The Jaffe Briefing - November 15, 2021

STATEWIDE – Chronic flooding is a hot topic – while huge storms deluge New Jersey. But when all that water recedes, and the news cameras run elsewhere, all that talk stops. The Record notes there have been major projects proposed, like a plan to build nine miles of levees in the Meadowlands and a series of barriers stretching six miles across the ocean, from Monmouth County to Long Island, NY, to wall off NYC from flooding. Besides some catchy headlines, nothing has happened, as of yet, to combat chronic flooding that’s happened and will happen again and again. Why? Because who, exactly, will pay the billions and billions of dollars needed? And, after spending a flood of money, are we really protected from such unpredictable weather that’s only getting worse? Maybe the Record will figure it out, as part of its four-day series that begins today.

STATEWIDE – It’s not every day that someone hands you $13 billion, so let’s spend a moment talking about how the federal $1.2 trillion infrastructure plan helps New Jersey. To sum it up, Newark Airport will be less crappy, there will be more Amtrak trains, our crumbling bridges will be fixed, there will be more charging stations for electric cars, we will finally get the Gateway tunnel, our overused highways will be updated, our cities will lose their lead pipes, NJ Transit will get more money, and Superfund sites will be remediated. It’s a five-year plan for all of this, but the feds promise that cash can start reaching New Jersey within a few months. We’ll be here, waiting. No money, of course, for flooding.

ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL – Jack Ciattarelli first announced in 2015 that he wanted to be governor, and in his concession speech on Friday he has already stated his intentions to run again in 2025, prompting the beginning of another four-year campaign, as part of what could be a decade-long effort to move into Drumthwacket. Say anything you want about the GOP gubernatorial hopeful, but you can’t question his determination.

BRIEFING BREATHER

Women couldn’t apply for credit at a bank until 1974.

STATEWIDE – One would assume there must a big jump in the number of kids getting COVID vaccines. But, as of last week, the numbers were surprisingly low. Gov. Phil Murphy is expected to give an update at 1 p.m. today in Trenton, but the latest figures available to NJ 101.5 show fewer than 10,000 children between ages 5 and 11 have gotten the pediatric dose. If the governor is to drop the controversial mask mandate in the schools, those numbers obviously have to substantially increase. Meanwhile, New Jersey adults have clearly gotten the message, with more than eight out of 10 of us getting at least one COVID shot – a heckuva lot higher than many nutty places in this country. And 900,000 of us have gotten the booster.

IN OTHER IMPORTANT NEWS

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – Many of us can only dream of becoming this garbage can from Myrtle Beach. Because that can was able to travel all the way to Ireland for, let’s say, a vacation. A barnacle-covered trash barrel floated more than 3,500 miles before washing up in County Mayo, on the emerald isle’s northwestern coast. Myrtle Beach officials got an update on its missing trash can from a city official in Ireland, who sent over photos of a bright blue barrel with municipal stickers on the side. Myrtle Beach officials assumed it was carried away in the Gulf Stream during a storm, adding they’d “already had a city employee volunteer to come fetch it” across the pond.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Joe Biden can’t figure this one out. Despite the fact that the majority of Americans support his $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure plan, being signed today, his polling number keeps dropping and dropping. In fact, it seems that everything these days is his fault, with 70% of us saying the economy is in the toilet and inflation is growing out of control. Seriously, Joe, don’t mess with our bacon – now up 20% this year. Meanwhile, people like Senate President Steve Sweeney have little regard for all these polls, which showed he was consistently up by 16 points before losing on election night to some guy named Edward Durr.

THIS DAY IN HISTORY

No, Milli Vanilli didn’t sing on their album, a sad fact we learned this day in 1990. Blame it on the rain?

WORD OF THE DAY

Qualm – [KWAHM] – noun

Definition: Feelings of uneasiness about whether something is right or wrong.

Example: I’ve no qualms about my belief that Rutgers will play respectably against Penn State on Saturday, but still lose.

WIT OF THE DAY

“The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help.” 

-Ronald Reagan

BIDEN BLURB

"For a decade, led by Ronald Reagan, self-aggrandizement has been the full-throated cry of this society: 'I've got mine, so why don't you get yours' and 'What's in it for me?'”

-Joe Biden

WEATHER IN A WORD

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