Luzerne County finances

I started off blogging about Luzerne County government and politics but haven't written much about it lately. The Yonk  reminded me that I was a unrelenting critic of the games that the Bond Brothers played with numbers that put our county into the hole that it is in. Thankfully convicted criminal Greg Skrepnak and Todd Vonderheid are no longer Commissioners.

As a result of the Juvie Brothers and other scandals the people decided it was time to change the form of government and passed Home Rule. The new county council hired a professional manager after a nationwide search. This new form of government is not perfect but it is a big improvement over the old system of 3 Commissioners and a myriad of elected row officers.

Luzerne County Manager Bob Lawton is getting high marks from the people I have spoke to in county government. He is trying to clean up the mess. I don't agree with all his decisions on some non budget issues such as firing Leonard Piazza as Director of the Election Bureau.

Some of the dead enders will still try to hang on.

Deputy runs office, prothonotary gripes

 

4 seats on the new county council will be up in 2013. I urge all interested candidates to attend Blogfest on September 21st to give your pitch.  The Controller's spot is also up and the only name I've heard on the Dem side is Bob Morgan. Incumbent Walter Griffith is definitely running for reelection.

Romney just lost the election, again

You all know about the storm that has erupted after Mitt Romney's attack on the President after American diplomats were killed in Libya. He got the timing wrong about the Egyptian embassy statement and couldn't wait until  after midnight of 9/11 to make a political point while the violence was going on and the whereabouts of the Ambassador to Libya was unknown. The President was dealing with a crises and Romney tries to score political points repeating the imaginary apology nonsense.  

Many Republicans disagree with Romney including former PA Governor Tom Ridge.

TP: “I don’t think President Obama sympathizes with those who attacked us,” Ridge said. “I don’t think any American does.”

After ignoring foreign policy it's surprising they decided to attack. 

BF: 
Romney foreign policy advisor Robert O’Brien called the Obama campaign's tactic a transparent ploy to distract from the sagging economy, including a recent jobs report that was "a disaster for them."
"It doesn't surprise me that they're raising foreign policy because it's another distraction from the Administration’s terrible economic record,” O’Brien told BuzzFeed. “They're going from one shiny object to the next." 

Romney didn't even mention the the war in Afghanistan at the GOP convention. 

Steve Benen:  it's true that Obama doesn't have other foreign policy successes outside the bin Laden mission, just so long as you overlook ending the war in Iraq, the ratification of the New START treaty, assembling an international coalition to bring down the Gadhafi regime in Libya, decimating al Qaeda's network and senior leadership, and imposing a very aggressive new embargo on Iran.

And finally, there's the Romney's campaign pitch: the Republican candidate has credibility on foreign affairs because he speaks French; spent time as a missionary; he's well-traveled; he's 65; and he helped oversee an athletic competition.

 Romney also lost the election when Clint Eastwood yelled at an empty chair that upstaged his acceptance speech and when Paul Ryan seemed shady and incompetent.

 More than this blowup is his 4 positions on Obamacare.

Mitt Romney Takes Four Different Positions On Pre-Existing Conditions In Twelve Hours

Phils on Phire

A month ago I didn't think the Phillies would finish with a winning record this year. Hell, they didn't even win a 3 game series until after the All Star break. They just swept the Rockies and the Fish and are riding a season high 7 game win streak.

 Now they are above .500 for the first time since June at 72-71 and just 3 games out of 2nd Wild Card spot. It's a still a long shot to make the playoffs because they need to keep winning and have the teams in front of them lose. Last night all the teams ahead of them cooperated by losing.

 Next up on the schedule is a team with worst record in baseball, the Houston Astros, for a 4 game set. As all baseball fans know this series could turn out to be a debacle and end the high hopes.That's why they play the games.

Meet the candidate

Republican PA  17th Congressional District candidate Laureen Cummings has been an energizer bunny visiting all the counties of the district for every event she can attend.  She has hit all the GOP County picnics plus a bunch of other stuff. I ran into her at the Luzerne County GOP picnic. You can read about it on her campaign Facebook page with lots of pictures. She has attended Blogfest in the past and promises to be there again along with her campaign manager Jim O'Meara.

On Saturday she will be in Pittston Twp at Bar on Oak, 900 Oak St. 6-8PM. Detail at her website.

She is handing out this nifty card taking an subtle shot at her opponent. 

