It's December 23rd

Time to start my Christmas shopping.


Back in my bachelor days I usually waited until Christmas Eve to buy my yuletide gifts until one year I got stuck dealing with a minor crisis at the hotel I was General Manager at the time. When everything was finally under control it was after 9PM and went shopping to find that the stores had closed early. So I had to hide out for 2 days. I learned my lesson from that episode so now I start shopping on the 23rd because it's hard to hide from the wife for 48 hours. Not that I've got any better at gift buying.

So I will wander out today and do my best to stimulate the economy. After the black Friday thing starting at midnight on Thanksgiving I expect to see after Christmas sales to start at midnight on the 24th.







I'm not the only one doing some last minute shopping.

Obama, Bo sneak out of White House for shopping


Home alone at the White House, President Barack Obama headed on an impromptu Christmas shopping trip Wednesday with first dog Bo, searching for some holiday cheer despite the latest stalemate with Congress.



Of course the usual suspects objected to the President's shopping trip. Sometimes I think these people object to the fact that he is breathing the same air.

McCain to Obama: More work, less shopping with Bo

Cantor to Obama: First Dog Can Come to Negotiations


And The Corner drove way over the right wing cliff with this one. To their credit the commenter's shot it down.

Bo and B.O.

This may not be the biggest story of the year, and in all likelihood it probably isn’t even true. But did the president really order the first dog back from Hawaii to the White House to be a prop for a Petsmart photo op?

Just about every blogger with a knowledge of history compared this nonsense with the Fala idiocy of the 1940's. President Roosevelt may just have won the 1944 election with this speech:

"These Republican leaders have not been content with attacks on me, or my wife, or on my sons. No, not content with that, they now include my little dog, Fala. [laughter] Well, of course, I don't resent attacks, and my family don't resent attacks — but Fala does resent them. [laughter] You know, Fala is Scotch, and being a Scottie, as soon as he learned that the Republican fiction writers in Congress and out had concocted a story that I'd left him behind on an Aleutian island and had sent a destroyer back to find him — at a cost to the taxpayers of two or three, or eight or 20 million dollars — his Scotch soul was furious. [laughter] He has not been the same dog since. [laughter] I am accustomed to hearing malicious falsehoods about myself — such as that old, worm-eaten chestnut that I have represented myself as indispensable. But I think I have a right to resent, to object, to libelous statements about my dog! [laughter]"

Steve Bennen brings it up to date:

I recommend Obama go on TV and give the following speech:

Republican leaders have not been content with attacks on me, or my wife. No, not content with that, they now include my little dog, Bo. Well, of course, I don't resent attacks, and my family don't resent attacks — but Bo does resent them. You know, Bo is Portuguese, and being a Portuguese water dog, as soon as he learned that the Republican fiction writers in Congress and out had concocted a story that I'd left him behind on a Hawaiian island and had sent a 747 back to find him — at a cost to the taxpayers of two or three, or eight or 20 million dollars — his Iberian soul was furious. He has not been the same dog since. I am accustomed to hearing malicious falsehoods about myself — such as that old, worm-eaten chestnut that I'm constantly apologizing for America. But I think I have a right to resent, to object, to libelous statements about my dog!

Mike Carroll voted for the Congressional gerrymander

I'm surprised that there has not been more outrage over the new Congressional districts approved by the state legislature in the print and electronic media. But the reaction has been "so what, that's the way it is." Much like the national press accepting that every bill in the Senate needs 60 votes to pass without pointing out that the filibuster was rarely used in the past. The only people who are kicking up a fuss are bloggers.

Pittston State Rep Mike Carroll (D-118) voted for the new Congressional map joining 36 other Democrats in the PA legislature and 128 Republicans to approve it. I only met Carroll once at the 1st Blogfest so I don't know why he wants Republicans to win more elections to the US House of Representatives. Maybe he is looking to run for Congress in the future in the now Democratic friendly 17th CD when/if Tim Holden retires.

In the next election the 118th includes my little burgh of Plains Twp. and I'm open to helping a real Democratic primary challenger and if that fails maybe even a (shudder) Republican candidate. I'm not a one issue voter like the abortion hotheads or gun nuts but this vote betrays his party and the people of the the 11th Congressional District.

See NEPartisan for a Lackawanna County perspective


Selling Out PA in NEPA: Ken Smith, Sid Kavulich, Ed Staback

Santorum surging in Iowa

In the latest PPP in Iowa my favorite presidential candidate Rick Santorum (R-VA) is now in a dead heat for the lead of the also rans. Ron Paul has 23 percent, Mitt Romney 20 percent, Newt Gingrich 14 percent. Fourth place is a tie between Rick Santorum, Michele Bachmann, and Rick Perry at 10 percent. Polling in a caucus state is not as reliable as it is in a primary but it bumbs along the horse race narrative.

I've worked in many election campaigns where it was hard enough to identify your voters and convince them to take 15 or 20 minutes out of their day to vote let alone try to get people to show up for a 3 hour meeting. Newt has been dropping like a rock in the surveys and I have been reading that he doesn't have much of an organization in Iowa. Ron Paul is surging and has an army of volunteers and dedicated followers that matters. If there is a blizzard on January 3rd he will win going away. Romney is spending big in the state hoping for a 1-2 punch with a 1st place showing followed by a win in New Hampshire.

Santorum has been working the state hard and yesterday he got the backing of two so called family values leaders. Rick has an organization and has visited all 99 counties.

Two Iowa conservative Christian leaders this morning endorsed Rick Santorum for president

One of them, Bob Vander Plaats, asked Bachman to drop out of the race. This thing is so much up in the air that it is not inconceivable that Santorum could be the surprise of the night finishing 3rd or better.

