The Lehigh Valley Political Blog

Mayor Pawlowski meets with his Budget Consultants

2009-12-07T05:00:00.000-05:00

Friday people all over the valley were pointing to the sky as Air Force One approached

"De Plane, de Plane!" echoed everywhere you went. But that wasn't the only excitement.

Friday night Mayor Pawlowski and his wife jetted to a secret Carribean Island location.

The Mayor met with the experts who convinced him the Allentown City Budget could be balanced.

I have obtained this picture of the Mayor's secret Financial team.

ANYBODY KNOW THESE GUYS?

Obama is Coming, Obama is coming!

2009-12-04T06:00:00.000-05:00

Would it be bad form for me to say enough already?

The way some of the cattle are behaving you would think that it was Jesus Christ coming to the Lehigh Valley to absolve us all of our sins.

My skepticism aside, I am taking the girls to see him. How often do your kids get an opportunity to see the leader of their nation up close and in person? I think it is a teachable moment.

I think it is important for them to see he is only a man. An important and influential man, but only a man. He is not the saviour, nor is he the anti-christ, he is only a man.

Perry Mason did not win them all

2009-12-03T18:30:00.004-05:00

Lawyer: "How did you ascertain who wrote this email?"

Witness: "I backtracked the Ip and ISp through a static server into a black hole in the Antaran Galaxy, and then back to Earth through the International Space station and Microsoft's secret satellite network. Then it tailed off into an AOl dial up."

Judge: "What the hell did she just say?"

If you ever get the chance, you should sit in on a case in a Pennsylvania District Magistrate's office.

In the case I witnessed, the judge found the defendant not guilty of a crime. I won't debate or question that verdict, but I will say that the evidence presented proved beyond all shadow of a doubt that while the defendant may not have been guilty, he definitely acted like an Asshole.

The defense attorney successfully painted his client as a victim of provocation. I didn't think it was justified, but he pulled it off. The defense attorney openly mocked the victim. He was definitely worth whatever obscene amount he was paid. He was no Perry Mason, but he was a Johnny Cochrane, and that was good enough.

Justice isn't always served in a dish that is appealing. Sometimes it isn't all that well done, it isn't well made, and isn't very appetizing. Sometimes all the ingredients are right, but they don't mix together well, and you leave the meal, or courtroom, with a bad taste in your mouth, and you are still hungry.

It has happened before, and it will happen again. Even Perry Mason burned his toast once in a while. Just ask Della Street.

Random Tuesday Thought: Bring on the Apocalypse!

2009-11-30T21:00:00.002-05:00

Hey everybody!

Welcome to my contribution to the Blogosphere's Random Tuesday Thought extravaganza!

My chosen topic for today is all the useless brouhaha over the coming Apocalypse on December 21, 2012. The same group of doomsayers who warned us about Ronald Wilson Reagan (6 letters in each of his names that is 666!), and then warned us about Nostradamus and the year 2000 computer meltdown (Y2K Lookout!) are now pointing to the Mayan calendar as the messenger of doom, and this new movie should be taken as a warning!

Here is my explanation for why the Mayan calendar ends on that date:

Something happened to, or with the guy who was drawing it.
Who is to say he didn't go home that night and have a heart attack in his sleep, or trip and hit his head on a stone? My favorite possible explanation, and the one I feel most likely to be true, is that Mr Mayan Calendar making didn't get paid. That's right, I would bet the Mayan civilization went bankrupt trying to bring about universal shaman care for all its citizens, and Mr Calendar maker stopped working on it because he wasn't going to take anymore I.O.U's from their Social security trust fund.

I would also like to point out that numbers are a creation of man. Numbers and days only mean what we want them to mean. Why do you think people read their Horoscopes? We don't have a clue, but we like the idea that we do, even when the truth is we don't.
Nostradamus had no clue, he was just writing down what the drugs were telling him. The same goes for the book of Revelation, it was one person's vision of the future, just like the Mayan calendar. I like the Classic Rock group Dire Straights, and in their song "Industrial disease" there is a line, "two men say they're Jesus, one of them must be wrong."

Damn straight! Those guys had it right. With all these crazy doomsayers, I like to believe they are all wrong.
That's my random Tuesday thought. I hope to have them for many more years, but if you believe the Mayans, you only have Three more and three weeks to put up with any of it.
They say trouble comes in threes. Maybe I should post this at 9 pm, to add three hours to that.
Three years, Three weeks, and three hours until doomsday. Now I am part of the conspiracy!

Boolyah!

Allentown Mayoral campaign Mischief? There is not enough proof. Yet

2009-11-30T01:00:00.002-05:00

The election was over almost four weeks ago, but then the rumors, and in one case, the bragging started. The bragging came from the mouth of a member of the Mayor's campaign.
I think everybody expected that. They won. But what is bothering me and many others is the claim that a member of the Mayor's campaign staff put Margarita Lopez-Pena up to doing what she did to Tony Phillips on Facebook.

Chris Casey was anonymously presented with pages from the Pawlowski campaigns cell phone bills, cell phones that were provided by Verizon Wireless. Casey went to Lehigh County and pulled the Mayor's Campaign finance reports, and verified that Verizon wireless was the provider for their campaign phones. He asked me to track down the phone numbers, and I have.

