There's A Catch- Another Obama Gimmick

Democrats Disconnected From Reality On Jobs

Healthcare Law Clears House Hurdle On Repeal

Honoring a campaign pledge the Republican controlled Congress wasted no time in repealing the outrageous healthcare bill railroaded through Congress by the Democrats last year.

I listened to Congressmen/women speak yesterday for and against the bill. One central theme emerged from the opposition. The Democrats stated the bill would create jobs. They failed to mention it would be 16,000 IRS agent jobs. More government jobs means more taxation, plain and simple.

Obama And Pelosi Sending More Jobs Overseas

In an interview with Diane Sawyer soon-to-be former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she was proud about the work she did on healthcare reform.

Allies and critics say Pelosi's legacy will be as much about the position she held as the sweeping agenda that she pursue.

From the Capitol, she led her party's efforts to overhaul the health care system, increase the minimum wage, reform the regulation of Wall Street and stimulate the economy. At times Pelosi pushed through intense Republican opposition.

Asked to assess her tenure, Pelosi quickly answered, "Job well done."

As part of the stimulus bill the Democrats pushed for electronic medical records. Americans were warned about the consequences of such a move.


The U.S. Senate on Tuesday approved an $838 billion "stimulus" bill by a 61-37 vote, capping more than a week of political sparring between critics of the measure and President Obama, who claimed during a press conference that an "economic emergency" made it necessary.

What didn't come up during the president's first press conference was how one section of the convoluted legislation--it's approximately 800 pages total--is intended to radically reshape the nation's medical system by having the government establish computerized medical records that would follow each American from birth to death.

Billions will be handed to companies creating these databases. Billions will be handed to universities to incorporate patient databases "into the initial and ongoing training of health professionals." There's a mention of future "smart card functionality."

Yet nowhere in this 140-page portion of the legislation does the government anticipate that some Americans may not want their medical histories electronically stored, shared, and searchable. Although a single paragraph promises that data-sharing will "be voluntary," there's no obvious way to opt out.

"Without those protections, Americans' electronic health records could be shared--without their consent--with over 600,000 covered entities through the forthcoming nationally linked electronic health records network," said Sue Blevins, president of the Institute for Health Freedom, a nonprofit group that advocates health care privacy.

The Wall Street Journal published an article today showing that Americans' fears may come true.

Indian technology companies are eyeing a coming wave of U.S. spending to digitize health-care records. But sensitivity over outsourcing and resistance by American hospitals to sending medical information overseas could thwart efforts to win big contracts.

The U.S. government next year will begin to dole out billions of dollars to health-care providers who adopt electronic medical records. Doctors also face a federal mandate to upgrade software as the U.S. switches to a new system of insurance billing codes.

For Indian companies with experience in software outsourcing, the flurry of health-related tech spending in the U.S. is "like another Y2K opportunity," says Pradep Nair, head of the health-care practice at New Delhi's HCL Technologies Ltd., referring to the turn-of-the-millennium computer glitch that provided work for Indian tech firms.

Some health-care providers are reluctant to send some patient information overseas, however. "As soon as it leaves the confines of the U.S., it's not subject to the same rigorous laws as we are," says George Conklin, chief information officer of Christus Health, an Irving, Texas, operator of more than 40 hospitals in six states. He says he has sent offshore only management of a small number of systems that strip out personal information, such as one that hospital staffers can use to identify departmental trends.

The article goes on to state how tough it is for Indian firms to attract the work but with $50 billion at stake you know they aren't going away anytime soon.

Paul Kanjorski And Chris Carney- Where Are The Jobs?

Small Busniess Owner- Healthcare Law Prevents Expansion

Kanjorski Demolished 11th District Chances With Voting Record

In today's Wall Street Journal the following Opinion on "Obamacare and the Election" is writtend by its editorial staff. Republicans should heed the advice.

Republicans have made intellectual progress on health care since the 1990s, but it remains outside their political comfort zone and certain (or shall we say uncertain) Members still believe the issue is a loser. Yet ObamaCare has scrambled everything.

