The LuLac Edition #4, 169, November 21st, 2019

SENATOR YUDICHAK’S BOMBSHELL

Senator John Yudichak (Photo: LuLac archives)

Senator John Yudichak shocked the Pennsylvania political world Tuesday when he advised he was leaving the Democratic Party. Yudichak’s change will not affect the way his office does business but it does make an impact on the Pennsylvania Senate. Currently the Pa Senate is comprised of 27 Republicans, 21 Democrats and now one Independent. There is one seat vacant.
Yudichak on the Senate level has now become a free agent. While the Republicans hold a majority, the newly minted I, (not a D or an R) can navigate the choppy waters of Harrisburg. The decision to caucus with the Republicans  is very interesting. Will it enhance his stature as a Senator and help the 14th Senatorial district? Time will tell on that one.
Reaction from the local Democratic Party was shock. Then anger. I’m sure a lot of Dems will be going through all the stages of grief. Politicians have changed parties in Luzerne County for years. Ed Wideman was a Republican and turned Democrat in the 60s. Frank Trinisewski changed from a Republican to a Democrat. Tom Stish switched his allegiance as a State Representative in the 90s from Democratic to Republican. All but Wideman paid an immediate political price.
Trinisewski lost a bid for the State Senate seat held by Ray Musto in 1990 and shortly resigned as Commissioner. Stish was trounced in 1992 by Todd Eachus and has not been heard from since. Yudichak’s saving grace is that he did not turn to the other major party. Being an Independent frees him of any allegiance to party and can even elevate him to higher stature. Not quite that of statesman but pretty close.
The currency in politics is notoriety. Yudichak has gained instant name recognition across the state. That will come in handy since it is no secret Yudichak always wanted to be Governor. The guy might deny it but anyone involved in politics who has been successful always has their eye on the top job. 
Look at the benches for the Governor's race. The Dems have an embarrassment of riches with Josh Shapiro the Attorney General and Jon Fetterman.  You might want to throw Katie McGinty in there along with Joe Sestak. Who's occupying that GOP side as a possible candidate for Governor? You'd be hard pressed to name one at this point, right? Then there's the 8 year cycle for Gubernatorial races. Tom Wolf broke that in 2014 by upending Tom Corbett but I'm betting that was an anomaly. After eight years of a Democrat, might Pennsylvania voters be ready for an Independent Republican, non partisan guy like Yudichak? The only thing that might stop him is the extreme right wing of the party. He may not appear to be ideologically pure but maybe after 4 years of Trump and impotent GOP lapdogs in Washington, who knows that might reverse itself and be relegated to the dustbin of history.
2022 is a few years away but he has made himself a viable alternative to both parties. With Jon Fetterman looming large (no size jokes intended) Yudichak might be a perfect GOP nominee. That said, parties sometimes will not embrace what they deem as a turncoat or an opportunist.
Local Democrats are always saying that Yudichak was the cause of the tepid success of the Dems. Far from it. At every event I’ve been to, Yudichak has been supportive and rallied the troops. The lack of success by the Democrats comes from the dilution of party loyalty since the institution of the County Council system. No job, no foot soldiers. Plus that doesn’t mean much anymore. Even people who owe their jobs to a friend are protected by unions. With more transparency, some may not want to put themselves in a line of fire either.
Yudichak’s main focus is working for the average Pennsylvanians who have been squished by the economics of the state. Given the way Donald Trump appealed to working class voters and the migration of some to the Republicans and Independents, Yudichak has made himself “an every man fusion candidate. One wins an election in Pennsylvania not by ideology but by making themselves a reasonable alternative.
While this decision might seem crazy and unreasonable to some, Yudichak has always had the pulse of the people in his mind and heart. There will be hurdles to overcome but in a few years time, this might go down in Pennsylvania political history as a brilliant move. The old party structures have faded and Yudichak is getting out now while the getting is good. As a longtime admirer and political friend, Lulac wishes him well.

IMPEACHMENT DOES NOT OVER TURN THE ELECTION

Ohio scholastic accused molester and Congressman Jim Jordan kept yammering the other day that “Impeachment overturns the 20`16 election. IT DOES NOT. If Trump gets convicted by the Senate, Mike Pence becomes President. How the hell does that overturn an election? Jordan is not only spouting fears and lies but is a moron.

