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

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

RIP Charlie Lemmond 1929-2012

CV:  Former state Sen. Charles D. Lemmond Jr. has died.
The 82-year-old Republican from the Back Mountain area represented the 20th Senatorial District from 1985 through 2006. Lemmond was a former Luzerne County judge and first assistant district attorney.


The last time I had the pleasure of speaking with Senator Lemmond was at an event for Walter Griffith in 2009.  It would be accurate to say he stole the show. He wasn't planning to speak but the crowd demanded it.You could feel the respect and affection that people had for him.

Here are some of his legislative highlights:

1985 Won a special election to fill the vacancy left by outgoing Sen. FrankO'Connell Jr.

1986 Won his first general election against Democrat Joseph Bilbow

1989 Only Luzerne County lawmaker to vote against a law that imposed new restrictions on abortions in Pennsylvania

1991 Led Pennsylvania's redistricting effort after the 1990 census

1992 Helped write Pennsylvania's living-will law, called the Advance Directive for Health Care Act of 1992.

1995 Sponsored law to allow judges to consider an adult defendant's juvenile record in determining bail.

2001 Again helped redraw Pennsylvania's congressional districts after the 2000 census.

2004 Voted against Act 71, which expanded gambling in Pennsylvania by legalizing slot machines at 14 locations around the state.

I guess the best description of him is that he is a Rockefeller Republican. An endangered species these days.

He was instrumental in helping Lisa Baker succeed him.  Her statement:

"Charlie Lemmond was a positive force in my life in so many ways – friend, mentor, advisor, role model. As a former judge, prosecutor and legislator, he had incredible respect for the power and purpose of law, properly crafted and wisely applied.
"His 21 years as a well-respected state Senator were marked by his standard of integrity, his pursuit of justice, and his desire to do what was right for the people and the communities he served. He wanted to never disappoint those who trusted him and had confidence in his ability. He was willing to bridge party lines and political philosophies. Through his constant and active involvement in a wide range of community groups, Charlie touched many lives, gave a sense of direction and responsibility to numerous improvement projects and served as an inspiration to countless individuals,"


Congressman Lou Barletta:

“A native son of Hazleton, Charlie Lemmond was the consummate public servant. For more than 20 years, he served the people of the 20^th Senatorial District of Pennsylvania with integrity and honor. Before that, he was a judge and a prosecutor, and he had a deep understanding of the law and its impacts. Charlie always offered wise counsel based on his long years of experience. He was quick to offer a kind word or friendly advice. He will be missed,” Rep. Barletta said. “My family and I would like to extend our condolences to his wife, Barbara; his children, Chuck, Judy, John, and David; and their families.”

PA Electoral College votes-NEPA reaction

Bill O'Boyle has the reaction from some of our local legislators on Republican State Sen. Dominic Pileggi's (pictured at right) idea of changing the way Pennsylvania awards it's Electoral College votes. In short the Republicans like the idea and the Democrats hate it.

Congressman Lou Barletta: For me, it doesn’t matter, I’ve been targeted since the first day I was elected. It’s an interesting idea; I’m staying open minded on it.”

State Sen. Lisa Baker: “The proposal is an interesting attempt to find a middle ground between those who want to eliminate the Electoral College and those who want to keep the existing system.”

State Rep. Gerald Mullery: “It’s intended to rob many Pennsylvania voters of one of their most fundamental rights of citizenship – the right to have their vote for president count,”

State Sen. John Blake: “Job creation needs to be our number one priority and unfortunately, the proposed changes to the Electoral College will not put anyone back to work.”

State Rep. Phyllis Mundy: “This is an unfair attempt to stack the deck against Democrats,” she said. “I could never support it.”

State Sen. John Yudichak put it best: “It appears Republicans are not satisfied with comfortable majorities in Harrisburg,” he said. “They want a permanent majority beyond the approach of elections and will employ partisan tactics like gerrymandered districts, voter suppression measures, and now an assault on Pennsylvania’s right to vote for a president of the United States to achieve their ends.”

The Virginian

I'm surprised that this hasn't got more play in the PA media/blogosphere.

From the Trib:

Rick Santorum said at a Harrisburg news conference that he's now an official Old Dominion resident.

"We've been voting in Virginia for the last few elections," he said. "I officially changed my voter registration, I think, a year or so ago."


Maybe it's because nobody really takes his Presidential bid seriously since the latest Wapo poll nationally has him at 3% and Rasmussen shows only 4% support in Iowa. But he is still plugging away even after his Irene interrupted fundraising tour of Pennsylvania calling in some chits.

From Capitol Ideas:

Santorum Picks Up Endorsement of Some of PA State Senate GOP.

I'm glad I didn't see Lisa Baker's name on this list.


