The national anthem

This pic was sent to me tonight:




It suggest that Senator Barrack Obama ignored the anthem and that makes him an Islomofacist with a weird name.

Then I look at this picture:

Plymouth Council race

The Peoples Republic of Plymouth, Pennsylvania is ruled by a benevolent Big Brother, the unelected Boro Administrator Joe Mazur. We all remember Mazur for his eloquence when he was the Luzerne County Democratic Chairman and said Register of Wills Dotty Stankovic was "a cancer within the organization. " He was also "gleeful" when Petrilla defeated incumbent Controller Steve Flood in the 2005 primary. Steve rocked the boat and we know that's not allowed.

The town council and Mayor follow his lead and everyone is happy. Well maybe not after a protracted dispute over a new police contract and a lawsuit between the council and Mayor Dorothy Petrosky over scheduling of part-time officers. In the end Plymouth has more police protection and the the only winners in this pissing contest were the lawyers.

The primary election for council was close with 5 Democrats within 150 voted of each other. The results:

THOMAS MCTAGUE. . . . . . . 536
CARL CLEMM . . . . . . . . . . 454
CHARLIE LASINSKI . . . . . . . . 403
BILL DIXON . . . . . . . . . . 383
JACKI RYDZEFSKI LEVANDOSKI 361

The two challengers to the longtime incumbents fell short but gathered enough write-in votes on the Republican side to earn a ballot spot for the General Election.

They are:

Bill Dixon and Jacki Rydzefski Levandoski are seeking seats on Plymouth Boro Council for 4 year terms.

Bill has been a resident of Plymouth the last 26 years and is married to the former Janet Flynn. They have 2 children and 1 grandchild. He is an Army Veteran having served with the 101st Airborne in the VietNam war and has been employed by UGI Development the last 20 years. He holds the position of Lab Technician III at the Hunlock Power Division. He is a member of VFW Post 1425 Plymouth, Kiwanis, and was appointed to the Plymouth Recreation Board. He was active in youth organizations and is a volunteer for Rails and Trails and also serves as an annual fundraiser for United Way for UGI. One of his goals as a member of council is to promote family development and youth activity within the community.

Jacki was born in Plymouth and has lived there most of her life. She is the daughter of the late Verna Rydzefski and Chet Rydzefski . Chet was a longtime street commissioner in the Boro and also a part time police officer.

Jacki is employed as a psychiatric nurse . She is in her 22nd year of employment with Community Counseling Services. She has one son, Joshua. She is a member of Plymouth Alive, Wilkes Barre Dog Training Club, and Therapy Dogs International serving as a volunteer with her dog Blitz in kids reading programs. A goal of hers is to promote a safe, family oriented community. She advocates seeking grants and funds for revitalization and to provide services to the residents . She hopes that this would attract and encourage more families to find Plymouth as a desirable place live.


Jacki Levandoski tells us why the people of Plymouth should vote for her and Bill:


Our current political leaders tout that they are the government that we can afford...Of course we can when we offer the taxpayers very little.

We have little free services... We only at this point have a newspaper program that involves lugging papers to the borough building for a few limited hours weekly. Our current lawn pickup involves paying $1.00 for paper lawn bags then calling them to notify of a pickup. These are bags that can be purchased at Lowes or Home Depot at a much cheaper price then they are charging, but Mr Mazur stated that they won't do it for free !

Anything that involves giving to the taxpayers...it seems they claim to have no money...
We have no money according to them ..yet they found it OK to spend taxpayer hard earned dollars to sue our Mayor , rather then use it for something such as a service. In addition, his games that he played with the police contract were ridiculous. He told them he wasn't paying them for pay beyond his specified amt. of hours. Thankfully, those officers continued to provide services to keep the community safe , despite getting 1/2 of their pay. This nonsensical game went on for months..which ended up involving the borough solicitor getting yet again a nice chunk of the hard earned tax payer dollars. A new issue is that now Mr Mazur gets council to approve the appointing of a recycle chief...despite having no recycle program. He told the Times Leader that it was for the new chief to get recycle grants. Funny, I thought that's what a borough admin. is paid for...to seek and write grants.