For one, the plan's march to the sea is only beginning and the trail of destruction will grow. The last six months have seen 2011 premium increases as high as 9% due to ObamaCare; multibillion-dollar corporate writedowns by Verizon, AT&T, Caterpillar and others; disruption in the insurance markets leading to the erasure of child-only policies and other types of specialty coverage as shown in the McDonald's imbroglio; the Administration beginning to impose price controls on premiums; insurers withdrawing private options from Medicare Advantage; and Democratic protection of a 1099 tax reporting mandate that will slam small businesses.

Republicans should be repeating all of these tangible harms in a litany, while predicting the damage to come. Every wonk in Washington knows this bill creates a new entitlement that will transfer the costs of covering the uninsured to the government but do nothing to control underlying health costs. Democrats will embrace more restrictions on care of the kind we are already seeing in Massachusetts since Mitt Romney's ObamaCare dress rehearsal.

Yesterday the Standard Speaker published this Opinion about the stimulus package, Stimulus money being spent just as advertised. Okay if they think so. Look at this article, Spending stimulus money is key challenge in Pa., that appeared in the Delaware County Daily Times.

According to state officials, recipients of the roughly $29 billion doled out for Pennsylvania stimulus projects were given one simple, five-letter word of instruction: S-P-E-N-D.

"There has been a tremendous focus on spending this money quickly in order to spur the economy quickly," said Mary Rucci, director of citizens' awareness at the Pennsylvania Stimulus Accountability Office in Harrisburg.

"There is a big focus on spending rapidly and I think in many areas it's taken place and it's been a change for state government," she said. "There was a tremendous effort across the board to identify shovel-ready projects and to accelerate processes however possible to get the funds spent."

With more than $10.5 billion spent so far, Rucci said the state looked on track to spend its share of the $787 billion stimulus package by 2014.

They just don't get it. People need jobs and they need them NOW, not in 2014.

So what does the Pennsylvania legislature do about it. Pa. House adjourns for elections, leaving policy items unsettled

HARRISBURG - With the bang of a gavel Wednesday, the state House recessed so members could return to their districts to run for reelection.

But the fate of a number of big-ticket policy items remains up in the air, among them a tax on extraction of natural gas from the Marcellus Shale. Other bills appear destined for legislative burial, including one that would crack down on distracted driving.

Mr. Eachus and Company is worried about re-election and their jobs, not ours. There isn't one word mentioned about job creation. Unbelievable.

JOBS AND HEALTHCARE. If I was running as a Republican I would utter those words over and over and over til the end of the campaign.

Kanjorski And Carney Send Jobs Overseas

In his desperate attack on Lou Barletta Congressman Paul Kanjorski claims that Barletta favors tax breaks for companies sending jobs overseas. Hold one, I am laughing so hard I need to get up off the floor. Let's not leave Chris Carney off the hook either.

Barack Obama has been sending stimulus money to China. Even his own party people are begging him to stop.

"Today, we are demanding the Obama administration suspend this program immediately," said Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

The program has already spent $2 billion, funding enough projects to power 2.4 million homes. Any wind farm created in the U.S. is eligible for stimulus money to put up wind turbines, regardless of where those massive structures are made. Each turbine costs about $3 million, and reaches 40 stories into the sky.

An investigation by ABC News and the Investigative Reporting Workshop found that 79 percent of the program's money has gone to foreign companies, money that Schumer said was "federal tax dollars, the stimulus, which was sold as jobs in America."

The senators are especially alarmed about a project highlighted by ABC News in West Texas that uses turbines manufactured in China. The Texas wind farm is eligible for up to $450 million in stimulus funds.

The frustrated senators are concerned, though, that some of the money is also paying for manufacturing jobs in China, and they are pushing a bill requiring that stimulus projects create jobs in the United States. They want the wind energy program stopped before the Chinese turbine manufacturers can collect any money.

