The LuLac Edition #1065, Jan. 8th, 2010

PHOTO INDEX: OUR 1966 LOGO, AUDITOR GENERAL JACK WAGNER AND GOP PARTY LOGO.

PROJECT MAIN STREET

11th Congressional District candidate Corey O’Brien has announced his ambitious Project Main Street Program. Traditionally, Main Streets were the social and economic epicenter of our communities. Since the decline of coal, however, our Main Streets have been neglected, jobs have been lost and our hopes have been dashed. It is time that we find a new sense of hope and optimism for our communities. That is why I am proud to announce my plan for a new revitalization and job creation program: “Project Main Street.” As a member of Congress, I will lead the way to launch Project Main Street. Project Main Street will revitalize our Main Streets, utilizing existing money and programs such as the National Trust for Historic Preservation to improve infrastructure and encourage job growth in the hearts of our communities. This initiative will not create a new federal bureaucracy or increase federal spending, but instead will shepherd the resources of the federal government and existing state and local Main Street initiatives to target the revitalization of our Main Streets. Main Streets were once the epicenter of our communities, and remain home to some of the region’s oldest and most successful small businesses. The Project Main Street initiative is designed to reward existing small businesses, create temporary and permanent family-sustaining jobs, improve aging infrastructure and restore pride in our communities.
This initiative will fund the rebirth of Main Streets across our region and the nation, specifically:
1. Aging infrastructure will be replaced with state-of-the-art transportation and technology infrastructures, including high-speed wireless connectivity;
2. Unsightly power, telephone and cable lines will be routed under new sidewalks;
3. Traffic will be slowed by new traffic and parking patterns;
4. Energy-efficient, period lighting and trees will replace outdated lighting systems;
5. Sidewalks will be widened for smoother pedestrian flow and improved access;
6. Small business facades would be renovated as a symbol of our region’s rebirth and the restoration of our cultural heritage.
Project Main Street will restore pride in our communities, create short-term and long-term jobs, and upgrade the infrastructure necessary to compete in the 21st century economy.
Proposed Eligibility Requirements
1. Pay-As-You-Go: Project Main Street initiatives must be funded through existing federal funds, such as those allocated through the economic stimulus and jobs packages. Project Main Street initiatives would therefore be deficit-neutral.
2. Project Labor Agreements: Project Main Street initiatives must include project labor agreements to ensure livable wages, health care, pensions and training for workers filling the construction jobs created by this initiative.
3. Existing Small Business Base: The goal of Project Main Street is not to create something out of nothing, but to encourage growth by starting in communities with existing small business foundations. Project Main Street will target those communities with existing small businesses and provide significant opportunities for improvement and growth.
4. Federal Matching Program: Project Main Street initiatives would require public-private partnerships, but local public and private matching requirements could be satisfied by the execution of long-term maintenance agreements between local municipalities, business communities and the federal government. These agreements would require local municipalities to maintain lighting, trees and infrastructure upgrades in exchange for full federal construction funding. “It is time that we found a new sense of hope and optimism for our region. I am proud not only to provide my support and encouragement for this initiative, but my vision for its implementation. Join with me in encouraging the adoption of Project Main Street, and let us refocus our country’s attention from the rescue of Wall Street to the renewal of Main Street."

WAGNER GAINING GROUND

Don’t know if it means much this early in the 2010 Governor’s Race but it seems like Auditor General Jack Wagner is getting his fair share of endorsements from rank and file party leaders all across the state. In a Democratic race with no favorites yet, this might be a leg up for the personable statewide office holder who has run in the Commonwealth 3 times this past decade.

GOING AFTER ARLEN

The GOP attack machine is going a little bit crazy going after Senator Arlen Specter, dubbing him the 60th vote of evil. Here’s a communication I received from them. Ironically I’m still on the GOP mailing list from the time I switched from a “D” to an “R” to vote for Senator Specter in the 2004 primary.
Earlier this year, Senator Arlen Specter switched sides. After years of serving Pennsylvania as a Republican Senator, Specter has joined the far left to help implement their socialist health care agenda in America. And they are starting 2010 off just the way they want to: by passing this disastrous health care legislation that will hurt all Americans. Congress will pass a government takeover of health care that will forever change the landscape of America, and take away your personal choice, diminish the quality of your health care, raise your taxes and spend your tax dollars on abortions. Specter has let us down by becoming the 60th vote, and Pennsylvanians must hold him accountable. That's why I'm reaching out to you. With your financial support, we can send Specter a clear message: our state will not tolerate a Senator who does not stand up for our values. Our country is on the fast track to socialism, and we can thank Senator Specter for making this possible. Any amount you can give will help us kick 2010 off in strong position to elect Republicans to local and statewide office next fall. Losing Specter to the far left will have consequences far beyond this government overhaul of health care in the long run. Specter is now the 60th vote the Democrats need to ensure there are no road blocks in their legislative agenda.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

YOUTHFUL GOP

More inroads are being made by the local Luzerne County GOP in formulating a plan for growth. On January 11th there will be a Young Republicans Meeting (anyone under 40) at GOP Headquarters, 41 S. Main St., Wilkes-Barre. It will be a Membership Committee Meeting Chaired by Bruce Boedeker on Monday, Jan. 11, 6 p.m. Boedecker says, “Come on out and help us increase our Club GOP membership as we turn this party into a party of the people – supported by the small contributions of many instead of the large donations of a few.”

THANKS MARKIE

This is a belated thank you to my fellow blogger Mark Cour. In early 2008 Mark helped me with the intricacies of posting YOU TUBE videos. We worked on one of my first video productions on the closing of my boyhood church St. John the Baptist in Pittston. Well not only have they closed the thing, they tore it down. With Mr. Cour’s help I was able to make some sort of historical record to what it meant to members of that community. His help and patience gave me the guidance to have a record for history. A belated thank you.

1966

Our new profile year is 1966, a turning point in national, statewide and local politics. Plus it was the year I got my first big interest in that crazy industry, broadcasting.
During this first week of '66, A strike of transportation workers in New York begins (it will end January 13)...... The first Acid Test is conducted at the Fillmore, San Francisco..............A military coup occurs in Upper Volta (later known as Burkina Faso)........The prime ministers of India and Pakistan meet in the Soviet capitol Moscow........Statewide Governor William Scranton enters the last year of his term as chief executive as a technical “lame duck”. Scranton eschews that terms saying he can work with the Democrats in the Legislature elected during the ’64 Democratic landslide. Many people wonder about Scranton’s own political future after his credible but unsuccessful bid for President….locally Martin L. Murray makes his intentions known to reclaim the 14th Senatorial District Senate seat that he was gerrymandered out of a few years before and 44 years ago this week the number 1 song in America and LuLac land was a two sided hit by the Beatles, “We Can Work It Out” and the flip “Day Tripper”.

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