I want to be an active part of the boro government. I am committed to finding and helping write grants that would benefit the community. I will , when elected...create an email acct. that citizens can contact me with their concerns. Right now , we have no web page that is updated, despite many times of asking. I want to see this town move ahead. To have prospective home buyers look to the town as a town that has youth activity ..is safe..is family oriented...We now have our police issue taken care of..which will be helpful in keeping the town safe.. Also...I want to see more accountability of property owners in keeping properties cleaned up .Right now, we have a zoning officer who has been doing a great job in contacting these property owners...but my big gripe is that we are wasting time and taxpayer dollars by having to continually go after those same property owners ever few months..We have to find a way to penalize them. I tend to think that some people too are left off the hook with this. There is an eyesore old school in my neighborhood that has seeming slipped thru. Council told me last year that there is nothing they can do. We have far too many absentee landlords from out of the area who will rent to anyone...which has brought some drug traffic and less then savory characters into the boro.
At a meeting last year, a resident suggested to council a renters tax/fee which I think would be a great idea in generating an ongoing revenue, rather then just looking at burdening only tax payers. Apparently this was never looked in to.

We will be the voice of the people , not the voice of the administrator.

Radio Daze

A man goes to a car dealership and is looking over the newest cars. He finds one at the end of the lot, and calls the salesman over...

"This looks like just the car I want, but why is it so expensive?""Well this car has a fancy new radio that responds to your voice. No buttons, no tuning, just say what you what to hear and the radio finds it".

To demonstrate, the salesman says, "Classical", and on comes the symphony. "Football", and a football game comes on. "Country", and Willie Nelson comes on.

The customer is very impressed, buys the car, and as he is pulling out of the lot, another driver swerves in front of him without signaling.The man slams on the brakes, blows the horn, and yells, "STUPID A**HOLE!"

....and Rush Limbaugh comes on the radio.


Plus a music treat

Rapid Edward to the rescue

WILKES-BARRE – Gov. Edward Rendell on Wednesday announced that the state will provide $750,000 to demolish the fire-damaged Murray-Courtright Building.

This is what the state government should do when a disaster strikes a small city. A fire like this one can really strain the services and budget of a cash strapped town and the Gov realizes that. He was a Mayor himself and knows that the local tax base is barely enough to cover the costs of police, fire protection, snow plowing and filling potholes. Anything extra has to come from somewhere else. Mayor Tom Leighton said the city will transfer $250,000 from federal community development block grants (CDBG) to fund the demolition. That means less streets will be paved but this is an emergency. Speaking of CDBG's, where is Kanjorski in all of this?

The complex of buildings at the corner of Courtright and Darling streets in W-B has been a disaster waiting to happen for a long time. The city has ignored the place for 20 or 30 years despite constant complaints from the neighbors.

The building that burned is only one of many. Next to it is old Central Slipper factory next to Tank Hill that has been a shell of a structure with all the windows broken out, crumbling bricks and rotting floors. If you go down Darling Street behind the fire scene the ancient smokestack still is standing and across Darling Street there are more buildings. One of them housed a footwear manufacturer for many years before shoe making was moved offshore. My Dad worked at that last operation owned by the now bankrupt Carter Rubber Co. and I grew up about 2 blocks away.

Knocking down all the structures is not going to happen any time soon.

Luzerne County Recorder of Deeds

Finally some action in this one. Today I spotted a TV ad for challenger Red O'Brien pointing out the theft from the office over the years. It didn't accuse incumbent Republican Mary Dysleski of stealing but took her to task for lax management for allowing it to happen. One of the accused thieves, Robert Pritchard, plead guilty and was sentenced to house arrest. The other, Carl Salitis, is awaiting trial. I'm sure if he cops a plea he will also get ridiculously light sentence. After all, the good ole boys take care of their own.

Happy Halloween

TO HELL WITH HALLOWEEN by Mean Old Man

I’m angrier than Michael Vick at a Dog Food Convention over the commie holiday of Halloween!! Every year my night of watching Wheel of Fortune and Family Feud reruns is ruined because groups of spoiled little runts come knocking at my door asking for candy or a dollar!! Whatever happened to kids pulling their own weight?!? In my day we had to celebrate Halloween too (I think the commie Teddy Roosevelt started the holiday), but at least then we didn’t have to fork out a thousand dollars for a costume. One year I went as the headless man; all I did was to push my shirt above my head and look through the peep holes to see where I was going. Sure I feel a few times and broke the eye glasses pops worked two weeks to pay for, and yeah, when I got home he gave me the licking of my life, but I loved it!!!!

