After a hard fought campaign Mitt Romney accepted President Obama's gracious invitation to get together over lunch and discuss....who knows what. Romney showed a lot of class by accepting the invitation. Except for that comment about "gifts" to the same "entitled" 47 percent that caused him so much trouble in the election he has been keeping a low profile. It's doubtful that they will become friends like Presidents Carter and Ford or Bill Clinton and Bob Dole but anything can happen.
The menu included white turkey chili and Southwestern grilled chicken salad. What the hell is white turkey chili? One wag said the menu was sour grapes for the appetizer with crow for the entree followed by humble pie for dessert.
Yep, I matched 2 out of 5 numbers and got my dollar back.
The Pennsylvania Lottery is one of the best run in the country with $3.5 billion in ticket sales last year and administrative costs of just over 2 percent.So naturally Governor Cabot Corbett wants to sell it off. If it ain't broke don't fix it.
Privatizing government functions creates a profit motive for the investors of the companies that take on those tasks and distorts the goal of government to provide for the common good. Just look how sending juvenile offenders to a private facility in Luzerne County worked out.
Camelot Global Services is promising pie in the sky revenues by adding more games that can be done by the lottery already. An added bonus is that the profits would be off shored.
I suggest that House Majority Leader Mike Turzai be put in charge of this effort since he has done such a bang up job of selling off the state liquor stores.
The Luzerne County Council is kicking around the idea of giving raises to some non union employees that haven't had one in 5 years. The proposal is to give them $1000 across the board although some council members want to base the raises on merit. The problem with that idea is that the county doesn't have an employee appraisal system (surprise) and it may take 2 years to fully implement one. Raising salaries in this fiscal climate will go over like lead balloon but people have to live. Most county employees do a good job and deserve a cost of living increase.
The salary of the Controller is also on the table. It has been $35K for as long as I can remember and is well below what the compensation should be for such an important position. Present Controller Walter Griffith says he is OK with the salary.
I'm reminded what Wil Toole said in the 2009 election: I'm going to tell everybody here a dirty little secret if
you really want to know the inside of politics in Luzerne County. The
salary of elected officials have been kept low to keep good people out
of government.
That's not a knock on Walteras he has done a good job with limited resources and most of the row offices have been eliminated by the charter. The new Division heads are to be paid between $75,000 and $90,000 per year.
Campaigns keep starting earlier. Sure you start laying the groundwork running for any office but actually making an announcement 2 years out is relatively new.
Pennlive: John Hanger, a 55-year-old Harrisburg lawyer, will make a stop in Harrisburg
on Wednesday to announce his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for
governor in 2014. He will start off in Philadelphia then travel to Pittsburgh. A visit to Erie, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and Allentown in the near future should be high on his list.
He works for the law firm of Eckert Seamans: John served from 2008 to 2011 as the Secretary of the Pennsylvania
Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), the Chair of the
Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority, the Chair of the
Environmental Quality Board, Vice Chairman of the Pennsylvania
Infrastructure and Investment Authority, and a Commissioner of the
Susquehanna River Basin Commission. He also chaired the Pennsylvania
Mine Safety Board. In 2010, for the first time in Pennsylvania’s
history, no miners died on the job.
As Secretary of the
Department of Environmental Protection, John was in charge of permitting
and regulation of gas drilling in Pennsylvania. He led a complete
review of regulations governing gas drilling and enacted major new rules
governing drilling of wells as well as the withdrawal of water for
drilling and the disposal of drilling wastewater.
Philly businessman Tom Knox has also said he intends to run.
Other possible candidates include York businessman Tom Wolf; Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski; state Treasurer Rob McCord;
retiring state Auditor General Jack Wagner, and former U.S. Rep. Joe
Sestak.
I took the week off from blogging because this is a slow time of year for politics and I was busy getting ready to host our sometimes annual Thanksgiving feast with the family. I bragged that I got thru the prep and Turkey Day itself without any knife wounds only to slice the middle finger of my left hand yesterday getting the leftovers ready. I haven't figured out how to blame this on the dog yet.
