Month: October 2015

Wolf Tax Vote Oct. 7

Wolf Tax Vote Oct. 7Leo Knepper of Citizens Alliance of Pennsylvania reports that the Pennsylvania House will vote on Governor Wolf’s tax proposal, Oct. 7. Taxpayers in Pennsylvania cannot afford the $5 billion in tax increases that the Governor is demanding over the next two years. Every member of the House should vote “NO” on the Governor’s tax proposal, he says and he is right.

Knepper says that CAP will be closely monitoring the amendment process.

“While some lawmakers might be tempted to vote in favor of the extraction tax, bank share fee, and/or tax increase on tobacco products, CAP will also score attempts to amend the legislation toward those ends negatively,” he said. “In other words, the Governor’s proposal should be voted on in its entirety.

Knepper says that the Governor and his allies have painted this as a vote to make the natural gas industry pay “its fair share”, but the reality is that 75 percent of the new taxes will be collected via the personal income tax and changes to the sales tax.

He asks that you contact your Representative, Senator, and Governor Wolf to let them know that you oppose this latest scheme to raise your taxes and this can be done via this link.

Wolf Tax Vote Oct. 7

Best Buys Nice Shopping Experience

Best Buys Nice Shopping ExperienceThe big box stores have a bad rep but we’d like to praise the Best Buys on Baltimore Pike in Springfield, Pa.

Springfield Township, like most, won’t accept electronics in the trash stream.  Our old TV died and we needed a new one. The township charges $50 to dispose of unwanted televisions. Best Buys, however, has allowed the township to refer it to those who need to dispose of old hardware.

And so we went. There was no hassle, they just slapped a tag on it and had us put it in a shopping cart. We were free to go. We didn’t have to buy anything.

Of course, we did even though we had not planned on getting our replacement there.

Will Walmart and the other brick and mortar appliance dealers do the same? If yes, they ought let let the municipal governments know about it and ask them to promote it.

It is a service the web retailers will find it tough to match.

Best Buys Nice Shopping Experience

William Lawrence Sr Omnibit 10-2-15

William Lawrence Sr Omnibit 10-2-15 Robert Sherwood, the playwright, failed to pass freshman English at Harvard. His professor is probably still blushing. Sherwood, after going out into the real world, won three Pulitzer Prizes for drama in six years. Robert Sherwood, the playwright, failed to pass freshman English at Harvard. His professor is probably still blushing. Sherwood, after going out into the real world, won three Pulitzer Prizes for drama in six years.

Robert Sherwood, the playwright, failed to pass freshman English at Harvard. His professor is probably still blushing. Sherwood, after going out into the real world, won three Pulitzer Prizes for drama in six years.

Abortion School Shooting Connection

Chris Harper-Mercer
Chris Harper-Mercer

There have been 24 U.S. school shootings by our count of the list at Wikipedia involving five or more injuries or deaths since Anthony F. Barbaro shot passersby at random from a window at Olean (N.Y.) High School in 1974 killing three and wounding 11.

There had been school massacres before, notably the University of Texas shootings by Charles Whitman in 1966 and the bizarre Bath School disaster in 1927 in which a demonic school official spent months planting bombs in the building to maximize tragedy, but otherwise the violence was targeted and personal.

That, of course, has  changed.

Yesterday (Oct. 1), an anti-Christian named Chris Harper-Mercer murdered nine — or 11 depending on the source — students at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Ore., and wounded several others. Before the killing Harper-Mercer asked his victims their religion. Those who said “Christian” he shot in the head. Those who said otherwise he shot in the leg.

So what has caused this change in society? Was it access to guns? Access to guns were arguably easier before 1974 especially for youths. Barbaro was on his school’s rifle team.

So no, it is not access to guns.

What has changed, though, is our culture.

Our respect for life has disappeared.

We tell young men that protecting the innocent is no longer something they should aspire to do.

We have powerful people in government, media and academia shrug their shoulder at revelations of the weak and helpless being harvested for body parts. It’s worse than that actually. The actively defend the organization that does such monstrous things, and insist it be rewarded with public money.

