House Sends Senate Bill To Cut Representation

State Rep. Jim Cox (R-129) notes that the House sent to the Senate last week a measure to reduce the size of the Legislature. 

The bill allegedly aims to increase efficiency, streamline government and increase effectiveness of the House by reducing the number of members from 203 to 153. 

On the other hand, others note that it decreases representation and makes it harder to fire poor performing legislators.

An amendment to the bill was approved to also reduce the size of the Senate from 50 to 38 members. 

Changing the size of the legislature would require an amendment to the state constitution, which means the same bill must be debated and passed in two consecutive legislative sessions, and subsequently approved by referendum vote of the people of Pennsylvania.

 

What I Learned From The Easter Bunny

Courtesy of Cathy Martin
All I need to know
I learned from the Easter Bunny!
 
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.
Everyone needs a friend who is all ears.
There’s no such thing as too much candy.
All work and no play can make you a basket case.
A cute tail attracts a lot of attention.
Everyone is entitled to a bad hare day.
Let happy thoughts multiply like rabbits.
Some body parts should be floppy.
Keep your paws off of other people’s jelly beans.
Good things come in small, sugar coated packages.
The grass is always greener in someone else’s basket.
To show your true colors, you have to come out of the shell.
The best things in life are still sweet and gooey.
May the joy of the season fill your heart.
AND MAY GOD BLESS YOU! 
Happy Easter!

R.I.P. James Herr

James S. Herr of Nottingham, Chester County, died April 5. He was 87. 

Mr. Herr  was the founder of Herr Foods Inc., He is survived by his wife of 65 years, Miriam Hershey Herr; five children,  20 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren.   
Mr. Herr was an active member of Mount Vernon Mennonite Church and served on numerous boards dedicated to evangelism, philanthropy, and free enterprise.
And he made fantastic potato chips.

Motorists Must Now Give Cyclists 4 Feet In Pa.

A new law that aims to improve safety for bicyclists recently went into effect in Pennsylvania, notes State Rep. Jim Cox (R-129) 

Act 3 of 2012 establishes minimum safe-passing distances and requires the operator of a motor vehicle to pass to the left of a bicyclist within not less than 4 feet at a careful rate of speed. The new law also requires bicycle operators to use reasonable efforts so as not to impede the normal and reasonable flow of traffic and calls for them to operate on the far right side of the roadway when proceeding at less than the prevailing speed. 

Pennsylvania has now joined 18 other states in enacting such provisions.

Off The Internet — Legit Questions For The President

Off The Internet courtesy Fran Coppock

This election has me very worried. So many things to consider. I voted for Obama. McCain was a Washington insider and we don?t need any more of them. I have changed my mind three times, since then. I watch all the news channels, jumping from one to another. I must say this drives my husband crazy. But, I feel if you view CNN, and  Fox News, you might get some middle ground to work with. I started thinking “where does all the money come from for President Obama”?

 I have four daughters who went to College, and we were middle class, and money was tight. We (including my girls) worked hard and there were lots of student loans. I started looking into Obama’s history for my own peace of mind.

Around 1979 Obama started college at Occidental in California . He is very open about his two years at Occidental, he tried all kinds of drugs and was wasting his time but, even though he had a brilliant mind, did not apply himself to his studies.

“Barry” (that was the name he used all his life) during this time had two roommates, Muhammad Hasan Chandoo and Wahid Hamid, both from Pakistan . During the summer of 1981, after his second year in college, he made a “round the world” trip. Stopping to see his mother in Indonesia , next Hyderabad in India , three weeks in Karachi , Pakistan where he stayed with his roommate’s family, then off to Africa to visit his father’s family.

My question – Where did he get the money for this trip? Nether I, nor any one of my children would have had money for a trip like this when they were in college. When he came back he started school at Columbia University in New York . It is at this time he wants everyone to call him Barack – not Barry. Do you know what the tuition is at Columbia ? It’s not cheap! to say the least. My girls asked me; where did he get money for tuition? Student Loans? Maybe it?s none of my business?

After Columbia , he went to Chicago to work as a Community Organizer for $12,000 a year. Why Chicago?

Why not New York ? He was already living in New York . By “chance” he met Antoin “Tony” Rezko, born in Aleppo Syria , and a real estate developer in Chicago. Rezko has been convicted of fraud and bribery several times in the past and in 2011. Rezko, was named “Entrepreneur of the Decade” by the Arab-American Business and Professional Association”. About two years later, Obama entered Harvard Law School . Do you have any idea what tuition is for Harvard Law School? Where did he get the money for Law School? More student loans? His family has no money that?s for sure.

After Law school, he went back to Chicago . Rezko offered him a job, which he turned down.

But, he did take a job with Davis, Miner, Barnhill & Galland. Guess what I discovered?

They represented “Rezar” which is Rezko’s firm. Rezko was one of Obama’s first major financial contributors when he ran for office in Chicago . In 2003, Rezko threw an early fundraiser for Obama which Chicago Tribune reporter David Mendelland claims was instrumental in providing Obama with “seed money” for his U.S. Senate race.

