Dan Meuser for Congress

Dan Meuser with Lisa Baker at the Fall 2010 Blogfest

Here we go go again. Former PA Revenue Secretary and failed 2008 PA 10th CD Republican primary candidate Dan Meuser is running to succeed Lou Barletta. He was flirting with a run for PA Lt. Governor but a better opportunity arose. His announcement has already knocked Tarah Toohil out of the race.  He is tying himself to Barletta and Trump.

To refresh you memory Dan Meuser and Chris Hackett had a knock down, drag out primary fight to oppose Chris Carney. They both spent over $1 million and Hackett won only to lose the general election. There was a lot of bad blood after that election and many Meuser supporters told me they couldn't support Hackett.

His campaign slogan seemed to be Pride Mobility for Congress. So every problem the company had in the past became  fair game for his opponent

Some of the controversies:

EXETER: A woman formerly employed at Pride Mobility Products Corp. has filed a wage discrimination lawsuit against the company, alleging she was paid less than male counterparts who performed the same job. She also is alleging sexual harassment and retaliation for complaining about it.


 TPM Cafe: Meuser's company has settled a contentious lawsuit over the death of an elderly man using their wheelchair, in which plaintiffs alleged that a defective battery caused a fire. From the Monterey County Herald, January 9, 2007: "Had the case gone to trial, according to court records and statements in court, jurors may have heard evidence that Pride Mobility was aware of at least 18 other fires in its wheelchairs and scooters with identical battery packs since 2002. Ten of those fires destroyed dwellings and five were fatal." (From Nexis).

 The Medicare OIG fined Pride $80,000 for a kickback scheme.

And his past political contributions: 

 On behalf of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party, I wanted to thank you for your kind, past contributions to strong Democrats such as Congressman Paul Kanjorski, Senator Hillary Clinton, Congressman Charlie Rangel and many others. Your contributions have helped Democrats to take back the House and Senate in 2006 and potentially take the White House in 2008.

I have a big basket of this stuff if any other campaign is interested.


 Many thanks to Tiffany Cloud for sending this:

Dan Meuser To Run For 11th Congressional District Seat

Businessman and Former Revenue Secretary To Continue Barletta’s Work

Luzerne County Businessman and former Secretary of the Department of Revenue Dan Meuser announced today that he was entering the race to represent the 11th District in the United States Congress. Congressman Lou Barletta announced days ago that he would run for the United States Senate.

“I have always supported Lou Barletta and I plan to continue to support him in his run for the United States Senate,” Dan Meuser said. “Both Lou and I will fight for an agenda that puts America’s interests first and rebuilds the middle class so the economy works for everyone.”

Dan has lived in the area that makes up the 11th District for over 25 years, he and his wife of 27 years raising their family in the district. Dan joined Pride Healthcare, based in Luzerne County and now called Pride Mobility Products, in 1988. Dan became President of Pride Mobility, USA in 2001. Pride has become the leading manufacturer of power mobility and complex rehabdevices in the country, and employs over 800 people in Northeast Pennsylvania.

"I've spent 25 years in the private sector helping create thousands of jobs. During this time my wife and I supported many important causes including the YMCA, local colleges, the Back Mountain Recreation Association and the Wyoming County Children's Association,” Meuser said.

In 2010, Dan was appointed and unanimously confirmed Secretary of the Dept. of Revenue. Dan and his team worked to reform the department, implement customer-first policies, and treat taxpayers like customers. Under Dan’s leadership, the Department was named the most improved Department of Revenue in the country and received a grade improvement from a D+ to an A- from the Council on State Taxation.

“We worked day in and day out to make sure that everyone knew that it was taxpayers who came first at the Department of Revenue,” Meuser said. “Our team reformed the department and turned it into a taxpayer advocacy agency, rather than a mere collector of taxes.”

Dan Meuser is running first and foremost because he loves his country and wants to continue to serve his community. Dan will be a consistent conservative voice in Washington, making sure that he takes the values of the 11th District to Washington every day. Dan will be an advocate for an economy that works for everyone, a healthcare system that provides access and affordability without the heavy handed federal mandates of Obamacare, and a strong military ready to defeat ISIS and any other threat to our nation, and to secure our borders.

“I’m a constitutional conservative who will always put the needs of America first,” Meuser said. “I want to restore our broken political system by always working on behalf of the people of the 11th District.”

Dan also believes that the next Congressman must be accessible to the people he serves.

“I will be very engaged and constituent focused, making sure that I am accessible and transparent,” Meuser said. “That means being involved in resolving issues, large and small, throughout the district.”

Dan will be traveling the 11th District visiting each county over the next 2 weeks.

Looking to 2014

As my long time readers know the primary focus of this blog has always been elections. Next year we choose a Governor of the Commonwealth, members of the US House and state House and half the state Senate. In the next few days I will post about these and some races around the country.

PA Gov Tom Cabot Corbett has an uphill climb according to the polls but things can change in the next year and no sitting Guv has lost reelection since they have been allowed to run for a 2nd term. So far there are 8 Dems smelling blood in the water.

The Lt. Governors race is most interesting as I have met most of the Democratic contenders. My early favorite is Brad Koplinski because he sent me a bribe.

