The Jaffe Briefing - November 23, 2021

The Jaffe Briefing is off for Thanksgiving beginning Wednesday, Nov. 24, returning Monday, Nov. 29.

TRENTON – Perhaps New Jerseyans will be setting up a GoFundMe account to help our poor Gov. Phil Murphy. Partial tax returns released from his office yesterday shows that Murphy “only” earned $982,600 last year – the first year his income dipped under $1 million annually since his very first purchase of Italian loafers. The governor’s income fell faster than Daniel Jones’ attempt at a completed pass, dropping 64% from the $2.7 million he reported in 2019. Surprisingly, the governor is not required this year to pay the “millionaires tax,” the landmark law he signed last year that targets taxpayers exactly like him. Kudos to his shrewd accountant. Who knew sweater vests were tax deductible?

STATEWIDE – That stuffed Thanksgiving turkey drowning in gravy on your dining room table is getting the last laugh. That’s because you likely paid 14% more for the bird than you did last year. Butterball execs report a Thanksgiving feast for 10, with all the trimmings, will run $53.31, a jump from last year, but still seeming remarkably cheap in good ol’ Jersey. But why the cost increase? The same old story: higher labor costs, higher transportation costs, higher packaging costs, higher fuel costs. And here’s a new one: Because there was no one around to process the turkeys, Butterball needed to spend more money on corn and soybean feed. So, then the turkeys got bigger than expected and a lot more ornery, making it even harder to find people to deal with them, as the turkeys gained key strategic advantages at the Butterball factory. No, we don’t make up our stories.

DOWN THE SHORE – Blue skies, white sand and red politicians. That’s now the make-up of the Jersey Shore, as Sen. Vin Gopal will soon be the only Democrat representing the shore south of Sayreville, all the way to Cape May. New Jersey Monitor reports the Republicans have done a masterful job of steadily chipping away in the coastal region with Sen. Michael Testa (R-Cumberland) ousting former Sen. Bob Andrzejczak (D-Cape May) in the 1st District in 2019, and then other Republicans steadily winning all over. The key message: Progressive, liberal-leaning politics aren’t resonating down the shore. Talk to any crusty old-timer who lives in, say, Manasquan, tired of all those hippy-dippies coming from up north, and you will quickly see why.

BRIEFING BREATHER

Coca-Cola was originally green.

STATEWIDE – Do our politicians really want us to retire in New Jersey? If so, ROI-NJ reports, there need to be many more carrots and many less sticks. For example, let’s be like Pennsylvania, which makes all retirement income tax-exempt. And we should recruit more doctors who know geriatrics, give a real break on property taxes to homeowners over 72 and add a lot more public transportation in areas of the state where seniors need to stop at, say, Target, numerous times throughout the day and week. Our lawmakers have some real incentive here, as New Jersey lost at least $79 billion to retirement-friendly states – $56 billion to Florida alone – over the past decade. We love our seniors, and their money.

IN OTHER IMPORTANT NEWS

STATEWIDE – Want a decent Christmas tree this year? Yeah, good luck. Just like everything else in this clogged global supply chain, these trees are in short supply. Flooding and climate change have created a real challenge for the approximately 15,000  tree farms that  generate up to 30 million trees a year. Let’s also assume there is no one around to cut them down and drag them to an abandoned parking lot near you. So, go with a plastic one, right? No dice. It appears many of these plastic trees are from Asia – no surprise there – and likely floating along on a slow boat or sitting in an overwhelmed port, awaiting someone to unload them. Sales of plastic trees are now up 20% and climbing. Right now, Charlie Brown’s tree is looking darn good.

THIS DAY IN HISTORY

It was this day in 1992 that a new industry erupted: It was announced that 10 million cell phones were sold that year.

WORD OF THE DAY

Roister – [ROY-ster] – verb

Definition: To engage in noisy partying or celebration

Example: I can’t wait to roister when Tom Brady finally retires.

WIT OF THE DAY

“It is a challenge for people in high density areas to get outside and spread their legs when they are surrounded by other people.”

-New Zealand Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins

BIDEN BLURB

“The unvaccinated overcrowd our hospitals, are overrunning the emergency rooms and intensive care units, leaving no room for someone with a heart attack, or pancreatitis, or cancer.”

-Joe Biden

WEATHER IN A WORD

Breezy