Ten Republican Solons in Harrisburg Pass On Their Pensions

10 GOP lawmakers forgo their Pa. pension Are there any Democrats out there willing to do the same?

Out In November- Nobama

Love this editorial' OBAMA IS RUNNING OUT OF EXCUSES

It is time to “out” President Obama.

Mr. President, it is you—not Mitt Romney—who is out of touch with the American people and with what our country needs.

You are outraged at the charge that your White House leaks national security secrets while you stake out a claim of executive privilege, to keep White House communications secret on “Fast and Furious”—the American people smell a cop out or two somewhere in that mix.

You are never out of excuses—blaming others for our anemic recovery—while we are out of patience, frustrated with your mishandling of the economy.

You are out partying at Hollywood fundraisers while millions of people are out of work.

Your spending is out of control while taxpayers are out ever more money to fund your bailouts and handouts for special interests that are special to you.

You have an out of whack belief that “the private sector is doing fine” while we recoil at your
outlandish idea to throw more money at the public sector—big government.

You are out in the open—dividing people by race, income, and deeply held religious and moral beliefs—while most Americans strive to bring out the best in themselves and their neighbors.

Your ObamaCare outsources our health care to government bureaucrats while it leaves us out of pocket, out of choices for our treatments and doctors, and out of incentives to develop new drugs and other medical innovations.

You’ve gone out of your way to antagonize allies like Israel and to appease adversaries like Russia, while most of us see this as out and out betrayals.

You keep going further out on a limb with your extremism on the environment and limiting the uses of energy like oil and coal while ignoring our concerns about being out of power and out in the cold.

You are out campaigning about how in touch you are with us while we see you as out of your depth in leadership, out in left field in your policies and, hopefully, out of your office in November.

CREDIT GOES TO Communications consultant Jon Kraushar is at www.jonkraushar.net

Vinsko Never Was A Real Contender

Last year my friend Gort reported on an email he received from Bill Vinsko's camp regarding his campaign fundraising efforts for the third quarter.  Even the D-triple C (DCCC) weighed in on the results, giggling with glee.   The headline read "DCCC, media tout Bill Vinsko among nation’s top challengers".  How another quarter can make a difference.

The headline today in the Times Leader.
3 local incumbent congressmen in fine fiscal shape entering campaign

Incumbents in the 10th, 11th and 17th U.S. congressional districts have plenty of cash on hand to mount re-election bids entering this year, according to Federal Election Commission filings. Tuesday was the deadline for year-end reports to be sent to the commission.
The campaign for freshman U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta, R-Hazleton, reported $269,498 in the bank at year’s end. His campaign raised $146,978 in the fourth quarter and spent $101,803. The campaign also reported an outstanding debt of $85,102. Of that, $72,500 was in personal loans Barletta made to his campaign.

“Rep. Barletta’s campaign posted another successful fundraising quarter,” said campaign manager Lance Stange Jr. “Lou’s grassroots organization and financial support will allow him to start 2012 in a very strong position.”Of the two Democrats looking to unseat Barletta in the 11th District, only one had a functioning campaign last year and was required to file an end-of-year report showing campaign finances.

Wilkes-Barre attorney William Vinsko, who lives in the 17th District but is seeking the 11th District office, reported raising $20,574 and spending $34,580 so far. He started the year with $52,786 on hand.Vinsko said the first few months of fundraising have been successful but added that it “will really get into gear this quarter.”

$20,574.00???????? Joe Valenti of Pittston Politics tries to keep Vinsko alive with this post about a $10,000.00 donation from the I.B.E.W.

Valenti pens these comments.  For those of you who think that a union just doles out $10,000 checks because they can, think again.
Unions are well organized and have a huge organization from the bottom to the top. You can book it that this particular union took a poll in Barletta’s new district and sees that Vinsko is within striking distance.

Considering this, it’ll be full steam ahead for Team Vinsko.

Wow..now Vinsko's at $30,574.00..Joe...really....that is full steam ahead???
On January 23rd the DCCC issued their Top 36 Red to Blue races in the country, not their top 10 but their top 36. 

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s 36 Red to Blue races announced last week have already made quite a splash.

Guess who isn't on the list for targeting....drumroll.... Lou Barletta.  And guess who isn't getting DCCC backing...drumroll...Bill Vinsko.

Getting onto Vinsko's federal campaign filings one needs to look at his campaign expdenditures.

James McNulty- Consulting =$7, 500.00
Snyder Pickerall Group- Consulting- $5152.35
Kyle Donahue Kyle Donahue- Consulting Services- $1000,00.00
Hampton Inn- DC Meetings- $810.66
Pierantoni For Judge Committee- $350.00
The Mellinger Group- Fundraising Consultants-$3,500.00
Waldorf Astoria Hotel-Room Fee (Staff) PA Dinner - $907.97
Westmoreland Club-Fundraiser - Hoegan - $4645.45
Wyoming Valley Country Club- Fundraising Reception- $6362.56

No wonder he makes a great Democratic candidate.  He knows how to spend the money foolishly.  Someone should tell him he needs to bring at least $1 million dollars to the "race" party or stay home.