I'm not sure who the bigger idiots are when it comes to this early Black Friday shopping frenzy. The stores that open on Thanksgiving or the people who go out shopping in them. RTG has an account of the loss leader tactics of the Peoples Republic of China North American Retail Division (Walmart).
A Philadelphia area blogger started a site to trash Philly restaurants called Staph Meal then branched out into creating Facebook pages that advocated the murder of Mitt Romney, DA Seth Williams and others. His lawyer says it's satire:"The charges, in my opinion, violate the First Amendment," Long said.
"This is free speech. It is parody and satire, all of which is protected
under the First Amendment, which also protects offensive speech and
vulgar speech. There were no serious threats that were ever
communicated, no serious requests for any harm. In the context of all
the comments that Mr. Albert made, none show an intent for any harm to
anyone."
And we have some local geniuses.
TT: Officers soon had Johnson - who appeared intoxicated - in custody at the
intersection of William Street and Rockwell Avenue. Schwartz identified
him as the man he saw raiding his refrigerator and walking out of his
house.
A search of the bags Johnson, of Scranton, had on him offered a glimpse
of his menu at the William Street home: a bushel of clams, some crab
legs, shrimp - most of which was already eaten - and an opened box of
Reese's Klondike bars.
He had thrown the bottle of coconut rum on the front lawn of the
Williams Street residence but the bottle of Three Olives vanilla vodka
was in another bag Johnson had on him, according to the complaint.
The food, alcohol and pack of Camel cigarettes in Johnson's pocket accounted for all of the items missing from Schwartz's home.
Pizza and piss
: According to Plains Township police: Police were dispatched around 8:08 p.m. to Mack and South River streets
for a report of a vehicle that struck a stop sign and several concrete
parking blocks. Upon arrival, police found an unoccupied Chevrolet
Metro, partially blocking Mack Street. Police noticed about 100 feet of
skid marks before the impact. An eyewitness told police the driver fled
the car and started walking south on River Street, with a box of pizza.
Police soon located Hall in a yard up the street, eating the pizza.
Police said Hall appeared intoxicated and later flunked several
field-sobriety tests. After resisting arrest, police say Hall was placed
into custody and transported to Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center
for blood-alcohol testing. Hall refused testing, police said. Back at
the police station, Hall continued to be "combative," police said. At
one point, he urinated on himself and then on the floor of a holding
cell, police said. Authorities then took Hall to jail for the night.
Thanks to unindicted co-conspirator Michelle for help with this post.
I want one of these. I think the guy built it himself. It would be a great attachment to a snowblower that would let me plow the slush as you can't use the blower because it would be clogged by the ice.
The Independent Gazette is hosting an open house this Sunday, November 18th
between the hours of 10:00am-8:00pm in our Wilkes-Barre office. We are
located at 253 South Main Street and admission is free.
If you, like us, believe that if you own the media you own the message
and that message must be the truth, please help as we move forward with
our newspapers and radio show by supporting our efforts. WE DO NEED
YOUR HELP!
You can do that in many different ways:
Subscribing to our you tube channel -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fphBWvt3T7c&feature=youtu.be&a Or taking out a subscription to our newspaper -http://www.wbindependentgazette.com/donate/ Maybe you wish to advertize your business in the paper or on our radio show, Sanity Check Radio - the new standard in media: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D09HAwchtU8 Either way if you are in the area stop in
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Many people on both the left and right expect Hillary Clinton to run for President in 2016 despite her repeated denials of wanting the job. The Buffalo News and Warren Buffett have already endorsed her. Norton the Blogger says she will clear the field once she announces a bid and speculates about the Republican hopefuls.
I agree that she would be one of the most qualified presidential candidates in recent history. First Lady, Senator and now Secretary of State. I think you have to back to the early 1800's when a Secretary of State was elected President. That was John Quincy Adams.
But timing is everything and that's where the Supreme Court comes in. If one of the liberal Justices born in the 1930's such as Ginsburg or Breyer decides to retire the President will probably be able to get his pick confirmed despite the usual caterwauling from Rush and Fox News. On the other hand if a spot opens because Scalia or supposed moderate Kennedy or one of the other conservative Justices leave the court then there will be a big fight. In my judgement the only person that could be confirmed in that circumstance would be Hillary Clinton. The Senate rarely rejects one of their own and the American people have a high regard for her.
