The LuLac Edition #2412, May 2nd, 2013
O’CONNOR RECONSIDERS
So this week former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor said that maybe the Court in 2000 should not have gotten itself involved in the Presidential contest between Al Gore and George W. Bush. O’Connor revealed that it set a bad precedent and politicized the Supreme Court. Ya think?
The Court’s decision is now only a component of that election. Gore ran a dreadful campaign not utilizing Bill Clinton where he needed to (Arkansas and larger cities as an example and failing to carry his own state. Once every disheartened Democrat from back then figures out there is no Al Gore Presidential Library, it’ll be done. But a larger service for history might be if someone wrote a detailed insider account on what exactly went n in the Court proceedings. Just a thought.
THREE PAGE FORM
Long after the Affordable Care Act passed, there are still people screaming bloody murder about how complicated it will be to buy insurance. As if that isn’t happening right now. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sibelius revealed that a new three page form will hit the streets in the fall. Here’s a lucid explanation from USA Today:After months of jokes about the new form for the health insurance marketplaces being longer than the 2010 health care law, the government has released a new, "short" three-page form, down from 21 pages. A second form for families has been reduced by two-thirds, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. "Consumers will have a simple, easy-to-understand way to apply for health coverage later this year," said Centers for Medicare acting administrator Marilyn Tavenner. "The application for individuals is now three pages, making it easier to use and significantly shorter than industry standards."
Beginning Oct. 1, consumers will be able to buy insurance online through websites that allow them to compare prices and benefits of several plans. They also will be able to apply for subsidies that will be applied directly toward the cost of those plans. People who make less than four times the federal poverty level -- or about $92,000 for a family of four -- will be eligible for help. Insurance through the health marketplaces will be available January 1 because of the Affordable Care Act.
The move is a "victory for consumers," said Anne Filipic, president of Enroll America, a coalition of 42 insurers, health care providers and affordable care advocates working to educate consumers to sign up for exchanges. "The shorter, just-the-facts applications will help empower consumers to make the health care decisions that are right for them, their families and their budget," she said. The three-page form is for use by single adults with no dependents who do not have health insurance and would like help paying for it.
A second, 12-page, six-step form has been released for everybody else who needs coverage and wants to see if they're eligible for subsidies. But although the longer form has 12 pages, many of them include multiple graphics, white space and large lettering--and look nothing like insurance forms of old made gray with lines and lines of tiny type.
WALTER UNDER FIRE
So County Controller Walter Griffith is being asked to appear before the Luzerne County Council Tuesday night to answer questions about the Wire Tap charged filed against him by Judd Shoval. This is a hard one because at the time of the request, Walter is in a legal fight. And anything he says can be incriminating. I chalk this one up to the old adage that the path to hell is paved with good intentions.
In his overzealous attempt to get information on what City Vest did with the 6 million dollars to renovate (hah!!!!!!) the Hotel Sterling, maybe there was a misunderstanding. And if he crossed the line, then there should be consequences.
But here are two common sense questions. The first is if I’m involved in CityVest and it is all over the news that people are in an uproar about where the money went, and your watchdog Controller who monitors the costs of paper clips in the county starts asking questions, do you not suspect that he might be packing a microphone somewhere? I mean you are a so called savvy business leader and you think Walter is having a chat over the backyard fence about shocking the pool?
The tragedy of this “investigation” begs the larger question. While everyone is concerned about Griffith’s actions, no one is asking the main question that should be asked in the first place, “What the hell happened to the 6 million bucks?”
AFGHANISTAN: LEAVE NOW
From the Associated Press: An Afghan official says insurgents used a bomb and small arms fire to kill a representative of a government peace council tasked with finding ways to begin talks with the Taliban to end the nearly 12-year-old war. Omaer Zawak, a spokesman for the governor of Helmand, said the attack that killed Malim Shah Wali Kahn on Wednesday also wounded the province’s deputy governor. A bodyguard also died and four others were wounded. He said insurgents first detonated abomb next to Khan’s car and then attacked with assault rifles.If a peace envoy can be slaughtered, what is the point. This is a country that has a radical element that wants to live in the 11th century. We are wasting our time, money and resources in this hell on earth. It is time for the U.S. and any allies it has left to pull out of the country, admit we made a mistake and wasted thousands of young lives with promise on a bunch of barbarians and move on. But before we go, we should blow up anything of value that we contributed to make their lives easier.
AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT
THE STATE OF THE WORLD
You are invited to the 14th State of the World festival at my house, 893 Main St. Sugar Notch PA 18706 on Sunday, May 5th from 1 to 4 PM. Rain or shine. Food and entertainment provided. All are invited to participate, an open mic forum will be available for speakers for performers from the public. For more info google, Mario Fiorucci, sugar notch pa, look for State of the World press on line and in the media.
MEDIA MATTERS
ECTV
ECTV Live will feature representatives from the Northeastern Pennsylvania Region of the Antique Automobile Club of America during the week of May 6th. They'll be discussing a number of the free Car Shows scheduled for our area during the coming weeks with program hosts Tom Munley and David DeCosmo. ECTV Live can be seen daily at approx Noon and Midnighton Comcast Ch19. Additional showings are offered on selected days at 6pm.
SUNDAY MAGAZINE
This Week on Sunday Magazine: Brian Hughes speaks with DR. Eric Whitman as well as skin cancer patients Emily and Nancy about skin cancer and its treatment. May is Skin Cancer Awareness Month. Brian interviews with Debbie McGrady, who explains how she lives with rhumetoid arthritis. Brian also speaks with Russ Madlener from Microsoft about the future of work and cloud computing. And an encore from May of last year of the Northeast Pa. Rainbow Alliance's "It Gets Better" campaign on preventing bullying. Sunday Magazine, Sunday morning at 5am on Great Country 93.7, 5:30am on 97BHT, 6am on 97.9X, 6:25am on Magic 93, and 7am on True Oldies 590, WARM.
THE PARTY ZONE
Catch the new extended 70s, 80s, 90s oldies show "The Party Zone" with Shadoe Steele beginning this Saturday from 6 - midnight on 50,000 watt powerhouse WAVT-FM - T-102. ... and on line at www.t102radio.com
1976
The Presidential race of 1976 steams forward and unlike other years, the Keystone State has a role in the Presidential process of at least one party. Statewide former Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter romps to an impressive win over organization backed Senator Henry Jackson of Washington. Carter garners 611,905 votes to Jackson’s 340,034. Arizona Congressman Morris Udall finishes third at 259,166 while Governor Milton Shapp, an early Presidential aspirant gets 32,947 nods statewide. (Must have been all those people holding PennDot jobs!) Pennsylvania was viewed as a “Stop Carter” opportunity for old line regulars of the Democrat party who felt that a southern Governor could not win in a national election. The state was loaded with national press following the three main candidates around the Commonwealth…..