Oh..one more thing...Can somebody help Vinsko explain to the FEC why he needs those darn consultants. 

Federal Election Inquiry

This letter is prompted by the Commission's preliminary review of the report(s)referenced above. This notice requests information essential to full public disclosure of your federal election campaign finances. Failure to adequately respond by the response date noted above could result in an audit or enforcement action.
Additional information is needed for the following 2 item(s):

1. Schedule B supporting Line 17 of your report discloses reimbursements to individuals for expenses other than travel and subsistence. Please be advised that when itemizing reimbursements to individuals for goods or services, if the payment to the original vendor aggregates in excess of $200 in an election cycle, a memo entry including the name and address of the original vendor, as well as the date, amount and purpose of the original purchase must be provided. Please amend your report to include the missing information or provide clarifying information if memo items are not required. (11 CFR §§ 104.3(b)(4)(i) and 104.9, and Advisory Opinions 1992-1 and 1996-20)

2. Itemized disbursements must include a brief statement or description of why each disbursement was made. Please amend Schedule B supporting Line 17 of your report to clarify the following: "Consulting Fee", "Consulting Fee: James McNulty and "Consulting Fee: James B. McNulty". For further guidance regarding acceptable purposes of disbursement, please refer to 11 CFR 104.3(b)(4)(i)(A).

BTW lets get back to Joe Valenti over at Pittston Politics.  Back in July Valenti opined in this blog post that this is the way Vinsko will make it to Washington.

There is one machine, however, that is still in place which is well oiled and runs like clock work - the District Justice network.

Just take a look at the last two county judicial races. Bill Amesbury and Freddy Pierantoni won double nominations and both were top vote getters.

The one common denominator, both were a District Justice.

So, you’re probably asking yourself what the heck does this have to do with Bill Vinsko’s run for congress?

A lot!

You see, Bill Amesbury was in Vinsko’s law office from 2003 until he won a spot on the bench. And, I’m sure Vinsko was quite supportive of Amesbury’s run for judge.
Now it’s time to return the favor.

So while you’ll see Lou Barletta spend millions to retain his seat or Paul Kanjorksi dip into his war chest to regain his seat, Bill Vinsko’s secret weapon is the District Justices which span far and wide touching every square mile through out the district – something money can’t buy.

That is a off the path assessment about how Vinsko will win this race because obviously it won't be with money.

Did anybody see the Titanic or the Costa Concordia???

Should WE Keep Paying People Not To Work

This Opinion piece comes from Foxnews.com:

Do we really want paying people not to work for 99 weeks – nearly two years – to be a permanent feature of the American economic system? Is that what the American people voted for in the historic landslide election of 2010? If not, then why are Republicans poised to – for the first time since the election – extend this program?

The economic case for nearly two years of unemployment benefits is extremely weak. While supporters tout the demand-side effect of the benefit checks being spent, they ignore the much larger supply-side effect of creating a significant disincentive for work and consequently for economic production. The same Keynesians who brought us trillions of failed stimulus and a mountain of debt tell us the paying people not to work is a good way to grow the economy. Common sense – and the data – say otherwise.

As the Cato Institute’s Alan Reynolds eloquently explained: “Whether the government pays people to work or to stay on the dole, it has to get the money by taxing, borrowing or printing money — all of which reduce real income and employment opportunities in the private sector. … If every dollar of unemployment benefits really added $1.61 to real GDP, then putting everyone on the dole would make us all much richer.”

In reality, economists have shown that unemployment benefits actually increase unemployment because they increase the average duration of unemployment for individuals. There is less incentive to search for new employment when the government pays people as much as 60 percent of their previous salary to do nothing at all.

It should be no surprise then that since the extended benefits were signed into law, the median duration of unemployment has more than doubled from 9.6 weeks to 20.8 weeks, and the unemployment rate has remained stubbornly high for months on end.

Not all of this can be attributed to overly-generous unemployment benefits, of course, but they certainly aren’t helping. And given that more people are staying on government benefits for longer periods of time, federal spending on unemployment compensation has nearly quadrupled from $45 billion in 2008 to $160 billion in 2010 – all funded by higher taxes or federal debt, which takes resources out of job creators’ hands.

House Republicans will have their first opportunity to end this costly giveaway. To win, they need only to do nothing; the 99 weeks of unemployment are set to expire at the end of the year, automatically returning to the standard 26 weeks of unemployment (some states pay more).

Unfortunately, it looks like most Republicans missed one of the key messages of the landslide 2010 election – no more expensive giveaways.

Last Thursday The Washington Post reported that House Republicans plan to renew the expiring benefits program in a larger package that also includes an extension of the Social Security payroll tax cut. Perhaps it will be similar to a bill introduced by their Republican counterparts in the Senate, which extends the benefits but subjects them to means testing. Regardless, it will mean continuing to pay many people for nearly two years for not working.

