The LuLac Edition #4,804, September 8th, 2022
CARTWRIGHT EVENT SATURDAY
OZ BREAKS WITH TRUMP ON 2020 ELECTION
Donald Trump isn’t going to like this, but Dr. Mehmet Oz admits he would have approved certifying Joe Biden as president had he been in office in 2021.
Although the former president pushed Oz towards running for the Pennsylvania Senate seat that previously belonged to outgoing Republican Pat Toomey, Oz apparently doesn’t believe Trump’s “big lie” that the 2020 election was stolen.
During an interview with NBC’s Vaughn Hillyard, the former TV Doc and rumored New Jersey resident said that if he had been in office when the election was certified, he wouldn’t have objected to the congressional process that made Biden president.
“I would not have objected to it. By the time the delegates & those reports were sent to the U.S. Senate, our job was to approve it, which is what I would have done,” Oz said.
Although some voters might give Oz credit for candor, his comments could come back to hurt him with Trump, whose major litmus test, Raw Story notes, is whether they back him as the 2020 winner.
The news website also noted that Oz seemed unfamiliar with the impeachment process: Only members of Congress vote on impeachment. If Oz had been Senator at the time of the certification, he would have only voted whether or not to hear witnesses in the trial, or if he wanted to acquit Trump. (Huffington Post)
‘CLEAR AND PRESENT THREAT TO DEMOCRACY’: GOP EX-DEFENSE SECRETARY WANTS DONALD TRUMP PROSECUTED
Former GOP Senator and Defense Secretary William Cohen (Photo: CNN)
Former U.S. Secretary of Defense William Cohen says he agrees that Donald Trump is a “clear and present threat to democracy,” and adds his possession of classified documents including one revealing the nuclear capabilities of a foreign government is “offense enough” for him to be “subject to criminal prosecution.”
Cohen, a Republican and former U.S. Congressman and U.S. Senator from Maine, served as President Bill Clinton’s Defense Secretary. He noted that if he had the same documents in his house where he left office as Donald Trump did, “I would be in handcuffs.”
Late Tuesday night The Washington Post reported that a “document describing a foreign government’s military defenses, including its nuclear capabilities, was found by FBI agents who searched former president Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence and private club last month, according to people familiar with the matter, underscoring concerns among U.S. intelligen“Some of the seized documents detail top-secret U.S. operations so closely guarded that many senior national security officials are kept in the dark about them,” the Post continued. “Only the president, some members of his Cabinet or a near-Cabinet-level official could authorize other government officials to know details of these special-access programs.”
MSNBC Wednesday morning, “We go back to the January 6th committee, where Judge Luttig — a very conservative judge — said that Donald Trump is a ‘clear and present threat to democracy,’” Mediate reported. “That’s been confirmed over and over.”
“The notion that the former president had documents, highly classified documents, in his possession and in unsafe circumstances, or any circumstances, puts our nation at risk, potentially. So, I think there’s no justification. There’s no way they can say, ‘oh, it’s a mistake.’ I think that’s been disproved, and anyone who says that is flat-out lying.”
Cohen also suggested the discovery of the nuclear document is a game-changer for how Attorney General Merrick Garland will move the investigation forward.
“I think the Justice Department is going about it very methodically and very deferentially,” Cohen said. “I think that time has come to an end.”ce officials about classified material stashed in the Florida property.”
REP. CARTWRIGHT ANNOUNCES $154,000 FOR MINORITY-OWNED SMALL BUSINESSES IN LUZERNE COUNTY
Congressman Matt Cartwright (Photo: LuLac archives)
U.S. Representative Matt Cartwright announced $154,000 for The Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Business & Industry (CBI) from the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) for their Connect Inclusive Program. This funding will support 40 Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (DBEs), 14 communities and 100 participants in the Luzerne County by offering support and training for business owners to promote their economic success and growth.
“A thriving and diverse business community is not only essential to the economic prosperity of our region, but also makes our cities and towns more exciting and attractive places to live and work,” said Rep. Cartwright. “I am proud the Appalachian Regional Commissions sees the value in investing in the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Business & Industry as they work to meet the growing demand for support for minority and women-owned businesses. I am grateful for the work Lindsey Griffin and her entire team do to ensure that these businesses succeed.”
Between 2010 and 2020, Luzerne County saw a significant increase in the diversity of its demographics. Responding to that change, the Greater Wyoming Valley Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Business & Industry (CBI) created the Connect Inclusive program for DBE owners. A DBE is defined as a small business 51% owned by a socially and economically disadvantaged individuals such as women, Black Americans, Hispanic Americans, Native Americans, Asian-Pacific Americans or other minority groups. The Chamber offers financial literacy courses, a mentorship program, direct technical assistance to DBEs and substantial outreach efforts in traditionally underserved communities.
