The LuLac Edition #3231, June 16th, 2016

THE SAD CASE THAT IS JOHN McCAIN

John McCain (Photo: CNN)

I stopped being sad over political figures in 1968. I worked my 14 year old ass off for Hubert Humphrey when he ran for President. I also worked very hard for a Kingston native at the time,  Richard Adams when he ran for State Representative against Frank O'Connell. When both lost I thought, there goes two good chances for a better America and Pennsylvania. I guess those two guys were my 1964 Phillies.
Following politics for so many years, running a few campaigns locally, seeing many elections and personalities, I never really ever expected much from people. There were a few exceptions in both parties. Two in fact were Republicans, Arlen Specter and John McCain.
Specter held on way too long and should have retired before the 2010 election. But the pull of Washington and the pressure from his new found friends in the Democratic party kept him in a race too long.
John McCain is in a similar situation. McCain,  now closing in on 80 wants another 6 years. He let Donald Trump insult his service as a POW because crowds in Arizona were big for Trump. Today McCain blamed President Obama for the growth of ISIS saying that the administration played into the terror group by withdrawing from Iraq.
This is incredible.
The deal that was brokered for withdrawal came from the Bush administration. The Obama administration tried to get it changed but the Iraq government held fast. McCain tried to walk it back but his facts were wrong.
The Obama administration has been doing clean up duty in the Mideast. To say that the President and the Secretary of States are responsible is an desperate individual and beaten down party trying to re-write history.
Ironically I almost voted for John McCain in 2008. But his choice of Sarah Palin, an unqualified, crude loudmouth who reminded me of a woman you'd see in a bar at 3am and consider making a pass at. But then when you saw the demeanor, you quickly thought, "uh.........cold shower" Or for those who indulge, porn.Nope once he picked her, that was that.
John McCain has become what all politicos hope to avoid, known as a person who sold his reputation for another few years of power at the end of a long well lived life life. 

NEW POLL NOT GOOD FOR TRUMP

A recent Bloomberg poll came out earlier this week and it was not good news for Donald Trump. The poll shows Hillary Clinton at 49% and Trump at 37%. Libertarian Gary Johnson came in at 9%.
This comes after a few very bad weeks for Trump. The GOP is now nervous and there are people now distancing themselves from the GOP presumptive nominee.
What should happen and hopefully will is that GOP leaders who lined up behind Trump now are secretly figuring out a way to stay away. The two fears are of course the '16 election but some are wondering about their place and legacy by supporting this candidate.
This candidate and his campaign are wildly off course.

OBAMA CHARGED BY TRUMP WITH TREASON

Political campaigns are sometimes vile and dirty. You can go back to the Andrew Jackson/John Quincy Adams race to see that. Lincoln was called ugly, Grover Cleveland's opponents keyed in on his physical activities using the phrase,"Ma, ma where's my pa, going to the White House ha ha ha". Teddy Roosevelt was called a madman, FDR an elitist. Nixon was called dishonest, Reagan dangerous. But no one ever tried to make the connection that a President consorted with the enemy.
Donald Trump did that the other day. He suggested that the President was sympathetic to ISIS and the terrorists.
He said the President's reluctance to use the word "radical Islam" was reason enough for Obama to resign.
Candidates have disagreed on Foreign Policy but none ever said they were consorting with the enemy.
Here's a few facts. The Obama administration as well as the military have taken out more terrorists on foreign ground than anyone else. There have been the use of drones and intelligence to do it. Plus they got Bin Laden.
The charges reveal a dangerous side of Trump. He has no facts and as the President rightly refereed to Donald's  remarks as "yapping".

IS THERE A WAY OUT FOR THE GOP?

If you are a moderate or even a Tea Party Republican you have to wonder how the Grand Old Party can get out of this Donald Trump mess. The GOP has always stood for at least a reasonable preservation of opposing views. There have been contentious debates but never this level of incivility and dare I say bigotry. This puts Senate candidates like Rob Portman and our own Pat Toomey in a precarious position. At this point many wonder how Trump will affect their careers. Some may wonder if there is a solution.
Well it appears Trump May have given the beleaguered party an answer. The other day Trump intimated or said in public proclaiming that the GOP should just hush and let him handle things. That's it. That's the answer.
The GOP should just fire Trump. Tell him to go to the convention, take the nomination, and have all those supporters in those arenas and stadiums underwrite your campaign. If a socialist like Bernie can raise millions surely a capitalist like Trump can beat that. If Trump wants to go it alone, give him his wish.
The GOP should drop the social issues worrying about who's gay, trying to describe what values are good for America, and realize that the Ward Cleaver image they have of the world are long gone. 
They should remake the party, get behind Gary Johnson and FIRE Donald Trump.
It will work.