We also now know that the phone numbers provided were registered to the Pawlowski campaign phones. Our problem is the pages provided are photocopies and I do not trust their veracity. I believe, and Casey agrees with me, that they could have been doctored.

What we want our is for anonymous tipster to provide us with the real deal.
In the meantime Casey is also going to ask the Pawlowski campaign if he can look at their printed phone bills, and offer them a chance to prove they did not use their phones improperly.
We both think they will refuse, but we have heard from a couple of sources that the bills may have to be filed as part of their full campaign expense reports. Then anybody can look at them.

Our anonymous tipster claimed that the phone bills will show that the mayor's campaign called Marguerita Lopez-Pena in Orlando back in July. If true, that would be in conflict with a statement made by Mayor Pawlowski's campaign immediately after the Facebook scandal broke, that they had no knowledge or connection to Marguerita's actions.

I have personally attempted to contact Marguerita Lopez Pena, I know she opened my email, but she has not replied. The phone number doesn't work anymore either.

All we have now is numerous witnesses stating that one particular obnoxious drunken staffer from the Mayor's campaign keeps running his mouth at the Allentown Brewworks about what he got away with.

That is not enough. For all we know, someone is attempting to use this blog to settle a score with someone in the Mayor's campaign.

We did look into this, and there was a great deal of legwork involved, but we can't find the evidence to back the anonymous accusations up. All I can tell you is that we will keep looking.

I think some of the people in the Pawlowski campaign behaved in a questionable way, and many of them will end up being rewarded politically. If they continue their behavioral pattern, it will catch up to the mayor eventually. There are some of us watching, and we will let you know.

Thanksgiving..... and we had no Internet. which was a good thing!

2009-11-28T07:00:00.002-05:00

Thanksgiving has come and gone for another year. It is always seems easy to me to point out everything that is wrong and gripe about it. I hope that everybody took a few minutes to reflect on the many things that people who happen to live in America take for granted and are a true blessing. (Insert what you are thankful for here.)

I traveled to Cape May Point New Jersey for Thanksgiving dinner, at the family beach house. It was a wonderful get together, made even more wonderful by the fact that the Internet was not working. How can this be, no Internet in America?

Usually we have no problem with our wireless down there, but this time you no sooner got a connection than it failed, I want to see Bill Curtis shoot his next "I just found the Internet" commercial there. We could find it, it just kept going into hiding. With Satellite transmissions being blocked by the aliens, it was a good thing that the cable TV still comes in the old fashioned way, by line on a telephone wire. Can you imagine if we would have had no TV? No Football?

I dare not to envision it.

These circumstances made for a nice Thanksgiving gathering, because no one could sneak away and bury themselves in their own little Internet world, reading email, browsing Facebook, or commenting on blogs.

Instead we talked to each other face to face. The women folk actually piled in the car and went shopping at Kmart after dinner. They couldn't go online in private, so they went out as a group. Later that night the family sat around the kitchen table playing board games, with much laughter involved.

There is something to be said about those rare family moments of shared experience. They are becoming few and far between. Those are the memories worth making, and that is another area where Americans are trailing the cultures of other parts of the world.

Technology has changed American culture in many ways, and not always for the better, because it has allowed us to become impersonal. We are more connected to others than ever, yet we are as distant than we have ever been.

Thursday I caught a glimpse of a not so recent past that we are forgetting. I hope I get to see it again soon. I kind of liked it.

A Perfunctory Mention

2009-11-25T09:39:00.002-05:00

Several days ago Scott Kraus wrote an article about Jake Towne's Campaign. Jake, running as an independent in the 15th Congressional District, is opposing incumbent Charles Dent and Bethlehem Mayor John Callahan. Jake has scheduled a town hall meeting, and Kraus gave the announcement full coverage, including a photograph of Towne. I, as a former independent candidate, took particular notice of this coverage. Several weeks ago Daryl Nerl, former reporter for the Morning Call, stated that if Kraus wrote anything about me in 2005, it must have been only perfunctory. This little post might annoy several people. One blogger says that because Nerl is laid off, I should bear no resentment for any bias shown against me in the past. A columnist for the paper describes Nerl as a good friend. I held a town hall meeting which Daryl attended, but never wrote about, before or after.

I'd like to thank Kraus for the coverage he's providing Mr. Towne's Campaign. Towne as a candidate deserves some recognition, and the voters deserve to be informed of all options available to them. The above photograph is not Mr. Towne, it is Daryl Nerl. Although my photograph, as a candidate, never appeared in the paper in 2005, I thought perhaps I had a perfunctory obligation to include Mr. Nerl's.

Teenagers and alcohol, my last 48 hours

2009-11-22T13:11:00.003-05:00

It is just after one PM and I kissed my 19 year old son goodbye. He got in his "new" 2003 car and headed back to State College. Why does my son have a new car?
After his 11 AM class on Fridays, he drives home every weekend. At 2 PM my cell phone rang. It was the Pennsylvania State police. There had been an accident.

I started crying, without even knowing what had happened, but to get to the end of it, everyone was alright, even if my son's car was totaled.

