The LuLac Political Letter #34, June 19th, 2006

YUDICHAK PLANS TOWN MEETING ON PROPERTY TAX REFORM BILL...
State Rep. John Yudichak will host a public meeting to discuss and highlight the state’s recently passed property tax relief legislation. The bill has passed the House and Senate and Gov. Ed Rendell promised he will sign it. Yudichak will be joined by local officials to provide information about how the enactment of the legislation will benefit area residents. The event will be held Monday at 10 a.m. in the school board meeting room of the Greater Nanticoke Area High School, 425 Kosciuszko St., Nanticoke.

MORE IMMIGRATION COMMENTS.............L.A. Tarone has been a media mainstay in the Hazleton area. Here are his comments made on WLYN TV 35 this Friday. (Tarone has a weekly editorial once a week on the Friday 5PM news show. It airs locally on Channnel 21, Service Electric. Here are his comments:

MAYOR LOU BARLETTA’S PROPOSAL TO MAKE ENGLISH THE OFFICIAL LANGUAGE OF THE CITY HAS BEEN GETTING GOBS OF NOTICE. AND HOPEFULLY THE RIGHT PEOPLE ARE PAYING ATTENTION. CERTAINLY, A CITY OF 33-THOUSAND PEOPLE ADOPTING ENGLISH AS ITS OFFICIAL LANGUAGE WON’T CHANGE THE WORLD. BUT IT IS SENDING A MESSAGE – ONE THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SHOULD HEED. FIRST OF ALL, DESPITE CRITICISM FROM A FEW LEFT WING RADIO TALK SHOW HOSTS, AND A HANDFUL OF PEOPLE WHO SEEMINGLY WANT TO REMAIN A SEPARATE SOCIETY WITHIN A SOCIETY, BARLETTA’S PROPSAL HAS BEEN GETTING TREMENDOUS SUPPORT. HE’S BEEN INUNDATED WITH “GO GET ‘EM” LETTERS AND PHONE CALLS. CALLERS TO TALK RADIO ARE RUNNING SOMETHING LIKE 10-1 IN FAVOR. THE APPROVAL OF THE QUESTION ON THE STANDARD-SPEAKER’S WEBSITE IS OVERWHELMING. THAT SHOWS BARLETTA’S TAPPED A VEIN THAT FEDERAL OFFICIALS -- WITH A FEW EXCEPTIONS, SUCH AS COLORADO CONGRESSMAN TOM TANCREDO, WISCONSIN CONGRESSMAN JIM SENSENBRENNER, AND ARIZONA SENATOR JOHN KYL – HAVE BEEN DANCING AROUND FOR FEAR OF GETTING CALLED NAMES. BARLETTA WAS CALLED THOSE NAMES LAST NIGHT, BUT IS NOT BACKING DOWN. ALSO THIS IS SPREADING. MCADOO IS CONSIDERING THE SAME THING. SO ARE BOTH FREELAND AND HAZLE TOWNSHIP. IN SAN BERNARDINO CALIFORNIA, A SIMILAR PROPOSAL WAS VOTED DOWN BY CITY COUNCIL, BUT PEOPLE THERE ARE TRYING TO GET IT ON A REFERENDUM, WITH POLLS SHOWING IT WILL PASS OVERWHELMINGLY. IN PALM BEACH FLORIDA, A SIMILAR PROPOSAL HAS BECOME LAW. 15 YEARS AGO WHEN I WAS DOING TALK RADIO, I CAME OUT IN SUPPORT OF A GROUP CALLED “US ENGLISH,” WHOSE GOAL WAS TO HAVE ENGLISH DECLARED THE OFFICIAL LANGUAGE OF THE UNITED STATES. I HAD REPS FROM THAT GROUP ON MY SHOW REGULARLY. I SUPPORTED THE CONCEPT THEN, I SUPPORT IT NOW. CONGRESS HAS BEEN UNWILLING TO MOVE – SO WE HAVE ABSURDITIES SUCH AS CITIZENSHIP OATHS GIVEN IN DIFFERENT LANGUAGES, PEOPLE VOTING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGES. BARLETTA’S PROPOSAL, THE COVERAGE IT’S GETTING, THE SUPPORT IT’S GENERATING, THE IMITATORS IT’S SPAWNING WILL SEND A MESSAGE CONGRESS CAN NOT IGNORE. AND THE SOONER THAT HAPPENS THE BETTER. YOU CANNOT HAVE A SOCIETY WHEN PEOPLE CAN’T TALK TO EACH OTHER.

