The LuLac Edition #5, 458, October 2nd, 2025

 

GOP LIE MACHINE HITS PA. SUPREME COURT

 

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court retention race on November 4, 2025, will determine whether three justices—Christine Donohue, Kevin Dougherty, and David Wecht—will continue to serve on the court. These justices were first elected in 2015 and have been part of a Democratic majority on the court since then.

The retention elections are nonpartisan, meaning voters will not see a Republican candidate opposing them. The outcome of these elections could significantly impact the court's decisions and influence state politics.

If voters do not retain at least two justices, the court could split with two liberals and two conservatives, potentially affecting future court decisions and the voice of the court in the upcoming presidential election.

Usually retention races are very bland. Only one Pennsylvania Supreme Court justice has ever been ousted during a retention election, and that wasn’t the result of a partisan campaign. Justice Russell Nigro lost his seat in 2005, the casualty of a rushed, furtive vote by state lawmakers to give themselves and judges a large pay hike.

Those behind the current anti-retention campaign are calling the three judges "radical" Democrats and say voters need to hold them accountable for decisions on mail-in ballots and COVID restrictions.

 

RADICAL DEMOCRATS?

 

Let’s talk about these radical Democrats. Accountable for mail in ballot decisions? All these judges were doing was ratifying a procedure that was instituted by a REPUBLICAN legislature! Leave it to the GOP LIE machine to fight against their own party proposals when the court decides for something they don’t like. Then there are the Co Vid restrictions. As of a report issued in 2024, there were 3,565,278 0 cases of Co Vid and 51,344 deaths in the state.

The court and reasonable people think 51,344 deaths are too many but this Republican party and group of billionaires are attacking these justices for keeping people safe. Apparently this PRO LIFE party really doesn’t care if people get sick or die. You must question why they are targeting three incumbents.

Since January these justices have been attacked relentlessly with  e mail Facebook posts (Walter Griffith, candidate for Luzerne County Controller) is a frequent poster of voting NO with the  flyers.

THOSE LYIN’ CRYING FLIARS!

Oh those flyers. Right out of the GOP attack book. Once more the Republican party has a hang up on sex. I’ve always said that the Republicans as a party ALWAYS bring up sex. The latest flyer stated that the Dem justices are protecting sexual predators.

Let’s address this. The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania maintains a discretionary docket, meaning that the Court may choose which cases it accepts, with the exception of mandatory death penalty appeals, and certain appeals from the original jurisdiction of the Commonwealth Court. This discretion allows the Court to wield powerful influence on the formation and interpretation of Pennsylvania law.

The flyer states something about protecting children and women as well as a decision on sexual predators. This COURT doesn’t hear criminal cases. Their job is to uphold Pennsylvania law that is already established by:

1.    The criminal code.

2.    The laws enacted by the legislature.

3.    The verdicts made by prosecutors at the county level.

PLUS MORE IMPORTANTLY, nowhere in the flyer do they mention any particular cases.

To lay this language on a flyer is a scary tactic that the Reckless Walters and Willaminas of the GOP thrive on. It means two things too:

1.    The people urging you to vote NO are unschooled in the law or how the state Constitution works.

OR

2.    They deliberately lie.

TERM LIMITS? REALLY?

 

There is another flyer about term limits. THERE ARE TERM LIMITS. They happen every ten years.

Any lawyer or lower court judge can run for a ten-year term but UNLIKE the United States Supreme Court, the United States Congress and the Pennsylvania Legislature, Judges I Pennsylvania, THESE Judges are term limited when they reach the age of 75.

So, the term limited argument does not fly.  It is nothing more than a lie to mislead gullible voters.

Voters in Luzerne County will be receiving a flyer that looks like this. When you do remember these points:

1.    It is funded by out-of-town billionaires who want Trump judges.

2.    It distorts one decision by a Court majority that also includes other justices.

3.    It defames the justices by spouting a false sexual innuendo which frustrated Republicans seem fixated on.

4.    The one sentence phrase has nothing to do with the work of the court.

5.    IT BELONGS IN THE GARBAGE. 

 

CHECK YOUR BALLOT

The race for retention is on the back page of your mail in ballot. DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP. If you have to mark your ballot from bottom to top, do it. BOTTOMS UP!

Turn the ballot over and vote YES for

DOUGHERTY

DONAHUE

WECHT

VOTE YES

Our democracy

here in Pennsylvania

DEPENDS on it.

