Rated one of Pennsylvania's top blog/sites, the LuLac Political Letter delves into issues of politics on all levels (with special concentration on Luzerne and Lackawanna Counties: thus the name LULAC) and pop culture.
The LuLac Political Letter was also named Best Political Blog of the Year for 2014 by NEPA BLOGCON and most recently David Yonki was named Best Blogger of the year 2015 by the publication Diamond City.
Saturday, April 05, 2025
The LuLac Edition #5, 290, April 5th, 2025
TRUMP
TARIFFS
AND TAX CUTS SCREW MIDDLE CLASS
Hey
MAGAs, thanks for nothing in terms of screwing with hard-working middle-class
Americans. By your vote, by your blind fear of a woman being President vs a
felonious blowhard, you have now hurt yourselves, your friends and neighbors.First off, let’s look at the Tariffs.
Trump
announced his most wide-ranging slate of tariffs yet on Wednesday afternoon,
imposing a 10 percent baseline tax on imports from nearly all foreign
countries, along with tariffs of up to 50 percent on dozens of nations.
These
tariffs will raise consumer prices and will force our trade partners to
retaliate Americans will become poorer because of these tariffs.
If you
think this will be a golden age, it won’t but it will be a return to the global
economic catastrophe of the Smoot-Hawley tariffs of the 1930s that will
disproportionately hurt low income and hardworking Americans,
Do you
actually think that a person who invested his sweat and toiled long hours to
have a sustaining business all of a sudden will eat the cost and save consumers
money? If they did that would be socialism, a thing the GOP has accused the
Democrats of being.
Who will
pay?
The
uniformed, short sighted taxpayers that not only ONCE but TWICE fell for
Trump’s bullshit.
You
better believe that American consumers, families, and workers will feel real
pain, and elected policymakers in Washington hopefully will be held accountable
by voters.
The
Smoot-Hawley tariffs are widely blamed for plunging the U.S. deeper into the
Great Depression. Despite this, Trump claimed Wednesday that the depression
would not have happened if tariffs had continued.
The
tariffs also upend decades of careful financial negotiations with partners and
financial institutions. Plus, it is interesting that Russia, North Korea and
Cuba were not on Trump’s list. If anything, this proves that thisbuffoon is some kind of agent or else an
ignorant slob.
Then
there are the tax cuts. All of this money realized by this administration will
go to the rich. The middle class tax
cut, if there is one will be obliterated by higher inflation on goods and
services. Last time America was told that the tax cuts would pay for themselves
through investments by major companies.
You know
what they did? Took it for themselves. And just a reminder, LuLac land, here
are the guys, all millionaires by the way, who WANT that second round of tax
cuts.
The line
up
THE ROOKIE KID
THE BEST BOSS EVER (NOT)
THE INVISIBLE SENATOR (only seen when
needed to vote)
These are
the guys that looked you in the eye and conned you into thinking they gave a
shit about YOU!
To local
voters who EVEN THINK of voting for ANY MAGA REPUBLICAN in this general
election, you’re misguided. All of them supported the “policies” of Trump.
Policies
that SCREW YOU.
SUSAN STRIPTEASE
STRIKES AGAIN
The
tiresome striptease act of Senator Susan Collins of Maine continues. Collins says she is “concerned” about language
in the budget resolution that she fears could result in substantial cuts to
Medicaid benefits.
Oh coy
Susan the stripper. Brow furrowed and look of concern on those poor Medicaid
people. If she was SO concerned why has she voted in lockstep with Trumpanzees
for her entire terms?
“I’m
concerned about the instruction to the House Committee for $880 billion, it’s
the Energy and Commerce Committee in the House, which has jurisdiction over
Medicaid, because I don’t see how you can get to that amount without cutting
Medicaid benefits,” Collins told reporters.
Susan
Collins pooh poohs with “concern” but in most cases, marches her heels to the
beat of the drummer in her party. She’s a tease and people are tired of her
act.
