks to break down barriers to access to opportunity in communities supported by HUD funds.”
It’s a tough sell for some conservatives. Among them is Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.), who argued that the administration “shouldn’t be holding hostage grant monies aimed at community improvement based on its unrealistic utopian ideas of what every community should resemble.”
“American citizens and communities should be free to choose where they would like to live and not be subject to federal neighborhood engineering at the behest of an overreaching federal government,” said Gosar, who is leading an effort in the House to block the regulations.
If the matter was rejected by NJ’s Supreme Court, it’s highly unlikely that The Federal Supreme Court would go the other way. The SCOTUS tends to lean slightly more to the right than their NJ colleagues. There’s also massive nationwide ramifications for the SCOTUS to consider here, as this same issue applies throughout the country. Many States and local Governments are operating at near bankruptcy. The fat lady is doing voice scales in her dressing room.
Yep, we need some real longer-term, structural change in NJ govt spending. A few ideas being thrown around include open bidding NJ state road & infrastructure projects to private sector firms to cut out union & Mafioso graft, increased pension contributions and health insurance premiums paid by state & municipal employees and retirees for health. Asking state & municipal workers to roll back many of the pension enhancements they’ve been given since the 1990s under Florio and Whitman, i.e. maximum pensionable income should be capped like California at $110K, with pensions at 50% of that, ie $55K, in-line with current PFRS avg $57K. New employees should be moved to 401(k) style defined contribution plans, not defined benefit anymore so that politicians can no longer interfere in pension funding issues and raid the funds for Union pet projects like Xanadu, and bye-bye to accumulated leave payouts upon retirement at up to six months of avg final comp rate – “use it or lose it”. Taxes are probably going up too if all of these concessions are made, the sooner the better.
Read the NJ Supreme Court’s full pen/ben decision here
In a long-awaited decision today that comes as a boon to Gov. Chris Christie and a blow public sector unions, the state’s Supreme Court ruled that the Republican’s administration does not have to make a slated contribution to a beleaguered pension and benefit system, striking down an earlier lower court decision that ruled the opposite.
In the 115 page document, Justice Jaynee LaVecchia wrote on behalf of the majority that the court cannot be a mediator of fiscal troubles “in place of the political branches.” (Brush/PolitickerNJ)
New Jersey’s Top Court Rules Christie Can Skip Pension Payments
New Jersey’s highest court ruledon Tuesday that Gov. Chris Christie could skip the pension payments he promised to make in the signature law of his tenure, averting a huge fiscal crisis just weeks before the state closes its books for the year. (Zernike/The New York Times)
Your constant harping on “work ethic” is growing tiresome. Just because someone’s poor doesn’t mean they’re lazy. The unemployed want to work! And many of those who can’t find work today, didn’t have the benefit of growing up with parents like yours. How can you expect someone with no role model to qualify for one of your scholarships or sign your silly “Sweat Pledge?” Rather than accusing people of not having a work-ethic, why not drop the and help them develop one?
Craig P.
Hi Craig, and Happy Sunday!
I’m afraid you’ve overestimated the reach of my foundation, as well as my ability to motivate people I’ve never met. For the record, I don’t believe all poor people are lazy, any more than I believe all rich people are greedy. But I can understand why so many do.
Everyday on the news, liberal pundits and politicians portray the wealthy as greedy, while conservative pundits and politicians portray the poor as lazy. Democrats have become so good at denouncing greed, Republicans now defend it. And Republicans are so good at condemning laziness, Democrats are now denying it even exists. It’s a never ending dance that gets more contorted by the day.
A few weeks ago in Georgetown, President Obama accused Fox News of “perpetuating a false narrative” by consistently calling poor people “lazy.” Fox News denied the President’s accusation, claiming to have only criticized policies, not people. Unfortunately for Fox, The Daily Show has apparently gained access to the Internet, and after a ten-second google-search and a few minutes in the edit bay, John Stewart was on the air with a devastating montage of Fox personnel referring to the unemployed as “sponges,” “leeches,” “freeloaders,” and “mooches.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/wp/2015/05/14/daily-shows-jon-stewart-buries-fox-news-on-coverage-of-poverty-president-obama/
Over the next few days, the echo chamber got very noisy. The Left howled about the bias at Fox and condemned the one-percent, while the Right shrieked about the bias at MSNBC and bemoaned the growing entitlement state. But through all the howling and shrieking, no one said a word about the millions of jobs that American companies are struggling to fill right now. No one talked the fact that most of those jobs don’t require an expensive four-year degree. And no one mentioned the 1.2 trillion dollars of outstanding student loans, or the madness of lending money we don’t have to kids who can’t pay it back, educating them for jobs that no longer exist.