Obama's actions were met with such criticism that "Green" jobs are no longer on his agenda.

Noticeably absent from President Obama's latest economic-stimulus package are any further attempts to create jobs through "green" energy projects, reflecting a year in which the administration's original, loudly trumpeted efforts proved largely unfruitful.

The long delays typical with environmentally friendly projects - combined with reports of green stimulus funds being used to create jobs in China and other countries, rather than in the U.S. - appear to have killed the administration's appetite for pushing green projects as an economic cure.

The Department of Energy estimated that 82,000 jobs have been created and has acknowledged that as much as 80 percent of some green programs, including $2.3 billion of manufacturing tax credits, went to foreign firms that employed workers primarily in countries including China, South Korea and Spain, rather than in the United States.

Peter Morici, a business professor at the University of Maryland, said much of the green stimulus funding was "squandered."

Squandered??? And Paul Kanjorski wants to attack Barletta? Paul Kanjorski and Chris Carney voted for the stimulus bill that sent jobs overseas. Nuff said.

Eachus's Office Space Doesn't Support Local Business

If you ride through downtown Hazleton you will notice the legislative and campaign offices of Todd Eachus in the same building. You will also see that Paul Kanjorski shares a campaign office with Eachus even though he continually bashes Hazleton which in essence attacks the morale of its residents. If you look closely at the picture you will see that no one is taking care of Kanjorski's signs. They are laying down out of view. Guess Kanjorski should take care of his own business before he slams others.

With the Kanjorski bashing one has to wonder why he located his campaign office in Hazleton. But this post is about Todd Eachus.

Eachus's legislative office used to be in the Broad Street Exchange located on the corner of Laurel and Broad Streets pictured below. The Broad Street Exchange was owned by the LOCAL non-profit entity, ARCH, until recently when it was turned over to Luzerne County.

He moved his legislative one block east into a building owned by Wills Development where one of the principals, William Joyce, is a financial supporter of his campaigns. Contract Number HDC01030309 has a term of February 03, 2009 to November 30, 2010 in the amount of $35,280.00. Williams Joyce is listed as a prinicipal in Wills Development Company, business entity 2939614, according to records on file at the Corporation Bureau of Pennsylvania. The address of the corporation is 9 North Main Street, Pittston, Pa. not located in Eachus's district.

Not only did Mr. Eachus take care of one of his donors, who is not a registered voter in his district, he leases his office equipment from BMC Desks, Etc., Contract Number HDC01040809, business entity 2893275. Its corporate offices are located at 320 East Gibson Street, Scranton, Pa. again NOT part of his district.

Out of all of the cities, towns, boroughs, and townships in Mr. Eachus's district he couldn't find one local business person to support with his rent or office equipment rental. If that isn't political patronage, nothing is.

Eachus's political flyers placate the voters by saying he supports jobs in our area. He supports one thing, his own agenda for his own benefit. Ask 120,000 seniors who don't have the PACE benefit he promised them.

Obama Supports Kanjorski- There Go Our Jobs

Unemployment Locally By Gary Visgaitis, Times Leader

The Times Leader is reporting that Barack Obama is urging voters to support Paul Kanjorski in the 11th district.

“In just 20 months, this movement has accomplished a tremendous amount,” Obama wrote in an e-mail. “But we couldn’t have done it without the Democrats in Congress who were willing to take a stand and fight for policies that would move America forward.

Gort put up a post containing Kanjorski's press release about the Obama support.

Let's explore how Obama and Kanjorski moved America forward but first let's take a look back. Here are some unemployment charts that distinguish the pre-Barack Obama presidencies from his own. Everyone complains about George Bush. This chart shows what happened to unemployment during his last term.

Let's take a look at the impact when Republican majorities and Democratic majorities have control.

Now let's look at a graph that depicts what happened to unemployment when Barack Obama tried to fool the American public that "We are beginning to turn the corner, the worst is over".

Obama and Kanjorski said they were going to fix America. How did they do?

