Category: Activism

Donna Ellingsen Kim Kennedy Kudos

Donna Ellingsen Kim Kennedy Kudos
Donna Ellingsen

Donna Ellingsen Kim Kennedy Kudos — Kudos to Kim Kennedy of WFYL for her just ended (7:30 a.m.) interview with Elk Township  GOP committeewoman Donna Ellingsen.

Donna and four other committeepersons are the subject of an inquisition with intent to remove by the Chester  County Republican establishment.

Yes, the goal is to remove this elected people despite any denials  the powers-that-be are making. Hearing dates have been picked without consulting the schedules of these volunteers. Initially, the four were not even told  what charges they would be facing namely violating GOP bylaws by opposing candidates supported by the party.

Donna did not address the specifics of the charges saying she wanted to wait until the  closed-door, any-thing-but-transparent hearing as to not jeopardize matters for the other three.

The hearing has been scheduled for Jan. 26 but the accused are attempting to change the date as it conflicts with matters to which they’ve already committed. One of those accused even has a long-scheduled out-of-the-country business trip. Donna has said the four are trying to find a list of alternative dates to offer the county powers.

Donna told Kim that she represents her constituents and her conscience, and does not blindly follow the dictates of her party boss who she pointed out is a paid lobbyist with numerous, and obvious, potential conflicts of interests.

She noted that the state Republican Party leaders are more than willing to almost suicidally  push through unpopular legislation to benefit the political class i.e. the Corbett Gas Tax but fanatically oppose popular reforms that would hurt it i.e. getting out of the liquor business.

She noted that with paid lobbyists controlling the allegedly fiscal responsible political side, ridiculous spending occurs such as $477,000 public pensions.

She said she got involved in politics because she loves her country. Presumably, she believed what the Republican Party claimed it stood for.

Donna Ellingsen Kim Kennedy Kudos

 

 

 

Chesco GOP Purge Update

Chesco GOP Purge Update
Donna Ellingsen

Chesco GOP Purge Update — We have been told by Donna Ellingsen, that Chesco GOP solicitor Joel Frank has informed her that the type of inquisition to which she and three other county Republican committee people have been called has only occurred once before in his 16 years.

This is starting to look more and more like a purge. Along with their rubber-meets-the road job of getting out the vote, committee people vote for the county party leaders. The independent-thinking, question-asking types don’t make the party bosses happy in Chester County it seems.

The four are accused of breaking the county GOP bylaws by supporting a candidate against one  endorsed by the party. Committee people are elected. The penalty is removal from office with the county chairman picking the replacement.

Chesco has 454 committee people — one man and one woman from each precinct — divided into 28 districts.

Donna represents Elk Township in Area 19. Among those accused with her is her area chairwoman, Jane Ladley.

Republican turnout in Area 19 is generally higher than the rest of the county.

That any issues couldn’t be resolved with phone calls and private meetings is a strong indication that something more nefarious is afoot than keeping closet Democrats from acquiring party control.

The inquisition is scheduled for 7 p.m., Monday, Jan. 11 at the Republican Headquarters, 15 S. Church St., West Chester, Pa. 19382.

Chesco GOP Purge Update

ISIS Implant Protest

ISIS Implant ProtestISIS Implant Protest. A street rally to protest the settling of Islamic Syrians who might be  ISIS implants has been scheduled for 11 a.m., Dec. 12 at Almshouse Road and Route 611 in Doylestown, for those who might be interested

It is being sponsored by the Kitchen Table Patriots.

ISIS Implant Protest

Taxpayers Special Enough To Fight Tax Hike

Taxpayers Special Enough To Fight Tax Hike
Leo Knepper and Penn Delco school director Lisa Esler at tonight’s update regarding the Pennsylvania budget.

A packed house of about 70 was on hand, tonight, (Nov. 18) at the Newtown Square Knights of Columbus Hall to hear Leo Knepper give the latest regarding the various dramas occurring in Harrisburg in a talk before the Delaware County Patriots.

