The Government Shutdown: Another Election, another Distraction!

 By Cynthia Johnson

How many politicians does it take to screw in a light bulb? I’m sorry, I meant screw the citizens! Just a little levity to take the sting away from the pesky political bug bite.

We’re just a few weeks away from Election Day and the politicians are playing naughty again. The result, a government shutdown which is just their way of throwing a tantrum until things are done their way. They’ve been kicking and screaming for a few days now and apparently “Obamacare” is the target. But why would the plutarchy ever want to reject an idea which would bring some relief to the poor and poverty stricken? The Patient Protection and the Affordable Care Act (or ACA for short) goal is simple: Give more Americans access to affordable, quality health insurance and to reduce the growth in health care spending in the U.S. Sounds fair enough so why the tantrums? I, personally believe that it mostly stems from the plutarchy thinking that they will have to pay for lazy people who don’t want to work. If we were to ask many of them their opinions about the welfare program, you would probably hear the same thing. Unfortunately, their statistics are a bit off as it has been known for quite a while that the majority that are receiving Medicaid and food stamps are in a southern state called Mississippi where the largest population gets some type of assistance.. I also believe that there is major profiting by investors via the pharmaceutical companies and medical supply companies and the new plan will cause the distinct possibility that someone making 500 million per year will now make 449 million instead. Yes, the numbers are extreme but so are the wealth averages in comparison to the poverty level average.

President Obama made the following statement: “One faction of one party in one house of Congress in one branch of government shut down major parts of the government all because they didn’t like one law,” Mr. Obama said. “This Republican shut down did not have to happen, but I want every American to understand why it did happen. Republicans in the House of Representatives refused to fund the government unless we defunded or dismantled the Affordable Care Act. They’ve shut down the government over an ideological crusade to deny affordable health insurance to millions of Americans. In other words, they demanded ransom just for doing their job.”

Yeah, Yeah, yada yada…they are holding their breath until the POTUS does what they want…who does this hurt? The citizens of the United States who are more than just poor, but more like destitute.

Read the rest of this entry »

• Tweet

Fall Cruises On The Hudson

Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower. ~Albert Camus

Approaching or leaving lower Manhattan by water never gets old for me. If you start getting used to it, just look closer.

If you are ready to be really moved by an enormity of natural and human wonders, present and historical, stay on the Seastreak Ferry when departs from Pier 11 any Saturday or Sunday morning this month for a guided tour of the Hudson River.  Paul Rush provides the educational and humorous narrative to the cruise.

Seastreak, our sponsor of Greg’s List: Things to do in Monmouth County this weekend, departs from Highlands every Saturday and Sunday in October at 8:45am, stops at Pier 11 in lower Manhattan to pick up Rush and more passengers if there is room on the boat,  and heads up the Hudson to Bear Mountain  for Oktoberfest revelers and Cold Spring, NY for antiquers and strollers.

The leaves were just beginning to turn when Lori and I took the trip last Sunday.  We opted to pass on the mile uphill walk to Oktoberfest (and the downhill walk after 4.5 hours of drinking) to explore Cold Spring.  Whichever destination you choose, the best part of the trip is the journey.  All the more so now that the leaves are turning.

The return journey starts at 3:30 when the boat departs Cold Spring, picks up the wobbly revelers at Bear Mountain at 4, and culminates with sunset over the Raritan Bay before docking at Highlands at around 6:15.

It’s  not the destination that matters. It’s the change of scene. ~ Brian Eno

• Tweet

Man plans commute to NYC — by riding a bike on the Hudson River

Man plans commute to NYC — by riding a bike on the Hudson River (via NJ.com)

Photo courtesy of Fanny Kim Judah Schiller doesn’t walk on water. He rides a bike on it, though. Fresh off last week’s traversing of the San Francisco Bay on his bicycle-powered pontoon, Schiller plans today to be the first person to bike across…

Read the rest of this entry »

• Tweet

Greg’s List: Things to do in Monmouth County this weekend, October 4-6, 2013

SPONSORED BY SEASTREAK

By Greg Kelly

Saturday, October 5

• Bradley Beach Tour-the-Town Garage Sale – MORE INFO

• Putting the Garden to Bed (Middletown) – MORE INFO

• Latino Festival of Monmouth County (Freehold) – MORE INFO

• Asbury Park Zombie Walk – MORE INFO

• Fall Flea Market at Allaire Village – MORE INFO

• AUM Church Rummage Sale (Long Branch) – MORE INFO

• Sandy Hook Bird Walk – MORE INFO

• Oktoberfest at Bear Mountain via Seastreak (Highlands) – MORE INFO

• Oktoberfest in Highlands – MORE INFO

• Oktoberfest in Fair Haven – MORE INFO

• SPCA Dog Walk & Pet Fair (Lincroft) – MORE INFO

• Fall Craft & Vendor Show (Bradley Beach) – MORE INFO

• Broomstick at NJ Repertory Theater (Long Branch) – MORE INFO

• College Football: Monmouth U vs. Robert Morris (WLB) – MORE INFO

• Ocean Twp IAA Flea Market – MORE INFO

• Our Town by Stone Church Players (Navesink) – MORE INFO

• Household Hazardous Waste Disposal Day (Upper Freehold) – MORE INFO

• Hudson River Fall Foliage Cruise via Seastreak (Highlands) – MORE INFO

• AAUW Used Book Sale (Middletown) – MORE INFO

• Tinton Falls Community Day – MORE INFO

• Open Hearth Cooking Demonstrations (Freehold) – MORE INFO

• Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure (Spring Lake) – MORE INFO

