The LuLac Edition #2654, May 13th, 2014

Our “13 Questions” logo.

13 QUESTIONS

1. You seem to be really pushing hard for Tom Wolf. Do you plan to break precedent again like you did in 2012 when you endorsed Matt Cartwright and give your nod of influence to Wolf?

First my influence. Thank you for thinking I had some. My only influence as a blog administrator is that I show up every day. And that people care enough to read and comment.
LuLac does not endorse any candidates on a regular basis. We’ll give some people play but if I get a release from anyone in a competitive race, I will write about them. I’ve had dear friends who ran for office and felt it wasn’t my place to endorse because of what we try to do here.
But in 2012 LuLac endorsed Matt Cartwright over Tim Holden in the 17th Congressional race. The circumstances and my personal experience on WYOU TV with Cartwright was a factor but more importantly was how I viewed what I knew Cartwright’s approach to the job would be.
This year after reviewing all the eight candidates running for Governor, I centered on Tom Wolf. And such as it is, we will endorse Tom Wolf for Governor.
Wolf has the personality to be a Governor in these polarizing times. He brings a full resume as a volunteer, community leader and Revenue Secretary to the job. His business experience is something foreign to most Pennsylvania workers. Wolf actually includes them in profit sharing and gives them incentives like higher pay and as State Representative Eddie Day Pashinski likes to say “skin in the game”. Workers in this state “get appreciated” but when it comes to longevity and wages, they get very little except a patronizing tap on the head.
Plus Wolf talks about ideas and doing things a different way while Rob McCord talked about protecting public pensions and singing the same old song about an incident that happened in 1969.
Allyson Schwartz has become McCord’s yang to his ying in attacking someone who can bring something fresh to governing in Pennsylvania. I appreciate Congresswoman Schwartz’s work on C.H.I.P., but I don’t hear a vision. Her idea of an Integrity Officer is right out of a 1960’s Hanna Barbera cartoon.
Katie McGinty is priceless in terms of her deft ability to stay above the fray. If the church had female priests, she’d be an excellent Cardinal and one day Pope. But they don’t.
This afternoon I spoke to Wolf at Vino Dolce where the candidate met some key supporters. I was fortunate to be invited and my first words to Mr. Wolf were about the debate. I enthusiastically said, “Saw the debate last night, you killed it”. Wolf responded, “No I didn’t, I just gave people my reasons for running and I hope they accept them”. After some other small talk, I made my way through the crowd and I thought that what Pennsylvania doesn’t need right now is a chest thumper or a guy who relishes his tough guy image.
Pennsylvania is facing some problems because we’ve had Governors and Legislators who have kicked the can down the road. I have a feeling that Tom Wolf is not a can kicker. He is a person who will face our horrendous problems with the same measured response seen in the various debates the past few weeks.
As Tom Wolf told me regarding the debate, “I didn’t kick it”. I think Tom Wolf is a guy adverse to kicking anything, especially cans down the governmental road that no one has had the courage to confront. He will and that’s why in the second time in eight years, we are endorsing Tom Wolf for Governor in the primary and providence willing,  the general election.

Wolf takes the stage with Representative Eddie Day Pashinski from the 121st, outgoing Representative Phyllis Mundy from the 120th and 113th District Representative Marty Quinn.

2. What do you think the odds are of Lackawanna County government changing over to a Home Rule form of government?

At first I thought it had no chance. But the more I think about it, Lackawanna County voters seem a tad more independent than the people in Luzerne County. In Luzerne County, from 1963 until 2011, the GOP held the majority for 12 years or less if you remember that midway through the second term of Trinisewski and Phillips Trini became a Democrat. In the Lac, the GOP has held the Courthouse 20 years. Now remember both Bob Cordaro, A.J. Munchak and I believe Charlie Lugar were Democrats who ran on the GOP side. But that shows a little independence of voters to not vote labels. The fear I’m getting from people is that if an Executive is elected, it will set up the same system except with one king. All that said though, sometimes change is hard to accomplish and like in Luzerne County it might take a few tries for it to go through.