Of the 3 local Congressman I keep an eye on only Matt Cartwright has a declared opponent so far. 2 of them in fact. A few people are teasing that they will run against Lou Barletta including Bill Vinsko, Gene Stilp and Chris Carney but I doubt any of them will run. Libetarian Betsy Summers may get into it.

A few weeks ago an old friend called to feel me out about running against Tom Marino in the Republican primary. His rational was Marino is one of the most ethically challenged people to ever hold office.  I had to throw cold water on the idea because his family wasn't behind it and he would need to declare right now and raise at least $100K before the end of the year.


On the state scene Sen. John Yudichak has no declared opponent so far. Neither do Mike Carroll, Phyllis Mundy, Eddie Day Pashinski, Tarah Toohil or Gerry Mullery. I heard a rumor that Mullery may get a primary opponent.

Karen Boback however is being challenged by Laura Dickson. I haven't been this excited about a state rep race since James May took her on.

Chris Carney endorses Mark Critz for Lt Governor

Chalk this one up to my theory that most endorsements are only good for a press release.

Former Congressman Chris Carney Backs Critz for Lt. Gov.

 
Former U.S. Representative Chris Carney today announced that he is endorsing Mark Critz for Lieutenant Governor. Carney praised Critz for his dedication to creating jobs, supporting policies that strengthen the middle class and being a rational voice in Congress.

They both did well running as Blue Dog Democrats  and winning in Republican leaning  Congressional Districts in the past but a state wide race now is different. After all the damage Governor Tom Corbett has done Critz comes across as the worst kind of politician. He wants to be somebody instead of doing something. I talked to him at the Luzerne County Democratic picnic and he creeped me out. He handed me his official business card from when he was a Congresscritter with a sticker on the back with his new info obscuring the old stuff. He was very proud of it and said it would be a collectors item. 

I can't seem to find a Critz website but he does have a Facebook page.

 

 

Another Chris Carney tease

PoliticsPA is reporting that the DCCC had  a poll of former 10th CD Congressman Chris Carney vs. 11th CD Congressman Lou Barletta recently without any numbers. We went through this last time. Don't get your hopes up Carney fans as he  is not running for Congress or Lt. Governor which is laughable.. He spent 2 terms in Congress and cashed in becoming as a lobbyist  with a defense contractor in Virginia. Every time one of these stories pops up he can't be reached by reporters or bloggers which tells you something.

in government affairs for BAE systems

in government affairs for BAE systems

Video: Tom Marino town hall

This is a video of Congressman Tom  Marino (PA-10) at his recent McDonald's town-hall in Honesdale talking to a voter about the Grover Norquist no-tax pledge and Keystone XL pipeline. He can't handle the voter's questions so he turns to the person filming and starts questioning him asking for ID and then abruptly walks away. Marino says that his no-tax pledge does not lock him in. Apparently he is withdrawing his pledge.





Reminds me of Paul Kanjorski saying  " I’m not going to set myself up for, you know, nuts to hit me with a camera."

There was a story in the Wayne Independent that quotes Marino saying he would be open to a tax increase  but it's not available for some reason.

I want to remind you of what that left wing rag RedState said about Marino in 2010:

Marino, a former US Attorney, has his own shady dealings which will make for good campaign fodder in the general.
During Marino’s tenure as US Attorney, local businessman Louis DeNaples was under investigation by the US Attorney’s Office for his ties to William D’Elia, head of the Bufalino crime family. It seems DeNaples lied about his relationship with D’Elia to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board when applying for a licence for the Mount Airy Casino. Listed as a personal reference on that same application was none other than US Attorney Tom Marino, the very man running the office investigating DeNaples’ organized crime ties.
The Department of Justice got wind of the conflict of interest and ordered Marino off the investigation, and shortly after the media broke the story he resigned his post… and went to work for Louis DeNaples. (The charges were eventually dropped when DeNaples agreed to place the casino project in the name of a family member.)
The reality is just as bad as–if not worse than–the optics of this scandal. Do we really want someone like Marino representing the GOP in what will be a battleground district this fall....

This is not the first time Marino has been testy when being filmed. Love the Foster Grants.

Tom Marino yelled at this guy

Not only was I offended by Tom Marino's questioning if I had a job or if I was on welfare, I am offended by his campaign manager's response and the lies that were told about the event. Tom Marino's words regarding veterans has been offensive. His words regarding Carney hiding behind his wife's illness is offensive as someone who's mother dealt with cancer.

Luzerne County Democratic Picnic

This little girl pictured above doesn't want Mitt Romney to take her Big Bird away.

Congrats to recently installed Luzerne County County Democratic Chair Bob Boyer for putting together a great event that was attended by about 400 people according to my head counter Bob Caruso. Let's do it in the summer next time Bob.

The Luzerne  County GOP picnic had about 50 attend but they have gone back to the old ways of fighting each other. Urbanski won the Chair so the Casey supporters will boycott everything. More on that later in the week.

State Rep Eddie Day Pashinski was the Master of Ceremonies and I highly recommend him to MC your wedding the next time you get married.

 Senator Bob Casey spoke about the 100% of the American people and I blamed him for creating a monster that is Rick Santorum. He beat Ricky by 18 points in the last Senate race only to see Santorum come in 2nd in the Republican Presidential primaries. I predict that Santorum will be the GOP nominee in 2016 because he came in 2nd and the GOP is an orderly party. He will start his run  after he eats Big Bird.