If that timeline doesn't work out I'm on board with Hillary 2016.
Let's ask Luke Russert if she is too old for the jobs.
The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees will now be know as the RailRiders. The other choices were Blast, Black Diamond Bears, Porcupines, Trolley Frogs or Fireflies. The Porcupines was the second choice and they will use it as a mascot on the merchandising. Bleech. The Barons should be the name.
The politicians in Lackawanna County made a total hash of the 18 year relationship with the Phillies that chased them out of town then got the Yankees to relocate their AAA team from Columbus. Convicted criminal Bob Cordaro even ran campaign ads featuring Bombers GM Brian Cashman.
I'm glad that we still have a team and a professional sports company bought the team and politics has been taken out of the daily operation of the team but why did the taxpayers of Pennsylvania foot the bill for the renovation of the stadium? Baseball is a multi-billion dollar business so the teams should pay for their own buildings.
The renovation of the stadium in Moosic is reported to cost $43 million. That's less than the salaries of A Rod and Jeter in 2013. More corporate welfare.
The new taxpayer funded stadium in Miami has worked out well.
5 seats on the Luzerne County Council and the Controller's spot are up for reelection next year. Democrats Elaine Madden Curry and Linda McClosky Houck and Republicans Harry Haas and Eugene Kelleher along with Independent Rick Williams were the bottom 5 of 11 elected in 2009 so their seats are up this time. The other 6 seats will be decided in 2015. I haven't heard that any of them are planning to run again or bow out but it's early and I'm sure there will plenty of candidates in the primary on both sides. I can think of a few people that came up short last time that will give it another try and a few others are making some noise.
Controller Walter Griffith told me he is definitely running for reelection and I don't see anyone taking him on in the Republican primary but anything can happen. Walter has taken some criticism over audits but I would argue that he is still the most popular politician in the county because he continues to be a pain in the ass. His 2009 Democratic opponent Bob Morgan said he is not looking for a rematch but I've seen him at all sorts of political gatherings the last few months. People change their minds. The other candidate in 2009 was Wil Toole of Pittston who can't be counted out. Former Commissioner Steve Urban is also threatening to run.
I always joke that I expect a call from the White House on Veterans Day.
I understand why the last occupant
of the place never called since he didn't give a shit about the people
that were killed and maimed as a result of his Oedipal complex and my
opposition to it. I voted for Barry and expected better from him but he
continues the ill fated adventure in Afghanistan. Clinton waged a half assed effort in the Balkans and his predecessor had a violent reaction when oil supplies were threatened as any (oil) junkie would.
Some of you know that I wore the uniform of the United States Air Force after high school.
During my time in the service the United States engaged in 3
significant military actions on the orders of President Reagan. The
bombing of Libya was justified but didn't deter them from taking down an
airliner over Scotland a few years later. I knew the navigator in the
F-111 that went down. Although I didn't know it at the time I was part
of the planning of the raid. In the Beirut fiasco a good friend who was a
load master on a C-130 got shot up on the tarmac of the airport, 241
Marines later died when their barracks was blown up after the US took
sides in a civil war. The next day the US invaded Grenada.
Former U.S. president George W. Bush accidentally voted for Barack Obama today at a polling place near his Crawford, TX home.
According to local reports, the two-term Republican was confused by
the instructions on his electronic voting machine and mistakenly cast a
ballot he intended to discard. Witnesses say Bush argued with poll workers for several minutes
afterwards in a effort to redo his vote, but in accordance with state
law they ultimately denied his request.
A touch of the screen to Big Dan for passing this along.