Wall Street West-Kanjorski Brainchild Died And Slips Into Obscurity

There was much excitement when Paul Kanjorski announced he was going to "potentially" bring 1,000 jobs to our area via bombing reclaimed mine- scared land. Instead of mines scarring the land it would now be almost 500 detonations per year. People quickly realized that it is election time and just like the FBI playbook cited by Hans Gruber in the movie "Diehard" Mitchell and Kanjorski were up to their same old "Let's Save The Gipper" tactics.

Yesterday, David Pierce over at the Pocono Record, reported on the death of one of Kanjorski's former "Let's Save The Gipper" tactics, Wall Street West. In this press release from Kanjorski's office in 2006 he promotes a talk he had about Wall Street West at a National Conference on Business Continuity.

Scranton, Pa. - Congressman Paul E. Kanjorski (PA-11) today presented the Wall Street West initiative to 1,500 attendees at the national Business Continuity Conference of the Securities Industry Association in Manhattan. Wall Street West is a concept that grew out of the realization that major financial services firms need secondary facilities in the wake of a catastrophe like September 11.

The Penn Regional Business Center, a division of LTS Builders in Monroe County, recently announced plans to create a financial district in northeastern Pennsylvania that would be fully compliant with federal recommendations for business continuity, and is set to break ground in June 2007.

"Wall Street West is a concept that we have been working on diligently since September 11. Northeastern Pennsylvania is suitably located for backup facilities because it is less than 125 miles from Manhattan, and is located in a different watershed and separate electrical grid. I am pleased that so many local and state officials, as well as community and business leaders in our region, have realized the benefits of Wall Street West. Our area is fortunate to have businessmen like Larry Simon, who took the seed of our vision and planted it with his investment in the Poconos," Congressman Kanjorski said.

Congressman Kanjorski earlier this month met with Simon, elected officials and financial services industry representatives to discuss the establishment of reliable backup facilities in Northeastern Pennsylvania.

Simon, chairman of the board and CEO of PRBC, hosted a reception at the SIA conference.

But the press release gets better.

In August 2003, Congressman Kanjorski addressed the SIA Business Continuity Task Force, and several firms expressed interest in Wall Street West. Governor Ed Rendell successfully applied for a $15 million Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development (WIRED) grant for training and education from the U.S. Department of Labor. Additionally, Gov. Rendell recently pledged $30 million to Penn Regional Business Center for low-interest grants and loans.

Taxpayers threw $45 million at this project and it ended up dying a slow death. And that is not the end of the story.

Look at this article that appeared in the Pocono Record back in 2006 by Micahel Sadowski. Again the headlines are from the "Let's Save The Gipper" playbook. $125M PROJECT BRINGING 1,300 HIGH-END JOBS WITH AVERAGE SALARY OF $50,000- 'Wall Street West' in the works

A shovel hasn't even touched dirt yet for construction of the first building, but developer Larry T. Simon already envisions a second building — or more.

That's how confident he is that his pet project, the $125 million, 300,000-square-foot Penn Regional Business Center, will be a success, establishing back-up data centers for financial companies based in New York City.

The numbers being cited for this undertaking — the first "Wall Street West"-designed building in the region — are staggering. At least 1,300 high-end jobs would be created, with an average salary around $50,000, according to those supporting the project. Proponents also say the project, which will be built on 14.6 acres of land, could lead to more than $400 million a year in local revenue.

The state could benefit to the tune of $3.5 to $4 million in income taxes per year, which is part of the reason it has committed about $30 million in grants to the project's construction.

Click on the link in that article to read about the infamous fiber optic network from Manhattan to the Poconos that never saw the light of day. The article is from June 8, 2007.

POCONO MANOR — The key element of the Wall Street West project is in place.

State and federal officials announced that Level 3 Communications of Bloomfield, Colo., will be constructing the $24-million fiber-optic network allowing the Wall Street West idea to become a reality.

Construction will begin on the 600-mile fiber-optic line within the next 12 months and be completed 12 months later, according to Jeffrey Allen, vice president of management for Level 3 Communications.