On the Republican side, incumbent President Gerald Ford trounced Ronald Reagan by 773,472 to 40,510 votes. Preferring to forsake Pennsylvania for the Texas primary, Reagan did not contest the state in any way shape or form..... in the U.S. Senate races to replace retiring Senator Hugh Scott, Congressman H. John Heinz won a rather narrow victory over former Philadelphia District Attorney Arlen Specter. Just 26,000 votes separated the two with Heinz getting 368, 716 to Specter’s 332,513. GOPers C. Homer Brown, George Packard and Mary Ellen Foltz split up the rest of the votes…..On the Democratic side, Congressman William Green of Philadelphia won a victory over State Senator Jeanette Reibman that indicated he might not be that strong a candidate in the fall. Green won 345,264 to Reibman’s 332,513 winning by less than 13,000 votes statewide…..in the statewide row offices, former TV newsman Al Benedict wins his race for Auditor General over Eleanor Thomas by a two to one margin. Benedict gets over 700,000 votes. On the GOP side, Patrick Gleason prevails over Irv Jaffe by a two to one margin. The Auditor General’s race is being vacated by Robert P. Casey, the Scranton native who served for two terms. Casey eschewed a run for the U.S. Senate instead biding his time to make another run for Governor down the line….But just because Robert Casey of Scranton decided he didn’t want to run, didn’t mean any other Robert Casey in the state might want to take a shot. In the race for State Treasurer, a Robert E. Casey beat popular party mainstay Catherine Baker Knoll for the Democratic nomination. It is said people voted for Robert E. Casey, thinking he was the outgoing corruption busting Bob Casey of Scranton. Casey beat Knoll statewide by 455,932 to 329,902. On the GOP side, Patricia Crawford prevailed over Joseph Ciccippio…….in Luzerne County for President on the Democratic side, Jimmy Carter had 16,633 votes, Henry Jackson 15,444, Morris Udall 6032….in Lackawanna County, Carter had 15,929, Jackson 7951 and Udall 4571…..On the GOP side In Luzerne County President Gerald Ford won 19,131 votes and in Lackawanna County he pulled 10,073 votes. In both counties the non contested Reagan campaign pulled under 1,000 votes……in the race for United States Senator in Luzerne County on the Democratic side, Bill Green had 19,593 to Reibman’s 8702 and in Lackawanna County he had 15,773 to the State Senator’s 7429. On the GOP side, Luzerne County showed the early signs of admiration and appreciation it would bestow on Arlen Specter throughout his career by giving him 8286 votes over John Heinz’ 7535. In Lackawanna County, Heinz prevailed 4209 to 3959...in the Auditor General’s race, Al Benedict proved to be a popular favorite in LuLac land having been escorted across the area by old Democratic hands like Luzerne’s Joe Tirpak and Lackwanna’s Patrick Mellody. Benedict polled 25,000 votes in Luzerne County and over 14,000 in Lackawanna County…on the GOP side Patrick Gleason got over 5,500 votes in Luzerne County and about 5,000 in Lackawanna….
and in the 10th Congressional District, Democrat Ed Mitchell romped over his primary opponent Michael Petsko by 28,462 to 7143. Mitchell made an impression in his initial run at Congress filming a commercial of him running around Lake Scranton in a jogging suit. Mitchell also then passed out recipe books used by his mother through the years. The booklet featured every ethnic recipe known to man in LuLac land and featured a proud endorsement from his mother. The Mitchell campaign gave the McDade effort its first serious challenge since 1964 when the Congressman was nearly defeated in the LBJ landslide by James Haggerty…..and 37 years ago this week the number 1 song in America and LuLac land was Peter Frampton’s “Show Me The Way”. (Election sources: LuLac archives, Osterhout Free Library.)
posted by David Yonki @ 10:29 AM
14 comments
14 Comments:
Good morning students,
Contrary to being “down” on the Bush v. Gore decision of the SCOTUS, I have always applauded it. And in order to truly appreciate that decision one must remember the tumultuous times of that five week period from November to December. Now whether you agreed with the decision or not, the matter being decided by the highest court in the land was a NECESSITY in order to bring finality to the election of 2000. Had the court not taken up the case, we would have gone through our most serious constitutional crisis since the Civil War. I rest my case. Although, I must add my amusement at the stupidity of most Americans at the time who had absolutely no idea of what the Electoral College is. One actually thought the President was voted on by drunken college students!!!! Thank God that is not the case. (You may laugh).
The work of this classroom moves forward……
Students, for the umpteenth time, I would like to address the issue of Obamacare and its startling almost apocalyptic ramifications come next year. To this day, no one----not even the President himself, can fully explain the bill. I myself, the great intellect that I am, have gone over all the documents with pen in hand and various accounting ledgers to draw my own conclusions. And I did this long before the inept Chief Justice of the SCOTUS upheld the Act. I have concluded from intense research that we can expect the following:
1. Extremely long waits for basic general practitioner appointments.
2. An increase five-fold in your current insurance premiums.
3. Low quality medical care……..aka you are used to filet mignon now get used to Hamburger Helper.
4. Inept medical attention because of the mass amount of new patients (many who normally would not even show up for a doctor appointment).