Kids have it too easy today and they want everything handed to them! Hell, I remember my own two losers dragging me to the Miracle Mart back in the sixties to get them a dumb pre made costume (you all remember, the kind of costumes that you could use to stoke the ol’ furnace when you ran out of paper). My stupid son Clay made me get him a Lone Ranger costume. I can still see the look in his pre-Commie eyes when I told him that he could never be mistaken for the Lone Ranger because the Lone Ranger was a real man—I even told him that he couldn’t even pass for Tonto on his best day! Sure the kid cried all the way home, but he got an important lesson—don’t try to be what you can’t!! OF course, he started playing all those damned Beatle albums a few years later and grew his hair long (maybe he was Tonto after all). All Halloween does is remind me of what failures my kids have been to me and how a father’s love can only go so far. Damn!!!

And what is it with these big kids Halloweening? Last year I opened my door and some huge loser runt with a goatee was standing there wanting candy (no doubt, to sell for drug money). I told him that if he didn’t get off my porch I’d give him a Smith and Wesson candy bar!!! You should have seen the hack take off like Hillary Clinton from a Chippendale’s convention!!
In my day we went out till we were about seven and then the fun was over!! You got your butt out of bed and went straight to the foundry or the mine pit—and you were glad to have a job!!! Now all these damned kids want is to be coddled and nursed—Hell, some of them stay at home forever. I kicked my two losers out once ol’ Uncle Sam said I legally could.

Well, I gotta end it here; those three jerky grandkids of mine are coming over and I have to take them out to all of the Commie houses for foreign made candy. I think my harlot granddaughter is going as Hillary Clinton—as you can see I’m in for a great night. Damn!!!

So all you Che Guevara, Chairman Mao worshipping lefties have a great Halloween—Hell, maybe Dennis Kucinich will come to your door disguised as a “man” and you can give him some of your hard earned cash so he can become President and tell you how to live your life!!

As for me, after I get the little grandrunts back to the ol’ homestead, I’m popping open a Steg, putting on a little Dean Martin, later put some Matlock on the ol’ TV and pretending I’m deaf when the Bolsheviks come knocking at my door! Happy Halloween and go to Hell! I hate you all!!!!

PA PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE

I got this from the Pennsylvania Democratic party:

Tuesday is a very special night, and I want to let you know what the Pennsylvania Democratic party is doing to mark the occasion. Tuesday night, October 30th, at 9:00 p.m., the Democratic presidential candidates will take the stage in Philadelphia for a debate sponsored by MSNBC.

Obviously, we're thrilled to have this incredible field of candidates present in the Commonwealth. But in the tradition of the Keystone State, we want to give you the chance to be heard. So we're opening up the PA Democratic Party's online message board to you!

We're hosting an open conversation and an Internet poll here on the party's Web site during and after the debate, and inviting Pennsylvania Democrats to sound off and discuss with each other what the candidates have to say. The conversation will begin on the PA Dems Message Board around 9:00 p.m., and then, starting at 10:30 p.m., we will offer an Internet poll giving visitors to the site the opportunity to cast their vote for the candidate they feel won the debate.

Luzerne County Sheriff

Barry Stankus, the incumbent Republican Sheriff is facing a stiff challenge from Mike Savokinas in the only county race that has some excitement. Stankus has done a good job the last eight years but you can always do better. His opponent points out some shortcomings and offers his ideas to improve the office. Stankus snagged the endorsement of both local papers. The CV said "Stankus has done a good job for eight years and deserves to be retained in his office." The TL said....sorry, the article has expired on the web. I hate to bitch about the local papers because I rely on them but the TL charging money for a story more than 2 weeks old (3 bucks!) is stupid.

