Kanjorski And Obamacare Force Sale of NEPA Hospital

This report from WNEP-TV16 details the sale of an almost century old Catholic hospital system due in part to the provisions found in the Obamacare healthcare reform legislation supported by Paul Kanjorski.

The Sisters of Mercy first opened Mercy Hospital in Scranton in 1917. Now the facility and all other Mercy locations in the area are up for sale.

"There is always sadness and mourning when you think of letting go of anything but the Sisters of Mercy are strongly supportive of this decision because we do understand the realities of health care and we do think it's best for the community," said Sister Marie Parker of Mercy Health Partners.

She and Mercy Health Partners CEO Kevin Cook said they are already in talks with potential buyers.

They said Mercy isn't struggling but, they added, now is the time to make a sale.

"We are in position of strength and it's always better to make a move for the future from that position," Sister Marie Parke added.

"Actually we're doing well. We're ahead of budget for the year. It's more that when we look out over the landscape of health care over the next five years and the needs of these facilities, the needs of this community, we understand a different level of investment will be needed than what we can do on our own," Cook said.

They said much of that required investment is the result of the health care reform bill passed in Washington.

The CEO said it means the need for more spending and less federal reimbursements.

"Health care reform is absolutely playing a role. Was it the precipitating factor in this decision? No, but was it a factor in our planning over the next five years? Absolutely," Cook added.

PA-11 Moved To Leans Republican

The Rothenberg Political Report has changed the rating of Pennsylvania's 11th Congressional District race to "Leans Republican". This race is the third face-off between Lou Barletta and Paul Kanjorski. Cook's Political Report has the race as a Toss Up. For all the seniority touted by Paul Kanjorski he is in the toughest fight of his congressional political career.

Philadelphia Editorial Questions Eachus Credibility On Marchelus Shale

This opinion column written by John Baer in the Philadelphia Daily News questions House Majority Leader Todd Eachus and sidekick Rep. Dwight Evans credibility on really wanting to pass a sincere and proper tax on Marcellus Shale. He labels them the "Addams family of Pennsylvania politics" calling them dysfunctional.


House Dems' take on shale tax is creepy and kooky
By John Baer
Philadelphia Daily News

Daily News Political Columnist



STATE HOUSE Democrats - the Addams Family of Pennsylvania politics - are known for putting the D in dysfunction, and they're at it again.

The state faces fiscal horrors from underfunded pensions, loss of federal stimulus money, an unemployment-compensation-fund bust and more.

But House-controlling D's just spooked efforts to tax natural gas from Marcellus Shale and reap hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue.

Oh, they passed a tax bill, with the help of a dozen southeast (where there is no shale) Republicans, including Philly Rep. Dennis O'Brien.

And they needed GOPers. Ten Democrats from western counties (where there's plenty of shale) voted "no." The measure passed, 104-94.

But Democratic leaders, especially Luzerne County Rep. Todd Eachus and Philly Rep. Dwight Evans, were driving the hearse.

The result, what they call "a starting point," could be buried in just a few finger-snaps. Allow me to count the ways.

First, House D's took Gov. Rendell's initial request for a tax rate of 5 percent and basically doubled it to almost 10 percent. Republican Senate President Joe Scarnati immediately labeled the rate "ridiculous."

Why would leaders of one chamber pass a measure on the highest-profile issue in the state, as the legislative calendar runs down, that leaders in the other chamber call inane?

Well, either they don't really want the tax or they have all the communication skills of the Addams' Cousin Itt.

Second, because revenue bills by law must start in the House, waiting to act until last Wednesday blew an agreed-to Oct. 1 deadline promised during last summer's budget deal.

But, hey, credibility in the House is like a pulse on a corpse - pretty rare.

Third, the legislative vehicle used, a county-code bill dealing with bonding/insurance requirements for local officials, appears to violate the state Constitution.

Separate sections of Article III say that no bill shall be passed that's altered "to change its original purpose," no bill shall be passed "containing more than one subject" and all revenue-raising bills "shall originate in the House."

What the House passed was a Senate bill (SB 1155) with an altered purpose and more than one subject. Three for three.

GOP Senate legal counsel Drew Crompton says it's "likely unconstitutional."

Fourth, there might be attempted humor here. The bill's listed sponsor is Sen. John Eichelberger, R-Altoona, arguably the Senate's most conservative member and the last person likely to vote for this or any tax.

