The LuLac Edition #576, Sept. 19th, 2008

PHOTO INDEX: OUR 1968 LOGO, CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE CHRIS HACKETT AND JOHN McCAIN FOR PRESIDENT BUTTON.

HACKETT RAISES DOUGH

First Lady Laura Bush wasn’t toting a sack of flour or a rolling pin Thursday but she could’ve been given the amount of dough raised by the Hackett campaign. Christ Hacket is running in the 10th District in hopes of recapturing the seat held by Don Sherwood and Joe McDade for decades. Hackett is running against Chris Carney and was honest enough to admit the folks weren't coming to the mansion to see him but the First Lady. From all the reports we recieved, Mrs. Bush was gracious, friendly and did a little homework on the 10th. This has to be a big feather in the cap for the Hackett campaign especially after the tough primary fight he had in the spring.

McCAIN IN SCRANTON

Senator John McCain makes a stop by in Scranton on Monday. The senator will host one of his signature Town Hall meetings at the Scranton Cultural Center. McCain impressed the last time he was here in July and there seems to be thinking on the McCain camp’s part that Pennsylvania can be in play. The event starts at 830AM and will be carried live by WILK AM & FM Radio.

MY TOWN, YOUR TOWN

Steve Corbett had a fascinating show on Thursday regarding the city of Wilkes Barre. Interestingly, no city official deigned to talked to him about his thoughts on Wilkes Barre. To me, there seems to be a great divide going on in the city. It seems city officials are banking on the promise of the future to make the city viable while treating the backbone of the city, its current residents to leftovers from the table. That’s the feeling I got when Corbett received calls from residents in the Heights and other sections of the city who were frustrated that basic services weren’t being met. It was also pointed out that many of the developments were on the drawing board from the previous Mayor who did not ignore the street cleanings, snow removal or spring clean up of the current residents. Except for the police protection, all of those aforementioned items are found wanting. Now I am not against progress, I think the River Front Development will be marvelous as well as the loft apartments. But let’s make sure people can afford them or else they are going to sit shiny and empty like some of the storefronts in the downtown. When all this redevelopment is done it will be up to the Chamber of Commerce to do its job for once in a few generations and get some high paying jobs in the area. I saw Larry Newman from the Chamber on WYOU TV the other night and all he was talking about was how the city was on a comeback with all the new developments. And he’s right but not once did I hear a comprehensive plan to attract JOBS to fill up those lofts in the downtown and that beautiful waterfront. Meanwhile the taxpaying residents of the city are treated like second class citizens waiting for the royalty to arrive and populate those lofts.

DEMS TO THE RESCUE

Ever notice how the Republican Party says that they are the true managers of the economy and as business people only they know how to run the economic ship? Let’s see, Herbert Hoover gave us the Great Depression and it took a Martini drinking Dem like FDR to get us out of that. After Reagan and Bush 41 ran up deficits beyond belief, it took a flawed southern Governor named Clinton to bring us to a balanced budget. What is obvious now is that we need another Democrat to get us out of this mess. When I was a radio sales rep, a young hot shot off the street made managers cream in their jeans when he said, “Greed is good. I want to sell anything I can to anyone I could at any cost”. They cooed and made him the fair haired boy and while most of us went out and serviced our clients, he went out and made tons of money, screwed the clients over, moved on and left debris in his wake. Many of those clients never bought radio again. I liken that to the stuff that’s happened on Wall Street. When there are no regulations, especially when it comes to money, people, even good ones run amok. Greed took over on Wall Street and it was not good. It is time for the Democrats, (yeah those regulating, taxing, government loving fellows and gals) to put the brakes on the avarice and once more restore moral stability to our financial institution. The big boys proved they can’t be trusted, otherwise they wouldn’t have one buyout or retirement plan for the CEOs and top management and another for the grunts. Enough of this crap already.

1968

The old Democratic coalition was disintegrating, with untold numbers of blue-collar workers responding to Wallace's blandishments, Blacks threatening to sit out the election, liberals disaffected over the Viet Nam War, the South lost. The war chest was almost empty, and the party's machinery, neglected by Lyndon Johnson, creaked in disrepair. Calling for "the politics of joy", and using the still-powerful labor unions as his base, Humphrey fought back. With the support of the then powerful unions, in this third week in September a shift came in the Humphrey/Muskie effort when HHH tabbed George Wallace as a racist bigot who appealed to the darker impulses of Americans. Labor unions also undertook a major effort to win back union members who were supporting Wallace, with substantial success. Polls which showed Wallace winning almost one-half of union members in the summer of 1968 showed a sharp decline in his union support as election day approached........in Pennsylvania, both Mayor Tate of Philadelphia and Joseph Barr of Pittsburgh stumped the state on behalf of Senator Joseph Clark......in the 11th Congressional District Daniel J. Flood mounted another campaign this time against Hazelton’s Stanley Bunn......and in 1968 in LuLac land and all across America the number 1 song was “Hey Jude” by the Beatles.