The LuLac Edition #2606, February 20th, 2014
BIG NIGHT-BIG CROWD
Congressman Matt Cartwright announced his intention to run for re-election to another term. The Fire Hall in Moosic was packed with supporters who gave the Congressman more than enough encouragement as he embarks on a second go round.
Cartwright has been one of the most influential and most noticed Congressman in the Freshman class of Democrats. Plus he has been receiving some note worthy national exposure. Out of all the Congressman in the state, Cartwright has carved a niche for himself as the go to guy for questions from national reporters.
But at home, in the new 17th, Cartwright has provided excellent customer service to all of his constituents. When gerrymandered happened there was fear that Scranton and Wilkes Barre would lose their Congressman. Don’t forget for generations Scranton had a Congressman and Wilkes Barre had one. The new district brought us a potential for political infighting between the two major cities. But Cartwright’s primary win in 2012 over incumbent Tim Holden put those fears to rest.
The refreshing thing about Cartwright is this. He is a Democrat front and center. He makes no apologies over the fact that working families need larger incomes, that his constituents need better opportunities in every aspect of their lives. Cartwright lives by the mantra of our 33rd President Franklin Roosevelt who said, "The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little."
In the manic celebrity world of Trump, the Kardashians and the Wall Street thieves who nearly bankrupted this country, that sentiment has been lost. There are many reasons to look into the candidacy of Matt Cartwright but that powerful quote is the best reason of all.
Photos from the Cartwright rally Wednesday night which we couldn't attend because the parking lot was so full and I was doing the Yonki birthday tour. (Photos: Cartwright campaign).
GIVE MINIMUM WAGE A FAIR SHOT
There has been a lot of debate this week over the raising of the minimum Wage. And I just don’t understand the blow back. Ever since the minimum wage was adopted people have been making the same arguments. Prices will go up, the kids won’t have jobs, these are entry level jobs and are not meant to be full time.
Let’s look at the reality of today. Prices have been going up since the last minimum wage increase. Someone has been making profits with employees making almost 8 bucks an hour. Where are those profits? Who is benefiting from the high prices we pay? Certainly not the workers. The money is going somewhere.
They tell us the kids won’t have jobs. True. Because those jobs, those minimum wage jobs are bang taken by unemployed workers who got laid off during the great recession. The Job stimulus program was way too small and you don’t see business stepping up to lend a hand.
As for the argument that the entry level jobs are not designed to live on, let me say this.
NO SHIT!
People need those jobs to survive, some people need two of them. It is incredible to me that anyone opposes this. This wage increase will actually help the economy. People who will get extra money will spend it. They’ll pay bills, they’ll do some personal or home improvements. Might get a car. Might get a better job.
I’m amazed that this country gives huge tax breaks to the very rich who will put that money away and sit on it. But to give the working poor a break, nope, it’ll cost too much. The sky will fall and the nation will crumble.
I’m struck by the arguments from two groups of people I’ve heard on talk radio this week. The first group are my favorite, I got mine, you get yours. The second group are those I’d think would maybe have some compassion. “I never got ten bucks an hour on a minimum wage, why should you?” Yeah, we’re the Valley with a Heart.
If you go out to eat this weekend and look your waitress straight in the eye, realize she makes under 3 bucks an hour. Tip her well because the way things are going, she’ll be making the same minimum twenty years from now. We used to brag about “The Spirit of America”, now we’ve become “The Mean Spirited” of America.
DUNMORE COMMUNITY CENTER
This week there has been a lot of wringing of hands about the Dunmore Community Center. It seems the gym isn’t attached to the roof. The focus is on the original contractor but answer me this: who the hell inspected it?
LINCOLN DAY DINNER
Luzerne County GOP to host Lincoln Day Breakfast
In honor of our nation’s first Republican President, the Republican Party of Luzerne County will host a Lincoln Day Breakfast on Saturday, February 22, 2014 at 9:00 AM at the Genetti Hotel and Convention Center in Wilkes-Barre.A donation of $20.00 per person is payable at the door.
All candidates, committee persons, elected officials, and supporters of the Republican Party are invited and welcome to attend.
RSVP (not required but appreciated) to tlvgop@gmail.com or by calling 570-654-6567.