"I don't see any humor in it; they might," Eichelberger tells me. "It's clearly unconstitutional. . . . I'm not going to support the tax, period."

What now?

Senators say they'll want a compromise but insist on a much lower tax rate. Their schedule calls for three more days in the current two-year session: Oct. 12, 13 and 14.

Evans says "we don't believe" that the bill is unconstitutional (well, then), that Dems are "open to discussion" on the rate and that the Senate should schedule more days. "We get paid until Nov. 30," he adds.

Yeah? You already got paid for a year and nine months; why didn't you do something sooner?

Rep. Greg Vitali, D-Delaware County, who voted for the House bill, suspects that the Senate will wait, pass something unacceptable to the House and the Guv and then take off for the year.

A cynic might say "leaders" don't want to anger either side of the debate in election season.

Or that gas-industry gifts to more than 100 lawmakers - gifts favoring Republicans over Democrats and including $117,575 to Senate leader Scarnati, according to tracking by Common Cause and Conservation Voters - are designed to delay a final vote until next year, when maybe the GOP controls the Legislature and the governor's office.

Republican Tom Corbett opposes a tax. Democrat Dan Onorato supports it.

I'm waiting to hear from Uncle Fester. Snap, snap.

Recipe For Victory

From the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Opinion column:

A campaign solicitation from the wife of Republican Lou Barletta, U.S. House candidate and Hazleton mayor, certainly whetted the appetites of people hungering for change in the 11th Congressional District.

The e-mail from Mary Grace Barletta takes a jab at a Washington fundraiser held by her husband's opponent, incumbent U.S. Rep. Paul Kanjorski, D-Wilkes-Barre, on Wednesday.

"You and I aren't invited ... we're not financial industry lobbyists who can pay $1,000 to get in the door," noted the spouse of the candidate who has received national attention for his tough stance on immigration.

Mrs. Barletta said she can't offer potential donors "a fancy reception at The Monocle on Capitol Hill with Belgian endives filled with goat cheese or stuffed cremini mushrooms (these are actual menu items.)"

But she is willing to share her recipe for frosted banana bars with anyone who ponies up a few dollars for her hubby. "I think they beat Belgian endives any day of the week," she said.

We agree.

Click Here If You Want The Recipe

120,000 Pennsylvania Senior Citizens Want Eachus To Answer

In 2006 The Pennsylvania Legislature Passed And Governor Ed Rendell Signed Legislation To Add 120,000 Seniors To The PACE Program Bringing The Number to 430,000 Enrolled.

Where Is The PACE Benefit You Promised Me in 2006? 315,000 seniors enrolled then, 315,000 enrolled NOW.

You Failed Us And We Want To Know Why??

On Healthcare Hold The Applause

On health care, hold the applause
By NINA OWCHARENKO AND ROBERT E. MOFFIT - The Heritage Foundation



Last March, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the Obama administration's health-care bill had to become law "so you can find out what is in it." Six months later, we're finding out, all right. And its popularity is flat-lining.

Public opinion - fueled by daily revelations of higher costs, heftier premiums and disruptions in current and future health insurance coverage - is quickly hardening in favor of full-scale repeal. A closer look at how specific groups will be affected shows why:

Businesses: The White House heralds the small-business health-care tax credits, and the taxpayer bailout for retiree coverage, as business boosters. This might impress anyone who doesn't run a business. But business leaders know that disruptive employer mandates; a raft of new taxes on insurance, drugs, medical devices and investment; plus mounds of regulation and IRS paperwork, will hike costs considerably.


Meanwhile, the New York-based Mercer consulting firm reports that 47 percent of employers expect to lose the "grandfathered status" of their health plan next year under new federal rules. So much for that repeated presidential promise of "keeping" the plan you like.

Seniors: The White House team thinks that Andy Griffith can sell their Medicare changes to gullible seniors through television ads. But Medicare's Office of the Actuary projects that the record-breaking payment reductions due to hit hospitals, home health agencies, and nursing homes will make 15 percent of these providers unprofitable and possibly "jeopardize" seniors' access to care.