Democrat Matt Cartwright hasn't slacked off since the primary after knocking off Blue Dog Tim Holden. He has also been also been all over the place even introducing VP Joe Biden in York. Details and pictures at the Cartwright campaign  Facebook page. After serving as the Gort42 Special Correspondent at the Democratic Convention in Charlotte he went rolling down the Delaware River.

Congressional Candidate Matt Cartwright Campaigns on the Delaware

 

 Cartwright has a big shindig planed for Nay Aug Park in Scranton, September 29th starting at 1PM. Details on his website. 

He will be at many other places before then.  

 

Matt Cartwright, a candidate for the 17th Congressional District, will speak at Keystone College Sept. 19 at 6 p.m. in Evans Hall, Hibbard Campus Center.

Matt Cartwright also tells me he will be at Blogfest.

Prez O likes football

"The most important thing I have to say is football starts today." --President Barack Obama (via pool report)

(PHOTO CREDIT: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

  House GOP introduces bill to repeal football

 Michelle Bachman calls for investigation of unAmerican activities of NFL players

 NFL owners admit that they didn't build the stadiums, the taxpayers paid for them

 Mitt Romney says he has friends that own NFL teams and will give them a tax cut

 Paul Ryan claims he scored 6 touchdowns in a football game in under 3 hours

 Iowa Rep. Steve King proposes electrified fence and alligator filled moat around fields to keep out foreign born players from kicking FG's and extra points

 Rep. King says Michael Vick is his favorite player 

GOP Rep. Steve King Defends Dog Fighting

 

 Lou Barletta asks "What are the Yankee's doing?"

  Tom Marino placed a bet with Louis DeNaples

 Laureen Cummings prayed about something.

WNEP- Proud to annoy 17 counties

WNEP just interrupted the Penn State v Virginia game to tell us it is going to rain and scare the  hell out of people over a slight chance of a tornado. This is the thing I hate about the local news. Be afraid, be very afraid. They don't cover what is going on in politics because the big news in such a large area is car crashes, fires and violent crimes with a cutesy story thrown in at the end.

If it bleeds it ledes.

The only time I watch the local news is election season just for the ads from the candidates.


Update:

From the inbox

Hi, Gort.

 

I saw your question to me on FB and did a little research before I responded.

 

“What is going on” is this:

 

I could not find any specific FCC rule or regulation that REQUIRES a broadcast television station to break into programming when there is severe weather. However, stations are mandated to serve the public interest in order to keep their licenses.

 

Broadcast television stations can basically break into regular programming at any time, for any reason. At WNEP, we have done so for breaking news events – such as significant developments in the Luzerne County Corruption case or Jerry Sandusky’s guilty verdict, or last year’s flooding. As far as I know, WNEP does not have a specific policy regarding when we will break in for news. It’s a case-by-case basis in terms of whether we will break in and how long we will stay on the air.

 

For severe weather, however, WNEP does have a specific policy and that is to break into programming when the National Weather Service issues a Tornado Warning (http://www.spc.noaa.gov/faq/tornado/#warning1 ) for any part of our viewing area, which, as you pointed out, is rather large. A tornado warning indicates either that a tornado has been spotted or that Doppler Radar has detected rotation in a storm system. In other words, if there’s a tornado warning in effect, then the threat of an actual tornado is very real. WNEP’s policy dictates that we stay on the air continuously until the tornado warning is either lifted or expires. Because we cover such a large area, we’re often dealing with situations where a tornado warning in one county may expire while warning in other counties are still in effect. If the first tornado warning is in central PA (e.g. Williamsport), we could be on the air for an extended time if the tornado warnings follow the system as it moves east. There have been occasions where one warning has expired and we’ve returned to programming only to cut in again a short time later because another tornado warning has been issued.

 

So, the answer to your question “what is going on” is that WNEP will always interrupt programming for a tornado warning because, when lives are in danger, we feel it serves the public’s interest to do so. This has been WNEP’s policy for several years and is, I believe, pretty standard stuff for broadcast stations that have news departments. Stations that don’t, rely on crawls.

 

Just as an FYI – and to your point about us “not covering politics,” we received A LOT more emails and phone calls when we broke into the Penn State game than we did a few nights ago when we broke into Michelle Obama’s speech at the convention.

