1. Why should I care that a State of Emergency is never terminated, and continues to remain in effect for months, and years after the event?
2. Why would Governor Christie not terminate a State of Emergency? Technically, we are living in a perpetual State of Emergency.

11/16/2016:
The largest oil deposit ever found in America was just discovered in Texas
The US Geological Survey found what could be the largest deposit of untapped oil ever discovered in America. An estimated average of 20 billion barrels of oil and 1.6 billion barrels of natural gas liquids are available in the Wolfcamp shale, in the Midland Basin portion of Texas' Permian Basin. Based on a West Texas Intermediate crude oil price of $45/barrel, those deposits are worth about $900 billion. US oil exploration companies have flocked to the superrich Permian Basin in recent years and used shale-drilling technology to create an oil boom that simultaneously helped trigger a price crash two years ago. The count of active oil rigs fell with prices, but has risen over the past few months, mostly in the Permian. Bloomberg noted that the Wolfcamp, where this deposit was found, has been one of the primary targets of shale drillers. "The fact that this is the largest assessment of continuous oil we have ever done just goes to show that, even in areas that have produced billions of barrels of oil, there is still the potential to find billions more," Walter Guidroz, program coordinator for the USGS Energy Resources Program, said in a statement.
 
11/15/2016:
Looking Beyond Tobacco Tax Decisions
Tobacco-session panelists at Winsight's recent Outlook Leadership Conference in Scottsdale, Ariz asked retailers to keep active, advising they get behind an emerging federal proposal to help ease FDA “deeming” regulations. Referring to the Cole-Bishop amendment to the House agricultural budget bill, John Hoel, director of federal government affairs for Altria Client Services, Richmond, Va., told about 75 attendees that the measure would ease application requirements for any number of newly deemed products (such as vapor, cigars, etc.) brought to market after 2007. The measure would move the so-called “predicate date,” or cutoff for new products to undergo an onerous application process with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Washington, D.C., possibly to Aug. 8, 2016. If passed, the measure would grandfather in many products, especially those in the vapor category, providing them a less complex path to FDA approval. Much of that legislative discussion over budgets is scheduled for this fall. In terms of tax battles on the ballot, Kerry Paulson, regional director of the Eastern region for Altria, said 3/4 measures to raise state cigarette taxes failed, with approval occurring in California, where the taxes will increase $2 per pack to $2.87.  Proposed tax increases failed in Colorado, Missouri and North Dakota.
 
11/15/2016:
BP Stations Testing Fuel Pumps with Personality
BP’s new interactive fuel pump -- affectionately dubbed “Miles” -- made its official debut at the BP station on the busy corner of Wells Street and Chicago Avenue in Chicago. Developed through a partnership with The Onion and Pandora, Miles uses interactive technology to audibly greet customers when they approach the pump, then lets them select music on Pandora, record a video e-card to share on social media, or play music trivia — all in real-time via a touchscreen tablet that guides them through the array of entertainment options. After pumping gas with Miles, drivers can send themselves a text message with the content they created while at the pump, a link to their chosen Pandora station, plus special offers such as a 25-cent discount on a gallon of BP gas on a future visit.  BP will test the new “Miles” pump technology — the first significant pump innovation since pay-at-the-pump was popularized in the 1980s — for three months, according to Doug Dryan, BP’s consumer advertising manager. “The pumps will be up through Feb. 14, 2017 — one in Chicago; one in Naperville, Ill.; and two in Brooklyn, N.Y.,” Dryan shared at the Chicago launch.
 
11/14/2016:
Estate tax cut already changing CPAs’ advice to flee NJ
About 75% of certified public accountants in New Jersey have advised clients to leave the state because of the estate and inheritance taxes, according to the head of the New Jersey Society of CPAs. That tax is ending – and so is the advice, even before the law is off the books, said Ralph Albert Thomas, the CPA group’s chief executive officer and executive director. “Not only our members, but I know estate attorneys have been sending out correspondence about, look, they need to reconvene with their clients to relook at what they proposed,” Thomas said. The survey found 83% of respondents felt estate and inheritance taxes had prompted clients to leave New Jersey. A follow-up survey is planned for the spring, to see how much the advice has changed. The estate tax is paid on approximately 3,500 estates annually, around 5% of the approximately 70,000 deaths in the state each year. Currently, New Jersey’s estate tax threshold is $675,000.  The full value of any estates worth more than that is taxed.  That will be changed to a $2 million exclusion at the start of 2017 – meaning, for instance, that an estate worth $2.5 million would be taxed on the $500,000 over the excluded amount. The tax is then eliminated entirely at the start of 2018.  The inheritance tax isn’t being altered.  Thomas said there was a limit to how much could be changed at once.