Information is Power

My friends ask me all the time where I get my information.  I tell them that it’s usually all out there. “Out there?”, they ask.

Yes, “out there”. On the net via newspapers, databases, forums, blogs, etc. Sometimes it takes reading between the lines a bit and following a “lead”. And then following that lead and that lead…

It also takes sometimes, knowing connections of people, companies and the politics involved.  But it is certainly not rocket science. Maybe a little college computer science to manipulate a database, but that is it.

It is the local Dems and Slick Willy that seem to be surprised that the information needed to see their “motivation” is so easily unearthed.

The Asbury Park Press has some of the best NJ political reporting around.  They also have a terrfic website that gives everyone the opportunity to take a look at public information.

Please be my guest.  Have some fun.

http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=DATA

Two letters…

These were in today’s (Sunday) Bergen Record:

State Sen. Loretta Weinberg, D-Teaneck, should stand up for true Democratic values (“Weinberg’s snub of Dem bigwigs reignites feud,” Page A-1, March 7).

Taxpaying residents expect integrity from elected representatives. Are puppets and handpicked candidates of the county boss the right choice? I don’t believe so. I fully support the senator’s drive for restoration of true Democratic values and any Democrat brave enough to join that fight. It is time to eliminate the “stink” factor that has permeated many of our communities this past election and to end the political patronage positions required to feed the coffers of the Bergen County boss and his machine.

This article also reveals what appears to be standard county Democratic machine tactics — half-truths, maligning of character and creative spin designed to dupe the voting public into supporting its candidates.

Carol J. Skiba

Hasbrouck Heights, March 7

AND

The headline “U.S. attorney opens probe into health chief’s resignation” is misleading: No one is sure exactly who or what the target of the “probe” is. All we’re sure of is a subpoena was issued for the Englewood Health Department records.

Englewood Mayor Michael Wildes says he was “disappointed” when proceedings against Health Director Violet Cherry were stopped, hearings that he calls “transparent.”

The Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office found there was “no criminality” in Cherry’s actions. So why 10 months of hearings? Cherry backed candidates who would not be bossed and spoke out against sweetheart deals with developers backed by Bergen County Democratic Party boss Joseph Ferriero and Wildes.

What is transparent is the political vendetta that motivated the hearings. Hearing prosecutor John Carbone is Ferriero’s hatchet man and Ferriero’s choice in 2005 to stop Loretta Weinberg’s ultimately successful state Senate run. Englewood Board of Health attorney Wilfredo Ortiz is a Ferriero protege whose behavior frequently makes The Record’s pages.

As for Wildes, he’s transparent. He says he wants to save taxpayers’ money. He says the City Council spends too much. But he wants the hearings to continue even though they’ve already cost $300,000.

Ann Dermansky

Englewood, March 8

“Crime does not pay … as well as politics.“ 

Alfred E. Newman

“Leave the gun, take the canoli.”

(click on picture to view)  from the Bergen Record

“He’s a businessman. I’ll make him an offer he can’t refuse.”

“Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.”

This would actually be funny if it wasn’t so true.  And this is what Introna, Saccomano, DiNanno and Altobelli have allowed to infiltrate Hasbrouck Heights. 

Stay strong Loretta. We will, too.

http://www.theenglewoodreport.com/files/who_is_joe_ferriero.html

http://hhangel.wordpress.com/2007/03/07/dems-imploding-their-party/

Now what?

The election is done and according to The Bergen Record it’s the first time in 112 years that Hasbrouck Heights has had a Democrat majority on the Council dais.

Some people have commented on the NJ.com HH Forum that I should “leave it alone” and let things be.

Nah.  What kinda fun is that?

So, the other day I was doing a Google of one of the newly elected Council people, Mr. Altobelli, and ended up reading some of the press releases that he has written on behalf of the clients that his employer and major NJ lobbyist firm, MWW, represent.

One of the releases that he wrote caught my eye.  It was for a company that had made a major contribution to Mr. Intona’s campaign fund which in turn transferred to the Dems account during their campaign and was used for the publications that they sent out during the campaign.

The company  is the engineering firm Schoor DePalma which contributed $2,500 to Mr. Introna’s account in October ’05.  In May ’06, Mr. Altobelli wrote and published a press release for them.  Hey, you gotta pay for those contributions somehow, don’t you? But then MWW is a big lobbying firm for the Dems and contributes accordingly inhouse.

And so it starts (or continues) …

It should be interesting to see how other contributors are “paid” over the next three years.