YouTube weekend

Republicans are having a hard time with rockers


 FOX NEWS AND LOSING MY RELIGION

R.E.M.'s "Losing My Religion" was used in the Fox News coverage of the Democratic National Convention last night. R.E.M. today, through its music publisher, Warner-Tamerlane Music, demanded that Fox News cease and desist from continuing its unlicensed and unauthorized use of the song. Michael Stipe said, "We have little or no respect for their puff adder brand of reportage. Our music does not belong there." 





              



THR: So far this presidential cycle, the Romney-Paul Ryan ticket has been slammed by rapper K'naan for using his "Wavin' Flag," rock band Silversun Pickups sent a nasty lawyer letter over the use of "Panic Switch" and Twisted Sister's Dee Snider objected to Romney pumping up his supporters with "We're Not Gonna Take It." ("There is almost nothing on which I agree with Paul Ryan," he said, "except perhaps the use of the P90X [workout routine].") Former candidate Newt Gingrich was even sued by Survivor member Frankie Sullivan for playing "Eye of the Tiger" at a rally.

In 2008 many artist objected: Notable musicians Jackson Browne, Foo Fighters, John Mellencamp, John Hall, and ABBA (?!?!) all demanded Sen. John McCain quit using their tunes during his 2008 campaign; the Wilson sisters from Heart famously reprimanded Sarah Palin for using “Barracuda” to promote herself that same year. Former Florida Governor Charlie Crist was sued by his doppelgänger David Byrne for using a Talking Heads song in 2010. And, of course, George W. Bush made a fair amount of enemies in Mellencamp, Tom Petty, and Sting.

I originally was going to post this REM song for Justin Vacula because he moved to a new platform.  
So I'll post another one for him.

A night with the Democrats

Eddie Day Pashinski and Phyllis Mundy

A nice night with my Democratic friends at Brews Brothers in Pittston watching Vice President Biden and President Barack Obama accept the Democratic nominations tonight. Alex Milanes was the token Republican in the crowd joining Luzerne County Chair Bob Boyer, Vice Chair Jane Waitukus and 2nd District honcho Casey Evans. State Reps Phyllis Mundy and Eddie Day Pashinski were the stars of the night. 17th CD candidate Matt Cartwright was represented by deputy dog Mike Szusrtak.

You can read the text of the President's speech at this link.

President Obama's acceptance speech.

He defended his record and outlined a path for the future and got down right feisty saying:

Now, our friends at the Republican convention were more than happy to talk about everything they think is wrong with America, but they didn’t have much to say about how they’d make it right.  They want your vote, but they don’t want you to know their plan.  And that’s because all they have to offer is the same prescription they’ve had for the last thirty years:

“Have a surplus? Try a tax cut.” 

“Deficit too high? Try another.”

“Feel a cold coming on? Take two tax cuts, roll back some regulations, and call us in the morning!”

He ended the Iraq war and will end the Afghanistan war and unlike Romney he payed tribute to our troops and veterans. 

He blasts the Republicans on foreign policy:


"You might not be ready for diplomacy with Beijing if you can’t visit the Olympics without insulting our closest ally. "

The President didn't say it but how can you expect Mitt Romney to stand up to the Iranians when he won't even stand up to Rush Limbaugh after he insults a young woman.


Bill Wellock filed this report in the Citizens Voice

Obama's speech attracts interest from both sides

PA Attorney General race

The David Freed camp put out a press release slamming Kathleen Kane for going to the Democratic Convention in Charlotte pointing out that he skipped the festivities in Tampa. 


HARRISBURG, PA – As the 2012 election cycle marks its final 9 weeks today, Kathleen Kane’s first priority after the Labor Day weekend is to jet off to sunny Charlotte to join party kingmakers at the Democratic National Convention.

Last week, during the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Cumberland County District Attorney and candidate for Attorney General, David Freed, spent the week traveling Pennsylvania, stopping in Centre County, Dauphin County, Lehigh County, Philadelphia County, Montgomery County, Luzerne County, Bradford County, Wyoming County, Sullivan County, and Lackawanna County to name a few.
This week’s schedule is very much the same as Freed travels the state, connecting with voters and activists.
“Pennsylvania voters deserve an experienced leader to represent them as the commonwealth’s chief law enforcement officer – not someone who prefers hobnobbing out-of-state with power-brokers and career politicians,” said Freed campaign manager, Tim Kelly.
Kelly continues, “Out of touch politicians are certainly not in short supply. That doesn’t mean we should elect another one as our next Attorney General.” 