I saw the car, all I can say is, THANK GOD FOR AIRBAGS. Another driver, a 20 year old, had weaved into my son's lane and caused the accident. The 20 year old had other teens in the car, and they had beer.

I had to drive 90 minutes away and pick my son up, first at the hospital where he was checked out. Then we had to go to the tow yard and clean out everything he had in his car, so I didn't get home until after 11 Friday night.
I spent yesterday morning making sure the boy had no hidden injuries, but we also went looking for an affordable, reliable car. (I am really impressed with Progressive Insurance, they were at the tow yard Friday night, and told me it would all be handled.)
By two in the afternoon we were all done. I won't go into specifics, but I spent less than six thousand, and I will get most of that back from Insurance.

So that is out of the way, and you might think I would sigh in relief.

My teenage daughters are 13 and 17. The 17 year old has a job, and was scheduled to work Friday night until 10. When I got home at 11, she still wasn't in. I was just about to call her cell phone when she came up the driveway around 11:20.

When I asked where she was, she shrugged and said she had lost track of time and worked a few minutes over. I would have let this go, but while I was out looking for a car Saturday, Oldest Daughter took her sister to the library in the morning. Last night youngest was invited to a friends for a sleepover. I told her to have her sister drive her.
She responded that she wanted me to drive her, because her sister's car smells funny, and it made her gag.
I said nothing for a few seconds, but I consented and took her. When I came back, I went to the car in question to see what she meant. As soon as I opened the door I knew exactly what I was smelling, and it was a good thing daughter was out with friends, because I needed a few hours to calm down.

I have rules about the car. One of them is no passengers at all without my consent. I allow her to give a neighbor a ride because they work together, but she has to call me and ask my permission first. Another rule was that if I ever catch her with alcohol in the car she loses driving privileges.

The back seat and floor reeked of beer. I was furious, enraged, not to mention disappointed with her. I waited until 10 o'clock, after she came home and had settled into her room to confront her.

She disappointed me further by trying to lie her way out of it, but in the end she came clean.
She gave several of her co workers rides home, and she had stopped so they could buy beer (one was 21) She knew I was away looking after her brother and didn't think I would be home to know. They were drinking in the back seat while she drove them home. At first she denied having any, but after realizing I was going to call the parents of all involved, she admitted she had tried some, and beer had been spilled in the car while passing it around.

Her driving privileges are gone until school lets out in June. That's final. What the other parents do is their business, but I am judge and jury in my house and there is no appeal.

My Father is retired and he volunteered to take her to work, but I would have to pick her up.
I will do that, and if it embarrasses her, then that is even better.
I thought that was the end of it, but no, she decided to take revenge on her sister for telling on her. This morning around six youngest daughter started screaming. She was screaming because oldest had crept into her bedroom last night and cut the hair on one side of her little sister's head extremely short, up over her ears. Oldest was defiant. My son was laughing at both of them, and I found myself smiling too. I was really angry at her, but I kept thinking what they were doing to each other would make a great story in about twenty years, if they don't kill each other first.

There aren't many hair places open on Sunday, but I found one, and my baby looks cute with a pixie cut. Just to be fair I made oldest get hers done too. That didn't go over well, but she accepted it. My son said he didn't mind having brothers, and that started another round of spats.

It's a good thing he's going back to school for a couple of days, but God help me next weekend, it will likely be one fight after another. My Mom is coming up from the Shore, so her and Dad will likely give the kids something to watch as they continue their love/hate.

I feel better having shared this, I am glad I monitor comments, and I am looking forward to the relevant ones, the others I will bag.

"Is Mike Fleck worth $2 a vote?"

2009-11-21T08:00:00.001-05:00

It sure looks that way, if you are Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski, and you have hired Michael and Alison Fleck of Easton as "consultants" on your reelection campaign. I personally don't think "Fleck-Aid" is worth a penny a vote, but that is my own opinion. I think anyone looking for a consultant on a campaign would be better off buying packets of "Kool-Aid" and serving it to volunteers other than jumping into Mike Fleck's vast black Hole of political wisdom

The "Work" of managing Ed Pawlowski's Mayoral campaign cost him more than $15,000 dollars. In the Campaign finance reporting period of June 9, 2009 to October 19, 2009, the Friends of Ed Pawlowski doled out 9 payments of more than $1500 to Mike Fleck, and 4 payments of $500 to Alison Fleck. That easily exceeds $15,000 paid to the Fleck clan. I am sure there will be a few more payments in the after election reports, and likely a "bonus" for the excellent turnout. (sic)

Lets see, Mayor Pawlowski received 7908 votes, so employing the crack political team of the Flecks cost him about two bucks a vote!
It is not up to me to say that the money was earned, but with Fleck's history, especially out in western Lehigh and Berks county, that point could well be argued.

Interesting things these campaign finance reports, you find out things like who owned the building the Mayor rented office space for his campaign from, and who gave an in kind donation of several thousand dollars worth of office furniture.

But what I was looking for was the phone bill. In this case, it was Verizon wireless. You see, I got a tip that I would find some very enlightening phone calls to numbers outside the state on that bill, during a certain period of time.
I can tell you that in that period of June to October, The Friends of Ed Pawlowski paid Verizon $1200+ for services. I can't imagine that was for just the Internet, you know?

