The LuLac Edition #2516, September 12th, 2013
WHAT’S WITH THE DEMOCRATS?
I’m still trying to wrap my mind around this one. Try to follow me here because I still don’t understand what the hell is going on. But I do know this, the late Joe Tirpak, Bob Loftus and Jimmy Bach are spinning, no, orbiting in their graves.
In the spring primary for County Council, five Democrats ran for five seats. There was no primary battle which is unusual for the Dems. Linda McCloskey Hauck, Eileen Sorakas, Renee Ciaruffoli Taffera, Rich Heffron and Mike Giamber run. Five people run, five seats to fill. Simple, right? Not having to worry about a primary, McCloskey Hauck shored up her union support, Sorokas traveled from one end of the county to another going to every summertime event, Giamber, Tafffera and Heffron also made the circuit. Simple, right?
Nope. It seems the Executive Committee of the Luzerne County Democratic party has decided NOT TO ENDORSE ANYONE running for County Council!! I mean this isn’t Crossin and Wideman in ’79 where you had to pick a side, this is 5 for 5!!!!
Now to be fair, there wasn’t a full compliment of members at the meeting and County Chair Bob Boyer did offer some aid in the form of help for the General Election. But how can a party not endorse their slate? The word is the Unions are not thrilled with Taffera, Heffron and Giamber. But my question is if that’s the case, why didn’t they get someone union backed to run in the primary if they felt that way? Guys, this is the team you got. Support it.
You think the GOP people running like DeFabo, Dobash, Kelleher, Haas and Sue Rossi are going to be friends of the union?
THESE PEOPLE HAVE WORKED A FORTY HOUR WEEK IN THEIR LIFE!!!!!!!!!
You think Rick Williams is going to all of a sudden become best buds with Houck on union matters? Whatever you fear about the three you don’t like, imagine what you’ll get with the others.
The rumor mill also says that the three, Giamber, Taffera and Heffron are Edd Brominski’s puppets. I don’t buy that but just for arguments sake, let’s say they are. That’s four votes. Houck and Sorokas aren’t going to be on Brominski’s side every time so that rumor, supposition, tactic whatever you think it is, well it just isn’t right.
Meantime, the GOP is doing little things like staying united, sticking to Controller candidate Carolee Medico Olenginski like super glue and doing simple things like staking out a booth at the Luzerne County Fair with no fuss, no muss.
With these current actions in the County Council race, you’re making one dead man proud and it isn’t Tirpak, Loftus or Bach. It’s Will Rogers who once famously said, "I am not a member of any organized political party. I am a Democrat".
BLOGFEST COMING
Blogfest with all of the usual suspects will be held at of all places The Red Mill in Pittston. September 27th, 2013 at 6pm. Gort 42 and Joe Valenti will be there as well as candidates running for office.
CRIME IN WILKES BARRE
Things seem a bit quiet. Maybe the reason is because Wilkes Barre Police have been really cracking down on the people causing the problems. Another contributing factor is the heat is on and the rats tend to hide out and lay low. (Or hang out with one of their lady friends in one of the projects). A big factor is the Wilkes Barre Police Department Facebook Page which has put up photos of the , the wanted. Arrested and indicted. A perfect end would be a big photo saying CONVICTEDROADS IN WILKES BARRE
Have to give a little credit where credit is due. The roads in Wilkes Barre have improved ten fold over the summer and it has been smooth sailing. To all involved, good job.
SOROKAS EVENT
Eileen M. Sorokas, candidate for Luzerne County Municipal Council, will begin her fall campaign with a Kick Off Rally on Friday September 13, 2013. The free Rally will be held at the Polish American Club, 97 Martin Street Hudson(Plains) Pa. from 5 P.M. to 7 P.M. Food and Refreshments will be served. The general election is November 5th, 2013.
CARTWRIGHT ON SENIORS
U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright announced the introduction of the Elder Protection and Abuse Prevention Act. Companion legislation has been introduced in the Senate by Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT).The Elder Protection and Abuse Prevention Act would expand the federal definition of elder abuse, neglect, and exploitation. The legislation would also incorporate elder abuse prevention trainings, screenings, and reporting protocols into all senior service access points receiving federal dollars under this bill.
“I am honored to work with Senator Blumenthal to address elder abuse, a serious and ongoing issue,” said Cartwright. “We have a shared responsibility to ensure the security of our seniors. No senior should have to worry about his or her safety.”
