The Jaffe Briefing - July 6, 2022
TRENTON – Bring em’ on. The more gun restrictions in New Jersey, the better. And that’s why we should also welcome seven new gun laws the governor signed yesterday. Let’s now celebrate that people must actually learn how to fire a gun before getting a gun permit. New Jersey is also banning 50 caliber weapons, making it easier to sue gun manufacturers and dealers, forcing newcomers to register their weapons, mandating micro-stamping technology, limiting handgun ammunition and cracking down even further on “ghost guns.” Of course, gun lovers are apoplectic, saying these laws punish “good” gun owners, not the nut jobs and criminals. As Americans are now getting murdered attending a 4th of July parade, there’s no more patience for such feeble arguments. Here’s hoping the pro-gun U.S. Supreme Court doesn’t butt in.
STATEWIDE – Kiddies: get to work. Childhood is now officially over in New Jersey, as teens as young as 16 are now allowed to work up to 50 hours a week and 10 hours a day during the summer. Gov. Phil Murphy loosened child labor laws, as businesses are still complaining that there are not enough employees to cover all the demand. Meanwhile, 14- and 15-year-old teens also have no more excuses, now allowed to work up to 40 hours a week, somehow without access to an Xbox. The law does not address six- or seven-year-old children, but it’s high time they drop the Barbie and apply for a dishwashing job at Applebee’s.
BRIEFING BREATHER
The coast of France has had phones in the shape of "Garfield" washing ashore since the 1980s.
ON THE RAILS – Elections matter, a lesson we learn again and again. Under the former president, the Gateway Tunnel project was dead. Why give federal funding to New York and New Jersey, with all those educated, liberal coastal elites who actually read? But back in the real world, with global realization that the NYC area sorely needs a reliable transportation network, a project is finally moving forward to dig new train tunnels under the Hudson River. Yesterday, in an actual partnership that moves things forward, New Jersey and New York announced a deal to evenly split their share of $14 billion for “phase one” of this generational infrastructure project. Now the goal is to get this project launched next year, with the feds currently in support, as chronic delays and political shenanigans over the past 20 years have wasted billions of dollars in opportunity costs, to date. We ask: could there finally be a light at the end of the tunnel?
TRENTON – Now that the state budget is adopted, are you ready for all that tax relief?Well, the Record reports, that check is coming in the mail – hopefully by next May. The new ANCHOR program is designed to help 2 million residents deal with all this inflation and record-high gas prices. But it takes time to coordinate the distribution of more than $2 billion in aid, making sure it goes to the right people. The Record asked Murphy about the timetable. He didn’t take the bait, rather noting all the “historic affordability relief, historic investment in our future, and all the while being fiscally responsible, including a surplus that borders on $6.8 billion." Republicans, of course, pounced, claiming the ANCHOR program is an election-time gimmick for next year, when all 120 seats of the state Legislature are up for grabs. Tightening the timetable on all these eagerly-awaited checks would certainly weaken that talking point.
CRANFORD – Now that Middlesex County College has successfully changed its name to “Middlesex College,” all other two-year schools are saying “Hmm.” And, so now, let us introduce to you “Union College,” or, more formally, “Union College of Union County, New Jersey.” NJ 101.5 reports the big change helps showcase “academic excellence and national recognition,” school officials say. The name change certainly helps remove the stigma of attending county college for those eager to impress, as it now sounds like a liberal-arts school somewhere in the leafy Berkshires, rather than amidst suburban sub-divisions. Fun fact: this is the fifth name change for the college, which began as Union County Junior College, and then Union Junior College and then Union College (for the first time) and then Union County College, after its merger with the Union County Technical Institute.
IN OTHER IMPORTANT NEWS
LAS VEGAS — The benefit of climate change? Seeing what will be unearthed next from a shrinking reservoir that straddles Nevada and Arizona. The latest find in fast-drying Lake Mead is a sunken boat dating back to World War II, now halfway out of the water. The Las Vegas Review-Journal notes it was just in May when two sets of human remains were discovered in the river over the course of just one week. Meanwhile, Lake Mead has not been full for at least 20 years, as unpredictable weather, with drought, keeps dropping the water levels and unearthing many new goodies. The big question: what will be discovered next? Our guess: Hoffa.
THIS DAY IN HISTORY
It was this day in 1988 that Michael Dukakis, proclaimed the future of the Democratic party, was selected as the presidential nominee.
WORD OF THE DAY
Capricious – [kuh-PRISH-us] – adjective
Definition: impulsive, unpredictable
Example: Do you enjoy reading novels about the capricious world of unethical companies and their greedy overlords?
WIT OF THE DAY
“Truth is hard, propaganda is cheap.”
-DaShanne Stokes
BIDEN BLURB
“Look folks, we know who built this country and we know who is going to rebuild it. It's you. Instead of vilifying you, we should be thanking you. We owe you.”
- Joe Biden
WEATHER IN A WORD
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