Kanjorski MisManages Washington

In the last post I answered Paul Kanjorski's absurd assertion that Hazleton City looks bad. This post debunks the next two questions posed by Congressman Kanjorski who said he would start answering once Barletta did.

Kanjorski said he would be happy to answer any questions Barletta has, but only after Barletta tells him a few things. Kanjorski wants Barletta to tell him:

• Why Hazleton city is near bankruptcy.

• Why Barletta wants to sell the city water authority.

He issued a press release today instead of enjoying the holiday making the same claims about mismanagement so Paul, here is your answer.

When Hazleton's Mayor Lou Barletta announced his plan to lay the foundation for a long term solution to the City of Hazleton's financial crunch many of the taxpayers of the City and Congressman Paul Kanjorski actually did not see the presentation at City Hall. Due to the impact on low income working families and seniors of the City SOP has obtained the file for the presentation from the City's website.

As you are about to see the fixed cost expenses are outpacing revenue despite the Paul Kanjorski's claims in this Times Leader article yesterday that the City was mismanaged.

The first slide(not in the presentation but presented here) shows the one time revenue sources by year from 2004 that have postponed the financial crunch from occuring sooner.

The next slide demonstrates how adjusted income failed to keep pace with adjusted expenses.

This next image shows how real estate tax revenue actually declined over the period from 2004-2008.

There was a slight increase in Earned Income Tax Revenue but considering the time frame one could argue that it was essentially flat.

Likewise the Mercantile and Business Privilege Taxes were essentially flat to only very slightly down.

Emergency Municipal Services Tax revenue took a dramatic drop due to Harrisurg and Todd Eachus's messing with the way the revenue is collected. Municipalities across the state suffered, not only Hazleton, because our legislators lack the acumen to understand their mistake.

Employee insurance costs are up over $417,000 for the period 2004-2008. Every municipal employer, as well as most private entities, in the state is facing the same exhorbitant rise in those costs.

Employee salaries really demonstrate one of the biggest reasons for Hazleton's financial crunch. Unfortunately one of the only solutions to this problem is to decrease the size of the police department which in SOP's opinion is not an option given the current crime element trying to take a foothold on Hazleton's streets.

This graph showing overtime costs illustrates another uncontrollable problem for Hazleton that is tied to the last chart. Police investigations into crimes in Hazleton, just like the Derrick Kichline murder, are the biggest reasons for these overtime costs. Snowplowing in the winter time is another factor contributing to this area. If someone can figure out how to control crime and the weather, Warren Buffet and Bill Gates, move over another billionaire will be joining the crowd.

Just these three budget areas demonstrate the devastating impact on the budget of the City of Hazleton and to its taxpayers.

That presentation in a nutshell sums up the reason the sale of the Water Department of the HCA is even being considered. The Mayor and City Council weighed different options before coming to this conclusion. The proposal has spawned ideas on how to help solve Hazleton's problems while staunch Democratic opponents Todd Eachus and Paul Kanjorski use their constituents as pawns in their game of debaucherous political shenanigans. While Wilkes Barre touts its Intermodal Center Hazleton is not forgotten but purposely ignored. Hopefully those alternate ideas will help Hazleton until new representation emerges in Harrisburg and Washington that is willing to put politics aside in the name of progress.

Why doesn't Paul Kanjorski ask Todd Eachus why Pennsylvania is in the shape it is in? Paul, how about that $1.2 billion deficit? How about the federal deficit runup since you and Obama got an unchecked and unbridled hold on our purse strings in a little over a year and a half? Mr. Kanjorski you have mismanaged the financial industry for years because your two friends, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, gave you so much money you had to look the other way. Heck Freddie Mac received so much it has now changed its name to Big Mac. You are hypocritical of your claims of mismangement. Out of touch too. How many cities and states are facing severe financial crises in light of the 10+ percent unemployment and the fact unemployment benefits are looking like they will be extended for TWO years?

Mr. Kanjorski, there are the answers to your questions. Balls in your court. Start explaining your actions or inactions. You bailed out Wall Street, the auto industry, and mismanaged Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security into insolvency. You abolished town hall meetings, raised our taxes and socialized healthcare. Care to respond?

Ron Paul Demolishes Paul Kanjorski

Part 1



Comments:

jettech171 (2 weeks ago)
Holy shit! The people of PA should bury their heads in the sand.

dawnstory69 (2 weeks ago)

What special interest owns this Paul Kanjorski? This 72 year old cabbage head Incumbent from PA needs to be removed from office! He's held his chair in congress since 1985 - that's 25 years too long! Throughout his career he's grossed over $3,000,000.00 and that doesn't include all of the campaign contributions, gifts, and perks given by lobbyists of the special interests which have bought his congressional vote!

shouldlistentoronpau (3 weeks ago)
Reply I love how Dr. Paul is kind enough to let the other guy talk without interupting and then as soon as the Dr. takes his time to reply the other guy wont shut the hell up.