“As a member of the Senate Special Committee on Aging and former Attorney General of Connecticut, I have seen heinous examples of senior citizens suffering at the hands of exploitive caretakers,” said Sen. Blumenthal. “We must act now to address this pressing issue, which is why I introduced the Elder Protection and Abuse Prevention Act (S. 1019) earlier this year. The seniors who spent a lifetime working to make our country stronger deserve peace of mind that their retirement years will not be marked by suffering. I welcome Congressman Cartwright to this important fight, and I look forward to working with him to protect our seniors.”
Every year, an estimated 14.1 percent of all non-institutionalized older adults have experiences of physical, psychological, or sexual abuse, neglect, or financial exploitation. Yet, for every case reported, another 23 cases of abuse go unnoticed.
“Elder abuse is a significant, national problem, and Representative Cartwright’s Elder Protection and Abuse Prevention Act providesimportant resources to address this issue,” said Kevin Prindiville, Executive Director of the National Senior Citizens Law Center (NSCLC). “NSCLC is proud to support this bill which will help ensure the safety and well-being of our nation’s older adults.”
Several organizations including the Alliance for Retired Americans, Alzheimer’s Foundation of America, American Society on Aging, Elder Justice Coalition, LeadingAge, National Council on Aging, National Grange, the above National Senior Citizens Law Center, and The Senior Citizens League have endorsed the bill.
MAKING SENSE ON THE AFHCA
Congressman Lou Barletta, PA-11, voted in favor of legislation to save hundreds of billions of dollars by overriding a rule from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that would allow applicants for Obamacare subsidies to “self-attest” that they are eligible for government assistance. The “No Subsidies Without Verification Act” (H.R. 2775) requires the HHS Inspector General to verify that subsidies are issued to recipients who have proven to be eligible based on their financial situations. The change would save taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars by preventing fraudulent subsidies from being paid. The bill passed the House of Representatives.“This is just simple common sense,” Rep. Barletta said. “You get a credit check when you borrow money for a car or a house, or even to sign a lease on an apartment. Why shouldn’t we verify someone’s eligibility when they’re applying for assistance from the taxpayers?”
Under the HHS rule, released in July in some 600 pages of Obamacare regulations, applicants would themselves attest they were eligible for government subsidies for the health care exchanges. HHS now says it will later audit the subsidy program, a process which could take as much as a year to complete while all applicants continue to receive the assistance. According to the Wall Street Journal, failure to verify eligibility prior to awarding the benefits could cost taxpayers $250 billion in fraudulent payments.
“Even if HHS does follow through on the audits – and there’s no guarantee it will – billions of dollars will be flowing out the door before we even know if the people getting it are eligible to receive it,” Barletta said. “This is yet another case of finding out what’s in Obamacare after it has been passed.”
The Democrat-led Senate Appropriations Committee has already unanimously passed legislation to affirm its belief that recipients must be verifiably eligible for subsidies. There is also companion legislation to H.R. 2775 in the Senate (S. 1455, Sen. Coburn).
MEDIA MATTERS
TOPIC A
Tune in Friday @ 5pm for The Friday On My Mind Edition of WYLN TV 35's Topic A. The program starts at 5pm. Topic A Replay will start soon on LuLac.SUNDAY MAGAZINE
This Week on Sunday Magazine Brian Hughes speaks with Chris Kelly & Rick Miller from the Osterhout Library about their upcoming Gala, and Magic 93's Frankie in the Morning speaks with author and Wilkes barre native Catherine Gourney, who will be the featured guest at the Osterhout Gala.Frankie speaks with Fran Pantuso about the Lackawanna County Senior Health Fair coming up Friday September 20th at PNC Field in Moosic.
And Brian speaks with Elija Miller from the Roc Rec Center in trucksville about his upcoming 54 mile "Strong Run" and their "Rockathon" weekend to benefit the families of POW's & MIA's and the Matthew Rondina Memorial Field Project,and featuring Elija's tribute song "54 Soldiers".
Sunday Magazine, Sunday morning at 5am on NASH-FM, 93.7, 5:30am on 97BHT, 6am on 97.9X, 6:25am on Magic 93, and 7am on True Olides 590, WARM.
Our 1976 logo.
