Month: November 2010

1 In 3 Need Gov Permission To Work

1 In 3 Need Gov Permission To Work — About 1 in 20 Americans needed government permission to work in the 1950s. Today it’s 1 in 3, according to Commonwealth Foundation. The loss of freedom comes from requirements for training, fees, licenses and other bits of red tape magic aimed at keeping the Dolores Umbridges of the world happily sipping their tea in bureaucratic positions of power.

A Illinois man, as a remembrance to a friend killed by a drunk driver, began offering tipsy bar patrons a free ride home. He was busted for “operating without a transportation service license” in a sting orchestrated by the local taxi drivers and the police.

In Pennsylvania, an ad hoc barter system popped in where residents gave rides in return for services to the Amish who have a religious prohibition against owning or driving a car.

The state’s Public Utilities Commission pushed  police to set up stake-outs to catch these violators of the requirement to have a transportation license.

It’s for our own good, of course.

“We are trying to protect the public interest and public safety,” a PUC spokeswoman said.

An excellent and scary article by  Katrina Currie of Commonwealth Foundation points out that an attempt was made by the Pennsylvania legislature this year to require a license for interior designers. What was the public safety issue? The danger of mauve rugs clashing with orange walls?

Ms. Currie notes that in 2008 the state sued a a mom for $10 million for selling items on eBay without an auctioneers license and that Philadelphia bloggers now must have a $300 business privilege license if they want to sell ads on their site.

A third of Americans need Big Brothers permission to work. Fighting to stop the encroachment is not enough. It’s time to start being a little like Harry Potter and start fighting to roll it back.

1 In 3 Need Gov Permission To Work

PHL Can Tell TSA To Go To . . .

An exercise for Zen practitioners:  A
man wearing nothing but a raincoat  approaches a TSA screener. He
opens the raincoat and says “check out my junk”. Has a flashing
occurred?

Philadelphia International Airport was among the airports receiving Congressman John Mica’s letter letting them know they can divorce the Transportation Security Administration,  at least with regard to passenger screenings, if they should find that the TSA’s new “hands-on” approach is a bit counter-productive to security.

The letter notes that the Aviation and Transportation Security Act of 2001 that created the TSA allowed airports to revert to private contractors for screenings after two years.

Mica ( R-FL7) was one of the authors of the bill.

The actual wording of the bill’s Section 44920 (a) is:

(a)
IN GENERAL- On or after the last day of the 2-year period beginning on
the date on which the Under Secretary transmits to Congress the
certification required by section 110(c) of the Aviation and
Transportation Security Act, an operator of an airport may submit to the
Under Secretary an application to have the screening of passengers and
property at the airport under section 44901 to be carried out by the
screening personnel of a qualified private screening company under a
contract entered into with the Under Secretary.


A staffer for Mica said the letter went out to the 100 busiest airports in the nation. PHL is the 11th busiest in the world.

Orlando International Airport has announced that it will consider the change.  We await word on what plans PHL may have.

For some strange reason the George Soros-affiliated site MediaMatters.org is opposing the privatization.

Outlaw Teacher Strikes

Outlaw Teacher Strikes — Today’s Delaware County Daily Times had a tough editorial calling for the abolition of teacher strikes.

The Times points out that teachers in Moon Area School District across the state in Allegheny County went on strike after being offered a 2.88 percent raise. The Times also notes that teachers in the Bethel Park School District, also in Allegheny County are striking. The Bethel Park teachers  get salaries of between $45,700 and $92,548. They are offended, however, by the district’s request that they pay 2 percent of their individual health plans and 4 percent of their family ones. They now pay 0.5 percent and  0.9 percent respectively.

Has it started to dawn on anyone that teachers union really isn’t “for the children”?

And to the Times I say welcome to the club.

In 1990, I won an award for the editorial “Scrap Act 195”.  This was the 1970 law that allowed teachers to strike. The law was scrapped in 1992 and replaced with Act 88 which put some limits on teacher strikes. Ultimately it was nowhere near enough. The appropriate thing to do is to give school districts the power to not rehire teachers when their contracts end. It would require ending the tenure protection as well, but unless you a teacher or married to one, does that  really bother you?

These reforms are not just about money. Considering the cruelty of requiring a widow surviving on Social Security to cough up an extra couple hundred dollars each year — and that’s cumulative remember — just to keep her home, money should be more than reason enough to support banning strikes and tenure.

