Arnold Trebach — Betrayal Of A Dream

Arnold Trebach, a 1960s civil rights activist who voted for Obama, has written an excellent article on PajamasMedia.Com about how corruption in the office of Attorney General Eric Holder has betrayed Martin Luther King’s dream.

It can be found here.


Steve Jobs R.I.P.

Written on a five-year-old MacBook Pro.

Montco Reagan Connections

Montco Reagan Connections

After his victory in 1980, Ronald Reagan chose the best, the brightest – and make no mistake – the most politically powerful to fill his cabinet. In an acknowledgement to the Republican might of Pennsylvania (a state he won), he chose three cabinet officials from the same county! Drew Lewis (who fired the striking air traffic controllers), Alexander Haig, and Richard Schweiker all hailed from Montgomery County.

In 1994, Pennsylvania was the most Republican state in the nation in terms of elected officials. The GOP controlled the two U.S. Senate seats, the Governorship, the state Legislature, all statewide row offices, and a majority of the congressional delegation.

And in 2010, five congressional seats flipped to the Republicans, Tom Corbett trounced his gubernatorial opponent, the state Senate remained in GOP hands, and Republicans seized control of the state House with a 10-set majority.

Yet the biggest prize of all has eluded the Party for a quarter-century: a win for their presidential candidate. Not coincidentally, the southeastern counties, home to nearly half the state’s population, have trended Democratic in that timeframe, with the former GOP strongholds of Delaware and Montgomery counties abandoning Republican nominees since 1988.

So it’s no surprise that leading Republicans, including Gov. Corbett and Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, R-9, of Chester, have come up with a plan to change how the state’s presidential electoral votes are awarded. Under their proposal, one electoral vote would be allocated for each congressional district a presidential candidate wins, as opposed to the current system, which is winner-take-all.

We’ll get to the real reason behind this naked political ploy, but first, let’s look at why the plan is a bad idea:

1) It politicizes the election process in an unprecedented way: Congressional districts would be gerrymandered like never before, drawn by the party in power to suit its candidate’s needs in order to win the most districts. This is NOT what the Founding Fathers had in mind when they designed the system, and most definitely puts the politicians ahead of the people. It’s supposed to be the other way around.

2) It sets the stage for the system to constantly change: Although labeled a plan offering “electoral fairness,” it is being pushed simply because the GOP now controls Harrisburg and wants to bolster the Republican nominee’s electoral total any way it can. Remember, the Democrats need Pennsylvania to win the White House, whereas the Republicans do not.

And since this change would be enacted by simple legislation, where does it end? If Pennsylvania Democrats regain control in 2014, and a Republican occupies the White House, would we then see the winner-take-all system come back into play? The electoral system in constant flux would only breed resentment and confusion, which could not come at a worse time.

3) It’s a wash on the national level: If enacted nationally, this system would ultimately be a wash, or even negatively impact the GOP. For example, Republicans would no longer win all of Texas’ 38 votes, perhaps only taking 25. Taking it even further, it is possible that in 2004, despite George W. Bush winning 31 states, he might have lost the election, since he only won the Electoral College with 16 votes to spare.

4) The system works as it is: It is not easy to pigeonhole the American people’s voting preferences. For example, Montana and North Dakota, both Republican states in most presidential elections, have Democratic senators, as did solidly Republican Georgia a short time ago. Indiana, with a GOP governor and legislature, had voted Democratic for president only once since 1940 — but that changed in 2008. Obama also won the normally GOP states of North Carolina, Virginia, Florida and Missouri. Yet the Republicans are darn close to winning the traditionally progressive states of Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin. Bottom line: Voting patterns are not set in stone. The more competitive elections are, the more engaged the electorate. The Electoral College works, so why mess with a good thing?

5) It all comes down to having good candidates who can articulate a message with charisma and passion. When Republicans instead coronate those whose “turn it is,” they get clobbered. Bob Dole and John McCain are prime examples. Neither had any business being the presidential nominee. Not much has changed, as the GOP is in total disarray heading into what many Republicans call the most important election in history. The truth is, there are only two candidates capable of winning the nomination, both of whom carry tremendous baggage. Yet McCain, the party’s patriarch, just stated, “We have the deepest bench in the Republican Party now that I have ever seen.” And that says it all.

On the state level, it’s much of the same, as Lynn Swann and Mike Fisher proved all too well.

Which leads us to the The Pennsylvania story.

The GOP’s demise in the Keystone State can be attributed to two things: the lack of quality candidates and the colossal failure of leadership. Fix both, and they win the state — and the White House. But the electoral system shouldn’t be changed just because the entrenched Business As Usual GOP hierarchy is the poster boy for incompetence.

The combination of running untenable candidates, valuing insider contracts and solicitorships over issues and choosing laziness over grunt work has caused it to lose huge chunks of the political landscape.