There are more links in this article.

Related Stories

East Stroudsburg group wins Wall Street West grant

With fiber-optic network coming, local developer can begin building

Scranton lands first Wall Street West jobs

Business center planned for Independence Road

Wall St. West developer gives pitch to NYC firms

'Wall Street West' in the works

Two Poconos projects promise jobs

Back to the Pierce's article on the closing of Wall Street West.

In its closing press release, WSW officials pointed to an organization formed in 2009 — the Pennsylvania-based National Center for Organizational Continuity — as a natural successor to Wall Street West for regional job-skills training and development.

"The National Center for Organizational Continuity is an interdisciplinary training and research collaborative," states the NCOC website. "It is dedicated to ensuring the nation's workforce obtains and maintains the high demand skills required to ensure both public and private sector resiliency in the event of a disruption of any scale or type."

The sole phone number listed on the Organizational Continuity website this week was disconnected. E-mails to a web address listed on the site went unanswered.

About all those promised jobs..well...let's quote Martin Luther King "I had a dream" then I woke up to reality. A politician like Paul Kanjorski will say anything and do anything to keep getting elected including blowing tens of millions of our hard earned dollars on Tomfoolery. To jerk around with the emotions of the unemployed or those aspiring to stay in our area borders on villain type behavior like Hans Gruber.








.

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.”.

Mr. Kanjorski Where's The Jobs?

A look on Recovery.gov, the U.S. government’s official website, that provides America and the world easy access to data related to Recovery Act spending provides some interesting information about the results for the 10th and 11th Congressional districts so far.

If you look at this chart you will see that the reported jobs for the 1st quarter of this year show that the 10th Congressional district rated 9th while the 11th Congressional district ranked 15th. So much for Paul Kanjorski's claims of seniority, not that either district did so well. 176 jobs vs 131 jobs doesn't sound like it commands a resounding applause.

When you compare what was spent to get those jobs as referenced in this chart you will see that the 11th Congressional district outspent the 10th Congressional district by $329 million to $296 million.
Basically $33 milllion more was spent to get 45 less jobs. Why isn't Paul Kanjorski razing cane about that fact? Is he too consumed patting himself on the back over financial reform that turned out to be a joke?

The real joke is on his constituents. In 2009 he proclaimed that the stimulus bill would create/save 7,700 jobs in his district.

The $787 billion economic stimulus package signed Tuesday by President Barack Obama will save or create 7,700 jobs in the 11th Congressional District, said U.S. Rep Paul Kanjorski, D-11.

Kanjorski voted for the final version of the bill last week after voting against an earlier House version. His district includes Monroe County and all or parts of Luzerne, Lackawanna, Carbon and Columbia counties.

"While the final recovery bill is not perfect, nor does it address all my concerns, I strongly believe we must take quick action to help Americans who are struggling and help spur job creation," Kanjorski said in a statement.

It's pure politics when Ed Mitchell and Paul Kanjorski want to talk about the fictitious unemployment figure for Hazleton against Lou Barletta. The official from the state who are in charge of those figures more than once stated they were misleading and should not be relied on from a statistical sense. Sholly said the figure is a little misleading: It should be no surprise that neither Mitchell nor Kanjorski would want to be honest about that fact.

What is fact is that unemployment continues to rise in Northeastern Pennsylvania despite the expenditure of over $600 million dollars? Kanjo, why don't you give Lou Barletta $600 million and see how many jobs would be created? What's that? You wouldn't give him a dime. He already knows that by your strangulation with the Eachus as your accomplice of the money flow to the City.

Unemployment In NEPA UP TO 10.3%

The Times-Tribune published the latest unemployment figures for NEPA today.
With all the stimulus money that has been spent unemployment increased by three tenths of one percent to an 18 year high of 10.3%. Yet Congressman Paul Kanjorski states this is the "best economy of all mankind". He won his first term to Congress by convincing voters Frank Harrison was out of touch with his district. One would have believed Kanjo learned an important political lesson that year.