Blast from the recent past Chris Carney who teased us about another run said Romney is not fit to be Commander in Chief. He noted that he is a Catholic war veteran speaking at the Catholic War Vets grove.

One of my favorite state reps Phyllis Mundy said the state GOP is as evil as the Tea Party yahoos on the national stage. She pointed out that 2/3 rd of Medicaid spending goes to people in nursing homes. We can't tax Shale but we can give corporations tax breaks.

State Rep Mike Carroll said the cartographers got it wrong Moosic is part of Luzerne County. Matt Cartwright corrected him  saying Luzerne County is part of Moosic.

Matt Cartwright reminded the crowd that "We are the Democrats" and did a shout out with the crowd  challenging them to stand up for Democratic values.

The thing that really struck me was the diversity of the crowd. This is not the Luzerne County Democratic Party of your father or even 4 years ago when the crooks that have gone to jail ran the show. I wasn't welcome then by Skrep, Lupas, Makowski and Vondy and the rest.

People from Hazleton turned out to support Ransom Young and Gene Stilp. Many of them Hispanic.

When a picture was being taken the shout wasn't cheese

It was HOLA!

Tom Marino on the air

Congressman Tom Marino has his first spot of the 2012 election up. It says he's tough guy that took on scam artist and drug dealers.





Challenger Phil Scollo responds:

Marino So Concerned That His new TV Ad Attempts to Re-Write His Own History

Dingman, PA – Marino’s new TV ad says he prosecuted scam artists who prey on seniors but the truth is he helped get a lighter sentence for a convicted felon, Sean Healy, who defrauded Pennsylvania seniors and families in a Bernie Madoff/Ponzi scheme.

“Pennsylvania seniors and families depend on their hard earned retirement savings and on Medicare, but seniors can’t depend on Tom Marino,” said Phil Scollo. “Everyone knows Mr. Marino has the money and the Washington connections to run TV ads that distort his record but hardworking people deserve the truth from Tom Marino and they deserve to hear it straight from his mouth. He voted twice to end the Medicare guarantee and he should have the courage to stand up in a debate on Medicare and explain why. He is refusing debates and trying to re-write history on TV. It’s disgusting.”

Sean Healy was indicted on 51 counts of fraud, money laundering and obstruction of justice involving investors of $20 million. Healy was accused of defrauding more than 50 investors throughout the country, including about 40 investors from the Chambersburg and Harrisburg areas. (Patriot-News, 10/17/09)

As Healy’s attorney, Marino pulled strings and negotiated–with his old U.S. Attorney’s office on the other side of the table–a lighter sentence. Marino signed the plea agreement as the counsel for the defendant. (U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, USA v. Healy, 1:09cr00319, 10/09/09)

According to the indictment, Healy promised investors he would use their money to purchase stocks and commodities on their behalf. The indictment accused Healy of spending the money to fund a lavish lifestyle, which included the purchase of a $2.4 million waterfront mansion furnished with more than $2 million of home improvements, $1.5 million in men’s and women’s jewelry and numerous exotic vehicles worth more than $2.3 million. (Patriot-News, 10/17/09)



Why stop there. Citizens Voice reporter Michael Sisak did some digging in 2010 and came up with another questionable relationship that Tom Marino has with a convicted criminal. He interceded on behalf of a  guy served time in prison on weapon's charges and has a history of bizzare behavior plus  Marino tried to get his record cleared of a cocaine dealing charge.

The friends of Tom Marino 

  A prominent central Pennsylvania car dealer once described as a “friend” by former U.S. Attorney Tom Marino has racked up an extensive rap sheet since leaning on Marino to have a cocaine dealing conviction cleared from his record more than a decade ago, court documents obtained by The Citizens’ Voice show.

Jay W. Kilheeney, an admitted drug addict and alcoholic, has been busted three times since Marino clumsily and unsuccessfully interceded in the drug case, in June 1998, and has been accused in protection from abuse petitions of leading a violent, vagabond home life.

Kilheeney, 46, of Williamsport, spent 33 months in federal prison on a 2002 illegal weapons possession charge, paid hundreds of dollars in fines to settle disorderly conduct and harassment charges in 2002 and 2009 and, following the weapons conviction, was barred by a state board from selling cars for five years.

At home, Kilheeney abused drugs, his family and the law — smoking marijuana daily, providing alcohol to his minor son, choking his girlfriend and running into the street naked — according to protection from abuse petitions filed in June and October 2008.


Marino, whose relationship with Kilheeney triggered concerns among colleagues as he transitioned into the U.S. Attorney’s Office in 2002, has remained silent about the status of his relationship with Kilheeney and Kilheeney’s continued criminal behavior.

A spokesman for Marino, the Republican challenger in the 10th Congressional District, said he could not comment on “anything related” to Marino’s time as a prosecutor and would not confirm whether he and Kilheeney were still friends.

Marino’s involvement in the Kilheeney case, while the district attorney of Lycoming County, appeared to bookend his controversial role, while U.S. Attorney, as a personal reference on DeNaples’ December 2005 application for a license to operate the Mount Airy Casino in Monroe County.


