Rapid Fire Reading Around The State

Toohil appointed to leadership post in state House- State Representative Tarah Toohil who trounced then House Majority Leader Todd Eachus evicting him from his 116th Legislative District seat earns the deputy House Majority Whip post announced by House Majority Whip Stan Saylor, R-94, York. ( Read More............) What's that naysayers about losing seniority? If he had won he would have been in the minority anyway, same for Kanjorski, so don't buy into the typical election rhetoric about seniority. It's really about chutzpah..

Towns’ secession won’t be easy, commissioner says- Municipalities are looking to secede from Luzerne County and join Columbia County, one selling point, lower taxes (Read More...........)

Congressional race loser wins Corbett’s nomination- Pride Mobility Owner Dan Meuser's $60,000 campaing contributions to Governor-Elect Tom Corbett parlays into a $135,000 position. Last month, the Pittsburgh Post Gazette reported that members of Corbett’s transition team and their employers gave almost $5 million to Corbett’s campaign, or 19 percent of his total contributions. ( Read More.........)

Grants OK'd by Rendell rapped- During his last three months in office, Gov. Ed Rendell approved almost $488 million worth of projects financed through state borrowing, about a third of them in Philadelphia, where Rendell was mayor.

The largest grant was $20 million to refurbish Lackawanna County Baseball Stadium, where a New York Yankees farm team will play. Three Philadelphia projects each received $10 million, including a corporate headquarters for brokerage firm Janney Montgomery Scott LLC. Smaller projects included $3 million for the Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender senior housing center in Philadelphia and $500,000 for a Kohl's store in Lycoming County. ( Read More............)

Gov. Ed Rendell signs execution warrants, including Middletown man's(Read More..........)
Rendell: Streamline executions or scrap them
Gov. Ed Rendell says the state's death penalty needs to be reviewed by the Legislature and either be fixed so that more murderers are executed or replaced with life sentences without the possibility of pardons.
(Read More..........)

Gov. Ed Rendell Has Meltdown On 60 Minutes, Suggests Lesley Stahl Is A “Simpleton” In case you missed it, Governor Ed Rendell was interviewed by Lesley Stahl on 60 Minutes and he demonstrated his apparently “infamous temper” over a harmless question about casino gambling (Read More.........)

Did anyone notice Sallie Mae is lowering interest rates on student loans? Isn't this the agency that Paul Kanjorski touted about becoming one of the top ten employers in our region? From May, 2010- Sallie Mae, the USA's largest private student lender, will announce today that starting May 10, rates on its Smart Option Student Loan will be 2.88% to 10.25%, based on the current London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR), the benchmark for the variable-rate loan. That's down from a range of 4.38% to 12.88%. And they picked on the mob???!!! Oh and....The rates for borrowers attending non-degree granting institutions will range from LIBOR + 7.75% to LIBOR + 12.50% (8.13% APR to 13.88% APR

Here is a link on how to refinance a Sallie Mae loan for those in need. By the way you can save money by paying back Sallie Mae while you are still in school...duhhh..Sallie...who can afford to pay back while still in school??? Would they be borrowing the money in the first place??

Kanjorski’s District Has Highest Unemployment Rate In State

When Paul Kanjorski attacked Lou Barletta over a false unemployment report regarding Hazleton he didn't realize how soon the shoe would be on the other foot.

Here is the latest press release from the Barletta Campaign Office.

Statistics expose 26-year incumbent’s failed economic policies

Hazleton, PA – The unemployment rate in Paul Kanjorski’s congressional district is now the highest in the entire state of Pennsylvania, continuing to show that the 26-year incumbent’s failed economic policies are destroying our regional economy and costing area residents thousands of jobs.

Kanjorski’s district has “significantly higher unemployment” than the state and the national average, according to the Scranton Times. In the same article, a professor of economics stated, “Being the worst in the state doesn’t speak well of our economy.” (8/31/10)

It also doesn’t speak well of Kanjorski’s economic policies.

