Luzerne County Republicans

My friend Zen left this comment on an earlier thread:

Please Luzerne County voters, I beg of you, keep voting straight democrat. It will ensure that we have something to write about.

I read similar comments on the Times-Leader website all the time. I would be more than happy to vote for Republicans (sometimes I do) in the county if they would actually field some candidates.

In this upcoming election for the the state house races in the county the 5 Democratic incumbents don't even have a GOP opponent.

In last year's local elections there was no Republican candidate for Judge or District Attorney and the R candidate for Coroner was Dem that won on a write-in after losing the Democratic nomination.

The Commissioner candidates, Steve Urban and Bill Jones, wouldn't even talk to each other and after the election Jones switched to the Dems. The GOP nominee for Clerk of Courts had no money to defeat a 20+ year office holder and the Treasurer hopeful not only had no money she said the only change she would make is requiring licenses for cats.

It's hard to take this bunch seriously.

After the last shutout in 2007 people blamed the debacle on Luzerne County Republican Chairwoman Lynette Villano and they blamed her for the dismal showing in the election before that.

This is what I wrote last year:

From what I hear the local GOP organization resembles a collection of nerdy high school cliques that are getting bullied by the cool kids and will take whatever crumbs fall off the table. ..They can't raise money even though wealthy Republicans in the county regularly give to state and federal candidates. But many of them also contribute to the local Dems because they are smart business people who know that there isn't much chance of a Republican winning anything and want to influence the decision makers.

A new county Republican Chair is supposedly on the way, we''ll see. But Villano is not the whole problem. When I look at FEC and state finance reports I see that there is plenty of local GOP money but the people who donate to state and federal races skip the local ones or donate to the Dems. I find it hard to believe that the local Republicans can't find attractive candidates for local offices and back them financially.

Who is Neville Chamberlain?

This yahoo on Hardball doesn't have a clue. He 's actually yelling louder than Tweety.


Radio Host Kevin James Walks into a Smackdown





Crooks and Liars has the transcript.

Neville Chamberlain was the Prime Minister of Great Britain before WWII.

Like many in Britain who had lived through World War One, Chamberlain was determined to avert another war. His policy of appeasement towards Adolf Hitler culminated in the Munich Agreement in which Britain and France accepted that the Czech region of the Sudetenland should be ceded to Germany. Chamberlain left Munich believing that by appeasing Hitler he had assured 'peace for our time'.

The Barefoot and Pregnant crowd backs Barletta

WASHINGTON, D.C.— A national conservative pro-family organization has endorsed Republican Congressional candidate Lou Barletta. Eagle Forum PAC supports the outspoken Hazleton mayor in his 11th Congressional District race against incumbent Democrat Paul Kanjorski....The Eagle Forum was organized in 1970s and was formerly known as Stop ERA, a group opposed to the equal rights amendment.

Phyllis Schlafly's single issue interest group has expanded into other areas over the years and Eagle Forum now sounds off on many things. On domestic issues the group is opposed to sex education (unless its “abstinence only”), reproductive rights, AIDS education, sexual harassment legislation, federal support for daycare and family leave.

What is "pro-family" about any of that?

Maybe the thinking is if they tell kids not to have sex and not offer information about contraception that will lead to more families when the abstinence advice is ignored. It's always heartwarming to go to a shotgun wedding of two teenagers. And why do you need daycare when we all know that women should stay home to care for the children? I'm sure a 16 year old dropout could find a good paying job to support a family in today's economy.

Eagle Forum (EF) also wants to ostracize the gay members of our families and ban books from libraries that they deem offensive.

The group is also part of the black helicopter crowd opposing the North American Union, the NAFTA Super Highway and a single currency of the US, Canada and Mexico dubbed the "Amero."

But the reason they endorsed America's Mayor is (surprise)his stand on immigration.

Phyllis Schlafly: "Lou's championing of the illegal immigration issue has been truly inspiring. His fight to protect his community from the crime and overcrowding caused by illegal aliens highlights the need for stronger enforcement of our immigration laws."

The EF joins another Barletta fan, David Duke , with a timely endorsement.

Note: Republican 10th CD candidate Chris Hackett was endorsed by the PA chapter of the Eagle Forum in the primary.

Bad eyesight

”We don’t pay taxes. Only the little people pay taxes.” - Leona Hemsley

She would fit right in at the the Luzerne County Courthouse. Newly elected Recorder of Deeds James “Red” O'Brien has been getting a free pass on unpaid taxes dating back to 2003. He owes $17,855 in property taxes for his bar in Avoca which he is trying to sell. Last year's Sheriffs sale of properties that owed back taxes included many homes with unpaid taxes from 2005 and earlier but Red's business wasn't included. Why not? Commissioner Chairwoman Maryanne Petrilla asked Sam Diaz who "said it was an oversight."

Wow, how did we ever get so many people working in the courthouse who can't see what is right in front of their nose? Sam Hyder claimed he used his county debit card at a strip club in Las Vegas because it looked just his own credit card and Commissioner Greg Skrepnak offered a similar excuse when it was revealed that he used his county card to pay for his family's extra hotel rooms at a conference. The lack of competitive bidding at the prison was explained as an oversight or misunderstanding of the law or regulation. And on and on.

With all these officials with eye problems I think that the county should look at hiring an Optometrist to make sure everyone has proper reading glasses and maybe a reading teacher to help them brush up on their comprehension.

I'm sure somebody in the Courthouse has a brother-in-law that is an Optometrist that could provide corrective lenses, just ask Judge Conahan or Ciavarella. No need to advertise the job.

Some bigwigs eventually do pay their taxes. Sam "the untouchable" Guesto, the former county manager and the director of specialty courts , paid off delinquent taxes he owed the county tax claim office last week, he owed $832.84 from unpaid 2007 taxes and fees.

Shredding the records

Destroying evidence when an investigation is under way is just stupid. It's not the crime that will sink you but the cover up.