This is a key test for the House Republican majority: will they listen to the small-government mandate that swept them into office? Or will they succumb to political pressure and advance a disastrous economic policy?

Democrats Block Disaster Aid Bill

Just last April Democrats were excoriating House Republicans asserting they were holding government hostage during the contrived government shutdown debacle. In a tit-for-tat move the Senate Democrats are now the "stonewallers" on keeping the government going by failing to pass the stopgap CR(continuing resolution).

In this latest saga the government is holding disaster relief hostage. Up and down the Wyoming Valley political pundits took jabs at Congressmen Lou Barletta and Tom Marino during the first showdown. It remains to be seen whether they voice the same opinion against the likes of Harry Reid and his cohorts in the Senate. Senate Blocks House Disaster Aid Bill

The Democrats are holding out for funding what they call an "Energy Department Loan Program".  Well twist my britches in a knot and send me over the edge.  The White House embarassment over the  Solyndra bankruptcy announcement after backing it with loans(Obama administration agreed to Solyndra loan days after insiders foresaw firm's failure) this past week and charges it inflated the claim of green jobs (Fly a plane or drive a bus? Then Obama says you've a GREEN job: White House accused of massaging eco-employment figures) shows genuine chutzpah to make this issue a stumbling block to disaster aid.

Administration Defends Half Billion Dollar Loan to Bankrupt ‘Clean Energy’ Firm

Obama administration officials told U.S. lawmakers Wednesday that a contributor to the president’s 2008 campaign played no role in pushing the $535 billion federal loan to the bankrupt solar panel firm Solyndra, Inc., raided by the FBI last week.

However, one Energy Department official did not answer directly when asked whether he had direct communications with the White House over the loan provided through stimulus money.

Emails obtained by the House Energy and Commerce Committee appear to show that Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and Department of Energy (DOE) employees had expressed concerns that the process was being rushed – even as President Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and Energy Secretary Steven Chu were touting the California-based “clean energy” company as the wave of the future.

The Administration was warned back in 2009 about Solyndra but they threw caution to the wind with taxpayer money.

There's an even bigger problem that has been put on the back burner.  Our government has not passed a budget in 900 days making these CR's a necessary evil.

Is it any wonder why this nation is so colossally screwed?  Right now party leaders on both sides of the aisle are using this nation as a pawn in their political brinksmanship.

The amount of disaster aid needed to re-fund FEMA is a drop in the federal budget bucket at $ 7 billion when we are racking up multi trillion dollar deficits.  Everyone in Washington knows that FEMA is going to get its money so get on with it. 

Did anyone tell the leaders that 1 in 4 children in Northeastern Pennsylvania live in poverty? 

One in every four children in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre/Hazleton metropolitan area lived in poverty in 2010, a dramatic increase over the previous year that came even as median household income in the region edged up slightly, new U.S. Census Bureau estimates indicated Thursday.

The jump was accompanied by a rise in the number of regional households that received food stamps, according to the American Community Survey, a census sampling of counties with population of at least 65,000.

"We are really talking about a huge portion of residents in Northeastern Pennsylvania who have trouble putting food on the table," said Teri Ooms, director of the Institute for Public Policy and Economic Development, a Wilkes-Barre-based think tank.

Families have lost everything, children are living in poverty, and Washington is quamired.  They got molasses in their britches in a time when this nation needs action and compromise.  The Democrats know they can't keep spending and the Republicans know that the government still has responsibilities.  In that statemen

Blame The American Will

The downgrading of American debt rocked the foreign markets this evening according to this ABC news report.

Blame the American will. Washington was sent a message last election. You can be a liberal, liberal or a conservative, conservative. Regardless, take notice. OUR COUNTRY needs fixin and quite frankly Scarlet we don't give a damn.

Unions who rely on government for employment cannot have a blank check. Social programs who rely on Americans cannot have a blank check. States who look to the Federal government to solve their problems cannot have a blank check. End of story. Because obviously our credit is not a blank check according to ratings agencies.

Now, does that mean the federal government cannot collect taxes and redistribute it to the masses to effect growth? Hell no. But don't disguise an agenda behind the true meaning of government assistance. For the day of atonement is upon those who want government to tax more for their benefits and salaries.

FDR made people work for government money. John Kennedy asked not what can your country do for you, ask what can you do for your country. Tomorrow lay down the pulpits of party and unite for the country's sake like they did when our Founding Fathers created this country. Small states vs. large states, southern states vs. northern states, all had an agenda to prevent the formation of our great Union, a republican form of government. Yet it was accomplished and worked. Tomorrow tell America what you are willing to do to make it succeed. For any less committment is a phony obligation to the future.

Are you willing to have those in India and China who struggle take over your country because they are more committed to bettering themselves? More willing to study, more willing to work long hours, more willing to sacrifice the pleasures of life for a sustaining future? Our children are awash in fancy cars, summer vacations to the shore, Iphones, Ipods, laptops, cash in their pockets, gasoline money, etc. etc. etc. If we learn to say no our country will benefit in the long run. In the short run we are failing the future by demanding a blank check.

