Over at PAWatercooler Chris Renner points us to a Pittsburgh Tribune-Review article that highlights all of the elected Democratic politicians who will not be present for President Obama's visit in Pittsburgh.
Congressmen Jason Altmire and Tim Murphy have previous engagements. Sen. Bob Casey Jr. and Rep. Mike Doyle are out of town on anniversary trips with their wives. Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato will be campaigning in Philadelphia.
When President Obama and Sen. Arlen Specter land at Pittsburgh International Airport today, Mayor Luke Ravenstahl will receive them by himself.
It's a lonely feeling to look over one's shoulder and not see anyone there. Since Paul Kanjorski has been extolling the President's supposed virtues is he receiving the wrong advice or not taking the advice?
Friday, June 4, 2010
So What Is Really Up In Luzerne County?
For a while I have been trying to tell people that the FBi didn't send agents in from Washington to arrest someone for accepting a $1,500.00 suit. It takes a lot of money and resources to mobilize such an investigative team. In discussions with friends I reminded them that the uninsured/under insured motorists issue has not been resolved or brought to light as of yet.
The Legal Intelligencer wrote this article on May 5, 2009. Its extensive contents seem to point in that direction.
In a potentially explosive document filed Monday, the attorneys for PA Child Care and Western PA Child Care claim that money paid to two former Luzerne County, Pa., judges was not a "kids for cash" arrangement, but was part of a corrupt courthouse system that included fixing civil cases.
The attorneys, who also represent Gregory Zappala and the juvenile detention facilities, allege that former Luzerne County President Judges Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. and Michael T. Conahan Jr. were paid more than $2.6 million for "favorable panels or results in automobile arbitration cases or other civil cases, and not for adjudication and commitment of the delinquents."
The child-care provider defendants in the case deny all knowledge of any alleged kickback scheme.
They claimed the "information relevant to this belief … is in the control of" the U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. They also claimed that they could not conduct thorough discovery while the investigation is ongoing and that "if the outcome of the investigations is as provider defendants expects, all discovery will be unnecessary."
The allegations represent a clear departure from those made by federal authorities in criminal cases.
PA Child Care and Western PA Child Care, though, claim their allegations can be backed by Luzerne County Common Pleas Court judges and attorneys who have received target letters from federal investigators.
It will be interesting to see how this plays out.
The Legal Intelligencer wrote this article on May 5, 2009. Its extensive contents seem to point in that direction.
In a potentially explosive document filed Monday, the attorneys for PA Child Care and Western PA Child Care claim that money paid to two former Luzerne County, Pa., judges was not a "kids for cash" arrangement, but was part of a corrupt courthouse system that included fixing civil cases.
The attorneys, who also represent Gregory Zappala and the juvenile detention facilities, allege that former Luzerne County President Judges Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. and Michael T. Conahan Jr. were paid more than $2.6 million for "favorable panels or results in automobile arbitration cases or other civil cases, and not for adjudication and commitment of the delinquents."
The child-care provider defendants in the case deny all knowledge of any alleged kickback scheme.
They claimed the "information relevant to this belief … is in the control of" the U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. They also claimed that they could not conduct thorough discovery while the investigation is ongoing and that "if the outcome of the investigations is as provider defendants expects, all discovery will be unnecessary."
The allegations represent a clear departure from those made by federal authorities in criminal cases.
PA Child Care and Western PA Child Care, though, claim their allegations can be backed by Luzerne County Common Pleas Court judges and attorneys who have received target letters from federal investigators.
It will be interesting to see how this plays out.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
New Juvenile Issue Hits Luzerne County
Wilkes Barre Attorney James Hayward announce he intends to file lawsuit on behalf of 25 parents against Luzerne County Children and Youth according to Terrie Morgan-Besecker at the Times Leader.
James Hayward of Wilkes-Barre said the lawsuit will be a wide-ranging indictment of Children and Youth that will rival the egregiousness of the allegations contained in the “kids-for-cash” lawsuits involving former county Judge Mark Ciavarella’s placement of juveniles in detention centers.
“It’s just like the ‘kids-for-cash’ case again,” Hayward said. “Everyone knew what Ciavarella was doing and didn’t do anything about it. Well, they all know what Children and Youth is doing and they’re not doing anything about it.”
In this previous article about the juvenile scandal in Luzerne County there is an interesting comment from a reader.
Kim said...
Luzerne County Children and Youth is a joke! My nephew was living with a convicted child sex offender and DID NOTHING TO RESCUE THIS CHILD FROM A PERVERT! More children suffer because of children and youth than are saved
An internet search produced a case from 2005 where Judge Vanaskie ruled on the claims of alleged Fourth Amendment violations in favor of Luzerne County Children and Youth workers. Here is another interesting case heard before Judge Caputo where the rulings were mixed.
For those so inclined here is a partial list of court cases pending involving Luzerne County Children and Youth Services.
James Hayward of Wilkes-Barre said the lawsuit will be a wide-ranging indictment of Children and Youth that will rival the egregiousness of the allegations contained in the “kids-for-cash” lawsuits involving former county Judge Mark Ciavarella’s placement of juveniles in detention centers.