Payment cuts to Medicare Advantage plans will hit especially hard. These plans' projected 10-year senior enrollment is expected to drop from 14.8 to 7.4 million. By 2017, the average annual per capita cuts for Medicare Advantage enrollees will be about $3,700 - a 27 percent reduction from today's levels. Perhaps Griffith could cut another ad explaining to seniors why this is good news.

Doctors: They lose big time. The law doesn't fix the Medicare physician payment formula, meaning that doctors again face draconian payment cut of 23 percent this December. And with an estimated 18 million more persons enrolled in Medicaid, which pays doctors on average 56 percent of what they'd make in private practice, physicians will see their pay being set even more through government formulas.

Doctors will have to comply with new federal quality and reporting standards or face mandatory reductions in Medicare payments. They can expect more bureaucracy, more rules and regulations, more compliance and reporting requirements. Top it off with more emergency room overcrowding and a shortage of colleagues, and still no relief through medical liability reform. Doctors should sue their lobbyists for malpractice.

States: Washington's micro-management of health care is very unpopular in state capitols. Twenty states have filed suit against the imposition of an unconstitutional individual mandate to buy federally approved insurance, and 13 are suing over the mandatory Medicaid expansion. Already 44 states report that they have exceeded projected Medicaid enrollment and spending targets for this year, but Washington is ordering even higher state spending.

Under Section 1311, the cash-strapped states "shall" set up federally designed health insurance exchanges, and, in so doing, comply with numerous federal rules on their establishment and management. While the Congressional Budget office says the 10-year federal costs for "start up" and related expenses to establish these exchanges is $7 billion, additional costs to the states is unknown. Expect more court challenges.

Taxpayers: President Obama promised he wouldn't raise taxes on middle-class Americans. Supposedly, no family making less than $250,000 annually would be touched. Not so. Most of the new taxes, estimated to generate more than $500 billion in the coming decade, will fall on middle-class Americans.

The president now admits that the new law doesn't lower health-care costs. With more than $1 trillion in additional federal spending, plus the creation of two new entitlements - a program of taxpayer subsidies for insurance and a federal long-term care program - government spending will skyrocket in 2014, driving up costs for taxpayers.

With such strong economic incentives to drop workers' coverage, former Congressional Budget Office Director Doug Holtz-Eakin predicts 35 million people or more could be dumped out of their employer's plan. That would mean bigger taxpayer subsidies for the displaced workers to get their coverage through the state exchanges, much higher federal spending that would raise the deficit by an additional $554 billion in the first 10 years, and as much as $1.4 trillion over the next 10 years.

Some "reform" bill. No wonder so many Americans want to pull the plug.

Whatever Happens This November Government Must Change

Here is an article from FoxNews.com about the Democrats being the party of "No". I am not posting it in an attempt to bash Democrats.

Its purpose is to stimulate the thought process that whatever happens this November government must change. The problem as I see it is those in power don't want that change. They continue to want more of the same. They tell us what health insurance we must have and how much taxes we must pay. They slap us with more taxes from the federal to the local level than we can bear. We must endure the worst foreclosure environment, the worst job prospects, and higher electrical bills because they wanted deregulation. All the while these elitist elected officials enjoy the best healthcare, lucrative pensions, unaccountable expense accounts, franking privileges with our money, mileage, taxpayer funded cars, and per diems. They tell us they deserve what they get. Bullss.....

If the Republicans aren't careful they will return to the backseat in the future. Old guard politics need to be replaced with new style accountability to the voters.


Heading toward November’s midterm elections, Republicans are gaining strength as the party shouting “Enough!” while Democrats look more like the real “Party of No."

On April 19, 2009 on ABC’s “This Week,” White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel slapped a label on Republicans that stuck when he said, “…when you're the party of 'no'; when you're the party of never; when you're the party of no new ideas, that's not constructive.”

But Emanuel’s invective has boomeranged. He’s leaving his job to run (run away from President Obama’s sinking administration?) for mayor of Chicago. Meantime, a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll finds that the Tea Party movement’s “push to cut spending and oppose the Democratic agenda” is shaking up the images and positions of both parties in a protest of “business as usual.” The Journal writes, “The most popular issue motivating [the Tea Party movement] is cutting government spending and debt, followed by reducing the size of government.”