Carney campaign spokesman Josh Drobnyk said Friday that Marino’s involvement with DeNaples and Kilheeney were “absolutely” relevant to the campaign and to gauging the “integrity and honesty” of Marino’s tenure as a district attorney and U.S. Attorney.

“(Marino) touts being tough on criminals when the truth is he was seeking to help clear the criminal record of a close friend who was a drug trafficker and has since been charged with multiple crimes,” Drobnyk said. “Tom Marino has refused to address basic questions about his record and continues to insult all of us by refusing to tell the truth.”

Marino’s drive to clear Kilheeney’s February 1992 conviction for delivering two grams of cocaine led him into the nebulous, unethical world of judge shopping, according to court records.

According to court records, Marino hand delivered an expungement motion to a judge relatively unfamiliar with criminal procedure, Dudley N. Anderson, a month after the judge who presided over the case, Kenneth D. Brown, refused.

Anderson approved the expungement in July 1998, but reversed himself when he learned of Brown’s previous decision to deny the request.

Anderson ordered all copies of his expungement order returned, but Kilheeney kept a copy and included it with personal letters of reference from Marino and a Lycoming County detective to obtain authorization from the Ford Motor Co. to open a dealership in Lock Haven, according to a report in the Harrisburg Patriot-News.

Had the expungement stood, Kilheeney would never have faced the felony weapons charge — possession of a firearm by a convicted felon — that landed him in federal prison for 33 months.

Shortly before he reported to prison, in November 2002, Kilheeney pleaded guilty to summary harassment and disorderly conduct charges for forcing his way into the office of a business associate, grabbing him and threatening to kill him.

In August, Kilheeney pleaded guilty to a summary disorderly conduct charge more than a year after a traffic stop in which police said he dropped his pants to his ankles, exposing his genitals and buttocks.

“You can strip search me right here,” Kilheeney said, according to police.

“Wrong for Pennsylvania” Bus Tour in Scranton at 10AM tomorrow

Congressman Carney, Commissioner O'Brien, State Rep. DePasquale & Congressional Candidate Cartwright to Join Mass. State Legislators Clark and Sanchez on the Romney-Ryan “Wrong For Pennsylvania” Bus Tour in Scranton 

Event to Highlight How Romney-Ryan Plan Would Devastate Scranton By Raising Taxes On The Middle Class And Slashing Education Funding 

SCRANTON—On Wednesday, August 29, Congressman Chris Carney, Commissioner Corey O'Brien, State Rep. Eugene DePasquale, and Congressional Candidate Matt Cartwright will join Mass. State Rep. Katherine Clark and Mass. State Sen. Jeffery Sanchez on the Romney-Ryan “Wrong for Pennsylvania” Bus Tour at the Lackawanna County Court House. Participants will discuss how the Romney-Ryan budget plan would be disastrous for middle class families, women, seniors, and students – raising taxes on the middle class, cutting funding for veterans programs and education investments, and turning Medicare into a voucher program to pay for tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires.

The tour is traveling throughout Pennsylvania, highlighting the disastrous consequences that the Romney-Ryan plan would have on the country and the middle class throughout the state. President Obama is fighting for an economy built to last by investing in the resources we need to rebuild America from the ground up – like innovation, education and job training – to keep our country moving forward. Previous bus tour stops include Erie, Pittsburgh, Altoona, State College, and Harrisburg.

The Romney-Ryan plan would give the wealthy more budget-busting tax breaks and raise taxes on the middle class and small businesses. Paul Ryan’s extreme budget would also cut an average of $810 in college scholarships for 313,000 Pennsylvania students, and  Mitt Romney would  repeal Obamacare, take away a woman’s right to choose and “get rid of” federal funding for Planned Parenthood.

Looking to the fall: Congress

Right now you have to say that the 2 GOP freshman have the upper hand along with the Dem in the open 17th CD.

Democrat Phill Scollo will be taking on Tom Marino in the 10thCD. Scollo has assembled many of the campaign staffers that helped Chris Carney win his 2 improbable victories in 2006 and 2008 but has not done well fundraising. Add in the fact that the district was made more Republican in the latest gerrymander and Mr. Scollo has a big hill to climb. Mr. Marino has had a second bout of cancer recently and some people wanted me to use his illness to score points contrasting his opposition to the Affordable Care Act with the health coverage he receives. I thought that was ghoulish as there will be plenty of time to discuss health care policy before the election. I wish Congressman Marino a full and speedy recovery.

In the 17CD Matt Cartwright will be the overwhelming favorite to defeat Republican Laureen Cummings. Money will be no object for Cartwright in this newly drawn Dem favorable district. Money will also not be a factor in Cummings campaign, she doesn't have any, raising just $305 according to her latest FEC report.Tim Holden ran a terrible campaign that overreached in his attack ads then went back to the Social Security canard when he got called out on it. Cartwright billed himself as the hometown boy and a "Roosevelt Democrat" for those of us who know who FDR was. With Congress polling at a 10% approval rating I think an anti-incumbent sentiment played a part in his win. Holden has been in Washington for 20 years but couldn't point to one piece of significant legislation he authored. A few other incumbents also lost on Tuesday.