In 2005, Obama purchased a new home in Kenwoood District of Chicago for $1.65 million (less than asking price). With ALL those Student Loans – Where did he get the money for this property? On the same day Rezko’s wife, Rita, purchased the adjoining empty lot for full price. The London Times reported that Nadhmi Auchi, an Iraqi-born Billionaire loaned Rezko $3.5 million three weeks before Obama’s new home was purchased. Obama met Nadhmi Auchi many times with Rezko.

Now, we have Obama running for President. Valerie Jarrett, was Michele Obama’s boss.

She is now Obama’s chief advisor and he does not make any major decisions without talking to her first.

Where was Jarrett born? Ready for this? Shiraz , Iran! Am I going nuts or is there a pattern here?

On May 10, 2008 The Times reported, Robert Malley advisor to Obama was “sacked” after the press found out he was having regular contacts with “Hamas”, which controls Gaza and is connected with Iran .

This past week, buried in the back part of the papers, Iraqi newspapers reported that during Obama’s visit to Iraq, he asked their leaders to do nothing about the war until after he is elected, and he will “Take care of things”. What the heck does that mean?

Oh, and by the way, remember the college roommates that were born in Pakistan ?

They are in charge of all those “small” Internet campaign contribution for Obama.

Where is that money coming from? The poor and middle class in this country?

Or could it be from the Middle East?

And the final bit of news. On Sept. 7, 2009, The Washington Times posted a verbal slip that was made on “This Week” with George  Stephanopoulos. Obama on talking about his religion said, ” My Muslim faith”. When questioned, “he make a mistake”.  Some mistake huh?

All of the above information I got on line. If you would like to check it – Wikipedia, encyclopedia,

Barack Obama; Tony Rezko; Valerie Jarrett: Daily Times – Obama visited Pakistan in 1981;

The Washington Times – September 7, 2008; The Times May 10, 2008.

Now the BIG question – If I found out all this information on my own.   Why haven’t all of our “intelligent” members of the press been reporting this? Is this a Kettle of Fish??

As Arseno Hall would say.—-HUMMMMMMM!  Does something stink or is it my imagination?

 

These are legitimate questions for the president.

Good Friday, Holy And Great Friday Or Sorrowful Friday

 
 The Noble Joseph  as performed at St. Nicholas Byzantine Catholic Church in Barberton, Ohio, on Holy Friday 2009.

Today is Good Friday in English,  Charfreitag (Sorrowful Friday) in German and Holy and Great Friday in Eastern Rite churches. It is the day the commemorates the Crucifixion of Lord Jesus Christ.

An astronomical method based on a lunar  Crucifixion darkness and eclipse  model indicates it occurred on Friday, April 3 AD 33 with tradition holding His death occurring at 3 p.m.

Christians hold it as a day of fasting and prayer. 

While not a federal holiday in the U.S., it is a national holiday in Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, and for this year, Cuba. 

The Exploitation of Trayvon Martin

Shelby Steele, who is a  a senior fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution and the author of the book White Guilt has an excellent and fascinating article on The Wall Street Journal’s website regarding the death of Trayhvon Martin.

Tax Dodges For The Rich And Famous

April 15 is but 10 days away so let us  link to this FrugalDad.Com article which claims that the U.S. government loses $100 billion annually to legal offshore tax havens used by corporations and the filthy rich.

The article notes that between 2008 and 2010, 29 of our largest corporation including General Electric, Wells Fargo and Verizon paid nothing in corporate taxes.
It unveiled a scheme used by Google — those caring “don’t be evil” Obama-supporting liberals — called the Double Irish and The Dutch Sandwich in which Google credits its non-U.S. profits to its Irish office then funnels it through a shell company in the Netherlands to tax-free Bermuda.
And it points out that Mitt Romney, who if he should win the GOP nomination and general election would be our richest president since George Washington — yes, GW was rich, has millions stashed in investment funds in the Cayman Islands. It notes that he paid just $3 million in federal taxes in 2011 on investment income of $21 million.
That’s a 14 percent tax rate. If everybody had a 14 percent tax rate cutting taxes wouldn’t be an issue. I wonder if Mitt realizes that not everybody has a 14 percent tax rate.
Come this Pennsylvania Primary Day on April 24 I’m hitting the button for Santorum or Gingrich or maybe even Paul if despair drives me to get really drunk.
But if Romney is the nominee, I’ll crawl over broken glass and through poison ivy to vote for him. Better a competent pawn of Goldman Sachs than the incompetent one we got now who is more of a parody of a sit-com character than a president.
Hey, Mr. President would it be “unprecedented” for the Supreme Court  to overturn a law passed by Congress?

Remember Me

Cathy Craddock has submitted a link to the very touching Remember Me by 15-year-old  Lizzie Palmer. Bet you’ll get misty-eyed. 

Thank you, Cathy.

Voters Guide Shows A Dem Challenger To Casey

The Pittsburgh 9.12 Project has created an excellent voters guide  for this year’s U.S. Senate race in Pennsylvania.

A pdf download can be found here.

The race will feature the winner of the Republican Primary against incumbent Democrat Bob Casey Jr. — assuming Casey wins his party primary as he will have a conservative, working class challenger in Joe Vodvarka

The primaries are April 24.