 

WHO IS FUNDING THIS COURT FIGHT

A conservative political action committee is behind a mailer, described by one good-government advocate as “incredibly dishonest,” that urges voters to reject new terms for three state Supreme Court justices.

The PAC is closely connected to two other groups that have been highly visible in the fight to influence the Nov. 4 retention elections. All three are affiliated with GOP heavyweight Matt Brouillette, whose PACs are mostly funded by Jeff Yass, one Pa.’s richest men.

Yass was the one who tried like hell to beat Eddie Day Pashinski as well as Jim Haddock in the ’24 elections by inundating households with blatant lies and bullshit insinuations. 

Yass has a net worth of US$59 billion as of May 2025 up from $27.6 billion in April 2024.The richest man in Pennsylvania, he is also the 25th wealthiest person in the world. He is a registered Libertarian[4] who gives money to conservative super-PACs including Club for Growth Action and the Protect Freedom Political Action Committee. He and his wife Janine Yass are supporters of school choice, a cause to which they have donated tens of millions of dollars.

He is the co-founder and managing director of the Philadelphia-based trading and technology firm Susquehanna International Group (SIG) and a major investor in TikTok.After Yass and U.S President Trump met in March 2024, Trump went from supporting a ban on TikTok to opposing a ban.   He donated approximately $100M during the 2024 US election cycle to Republican groups and campaigns.  (wikipedia, LuLac) 

 

 

THE SHUTDOWN IS

ON THE GOP

So they’re admitting it. The GOP is saying that the shutdown is going to be good for the Trump administration. Take a look at what Mike Johnson said today.

 Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said Wednesday that the government shutdown could “ultimately could be a benefit” to taxpayers if the Trump administration uses the opportunity to shrink the federal government in ways that Republicans “never had the votes in the Senate to do.”

His comments came in an appearance on the Moon Griffon Show, a local radio show in Johnson’s state of Louisiana, just after a press conference in which Republican congressional leaders urged Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) to vote for a GOP seven-week funding stopgap and reopen the government.

Okay, so if the federal government takes things away, do they actually think they are going to get a big THANK YOU from people who they are screwing?

This administration has already tried to suppress free speech. To suppress benefits that people are used to is a dangerous game. This Republican administration is playing with fire.  There’ only so much you can take away from people who have so little. 

 

MEANWHILE HERE'S DAN AND ROB 

 

 

COUNTIES MUST NOTIFY VOTERS IF THEIR MAIL BALLOT WAS REJECTED, PENNSYLVANIA SUPREME COURT RULES

Voters must be notified if election officials are going to reject their mail ballots because of an error such as an incorrect date or missing signature on the return envelope, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled Friday.

In a 4-3 decision, the court ruled that Washington County erred in not notifying 2024 presidential primary voters that their mail ballots would be rejected, leaving them unaware their votes would go uncounted.

“We must interpret the Election Code and its statutory procedures in a way that ‘favors the fundamental right to vote and enfranchises, rather than disenfranchises, the electorate,’ Justice Kevin Dougherty said, writing for the majority. “Reading the Code as allowing county boards to withhold readily available information from voters does not serve that goal.”

The decision, in combination with another ruling last year from the high court, means that voters across the state will have at least some rights to be notified and have some recourse if their mail ballots are at risk of being rejected because of mistakes.

Before the 2024 primary, the Republican majority on Washington County’s board of elections opted not to notify voters of mistakes with their mail ballots that would cause their votes to be disqualified, such as a missing date or signature, or being returned without a secrecy envelope. That left voters with no way to know about those errors or fix them to ensure their vote could be counted.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court had previously ruled that state law doesn’t require counties to give voters a chance to fix errors with their ballots, but it also doesn’t prohibit the practice either. As a result, many counties adopted such a process to tell voters of their mistakes and give them another chance, referred to as “notice and cure.”

More than half of counties do this, according to a Votebeat and Spotlight PA analysis.

During the primary, Washington County gave voters no warning if their ballot had an error that would result in it being rejected, even though it acknowledged receiving them. When Washington County received a mail ballot back from a voter, it used only generic codes in the state’s ballot tracking system to indicate the ballot had been received, rather than more specific codes that could indicate whether there is a problem that prevents the ballot from being counted. These codes generate distinct emails to voters, and the more specific codes would have generated emails that informed voters their ballots were at risk of rejection.

Ultimately, Washington County rejected 259 mail ballots during the primary for issues with a signature or date on the outer envelope, or for being returned without an inner secrecy envelope. That was roughly 2.2% of mail ballots returned to the county.

