Wolf Campaigns For Leanne

Wolf Campaigns For Leanne
Leanne Krueger-Braneky

Gov. Tom Wolf will lead a rally for Leanne Krueger-Braneky,  10:30 a.m. tomorrow, Aug. 1, at the Swarthmore train station at Chester Road and Park Avenue.

Ms. Krueger-Braneky is the official Democrat in the special election for the vacant  161st District Pennsylvania State House seat.

The Republican-endorsed Democrat is Paul Mullen who gets a $130,000 salary as business manager of  Local 654 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and by all accounts intends to keep it even if he should win the election..

Until a just a few short weeks ago Mullen had been campaigning hard for Democrats as liberal as Ms. Krueger-Braneky. In fact, if I lived in the district, I’d seriously consider voting for her. OK, I’d write in Mickey Mouse but, really, I would rather have her in the legislature than Mullen. She’d be far less of an obstacle to advancing the cause of the necessary reforms to keep the taxpayers from being crushed by the corruption, especially the legal corruption, rampant in our capital city.

LIsa Esler 161st
Lisa Esler

Fortunately, in this round I would not have to vote for the naive leftist or write in Mickey.

There is an honest person who cares about homeowner,  the parent and the elderly person on a fixed income.

Her name is Lisa Esler and she has launched a write-in campaign that has a fair shot at winning.

The election is Aug. 4.

Wolf Campaigns For Leanne

William Lawrence Sr Omnibit 7-31-15

Spaniard Joan Pujol Garcia received a special Iron Cross from Adolph Hitler and an knighthood from King George VI for his World War II service. He was an almost unbelievably effective allied spy who pretended really well to be working for the Nazis.
The search for Omnibits never ends.

William Lawrence Sr Omnibit 7-31-15

Spaniard Joan Pujol Garcia received a special Iron Cross from Adolph Hitler and an knighthood from King George VI for his World War II service. He was an almost unbelievably effective allied spy who pretended really well to be working for the Nazis.

Joan Pujol Garcia

Blue Moon 2015

Blue Moon 2015
Tonight’s moon is not going to look like this.

Tonight, July 31, there will be a blue moon. Many will go out and look at it. All will say it looks just like any other full moon. They will be right.

A “blue moon” is a full moon appearing a second time in a month. It’s a fairly rare occurrence happening once every 30 months or so.

The last blue moon was in August 2012. The next one will be in January 2018.

The moon has at times actually turned blue, it should be noted. This usually happens after a major volcanic eruption with the ash filtering the light reflected from the orb.

And the meaning of “blue moon” has changed slightly from when it came into use. It  originally meant the third full moon in a season that had four, understanding that seasons are considered to be three months long and hence typically have but three full moons.

Anyway, here is some music for you:

Blue Moon 2015

Governor Refuses Compromise And Common Sense

Governor Refuses Compromise And Common Sense
Duane Milne

By State Rep. Duane D. Milne

Do you and your neighbor agree on everything?

For even good neighbors, the answer of course is “no,” and that’s OK, because compromising over differences of opinion is the essence not only of civility in general but also the public policy process in particular.

In that spirit, I am calling on Gov. Wolf to live as a better neighbor with the state legislature and sign the approved state budget into law. The legislature-approved budget matches the governor’s original proposal with equal or better funding for 270 of the 401 (67%) line items that make up the budget. This legislature-approved budget is fair, reasonable and responsible on behalf of the 12.7 million citizens of our great Commonwealth.

Instead, Gov. Wolf opted to veto the major and historic pieces of legislation passed by the legislature in June. Worse, since then, this governor has refused compromise with the legislature, thereby rendering state government reeling on the verge of shutdown as we slide through August.

In this case, the governor is in the wrong simply to veto all this legislation across-the-board, because it all is not exactly as he, but one person, wants. No bill is the proverbial “perfect,” and all of you as one individual citizen probably would make a change in some respect if given the option. Nonetheless, at some point decisions must be made, and the policy and political reality is one of legislation that has been crafted deliberatively after much consideration and debate in Harrisburg.

The legislature-approved budget:

•    Caps at $30.18 billion, and checks the growth rate (from last year’s budget) below that of inflation based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI).
•    Remains balanced and rejects reckless borrowing and government debt.
•    Turns down Tom Wolf’s proposed tax increase, the largest ever for Pennsylvania, including an unprecedented expansion of the sales tax as well as pushing up the personal income tax; voted down unanimously, Democrats and Republicans alike, by the House.
•    Unmasks the governor’s property tax reduction claim as a phantom.