Here's another editorial Tarone gave on May 12th, before Barletta's proposal.
I WANNA BOUNCE THIS HEADLINE (Morning Call Headline on screen)OFF SOMETHING CONGRESS DIDN’T DO THIS WEEK. ALLENTOWN ADOPTED ENGLISH AS ITS OFFICIAL LANGUAGE IN 1995 WHEN IT ADOPTED ITS CITY CHARTER. ITS EFFECTS ARE LIMITED – BECAUSE THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT REQUIRES MANY SERVICES BE AVAILABLE IN MORE THAN ONE LANGUAGE. WHICH BRINGS US TO THE CONGRESSIONAL INACTION THIS WEEK. THE FEDERAL HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE RE-UPPED THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT WITHOUT MAKING ANY CHANGES. TEXAS REPUBLICAN LAMARR SMITH TRIED TO CHANGE THE ACT BY DUMPING THE PORTION THAT CALLS FOR BALLOTS TO BE AVAILABLE IN SEVERAL LANGUAGES AND FOR INTERPRETERS BE AVAILABLE FOR PEOPLE WHO DON’T SPEAK ENGLISH. SMITH THINKS THAT’S NONSENSE AND WANTED BALLOTS TO BE IN ENGLISH ONLY. I AGREE WITH HIM – IT IS ABSURD TO HAVE THINGS SUCH AS ELECTION BALLOTS, DRIVER’S LICENSES AND THE REST GIVEN IN ANY LANGUAGE BUT ENGLISH. HOWEVER THE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE REJECTED SMITH’S EFFORTS BY A 26-9 VOTE, MEANING BALLOTS WILL CONTINUE TO BE PRINTED IN SEVERAL LANGUAGES. IN ALLENTOWN, A COUNCILMAN NAMED TONY PHILLIPS, WHO WAS ELECTED LAST YEAR, WANTS TO DUMP THE OFFICIAL ENGLISH DESIGNATION, AND REPLACE IT IN THE CHARTER WITH A LINE THAT SAYS [Q] “ALLENTOWN IS A CITY THAT CELEBRATES THE DIVERSITY OF ITS RESIDENTS.” THAT’S IDIOTIC, AND I HOPE HIS DRIVE FAILS. IN FACT I WISH HAZLETON WOULD FOLLOW ALLENTOWN AND ADOPT ENGLISH AS THIS CITY’S OFFICIAL LANGUAGE. IF YOU COME TO THE U-S, YOU SHOULD LEARN ENGLISH AND IF YOU DON’T WANT TO LEARN ENGLISH, THEN MAYBE YOU SHOULDN'T COME HERE. YOU CAN’T HAVE A SOCIETY – OR A CITY FOR THAT MATTER – IF PEOPLE CAN’T TALK TO EACH OTHER. BUT ALLENTOWN’S DESIGNATION IS NOTHING MORE THAN SYMBOLIC – IT HAS LITTLE LEGAL WEIGHT. AS I NOTED EARLIER, THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT REQUIRES MANY THINGS BE AVAILABLE IN MORE THAN ONE LANGUAGE. THAT COULD HAVE CHANGED HAD CONGRESS MOVED – BUT IT REFUSED. THE FEAR IS WE DRIFT FARTHER AND FARTHER TOWARD BEING A COLLECTION OF PEOPLE LIVING ON THE SAME LAND – BUT NOT A REAL SOCIETY. THAT WILL CONTINUE UNTIL AND/OR UNLESS EITHER ENGLISH IS ADOPTED AS THE NATION’S OFFICIAL LANGUAGE.