HARRISBURG -- A former intern for the House Democratic Caucus says he was instructed to shred boxes of personnel records later sought in a grand jury probe into whether state employees were given taxpayer-funded bonuses in return for political work...A statewide grand jury is investigating allegations that state workers were given lavish pay bonuses last year to reward them for working on the 2006 campaigns of various House members, a violation of state law...In December, the Post-Gazette reported that a series of e-mails dating back to 2004 showed that a cadre of House Democratic aides used a spreadsheet to rank state employees according to their work on political campaigns and awarded them taxpayer funded pay bonuses according to that ranking.

This has a local angle as my old friend Carl Romanelli points out:

In this investigation they have already found a link to Democrats receiving fat, tax payer funded bonuses to those who worked to depose me and Nader from the ballot. In the Nader case, dozens of emails (which were deleted) were recovered with spread sheets showing the employees were rated on their work against Nader in 2004. The highest rating was "rock star." The so-called volunteer that worked against me, Karen Stiner (a Democratic legislative aid), received a $15,000.00 bonus!!
A full grand jury investigation since September of '07 and there in no coverage in the local media. Business as usual I suppose.

Carl is still active in the Green Party after trying to get on the ballot for Senator in 2006 which ended coming up short. He needed 90,000+ signatures to be listed but the state Democratic Party challenged enough of them to keep his name off.

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Local Green Party picks nominee for president

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Luzerne County’s Green Party on Saturday nominated former six-term Georgia congresswoman Cynthia McKinney as the party’s choice for president.
The vote of support came at the local party’s caucus, held at the Northeastern Pennsylvania Organizing Center on South Main Street in Wilkes-Barre...Locally, there are 407 Green voters in Luzerne County, down from a high-water mark of 535.

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Carl provided me with the results of the vote:

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The Greens of Luzerne County had its caucus today. We only had voting for a three hour period. There were a total of 10 votes cast today. Cynthia McKinney won with 6 votes. Nader received four.

Busy weekend

We ripped apart the house and porch today which interfered with my blogging time. So be it.

Bob Patterson has some thoughts about the Operation Chaos thing. The local Greens picked a Presidential candidate. Mark is going to change the channel and Another Monkey is trying to fight off the Killer Bees. Danny said he was back. Big Dan tells us that our veterans are not being treated the way they should. Kanjo has sent me a slew of press releases and Barletta said he doesn’t hate immigrants.


And the Yonk has been doing this for 2 years.

The LuLac Political Letter

YouTube weekend

Do you think of me when you.....f ...her...........

Alanis Morissette-You Oughta Know

YouTube weekend

This is for my friend Ed who claimed to have a trained goldfish which was met with derision by many of us. It looks like he may have been right.

Trained Goldfish does the Limbo!





Trained Goldfish Plays Soccer

A fitting tribute

San Franciscans Want to Put Bush's Name in the Toilet

A group called the Presidential Memorial Commission of San Francisco has launched a ballot initiative that would rename a city sewage treatment plant the "George W. Bush Sewage Plant."
A petition is being circulated that would put the measure up for a vote in November. If it passes, it will rename the city's Oceanside Treatment Plant for the 43rd resident of the White House.

Carney backs Hillary

Chris Carney said he would follow the will of Democratic voters in his district and with 70 percent of the voters in the district picking Clinton he announced that she has his superdelegate vote. From a release:

"I have watched this primary process very closely--and as I said I would do, I have weighed the temperament and leadership displayed by Senators Clinton and Obama during the course of this campaign. We are extremely fortunate to have two very strong candidates vying to lead our nation. Pennsylvania's 10th District overwhelmingly chose Senator Clinton in the Pennsylvania primary and I will respect their decision. On Wednesday, I had the opportunity to meet with Senator Clinton, and let her know Thursday that I am supporting her," said Congressman Carney.

Cartoon via PolitickerPA

Not for Hackett

Another installment of Operation Chaos in reverse.

This is a guest post from my friend Zen of Political Rants.


The unfortunate realities of politics


I spent a portion of my afternoon with Dan Meuser. I have considered Dan a friend for nigh on twenty years. That had literally no bearing on my support for him in the 10TH primary. Had his principles and morals been diametrically opposed to my own, I would've buried him in my blog. The fact is, I have always respected Dan and after today, I respect him even more. He is a man of unquestionable honor that chose the high road in a nasty campaign and was punished for it. I directly asked him why he didn't use the dirt that those of us in the know, know about Hackett. His response; " You know I'm not that kind of guy". By God, that is what I want in my Congressman. The 10TH had the opportunity to have an honorable man represent them and we blew it!!!! Many of you voters in the 10Th listened to an unmitigated load of bullshit from Hackett's hatchet men and voted for the wrong man. If any of you think I write this piece out of bitterness, you are wrong. Dan would've been the kind of leader we need in the 10TH. He would not have been some left coast liberals lapdog like Carney. Hackett changes his opinions depending on who he is speaking to. Sadly, he is the only Republican running. Granted, he won the primary. The how he won it is what sticks in my craw. Chris, you did an incredible amount of damage to my party with your campaign. Yes, I said my party. I don't believe you are a true Republican. I know you are not a true conservative. I've known you for quite a while. I have written that the party needs to mend the fences and get behind you in the general election. I think I may have been wrong.

The Meuser family has made a huge investment in our area. They offer real living wage jobs and opportunity to make a very comfortable income. They do not play favorites based on familial connections. They promote based on merit. They are an honorable family that has done much for the valley. They did not deserve to be called criminals. They did not deserve to be called liars or murderers. For the lies that Hackett's hatchets told, we should shun them. We should not do business with them. We should treat them like the scoundrels they are. They are less than scum. They are smegma. I call on my fellow business people to show our distaste for his campaign's behavior. Rant over.