In addition to Browne, Corman and Scarnati, the full list of Pennsylvania GOP senators supporting Santorum includes: Sens. Mike Waugh of York County; Bob Robbins of Mercer County; Richard Alloway of Franklin County; David Argall of Schuylkill County; John Eichelberger of Blair County; Mike Folmer of Lebanon County; Bob Mensch of Montgomerry County; John Pippy of Allegheny County; Robert Tomlinson of Bucks County; Kim Ward of Westmoreland County; Don White of Indiana County and Gene Yaw of Lycoming County.

You all know that I have a soft spot for Ricky and had mixed feelings when he lost the 2006 Senate race to Bob Casey for all the wrong reasons.


We can't lose Rick Santorum

Remember the Cyber School thing and wanting to start a war with Iran that Ron Paul smacked him down on

He hasn't disappointed lately

Rick Santorum Gets Into Heated Argument With Student Over Gay Parents

So he got to mix the 2 themes recently

Santorum: The Gay Community Is On A ‘Jihad’ Against Me

It's a gas,tax

The PA House of Representatives finally got around to passing a Severance tax on the Marcellus Shale drillers that are in the process of creating a slow motion environmental disaster in Pennsylvania.


TL: The Pennsylvania House on Wednesday approved a bill that would impose the state’s first-ever tax on natural gas extraction, advancing a plan to split the proceeds among the state’s general fund, environmental programs and local governments....The 104-94 vote was a major step toward collecting revenue from the drilling boom in a wide swath of the state that overlays the Marcellus Shale gas formation.

What Does Severance Tax Mean?
A tax imposed on the removal of nonrenewable resources such as crude oil, condensate and natural gas, coalbed methane and carbon dioxide.

But they came up with a convoluted formula on how to use the proceeds as this chart from the Commonwealth Foundation documents. This should be a lot simpler with money going into the general fund and the remainder being dedicated to the DEP to deal with the inspection, regulation and inevitable clean up operations from this activity. But just like the slots money that was sold as a way to reduce property taxes our salons in Harrisburg look on this as another pot of gold to be spread around.

Predictably, Republicans are objecting as their world view seems to be there should not be any taxes on businesses of any kind. Nobody likes paying taxes but as a wise man once said "Taxes are the price we pay for civilization." I think the Yonk would agree with that.

The industry has no problem spreading around campaign cash instead of paying taxes. Since 2001 they have dropped $3 million into political campaigns and spent another $5 million for lobbying.

According to the website Marcellus Money, the top recipients of driller campaign cash during the past decade include: Attorney General and GOP gubernatorial candidate Tom Corbett ($372,000), Lt. Gov./Senate GOP leader Joseph Scarnati ($117,000), Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell ($84,000), Democratic gubernatorial candidate Dan Onorato ($74,000).

Local lawmakers receiving contributions include Senate Minority Leader Robert Mellow, D-Peckville ($7,000), Sen. Lisa Baker, R-Lehman Township ($1,500), Sen. John Gordner, R-Berwick ($1,300), House Majority Leader Todd Eachus, D-Butler Township ($1,250), Rep. Ed Staback, D-Archbald ($500), Rep. John Yudichak, D-Nanticoke ($250) and Rep. Karen Boback, R-Harveys Lake ($250)

Boback gave back the money. Good for her.

The production of gas from the Marcellus Shale has exceeded the expectations of the industry itself so these warnings that a tax on them will drive them out of the state is nonsense. The gas is under our feet and if they want it they will pay a fair premium to the people of Pennsylvania.

Radio Dave

My friend David Madeira has the first local based show on the new conservative talk radio station 94.3 FM. He describes himself as a recovering politician that wants to save the country from liberalism. That hasn't worked out well so far and I'm of the opinion that many people are rhetorically conservative but functionally liberal. More on that in a future post.

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Madeira recently lost the Republican nomination for Congress in the PA 10th Congressional District to Tom Marino. In 2008 he was instrumental in helping Chris Hackett go down in flames against Congressman Chris Carney and before that he came in 2nd in the 2006 GOP primary for the 20th PA State Senate seat, losing to Lisa Baker.

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I talked with Madeira yesterday on the telephone and asked him how he got this gig and he explained that he pitched it to WILK first but they blew him off but the people at The Talker decided to give him a chance. Talk radio is a natural forum for David as anybody who has ever been in the same room as Dave knows the most dangerous place to be is between him and a microphone.

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The interview:

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Let me ask a question off the record

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I don't have to do that anymore so ask me me anything you want. I'm having more fun being a talk show host than being a candidate. I no longer have to worry about offending anyone. I can be like you pajama clad bloggers.

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You have great website for the show, who put it together?

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My 14 year old son

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You got such a great time slot. There must be dozens of people listening at 8AM on a Saturday

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It's just a reflection of the owners confidence in my ability.

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Can Marino win

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I do. I think that the anti-incumbent and anti-Democratic mood has been underestimated. It will be a tough race because Carney will try to eviscerate Marino as he did to Hackett over the flat tax issue.

