New Jersey Brings It

An article in yesterday's New York Times describes New Jersey's entrance into the Most Liberal State in the Union contest (and I mean that in the best way). So step aside Massachusetts and California, as New Jersey has added these points to her resume:

• Abolished the death penalty
• The first northern state to apologize for slavery
• Recognizes gay civil unions
• Will pledge its electoral votes to whoever wins the popular vote in a presidential election
• Home to Bruce Springsteen

In the near future, New Jersey expects to:

• Raise minimum wage to $8.25 an hour (the highest in the US)
• Borrow $200 million to preserve open space

So maybe Jersey will no longer be the laughing stock of the Northeast. Professor Joel Rogers at the University of Wisconsin Law School remarks, "The much maligned New Jersey, that malarial swamp south of New York, is rising from the ashes as a leader of progressive government." Well done.