Gene Stilp surprised me. He and Bill Vinsko worked hard but Stilp just out hustled him. Neither one had a lot of money but Vinsko pissed his away on consultants. I wasn't too surprised that Stilp won this race but the 10 point margin was a bit of a surprise. His name recognition and the pink pig won the day. The combination of  new district lines and the anti-incumbent mood may make this one competitive. Stilp wants Barletta to sign a pledge to run a clean campaign but even if he does plenty of outside groups could still spend all kinds of money if it starts to look close. The recent unwritten rule is that you need about $1 million to run a competitive congressional race. After the Citizens United ruling that should be modified to say you need about a million to be spent on your behalf .

Endorsements for Holden and Cartwright

Just about every local Democratic elected local official and county committee has endorsed Congressman Tim Holden in the PA-17th CD primary. The latest include Senator Bob Casey who had a statement read by former Congressman Chris Carney at an event in Scranton. Other than the AFL-CIO that brings money and boots on the ground most endorsements are worth a press release and not much more. Some nods could actually hurt such as the Lackawanna and Luzerne County Democratic Committees after people have seen so many elected local Democratic officials pleading guilty to corruption charges and landing in jail. One of the Captains Obvious college professors agrees with me "Casey carries a lot of credibility, but in terms of delivering any votes, I have doubts it'll deliver significant numbers of votes," Baldino said.

And let's not forget that Holden has taken money from the Kock Brothers . From NEPartisan Yes, Tim Holden actually took money from the Koch Brothers. Five minutes on Google, and any American who doesn’t want our environment destroyed, all labor laws eliminated, no limits on Wall Street traders, our judicial system in chains, and the federal government out of business so the age of robber barons can return would reject anyone backed by them.

On the other hand Matt Cartwright has landed some endorsements that bring money, boots and media.

LuLac: The Scranton area’s local postal union, Local #101 of the American Postal Workers Union, threw its support behind Matt Cartwright today. The Senate is slated to take up a bill to destroy the Post Office because the Republicans think it should be run like a business instead of the public service that it is.

MoveOn.org: MoveOn has more than 12,000 members in the 17th district, and of those who participated in the endorsement vote, a decisive 84% voted to endorse Cartwright...
As part of their support for the Cartwright campaign, MoveOn’s thousands of members in the district will help provide the grassroots support—including volunteer boots on the ground – that Cartwright needs to win.

League of Conservation Voters Action Fund ‘Proudly’ Endorses Matt Cartwright

“Matt Cartwright has fought to hold corporate polluters accountable to protect Pennsylvanians from the hazardous chemicals released in natural gas extraction,” said LCV Action Fund President Gene Karpinski. “LCV Action Fund is proud to endorse Matt Cartwright because he understands that the policies needed to grow America’s economy and keep our competitive edge are the same policies that will protect the air we breathe and the water we drink for generations to come.”

The LCV is backing up the endorsement with a $200,000 ad buy that will run until election day. From PoliticsPA It’s not the first time Holden has earned the ire – or the media dollars – of environmental groups. In October, the political arm of the Natural Resources Defense Council spent $100K to air TV ads knocking Holden, as well as Rep. Lou Barletta (R-Luzerne) over the Clean Air Act.

You can see my coverage of that here

If you watch the local TV news you will see this ad until Tuesday





This spot hits Holden on the issues unlike the personal attacks that the Holden camp has resorted to.





I would put up a video of the latest Holden ad but it is not on the campaign website and they don't have a YouTube account that I can find. Is Joe Trippi really running his campaign?

Matt Cartwright for Congress

I had a brief telephone chat with Democratic 17th CD candidate Matt Cartwright today. He is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School (Go Quakers) and Hamilton College in upstate New York.

When I asked how much money he has raised he told me he has raised enough money so far. That shows as the Sunday airwaves have been full of his ads and I got a mailer from his camp yesterday. I asked him if he would appear with President Obama or Vice President Biden if they came to our area he said "why not." I would like to ask Tim Holden the same question but I don't have any contact information for him.

He pointed out that the new 17th CD is 56% D to 32% by registration and was drawn by the Harrisburg Republicans as a trade off for making the 10th and 11th CD's safer for Lou Barletta and Tom Marino but nobody expected him to get in the race.

Cartwright held a few fundraisers for Chris Carney when he was running for Congress and was disappointed that he is backing Tim Holden.

On the important questions he confirmed that the Phillie's is his baseball team and roots for the Eagles in the NFL. In College football he likes Notre Dame.

I also invited him to Blogfest on March 30th at Rooney's in Pittston. He said he will be there.

Another Dem running in the 10th CD

"I'm not Chris Carney. I won't run as a Republican."-John R. Moran

John Moran of Williamsport joins Phil Scollo in the race to be the Democratic nominee to oppose Republican Tom Marino in the 10th Congressional District.

The Daily Review and the Daily Item have profiles of him.

He is a retired union guy running as an unapologetic Democrat who is opposed to fracking.

Moran said Marino has lacked accomplishments in Congress and he criticized him for co-sponsoring a bill that would "end Medicare as we know it." ...In fact, Moran said he thinks Medicare should be expanded, so that anyone who had the money to pay the premiums could participate in it...Moran said he opposes giving private companies the power of eminent domain, which is occurring locally in the natural gas industry in the installation of gas transmission pipelines.

Looking at Marino's Congressional record made him laugh, Moran said. "What's he done? He has authored a bill, as yet unpassed, that would outlaw earmarks. One issue per bill. That's the best he can do, with our deficits and job losses in the region?"