I started mikeroweWORKS to talk about these issues, and shine a light on a few million good jobs that no one seems excited about. But mostly, I wanted to remind people that real opportunity still exists for those individuals who are willing to work hard, learn a skill, and make a persuasive case for themselves. Sadly, you see my efforts as “right wing propaganda.” But why? Are our differences really political? Or is it something deeper? Something philosophical?
You wrote that, “people want to work.” In my travels, I’ve met a lot of hard-working individuals, and I’ve been singing their praises for the last 12 years. But I’ve seen nothing that would lead me to agree with your generalization. From what I’ve seen of the species, and what I know of myself, most people – given the choice – would prefer NOT to work. In fact, on Dirty Jobs, I saw Help Wanted signs in every state, even at the height of the recession. Is it possible you see the existence of so many unfilled jobs as a challenge to your basic understanding of what makes people tick?
Last week at a policy conference in Mackinac, I talked to several hiring managers from a few of the largest companies in Michigan. They all told me the same thing – the biggest under reported challenge in finding good help, (aside from the inability to “piss clean,”) is an overwhelming lack of “soft skills.” That’s a polite way of saying that many applicants don’t tuck their shirts in, or pull their pants up, or look you in the eye, or say things like “please” and “thank you.” This is not a Michigan problem – this is a national crisis. We’re churning out a generation of poorly educated people with no skill, no ambition, no guidance, and no realistic expectations of what it means to go to work.
These are the people you’re talking about Craig, and their number grows everyday. I understand you would like me to help them, but how? I’m not a mentor, and my foundation doesn’t do interventions. Do you really want me to stop rewarding individual work ethic, just because I don’t have the resources to assist those who don’t have any? If I’m unable to help everyone, do you really want me to help no one?
My goals are modest, and they’ll remain that way. I don’t focus on groups. I focus on individuals who are eager to do whatever it takes to get started. People willing to retool, retrain, and relocate. That doesn’t mean I have no empathy for those less motivated. It just means I’m more inclined to subsidize the cost of training for those who are. That shouldn’t be a partisan position, but if it is, I guess I’ll just have to live with it.
Mike
PS. The Sweat Pledge wasn’t supposed to be partisan either, but it’s probably annoyed as many people as its inspired. I still sell them for $12, and the money still goes to mikeroweWORKS. You can get one here, even if you’re not applying for a scholarship. https://profoundlydisconnected.com/foundation/poster/
PPS. If you’d like Craig, I’ll autograph one for you!
With Tuesday’s big pension news breaking hard, Save Jerseyans, you may’ve missed the 100+ parents and activists whobesieged New Jersey Democrat Assemblywoman Mila Jasey’s Maplewood district office to protest A4351, legislation designed to impose a three-year moratorium on increases in charter school enrollments approved by the Commissioner of Education starting for the 2015-2016 academic year.
It wasn’t a Tea Party crowd:
Let’s narrow this discussion: the offending bill itself is pointless and, if I may be so bold, cruel on its face. Listen to the parents featured above and tell me I’m wrong… make my day! So the only real question worth our consideration is why a legislator would put up such a pointless piece of legislation, right? Given the clear and present failures of our K-12 education system?
Well, Asw. Jasey told NJ Advance Media that she doesn’t have an agenda; all she wants is a “a fair assessment of where we are and where we are going.” Whatever that means.
Mila Jasey
But you and I know the truth: she’s a bought-and-sold NJEA foot soldier.
And in a district (LD27) that is borderline competitive at least on paper, Jasey doesn’t want to risk losing their backing especially in a low-turnout cycle. Jasey’s district added Essex’s Millburn and the Morris County municipalities of Chatham, East Hanover, Florham Park, and Hanover in 2011 redistricting but it shed the Abbott District-designated City of Orange; voucher support, perhaps unsurprisingly, is often strongest among those forced to attend our state’s crappiest failure factory public education institutions.
Selling out kids is consequently as attractive as it is lucrative. Seductively so. The single largest donor of Jasey’s career is – you guessed it – the NJEA at $31,600. Her next closest contributor trails at $9,200. We’re not even touching the Super PAC spending in this post.