HEY, OUR CONGRESSMEN ARE TALKING COAL AGAIN!!!!

Rep. Cartwright Introduces Legislation to Prevent Coal Companies from Pushing Their Cleanup Responsibilities to Taxpayers

Congressman  Matt Cartewright (Photo: LuLac archives).

U.S. Representative Matt Cartwright introduced the bicameral Coal Cleanup Taxpayer Protection Act, legislation that would prohibit the practice of self-bonding nationwide.
U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, has introduced companion legislation in the Senate.
“The practice of self-bonding must end. Many states currently ban the practice of self-bonding; the rest of the country must follow suit,” Rep. Cartwright said. “Coal companies which once seemed financially secure and made frequent use of self-bonding are now declaring bankruptcy. This leaves the taxpayers on the hook for clean-up costs totaling billions of dollars.”
Just yesterday, Arch Coal Inc. announced a plan to emerge from bankruptcy after a majority of senior creditors signed off on the deal. The company had about $485.5 million in environmental reclamation costs that it had promised to pay through self-bonding. However, Arch granted the state of Wyoming a $75 million claim against the company's cleanup obligations.
The Office of Surface Mining and Reclamation Enforcement (OSMRE) is tasked with ensuring that mining companies fulfill their legal obligation to clean up and reclaim the land after they are through mining. The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act allows OSMRE and states with programs approved by OSMRE to let financially healthy companies back up their reclamation obligations with a promise instead of sureties or collateral. These financial promises are called “self-bonds.”
At a recent hearing before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell said that “there’s a very significant problem and risk to the taxpayer with the high-profile bankruptcies that have taken place recently with coal companies.”
Earlier this week Cartwright, along with U.S. Representatives Debbie Dingell (MI-12) and Raúl M. Grijalva (AZ-03) – ranking members of the House Natural Resources Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee and the full committee, respectively – led eight colleagues in sending a letter to Interior Secretary Sally Jewell urging immediate action to prevent major coal companies from further offloading billions of dollars of self-bonded reclamation obligations onto taxpayers.
Additionally, the bill would require the conversion of current self-bonds to surety or collateral bonds, and improve the bonding program by shoring up surety capitalization and collateral requirements.
“Since our founding, our organization has advocated for strong reclamation standards and bond requirements at coal mines. Unfortunately, Wyoming mines are some of the largest users of self-bonds, which have become nothing more than unfulfilled promises with company bankruptcies. With over $2 billion in outstanding reclamation liability in Wyoming, this is important legislation to close the self-bonding loophole and minimize financial risks to taxpayers,” said Bob LeResche, Clearmont, Wyo., Powder River Basin Resource Council Chair and Western Organization of Resource Councils Board Member
Original Cosponsors (25): Beyer, Blumenauer, Capps, Connolly, Dingell, Edwards, Ellison, Farr, Grijalva, Honda, Huffman, Langevin, Barbara Lee, Lieu, Lowenthal, McCollum, Holmes Norton, Napolitano, Pocan, Polis, Slaughter, Tonko, Tsongas, Van Hollen, Watson Coleman
Supporting Organizations: Western Organization of Resource Councils (WORC), Powder River Basin Resource Council, National Wildlife Federation, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Environmental Law & Policy Center, Clean Water Alliance, 350 Colorado, Sierra Club, Earthjustice, League of Conservation Voters, Clean Energy Action, Greenpeace USA, New Mexico Environmental Law Center, Northern Plains Resource Council, Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada, The Lands Council, WildEarth Guardians, The Wilderness Society, Sightline Institute

Barletta Defense Amendment Rejects Russian Energy, Promotes PA Coal

Prevents Vladimir Putin from Exerting Influence, Protects Pennsylvania Jobs

Congressman Lou Barletta. (Photo: Barletta office)