Now because this was a campaign expense, the wireless bills and the numbers they called that are listed on it can be requested for examination. You know, I just want to be sure that the reelection campaign wasn't calling strip clubs or anything improper, because I am curious that way. I am especially curious about any long distance calls that might have been made, like you know, to other parts of the country.

But then, on the other hand,,,,,,

You know, for $15,000 dollars, you might think that someone would buy a shredder and not throw campaign bills out in the regular trash where anyone can find them and share them with people . That is how identity theft happens a lot I hear! (Like anyone would want to be Mike Fleck!)

But I might have a question or two for Mr Fleck, and I can wait to get an answer.

Because when I ask the question, I will already know the answer, and in this game of not so high stakes political poker, I will be ready to go all in. More to come..............

P.S> I should mention that I am in the process of finding out how to get a look at the entire collection of phone records from the Mayor's campaign. I am told that they are legally in play by a credible source, but we could be wrong. If they are accessible, I will ask for them. I think it important to see them as a whole, not just bits and pieces.

Why President Obama is really coming to Allentown

2009-11-19T19:00:00.001-05:00

(Satire warning! Think Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal!)

Well, isn't this nice? The Leader of the free world is coming to Allentown to start a "listening tour." I am not even from the Valley, and I want to shoot Billy Joel for writing that damn song.
My President, yes Barack Obama is my President, is coming to the Queen city. I think that is a great thing.

But I have a little secret.

He's not coming on a listening tour. President Obama is actually coming here to negotiate a peace treaty In Allentown's' version of the Gaza Strip down on Linden Street.

That's right, He's here to negotiate giving certain minorities that live in the area self government, and allowing them to secede from the city and create their own city within a city. (With financial assistance from our Federal Government, of course.)

There are a few wrinkles to be worked out, like who will be responsible for the indoctrination centers (schools) or converting the protection forces (gang) into a trained and disciplined police force. The bottom line here is this really is Mayor Ed Pawlowski's best bet to balance the City budget. If it works in Allentown, it might work in other big cities.

The only real hurdle left is deciding whether the State or Feds should pay for the perimeter guards at these gated communities, you know controlling who is allowed in or out. (Anybody can get in, not everybody can get out) I personally wonder whether the new thirty foot walls that will be built surrounding these new independently governed enclaves to separate the unwanted from the greater community at large will be seen as a way of giving the independent residents of these new cities privacy..... or keeping them out of sight of those who don't want to look at them.

These new sub cities will be electing their own government, from their own people. Of course, their leaders will be called Council people and mayors or such.
But from the outside looking in, I would have a different word for them. Trustees.

What are we teaching the kids?

2009-11-17T06:00:00.001-05:00

I wonder sometimes what we are teaching children when they see us willingly bend the rules to achieve an end. Sometimes that end isn't exactly worthwhile.

I don't care for union bashing, but let's face it, some union leaders act like idiots. The case in point is the President of the Allentown chapter of the Service Employees Union complaining about a boy scout who worked in a park.

All other issues aside, is it really good public relations to attack the boy scouts? The union President just gave fodder to all the extremist crazies at both ends of the political spectrum.

My point here is that it seems to me that every disagreement in recent time is being pared down to one group hating on another, and claiming that what their particular group values is under attack.

One groups' family values is another groups' hate target, be it unions, gays, or now even the Boy scouts.

I would like it if someone called a timeout and sent all participants to neutral corners to consider how their actions will reflect on the next generation. It is a generation that is being taught that the only way to settle conflict is to hate the people you disagree with more than they hate you.

I don't think anybody is going to win a disagreement that is discussed (or screamed) like that.

Does Mayor Pawlowski condone acts of hatred on his behalf by bloggers? It sure looks that way to me

2009-11-15T14:00:00.003-05:00

Think Mayor Pawlowski in the middle, with his Blogger Crazy team flanking him.

Bloggers Note: This is a guest post from "Third Baseman," author of the Send in the Clowns blog listed on the sidebar. I edited this for continuity and clarity, and Third Baseman approved the final draft. -Chris Casey

For whatever reason, my neighbors here in Allentown reelected Ed Pawlowski as mayor on November third. Hey, majority rules, I have to live with it, at least until I hit the lottery in UK or Ireland, or Swaziland, right?

What's pissing me off now is all the trash talking that is being done, and was done, and is still coming from people who support him. And two of these people (Bill and Angie Villa) are doing it while claiming it is their right of free speech. These two people are holding themselves up as some kind of pillars of virtue. Like they, and only they, have a right to speak.

They are two of the most vocal supporters of our Mayor on the Internet, and in the Blog world in particular. They repeatedly post a picture of Angie Villa with the mayor, to show how much they are in favor with the Mayor.

It is only a photograph, but the way they use it, it conveys that they have the full support of the Mayor in their actions. I want you to think about what the Villas are doing on blogs, and decide for yourselves if what these CLOWNS are doing is so sanctimonious. I want people to decide if they think these two blog clowns are doing the Mayor Clown's bidding.