There has been little effort to groom candidates, and absolutely no initiative to stop the hemorrhaging from Philadelphia, where Republican statewide candidates routinely face half-million vote deficits. As a result, the Party is in the strange position of sitting on massive gains from the tidal wave of 2010, but taking a pass on challenging vulnerable Democratic Sen. Bob Casey. The GOP leadership doesn’t seem to realize that the big swings in 1994 and 2010 were not mandates for the Republicans per se, but a demand that real solutions be enacted to solve monumental problems.

When Republicans talk about the issues, they win – and win big. President Reagan innately understood that, which is why he won 44 and 49 states, respectively, with massive Electoral College victories. Even George W. Bush learned that lesson, as he too galloped to victory with 40 states and 426 electoral votes.

Thirty years ago, when someone moved into the Philadelphia suburbs, they were always greeted (usually within a week) by the local Republican committeeman. The conversation went something like this, “Oh, I see you moved here from the city. Well, we have safer streets, better schools, and lower taxes – because our municipality and county are run by Republicans. Here is a voter registration card. I’ll be back in a few days to see how we can work together.”

That recruiting effort built the Party into a well-oiled machine, and the county organizations could be relied upon to deliver for national and statewide candidates.

But all that ended, and with it, the GOP’s dominance. Issues gave way to power trips and petty infighting, the Party lost its energy and brand. Now, door-knocking and personal visits are virtually non-existent. And the numbers illustrate that failure: in the largest Republican wave since 1946, neither Tom Corbett nor Pat Toomey won Delaware or Montgomery County. Given that the GOP isn’t making the necessary changes, it’s a good bet that trend will continue, with Obama and Casey again winning the state.

Republican woes aside, letting the genie out of the bottle by fundamentally altering the hallowed electoral system established by our Founding Fathers – one that has served us so well -&nbs
p; for short-term political gain is anathema to everything uniquely American.

The folks pushing this change should look in the mirror and ask themselves if they are truly the leaders they purport to be. If so, they should abandon this foolhardy plan and seize the day, winning the hearts and minds of the electorate the old-fashioned way – through hard work.

The Founding Fathers knew a thing or two about how government works best. Honoring them by not punting a good thing is the least we should do.

 

Montco Reagan Connections

Hopes High For Successful Pittsburgh RINO Hunt

Tea Party activist Bob Guzzardi is enthused about Evan Feinberg’s chances to unseat go-along-to-get-along, establishment-Republican Congressman Tim Murphy in the  primary election looming for April 24.

Murphy has represented the 18th District, which is near Pittsburgh, since 2003.  RedState.org points out that he has voted for just about every big spending bill that has come his way, and has consistently opposed reforms to combat waste and fraud.

Guzzardi notes that the  district voted 65 percent for Pat Toomey and “is a plus 6 or plus 8, that is, tends ‘conservative’.”

Feinberg told Guzzardi this morning, Oct. 4,   that he will be able to tap into national money to challenge Murphy.

“Evan Feinberg has filed his FEC papers and will be opening a bank account tomorrow,” Guzzardi says. “His website will be up in a few days.”

Good Guys With Guns Mean Safer Cities

John Lott, respected researcher and a resident of Swarthmore, is noting  that Supreme Court decisions overturning gun-control laws in Washington D.C. and Chicago have brought about significant changes in the safety status of the those cities’ residents. Good Guys With Guns Mean Safer Cities

Namely, they’ve become more so.

Lott notes that in the first six months 2011, there were 14 percent fewer murders in Chicago compared to the first six months of last year   when having a handgun was illegal.

“It was the largest drop in Chicago’s murder rate since the handgun ban went into effect in 1982,” he writes.


He says that the murder rate in Washington D.C. is down 34 percent since the Heller decision in 2008, which overturned that city’s gun laws.

Thank you, President Bush for the judges you picked.

The same effect, by the way, can be seen closer to home. Harrisburg made “right to carry” applicable to residents of Philadelphia in 1995, a year in which there were 432 homicides. By 1999, homicides there plummeted to 292.

While there were some spikes in the ensuing years (406 in 2006)  it never reached the number of the gun-ban years.

Last year, there were 306 homicides in the city. The city’s population has been stable at a little more than 1.5 million over the last 15 years.

Of course, the ability to effectively protect oneself is not the most important marker for safety. A society that sincerely holds that people are designed and loved by a creator regardless of that person’s convenience to society will be a very safe place in which few will feel need to have a gun.

Believe it or not, Philadelphia once came fairly close to that ideal. In 1958,  the city — which then had population of 2 million — had just 117 murders.

Good Guys With Guns

Animal Abuse Petition Link

Animal Abuse Petition — Reader Kristina B asked me to post a link to a petition to make animal abuse a federal crime.

