TIME TO REORGANIZE OUR THOUGHTS

The reorganization meeting on January 2^nd was a paean to our volunteers but the investiture of the new Mayor was, unfortunately, more Leno than LaGuardia.  It was amusing to hear Gary Schniederman trying to justify why Mike Rieber should not be the next Deputy Mayor.  After his rambling explanations, it really comes down to one thing – politics (duh!).  One other very interesting item raised by Gary and seconded by Steve – both were very irate that a BOE member had, as a private citizen, called the Democrats on their partisanship by having Rudy be a retread as Deputy Mayor.  They were both adamant that the BOE should stay out of Town Council business and that the Town Council should stay out of BOE business.  [That raises the question, therefore, of why they generated and passed that horrible Charter School resolution.  So much for staying out of each other’s sphere of influence!]

After what felt like the longest self-congratulatory speech on record by the new Mayor, including hearing that the #1 item he’ll hate to hear at meetings will be “And now we open to public comment…”, Steve Santola took office.  [It’s worth mentioning that both Steve and Gary ran unopposed for Town Council in 2008.]  I sincerely hope that all future meetings for the year will be kept somewhat more business like and especially more to the point.  After all the promises of getting LTV in to finally start televising meetings, do you think this might actually be the year?  Mr. Santola did not seem very optimistic; and we know if “they” don’t want it to happen, it won’t.

So, in very short order, I found that two of my three wishes for my second year in office were not going to be granted.  Less pontificating – that was blown in the first 10 minutes of the comedy routine.  And less partisanship – that was blown both by the re-running of Rudy as Deputy Mayor and by Gary and Steve taking issue with the letter published in the West Essex Tribune, calling the writer on it.  Well, let’s hope that my third wish – controlling spending and taxes - will actually come true.  Stay tuned…

A SHORT LESSON IN ECONOMICS FOR EVERY AMERICAN...

Before I actually get around to writing my next blog, I thought this was so brilliant and simple that I wanted to get it out ASAP.  Enjoy!

This rather brilliantly cuts thru all the political doublespeak we get...........

Why the U.S. was downgraded:

* U.S. Tax revenue: $2,170,000,000,000
* Fed budget: $3,820,000,000,000
* New debt: $ 1,650,000,000,000
* National debt: $14,271,000,000,000
* Recent budget cuts: $ 38,500,000,000

Let's now remove 8 zeros and pretend it's a household budget:

* Annual family income: $21,700
* Money the family spent: $38,200
* New debt on the credit card: $16,500
* Outstanding balance on the credit card: $142,710
* Total budget cuts: $385

Got It ?????

OK - now Lesson # 2:

Here's another way to look at the Debt Ceiling:

Let's say, You come home from work and find there has been a sewer backup in your neighborhood....and your home has sewage all the way up to your ceilings.

What do you think you should do ......
Raise the ceilings, or pump out the “ah –ah –ah …..stuff”?

Your choice is coming Nov. 2012