What didn’t make it on the D&D show this week

Even with a long five hour show Mondays through Fridays there are still things we never get around to mentioning. Here are just a few that didn't make it on-air this past week.

Your phone bill is about to go up. Lawmakers in Trenton advanced legislation that will hike an already existing fee by 10% to upgrade New Jersey's aging 911 system. You already pay the 911 Service Fee, which is 90 cents. When it came into existence we were told that money would keep the 911 system sharp, up to date and cutting edge. So why do they need to increase it by 10%? Because like so many other times the politicians raided the money. That money has routinely been diverted into other parts of the state budget. Yet we're promised THIS time they mean it. Riiiiight. More broken promises.

We all know former first lady Barbara Bush passed away this week. She was 92. But did you know CBS posted news of her death and her obituary online before she had actually died? Yep. These obituaries, because they are filled with so many deep facts about the famous person, are commonly written in advance to allow proper research. Sometimes years in advance and updated periodically until one day when the person actually dies then they can quickly get word out. Well someone at CBS hit a wrong button or two and for 17 minutes appearing online was the headline "DO NOT PUBLISH - former first lady Barbara Bush dies at 92 DO NOT PUBLISH." Except, yeah, it published.

And did you know the 23 cent gas tax they shoved down our throats is supposed to go away now that Murphy is wanting to raise the sales tax? But it won't. Turns out when that debacle was passed and they tried to claim "tax fairness" by ever so slightly lowering the 7% sales tax gradually down to 6.625% that law came with a so-called poison pill. Meaning that if they should ever take back the lowering of the sales tax then they would have to take back the increasing of the gas tax. So why isn't it going to come down? Because triggering that poison pill takes a three member panel to vote to trigger it. It would be made up of the state treasurer, the head of the Office of Legislative Services' budget and finance office and a third person they mutually appoint. But a third member has not been appointed. And Frank Haines of the OLS made it clear he would vote to trigger that poison pill but it is expected the state treasurer because he's a Murphy appointee would not. Therefore it would be a tie and no poison pill would be triggered. So the intent of the law is flushed down the toilet and we will get both the higher sales tax and the higher gas tax. Thanks Murphy!

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