7 other things Murphy should change his mind on after bear hunt (Opinion)

Well, what do you know. Now that the population of black bears is exploding in NJ along with the number of bear-human interactions, sightings, property damage, etc., Gov. Murphy is finally listening to the science.

Told you so, Phil. You refused to listen to your own wildlife experts on the matter and for the record, they told you this was exactly what would happen.

So he’s changed his mind and misguided black bear advocates are crying foul that he’s broken his promise about ending the bear hunts. A hunt is on its way. As makes sense. As it should be.

It must kill him to put aside burnishing his progressive credentials for a White House bid. But he also knew a young kid or old lady being mauled to death wouldn’t look good for his track record, either. Trust me, this decision was still all about him.

If he wants to prove me wrong and start doing things for the good of New Jersey, then may I suggest the following items on which he should also change his mind.

1) Sanctuary State

It was never right to begin with. Courting favor with liberals by extending rights and privileges to those in our country illegally didn't start with Murphy but he certainly made an art form of it. And may I be politically incorrect and call them illegal immigrants since "undocumented" is inaccurate now that we issue them driver's licenses?

2) Plastic Bag Ban

For half a year, shoppers have dealt with the strictest anti-plastic laws in the nation. Of course, environmentalists and Murphy himself will give high fives all around at what an “astounding” difference it's making.

Polluted oceans are a global problem and a tiny state like New Jersey doesn't amount to a blip on the radar. But they won't tell you that.

Their virtue signaling has cost shoppers more money at a time when inflation is killing parents' ability to feed their kids. It's caused confusion, conflict, and now a glut of reusable bags due to curbside pickup and home delivery.

3) Concealed Carry

Phil Murphy has long been anti-gun. When a New York case went before SCOTUS and the ruling in favor of allowing concealed carry came out, Murphy immediately ordered his minions to create as many obstacles and loopholes as possible to thwart the spirit of the ruling.

His administration came up with a seemingly never-ending list of places you would not be allowed to carry your concealed weapon lawfully, a sneaky end run around the Supreme Court decision.

Change your mind on this Phil; respect the court.

4) Runaway Budget

It is shocking to look at how the state budget has grown since Chris Christie left office. His last budget in 2017 was around $35 billion. Five years later under Phil Murphy, the state budget is over $50 billion.

That's more than a 40% increase.

Murphy believes bigger government is better government, and you're paying for it. Do you really believe you're getting 40% better services?

5) Police Policies

Under Murphy, use of force and police pursuit guidelines were made so strict I don't know how we think we can maintain order. Case in point. Runaway auto theft overlapped with the removal of a stolen vehicle being a reason the police could pursue. It made the problem even worse.

If a car came back as stolen and the suspect wouldn't pull over immediately, police had no choice but to let them drive away. This resulted in stolen vehicles being used more and more to facilitate other crimes including gangland killings.

In April, they revised the policy to allow police to pursue stolen vehicles, but there's a whole host of other crimes for which their hands are tied and the governor needs to change his mind on these.

6) Cost of Marijuana

For the first time in history, more people in the United States smoke weed than smoke cigarettes. After much blundering on legalizing marijuana for recreational use, it’s finally here, years too late. But we hear from listeners all the time that it’s priced far too high.

Many long-time users are sticking with their familiar source rather than switching to legal marijuana and the program is not doing as well as it could be.

7) Sex Ed

There’s nothing wrong with teaching sex ed in our public schools and it’s OK to include instruction on transgender and LGBTQ. But starting it too young even with the promise of it being in an age-appropriate manner isn’t helpful.

There’s been too great a backlash and frankly, it’s distracting from more important things in education. Leave it for middle school and high school.

If he can change his mind on bear hunts he can change his mind on these issues.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Jeff Deminski only.

You can now listen to Deminski & Doyle — On Demand! Hear New Jersey’s favorite afternoon radio show any day of the week. Download the Deminski & Doyle show wherever you get podcasts, on our free app, or listen right now.

Click here to contact an editor about feedback or a correction for this story.