KAUFER AGAIN
He’s at it again and this time Aaron Kaufer will not be facing a two decade incumbent but a product of a possibly divisive primary fight. Kaufer announced his run Tuesday night in Kingston hoping to become the first Republican representative in that district in 24 years. Kaufer made an intriguing promise saying if elected he’d term limit himself and not accept the massive state pension Representatives give themselves. This young man just might make hay with that one. Now if the County GOP would let him alone and run unopposed the guy might have a shot.
MEDIA MATTERS
ECTV
Changes in Health Care have left a lot of people confused and during the week of February 24th ECTV Live will focus on free assistance for those who depend on Medicare for at least a portion of their coverage. Diane Brown of the Voluntary Action Center will join hosts Tom Munley and David DeCosmo to discuss thatassistance. ECTV Live can be seen on Comcast Ch19 throughout the week at Noon and Midnight with dditional screenings at 6pm on available dates.
SUNDAY MAGAZINE
This Week on Sunday Magazine
An encore of Brian Hughes interview with Ron Davis from R.J. Financial Services about their Relay for Life team and the "Bowl For Cancer" event coming up on Sunday at Chacko Lanes in Wilkes Barre. This Week in Harrisburg examines the success of the quick strike drug force team in Hazleton earlier this week. State Senator John Yudichak weighs in.
Legislation has been introduced to examine the health effects of intensive natural gas drilling, and House Appropriations Committee budget hearings to examine the effects of state employee and teacher pensions on the state budget.
And an encore of Brian's January interview with State Representative KevinHaggerty of the 112th Legislative District about flood insurance.
Sunday Magazine, Sunday morning at 5am on NASH FM, 93.7, 530am on 97BHT, 6am on 97.9X, 6:25am on Magic 93, and 7am on True Oldies 590, WARM.
SUE HENRY’S SPECIAL EDITION
Tune in to Sue Henry's "Special Edition" this week as Sue recaps the week's news. Special Edition is heard Saturdays and Sunday on these Entercom stations, WILK FM Saturday at 2pm Sunday at 6 am on Froggy 101 Sunday at 7 am on The Sports Hub 102.3 Sunday at 7 am on K R Z 98.5 Sunday at noon on WILK FM 103.1.
BUDDY RUMCHEK
Want to hear some great parodies on the news? Tune in to WILK Radio at 6:40 and 8:40 AM on Mondays. As Ralph Cramden used to say, “It’s a laugh riot!”
KAREL ON THE STREET
Tune in Wednesdays on WILK Radio for Karel on the Street. Hear some of the funniest and heartwarming comments on the issues of the day on Webster and Nancy with Karel Zubris.
Our 1974 logo.
1974
The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon makes its first flight at Edwards AFB, CA...After a record 84 days in orbit, the crew of Skylab 4 returns to Earth.....A soccer stampede occurs in Cairo, killing 49......In Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh Mayor Peter Flaherty says he will run for the U.S. Senate against incumbent Republican Richard Schweiker…in Scranton Mayor Eugene Peters makes it official. Despite prodding from State Committee people Peters said he will not run for the office of Lt. Governor and forty years ago this week the number one song in LuLac land and America was a truly horrible song (last week a poster asked me if music in ’74 was going to get better, the answer to this is “not yet” obviously) called “Seasons In the Sun” by Terry Jacks.
posted by David Yonki @ 8:46 PM
6 comments
6 Comments:
So it looks like you like this guy Cartwright, Yonks.
On the other hand you are not so good on the Terry Jacks tune.
Hands down the Terry Jacks song was and is one of the most awful, horrible songs ever unleashed on the American people and at the time they loved it!
I agree on both counts. So far Cartwright has managed to keep his man of the people image intact. Maybe he is for real.
This area has some of the most selfish, hate filled a-holes anyone would care not to meet.
Valley w/a heart was some PR guys slogan, and like many advertising slogans, it just doesn't pass mustard.
Try a week down South and see the diffrence...people are polite and courteous, whether they are in the service industry or just plain folks on the street.
Service industry folks 'round here are rude and self absorbed. Folks in the general pop. equally so.
Ever try to be a nice guy and let someone out of a jam on the roadway. 9 out of 10 won't even wave a "thank you".
ONce in a great while, if someone gives me a pass on the road (and it is rare) I make it a point to wave thanks...I refuse to be infected by the etiquette standards (or lack thereof) of the majority of this areas inhabitants.
And, whether people want to admit it or not, racism is prevalent here. Just read comment sections of newspaers or listen to WILK.