It also invests in education as it:
•    Allocates $11 billion to education, the highest amount ever in Pennsylvania state education dollars.
•    Equates to nearly 45% of spending being devoted to education (to include primary, secondary and higher education, as well as number of “small” slices not separately broken out on budget pie graph.
•    Positions Pennsylvania’s per student spending at $15,535, considered well above the national average of $11,764, according even to the union: the National Education Association.

This ;budget was assed by the legislature on June 30 and vetoed by Gov. Wolf July 1

The status of Pennsylvania’s state owned liquor stores was addressed with  House Bill 466 which

•    Approves reform by both House and Senate for first time since end of Prohibition.
•    Recognizes that running adult beverage sector fails definition of limited government.
•    Allows ample opportunity for private sector markets to offer these products.
•    Permits as well the direct shipment of wine, something long wanted by citizens.
•    Creates better convenience, choice and cost for consumers.

This bill was passed by the legislature June 29 and vetoed by Gov. Wolf July 2

The necessary pension reform was addressed with Senate Bill 1 which

•    Leverages $10 billion in savings for the taxpayers, and leads to new fiscal paths to prevent future pension crises.
•    Acknowledges that current employees and retirees have paid their pension contributions.
•    Applies bill provisions to new employees: enrolled into defined contribution/401-style plans rather than defined benefit plans.
•    Legislators, including even current ones if re-elected (thereby becoming “new” state employees), and their staffs also no longer would be entitled to defined benefit plans.
•    Plan demonstrates determination to demand fiscal prudence in fairness to the future of our kids and grandkids.

This was passed by the legislature June 30 and vetoed by Gov.  Wolf July 9.

While all of us strongly hold our points of view, no one can reasonably expect to get one’s own way completely in life, let alone politics. Policy outcomes on behalf of the citizens must somehow balance the extraordinary array of interests and opinions in our large and politically diverse state. In the final analysis, what is called for is agreement on one budget, one set of laws, and one path forward that permits our one state government to serve the millions of citizens whom comprise Pennsylvania.

Tell Governor Wolf it’s time to reach across the backyard fence and compromise: Call him at 717-787-2500 or email him here.

Rep. Milne represents the 167th Legislative District in the Pennsylvania House. He is a professor of Political Science at West Chester University and has written academic papers on federalism and public sector management.[5] He also has worked as an organizational consultant and has gained international experience through business projects in countries throughout Asia, including China, Japan, South Korea and the Philippines.

Governor Refuses Compromise And Common Sense

Hat tip Tom C.

Honest Medical Bill

This off the internet image of an honest medical bill comes courtesy of Cathy Martin who appears to have gotten it from Mint Press News. Our critique would be that the advertising costs are inflated while the lobbying, campaign gifts and CEO bonus are drastically deflated.This off the internet image of an honest medical bill comes courtesy of Cathy Martin who appears to have gotten it from Mint Press News.

Our critique would be that the advertising costs are inflated while the lobbying, campaign gifts and CEO bonus are drastically deflated.

An Honest Medical Bill is this morning’s Off the internet.

Trump Excites For A Reason

By Chris Freind Trump Excites For A Reason

Bout time!

It’s been 31 years since the Republican Party had a real, honest-to-God candidate running for president. Someone with charisma and a sense of humor, a natural communicator whose populist message resonates and transcends party lines, gender and age. And, God forbid, someone who actually knows what he stands for, and isn’t afraid to say it.

Better late than never.

Thank you, Donald Trump.

With all those attributes packaged into one person, versus many candidates possessing only one or two, you’d think the Republican hierarchy would be thankful for Trump’s candidacy. But rather than embracing it, too many are criticizing, even demonizing, it.

Donald Trump is the best thing for the Republican Party, but the GOP leadership is too dumb to see it.

The GOP field is crowded, ranging from libertarians to Big Government Republicans. Given that the party has been shut out of the White House for eight years, and the odds (electorally) are not exactly in their favor in 2016, the exchange of bold ideas in a drawn-out primary is exactly what is needed. Yet, that’s precisely what the GOP hierarchy abhors.

After the 2012 debacle, they wanted a neat, quickly wrapped-up primary that they could better control, where their “anointed” one could take the nomination with as little intra-party battling as possible. So new rules were adopted by the Republican National Committee, designed to tip the process, even more than it already was, in the Establishment’s favor.

Now, they naively think that will smooth the way for Jeb Bush, who embodies business as usual.

They are wrong.

How hard is it to see that orchestrating coronations over elections, strong-arming nominations for those with big wallets and whose “turn it is,” doesn’t work?