Ohio really did go to the president last night. And he really did win. And he really was born in Hawaii. And he really is -legitimately- President of the United States. Again. And the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not make-up a fake unemployment rate last month. And the Congressional Research Service really can find no evidence That cutting taxes on rich people grows the economy. And the polls were not skewed to over-sample Democrats. And Nate Silver was not making up fake projections about the election To make conservatives feel bad. He was doing math. And climate change is real. And rape really does cause pregnancy sometimes. And evolution is a thing. And Benghazi was an attack on us. It was not a scandal by us. And no one is taking away anyone's guns. And taxes haven't gone up. And the deficit is dropping, actually. And Saddam Hussein didn't have weapons of mass destruction. And the moon landing was real. And FEMA isn't building concentration camps. And UN election observers aren't taking over Texas. And moderate reforms of the regulations on the insurance industry And the financial services industry Are not the same thing as communism.
I was up late so I feel like the guy pictured above.
The President was reelected and I have been reading some apocalyptic things on right wing blogs and Facebook. Relax people. We lived through 8 years of Bush and you will survive 8 years of Obama. The late Bob Novak once said something that has stuck with me. The President doesn't run the country, the people do. The economy will improve no matter who is President, it's called the business cycle. The Republicans should have won this election but they nominated a candidate that didn't believe in anything except he wanted to be President. Romney switched so many positions in so many elections you couldn't trust him. That and the steady stream of lies from his campaign. See Mitt's Mendacity Vol I thru XLI.
Pennsylvania made history by electing the first Democrat and woman as Attorney General.I hope she digs into Tom Corbett's handling of the Sandusky investigation.
Senator Bob Casey beat back the coal guy 54%-47%. he spent a big chunk of his own money on a losing cause. Coal and Oil are not our future.
No surprises in the local races for Congress. Tom Marino won 2-1 and Matt Cartwright gathered 60% of the vote as predicted. Gene Stilp ran a fun campaign but you still need money to win. Lou Barletta will continue to defend us against theBarbarians at the Gate
The incumbent state house member were returned for another term.
The photos of Tarah Toohil probably helped her as we all have done things we are not proud of. It was dirty pool by someone who wanted to hurt her but the Democratic candidate or party had nothing to do with it.She won 67% of the vote.
Rick Arnold got a late start and it wasn't enough to beat Jerry Mullery. Mullery improved his performance from 2010 winning 61%-39%.
The 120th HD race was near and dear to my heart. Phyllis Mundy has been a friend for some time and is my xxx favorite legislator. Aaron Kaufer became a pal and ran a great campaign that gave Phyllis the run of her political career. In the end Kaufer got more votes than any other challenger over the last 20 years but came up short. He will be back. Phyllis won 56-44 improving on the 53% she got last time.
Now the speculation begins about the 2016 Presidential candidates. I predict that Hillary won't be one of them because President Obama will appoint her to the Supreme Court.
On to the 2013 local elections. Walter Griffith is running for reelection as Luzerne County Controller and Bob Morgan may take him on again. Steve Urban is also making noise about a Controller run. Some seats on the Luzerne County Council will also be up.
There were no poll workers outside the Plains Twp.
fire hall when
I was recorded as voter number 550 out of 1000+ at about 5:30PM today.
This is the best turnout I have seen in the 15 years I have voted in
this precinct. This is even better than 2008 and Plains is a very Democratic area. The poll workers are people Mrs. G
has known since she was a child and looked us up as soon as we walked
up to the sign in table so we didn't show a photo ID and neither did anyone else who voted before of after us. I have never voted a straight party ticket and didn't this time. I wrote in David Yonki for State Rep because Eddie Day Pashiniski is unopposed and I hate uncontested elections.
7:00 pm: GA, IN, KY, SC, VT, VA
7:30 pm: NC, OH, WV
8:00 pm: AL, CT, DE, DC, FL, IL, ME, MD, MA, MS, MO, NH, NJ, OK, PA, RI, TN
8:30 pm: AR
9:00 pm: AZ, CO, KS, LA, MI, MN, NE, NM, NY, ND, SD, TX, WI, WY
10:00 pm: IA, MT, NV, UT
11:00 pm: CA, HI, ID, OR, WA
1:00 am: AK
Everyone will watching the Presidential results so I'll be live blogging the local races. The Luzerne County website had the final results before 11PM in 2010.