Nuff said.
I'm loving Cartwright, I think he is the real deal. However, Kaufer? I'm sorry but when a guy tells me he will limit his terms and won't accept the state pension then I have to wonder what the hell he is talking about. If he is going to limit his terms of office they he won't qualify for a pension but how many terms is he limited to? Anybody that is so dumb that he doesn't realize that to be an effective representative he must have seniority and he plans to quit before he gets seniority then he should not be elected to begin with. Besides, who deosn't want a pension when they grow old?
No Kaufer for me!
I was stationed in Germany when Seasons in the Sun came out, and it was a chartbuster overseas too, being played all the time on AFN & BBC. A sad song to be sure, and during a time we still had a substantial safety net for the despondent. Good luck with that these days.....
“Completing this form is a critical start to completing your education,” noted First Lady Michelle Obama. It was a Wednesday in February, and she had traveled from the confines of the White House to a nearby Virginia high school to lecture students on applying for “free” federal financial aid for college.
“You don’t have to be the valedictorian” Mrs. Obama continued. “You don’t have to major in a certain subject. You don’t even have to be at the very bottom of the income ladder to receive the money. It’s the single most important thing you can do for your future.”
Determining the “single most important thing” for a young person’s future is a task that might otherwise make parents, teachers and counselors pause and contemplate. But for the wife of our current President the answer is obvious: get your government handout before you do anything else.
Sadly, the generation that is being told to “just sign up” by both the President and his wife is a generation that will feel the pain of America’s decline, likely worse than any other. And both present-day high school and college students, along with recent college graduates, are already feeling the pain of at least a few decades of flawed policies that have emanated from both government and academia.
Consider these harsh realities:
America’s “information-based, knowledge-based economy” has reached its limits: For at least the last twenty-five years or so the U.S. has been on a pathway of not manufacturing much, not exporting much, and not utilizing its own natural resources. In the early days of the digital technology revolution this approach to constructing our economy worked pretty well – our technological components may have been built in China, Vietnam or India, but the blue prints, the “intellectual capital” that laid the ground work for it all, came from “educated” Americans.
But as technology has matured, the demand for new “blueprints” (and for those who create them) has substantially slowed-down. Now suddenly in the second decade of the 21st century knowing how to operate a lathe or a drill press is once again a valuable bit of knowledge, and the jobs that aren’t being created for our lack of using oil, timber and mineral resources are painfully apparent.
The global economy has changed, but academia hasn’t adequately adapted: From K-12 to the post-secondary level, the world of American education perpetuates itself with phrases and clichés: “Be cool, stay in school.” “Education is the key.” “A college education gives a young person $1 million to $2 million more in lifetime earnings.”
Part 2
That all sounds wonderful. But tell these things to a 25 year old with a bachelor’s degree, $40,000 in student loan debt and no job, and ask how good that makes them feel.
Nobody wants to see an increase in “drop outs.” But there are grave fiscal and social costs awaiting our country for having produced a generation of Americans who are well educated, yet can’t find a productive place in our economy. Like Mrs. Obama’s vacuous “you don’t have to major in a certain subject” rhetoric, far too many American educational institutions have failed to concern themselves adequately with determining which courses of study can prepare a student to contribute to the economy - and which of them will not. A degree in petroleum engineering makes one more employable than a degree in gender studies – but admitting this is taboo in contemporary academia.
What if American high schools produced graduates who were both college-ready and equipped with a marketable skill? What if high schoolers had to master HTML as a foreign-language requirement? America would be in a much better place if these and other practical ideas were our reality.
The rest of the industrialized world is leaving America behind: As America drapes itself in lofty dreams of “green energy” and climate change taxes, the other industrialized nations of the world are running in the opposite direction from the U.S. Australia is set to lead the world this year with timber and iron ore production, while Canada and New Zealand are expanding their nations’ oil output. Even the nations of the European Union have abandoned most of their so-called “climate change regulations” so as to enable more manufacturing and natural resource development.
As a result, these nations are getting out of debt and creating new prosperity. Australia finished 2013 by eliminating their national debt. Canada is on-track for zero government debt by 2015. And Europe, while riddled in debt, is finally correcting course with fiscal and environmental policies – something the U.S. doesn’t seem prepared to do.
If today’s unemployed American youth can find their way individually while at the same time demanding more rational policies from government, business, and academia, they just might save themselves, and our country, in the process.
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