Commentary
In New Jersey, gerrymandering isn’t the problem | Opinion
As states across the country finalize their congressional and legislative district maps for the 2020s, something we constantly hear about is how gerrymandering is responsible for many of America’s political problems. Gerrymandering is blamed for making congressional and legislative seats non-competitive and creating disproportionate outcomes for whichever party has the power to draw the maps. […]
America’s cost of ‘defending freedom’ in Ukraine
Americans may be tempted to view the war in Ukraine as an unfortunate, but far away, crisis. As an economist, I know the world is too connected for the U.S. to go unaffected. On Feb. 22, 2022, President Joe Biden warned Americans that a Russian invasion of Ukraine – and U.S. efforts to thwart or […]
Reparations are possible — they happened for Asian Americans | Opinion
Saturday marks the 80th Day of Remembrance of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9066, which removed over 120,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry to remote incarceration camps for over four years. My grandmother never talked about her time in the camps. It wasn’t until she passed away that we found her collection of books and […]
Deciding who speaks for you: The power of redistricting | Opinion
Who speaks for you? Who speaks for your community? This is the question at the core of our democracy. We can’t all be at the Statehouse in Trenton or at Congress in D.C. every day to share our opinions on the many big (“How much should we spend to educate our children?”) and small (“What […]
Murphy’s focus should be on N.J., not the national stage | Opinion
Phil Murphy, do not pull a Chris Christie. Allies of Murphy, our Democratic governor who started his second term just 24 days ago, are behind a new PAC and a nonprofit aimed at boosting his national profile, Matt Arco reported Monday. This has all the hallmarks of a politician eyeing a promotion, either to president or […]
Why not more discussion of Ras Baraka for governor? | Opinion
New Jersey is nirvana for political junkies. Speculation on future nominees for statewide office is the leading participation sport of the Trenton political chattering class The Jan. 18 inauguration of Gov. Phil Murphy for his second term was a classic example. Throughout the Garden State, while ample analysis was devoted by the political media to […]
‘Wildly outdated’ election laws in N.J. need revamp | Opinion
New Jersey holds some of the most secure elections in the nation, with broader access to the ballot than almost anywhere else. But New Jersey also boasts an egregious number of horribly written and wildly outdated election laws that govern the way we vote. These laws are an arcane, often incoherent mess that desperately need […]
Vaccine mandates have always faced resistance and saved lives | Opinion
Health care professionals had high hopes that rapid vaccination of our entire U.S. population would slow COVID-19 transmission and stem the disproportionately high death count in the United States. We also hoped to avoid more concerning mutations that are inevitable when viruses multiply unchecked. I lost my mother to COVID-19 in November of 2020, less […]
Remembering all of Martin Luther King’s social justice agenda
On January 15th — the actual birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. — the People’s Organization For Progress held its annual march in his honor in Newark. The group believes the best way to honor Dr. King is to protest injustice and put forward a social justice agenda. The theme of this year’s march […]
Cops shouldn’t be able to view body-cam video before writing reports
A bill passed unanimously last month by the New Jersey Assembly and approved nearly unanimously by the Senate Monday would give police access to body camera footage before they write their police reports. Instead of laws being passed to increase police accountability after the murder of George Floyd, we see laws that allow police to […]
N.J. Democrats’ coronation of Menendez Jr. is gross
The race to make sure Robert Menendez Jr. glides into the House of Representatives as Rep. Albio Sires’ successor is New Jersey politics at its worst. It’s been just four days since Sires announced he will retire at the end of his current term, and Menendez — the son of Sen. Bob Menendez, obvs — […]
Why spending $2 trillion won’t make inflation any worse than it already is
One of the main concerns raised by critics of President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better plan is that it will drive up inflation, which is already running at the fastest pace in four decades. The Senate is currently considering a roughly US$2 trillion bill passed by the House that would spend money on health care, […]