“It’s just like the ‘kids-for-cash’ case again,” Hayward said. “Everyone knew what Ciavarella was doing and didn’t do anything about it. Well, they all know what Children and Youth is doing and they’re not doing anything about it.”
In this previous article about the juvenile scandal in Luzerne County there is an interesting comment from a reader.
Kim said...
Luzerne County Children and Youth is a joke! My nephew was living with a convicted child sex offender and DID NOTHING TO RESCUE THIS CHILD FROM A PERVERT! More children suffer because of children and youth than are saved
An internet search produced a case from 2005 where Judge Vanaskie ruled on the claims of alleged Fourth Amendment violations in favor of Luzerne County Children and Youth workers. Here is another interesting case heard before Judge Caputo where the rulings were mixed.
For those so inclined here is a partial list of court cases pending involving Luzerne County Children and Youth Services.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
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
How Eachus and Rendell Failed Seniors In Pennsylvania
Here's a link to an article where Representative Eachus makes the claim that he is introducing legislation in 2005 to add 500,000 seniors to the PACE and PACENET programs. In that article Eachus massages the seniors and makes them believe he is going to add 500,000 seniors to PACE/PACENET through the inclusion of Medicare Part D legislation.
In 2006 the House passes legislation and Rendell makes the claim Pennsylvania will add 120,000 seniors to the program. Here is a sounbite from the House Democratic Caucus website touting the 120,000 additional seniors claim.
In 2009 Eachus and Rendell proffer to the seniors they wants to add 30,000 more.
In the end the mass inclusion of seniors into the PACE/PACENET progam never happened. According to this chart from the 2008 PACE annual report you will see that enrollment remained steady through 2008.
Three times seniors were promised a benefit that never materialized. While House Majority Leader Eachus and Governor Rendell were enjoying a robust prescription program seniors were forced to pay for their medications in the Medicare Part D donut hole when inclusion in the PACE/PACENET program would have prevented that added expense.
Is this political gamesmanship and should we allow this practice to be politics as usual? Why should we allow politicians to decieve the public?
Something has to change in Harrisburg. We know the legislature is not going to change unless the public is educated and forces them to. If the voters remove the incumbents who are abusing the system it will send a clear message that it is not politics as usual.
Rendell is laughing as Eachus looks on. Maybe the joke will be on them come November. Enough of their "crying wolf".
Does Eachus Really Think We Believe His Self Serving Statements?
From John Cole of the Times-Tribune:
The recently released Bonusgate grand jury report paints a highly unflattering but hardly surprising portrait of our legislature. It’s laughably bloated, expensive, self-serving and aimed primarily at preserving incumbency and protecting party leaders and caucuses.
Legislators have responded to the report in an equally predictable and depressing way.
Brett Marcy, spokesman for House Majority Leader Todd Eachus (D., Luzerne), said of the jury's findings: "It seems to be based largely on perceptions of the past and incorrect assumptions about the legislative process, rather than an accurate reflection of today's legislative operations."
Eachus is for Eachus not for Each Of Us! Outta Touch, Outta Office is the rally cry heard across his district.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
So What Is Barack Obama's Excuse For BP Oil Spill?
Kanye West said "George Bush doesn't about black people" in response to Hurricane Katrina and Louisiana. Where is the outrage for Barack Obama's lack of attention in the BP Oil Spill?
Bush's response.
It's easy to go to the basement and call someone a racist or bigot. Rarely does someone truly earn that title in the manner George Wallace did.
I draw the line in the dust and toss the gauntlet before the feet of tyranny . . . and I say . . . segregation today . . . segregation tomorrow . . . segregation forever.
Is there something lost in today's immigration battle where people call it racism and bigotry when people in office want to enforce the immigration rules? Nowhere in today's debate is the topic of segregation even mentioned.
Is The Caucus System Responsible For Our State Deficits?
The Grand Jury hearing the Bonusgate allegations as well as the misuse of taxpayer monies issued a scathing report of the party caucus system in Harrisburg as highlighted in this report from Robert Swift. In Karl Rove's book, Courage and Consequence, he writes "We saw that politics is not about power or status, but about ideas and ideals. To view it as about power was to treat it as a game, cynical and ultimately meaningless and cruel. But to understand that it was about great principles was to understand that politics could be hopeful and important exercise at the center of our democratic experience."
In the Grand Jury report anaymous members leveled their harshest criticism in a 34-page report against the legislative caucuses, which they said exist "in the shadows of the law, as the years go by eating up more and more taxpayer resources with little or no tangible benefit to the taxpayers of Pennsylvania."
While many, including lawmakers themselves, have proposed reforms during the five years since the controversial legislative pay raise, the caucus system hasn't come under much scrutiny until now.
The grand jury report cites examples of duplication of activities in the House Democratic and Republican caucus printing shops and information technology departments and overstaffing as problems, but has relatively little to say about the respective Senate caucuses. This omission occurs despite repeated statements by state Attorney General Tom that his Bonusgate investigation is looking at the illegal use of taxpayer dollars for political activities in both chambers.