Over at my buddy Gort's blogspot he critques Chris Carney's press release about investigating the BP Gulf Spill mess.

I'm sure his subcommittee has jurisdiction on this but I think there are about a dozen Congressional Committees already investigating the spill.

There is an environmental disaster in the making in Pennsylvania that Carney hasn't said much about that has already seen his neighbors in Dimock living with water buffaloes because there wells have been poisoned.

Carney's release is a classic political tactic of wagging the dog to divert voter attention away from the real problems he and his cohorts have failed to address with billions upon billions of dollars, namely permanent job creation.

Senator Dominic Pileggi was right on point about the economic impact that loss of the stimulus money will have on Pennsylvania. He predicts a $4 billion to $5 billion dollar deficit in the state budget. Brad Bumsted called the stimulus money "crack cocaine" for the state governments.

Look at this comment by Ed Rendell. "Ladies and gentleman, the stimulus program is working and working big-time in Pennsylvania," Rendell said at a news conference last week. It seems the Democratic Party as witnessed by Rendell and Kanjorski's comments has an agenda to keep telling us how rosy the picture is despite the bad economic data. But he didn't fool Bumsted.

And Rendell says the poor public has been misled. A recent poll showing 64 percent of Americans oppose the stimulus bill is just a shame, Rendell adds, and it's not the voters' fault. For once you are right, Ed. It's Nancy Pelosi, Chris Carney, Paul Kanjorski, Harry Reid, and Barack Obama who head the all star cast of the "Great Stimulus Robbery" of the American public. Only the misleading roles also include you.

Chris, forget the well in the Gulf. How about getting NEPA out of the well of economic despair and create more jobs. Kanjo, isn't it time you quit taking the limousine rides paid for by campaign money and walk the streets with your constituents. Ed Rendell, please ride off into the Comcast sunset and leave the important decisions to the next governor.

The budget was $22 billion when Rendell took the reins and it has climbed to $28 billion. Eachus doesn't get that the state needs to go on a diet so maybe its time to trim the fat by rejecting those for re-election. That's a diet we all could stay on.

Paul Kanjorski Claiming Economy The Best Of All Mankind

IS HE FOR REAL???? Here is today's newspaper headlines.

JOBLESS RATES HITS DOUBLE DIGITS...And Paul Kanjorski claims
"We are helluva alot better off as a country and as an economy than we have ever been in the history of mankind"  His words clearly demonstrate that he is out of touch with what is going on in his district.

When he won his election to Congress in 1984 he made the same claim about Congressman Frank Harrision whom he defeated. It was time to retire Harrision and now it is time to retire Kanjorski. In this document from Ed Mitchell's website Roderick Random's column from 2006 recalls the race.

Back then, 1984, the 11th Congressional District’s heart was Luzerne County and didn’t include any of Lackawanna County. So the story of how Mr. Kanjorski took out a freshman congressman and Democratic rising star named Frank Harrison is worth re-telling here.

It was the days of giardiasis, the flu-like disease instigated by a tiny cyst.

As thousands boiled water to kill cysts in it, Mr. Harrison took “junkets” to Costa Rica and other exotic places, Mr. Mitchell’s research found. Mr. Harrison’s spokesman repeatedly made the point that things were well in hand here, but Mr. Mitchell fashioned a television commercial that altered local political history. It portrayed Mr. Harrison as having a non-chalant attitude about the cysts, coupling video of jets landing in tropical locales, narration pointing up the congressman’s inaction and a final scene with a kettle shooting steam on a stove.

“It’s enough to make you boil,” a narrator said as the commercial ended.

The commercial is a big part of why Mr. Kanjorski is a congressman today. When he drove up Wednesday morning from Washington, it was a sign he remembered the political lesson he inflicted on Mr. Harrison.