CASEY, COLLEAGUES INTRODUCE SENATE VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN REAUTHORIZATION ACT

SENATE DEMOCRATS INTRODUCE BILL TO PROTECT AMERICANS AFFECTED BY INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE

United States Senator Bob Casey (Photo: LuLac archives)

U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) and his Senate Democratic colleagues introduced a companion bill to the House-passed Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act. The bill, which would reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) through 2024, includes a number of additional improvements to the current law.

Passing the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act would help improve criminal justice and community-based responses to domestic violence and provide resources to crack down on sex trafficking. It would help to prevent intimate partner homicides by prohibiting individuals convicted of misdemeanor stalking from possessing firearms. Further, this legislation would preserve and expand housing protections for survivors and enhance judicial and law enforcement tools through reauthorization of the Justice Department’s STOP Violence Against Women Formula Program, known as the STOP Program.
“Congress must move swiftly to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act, the cornerstone of federal law that provides support and protection for victims of intimate partner violence,” said Senator Casey. “The House passed its VAWA reauthorization bill on April 4, and I urge my colleagues across the aisle to support the Senate version of the bill. Every day we fail to renew VAWA, we fail to protect women from violence.”
“I’ve been working with Senator Ernst on a bipartisan path forward and plan to continue those negotiations. Given the overwhelming House vote and the strength of that bill, however, now is the right time to introduce it,” said Senator Feinstein. “Make no mistake, there’s a dire need for this legislation. A quarter of American women will be the victim of physical violence by an intimate partner during their lifetimes. More than a third of all women will be raped, assaulted or stalked. And the numbers are worse for Native American women, of whom some 84 percent will experience violence. Making VAWA stronger will help us lower those tragic numbers.”
Senator Casey cosponsored the 2013 Violence Against Women Act reauthorization, which expired in April. In Pennsylvania, an estimated 122 victims died from domestic violence incidents last year, 68 percent of whom were killed by a current or former intimate partner.

CARTWRIGHT REINTRODUCES BILL TO HELP AMERICANS FOLLOW THE POLITICAL DARK MONEY TRAIL

Congressman Matt Cartwright (Photo; LuLac archives) 

Representative Matt Cartwright reintroduced legislation to make sure we all know where corporate political money is going.
The Openness in Political Expenditures Now (OPEN) Act would require corporations to disclose political spending in their regular reports to shareholders. This bill would also cap political spending by tax-exempt 501(c)(4) organizations—which currently do not have to disclose their donors—in order to prevent groups from using their tax-exempt status to funnel millions of dollars into our elections at the taxpayer’s expense.
“Voters should set the terms of political debate in this country, not large corporations or dark money special interest groups,” said Rep. Cartwright. “That’s why I believe it’s time to shine a light on corporate political spending. Americans deserve to know who is paying to influence our elections.”
In January 2010, the Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision on Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, declared that the government may not prohibit political spending by corporations in candidate elections. However, then-Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy’s court opinion stated that “the Government may regulate corporate political speech through disclaimer and disclosure requirements.”
Specifically, the OPEN Act would amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 by:
Requiring corporations to disclose information on any significant political expenditure as part of their regular, periodic reports to their shareholders or members, and
Capping the amount of political spending a 501(c)(4) can engage in and still be considered an exclusively social welfare-focused organization at 10% of its annual spending or $10 million annually, whichever is lower.
The bill is supported by Public Citizen, a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization, and Common Cause, a nonpartisan government watchdog organization.
“With multi-national corporations spending millions of dollars in secret political money in recent years, all Americans deserve to know who is trying to influence our voices and our votes,” said Aaron Scherb, director of legislative affairs at Common Cause. “The OPEN Act would require much-needed transparency and accountability to ensure that corporations couldn’t hide the identities of those seeking to buy influence in Washington. From introducing the OPEN Act and the Time Off to Vote Act, as well as his strong support for H.R. 1 (the For thePeople Act), Common Cause commends Representative Cartwright for his longstanding leadership on democracy reform issues.”

MEDIA MATTERS

WALN TV

BOLD GOLD COMMUNITY FORUM

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.

ECTV LIVE

Lackawanna County's Director of Arts and Culture Maureen McGuigan joins ECTV Live host David DeCosmo during the week of November 25th to unveil plans for this year's downtown Marketplace and the annual Festival of Trees.
ECTV Live is seen three times daily on Comcast channel 19 and is also available on the electric city television YouTube page!

