It took Phil Murphy to energize Tom Kean Jr.

The CD-7 congressman Wednesday evening accused Murphy of "baseless, dishonest fear mongering."  And that's why, Kean said, "New Jersey state government is such a disaster."

This atypical assault from the usually reticent Kean was prompted by a massive piece of legislation working its way through Congress. Kean had just voted in committee - in a party line vote - to support it.

There are many parts to this "big, beautiful bill"  (Trump's words), but for the moment, Democrats are concentrating on Medicaid, which provides health care for low income residents.

Republicans, like Kean, say the bill aims to cut fraud and waste. And they say it protects legitimate Medicaid recipients.

Not so, say the Dems. Murphy put it thusly:

"He (Kean) is dead wrong. The only thing this proposal will achieve is slashing a life-saving program that directly supports nearly two million New Jerseyans."

The governor said that he met with CD-7 residents in March.

"They were incredibly frightened and alarmed. We are talking about struggling parents who could be forced to ration insulin. Children who may not get treatments for debilitating chronic conditions. And senior citizens who may lose access to critical appointments with specialists to treat serious conditions like cancer or kidney failure."

The governor then took a swipe at Kean's refusal to hold live town halls.

“The congressman has a reputation for avoiding his constituents. Perhaps if he took time from his busy schedule in Washington to meet with the people he represents, he would understand the drastic and far-reaching consequences of these cuts to Medicaid."

Kean, in a response statement, said he listens to "the New Jerseyans I meet with frequently on issues such as Medicaid coverage. And today, I am proud that we successfully protected their care."

One does need to wonder just when Kean meets "frequently" with his constituents when he does not regularly hold public events.

The beat moves on.

A protest condemning Kean for his vote is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon in Rahway.

There's more.

Another part of the pending bill would deal with SALT, or the state and local tax deduction. This deduction has been capped at $10,000 since the Trump tax reform bill of 2017. That means nothing to most of the country, but it hurts such places as New Jersey, New York and California with high property values. Many New Jersey residents pay more than $10,000 in property taxes alone.

Kean says he will oppose any tax bill that does not fix the SALT problem. He said raising the cap to $30,000, as has been suggested, is not good enough.

Prior to 2017, there was no cap on these deductions.