New Jersey's Essential Services

[alaina]

As of today, NJ Governor Chris Christie has ordered a government shutdown since an agreement couldn't be reached on a new budget.  Only essential services will remain open - police, NJ Transit, prisons, state funded hospitals & treatment centers.  

Apparently the following are also ESSENTIAL SERVICES because they too will remain open - casinos, race tracks and the lottery!    Gotta make sure those gamblers can still lose money!!

On a more serious note - Cheryl, I noticed the state parks are closed.  Will that effect Chris?? 

[cheryl]

Do NOT even get me started about this man, the same guy who (grrr. I was about to reveal a whole lot of personal information here that only a few of you know! Argh!). Suffice it to say I'm not a fan. But hey-- if I win the lottery, who knows? I'll complain about him in my multimillion dollar estate. Alaina, I think Jon's mansion is for sale here. You can move in!

And thanks for asking. He is okay. There are state, county, and town parks, and this particular nonsense doesn't affect him this time. Fingers crossed 🤞 that things will get better in the state! 😀

[Stormwatcher]

My father and step-mother are moving back to my area (N VA -ish) from NJ (Trentonish), and while it's more about retirement and nearby family than politics, I do think politics may have had some influence there.

Then again, moving closer to D.C. is not really the way to avoid politicians, is it? : /

I do sorta see why NJ would want to keep the various 'gambling pursuits' active, though. Closing it down would mean no winnings to tax, and we can't have THAT.