To Kar; I was wrong and am sorry.To Gort; Thank you for the friendship and intelligent discourse.To Rightwinger; It's been 41.5 years that we know each other, hasn't it? Let's play golf.To my loyal readers; Sorry I didn't coin any new nouns or verbs. This one meant a lot to me.To Dan Meuser; You, Rightwinger, Kar, and Gort42 should play golf. I hope you invite me.

Some Pennsylvania 10th CD news

Tom DeLay's visit to the area got my Democratic friends all riled up as they tried to tie him to Chris Hackett which I think is a stretch.


Delay told a crowd of 50 people that all the charges against him are from "a rogue district attorney."

Chris Carney's camp said "Fresh from the brutally negative primary, Hackett is now bringing the worst kind of Washington values to Pennsylvania in the form of Tom DeLay. People don't want that anymore. Why is Chris Hackett embracing one of the most corrupt and dishonest politicians in decades?

The PA Democratic Party maps out some interesting things. Tom DeLay gave $50,000 to the Club for Growth and Pat Toomey. Toomey buys $86,810 in negative television ads to attack Dan Meuser... Pat Toomey donated money to Tom DeLay, for his legal expenses facing trail after DeLay is indicted.

Mark Harris, Mr. Hackett’s spokesman, said the challenger had nothing to do with Mr. DeLay’s visit. “We were never invited, and no one ever contacted us.”

The DCCC provides us with a list of Tom Delay's greatest hits:



In May 2006, DeLay Retired Before The Ethics Committee Could Fully Investigate His Many Overseas Trips. [House Ethics Committee press release, 5/17/06]

In 2005, DeLay and Associates were indicted on money laundering charges and conspiracy to commit money laundering in order to circumvent Texas ’s ban on using corporate money to fund political campaigns. DeLay’s TRMPAC was ordered to pay $196,000 in damages to Democrats and over ARMPAC was ordered to shut down its soft money operation for violating campaign finance laws. [Houston Chronicle, 5/27/05] [Associated Press, 5/26/05], [CNN, 5/26/05], [Roll Call, 10/27/05]

In 2004, DeLay Was Admonished By House Ethics Committee for Abuse of Power. In 2004, the House Ethics Committee admonished DeLay for the third time for abusing his influence during the Texas redistricting fight, highlighting certain, “House rules that bar members from taking ‘any official action on the basis of the partisan affiliation . . . of the individuals involved.’” DeLay used his position as Majority Leader to make the Federal Aviation Administration track the private plane. He then tried to make the legislators return to Austin . The Ethics Committee observed that, “DeLay’s role in the matter ‘raises serious concerns under these standards of conduct.’” [Washington Post, 10/7/04]

In 2004, DeLay Was Admonished By House Ethics Committee Over Medicare Bribes. In 2004, after a six month investigation, “House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, was admonished by the House ethics committee for using improper bargaining to try to persuade a fellow Republican to change his vote on a Medicare prescription drug bill.” DeLay had tried to persuade Rep. Nick Smith (R-MI.) to vote for a Medicare prescription drug bill, which “narrowly passed.” Smith, who voted against the bill, said that GOP leaders offered “bribes and special deals,” including a large contribution of “$100,000-plus” for his son’s congressional campaign. [AP, 10/1/04; Washington Post, 2/6/04, New York Times, 2/10/04]

In 2003, DeLay Offered Endorsement for Vote on Medicare Bill. Tom DeLay was admonished for his role in pressure Rep. Nick Smith to support Medicare legislation in 2003 in exchange for an endorsement of his son Brad in the Republican primary race to succeed Rep. Smith. [ Washington Post, 10/02/04]

Since 2001, DeLay’s Wife and Daughter Were Paid Over $500,000 from His Political Groups. DeLay's political action and campaign committees have paid his wife and daughter over $500,000. DeLay’s daughter, Dani DeLay Ferro, has received about $30,000 from DeLay’s Texas political action committee TRMPAC, which was dismantled after a Texas judge in a civil case found it funneled corporate contributions to state legislative elections. [New York Times, 4/6/05; Associated Press, 5/26/05]

In 2000, DCCC Filed RICO Lawsuit. In 2000, the DCCC filed charges against Tom DeLay saying DeLay and his related organizations are acting outside the law and violate RICO by “racketeering through extortion, money laundering, and monetary transactions in illegal proceeds” and recounted allegations of pressure tactics by DeLay to force trade groups and lobbying organizations to stop supporting Democrats. [Roll Call, 9/11/00]

In 1998 DeLay Was Admonished By House Ethics Committee For Involvement In K Street Project. In 1998, according to Roll Call, “DeLay’s endeavor to force the Electronics Industry Association to back off its choice resulted in unwanted publicity and a formal admonishment of the Texas Republican by the House Ethics Committee.” DeLay continued to try to frontload K Street with GOP lobbyists even though he was admonished by the House Ethics Committee for doing just that. [Roll Call, 3/12/01, Roll Call, 2/11/04]

In 1998, DeLay Was Admonished By House Ethics Committee For Involvement In K Street Project. DeLay was admonished by the House Ethics Committee for his involvement with a group that pressured lobbyists to hire Republicans and donate to their campaigns, commonly known as the “K Street Project.” DeLay’s admonishment was sparked by his effort to force the Electronics Industry Association to hire a Republican as opposed to their choice, a Democrat. In 2004, DeLay re-launched his K Street Project. “After privately fuming for years, DeLay sat down with a group of his top lieutenants two weeks ago to figure out how to get GOP lobbyists to contribute the maximum $4,000 allowable to vulnerable Republican candidates, as well as giving the $25,000 limit to the National Republican Congressional Committee.” [Roll Call, 3/12/01, Roll Call, 2/11/04]

In 1997 Abramoff Organized A Trip For DeLay That Was Paid For By Saipan Garment Interests. DeLay traveled with his wife and daughter and several aides including Ed Buckham. DeLay did not declare this trip on Congressional disclosure reports. [ABC News, 4/6/05; Associated Press, 3/30/05; Time 3/21/05]