1976
The space shuttle Enterprise is rolled out of a Palmdale, California hangar......
in the 1976 Presidential campaign, Jimmy Carter admitted in Playboy that at times he had lust in his heart. Carter held a huge 33-point lead over Ford in the polls. When Playboy magazine published a controversial interview with Carter; in the interview, Carter admitted to having "lusted in my heart" for women other than his wife, which cut into his support among women and evangelical Christians....
in Pennsylvania, Senate candidate John Heinz and Bill Green criss cross the state to win support to succeed retiring Hugh Scott. Heinz is first up on the air with commercials touting his vision of Pennsylvania...in Wilkes Barre, George Gwilliam heads up the Ford For President office in downtown Wilkes Barre as Luzerne County Republicans mobilize for the big day in November...and thirty seven years ago the number one song in LuLac land and America was"A Fifth of Beethoven" by the Walter Murphy and the Big Apple Band. (Buttons: LuLac archives).
posted by David Yonki @ 8:27 PM
23 comments
23 Comments:
Whoa Yonki........great political analysis and inside baseball. Mike McGlynn is smiling on you from up above!!! THose darn Dems in Losern County!!!
The emocratic Party is now on equal footing with the Republican Paarty, but are unorganized groups. I disagree with you putting Kelleher into the anti union group. He demonstrated common sense when the tax vote was taken and got the budget passed with a minimal tax increase while the crazies stood firm on no taxes. Everyone is concerned with the cost of running the county and yet they line up to increase the hours in the work week regardless of the fact that it will cost the tax payewrs tens of thousands of dollars in additional salary costs. It seems that even the worst of them realize that no arbitraor in the world will require any employee to work more hours and not get paid for it. The thought that if they increase the work day by one hour then for every 8 employees, you can give up one employee. That's never been proven to be accurate. First of all, when you put the burden of an entire employee on the backs of the others then you have a complicated problem when an employee is on vacation or off sick because they are sheduled to do the work of another employee who no longer exists. I don't expect everyone to understand that but there is an old saying that is easy to understand, IF IT AIN'T BROKE DON'T FIX IT!..The court system works an 8 hour day but the employees do not get paid for lunch. That makes for a 35 hour work week and when employees are given a vacation day, it is 7 hours and the same for a sick day. When it is added to their file, it is 7 hours. That system works and has worked so if any change is to be made, the court system should be the norm. Yes the prison is a 3 shift 24/7 operation so they must be on an 8 hour day but tht's the exception, not the norm. When Valley Crest was active they were on the same 40 hour work schedule and yes, both groups were PAID for an 8 hour day. I will be voting for Kelleher because he demonsstrates common sense and Eileen Sorokas can also count on my vote. Is Mike Giambre a Democrat or a Republican? I'm not sure how he leans regardless of how he is registered. I want to hear his stand on these issues. I commend the two no votes on the new work week legislation voted and approved this week. It is a good idea on paper but you know what they do with paper!
The ONLY reason you are kissing Kelleher's behind is because he is a donkey wearing an elephant disguise
Kelleher and the other talking mule Hee-Haawws do exactly what King Lawton and his lackey Jimbo Bobeck orders them to do - those are the facts and they are undisputed.
Dave you are so right in your assessment of traditional party politics. McGinley and Bobeck are in bed with some of the Republicans and no one wants to admit they made a huge mistake in luring Lawton from CA. They want to maintain the same majority going forward which will continue the take one step forward and two steps backward approach. The taxpayers/voters, which really are not the same since such a small percentage of registered voters actually cast a vote, must shake up council and hopefully right the ship before it's too late. That includes sending Lawton packing, streamlining management instead of hiring more, prosecuting all law breakers and consistently administering the Charter that was approved by the majority of the active voters. At this point in time Lawton (the pied piper) and his blind followers (council) just keep rearranging the chairs on the Titanic.
Dave,
According to my research that smiling folksie face and manner displayed by Will Rogers masked a first rate SOB! Except for a couple of excellent quotes, he is largely forgotten today except by a few old timers like you and me.
the Old Sarge
Here's the dirty little secret of politics in LuLac land. There are no organizations anymore. It's a lot like the mideast, there are nothing but tribes that stake out their power base. No one has any power over anyone. Look at how Cartwright rolled over Holden last time. That would never have happened in the old days but sadly the Haluski Harrys, Mustache Petes and Whistling Irishmen have passed on and their heirs are nothing more than pretenders to the thrones.
Lots of crazies out there and it seems they really believe that there is a working majority on the county council and they exist to raise Lawton to a higher level every day. Baloney! This council is made up of many who just sit and cast votes without a greater deal of thought. They march to the sound of the taxpayer drum beat which is fire people and don't raise taxes. Those doing the screaming don't have a clue what it takes to do Lawton's job or what it takes to run government. They live on cliches and sound good theories that don't work in the real world. The suggestion to use the current court hours of operation are the most logical I have heard to date and won't bankrupt the county and cause higher taxes that will not produce anything positive.
What we need in this race is a lawyer running for JUDGE!
THat would liven things up but no one got indicted. So no openings.