Mr. Rove's words resonate loud and clear with what is wrong with the caucus system in Harrisburg. Both parties clearly view it as about power, not principles. Swift writes "From the day a new lawmaker is elected to office, the caucus system is a fixture. Members attend caucus orientation sessions before they take office, are assigned seats on the floor with other caucus members and meet every session day in closed-door caucuses to hash out policy issues."
As a result of that failed and flawed system we are faced with a $1.2 billion deficit in Pennsylvania this year and its not over.
The bad fiscal news comes with a month remaining before the June 30 deadline for enacting the fiscal 2010-11 state budget. The House and Senate return to session Monday to start a prolonged period in session leading up to the deadline.
A month ago, key lawmakers said Pennsylvania was headed to a revenue gap above $1 billion.
Lawmakers like House Majority Leader Todd Eachus wanted to make us believe he would be able to deliver a budget on time for next year.
"We are projecting a $500,000 shortfall in the 2010-11 budget," Eachus said to a Greater Hazleton Chamber of Commerce Red Carpet Breakfast audience at Capriotti's in Tresckow. "There is an $800,000 medical assistance payment due from the federal government. If that is paid, we will be within range of our two-year budget planning process." Mr. Eachus you are not within your projections and the caucus system is partly to blame.
As the Grand Jury stated The jury members find the roots of the illegal campaign activity that happened at least through 2006 in the patronage hiring done by the caucuses. Many of the legislative staffers were hired regardless of qualification due to the intercession of a lawmaker, they suggested. Their positions are secure even if they cannot do their jobs adequately, so additional staffers have to be hired.
"That process, over time, has contributed to the existence of hundreds of legislative employees who, although paid by the taxpayers to do legislative work, do campaign work on state time or with state resources, or other non-legislative work," the jurors wrote.
The real problem are the career legislators in Harrisburg. They view their position as their primary job. One does not go to college to become a legislator. There is no degree awarded to be a legislator. Their viewpoint is causing them to work the system for themselves. Their per diems, their pay raises, their retirement, every benefit they bestow upon themselves violates every principle of public trust.
Will the caucuses do the right thing? If they forget about the power and winning elections they will truly understand politics. Until then the pubic will view them as cynical and ultimately meaningless and cruel.
In the Grand Jury report anaymous members leveled their harshest criticism in a 34-page report against the legislative caucuses, which they said exist "in the shadows of the law, as the years go by eating up more and more taxpayer resources with little or no tangible benefit to the taxpayers of Pennsylvania."
While many, including lawmakers themselves, have proposed reforms during the five years since the controversial legislative pay raise, the caucus system hasn't come under much scrutiny until now.
The grand jury report cites examples of duplication of activities in the House Democratic and Republican caucus printing shops and information technology departments and overstaffing as problems, but has relatively little to say about the respective Senate caucuses. This omission occurs despite repeated statements by state Attorney General Tom that his Bonusgate investigation is looking at the illegal use of taxpayer dollars for political activities in both chambers.
Mr. Rove's words resonate loud and clear with what is wrong with the caucus system in Harrisburg. Both parties clearly view it as about power, not principles. Swift writes "From the day a new lawmaker is elected to office, the caucus system is a fixture. Members attend caucus orientation sessions before they take office, are assigned seats on the floor with other caucus members and meet every session day in closed-door caucuses to hash out policy issues."
As a result of that failed and flawed system we are faced with a $1.2 billion deficit in Pennsylvania this year and its not over.
The bad fiscal news comes with a month remaining before the June 30 deadline for enacting the fiscal 2010-11 state budget. The House and Senate return to session Monday to start a prolonged period in session leading up to the deadline.
A month ago, key lawmakers said Pennsylvania was headed to a revenue gap above $1 billion.
Lawmakers like House Majority Leader Todd Eachus wanted to make us believe he would be able to deliver a budget on time for next year.
"We are projecting a $500,000 shortfall in the 2010-11 budget," Eachus said to a Greater Hazleton Chamber of Commerce Red Carpet Breakfast audience at Capriotti's in Tresckow. "There is an $800,000 medical assistance payment due from the federal government. If that is paid, we will be within range of our two-year budget planning process." Mr. Eachus you are not within your projections and the caucus system is partly to blame.
As the Grand Jury stated The jury members find the roots of the illegal campaign activity that happened at least through 2006 in the patronage hiring done by the caucuses. Many of the legislative staffers were hired regardless of qualification due to the intercession of a lawmaker, they suggested. Their positions are secure even if they cannot do their jobs adequately, so additional staffers have to be hired.
"That process, over time, has contributed to the existence of hundreds of legislative employees who, although paid by the taxpayers to do legislative work, do campaign work on state time or with state resources, or other non-legislative work," the jurors wrote.
The real problem are the career legislators in Harrisburg. They view their position as their primary job. One does not go to college to become a legislator. There is no degree awarded to be a legislator. Their viewpoint is causing them to work the system for themselves. Their per diems, their pay raises, their retirement, every benefit they bestow upon themselves violates every principle of public trust.
Will the caucuses do the right thing? If they forget about the power and winning elections they will truly understand politics. Until then the pubic will view them as cynical and ultimately meaningless and cruel.
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