The regional unemployment rate is now the highest in Pennsylvania at 10.4 percent – a number that has seen “a fairly steady ascent from 8.8 percent in July 2009,” according to the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader (8/31/10). That mirrors Kanjorski’s lock-step votes for the government takeover of health care and the destructive energy tax known as cap and trade.

“The official unemployment data provides irrefutable proof that Kanjorski's actions have severely hurt our region. It's no wonder he is afraid to meet the people of his district face-to-face at public town meetings. Kanjorski and Nancy Pelosi promised us that if they passed the $800 billion stimulus bill, unemployment wouldn’t go above 8 percent. Clearly, that was a lie, and both our unemployment rate and national debt continue to rise.

Kanjorski’s reckless vote to take over our health care system directly cost the jobs of at least 100 Sallie Mae employees in Hanover Township. Many other Kanjorski votes – for cap and trade, to raise taxes and fees 150 times – have cost thousands of other jobs right here in Northeastern Pennsylvania,” said Shawn Kelly, spokesman for the campaign of Lou Barletta. “At the end of the day, Kanjorski only cares about one job – his.”.

Democrat Brian Kelly Backs Lou Barletta In Congressional Race

Democrat Brian Kelly, a newcomer to politics, was defeated in his bid to win the Democratic nomination for U.S. Representative of the 11th Congressional district.

Actually Brian Kelly won his race in a different way. He had no money to speak of and didn't accept outside contributions. Despite accepting no outside contributions he garned 17 PERCENT of the Democratic vote. To those outside of politics that number is huge. It suprised the even most seasoned political observers. Kelly's showing mirrored the sentiment that sent Arlen Specter packing and out of Washington.

Mia Light of the Citizens Voice is reporting that Brian Kelly is throwing his support behind Lou Barletta for the fall matchup between Barletta and too longtime incumbent Paul Kanjorski.

"A Barletta victory in November is as close to a Kelly victory as we can get," Kelly said.

He said he would lend his support to the Republican because, "My father always said, 'Vote for the man' and Paul Kanjorski is not that man."

Barletta campaign spokesperson Vince Galko had this to say about Ed Mitchell's response to Kelly's announcement.

"Paul Kanjorski's campaign response is predictable. If you are not in bed with Wall Street bankers or if you haven't spent more than 20 years in Washington, you just don't matter to Paul Kanjorski," Galko said.

Kanjorski's campaign contributions detail a trail of allegiance to an industry despised by most in this country at the moment. Foreclosures continue and banks aren't lending money in any appreciable amount to help the economy rebound. Therefore jobs are still and will continue to be a problem for the forseeable future.

Kanjorski's failed ability with Sallie Mae and the loss of 2,500 jobs associated with his vote on healthcare reform only serve to compound the misery Americans experience.

According to Recovery.gov the stimulus package that Kanjorski supported only brought 2.64 jobs to the 18702 Wilkes Barre zipcode so far. If one types in Hanover Township's 18706 zipcode the amount of jobs created so far is only 8.11. HOever Sallie Mae in Hanover Township is giving up 100 jobs. Paul Kanjorski please explain your rationale?

Kanjorski And Sallie Mae- When A Handshake Means Nothing

A press release in April, 2009 by Paul Kanjorski talked about jobs coming to Sallie Mae in Northeastern Pennsylvania.

U.S. Rep. Paul Kanjorski called it the best kind of economic stimulus: new jobs.

Kanjorski and U.S. Sen. Bob Casey joined Sallie Mae Chief Executive Officer Albert L. Lord to brighten an otherwise dreary Monday by announcing the work force at Sallie Mae will nearly double over the next 12 to 18 months.

The three said Sallie Mae is returning to the United States about 2,000 jobs from its overseas operations, with 600 of them coming to the facility in the Hanover Industrial Park. The hiring process is expected to begin immediately.

Kanjorski said he had a meeting with Sallie Mae managers and employees on the day before the 2008 general election. He said it was a difficult meeting and he had to bite his tongue because he couldn't reveal discussions were already under way about bringing jobs back to the United States.

"That's why I couldn't wait to get back here today to make this announcement," he said, noting that Sallie Mae will become one of the top 10 employers in the region.