Great show of character RON PAUL.

mbear14
Reply "Don't question your government in a time of crisis". F*** that asshole. Thank you, Ron.

Part 2

Paul Kanjorski- When Are You Going To Pay Back The Money

Ooopps..that headline is a few years old. It was the "Cornerstone" of a campaign gone by. But seriously folks you have to hand it to Paul "Strum My Banjo" Kanjo.

In Kanjo's latest misdirection to the voters Borys Krawczeniuk at the Times Tribune pens this headline "Kanjorski: Big banks should understand new tax from government that bailed them out".

Let's get this straight, Paul. No government bailed them out. The citizens of the United States bailed them out. The government gave them our money, which by the way, you didn't have in the first place to give witness the balloon in the deficit.

Secondly the banks paid interest on every penny that was given to them. Even when they wanted to pay it back your fearless leader, "I have not a clue how to govern Obama" blatantly refused to allow them to pay their money back.

Obama now flip flops, stands in front of a camera, panders to the public and states "We Want Our Money Back." signaling his continued populist rhetoric that is quickly becoming old hat.

Here is the consequence to Kanjo's constituents if this tax passes.


Showing a clearer understanding of basic economics than the White House, JP Morgan Chase's CEO Jamie Dimon, Wall Street's most frequent White House visitor, called the tax a "bad idea." He added, that the businesses wouldn't really pay the fees anyhow."All businesses tend to pass their costs on to customers."

Harvard's senior economics lecturer Jeffrey Miron reinforced that point in Investor's Business Daily. Miron said "higher taxes mean higher costs and therefore higher prices, so customers (borrowers) will bear some of the burden of the tax." Fees, less available credit or companies shifting operations to other countries are all possible costs to customers as a result of a bank tax.

Then of course there's the fact that the tax is completely unfair, a point some reporters asked the White House about. CBS's Chip Reid asked Gibbs if it is "fair" that the tax could hit non-TARP banks or banks that have already repaid the money.

"There are obviously a lot of other banks that were TARP banks and paid their money back. Why is it fair to now go after them if they've paid the money back?" Reid asked.

Gibbs replied "Because of what they caused this economy." When Reid rightly suggested that's "punishment," Gibbs denied it.

The tax will only fall on the 50 largest banks and A.I.G. to "recoup" TARP losses, but some of those losses have been incurred by companies exempt from the tax including union shops General Motors and Chrysler and government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Despite White House rhetoric blaming the entire financial crisis on Wall Street, many fault the extreme overleveraging at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as well as their majority ownership of the secondary mortgage market for spurring the foreclosure crisis which rippled through the entire U.S. economy.

Kanjo..do you recall you refuse to exercise control and oversight over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac during testimony from the Financial Services Roundtable Steve Barlett? Kanjo, your memory may be failing but ours is fresh and ready to expose your misdirections every time they happen.

Are Authority Run Boards The Best Deal For The Taxpayer?

Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta has announced a plan to sell the Hazleton City Authority's Water Department as a possible solution to the financial crunch being felt by the City of Hazleton. In today's Times Leader an Opinion headline reads "Debt Crisis Needs Creative Solutions". It addresses the financial debt of Luzerne County.

The commissioners have to work through it with a medley of creative programs and innovative thinking – coupled with painful cuts and probably some tax bumps – to harness and bring that liability down.


We’ve seen glimmers of that this week.


The commissioners’ idea to seek proposals for someone or a firm to take over operations at the county-owned Moon Lake Park has the ingredients of making lemonade out a bucket of lemons.

A creative solution is exactly what Barletta proposed in looking at the city's dire finanacial straits. Hazleton is not bankrupt or close to bankruptcy by any means. A term called cash-flow bankruptcy would more accurately describe the situation facing the City and its residents. The fixed costs like insurance, heat, electricity, and obligations like pension liability are leading to an intolerable situation for the taxpayer.

The City could opt to go ACT 47 which would negate all labor agreements among other things to solve the current crisis. The City could raise millage beyond the current increase to an exhorbitant amount that would hurt many homeowners who could not afford the property taxes.

However, Barletta introduced a plan that would include the sale of the assets of the Hazleton City Authority-Water Department to create a long term solution that would not affect taxpayers to the same magnitude relying on property taxes as a means of funding the budget.