This is true. I had the pleasure of meeting David Freed at the Luzerne County GOP picnic. 

He has a big hill to climb as the latest polls show Kane winning big 40-29. Not to read to much into the poll results but I think people like the idea of a woman as Attorney General especially after the Sandusky thing.

120th Debates

120th HD Republican candidate Aaron Kaufer thinks that the League of Women's Voters is not the best organization to host a debate between him and incumbent Phyllis Mundy because Phyllis was active in the organization many years ago.

Kingston, Pa. – Aaron Kaufer recently read a response from Rep. Phyllis Mundy in the Times Leader and Citizen’s Voice accepting his challenge to a series of debates. Rep. Mundy offered to set up the debate through the League of Women Voters — an organization that Mundy formally resided over as president.

            Kaufer was pleased with the enthusiasm to hold a debate in the coming months, but felt it was inappropriate for the moderators to have ties with one of the participants.

            “While I’m confident that the League of Women Voters would hold an impartial debate, it is unfair for Rep. Mundy to suggest this as the only debate venue,” Kaufer said. “We need to hold multiple debates with various moderators to ensure a fair and informative series of debates.”

            Kaufer has suggested several impartial moderators such as the Chamber of Commerce or a local newspaper or television station. Aaron is also attending a candidate’s forum at Penn State Wilkes-Barre and is hoping Rep. Mundy would attend as well.

“If we are to get serious about having true impartial debates, we need to make sure the moderators are 100 percent objective,” Kaufer said.

Not to be picky but I had Phyllis' response first.

I think that Kaufer should agree to the traditional LWV forum and push for a real debate hosted by an impartial moderator. I nominate the Yonk, he is always fair and knows how to organize an event.

Aaron Kaufer is pictured with past losing 120th HD candidates. Bill James, Tim Mullen, Bill Goldsworthy and John Cordara

Convention Recap

Gort42  Special Correspondent Matt Cartwright files this report from Charlotte.Well , he did send along a press release.

A Memorable and Truthful First Day In Charlotte

Last night we heard from San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro, whose story reflects the President’s story and the American story. And we heard from First Lady Michelle Obama, who knows the President best and the values and experiences that drive him.


Our convention is crystallizing the choice the American people face this election. It’s a choice between President Obama’s vision of moving America forward to an economy built to last with a strong middle class at its core, or Mitt Romney’s vision of going back to the same “top-down” economic policies that crashed our economy and punished the middle class.


We’re hearing about the strong leadership the President has shown and the tough but often unpopular decisions he’s made to strengthen this country over the long term. And how those decisions have been rooted in fundamental American values: that hard work and responsibility should be rewarded, that everyone should play by the same rules and everyone has a fair shot and a fair shake.



We’re hearing about the President’s constant fight for working and middle-class Americans and how he’s fought every day to rebuild an economy that’s meant to last – an economy built from the middle class out, not the top down.



We’re doing what Mitt Romney failed to do: honestly and clearly laying out the President’s vision and plan to move America forward and restore the promise of middle-class security for all Americans.


Finally, President Clinton will take the stage to talk about what the President has done to help the nation recover from the worst economic crisis ever handed a new president, and what he’s doing to create an economy built to last – one that’s built from the middle out, not the top down.






Twenty years ago, President Clinton heard many of the same charges President Obama faces today, from a Republican Party who believed that if we gave tax cuts to the well-off and slashed Medicare and investments in our children and workers, prosperity would trickle down to the middle class.


Fortunately, the country rejected that approach, and instead invested in education and innovation, paid down the deficit by asking the wealthy to pay their fair share, and laid the foundation for 23 million new jobs, historic small business expansion and a record surplus.

It’s striking that Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan want to go back to the policies that turned those Clinton surpluses into massive deficits, punished the middle class and crashed our economy.

Democratic Convention Watch Party

Luzerne County Democratic Chairman Bob Boyer is hosting a 

Democratic Convention Obama Acceptance Speech Party

 At Brews Brothers,  

1705 River Road, Pittston, Pennsylvania 18640

Starting at  8PM on Thursday, September 6th 

You can RSVP on the Facebook Event  page

The local Obama for America campaign is also having an event.

 Wilkes-Barre Convention Watch Party 

I remember when the President made his first convention speech.