We have state officials protecting mass murder if it is politically fashionable.

It isn’t a coincidence that the school shooting epidemic didn’t start until after our Supreme Court declared abortion to be a “right”.

We start holding once again that the existence of God is an axiom, and that we have individual rights granted by our Creator, and that the rest of us have an obligation to protect the rights of others, especially those that can’t defend themselves, the epidemic will end.

If we continue the path we are now on, things are going to get a lot worse.

Abortion School Shooting Connection

Harrisburg Pension Crisis

By Rich Shuker Harrisburg Pension Crisis

The rate of “success” Harrisburg is having with the budget, coupled with the incompetence of our legislators who work for the taxpayers of Pennsylvania raises the possibility that the pension crisis will never be fixed.

Commenting about the pensions, House Majority Leader David Reed said, “I’m not sure where we go from here,” after a failed veto override attempt!

According to one newspaper article, House Minority Leader Frank Dermody, D-Allegheny County believes a piecemeal override of a vetoed bill is unconstitutional.

In that same article we find telling quotes from other officials:

“While the governor is looking at their proposal, they (House leaders) are playing games,” said Wolf spokesman Jeff Sheridan.

“Accepting the GOP’s latest offer would be a home run for both sides,” said Senate Majority Whip John Gordner, R-Berwick.

Does he mean the political parties or the taxpayers?

In 2006, Auditor General Jack Wagner compiled an in-depth audit on the PSERS and the SERS, He noted that the pension crisis was created by the legislators’ actions in 2001 where they increased the pension benefits of all state workers and teachers. We’re coming up on 15 years since, and although several attempts have been made to patch the problem, the root cause has never been addressed.

Jack Wagner gave recommendations and predicted a fiscal crisis in 2012 or 2013 if corrective measures were not taken. The legislature did not heed his warning and today Pennsylvania finds itself with massive unfunded liabilities.

Since 2001 our legislators have increased the Pennsylvania General Fund by 100% and our School Taxes have gone up 116%. Also, taxpayers have received from Harrisburg several blessings:

We are the 5th most corrupt state;
5th highest state in foreclosures;
1st in gas and corporate taxes;
Thanks to the lack of legislative oversight, the PSERS lost $15.8 billion since 06/2007, and the SERS lost $8.3 billion.

Yes, Harrisburg has become one of the largest casinos in the country, gambling with the taxpayers’ money and obviously losing, because they always need more.

Finally, the taxpayers have two legislators standing up for them. They have proposed bills to fix this financial disaster and stop some of the theft of the taxpayer’s money. Republican John McGinnis who has a Ph.D. in Finance, and Democrat Thomas Caltagirone have proposed three pieces of legislation between them with one being jointly introduced.

On March 26, 2015, Tom Caltagirone introduced HB 845 on a Public Pensions Code of Ethics. Since March, only eight cosponsors have signed onto the legislation. The bill was referred to Committee on State Government. That’s where it sits, thanks to weak leadership.

On July 9, 2015, John McGinnis, and Caltagirone introduced HB 1400 to improve the management standards for SERS and PSERS. The bill has fifteen cosponsors and was referred to Committee on State Government, where it languishes.

On May 17, 2015, John McGinnis Proposed HB 900, Subject: Repayment of Pension Debt; received 21 cosponsors, was referred to Committee on State Government.

So what can a taxpayer, living in the 5th most corrupt state in America, do?

The first step is getting involved, finding the truth and confronting the legislators about the issues that matter to you. The taxpayers are in luck. Representatives Tom Caltagirone and John McGinnis will be presenting to the Lehigh Valley Project 9-12 Tea Party Group 7 p.m., Oct. 2  at the Charles Chrin Community Center in Easton.

Their presentation will be an excellent opportunity to learn about Pennsylvania’s pension issues and what lawmakers must do to fix the problems.
Mr. Shuker is a financial consultant who became politically active in response to protecting his clients’ financial well-being from legislation that threatens their security.

Harrisburg Pension Crisis