The LuLac Edition #13-May 24th, 2006

NEWS OF THE DAY……………SWANN RELEASES PLAN.…………..We finally got some specifics from Lynn Swann on Monday and it was something on the order of “be careful what you wish for”. Swann is proposing property tax reform by using state surpluses to fund immediate breaks for all homeowners, and overhauling how property taxes are assessed. Under Swann's plan, Penna. homeowners would get immediate tax relief in the 2007-08 school year. The average reduction for a homeowner would be $150 to $200. Lower - income and senior citizens would likely get a bit more. Swann's proposal calls for using 75 percent of the state's general fund surplus, savings from consolidating school districts' health insurance plans, and the state's general fund. That (the general fund option) would be done only in an extreme emergency.
Swann believes that income would produce $500 million that would be available for property tax relief. It's not clear in what form that money would be returned to taxpayers. Swann also proposed a cap on property tax increases by local governments. The ceiling would be tied to an inflationary index not exceeding 3 percent.
Swann attacked incumbent Ed Rendell saying the Governor has not produced any amount of money in property tax rebates in his 4 years in office. Swann made his remarks to the Harrisburg Press Club at a downtown hotel on Monday.

VOTING CONCERNS IN LUZERNE COUNTY………..While it appears everything went smoothly with the voting last Tuesday on the new voting machines in Luzerne County, there was a snag. Some people say a big snag. It appears that over 5900 extra votes were added and counted due to tabulation errors. In effect 10% of the total votes cast were erased from the official vote total. So far, only one race was affected, the 118th GOP race for state representative pitting Maureen Tatu vs Art Bobbouine. The latter has said he will ask for a recount. At this point, none of the other races have been affected. Candidates totals have fluctuated a bit though and there is concern among some candidates who won by less than 200 votes. One political operative, Bob Caruso associated with the Democratic state committee told the Times Leader that the count has to be disregarded 100%. No word if anyone else agrees with him on that.

COMMENTARIES…………….It is too bad that there was a problem with the voting machine tabulations. The day as well as the new machinery went smoothly and it’s a shame that the count was marred by this mistake. Let’s hope no mountains are made out of what appears to be a molehill………….State Representative Todd Eachus out of Hazleton still getting rave reviews for his handling of toastmaster duties when the Governor came to town (Wilkes Barre) to kick off his campaign……………..Al Gore, former Vice President is associated with a movie about global warming. A must see for political junkies on the silver screen.


MEDIA WATCH……..Finale of “Commander In Chief” starring my girl, Geena Davis will air Wednesday, May 31rst on the ABC TV network. Time to be announced. And you’ll definitely hear about it from this site.

UPCOMING…………………Our memories of the late Llloyd Bensten of Texas.

SPECIAL REPORT/"CITIZEN SCRANTON"