The Presidential race so far

From Slate via PolitickerPA

Dissent of the Day

SENATOR, IT IS TIME TO CALL IT A DAY
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An Open Letter to Barack Obama by Professor Milburn Cleaver
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Dear Senator,
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I am most certain that you have read John F. Kennedy’s “Profiles in Courage”; I now ask of you to personally add one more chapter to this publication. Your candidacy has inspired thousands of your fellow Americans, particularly the young people. It rose above the country like a phoenix, but it now appears that the glitter is fading. The attacks which are being leveled at you are a shame, but what surprises me is that you yourself are surprised at the harshness of them. When one runs for President, Senator, one must expect to dodge many arrows. This is a fact that your Democratic opponent Mrs. Clinton fully understands from personal experience.
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You are without a doubt a man of honor and integrity; a man who if elected President will strive to be above the fray, refrain from backroom deals and politics as usual. You are not, however the first presidential candidate to preach these virtues. Jimmy Carter himself stood by principle and despite the fact that he had large majorities in both houses of Congress, he did not accomplish a single domestic achievement and (save for the Camp David treaties) was steward over a disastrous foreign policy. In short, Senator you are well intentioned, however your naivete, like Carter's is alarming.
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The truth is Senator that the type of government of which you and the young children who support you aspire for does not exist. It has never existed, even in the days of Washington and Lincoln. There has always been partisanship in Congress and there has always been infighting. And yes, there have always been dirty campaigns; for example Andrew Jackson’s wife being accused of prostitution makes even the most vicious political attacks today pale by comparison. The list goes on and on throughout our history.
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Our country, indeed our world has seen massive technological innovation in the past ten or fifteen years. Gadgets such as cell phones with computers have made information available instantly. Unfortunately, as we have progressed with our technology we have conceded our common sense. Americans today are more gullible than ever before and we shall be prepared to believe anything that the dime store fiction writers send our way. Since you are now the perceived nominee you are on top of their list. Are you a Muslim? Of course you are not, but did that prevent a respectable news program such as 60 Minutes from asking this question? Is your pastor a hater of America? Of course he is not but many whites deem him as your mouthpiece and since many have no real knowledge of history they cannot see that the old gentleman was displaying the scars of bitterness from a world that ‘he’ remembers; a world where blacks could not eat at the same lunch counter let alone drink from the same water fountain as a white man, were not able to vote or exercise political discourse without threat of life and on and on.
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It is not that I believe Mrs. Clinton to be invulnerable Senator, it is that I believe you to be more vulnerable in the face of the incoming vicious unwarranted personal attacks. The Junior Senator from New York has been dealing with the slime throwers for nearly twenty years whilst you yourself have just begun to taste this bitter medicine. I believe her to be the strongest candidate to take on the muckrakers.
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As I stated, you have enormous support amongst the young people. You can be proud that your vision has inspired them but I must confess to some apprehension as to whether their feverish adoration can be maintained. We must remember that all children are fickle at best and today’s rock star is tomorrow’s has been. Ask Bobby Sherman, ask David Cassidy, for that matter ask Harold Ford and Jesse Ventura.
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Senator, I believe you to be a man of intelligence, but you need a little more time to prepare yourself for the awesome burden that is the Presidency. Yours and Mrs. Clinton’s feuding is placing what could be a landslide election year for the Democrats into jeopardy. In eight years time, the year 2016, you will only be 54 years old—six years younger than Mrs. Clinton is now. I urge you to save your party from a disaster and show us a profile in courage by suspending your candidacy for the Presidency; make a joint appearance with Mrs. Clinton and give her your endorsement. Your reputation will be saved whereas the verbal fisticuffs occuring now are a threat to it. Mrs. Clinton will sail or sink, however, regardless of the turnout in November you shall be assured a legitimate shot at the nomination in the future. Withdraw Senator, and we will all admire you deeply, not just the little children, but even old fogies like me.
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Respectfully,
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Professor Milburn Cleaver OPA
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Anytown, USA

The next President of the United States

Gives his victory speech on the night that he becomes the Democratic nominee:

Hang it up Hillary

Indiana

Clinton 638,274 51%

Obama 615,862 49%

North Carolina

Obama 890,695 56%

Clinton 657,920 42%

No Preference 22,722 1%

After all the guilt by association that Barack Obama has endured over the last few weeks and the voters gave him a big win in North Carolina and Indiana ended up almost in a tie. So Barry nets a bunch more delegates but Hillary might find another excuse to keep going.

Let us hope that it doesn't come down to this:

Steve Kelley, Times-Picayune via Truth, Justice & Peace

More Dems in the 10th

TL: Registered Republicans in the sprawling district that encompasses all or parts of 14 northeastern and central Pennsylvania counties, now stands at 206,093, or 48.7 percent. That’s a drop of about 4 percent from 2006.

The number of Democrats increased about 2 percent in that time frame, now showing a total of 171,263, or 40.5 percent of the registered voters. Third-party candidates or those who list themselves as unaffiliated climbed nearly 2 percent, totaling 45,527, or 10.8 percent.

Some of this can be attributed to Republicans switching to vote in the Democratic Presidential primary but many are new voters. In Wayne County I read that the Democrats added over 1,000 new voters. When I lived there I doubled the Democratic registration in the little town that I resided in. Even with the hot Dem Prez primary I think it's amazing that Chris Carney got more votes than the 2 Republican candidates combined in the primary, 70,000 up from 26,000 in 2006. Chris Hackett beat Dan Meuser 33,000 to 30,000 in an incredibly expensive race.

In other 10th CD news Hackett got the endorsement of the National Right to Life PAC. He has also has been endorsed by the Club for Growth, the Eagle Forum and the Flat Earth Society.

Health Care event in Wilkes-Barre

Chuck Pennacchio will be in town to push for a single payer system on Thursday sponsored by the Northeastern PA Organizing Center at 198 S. Main St. Wilkes-Barre, PA, 6PM.