3. Do you play the lottery?

Rarely. I bought a Cash 5 in the Sanitary Bakery the other night and won a buck. But like Tevia, I’m not destined to be rich.

4. Who are you voting for in the Democratic race for Lt. Governor?

Mark Critz from Cambria County. Critz has the federal experience and can balance the ticket being from that area. But all the candidates running for the second spot are good people.

5.What do you think of Alex Milanes’ behavior on the Arena Authority Board?

I liken Alex’s actions to those of Governor Tom Corbett’s policies. Corbett said he wouldn’t put a tax on gas drillers and would privatize liquor stores. Dan Onorato screamed bloody murder but lost the election anyway. Milanes said he was wondering about the infrastructure of the facility, would want his technical background used and noted he would be a watch dog in terms of all the stuff big and small. What did they expect? His actions should come as no surprise because he is part of a new breed in this county and in politics that seems to say, verify, then trust. What troubles me is the reaction of one of the board members who called Milanes a piece of crap and said he could spent time golfing. Well good, Mr. Answini, go golf and just shut up. Makes me wonder why that guy was on the board for so long.
The Arena Board got skittish when taxpayer advocates and gadflies Ed Chesnovitch and Brian Shiner showed. They are members of the public and have a right to ask questions no matter how ponderous.
Now personally all this is going to get complicated for me because my good friend Tom Woods is now on the Arena Board too and I’m sure will disagree with various people. But Alex is only doing what he said he would. Same thing goes for the people complaining about Kathy Dobash. It should come as no surprise in terms of her actions as a County Council member. When you get the votes, either as an appointed or elected official, you can do what you think is right.

6. How was Blogfest this year?

Great. Glad I could make it. Some interesting candidates stopped by and The Red Mill was just fine and dandy. It provided me a to do list of people to get to so I could further get more input on what they are doing.

7. Do you plan to do any LuLac forums in the future like the ones you did in the past?

Maybe. But sometimes I wonder if the general public really gives a damn about any of this. But it is something we might consider again.

8. What are your thoughts on a Jeb Bush candidacy for the White House?

I think he is able, has an open mind on immigration and is a Republican I can see doing well. The ironic thing is that if he wins, it will be President Obama sandwiched in between two Bushes. You’ll remember Hillary Clinton saying that George W. would be bookended in between two Clintons.
The guy t watch though and you might find this hard to believe is Mitt Romney. Mitt has been making the rounds of the Sunday talk shows and if Bush decides not to get into it, Romney can win in a general election if Foreign Policy is the main focus. If that happens, you read it here first.

9. What are you reading now?

Not much. Still working on that Eliot Ness biography I got for my birthday.

10. I was stunned to see that you have been suffering from Myasthenia Gravis. I have a friend in the health care profession who described it as “nasty”. How the hell are you coping?

The good and bad thing about Myasthenia is it’s nasty. When you are in crisis, not eating, chewing, swallowing or breathing, it’s a real bear. But once you get it under control, you are so grateful for doing the simplest things you took for granted before. When I have a difficult situation at work, or when I’m even driving there and think, “Wish I could stay home today”, I mentally slap myself and say, “Stop” and think about the things I couldn’t do last year. The medications seem to be working pretty well so I’m not only coping, I’m trying to thrive.

11. Whatever happened to “Two Hot Girls In The Shower?”

I haven’t seen anything on line that would fit anything relevant but we’re still looking. Love the facial expressions of the brunette.

12. Congrats on year number 8 doing LuLac. What is the secret to your longevity and consistency?

Planning and the endless source of material here in LuLac land.

13. I’m a new reader to LuLac, can you recap how 13 Questions started?

It began as an offshoot from my days at LCCC as an adjunct instructor. As a break, I used to do a class segment called “Ask Dave”. The students could ask me anything within reason. Then when LuLac started getting on track, readers would send in Questions to the e mail addresses. We put up an old 45 record I had in the LuLac archives by a group called Seatrain and that became the logo for the feature. The only time we missed 13 Questions was when I was in the hospital for my cancer surgery in 2008 but we did a double edition called 26 Questions the next month. Didn’t quite fit with the song but that’s how it got started. It remains one of the most popular features on our site. Here’s that song.