Knepper is executive director of Citizens Alliance of Pennsylvania, an organization founded to raise the standard of living of all Pennsylvanians and battle government corruption.

Knepper pointed out that the sales tax hike being pushed by Gov. Tom Wolf is a 21 percent increase and noted that there are plenty of places the budget could be cut to more than make up for the $2 billion the proposed tax hike from 6 percent to 7.25 percent would be expected to raise.

Knepper said that the state is spending $250 million for race horse development alone. He said that besides the General Fund the state has $18 billion tucked away in fat-filled special and other funds.

The special and other funds are the playgrounds of special interests he implied and are never considered for pruning.

“We need to get them moving from other special interests because the taxpayers are special enough,” Knepper said.

Knepper said money is still being doled out in Harrisburg with favored agencies getting lines of credit. He said this included Gov. Wolf’s travel expenses. He said Wolf was selecting services not to fund based on how much suffering they would inflict on the populace so they would agitate for a budget agreement.

Knepper noted that Wolf had vetoed stopgap budgets passed by the legislature.

Knepper also described how regulations unnecessarily raise the burden on taxpayers. He cited specifically the prevailing wage mandate, the state law that requires any significant public project to pay a wage set by the state Department of Labor and Industry’s Bureau of Labor Law Compliance.  Knepper described how one school district bidded out a project under prevailing wage and without out and found they would have shaved the cost by 40 percent but for the state law.

For Springfield residents, that means the approved $140 million new high school would cost just $80 million sans the burdensome law.

In other bad news, Knepper said that regarding Pennsylvania’s pension crisis the $50 billion officially claimed unfunded liability  regarding the Pennsylvania State Employees Retirement System (SERS) and Public School Employees Retirement System (PSERS) is actually $120 billion if normal accounting standards are used.

Among those collecting a public-guaranteed SERS pensions are Gary Schultz and his  pal Jerry Sandusky.  Schultz’s yearly pension is $330,699.  Yes, you working class person, you have to cover that.

Regarding the Syrians that Gov. Wolf is trying to bring in, Knepper said his group is researching the issue and that while they have not had time to come to any certain conclusion it appears that there is little a state can do to stop a federal resettlement program.

Agnes Trouillet was given an ovation at the meeting. Agnes is a Parisian who is teaching French at Penn and doing a paper on American Tea Party groups. While she didn’t know any of the victims of the Nov. 13 terrorist attack she had friends who did.

Taxpayers Special Enough To Fight Tax Hike

Delco Debates Forum Meeting

Delco Debates will meet 7 tonight,  Nov. 16 in the basement meeting room of the Marple Public Library, 2599 Sproul Road, 19008 to discuss its 2016  schedule. Delco Debates Forum Meeting Delco Debates will meet 7 tonight, Nov. 16 in the basement meeting room of the Marple Public Library, 2599 Sproul Road, 19008 to discuss its 2016 schedule.

Delco Debates is a group dedicated to providing a space for all viewpoints, including alternative and independent candidates from all sides of the political spectrum, and  has developed a reputation for reason and fairness.

For information e-mail delcodebates@gmail.com or call 610-543-8427.

Its website is newdelcodebates.wordpress.com

Delco Debates Forum Meeting

Leo Knepper Guest of Delco Pats

Leo Knepper of Citizens Alliance of Pennsylvania (CAP) will be speaker at the Nov. 18 meeting of the Delaware County Patriots. Leo Knepper Guest of Delco Pats Leo Knepper of Citizens Alliance of Pennsylvania (CAP) will be speaker at the Nov. 18 meeting of the Delaware County Patriots.

It’s 7 p.m., at the Knights of Columbus Hall, 327 N. Newtown Street Road (Route 252), Newtown Square, Pa. 19073.

CAP has created a link for those who wish to make their voices heard regarding the proposed 21-percent sales tax hike being pushed by Gov. Wolf and being considered by the State Legislature.

