Hats Off To Al Boscov

Al Boscov has placed a big bet on the future. At a time when the pundits are writing about the demise of retail shopping and the devastating impact it will have on malls Al Boscov, 79, was able to stump for a bailout of his former chain operation. With the assistance of the chain's former president, Edwin Lakin,85, they brokered a deal which included public and private financing to buy the chain in the midst of bankruptcy proceedings. This article highlights the banks and governing bodies including the Commonwealth and Luzerne County that backed the plan to save the chain.

The Times Leader featured an article from Michael Rubinkam of the Associated Press on Al Boscov's passion for his former chain.

"“We spent 50 years building this damn thing,” Boscov said. “I didn’t want to see it go to nothing. I wanted to see it survive and live on.”

In Pennsylvania, Boscov’s now operates 24 stores and employs more than 5,000 people. Among them are ones in downtown Wilkes-Barre, at the Mall at Steamtown in Scranton and at Laurel Mall in the Hazleton area. Boscov’s also has stores in New York, New Jersey, Maryland and Delaware."

Detroit would learn a lesson by reading Al's story. He didn't need one Congressional hearing to rescue the chain.


Footnote: Michael Rubinkam broke the news that Lou Barletta was challenging Paul Kanjorski in the early part of this year. I met Michael at the WVIA studio before their debate.

Juvenile Law Center Files Second Request To Review Luzerne County's Juvenile Court Procedures

On the heels of my December 20th post about the Juvenile Law Center comes this press release in the Times Leader. It appears the JLC is reiterating its request to the State Supreme Court for review of juvenile cases that occurred without representation in Luzerne County's Juvenile Court. I, for one, want to know the number of children sent to detention since Judge Lupas took over Juvenile Court.

If you want to read about an incredible case I first noticed two years ago click here. I asked the Times Leader for a follow up to the story but haven't read it yet.

After the outlandish punishment issued by the Judicial Conduct Board against Judge Lokuta one would think that denial of due process rights would rank much higher on the court's agenda.

Or maybe, just maybe as in the Blagojevich case where the U.S. Attorney asked Obama to delay releasing the results of his own internal investigation, maybe the U.S. Attorney or the F.B.I. has asked the State Supreme Court to wait until their investigation is finished.

My Dell

I just bought my son a Dell Laptop for Christmas. I ordered it through Costco because it was much cheaper than ordering it directly from Dell. The box came in today shipped from Lavergne, On the carton is a big white label-"Computer Made In China."

The last Dell Laptop I purchased came from their outlet. I paid $1,399.00 for the same computer that would cost $2,790.00 new when I priced it on their website with the same warranty. On inspection the top had an ink mark on it. I tried every solvent known to man to remove it. When I called Dell they informed me they would have to build a new computer and ship it. The top couldn't simply be replaced. I received a new one in ten days from Taiwan.

Keep that in mind when the bailout talk resumes in January.

Pennsylvania Legislature- What A Job If You Can Get It

So far the House of the Pennsylvania legislature has met 70 days this year where 7 of those days were non-voting.

Below is a list of days certain committees of interest were in session.
AGING AND OLDER ADULT SERVICES Committee met for four days.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES AND ENERGY Committee met for fourteen days.
FINANCE Committee met for ten days.
HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Committee met for eight days.
LIQUOR CONTROL Committee met for four days.
VETERANS AFFAIRS AND EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS Committee met for eight days.
TRANSPORTATION Committee met for four days.

And the INSURANCE Committee did not meet for 2008.

Base Salary for House of Representatives- $76,000.00

Did I mention that in addition to their salary they are entitled to $158.00 each day they show up for work in Harrisburg to pay for meals? Did I mention that if someone picks up their meals they are still entitled to $158.00 for the day? That's because I didn't. Brad Bumstead over at the Pittsburgh Tribune Review wrote an excellent piece on the subject.
If you want to see what people working for them make look here.

Pennsylvania's Motor Vehicle Sales Tax Problem

A story that appeared in Sunday's edition of the (Sub-)Standard Speaker highlights the tax consequences of the auto industry's plight. Pennsylvania's motor vehicle sales tax revenue is down 25% when compared for November 2008 over November 2007.

The data supplied by the state Revenue Department shows the motor vehicle sales tax revenue is down $60 million year to date which represents a 12% drop. Two reasons are cited in the story- difficulty in securing financing(credit scores of at least 700 I am told by my friend at Tom Hesser Nissan) and those who do purchase buying lower priced and smaller cars to keep pace with the high price of gasoline.

Total sales tax from non-motor vehicle categories are $9 million less than last year. It is going to be hard for Fast Eddie Rendell to convince the electorate there is extra money for his electrical spike and healthcare for the uninsured initiatives.

I am going to take the liberty to post in its entirety a letter to the editor that appeared in today's Morning Call. It highlights consumer sentiment that prevails today.

What's an 'American car,' anyway?
December 21, 2008
A Dec. 14 letter, ''Buying 'American' helps the U.S.'' encouraged us to buy American cars. In 1991, I bought my first new car, a Ford Escort. American? Well, it was actually assembled in Mexico.

In 1999, I tried again to buy American, this time a Ford Windstar. Strike two: It was assembled in Canada. Next up was a Chrysler Town and Country. It was also assembled in Canada.

With my most recent car purchase, I was determined to buy an American-made car, and I finally succeeded: A Toyota Camry, assembled in Georgetown, Kentucky.