Here are
a few points on Trump’s tariffs. We’ll break it down in the next edition. But
for now, here’s where we stand.
Sweeping
tariffs: President Donald Trump declared a national economic emergency and
announced tariffs of at least 10% across all countries, with rates going even
higher for 60 countries deemed the “worst offenders,” according to White House
officials.
China
hit hard: China, the second top importer to the US behind Mexico, will now face
a 54% tariff under the new policy. Beijing, along with the EU, Japan and South
Korea have already threatened retaliatory tariffs. Here’s what some world
leaders are saying and this is a breakdown of tariffs by country.
Markets
rattled: US stocks plunged in after-hours trading as investors digested Trump’s
decision to impose tariffs that could escalate a growing trade war and upend
the global economy.
RICH BOY
BAD
SAY
CHEESE HEADS
By a
comfortable margin, Wisconsin voters chose to preserve the state Supreme
Court's liberal majority by electing liberal judge Susan Crawford over
conservative Brad Schimel.
Musk made
the election his personal project, pouring at least $20 million into boosting
Schimel through ads, events and even handing out oversized checks and cash to
Wisconsin residents.
More than
$100 million was spent on a race for a Supreme Court seat that less than 10
years ago cost just $4 million. Of course, the stakes were much lower then.
Yet while
the results were not promising in Republicans’ first statewide test of the
second Trump administration, Trump advisers are — at least for now — brushing
off the loss, noting it was an off-year election with lower turnout than the
recent presidential race.
Maybe so.
But this race was a crucial to this state with courts redefining the way
business was done in Wisconsin. This race process a few things.
1.There’s no substitute for Trump. We found that out in the 2024 primary
where a field of candidates lost to him.
2.Musk is no Trump. While Wisconsin voters may have tolerated a thrice
divorced, four times indicted, six time bankrupted and once convicted
felon,they didn’t like his errand boy
throwing money at them.
3.To defend seats in Florida is a fool’s errand. The senior citizen
ingrates down there aren’t worth the time and effort. Dems will say we’re
closing the gap. I personally don’t want to hear that until they do what
Wisconsin did. Win by a comfortable margin.
Wisconsin
did that and for a while, stopped the slide of democracy.
TRUMP GUTS SMALL
FEDERAL AGENCY FUNDING
MUSEUMS
AND LIBRARIES
THE INSTITUTE OF MUSEUM
AND LIBRARY SERVICES ADMINISTERS GRANTS WORTH ABOUT $160 MILLION IN ALL 50
STATES.
AP reports that an agency responsible for
funding museums and libraries across the nation is the latest to be shrunk by
President Donald Trump’s cuts to the federal government, with its entire staff
apparently put on administrative leave Monday.
The Institute of Museum and Library Services,
which provides grants to “advance, support, and empower” museums, libraries and
similar institutions in the U.S. according to its website, was named in an
executive order this month along with several other agencies.
Trump’s order directed the Institute of
Museum and Library Services “be eliminated to the maximum extent consistent
with applicable law,” shrinking it down to its statutory minimum.
That’s exactly what happened on Monday, when
the agency’s roughly 75 staff were informed that they would be placed on paid
administrative leave for up to 90 days, effective immediately.
A person at the agency, granted anonymity to
discuss the issue, told POLITICO that staff learned the news from their
managers on Monday afternoon and were instructed to return their equipment and
badges before receiving an all-staff email from the director of human resources
asking them to leave the building.
Within
hours, staff were locked out of their email accounts and banned from the
premises without receiving prior permission.
These
grants make up about 3.2 million per state. They are for the preservation of
history, upkeep of libraries, Educational programs and museums which in some
cases are tourist attractions that bring in money to local communities.
Again,
the Trumpanzees have shown themselves to be unaware of history and culture.
Unaware that libraries are the citadels of knowledge. But THIS IS WHAT THEY DO!
They all
know better but prey on people who are bitter and uninformed. (AP, Politico, LuLac)
WARNING
GOP LAWMAKERS IN 10 STATES INTRODUCE BILLS
TO TREAT ABORTION AS HOMICIDE
A growing
number of Republican state lawmakers are introducing legislation that would
treat abortion as murder in a push to give legal rights to fetuses.