"The Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Business & Industry (CBI), in partnership with The Institute and the Wilkes University Small Business Development Center (SBDC), are proud and excited to announce their ARC Grant Award for the Connect Inclusive program (CIP). This important initiative will address systemic and historical barriers to entrepreneurship and business growth that individuals from minority communities experience by providing accessible and inclusive resources for disadvantaged business enterprises, providing them with all stages of education and technical resources to start-up or continue to grow their business,” said Lindsay Griffin-Boylan, President & CEO of the Greater Wyoming Valley Chamber of Commerce and Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Business & Industry. “We are thankful to ARC and the support for this program from Congressman Cartwright and all of our elected officials and partners as it will provide a vital resource to our region for continued business growth and success.”
"We are thrilled to have the opportunity to reach these populations of business enterprises and aspiring entrepreneurs in our region through Connect Inclusive. Giving disenfranchised communities access to these much-needed business development resources will ensure their success in building out and expanding their ventures – which can only make this region more vibrant, our businesses and community more culturally enriched, and our resources more connected than ever before,” said Shanie Mohamed, Director of Economic Development for the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Business & Industry.
Since 1965, the Appalachian Regional Commission has been supporting the economic development needs of 423 counties across 13 states in the Appalachian Region. A partnership between the federal government and those 13 states, ARC has transformed Appalachian communities, created jobs and strengthened regional economies.
CASEY, COLLEAGUES PUSH FOR BETTER CONSUMER PROTECTIONS FOR USERS OF PEER-TO-PEER PAYMENT APPS
SENATORS NOTE CONCERNING TREND OF SENIORS LOSING MONEY USING APPLICATIONS LIKE ZELLE, CASH APP, VENMO AND PAYPAL AND LACK OF CONSUMER PROTECTIONS FOR PEER-TO-PEER SCAM VICTIMS
Senator Bob Casey (Photo: LuLac archives)
U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) is leading a letter to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), pushing the agency to better protect users of peer-to-peer payment applications (P2P apps) from scams. As P2P apps like Venmo, Cash App, PayPal or Zelle have become more popular, scammers are increasingly targeting older adults on P2P platforms. Currently, banks are only required to compensate consumers who lost money to a scam for payments they didn’t authorize, making it difficult for many seniors who authorized a payment to a scammer posing as their bank.
U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) joined Senator Casey in sending the letter.
As Chairman of the Senate Committee on Aging, Senator Casey held a hearing in September 2021 about scams that particularly affect older adults. Witnesses testified that there are aren’t enough common-sense consumer protections available to older adults using P2P apps and that scams involving these platforms disproportionately affect communities of color.
“Particularly for older adults with lower incomes, losing even a few hundred dollars can be devastating. Given the increased prevalence of P2P fraud against older adults, we encourage the CFPB to move forward in issuing this guidance to provide better tools to protect themselves and their families,” wrote the Senators.
According to the FTC, P2P apps are popular with scammers because of the ease with which consumers can make payments to individuals they have never met on P2P platforms, facilitating quick purchasing decisions. The FTC has also found that older adults are increasingly using payment apps or services and, in 2020 alone, older adults reported $10 million in losses associated with complaints related to “payment apps and services.”
Read the letter to CFPB here and below.
September 1, 2022
The Honorable Rohit Chopra
Director
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
1700 G Street NW
Washington, DC 20552
Dear Director Chopra:
The Wall Street Journal recently reported that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is considering guidance to better protect users of peer-to-peer payment applications (P2P apps) such as Venmo, Cash App, PayPal and Zelle. Last year, the Senate Special Committee on Aging convened a hearing in which it received testimony about the rise of P2P apps being used as vehicles for fraud against older adults. Witnesses testified that there are too few common-sense consumer protections available to older adults using P2P apps and that scams involving these platforms appear to disproportionately affect communities of color. Particularly for older adults with lower incomes, losing even a few hundred dollars can be devastating. Given the increased prevalence of P2P fraud against older adults, we encourage the CFPB to move forward in issuing this guidance to provide better tools to protect themselves and their families.