Will someone please tell me what constitutes an ''American'' car?



Alan Earnshaw

Macungie

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My All Time Favorite Christmas Song

And I will throw Disney in as a bonus. Send this out to all my friends, past, present, and future.

We Are Printing And Inventing Money- President Elect Obama Is Headed Down A Wrong Path

A must read if you are interested in the dire consequences we will be facing as a nation.

No Public Outcry Over Pennsylvania General Assembly's Surplus

Apathy in America seems to be at an all time high. It's a sorry place we find ourselves today. Anyone paying attention to the news knows about the $50 billion Ponzi scheme, the Fed printing money translating inventing money, a $17.4 billion bailout of a terminally ill auto industry, a $700 billion bailout of the financial services sector, a 40% drop in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, housing prices falling to the tune of 39% in some areas, and mortgage/general credit unavailability.

In the wake of all that doom the Pennsylvania General Assembly has a $200 million dollar surplus. The interesting part of this story to me is not so much about the surplus but about the cost of government. According to Legislative Audit Advisory Commission the cost of Pennsylvania's General Assembly was $316 million plus another $37 million for a total of $353 million.

There are 253 legislators in Pennsylvania between the House and the Senate. On average each legislator costs Pennsylvanians $1,395,256.00. Pennsylvania has the highest number of legislators per 100,000 residents. If the legislature were cut in half Pennsylvanians could save almost $177 million per year. Imagine the services that could be funded with that kind of money.

Back to the $200 million surplus. Why is the Legislature keeping the surplus money? In most other states that money is returned to the General Fund at the end of the year, translates, back to the taxpayer.

Petrilla & Co. Fire Back At Ciavarella

In response to an injunction granted against the Luzerne County Commissioners and the Luzerne County Salary Board, Commissioner Petrilla and her colleagues fired back with an emergency petition to the State Supreme Court. Their attorney used an extraordinary but rarely used action called "Kings Bench Jurisidiction." The term eminates from England where the king actually sat on the court.

In this case the Supreme Court is viewed as "a supervisory tribunal to keep other jurisdictions within their proper bounds". Its civil jurisdiction is against the officers or ministers of the court entitled to its privilege.

What is ironic is the fact that Ciavarella is telling the court irreparable harm will come to the courts if their funding is cut. However, he has no study or factual information to back up his assertion. I guess he feels that no irreparable harm will come to Luzerne County or the taxpayers if he is given a blank check.

In a twist to this story the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania plans to submit a brief in support of Luzerne County's efforts.

"Association Executive Director Doug Hill said Friday the timing of Luzerne County’s legal battle is "ironic" because the association earlier this month filed a motion asking the state Supreme Court to force the state to honor a 1996 Supreme Court order to fund county courts."

If Ciavarella was truly concerned about his funding why didn't he petition the State Supreme Court to enforce its order? He likes to pick the low hanging fruit. If it involves work he tries to sidestep it.

Anybody remember the lawsuit filed by the Juvenile Law Center against Judge Ciavarella to intervene on the juvenile court cases where the children had no legal representation. That is what I call irreparable harm.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court does not accept all cases that are brought before it. However, the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare (DPW) and Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett each filed briefs to convince the Court to take jurisdiction in this matter.

A bigger question is why isn't the mainstream media taking Ciavarella to task on these issues? Peter seems to have a grasp on the magnitude of Luzerne County Court problems.

Ciavarella Files Lawsuit Against Himself??

As promised Judge Mark Ciavarella has filed a lawsuit against the Luzerne County Commissioners and the Luzerne Salary Board over budget cuts approved in the 2009 county budget. When you read the pleading you will see that Ciavarella's attorneys listed him as a member of the Luzerne County Salary board. The pleading also contains the following assertions.

9. Defendants have refused to adopt and/or refused to fund in full the Court's budget request for 2009,where said budget requests are reasonable and necessary and mirror image the previously approved and funded budget of 2008 with any increase, except as detailed in avertment twelve(12) below.

12. Any increase in payroll attributable to the Court, is solely and exclusively due to union mandated collective bargaining agreement contracts that Defendant have negotiated and become legally bound to honor pursuant to and in accordance with 16 P.S. §1620.

It is time to remind his honor about a post he created in 2008 that wasn't in the original budget. He hired Sam Guesto at a salary of $78,160.00 per year for a job CREATED as a new court director. People will remember Sam Guesto as the person behind the debit card fiasco that the Secret Service recently turned over to the U.S. Attorney.

A little about Guesto from a Times Leader article. "Guesto resigned as chief clerk in February to take a newly created position as a director of specialty courts/alternative sentencing. The switch came amid a storm of controversy surrounding his involvement in an illegal piecemealing scandal at the county prison and the misuse of county debit cards."

The pleading ends with Mark Ciavarella's verification statement. "I, Mark A. Ciavarella, President Judge of the Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas. verify that the facts set forth within the foregoing Mandamus Complaint are true and correct, to the best of our knowledge, information and belief. I understand that false statements herein are subject to the penalties of 19 P.C.S. §4904 relating to unsworn falsifications to authorities."

An action of Mandamus is to compel a lower court or a government officer to perform mandatory or purely ministerial duties correctly. I thought Luzerne County Commissioners trying to pass a balanced budget within reasonble income expectations would be performing the duties of the office correctly.