Since the
beginning of this year, Republican lawmakers have introduced bills in at least 10
states, including Georgia, Kentucky, Missouri, South Carolina, Texas, Oklahoma,
Indiana, Iowa, Idaho and North Dakota, that aim to charge pregnant women with
homicide if they seek out or receive an abortion.While several of these bills have
already failed to pass and the others are likely to meet the same fate, the
influx of legislation shows more Republicans seeking to take a new step in
restricting abortion rights: legally recognizing fetal personhood.
In
addition to abortion, some legislation calls for amending state law to classify
the destruction of zygotes, embryos or fetuses as homicide.
Plus, get
this. All of the states where they have been introduced, with the exception of
North Dakota, allow the death penalty for homicide cases. I know that this
sounds alarmist and almost impossible to believe. But given what has happened
in the last 10 years plus adding in the ignorance of the MAGAs and the
justification of more intelligent people for their behavior, NOTHING IS OFF THE
TABLE AT THIS POINT.
THAT TRUMP THIRD
TERM WON’T BE FROM AN
ELECTION
There’s
been a lot of talk about a Trump third term. A lot of people feel it is
bluster, some even think it is a deflection. But keep in mind Trump, upon
taking office the first time, already was indicating in the first 90 days of
2017 that he would run for a second term. This is in character for him and
should not be dismissed as pure speculation or folly.
I think
Trump might sue to overturn the Amendment that bas him rom seeking a second
term. Or he’ll run anyway and lie his way into the office. Or worse yet,
declare Martial Law because by that time the country under his leadership will
be beyond repair. It will not surprise me that all the stuff he wrecked will be
part of his logic to have people keep him in office. The country is so filled
with MAGA dumbasses, I can see that happening.
And this
isn’t just me saying this. Rep. Dan Goldman of New York compared President
Trump’s suggestion he could run for a third term to Russian President Vladimir
Putin, currently in his fifth term, saying Trump is not “imagining a democratic
election.”
“I don’t
think, by the way, that he’s imagining a democratic election for his third
term. He is trying to be Vladimir Putin,” Goldman, a frequent critic of the
president, said Monday during an appearance on MSNBC’s “Inside with Jen Psaki.”“And we all know
Vladimir Putin is in a democracy. He runs for election. It’s a bogus election.But that’s Donald Trump’s goal,” he told host
Jen Psaki, the former White House press secretary. “That’s sort of his — you
know, the ideal for who he could become, which is to ostensibly have an
election, but not really.And that’s
where he’s heading.”.
Furthermore,
It was at least the fifth time he has addressed the issue since being sworn
into office in January. U.S. presidents are prohibited from being elected to
more than two terms by the 22nd Amendment of the Constitution.(LuLac, The Hill)
GOVERNOR
SHAPIRO STANDS UP FOR PENNSYLVANIA FARMERS, APPEALS USDA'S UNLAWFUL DECISION TO
CANCEL LOCAL FOOD PURCHASING
ASSISTANCE PROGRAM
Governor Josh Shapiro (Photo: LuLac archives)
Governor
Josh Shapiro announced his Administration is appealing the U.S. Department of
Agriculture's (USDA) unlawful termination of the Local Food Purchasing
Assistance (LFPA) Program, which provides funds to Pennsylvania's farmers who
supply local food banks with fresh produce. The Governor has directed
Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture (PDA) Secretary Russell Redding to
immediately challenge USDA's abrupt and irrational decision to cancel
Pennsylvania's $13 million contract for the LFPA program - which supports 189
Pennsylvania farms and 14 food banks across the Commonwealth.