According to Federal Trade Commission (FTC) testimony, older adults are increasingly using payment apps or services. The number of P2P-related complaints the FTC received tripled from 2019 to 2020, according to testimony to the Aging Committee. The FTC further testified that older adults reported $10 million in losses associated with complaints related to “payment apps and services” in 2020 alone. The upward trend continued in 2021, with the FTC receiving 41,900 consumer complaints regarding payment apps and services through the first nine months of the year, 12 percent of which were reported by adults ages 60 and older. The median amount reported lost during that time also grew from $240 in 2019 to $395 in 2021. Noting that the top five categories of loss were online shopping, business imposters, romance scams, miscellaneous investments and fake check scams, the FTC summarized why P2P apps are gaining favor with scammers:
…the ease with which consumers may make payments to individuals they have never met on P2P platforms facilitates quick purchasing decisions. Scammers are very good at what they do and seek out payment methods where they can gain access to funds quickly, and remain as anonymous as possible, making it difficult to track them down.
The FTC’s testimony further noted the potentially disparate racial impact of scams involving P2P apps, stating that “people living in majority Black communities filed more reports indicating the payment method was a payment service or app than people living in Latino or white communities.”
An attorney with the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) singled out the increasing prevalence of P2P apps in fraud schemes against older adults, stating “more protections are needed to give consumers a fighting chance to recover money transferred to scammers,” and that “the warnings provided by the payment apps are simply not enough to protect consumers.” The NCLC attorney noted that when improper payment does occur, current practices to recover funds include P2P apps simply asking “the financial institutions or scammers that received the funds to voluntarily return them.” Citing a recent AARP survey, she further stated that most consumers “incorrectly assumed that their payments would be protected if there was an error or fraud associated with the transaction.”
The testimony to the Aging Committee makes clear that more can and should be done to protect older adults and other consumers from scams involving P2P apps. The Journal’s reporting suggests that the CFPB is currently considering guidance to broaden the definition of unauthorized transactions, shifting some of the burden of these losses away from consumers to banks and P2P apps, the latter of which can hold consumers’ payments in uninsured accounts. We are encouraged that CFPB’s reported considerations appear to be in line with the data, concerns and recommendations raised during the Aging Committee’s frauds and scams hearing.
The NCLC’s testimony recommended that P2P apps conduct more extensive investigations when fraud occurs, prioritize fraud prevention and remediation and make customer service timelier and more accessible. These recommendations are particularly relevant in light of reports that your agency, the FTC and multiple state Attorneys General are investigating issues facing P2P app users such as debt collection practices and the way consumer complaints are handled. Taken together, these steps would better protect older adults who are increasingly targeted by scammers using P2P apps. We encourage you to move forward with the guidance under consideration, keeping in mind the disproportionate effect that frauds and scams have on communities of color and people with Limited English Proficiency.
Thank you for your ongoing attention to better protecting older adults and other consumers affected by frauds and scams.
GOV. WOLF EXPANDS VOTER REGISTRATION ACCESS FOR ELIGIBLE PENNSYLVANIA
Governor Tom Wolf (Photo: LuLac archives)
Governor Tom Wolf visited the Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg and signed Executive Order 2022-03 to greatly expand access for eligible Pennsylvanians to obtain voter registration information whenever they do business with commonwealth agencies.
“We are proud of the free and fair elections held here in the commonwealth, and that would not be possible without first providing convenient, accessible opportunities for every eligible citizen to register to vote,” Governor Wolf said. “That’s why I am designating seven additional state agencies to provide their clients with materials and information on voter registration. This work will support the dedicated county officials and thousands of local poll workers who do their part every election to ensure that anyone who wants to exercise their precious right to vote can do so.”
The executive order builds on the requirements of the federal National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA) which mandates that certain state agencies are required to provide voter registration opportunity to clients with whom they interact.
Governor Wolf’s new order designates seven agencies and programs that, as Voter Registration Distribution Agencies (VRDA), will be required to provide voter registration materials and information to their clients:
Department of State (DOS) at public Bureau of Elections, Bureau of Professional and Occupational Affairs, and Bureau of Corporations and Charitable Organizations locations
Department of Agriculture at events at the Farm Show Complex
Department of Conservation and Natural Resources at 121 state park office locations
Department of Corrections in connection with Bureau of Community Corrections services
Department of Education at library locations
Labor and Industry programs at CareerLink offices
Department of Military and Veterans Affairs at state veterans homes
Governor Wolf was joined by secretaries and representatives of the newly designated agencies, as well as voting-rights advocates from across the commonwealth.
“With 1.7 million Pennsylvanians who are eligible to vote but are not yet registered, it will be no small task to reach those individuals before the November election,” Acting Secretary of State Leigh M. Chapman said. “I thank this administration for recognizing that by collaborating with our state and federal partners to make that effort possible.”
