The Lulac Edition #3533, June 15th, 2017

TRUMP’S BIRTHDAY PRESENT

The President and Robert Mueller (Photo: AP) 

The Washington Post reported Wednesday night that it appears the President is the subject of a federal investigation. This means the full focus of the Federal Government will fall upon him.
In the wake of Trump's decision to fire FBI Director James Comey last month, the Department of Justice appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller as special counsel to oversee the FBI's probe into Russia's role in the 2016 election. The investigation began last summer and encompasses Trump and his associates' alleged ties to Moscow, as well as the Kremlin's role in mounting a hacking attempt to influence the presidential race in Trump's favor.
There is no guilt yet on the President’s part. The investigation is just beginning. But when you get allegations of money laundering by campaign aides, this is not very good.
Trump can’t be indicted but if there is some "there, there", you will see  a relentless drumbeat for further action. It won’t happen in his party right away, but there is a storm and it is intensifying.
The ironic part is that during the campaign, Trump warned of investigations that would mire the country impotent if Hillary Clinton got elected. Instead, it has happened to him. 
The other irony is that by trying to tell the public what he was told privately, that he, the President, was not the target of an investigation, made him just that. 
Karma can be a bitch.

GUNFIRE AT THE BALL FIELD

 Yesterday a gunman opened fire on several Republican members of Congress and their staffers, who were practicing for the Congressional Baseball Game scheduled for the next day. A ten-minute shootout ensued between assailant and officers from the Capitol Police and Alexandria Police. The gunman shot five people, including House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, a Republican from Louisiana and two Capitol Police officers assigned to protect him; one of the officers shot the alleged killer who later died from his wounds. Police have not commented on his motivation.
Scalise is the first sitting member of Congress to have been shot since Arizona Representative Gabrielle Giffords in the 2011 Tucson shooting.
Congressman Paul Ryan went on the House floor and talked about the attack saying it was an attack on all members. The Republicans have been reluctant to even do the slightest thing to curb the use of guns for people who maybe shouldn’t have them. They even stood in the way of background checks.
Sandy Hook, where children were blown to bits didn’t move them, I’m wondering if the shooting of one of their own will.
Most likely not.
This country is at a tipping point and it is not going to get better. Congress people of all political stripes are getting threats. The solution to this frustration was supposed to be the election of Donald Trump who was going to solve things very quickly. Unite us like never before! Obviously that is not happening. 
To be clear, I am not blaming Trump for the shooting. Far from it. But I’m blaming him for increasing the divisions in this country since 2011 and emboldening violence on both sides of the aisle by being irresponsible in his language, tone and temperament.  
Perhaps or perhaps not, it is no accident that mass shootings have increased this year. We're halfway through '17 and we're at 154 as opposed to the 140s last year. 
Newt Gingrich's supposition that this was violence on the Left is just plain nonsense. Where was Gingrich when at Trump rallies last year news people were being intimidated and there were cries of "Lock her Up?" 
When there is no stability from the top, when the very leader of our institutions attack them on a regular basis via Twitter, we should not be shocked that an unbalanced or frustrated person took his rage out on an institution. The Congress.
We hope that the injured heal. They have the ability. On the same day there was a shooting in San Francisco with three dead in a workplace. They don’t get to heal. They get to have eulogies spoken and hymns sung for them. 
The sad part about this in a few months, or days, the silence of a church, the buzz of a workplace or the bucolic nature of an American baseball field will be shattered by guns. Again!
And the beat goes on!

BARLETTA STATEMENT ON CONGRESSIONAL BASEBALL PRACTICE SHOOTING

Congressmen Barletta in past years as a member of the team. (Photo: gettyimages)

Congressman Lou Barletta released the following statement in response to the shooting at a congressional baseball practice in Alexandria, VA: “This is the first year since I’ve been a member of Congress that I am not playing in the Congressional Baseball Game. While I am safe, I am sickened by this morning’s horrific shooting. My prayers are with my friend Steve Scalise, my colleagues, their staff, the local first responders, and the Capitol Police officers whose bravery saved lives.”