Here you go, Kris.

 

Favorite Movie Mind Game — Off The Internet

Favorite Movie Mind Game (Courtesy of Cathy Craddock)

Be honest and don’t look at the movie list below till you have done the math!
Try this test and find out what movie is your favorite. This amazing math quiz can likely predict which of 18 movies you would enjoy the most. it really works!
Movie Test:

Pick a number from 1-9.
Multiply by 3.
Add 3.
Multiply by 3 again.
Now add the two digits of your answer together to find your predicted favorite movie in the list of 18 movies below.

Movie List:
1. Gone With The Wind
2. E.T.
3. Blazing Saddles
4. Star Wars
5. Forrest Gump
6. The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly
7. Jaws
8. Grease
9. The Obama Farewell Speech of 2012
10. Casablanca
11. Jurassic Park
12. Shrek
13. Pirates of the Caribbean
14. Titanic
15. Raiders Of The Lost Ark
16. Home Alone
17. Mrs. Doubtfire
18. Toy Story

 

Why We Need ‘Right To Work’


Reader Cathy C submitted an email she received from Mark Mix of of  National Right To Work Committee.

While Mix’s group is pushing for national reform,  Pennsylvania becoming a “right to work” state would likely do as much if not more to save the Delaware River refineries than relief from thoughtless environmental regulation.

BTW, Delaware County Daily Times columnist Gil Spencer, with this column and one written Friday, is joining the crusade to highlight the havoc stupid, quasi-religious regulations are creating with the lives of Delaware Countians.

Welcome Gil and thank you, Cathy.

Here is Mix’s letter.

Dear Cathy,

“You guys slash my tires, stab me in the neck, try to beat me up,” the construction company official explained to the union organizer.

Given all that, he asked, why should the company hire such aggressive union militants?

“The positives are that the negatives you are complaining about would go away,” the union operative reportedly replied.

According to the Buffalo News, the “negatives” include hot coffee thrown at independent-minded workers, sand dumped into the engines of company vehicles, and the wife of a company representative threatened with sexual assault.

And the union toughs just might get away with it.

You see, ever since the Supreme Court’s infamous 1973 Enmons decision, union bosses have been granted immunity from federal prosecution for acts of violence and vandalism they orchestrate in the so-called “pursuit of legitimate union objectives.”

AFL-CIO union lawyer Jonathan D. Newman told the Buffalo News that “we simply want to make sure that the [federal law] is not interpreted in a way that could have a chilling effect on legitimate union activity.”

The union violence in Buffalo is hardly an isolated incident.

As you may recall, the Associated Press reported that hundreds of Longshoreman union militants held security guards hostage for hours at the Port of Longview in Washington State on September 8.

Union thugs reportedly committed numerous acts of vandalism and violence including breaking windows, cutting brake lines on railroad cars, and threatening police officers with baseball bats.

Weeks later, local police have only made two arrests in connection with the September 8 raid.

And now Longshoremen union officials have launched a Wisconsin-style recall campaign against the county sheriff investigating the raid.

Union officials know that if they intimidate local authorities, they can get away with anything.

The loophole in federal law ensures that union officials who may have orchestrated and encouraged the union violence may never be brought to justice, especially where they can intimidate and use political connections to stop local or state prosecutions.

That’s why the Freedom from Union Violence Act (FUVA) is so vital. To learn more about FUVA and how you can help urge Congress to take action, please click here.

Your National Right to Work Committee has an aggressive plan of action to force the politicians in Washington, D.C. to stop turning a blind eye to union violence.

Thank you once again for helping us fight back.

Sincerely,
 
Mark Mix

How Oenophiles Can Cope In The Obamapression

With money getting ever tighter in these Obama years, wine lovers need not resort to suffering with Franzia to partake of the fruits of the vine.

They do, however, have to be unafraid of a little DIY.

Wine & Beer Emporium is a great little shop in the Old Ridge Village Shopping Center off Route 202 in Chadds Ford, Pa.

They sell everything you need to make your own personal vintage. The less expensive kits will come out to less than $3 per bottle the quality of which frankly exceeds the $20 bottles that you would get from one of Pennsylvania’s government-owned “Wine and Liquor Shoppes”.

Granted that doesn’t include supplies that will double the cost of a bottle for the first-go round. The supplies, however, are reusable except for the corks and cleaning powder.

If you go say hi to Joan or Paul.

New Season For ‘With Pen In Hand’

With Pen In Hand, the program for writers of all ages run by Dr. Cecelia Evans has begun a new season.

It meets 10 a.m., Saturdays at the Media Fellowship House, 302 S. Jackson St. It’s a wonderful time with warm people.

Here is a rather old link with some information about the program.