The Jaffe Briefing - June 15, 2022
TRENTON – New Jersey: home to the haves and the have-nots. Social justice advocates are taking note of the unexpected $10 billion in tax revenue sitting in state coffers and wondering if this is could be a glorious moment to attempt to balance the scales. There’s a new report showing a $300,000 racial wealth gap in the state, with the average income and assets of white households to be at $322,500, compared to just $17,700 for Black families and $26,100 for Latino families. There’s a lot to unpack in this tiny blurb, but advocates are calling for the state to create a ”baby bond” savings program, ending the ridiculous discrimination in real estate appraisals and to even consider reparations. The state can point to numerous programs to build parity and equal opportunity, as well as supports aimed for lower-income people. But the fact that 76% of white families own homes here, compared with 38% of Black residents, shows there is still a long way to go in addressing generational racism that really screwed everything up.
TRENTON – What’s with all the white men? NJ.com reports that state boards and commissions – collectively controlling billions of bucks – are still run by white guys, likely wearing Dockers. There’s now legislation to create some much-needed diversity, as women comprise 51% of the state’s population of 9.2 million people, NJ.com reports. And, speaking of diversity, the population also comprises 20% Latino residents, 15% Black residents and 10% Asians. The bill would require the composition of state commissions to finally reflect the state’s population, representing all of us. It makes a lot of sense, of course, as long as the individuals selected for these very important positions are qualified, experienced and engaged, rather than just an easy checked box.
BRIEFING BREATHER
“Schoolmaster” is an anagram of “the classroom.”
TRENTON – If you dig deep enough in New Jersey statutes, you’ll find some antiquated language. The state has been steadily scrubbing words whenever they arise – like “retarded” or “moron” or anything else people now find inappropriate. The next term: “illegal alien.” New Jersey Monitor reports the term is used more than 80 times in statutes, in such places as education, taxes and even lottery prizes. “When I hear alien, I think of another planet — that’s what we use that word for. Not people, just because they’re from another country,” said Sen. Nilsa Cruz-Perez. (D-Camden). That’s why she is pushing legislation to replace all references with “foreign national” and “undocumented foreign national.” Under the bill, the only time “aliens” would be allowed in statute is to describe those little green men now circling the skies over Trenton in their spaceships, aiming their lasers on the capitol dome. Run, people, don’t walk.
STATEWIDE – Smack em. Stomp em. Torch em. It is spotted lanternfly season again in New Jersey and the latest generation of these little buggers is ripping into a tree, plant or crop near you. While you spent the winter cursing the snow and finding a warmer sweater, these insects were dormant, laying eggs and plotting their sweet spring revenge. Now those eggs have hatched and with no real predators or parasites to deal with them, it is up to us. The Recordreports they have infested nearly every corner of New Jersey, discovered clinging to trees in the deep forests of the Highlands and Pinelands, as well as scaling the facades of high-rises in densely populated Hudson County. The solution, again? Smack em. Stomp em. Torch em.
IN OTHER IMPORTANT NEWS
NEW YORK – You know you are pitching slow in the majors when the late-night talk show hosts take note. Frank Schwindel, of the Cubs, threw a painful-looking eephus pitch, slow with a high arc, against the Yankees, clocking in at just 35 mph. That middle school-level softball pitch was thrown when the Cubs were already down by 13 runs and the Yankee batter easily smacked a home run, making the score 18-4. It’s considered the slowest hit for a homer since 2015. Colbert showed the clip Monday night, quipping that “I’m no baseball player and neither apparently is Frank Schwindel.” In response, the pitcher explained a 61 mph pitch is often smacked out of the ballpark so he tried to go a little slower. “It didn’t work, but I got some good guys out,” he said. “So it is what it is. ... It was one of those things.” Here’s the pitch. Brace yourself.
THIS DAY IN HISTORY
It was this day in 1994 that the Giants give Phil Simms the boot.
WORD OF THE DAY
Peach – [PEECH] – verb
Definition: To turn informer; blab
Example: Will I ever find out who peached me after that 11th grade math test?
WIT OF THE DAY
“The man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man who reads nothing but newspapers.”
-Thomas Jefferson
BIDEN BLURB
“We Americans think, in every country in transition, there's a Thomas Jefferson hiding behind some rock or a James Madison beyond one sand dune.”
-Joe Biden
WEATHER IN A WORD
Beachy