Statewide, roughly 8,500 ballots in the 2024 primary, or 1.22% of those returned, were rejected for one or more of those errors, according to an analysis of Pennsylvania Department of State data.

Some counties, including Allegheny, send the defective ballot back to the voter with instructions on how to fix the error, as well as a new return envelope. That method enabled voters there to fix nearly 62% of the defective mail ballots in the spring primary. Chester County tells voters to come into the elections office with ID and fix it in person. Delaware County cancels the defective ballot and issues a new one.

The ACLU and Public Interest Law Center sued Washington County — on behalf of seven voters, the local NAACP branch, and the Center for Coalfield Justice — arguing that by not informing the voters that their ballots were at risk of rejection, the Washington County had violated the voters’ constitutional due process rights and denied them the opportunity to challenge the decision or cast provisional ballots.

Washington County Court of Common Pleas Judge Brandon Neuman agreed with the organizations, writing that under the state Election Code, voters have a right to challenge the decision by a county board of elections to reject their ballot, and to cast a provisional ballot. If they don’t know their ballot was rejected, he wrote, they can’t exercise those rights.

He ordered the county to change its process for what codes it uses when receiving ballots, so voters better understand that their ballot is at risk of rejection.

Washington County appealed the decision to Commonwealth Court, joined by state and national Republican groups that had intervened in the case. Last September, Commonwealth Court upheld the lower court ruling 2-1 that the county had to provide notice so that the voters’ due process rights could be maintained.

Shortly before the 2024 presidential election, the state Supreme Court also ruled that if a county rejects a voter’s mail ballot, they must count a valid provisional ballot if the voter casts one on Election Day.

In combination, the two rulings mean some version of “notice and cure” will exist in all 67 counties

The case was one of the last remaining major pieces of litigation stemming from Act 77, the 2020 law that enacted no-excuse mail-in voting in Pennsylvania.

Another case pending before the state Supreme Court, which has yet to be decided on, deals with whether ballots should be rejected if voters fail to write a date on the ballot return envelope.

 

TRUMP STAMMERS AND

RAMBLES BEFORE MILITARY

The President of the United States spoke incoherently before an audience of military generals, admirals and what they refer to as “the brass”. The speech which he insisted om giving was pure nonsense. Here’s the bases he covered.

He bloviated about red stale and predictable nonsense. The president rambled about tariffs, the Nobel Peace Prize, his contempt for Democrats, his contempt for independent news organizations, the paper stock at the White House, how impressed he is with his own signature, his belief that his 2020 election defeat was “rigged,” his desire to add Canada to the United States, Joe Biden and the autopen, and his affection for the “Gulf of America” label.

This was bad enough. Then Trump started to talk about how the military can be used in United States cities. Here’s what NPR summarized.

President Trump defended the use of U.S. troops in American cities and told top U.S. commanders that the military would be used against the ‘enemy within.’ ... ‘This is going to be a big thing for the people in this room, because it’s the enemy from within, and we have to handle it before it gets out of control,’ Trump told those gathered for the highly unusual event at Quantico, Va. ‘It won’t get out of control once you’re involved at all.’

The Enemy from within? That was a book written by J. Edgar Hoover, the former FBI Director. Hoover back then was worried about Communist infiltration by outsiders and people within the government enabling them. This is something all together different in the sense that Trump’s policies are designed to destroy American trust in government and ultimately in each other. (MSNBC, NPR, LuLac)  

 

BRESNAHAN TO REFUSE PAY DURING POTENTIAL GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN; COSPONSORS LEGISLATION TO MANDATE PAY FOR MILITARY, BORDER PATROL

Congressman Rob Bresnehan (Photo: LuLac archives)

U.S. Representative Rob Bresnahan, Jr.  sent a letter to Catherine Szpindor, the Chief Administrative Officer of the U.S. House, asking his pay be withheld should the government shut down on October 1.

“I am deeply disappointed Congress is once again approaching the brink of a potential government shutdown…” wrote Rep. Bresnahan. “In solidarity with my constituents, who expect Congress to do the most basic part of our job by keeping the government open, I will refuse to accept any of my paychecks during a government shutdown, and I ask you withhold any of my pay while the federal government remains shuttered.”

Rep. Bresnahan voted for H.R. 5371, Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2026, which would extend government funding through November 21, 2025. This continuing resolution (CR) currently sits with the U.S. Senate.

