Here are the prepared remarks the President will deliver to school children across the nation tomorrow.
Over the past 20 years or so, I've been a fan of Mike Lupica, a writer for the NY Daily News. He is also a frequent guest on the Imus in the Morning program on WABC. Mike's take on the controversy over Obama speech to schoolchildren is spot on. The only thing I can add is how this is just another example of the blatant hypocrisy of the far Right. When Ronald Reagan spoke directly to school children, he talked about tax cuts; when Bush '41 (who I once worked for) had his chance, he specifically asked kids to write him letters stating how they could help his presidency. I guess Glenn Beck and the other clowns over at Fox News weren't around to bitch about these atrocities, huh?
Today we learn of yet another example of Chris Christie's inexcusable driving record. He caused an accident by turning the wrong way into a one way street! This figures to be a good omen for what will happen to the state if he is elected.
There are new revelations on Republican Gubernatorial Candidate Chris Christie that involve his extensive bad driving record, which I have outlined:
While the Christie campaign thinks this is a laughing matter, it raises an important question. How can we trust Chris Christie with the governorship, if as the state's chief law enforcement officer:
According to a conservative GOP pollster, Christie's big lead in the polls has gone by the wayside faster than Howard Popper's "Lower Taxes Now" campaign pledge! Check it out.
Finally received a reply from the township on why the agenda for the August Regular meeting wasn't published PRIOR to the meeting. Seems this was an administrative error. I'll be sure to try this should my next property tax payment arrive after the deadline. I wonder if the tax collector will forgive the interest due? (Just kidding A.M.)
With news of an unreported $46K loan to a top aide, Republican gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie continues to demonstrate ethical lapses. The NYT outlines his early failures and complete abandonment of efforts to bring ethics reform to Morris County. All this on top of the disclosure he had contact with Karl Rove regarding his political intentions while serving as a federal prosecutor, a clear violation of the Hatch Act.
As a follow-up to my prior post on the lack of transparency of our Township Committee, can someone please explain why the agenda for today's (August 17) Regular meeting was not published prior to the meeting? How is the public suppose to know what will be covered? Why are there no published minutes since the April Regular meeting? It's been 3 months! What is it Ken Short doesn't want us to know about? All during my term local Republicans operatives constantly complained about the delay in posting meeting minutes (even though the responsibility for doing this fell on one of their own). The lack of interest in full transparency is not surprising given the consistent hypocrisy of WT Republicans.
After reading this article, I am shocked Washington Township is not among those who have endorsed the proposed "Transparency in Government Act". One would think after all the "ethics" talk from Howard Popper and James Harmon during their campaigns, this would be a no brainer. But just like Popper's vow to create a local ethics committee and put committee meetings on local TV, a real commitment to transparency has landed on top of his pile of unfulfilled campaign promises. 
How many of you would by a house or a piece of real estate sight unseen? Well it seems this is what Mayor Ken Short and Committeeman Howard Popper are willing to do when it comes to the new dispatch contract with the County. So much so, when asked questions about the pending agreement during last night’s Township Committee Work Session, Mayor Short stated the County would not answer any more questions until AFTER the contract is signed. Have you ever heard of anything so absurd?
Here is a clear example of how some folks in Washington Township want to have their cake and eat it too. For a township dominated by Republicans who constantly complain about the role of government and the need to reduce spending and cut taxes, why do we have two post offices in Long Valley? Is it so people have a second place they can "call home", aka social networking?
In last week's Observer Tribune, township resident Robert Curtis says the following regarding Mayor Short's and Committeeman Popper's efforts to close the communications center:
With signs pointing to an end to the recession, the GOP will find itself in a very uncomfortable position over the next 15 months or so. With a much larger portion of the stimulus funding kicking in this quarter, the economy will perform stronger than expected. This will spell doom for the GOP in 2010 as it will have to defend its staunch opposition (all but three Republican lawmakers voted "NO") to a package that essentially cleaned up a mess they created.
Republican neocon John R. Bolton wrote an op-ed in today's Washington Post where he labels Bill Clinton's trip to North Korea as "unwise". Perhaps he should tell this to the families of the two American journalists who were released as a result of Mr. Clinton's efforts. The posted comments pertaining to this idiot's ideological position are priceless!
Today is President Barack Obama's birthday! 48 years ago on this date, he was born in Honolulu, HI, the 50th state in the union. Here is nice opinion piece by Pulitzer prize winning columnist Eugene Robinson of the Washington Post on the whole "birther" issue.