Scollo proposes jobs plan

PHIL SCOLLO PROPOSES ALTERNATIVE PLAN TO SAVE TOBYHANNA AND CREATE JOBS

Scollo is the only candidate to release a plan to create jobs

 

Dingman, PA – Following the uproar caused by Rep. Tom Marino’s vote to eviscerate funding for the Tobyhanna Army Depot, Phil Scollo proposed an alternative plan to save Tobyhanna and create jobs in the tenth district of Pennsylvania.

“I’ve heard enough talk about how we are going to create jobs. Democrats and Republicans in Congress continue to let us down. Obviously you know where someone stands on jobs when he or she votes to cut six hundred quality jobs from their local Army Depot.

“That is why I am proposing the following 5-piece plan to create good American manufacturing jobs like the ones at the Depot in Pennsylvania and across our country, to help us grow all sectors of the economy going forward.”

Phil Scollo outlined his plan in an op-ed published today by The Daily Item (PDF attached - full text below). 

Full text attached - Excerpt below:

“First, we’ve got to save Tobyhanna and focus on rebuilding America’s manufacturing base.

We need both U.S. Senators Casey and Toomey to push hard to restore Tobyhanna’s funding to the bill in conference committee—Senator Casey has stepped up already, but Senator Toomey now needs to join him publicly.

We should create a Made in America tax break to help keep manufacturing jobs here and crack down on companies shipping jobs overseas to countries like China.

Second, we should simplify the tax code and reduce the regulatory burdens on businesses. The Small Business Administration says regulations are a $1.75 trillion annual drag on the economy. We can no longer afford to hamstring our job creators in this way any more.

Let’s also encourage innovation itself by extending the federal research and development tax credit and making sure our public schools, research universities and community colleges are able to educate and train a true 21^st Century workforce, especially in the STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and math).

Third, a modern transportation and energy infrastructure is a requirement for both businesses and communities to grow.

People from both parties agree that roads, bridges and rail systems make large-scale economic growth possible and need to be updated, which will create good jobs in the short term and stronger growth in the long term.

Similarly, clean energy alternatives like renewable energy and natural gas along with a smart power grid will be critical to the next century of job creation, economic growth, conservation and environmental sustainability.

And when we make infrastructure investments, the federal government must “Buy American.”

Finally, we need to continue opening markets abroad where our manufacturers, businesses and innovators can sell their world-leading goods and services—but only on a level playing field, because American workers and businesses alike will outcompete anyone in a fair fight.

That’s why we need to make sure nations like China are not unfairly manipulating their currency or using unlawful sweatshop labor to illegally or unjustly undercut American competitors.”

Cartwright at the convention

Cartwright Joins Democrats in Charlotte

 

PLAINS – Marion and I are here in Charlotte by special invitation by the House Democratic leadership.  We're here to witness and support the historic nomination of Barack Obama for reelection as President of the United States.

This election is a make-or-break moment for the middle class.  We have to bring back the values of balance and fairness that have made our country great. We can't just cut our way to success, we need an economy that’s built to last—one that out-innovates, out-educates and out-builds the world.

We need to rebuild an economy that creates the jobs of the future and makes things the rest of the world buys—not one built on outsourcing, loopholes or risky financial deals that jeopardize everyone, especially the middle class.

The American People Will Face a Clear Choice This Year…

The President cut taxes for every working family, putting more money in the pockets of Americans who need it most. He’s also prevented a middle-class tax increase and extended vital unemployment benefits for Americans who lost their jobs through no fault of their own. Now he’s fighting to make sure the wealthiest and corporations pay their fair share.

The Affordable Care Act provides stability and security to Americans who have insurance and gives those who don’t the opportunity to afford it. It puts an end to the worst industry abuses, such as cancelling coverage when someone gets sick, and will stop insurance companies from denying coverage to people with pre-existing conditions or charging women more for insurance because of their gender. It already is insuring millions of young Americans, providing patients free preventive care, lowering costs for seniors, and will bring down costs for families and businesses.

The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act makes it easier for women to challenge unfair pay practices, helping all Americans earn equal pay for equal work.

We either can continue to level the playing field, invest in education, American manufacturing and clean energy—or we can keep giving tax breaks to the wealthiest, let Wall Street write its own rules again, widen loopholes for corporations, and stick veterans, seniors and the middle class with the bill.  I think the choice is obvious, and that's why Marion and I have come to Charlotte this week.