“I was proud to vote for a CR to keep the government open while work continues on the full appropriations process,” said Rep. Bresnahan. “But, until we cross the finish line, the buck stops here – literally.”

 Rep. Bresnahan is a cosponsor of several pieces of legislation addressing pay during a government shutdown, specifically:

H.R. 5401, Pay Our Troops Act, which would ensure members of the U.S. Armed Forces, including the Coast Guard, continue receiving pay and benefits in the event of a government shutdown. Rep. Bresnahan is an original cosponsor of this legislation.

H.R. 5260, Pay Our Border Patrol and Customs Agents Act, which would authorize pay for U.S. Border Patrol and officers of the Office of Field Operations who are required to work during a government shutdown.

H.R. 1973, No Pay for Congress During Default or Shutdown Act, which would mandate that if Congress fails to fund the government, lawmakers’ salaries will be immediately and automatically withheld.

“Our constituents’ daily lives cannot stop when the government shuts down, continued Rep. Bresnahan. “When the government shuts down, hundreds of thousands of members of the military and federal law enforcement continue to serve our country, with no guarantee of receiving a paycheck at the end of the day. These bills guarantee they receive their well-deserved paychecks, and that Members of Congress are not paid until we do our jobs. I will continue to fight every day for our military, law enforcement, and all who put their lives on the line for our freedoms.”

 

THAT STATED

REMEMBER THIS

 

WITH 144,000 AT RISK OF LOSING BENEFITS, SHAPIRO ADMINISTRATION IS HELPING PENNSYLVANIANS UNDERSTAND NEW FEDERAL SNAP WORK REPORTING REQUIREMENTS IN REPUBLICAN BUDGET BILL

Governor Josh Shapiro (Photo” LuLac archives)

The Shapiro Administration visited Philadelphia Works to explain the impact of the Republican budget bill on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and what Pennsylvanians need to know about new work and reporting requirements that are now in effect.

Department of Human Services (DHS) Secretary Dr. Val Arkoosh highlighted the federal changes, which took effect September 1, and how the Department is helping SNAP recipients meet the requirements and maintain their benefits.

"Nearly two million Pennsylvanians receive life-sustaining food benefits from SNAP every month. It is this extra bit of help putting food on their tables that enables people to go to school, work, and live healthy lives with the dignity we all deserve," said Secretary Arkoosh. "Our team at DHS is focused on helping Pennsylvanians navigate these federal changes through new resources like a dedicated website, partnerships with community organizations that will help connect SNAP recipients to work and volunteer opportunities, and simplifying processes to make reporting as easy as possible for those affected by these federal requirements. By working together, we are committed to ensuring that Pennsylvanians who need and qualify for SNAP keep those benefits so that they can feed themselves and their families."

 

 

MEDIA MATTERS

WALN

WVIA PUBLIC MEDIA

BOLD GOLD COMMUNITY FORUM

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.

 

THE LAURIE CADDEN SHOW

Tune in every Saturday morning at 9am for The Laurie Cadden Show on WILK FM 103.1 and AM 980 and 910. Laurie’s program has been a northeastern Pennsylvania mainstay every Saturday. Tune in to hear her insights and take on local issues as well as entertaining and informative interviews.

 

BOBBY V’S DOO WOP SUNDAY NIGHT SOCK HOP

BEATLE EDD’S FAB FOUR MUSIC HOUR

Tune in every week to the Home of Rock and Roll for a jam packed, unpredictable hour starting at 9am Sundays. Host Edd Raineri gives you facts and great music from the immortal Fab Four on ROCK 107.

 

THE LU LAC TIME MACHINE

WARS IN THE ‘90s

 

It is amazing to see that in the 90s thee world was in turmoil, but many are hard pressed tp remember just how many wars there were in the county. Here is a catalogue of each one of these declared wars.

International wars

The Congo Wars began in the 1990s.

The First Congo War (24 October 1996 – 16 May 1997) resulted in the overthrow of dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, following his 32-year rule of Zaire, which was then renamed the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The Second Congo War (August 1998 – July 2003) started in Central Africa and involved multiple nearby nations.

The Gulf War (2 August 1990 – 28 February 1991).

Iraq was left in severe debt after the Iran–Iraq War in the 1980s. President Saddam Hussein accused Kuwait of flooding the oil market, therefore driving down prices. As a result, Iraqi forces invaded and conquered Kuwait.