The Red Sox won the World Series

And they did it way ahead of schedule. The last time I was at Yankee Stadium for a Yanks-Sox game someone had a sign that read;

1918
2004
2090

After every disaster endured by Boston fans over the years it was a real fear for the faithful. But just 3 years later Beantown has another championship parade and look to be contenders for the foreseeable future. Then the Yankees stepped all over the celebration by announcing that Joe Girardi will be the new manager passing over Donnie Baseball and Alex Rodriguez will become a free agent. Today's news is that Joe Torre will take the helm of the Los Angeles Dodgers after being shit on by the Bombers management.

The Yankees know how to manage the news cycle almost as good as the Bush administration. I don't know why but this reminds me of Rumsfeld being fired the day after the 2006 election. Spin it all you want but you still lost.

Luzerne County Clerk of Courts

Democrat Bob Reilly has had the job for 20 years and seems to be doing well at it. The Times-Leader said it was a close call this time around. Sue Rossi has the managment experience to take his place but probably doesn't have the political support to replace him. Which is a shame, I would like to shake up the whole place.

The Urban Terrorist stikes again

Luzerne County Commissioner Stephen A. Urban had the nerve to tell the people about what is in the super secret audit of PA Child Care, owner of the juvenile jail in Pittston Township. PA Child Care threatened to file a lawsuit if information from the draft audit was given to the press citing "trade secrets." I don't buy it. The state Department of Public Welfare conducted an audit of how taxpayer money is being spent and we have a right to know. According to Urban taxpayers may be on the hook for $30 million to $40 million because of the lease.

County Children and Youth director Frank Castano and County Manager Sam Guesto refused to give a copy to Urban so he got a copy from the Dept. of Welfare. Commissioner Chairman Greg Skrepenak backs them up hiding behind the lame excuse of a threatened lawsuit if information from the audit was given to the press. Let them sue, what are they afraid of? Or a better question is, what is Skrep afraid of?

In an attempt at damage control the county Dems are in full insult mode:

Skrepenak said Urban could not be trusted with a copy of the draft audit, and on Thursday, Skrepenak said Urban proved him right. He called Urban “a coward.”


Skep also called him an “albatross,” a “liar” and a “sneak.”

Skrepenak said he will sue Urban if he is sued.


County Commissioner Rose Tucker said he’s a “bum” and said she wants to “strangle him.”

A law firm representing PA Child Care, which owns the Pittston Township center, said Urban’s audit release was “a desperate act by a desperate politician trying desperately to get re-elected.”

And to add to the nonsense:

“This would be displeasing in the eyes of the individuals who trained Mr. Urban in the military,” Guesto said. “You don’t call the press if you should move your battalion forward.”


Urban's response

“Rose can call me whatever she wants. I like Rose. She’s a sweet lady, but she has a responsibility here and she should not have shirked her responsibility by refusing to see the audit. She has a responsibility as an elected official to get involved in matters, no matter how difficult they are.”

Urban said Skrepenak is the one who put the county “at risk” with the lease.
“He’s got this county in a serious situation because he did not act prudently. He’s going to attack me because he has to cover it up.”

Remember that in 2003, Urban and then-Commissioner Tom Makowski voted to borrow roughly $9 million for a new county-owned juvenile facility. And then the money was pissed away on other projects.

World Series

The Red Sox won game 2 by my predicted score of 2-1 after the thumping of the Rockies in the first game. That's baseball and pitching wins. Josh Beckett and my favorite Curt Schilling threw great games in the first 2. Get out the brooms.

Wilkes-Barre Council race

All the Wilkes-Barre City Council candidates were invited to a forum at Kings College but most of them took a pass. Even the Citizens Voice didn't show up. This was probably the only time before the election that all the candidates would share the same platform before the election. The TL has a recap of the positions of the people who actually lowered themselves to answer questions from the voters. They were:

Walter Griffith, Republican, District A

Vincent Guarneri, Republican, District B

Peter Gagliardi, Republican, District C

Linda Stets, Republican, District D

Michael Merritt, Democrat, District E

Missing in action:

Rick Cronauer, Democrat, District A

Tony Thomas Jr., Democrat,District B, INCUMBENT

Kathy Kane, Democrat, District C, INCUMBENT

Bill Barrett, Democrat, District D, INCUMBENT

Republican John Yencha, District E

Independent candidate Tony George, District B

Write-in candidate Sam Troy, District C.

Anybody see a pattern?

