Eddie Day Pashinski for State Represenative

Eddie Day had his annual brunch that attracted about 300 people at Genetti's. He brought in some of the heavy hitters in state and local politics like Bob Casey, Matt Cartwright, John Yudichak, Mike Carrol and Guido Sarducci.

In the warm up Yuddy sang Eddie's praises since he rarely does it himself. He recounted the  many infrastructure and economic development projects he has done the hard work to make it happen. He had a nice quip about how he shows up with a piano and his own  Paparazzi. Matt Cartwright also praised him and noted that he is sharing campaign space in W-B. He said "I've had worst roommates but at least he cleans up after himself."  All those losing lottery tickets and empty cans end up in the trash.

Senator Bob Casey continues to impress me. He gave another fiery address about the ACA and his opposition to the Trumplican agenda.


When it came time for Eddie to speak  he told us about he is working with his Republican colleagues to get help for grandparents raising grand kids. He lamented that that the Republican Party has been hijacked by extremist who want to divide us on race, sex, etc. He said they want to divide us because there are "more of us than them."   He decried the money in politics and  defended public schools, labor unions, Social Security and Medicare. He doesn't want to go back to the days of the coal barons and celebrated the gains made on job safety, the 8 hr.workday/ 40 hr. week because of collective bargaining. And then he went on and on and on so I had to leave because I already missed kickoff.

He never mentioned his opponent.

Scott Wagner in Luzerne County

GOP Governor nominee Scott Wagner had a rally at the Woodlands Wenesday night and had a nice turnout. State Senator Lisa Baker was the MC and she kept the program rolling along limiting the under card to brief statements. Many people think she should run for Governor.

The state rep candidates warmed up the room. Sue Henry started off with her usual good humor saying :“It’s really good to be behind the microphone again.”.  I'm sure she is happy that the Red Sox are running away with the AL East. She then made her case for property tax reform.

I want to thank Sue for being so generous to me when she was on WILK, she always gave me a good time slot, :07 after the hour and entertaining us on WRKC 88.5 FM. My favorite conversation  was when we decided to nominate David Yonki for Jury Commissioner . I have always cast a write-in vote for the Yonk in every election since.

Justin Behrens and Frank Scavo also joined the bandwagon on taxes. John Chrin (R-NJ)  said something about socialism.

The red meat was thrown out by Pennsylvania  GOP Chair Valetino  DeGiorgio. He mentioned Maxine Waters and Nancy Peolsi which got of few boos in the audience.  He repeated the ALLEGATION that immigrants get welfare. And Socialism! He forgot George Soros.

Scott Wagner started his speech talking about his humble upbringing and some flashes of humor admitting he didn't have the best smile and can sometimes be abrasive. He talked about touring areas hit by the recent flooding recent and accused Tom Wolf of using it as a photo op. He backed teachers in his education plan but panned union bosses. Wagner wants to sell the liquor stores to fund education. He also made fun of Wolf's "honky jeep." He denied wanting to tax retirement income claiming his opponent is using 7 seconds of a long speech out of context.

 He talked about his plan to combat Pennsylvania's opioid epidemic. Emphasizing treatment, education  and surprisingly suing pharmaceutical companies. Then he attack Wolf for vetoing a bill he sponsored claiming he did it because he has taken money from the PAC Fairness PA saying Governor Wolf is just as bad as the drug dealers. He also said "If you want a guy who enables those who makes money killing our kids, taking contributions of $1.2 million please reelect Tom Wolf. Because I'm not your guy."

He then said he could get things done because he has relationships with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle and told us what a great guy John Yudichak is. 

Wagner unveils 'first real plan' to tackle opioid epidemic

Oppose the Funeral Tax

Sue Henry has a famous name and a bumper sticker issue in her challenge to Eddie Day Pashinski. Her issue is eliminate property taxes but HB 76 does no such thing.It just moves taxes from the wealthy property owners to working people.  The response should be to oppose the expansion of the sales and income tax such as a NEW TAX on Funeral Services of 7%.. It will also tax food and clothing for the first time.

 No one wants to see a senior lose their  home as we are told  but I've never seen any data to support the allegation that seniors lose there home more than other people that fall behind on their taxes. In fact people over 65 and the disabled get a rebate up to $650 to offset the tax. I would like to see it applied up front so they don't have to wait for the money after they paid the bill.

I'm getting to be a senior and know how much a funeral can cost since I have had  to plan a few. I read obituaries all the time that ask for a donation to a Go Fund Me page to pay for the funeral service, burial and marker. Sadly, many of the deceased left us way before they should have because of overdose, murder, car crashes, etc. Young people for the most part don't have Life Insurance and the family should not be burdened with an additional cost such as a sales tax.