Rep Major is exercising a kind of political droit du seigneur

September 2, 2012

From the inbox:

Dead Editor,

The band Ten Years After has a song called “I’d Love To Change The World”. Those words of late have come to sum up my life’s goals, and are why I’m writing you today. They say a picture is worth a thousand words; and in the world of political campaigning, it might as well be ten-thousand.

Picture this: a representative poses with a crowd of smiling onlookers, holding a pair of over-sized scissors that could only be used for one thing—ribbon cutting. Along with kissing babies and shaking hands with service men and women, ribbon cutting ceremonies are fairly run of the mill activities for political officials. Ceremonies such as these provide politicians with the opportunity to get out into the community that they supposedly represent in order to mingle with their constituents—and perhaps more importantly (for some officials), they are wonderful photo ops. Even without any accompanying text, the image of a politician cutting a ribbon practically shouts, “Here I am, doing something important for my community, (re)elect me!”

Of course, it helps if the politician present has had some hand in bringing about the event that warrants a ribbon cutting ceremony in the first place. However, Representative Sandra Major recently posed with a group of community members in order to officiate over the ribbon cutting ceremony for the Prompton Dam in Wayne County—a dam that was originally funded by stimulus dollars, which were brought to PA thanks to President Obama and former Congressman Chris Carney.

Representative Major herself, however, had no part in the funding nor the building of the dam. It seems as though she was exercising a kind of political droit du seigneur—or the “right of the lord,” (which some of you might remember from the classic Braveheart) that allowed a feudal lord to ‘take’ a woman on her wedding night. Only in Representative Major’s droit du representative, she seems to believe that as long as something happens in her district, she can ride up and take the credit for it.

Unfortunately, this is not the first time that Representative Major has posed for photos that seem inauthentic and problematic, once you look past the veneer of a forced smile or a large pair of scissors. In February of this year, the Independent Weekender printed a picture of Representative Major posing with some local schoolchildren at Elk Lake Elementary School for the Read Across America initiative. The image of a politician, advanced in her career, passing on a love of learning to the younger generation would be almost sweet, were it not for the fact that Representative Major has repeatedly supported Governor Corbett’s cuts to public education—cuts that undoubtedly impacted students at Elk Lake and elsewhere in the 111^th distract. Though this is just one example of Representative Major trying to garner good PR from a community event that she did not help to generate, it reflects a trend in her campaigning tactics.

Truly, a picture is worth a thousand (or ten thousand) words, but there are times when we need to look past the surface in order to find out what those words actually are. And at the end of the day, isn’t the truth worth infinitely more?

Personally, I do not want to be represented by someone who feels comfortable taking credit for another’s work or posing with students whose lives will be negatively affected by budget cuts that she supported. I think it’s time for my friends in the 111^th district to elect a representative who will do more for his district than pose for convenient photo ops, who will not only stand next to a community structure, but also bring in the funding that could make such a structure possible. It’s time for a change. I strongly urge the citizens of the 111^th district to send Jeffery Dahlander to Harrisburg. 

Sincerely,

Thomas R. Charles
Dimock, Pennsylvania

College football Saturday

Penn State lost the season opener to a MAC team. They looked good in the first half but collapsed in the 2nd. It's going to be a long season and for the next 4 years and beyond.

YouTube weekend

Gene Stilp Runs A Unique Campaign 

 

 

Wake up people! Their coming for us.

This is a guest post from former Pittston administrator Wil Toole:

The fact that many don't consider Social Security and Medicare as simply an entitlement but rather as life and death issues speaks volumes for what the American people see as necessities of life. It drives me nuts that working people actually defend the move by conservative Republicans to destroy these programs as we know them. They have actually taken on an effort to change the meaning of the word entitlement as we have always known it. To me, entitlement means that I earned and deserve something and I'm entitled to it. The Republican Conservatives have changed that definition to mean welfare for some other form of handout that we don't deserve or didn't work for. Entitlement means we earned it and don't let the representatives of the 1% tell you anything different.

.

The Republican PR spin on the Paul Ryan budget backed by Mitt Romney is designed to lull our country's seniors into accepting their plan because their selling point is that it does not affect anyone over age 55. That isn't a selling point, it is a prediction of life style destruction for our children and grandchildren.

.