Yesterday Santorum reminded me why he is my favorite Republican candidate when he said:


HP: "They talk about income inequality. I'm for income inequality. I think some people should make more than other people, because some people work harder and have better ideas and take more risk, and they should be rewarded for it. I have no problem with income inequality."

He then launched an attack at President Barack Obama. "President Obama is for income equality. That's socialism. It's worse yet, it's Marxism."



TP: A recent poll found that Americans’ fears about income inequality are growing, with two-thirds of likely voters saying the middle class is shrinking, and 55 percent saying that income inequality has become a big problem for the country. Santorum, evidently, thinks more of the same is what they need.

Just for fun


Adultery Dating Website Ashley Madison Endorses Newt Gingrich:


Extra-marital dating website AshleyMadison.com has erected a billboard of serial adulterer and presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich in Bucks County, Pennsylvania that reads: “Faithful Republican, Unfaithful Husband. Welcome to the AshleyMadison.com Era.”

They really wanted Herman Cain.

Matt Cartwright for Congress?

When I first read this speculation on Pittson Politics that someone from up our way could take on Democrat Tim Holden (PA-17) in the upcoming primary in the newly gerrymandered district I had my doubts. Holden is a long time member of Congress that has been able to raise gobs of campaign cash in the past and the calendar would work against any hopeful. The primary is April 24th with nominating petitions closing February 14th. That is a tight schedule when most Congressional campaigns in the past have started in the summer or fall the year before when the boundaries were known.

Taking Wilkes-Barre and Scranton and the towns in between out of the 11th CD depriving me the representation of Lou Barletta and the chance to vote against him in 2012 at first enraged me because it defied geography, history and common sense. Now the 17th is centered on W-B and Scranton by population with rest of the district consisting of chopped up parts of a few other counties so it presents new challenges and opportunities.

Looking at the new landscape a Lackawanna County attorney Matt Cartwright is looking at a challenge to Holden in the Democratic Primary according to Roderick Random in the Scranton Times. He takes a shot against Holden saying Congressmen are bought and paid for he's heard suggestions that congressmen should wear uniforms like NASCAR drivers with logos representing their special interest benefactors. He declined to directly criticize Mr. Holden. Then he says money won't be a problem for him "I don't think financing is going to be a problem," Mr. Cartwright said.
What stickers he would wear was not discussed. It might be an ambulance logo judging by his law firm ads.

"I have to say that I have not been satisfied with the job Congress is doing, and he's been in there," Mr. Cartwright said. He said he would "stand up to the White House."

"Somebody needs to do that for the Democratic policies and demand they take stronger positions with some of the things they don't now."

Tim Holden voted against the Affordable Care Act and is a sponsor of Stop Online Piracy Act which may put many of small online businesses out of business. I'm not so parochial to suggest that we should vote for our guy instead of a longtime Congressman but I'm open to suggestions.

LuLac throws out some names and Omeed backs Cartwright

You Tube weekend

My good friend DB Echo sugested this one:

Inside baseball or is it blog-ball

After the all these years the Blogfather still slays me. He explains that he recently switched his ISP and has been busy posting a some YouTube videos. In fact a lot of YouTube so I left a comment "This Youtube access must be a new venture for you sir."

This had the desired effect and he responded with a post... let us not forget that I was the first local blogger to embed a YouTube video, as well as the first local blogger to embed a video featuring original content. While I may not give a hoot about being cutting-edge these days, remember, there was a time when most of you were playing catch-up. In fact, all of you were bringing up the electronic rear-guard.

Very true and I have always cited Mark as my inspiration to start blogging.


In the local blog-a-rama, what once was the ultimate in citizen activism has now morphed into being the endless pursuit of celebrity.

Just a few weeks ago he was praising our local bloggers foray into the traditional media.


NEPA Blogs: Worth the ether they are printed on


Somehow, Gort, Michele and D.B. Harold have built NEPA Blogs into a weekly television show. A brief television show, but a television show nonetheless.... Speaking of Gort, He and The Yonk once made an appearance on WILK’s Sunday morning Pennsylvania affairs show (the name escapes me) with Rusty Steele. And they were once both regulars on WILK’s election day coverage until one of it’s self-important hosts decided that bloggers that were invited to appear needed to be berated and belittled on the air.

The Yonk stills makes occasional appearances on WILK, as well as appearing on Hazleton’s WYLN TV political shows.

Joe Valenti’s blog is mentioned every now and again on WILK, as well as in local print stories.

So what is it? Should we just bang away on our keyboards and be pure spurning any requests from local TV, radio and newspapers to comment on the issues of the day? Mark, you have been the subject of more print stories than any of us. Our otherwise excellent local political reporters have a bad habit of running to the local Captains Obvious college professors for a quote on an election which I think is lazy. Bloggers know what is going on in local races because we go to the events and talk to our neighbors. Reporters are pulled all over the place and college professors just spew the conventional wisdom. I was thrilled when the Yonk was quoted in this story.

Yes, I was recently on TV and maybe will be again. I don't think that is a bad thing as bloggers pay attention to what is going on and have a lifetime of experience to share.

But I also like YouTube especially Zappa

Blogger beware and fight back

Local blogger Justin Vacula was recently threatend with a lawsuit because he took issue with some of the claims of a local chiropractor in which he claims that he has information which can "gain victory over any health condition" including "cancer, heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, asthma, carpal tunnel syndrome, headaches, back pain, sciatica, fibromyaligia, and even weight loss"

If this guy can solve all those problems I want to meet him.

You Tube weekend

This is pretty wild. Madonna with a crown of thorns then on the cross.

Christmas Pet Blogging

Quincy is helping to decorate the Christmas tree.