My friend David has his usual thorough coverage the event at The Lu Lac Political Letter. He covers the issues, the atmosphere and even a fashion report.

Wilkes-Barre political websites:

Mayor Tom Leighton

Mayoral candidate and District D Council candidate Linda Stets

District A candidate Walter Griffith

The 6th District Republican Committee covers W-B candidates and other races

Wilkes-Barre Can Survive! is pushing Republicans in the city and county

Lackawanna Wonderful

Unlike Luzerne County our neighbors to the north have a Commissioners race that is in doubt. Incumbent Republican Bob Cordaro and his running mate Brian Cashman remind us that that they made the hard choices. I'm sorry, I meant A J Munchak. It's just that Cordaro continues to brag about stealing the Yankees AAA team from Columbus it's hard to tell who he is running with. Sorry Bob, some of us are still pissed that you chased the Phillies out of town. The election is shaping up as a referendum on the incumbents as it always does.


A poll by Momentum Analysis shows the Democratic challengers Mike Washo and Corey O’Brien in good shape.

In the two-vote race for County Commissioner, nearly half (47% and 46%, respectively)
vote for Washo and O’Brien, less than a third (30% and 28%, respectively) vote for
Munchak and Cordaro, a fifth (21%) were undecided in their choice for either seat for
Commissioner and another 6% were undecided in only their second choice.

Luzerne County Commissioner's race

Bill James said he is running a write-in campaign after losing the Republican nomination in May. James and incumbent Steve Urban deny that they are in cahoots but Democrat Greg Skrepenak smells a rat:

“It’s Steve Urban’s way of taking votes away from Bill Jones. Obviously Steve Urban must be scared,” he said.

It just may be a coincidence that Steve Urban plans to join picketing Crestwood School District support workers on Thursday. Bill Jones is a Crestwood School Board member and the union workers have been working without a contract for 6 years. It's good to see a Republican office holder stand with the working man.

Urban said the county would never allow negotiations to drag on for six years. He pointed out that Jones was on the board for eight years.

“This tells a little about his leadership and not being able to sit down and negotiate in good faith,” Urban said of Jones. “To me it shows a lackadaisical attitude on his part.”

Jones said it's not his fault.

“Don’t get me wrong. I think it’s going on way too long. I’m not on the negotiating team.”

And Urban still wants to see the super secret audit of the juvenile detention center in Pittston owned by an outfit called PA Child Care. The owners of the company are Robert Powell and Gregory Zappala who claim the audit is “private and confidential,” and contend that the audit report is inaccurate and “reaches conclusions that are unjustified.” County Chief Clerk/Manager Sam Guesto said he won't give Urban a copy of the audit because PA Child Care might sue if the information becomes public and Skrep backs him up. Never mind that this about a $58 million, 20-year contract paid for with taxpayer money. I think it should be public. And don't forget the names Powell and Zappala, they are part of the group that wants to build a cargo airport near Hazleton. That project is already looking to use some of the slots revenue that is supposedly going to be used to lower property taxes. This time I smell a rat.

Swiderski on S-CHIP

I've asked all the Pennsylvania 10th Congressional District candidates to share their thoughts on the S-CHIP legislation.

Here is Paul Swiderski's reply:


Like many other social welfare programs, S-CHIP is designed to provide temporary relief and assistance for lower-income families. However, the families who use these resources nationally tend to form a long-term dependence. S-CHIP is a liberal attempt to push our nation towards a nanny state. Rather than focusing on the rising cost of health insurance, Nancy Pelosi and the misguided San Francisco liberals are promoting increased government involvement in the health care system. I believe in the ability for our state to administer its own program, but I do not trust other states and localities to act in the best interest of taxpayers.

If we do not contain the involvement of the Federal Government, we will be issuing a blank check for those who act against the best interests of the 10th Congressional District. Other states have made it clear they will use such assistance to indirectly pay for the health and welfare of illegal immigrants in this country.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-07-07-sf-health-plan_x.htm

Can you trust “Nanny Pelosi” to make the best use of taxpayers money? Can you trust “Nanny Pelosi” to take care of you?

Involvement by the Federal Government in education and health care has increased costs for everyone. Inflation for education increases at twice the national rate. Health care costs have averaged double-digit inflation for the last decade. This is all due to the failure of the Federal Government to provide.

