The NJ Blog

Tuesday, August 07, 2007

A new picture for Anne?

New Jersey's current Attorney General, Anne Milgram, took some time to talk about some of the differences between her current job and her former job as First Assistant Attorney General.

The size of the office. "The office is enormous. The first assistant's office is big. You walk into that Attorney General office and it really is bigger than any apartment I ever had in New York City -- with roommates."
E-mail dates. "I started to get e-mails asking me out on dates. That's the first time that's ever happened to me. I'm sure it's because of all the kind publicity and the pictures in the newspaper, but it's certainly something that never happened.

According to the Attorney General, she has "not accepted any of those offers."

So far we like Anne. But having previously seen her in person, we know that her official picture doesn't do her justice. You've got it going on Anne, so it's time you call the Governor's photographer and have him stop by that big office of yours with a camera!

Oh, and keep up the good work.

Labels: Anne Milgram, new jersey

posted by The Pot @ 7:01 PM 0 comments

Friday, March 09, 2007

NJ to Drunks: Have a seat, we'll be with you in a bit

There has been a lot of chatter lately about the "mini Y2K" problem created by Congress's change in Daylight Savings time this year. It starts 3 weeks earlier (this Sunday morning) and will end a week later. Living in an age where computer software runs just about everything, some changes needed to be made in order to recognize this time shift. Microsoft had to send updates. Our Blackberries needed to be updated as well. ATMs? Sure. Credit card machines? Yup.

These simple everyday items aren't the only things that could be thrown off course. It seems that the new fancy version of the "Breathalyzer" machine used by 17 of New Jersey's 21 counties, called the Alcotest 7110, won't update itself until April 1, 2007 -- the date Daylight Savings would have started had it not been changed for this year.

So what's the solution to the problem? Make suspected drunk drivers wait an hour so the clock on the Alcotest will match the time of arrest.

Is the hour wait a good thing or a bad thing? Well, some say the additional time will allow some people to sober up just enough to get them off. Others think some people will absorb more alcohol and go from barely sober to over-the-line drunk.

Sounds like we need a software patch.

Labels: Alcotest 7110, Daylight Savings, new jersey

posted by The Pot @ 3:08 PM 0 comments

Monday, February 19, 2007

Mazel tov!

Today is the first day for same-sex couples in New Jersey to legalize their relationship under the State's new civil union law. The first civil union performed was just after the stroke of midnight between Steven Goldstein and Daniel Gross of Teaneck. (We've mentioned Goldstein before on this blog, he is the head of Garden State Equality, New Jersey's largest gay rights organization).

Asbury Park, which opened their clerk's office at midnight for an hour and then for four additional hours today (despite the holiday), had five couples arive just after midnight.

We're glad to see this day come.

Congratulations!

Labels: Asbury Park, civil unions, Garden State Equality, new jersey

posted by The Pot @ 5:17 PM 1 comments

NJ Democrats: Veterans and Memorial Day are meaningless

In an effort to curb property taxes by cutting the number of State mandates on New Jersey public schools, Assemblywoman (and Chairwoman of the New Jersey Democratic Party) Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Mercer) and State Senator John Adler (D-Camden) proposed a bill that would have would have eliminated the requirement that schools teach about Memorial Day and Veterans Day.

Seriously. We're not joking. They really did it. And it passed both houses of the Legislature.

Thankfully Governor Corzine conditionally vetoed the bill and the two days were added back in to the costly government mandates.

Can someone please explain to us how teaching students about Memorial Day and Veterans day is a cost burden on the public school system?

We don't suppose cutting Veterans Day and Memorial Day from the paid holiday list for state workers would go over quite so well either. But think of the cost savings there!

What a way to remember our veterans and pay respect to the memories of those who have died fighting for and protecting this country.

Really quite pathetic.

Labels: Bonnie Watson Coleman, John Adler, Jon Corzine, new jersey, property tax

posted by The Pot @ 4:29 PM 0 comments

Sunday, February 04, 2007

Dual officeholder ban might actually happen

We weren't very optimistic that the proposed ban on dual officeholders would ever come to a vote in the State Legislature, especially since Senate President Richard Codey told us it was being taken off the board this time around.

But a bill banning the practice -- allowing a State Assemblyman/Assemblywoman or Senator to also be an elected mayor, councilman/woman, freeholder -- has already passed the Assembly and is set for a vote in the Senate tomorrow. Governor Jon Corzine has said he will sign the bill into law.
There are some unfortunate parts to the bill -- i.e., the ban won't likely go into effect until this time next year, allowing current elected officials to get in on the grandfather clause (if you hold dual offices before the effective date, you can continue to do so). But overall, we're happy that this practice will soon be a thing of the past.

Update: The Senate Democrats and Assembly Democrats can't get themselves on the same page -- they both want to ban the idea, but can't agree on when the ban should go into effect. We can't believe we're going to say this, but Sharpe James is right:

Sen. Sharpe James, D-Essex, who himself held two elected offices as Newark mayor from 1999 to 2006, said it would be "insincere" and "playing politics" to delay the ban until after November's election.
"Why are you waiting? So people can run, and then they would be grandfathered in? Then you're not sincere. It's not from the heart then. It's not gut. It's a political action," said James. "I don't think we should target the bill for any particular individual or what have you.
"I never wanted to be a dual-office holder. But if I resigned as mayor, it doesn't solve the problem," James said, before claiming that he quit his post to prove a point. "I voluntarily quit one to lead by example. Hello!"

Just get this done already.

Labels: Dual officeholders, new jersey

posted by The Pot @ 5:13 PM 0 comments

New Jersey's cigarette tax is #1

The American Lung Association has ranked the 50 states by the tax charged per pack of cigarettes. New Jersey comes in at number one on the list, with an score of A, for its $2.575 tax on each pack sold in the state. If you smoke a pack a day, that's $939.87 of taxes you contribute to the State each year -- in addition to the 7% sales tax added on top of your purchase. And if you don't think the sales tax adds up, ask these guys.

Now, we aren't opposed to the cigarette tax when its used to either deter potential smokers from picking up the habit or encourage current smokers to quit. But with such a high tax on each pack sold, the State is certainly taking in a good deal of money as a result.

Our question: With such a high cigarette tax, did we really need to raise the sales tax?

Labels: new jersey, taxes

posted by The Pot @ 3:29 PM 0 comments

The Asbury Park Press gets it wrong

Ok, so its really Tom Hester Jr. of the Associated Press who got it wrong, but the Asbury Park Press is exacerbating the situation by printing Hester's article entitled Senate to vote Monday on property tax cut.

This is all quite simple: A property tax credit is not a property tax cut.

Joe Ryan of the Star-Ledger gets it right by calling the Democrats' plan what it is -- property tax relief.

But remember, property tax relief through tax credits is not property tax reform.

Labels: Asbury Park Press, Associated Press, new jersey, property tax, property tax reform, Star-Ledger

posted by The Pot @ 3:21 PM 0 comments