And Ptolemy is waiting to tear it down.

Pennsylvania Congressional Redistricting-Reaction

On my Facebook page:

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

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

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

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

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

The Lackawanna County perspective comes from NEPartisan.

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

LuLac

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

Bill Vinsko vows to stay in the 11th CD race


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

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

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

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


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

The Pennsylvania Republican Gerrymander

Gort on TV

I was the guest of Tiffany Cloud on the WYLN show Storm Politics today. This was first TV show for me although I have been a on few radio shows before and as the old joke says I have a face made for radio. It was fun and Tiff was a gracious hostess who is also a long time reader of Gort42. I made sure I gave a shoutout to my blog buddies in NEPA.

The show can be seen on Service Electric W-B channel 7, Service Electric Hazelton channel 35 and Metrocast channel 7. It is not available to those of us who have Comcast but you can see it online at this link:

http://www.wylntv.com/

Or just go to the WLYN home page and click on Watch Online on the top bar.

Air Times:

Tonight 8PM

Thur 9:30PM

Sat 5PM

Sun 11AM

Mon 8:30PM

Tues 9:30PM

Pennsylvania Congressional Redistricting-11th

Up until 2001 Scranton was the anchor of the 11th Congressional District of Pennsylvania for over 100 years then it moved to the 11th to make it safer for Republican Don Sherwood. That worked out well for the GOP. Wilkes -Barre has been the anchor town in the 11th for even longer.

Now reports say both Wilkes-Barre and Scranton will be moved to the 17th in snake like district represenated by Tim Holden.

Wilkes-Barre, Scranton out of Barletta's district

Vinsko will still run for Barletta's seat

This goes against history, geography and common sense.

I asked Vinsko and Barletta's press guy for a statement. Vinsko hasn't responded yet and I got the usual mush from Barletta's spox

Representative Barletta will continue to focus on spurring job creation and economic growth, cutting wasteful overspending and overregulation, fighting systemic fraud and abuse, reforming the government so it is efficient, effective, and affordable because these issues are critically important right now, regardless of where constituents live.
Representative Barletta looks forward to serving his new constituents in the United States House of Representatives.
Running for Congress three times since 2002 means Representative Barletta has built lifelong friendships in all parts of the existing district, and those friendships will continue long after lines on a map are drawn.

Just after that popped up in my email I got a call from Congressman Barletta. He denied he had anything to do with the redistricting process and wanted to keep Luzerne County whole. Then we had a long conversation about inside baseball.

PA State House redistricting

Late this afternoon the new boundaries for the Pennsylvania State House and Senate were revealed. As usual Borys is on top of what it means for Lackawanna and Luzerne counties with a list of what towns will be switching districts. It's hard to visualize without a map to actually look at but I'm sure our local papers will have them tomorrow.

I don't cover Lackawanna County much so I will leave it to my friends at NEPartisan to analyze what this means to citizens north of the border with the move of the 115th to Monroe County and 117th and 118th that have been mostly in Luzerne County getting chunks of Lackawanna.

The 120th represented by Phyllis Mundy appears to have the least change picking up Edwardsville from the 117th which makes it a bit more Democratic as far a registration goes.

Mike Carroll's 118th seat has Monroe County towns taken out and is moving both north and south. According to this Plains Township will now be in the 118th despite being in the 121st for a long time and will now snake up to include some Lackawanna towns such as Moscow. I know both towns and they have different concerns. I live in Plains and we have more in common with W-B than Moscow or Pittston.

The 121st (Eddie Day Pashinski) will still be centered on Wilkes-Barre and W-B Township but will move south to include a part of Mountaintop, more of Hanover and throw in Laurel Run, Sugar Notch and Warrior Run. Ashley moves to the 119th ( I'm not sure how they pulled that one off) and the district makes into the Hazleton Area that has freshman Rep. Gerry Mullery objecting.

I only looked at 3 of the traditional 6 House Districts in Luzerne County and have yet to look at the Senate bounderies but is apparent that the people drawing the lines ignored geography, the common interests of the people invovled and common sense.

It may take 10 years but it would be good idea to take the redistricting process out of the hands of the politicians. Much as I advocate Judge's on Merit. Sometimes we need less politics deciding the ground rules.

Outgoing Commissioners leaving a mess

This is a guest post from Wil Toole. Wil held various administrative positions in the City of Pittston and was a candidate for the new Luzerne County Council in the Primary. When it comes to county/municiple government he is one of the most knowledgeable people around.

Merry Christmas, You're Fired!

