The LuLac Edition #1077, Jan. 22nd, 2010

PHOTO INDEX: GOVERNOR ED RENDELL DISEMBARKING WITH ORPHANS FROM HAITI, OUR 1966 LOGO AND LACKAWANNA COUNTY COMMISSIONER A.J. MUNCHAK.

EDDIE AND THE ORPHANS

He might have lost points with some Pennsylvanians for his tough stance on the 2009 state budget. And he certainly drove his counterparts on Eagles Post Game live crazy by suggesting to viewers they tune in a Godzilla movie instead of hearing about the woes of the Birds on Comcast. But Ed Rendell made an international splash and showed why he is a man of action when he went to Haiti, scooped up a bunch of orphans, got them to one of the finest Childrens hospitals in the Commonwealth and then got them adopted. Pretty good for a lame duck. Dozens of Haitian orphans from the devastated Caribbean nation arrived in Pennsylvania Tuesday to meet their newly adoptive parents. Rendell and a crew of medical personnel traveled aboard a plane with the 54 Haitian children, who landed in Pittsburgh Tuesday morning. The orphans — who are all under age 4 — were taken to Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, examined by doctors and cleared by Homeland Security. From CBS a report on the new homes and parents of the kids Rendell saved.

THE LAC’S NEXT

The feds are going to hand down some serious charges in Lackawanna County next month. Questions abound regarding the recent majority commissioners Bob Cordaro and A.J. Munchak. Munchak was in a multi hour meeting with the feds. When his lawyer was questioned whether Muchak would be charged, he said, “We hope not”. Gulp and double gulp. More to come.

O’BRIEN ON VIDEO

11th Congressional District candidate Corey O’Brien released a new video this past weak. It is well done and tells the Corey O’Brien story. The recent developments in New England give challengers like the Lackawanna County Democrat a justification for running hard against a multi term, incumbent. Here’s that video:


KANJORSKI COMMENTS

Incumbent Congressman Paul Kanjorski made this statement regarding President Obama’s thoughts on the curbing of big banking institutions. Congressman Paul E. Kanjorski (PA-11), Chairman of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government Sponsored Enterprises, provided the following statement supporting the President’s proposal to limit the size and scope of financial institutions and better protect taxpayers by preventing companies that are deemed “too big to fail” to exist. The President’s proposal is similar to the Kanjorski amendment that was included in H.R. 4173, the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which the House passed on December 11. The Kanjorski amendment would empower federal regulators to rein in and dismantle financial firms that are so large, inter-connected or risky that their collapse would put at risk the entire American economic system, even if those firms currently appear to be well capitalized and healthy. Therefore, American taxpayers should no longer be on the hook for bailouts, as financial companies would not be able to become “too big to fail.”
“I applaud President Obama for joining me in working to end the era of reckless financial institutions that have become so large and interconnected that they could be deemed ‘too big to fail’,” said Chairman Kanjorski. “A year and a half ago, Congress took drastic, but necessary action, to prevent an economic disaster that would have severely affected every American and set back our financial system by decades. But, many of the financial companies do not seem to have learned their lessons from that harrowing experience. In November, I took the first action in Congress to prevent companies from becoming too interconnected and risky by introducing an amendment, which was included in the House-passed Wall Street reform bill, to prevent companies from becoming ‘too big to fail.’ Now that the President has put forward a similar proposal, I hope that we can work to enact Wall Street reform that will better protect every American and ensure that no single company can pose a risk to the entire economy. We owe it to the American people to make these ideas a reality.”
A summary of the Kanjorski amendment follows:
Objective Standards. Size is by no means the only factor to determine if a financial company is “too big to fail.” The recent financial crisis has shown that many other factors can also cause a company to become a systemic risk. Rather, the amendment considers a variety of objective standards to determine if financial firms pose a threat to our financial stability, including the scope, scale, exposure, leverage, interconnectedness of financial activities, as well as size of the financial company. The Kanjorski amendment does not cap the size of financial institutions.
Mitigatory Actions. If a financial company is deemed systemically risky, the Kanjorski amendment provides responsible preventative actions to protect our financial system and curtail those risks. These include modifying existing prudential standards, imposing conditions on or terminating activities, limiting mergers and acquisitions, and in the most extreme cases, breaking up a financial company.
Protects American Competitiveness. We have learned from this financial crisis that we are all connected. The Kanjorski amendment addresses the concern that our regulatory system works in conjunction with those around the globe. Currently, the European Union is considering similar action, and harmonized regulations would benefit both economies.

1966

Indira Gandhi is elected Prime Minister of India; she is sworn in January 24........... Demonstrations occur against high food prices in Hungary.... Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro resigns due to a power struggle in his party..... In Pennsylvania news that Interstate 80 will be completed four years ahead of schedule. As early as 1966 there were 103 miles of I80 in use…..in Luzerne County Commissioners voted 3-0 to borrow one million dollars against tax revenue to balance the budget. GOPers James Post, William Goss and Democrat Ed Wideman decided that at the weekly Commissioner’s meeting and the number 1 song in Lulac land and America was “As Tears Go By” by the Rolling Stones.