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From a release:

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The NEPA Organizing Center will sponsor our first Universal Health Care Campaign event on Thursday, May 8th, at 6:00 p.m. The event will be held at the newly opened center, located at 198 S. Main St in Wilkes-Barre. Refreshments will be provided.

Event details:

6:00 Introduction and screening of segments of Michael Moore’s Sicko.

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7:00 Presentation by Chuck Pennacchio, Executive Director, Health Care 4 all PA, on the statewide movement for Single Payer Health Care legislation in PA.

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7:30 Presentation by Frank Sindaco, Coordinator of the NEPA Organizing Center and Media Mobilizing Project (MMP) of NEPA, on our Universal Health Care Campaign and local organizing efforts.

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8:00 Discussion Groups/Next Steps

Gerrymandering

During the last round of redistricting they took Scranton out of the 10th Congressional District adding it to the 11th and split Luzerne County in half putting the back mountain in the 10th. Above Average Jane points out that Montgomery county has been chopped into pieces and the Pocono Record reports that Monroe county was diced into six state senate districts after the 2000 census. An Inky Columnist says one family has Joe Sestak as it's Congressman but if you live in the garage Jim Gerlach is your guy and a block away it's Allyson Schwartz's territory.

This is nuts, as a minimum districts should make geographic sense as much as possible. Sure, there will have to be nibbling at the corners to meet the population requirements but the computer modeled machinations of both parties has to end. The only way to end this is to take the power to draw district lines away from the legislature and give it to an independent commission like other states. But the catch is that it would require amending the Pennsylvania Constitution and the clock is running out.

Inky: On Monday, a strong reform, backed by Common Cause and the League of Women Voters, will be unveiled in Harrisburg as House Bill 2420. The clock is ticking on it already. Because the reform requires a constitutional amendment, the bill must achieve first passage this June to prevent another Keystone gerrymander in 2011. (New Jersey has a relatively sane system.)
This bill would ordain that districts should be compact and contiguous, should not split municipalities needlessly, and should preserve communities of interest. Importantly, the bill would bar the use of voter data to lock in political advantage through computer modeling.

Luzerne County 118th State Rep Mike Carroll is a co-sponsor of HB 2420. Thanks Mike, now convince Todd, Phyllis, Yuddy, Eddie Day and Karen to get behind this effort.

Tom Delay in the area tomorrow

Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell will be at The Ramada Clarks Summit Hotel, 820 Northern Blvd, Clarks Summit , PA TUESDAY, May 6th, 2008 - 7:00 PM.

The event is sponsored by the Coalition for a Conservative Majority. You can read the details at the CCM website.

State of the World

From the left: Daniel Kingery, Joseph A. Oliva, Bill Ingram, Donald K. Allen and Christopher Popham Smith. All are independent candidates for President.

I attended Mario Mario Fiorucci's annual State of the World forum in Sugar Notch yesterday. He's been doing this for about 10 years and he had new catch this time by inviting some independent candidates for President.

The common theme from all of them was that the Democrats and Republicans have monopolized power to the detriment of the American people, hard to argue with that.


First up was Don Allen, a veterinarian from Youngstown, OH who was Staff Sargent in the US Air Force when he was an enlisted guy and is now a Lt Colonel in the Air Force Reserve. He railed against the NAFTA Superhighway, the New World Order and North American Union. He also opposes creating a single currency for the US, Canada and Mexico which he dubbed the "Amero."



Christopher Popham Smith from Boston wants to withdraw the troops from Iraq and secure the southern border by parking them next to Mexico. He alleged that our elected officials in Washington live a lavish lifestyle complete with free health care for life putting them out of touch with working people. On immigration he said people have to knock on the door and ask to come in.



Bill Ingram, a truck driver from Wisconsin had many detailed policy proposals like outlawing fossil fuels and nuclear energy within 10 years and mandating renewable energy. He wants to crack down on the banking industry practice of raising interest rates on credit cards without notice and tacking on more and more fees that put people in a hole. He has an insurance plan that would cover health care, disability and life insurance that should cost $500 a year. One part of that plan would exempt all health care providers from lawsuits. On trade with China he wants a barter system requiring them to buy products from the US and wants 100% of imports to be inspected to be paid for by a fee on the importers. He wants to pay for the Iraq war by giving a bill to the Iraqi government and seize their oil fields if they don't pay.





Joe Oliva , a New York native acknowledged that it's a ridiculous proposition for an independent to run for President but contends that it's not more ridiculous than what has been going on with the 2 party system. He stated that 1200 elite people make all the decisions for the rest of us leading to a one world government mindset that encourages illegal immigration. He also opposes the UN Law of the Sea Treaty.



Daniel Kingery from Arizona wants you to buy a raffle ticket to win his car as a way of financing his campaign. He points out that the Declaration of Independence gives the power to the people to alter or abolish the forms of government over us that no longer protect us or our rights. He wants to abolish the Electoral College and the Congress requiring all laws and treaties to be put to a vote by the people. And he wants to expand the definition of treason to include politicians that make promises that they have no intention of keeping.

I put some photos of the event on my Facebook page.

YouTube weekend

Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton

The small "d" democratic in me reels at the thought. It's like we've become some sort of banana republic and Mrs. Clinton is our Evita Peron.


Madonna don't cry for me Argentina!

YouTube weekend

I got a letter yesterday excusing me from Jury Duty. This was a great disappointment as I had my 3 days off from work planned out. Lunch at the Chill Grill or Carol's Deli followed by a visit to the Hardware Bar at the end of the day. I even wanted to check out happy hour at Big Ugly's with the hope of running into our favorite county commissioner, Greg Skrepenak. We have a lot to talk about.

With a little luck I might have been picked for a complicated malpractice case that would last for weeks and got to spend some quality time in downtown Wilkes-Barre. But No. Many people do everything they can to get out of it and I wanted to be part of the process. How do you volunteer to serve?