SESSIONS AMNESIA TESTIMONY

Attorney General Jeff Sessions (Photo: CNN)

Attorney General Jeff Sessions testified before Congress and was not happy with the line of questioning. Sessions testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee for several hours in which he seemed to waver on whether he met Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C. following a Trump foreign policy speech. Initially, Sessions said he did not have "private meetings" or recall any "conversations" with any Russian officials at the hotel. He later admitted that he may have had an encounter with Kislyak. 
There had be at least 25 or more instances where Sessions was doing his Sergeant Schultz imitation claiming that he "couldn't recall" or "didn't know".  Things got pretty testy too with some Senators too. Mere hours after, Sessions exchange with one Senator went viral showing his display of rage at trying to answer a basic question. brought up by a man that was his subordinate, James Comey.

The attorney general said he recused himself from the Russia probe because of a Department of Justice regulation, which he said states, "that Department employees should not participate in investigations of a campaign if they have served as a campaign advisor." He also said that his decision to write a letter accompanying Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein's memo recommending Comey's dismissal did not violate his recusal.
Sessions also said he discussed the idea of Comey's firing before he was confirmed as attorney general in February and that he has never been briefed on Russian cyberattacks against the 2016 election.
The biggest thing I took away from this was that Sessions admitted that this country does not have a strategy to deal with this threat.
Sessions said it's "very disturbing" that the Russians continue to push hostile actions in their foreign policy, which he said is not good for the U.S. and the world.
"We do not have a sufficient strategy," Sessions said, in countering Russia's cyber threat and its technological skills. Perhaps Sessions should have given that some thought when he was having meeting as a campaign surrogate with the Russians last spring. (LuLac, CNN)

THE TRUMP CABINET MEETING

Caligula-does the hair looks familiar huh? (Photo: wikipedia) 

Monday President Trump had a Cabinet meeting that was something out of the ordinary. Cabinet meetings are usually things where issues of state are decided. Or policy. Cabinet meetings are for when a crisis like the Cuban Missiles in 1962 were discussed. Or whether to go to war with Iraq in 1991.

But this was a Donald Trump Cabinet meeting and each Secretary, save for James Mattis, the Defense Chief went around the room and talked about how much they loved working for Trump and what a great man he was.

To me, this was the biggest licking of gonads since Caligula held his Roman orgies! 

TRUMP SAYS NO TO PENNSYLVANIA AND LULAC LAND!

Just in case you thought Donald Trump was a friend to Pennsylvania and in particular Luzerne County…..well you have another thing coming. Trump turned down Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf and Wilkes Barre Mayor Tony George for reimbursement of emergency funds from the blizzard of 2017.
More than likely that money went to help all his rich cronies with tax breaks. But remember this, even in the most fundamental responsibility of Government, the protection and support of local disasters and infrastructure, this man has failed us!

