Category: News and Politics
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Sad goodbye to neighbor in the NJ Blue Acres program
The individual stories of my neighbors involved in the Blue Acres buyout program are heartbreaking. I’m not blaming the state for the program. These are voluntary purchases; no one is forced to sell. But facing building code fines and violations after Sandy, many see this as their best option. Yet I don’t see how the state’s…
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Greenspan’s latest economic warning
Yesterday Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan made some sharp comments in an interview on Fox News. I got the feeling this interview was meant as a sort of ‘final words of advice’ from perhaps the most influential economic leader of our era. Two points from the interview jump out at me. First, he says…
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Trump Accounting: cooking the books at the expense of the rest of us
Details are slowly emerging about Trump’s methods of accounting that place vastly different values on assets depending on the purpose of the report. One example cited by the Washington Post is the Trump National Golf Club in In Ossining, New York: The municipal tax assessor values the golf club at roughly $15 million. Trump’s attorneys…
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Impact of Mexican/South American work force on New Jersey
I am reposting these comments arising from a Facebook conversation about Mexican and South American workers at our New Jersey shore communities that I think deserves more exposure. I have used the term “Mexican workers” without knowing for sure the origin of most of my neighbors. The language barrier and good reasons to hide the…
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Update on FEMA fraud case affecting NJ homeowners
Former insurance executive Tom MacArthur, now the elected Congressman to the Jersey shore region, is calling for Congressional inquiry into the latest second round of alleged systematic fraud by FEMA claims investigators. This latest breaking scandal in the claim review process comes a year after FEMA admitted systematic fraud in the underlying claim processing program…
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Confusing political coverage!
Some perverse personal interest in statistics and forecasting keeps me interested this presidential race. Nothing annoys a statistician more than unreliable input data. The latest news had me befuddled. Yesterday CNN put out an article saying Hillary’s acceptance among electorate has increased lately (“enthusiasm for a Clinton candidacy has grown as her chances of winning…
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US issues ‘slap on the wrist’ to 16 responsible for bombing a hospital
Yesterday the nation’s highest ranking military leader, the Commander of the US Central Command, announced that 16 servicemen would receive what amounts to a slap on the wrist for errors they made in bombing a hospital operated by Doctors without Borders last October. 42 civilians were killed and even more injured in the attack. The…
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Discouraged by NJ government corruption
I’ve faced resistance and retaliation stemming from my efforts to expose NJ government corruption and it is taking a toll on my business and personal life. It has been almost 10 years since I called New Jersey State Police in Port Norris to report receiving a death threat by telephone for my actions as a…
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Uber wins independent contractor case in California
Worker classification has been one of the hottest issues of business management affecting large and small businesses alike. Yesterday one of the high profile cases in this arena was resolved when Uber announced that it negotiated the right to continue to classify workers as independent contractors in the state of California. Uber gave up the…
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CPAs’ role in the political process
Within the next few weeks I expect to be involved in the filming of a video by the New Jersey Society of CPAs about the importance of CPAs’ legislative involvement. Here is the Illinois version of the same topic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lB_eKQlri-o. While I’m not the filmmaker and am not in any position of charge of the…