It all comes down to fairness, he explained.

"I've been lucky in my life," Moran said. "I pay 30 percent of my income in taxes. The Republican front-runner is paying 14 percent and he's a multi-millionaire. The tax code has to be made more equitable and if I get to Congress, I'll fight for that."

Chris Carney is not running

This story in the The Daily Item about a petition party for candidates in Union County caught my eye.
.
Committee Chairman Rick Thomas said "We haven't heard if Carney is going to run again," Thomas said of former Democratic Rep. Chris Carney, who lost his seat in Congress to Marino in 2010. It's been widely reported that Carney planned to challenge Marino in the next election, but Thomas said there's been no news of late."If no one decides to declare at this point, it's possible we won't have a challenger on the ballot."
.
There was also speculation that Carney might run in the 11thCD. He teased that he would run again but wouldn't answer the telephone calls of reporters or bloggers. There is a Draft Chris Carney Facebook page that is now dead and the Act Blue account has been deleted.
.
Chris Carney landed a job with a defense contractor in Virginia and the redistricting probably put his old district out of reach. I posted in September that he was unlikley to run. Too bad, I'll take a blue dog in a Republican district over a tea bagger any day.

Out with old, in with the new

I'm not going to do a top 10 list of 2011 stories but highlight some of the things that happened this past year that will carry over into 2012 that interest me. LuLac and Capitol Ideas have great recaps of the year's top stories in numerical order.


In no particular order with omissions that I'm sure you correct me on dear readers they are Luzerne County Government, Redistricting, the latest flood and the local blogosphere.



I usually don't do multi-subject posts but may start doing it the future like the quick hits of Pennsylvania Progressive and NEPartisan.


Luzerne County Government


The 3 Commissioner 3rd class county code form of government with 127 row officers has come to an end. It is being replaced by a system that is used by many county governments across the country. There will be growing pains and squabbles but I hope the news system works better than the old one.

Redistricting

Wilkes-Barre has been the anchor of the 11th Congressional District since Pennsylvania became a state but will now be part of the 17th CD. It looks like incumbent Democrat Tim Holden will face a primary challenge from Matt Cartwight. No Republican has announced a run yet. In the 11th CD the salons in Harrisburg have taken care of Lou Barletta but Bill Vinsko vows to take him on even though they drew the lines right around his house to keep him out of the district. Tom Marino looks safe in the 10th CD. Former Congressman Chris Carney teased that he would run again but that has fizzled out.

Floods

Expect more as the polar ice caps continue to melt putting more moisture in the atmosphere. I roll my eyes at the people who say climate change can't be real because it still snows.

Local Blogosphere

DB Echo has a nice summary of the resurgence of NEPA Blogs. He and Michelle have done a great job of identifying local bloggers and most of them don't have anything to do with politics. Even when I come across a new political blog one of them has it listed before I get the chance. NEPA Blogs has turned into a multimedia operation with a Facebook page, Twitter account and radio and TV appearances. A few local political blogs popped up and withered shortly thereafter although 2 sites devoted to Wilkes-Barre politics have been updated regularly with claims of corruption by city officials.

The local media is starting to notice that political bloggers are not some kids banging away in their mother's basement wearing pajama's eating Cheetos as the early stereotype depicted but are people who have experience in campaigns, government and media. Certainly as well (many times better) informed as the Captains Obvious college professors they so often run to analysis.

Joe Valenti of Pittston Politics punishes himself by going to school board meetings and constantly breaks news in the Wyoming Area and Pittston Area school districts. The CV picked up on his reporting about the solicitor controversy in WA. LuLac Political Letter editor David Yonki was spot on in his prediction in the recent Luzerne County Council race and is a regular on the radio and WYLN's public affairs broadcasts. Even I got in on the electric media recently when Tiffany Cloud invited me to be a guest on her show Storm Politics to talk about the impact of political blogging. And we all owe a debt of gratitude to the Blogfather for his work at Wilkes-Barre Online that broke one story after another that was latter picked up the newspapers often without attribution.

Blogfest was a hit again this year and I expect the spring edition will be the political event of the season like it has been the last 4 times we did it. I was flabbergasted by the turnout for the first one and many people tell me that it is their favorite political gathering. This year the primary is April 24th because of the Presidential election so it presents a scheduling dilemma. We always do it on a Friday but Good Friday is April 6th so that leaves either April 13th only 10 days before the primary election or March 30th. I think March 30th would work but we need to nail down the date. I usually invite all sorts of big shots to Blogfest and some of them even show up. We need to set a date to give a heads up to the statewide candidates for US Senator, PA Attorney General and Auditor General plus the local hopefuls for Congress, State Senate and House.

Pennsylvania Congressional Redistricting-Reaction

On my Facebook page:

2010 Republican GOP primary candidate David J Madeira "My house was redistricted out of the 10th"

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2010 Phyllis Mundy campaign manager Omeed Firouzi "My house was redistricted out of the 10th District too!"

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Me "My house was redistricted out of the 11th."

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Here is a list of Luzerne County towns moving from the 11th to the 17th.

