By Matt Rooney | The Save Jersey Blog
New Jersey got smacked with another few inches of snow last night, Save Jerseyans, as you’re already painfully aware. One more good snow and I might qualify for an arm transplant.
We’re heading into a “warm up” period over the next several days (temperatures in the 40s and 50s), but then it’s right back into the lower temps next week and, surprise surprise, a strong a possibility of additional accumulating white powder. And NOT the kind that President Obama used recreationally as a younger man.
Has any of this turbulent winter weather persuaded the President to relent and give New Jersey a break from the Jones Act which, as we discussed on Monday, kept valuable road salt from reaching the Garden State? Of course not.
Oh, where to begin…
How about with a question: will Steven Fulop offer a full-throated condemnation of President Obama? Much the same way as he’s blasted the Governor, the Port Authority and just about everyone else under the sun since he’s taken office?
Has every vocal Christie Bridgegate conspiracy theorist suddenly contracted laryngitis?
More people have died from this weather than any traffic jam on the G.W. Bridge.
Helping us out should come naturally to the Commander-in-Chief; granting waivers used to be on the President’s favorite activities! In case you’ve missed it, folks, President Obama isn’t shy about aggressively using his executive powers, real or imagined, to accomplish his goals. Maintaining a healthy infrastructure for individual use and commerce is something undeniably in the government’s responsibility column (unlike most of this guy’s other ideas). Health care isn’t.
By the way, how many exceptions has he carved into the health care law without Congress signing-off? Exactly.
This was supposed to be the year of “action.” His words. Not ours.
Start by letting us have some freakin’ road salt, Mr. President!
Why isn’t Christie kicking and screaming about this?
Hope Christie’s happy he gave him the election with the Sandy photo op
So it seems that 40,000 Tons of road salt is in a Port in Maine and can not be shipped to NJ Ports for delivery because a wavier to the Jones Act is not being allowed by the Federal Maritime Commission.
The Jone Act is the bedrock of America’s maritime that protects American commerce in the maritime from encroachment by low cost, non-union foreign flagged maritime competition. Basically what the Jones Act states that a Chinese flagged vessel can not sail between American Ports. The Jones Act is the line in the sand for America’s maritime. There is no compromise in protecting America’s maritime.
President Obama could if he wanted allow a single delivery wavier to the Jones Act for a single exemption for the road salt cargo to be moved to a NJ Port. President Obama could if he wanted too not play revenge driven politics under such a single wavier and coastal exemption for the delivery of the 40,000 tons of road salt. The issue of snow and ice in NJ is one of an emergency. I dare say America’s maritime is not blind and seeking to score political points.
What’s worse a Bridgegate or a Salt-Gate ? What’s worse is a President and his political hacks in the Democratic Party not resolving issues for the people of NJ and they do so as they seek to gain election year political points.
The President can cast salt in some-elses wound.
John Anderson
Westampton, NJ