Of particular interest are the 10th, 11th and 17th Congressional Districts.
There a 3 hot races for the PA House in Luzerne county.
There are 4 statewide races on the ballot tomorrow.
In the US Senate race Bob Casey (D) sort of fell asleep while Tom Smith (R) spent millions on TV ads singing the praises of coal. If I see that ad with that kid with the southern accent blaming the President and Casey for losing his job one more time because of regulations I'm going to throw up. The fact that natural gas prices have decreased because of shale drilling is why utilities are switching to gas powered generators and need less coal. I thought Republicans believed in market forces. I think Casey holds on.
Kathleen Kane will be the next Attorney General of Pennsylvania. She has had a double digit lead in every public poll since the primary. I was a big supporter of Patrick Murphy in the primary but poor turnout in Philadelphia and the suburbs sunk him. I had a nice chat with David Freed at the Luzerne County GOP picnic in August. On my way out I told David Freed that I thought the AG's office would be
in good hands whoever won. He said he felt the same way after the
primary. He respects his opponent. Now that we are in closing days the ads have got tough. I really like that the Freed camp cited my Parking Ticket post in an ad but attributed it to WILK
Incumbent Treasurer Rob McCord, a Democrat from Bryn Mawr,will win big. Republican challenger Diana Irey Vaughan, is a Washington County
commissioner,
Libertarian Patricia Fryman, the retired auditor of Venango County, is also on the ballot.
Auditor General is going down to the wire. Both candidates are on the air. Rep. Eugene DePasquale, a Democrat from York County, and Rep. John Maher, a Republican from Allegheny County. I think they are also running for reelection as state reps. I don't think it should be allowed to run for 2 offices like Joe Lieberman or Paul Ryan. This is tossup but it's a Democratic year in PA. DePasquale wins.
Rudy Guiliani, former Senator Norm Coleman (MN) and former Governor Bob Ehrlich (MD) were at the W-B Victory Center this morning supporting Governor Romney. Senate hopeful Tom Smith and AG candidate David Freed also attended . Senator Pat Toomey was there and Actor Jon Voight was the celeb attraction.
By all the metrics of a political campaign Lou Barletta (R) is a lock. He is the incumbent that has a million dollar campaign warchest with a winning issue on immigration that appeals to the fears of people. Gene Stilp (D) has no money or party support but has an army of supporters and has run an unconventional campaign.
Like many people I dismissed Gene Stilp's chances in the Democratic
primary against Bill Vinsko. He is known as the guy with the big pig and
other stunts and I didn't take him seriously. He proved me wrong.
Lou Barletta has noticed. In his 2 TV ads he repeats the lie that Stilp wants to cut Medicare by $716 Billion. Lou's first ad and second. If he wasn't worried he would be running warm fuzzies instead of attack ads.
Another sign of panic from the Barletta camp is trying to drum up controversy about Tim Holden endorsing Stilp or not. Like anyone gives a shit about what Tim Holden thinks. Most endorsements are good for a press release and not much else.
Sorry I have been out of the loop for the last 2 days but I had some family obligations to tend to. I'll start off with the easy ones. You can beat me up on later posts.
Mike Carrol will be reelected in the 118th HD. Terrance O'Connor is the Republican candidate but has not made much of an effort other than putting on tricorner hat and yelling into a bullhorn from the back of a pick up truck just like he did last time. Carroll has pleasantly surprised me with his desire to overhaul the
campaign finance laws (there aren't many) of Pennsylvania and reforming the
redistricting process.
Karen Boback is unopposed in the 117th HD as is Eddie Day Pashinski in the 121st HD. I told Pashinski that I'm not voting for him this time. More on that later. As a political junkie I hate unopposed races. Sorry but I have to put up James favorite Karen pic.
In the newfangled gerrymandered 17th Congressional District Matt Cartwright (D) will win in a blowout over Laureen Cummings(R). Probably 60%+. Cartwright beat incumbent Blue Dog Tim Holden in the primary in the overwhelmingly Democratic district because people wanted a real Democrat not Republican lite. It's great that both candidates have run positive campaigns discussing issues. My contact at the DCCC tells me that Cartwright is up 26% in their latest poll.
