Murphy doesn’t get the middle class, writer says
To the Editor:
Kudos to The Observer for its recent editorial on Gov. Philip D. Murphy.
Four years ago, my jaw dropped when I saw a Murphy campaign ad stating he was running for governor because he was concerned about the middle class. Here is a guy who made upward of $50 million while an executive at Goldman Sachs, one of the most rapacious, heartless banks in the world.
After retiring at 50, he began working for the Democratic National Committee’s fundraising machine and made so much money for them he was given an ambassadorship to Germany.
During the Keegan Landfill opposition, he was presented with one of his first opportunities to help his beloved middle class and as the Observer noted, responded with stubbornness, arrogance and refusal to intervene. When confronted by the owner of the newspaper, Lisa Feorenzo, he quickly scurried away with a deer in the headlights look.
One of the things a bank like Goldman Sachs wants from the government more than anything is little or no tax obligation. So you think Murphy would apply this notion to the middle class so near and dear to his heart, right? No, as (Republican gubernatorial nominee Jack) Ciattarelli’s campaign demonstrates, Murphy is seen stating, “If taxes are your issue, you should not be living in New Jersey.”
This is one of the most outrageous things I have ever heard a politician say. Accordingly, there was no tax relief for the middle class under Murphy, despite billions being given to the state by the feds. Nor was money given to NJ Transit for improvements and price stability, again despite the billions.
NJ Transit is vital to the middle and working class. NJTV (PBS) News reported the budget bill was debated for 12 minutes before it was voted upon.
What is more disturbing than Murphy’s behavior is the apathy and naiveté to the public. Murphy and his crew can do whatever they want because they know there are no repercussions. They are enabled. (Isn’t anyone disturbed by the fact we have had two governors from Goldman Sachs in the past two decades?)
This is no endorsement of Jack (Ciattarelli), but Murphy is the known entity here and should not be re-elected.
Richard D. Long
North Arlington
It’s time for self-service gas in NJ: Irizarry
To the Editor:
Reading about the two gas stations in Belleville that had been putting the wrong gas and overcharging people shocked me. I was left wondering how easily one can trust something that has been done for years and get scammed, most likely when you are not paying attention to what is happening.
New Jersey is known as the state where people do not pump their own gas, but should that change? Sure, this position of pumping gas does create more jobs that could allow for New Jersey’s 7% unemployment rate to go down. However, there have been problems with gas attendants. One of them was back in 2018 when a Mahwah gas attendant had stolen credit cards from customers. Even if we were to avoid this problem by using cash, the reality is that only 3 in 10 Americans carry cash, according to a CNBC article.
All but two states have abandoned the gas attendant job and started pumping their own gas. Why not us? It saves us more time, we know where our money is going and if we ever travel to another state with a car, we will know what to do.
It is time to turn off our engines, get out of our vehicles and use our hands to hold that pump.
Emily Irizarry
North Arlington
Learn more about the writer ...
Kevin A. Canessa Jr. is the editor of and broadcaster at The Observer, an organization he has served since 2006. He is responsible for the editorial content of the newspaper and website, the production of the e-Newspaper, writing several stories per week (including the weekly editorial), conducting live broadcasts on social media channels such as YouTube, Facebook, and X, including a weekly recap of the news — and much more behind the scenes. Between 2006 and 2008, he introduced the newspaper to its first-ever blog — which included podcasts, audio and video. Originally from Jersey City, Kevin lived in Kearny until 2004, lived in Port St. Lucie. Florida, for four years until February 2016 and in March of that year, he moved back to Kearny to return to The Observer full time. Click Here to send Kevin an email.