The Authority is taking the position that "they are the best run authority in the state". Here is a prime example of what can happen with part time persons running a $68 million asset.

Look at the court case between the Beaver Dams Outdoor Club vs. Hazleton City Authority. If you read the case you will find that past(not present) majority members of the Hazleton City Authority executed a lease with this club for 487 acres of HCA property at a rate of $1 dollar for 25 years.

The Authority further asserts the Board majority’s bad faith was reflected in the terms of the lease: 487 acres at one dollar per year for 25 years.

Now that is what I call one hell of a deal for the taxpayers. First the lease means that no other persons other than those who are members of the Beaver Dams Outdoor Club have use of 487 acres. Secondly since the HCA owns the acreage taxpayers in Carbon County are being cheated out of revenue because the property is being used by private, and can only be used by private people, but it is tax-exempt because the Authority owns it.

Oh but it gets better. The Board executed four other leases in that same year.

Board Vice Chairman did not ask for a copy of the lease at the December 8 meeting because he previously reviewed the lease, which replicated the format of the previous four hunting club leases executed that year.
Id. at 41; R.R. at 246a. With the exception of the property description, the Club’s lease was identical to the other four hunting club leases. Id.

The case does not state how many acres are contained in the four other leases but if they are anywhere close to the amount in the lease at hand there could be almost 2500 acres leased out for 25 years at $1 dollar per year.

This case clearly demonstrates what can happen to public assets when managed by part time board members who received political appointments.
That statement does not mean that every board member would act in a way that would harm the public but again, this case demonstrates the potential. One does not have to research far to look what happened in Luzerne County with all of the arrests of board members for bribes or passing bribes.

The Hazleton City Authority members seem to forget how they got their positions. Mr. Andras threatened to harm the Mayor's plan by seeking legislative relief. He and the entire board must remember that their seats are at the pleasure of City Council. As it stands right now there are three more appointments before the terms of this Council are up. Be careful of the dog who bites the hand that feeds it.

The public outrage over Barletta's plan to sell the water deparment for a potential $60 million or more is interesting since you never heard a word about the "essential taking" of almost 36% of the authority land for $1 per year. The leases will be up in the year 2028.

One may argue that at the end of twenty five years the Authority would still owe the land. But at present calculations of the rise and need for additional property taxes to cover ever rising costs in the City's budget property owners would have forked over at least $6,600.00 per homeowner. Under Barletta's plan there would be no increase. There may be an increase in water rates but they could never equal the rise in property tax.

Kanjorski Failed To Act on the Impending Mortgage Crisis

In a press release found on Paul Kanjorski's Congressional website he admits that there were mortgage problems in the Poconos since 2001. "Since the initial disclosure in 2001 of a disturbing pattern of home foreclosures and mortgage problems in Monroe County, allegations of abusive business practices have continued to grow."

The date of this press release is August 3, 2004. "We must not only take steps at the state level to address the foreclosure problems in the Poconos, but we must also work at the federal level to prevent similar situations elsewhere in the future."

"Congressman Kanjorski is now working with his colleagues to develop bipartisan legislation to improve consumer mortgage protections and better regulate lending practices."

Congressman Paul Kanjorski why did you sit idly by as this crisis developed? You claim to be a 24 year incumbent that can get things done. Why did it take the biggest financial crisis of the century to have Washington decide "Houston we have a problem"? If your tenure bestows stature and presence where is it? You had plenty of time to formulate a well thought out plan to address this problem before it became an emotionally stressful event for all of America. The traumatic change to peoples' lives over this avoidable situation demonstrates the immediate need to remove you from office. The emergency was not the financial crisis. The emergency is the need to remove you and all of your colleagues in Washington who failed the American people.

How can you honestly face the America and tell them that you were working toward a solution? That is plain balderdash. At least people enjoyed watching Barnum and Bailey's three ring circus. "Though this be madness, yet there is method in't."-Hamlet You watched and watched by your own admission as people lost their homes. A political system that expects failure doesn't try very hard to produce anything else.

President Truman once said "The President gets a lot of hot potatoes from every direction and a man who can't handle them has no business on the job." Paul Kanjorski, you have no business trying to represent the 11th district because you couldn't get a handle on this problem before it spinned totally out of control. You have demonstrated that real financial problems are your pons asinorum. You would have us drink from the cup of neglect and oblivion.

"How do you know that the sky is falling?" asked Turkey Lurkey George Bush.

"I saw it with my eyes, I heard it with my ears, and a bit of it fell on my head," said Chicken Little Paul Kanjorski. "But I did nothing about it. However I did blame it on you."

