You lost the end of the Scotch tape and are going nuts trying to find it? Remember to stick a paper clip (or toothpick or matchstick) to it next time. No more problem. This works with duct tape too.
Republican Values Mean Boom For All
Republican Values Mean Boom For All — The Ardmore-Merion-Wynnewood Patch earlier this month attributed an economic boom in Montgomery County to tax-subsidized development in Lower Merion.
Retired businessman Bob Guzzardi points out in the below article that the growth in Montco is not coming from government-funded projects in Democrat Lower Merion but from free market policies in Republican-controlled King of Prussia, Hatfield and Lower Moreland.
By Bob Guzzardi
Do Republican values and Republican governance lead to prosperity for all as well as more taxes to pay for necessary government services and infrastructure? Empirically, the real world says “yes”. King of Prussia, Hatfield and Lower Moreland are governed by Republicans and they are growing.
I would think that Republican officeholders and those seeking office would want to make the case that Republicans governance means a higher standard of living.
It would seem to me that Republicans would be promoting themselves as the party of growth providing jobs with industrial projects and shopping centers/malls and which generate the tax revenue to build and maintain infrastructure and finance necessary government services.
Upper Merion is Republican, is it not? And the fastest growing municipality in MontCo, it seems. Hatfield is Republican, is it not? How many of these projects are built by free market, competitive contractors, that is, non-union contractors.
Of the 4,089 proposed units, how many were in Republican municipalities? My point is to make the case that in the real world, it can be empirically verified that Republican values work. Democratic Lower Merion is in decline; Republican Upper Merion and King of Prussia are growing raising their standard of living for everyone and creating jobs. So is Lower Moreland and Hatfield.
One of Lower Merion’s biggest projects, the Dranoff project, had to be subsidized and unionized.!
Democrats escaped Democratic (and union controlled) Philadelphia to Republican Lower Merion and, instead of embracing Republican ideas, they imposed a regime of more taxes, more spending and more debt. Lower Merion is in decline. It is shabby and down scale.
Republican Values Mean Boom For All
William Lawrence Sr Omnibit 3-20-16
Spring has sprung. The cheerful robins have returned. Old English legend has it that “this pious bird with the scarlet breast” tenderly picked a thorn from the crown of Christ. As the merciful bird flew off a drop of blood fell dying the bird’s breast red.
Pious bird –William Lawrence Sr Omnibit 3-20-16
Spring 2016 Starts Now
According to our server’s clock it is now 12:30 a.m., EDT, March 20, which means the vernal equinox just happened and Spring 2016 has begun.
Equinox is Latin for “equal night.” Days and nights are approximately equal everywhere and the Sun rises and sets due east and west, explains The Old Farmers Almanac. At the equinoxes, the tilt of Earth relative to the Sun is zero, which means that Earth’s axis neither points toward nor away from the Sun.
Vernal comes from the Latin vernalis which means spring.
Spring 2016 Starts Now
Dom Backs Casacio At Delco Event
Dom Backs Casacio At Delco Event — Montgomery County businessman Stan Casacio, who is challenging incumbent 7th District Congressman Pat Meehan in the April 26 Republican primary election, will explaining his candidacy before the Delaware County Patriots, 7 p.m., April 4 at the Knights of Columbus Hall, 327 N. Newtown Street Road, Newtown Square, Pa. 19073.
He will be introduced by WPHT talk show host Dom Giordano.
The public is invited.
Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Light refreshments will be served. Please RSVP by calling 484-995-1540.
Dom Backs Casacio At Delco Event
William Lawrence Sr Omnibit 3-19-16
Time travel is banned in China. OK, what this really means is that movies featuring it as a plot are not allowed to be shown because it treats history frivolously.
Time travel is banned in China — William Lawrence Sr Omnibit 3-19-16
Robin E. Cohen Kudos
Kudos to Robin E. Cohen who has been named top the professional team of The Lapin Group of Jenkintown.
Robin has spent over 25 years in the fields of development and non-profit executive management. She served as the Interim Executive Director of Women of Reform Judaism (WRJ), assisting them with the launch of their capital campaign and centennial celebration. During the span of her career she has also served as executive director for synagogues and other non-profits across the country, and has held various positions in fundraising, programming, and public relations. Her specialties include turnaround management, leadership development, marketing and PR strategy and campaign management. 