• Open Shoot Archery (Lincroft) – MORE INFO

• Yoga Class for Beginners (Atlantic Highlands) – MORE INFO

• Guitar Concert with Paul Pugliese (Howell) – MORE INFO

• Hazlet Day Festival – MORE INFO

• Homeowners: Short Sale vs. Foreclosure (Middletown) – MORE INFO

• Camp Evans “Base of Terror” (Wall Twp) – MORE INFO

• First Saturday Asbury Park – MORE INFO

• The Legend of Sleepy Hollow at Allaire Village – MORE INFO

• NJ Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial Ride (Holmdel) – MORE INFO

• SPUR Fine Wine & Craft Beer Tasting (Lincroft) – MORE INFO

• St. John’s Fall Festival (Hazlet) – MORE INFO

• Saturday Morning Craft Time (Tinton Falls) – MORE INFO

Read the rest of this entry »

• Tweet

Lonegan Down By 3?

photo via facebook

Last week the Quinnipiac poll had Cory Booker up in the U.S. Senate race by 12 points and the Monmouth poll had Booker up by 13.

Steve Lonegan’s strategist and pollster Rick Shaftan told SaveJersey that their campaign’s 4 day tracking internal poll has Lonegan down only 3 points, 47%-43%, with two weeks to go before the special election on Wednesday October 16.

In my years observing and participating in New Jersey politics, it’s been rare that an internal poll has proved more accurate than the normally reliable Monmouth or Quinnipiac polls. Adam Geller is the only partisan pollster who I would give more credence to than the best of the independents.

This time could be different.  There is no historical model for predicting how voters will behave on the third Wednesday in October.  There is also no model for predicting how voters still displaced by Superstorm Sandy will behave in the first non-primary election since their homes were destroyed.  More then usual, the pollster’s assumptions and weighting impact the results.

Shaftan admits that his Democratic turnout assumptions are lower than what many others expect. He told MMM that he expects African-Americans will only be 8% of the vote in the senate elections compared to 12% in last year’s presidential election in New Jersey.

Releasing internal numbers that are substantially better than those produced by independent polls is a double edged sword.  The release is intended to excite voters and to convince potential donors that their money won’t be wasted on a lost cause.  On the downside, after the opposition scoffs at the numbers, they can react to them with their own ads or GOTV efforts.

• Tweet

Christie says he inherited ‘the most business-unfriendly’ government in America

Christie says he inherited ‘the most business-unfriendly’ government in America (via NJ.com)

NEW BRUNSWICK — Gov. Chris Christie told business leaders this evening that he inherited a bloated state government that was “the most business-unfriendly in America,” but he said he’s made great progress in turning it around. “We should not…

Read the rest of this entry »

• Tweet

Maryland Ruling Could Save NJ Consumers Billions on Electric Bills

Maryland Ruling Could Save NJ Consumers Billions on Electric Bills (via NJSpotlight)

In a case with the potential to save New Jersey’s utility customers billions of dollars on their electric bills, a federal district court this week declared Maryland’s effort to spur building of new power plants unconstitutional. The ruling does…

Read the rest of this entry »

• Tweet

Lonegan turns to churches to get out vote, slams Obama for suppressing religious freedom

Lonegan turns to churches to get out vote, slams Obama for suppressing religious freedom (via NJ.com)

TRENTON — Republican U.S. Senate candidate Steve Lonegan turned to churches and synagogues today to help get out the vote — and accused President Obama of suppressing religious freedom under the Affordable Care Act. Lonegan, a conservative activist…

Read the rest of this entry »

• Tweet

The Guy Who Wants To Be Cory Booker’s New Boss

U. S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid anointed Newark Mayor Cory Booker as New Jersey’s next Senator in a PBS interview last July.  That was before the Special Senate Primary Booker was engaged in with Congressmen Frank Pallone, Rush Holt and Assembly Speaker Shelia Oliver.

Asked by interviewer Judy Woodruff about the absence of a black Democratic member of the Senate, Reid responded, “”Well, just hold your breath, Cory Booker’s on his way from New Jersey. That’ll happen in October.”

View the video at the 12:06 mark.

This afternoon a CNN reporter asked Reid, “If you could help one child with cancer, why wouldn’t you do it?” as a follow up to her question about why Reid isn’t letting the Senate vote on the House’s bill to fund the National Institute of Health during the government shutdown.

Reid responded, “Why would we want to do that?” and went on the insult the reporter’s intelligence.

• Tweet

Information Matters: Getting The Real Story Of Sandy Recovery, Preparing For The Next One

Frustrated with your community’s recovery from Superstorm Sandy?  Your own recovery?  Wish the press was doing a better job reporting the nightmare of dealing with insurance companies and government red tape?  Are you concerned about preparedness for the next storm? Wish you could do something about it and have your voice heard by a wider audience?

This half day seminar on Saturday morning is for you.

Citizens Campaign, WHYY/Newsworks, and the Penn Project for Civic Engagement are hosting a Citizen Journalist training on Saturday:

WHEN

October 05, 2013 at 9am – 1pm

Skilled professionals will be teaching the basics of journalism, from fact finding to newswriting and photojournalism.  Breakout sessions will include:

• Fact Finding & Reporting: collecting the facts and information to get the story
• Capturing the Perfect Shot: Video & Photo Journalism
• How to Conduct a Study with Engaging Techniques:  how to conduct your own “study circles” with your neighbors on important issues
• News Writing 101: crafting effective hard news stories & opinion pieces; interviewing skills

The event is free and includes a light breakfast at 8:30 and lunch.

Pre-registration is required.  You can do that here.

Community Sponsors: Ocean County College, WHYY/Newsworks, Jersey Shore Hurricane News, Creative NJ, Clean Ocean Action, Sustainable Jersey and the New Jersey Recovery Fund.

Can’t make it this Saturday?  There is another event on November 2 at Monmouth University.

• Tweet