After spending $170,000 against next year's 2010 budget to fix their payroll tax debacle, the Township Committee is now taking the first step to spend another $130,000 they don't have to protect the high taxes they already take from us. Both of these actions will lead to another BIG local property tax increase in 2010 that will no doubt exceed the rate of inflation which now stands at -0.6% YTD for 2009. This of course will be in stark contrast to the bogus 2006 "Lower Taxes Now!!" campaign promise of Committeeman Howard Popper, who is up for reelection next year.
With all this talk about health care, what we really need is a plan like the one Mayor Short enjoyed between 2000 and 2006 when he milked township taxpayers for over $50,000 in free health benefits. Mayor Short, who at the time owned his own insurance agency and had access to his Allstate's employee health plan, instead chose to sponge off taxpayers and have them foot his $11,000 annual bill. He even went as far as to claim he was justified because he "donated" money back to the town. Turns out Ken Short did donate money to local causes, most of whom didn't receive taxpayer funding in the first place. I also would be willing to bet Short claimed these "donations" on his income taxes as well!
During a candidate's forum held in the fall of 2007, Howard Popper stood in front of township voters (legal pad in hand) and told us he would immediately save over $600,000 annually by moving our EMS dispatch services to the county. Based on the contract currently being negotiated with the county, the savings appear to be no where near this amount. In fact, comments by Mayor Ken Short (i.e., "after its two first years") seem to leave open the possibility the deal will cost more money in the short run. Like the 21 tax savings ideas Howard announced via a press release in 2008, which netted virtually nothing, this is yet another reason why you can't trust him and the rest of the all-GOP committee who clearly will say anything to get elected.
This morning's Daily Record has an opinion piece questioning whether or not Governor Corzine has provided property tax relief. As the DR fully knows, properly taxes are levied by municipalities, not the state. So with this in mind, what part of my prior posting did Fred Snowflack fail to comprehend? I am sure if the DR bothered to do look at tax increases in other municipalities to the degree I did in Washington Township, he would see the benefits of Corzine's signature legislative achievement (the 4% tax levy cap). If I am wrong, show me another NJ Governor who has done more to control properly tax growth.
"One step forward, two steps back" is a phrase often muttered within the black community. While Obama's election was a clear step forward, it's becoming increasingly clear this fool represents two steps back.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, who represents the Maryland district where I grew up, finally stood up to Republicans and challenged their hypocrisy with respect to current job losses verses those suffered under the final months of the Bush administration, a point I made this past Sunday in this posting.
It's amazing to see "conservative" Republicans who suddenly have so much concern over the national debt. Especially when you considering when Bush was sworn in on January 20, 2001, the national debt was $5,727,776,738,304. When "W" left office on January 20, 2009, the national debt was $10,626,877,048,913. The growth in the national debt during his eight years in office: $4,899,100,310,608. The average yearly growth in the national debt during Bush's presidency: $612,387,538,826. In an effort to save an economy that was in a tailspin when he took office in January 2009, Obama's policies have added another $600B to the national debt. Here is the question for you and others who would take cheap shots at Obama. Where where these conservative Republicans during the last eight years when Bush increased the national debt by almost $5 trillion?
To those in the GOP who say the economy is getting worse and the stimulus passed back in February isn't working, take a look at Chart 2 on this webpage and follow these simple instructions:
Here is a picture, taken by a family member, from this Thursday's Corzine/Obama rally held at the PNC Arts Center. I doubt if a lot of WT residents attended, but my household was well represented, despite me being out of the country at the moment.
This past Sunday, I posted a story out of Philly where a group of minority kids were asked to leave a private club's pool under what seemed like racist circumstances. In a new twist , the kids have been invited back, but their parents have refused the invitation. I think this is a missed opportunity for the kids, their parents, the club, and the nation as a whole. They say two wrongs don't make a right. The group should go back, swim in the pool and show the world "yes we can".
Here is a story that squarly points to the failure of the previous administration to carry out a secret plan to go after terrorists in a manner similar to how Israel dealt with those responsible for the 1972 attacks in Munich. I personally have no issue with the US setting up an elite "hit squad" to go after Qaeda terrorists. I am more surprised former VP Cheney was never able to make it happen. Such a move would have required a "damn the torpedoes attitude" like his. More proof positive of the Bush Administration's incompetence. While highly controversial and possibly illegal, this would have been in the best interest of America.
With Sotomayor's confirmation hearing beginning on Monday, this week looks to be one where the issue of race will be front and center. This dialogue should be good for the country and most likely will center on a comment made on Oct. 26, 2001 when Judge Sotomayor gave the Judge Mario G. Olmos Memorial Lecture at the law school at the University of California at Berkeley. The lecture was delivered during a symposium sponsored by the La Raza Law Journal, the Berkeley La Raza Law Students Association, the Boalt Hall Center for Social Justice and the Center for Latino Policy Research. The symposium was entitled, "Raising the Bar: Latino and Latina Presence in the Judiciary and the Struggle for Representation."
