EDITORIAL by Dhiren Shah
Hello Readers,
The City of Orange, by a resolution from Councilwoman Tency Eason, banned cannabis businesses in the city. Councilpersons Jamie Summers-Johnson and Adrianne K. Wooten stated in the distribution of their letter to residents that concerning the referendum, more people voted in favor of the question (to have cannabis businesses). However, as everyone knows, referendum questions have a yes vote most of the time because the majority of the voters do not read the question, and vote yes anyway. Also, the city of Orange has a voting percentile so low that it is not a real judgement by the referendum in my opinion. People voted for councilpersons to read, understand and make judgments with the best of their ability. If the majority of the council says yes, all should accept the judgment.
The biggest news this week is the resignation announcement by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, effective 14 days from August 10, 2021. This comes after the huge investigative report of New York Attorney General Letitia “Tish” James. Letitia James was elected as the first African American and woman to head the office of the NY Attorney General on November 6, 2018. It is a 3-year term, and her term will end by this November’s election. She has declared that she will run for the post of Governor in 2022.
Current Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul will be the first woman to serve as governor of New York and also the first one who is not from New York city. Hochul is President of the NY Senate and chairs the Regional Economic Development Councils. I hope she brings real business to benefit the people of the state. So far, she has visited all 62 counties at least once in a year since she got elected.
According to Wikipedia: “In 26 states, the governor and lieutenant governor are elected on the same ticket, ensuring that they come from the same political party. In 17 states, they are elected separately and, thus, may come from different parties. Among the seven states without a separate, full-time office of lieutenant governor, two states have a post of lieutenant governor that is filled by the highest officer of the State Senate. In Tennessee, the full title of the leader of the Senate is ‘lieutenant governor and speaker of the Senate.’ In West Virginia, the title of lieutenant governor is assigned by statute to the Senate President.”
Recently in New Jersey, Richard Codey became acting Governor for three days before Jim McGreevey was sworn in 2003. After McGreevey’s resignation, Codey became Acting Governor, and served about 14 months there (not elected).
A $1.2 trillion infrastructure resolution has been passed in the Senate. Hopefully, it will give a boost to the economy. However, debt to future generations will have to be paid. In 2019, our national debt was about $22.7 trillion, which is about $69,063 per person living in the U.S., including babies. In 2020, it increased to $27.9 trillion, which is $80,885 per person, including babies. With this bill and the way we are distributing (donating) money to everyone, soon the debt will cross over $100,000 per person. We must watch our rising debt. Ten years ago, the debt was $13.56 trillion.
Finally, some good news. Saikhom Mirabai Chanu is an Indian weightlifter. She won the silver medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in the women’s 49 kg category. Mirabai Chanu has won world championships and multiple medals at the Commonwealth Games. When she was going to her training, truck drivers used to give her a FREE ride. Once she won the medal, she came back to her home and invited all the truck drivers for a lunch who gave her a ride. She thanked each of them for helping her and supporting her to win the medal. She bowed to each of them and gave some presents. Her kind-hearted and humble gestures impressed me. India hardly wins medals at the Olympics, but she has no ego. What a sight of humanity!
Have a wonderful week.
I’ll talk to you next week.