For starters:

Posting THOUSANDS of Comments on every local blog, mostly off topic, condemning a Valley resident (Blogger Bernie O'Hare) for a mistake he made almost 25 years ago. It has nothing to do with the death of the Villa's daughter, I think it has everything to do with O'Hare's criticism of Mayor Pawlowski on his blog. They keep asserting he hasn't been rehabilitated. If anybody needs rehabilitation, I think those two should try it. I can't read a single local blog that hasn't had to go to some kind of blocking to stop them. That is rude that they do that.

Then there is the Hammering and slamming of a sitting City Councilman (Michael Donovan) for standing up to their hate attacks. They even mocked him over his posting about a daughter of his who died. (As if they are the only people allowed to grieve for a daughter who died young?) I think, again, that it is all about trashing Donovan because he stands up to the mayor, and I think they do it on the mayor's behalf. They swear they have the power to keep him from being reelected. I hope not.

They also regularly engage in Belittling and mocking a community activist (Mike Molovinsky) who stands up for what he believes in. He is another guy who questions what the Mayor is doing, and so is another target of the Villas nasty sniping and misrepresentation.

And then there are my Army Veteran friends, like Chris Casey and The Volvo driving Soccer Mom. The Villas accuse them of unsubstantiated crimes like "Viewing their blog" and "disagreeing with them. They posted photos that portrayed Chris and Carrie as humongous fat people, to try and provoke them. I got news for the Villas, all it did was make us all laugh.

All those pictures and slams the Villas posted did was show just what petty and small minded morons they are. And Damn, what is the point of the blog if they don't want people reading it?

Maybe They don't want the wrong people, you know, people who don't agree with them, to read their blog, is that what it is? That would make sense!

The Villas are not acting like very nice people. I could list other targets of their hatred, like a Lynn Township attorney Dave Najarian, Allentown Activist Alfonso Todd, who Villa labeled an "uncle Tom" and even our District Attorney Jim Martin, who has been the target of Villas wrath because he didn't take the drunk driver who was responsible for the death of Sheena Villa and summarily execute him in public.

Chris Casey told me the reason he won't help the Villas in their crusade is because Bill Villa does not want justice, he wants vengeance. I read their blog, and I saw the ten million word litany of hate directed against individuals employed at the daily paper, and if I were an editor or reporter at the paper, I wouldn't meet with somebody who posted my picture on the Internet and called me a liar either.

I almost forgot, they even trashed a young man studying to be a priest because he defended some of these people, and made fun of his religious faith, they still post his picture and label him a "cuckoo cleric." But I bet the Bill and Angie Villa go batwhacky for me pointing out what they are doing. How dare I call them crazy! The right to trash people is theirs, and theirs alone! Only they can call people crap, don't do it to them, or they will go all "pity us, our daughter died" mode.

That is over with. The death of a loved one is no excuse to practice what Bill and Angie Villa are doing.

I think Mayor Pawlowski is using Bill Villa's thirst for vengeance as a weapon against his local political opponents. including the paper. I don't pretend to know all about Villa or the Mayor, or Jim Martin, or Bernie O'Hare, but I do know what I see in front of me. Every one of Bill Villa's targets have one thing in common, they all have challenged Ed Pawlowski in some way.

Mr. Mayor, I have a question, an excellent question as your blog pal and the person you gave an exclusive interview to would say.

ARE YOU ENCOURAGING THE ACTIONS OF BILL AND ANGIE VILLA AS THEY CYBER BULLY ALL YOUR PERCEIVED POLITICAL ENEMIES?

You seem to benefit from their Blog bullying. Mr. Mayor, and you have remained pretty quiet while they launch attack after attack that you benefit from.

Don't you think you owe it to the people you govern to stand up and condemn these attacks?

You have a degree from a bible college, right? Is this the kind of behavior they teach you to accept there? I would like to know what you would tell your two kids about what the Villas are doing Mr. Mayor, and how you would explain to them that you can say nothing while people are being intimidated by someone who hints they have your support.

I have the blog moderator's word that she will not edit a response from your office in any way, and post it exactly as you write it. We would like to hear from you Mr. Mayor. Please tell me that you do not support the actions of the Villas, because your silence while they attack your opposition on your behalf with lies and insults says you do.

Valley Of The Dolls

2009-11-14T15:36:00.007-05:00

In the mid 1960's, Valley of the Dolls was a controversial best seller. Jacqueline Susann wrote about the abuse of prescription drugs, and the rumor was that the characters portrayed may actually be real Hollywood celebrities. The other night I saw a clip of someone on a talk show saying that she awoke from a drug stupor having sex with her father, another celebrity. Makes one wonder about about the progression of controversy in the last fifty years. Have we become more degenerate, or just more public about our flaws? Have we become more tolerant, or more demanding in wanting to hear the juicy stuff? Can you be a celebrity now without talking about rehab?

Please understand that Liberace could never say that he was gay, and still have a career forty years ago. We certainly appear to be much more tolerant now, at least about our entertainers, if not our politicians.

Dear State Rep Doug Reichley: Are you still best buddies with John Perzel?