A recent Daily Record opinion piece makes a case for municipalities to conduct revaluations to account for the downturn in the economy and its impact on "market" home prices. I could not disagree more. Revaluations cost money. In the case of Washington township, the last one which took place in 2007 cost over $500K and we still haven't finished paying for it. Does the DR suggest we spend another $500K?
A whopping 62% of the 9,490 WT residents who participated in last Fall's General Election voted to place Sarah Palin within a heartbeat of the Presidency of the United States. After viewing this video, one has to ask...what in the world were these people thinking?
During the Clinton sex scandal, here is what then GOP Congressman Mark Stanford had to say about former president Bill Clinton's conduct:
All over the US (including our beloved Long Valley) it seems a number of prominent political figures and/or their spouses continue to have problems keeping their pants on when it comes to infidelity. Here is a recap of what's happen over the past ten years or so. While a majority of these "players" are members of the GOP, Democrats seem to have their issues as well.
Fresh off last week's approval of a municipal budget with a tax increase nine times the current inflation rate, comes word the all GOP has another fiscal screw-up on their hands. This one involves $150K owed for unpaid federal and state payroll taxes due to the fraudulent actions of a contracted payroll services vendor. According to the OT, the Committee plans to meet tomorrow to pass an emergency appropriation to pay the $150K and charge it against the 2010 budget. Why not demonstrate some of the GOP "fiscal conservativeness" we only hear about during election campaigns and make the necessary cuts in the current 2009 budget to accommodate this new expense? Yes, this will this mean hard choices, which explains why Mayor Ken Short is predicatively opting to take the easy way and put us $150K in the hole for 2010. I can insure you if I were still the Finance Liaison, I would find $150K in a $16.6 million budget in a heartbeat. However, with James Harmon now serving in this position, don't look for any solid recommendations anytime soon as Jim simply isn't up to the challenge.
After searching for a good example that distinctly outlines the contrast between the GOP’s and the Obama Administration 's approach to current events in Iran, I found this exchange between Fred Thompson and Sam Nunn, which pretty much sums it up. Bottom line, Obama's approach shows thoughtful, strategic, leadership; as opposed to the "play by my gut" incompetence we suffered through over the past eight years.
In a gracious OT letter, Virginia (Ginny) Scarlatelli thanked a number of individuals, including yours truly, who supported her passion for our free public library.
Ginny is one of the most dedicated people I have had the pleasure of working with and will be sorely missed.
May she be blessed with fair winds and following seas in all her future endeavors.
During its last meeting, the Township Committee unanimously approved a resolution supposedly protecting residents, who give their e-mail addresses to township entities, from political email communications. While the Committee can certainly prohibit township controlled entities from disclosing emails they collect, the Township has no power over the use of email addresses by non-township related entities already in possession of such email addresses. Like political phone calls, which are exempt from "Do Not Call" regulations, political emails don't meet the "commercial email" definition of SPAM and therefore are not illegal.
The recently passed 2009 Municipal Budget containing a tax increase that is NINE (9) times the inflation rate for the past 6 months.
A Congressional subcommittee has invited GOP gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie, a former U.S. attorney, to testify this month about awarding lucrative contracts to his old boss, former Attorney General John Ashcroft, and other former prosecutors. Beyond Ashcroft's firm making up to $52 million on the no-bid contract; what else should Christie be concerned about?
After voting to re-enter the state health care program this year, it now appears the Township Committee has set the Township up for a HUGE premium increase next year. This along with other fiscal screw-ups will all but guarantee another maximum tax increase in 2010.
For the sake of our tax dollars, I hope Republican Committeeman James Harmon is practicing a higher degree of attention to detail in his duties as Finance Liaison than he has as Treasurer for the Roehrich/Short Campaign. The campaign’s 29 Day Pre-election ELEC submission does not contain the required "Treasurer" signature. Making matters worse, this "amended" submission corrected an original filing that failed to include the signature page altogether! And people say I am just picking on Jim when I contend he is incompetent.
Quick note on a national issue. According to the WSJ:
Last night, Govenor Corzine kicked off his 2009 reelection campaign at a rally in West Orange. After a rousing introduction speech by Vice President Joe Biden, the Governor made his case for reelection.
...what type of social deviant submits negative political attack letters to the editor of the Observer Tribune under false made up names using fraudulently doctored email addresses?
A quick check of the online Morris County Tax database confirm Greg Antonelle's findings are indeed correct. There is no Theodore Baldwin in all of Washington Township. There is no Wayne Garrett in all of Washington Township. There is a Michael Reynolds, but he lives on Turtleback Road, not Naughright Road as was claimed in a OT phony letter.
