The LuLac Edition #1116, Mar. 9th, 2010

PHOTO INDEX: LUZERNE COUNTY COMMISSIONER STEVE URBAN.

DOUBLE TROUBLE?

Steve Urban the current Luzerne County Republican minority Commissioner said he has decided to run for both state senate and lieutenant governor. Urban said he will simultaneously campaign for both seats. Urban’s logic was the Lt. Governor presides over the Senate and thus if he runs for both jobs the issues are similar.
Urban said he doesn’t think any of the other Republican lieutenant governor candidates have “statewide name recognition.” Well, with all due respect, he is not a household name. But his name is appealing in the sense that it gives no hint as to the type of person he is. A black voter might think Urban is well, from an urban setting. A mid state T voter might think Urban is a good welsh name. A western Pennsylvania voter might think Urban might rhyme with suburban and give him the vote. Pennsylvania voters have been known to not think intelligently in regards to statewide races in particular the Lt. Governorship. Urban got more than the required 1,000 signatures on the lieutenant governor nominating petition, turning in nearly 2,300. He got more than 1,200 signatures for the senate race, which required 500. Urban wanted to try for the Senate seat because the party has no one in the hunt just yet. Urban’s family have put their name on various ballots over the years to give voters an alternative, not just one Democrat in a seat. Will he win two? Urban might have a chance in the primary. The GOP on the statewide level though is pretty iron fisted and if Tom Corbett designates a number 2 that might make it tougher for Urban.

OBAMA’S PITCH

Doing now what he should have done one year ago, President Obama’s people are talking numbers on health care. $1,115 -- that's the average monthly premium for employer-sponsored family coverage in 2009. Annually, that amounts to $13,375, or roughly the yearly income of someone working a minimum wage job.1
It gets worse: a recent survey found that if we do nothing, over the next ten years, out-of-pocket expenses for Americans with health insurance could increase 35 percent in every state in the country. In an effort to put the past year's debate over health insurance reform into perspective, the White House launching "Health Reform by the Numbers," an online campaign using key figures, like $1,115, to raise awareness about why we can't wait any longer for reform. They'll be sending out a new number every day.
Here’s a video of the President in Philadelphia.