The Jaffe Briefing - February 2, 2021

STATEWIDE – Many, many months ago, when this pandemic began, there was plenty of news coverage about people trying to get unemployment benefits through the state Labor Department, but failing miserably. State officials vowed repairs, additional staff and new protocols to handle the unexpected, immediate demand. End of story, right? Not according to the Record, NJ.com and other media, reporting 78,000 New Jerseyans are still waiting on benefits and can’t get a live person on the phone to inquire. State officials explain there are plenty of legit reasons, like “a discrepancy over the reason for separation, reporting wages in more than one state or returning to work.” Fair enough, but people still need questions answered. Between trying to get unemployment benefits, your car registered and a vaccine appointment, living in New Jersey is likened to playing bingo, just praying for your number to be called.

TRENTON – Every few years, state lawmakers turn back to auto insurance reform. And legislators are shocked, once again, to learn that people with lousy credit, bad jobs or limited education can get smacked with higher rates. Translation: poor, downtrodden, struggling people are subsidizing the market. NJ.com reports that lawmakers hope to put the issue back on the front burner, questioning, again, why rates can’t just be based on someone’s basic ability to drive a car. “Those that have a lower income pay more for insurance, meaning they are being penalized just for being poor,” Sen. Nellie Pou said. Insurance companies point to actuaries, who can prove that these controversial metrics can actually assess risk. And risk is what drives your premium, albeit glaringly discriminatory. So, sorry.

BRIEFING BREATHER

George Washington is the only U.S. President to never live in Washington D.C.

WESTFIELD – Tom Kean, Jr.: no longer in the State Senate? Politico is reporting the Senate Minority Leader is squarely focused on a run for Congress in two years after he narrowly lost to Rep. Tom Malinowski this fall. It would be Kean’s fourth run for federal office. His decision – after 20 years in the state Legislature – is prompting plenty of musical chairs in the 21st Legislative District, where Assembly Minority Leader Jon Bramnick has been waiting in the wings for the big chair and has Kean’s support. And that means Bramnick’s Assembly seat will now be in play. And that also means, quite possibly, that Democrats have a fair shot of winning these seats, in Republican hands for this entire century and longer. Oooo. Political drams in the burbs.

BRANCHBURG – And welcome back Dick Zimmer? Remember that Republican congressman from the early 1990s? He was bounced from Congress in 1996 when he tried to unseat Sen. Bob “The Torch” Torricelli. So, Zimmer is now 76, a Joe Biden supporter and hopes to be the next Republican serving in the open State Senate seat in the 16th district, New Jersey Globe reports. Zimmer also says he is OK with an Assembly seat, or whatever, just to get in the mix. But first he needs to go before voters and explain what he’s been up to for the past 15 years or so, other than losing to Sen. Frank Lautenberg in 2008.

MILLTOWN — Groundhog Day will come and go without “Milltown Mel,” one of New Jersey’s preeminent prognosticators of Spring. For the first time in 12 years, Milltown Mel announced on social media that he is staying in bed today, “quarantining” due to the ongoing pandemic and, oh yeah, that foot or more of snow that’s blanketing his borough (or is it burrow?). Mel’s annual appearance has become “a Milltown thing,” TAPinto reports, attracting a larger and larger crowd for the past dozen winters. So, this year we'll just have to rely on other furry forecasters like Turtle Back Zoo’s “Essex Ed” and, of course “Punxsutawney What's His Name,” for weather forecasting. 

IN OTHER IMPORTANT NEWS

PUNXSUTAWNEY, Pa. – And here it is. There will be six more weeks of winter, Punxsutawney Phil is predicting, as he emerged from his burrow at 7:25 a.m. for his annual Groundhog Day duties. Apparently, the AP reports, one of the members of Phil’s inner circle said the animal is promising “one of the most beautiful and brightest springs you’ve ever seen.” So, we have that to look forward to, as it appears we have been celebrating Groundhog Day since sometime last March.

BAR GRAMMAR

A mixed metaphor walks into a bar, seeing the handwriting on the wall but hoping to nip it in the bud.

THIS DAY IN HISTORY

It was this day in 1886 that the Punxsutawney Spirit reported “up to the time of going to press, the beast has not seen its shadow,” the first indication that a group made a trip to the Gobbler's Knob part of town to consult with a groundhog about the weather. Clymer Freas, city editor at the Punxsutawney Spirit, is credited as the "father" of Groundhog Day because of his stellar news coverage.

WORD OF THE DAY

Esoteric – [ess-uh-TAIR-ik] – adjective

Definition: Designed for or understood by those with specific knowledge or training 

Example: I never read the warranty, loaded with esoteric legal terminology.

WIT OF THE DAY

“Doing nothing is very hard to do…you never know when you're finished.”

-Leslie Nielsen

BIDEN BLURB

“When you allow people to get back into the game and have a job, everything moves.”

-Joe Biden

WEATHER IN A WORD

Lingering