The outgoing County Commissioner's have finally outdone themselves. They have prepared a budget that if adopted would bring county government to its knees and bring the business of the people to a shattering halt.
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This budget is far beyond what could even begin to resemble a working budget and in my mind is nothing less than a parting slap in the face to every Luzerne county resident.
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I will put the cart in front of the horse and comment on the real problem of county finances. Simply put, it is the debt. The debt service in 2008 was budgeted at just over $1 million dollars. It jumped to $21.8 million in the 2011 budget and for 2012 the debt services is listed as $24.8 million dollars. And there in folks lies the problem. The solution is to remove the debt service from the general fund and treat it as the separate animal that it is. The problem was not addressed properly so as a quick fix, it must be seen as a separate issue and a debt reduction fund must be created with millage dedicated for that purpose. The general fund millage would be adjusted to reflect this change. The next step would be to renegotiate the entire debt and to try the debt reduction plan I offered two years ago. The practice of creating future debt must stop post haste and not a dollar should be borrowed that does not affect the health and safety of our residents. NO MORE SPENDING!
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As you look at the current proposed budget, there was no thought or effort put into it. If there was then shame on the mini minds that created it. I will state a few examples of why the budget is unworkable.
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On the expense side the budget goes against logic and prevents various departments from operating and in some cases lock horns with the law.
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An example of ignoring the law would be the Court Stenographers. The 2011 budget is listed at just under 1.1 million dollars. They have spent as of October $876,532. The new budget is $750,286 which is a cut of 44.45%. The problem is that a court stenographer must be present and create a written record of every action taking place in the court system. This line item is designed to fail.
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The Prothonotary's office was cut from just over $1 million dollars to $607,793 for a 68.96% cut. This office is required for the operation of the courts and maintenance of various legal documents. The other Row offices have been cut to unmanageable amounts and the reasoning that they will no long be separate offices does not hold water. The Row Officers were removed from existence but not the duties of each office. Records are still required and the fact that these offices are located in three separate buildings has not even been considered. The cost of the individual Row Officer will be eliminated but there remains a need for management and supervision. How do you maintain control and effectiveness when the cost of doing so is removed from the budget? The Register of Wills budget was cut 50%, Clerk of Courts cut 57%, Treasurer 57% and the Coroner cut by 29%. These cuts are a budget directors dream come true but they are a manager's nightmare. The Department of Probation is cut 35% and it appears that the outgoing commissioner's must think that no criminals will be placed on probation, no fines and fees will be collected and restitution for victims will be forgotten. The Magistrates are cut 53.23% and I would think part of their logic is that one magistrate office might be eliminated. Flawed thinking because if that happens, it wont occur till 2013 so they must still operate.
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The Commissioners have given no thought to the fact that there are contracts in place but union and business. Example, of the 17 Magisterial offices, approximately 10 have leases with local municipalities and these local governments are planning their budgets with these leases in place. The remaining office have private sector leases and I doubt that these landlords are willing to cut the leases in half. Other than that, please consider that many Magisterial offices only have two clerical people so if they are cut in half, that leaves one person to run the office. If that person is sick or on vacation the office must close, there are no backup staff. The deeper you delve into this fantasy budget, the more childlike it becomes.
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This is just a brief overview of the expense side of the ledger and I didn't even mention other big ticket items such as the prison, Moon Lake, etc.
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The lack of thought is pretty evident when you consider that insurance and benefits remain about the same and this is after the county workforce is decimated. Is that logical?
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On the income side, there has been nothing done in the form of creative management and the lack of effort is obvious in the numbers as they currently exist.
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Steps that can be taken is the restructuring of the county debt, increasing probation services fees, the more active use of home arrest vs incarceration. This would result in the criminals (non violent) paying the cost of the ankle bracelets and supplying their own health care, food and clothing. The county spends millions each year on health care for prisoners. There can be an attempt to renegotiate county leases and discussions can be held with the unions to accept a temporary pay freeze or renegotiate the amount of the contracted pay increases. Probation fees for both adults and juvenile offenders must be increased. Some of these fees have remained unchanged for a number of years.
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The thing I must caution on is that balancing the budget on the backs of the employees is never a good idea and long term, it causes a negative impact on county operations. The county must offer an early retirement incentive but they must pledge to not fill the vacated positions and the unions must agree to allow for transfers to save jobs. Employees must be allowed to transfer within the system to fill job needs and avoid layoffs in one department and hiring's in another. It is also possible to consider voluntary short term layoffs. Yes the county is self insured but the amount paid on layoff would equal the net pay of employees, not the gross. The costs of Social Security alone would be significant.
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This is a time for creative thinking, not the simplistic approach that was used to gut the budget and give no thought to the consequences. For those incoming Council members who have taken the NO taxes approach of the Tea Party mentality, there is a reality that government is useful and serves a purpose. The problem in Luzerne county is that in recent years, little thought has been given to economic management and taxpayer responsibility. Services must be provided and in many cases are required but the delivery system can no longer be based on careless spending such as the palm reading time clocks and patronage with little thought to required funding.
Taxes are a requirement for services delivered and thoughtful frugal management must be the foundation of responsible government.

And former State Rep Kevin Blaum weighs in with his TL column

Commissioners continue to cause damage Kevin Blaum In the Arena

With only 45 days remaining in their tawdry tenure, the county commissioners brazenly made two appointments to the Luzerne County Community College’s Board of Trustees and named two more to the often pivotal county planning commission...On Monday your Luzerne County commissioners voted to create a bi-county authority to run the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport. The Lackawanna County commissioners followed suit, and each body gets to make three appointments to the board with each appointee serving a four-year term...Worse, the commissioners might be leaving behind a political budget document set to explode early next year, forcing the new council to raise taxes only a few weeks in or preside over a government that makes huge cuts in the office of a new district attorney and the new judiciary in which it functions.

So let us give thanks to Maryanne Petrilla, Stephen Urban and Thomas Cooney for reminding everyone why voters marched to the polls en masse to abolish the offices they hold and to establish a new, reform government that assumes its responsibilities on Jan. 2.

You Tube weekend

Luzerne County budget

The good news is that it doesn't use fictitious revenue from land sales or borrow more money. The bad news is it includes personnel cuts in the court system and other departments that will not stand.

County budget includes deep cuts

The largest preliminary cuts from 2011 expenditure levels are: probation, down $1.2 million; prison; more than $900,000; magisterial courts, more than $800,000; district attorney, more than $600,000; domestic relations, more than $600,000; stenographers, more than $300,000.

Carolee is not happy

2012 budget down $3.5M


County Prothonotary Carolee Medico Olenginski blasted Urban and Petrilla after the meeting for cutting $419,000 out of her budget, saying the loss would reduce the revenue generated by the office and “sabotage the new government.”
“In my opinion, they are vindictive, evil people and are taking their last shot at me because I stood up to them and could not be compromised to stoop to their level of bad government."