On these and other issues, the Democrats are showing themselves to be the real “Party of No” for five reasons:

1. No end to out-of-control spending. The president and Democrats continue on an unsustainable spender bender. They’re driving under the influence of spendaholic lawmakers like Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, labor unions, AIG, green extremists, and a variety of other protected and paid off special interest groups eagerly feeding from the big government trough. The $13.4-trillion debt bomb the Democrats have strapped on the country threatens to blow up, putting America at the mercy of its foreign creditors and risking our national solvency.
2. No tax relief. Americans don’t know what tax burden they’ll face in 2011. Democrats in the House and Senate pushed off until after the November 2 elections a vote on extending across-the-board Bush tax cuts, which are set to expire at year-end. By punting the question of the size and scope of taxes until a “lame duck” session after the midterm elections, Democrats add to the uncertainty bedeviling the stalled economy.

Upper income small business owners (who employ 25% of the U.S. workforce), and investors are sitting on trillions in cash. They don’t want to hire, expand, finance or spend with a tax Sword of Damocles hanging over them.

Tax uncertainty is also hurting spending and planning by consumers in lower tax brackets. Many voters will resent that Democrats are playing political games in a futile attempt to avoid looking like tax and spenders going into Election Day. Democratic dithering also means that several members of Congress who lose will still cast a vote on a key tax matter after the elections but before they formally leave office.

3. No recovery. The Democrats’ “summer of recovery” has become the voters’ “autumn of outrage.” Voters are exhausted, frustrated and irate about a stimulus that didn’t stimulate, millions of jobs “saved or created” only in Vice President Biden’s imagination, and an economy that draws this blunt assessment from legendary investor Warren Buffet: “We’re still in a recession."

4. No credibility on health care reform. All the early indications on Obamacare are that it increases costs, insurance premiums, mandates, burdens on small businesses, restrictions on treatments, bureaucratic controls, and limitations on doctor-patient choices. It decreases competition and innovation such as the development of breakthrough medicines and new, cutting edge medical procedures and practices.

5. No security rewards from appeasing enemies and squeezing allies. Iran, terrorists who are at large or apprehended, Russia, North Korea and America’s many other adversaries worldwide are becoming more defiant. They’re emboldened by President Obama’s unrequited apologies, concessions, slap-on-the-wrist gestures, legal softness and “diplomatic overtures” to those seeking to kill U.S. citizens generally and, in particular, Jews.

Obama’s weakness in standing up to hostile powers that use or develop lethal weapons against America and its allies (including nuclear build-ups and terrorist acts) threatens American forces, civilians at home, and U.S. friends, including Israel, Poland and the Czech Republic.

And why stop at five? Add Democratic “no” lapses on issues such as illegal immigration, corruption by elected and appointed officials, school choice, and entitlement reform into the mix. -- This gives Republicans the opportunity to embrace an identity as the “party of enough!” going into the midterm elections and to disgrace Democrats as the “party of no,” and one which is seriously undermining economic and national security.

Whatever happens on Election Day, voters are already signaling a message of “no”: no more excuses, just results, from whoever wins.

Lou Barletta Announces Town Hall Meetings

Lou Barletta announces first two town hall meetings
Carbon, Luzerne county events to be held next week


HAZLETON – U.S. Congressional candidate Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta announced the dates and times of the first of his five planned town hall meetings.

The first will be the Carbon County town hall meeting, which is set for Monday, Oct. 4, from 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Penn’s Peak, off Route 903 near Jim Thorpe.

The second will be the Luzerne County town hall meeting, which is set for Tuesday, Oct. 5, from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the Wilkes-Barre Township Fire Hall, 152 Watson St.

Lou’s town hall meetings are open to the public.

On Wednesday, 26-year incumbent Congressman Paul Kanjorski voted to leave Washington early – without doing anything to stop a massive tax increase coming to the working poor, to middle-class families, and to small business owners on Jan. 1, 2011 – so he could return home to salvage his failing re-election campaign. This means Kanjorski will have more than four weeks to hold true town hall meetings – something he has not done since 2007 (according to the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader newspaper.

“Mr. Kanjorski won’t meet with the people of the 11th District in a public setting, so I will. I expect to talk about the government takeover of health care, the $500 billion Congress took from Medicare, the out-of-control taxing and spending that Paul Kanjorski and Congress have been doing in Washington, and a host of other issues Mr. Kanjorski is afraid to discuss face to face with his constituents,” Lou Barletta said. “I encourage everyone – including Mr. Kanjorski – to come out so we can talk about the issues, including how we grow our economy and create jobs and cut wasteful government spending.”