If you are still undecided here is the video from WVIA debate.
The new Blogger spam filter is working a little to well. It's catching the garbage but is also tagging legitimate comments from some of my friends like McGruff. If you leave a comment that doesn't appear just email me at gort42@yahoo.com so I can rescue it.
I usually do 1 or 2 posts a day but will pick up the pace until Tuesday.
Update: Or maybe not, I just got word of a death in the family that just took the wind out of my sails.
[Charles Montgomery "Monty" Burns] Source: LYBIO.net
Hello everyone, I have to say despite those unimaginably horribly good
job numbers, me feeling pretty confident. Those drapes aren’t fit to
hang in the Burns bedroom.
You mean the Lincoln bedroom?
For now. There’s only one thing that might deny us the Presidency is the God given property of the Republican Party.
The 47% take?
Nope.
The embiture?
Nope.
Cayman Islands?
Not a problem.
Swiss bank accounts?
Pffhaaaa!
$10,000 bet? I like to fire people. Forceable haircut? The tax return that Wesley Snipes would call suspicious?
No. No. No. And No. It’s a shaggy dog story about an actual shaggy
dog. Apparently on vacation, old Mitt strapped his mutt to the roof of
his car for a brief 650 mile jaunt. So tonight it will explain what
truly happened why Mitt is once again a Mormon Minch. Release the hound.
Now Seamus, what did you think about being strapped to the roof of your
dadda’s car? [Seamus]
WRRRRRR WOOF WOOF
Texas Governor Rick Perry will be at the Wilkes-Barre GOP Victory Center (34 S. Main St.) Saturday, November 3, 2012, along with GOP Senate candidate Tom Smith. The event begins at 10am.
Joe Biden's visit got washed out by the storm but the Big Dog will be in Scranton Monday. TL: Former President Bill Clinton will be in Scranton Monday on the campaign trail, according to Democratic Party sources. Details to follow.
In another iteration of Lucy teeing up the football Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan will also be in PA over the weekend. PoliticsPA has the details.
This spot brings up the bong/kissing video that has been taken down from YouTube then makes a policy point about cutting education funding. I had the video a few days before the TL decided to publish it and the pictures were sent to me months ago. The video was shopped around by the same person that left comments on a post I did in May
accusing Toohil of having an inappropriate relationship with another
House member that I deleted because I didn't think what she did in her
personal life was anybody's business.
Most people will give her a break over those pictures as we all did things when we were young and irresponsible that we are not proud of. Her response has been somewhat erratic filming a response paid for by taxpayer money that tells kids not to do drugs.
Forget the sexy bong video there are plenty of other questions about Toohil.
Up until 2010 she was a Democrat who wanted to run against Todd Eachus. She got nowhere with that idea and turned to the Republicans and now spouts claptrap about conservative values. 2010 was good Republican year and Eachus was sunk when it came out that he was flying around on Juvie Brother's figure Robert Powell's jet who backed the Hazleton fantasy airport. I was glad to see the back of him.
A look at her campaign finance reports raise some questions.
The usual expenses are listed for office supplies, postage, internet and
phone service, etc. .There are some things that are different.. 20
charges to the campaign totaling over $700 for gasoline, small checks
for lunch and a few meals in DC at The MATCH BOX and BELGA CAFE. What PA
interest is she pushing in Washington?
Update: Those numbers were from the 2012 report. The 2011 filing
lists more lunch tabs, $440 for gas, $57 for dry cleaning and $721 for
formal wear from Wedding Bells on 11/21/11. I guess she wanted to look
good for Pennsylvania Society get together in New York that her campaign
picked up the tab for her hotel room. She looks fabulous in the last
picture on the slideshow of this article.
Then there is the trip to Israel. I've been to Israel and would like to return. The trick is to get some outfit to pay for it.
The Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia ponied up most of the money and Toohil has said the rest came from her own pocket or campaign funds. Betty says The Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia personally hand-picked
Toohil to go on the Israeli trip, according to The Times Leader. The
organizaton’s director of government affairs, Robin Schatz, told the
newspaper that she wanted to get to know Toohil better. That’s probably
because Toohil is just the person to lead the charge in Butler Twp. to
stop Iran from developing a nuclear bomb.