Nor is Judge Burke

Burke: Lawsuit over judiciary budget cut may happen

"There is a mandate to fund the court system at the level of "reasonable necessity.' The current proposal would fall woefully short of meeting that standard, and the court will continue to review all budget matters over the next weeks with a goal of coming to a funding resolution with county officials," Burke said Monday.

Gort42 Luzerne County Courthouse special correspondent Ethel Price has some inside info:


Petrilla sent an email to all departments telling them to prepare a new departmental budget to conform with the budget figures the commissioner's prepared. She also advised them to prepare a list of positions that would equal the budget cuts.

The row officers sent her a reply pretty much telling her to go screw herself and they were not going to cut staff for her and she should do her own dirty work. Apparently Carolee told her in very strong terms how she felt about it.

Today I got my hands on the overall budget and to tell you it is a mess is a gross understatement. For example, Petrilla/Urban cut the magistrate offices by over 53%. They cut some of the rents in half. Now think about that ..... in many offices, there are only two clerks so if the remaining clerk is sick or on vacation, the office will have to be closed. There are leases with private landlords who will not sit and give up half of their agreed upon rents. Approx. 10 of the 17 offices are housed in municipal buildings and these local governments also have leases and they are pretty much done with their budgets using figures from their leases ......... now what?

This is just a small part...... the Court Stenographers budget is cut by just over 44%. How can that be? These stenographers are required by law and must be present for every court action. How will this be accomplished when the budget is cut almost in half?

The big thing here is that the cuts that were made were not made from the proposed 2012 budget. They just threw those numbers away and these are cuts against the 2011 budget.

This budget is absolutely unworkable. The cuts were made without regard to employee contracts or legal requirements.

It really is a cluster f***. Petrilla and Urban put their heads together on this and all they did was prepare a budget that kills balances. The debt is the real culprit and it is impossible to pay the size debt we have by balancing the budget on the backs of the employees. It just can't be done. Debt needs to be funded by special dedicated debt mileage and the budget must be addressed on a needs basis, not a wish list.

David Freed for Attorney General

From PoliticsPA

Carlisle — In the crowded lobby of the Cumberland County courthouse, District Attorney Dave Freed launched his bid for Pa. Attorney General Tuesday afternoon. He repeatedly emphasized his record as a tough-on-crime prosecutor.
“The vast majority of my career has been spent prosecuting criminals. I’ve prosecuted capital murder cases, run grand jury investigations, taken down child pornographers, locked up drug dealers, child molesters and arsonists,” he said.
Freed was flanked by several of his colleagues – District Attorney James Martin of Lehigh County; Tom Kearney of York County; and Shawn Wagner of Adams County – and introduced by Ed Marisco of Dauphin County. His website boasts the endorsements of 20 Republican DAs from across the state.
He joins Pa. Senator John Rafferty (R-Montgomery), the only other declared Republican candidate.

When you look at the picture I posted and the banner he has on his website he appears to have Michelle Bachman eyes.

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CasablancaPA has some information about both Republican candidates

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SMOKE = FIRE

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And, unsurprisingly to anyone who is familiar with the Pennsylvania state legislature going back to, well, forever, Rafferty's staff received quite a few campaign reimbursements... Check it out for yourself here. If there is one thing we've all learned since 2007, campaign reimbursements have always led back to illegal campaign activities IF a prosecutor issues subpoenas and investigates.
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MAYBE RAFFERTY WILL GIVE US A BONUS, TOO

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Beyond merely surrounding himself with some of the largest beneficiaries of the legislative bonuses he abhors, Rafferty seems to have a more significant problem than just schizophrenic taste. How does it look for a candidate for Attorney General to hire as a leading member of his campaign team a current target of an on-going grand jury investigation? What signal does it send to the investigators at the OAG who are still investigating the Senate Republican Caucus' operations during Mike Long's leadership?

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"IT'S OBVIOUS [HE] DOESN'T UNDERSTAND THE LAW"

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Will anyone ask Harley, the Office of Attorney General, or Governor Tom Corbett whether Leroy Zimmerman's son-in-law "obviously doesn't understand the law?" Or, was Harley just spouting nonsense on the taxpayer's dime to protect his boss politically?

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Freed told Capitol Ideas that he will drop out if he doesn't get the backing of the PA State Republican Committee

"I will not run without the endorsement," he said. "I have no problem saying that."

The winner of the primary or endorsement contest will face one of 3 Democrats in the General election.

They are Dan McCaffery who is backed by Congressman and head of the local Philadelpia Democratic party Bob Brady. Scranton native Kathleen Kane who has been on Hardball discussing the Sandusky scandal.

Former Congressman Patrick Murphy has also been proposing protections for children in the wake of the scandal and stands up for fellow veterans. Murphy was the leader in Congress for the repeal of DADT. I was in the military in the 70/80's and we knew who was gay but didn't give a shit, all that mattered was if you could do your job.

Murphy made it to the last Blogfest which got major props from me and our local scribes. We will have another gathering before the April primary and expect even more statewide candidates in addition to the local hopefuls to attend.

Pennsylvania Congressional Redistricting

A Capitolwire (subscription required) story yesterday about the latest plan for the gerrymandering of Congressional Districts got the chattering classes and candidates , well, chattering. The first 2 maps floated here and here will not look like the final version according to this story.

The Republicans want to chop up Luzerne County
"Since the weekend the biggest change has been adding Wilkes-Barre and Pittston to the district of U.S. Rep. Tim Holden, D-Schuylkill, along with Scranton and other Democratic areas. Republican advisors to Rep. Lou Barletta, D-Hazleton, did not want those two areas to stay in Barletta’s district, fearing they could help lead to his future defeat." And they want to add Wyoming County to the 11th CD so Barletta can be another voice in Congress for the gas drillers and help his fundraising.