Ed, look what my research is finding. The mistake your client, Paul Kanjorski, is making lies in the fact that inflicting a political lesson is one thing...learning from the infliction is another. You're Outta Touch, Paul

The Economic Mess In Pictures- Tony Phyrillas

Tony Phyrillas highlights a chart by Jake Towne for Congress that shows dramatically what Nancy Pelosi and Paul Kanjorski created with their lack of stimulus package and the TARP bailout. It mirrors the information I supplied in an earlier post today.

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.

Paul Kanjorski- Get Out of Washington Literally

In an interview on CNBC April 5, 2010 Paul Kanjorski makes the claim that he agrees with President Barack Obama "that we probably turned the corner, it hasn't been spectacular but we are on our way to growth". In the chart above from the Times-Tribune the first three counties listed are in Kanjorski's district but by his comments one wouldn't know it.



Mr. Kanjorski should get out of Washington literally and read what the newspapers in his district are saying about economic recovery. In today's Times Tribune James Haggerty writes a column about the increasing bankruptcies in Northeastern Pennsylvania among contractors.

Rising bankruptcy filings among contractors reflect the continuing slump in the area construction industry.

Three construction companies have filed for protection since February in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.

"The volume of business dropped very sharply through 2009," said Kenneth Simonson, chief economist for the Associated General Contractors of America, a trade group based in Arlington, Va. "I don't expect an upturn in private residential construction until 2011. I would not be surprised if you hear about a lot more bankruptcies."

Contractors' difficulties surfaced among the 2,789 first-quarter bankruptcy filings in the 33-county court district. The total represents a 10.7 percent increase in cases over the January-to-March period of 2009.

Poverty Rose In Pennsylvania and More Job Losses In February

In response to a post praising Phyllis Mundy SOP wants to highlight two articles over the last few days that speak otherwise. The Pennsylvania Independent writes a post that 16,000 jobs were lost in Pennsylvania for the month of February.

"This is an example of how Pennsylvania is always late into a recession and slow to come out of it," said Matt Brouillette, president and CEO of the Commonwealth Foundation, a Harrisburg-based free market think tank. "If Gov. Rendell's economic policies were working and the stimulus money was doing its job, we wouldn't be seeing these kinds of job losses."

The Citizen's Voice ran an article about the increase in poverty in Pennsylvania on March 26, 2010.

About 14 percent of Luzerne County residents were living in poverty in 2008, up from about 11 percent in 2000, according to the Census Bureau. A family of four was considered impoverished in 2008 if their income fell below $22,025, according to U.S. Census Bureau guidelines.

The Citizen's Voice story described the jobs summit last Thursday at the Luzerne County Community College.

State Reps. Todd A. Eachus, Phyllis Mundy, Eddie Day Pashinski, Jim Wasacz and John Yudichak, who represent the Luzerne County House Delegation, attended the jobs summit. With the unemployment rate in Northeastern Pennsylvania hovering just below 10 percent, they all echoed concerns about residents struggling to find jobs.

Mundy said they will take the issues raised at the summit to Harrisburg and will work together to find solutions for job creation, get the unemployed back to work and improve the local economy. Pashinski called the event a "shining example of civility."

"Collaboration is so critical," Pashinski said. "The country needs all of us working together across party lines. It's a critical time in the history of mankind. We are in a very dangerous time."

They had the federal government pump millions into Pennsylvania and we are still losing jobs. According to this data 12,000+ jobs were created by the stimulus yet will still lost 16,000 jobs. But they are going back to Harrisburg to see what they can do???

And what about that healthcare that won Mundy some praise from a local blogger. Back in 2007 Todd Eachus, then chairman of the House Policy Committee issued this press release concerning the health crisis in Pennsylvania.

“Right now there are nearly 800,000 people without health coverage, and millions more struggling with access to quality, affordable health care,” Eachus said.

Speed the tape up to today and one will see that figure has risen to 1.3 million.

Now that is one helluva job Eachus and Mundy are doing in Harrisburg for health coverage and jobs creation. SOP won't sell you a bridge but there was this fantasy cargo airport that was going to bring in hundreds of thousands of jobs.