A podcast of his show is available at this link

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David Madeira show

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Dave told me he is hoping to move on to a bigger audience and I wish him well. The right wing airwaves are just about saturated so I will give him some unsolicited advice. Talk about local issues, build an audience and get a better time slot.

Dave Madeira for Congress

My friend and political sparing partner Dr. David Madeira is running for the Republican nomination in the 10th Congressional District to take on incumbent Democrat Chris Carney.

Madeira came in a surprising 2nd to Lisa Baker in the 2006 Republican primary for the 20th State Senate seat. My favorite memory of that race was the argument between Dave and Russ Bigus about who had shot the most animals in their lifetimes. He was looking at taking on Carney in 2008 but decided to back Chris Hackett's bid and took a top job in his campaign.

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Madeira is a graduate of Bob Jones University and the New York Chiropractic College and practiced for 20 years even serving as President of the Pennsylvania Chiropractic Association, but gave up being a back cracker for a business and political consulting gig.

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After helping Hackett's campaign go down in flames he started a political blog and tells me that I was the inspiration (blame) for it because I had the audacity to opine that Chris Carney has been a good Congressman.

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I talked with him on Monday and he accused Carney of deception and opposes the stimulus bill that kept us out of another depression. He opposes Health Care Reform calling it socialized medicine and has pledged to repeal it if he is elected. On his blog, Could we please have our country back now? , he is crowing about the election result from Massachusetts tonight. And he doesn't like earmarks. Good luck explaining that to every local government in the 10th district that needs a piece of pork to buy a new fire truck or put in new sewers because they are tapped out on the property tax.

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Dave hasn't done the FEC paperwork yet so we don't have an official website but you can read his thoughts on his Facebook page and blog. Some other media coverage:

Lehman Twp. consultant is second GOP contender against Carney

Madeira promises an energetic challenge to Carney


Malcolm Derk is the only official candidate so far but Tom Marino is expected to get into the race and Political Pike points out that Ted Yale has announced on his Facebook page that he is running for the Republican nomination.

Madeira has promised me an interview in a few weeks. Send me your questions.

YouTube weekend

The Luzerne County GOP now has a YouTube page. There are 4 videos of the recent Lawn Party at the Westmoreland Club that I was unable to attend. They seem a bit overdressed for a "lawn party" and why is the action inside?

In this clip we we can see State Senator Lisa Baker and Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta singing a duet of "Paradise by the Dashboard Lights." Well, not really but we can always hope.

Lisa is not running for Lt. Governor

According to the story by Bill O'Boyle in the TL today State Senator Lisa Baker is not running for statewide office.


Baker’s name has been mentioned in talks and on Internet blogs as a potential candidate for the lieutenant governor’s post.


I have done a search of PA bloggers recent posts and can only find one mention of her moving up and that was from moi.

Get well Senator Lisa

Plus she is going to be Governor some day.


I'm glad I can create a groundswell for a candidate. If a Republican is going to be in the Governor's office she would be my choice.

Huber Breaker

Responding to my critics. This comment was left on my Pile of Junk post:

First you endorse Republican Baker as a future Governor; now you want to tear down the Huber breaker; one of the few remaining edifices of our coal mining heritage. I think it is far more important to put money into preserving an important piece of history as opposed to investing in entertainment venues such as the arena (which you support) and sports complexes, etc. etc. I thought you were a history buff???

Yes, I am a history buff but I'm not a fan of boondoggles. Spending $10 million or more to restore the Huber Breaker is just not possible right now. The state is looking at a $3 billion deficit and Luzerne County hasn't balanced the books for as long as I have been blogging and then some. Even if the money was available to restore the breaker I doubt that it would be a crowd magnet just like Steamtown has very few visitors.

If you want to see a coal breaker the Eckley Miners Village has one and they are begging for money to fix it up. An entertainment venue such as the Wachovia Arena attracts people, it makes money and has transformed an abandoned strip mine into the most vibrant retail hub in the area.

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As far as what happens to Lackawanna County Stadium I think the best thing to do is repair it. Again, because of budget restraints a new park is not in the cards. But for the most part I don't give a shit since the clowns up north chased the Phillies farm team out of town and replaced them with the Yankees AAA club. We could build them a new stadium and they will still move the the team to Newark or somewhere else.

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I didn't endorse Lisa Baker for Governor but just made a prediction. I would probably vote for the Democrat in any future hypothetical race. In today's environment she wouldn't win the GOP nomination because she isn't sufficiently nuts about taxes and social issues.

Get well Senator Lisa

State Senator Lisa Baker recently had her gall bladder chopped out and we hope she will mend quickly. Her bill to examine the Luzerne County Juvenile Justice system recently passed and she is needed to keep up the good work. Plus she is going to be Governor some day.