We cannot fall for the Democratic Party’s red herring of “protecting the children”. “Protecting the children” has limited our freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution. The Democrats “protecting our children” has led to families with both parents working full-time jobs to provide the basic necessities. “Protecting our children” has given us a society of children raised by television and outsiders versus parents. “Protecting our children” has led to a national crisis of people looking for the next quick buck instead of promoting innovation and hard work. Instead of letting the government protect our children, we should better empower parents to provide the financial and emotional needs for their families.

We must look for new ways to contain costs within the health care system. We will continue to receive “hamburger” care at “caviar” prices because the free market is not allowed to operate. The government pays for half of all medical expenditures in this country. The government has no incentive to control costs. Instead, we pay too much for lawyers looking for their one big lottery ticket.

I promote we should assist the health care system in this country by tackling the root causes of the problem:

Ending the practice of frivolous law suits within the medical profession

Capping medical malpractice damages

Investing in medical technology advances

Promoting greater education for healthier living

Empowering the government to better negotiate medical costs

Protecting the doctors and medical professionals who take care of us

Tax breaks for small and medium-sized businesses to join purchasing cooperatives with other local businesses

Improving the local economy to promote the affordability of health insurance for all citizens within the 10th

My solutions will not make national headlines because they do not involve the extension of a larger national bureaucracy. My solutions are neither sexy nor do they contain any buzzwords drawn up by numerous advertising agencies. If given the opportunity to serve you, my solutions would just work.

10th CD update

Candidates are dropping in and out of the race for the Republican nomination in Pennsylvania's 10th Congressional District. The big news today is that former New Jersey state senator John Scott has withdrawn from the contest.

That leaves 4 announced candidates, Chris Hackett, Shavertown, owner of One Source Staffing; Dan Meuser, Harveys Lake, president of Pride Mobility Products; Donald Ely, Sunbury, a retired schoolteacher and minister; and Paul R. Swiderski, Harding, self-employed. Previously Joe Peters and Tom Marino ruled out a bid and Vince Sweeney is still thinking about it.

There is still time for someone else to jump into this thing and a commenter gives us a heads up to another prospective candidate; I heard that Amber from Club 10 will enter the race. She is raising funds Thursday night in the VIP room.

The announced candidates have websites in various stages of development.

Incumbent Democrat Chris Carney's site has just been given a makeover.

Paul Swiderski was the first of the challengers to pop up on the web. The best feature of it is his campaign blog.

Dan Meuser has his bio and sketches out some policy positions with a promise of more content to come.

This one is my favorite so far. Don Ely has bullet points saying what he is for and against without any explanation of his positions. I'm sure he will expand on them later. Some of what he OPPOSES caught my eye; Law of the Sea U. N. Treaty, U. N. Taxing of Americans, North American Union and the ever popular The Whole Liberal “Hate America” Agenda.


Chris Hackett is a slacker in this category with only a Coming Soon. But he got some press this week with the Pocono News and The Wayne Independent covering his announcement tour. And the DC publication The Hill has this blurb:

Republican candidates hoping to unseat vulnerable House Democrats by and large are sticking by their party’s line in opposition to the children’s healthcare bill President Bush vetoed earlier this month....if GOP congressional hopefuls are fearful that backing Bush and the House Republican leadership against the SCHIP bill will hurt their campaigns, they aren’t showing it in their public statements.

In Pennsylvania, businessman Chris Hackett, one of two top Republican contenders running against Rep. Chris Carney (D), cited Carney’s vote for SCHIP as one of several that “don’t reflect the values of the district in any way, shape or form.”

Asked if the president was right to veto the bill, Hackett said, “Absolutely, yes.”

Ace TL political reporter Bill O'Boyle has the spin from the NRCC and Carney's office on the race.

Ken Spain, press secretary at the National Republican Congressional Committee, said he’s not surprised by the large field.


“Chris Carney’s record of voting for tax hikes and runaway spending has made him an easy target so it should come as no surprise that he has attracted stiff Republican opposition in this race,” Spain said. “Every day that he allows himself to serve as a rubber stamp for this wildly unpopular Democrat-led Congress, he provides more incentive for Republican challengers to line up against him and send a message to Washington.”

