News, Entertainment, Enlightenment
Keep silent William Lawrence Sr Cryptowit 4-14-18
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Hfuyfns J O Xrnym
Answer to yesterday’s William Lawrence Sr Cryptowit quote puzzle: Some people keep silent and are thought to be wise, while others are detested for being talkative.
Sirach
The great composer Rossini was terrified of Friday the 13. Guess the day he died.
Pennsylvania Shadow Budgets Are Font Of Corruption
By Leo Knepper
One of the only good things to come out of last year’s budget was a transfer of $300 million from Pennsylvania’s shadow budget to the General Fund to cover the overspending. The shadow budget is comprised of Special Funds that exist outside of the normal budgeting process. Several lawmakers found over $1 billion in excess money in these accounts last year. After a great deal of public pressure, the General Assembly agreed to transfer $300 million from the shadow accounts to the general fund. The $300 million was money already collected by the state and collecting interest in a savings account. To borrow from our favorite clickbait headlines, “You Won’t Believe What Happened Next!”
Rather than taking funds from the extra $1 billion that lawmakers identified, Governor Wolf created a new special fund. For this new special fund, Wolf borrowed $200 million against the State Farm Show Complex through a “leaseback” agreement. The arrangement is basically a loan that will cost taxpayers $191 million in interest over the next twenty-nine years. But wait, there’s more.
According to reporting on the deal:
“The winner was Blackford Ventures, a Lancaster County development company that provides government entities and private businesses with cash. After Blackford won the bid, the company created a separate firm, Municipal Real Estate Funding, in December to handle the Farm Show transaction. Both Blackford and Municipal Real Estate are listed on the contract.
“The company is owned by Richard Welkowitz, a one-time Teamster laborer turned entrepreneur. Blackford’s chief executive officer is Mike Brubaker, a former Republican state senator.” (Emphasis added)
Several members of the Pennsylvania House are exploring legal options to halt the lease. True to form, the Wolf administration may have overstepped its legal authority in entering the agreement. Under the Pennsylvania Constitution, only the General Assembly must approve the issuance of new debt with very limited exceptions. The issue revolves around whether the deal is a lease or a loan. There is also the matter of Governor Wolf creating a Special Fund out of whole cloth in order to subvert the intent of the General Assembly. Given the PA Supreme Court’s recent willingness create new powers for itself, we are skeptical that they would be willing to intervene on behalf of taxpayers in this instance.
Lawmakers are exploring the option of requiring the Wolf administration to make the lease payments from the Executive Branch’s budget. We will let you know if they take that route.
Mr. Knepper is executive director of Citizens Alliance of Pennsylvania.
Private property William Lawrence Sr Cryptowit 4-13-18
Wsqi tistpi oiit wmpirx erh evi xlsyklx xs fi amwi, almpi sxlivw evi hixiwxih jsv fimrk xepoexmzi.
Wmvegl
Answer to yesterday’s William Lawrence Sr Cryptowit quote puzzle: The system of private property is the most important guarantee of freedom, not only for those who own property, but scarcely less for those who do not.
F.A. Hayek
Half the water in the world is in the Pacific Ocean.
Conservative Power Blasts Pennsylvania Republicans (And Val)
Citizens Alliance of Pennsylvania, which has become a major power in state politics, has released a flyer (above) bitterly blasting the State GOP and its legislative lapdogs.
State Party Chairman Val DiGiorgio, who we warned you about and warned you about and warned you about is featured prominently.
He is “example 3” as to why you should not donate to the party and is, fairly, described as “lobbyist.”
Did you know that Val worked with state Attorney General and Dem bigwig Josh Shapiro at the political fixing firm Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young and that Val’s wife got a $105,000 a year job with Josh’s fiefdom better known as Montgomery County.
Enough Republican state committeepeople apparently didn’t else two more votes would have been flipped to keep Val from winning the chairmanship.
He’s been doing a heckuva job hasn’t he? The Democrats certainly think so.
By the way, Donna Ellingsen, whose integrity has made her Val’s nemesis, is running for state committee along with Timothy Welsh of Oxford in Chester County this May 15. If you live in the area and care about fighting cronyism, vote for Donna and Timothy. Better yet, volunteer to help them get elected.
Her area consists of Coatesville, Modena, Valley North & South, Atglen, East Fallowfield, Highland, Parkesburg, Sadsbury, West Fallowfield, West Sadsbury, Elk, East Nottingham, West Nottingham, Oxford Borough, Lower Oxford, Upper Oxford, Caln and West Brandywine.
Val still works with Stradley Ronon and is prominently featured on its website.
Men are bores William Lawrence Sr Cryptowit 4-12-18
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I.D. Kdbhn
Answer to yesterday’s William Lawrence Sr Cryptowit quote puzzle: I begin with the principle that all men are bores. Surely no one will prove himself so great a bore as to contradict me in this.
Soren Kierkegaard
Between 1 and 2 percent of the members of the U.S. Armed Forces belong to criminal gangs. This is between 50 and 100 times greater than the general population.
Pity William Lawrence Sr Cryptowit 4-11-18
Z svxze nzky kyv gizetzgcv kyrk rcc dve riv sfivj. Jlivcp ef fev nzcc gifmv yzdjvcw jf xivrk r sfiv rj kf tfekiruztk dv ze kyzj.
Jfive Bzvibvxrriu
Answer to yesterday’s William Lawrence Sr Cryptowit quote puzzle: Pity may represent little more than the impersonal concern which prompts the mailing of a check, but true sympathy is the personal concern which demands the giving of one’s soul.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Carla D’Addesi Joins BigLeaguePolitics.com — Carla D’Addesi, who hosts “Family Matters” on 1180 AM WFYL, is now writing for BigLeaguePolitics.com.
She is quoted in this article concerning how a bizarre woman who encourages kindergartners to “transition” into the opposite sex has been named California’s “Teacher of the Year.”
It is time to end public schools.