2009-11-13T05:00:00.002-05:00

Way back in 2006, the last time Doug Reichley even had a name on the ballot against him, one of his main campaign claims was that he was best buds with then Speaker of the PA house John Perzel of Philadelphia.

Today it was revealed, after a lengthy investigation, that old Johnny Boy Perzel was busy using about ten million dollars of tax dollars to help himself and possibly other Republicans keep getting reelected.

To read the newspaper story, CLICK HERE.

John Perzel used a taxpayer funded database to help push Republican candidates. John Perzel is to the Pennsylvania Republicans what Mike Veon of Beaver County was to Pennsylvania Democrats.

I keep telling people that no political party has a monopoly on corruption, they are all doing it. Pennsylvania politicians for the most part do resemble pigs feeding at a trough, the good ones are few and far between.

Representative Reichley was proud of his role as a Perzel protege way back when. I wonder if he will stand by his man now? Oh wait, there he is standing with presumed gubernatorial wannabee Tom Corbett. A guy who investigated the opposition for two years before getting busy on the corruption in his own back yard.

For me personally, I think there are only two men running for governor who are competent to do the job. Republican Congressman and former State Senator Jim Gerlach, and present State Auditor Jack Wagner. But that is another post, another day.

Doug Reichley is hoping voters forget his past. HE DID ACCEPT THE INFAMOUS 2005 PAY RAISE. HE HAD TO BE SHAMED INTO PAYING IT BACK. He is hoping voters will suffer selective amnesia on that, but during a taping of WFMZ's "Business Matters" the host asked him to explain that. I have a CD of that, but I'm not sure about the proprietary rights, so I won't post it here. He clearly admitted what he did.

But it is 4 years later. We shouldn't be so forgetful, or we get the representation we deserve, not what we need.

Doug Reichley accepts obscene amounts of money from Insurance company PACS. Go to the PA State website and check it out. If I can get that link to work, I will add it here.

Thank you Daddy

2009-11-11T05:31:00.003-05:00

My Daddy came home, and so did my Uncle.

Today we remember the Daddy's, sons, and yes, Sisters and daughters who did not in the past, and especially the present.

What an Honor!

2009-11-07T16:01:00.005-05:00

I attended the PA Right to Work luncheon on Friday. And I received the "Ronald Reagan Award"!!! What a great honor.

And the room full of people was quite an impressive group of legislators (who are actual LEADERS - not merely politicians) and other leaders in the limited government movement. It was all overwhelming.

But as I said during my comments, I have not done enough and would accept the award as a "downpayment" for my increased efforts with other groups and individuals in 2010!!! We have so much to do and so many plans to implement...

This seems appropriate to me

2009-11-06T00:08:00.000-05:00

Goldman Sachs, Citigroup get Swine Flu Vacine

When I read the article on Yahoo, I immediately thought,

Well, they are pigs, and more susceptible to it.

One election is over, and the next one begins.....

2009-11-05T12:00:00.000-05:00

I received this beautiful tidbit from Tom Knox's campaign for governor in my email box this morning:

Dear Supporter,
We all know Harrisburg is broken and sending another career politician there isn't going to change a thing. We need new leadership and someone willing to take on a corrupt and broken system and make it work for families again.
This campaign is your chance to stop politics as usual and bring real change to Harrisburg. That's why we are announcing today a bold plan to reform Harrisburg and make our government work for people, not politicians. Our aggressive reform plan will transform our state government -- open it up so it is transparent and accountable. It will give power back to the people and eliminate the patronage politics that corrodes our democracy.
Please click here to watch my first TV ad announcing a bold plan and then join me for an online chat at noon today:
http://www.knoxforgovernor.com/chat
We aren't going to just talk about change. If you help elect me your Governor, on day one, I will immediately call for a Special Session of the legislature to focus exclusively on Government Reform. Among the new policy we'll propose:
Enact state political campaign contribution limitations.
Prohibit "gifts" and "free meals" to state officials, and eliminate Secret Legislative Spending Accounts or "WAMs".
Eliminate the practice of "pay-to-play" in state and local contracting.
Require Public Officials to Resign Prior to Campaigning for Higher Office.
Implement "performance audits" to ensure government programs actually work.
End the "Revolving Door" of State Regulators.
Mandate "Ethics Training" for all legislative and public employees, and create an Ethics Reporting Hotline.
Please click here to read our bold plan to take back Harrisburg for the people and join me at noon today for an online chat about our new proposals:
http://www.knoxforgovernor.com/chat
Taking power away from the big money and the special interests won't be easy. But, if we join together and demand real change, we can transform Harrisburg and bring trust and cooperation back into our state government.
But it all starts with you. Thanks for everything.
-Tom Knox

Well, so much for getting a respite from campaigning, what, we only had a one day break? I guess that is one more than we probably deserve. That's what we get for being so apathetic on Tuesday.

Dennis Lieb got creamed

2009-11-04T10:41:00.002-05:00

I have a soft spot for people willing to do write in campaigns. I took a look at the West ward precincts results for Easton a few minutes ago, and Dennis managed to get close to 3o votes in one, but Mike Fleck pretty much won overwhelmingly.

That is the bad news.