So much for violent crime in Wilkes Barre at an abatement stage huh Yonk?
While I was reading this at 1am two losers were getting shot up by another loser who was fast and fleet of foot.
But at least we can dream, right when there's a little quiet!
I'm disappointed that Alex Milanes did not win. Paul DeFabo is a nice man but I thought I read in one of your 1976 reviews that he was a delegate to the '76 convention. That was over 35 years ago. We need new young blood. Sorry Paul, I'm voting for a few of the Dems and Williams.
I think the Luzerne County Democrats need a new Chair. Love Bob Boyer but I think Casey Evans would be crazed in his determination to return the party to a semblance of organization. Just saying.
What's with the Democrats? They screwed up by electing football player who had no idea what he was getting in to. The party went downhill after Joe Tirpak died. Sorry but that's the truth from an old timer.
Walter Murphy...can the Richie Family be far behind???
9:26PM....
What we need are less lawyers running for anything..or for that matter running things.
Sorokas has name recognition and has been around the County so many times. At this point, it's her and everyone else.
IN RESPONSE
Walter Murphy...can the Richie Family be far behind???
YOU NEVER KNOW.
Going for the Dems in this race. Yonki's point about Brominski is valid in a way, Bromo doesn't need or want puppets but the guy sure could use some help on his side of the table.
Our Democrat chairman up in the back mountain is telling people not to vote for Giamber and Heffron and telling people to vote for only vote for Houck and Sorokas and Williams too. He's on the warpath against them. Something to do with them being against gays and unions. Browsing facebook I see he's not the only one doing it. Nobody seems to like these guys. It's got to be why the Democrats are so quiet. They all hate the 3 out of the 5 council candidates.
To 9:55 - ARE YOU KIDDING ME. Casey Evans is a left wing socialist! Never met a liberal cause he didn't like. And he's the one who went behind the scenes and got everybody else on the Executive committee to NOT endorse the slate because of Taffera, Heffrom and Giamber so he's not even behind that ticket either. So much for "organization"! The Democrats are TOO far to the LEFT as it is they do not need CASEY EVANS who is a guy that wants to force gay marriage, taxpayer funded abortion, legalized marijuana and socialized health care picking and choosing their candidates because they will all LOSE. This is a conservative county and we DO NOT WANT that kind of rabid, radical liberal putting people in office! They need to put Jim Haddock in as chairman or Bob Caruso or Rebecca Sammon in as chair. Somebody sensible. But Casey the Commie in Charge??? HA! 9:55 you're right about one thing, he is CRAZED all right!
Rebecca Sammon does not live in Luzerne County!
IN RESPONSE
Our Democrat chairman up in the back mountain is telling people not to vote for Giamber and Heffron and telling people to vote for only vote for Houck and Sorokas and Williams too. He's on the warpath against them. Something to do with them being against gays and unions.
IF THAT'S THE CASE, THEN THAT "CHAIRMAN" SHOULD BE DRUMMED OUT OF THE PARTY. PLUS HOW MANY VOTES ARE THEY GOING TO GET IN THE HEAVILY GOP CONTROLLED DALLAS AREA. IF "THE CHAIRMAN" HAD A COUNTY JOB OR RELATIVES DID, IF I WERE THE COUNTY CHAIR, I'D FIND A WAY FOR HIM TO PAY.
AND WHY DIDN'T THIS "CHAIRMAN" RUN SOMEONE IN THE PRIMARY IF HE HATED THEM SO MUCH? ALL BLUSTER AND NO ACTION I'D SAY. HEFFRON AND GIAMBER COULD PICK UP ANY VOTES OUTSIDE OF THE BACK MOUNTAIN AND MARGINALIZE THIS WANNA BE POWER BROKER.
AND IF HE HAS PROOF THEY ARE ANTI UNION AND GAY, SPILL IT.
BUT COWARDS USUALLY WON'T AND DON'T.
Well see, I was on the fence abouty Giamber, Hefron and even Hauck. But as a Democrat, when I hear stuff like this, that a party leader, an elected County District Chairman picked by his committee people saying he won't support a "D", well that's disgusting. Join the other party or quit.
THe Back Moubtain does have some votes but no Democrat ever depended on an elction from their puny returns.
I'm all; hells bells for Giamber, Hefron, Tafferas, Sorokus and Hauck. See, I'm a true Democrat that believes in this: you dance with the dames you brought.
So to the Dallas d+++head, shut up or just get the hell out of the way!
And that other person who posted about Casey Evans, I bet you think Casey Evans is coming for your guns you pathetic moron!
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