These reforms, though, really are ultimately about the children.

The  website StopTeachersStrikes.org has excellent background on the issue.

During my own little crusade I published a list of teacher and administrator salaries of some of the districts covered by the newspapers that I edited. It was quite controversial and even got me an interview with the superb Vern Odom of WPVI-TV which is Philadelphia’s ABC affiliate

Well, the web has made things a lot easier for that sort of thing. The salary information for public school employees in Pennsylvania can be found here.


 Outlaw Teacher Strikes

Bill Adolph Votes To Save His Pension

Bill Adolph and the rest of Delaware County’s contingent to the State House with the honorable exception of Steve Barrar (R-160) joined 165 “public servants” yesterday to vote to bail out the state’s public pension systems on the backs of the taxpayer.

Thirty-one — all Republicans — voted against HB 2497.

Commonwealth Foundation estimates the cost of the bailout to be $1,360 per year in state and local taxes for the
average homeowner starting in 2012.

Suggestions on turning the pension system into a defined-contribution 401K-type plan were rejected.

No serious discussion was brooked about re-negotiating with the recipients about accepting cutbacks in the pension payments.

No serious discussion was brooked about why Pennsylvania families should not receive a $1,360 cutback in their annual compensation.

Among the pensions Adolph et al were voting to save were their own. Adolph (R-165) would get about a  $64,000 per year pension if he should retire at the end of his next term.

A roll call of the vote can be found here .

Great Experience Weathers Motors

I just recently returned from an auto inspection at Weathers Motors on Route 1 in Middletown, Delaware County, Pa., and wish to tell the world that the service was great and price the was pleasing.

Good luck and God speed to Weathers.

Great Experience Weathers Motors

Great Experience Weathers Motors

PA House OKs Castle Doctrine

PA House OKs Castle Doctrine ––  The Pennsylvania House, this afternoon, passed a bill giving the state’s citizens the right not to retreat from assailants.

The 161-35 vote for HB 1926 follows a 45-4 vote made Oct. 14 in the state Senate. It now goes to Gov. Ed Rendell, an outspoken opponent of self-defense rights, for his signature.

While the margins in both house are enough to overturn a veto it appears Rendell, if he so chooses, may be able simply be able to sit on the bill until the session ends forcing the process to start from scratch in January.

The bill says that a  person employing protective force may estimate the necessity thereof under the circumstances as he believes them to be when the force is used, without retreating, surrendering possession, doing any other act which he has no legal duty to do or abstaining from any lawful action.

PA House OKs Castle Doctrine

Pa. Gen Theft Bill Passes

The Pennsylvanian Generation Theft Bill — termed by its supporters “needed pension reform” — was approved by the State House this afternoon 165-31. It goes on to Gov. Ed Rendell for his certain signature.

It was strongly supported by government unions such as the PSEA. A roll call of the vote can be found at this link .

The first time the House passed HB 2497 on June 16 the vote was 192-6. The Senate passed it Oct. 16 by a 41-8 vote, however, it tacked on  amendments which required a new vote in the House.

On Nov. 5,
lame duck  Speaker Keith McCall  announced that his assembly would be
quitting for the year which would require the process to start from
scratch in January under a Republican-controlled House.

Five days later, however, he changed his mind.

HB2497 attempts
to resolve the severe funding shortfalls of  Pennsylvania’s largest
pension plans — Public School Employees Retirement System (PSERS) and
State Employees Retirement System (SERS) — by deferring pension
payments and increasing the unfunded liability by tens of billions of
dollars.

The bill makes some positive changes to the pension system such as doubling the amount of time to 10 years for a state employee to become vested; reducing the multiplier used to calculate pensions from 2.5 percent to 2 percent, and increasing the minimum retirement age for teachers to 65 from 62 and for state legislators to 55 from 50, it only applies to new hires

More importantly in provides for a re-amortization of existing debt over 30 years drastically increasing the interest cost.

Commonwealth
Foundation notes that the pension obligations are expected to be $5.8
billion on the taxpayer by 2012 — a six-fold increase from today —
which  translates to a  $1,360 increase in state and local taxes for the
average homeowner. The data can be found on a link to a  pdf file on this page.

There had been hopes that a defined contribution plan akin to a 401K would be introduced as per a bill introduced in the senate, SB 566.

