Good news for New Jersey taxpayers! New Jersey has a new watchdog in town! NewJersey.Watchdog.org is a new website dedicated to exposing corruption, waste, fraud and abuse in the Garden State!

New Jersey Watchdog led off with a “bite” yesterday exposing serious problems with New Jersey’s disability pension system. Here is the press release from New Jersey Watchdog regarding their expose on this issue which centered on Assemblyman Dave Rible. Assemblyman Rible is a beneficiary of the of the disability pension system – receiving over $50,000 in benefits each year for being considered “totally and permanently disabled.”

New Jersey Assemblyman David P. Rible retired as a Wall Township police officer at
age 31 with a bad back and a fat pension. He's collected $570,000 in disability payments since a state board decided he was “totally and permanently disabled.”

Yet Rible, now 42, competes in five-mile and five-kilometer runs along the Jersey Shore. He exercises at a gym, dances as a celebrity and hauls trash to the curb at his Monmouth County home. He commutes to Trenton to represent the 11th District in the State Assembly, where he holds a leadership position as Republican Whip and seeks publicity as a tax-fighter.

In addition to his $49,000 salary as a legislator, Rible continues to receive a state disability pension that pays $54,502 a year – without a second look from authorities. If he lives until 80, he will pocket another $2 million from the state pension fund, not including cost-of-living hikes or his medical coverage.

"I don’t see this as government waste,” said Rible, leaving his health club after a workout. Meanwhile, lottery-sized payouts threaten to break the back of New Jersey’s retirement and benefits system for public workers, struggling under the weight of $110 billion in projected debt.

You can read New Jersey Watchdog’s full story here.

New Jersey Watchdog’s investigative effort was a top story on News12 New Jersey as well.

Watch the follow-up report by News 12 with viewer responses here

New Jersey Watchdog will continue investigating these kinds of abuses in New Jersey and expose when your tax dollars are wasted. The message to those who would do so is now clear -- “Beware The Dog”!