She received her Bachelor’s degree in Communications from Florida International University and a Master’s Degree in Business Administration (MBA) from Nova University.
Robin E. Cohen Kudos
Destructive Wolf Off Rocker Says Senator
Destructive Wolf Off Rocker Says Senator
By Sen. Scott Wagner
Yesterday (March 17) I updated you on votes in the Pennsylvania State House and Senate on HB 1801, which would end the 2015-16 Budget impasse.
I also reported that Governor Wolf had stated that he would veto the budget bill.
Late yesterday it was reported that Governor Wolf was making statements that he was willing to close schools.
Click on this link and please read the story – I recommend viewing the video by Courtney Brennan.
Governor Wolf has gone off his rocker. Governor Wolf will go down as the most destructive governor in Pennsylvania history if he allows schools to close.
I see first-hand every single day how Governor Wolf has absolutely zero interest in cutting costs, cutting waste, and putting Pennsylvania on a diet.
As a matter of fact, Governor Wolf is committed to growing Pennsylvania government to reward his public sector union friends.
The best example of Governor Wolf growing government would be the 400 new employees hired at the Department of Corrections in 2015, which I feel confident saying are now dues-paying union members.
Click on this link to see which Democrat’s voted no on HB 1801 in the state House and Senate.
(Under “Floor Roll Call”, click on the word “Vote” to pull up the House votes and the Senate votes.)
To end your week, here is a great example of the irrational thinking of Senate Minority Leader Vincent Hughes from Philadelphia on the budget.
Stay tuned – I will have more to report next week.
Destructive Wolf Off Rocker Says Senator
William Lawrence Sr Omnibit 3-18-16
Congressman Robert F. Broussard in 1910 figured hippopotamus would solve a then severe meat shortage and also eat the invasive water hyacinth that was clogging up the rivers in his state of Louisiana. A win-win. So he introduced the American Hippo Bill calling for their importation and release into the bayous. Former President Theodore Roosevelt backed it as did the U.S Department of Agriculture, the Washington Post and The New York Times which described the meat as “lake cow bacon”. The bill fell just short of being passed.
American Hippo Bill introduced by Congressman Robert F. Broussard in 1910– William Lawrence Sr Omnibit 3-18-16
PSERS Loses Money
PSERS Loses Money
By Leo Knepper
The Pennsylvania Public Schools Employee Retirement System (PSERS), released its 2015 performance results last week, and they weren’t good. PSERS assumes a 7.5 percent rate each year to avoid appearing even more underfunded than its publically stated $44 BILLION in unfunded liabilities. For 2015, PSERS lost nearly 1.8 percent. When we’re dealing with billions of dollars, the difference between the pension plan’s expected returns and actual returns is a substantial amount of money.
Last year’s loss comes despite PSERS spending a small fortune on “active” fund managers who are supposed to anticipate future market conditions and invest resources accordingly. As noted by the Philadelphia Inquirer:
“PSERS’s extra losses reflected its unusually large bets on commodity fund managers. The system posted a 33 percent loss for funds invested in “Master Limited Partnerships” (typically oil and gas investments), an 18 percent loss for commodities investments, and an 8 percent loss in “risk parity” investments, which can look a lot like hedge fund strategies.”
No fund manager can outperform the market every time, and this isn’t just the opinion of CAP. It a position widely held by well-respected academics and folks like Warren Buffet.
The previously mentioned Inquirer article notes that Montgomery County adopted a low-cost index fund investment approach two years ago. Last year, they substantially outperformed PSERS with a modest .3 percent return on investments. Montgomery County’s performance was not a fluke. In his book “Future Forsaken”, John McGinnis compares PSERS performance (and the others SERS system) to an index fund approach. He found that the low-cost option outperformed the current actively management funds across a thirty-year time horizon.
On top of outperforming active managers, switching to lower cost index funds could save taxpayers $750 million per year. Given the facts, there is no reason for the state’s pension systems to maintain the status quo and every reason to explore alternatives to protect taxpayers and future retirees.
Mr. Knepper is executive director of Citizens Alliance of Pennsylvania.