Delco Pa Keeps Quiet Its Connections To Greatness

A 5-foot-tall bust or Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. has been finished  by world-renowned sculptor Zenos Frudakis and is scheduled to be unveiled 2 p.m., Thursday, completing Chester, Pa.’s $500,000 Martin Luther King Jr. Park at Sixth and Engle streets.

Good for Chester to highlight its connections to one of the most influential and noble Americans of the 20th century. Rev. King lived in the city for three years  serving Calvary Baptist Church , 1616 W. 2nd St., while studying at the Crozer Theological Seminary.

The park project came about as a result of a request in the late 1990s by members of the city’s clergy to honor Rev. King. Three decades after his death the city had not so much as named a street after him. Mayor Dominic Pileggi, now a state senator, suggested the park thinking that a street-naming might be a bit anticlimactic since at least 40 other cities had already done so.

And while the park was the right call there is nothing wrong with  a street-naming as well. Changing 2nd Street where Rev. King’s old church lies, and  which is State Route  291, into Martin Luther King Jr. Highway should be a no-brainer. Actually, it should be a no-brainer to do it for its entire length through Delaware County.

Always underestimated Delaware County for reasons unknown likes to keep quiet its connections to greatness.

Who, for instance, has heard of Philip Jaisohn ? Old-time county residents might remember him as their family doctor, but Jaisohn is the equivalent of Benjamin Franklin to the South Koreans. His home in Upper Providence was site of a pilgrimage by Korean President and Nobel peace laureate the late Kim Dae Jung.

While there is a memorial to Jaisohn in Rose Tree Park, one would think that there might be a street named for him somewhere as well.

One would think that the county’s tourist bureau would at least be trying to publicize these connections. Of course, when the county insists on calling itself Brandywine Country a serious problem of self-image is evident.

 

Delco Pa Keeps Quiet Its Connections To Greatness

Delco Pa Keeps Quiet Its Connections To Greatness

Quantitative Easing Explained

Quantitative Easing Explained — The-smarter-than-us set says these teddy bears in this YouTube video   just don’t get how our monetary system works. They insist that the fed isn’t printing money — merely buying back bonds from Goldman Sachs — and that we really are in a deflationary spiral. Really.

One is starting to suspect that our wizards of finance are more like the Wizard of Oz. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. Pay no attention to the price tag on the package of bagels. 


Quantitative Easing Explained

Tea Party Fissure In Philly

The fireworks that erupted at the end of Thursday’s post-election Tea Party panel hosted by the Loyal Opposition at The Union League of Philadelphia has resulted in the excommunication of two prominent Tea Partyers by Loyal Opposition head Kevin Kelly.

“I am hereby severing any relationship or partnership I have with Bob Guzzardi and Robert Sklaroff,” Kelly said in a broadcast email statement. “I will not work with them on any political endeavor from today forward. They are no longer welcome at Loyal Opposition events.”

Guzzardi heads LibertyIndex.Com while Dr. Sklaroff is a noted Philadelphia oncologist.

Sklaroff, Thursday, blasted  Kelly and Freind for actions relating to the controversy involving military re-enactor Rich Iott who was the unsuccessful GOP candidate in the Ohio 9th District congressional race. Iott wears Nazi-SS uniforms as part of war re-enactments.

This brought Sklaroff harsh rebukes from Kelly and from panelist Jennifer Stefano, who felt that Sklaroff was demanding that history be censored.

When the shouting ended, Kelly promised to talk with “Doctor Bob” and further discuss his concerns.

The promise, however, appears to be rescinded apparently in reaction to comments Sklaroff posted at the article on this site Early A.M. Tea Party Was SRO.

The controversy began when The Atlantic published this article in early October relating to the Tea-Party endorsed Iott.

Congressman Eric Cantor of Virginia, the Republican whip and a Jew, then condemned Iott.

Some came to Iott’s defense including Freind, who in this article,  called Cantor a “garden-variety political hack” and said what Iott was doing wasn’t any different than actors depicting the Nazis in The Sound of Music.

It soon became revealed, however, that the organization to which Iott belonged, Wiking, which depicted the 5.SS Wiking Division had a website — since changed — saying the members of the SS “gave their lives for their loved ones and a basic desire to be free.”

Dr. Sklaroff, who is Jewish, was, and remains, seriously upset that a Republican candidate would be associated with an organization that would have such a view.

For the record, Dr. Sklaroff has said he has no objection to military re-enactors wearing Nazi uniforms, even those of the SS, as part of accurate historical depictions.