(A little pun here, the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away).

In this press clip from the Labor and Industry Press Office there is a Times Leader article from 11/07/2009 talking about petitions Sallie Mae supporters were circulating in trying to save 1000 Sallie Mae jobs.

The petitions were circulated to protect the 1,000 local jobs that could be lost under a proposal to have the federal government originate all federal student loans.

Grass-roots organizers such as Lisa Dougherty of Hazleton, an 11-year Sallie Mae employee, coordinated the petition drive that took her and others to Philadelphia two weeks ago. They boarded a busa and went througout stadium parking lots to get signatures. That was an extraordinary effort.

The effort pleased Al Lord, chief executive officer of Sallie Mae, who traveled from the publicly traded company's headquarters in Reston, Va., to say thank you.

(here's an ironic twist to the story) Lord thanked (at least it wasn't The Lord thanked) U.S. Rep. Paul E. Kanjorski, for sticking up for Sallie Mae. The company's political action committee has contributed thousands of dollars to Kanjorski's campaigns, including $11,000 in 2007 and 2008.

"That took courage. There's a lot of pressure to vote in a given direction because this is a favored bill of the administration." Little did Lord know how soon that courage would turn to cowardness.

A Big Fat Slob wrote about Paul Kanjorski, healtcare reform, and Sallie Mae back in March, 2010. Kanjorski claimed he was undecided at the time over voting for healthcare reform and refused to commit that he was going to support Obama on the bill.

A source with information received directly from the White House has told us that Kanjorski has told the President that he is firmly in the Republican column on the health insurance reform initiative. [See UPDATE below] Contrary to recent reports in the Washington Post , Firedoglake, and Ben Pershing's Blog, among others, Kanjorski reportedly told the President there was little no room for movement on his vote.

Kanjorski's movement to the "No" column was NOT the result of the faux abortion issue. Instead, Kanjo's decision to oppose health insurance reform was dictated by the interests of the large private student loan lender, Sallie Mae, which has a facility in his district. Kanjorski has long-ties with the folk at Sallie Mae, something he's boasted about in the past. A 2008 piece on Kanjorski's deep-ties to Sallie Mae laid it out pretty well:

Sallie Mae has rewarded Kanjorski for his support in other ways as well. According to federal campaign finance records, the loan giant has contributed, through its PAC and from individual company officials, nearly $70,000 to the Congressman's campaign coffers over the last decade. In addition, the Sallie Mae Fund, the company's charitable arm, has made generous contributions to one of the Congressman's pet causes: donating $1 million in 2003 to the Wilkes-Barre Catholic Youth Center, which provides daycare and overnight care to children from primarily lower-income and minority families. Kanjorski has long championed the center and fought to get federal funding for it. In Sallie Mae's news release, the center's executive director "expressed deep gratitude" to the Congressman for helping to secure the loan company's donation.

Stephen Burd, The Higher Ed Watch Blog. The House added "The Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act" to the reconciliation bill on health insurance reform. The reform measure allows students to borrow directly from the federal government instead of from Sallie Mae or other lenders. Currently, the federal government loans money to Sallie Mae, which in turn makes a tidy profit by re-lending our tax dollars to college kids.

Kanjorski, by supporting one of his large corporate financial backers, is threatening to turning his back on the rank and file, the middle class, the laborers, and all of the individuals suffering for lack of access to health care.

As well all know Kanjo went on to ultimately vote for the healthcare reform bill but with a handshake that Sallie Mae jobs in his district would be spared from the provisions in the bill that turned students loans over to the federal government, not that the ObamaStatesofAmerica isn't big enough already.

In this interview on WILK posted Sunday March 21, 2010 Paul Kanjorski talks about his YES vote on healthcare reform. The caption underneath the broadcast states 11th District Congressman Paul Kanjorski tells WILK in an exclusive interview that he will be voting YES on the healthcare reform bill after getting some assurance on the security of some 1100 jobs locally through Sallie Mae.

