The Morning Briefing - June 3, 2015
TRENTON – There’s little spillage from the political applecart after yesterday’s primary election, with incumbents winning and challengers losing. That means a ho-hum election this November except for one possible ballot question: Should casinos be permitted in Bergen, Hudson and Essex counties? Unclear if the question will be posed on Election Day, as it still needs to work through the Trenton meat grinder. But with wheelbarrows of cash at stake, such a ballot question would easily dwarf even the most vocal political candidate on Nov. 3.
ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL – With all the politicking yesterday in New Jersey, Gov. Chris Christie remained at a safe distance, talking economic policy at a forum in Florida, the Record reports. The governor is certainly correct in saying the United States is “being consumed by the entitlement beast,” noting such expenses as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid eat up 71 percent of the federal budget. The big question is what to do about it, as Americans sure love our entitlements. Christie wants to flatten tax rates for personal filers, slash corporate taxes, further hike the retirement age for Social Security and cut back federal spending on Medicaid and Medicare. Interesting if such a platform is voter-friendly, as it offers plenty of red meat for the competition. Also, unclear if it slays the beast, or just creates a new one.
TRENTON – If you are over the age of 40, chances are you spent your winters in the back of the station wagon, with the windows shut, as mom and dad puffed away. Maybe grandpa would come along, with his favorite Dutch Master cigar, showing you all the fun in blowing smoke rings, as you gasped for air and wiped the ash off your Toughskins. Sen. Joe Vitale wants to end all this “fun,” proposing a state law that would ban people from smoking in cars when kids are along.
CARTERET – The vision of Carteret becoming a commuter haven has taken a huge step closer, with New York Waterway conducting test runs today between Waterfront Park and Pier 11 in Manhattan. The Home News Tribune reports that commuter ferry service is still years away, but these test runs must be a huge relief for residential developers who have invested heavily in Carteret in recent years, sharing Mayor Dan Reiman’s vision.
CHERRY HILL – The military is sending out a polite little note to the local folk, asking them to calmly ignore all the troops in full protective gear today, as soldiers in a unit specializing in weapons of mass destruction respond to a fake crisis of some sort. Expect the same harried response as the teen-age rush to the Cherry Hill Mall for the BOGO at Abercrombie.
IN OTHER IMPORTANT NEWS
NORTH POLE, Alaska – Maybe Santa and his reindeer will arrive on Christmas Eve, or maybe they will drop by whenever and eat all the cookies, with marijuana dispensaries soon planned in North Pole. The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported that a guy named Santa Claus — yes, that's his real name — testified in favor of selling pot in the Christmas-themed town, where light poles resemble candy canes. Claus argued he is a medical marijuana patient, and he'd like to buy pot in North Pole instead of hitching up the reindeer for a ride to Fairbanks. Some worried about an image problem if the North Pole is lit up with something other than Christmas lights, but the town already allows alcohol, cigarettes and guns, so, whatever.
CONCORD, N.H. — Children can drive you to drink sometimes, but should kids' pictures really grace your beer or wine bottles? Granite State lawmaker Keith Murphy thinks so. He proposed a self-serving bill to allow children's images on alcoholic beverage labels. Why? Well, he also owns a popular Irish sports bar in Manchester and he wants to sell a Michigan-brewed craft beer with labels depicting a cherubic baby. Gov. Maggie Hassan has vetoed Murphy's measure, saying it undermines the state's fight against underage drinking. New Hampshire has the seventh highest underage drinking rate in the nation, just ahead of New Jersey, now ranked eighth for young booze hounds.
THIS DAY IN HISTORY
It’s sure nice to give a speech in honor of a long-time diplomat who has helped shape Israel. It’s also nice to get paid $500,000 to do it, as former President Clinton hit pay dirt on this day in 2013, in his tribute to former Israel President Shimon Peres.
WORD OF THE DAY
Logorrhea – noun
Definition: Excessive and often incoherent talkativeness or wordiness.
Example: “With the new crop of attorneys being sworn in today in Trenton, one must wonder how many of them have chronic logorrhea.”