A quote from Representative Randy Forbes (R-VA) "We scoured the halls of Congress because we wanted to join up with somebody else who's thought about these issues and who's come up with some ideas, and we kept coming up empty," Paul, you are one of those who is running on empty.

Kanjorski Lost Credibility

When Paul Kanjorski went before the nation on CNBC to announce a deal had been reached in the finanacial crisis he added to the lack of credibility he faces in the 11th Congressional district. He was part of a group of dolts who invented and lobbied for a poor solution, poorly packaged and poorly sold accodring to Betsy Stark of ABC news.

Stan Collender of Qorvis Communications on TalkingPointsMemo.com, say this has been a bungled effort from a PR point of view: "From a communications perspective, this has been done about as wrong as is possible. There have been no credible spokespeople, the messages about the plan have been wrong or incomplete, the plan's supporters failed to understand the different audiences that had to be reached, and few people validated the claim that the plan was needed…"

It is easy to criticize this plan that was DOA before the vote. It lacked any credible oversight by an independent commission. Kanjorski's answer included government oversight. Excuse me, Paul, isn't that what your very subcommittee was entrusted to do up to this point? Paul Kanjorski is the second-ranking Democratic member of the House Financial Services Committee, the number two man to Committee Chair Barney Frank. Way back in 2001, Kanjorski was the ranking Democratic member of that committee's sub-committee on Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSE's).

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are two Government-Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs) which distorted the housing and mortgage markets by providing quasi government guarantees of risky loans. The lack of oversight by that committee on the internal risk management practiced by these two GSEs placed this crisis on the doorstep of every American home.

Rep. Richard Baker (R-LA) was the chair of the sub-committee that Kanjorski now chairs. In 2003 he warned of the perils of such a risk scheme. Baker said "The concern is that if something doesn't work out the way they predict, the American taxpayer could be called on to pay off the debt in some sort of bailout." At the time he didn't know how prophetic his spoken words would be when written in the record of U.S. history.

It amazes me how the media is attacking the Repulicans in this financial episode. There were 12 Republicans who voted against the bailout package but there were 95 Democrats who voted against it. This election is not about the candidates; it is about the drive-by media trying to win an election.

The American public is angry over this crisis and there is hell to pay for it. The hell to pay part is figuring out who to blame. If you are looking for policital accountability Paul Kanjorski is front and center by using bad judgment and failing to uphold his repsonsiblity to oversee the financial services industry. Money can cloud one's vision. In this case Paul needs new prescription glasses.

Paul Kanjorski as Alexander Haig????

Click to view Congressman Kanjorskion CNBC's Squawk Box talking about the economic crisis. Today Paul Kanjorski couldn't wait to get in front of the camera to talk about the deal brokered to solve the out of control financial crisis. He called it "Tremendous progress" and " We've been working for six days to put the bill together to get that accomplished and I would say we have done that..It's almost an accomplished fact that they have done that..they are going to negotiate some fine points between the House and the Senate." He says of the Presidential Candidates.."the faster they can get out of the White House and get back up to the Hill... We'll have the bill done." He continues his criticism of the Presidential Candidates..."They are a delaying force. We know what has to go into the bill..We have negotiated very hard..It's been responsive from both sides..We have the bill basically complete. All we have to do is a sign of...Of this posturing Oh My God we need all the help of these people coming in."

All of this rhetoric reminds me of Alexander Haig. In 1981, after the March 30 assassination attempt on Reagan, Haig asserted before reporters "I'm in control here" as a result of Reagan's hospitalization.

“ Constitutionally, gentlemen, you have the President, the Vice President and the Secretary of State in that order, and should the President decide he wants to transfer the helm to the Vice President, he will do so. He has not done that. As of now, I am in control here, in the White House, pending return of the Vice President and in close touch with him. If something came up, I would check with him, of course." Rather than being seen as an attempt to allay the nation's fear, the quotation became seen as an attempt by Haig to exceed his authority.

Kanjorski is so far behind in the latest poll for a 24 year incumbent that he is desparate to bring any type of good news to the public. Paul, reparations for Cornerstone come this way. "I apologize to the American people for the failure that happened at Cornerstone." It would be harebrained to expect such a declaration of guilt. He refused to apologize to the American troops in Iraq for lying to the public about the real effort that would have been put forth in Congress to end the war and bring our ladies and men home, our families together once again.

His declaration of a deal brokered to end the financial crisis was premature and self serving. The audacity in a techological world of information validates the findings of the Franklin and Marshall poll. "DesRECD. Do you believe that Paul Kanjorski has done a good enough job in the U.S. House of Representatives to DESERVE RE-ELECTION, or do you believe it is TIME FOR A CHANGE?
35% Deserves re-election 54% Time for a change