The Times Tribunes published this article by David Falcheck on March 31, 2010- Changes in federal student loan program could put local Sallie Mae center in jeopardy

The law would put an end to billions of dollars in federal subsidies to lenders originating student loans and make loan originations directly. But the government will need companies such as Sallie Mae to service the loans.

That's what U.S. Rep. Paul Kanjorski said he expects to happen. To convince him to vote for the combination health care and student loan reform legislation, he said he insisted on assurances from the U.S. Department of Education that Sallie Mae jobs would be preserved.


It's May 20, 2010 and here is today's headline in the Times Leader-

Sallie Mae letting 100 go in July

One hundred customer service workers at the Sallie Mae center in Hanover Township have been informed that they’ll lose their jobs July 16.

The news wasn’t unexpected. Just last month the Reston, Va.-based student lending and loan processing company announced that 2,500 total workers will be let go by the end of 2011, including all 1,200 workers at the company’s centers in Killeen, Texas, and Panama City, Fla.

Conwey Casillas, Sallie Mae’s vice president of public affairs, said, “The company’s focused on our future and our future in Pennsylvania is highly dependent on the amount of direct loans we service.”

He declined to discuss the layoffs or comment changes in student lending approved by Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama in March and its direct impact on the announcement made Thursday

The change is expected to save at least $60 billion. But it will also mean a drastic reshaping of Sallie Mae, the nation’s largest student lender.

In the course of one year and one month Northeastern Pennsylvania went from securing 2,000 jobs to losing 100 jobs all due to Paul Kanjorski's vote for the government takeover of the student loans.  The handshake he recieved as assurance for their jobs wasn't worth the paper it was written on.

When Arlen Specter toured the Innovation Center with Paul Kanjorski he had this to say "It is very helpful to have people with seniority and experience and clout," .

In Kanjorski's interview with Roderick Random aka Borys he had this to say
"It's taken 25 years to get to the seniority position I have and the power position I have," he said. "Nobody who replaces me will get there in one, two or three terms."

If seniority matters so much, why did Mr. Kanjorski bring home fewer dollars in the 2010 federal budget than Rep. Chris Carney, D-10? Mr. O'Brien asked.

Right now there are 2,500 people at Sallie Mae asking the same question.

Sallie Mae Announces 600 Jobs, Formerly Overseas, For NEPA-

Call me synical but what the hell was Sallie Mae doing sending 2,000 jobs overseas in the first place. The dog and pony show by Paul Kanjorski and Bob Casey today detracted from asking that question which is germane to any discussion about "BRINGING BACK JOBS". You don't mean to tell me that Sallie Mae was exploiting the cheap labor overseas. Nahh...that would never happen. Kanjo and Casey should have thought this one through a little more. Why did they let the jobs go overseas?

Let's take a few highlights from the SEC filings for SLM-stock ticker symbol for the private firm, Sallie Mae.

Our primary business is to originate, service and collect student loans. We provide funding, delivery and servicing support for education loans in the United States through our participation in the Federal Family Education Loan Program (“FFELP”) and through our non-federally guaranteed Private Education Loan programs.

At December 31, 2008, we had approximately 8,000 employees.(Note-According to their Form 10-K filings for years 2005 through 2007 they had 11,000 employees.)

Our primary marketing point-of-contact is the school’s financial aid office.

To sum up ,although all of their business is derived in the United States one quarter of their work force is overseas and will continue to be for the near future.

If you look here you will find the principal facilities owned and leased by Sallie Mae. Are any of those facilities overseas? I don't see a one.

I went down their corporate structure and clicked on every entity. Not one listed an overseas address.

In 2004 their Form 10-K listed 9,000 employees. As previously stated the number was increased from 9,000 to 11,000 in 2005 and remained there through 2007. In the 2008 filing the number was decreased to 8,000 employees.

So basically they fired 3,000 employees in the U.S. Evidently they replaced them with 2,000 people overseas in India etc. Now they want to bring them back. Magnanimous of them isn't it? Instead of hailing them for gesture they should be chided for the first act because all of their loans originate in the U.S. according to their filings.