Forget what America is facing, what is America's vison, ask how are we going to chart its future?

Today Seal Team Six devoted its lives to our pettiness. Tomorrow we owe it to them to sacrifice like they did for a common cause.

Obama Doesn't Understand Debt Period

The debt crisis held the country's attention. Republicans in Washington worked on the underlying problem of too much government spending(yes, Gort too much spending, not spending alone) during the negotiations while Obamacrats wanted tax increases aka MORE government spending.

This spendthrift President threw billions at the economy and look where it is today. But that action wasn't enough to ruin the United States.

On Tuesday last week he continued the train wreck by catapulting our debt to new heights. In one day we went from $14.294 trillion to $14.532 trillion adding $239 billion. (and I guess that was George Bush's fault again). Obama, in one day, used up 60% of the debt ceiling increase You can read all about it in this Washington Times article.

The previous one-day record debt increase was $186 billion, set on June 30, 2009. Imagine that, another Obama record.

Standard and Poors for the first time in history announced a downgrade of our credit according to this ABC NEWS article.

For the first time ever, the United States lost its perfect credit rating as Standard & Poor's reduced its U.S. long-term debt assessment from AAA to AA+ with a negative outlook.

In announcing the move late Friday, the ratings agency said a deal this week to reduce the nation's debt did not go far enough and exposed paralyzing political dysfunction.

The downgrade could cost the government and ordinary consumers billions of dollars by jacking up interest rates the U.S. must pay on its $14.4 trillion debt and a host of rates consumers pay for items such as mortgages, car loans and credit cards.

The move by S&P follows decisions by two other major ratings agencies, Moody's Investor Service and Fitch Ratings, to maintain the United States' AAA rating, though Moody's assigned a negative outlook.

When will this President and the Democrats get it. Enough is enough. Excessive government spending is not a Tea Party issue. It is a crisis for all Americans.

Barack Obama was ill prepared for this job but more importantly so are those who surround him it seems.

Senator John Yudichak Leads The Effort On Marcellus Shale Impact

Back in March of this year Senator John Yudichak(D-Luzerne) proposed legislation that would implement a severance tax on the extraction of natural gas in Pennsylvania. He was joined in his bipartisan effort with Senator Ted Erickson (R) and Senator John Blake(D) at the news conference according to PA Environment Daily.

“My goal is to initiate a fair and responsible severance tax in Pennsylvania. This proposal will generate significant revenue for local governments, our clean water infrastructure, and the Growing Greener program,” Sen. Yudichak said. “At the same time, such a moderate tax would allow the industry to continue expanding and creating jobs, as well as generate the economic development activity that Pennsylvania so desperately needs.”

Under Sen. Yudichak’s plan (Senate Bill 905), the severance tax would be gradually implemented based on the gas production of each well:
• A severance tax of 2 percent of the gross value of the natural gas severed at the wellhead; this tax rate would be in place for the first three years of well production;
• When the well has been in production for more than three years, the tax rate would increase to 5 percent;
• The tax rate would readjust back to 2 percent if a well’s rate of production fell below 150 MCF of natural gas per day and above 60 MCF per day;
• Wells that produce less than 60 MCF of natural gas per day are exempt from the tax.

If implemented, the severance tax would go into effect on July 1, 2011.
According to Yudichak, revenue from the severance tax would be distributed to three program areas:
• 33 percent of the revenue generated to the Commonwealth Financing Authority for water supply, wastewater treatment, stormwater and flood control projects;
• 33 percent to the Environmental Stewardship Fund (Growing Greener); and
• 34 percent to local governments in those areas of Pennsylvania that are experiencing the direct effects of natural gas drilling.

Senator Yudichak has been closely monitoring this legislation as it moves along in the Senate process.

Let me be the first one to put this observation out there in public. I met Senator Yudichak during the last election cycle. He is a straight shooter, very intelligent, and well versed on government and issues affecting the public.

His bipartisan approach out of the gate as Senator is worthy of mention. He has worked well with Representative Tarah Toohil and Congressman Lou Barletta, both Republicans. Keep an eye on Yudichak for a stab at the governor's seat one day. If he continues on this path he will be a formidable candidate.

It is also worthy to note the great job Rep. Tarah Toohil and Congressman Lou Barletta are performing in "crossing the aisle" to reach out to everyone they represent. It is a new era in politics for this area, quite refreshing actually.

Reality Vs. Rhetoric

To all those who claimed there was hate-filled rage on the Republican right.
Evidently the extreme liberals don't take a back seat.

Senator Robert Mellow Remarks In 2000

In the year 2000 Senator Joseph Loeper was charged with falsifying tax related documents. According to the Free Library here are Senator Robert Mellow's comments regarding that indictment.