That drew a response from Rebecca Gale, spokesperson for Carney in Washington.

“Congressman Carney is proud of his record as a fiscal conservative,” Gale said. “The NRCC is just grasping at straws since their first-tier candidates have already backed away from challenging Congressman Carney.”

It's good to see Hackett address the issues in the news. I've asked the other candidates to tell us what they think of the SCHIP bill but for some reason they are being shy. I disagree with Hackett on this issue but he his willing to take a position and defend it.

Luzerne County Treasurer

“When Paterno retires, I’m going to retire.”-Luzerne County Treasurer Mike Morreale


The latest installment of the Times-Leader inquisitions features the candidates for Treasurer. Mike Morreale stresses his experience and takes credit for making many office records computerized during his latest term, eliminating ledger books. His claim to fame is joining Steve Flood and Steve Urban to revamp the county pension fund. It was a pretty ballsy thing to do (bucking the powers that be) and the results show it was the right decision.


Morreale said his support for a change in pension fund management helped the fund to grow from $140 million to around $214 million while saving $1.2 million in money management fees. The performance of money managers is presented at public meetings, and money managers must come in for reviews if they under perform, he said.

“I did the right thing. It was definitely the right thing to do no matter what,” he said.

I've heard that there is an investigation going on about some missing funds from the office but nobody wants to talk about it.

Morreale said he was proactive when he detected an odd pattern of tax bill check recording in his office. While all accounts balanced, some of the tax bills were marked as paid and then voided and then paid again in the office computer system. He referred the matter to the county District Attorney’s Office, which is investigating.

His opponent is Republican Gina Nevenglosky who says she would be a full-time Luzerne County treasurer with no outside employment if elected. She says it's time for change after 27 years and takes a swipe at Morreale's age.

“There is also a need for a treasurer who is able to stay alert during commissioner meetings.”

She will have an open-door policy, likes to hunt deer and will keep the current staff in the office. The only change she offered is

... she wants to explore the possibility of requiring licenses for cats to bring in new revenue and discourage overpopulation of cats.

Ptolemy objected to that proposal pleading poverty (he's still unemployed and owes me a bunch of money) and saying "Don't blame me for too many cats, they cut my nuggies off long ago." What's next, mandating seatbelts for dogs?

The Big Ten Network vs. Comcast

Now Comcast is blocking some kinds of internet activity.

NEW YORK - Comcast Corp. actively interferes with attempts by some of its high-speed Internet subscribers to share files online, a move that runs counter to the tradition of treating all types of Net traffic equally.

The wag that sent me this asks a good question. When will they start blocking content? Like some blogger berating them for not carrying the big 10.

The Inky has the latest rundown of the dispute and this is what it boils down to:

The Big Ten Network says it expected to take in more than $60 million a year in revenue by appearing on Comcast's expanded basic tier. Instead, the Philadelphia cable company has offered a deal for basically $2.5 million by placing it on the sports tier, which costs an additional $5 per month and is seen by only 4 percent of Comcast's subscribers.

A plague on both their houses. This is still an argument over money between 2 giant corporations. More pressure will mount when basketball season starts and people in Indiana can't watch the Hoosiers. The controversy has taken on the overtones of a "nasty political campaign." Complete with negative ads run by Comcast opposing the Big Ten Tax.

All I know is that they better come to a deal by next football season or other people might act like this woman. (h/t The Pennsylvania Progressive)

The Urban Terrorist keeps asking questions

“I’m going to ask questions because that’s my job.”-Commissioner Stephen Urban


It looks like the Luzerne County budget is not balanced after all. Last year the Bond Brothers (Skrep and Vondy) presented an election year "balanced budget" that relied on some questionable revenue projections that included some hoped for money from land sales that haven't happened yet. They were also counting on another $3 million from beefed-up tax collection. How's that going? The previous 3 years they had to float a bond to just meet payroll and it looks like that will happen again but not until after the election.

They are also looking at borrowing an enormous amount of money to build a new prison but have started eminent domain proceedings to pay the owner of the Huber Breaker a kings ransom in the hope of turning that big pile of junk into some sort of anthracite magical mystery tour. Paid for by another bond.