The good news is maybe he won't have time to fleece as many Lehigh County politicians as he would have if he had lost.

If you weren't on the ballot in a "Poverty Magnet" It was a bad day to be a Democrat

2009-11-04T07:00:00.002-05:00

The Allentown City Democrats were having a grand old time at the Allentown Brew Works last night, but around the rest of the county, and especially over in Northampton County, Democrats were drowning their sorrows.

Allentown's elections went the way everyone pretty much expected. It wasn't so much a matter of who would win, but by how big a margin.

Mayor Pawlowski crushed challenger Tony Phillips by about a three to one margin.

In Lehigh County overall, the general consensus for County Executive was that Don Cunningham would roll over Scott Ott.

That was WAYYYYYY WRONG!

As of Wednesday Morning, it appears Cunningham squeaked out a victory of with a margin of just over 800 votes out of 41,000 that were cast. (That is barely 20% turnout of registered voters, by the way.)

There is something to be said for taking the electorate for granted. In this game of High stakes political poker, Don Cunningham went all in, and barely escaped to stay in the game. The Democratic candidates he sponsored for commissioner both went down in flames.

I don't think either deserved such an ignominious fate, I thought they were two of the better candidates ever put up by Democrats. We will never know if they could have made a better race of it on their own, because in hindsight it is obvious that both were tainted in the voters' eyes by their affiliation with the incumbent County Executive. I believe that both candidates made a fatal mistake in accepting his financial support at such a high level.

Don was trying to stack the deck, and instead now finds it stacked against him for another four years. Don made a tactical error politically that most of us never thought he would make.

He mocked the power of the pulpit.

The Devoutly religious are just as dependable about voting as they are attending services, likewise, the less religious are more apathetic about voting. I can't help but think that in six months, when the turnout statistics become available, we will see that turnout among registered Republicans in the Lehigh Valley will be around 25%, and that of Registered Democrats will be under 15%. That is exactly what skewers projected turnouts, and why what works in theory never works in practice. That is why Glenn Eckhart keeps winning his Commissioner's district, because his voters show up, and the opponents are at Starbucks having a double Latte.

That is why registration advantages don't mean crap. All that matters is who turns out, and who actually votes.

I will write more on this later, but the final word for now is that local Democrats have been sitting on their rears since last November taking things for granted. Now they have a wake up call. Just because there are more of you doesn't mean you will win, you have to execute the mission and do your job. Showing up doesn't guarantee victory, and that attitude is why we now have a nutcase Ideologue like Joan Orie Melvin on the Supreme Court.

Thanks. So much for redistricting getting done without political overtones.

Blogosphere and the Election

2009-11-04T03:40:00.004-05:00

When I started blogging, Bernie O'Hare and Chris Casey were referred to as the Pope and Buddha of Blogging, respectively. They appeared together on Channel 69 Business Matters, representing the new media. One thing they still have in common is their support of Don Cunningham. Bernie published a trillion press releases for Donny. Casey predicted a 70/30 bloodbath. The big story of this election is that Scott Ott almost succeeded in wiping that iconic smile off Donny's face. I suspect that only the Democratic straight lever pulling in Allentown saved Donny, despite his wheel barrel of campaign funds. Although no Republican may ever succeed again in Allentown, look for a strong candidate in 2013 for County Executive.

Lehigh County's own Antichrist, and a few predictions

2009-11-03T07:00:00.001-05:00

On the left is our incumbent Count executive, Don Cunningham. Is the guy on his right his REAL boss? In the land of you can't make this stuff up, yesterday it was revealed on Bernie O'Hare's Lehigh Valley Ramblings blog that a local Christian school sent a letter out to parents urging them to vote, lest they be burdened with four more years of a sinner!

I guess that part of the Bible where Jesus taught "let thee who is without sin cast the first stone" is another of those optional suggestions, kind of like the ten commandments. Some people only follow rules when it suits their purpose. "Judge not lest thee be judged," maybe?

Here is a portion of the text:

"Tuesday is also Election Day. Even though it is an off year, there are some very important local elections happening. I urge every one of you to get out and vote, particularly those of you in Lehigh County who can affect the outcome of the race for County Executive, where there is the potential for a very godly man to replace the incumbent and make a real difference in our county! VOTE!"

The Founders knew what they were doing in dividing church and state. I am always wary of those who would combine it. Where will they draw the line?

Ask the women who live in countries that practice Islamic law about their rights, and you will see my point.

Yesterday I made light of the knowledge of the electorate, and the lack of education by voters on candidates and the issues. I don't believe for a minute we should mandate testing, I was only observing the state of the electorate, as consisting of far too many sheep willing to follow any shepherd who says the right buzzwords.

This country has a sad history of using lack of education, as well as the color of a person's skin to keep them from voting. I would never want anything like that. Stupid people have a right to vote, and some of them even have college degrees. Some of the smartest people I know never went to college. So how do you decide who is stupid?

Forrest Gump said that "stupid is as stupid does."

Lets just leave it at that.

How about some predictions!

To recap: Pawlowski over Phillips by at least 62 to 38 %

Cunningham over Ott by at least 68 to 32% (This could be much higher, over 70)

On City Council, it goes like this:

Schlossberg, D'Amore, O'Connell, and my upset special, Brudnak.