The trial of the century is coming up soon so maybe I might still get summoned. Somehow I think that the Hugo Selenski trial may end something like this:


Monty Python - Mass Murder Case

Not for Hackett

Or Operation Chaos in reverse.

This a guest post from our friend KAR:

I attended a fundraiser last night at Gennetti's for Lou Barletta, I don't live in the 11th but Lou was very supportive of Dan so a few of us from Pride attended.

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Many of the folks who were involved with Dan's campaign were in attendance, and several of the prominent business leaders who Hackett described as being less than honest were there. I realize we have a ways to go before November, but the prevailing sentiment was very anti-Hackett.

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These are honest long standing republicans and they may sit out the 10th election, or write Dan's name in, the best I heard for Hackett was a general attitude of benign neglect.

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I will have a letter in the Times Leader shortly describing my plans. I intend to write as many letters as possible,to as many papers as possible between now & November asking those who supported Dan, and those who care for the future of the republican party to either skip this contest or write in Dan's name.

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I also plan on blogging as much as possible, and occasionally calling in on the local talk radio shows.Believe it or not there isn't much bitterness in all of this, just a sense of righting a wrong, if that makes sense, honestly if Hackett had run a different type of campaign and won, I would have supported him.

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BTW Lou gave a good speech, and I believe he will give Kanjo a run for his money in November.

Phillies in phirst

You don't win the the pennant in April but can can darn well lose it. The last 2 years the Philadelphia Phillies finished the first month of the season with a record of 11-14 and if the Mets hadn't collapsed (sorry Carl) in September last year they would have finished out of the playoffs again. With the win tonight they are 16-13 and in 1st place by a half game.

The biggest surprise to me is the bullpen posting a 2.65 ERA so far holding the Padres hitless for the last 3 innings tonight but the story is the bats. Ryan Howard came to life tonight with a RBI double and a solo HR (6). Pat Burrell has stopped chasing the low and outside pitch and has been a clutch hitter with 26 RBI's. Stop taking him out in the late innings Charley. Then there is Chase Utley batting .357 with a league leading 11 HR's that has had him mentioned as a possible MVP.

And they have done this with last year's MVP Jimmy Rollins and the other spark plug Shane Victorino out of action.

There are a few holes in the lineup like 3rd base that Chris points out.

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That could be fixed by doing something that most fans would bust a blood vessel over, trade Ryan Howard. A great post at Phillies Nation makes some good arguments on why to do it. He is coming upon free agency and will probably demand an A-Rod type 7 to 10 year deal at 25+ million a year that the Phillies will never agree to and the payback could be good. So what could you get in return? A starting pitcher and a 3rd baseman that can hit would be a minimum with some top rated prospects as a bonus.

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Jennifer has her fingers crossed

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Jury Duty

I have Jury Duty next week at the the Penn Plaza building in Wilkes-Barre which houses the chambers of some of our more newsworthy Luzerne County jurists.

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I hope I get a trial like this one:

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Lawyers should never ask a Mississippi grandma a question if they aren't prepared for the answer.

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In a trial, a Southern small-town prosecuting attorney called his first witness, a grand motherly, elderly woman to the stand.

He approached her and asked, "Mrs. Jones, do you know me?"

She responded, "Why, yes, I do know you, Mr. Williams. I've known you since you were a young boy, and frankly, you've been a big disappointment to me. You lie; you cheat on your wife, and you manipulate people and talk about them behind their backs. You think you're a big shot when you haven't the brains to realize you never will amount to anything more than a two-bit paper pusher. Yes, I know you."

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] The lawyer was stunned!

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Not knowing what else to do, he pointed across the room and asked, "Mrs. Jones, do you know the defense attorney?"

She again replied, "Why, yes, I do. I've known Mr. Bradley since he was a youngster, too. He's lazy, bigoted, and he has a drinking problem. He can't build a normal relationship with anyone and his law practice is one of the worst in the entire state. Not to mention he cheated on his wife with three different women. One of them was your wife. Yes, I know him."

The defense attorney almost died.

The judge asked both counselors to approach the bench and, in a very quiet voice, said,
"If either of you f***ng idiots asks her if she knows me, I'll send you to the electric chair"

The brother-in-law effect

We all know what that is. Sometimes it's good for a million dollars in business.

Vita bill totals $1.1 million
County psychologist made “twice as much as what he’d make in private practice,” another local practitioner says...

Frank Vita was paid $233,005 to provide juvenile psychological evaluations for Luzerne County’s court system from July 2001 through 2003, bringing his total receipts to more than $1.1 million, county records show...Vita is the brother-in-law of Court of Common Pleas senior Judge Mike Conahan.

Conahan was the President Judge before his retirement and decided who to hire for professional services. Our new Common Pleas President Judge Mark Ciavarella says Vita is doing a great job. Ciavarella is contending that the courts can't be directed what to do by the county commissioners citing a separation of powers argument.


David doesn't buy that and suggest: So if the Judges are a separate branch of government, maybe Petrilla and Urban can get a couple of double wides and move the Judge’s offices to the Forty Fort Airport for starters.

The Lu Lac Political Letter also points out that over half the kids that go through the juvenile court system don't have lawyers but they get to sit down with a shrink that is billing the county $90 an hour. I don't know what a public defender makes but it is probably less.

Kentucky Derby

The 11th annual get together of the Saturday OT Committee and Operatic Society to watch the Kentucky Derby is scheduled for Saturday, May 3rd 4PM at Marks Pub 1287 N Washington St, Wilkes-Barre (map it).

Carney on the fence

Congressman Chris Carney said he would cast his vote at the Democratic national convention according to the will of the district. The 10th went overwhelmingly for Hillary but Carney still hasn't committed. The NRCC is saying that Carney is a closet Obama supporter. But the convention isn't until August so he has some time to make up his mind or maybe not because DNC Chairman Howard Dean wants this thing decided before then and I agree with him.