Back to the video
Informed comment on my FB page: Her
disgruntled ex-boyfriend promised to blackmail her as part of his
continued mistreatment of her and women in general. Those pictures mean
absolutely nothing in this election. The person attacking her is a House
member. And women should rise up against the way he wants to treat
women.
Tarah Toohil has broken the heart of someone and he has been
blasting her on various websites including this one. I deleted the
comments. Pa Politics should do the same.
He Said Scheduling a Debate "Would Be Good For You [Scollo's Campaign]."
Dingman, PA -The Scollo for Congress campaign was informed yesterday
by WVIA that Congressman Tom Marino will not honor his commitment to participate in the WVIA-TV debate. Marino'scamp reportedly said they could not reschedule due to unspecified 'scheduling conflicts.'
In a phone call today with the Scollo campaign, Marino's campaign
manager, Ryan Barton, said scheduling a debate "would be good for you
[Scollo's Campaign]" but refused to make any effort to find time for a one hour debate. The phone call happened at 10:30am today, Thursday, November 1, between Barton and Will Sharry, Scollo's campaign manager.
"This election is too important to let scheduling difficulties get in the way of a full debate on the issues facing Pennsylvania families and seniors," said Scollo. "Marino should step-up to the plate and
debate and stop playing political games. He calls himself a tough guy in his television ads. I'm not seeing that in this decision."
The HRCC produced an ad for Aaron Kaufer that is running on cable. I spotted it on the Weather Channel over the weekend. Great timing having a spot on the WC as a hurricane is on the way.
It hits Phyllis Mundy on the 3 P's. Pay raise, Pensions and Per Diems.
The Mundy camp responds:
Rep Mundy's opponent's campaign represents everything good people hate
about politics and politicians. What is especially interesting is
where the funding for the ad comes from. His expense report shows that
it comes from the party bosses in Harrisburg (HRCC). Rep Mundy's funds
come from a broad cross section of small and large donors throughout the
district. Mundy's opponent campaign has been completely negative and
has failed to list any qualifications, life experiences, or work
experiences that would make him qualified to represent the 120th
legislative district.
A response ad from the Mundy campaign is airing on the local broadcast channels. It's a standard man/women on the street spot reminding us that she fights the special interests and utility companies defending her vote on the pay raise by saying she donated it to charity. It closes with Phyllis making her case.
It's not good when a long time incumbent is playing defense in the the last week of the campaign.
Kaufer snagged the endorsement from some west side Democratic officials.
From the inbox:
Aaron
Kaufer, Republican candidate for State Representative, has received the
enthusiastic endorsement of Democratic officials throughout the 120th
legislative district. Seven elected
Democrats, including four of the six Council Presidents in the 120th,
have thrown their full support behind Kaufer’s campaign against 22-year
incumbent, Democrat Phyllis Mundy.
In a
letter explaining their endorsement, Denise Adams (Exeter Borough Council
President), Jack Ruane (Exeter Township Chairman of Supervisors), Michael
Jancuska (Luzerne Council President), Michael Berish (Pringle Council
President), and Luzerne Borough Council members Jason Tarreto, Mary Ellen
Schell and Judy Gober.
Phyllis shows her juice:
HARRISBURG, Oct. 23 – State Rep. Phyllis Mundy announced that West Pittston will receive a $1.65 million low-interest loan from
the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority to replace undersized and misaligned sewer lines.
"This
loan will help West Pittston modernize its sewage and storm water
collection systems, and in doing so, protect the health of residents as
well as the environment," said Mundy, D-Luzerne.
"I'm pleased that the state is aiding this important project."
Sewage
and storm water collection lines are combined in the community, and
that has caused raw sewage to back up into basements. It also has
resulted in street flooding.
Another poll on the sidebar. Again the question is not who you are voting for but who do you think will win?
Can the kid knock off a longtime legislator? Tell us your predictions in the comments.