You can find it here.

Pennsylvania does not have a revenue problem. It has a spending problem.

Larry Denver Valley Forge Pats Speaker

Larry Denver Valley Forge Pats SpeakerLarry Denver of Faith & Freedom Coalition of Pennsylvania will speak, 6:30 p.m., Friday, Oct. 9 before the Valley Forge Patriots at P J Ryan’s Pub, 233 Bridge St., Phoenixville 19460.

His topic will be America is at a “tipping point”.

Larry Denver Valley Forge Pats Speaker

 

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

Restore American Dream Rally Postponed

Leo Knepper of Citizens Alliance of Pennsylvania has informed us that the restore the American Dream Rally scheduled for Oct. 2 in at the California University Convocation Center in Washington County, Pa., has been postponed.

Restore American Dream Rally Postponed

Third Party Access Reforms Needed

Third Party Access Reforms NeededMembers of the Pennsylvania Ballot Access Coalition (PBAC) testified at a public hearing, Sept. 22, convened by Sen. Mike Folmer (R-48), chairman of the Pennsylvania Senate State Government Committee. The committee’s purpose was to hear testimony regarding S.B. 495 also known as the “Voters’ Choice Act” (VCA). The VCA would bring Pennsylvania’s egregious ballot access laws much closer to the intent of Article 1, Section 5 of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Constitution which guarantees that all elections shall be “free and equal”.

Currently, Alternative Party candidates and Independent candidates are required to gather as many as 30 times the number of signatures required by the two old parties. In a recent election, while the Democrat and Republican candidates required 2,000 signatures, independent and minor party candidates were required to collect more than 60,000 signatures! The VCA would change the method by which a “minor party” would be qualified. Once qualified as a minor party, it would then be free of the egregious signature collecting process and its destructive consequences. The “minor party” would then be free to nominate its candidates by convention or by whichever form described in its bylaws. Independent candidates would only have to collect the same number of signatures as the candidates from the 2 old parties.

Roy Minet, from the Pennsylvania Libertarian Party spoke for the PBAC. He made it clear that ballot access laws were favored by the two old parties because they “prevented ballot clutter”. He quickly protested that what they actually “meant by ‘clutter’ was in fact competition”!

Carl Romanelli, former US Senate candidate, speaking for the Pennsylvania Green Party, revealed that not only had he been removed from the ballot but was required to pay $80,000 covering the cost of the Democratic Party which actually used a “volunteer” who was in reality a salaried employee of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania resulting in what became known as “Bonusgate”. He pointed out that the VCA was “brilliant in its simplicity” in bringing about a change in the ballot access laws which would be more reflective of “free and equal elections”.

Jim Clymer, former candidate for Lieutenant Governor, speaking for the Pennsylvania Constitution Party, explained how polls showed that the majority of Pennsylvanians wanted more choice on Election Day. He also pointed out that, since any challenge to minor party or independent candidates for statewide election might result in having to pay the challenge’s $80,000 costs, such candidates are effectively removed as candidates. Jim Clymer also pointed out how the Federal District Court has recently struck down Pennsylvania’s ballot access laws because the combination of signatures and payment of challenger’s costs were unconstitutional under the United States Constitution.

Steve Scheetz, representing the Pennsylvania Libertarian Party, demonstrated how difficult it is to find volunteers because they are painfully aware that their candidate might be removed from the ballot. Moreover Scheetz clarified that with only the 2 old candidates we have positions on an issue which only differ slightly while the candidates then level personal attacks. Candidates from newer parties would change the nature of the conversation forcing all candidates to be more articulate on the issues. The “spoiler issue” was also shown to be a creation of the older parties which, virtually assert that they “own” votes which can be “taken by spoilers”. Romanelli said “the people, not any candidate or party own their own votes and they alone can decide who will deserve the precious gift of their vote”

Hat tips Bob Small and John Murphy.