His ace press secretary said "He will base his decision on who will be the best leader to move our country forward and do what is best for the district and Pennsylvania,” Rebecca Gale said. “In the meantime, Congressman Carney feels it’s best to let people vote and the conversation continue.”


In 2006 Carney got 26,300 votes in the primary while the Republican candidates garnered about 59,000. This time around he got 70,824 votes in an uncontested primary while the bitter and expensive Republican primary between Chris Hackett and Dan Meuser produced under 65,000. I'm sure much of the increase can attributed to the Presidential race and the general election turnout will be much higher. In 2006 it was about 210,000.

Barletta offers solution to high gas prices

Or maybe not.

Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta said the windfall profit tax bill proposed by Congressman Paul Kanjorski is a “desperate attempt to gain favor in an election year.” Kanjo admits that the bill doesn't have much chance of becoming law saying even if it did pass the Congress it faces a certain veto and America's Mayor pounced on that statement.

A check of Barletta's website doesn't have any info about energy or anything else other than immigration.

I'm surprised that he hasn't pointed out that we get a great deal of our oil from Venezuela and Mexico or maybe he isn't aware of it.

Violate the law, get a week off

WILKES-BARRE — Luzerne County Correctional Facility Board unanimously voted Monday to suspend prison Warden Gene Fischi for one week without pay because the warden failed to inform board members about decisions to avoid bidding purchases.
The board also put Fischi and prison kitchen supervisor Jack Rentko on probation for a year.

And Sam Guesto still has a job after telling Rentko to ignore bidding requirements saying “do it or it’s your ass.”

Some sort of secret police organization is supposed to be investigating this mess according to DA Jackie MO but she hasn't named the agency. Why can't she tell us which one? And why are our great local reporters giving her a pass?

More Presidential candidates coming to the area

Just not the ones you've ever heard of . Mario Fiorucci's annual State of the World forum in Sugar Notch has a new twist this year. A group of third party and independent Presidential candidates will state their case this weekend at 893 Main Street, Sugar Notch.

Saturday, May 3rd
3:00 PM Presidential Candidate Debates.

Sunday, May 4th
1:00 PM Presidential Candidate Speeches.


Participating Presidential Candidates:

Joseph A. Oliva JoeOlivaForPresident.org Reclaiming Our Inheritance.

Bill Ingram Ingram2008.com Put a Working Man in the White House!

Donald K. Allen donaldkallenforpresident.com “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” - Edmund Burke

Daniel Kingery portablepublishing.com Put up, or Shut Up!

Steve Adams presidentadams.com Common Sense for Uncommon Times

Jack Grimes joanne21921.tripod.com United Fascist Union

Lanakila Washington myspace.com/lanakila1024 Humanistic Party

Steve White forRuth Bryant White rbwforpres2008.com More Than a Woman

Michael Thompson forFrank McEnulty FrankForPresident.org New American Independent Party

Deshon Porter deshon@myway.com Let’s Take Our Country Back!

John Bootie johnbootie08.com America’s Candidate


Daniel Kingery had a profile in the CV yesterday.

Other participants in the festivities include Kurt Shotko, Independent candidate for the 11th CD, Joseph Pilchesky, creator of dohertydeceit.com and Mort Malkin will also speak about health care reform and how to plan for your personal wellness.



Ed note: I have nothing to do with organizing this event. But I think it's important to hear all voices.

Hillary, Barack or someone else?

In wide ranging and sometimes contentious debate at yesterday's impromptu sub-committee meeting at our favorite watering hole an unlikely but possible scenario was discussed. After the Obama supporter was shouted down by a room full of Clinton backers someone suggested that the best outcome for the Dems would be to nominate Al Gore. The reasoning is if this goes to the convention the losing side will have a hard time backing the winner so a unity candidate should be found. I don't see it happening but anything is possible. This is not a new idea as I've seen it kicked around the lefty blogs and even by a few talking heads on TV. A month ago our local political historian, the Yonk, even outlined a possible turn of events in Denver.

So what do you think? I put up a poll on the sidebar.

Below we see the winner of the 2000 election showing off his green thumb.

YouTube weekend

Baracky Obama - The movie

A few links

My friends at the Susquehanna University College Republicans have revamped their website. They did a great job of organizing the first 10th CD debate.

Check out SU College Republicans Infinity

I added Coal Region Voice to the blogroll. He is asking for some help on colon cancer legislation:

As a colon cancer survivor, I am looking for support for HB 972 and or SB246. The House version is a whole new law, while the Senate Bill ammends existing law. Both are colon cancer screening bills. Senator Don White is sitting on these in committee and letting them die along with 3000 Pennsylvanians every year. http://coalregionvoice.blogspot.com/2007/02/pennsylvania-and-colon-cancer-screening.html

PolitickerPA is a new site covering Pennsylvania politics. I spotted this cartoon there.

10th CD postmortem

What a wild ride it has been in the Pennsylvania 10th Congressional District over the last few years. Democrat Chris Carney won the seat in 2006 because Don Sherwood kept talking about "family values" and then it was revealed that he had been playing house for over 5 years with a girl half his age who actually called the police because she said he became violent. There were other factors in the race but that helped clinch it.

Ever since then I've been hearing things like "that's one of our seats that we can win back" from my Republican friends. It's not your seat or the Dems seat, it's the peoples seat. The founders designed the House of Representatives as the pulse of the people and expected it to change hands often. But gerrymandering has slowed the turnover rate.

Early in the Republican primary I expected Dan Meuser to win the nod just because he had the most money. He's a Republican, you buy things. But he ran a awful campaign. His selling point was the he was the head of very successful company, Pride Mobility, that grew over the years and created some good jobs with the implication he would be able to replicate that throughout the district. That opened him up to answering for everything that Pride had ever done wrong by design or circumstance whether or not he had anything to do with the situation. Pride Mobility for Congress had it's limits and some his ads came across as a plug for the Scooter Store.

