The Jaffe Briefing - June 9, 2021
TRENTON – It is getting a bit ridiculous. New Jersey – perennially known for its horrible finances and insurmountable debt – keeps finding more and more money for the fiscal ’21 budget. The very latest: Gov. Phil Murphy is poised to announce $4 billion in extra cash in the next two state budgets, courtesy of robust tax collections and fleeting federal stimulus, NJ.com reports. Treasury folks are expected to release the details of this additional $4 billion today, while critics and other Monday morning quarterbacks are still questioning why Murphy borrowed a separate $4 billion at the darkest height of the soaring pandemic. Regardless, the question of the day is how best to spend (or save) the cash in a – dare we say – budget process that is becoming downright jovial.
ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL – The primary election was yesterday. And, as expected, anyone listed on the county party line won the party’s line for seats in the state Legislature. Anyone running off the line didn’t win. The message here, again: No matter how good of a lawmaker you may potentially be, you need to secure the party line if you have a shot at elected office. The party has the infrastructure, the power and the money to churn out the vote, sometimes for inferior politicians. That could change at some point. But not now.
ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL – As the ink was barely dry on the primary ballot, a poll already shows that Gov. Phil Murphy has a strong lead on his GOP challenger, Jack Ciattarelli. Rutgers-Eagleton puts the lead at 26 points for the governor. But, to be fair, and we love to be fair, the race has not yet begun and most voters need to know a thing or two about Ciattarelli. The GOP candidate had five long months to build some name familiarity and a resonating message. At least he now has a baseline for his uphill climb.
BRIEFING BREATHER
Boyfriends do more housework than husbands.
HAMILTON – At least one council meeting was interesting. Township officials have identified the person who went live with an image of a sex toy at last month’s budget workshop and the issue is now being handled “internally,” NJ.com reports. Things popped up at the May 20 budget workshop meeting, while the fire chief was talking about fire trucks. The sex toy appeared as a Zoom background, affixed to a fire truck, for about 13 seconds. The person was signed in as “mike’s iPhone.” “Taking this matter very seriously, the next day we immediately began an investigation into who that individual was. We completed that investigation,” according to the township’s written statement. Meanwhile, assume attendees of this budget workshop appreciated the comic relief.
STATEWIDE – Billions were served and now thousands are needed in New Jersey, as McDonald’s is desperate to find workers for its fast food chain this summer. It seems, at least for the moment, that no one wants to be a fry guy as the beach beckons. The home of the Big Mac needs to hire nearly 4,000 employees here, as dining rooms reopen. On-the-job training is being offered (as compared to what?) as new employees learn all about exciting, long-term careers under those beckoning golden arches. McDonald’s now even offers an employee app, in which workers can just throw their names down for shifts and, of course, reveal when they may possibly be available for extra hours. It’s all part of the “McFamily,” franchise owners say, promising plenty of “McFun” and “McFrolic” at a highway jughandle near you.
IN OTHER IMPORTANT NEWS
SEATTLE – No surprise it would eventually come to this. Washington officials – eager to gin up vaccination numbers – are now approving the “Joints for Jabs” program. The program is easy: get a jab, get a free joint from any of the licensed marijuana stores that seem to appear on every street corner here. It gets better. Residents can get the vaccine at the weed shops, so the transaction is virtually instant. The pot shops are the latest vice to give out goodies in Washington, after the wineries and breweries launched their own campaigns to swap booze for shots.
WASHINGTON – We all know it’s good to be rich. But the fact that the richest of the rich don’t pay federal taxes, like the rest of us, underscores that something is really, really wrong in the good ol’ USA. ProPublica reports Jeff Bezos paid absolutely no income tax in 2007 and 2011, as the value of Amazon soared. Meanwhile, Tesla owner Elon Musk paid zip in 2018, while Warren Buffet had a tax rate of 0.10% from 2014-18. Meanwhile, the richest 25 Americans paid an average of 15.8% of tax on their income – akin to a blue-collar retiree now supplementing his income by selling tube socks at the flea market. The craziest thing about all of this: Billionaires are just following tax law, using strategies that ensure they pay among the least in taxes, compared to all us working stiffs and other schmucks. President Biden vows to change things; start with these guys.
LAW TALK
Attorney: Do you recall the time that you examined the body?
Witness: The autopsy started around 8:30 p.m.
Attorney: And Mr. Denton was dead at the time?
Witness: If not, he was by the time I was finished.
THIS DAY IN HISTORY
Things were off to a rocky start on this day in 1997, when the Detroit Tigers bat out of order against the Oakland A’s.
WORD OF THE DAY
Bumptious – [BUMP-shus] – adjective
Definition: presumptuously, obtusely, and often noisily self-assertive: obtrusive
Example: The brash, bumptious politicians were out in full force for yesterday’s primary and are now eerily quiet.
WIT OF THE DAY
“Girls have an unfair advantage over men: if they can't get what they want by being smart, they can get it by being dumb.”
-Yul Brynner
BIDEN BLURB
“Let's just be smart this time. I'm looking for smart.”
-Joe Biden
WEATHER IN A WORD
Scattered