Twenty years ago, Bill Scranton Junior lost a hotly contested, very narrow race to Robert P. Casey Sr. for Governor of Pennsylvania. Scranton jumped into the political fray in 1978 as Richard Thornburgh’s Lt. Governor. Beating off at least 9 foes in a crowded primary, Scranton took his place as a young man in the new GOP administration. Just two months in, the new team was tested by the problems at the 3 Mile Island Atomic Power plant. As head of the Emergency Management Units in the state, Scranton impressed observers and on lookers.
Barely re-elected during the recession of 1982, Thornburgh and Scranton approached their last term with great relish, free of the bonds of reelection. When Scranton, Jr. entered the 1986 race, he presented a mixture of youth, governmental experience and enthusiasm. He was cool, calm, collected, confident, rich and thin, all things you could never have enough of. The elder Casey, a three time gubernatorial loser campaigned as if his life depended on it. Scranton did not. Plus he (Scranton) was not helped by the TM (Transcendental Meditation) ad that was unleashed by then rookie Demo strategist James Carville who made his reputation on this race. In the blush of the two term Casey administration and the late Governor’s heroic health battles, it is largely forgotten that Scranton lost the Governor’s race by just 70,000 votes.
After the election, Scranton moved to California to take part in the new technologies offered by Silicone Valley. This was a departure from his earlier days as a News Publisher of weekly papers like The Abington Journal and The Dallas Post. For most of the late 80s and 90s, Scranton was not heard from by news or political people. In the late 90s, Scranton came back to the area to look after his family’s business interests, and started a new life. Taking a page out of the Billy Joel songbook, Scranton “had a new job, had a new wife, had a new life, had a new office”. (His wife is a member of the Peters family, long active in Scranton and Statewide GOP politics. It is said that his former wife, Coral, was never enthralled with the hub bub of politics.
In 2004, Scranton emerged as the chair of the Bush re-election campaign in the state and made soundings about running for the state’s top spot in 2006. Touring the state in 2005, Scranton listened to voters and seemed to have a leg up on others who were thinking of running. From an organizational standpoint, Scranton seemed “iffy” but no one saw this as a weakness early on. When he announced his candidacy in Nov. of 2005, most observers expected him to smooth out the edges and hit the ground running. Scranton made public comments that in any other year would galvanize support for him. His answer to the “cycle” question was brilliant. Asked if he feared the cycle where Pennsylvania voters changed party administrations every eight years (since this is right in the middle of a Demo 8 year stretch) he answered that the 2006 election would be about change and that any big change, (Franklin Roosevelt’s election in 1932, Ronald Reagan’s election in 1980 as well as Bill Clinton’s election in 1992) reflected a desire for voters to make a movement. In interviews and in one on ones with voters he was concise, innovative and honest. He addressed the issue of the pay raise right out of the gate (in his announcement speech in fact) and voters responded to that aspect of his campaign.
However as his campaign reviews grew on the trail, his infrastructure inside his operation was stalled. A series of false starts, a few leadership changes and the novelty of a Lynn Swann candidacy did much to slow him down. As his support ebbed, Swann’s intensified as the former football player worked hard for endorsements across the state. While the Democratic endorsement doesn’t mean much (witness Rendell’s victory over Casey, Jr. in 2002, and even going back to Milton Shapp’s victory over Casey, Sr. in 1966) the Republican one does. Before Scranton knew it, most of the party chairmen as well as the Senate leaders were backing Swann. It was a curious turn of events for an established party veteran and family that had served it well.
The question that remains is why did the party turn to a newcomer with little political experience like Swann and turn away from Bill Scranton? It certainly had nothing to do with lack of political experience or name recognition because Scranton has plenty of that. If it had to do with Scranton’s hiatus to California, then that’s a bogus issue since many popular politicos like Casey, Sr. and Arlen Specter were born out of state and migrated here. What happened to Scranton was that the state GOP in their need to beat Ed Rendell turned to celebrity and star power in the form of an NFL Hall of Famer. The stodgy Republican leadership across the state picked flash over substance. Swann was endorsed, Scranton dropped out seeing the handwriting on the wall and as a result, the GOP has an untested candidate going up against Rendell.
Which brings us to 2006 and Scranton. Not staying on the sidelines, Scranton donated mega bucks to the opponents of Robert Jubilier (Senate Pro Tem President) and David Brightbill (Senate Majority Leader). As a matter of fact, he was at the headquarters on election night of one of the victors. It is clear by these actions that Scranton saw problems with his party, problems of entrenched leadership which begat arrogance which begat the pay raise. And it is also crystal clear that Scranton saw that the leadership was part of the problem. By backing the challengers Scranton sent a series of messages. They were:
1. That he “got” the voters disdain for politics as usual with the pay raise.
2. He recognized that any loyalty he ever had to party leaders was not returned in any practical manner.
3. Scranton set himself up as the alternative to politics as usual and barring an unforeseen Swann victory this fall, the front runner for any state office he wants to go after.
4. Already there is talk that Scranton might be a candidate for state party chairman. That’s a far cry from being shunned by the party in the spring.
It appears that a series of events has put Bill Scranton in the forefront of change in state government and politics. By being rejected by his party leadership, ironically Scranton, by backing the foes of the Senate leaders has shown he has his pulse on what the people of the state are really thinking. This has positioned Scranton well for any endeavor he chooses, as a candidate in the future, or power broker for today. The man who wasn’t afraid to break the curse of the cycle, because he recognized this as “a year of change” is now at the head of the class of that movement. Best of all, he can pick and choose where he wants to stand. His choices will not only impact his future but our own.