For MDJ, I think Walter Felton gets some coattails from the Sheep of Mayor Pawlowski. 54 to 46% over Manescu.

For County Commissioner, I have no doubt that David Jones will hold the seat he was appointed to, and that Dan McCarthy will stroll to reelection as well. Percy Dougherty will likely get 65% of the vote in his district over Marc Basist.

But then we get to where Don Cunningham has invested at least $70,000 in political capital, and maybe six figures when the reports are all done.

Glenn Eckhart Vs Hillary Kwiatek. I originally thought Glenn would hang on with 51 to 54% of the vote. I still think he wins, but with just over 50%. This could be a recount.

My reasoning here is simple. I have perused voting records for that area going back to the Reagan presidency, and those folks vote conservatively. The registration is D leaning, but R's keep winning there. Why?

First, Republican registration turnout is always 3 to 5 % higher than registered Democrats.

Second, While Republicans are 92% + loyal to their party candidate, Democrats are only 82 to 85% loyal to their party.

That highly touted advantage in registration that has Dems believing they should win is negated by actual turnout.

Like a lot of theories, it looks great on paper, but in practice, it doesn't fly.

There is also one more variable to consider. That area has not seen the huge influx of liberal Dem's from Ny/NJ that other parts of the county has. In fact, if you look at Saucon Valley, which has grown, that area is has a good percentage of high income Republicans. That helps Glenn Eckhart.

Finally I get to the race for retiring Commissioner Sterling Raber's seat.

Yesterday Jeanne McNeill hit Tom Creighton with a nuclear bomb of a mailer, calling him a pay to play politician. Fair or not, it is too late for Creighton to effectively respond.

This district contains a large influx of out of state transplants and newer, more liberal residents. The demographic has shifted, and I think McNeill has a chance here to give Don Cunningham the majority he wants on the Commissioners board.

I think she wins 52 to 48%.

That's all I got, and it is just the opinion of a County resident who pays attention.

Chivalry Is not Dead. Don Cunningham pays for a "hit" mailer on Tom Creighton

2009-11-02T19:00:00.000-05:00

This has got to be one of the dirtiest political deeds I have ever seen. It is paid for by the PA state Democratic Party and if you have been following along the past few weeks, you know the money to pay for it very likely came from Don Cunningham's old Governor campaign fund.

I have popped off an email to Jeanne McNeill, asking if she was aware of it, or had approved of the content. For the record, I received it in my mailbox this afternoon. But my neighbor saw it in my hand walking up the driveway, and told me she got hers on Saturday.

I am reading from emails forwarded me by Chris Casey that the accusation is not what it seems, and the comments of a reporter that were taken out of context.

I never thought I would see something this nasty at the County level. I thought the one Cunningham sent out with Scott Ott's head too big for his body pretty funny, even if it was mean.

If I get an answer from Jeanne McNeill I will post it tomorrow. In the meantime, don't forget to vote!

When Idiots Vote

2009-11-02T07:00:00.001-05:00

I have an older brother whose wisdom concerning the competence of elected officials bears sharing. The reason we get the government that we do, he once told me, is because we allow WWF fans to vote.

It is bad enough that we allow any idiot to run for office, but we have a terrible propensity of then voting them into it. That is how I explain the way Township Supervisors get elected, Supervisors who then take full time jobs at the Township and then work a full time job in the real world as well. We won't mention any names, but Lehigh County has quite a few examples to pick from.

But Allentown is a special case. What analogy is the best to use? Sheep being fleeced? Lambs being lead to slaughter? Pick one, or make one up of your own. It is pretty much a given at this point that Ed Pawlowski will get a second term, the only betting is how big a margin he will win by, I am thinking it will be at least 24%. (62 to 38, likely higher than lower) In the Lehigh County Executive Race, I will not be surprised if Don Cunningham gets 70% of the vote when the counting is done.

Though I don't count Don Cunningham or Ed Pawloski as idiots, they are two of the most politically savvy animals in the Lehigh County Jungle. I sometimes wonder what will happen on that fateful day that they might finally turn on each other. I don't think that scenario likely, but it sure would be entertaining.

But back to the idiots who vote. I am dumbfounded by the number of people who can't tell me a good reason why they are voting for someone. At the Allentown farmers market Friday, I was asking employees who they favored, and I couldn't stop shaking my head.

ME: who are you voting for?

Them: so and so

Me: why so and so?

Them: I saw his sign.

Well that's a good reason! You saw his/her sign!

My other favorite answer was this:

"Because he's running."

We get the government we deserve because far too many people walk in and vote with no idea who or why they are voting for someone.

Sometimes I think the public is better served by lower turnout. I would rather have informed, knowledgeable people vote than uninformed robots, but we get what we get in a democracy.

Idiots are allowed to run for office, and idiots are allowed to vote for them. And when you think about it, Idiots deserve to be represented as well.

The problem is, we are letting them run everything. Is that what the Founding Fathers intended?

Dear SANTA:

2009-11-02T06:45:00.001-05:00

Could you please bring us a CLOSER?

- Thanks, Phillies Fans