Lou Barletta's press guy Shawn Kelly gives a politically correct answer to this speculation.

No Barletta in proposed area district
W-B, Scranton in zone with Easton

“Why wouldn’t Rep. Barletta want Luzerne County whole?” Kelly asked. “He won it twice, handily – by 4.8 points in 2008 and by 13.4 points in 2010. It’s his home county. It’s where he’s best known. Rep. Barletta wants to keep Luzerne County whole. Period.”

Bill Vinsko blasts the Republican creative map making

ONCE AGAIN, CONGRESSMAN BARLETTA AND THE STATE LEGISLATURE ARE TURNING THEIR BACKS ON THE PEOPLE OF NORTHEAST AND CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA.


As has been widely reported over the last few weeks, the Congressional District Boundaries in Pennsylvania are being released this week. First, Lou Barletta got rid of the only county he could not win – Lackawanna County. Then he cut out the only county he won once – Monroe County.

Wilkes-Barre, Pittston, Duryea and Dupont, and several other Luzerne County municipalities, have always been a part of the 11th Congressional District. Interestingly, Congressman Barletta, in an effort to avoid having a strong challenge from Bill Vinsko on November 6, 2012, is supporting a move tonight to surgically remove Wilkes-Barre, Pittston and several other Luzerne County municipalities from the 11th Congressional District. It seems now that he does not even trust the people who actually elected him.

We are calling on Congressman Barletta, the Governor and our state legislators to work to keep Luzerne County intact and put the people ahead of politics now! It is no wonder why people are fed up with Congress. Now, our own Congressional leaders are attempting to steal the election and take away the rights of the people.


The following is a statement from Democratic Candidate Bill Vinsko:

“If Congressman Barletta is afraid to face voters who live in the heart of his own District, then he should work harder to convince them by doing his job. Under this plan it’s downright wrong that Luzerne County will be broken into parts and the voice of our people will be muted in Washington for brazen political reasons. I call on Congressman Barletta to publicly ask the state legislature and Governor to keep all of Luzerne County in the 11th and to keep the voice of Northeast Pennsylvania strong and united in Washington,” said Bill Vinsko.

Capitol Ideas says that the whole thing will be pushed off for a week.

Former 10th CD Congressman Chris Carney is lurking around.

Christopher Carney Gauging Support for 2012 Bid

On Friday, Carney met with a dozen Keystone State political fundraisers, former donors and organized labor representatives to discuss a 2012 campaign, according to a source who attended the roundtable discussion at a downtown Philadelphia political consulting shop.

Yonk on the mend

Last week my good friend David Yonki told his readers of the Lu Lac Political Letter that he will be out of action for a bit getting some medical attention. I talked to him yesterday and I'm happy to report that he is doing well and will be back in action shortly. He has been well taken care of by a tall redheaded nurse with an uncanny resemblance to Gina Davis.

I believe her name is Rozetta

Do the Republicans want to win the White House in 2012?

I've been an observer of Presidential politics since shortly after I learned how to read but I've never seen anything like this pre-primary season. Serious candidates like Mitch Daniels and John Thune took a pass then Tim Pawlwnty dropped out after the Iowa straw poll after losing to Michelle Bachman.

Donald Trump was leading the polls in the spring peddling birther nonsense then his bubble burst when Bin Laden was killed and he decided to go back to his TV show. Texas Governor Rick Perry was cheered for executing people and raised a bunch of money but couldn't speak in complete sentences and had a memory lapse. Then it was pizza guy Herman Cain who was sunk by an allegation of a 13 year extramarital affair after being accused of sexual harassment. Cain dropped out Saturday and the Borowitz Report translates his statement:


But before I go, let me share with you my final thoughts on my campaign. After months of crisscrossing this great land of ours and participating in over three hundred televised debates, I am being disqualified because of an extramarital affair. And that raises the following question: are you fucking kidding me?

I mean, let’s get real. I never heard of Libya. I didn’t know whether that CNN dude’s name was Wolf or Blitz. And my only training for running the #1 nation in the world was running its #8 pizza chain. Yet none of that, I repeat, none of that disqualified me. In fact, I was the front-fucking-runner, as long as I kept my 9-9-9 in my pants. (I have no idea what I meant by that — I just like saying 9-9-9.)

But here’s the part that really kills me. You’re kicking me to the curb because I was messing around, and instead you’re going with… Newt Gingrich? I repeat: are you fucking kidding me? Oh, I know what you’re saying: you love Newt because he’s an “intellectual.” Well, Newt Gingrich is the intellectual of the Republican field the way Moe was the intellectual of the Stooges.

Now the front runner is Newt Gingrich who is an ideas man. Most of them are bad like having grade school kids work as janitors. Now he talks about bipartisanship after poisoning the atmosphere in the 1990's.

Every Word Matters: Using 'Keywords' as a Political Tactic

Gingrich's negative words for Democrats

"Anti-flag, anti-family, anti-child, anti-jobs, betray, coercion, collapse, consequences, corruption, crises, decay, deeper, destroy, destructive, devour, endanger, failure, greed, hypocrisy, ideological, impose, incompetent, insecure, liberal, lie, limit(s), pathetic, permissive attitude, radical, self-serving, sensationalists, shallow, sick, they/them, threaten, traitors, unionized bureaucracy, urgent, waste"

Now Trump is back in the news saying he will be the moderator of a Newsmax debate about a week before the Iowa caucus that has some Republicans balking . Newt doesn't have a ground game and even if he wins an early contest or 2 it's hard to see him lasting in a contest with Mitt Romney. Andrew Sullivan said that Romney makes plastic look real.