Over the
past two and a half years, the PDA has driven out more than $28 million in
federal funding from the LFPA program to local farmers across the Commonwealth
- and in return, food banks have gotten fresh, local food from Pennsylvania
farmers to help them feed our most vulnerable neighbors. That same program was
set to provide $13 million over the next three years to support the purchase of
more fresh, locally grown food for food banks. However, earlier this month, the
Shapiro Administration received notice from the federal government that they
were abruptly canceling Pennsylvania's contract. This reckless cut comes amid
increased strain the federal government is imposing on Pennsylvania farmers
through reckless tariffs.
Governor
Shapiro announced that his Administration is taking this action after hosting a
roundtable discussion with local leaders and farmers from Adams, Cumberland,
and Schuylkill counties at the Central PA Food Bank.
MEDIA MATTERS
WALN
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 LULAC TIME MACHINE
APRIL 1971
During
this week in 1971, baseball player Curt Flood's free agency suit against
baseball is upheld by the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit was
dismissed. It was part of a long slog for baseball and Flod over the reserve
clause.
He was a
center fielder who played 15 seasons in Major League Baseball for the
Cincinnati Reds, St. Louis Cardinals, and Washington Senators.
Flood was
a three-time All-Star, a Gold Glove winner for seven consecutive seasons, and
batted over .300 in six seasons. He led the National League (NL) in hits (211)
in 1964 and in singles, 1963, 1964, and 1968. Flood also led the National
League in putouts as center fielder four times and in fielding percentage as
center fielder three times. He retired with the third most games in center
field (1683) in NL history, trailing Willie Mays and Richie Ashburn.
Flood
became one of the pivotal figures in the sport's labor history when he refused
to accept a trade following the 1969 season, ultimately appealing his case to
the U.S. Supreme Court. Although his legal challenge was unsuccessful, it
brought about additional solidarity among players as they fought against
baseball's reserve clause and sought free agency.
Flood
signed with the Cincinnati Redlegs in 1956 and made a handful of appearances
for the team in 1956–57. However, Flood was deemed expendable with future star
centerfielder Vada Pinson preparing to be promoted to the majors. He was traded
to the St. Louis Cardinals in December 1957.
For the
next 12 seasons, he became a fixture in center field for St. Louis; although he
struggled at the plate from 1958 to 1960, his defensive skill was apparent. He
had his breakthrough year at the plate after Johnny Keane took over as manager
in 1961: he batted .322, followed by .296 in 1962 with 11 home runs. He
continued to improve offensively in 1963, hitting .302 and scoring a
career-high 112 runs, third-most in the NL; he also had career bests in doubles
(34), triples (9) and stolen bases (17) and collected 200 hits in an NL-leading
662 at bats. In that year he received the first of his seven consecutive Gold
Gloves.
Despite
his outstanding playing career, Flood's principal legacy developed off the
field. He believed that Major League Baseball's decades-old reserve clause was
unfair in that it kept players beholden for life to the team with which they
originally signed, even when they had satisfied the terms and conditions of
those contracts.
On
October 7, 1969, the Cardinals traded Flood, Tim McCarver, Byron Browne, and
Joe Hoerner to the Philadelphia Phillies for Dick Allen, Cookie Rojas, and
Jerry Johnson. Flood refused to report to the moribund Phillies, citing the
team's poor record and dilapidated Connie Mack Stadium, and for what he alleged
were belligerent—and racist—fans. Flood said, "That I didn't think that I
was going to report to Philadelphia, mainly because I didn't want to pick up
twelve years of my life and move to another city." Some reports say he was
also irritated that he had learned of the trade from a reporter; but Flood
wrote in his autobiography that he was told by midlevel Cardinals management
and was angry that the call did not come from the general manager, further
alienating him from Busch. He met with Phillies' general manager John Quinn,
who left the meeting believing that he had persuaded Flood to report to the
team. Flood stood to forfeit a lucrative $100,000 (equivalent to $809,683 in
2024) contract if he did not report; but after a meeting with players' union
head Marvin Miller, who informed him that the union was prepared to fund a
lawsuit, he decided to pursue his legal options.
