The Jaffe Briefing - August 10, 2021
STATEWIDE – Are hordes of COVID-infected immigrants really streaming across our southern border to infect us all? Gov. Phil Murphy says such allegations are “tin foil hat stuff,” and he’s blaming his GOP challengers.“The people I'm running against started repeating this ridiculous Fox News narrative that the reason why Covid is raging in Texas and other places like that is because illegal immigrants are coming over the border — encouraged by this president — with Covid and are then being put on buses and sent to states,” the governor said. This appears to be a response to former Sen. Diane Allen, now the Republican’s lieutenant governor candidate, who told New Jersey Globe: “Look at all these people with COVID who are coming across the border (carrying illegal guns or drugs, or whatever), and it scares me. They’re put on buses. I suspect some of them are coming up to New Jersey — not a good idea.” Scare tactics work; chapter and verse of the Trump playbook.
WESTFIELD – New Jersey finally has a sympathetic ear among federal transportation officials, who recognize the critical role our state plays along the East Coast corridor from DC to Boston. We are so important, in fact, that Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg rode the Raritan Valley line yesterday to Westfield to get an earful from local officials about the need to support the Gateway project and any other remedies to correct what could be a two-hour train trip from Westfield to Manhattan, just 23 miles apart. You may recall how the Trump Administration tended to ignore expensive infrastructure needs in Blue states, no matter the importance, economics or basic logic. Now, as the feds consider a $1 trillion infrastructure deal that includes Gateway funding, even the most ardent, Jersey-based Trumpian has to consider this focus as long overdue.
TEANECK – State road crews aren’t exactly butterfly experts. Perhaps that’s why they mowed down all the milkweed and wildflowers along two North Jersey highways, destroying natural butterfly habitats. The Record reports the DOT is taking steps to ensure similar destruction is not repeated. Meanwhile, environmentalists can’t help but wonder how similar weed-whacking crews are decimating natural habitats along a highway near you. Milkweed plays a critical role as a host and food source for monarch butterflies, which are struggling to survive in New Jersey. "Here we are going crazy trying to save this butterfly, and they keep cutting it," one environmentalist told the Record. "It’s crazy.” Meanwhile, state officials admit milkweed was “inadvertently mowed” along Route 80 and Route 3 (where caterpillar eggs were laid). The state will be replanting the area and affixing “do not mow” signs. Great; what about the rest of the state?
BRIEFING BREATHER
Tonight will be the last time the sun will set at or after 8 p.m. in New Jersey until May 9, 2022.
STATEWIDE – As NYC requires all restaurant patrons to prove they’re vaccinated by Aug. 16, what does that mean for New Jersey? Nothing yet, the Record reports, but antsy restaurateurs here are trying to figure out what to do. The industry is shaky, at best, as New Jersey is already predicted to lose one-third of its eateries because of the pandemic. There are about 19,000 places to grab a bite in the state, currently. Some have a great solution: Non-vaccinated people are welcome to dine outside. Sounds good, for the moment, but we all still remember what it was like eating in October last year, shivering next to a heat lamp in a parking lot, with the soup as lukewarm as the mood. But people need to feel safe; mandating proof of vaccinations is ultimately good for business.
ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL – Well, this is no fun. Both gubernatorial candidates are fleeing the state this week, which doesn’t bode well for news copy. Gov. Phil Murphy is going to his estate in Italy, which is lovely, and Jack Ciattarelli is doing the typical trip of every aspiring state candidate: Flying to Israel to drum up support. Perhaps the media will just have to rely on a diet of pre-packaged news releases to get through a sleepy August. Meanwhile, we will keep practicing how to correctly spell “Ciattarelli.”
IN OTHER IMPORTANT NEWS
PODUNK, USA - Would you take $10,000 cash to move to Weesaw, Michigan? How about a free lot valued at $3,000 to relocate to Parsons, Kansas? And millennials, would a state tax credit of up to $367 a month tempt you to lay down roots in Littleton, Maine? Thousands of incentivized Americans are leaving behind their urban and suburban lives for the wide-open rural spaces, where the planes fly over and their money goes further. USA Today reports that during the COVID-19 pandemic millions discovered they are able to effectively work remotely, whether they’re living in Brooklyn, NY (population 2.59 million) or Brooklyn, Iowa (population 1,468). There are some drawbacks, however. You might not be able to find a good pizza joint or even a half-decent bagel and schmear. And “nightlife” may comprise just one bar with two taps. But, hey, you’ll get a year’s worth of free Jimmy John sandwiches if you move to Topeka, Kansas. Interested?
THIS DAY IN HISTORY
It was this day in 2012 that the U.S. thought it was high time to start cleaning up some of the Agent Orange it dropped in Vietnam over 10 years of war.
WORD OF THE DAY
Abject – [AB-jekt] – adjective
Definition: Showing hopelessness or resignation
Example: I often have revelations of the abject conditions in which my sneakers are produced.
WIT OF THE DAY
“Too bad that all the people who really know how to run the country are busy driving taxi cabs and cutting hair.”
- George Burns
BIDEN BLURB
“I consider myself to be as informed on American foreign policy as anyone in America.”
-Joe Biden
WEATHER IN A WORD
Swampy