Back to my original point. I really don't think that the Republican media machine want's to see President Obama defeated. It would be bad for ratings for FOX News and Rush Limbaugh if they didn't have a Democratic President to beat up. Not to mention what it would do to their book sales.

11th CD news: Barletta and Vinsko

Congressman Lou Barletta has been in the news lately. He got House Speaker John Boehner to view flood damage in Bloomsburg and blasted President Obama's visit to Scranton saying "The people of Scranton would rather have a job than a visit, especially a visit at taxpayers’ expense.” He thinks that the President should stay in Washington trying to make a deal with the Republicans who reflexifely oppose anything he proposes even if it was their idea in the first place like the indvidual mandate .

I think the President is right using the bully pulpit and Barletta just may be listening. While saying he doesn't want to raise taxes on anybody Barletta won't rule it out. TT:
Mr. Barletta told The Times-Tribune by telephone he still favors a payroll tax extension and is open to considering an expansion and even the proposed surcharge.
"I think we should keep all ideas on the table if we can pay for it," he said. "I wouldn't rule anything out at this point. I'm open to leaving everything on the table and let's get the best idea."
But his preference is to not raise any taxes, he said. I guess that is progress in his thinking.

This week he sent out some press releases supporting a bill to make road signs easier to read.

Rep. Barletta is the lead Republican sponsor on bipartisan road safety bill

And getting into the holiday spirit

Rep. Barletta's district offices to be collection sites for Toys for Tots program. That's cool.

New, unwrapped toys will be collected at Rep. Barletta’s Wilkes-Barre and Taylor offices between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.
The addresses of those offices are:
Taylor, Lackawanna County: 802 South Main Street, Taylor, PA 18517. Phone: (570) 562-6240. The office is in the same center in which state Rep. Sid Michaels Kavulich has his office.
Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County: 1112 State Route 315, Plaza 315, Wilkes-Barre, PA 18702. Phone: (570) 235-1420.

Democratic challenger Bill Vinsko has been defending the civil rights of a Bloomsburg University
student and posted a new soppy video:

Sarah Palin said some nice things about Rick Santorum

Sarah Palin said some nice things about Rick Santorum (R-VA) on Fox News that he touting in a fundraising email.

Gort
“If voters start shifting gears and deciding they want ideological consistency, then they’re going to start paying attention to say, Rick Santorum.”
Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin said that last night on Fox News about me, and I wanted to make sure you heard about it as well.
I am grateful for those kind words from a strong conservative like Governor Palin. And it’s becoming more clear that other conservatives are starting to rally around our message of passionate conservatism.

I love it when a politician sends a personalized email when hitting me up for money but I'm unclear what the difference is between a passionate conservative and a compassionate conservative like Bush advertised. I think it might be something akin to being a benevolent axe murderer as Mike McGlynn once said in the CV.




Michelle Bachman said she would consider him for VP.




CNN: Bachmann threw out a few names Wednesday when asked who her potential vice-president would be, including fellow candidate Rick Santorum...The congresswoman from Minnesota also floated Santorum as a potential attorney general, saying his legal acumen was top notch.
"I think that Rick Santorum is a wonderful man personally, but also, I think that he's very gifted when it comes to the area of legal issues."




Rick is charming all the girls saying "I’m the one you want to take home to Mom.”




Rick Santorum a Hit With the Ladies

Technical difficulties

Yesterday I received a message from my friend Wil Toole

Not sure if it is me, my puter or your site ....... there is brown background which prevents me from reading your postings.

The blog looked normal on my computer so I told him to check back later. I didn't make any changes to the template and haven't had to mess with the html code since the last blogger update so I thought it was a problem with his computer. I checked the blog on 2 other computers and it appeared fine. Then I got a few other messages saying the thing and I finally figured it out. It's a browser problem.

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Gort42 looks fine on Internet Explorer 7 but is all messed up on Firefox. The last few months I've had the opposite problem with a few sites. Whenever I load NEPartisan and Oliver Willis with IE7 I get a pop up box that says the site is running a script and freezes my computer requiring me to do a restart but they both work fine when I open them with Firefox.

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I'm not sure what the problem is but I will try deleting some recent links and pictures to see if it will solve the problem. So bear with me folks while I try to solve this problem instead of posting about a few of these stories.

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Feds set to probe Sterling project

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Payroll tax break: Extension proposals from both parties fail in Senate

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No challengers yet for Luzerne County state legislators

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Lou Barletta compra programa de la piedra de Rosetta para aprender español

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Update: The culprit was Michelle's picture of President Obama I snagged from her flickr account.
I deleted it and everything is back to normal.

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Corey O'Brien gets some national press

The New YorkTimes story a day before President Obama's visit to Scranton created something of of a buzz. It says that this is Hillary Clinton country full of Reagan Democrats who may vote for a Republican this time around. Despite what the Professor thinks Barack Obama will win Luzerne and Lackawanna counties in 2012 but our area but it will be a battleground as it always is. Expect the President and VP Biden to visit us in the run up to the election and the Republican nominee will also make a few stops.

At first I focused on this quote “For many people here, Obama is too liberal,” said Ed Mitchell, a Democratic strategist based in nearby Wilkes-Barre. Sorry Ed, Obama is not liberal enough, if he was he would hire retiring Congressman Barney Frank as Press Secretary or maybe Bernie Sanders or at least listen to their advice.

Lackawanna County Commissioner Corey O'Brien's remarks got the most attention “Enough with the soft approach,” said Corey O’Brien, a Democratic Lackawanna County commissioner and early backer of Mr. Obama. “He’s got to say, ‘I’m in charge, and I’m going to get it done with or without Congress.’ ”

A few people chastised Corey for not knowing how the the Federal government works.

