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The Jaffe Briefing - October 26, 2021

KEARNY – Want to pique New Jersey’s interest? Talk money. And that’s what President Biden did yesterday during his whistle stop here to hype his infrastructure plan and stump for his “pal,” Gov. Phil Murphy. Here’s the deal, as Biden would say. If the House finally approves his $1 trillion infrastructure plan, there’s $12 billion that would flow to New Jersey. And there’s a separate grand spending bill, with cash that flows toward free community college and other progressive goodies for New Jersey. Want a taste of all that generosity? Look no further than the Portal Bridge over the Hackensack River, which gets stuck about 15% of the time. “When the Portal Bridge was built, it was state of the art, and it was — 110 years ago,” Biden said. “Today, it’s been called something different, a chokepoint, a bottleneck, an Achilles’ heel to the Northeast Corridor.” And that’s why the feds are helping, finally, to replace it. Biden summary: Support me, and the checkbook stays open.

ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL – There doesn’t seem to be a lot of excitement about all this new in-person early voting, which began Saturday, as it appears the service only attracted about half of 1% of the state’s voters. NJ.com reports that just 34,077 people voted early in-person over the weekend at about 140 polling locations in the 21 counties. The lack of interest is not a surprise, as a Monmouth University poll reports that just 6% of voters planned to take advantage of the nine consecutive days of voting for this election. There are also gobs of opportunities to vote by mail or doing the civic duty the traditional way on Election Day. So, let’s be the first to publicly ponder if this early in-person voting is really worth it.

ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL – The political camps are spending like wild, drunken sailors; the cost to run for governor in 2021 is off the charts. Federal election officials say Gov. Phil Murphy and his challenger, Jack Ciattarelli, have already blown through $46 million, double what was spent four years ago. A lot of the cash has come in from these independent groups, with just $7.4 million over the past week. Perhaps there’s so much money at play because there are only two governor’s races this year; the other is in Virginia. The spending won’t stop; Murphy has almost $3.5 million left, while Ciattarelli is sitting on nearly $700,000. And expect even more outside cash to flow in for the final spending spree with Election Day next Tuesday – especially if the latest polls promise a horse race with a photo finish.

BRIEFING BREATHER

Vacuum cleaners were originally horse-drawn.

NEW BRUNSWICK – Enough already. That’s the message from Rutgers leadership, telling the 10% of its staff who still remain unvaccinated that they have a clear choice. Either get vaccinated by Dec. 8, or possibly get fired. Rutgers is pointing to a federal mandate that says all entities who work with the federal government must have their workers vaccinated. That means these workers need to move fast, TAPInto New Brunswick reports, because, we all know, it takes some time to get both of the Moderna and Pfizer shots. But little sympathy; they’ve dragged their feet long enough. And vaccination centers are awaiting on the New Brunswick, Camden and Newark campuses.

SCOTCH PLAINS – Figuring two-time Olympic gold medalist Sydney McLaughlin is tired of hearing all the congratulations, Mayor Josh Losardo instead laid down a challenge yesterday during her visit to her alma mater, Union Catholic High School. "And that challenge is to race against me at the next Scotch Plains 5K," said Losardo, drawing laughter from the crowd. "I'll meet you in line right outside town hall in June." No word on whether the Team USA track star has plans to accept Losardo’s challenge. But TAPInto SPF is closely watching.

IN OTHER IMPORTANT NEWS

EAST LANSING, Mich. – With a doctorate degree, maybe you can land a job at the deep fryer. Michigan State University – desperate for people to work the dining halls – is now asking school faculty to pitch in. The Lansing State Journal reports MSU has already asked 132 full-time faculty and staff to serve up the mystery meat for an eight-hour shift. But that’s just not enough. One math professor called the request “astounding,” saying he is already wondering if he is getting paid enough, with his six-figure salary, and is apparently extremely important, fiddling around all day with his Pythagorean Theorem. MSU usually recruits 4,000 students to work the dining halls. This year, only 1,200 showed up, despite a raise to $15 an hour. Maybe these hard workers can also teach math.

THIS DAY IN HISTORY

It was this day in 1992 that Tipper Gore makes international news, admitting that she puts black tape over the VCR clock so she doesn’t have to watch it blink.

WORD OF THE DAY

Luthier – [lo͞odēər/] – noun

Definition: A maker of stringed instruments, such as violins

Example: You can earn more money scrubbing lunch trays at MSU than at the height of your career as a luthier.

WIT OF THE DAY

“You wanna know what scares people? Success. When you don't make moves and when you don't climb up the ladder, everybody loves you because you're not competition.”

-Nicki Manaj

BIDEN BLURB

“We cannot be competitive in the 21st century global economy if we continue to slide.”

– Joe Biden

WEATHER IN A WORD

Soaker