Statement Issued by PA Sen. Robert J. Mellow Regarding Indictment of PA Sen. Joe Loeper

HARRISBURG, Pa., Oct. 24 /PRNewswire/ --

The following was issued today by the Pennsylvania Senate Democratic Information Office:

Today, I am deeply saddened by events surrounding the indictment of Republican State Sen. Joe Loeper, the Republican leader. Over many years, Sen. Loeper and I have served as respective leaders of our parties and share a mutual respect.

This represents the third guilty plea by a Republican senator in three years. In 1998, it was Sen. Dan Delp of York County York County for misuse of taxpayer funds. Earlier this year, Bill Slocum of Warren County was convicted of dumping 3.5 million gallons of raw sewage into a pristine creek. Now, Sen. Loeper joins them.

This illustrates the problem with no checks and balances in Harrisburg and the dilemma that one-party control represents. On November 7th, the people of Pennsylvania will, hopefully, change the political balance in Harrisburg. On Election Day, voters will have an opportunity to make a difference in how politics and government are decided in Harrisburg.

We can no longer accept this kind of leadership. The people of Pennsylvania need honest representation and action on issues of substance such as providing affordable and accessible health care to seniors. We should also be providing leadership on smaller class sizes and meaningful tax relief for working families who are being squeezed by rising school property taxes. Furthermore, the legislature will be prioritizing and allocating funds from the tobacco settlement in the near future.

Republican scandals, controversies and indictments detract from these real issues. They also take away valuable energy and resources that should be used in solving real problems.

Lately, Republicans have been running for cover rather than running the people's business. I hope that Pennsylvanians are watching these events carefully and will decide to take the necessary steps to correct this problem on Election Day.

Sen. Loeper knows what is expected of him in light of the guilty plea. He should resign immediately. That way, we can put this episode behind us and concentrate on real issues that affect real people.

It's amazing how some words tend to bomerange when uttered in a "pristine" career.

New Leadership, New Thinking

On the surface the public sees the change in power, both in Washington and Harrisburg. Republicans gained control of both chambers in Harrisburg. On the national level they gained control of the House. But there is an important underlying fact in those gains. On the Democratic side there are many newcomers as well. The freshman class contains new thinking regardless of party affiliation. This class must realize that voter anger doesn't take long to develop. With the economy in such dire straits jobs must be the number one priority at this point. Before we turn to the government to create job growth we must ask government to stop hindering job creation.

In this Forbes magazine article Michael Noer makes this observation.

The most recent absurdity of the Great Recession is the $10 billion allocated by Congress to save 140,000 teachers' jobs in a bill nominally concerned with aviation safety. Well-intentioned though it may be, the measure is wrongheaded on two fronts. First, it's unclear that these jobs needed "saving"; indeed, some states are gleefully figuring out how to spend the unanticipated windfall. Second, federal stimulus spending of this sort can have only a short-term impact on employment. If we are serious about creating jobs, we need to rethink the problem from the start.

Government-backed paychecks come with a cost. The money to pay for the teachers or the extended unemployment comp or the public works project will, sooner or later, have to be extracted from the pockets of taxpayers. Anticipating that burden, taxpayers with money sit on it. Corporations shrink from hiring; consumers hesitate before buying.

This negative feedback explains how a stimulus program can backfire. Japan pays for training and other forms of help to those trying to scratch out a living but in doing so has swollen the population of "freeters," those under 35 without permanent jobs. Denmark, once hailed for its "flexicurity" system (state-subsidized programs offering temporary work to prevent layoffs, job training and up to four years of assistance for those without work), is lopping the program in half.

Here in America vast amounts of stimulus money and White House jawboning have done little to move the unemployment needle, frozen at 9.5%. Add in the people who have simply given up looking for a job and you get an unemployment rate of 16.5%. A third of this is a hard core of potential workers who have no realistic chance of finding a job in the foreseeable future.

The biggest question I hear is "How are they going to create jobs?" Most feel that the manufacturing jobs are gone for good. That position is a weak look at a complex problem. First, we need to make it more attractive for business to produce goods and services in the United States, rather than overseas, using U.S. workers, rather than foreigners. The skilled labor needed by many U.S. companies is not readily available in certain countries while readily available in others.

Just-in time manufacturing, most notable in the auto manufacturing industry, gives a glimpse to a foundation for spurring thoughts on the need to bring overseas jobs back.

Everyone will talk tax breaks. But tax breaks will only be effective if they are closely linked to real job creation. The stimulus package failed on that benchmark. There are those that say eliminating taxes creates profit and there are few that would sacrifice new found profit for labor.

Here is what the corporate leaders have to say to dispell that statement.

“A pro-manufacturing tax policy must first acknowledge that when Congress raises taxes, it makes manufacturers in the U.S. less competitive. Reduce the corporate tax rate to 25% or lower without imposing offsetting tax increases.” Result: 2 million new jobs before the end of this decade.”

“Enact tax provisions that will stimulate investment and recovery, including: Strengthen and make the R&D tax credit permanent. The Milkin Institute’s ‘Jobs for America’ analysis reported that increasing the R&D tax credit by 25% would enhance U.S. innovation, boosting GDP by $206 billion and creating 270,000 manufacturing jobs.”

