2022 Elections: North-JerseyNews.com Endoreses Rep. Tom Malinowski for Congress. Rep. Tom Malinowski is more aligned with the majority of where North Jersey voters are on the issues, a record of accomplishments that has been beneficial for the Garden State—specifically infrastructure spending which includes the Gateway Tunnel and the Inflation Reduction Act that will lower prescription drug prices for seniors among other features. We came into this race very willing to support Tom Kean, Jr. but have come away disappointed. Kean has rightly been focused on inflation and the economy as the most important issue to Americans this Fall. But it is beyond frustrating that he promises to “break the back of inflation” without one specific policy detail. In a race that may possibly decide control of the Congress, North Jersey voters can not leave it to the vagueness that Kean has offered when it comes to the economy, the continuing changing position on abortion and his inability to be able stand up to a party that continues to move to the extreme right. North-JerseyNews.com believes that Rep. Tom Malinowski is the better choice in the 7th Congressional District. North-JerseyNews.com
Republican congressional candidate Frank Pallotta flipped his view on abortion twice on Oct. 20. Pallotta, looking to defeat Rep. Josh Gottheimer, said after a press gaggle with other GOP congressional candidates that he would not support a national abortion ban in Congress, but reversed himself a few hours later announcing that he would vote for a 20-week abortion ban and a Human Life Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. “Unlike my opponent who supports abortion without restrictions right up to the moment of birth, I am pro-life and support the Human Life Amendment,” Pallotta said in a press statement released after meeting with reporters. “I also would support common sense federal legislation based on science, like the Pain Capable Abortion Ban, which would prohibit abortion when the unborn baby can feel pain.” New Jersey Globe
Five GOP House candidates delivered a message three weeks before the election: Democrats failed to restore the full deduction for state and local taxes (SALT) and the rise in crime is the fault of Democrats policies. GOP nominees Frank Pallotta (CD-5), Paul DeGroot (CD-11), Bob Healey (CD-3), Sue Kiley (CD-6), and Darius Mayfield (CD-12) held a joint press conference on Oct. 20 in Trenton as they hone their closing message before Election Day. Pallotta argued that North Jersey is no closer to SALT relief today than it was in 2017 and DeGroot, a former assistant prosecutor in Passaic County, said bail reform has lead to the spike in crime since the pandemic. InsiderNJ.com
The New Jersey Department of the Treasury reported collections for the major taxes totaled $5.1 billion in September, representing an 11.8% increase over September 2021. Year-to-date, total collections were up 14% to $8.4 billion when compared to the same period in the prior fiscal year However, despite the encouraging data, the Treasury noted it expected collections to moderate in the coming months, “particularly during the Spring tax filing season when last year’s historically high collection levels are unlikely to be repeated.” North-JerseyNews.com
New Jersey’s private sector in September posted its first monthly job loss in more than two years, the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development reported Oct. 20. The report showed New Jersey added 3,800 jobs and its unemployment rate plummeted to 3.3% from 4%, nearing a record low. All of the job gains came in the public sector as the private sector lost 4,400 jobs. And the decline in the jobless rate was partly because more workers stopped actively looking for jobs and dropped out of the labor force. Hiring last month declined in sectors including construction; trade, transportation and utilities; and professional and business services. The Daily Record
Turkeys will be scarcer and pricier than ever this Thanksgiving. Turkey supplies have been tight for a long time as producers began to cut back on raising the birds back in 2019 after turkey prices crashed. Then the pandemic hit, further curtailing production. Inflation has pushed up the price of whole turkeys as farmers and processors are paying more for feed, fuel and labor, which can be scarce. The New York Times
The backup of container ships off Southern California’s coast that was at the heart of U.S. supply chain congestion during the COVID-19 pandemic has effectively disappeared. The queue of ships waiting to unload at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach fell from a peak of 109 ships in January to four vessels this week, according to the Marine Exchange of Southern California. Shipping specialists say fewer ships than normal are heading to the main U.S. gateway complex for imports from Asia in coming days and that cargo volumes that had long swamped the ports now are receding. The Wall Street Journal
Attempts to block President Joe Biden’s student debt relief programs were dealt dual setbacks on Oct. 20, as a federal judge in Missouri and Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett rejected challenges to the sweeping measure, one that could cost the government hundreds of billions of dollars. Judge Henry E. Autrey of the Federal District Court in St. Louis dismissed the more prominent of the two lawsuits, one brought by six Republican-led states. The suit accused President Biden of overstepping his authority under a 2003 federal law that allows the education secretary to modify financial assistance programs for students “in connection with a war or other military operation or national emergency.” Later in the day, Justice Barrett rejected a separate challenge to the debt relief program, this one from a taxpayers’ association in Wisconsin. Justice Barrett denied the association’s challenge without comment, which is the court’s custom in ruling on emergency applications, and without referring the application to the full court. Both of those moves were indications that the application was not on solid legal footing. The New York Times
A federal appeals court ruled on Oct. 20 that Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) must appear before the special grand jury that is investigating efforts by Donald Trump and his allies to overturn Trump’s election loss in Georgia, although the court set limits on the kinds of questions Graham could be asked. The appeals court lined up behind the lower court in its ruling, finding it had correctly reasoned that “any non-investigatory conduct covered by the subpoena was not protected” by the Speech and Debate Clause, adding that there was “genuine dispute about whether Sen. Graham’s phone calls with Georgia election officials were investigatory.” The New York Times
A former Bergen County resident reached a deal with federal authorities for violating the law that protects the right to access and provide reproductive health services, including abortions. The U.S. Justice Department action earlier this month stems from the action of Daniel Courney for his alleged violations of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act when he used physical force against a patient escort at a health clinic in Englewood to attempt to prevent the volunteer from assisting individuals seeking the clinic’s services. The agreement, which must be approved by the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, orders Courney to stay away from the clinic permanently, prohibits future FACE Act violations and requires Courney to pay a monetary penalty. North-JerseyNews.com
Montclair township administrator Timothy Stafford is under pressure to resign amid allegations that he was verbally abusive toward the chief financial officer, Padmaja Rao, and engaged in “demeaning and derogatory behaviors” toward other female department heads. Rao, the Montclair CFO since 2015, this week filed a whistleblower lawsuit in which she claimed to have uncovered serious flaws in the way the municipal government operated. She brought those matters to Stafford seeking answers, but his alleged angry outbursts were part of “a pattern of increasingly threatening behavior he directed at her for years. Stafford has demonstrated the same demeaning and derogatory behaviors toward current female Department Heads. Rao has not observed Stafford act with the same behavior toward the male Department Heads in Township administration,” the lawsuit says. NJ.com
Jackson Township Mayor Mike Reina says that he and his family are receiving threats as he runs for re-election. A person posted on social media a photo of a noose, with the caption “Mike needs a new necklace,” which police are treating this post as a threat and are considering filing charges against the poster. Additionally, Reina says that his daughter was spat on by a truck driver this week as she was putting up campaign signs. News12 New Jersey
Bayonne has banned the carrying of firearms in public buildings, parks, and schools, among other such public places. The City Council adopted an ordinance amending certain regulations and exempting extra-duty, off-duty, and retired officers from the ban at its Oct. 19 meeting. Hudson Reporter
And finally…For the second year in a row, long-range forecasters are predicting a warmer than average Winter season in the New Jersey region and say it’s not clear whether the Garden State will end up with more snow or less snow than normal during the winter of 2022-2023. NJ.com