Under the new order, the VRDAs must make available to their clients and customers critical voter education materials, including an official voter registration mail application that is not specific to any county election office, an accompanying non-postage-paid envelope and instructions explaining where the completed voter registration application should be sent. They must also display nonpartisan signs or posters in highly visible areas to indicate that official voter registration materials are available on site.
In addition, agencies and programs are to link to DOS’ online voter registration application on their internet home page until they can integrate the department’s voter registration web application into their customer portals.
The EO also designates September as Voter Registration Month and encourages NVRA and VRDAs to collaborate with DOS to further promote voter registration.
Finally, the EO directs these agencies to designate someone to be their voter registration distribution coordinator and to provide DOS with quarterly statistics to assess the effectiveness of the voter registration program. Each agency coordinator will serve on a working group, established by DOS, that will support the agencies and coordinators throughout the program’s implementation.
Under the NVRA, the following agencies and programs are already required to provide their clients the opportunity to register to vote:
Department of Human Services – county assistance offices, state mental hospitals, county mental health/intellectual disabilities programs, and intermediate care facilities
Department of Labor and Industry – Bureau of Blindness and Visual Services offices, Office of Vocational Rehabilitation offices, and Centers for Independent Living
Department of Health – Women Infants and Children (WIC) clinics
Department of Aging Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs)
Department of Education – Bureau of Special Education offices
State System of Higher Education – Student Disability Services offices
County Clerk of Orphans’ Court offices, including marriage license bureaus
Armed Forces Recruitment Centers
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Complementary Para-Transit providers
All other offices in the state that provide public assistance and all offices that provide state-funded programs primarily engaged in providing services to persons with disabilities.
During Governor Wolf’s administration, Pennsylvania voters have seen important election reforms, including the implementation of online voter registration and online mail-ballot applications, updated voting systems in all 67 counties, and Act 77 of 2019, a bipartisan measure that brought the most comprehensive voting improvements in more than 80 years, including no-excuse mail balloting for all voters who wish to vote by that method.
MEDIA MATTERS
WILK TEMPORARY LINE UP
While they try to find a replacement for Frank Andrews, WILK has extended hours of their shows. Nancy and Jason are on from 6am to 10, Crybaby Cordaro is on from 10am to 2pm so he can keep his corps of morons and Nikki Stone (bless her heart) is on 2 to 6pm. Stone Tuesday was talking about how liberals like the stocks for the electric cars. It will be fascinating to see how this plays out ratings wide.
WALN
BOLD GOLD COMMUNITY FORUM
This week's guest is State Police Trooper Robert Urban. You'll hear the program Sunday at 6 on 94.3 The Talker; 6:30 on 1400 am The Mothership and 7:30 am on 105 The River.
BOBBY V’S DOO WOP SOCK HOP SUNDAY NIGHT
1975
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19Our 1975 logo
A 6.7 magnitude earthquake struck Eastern Turkey at 12:20 pm local time, killing 2,385 people in the Diyarbakır province, mostly (1,500) in the town of Lice….The composer of "If I Were a Bee and You Were a Red, Red Rose".Sheldon Brooks passed away at the age of 89….
Four American women became the last improperly ordained priests of the Episcopal Church, as Lee McGee, Alison Palmer, Betty Rosenberg and Diane Tickell brought to 15 the number of females to receive authority "to preach the word of God and to administer His holy sacraments". These women would become known as the "Washington Four". On July 29, 1974, a group of women known as the "Philadelphia Eleven" had been the first to be ordained. At the 1976 General Convention of the church, all fifteen women were approved as priests….On a cover captioned "I Am a Homosexual", U.S. Air Force Technical Sergeant Leonard Matlovich became the first openly gay cover subject of Time magazine after being discharged from the service for admitting his sexual orientation. Author Randy Shilts would comment later that "It marked the first time the young gay movement had made the cover of a major newsweekly. To a movement still struggling for legitimacy, the event was a major turning point." Matlovich, a Vietnam War veteran with a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart, would eventually settle his lawsuit against the U.S. Air Force for $160,000 and continue his work as a spokesman for gay rights.He would die from complications of AIDS in 1988…..Welcome Back, Kotter premiered on the ABC television network in the U.S.. Starring Gabe Kaplan, the comedy introduced actor John Travolta, who played the role of student "Vinnie Barbarino"…..Riverfront Coliseum opened in Cincinnati….
The key instrumental part of this tune was taken from an etude of Chopin.
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