“Allow businesses to accelerate depreciation of capital purchases more quickly. The Institute for Policy Innovation has estimated that every dollar in tax cuts for business depreciation adds about $9 in GDP growth. Over the past 60 years, there’s been a strong correlation between domestic job growth and business investment. Any policy that permanently allows businesses, particularly manufacturers, to expense capital purchases in the year they are made will go a long way toward putting more investment funds—and consequently more jobs—into the marketplace.

“Take the threatened tax increases off the table. The tax increases threatening businesses are huge, especially damaging to the thousands of small businesses which file as individuals. The automatic increases in tax rates on upper-income earners, dividends and capital gains are already a huge disincentive to business activity, and the Obama Administration’s proposals for additional tax increases aimed directly at business seriously compound the problem.”

“Impose a moratorium on new regulations. Many executive branch agencies, most particularly those within the Department of Labor, have embarked on what seems to be a vendetta against American businesses, threatening them with dozens of new and costly regulations.”

Regulatory Overkill: “Taken collectively, the regulatory activity now underway is so overwhelmingly beyond anything we have ever seen that we risk moving this country away from a government of the people to a government of regulators,” Chamber President Thomas J. Donohue said in a speech last week before a Chamber-sponsored Jobs Summit. He called on the Obama Administration and Congress “to immediately put a stop to the cascade of new regulations that is the principal reason businesses are so reluctant to make investments and create jobs.”

“OSHA is particularly aggressive and offensive, proposing costly and cumbersome new regulations based on their assumption that businesses will ignore workplace safety unless and until they are inspected.”

“Moving toward a competitive tax structure that creates certainty for businesses by temporarily extending all of the tax relief passed in the prior decade and reducing the U.S. corporate tax rate. In one bold, swift move, this would substantially boost investor, business and consumer confidence and would infuse our economy with fresh momentum.”

“Controlling the rising deficits and debt by generating additional federal revenues and restraining spending. As much as $1.7 trillion in revenue could be generated over 10 years through numerous oil, gas and shale leases on our lands and off our shores.”

“Tax reform, along with spending restraint, sound money, free trade and a rational regulatory policy would lead to a period of exceptional prosperity and asset appreciation. There’s no better way to increase jobs than to create a pro-growth economic environment.”

Dr. Irwin Kellner offers this perspective about cooperation between Washington and the states.

There are other measures that Washington should consider as well. Since the federal government can run a deficit while states cannot (at least over an extended period of time), Washington should step up its grants to states and local governments. Most of their budgets are in the red because of the jump in such costs as Medicaid and pensions, so they are cutting spending and raising taxes, thus taking out of the economy much of what Washington is trying to put in. As soon as Bush enacted his tax cuts Fast Eddy Rendell couldn't move fast enough to raise our income tax in Pennsylvania. Where was the gain?

Lets start moving America forward. Let's bring back Ronald Reagan's "Morning in America". Only naysayers like Steve Corbett would call it Mourning in America.

Misleading Unemployment Statistics

In today's Standard Speaker Borys Krawczeniuk writes a column about unemployment in Hazleton. Ed Mitchell has been touting a misleading figure out there in an attempt to fool the public about the real issue. Why do I say misleading?

The Bureau of Labor Statistics of the United States government maintains this website that clearly shows Pennsylvania unemployment unabated rise since the beginning of the year. At this link on their site county unemployment data is listed for Pennsylvania. There is a very important footnote on that page.

NOTE: Rates shown are a percentage of the labor force. Data refer to place of residence. The City of Hazleton does not have any industrial parks. You will find them surrounding the city- Hazle Township, West Hazleton, Sugarloaf, Butler Township, and McAdoo. Firms such as Archer Daniels Midland, Hershey, Office Max, Autozone, etc are located in those parks. If they lay off any workers who live in the City of Hazleton the statistic gets charged to Hazleton even though the workers lived outside the city. How Mitchell can blame the Mayor for loss of jobs that weren't within the city limits in the first place and get away with it is beyond me?

Here is a link to the Center For Workforce Information and Analysis website that shows the Metropolitan Statistical Areas and the Micropolitan Statistical Areas. The City of Hazleton is not listed. The residence issue is the reason the data can be skewed when drilling down too deep. Why don't they list the unemployment figures for Nanticoke, Lattimer, Pardeesville, Hollywood, Ashley, Dunmore,etc. It's simple. To do so would create a statistical anomaly.

Its a Democratic state with a Democratic Representative who worked for a Democratic Congressman. It is not hard to figure out why there is a statistic for Hazleton and not one for Nanticoke.

If Borys wants to be responsible to the people who read his articles he needs not to stretch the facts to create a story. He needs to report them for what they are.

The chart at the top of the article explains what is happening all over Northeastern Pennsylvania. Paul Kanjorski, instead of telling us what's wrong tell us what you did about it. Evidently NOTHING.

