I'm a proud Liberal

The last few years right wing types have been successful in turning the word liberal  into a pejorative. They are dismissive of the opposition often referring to them as the democrat party instead of the Democratic Party  I would counter that today's so called conservatives are not conservative at all but are right wing anti-government anarchists. This argument started on the Yonk' s FB page


It's about time that Democratic politicians take back the mantle of Liberal instead of the wishy washy progressive nonsense. 

Some times it takes a TV show to remind us of what we believe in. via  Simply Left Behind


 "Liberals got women the right to vote. Liberals got African-Americans the right to vote. Liberals created Social Security and lifted millions of elderly people out of poverty. Liberals ended segregation. Liberals passed the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act. Liberals created Medicare. Liberals passed the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act. What did Conservatives do? They opposed them on every one of those things...every one! So when you try to hurl that label at my feet, 'Liberal,' as if it were something to be ashamed of, something dirty, something to run away from, it won't work, Senator, because I will pick up that label and I will wear it as a badge of honor." -- Matt Santos, The West Wing

Idiot watch

WILKES-BARRE — Police were dispatched to the area of 29 Essex Lane at about 10:15 Wednesday night for a report of a male yelling at a tree in a resident’s back yard.

Upon arrival, officers made contact with Gregg Smith, who police said was standing in the rain in a yard and could be heard yelling from the street.

Police said Smith, of Essex Lane, had an odor of alcohol emanating from him, and was in possession of an open can of beer. They said Smith couldn’t understand simple questions posed to him and spoke with slurred speech.

There has a problem with aggressive trees in our area. 

 

Killer trees

 

 

 

 

Kaufer wants to tax the drillers

120th HD GOP nominee Aaron Kaufer sent out a press release calling for a severance tax on the frackers. I guess he is different kind of Republican so Grover Norquist will not be sending him a Christmas card. Even Tom Corbett won't rule it out as long as he can screw over state employees on their pensions.

Corbett administration won’t ‘rule out’ gas tax this year

Speaking with reporters after the press conference, Corbett’s Budget Secretary, Charles Zogby, was clear that raising taxes on drillers is still on the table.
“There’s multiple options we can look at,” he said. “I’m not ruling out a severance tax.”

Kaufer Calls for Bold Leadership to Pass On-Time, Balanced State Budget

State House candidate Aaron Kaufer urges Governor Tom Corbett to pass a severance

tax to balance the state budget and provide additional funding for public education.

KINGSTON, PA – State House candidate Aaron Kaufer today issued a statement calling on Governor Tom Corbett to provide bold leadership and pass a reasonable severance tax on the natural gas industry to help balance the state budget and provide more funding for public education.

“In order to secure a prosperous future for Pennsylvania and our children, I believe it is critical to enact a reasonable severance tax, like is already done in neighboring states, on natural gas drilling to help address the budget shortfall,” Kaufer said. “In addition, this revenue will enable the state to meet its obligation to fully fund the educational needs of our children and should keep school property taxes in check before legislation can be passed to eliminate them.”

Although Kaufer does not think raising taxes should ever be the first option to meet a budget shortfall, he knows from going door-to-door to thousands of local residents that middle class families and seniors cannot afford to pay more. He also believes our state must remain competitive in attracting good paying energy jobs to Pennsylvania so this severance tax can’t be higher compared to surrounding states.

“In doing so, it is important to consider a few key principles,” Kaufer said. “Pennsylvania must continue to cut wasteful government spending to protect taxpayers. In addition, our state already has the highest taxes on established businesses because of both the corporate net income tax and the capital stock and franchise tax that these companies are required to pay in our state. A reasonable tax on Marcellus Shale drilling can ensure drillers are paying a fair share for the natural resources they are extracting from the Commonwealth while enabling the industry to continue to thrive within our borders.”

He is a little late on this as his opponent Democrat Eileen Cipriani  and Dem Guv candidate Tom Wolf have long favored an extration tax. 

From Cipriani's website:

 
Marcellus Shale

Pennsylvania is the only state in the country that does not tax natural gas, yet it is home to one of the largest natural gas formations in the world, the Marcellus Shale. Pennsylvanians are essentially giving away our natural resource.

While Governor Corbett instituted a local impact fee, the fees collected are only a fraction of what the citizens of Pennsylvania would receive if we enacted a severance tax like other gas producing states have done.

Experts say a 5% severance tax will yield $720 million in its first year, which can be used to fund education and protecting our environment.  It is time we made the gas drilling companies pay their fair share and put Pennsylvanians first!

A boring upcoming election

Most of the PA legislature seats in Luzerne County are uncontested. John Yudichak and Lisa Baker may get a third party challenge but will cruise to reelection to the state Senate. Eddie Day, Mike Carroll, Jerry Mullery and my favorite party girl Tarah Toohil don't have an opponent for state rep in the fall.

The most interesting races are Karen Boback being challenged by Laura Dickson and the open seat being vacated by Phyliis Mundy's retirement.  Eilleen Cipriani is the hands down favorite to succeed one of my favorite state reps although Aaron Kaufer has been working very hard.

The most interesting race is the 117th District which has been redrawn to include Wyoming County and local official Laura Dickson is looking to work the home field. I don't know what it is but the local Republicans out there have a thing for making Karen Boback's life misarable. Davis Haire took her on in the primary this time and James May went after her earlier. I think Dickson's best chance is a depressed GOP turnout because Tom Corbett has pissed off just about everybody on both sides of the aisle. 
 

Dairy issues may be a key

Mark as Spam

For some reason I get a lot of emails from right wing outfits. In the last few days Liz and Dick Cheney, Pat Toomey, John McCain, Rick Santorum, Lou Barletta and the war monger John Bolton, etc. have tried to pick my pocket with screeds telling me Barack Obama is a weak leader because he won't bomb everyone in sight and a  dictator for issuing executive orders. I used to just delete them from my inbox but now I just mark them as spam. I can only hope that these hucksters will fleece one less person because I did that.