The LuLac Edition #2060, May 20th, 2012

Oink, oink!!! The travel motto of Wilkes Barre City Council. 

WHAT DID THEY LEARN? 

Today, in the Times Leader, Terri Morgan Besecker writes about the thousands of dollars Wilkes Barre City Council members have spent at conferences. She pointed out that from 2005 to 2009 the Council members went over budget on the travel allowances. Annul trips to cities such as San Antonio; Reno, Nev.; New Orleans; Denver; Orlando, Fla., and Phoenix. were taken by Bill Barrett, Kathy Kane and Tony Thomas. Council members not only were paid for the trip but a total of 34 grand was given to all Council travelers without them even providing a receipt. In private business, that would never, ever stand. The worst part about all of this traveling is not once, not once, can I ever remember one of these Council members giving a detailed report on what they learned. (I realize Kathy Kane was busy insulting taxpayers and their constitutional first amendment rights, but what about the other two??) The Council members sit there like bumps on a log every month and then they wonder why the taxpayers ridicule them? You earn respect by giving respect. How can anyone respect people who go to a conference, take the taxpayers money and then not make a report. If there was a report made, I bet some newspaper would have covered it. In my career, I have been at conferences. In my career I have even put on statewide and national conferences. Like the report says in the Times Leader, most conferences include breakfast and lunches. And please, I don’t want to hear that they need the meal money because they might be diabetic or might have health issues! Anyone who has ever gone to a conference knows that fruit, grains, low fat, and proteins are available. And most hotels will provide special consideration if there is enough notice. They are hotels. They serve food. They can find it. So don’t give me that health crap. If they are soooooooooo sick….stay home. I’m sure we are going to hear about how hard it is to be a Wilkes Barre City Council member too. Yeah. (Mine has been in hiding in my district, wrote him a letter, never got a response). The story only points up the sad fact that the Wilkes Barre City Council takes and takes and takes. But hey, we let them. Every four years we elect these clowns to office and let them take advantage of us. It must be in our DNA. In the meantime, while these officials go to “conferences to learn” (but never ever seem to report) the line gets bigger and bigger on Jackson Street at the soup kitchen. Those people don’t need to save receipts either like City Council. But I bet I can find six of them who can do a better job at representing the people than the Council members and Kathy Kane. 

DEAD AT LAST!! 

 The AP reports that Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, a Libyan intelligence officer who was the only person ever convicted in the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, died Sunday nearly three years after he was released from a Scottish prison to the outrage of the relatives of the attack's 270 victims. He was 60. If you ask me, it couldn’t come soon enough. He was convicted, he was a terrorist, he killed nearly 300 innocent people. Hope he rots in hell.