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CITIES of Pittston and Wilkes-Barre and the TOWNSHIPS of Jenkins, Pittston, Plains and Wilkes-Barre and the BOROUGHS of Avoca, Dupont,Duryea, Exeter, Hughestown, Laflin, West Pittston, West Wyoming, Wyoming and Yatesville.

The Lackawanna County perspective comes from NEPartisan.

The 10th District, represented by Republican Tom Marino, used to be held by Chris Carney, a Democrat. Carney is still in the district, being from Susquehanna, but the district has gotten redder – it has lost upper Lackawanna County (Dem) and parts of Luzerne County to swing all over the place. It goes all the way to Mifflin, Juniata, and Perry Counties. Never heard of them? You wouldn’t. We’re from NEPA and that’s nowhere near here. Marino’s district, because of Republican efforts to stop Chris Carney from making a comeback, is now, geographically, the largest in the state next to the equally absurd 5th.

LuLac

Lou Barletta just won the biggest political lottery of his life. The gods of gerrymandering and redistricting have smiled brightly on the fair haired (okay dark haired boy) from the Mountain City. Lou Barletta now loses the Democratic bastions of Pittston, Wilkes Barre and Scranton....Wilkes Barre and Pittston speak for themselves in terms of Democratic supremacy. No Republican has served in Wilkes Barre since the Council-Manager form of government in the 60s and no one in Pittston has served as a member of the GOP since the late 1950s

Bill Vinsko vows to stay in the 11th CD race


“I am running in the 11th and I am staying put right now,” he said. “Here’s why: the reason is that the issues do not stop at party lines and the issues don’t stop at boundary lines. And I want to be the Congressman for Northeast Pennsylvania and for Central Pennsylvania, and my concern is not the lines but the people...“I am not planning on moving at this time,” Vinsko said. “With a nine-iron I could hit a ball into the 11th from my yard.”

Wow, If Bill can hit a 9 iron across the river to Kingston or into Hanover he is much better golfer than I am. But then just about everybody is. I gave up golf after the last time they figured out my handicap and I got special parking.

The law does not require a member of congress to live in the district he or she represents, just in the same state.

Lou Barletta denies having anything to do with the new bounderies which is doubted by many people.


“My original and one of my only requests was that we keep Luzerne County whole and together because it is my home county, so I was disappointed in the fact that Wilkes-Barre and the Wyoming Valley and Pittston were not included.” ...The former Hazleton Mayor noted that he won Luzerne in 2010 by approximately 10,000 votes and in 2008 by about 5,000, and guessed Harrisburg Republicans were likely planning for the entire decade – not just him....“It’s a ten year map. While I have been able to do well in Luzerne county, it’s a county that I’m from. So, I don’t think the map was drawn specifically for me.”

The Pennsylvania Republican Gerrymander

Chris Carney for Congress

I have been sitting on this story because I wanted to confirm some details and talk to Chris Carney before throwing out speculation without doing my homework. But if you snooze you loose and the Dean of local political reporters Borys beat me to it.

Carney could be planning comeback

Like Borys I have been unsuccessful in my attempts to talk with Carney despite contacting everyone I know that is in touch with him. They assured me that they passed on my messages but the phone has yet to ring.

I have been able to confirm is that there is a Chris Carney for Congress campaign staff and an Act Blue Page with 25 donors so far. He has also sent out of couple of teaser emails.

There is a Draft Chris Carney Facebook group which I thought was wishful thinking as there is also a Draft Dick Cheney page backing a war criminal for President. The page administrator passed along a few emails from Carney that I questioned the veracity at first but they turned out to be legit. I put them on Google Docs so you view can view them. Resonable Ledership and a Veterans day message.

Tom Marino certainly deserves a challenge as he has voted in lockstep with the Republican leadership including supporting the Paul Ryan plan that would destroy Medicare and blow up the budget. Then he voted for a Balanced Budget Amendment that would make the Ryan plan impossible, even Ryan voted against it. He even favors other radical proposals.

CV: Marino said downsizing government is a way to cut wasteful government spending while keeping taxes low. Just like businesses, he said the federal government must do more with less and should revert back to the spending levels of 2002....He suggested getting rid of government agencies such as the Department of Energy, Department of Education, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Internal Revenue Service which, he said, is "causing grief for people trying to run a small business."

We will probably have to wait until redistricting is done to find out if Susquehanna County will be in the 10th or 11th CD to get a decision from Carney. Although he can run in either district if runs against Lou Barletta and his home is in the 10th you will hear the carpetbagger charge.

The clock is clicking so he will have to make a decision soon if he is going to able to raise the money to mount a challenge to either one of them.

Election polls

Very few scientific polls are conducted in local elections for the simple reason that they are expensive and very few campaigns have the money to conduct one. Even if they did the chances are that they don't have people with the expertise who know how to use the results to shape an election strategy.

I know the Wilkes-Barre Mayor's race has been polled (guess what camp did that) and Pittston Politics reports that Jackie Mo had a survey that showed her up big before Salaventis went on the air. In the last Congressional races the local papers paid for polls but they are not about to waste money on a municipal election. Besides, it looks like the Times-Leader can't afford it anyway.

Polling the Judicial races is pointless and trying to survey the races for seats on the new Luzerne County Council is impossible with so many candidates and without a model to build on.

Local bloggers decide to take up the slack .

