NJ WATCHDOG: Court orders Chrisite to reveal air travel records

For immediate release:

Gov. Chris Christie's hide-and-seek game over his state travel expense records continued with mixed results last week in Mercer County Superior Court.

Judge Mary C. Jacobson ordered the governor’s office to provide documentation of air travel expenses, including costs and itineraries. She awarded legal fees to a New Jersey Watchdog reporter and instructed the state to turn over the records within 10 days.

But Jacobson also ruled the names of hotels where Christie stayed at taxpayers’ expense should be kept confidential for security reasons. In evidence submitted to the court under seal, the administration argued that revealing the governor's lodging locations in 2012 and 2013 could somehow put him in future danger.

Then the judge threw the rest of the reporter’s public records lawsuit out of court on narrow technical grounds.

The reporter sought records of state “Travel Cards” used to pay for expenses. However, since those words were capitalized in the request – “Travel Cards” not “travel cards” – Jacobson ruled against release of documents from an American Express credit card account that paid for the governor’s travel.

The judge also decided the request for “travel vouchers” only included records of expenses for which employees were reimbursed, but did not encompass “payment vouchers” for travel expenses paid directly by the state.

“This is just about semantics,” complained the reporter’s attorney, Donald M. Doherty Jr. “The governor’s office knew exactly what my client wanted.”

The full story is now online at http://watchdog.org/179348/christie-travel-records-3/.

Pallone Criticizes FEMA Response to Temporary Housing Needs for Sandy Victims

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Thursday, December 6, 2012

LONG BRANCH, NJ—Following an afternoon conference call with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06) released a statement today voicing his concern over the agency’s response to the housing and humanitarian crisis still impacting thousands of New Jersey residents.

The following are his comments:

“I was disturbed to learn of FEMA’s altered plans to provide temporary housing to hurricane Sandy victims. In the immediate aftermath of the storm I like most New Jerseyans, took solace in FEMA’s promises of housing assistance to those whose homes were badly damaged or destroyed by the hurricane. I believed that FEMA would honor its commitments to ensure that people who lost their homes would be furnished with temporary alternative housing like trailers or mobile homes as we have seen after similar disasters throughout the nation.

“Unfortunately, I am far less confident in FEMA’s willingness to assist our community in light of a conference call I participated in today with agency representatives. I was told that, rather than maintaining their earlier commitment to provide adequate temporary housing to towns for those seeking to stay on their own property, FEMA is no longer planning on providing mobile homes and trailers. Instead, the agency suggests that New Jerseyans make accommodations on their own if they choose to stay on their property and in their communities. The agency suggested that residents use their FEMA vouchers and to contribute to the cost of acquiring and renting RVs, mobile homes and trailers from as far away as Pennsylvania.

“In short, it is outrageous that there is not enough hosing available for Sandy victims and even more confounding that FEMA is suggesting that housing stocks are adequate. I find it concerning that FEMA’s statements on today’s conference call directly contradicted their tone from earlier on in the Sandy crisis. For Sandy victims, the stress of rebuilding and or rehabilitating their homes has been unfathomable. People are still struggling more that a month after the storm and trying to regain any sense of normalcy possible to get their lives back on track. The last thing they need is to worry that the deck is even further stacked against them as a result of FEMA’s unwillingness to provide temporary housing.

“It is vital to the survival of our communities that our neighbors stay together, our kids stay in their schools and we rebuild our towns, public facilities and infrastructure swiftly and thoughtfully and we need FEMA to help us in that pursuit.

“I urge FEMA to utilize their available resources and distribute as many mobile home units as possible to New Jersey’s affected areas. People are running out of resources and patience and it is time that FEMA fulfills its commitments and comes through on its promise of assistance to our area.”

Letter: ROMNEY-RYAN PLAN ENDS MEDICARE AND MEDICAID

As an elder law attorney and former Monmouth County Surrogate, I am very concerned about the Republican threat to Medicare and Medicaid.

In 2011 and 2012 Paul Ryan presented budgets to Congress (which every Republican lawmaker signed and Governor Romney endorsed) ending Medicare as we know it and substituting in its place a “voucher” program. This means government no longer pays for medical expenses but gives each senior money to purchase private insurance based on the amount he/she can pay and their pre-existing condition. If you want better care than your stipend allows, you’ll pay more out of your own pocket or go without. The Congressional Budget Office calculates the immediate effect at $6,400.00 per person. Also, seniors will pay 100% for prescriptions in the “donut hole” ($2,840 to $4,550) where Medicare now pays 50% and 100% in 2020.

If that were not enough to cause concern, their budget cuts $800 billion from Medicaid. Nursing homes will not be getting the funding necessary to cover their occupants. Moreover, with more people living longer and less families able to care for loved ones there will be no place for them to go. The effects will be devastating.

Republicans argue these programs will go bankrupt if they don’t change. That hasn’t happened in 47 years If the wealthy paid their fair share of taxes and Congress stopped raiding these programs, that won’t happen.

Vote for President Obama and other Democratic candidates. Save Medicare and Medicaid. Our future depends on it!

PATRICIA A. BENNETT

Let's See How The Former Offensive Tackle Is Performing In Congress...

The Adler campaign for Congress (NJ-03) has releases a new TV spot that highlights Congressman Runyan’s votes in Washington that would dismantle Medicare. 

I like it, it's both humorous and effective; watch it below. 



Dismantling Medicare and replacing it with a voucher program has been the cornerstone of Congressman Runyan’s agenda, forcing future beneficiaries to pay an additional $6,400 annually shifts the burden to middle-class Americans to pay for tax breaks for millionaires, Big Oil, and companies that ship jobs overseas.

Shelley Adler believes that public service should be about helping people, not hurting them.

President Obama's Weekly Address 8/25/12: Preserving and Strengthening Medicare

WASHINGTON, DC— In this week’s address, President Obama spoke to the American people about the critical need to strengthen and preserve Medicare for our seniors and future generations, because those who have worked hard throughout their lives should not lose their homes or life savings just because they get sick. Through the President’s Affordable Care Act, nearly 5.4 million seniors have already saved an average of more than $700 on prescription drugs, preventive care services like mammograms are free without co-pay, and the President’s plan extends the life of Medicare by almost a decade by cracking down on waste, fraud, and overpayments. Republicans in Congress have put forward a very different plan that turns Medicare into a voucher program—under one plan forcing seniors to pay an extra $6,400 out of their own pocket for care-and effectively ends Medicare as we know it. The President believes that our seniors deserve better and will work with anyone to keep improving the current system to give our seniors the security and peace of mind they have earned.