The UN (United Nations) immediately condemned the action and a coalition force led by the United States was sent to the Persian Gulf. Aerial bombing of Iraq began in January 1991, and one month later, the UN forces drove the Iraqi army from Kuwait in four days.

Two wars were fought in the region of Chechnya:

The First Chechen War (1994–1996) was a conflict between the Russian Federation and the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. After the initial campaign of 1994–1995, culminating in the devastating Battle of Grozny, Russian federal forces attempted to seize control of the mountainous area of Chechnya. Despite Russia's overwhelming manpower, weaponry, and air support, they were set back by Chechen guerrillas and raids on the flatlands. The resulting widespread demoralization of Russian federal forces, and the universal[citation needed] opposition of the Russian public to the conflict, led Boris Yeltsin's government to declare a ceasefire in 1996 and sign a peace treaty a year later.

The Second Chechen War (1999 – 2009) was started by the Russian Federation in response to the 1999 invasion of Dagestan and the Russian apartment bombings, which were blamed on the Chechens. In this military campaign, Russian forces largely recaptured the separatist region of Chechnya[citation needed] and the outcome of the First Chechen War – in which the region gained de facto independence as the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria – was essentially reversed.

The Eritrean–Ethiopian War (1998–2000) was commenced by the invasion of Ethiopia by Eritrea due to a territorial dispute.[10] The conflict resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides[11] and a peace agreement in December 2000.[12]

The Kargil War (1999) began in May when Pakistan covertly sent troops to occupy strategic peaks in Kashmir. A month later, the Kargil War with India resulted in a political fiasco for Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, followed by a Pakistani military withdrawal to the Line of Control. The incident led to a Pakistani military coup in October, in which Sharif was ousted by Army Chief Pervez Musharraf. This conflict remains the only war fought between the two declared nuclear powers.

Executive council building burns in Sarajevo after being hit by Bosnian Serb artillery in the Bosnian War.

The Yugoslav Wars (1991–1995) followed the breakup of Yugoslavia, beginning on 25 June 1991, after the republics of Croatia and Slovenia declared independence from Yugoslavia. These wars were notorious for war crimes and human rights violations, including ethnic cleansing and genocide, with the overwhelming majority of casualties being Muslim Bosniaks.

The Ten-Day War (1991) was a brief military conflict between Slovenian TO (Slovenian Territorial Defence) and the Yugoslav People's Army ("JNA") following Slovenia's declaration of independence.

The Croatian War of Independence (1991–1995) was fought in modern-day Croatia between the Croatian government (having declared independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia) and both the Yugoslav People's Army ("JNA") and Serb forces, who established the self-proclaimed Republic of Serbian Krajina ("RSK") within Croatia.

The Bosnian War (1992–1995) involved several ethnically-defined factions within Bosnia and Herzegovina: Bosniaks, Serbs, and Croats, as well as a smaller Bosniak faction led by Fikret Abdić. The Siege of Sarajevo (1992–1995) marked the most violent urban warfare in Europe since World War II at that time, as Serb forces bombarded and attacked Bosnian-controlled and populated areas of the city. War crimes occurred, including ethnic cleansing and the destruction of civilian property.

The final fighting in the Croatian and Bosnian wars ended in 1995 with the success of Croatian military offensives against Serb forces. This led to the mass exodus of Serbs from Croatia, Serb losses to Croat and Bosniak forces, and the signing of the Dayton Agreement, which internally partitioned Bosnia and Herzegovina into a Republika Srpska and a Bosniak-Croat Federation.

The Kosovo War (1998–1999) was a war between Albanian separatists and Yugoslav military and Serb paramilitary forces in Kosovo. That conflict began in 1996 and escalated in 1998, with increasing reports of atrocities.

In 1999, the NATO, led by the United States, launched air attacks against Yugoslavia (then composed of only Serbia and Montenegro) to pressure the Yugoslav government to end its military operations against Albanian separatists in Kosovo. The intervention lacked UN approval yet was justified by NATO based on accusations of war crimes committed by Yugoslav military forces working alongside nationalist Serb paramilitary groups. Finally, after months of bombing, Yugoslavia conceded to NATO's demands, and NATO forces (later UN peacekeeping forces) occupied Kosovo.

The South African Border War (1990) was a border war between Zambia, Angola, and Namibia that began in 1966 and ended in 1990..and twenty years before the 90s were just a twinkle in history’s eye, Edwin Starr had one of the top songs in America called “War”.