Where Campaigns Work Well

No, Barack Obama is not Harry Potter

FOR SOME REASON, a lot of people think after that his inauguration, President Obama was handed a top secret magic wand.

Kevin Drum: Republicans have to be chortling at this. It's exactly the response they've been hoping for as we head into election season...

Political Animal: Just to be clear, my point is not to pick on Corey O’Brien, an Obama supporter. He’s very likely frustrated and concerned, and knows plenty of people in his community who are equally frustrated and concerned. I don’t blame them in the slightest — given the larger economic circumstances, their anxiety is well justified....The public likes to think of the President of the United States, no matter who’s in office, as having vast powers....Americans hate Congress, overwhelmingly dislike Republicans, and the notion that the GOP is sabotaging the economy just to undermine Obama is widely believed. And yet, the president may suffer politically because many voters expect Obama to succeed — despite unprecedented Republican obstructionism — by “getting it done with or without Congress.”

The Plume Line

Why GOP benefits from blocking Obama’s jobs policies




I thought it would be worth checking back with O'Brien to get a sense of how widespread this sentiment is in that region, a bellwether area that Obama is set to visit today.

Turns out it is widespread, and that this dynamic may well be in full force. O’Brien said that many voters from the region are fully convinced that Republicans are deliberately trying to block Obama policies that might help alleviate joblessness — but that in their minds, the buck still stops with the president.

“People see that Republicans have been the party of blocking progress — that’s clear,” O’Brien told me. “The people of northeastern Pennsylvania, who will help decide who wins the state, all understand what’s going on.”

But he added: “They still look at the president and say, `the buck stops with the president.’ And that’s something the president has to overcome.”

O’Brien predicted that Republicans would not be rewarded for their obstructionism in the end. But he depicted an extremely volatile political environment, in which people are enraged by government’s failure to alleviate people’s economic suffering. He said Obama still needs to find some way of either securing some GOP support or making it even clearer that he grasps the depth of pubic rage over gridlock and that he’s the one fighting to make things better.

“The frustration is boiling over,” he said. “There’s an awareness here that the president can’t do this alone and that’s never been more true than it’s been now.” But he again characterized public sentiment by saying: “The buck stops with the president.”

And there you have it.


UPDATE: O’Brien got in touch with me after Obama’s speech today, and he sounded convinced that Obama was striking the tone he needs to strike. He said he thinks Obama “scored a lot of points” with eastern Pennsylvanians.

POTUS in Scranton

I wasn't able to make it but a couple of our local bloggers had front row seats. I spotted Michelle (thanks for the pic) and Karla on MSNBC before the event started and await their reports. Sorry, I don't do Twitter.

Only the Yonk and the Blogfather have post game reactions up so far. David says "We hear all about the job creators but my question remains the same, What have they have been creating in the last three years? Tell me. Point me to a private industry jobs program, point me to an industry that has adopted a patriotic mantra to get America working again? Answer me those questions and I’ll shut up about taxing the rich...Obama needs to stay tough" and Mark repeated his usual digs at unions and government workers saying "With no record of achievement to run on, expect a steady of dose of the obfuscation and the class warfare until he's trounced next November."

Before the President spoke 3 of our friends on the right greeted him. Politics in NEPA had a creative post knocking him for a campaign stop because of sagging poll numbers, green energy jobs and the housing market and also took a shot at Corey O'Brien. McGruff posted a press release from 10th CD Congressman Tom Marino alleging "his insistence on sticking to his worn-out ideologies and Chicago-style politics is clearly hurting the national economy." Chicago-style politics? I wish he was more like Mayor Daley and knock some heads together. Pure Bunkum called him Robin Hood and also mocked the fiction that this wasn't a campaign event. Since Betty has taken the side of Prince John and the Sheriff of Nottingham I'll quote the President:

Now, I know you hear a lot of folks on cable TV claiming that I’m this big tax-and-spend liberal. Next time you hear that, you just remind the people who are saying it that since I’ve taken office, I’ve cut your taxes. Your taxes today -- the average middle-class family, your taxes today are lower than when I took office, just remember that. We have cut taxes for small businesses not once, not twice, but 17 times. The average family’s tax burden is among the lowest it’s been in the last 60 years. So the problem is not that we’ve been raising taxes. We’ve actually been trying to give families a break during these tough times.

I agree with my friend DB Echo who is an unemployed/underemployed blogger

I still didn't really believe that people would really and truly intentionally cripple the economy in an effort to hurt their political opponents, and to hell with the consequences, to hell with all the people who would be hurt. Even after Democratic members of Congress came out and stated directly that Republicans were intentionally hurting the economy to hurt President Obama's chances of re-election.


Even after employers came out and said they refused to do any more hiring until that half-breed Kenyan-born Muslim socialist fascist was out of the White House.
Until John Boehner got up and said, yes, that's exactly what we're doing.That was months ago. It hasn't gotten any better since then. The political battle is ramping up. Job seekers are being held hostage. The economy is being held hostage. Republicans want to maximize economic suffering to drive home the point that Americans made a terrible, terrible mistake when they elected Barack Obama in 2008.



Instead I think the point they are making, and underlining in red, and circling and drawing arrows and lightning bolts next to, is what a terrible, terrible mistake it was to load up Congress with even more Republicans in 2010.



Unfortunately, a large proportion of the electorate is soft-minded and easily manipulated. Yes, they say, Barack Obama is a failure, just like Rush Limbaugh said he would be! And besides, those Democrats are evil, what with their love of abortions and gay marriage and the Fourteenth Amendment and all that other un-American crap. I gotta vote Republican!