Congressman Lou Barletta successfully amended the Defense Appropriations bill to prevent U.S. military installations, regardless of their locations, from purchasing energy from Russia, thereby aiding Pennsylvania coal producers and employees. Barletta led debate on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives, arguing that Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin has a history of using his energy reserves to gain political influence over other nations, and that the U.S. armed forces should not be subjected to similar pressure. The amendment passed the House by voice vote. The entire Defense Appropriations bill passed the House by a vote of 282-to-138.
“Time and again, we have seen Vladimir Putin use Russian energy to assert his political will over the rest of the world,” Barletta said. “In fact, just a few months ago, the European Union announced that they were seeking alternatives to Russian natural gas imports in order to avoid a repeat of 2006 and 2009, when Russian suppliers cut off the gas shipped through Ukraine, leaving much of Western Europe to succumb to winter’s freezing temperatures.”
Barletta’s amendment benefits coal workers in Pennsylvania, since some U.S. military bases, such as one in Kaiserslautern, Germany, use anthracite coal for fuel.
“I think we can all agree that we don’t want our American servicemen and women to be left out in the cold,” Barletta said. “By ensuring our military does not rely on the Russian Federation to supply the heating and energy needs of our military bases, we can provide certainty and security for the brave individuals protecting our freedom.”
Barletta has consistently fought for the interests of Pennsylvania anthracite coal. On Wednesday of this week, Barletta vigorously opposed another amendment to the Defense Authorization bill that removed language that required the U.S. military base in Kaiserslautern to use at least one American energy source for heat and power. That amendment unfortunately succeeded, which prompted Barletta to pursue his own amendment barring the purchase of energy from Russia.

MEDIA MATTERS

ECTV

My Co-host Rusty Fender joins me and Director Mark Migilore during the week of June 20th as we welcome Erica Rogler from the Dietrich Theater to the program to talk about upcoming events and activities sponsored by the Wyoming Cultural Society.

ECTV Live can be seen on Comcast channel 19 (61 in some areas) and is aired three times daily throughout the week. Program times may vary slightly but the program is generally aired at Noon, 6pm, and midnight.

SUNDAY MAGAZINE

This Week on Sunday Magazine

An encore of Brian Hughes' interview with attorney Timothy Duggan about property owners rights with regards to the proposed PennEast Pipeline, which would run from Luzerne County to New Jersey.

Brian speaks with Pastor Shawn Heuer from the Trinity Assembly of God Church in Nicholson about their "3 on 3" Basketball  Tournament next Saturday in Nicholson.

And Brian speaks with workplace psychologist Dr. Woody, who discusses stress on the job and family vacations.

Sunday Magazine, Sunday morning at 5am on NASH-FM, 93.7, 5:30am on 97BHT, 6am on 97.9X and Sports Radio 590, WARM and 6:25am on Magic 93.

BOLD GOLD COMMUNITY FORUM

This week's guest is Lackawanna County Recycling Coordinator Barbara Giovagnoli. Tune in Sunday morning at 6 on 94.3 The Talker; 6:30 on The Game Sports Network 1400/1440 am and 106.7 fm and at 7:30 on 105 The River.

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 102.3 Sunday at 7 am on K R Z 98.5 and 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.

BOBBY V’S DOO WOP SOCK HOP!!!!!

The Doo-Wop Sock Hop can be heard every Sunday night from 6P to 9P on “105 The River (104.9 FM) Host is the incomparable Bobby V. www.105theriver.net www.doowopsockhop.net

1971

Our 1971 logo.

Vietnam War: The New York Times begins to publish the Pentagon Papers......Norway begins oil production in the North Sea........The first Hard Rock Cafe opens in London, England......US Senator Mike Gravel (D-Alaska) receives a copy of the Pentagon Papers from Ben Bagdikian, an editor at The Washington Post. Tupac Shakur American rapper, poet, and actor, is born in East Harlem, New York City....Representatives of Japan and the United States sign the Okinawa Reversion Agreement, whereby the U.S. will return control of Okinawa. A drunken Jim Morrison makes a recording in a Paris studio with two equally inebriated American street musicians he had befriended shortly before.....in Pennsylvania Senator Richard Schweiker says that the release of the Pentagon Papers will have a huge impact on how the Vietnam War is viewed.....in Lackawanna County the team of Robert Pettinato and Charles Luger start hitting the streets in earnest for their bid to become Commissioners in the fall election and 45 years ago this week the number one song in America and LuLac land was "It Don't Come Easy" by Ringo Starr.

And this Tuesday Ringo stopped by the Kirby with his all star band. Here's Bill O'Boyle's link from The Times Leader. Mrs. LuLac and I had a great time.
 http://timesleader.com/news/local/554075/ringo-thrills-sell-out-crowd-at-the-kirby