5. Fully government subsidized medical marijuana (we all know how “sick” the holder of those prescriptions are.).
A good friend of mine who is a physician told me on a recent trip to Palm Springs that he expects sheer calamity once the bill takes effect.
“I see it now.” He remarked “Lots of Medicare groupies, seniors with phobias coming in and wasting my time. Then you have the younger twentysomethings who come in looking for prescriptions for Vicodin or Xanax. Those are the ones on welfare.” He noted that with Obamacare it will only increase tenfold. “I don’t see anything but a calamity. Every Tom, Dick and Harry will be coming in for this or that while the truly hard working sick folks get the shaft.”
He’s not kidding. And bear in mind, all you who applauded the SCOTUS upholding this monstrosity of a bill……..be careful what you wish for, because you are now going to get it.
Something to think about this morning…..
Class Dismissed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
"do you not suspect that he might be packing a microphone somewhere? "
No Dave, you don't. It has been in the news over and over about what constitutes wiretapping in PA. Walter, and elected government official, should have known better.
This goes beyond a right to privacy, or whether the information would be made public. In PA it is about consent, and consent must be agreed to by both parties.
This goes beyond overzealous. And whether you support Walter or don't; this one is a step too far. He should resign immediately. And next time, when someone comments and tries to bring attention to a candidates past, you should NOT censor them. His being elected, without all information being known, is part of the problem.
This is clearly Walter's impression that he is above the rules, and his arrogance.
Professor,
I come into contact with medical professionals at all levels, my brother is VP of marketing and development for a medical/surgical instrument producing corporation.
They are holding there breath while huddling with lawyers, accountants, financial specialists, Geo-political consultants and others to develop strategies for survival.
Assets and capital being diverted from R & D, customer service and patient care to attend to the train-wreck (Harry Reid's characterization) known as the Affordable Health Care Act. Nobody knows the true number of regulations being "enforced". These are law-like constraints that have NOT been tested, debated, or voted on. The industry is being boxed in only to be set up for the big squeeze.
I believe thinking is now obsolete among the general population. It has been replaced with wanton financial expectations, less anything remotely resembling productivity.
Dave....Really nice recap of that fateful year 1976. I was really surprised at how close those Senate races were. Heinz with all of his millions barely got by Specter. Again, your site is great. You never cease to surprise and amaze us.
2:13 You hit the nail right on the head If Walter were on the other side of this, he would be demanding a resignation
Finally...come perspective on Bush V. Gore from you. Is there a chance you are growing up?
I think we need to get out of Afghanistan. Build our roads, not theirs. I hate to say it but all of our soldiers died in vain.
I for one can't wait to use the new Health Care exchange. It will keep costs down. No more ER.
IN RESPONSE
Finally...come perspective on Bush V. Gore from you. Is there a chance you are growing up?
NOPE.
Why would the inventor of the internet NEED a library?
Ever hear of wikipedia?
The Professor is back from his coma
and at a torrid pace.
The Moody Blues GO NOW never sounded better.
Scranton will get a Female Mayor after Lackawanna gets a female Commissioner and that's where Randol should be headed. Don't know why anyone would want to take over in City Hall. Its a dead end.
Her potential talents would be wasted.
Green Ridge
@ 4:13
Going to the ER suggests you have no health care so apparently you can't "exchange" anything unless I pick up the tab.
That said, do you really expect ANY semblance of quality in the treatment you get? How long do you expect to wait?
Ever worked at a store or business where you were EXPECTED to perform the work of 2 or 3 people? How'd that feel? It is exactly what would be REQUIRED of medical professionals.
Our blog editor has mentioned how difficult and tedious it was for him to secure an appointment EVEN WITH his current policy.
Please pay attention to some of the info coming out, it is NOT the panacea that was sold to us.
In Walter's case, where is Oliver Cromwell when you need him? "In the name of God, go"
Al Jazera Gore. I think we discovered his loyalties are to the almighty dollar just as much as any evil republican.
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