BUDDY RUMCHEK

Want to hear some great parodies on the news? Tune in to WILK Radio at 6:20 and 8:20 AM on Mondays. As Ralph Cramden used to say, “It’s a laugh riot!”

BOBBY V’S DOO WOP SOCK HOP

SUNDAY NIGHTS!

1969

Our 1969 logo.

Singer Janis Joplin was arrested at the Curtis Hixon Convention Center in Tampa, Florida and charged with obscenity for using profanity while addressing the police during a concert. Tampa police allowed her to finish her set of seven songs before arresting her backstage. She posted a $504 bond and was released [62]. Her hearing date in municipal court would be postponed four times. On March 4, 1970, she would be fined $200 and costs after failing to appear for a scheduled trial date . Joplin would die of a heroin dose exactly seven months later……..J002E3", which would return to Earth orbit 33 years later, began its journey during the "CSM-LM separation" phase of the Apollo 12 mission. The object had been the third and last stage of the Saturn V rocket that had brought the Apollo 12 crew to lunar orbit, and at 16:16 UTC, was separated from the command module Yankee Clipper and the lunar module Intrepid. The rocket stage engines were fired to send it away from the Moon, with the intention of putting it into orbit around the Sun. For decades, the third stage continued its heliocentric orbit until April, 2002, when its path took it near Earth’s L1 Lagrange point and entered Earth orbit. The object would be discovered by Canadian amateur astronomer Bill Yeung on September 3, 2002, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) would determine that J002E3, was "the first known case of an object being captured by the Earth" J002E3's orbital path was such that JPL calculated that it would leave Earth orbit again in June, 2003…..

Apollo 12 astronauts Pete Conrad and Alan Bean landed the lunar module Intrepid at the northern edge of the crater Mare Cognitum within the Oceanus Procellarum ("Ocean of Storms") area, at 0655 UTC (1:55 Florida time), becoming the third and fourth humans to reach the surface of the Moon Conrad became the third person to walk on the Moon, at 1145 UTC and Bean alighted almost half an hour later at 1214 UTC. Richard F. Gordon remained in orbit, piloting the mothership Yankee Clipper. The landing was made to come close to the Surveyor 3 lunar probe that had arrived on the Moon two years and seven months earlier, on April 19, 1967, and set down only 200 metres (660 ft) away. A plan to televise live color images from the Moon was ruined after Bean accidentally pointed the camera at the Sun, burning out the imaging tube…..Edson Arantes do Nascimento of Brazil, known worldwide as Pelé, became the first professional soccer football player to score 1,000 goals in a career. O Milésimo ("The Thousandth") came in the 77th minute of play during a penalty kick for his team, Santos, against CR Vasco da Gama at Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro [71] and was made past goalkeeper Norberto Andrada. The milestone, anticipated around the globe, also proved to be the margin of victory in Santos' 2 to 1 win over Vasco da Gama ...All 14 people on board Mohawk Airlines Flight 411 were killed when the Fairchild FH-227B crashed in New York's Adirondack Mountains during a short flight from Albany to Glens Falls
.. Astronauts Pete Conrad and Alan Bean ascended from the Moon and docked with the orbiter Yankee Clipper. After re-entering the orbiter, the astronauts sent the lunar module Intrepid rocketing back toward the Moon, crashing it into the lunar surface at a speed of 3,700 miles per hour (6,000 km/h) in order to measure the impact of an object of known weight and speed to serve as a standard for evaluating future seismological readings. The Intrepid crash left a man-made elliptical lunar crater measuring 20 feet (6.1 m) by 40 feet (12 m), and roughly 20 inches (510 mm) deep

Haynesworth with Nixon 

Senator Joe Tydings of Maryland (Photo: wikipedia)

By a margin of 45 "yes" to 55 "no", the United States Senate rejected the nomination of Clement Haynsworth to be an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court All 100 U.S. Senators participated in a roll call vote, in alphabetical order, that took 11 minutes to complete. The "no" vote from Maryland senator Joe Tydings marked 51 against 44 "yes", ending the possibility of confirmation. Tydings paid a political price in the next election but this was when Senators had the courage of their convictions and the number one song in America and LuLacland was
“Smile A Little Smile For Me” by The Flying Machine.