How have they fared since Reagan and his 49-state near-sweep in 1984? Bob Dole and John McCain were pathetic. George Bush I was elected only because of Reagan’s legacy, and the Democrats put up an even weaker candidate (Michael Dukakis). George W. Bush lost the popular vote, and was the unmitigated disaster that led to Barack Obama. And Mitt Romney, despite the imbeciles who blame his loss on the “liberal media” and Chris Christie’s praise for President Obama in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, may have been worst of all.

Given the president’s dismal performance the last eight years, this election is eminently winnable for Republicans. But with the party’s new rules, and small states still playing God, honest debate takes a back seat, and party bosses largely retain their ability to choose whom they like, will of the people be damned.

The lesson is to embrace primaries. Contrary to conventional “wisdom,” protracted primary battles are good for, not detrimental to, the eventual nominee. They make candidates measurably sharper, and ready them for the bruising general election.

Bottom line: When you run boring, business-as-usual hacks, you lose. McCain, Dole and Romney personified that, as did Al Gore and John Kerry. And the lesser of two evils wins. Just look at 2012. Despite a dismal economy, runaway spending, real unemployment over 15 percent, a world on fire and a pervasive pessimism, Obama routed Romney. That election should have been a home run for the Republicans. Instead, they struck out before coming to bat. But even more inexcusable is that the exact same scenario is, by design, playing out right now.

At least it was, until The Donald showed up.

When Trump first announced, he generated huge headlines, more because of the novelty of who he was, rather than his vision for America. His candidacy made for great late-night TV jokes, sassy editorials, and snickers among the “elite,” who looked at Trump as an egomaniac who would fade quickly after his latest “publicity stunt” went up in flames.

They were right about one thing. There were flames — his candidacy caught fire. All of a sudden, despite a number of gaffes, “Trumpmania” started overtaking America. He is generating the largest crowds of any candidate, exhibiting great poise on talk shows, and is showing a depth of real-world knowledge that surpasses that of “seasoned” politicians.

It was a level of success that probably even surprised Trump himself, and with it, a different Donald Trump has emerged. Each day, the bragging billionaire with the flair for the dramatic — honed by hosting an incredibly successful reality TV show — is slowly morphing into a serious candidate, one who has catapulted from joke to contender. But why?

Is it because he can’t be bought? Partly. And even though the political graveyard is littered with wealthy candidates (Ross Perot, Mitt Romney), people have the sense that Trump is different. Perot came across as a flake, and Romney was perhaps the most out-of-touch candidate in memory. Neither one could pass the “could you have a beer with this guy?” test. Trump does, with flying colors, as he genuinely seems to have his hand on the pulse of the people.

Is it because Americans realize that government is failing at virtually every level, and that electing career politicians only makes matters worse? And that it is finally time to run the federal government like a business, instilling accountability and tightening the belt, just as families and businesses do? And that Trump’s business acumen could right the ship? Partly.

But the big reason Trump has ignited a firestorm is because finally someone has the guts to call things as they are, political correctness be damned. He doesn’t worry about “offending” people’s hypersensitivities, and naturally gravitates to taking on the “white elephants” in the room that virtually every other candidate avoids. He isn’t driven by pollsters, and he doesn’t need focus groups to advise him on tie color, hairstyle, or the Middle East. And while his brash style will continue to earn him scorn from the pundits and the “I’m-offended-by-everything” crowd, his style of talking to people (not above or down to them) has generated significant support. Trump understands that you can’t be all things to all people, and that by being himself, he will win over hearts and minds.

Granted, he made some mistakes (hit John McCain on his policies, not war record, and talk about how to solve the immigration issue with an iron will and compassion, rather than being perceived as anti-immigrant), but people will forgive him so long as they believe he is speaking from the heart and maintaining the courage of his convictions.

The more Trump calls out his opponents — Democrat and Republican — without reverting to a canned script of non-answers, the more he will shake up the entire presidential field. And what a breath of fresh air that would be.

Donald Trump doesn’t “need” the hellacious road that accompanies a run for president. The fact that he chose to place himself, his family and his entire life under the microscope on the world’s biggest stage, is proof enough that his candidacy isn’t a stunt.

Like him or not, America, and the Republican Party in particular, could do a whole lot worse that someone who tells the truth and articulates a “City on a Hill”-type vision for the nation. By his nature, Trump is a gambling man. And while maybe The Donald won’t be the last guy standing, his candidacy is turning out to be the best Trump card the Republican Party has had in a long time.

Oh, and Hillary: Be careful what you wish for. You just may get it.

Trump Excites For A Reason