Barletta 52% Kanjorski 41% In New Poll

In a new poll conducted for the American Action Forum voters say the country is on the wrong track by a three to one margin. A majority of the voters canvassed in the districts included in the poll are against the health care reform plan by a 51 to 39 percent margin.

The 11th Congressional District race poll confirms a previous poll showing Barletta leading Kanjorski by a much wider margin than the last race.

Challenger Lou Barletta’s 93 percent name recognition is very similar to Rep. Paul Kanjorski’s 96 percent, and Barletta holds a 52 to 41 percent lead on the ballot.

A similar result was found for the GOP challenger Tom Marino in the 10th district against Chris Carney. He leads 52% to 37%.

So how did that "Hopey Changey" thing work out for Obama, Pelosi, Reid, and Kanjorski?

New Republican Ad

The Bottom Line on Newt Gingrich

Newt Gingrich: “I don’t think this president will control spending. I don’t think the democrats in the House and Senate will control spending. So they want the right to run up the biggest credit card in history, more than any teenager in America, and then turn around and tell the rest of us we have to pay for their credit card,”

Kanjorski's Pothole

In a sign that incumbents like Paul Kanjorski face a daunting challenge to retain their seats in Congress a new ABCNews/Wahsington Post poll out more than suggests the frustration Americans have with their elected officials.

A year and a half into his presidency, 51 percent in a new ABC News/Washington Post poll would rather have the Republicans run Congress "to act as a check on Obama's policies," vs. 43 percent who want the Democrats in charge to help support those policies. That's accompanied by a 7-point, one-month drop in approval of Obama's handling of the economy, to a career low.

While Democrats are most at risk, the danger's not theirs alone. Registered voters by 62-26 percent are inclined to look around for someone new for Congress rather than to re-elect their current representative – the broadest anti-incumbency on record in ABC/Post polls since 1989. Backing for incumbents has lost 11 points since February, an unusually steep decline. There are other signs of raging discontent: ABC's Frustration Index remains well in the red zone, at 67 on its scale of 0 to 100, right where it's been all year. It's reached higher just twice, likewise in times of deep economic trouble – in fall 2008, 80; and in 1992, 73.

If the question has been when Obama owns the economy , it looks to be now – not at a happy time, given 9.5 percent unemployment. He'd made slight progress on this key issue, inching ahead from 45 percent approval on the economy in March to 50 percent in June. That's now gone, down 7 points in this poll to 43 percent, with 54 percent disapproving, a new high. And "strong" disapprovers outnumber strong approvers by a record 41 percent vs. 20 percent.

Saying the economy's getting better, moreover, may not help Obama and the Democrats, and indeed could hurt. Just 27 percent in this poll see it improving, not significantly different from 30 percent last month, and surely not on the way up. Claiming the economy was advancing when most Americans didn't see it was the precisely the pothole that swallowed George H.W. Bush in his unsuccessful re-election bid in 1992.

"We are helluva alot better off as a country and as an economy than we have ever been in the history of mankind"- Congressman Paul Kanjorski

House of Greed- State of Despair

Newspaper after newspaper are giving a thumbs down to the on-time delivery of the Pennsylvania General Fund budget. Much to the chagrin of our illustreous solons the media is not taking the bait to pat them on the back for a job well done.

The Philadelphia Inquirer assessment. Pennsylvania's state budget meets the deadline... but it's still one ugly baby

Opinion in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Faux budget: Hey, Harrisburg, your work's not done

Assessment of the budget by Pennlive.com Pennsylvania budget: What it means to you

Editorial that appeared in the Times-Shamrock publications. Lawmakers pass sacrifice to others New budget contains many cuts in service

It is painfully obvious that many legislators are going to have a tough re-election battle come this fall. It is evident that the Democratic party attacking the Repulicans over fiscal conservancy will surely cost them dearly. But the Repulicans are not without blame over the lack of cuts in the legislative budget. Per diems, per diems, per diems. That is a message Harrisburg will hear loud and clear.

It in unconscionable that a legislator making a minimum of $78,314.00 per year demands another $163.00 TAX FREE PER DAY to perform his or her work. Don't let any legislator fool you. Eachus keeps saying what he takes is legal. It's only legal because he gets to make the rules. Its like saying you think a hole in golf "shouldn't be PAR 4 I'll change it to PAR 8".

The unaccountable expense account, fully paid healthcare, dental, eye, vision, too generous pension, car allowance, and telephone provisions plus franking privileges will not be tolerated in a 10 plus percent unemployment environment well into its second year.

To thumb their nose at constituents will go down in history as a period in Pennsylvania government when the legislature finally subcombed to a culture of greed. Not all legislators are greedy but those that aren't need to step up to the plate with a voice much louder than what we are hearing from the House Majority Leader.

Mr. Eachus allowed the power of the leadership to haze his understanding of the needs of those he represents. Families are affected directly by his decisions and votes. He ignores that possiblity when he tries to attack his opponents. He quickly forgets what he did to the people of the 116th who once supported him. Well, come November, he will be reminded.