H.B. 2- Pennsylvania Public Integrity Commission

On September 29, 2010 Anne Pickering of the Daily Local News reported that House Bill 2 was introduced by state Rep. Curt Schroder, R-155th of Downingtown, and 50 co-sponsors seeks to establish a Pennsylvania Public Integrity Commission to investigate government corruption.

Schroder and state Reps. Eugene DePasquale, D-York County; Mike Vereb, R-Montgomery County; and John Yudichak, D-Luzerne County, held a July news conference in Philadelphia to announce the legislation. Other legislators from Chester County who have signed onto the bill since then include state Rep. Timothy Hennessey, R-26th of North Coventry; Rep. Steven Barrar, R-160th of Brookhaven; and Rep. Tom Houghton, D-13th of Cochranville.

The Public Integrity Commission would replace the current State Ethics Commission, incorporating all its current functions and expanding its role.

The new commission would also have an educational component and issue annual reports, just as the Pennsylvania Crime Commission did, on the status of its investigations.

In the primary race for the seat vacated by Senator Ray Musto's announced retirement state Representative John Yudichak ran against Wilkes Barre Mayor Tom Leighton and won the Democratic nomination. The Yudichak family has a long history of honesty in government so his sponsorship of this bill is no surprise.

Leighton was backed by House Majority Leader Todd Eachus. Eachus went door to door with Leighton trying to persuade voters that Leighton was the better choice. It didn't work out too well for him.

Here is a link to H.B. 2. Todd Eachus's name is nowhere to be found on this bill which commands government accountability. Eachus refuses to answer questions about Bonusgate. He refuses to answer questions on whether he accepted rides in Robert Powell's jet? He refuses to be accountable.

This picture says it all.

Kanjorski's Disappearing Act

The following letter/article was printed in the Pocono Record 10/01/2010.

Howard Frank: Paul Kanjorski's disappearing act
Float like a butterfly; flee like a bee

By HOWARD FRANK
October 01, 2010

 Dear Congressman Kanjorski:

I am so disappointed with you.

The country is beset by record unemployment and a deep economic downturn. People — your people — are truly suffering.

Pocono voters will choose their leaders in November.

Your constituents. In your 11th Congressional District.

Yet you refuse to appear before them.

You've scheduled only one debate with your opponent, Hazelton Mayor Lou Barletta, to take place less than a week before Election Day. And that's it.

The Pocono Record asked you to meet with its editorial board. To sit across the table from your challenger, to stake your positions on issues that affect our readers' lives.

You refused.

Duck and cover isn't just a Cold War-era slogan. It's become a signature of your campaigns.

During your last run in 2008, you dropped out of an East Stroudsburg University debate with Barletta. At the last minute. You are avoiding debates like I avoid telemarketers.

When I called Barletta's campaign spokesman, he said: "You get us a day and time and we'll be there. We're not ducking the issues. We're not hiding from people."

Then I asked your staff about another debate. They refused.

Your spokesman said: "We don't see a value in giving Barletta forums to spread his lies about the congressman and smear him like his TV ads do."

But you're thumbing your nose at your constituents.

You are our congressman. You're our representative. Our envoy in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The public deserves to know where you stand. Meet you face to face. Look you in the eye. That means something to people.

You've also mostly abandoned town hall meetings, saying you can reach more people via the telephone.

Congressman, you can't represent the people if you won't appear before them.

Now, I'm not naive. I understand incumbents like to lie low, limit campaign risks and ease their way back into office.

But politics is a game that should be played on behalf of your constituents, not against them.

We can put a discussion together on the issues with other local media outlets. C'mon, we're not talking about the "Rumble in the Jungle" here. More like the "Debate in Penn Estates."

Without more debates, you do a disservice to yourself, your office and most of all, your district. The very one you are asking us to represent.

I've gotten to know you over the years. You're smart, quick on your feet, eloquent, even charming. Your opponent, he's a decent guy. Hard working, dedicated to his ideas. A gentleman.

Why hide like a child in a thunderstorm? Share your ideas and hold them up to scrutiny.

Our voters deserve a fearless voice. Make your case. Stand up. Show us what you've got.

Congressman Kanjorski, man up.