Chris Hackett ran a classic outsider vs. insider campaign. He railed against pork barrel spending and the way business is done in Washington. Just about every elected official in the 10th backed Meuser but it didn't bring him much. Most endorsements are good for a press release and not much more. The one's that matter bring boots on the ground and money, none of his did.


For all the negative stuff that happened at the end I thought (and I'm told) Hackett's ads pointing out that Pride had outsourced jobs to China resonated with people. The illegal immigrant thing showed showed how such a complicated issue is hard to discuss in a political campaign. I think the last minute abortion (he said/she said) accusations probably backfired as many thought it was a dirty trick.


A consolation point for Dan Meuser is that he will have the opportunity to challenge Chris Carney for the seat in 2010.

Looking to the fall-State Rep races

Or lack of contests. Barring some write-in efforts that I'm not aware of it looks like our 5 Luzerne County Democratic state representatives will be unopposed in November. I read that Todd Eachus has secured both nominations in the 116th District getting 800+ write-ins on the GOP side. In the 120th Phyllis Mundy has no opposition and the same goes for Eddie Day Pashinski in the 121st as well as John Yudichak in the 119th. Mike Carroll cruised to victory in the 118th primary with no announced Republican taking him on in the general.

That leaves the 117th District Republican Freshman Karen Boback as the only one being challenged in November. 2006 Republican 20th Senatorial candidate Russ Bigus recently switched to the Democrats and is on the ballot. Boback beat a little known Dem last time by 2 to 1 after winning a crowded primary. This time she won the primary by about 1100 votes out of 7300 cast while Bigus was unopposed for the Democratic nomination and garnered 5665. The question now is will Bigus be able to use his past GOP ties and tap into the resentment I'm hearing from some back mountain Republicans about the slash and burn tactics of the Boback camp.

Other results

It looks like Chris Hackett won the Republican nomination in the 10th CD.


PA Dept of State:


HACKETT, CHRIS (REP)
33,091 52.3%



MEUSER, DAN (REP)
30,177 47.7%


What is interesting is that Carney got more votes in the Democratic primary than both of them put together in the GOP contest.



CARNEY, CHRISTOPHER P. (DEM)
69,067 100.0%


In the 117th and 118th state rep districts it looks like the challengers came up short;

117th Republiccan primary

MAY, JAMES (REP)
3,126 42.5%


BOBACK, KAREN (REP)
4,233 57.5%


118th Democractic primary

CARROLL, MIKE (DEM)
9,378 81.1%


BEST, P. J. (DEM)
2,192 18.9%

Hillary wins PA

All the networks are calling it for Clinton. The question now is what the margin is.

Pennsylvania Exit Polls

Inspired by another local internet hooligan I wrote in Kayak Dude for state rep in the 121st district. Eddie Day Pashinski is unopposed in the primary and the general election which annoys me to no end and five of the six state reps up for reelection don't have an opponent in the fall. Put another feather in the cap of our Luzerne County GOP. I was going to do a few other write-ins but digressed.


In the Prez race it was an easy choice for me, Barrack Obama is the future and Hillary Clinton is the past. Yes we can.


In the only other contested race I could vote I picked John Cordisco for Treasurer because he is the only one of the candidates that I have met and a friend is part of his campaign team.

Turnout in my polling place was good. I was voter number 422 of about 1000 at 5PM.

Blogger is not letting me post pictures right now but you can see my ballot on Facebook.

Victory Party

If you want to celebrate with your candidate tonight here is where to find them.

Dan Meuser

Ramada Inn- Clarks Summit
820 Northern Blvd.
Clarks Summit , PA. 18411

The party will begin at 8 PM


Chris Hackett

Grotto's Pizza (Rte 415, Harveys Lake) 8PM-Midnight


Karen Boback

Harveys Lake American Legion located along RT 415 1/8 mile ahead of the entrance shortly after 9:00 PM.

James May


James May Election Headquarters 130 North Memorial Highway
Dallas, Pa 18612

117th State Rep

This should be the most interesting race of the night. Karen Boback has endured one after another assault from James May. She's on TV but he doesn't have the money to do it. He has a good ground game and may just pull an upset.

Update: There is an ad in today's Times-Leader written by someone named James May attacking James May. Kind of reminds me of the "Real Bob Casey" thing a few years ago. And according to this sign the good Doctor thinks she has already won.

118th State Rep

PJ Best has done well but he won't beat Mike Carroll. He hasn't even updated his website. Young Mr. Best will be heard from again

Gort42 on the radio

I was the last caller on Corbitt today. Tomorrow Sue Henry has extended a generous invitation to call in between 8:30-9PM on election night. I have a face made for radio.

I won't do that again.

Pennsylvania 10th CD prediction

I don't have one. In some ways it's too bad that this race has to end since it's has the subject of the most spirited debates this blog has ever had. Many thanks to kar, Scott, Barry, Sassy, PJ Lefty and all the anons that have shared their thoughts and advocated for their candidate. I'm sure I missed someone so remind me in the comments. So this is the last chance to sound off before the big day, tell me why your guy will win and by how much. The polling I've seen still shows a big undecided block. Will the Meuser campaign sandbagging of Hackett about abortion on the Friday before the election be the deciding factor? I find it interesting that a Meuser campaign operative emailed me the Capitol Wire story. Or will Hackett's message of changing the way Washington does business carry the day?

Who's going to win tomorrow?

I usually do some predictions the weekend before the election but after a busy couple of days I'm a bit behind. Just about all the polls and talking heads on TV tell us Hillary Clinton will beat Barrack Obama in PA with the question being by what margin. Both sides have gone just about totally negative particularly the robo calls from the Clinton campaign. I think Clinton has to win by at least 10% to keep going and that may not even be enough. And if Obama somehow pulls an upset, which I doubt, it's over.