In a
letter to Baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn, Flood demanded that the
commissioner declare him a free agent:
December
24, 1969
After
twelve years in the major leagues, I do not feel I am a piece of property to be
bought and sold irrespective of my wishes. I believe that any system which
produces that result violates my basic rights as a citizen and is inconsistent
with the laws of the United States and of the several States.
It is
my desire to play baseball in 1970, and I am capable of playing. I have
received a contract offer from the Philadelphia club, but I believe I have the
right to consider offers from other clubs before making any decision. I,
therefore, request that you make known to all Major League clubs my feelings in
this matter, and advise them of my availability for the 1970 season.
After
Flood's lawsuit failed, Flood was blackballed from baseball. There were
questions similar to "Do you realize you won't be able to play in MLB ever
again?" or "You realize you are going to lose your job?"
Everyone Flood consulted was convinced he would be blackballed from baseball.
Flood soon realized that his career was over as he later said,
It would
be difficult to come back. And besides, I don't think I'll be getting the
opportunity to play again. As big as it is, baseball is a closely-knit unit. I
doubt even one of the 24 men controlling the game would touch me with a
ten-foot pole. You can't buck the Establishment.
Flood sat
out the entire 1970 season. During this period he was bombarded with hate mail
from fans, who accused him of trying to destroy baseball; his teammate Bob
Gibson estimated "He got four or five death threats a day." The
Cardinals sent two minor leaguers to the Phillies as compensation for Flood's
refusal to report. One of them—centerfielder Willie Montañez—went on to a
14-year major league career. In November 1970, the Phillies traded Flood and
four other players to the Washington Senators. He signed a $110,000 contract
with Washington but played only thirteen games of the 1971 season, with a .200
batting average and lackluster play in center field. Despite manager Ted
Williams's vote of confidence, Flood left the team in late April and retired.
He had a lifetime batting average of .293 with 1,861 hits, 85 home runs, 851
runs, and 636 RBI. Defensively, Flood posted a .987 fielding percentage in his
major-league career. Later that year Flood published a memoir entitled The Way
It Is in which he spelled out in detail his argument against the reserve
clause.
In later
years, there was a sort of vindication for Flood. In 1998, the federal
government passed the Curt Flood Act of 1998.[34][35] The act, passed by the
105th Congress and signed into law by President Clinton, revokes baseball's antitrust
status (save for expansion, minor leagues, and franchise relocation), a status
that major league baseball had enjoyed for seventy-five years after the Supreme
Court had ruled that baseball was eligible for the status under interstate
commerce. This act did exactly what Flood wanted; it stopped owners from
controlling the players' contracts and careers
Flood
also helped bring about the 10/5 Rule, also known as the Curt Flood Rule. The
rule states that when a player has played for a team for five straight years
and played in MLB for a total of ten years, he has to give the club his consent
to be traded.
Diagnosed
with throat cancer in 1995, Flood was initially given a 90–95 percent chance of
survival. He underwent radiation treatments, chemotherapy, and throat surgery,
which left him unable to speak.
On
January 20, 1997, just two days after his 59th birthday, Flood died at UCLA
Medical Center in Los Angeles, California, after developing pneumonia,and
was interred in Inglewood Park Cemetery in Inglewood……and this week in 1971 the
number one song in LuLac land was “Just My Imagination” by the Temptations.
Location: Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania, United States
Political analyst for WBRE TV's Pa. Live program and post election commentator for WBRE TV's Eyewitness News Daybreak show. Author of the book "A Radio Story/We Wish You Well In Your Future Endeavors" and "Leges Vitae" "26 Rules of Life" and the new novel, "Weather Or Knot". The blog editor also writes various news articles and columns as well as upcoming literary projects. The blog editor was a frequent guest on WYOU TV'S INTERACTIVE NEWSCASTS when political issues were discussed on the national, state and local level. Yonki was a weekly panelist on WYLN TV 35's Friday Topic A program. He also appeared on the Hazleton, PA. station on Election Night doing coverage and did special projects and stories for WYLN TV 35's 10PM Newscast "Late Edition".