The LuLac Political Letter

Here are the poll results we took for the General Election in 2011. As we indicated yesterday, the poll was among LuLac readers, it had 178 respondents, to our knowledge they only voted once and is presented as an unscientific sampling of the pulse of LuLac readers who follow politics as well as this blog site.

It's a tradition on Gort42 to put up some polls on the sidebar the week before the election. I'm not going to list multiple candidate races such as County Council and the Judicial contests. Altogether there are 35 candidates.

So we have 2 questions.

Who will win the races for Luzerne County DA and Mayor of Wilkes-Barre?

Vote on the side bar.

Looking to 2012 I have heard reports that the NRCC has polled the 11th CD recently finding that former 10th CD Congressman Chris Carney would top Congressman Lou Barletta by 5 points. I'm trying to get more info on that.

Speaking of local bloggers

Blog of the week
Harold Jenkins from NEPA Blogs talks to us today about "Gort42", the ultimate guide to local politics and local political blogs.

NEPA Blogs Flapdoodle

Chris Carney unlikely to run again

Disclaimer: I have not talked with Chris since before the last election. I tried calling the last cell phone number I had for him but it said it was disconnected or I couldn't read my own handwritting and dialed the wrong number. So Chris, If your still reading the blog of a long time supporter please get in touch and set me straight. With that said, this is speculation.

I don't think that former Congressman Chris Carney will be running in the 10th or 11th CD this coming election. I know many of us want him to run and have floated the idea. In an iterview with Borys in July he teased that he was considering it.

Two things make another campaign unlikely for Carney.

The first is redisctricing. We may not know until January what the new Congressional districts will look like. It's probably to the GOP's advantage to wait to the last minute since they have the most seats to defend and give time for their voter suppression effort to make it's way through the courts. At this point we don't know what district Susqehanna County will be in. Not that should disqualify him from running in either district as the Constitution only requires that you be resident of the same state. But not living in the district is frowned upon.

The second is he now has a pretty good job in Virginia.


Former Lawmaker Lands Defense Contracting Job

Update: This is a good follow up from Politics in NEPA pointing out that Carney has not raised much money since the last election and rehashes the points I just made.

Kanjo is such a tease

Former Congressman Paul Kanjorski's interview with the TL last week has the local chattering classes all a twitter. When asked if he would run again he kept the door open.


He gave answers such as, “I can’t say yes or no;” “I can honestly say I haven’t given it any thought,” and “I’m enjoying the fresh air.”

PittstonPolitics jumped all over it even before the TL story was published. Joe also threw out a few other names of people who may or may not be contimplating a run against Lou Barletta depending on what the district will look like after redistricing. I think Luzerne County DA Jackie Mo is a long shot and Wilkes-Barre legal guy Bill Vinsko is already in.

The most intriging name in the mix is former 10th District Congressman Chris Carney depending if our salons in Harisburg try to make the district more Republican friendly by including Susquehanna County in the 11th. Technically Carney can run in the 11th even if he doesn't live in the district as the Constitution only requires that a member of Congress shall live in the same state modled after the British Parliment. It's rarely done but anything is possible. My first choice for this seat would be former state rep Kevin Blaum but that's just me. Eddie Day Pashinski and Phyllis Mundy would also be good candidates.


Back to Kanjo. Mrs G just told me she would always vote for him but I think he should write his book. He had many accomplishments that he can proudly point to but it's time to move on. But then again, anything is possible.

Barletta sent out a fundraising email yesterday about this news. It said:

Querido amigo -

Ayer por la tarde, Pennsylvania medios de comunicación comenzaron a informar que el ex congresista Paul Kanjorski - que usted me ayudó a vencer en 2010 - "está considerando lanzar su sombrero en el anillo para el asiento que estaba perdido" (PoliticsPA.com).

Todos recordamos Kanjorski de "grandes éxitos", ya sea llamando a dólares de los contribuyentes "dinero gratis" o votar por un paquete de un billón de dólares de estímulo que no produjo los empleos que necesitamos o empujar Obamacare. Lo importante es que no podemos volver a los mismos políticos que nos metieron en este lío.

El informe señala los medios de comunicación, "el dinero será un elemento clave en esta carrera y estoy seguro de Kanjo todavía tiene un poco guardados." Es cierto, si se decide a un reto para mí en 2012, Kanjorski se gastan millones para cubrir por encima de su registro y inducir a error a los electores sobre la mía.

Tenga la seguridad, voy a luchar fuerte contra Kanjorski, pero necesito tu ayuda para hacerlo. Una primera contribución a mi campaña ahora pagará grandes dividendos en el largo plazo.

Gracias por su continuo apoyo.

Atentamente,

Lou Barletta

How they doing?

The people of the 10th and 11th Pennsylvania Congressional Districts traded in Democrats Chris Carney and Paul Kanjorski for Republicans Tom Marino and Lou Barletta in the last election so how are they doing representing your interest? Has unemployment been reduced or has the deficit been brought under control? Are there less illegal immigrants lurking in your neighborhood? Is your health care secure?

They both voted for the Paul Ryan budget that will phase out Medicare and want to continue giving oil companies tax payer subsidies despite the fact that they continue to rack up record profits. They have both voted for bills in the house that have no chance of passing the Senate about abortion and other things.

Vote in the poll on the side bar and sound off in the comments.