Economist are telling us that our children and grandchildren will not live as well as we do and personally, I know people who could not survive without both programs and I want those to come after us to live a decent life. I don't understand how these go along working class conservative wannabe's don't scream about the cost of war or the cost of sending money to other countries in the form of foreign aide or the no bid military contracts but they want to take from us and give to others. What are they thinking?

.

As one of the wealthiest countries in the world, why can't we put us first and others second? Why should we suffer any loss in life sustaining programs? Wake up people, wake up before its too late. I heard Paul Ryan in a video saying he thinks Americans should have the same benefits and pay for the same benefits that Congress has. OK Mr Ryan but how about if you take a pay cut to that of the average American? Why are Congress members entitled to such large salaries? He has been on the taxpayer's ride for so long that he actually thinks that's how Americans live. Wake up people! Their coming for us.

YouTube weekend

A song for Mark Harris:

 

RNC Delegate Mark Harris Outraged Over a Mexican Working at Epcot

Running a business does not equate to running a country.

This is a guest post from my friend and fellow blogger  Karla Porter:

Perspective on election to the Office of the POTUS


 
In support of Fact Check: Mitt Romney’s Convention Speech, the worst in my opinion is claiming unemployment of 23,000,000 when the Department of Labor and Industry doesn’t calculate it that way - no matter who is sitting in the chair. I am well aware what politicians on both sides of the aisle pull but the last thing we need is mass hysteria that things are getting worse than they really are and that there is some puff daddy who is going to fix them up all pretty and nice because he knows how to run a business. Running a business does not equate to running a country.
When candidates get to the podium they are speaking about their vision - not what they can accomplish in 4 years. Not one president has ever accomplished all he has set out to do during his term. It irks me to no end to hear ‘We need to take this country back and make it great again’..
A CEO has the power to make decisions within his organization that the head of state and head of government has no authority over. His constitutional job is mainly to carry out the policy of Congress.

• He controls only a limited amount of funding for combat troop engagement as Commander in Chief.
• Congress has the power to over-ride his veto power.
• Congress must approve his personnel choices.
• The presidency is not really a policy-making position.

One thing the president does have very much in common with a CEO is the job of cleaning up the prior administration’s mess as best he can in 4 years while trying to move the country in a positive direction. Perhaps a more befitting title would be Country Manager or even Sanitation Manager.
What point in time would you have the country taken back to exactly? It has been at war almost 90% of its existence and its economy depends largely on the global war machine.

Would you go back to the American Revolution with no money to pay soldiers and ridiculous amounts of death and loss and no antibiotics or reasonable anesthesia? How about mass murder of indigenous peoples? Perhaps the time of slavery? Pioneering in a wagon making your way out west in the heat and dust? The Prohibition Era, Black lung death from coal mines? The Great Depression? The war times since WWII and leading to the present day?

Perhaps the best time in our history was a short period of time from 1865 - 1873 during The Gilded Age, from 1865 - 1900 which saw the greatest period of economic growth in American history. Eight whole years of incredible advancement and increased prosperity. Or maybe the nine-year period during the Roaring 20’s, until the Wall Street Crash of ‘29. 

The truth is that the prosperous times have been extremely rare in our short history as a nation, still very young and volatile. We have not settled economically or sociologically into our own. We haven’t gotten to the point we can say we should go back to yet and to say such a thing is both extremely naive and near-sighted.

Our very violent ambitious beginnings - too often portrayed as peace loving and tolerant pilgrims who ran away so they could pray to God in their preferred fashion and eat corn pudding with red people around a campfire - are not over. 

We have as many hybrid, positive and desirable characteristics as a nation and polyglot of peoples as we do negative, weak and undesirable ones. Our non-homogeneous culture of owner-created global superiority and mythological divinely chosen identity is nothing but a fairy tale. We can think and say we are the best and be the best patriots we are capable of. We are no more special or deserving or ordained than anyone else on earth and perhaps only when we realize that will we come to terms with who we really are.

As a nation, we will continue to struggle, grow our still budding culture, grow into our big girl pants, and continue to experience economic ebbs and flows for the unforeseeable future. It is the forethought of the framers of the flexible living Constitution we inherited that will allow us to prevail over time.
It’s not Obama or Romney, just like it wasn’t Harrison or Taylor.

Join Karla and the rest of the fab 4 for Blogcon  , Saturday , September 29th at LCCC at the god awful time of 8AM. Hey, I'm a night shift worker.