He can't be Majority Leader unless he gets re-elected. Of course from the ramblings in Harrisburg his tenure will be cut short anyway if he is. His bully style of leadership, the same way he deals with certain constituents, has a short leash of toleration.

Pennsylvania will earn the nickname "State of Despair" unless its leaders or those who should be leaders step forward and do the right thing. Don't tell us you eliminated wasteful spending, DO IT!

PennDOT 35 Person Unit Criticized By Grand Jury To Be Disbanded

The Legal Intelligencer is reporting that Gov. Ed Rendell is disbanding a special unit of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation that a grand jury said exists only to expedite paperwork for legislators seeking to win favor with voters.

The panel that investigated the state legislative corruption scandal criticized the 35-person unit in a scathing assessment of the Legislature released this week.

Rendell spokesman Gary Tuma said Wednesday that the unit will be disbanded in the next few days and the employees reassigned elsewhere in PennDOT. However, he says they'll continue to help legislators with constituent requests.

The report also says the House Democratic and Republican caucuses employ — at a cost of nearly $900,000 a year — dozens of people to expedite processing of mostly routine PennDOT paperwork for businesses and other constituents.

Here are Brett Marcy two statements in the past week.

"We have worked hard to trim costs and find ways to improve efficiencies," said Brett Marcy, press secretary to House Majority Leader Todd Eachus, D-Luzerne.

On the grand jury report:

House Democratic spokesman Brett Marcy was critical of the report, saying it "seems to be based largely on the past and incorrect assumptions about the legislative process, rather than an accurate reflection of today's legislative operation."

Brett, now let me get this straight. Governor Rendell is disbanding a crew of 35 who serve the only purpose to expedite paperwork for legislators seeking to win favor with voters and you said what about the accurate reflection of the legislative operation?  On top of that the House Dems and the Republican caucuses are wasting another $900,000.00!! What a buffoon. Hanging around with Kanjorski teaches you how to stretch the facts.

"Mad As Hell" Grand Jury- Pennsylvania

Tracey Mauriello of the Post-Gazette characterizes the report developed by a grand jury investigating the misuse of taxpayer money commonly referred in the media as Bonusgate as a "mad as hell grand jury".

A "mad as hell" grand jury that investigated the Bonusgate scandal issued a list of recommendations improving a state Legislature they condemned as "broken," but was skeptical that any of the proposals would ever occur in a system so rife with corruption.

"The current operational structure and ingrained procedures of the Pennsylvania House Democratic and Republican caucuses are irretrievably broken and in desperate need of systemic change," the grand jurors wrote.

The self-serving culture of the Legislature's caucus system and patronage is so entrenched, the grand jury wrote, that the only way any change might take place is through a constitutional convention.

"The grand jury has determined beyond any doubt that the General Assembly, if left to its own devices, is utterly incapable of reforming itself," the report said.

The wide-ranging recommendations, filed Monday in Dauphin County Common Pleas Court, call for eliminating partisan caucuses, reducing a bloated staff and even changing the kinds of constituent services handled in district offices.

The grand jury found that legislative employees spent "an enormous amount of time working on political campaigns when they were supposed to be performing their legislative duties." They said "all campaign work on legislative time must be eliminated."

In a filing that accompanied the report, Judge Barry Feudale, supervisor of the grand jury, said grand jurors were "mad as hell" to hear from numerous witnesses that "no one's guilty because everybody does it."

Link to Grand Jury Recommendations at Post-Gazette

Come November lets see if the voters are as angry as the grand jury members and have the courage to oust those in power.

Barletta Elevated To Republican "Young Gun Status"

According to the NRCC website its Young Gun program was started by Congressman Eric Cantor in the 2007-2008 election cycle.

Under the leadership of Chairman Pete Sessions (R-TX), the NRCC adopted the Young Guns program as the candidate recruitment and training program for House Republicans and it is designed to assist Republican candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives build a foundation for victory.

As part of this program, Republican candidates throughout the United States will work hard for victory next November and we will post updates on their races, their achievements and their status as a Young Gun.

The Young Guns is not just a political program, but an ongoing movement to go on offense and strengthen the GOP, welcoming your participation and support of strong Republican candidates nationwide.

The Times Leader is reporting through Bill O'Boyle that Lou Barletta has been elevated to "Young Gun" status, the top level of the three level designations in the program.

By advancing to the program’s top tier, Barletta has proven his ability to build a winning campaign and achieve substantial fundraising goals, said Tory Mazzola, NRCC spokesman.

Barletta, who lost to Kanjorski in the 2008 general election by 9,355 votes, was pleased to hear the news.

“This will be a huge boost to our fundraising effort. It is an indication that the leadership at the national committee has recognized the strength of our campaign and the growing sense that we will win in November. I am grateful for the recognition, but I know there is a great deal of work to be done before the general election.”

Mazzola said it’s “too early to discuss resources,” but the Young Gun status shows that Barletta “is one of the best candidates in the country.”