Re: "Mullane: The Odd Priorities of Gov. Phil Murphy"

"Here's why Trump gets a second term: politicians like Phil Murphy". That'd be a reference to New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, who currently has an approval rating at 44% and a disapproval rating at 28%, according to Monmouth University. At the same time as that poll was taken, Gallup reported President Trump's approval rating was 38%. His disapproval? 57%. It's an odd juxtaposition, considering the claim, but I can see what JD Mullane, the author of this particular piece, is getting at. If Trump wins in 2020, it's gonna be by the votes of Americans who are fed up with social justice politicians. I just have a hard time seeing what that has to do with Governor Phil Murphy.

Mullane is referencing a new NJ law which authorizes state financial aid for undocumented immigrants. He calls it realpolitik (Mullane ought to read up on Bismark, realpolitik is far more cynical than that) and "virtue-signalling", which means whatever you want it to mean depending on what you're angry about at the time. For example, one could call an article written in a county newspaper taking a popular anti-immigrant line virtue-signalling, but then one would be engaging in the same kind of meaningless rhetoric.

The article spends a long time complaining about a Phil Murphy "photo-op" with two undocumented immigrants. What really stands out is that Mullane feels the need to point out that two undocumented immigrants, Esder Chong, a Rutgers sophomore, and Maria Cielo Mendez, a high school student, are "light on cash". He points it out again later, suggesting that Maria must be "light on dough". Well, yeah? That's kind of what financial aid is for. I don't know about Mullane, but I've never met a college student who wasn't light on dough. Relying on financial aid myself to get through university, the jabs come off as more than a little perturbing. On board with Murphy's politics or not, it always strikes me as strange that columnists feel the need to attack Americans who are just trying to get along. It belies the populist charade.

The editorial suggests that Ms. Chong ought to be more grateful for the opportunity presented, rather than 'lecturing' the rest of us about the ICE targeting dreamers and other undocumented people in our nation. After all, the ICE is just enforcing federal immigration law. No word on why Mullane feels it's an appropriate use of government resources to deport high schoolers and college students who want to get an education.

Ms. Mendez is more grateful. She's happy that college is finally within reach for her. Apparently she's not grateful enough, though, as Mullane launches into a diatribe about all of the things he thinks Murphy should be focusing on instead. Let's take them one by one.

"But you know what doesn’t change? Life for the 30 percent of legal New Jersey residents who live below the poverty line in Camden." He's got a point, but he references an article from 2013. It's unclear what he feels previous Republican Governor Chris Christie was doing about the situation. He was more concerned with two failed Presidential elections and a desire to crush the public pension system. Despite my earnest attempt I was unable to find an article in which Chris Christie's "odd priorities" were similarly excoriated. What J.D. Mullane does fail to mention is the plight of undocumented immigrants in Camden, where 48% of the population is Hispanic, where residents recently rallied for the expansion of drivers' license privileges to undocumented immigrants, where the school system last year made it clear that it was a goal to "educate all children...regardless of immigrant status", a goal Mullane apparently opposes. Governor Murphy could be doing a lot more for the people of Camden. It's certain to me that he's doing more than the politicians dear Mullane supports. 

"You know what doesn’t change? That just 17 percent of high schoolers in Newark are proficient at math in a STEM world (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math), where knowing mathematics is a ticket to a good middle class job". Another great point. Education could really use some work in this state, and indeed in the country as a whole. It's just unclear what Mullane, and others like him, believe they're doing to help. After all, Mullane and his ilk spent years explaining to the rest of us why public employees had to bear the brunt of economic reform in New Jersey, how they were lucky to have a job, how we all had to pare down to maintain stability in our Garden State. Governor Christie cut hundreds of millions from education in NJ, and adopted a funding formula almost designed to hurt at-risk students. One is left to wonder what exactly all of those cuts did to promote the education of high schoolers in Newark. To his credit, Mullane seems to be aware of as much. After all, "with schools, you pay for what you get". But in the context of Pennsylvania, Mullane doesn't want the state to be allocating school funds. After all, the money might not go back to where it came from. It might go to kids in more impoverished school districts. Applied to New Jersey, Mullane would presumably have a problem with a state program to provide extra funding for Newark high schoolers, at the detriment of the taxpayers' wallets. So what, exactly, is his plan? Are Newark's estimated 25,000 undocumented immigrants part of it? 

"What doesn’t change is the crime rates in Camden and Newark and Patterson". Camden's crime rate is falling, but it's still not great. Newark, Patterson, you can throw in Atlantic City and a number of other major urban areas in New Jersey.  It's not made clear how helping undocumented immigrants go to college hurts the crime rate. But take it from Jersey City and Newark's public safety directors, increasing the ability of undocumented immigrants to interact in the society they live in helps decrease and deter crime, it doesn't increase it. And that effort requires a bit of social support for a population that gets very little of it. 

"What doesn’t change (at least it’s not expected to change) is the opioid epidemic that’s expected to kill 2,000 New Jerseyans this year, as it killed 2,000 last year and killed 2,000 the year before that". Mullane might have missed it, but Governor Murphy proposed a $100 million line item for combating the Opioid crisis a little over a month ago. Certainly doesn't seem like a lack of priority to me. 

Mr. Mullane continues in this vein for several more paragraphs, lamenting NJ's high taxes and the legal - he's careful to say legal - taxpayer being "on the hook" for financial aid for undocumented immigrants, as if undocumented immigrants don't pay hundreds of millions in state and local taxes. DACA recipients alone payed $66 million in 2016. Mullane is disproportionately upset about a certain $2.1 million that helped pay for undocumented immigrants' legal fees following ICE crackdowns. That comes out to about 23 cents from every NJ resident. If Mr. Mullane really wants his quarter, I'd be happy to provide. And if he's that worried about NJ State Police speeding tickets, he might want to take it up with his right foot. 

All of this whining, of course, ought to be placed into context. In his first few months, Phil Murphy has restored funding for family planning. He's proposed funding for a number of crises in the state, including millions for education and combating the opioid crisis. He's suggested raising what is effectively a cap on the property tax deduction, designed by President Trump and his Republican Party to punish NJ voters for painting the state blue. He's proposed raising the minimum wage for state workers and restoring funding to pensions for public workers, the people who keep our roads open, our government grinding, and our emergency services functioning. He's enshrined equal pay for women. He's banned offshore drilling, protecting NJ's vital beach tourism industry. He's suggested increasing the Earned Income Tax Credit. And he's moved to legalize Marijuana in our state, bringing in much needed income for the state and ending the misuse of law enforcement to prosecute people for using a fairly mild mind-altering substance. All the while, JD Mullane spends his time griping about "'green energy' and gender-bender bathroom laws". Mullane's priorities seem significantly more odd to me. 

As for the legal residents of Camden, Willingboro, and Burlington City? I think if JD Mullane bothered, he might find the majority of them far more fond of Phil Murphy's brand of politics than his own.