HOUSE PASSES BARLETTA’S VERIFY FIRST ACT

LEGISLATION WOULD STOP FRAUD, PROTECT TAXPAYER DOLLARS, & HOLD WASHINGTON ACCOUNTABLE

The U.S. House of Representatives today passed legislation introduced by Congressman Lou Barletta (PA-11) to stop fraud in the distribution of health care tax credits and protect taxpayer dollars. Barletta’s Verify First Act, H.R. 2581, prevents waste, fraud, and abuse by verifying a person’s eligibility for health care tax credits before they can receive those benefits. The bill passed by a bipartisan vote of 238-184 and now goes to the Senate for consideration.
“Every taxpayer dollar that goes to someone committing fraud is a dollar that is not going to help working families and those who truly need and deserve assistance,” Barletta said. “My bill would fix this problem by verifying that an individual is legally entitled to taxpayer-funded benefits before those dollars go out the door.”
Under Obamacare, the federal government pays the Advanced Premium Tax Credits to people before first verifying that they qualify to receive those benefits. If individuals cannot verify their legal immigration status, the Internal Revenue Service is forced to chase after the money.
This “pay and chase” model of distributing tax credits has significantly increased costs to taxpayers. In fact, a 2016 Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs report revealed that, under Obamacare, $750 million in taxpayer-funded health care subsidies went to more than 500,000 people who did not qualify for those benefits.
Barletta’s bill would address this problem by simply requiring the Social Security Administration, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Health and Human Services to work together to verify first that an individual is a citizen, national, or legal immigrant before giving that individual the advanced health insurance premium tax credit.
“The American people expect that we are already doing this,” Barletta said. “No business would give a refund without first verifying a receipt. The federal government should be held to the same standard.”
Concerned about abuse of taxpayer dollars as Congress considered the American Health Care Act (AHCA), Barletta was able to secure a guarantee from President Donald J. Trump and Speaker Paul Ryan that the House would vote on the Verify First Act. The bill is part of the multi-step process Congress is working through to repeal and replace Obamacare.
“I first raised this issue last year with the previous administration, and I am raising it again because there is no evidence that anything has been done to address it,” Barletta said. Nobody wanted to take responsibility for mismanaging $750 million of taxpayer money. Everyone pointed fingers at other people. My bill holds people accountable.”

MEDIA MATTERS

BOLD GOLD COMMUNITY FORUM

This week's guest will be Bill Daniels from the Elder Alliance. Tune in Sunday morning at 6 on 94.3 The Talker; 6:30 on 1400-The Game, NEPA's Fox Sports Radio and 106.7 fm; and at 7:30 on 105 The River.

SUNDAY MAGAZINE

This Week on Sunday Magazine.
Magic 93's Frankie in the Morning speaks with John Farkus from the Diocese of Scranton about their Family Drive In Night on Wednesday at the Circle Drive in in Dickson City to benefit Catholic School Tuition Assistance.
Brian Hughes speaks with travel expert Stephanie Michaels about Summer traveling tips with your pets.
This Week in Harrisburg examines new pension benefit legislation for future school and state government employees, upcoming negotiations on the 2017-18 state budget, and a new bill aimed at increasing voter participation in  Pennsylvania.Frankie speaks with Carmen and Cheryl from Corpus Christi Parish in West Pittston about their upcoming Summer
Bazaar.
And an encore of Brian's interview with lifestyle expert Jonathan Alpert about achieving a work/life balance.
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.

ECTV

ECTV Live welcomes June Ruhf of the Endless Mountains Vacation Bureau to the program during the week of June 19th to review events and attractions scheduled for this summer
ECTV Live can be seen on Comcast channel 19 (61 in some areas) and is aired during the Noon, 6pm and Midnight hours each day of the week. Following Monday's Live program the show will become available on Electric City Television's YouTube channel which can be viewed on your computer.

SUE HENRY’S SPECIAL EDITION

Tune in to Sue Henry's "Special Edition" this week as Sue recaps the week's news. The show will run Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. on WILK, and on KRZ, Froggy and Max 102 early Sunday morning.

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 he heartwarming comments on the issues of the day on Webster and Nancy with Karel Zubris.

BOBBY V’S DOO WOP SOCK HOP!!!!!

Bobby's show is back again live this Sunday @6PM on The River. 104.9 FM and 100,7FM in Wilkes Barre! Plus Bobby V has a brand new website, check it out at www.doowopsockhop.net.

1977

Our 1977 logo

Jubilee celebrations are held in the United Kingdom to celebrate 25 years of Elizabeth II's reign.....After campaigning by Anita Bryant and her anti-gay "Save Our Children" crusade, Miami-Dade County, Florida voters overwhelmingly vote to repeal the county's "gay rights" ordinance....The first Apple II series computers go on sale....James Earl Ray escapes from the Brushy Mountain State Prison in Petros, Tennessee; he is recaptured on June 13......The Supremes perform their final concert together at Drury Lane in London, England and then disband permanently.....Spain has its first democratic elections, after 41 years under the Franco regime……in Pennsylvania the Legislature and the Governor spar over the budget…….in Luzerne County schools dismiss for the season with a few districts dealing with union contracts for the next school year and 40 years ago this week the number one song in LuLac land and America was “Dreams” by Fleetwood Mac.