Friday, May 27, 2011

Herman Cain: Reread it and Weep

Herman Cain quotes the Declaration of Independence and claims he is quoting the Constitution.


Cain is the "safe" Tea Party candidate for Republicans who are afraid of Ron Paul and Gary Johnson. Despite the fact that Cain effectively supports the opium abetting war in Afghanistan, adamantly supported the TARP bailouts, has been chairman of the Kansas City Federal Reserve, and opposes an audit of the Fed, his supporters seem willing to place all trust in him as an "outsider". At this point, we can't tell whether he is.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Election Results: 2011 Republican Primary Luzerne County Council


The top 11 (outlined in green) will be on the general election ballot as Republicans.

The data above was drawn from http://www.luzernecounty.org/county/departments_agencies/bureau_of_elections.

This will be a relief to Kathy Dobash, who in the 2010 primary got enough votes to make the state committee but did not ascend to the position due to a stipulation of rules that the number of male members equal number of females--and unfortunately for her she was replaced with a male who got fewer votes than she did.

Both union-endorsed candidates, Cabell and Morelli, were elected.

Stephen J. Urban proved to be popular. He is the son of Stephen A. Urban.

Bill James' past runs for county commissioner may have helped him.

Election Results: 2011 Democrat Primary Luzerne County Council

Click Pic for larger view

The outline indicates the top 11 who will appear as Democrats on the ballot in the general election.

The data above was drawn from http://www.luzernecounty.org/county/departments_agencies/bureau_of_elections.

Monday, May 16, 2011

Stefanie Salavantis is Republican for DA

Stefanie Salavantis is running on the Republican ballot for District Attorney in Luzerne County.

Citizens' Voice
Times Leader

Website
http://www.salavantisforda.com/

Thursday, May 12, 2011

Cefalo Files Ethics Complaint Against Lesa Gelb

PittstonPolitics.com reports that "Attorney Mike Cefalo has filed suit against Luzerne County Judicial Candidate Lesa Gelb." See more at http://www.pittstonpolitics.com/news.php?viewStory=1070

Monday, May 9, 2011

Herman Cain Opposed to Fed Audit

Presidential candidate Herman Cain opposes an audit of the Federal Reserve because he says it would cost too much money and that those who want an audit of it are simply uninformed.

But the financial news outlet Bloomberg sued the Fed's board of governors to make the Fed reveal more info, so is Bloomberg uninformed? Are all the economics PhDs in Ron Paul's camp who want it audited uninformed?

So while Cain apparently has no problem with spending beaucoup d'argent so US troops in Afghanistan can guard opium fields, auditing the Fed seems too costly for him...

I've spoken to an economist who supports the Fed but wouldn't mind seeing it audited. So what is Cain's problem?

Opinion: Herman Cain Effectively Supports Afghanistan War

Herman Cain says he would consult with the generals in order to decide whether to keep US troops in Afghanistan. But this effectively means that he wants the troops to stay there because the generals will obviously want to stay there since if the generals leave, they will effectively put themselves out of a job.

It's like asking any government employee reliant on the state whether his job should be eliminated. He'll say no, of course.

It's also like asking an artist midway through a never-ending sculpture whether his patrons should stop funding his work.

Moreover, it is logical to assume that most or all of the generals in Afghanistan want to be there, because those who wouldn't want to be there would not be assigned there or would have resigned by now.

So we can conclude that Herman Cain either doesn't have the forethought to realize this or that he really is naive enough to think that the generals will be objective in their advice...or he is sidestepping the war question.

But if Cain supports the meaningless opium-abetting war in Afghanistan, then how can he be called a fiscal conservative? If he is unwilling to limit the colossal "defense" (should be called offense) budget, then what is the use of voting for him?

I believe that running up deficits to be as large as they are is treasonous to the Republic. The defense most needed is one that costs nothing: to defend the nation from the military-industrial complex bankrupting it.

That is ironic isn't it. The very body supposedly responsible for the safety of the nation is guiding it toward financially dire straits--with the help of a little FOX News brainwashing to keep the voters in line. It is a gloomy situation.

Regardless, hopefully Mr. Cain changes his position and joins Ron Paul and Gary Johnson who have explicitly called for the war to end immediately.

Cain on Afghanistan begins at 7:05 minutes in the video below.


Herman Cain Says Defense Budget Too Small

Sunday, May 8, 2011

PA State Judge Endorsements for Republican Primary

Criteria: Profession of pro-life and pro-liberty stances in addition to judicial experience.
Judge of the Superior Court
Paula A. Patrick
Judge of the Commonwealth Court
Paul P. Panepinto



Additionally:
Panepinto supporters have courted Campaign for Liberty voters.
Panepinto lists as an inspiration orginalist judge Antonin Scalia on his Facebook page.
Patrick lists Peg Luksik's endorsement on her website.

Some constitutionalists don't like the fact that Paula Patrick lists as her greatest accomplishment: "Taking nearly 1,100 illegal guns off of the streets of Philadelphia in 2010" because they believe Section 21 of the PA state constitution that reads "The right of the citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves and the State shall not be questioned" means that no guns should be called "illegal" under the PA constitution. Nevertheless, Patrick seems to be a decent candidate overall.

Patrick is way better than her opponent, Victor Stabile, who is a big donor to Arlen Specter, and gave money to Specter when he was running against Pat Toomey in 2004 during the Republican Senatorial Primary. Stabile also gave money to Specter right before Specter switched parties to Democrat in 2009, when Deomcrats were actively asking Specter to switch parties. Moreover, Stabile played a role in trying to use "legal" technicalities to get Libertarian Party candidates thrown off the ballot. Finally, unlike Paula Patrick Stabile is not presently a judge and therefore has no experience as such.

Ballot Preview

Victor Stabile Donated to Democrat Arlen Specter

Victor Stabile, candidate for PA state judge, donated $500 total to Arlen Specter in 2009 according to the donor database at OpenSecrets.org. Thanks to LCCFL for pointing this out. Although Stabile has made one-time donations to Lou Barletta and Rick Santorum, Specter seems to have been a favorite of his.

UPDATE 5-16 Technically, Specter officially switched parties April 28, 2009, the day after Stabile's April 27th donation; but there was talk of Specter switching parties at least a week before the 28th as Democrats had long been asking him to switch. Stabile, being a GOP insider, may have known about the switch on April 27th when he made his last donation; hence we defend our title for this piece. Also, bear in mind that Specter had voted for the Stimulus and TARP prior to April of 2009 when Stabile donated money to him.

click pic for larger image

Saporito Donated Money to Bob Casey

According to OpenSecrets.org, Luzerne County Judical Candidate Joe Saporito Jr. donated money to Bob Casey as recently as September of 2010. Saportio has been listed by the Luzerne GOP website as a Republican candidate.
This was confirmed May 8, 2011. (See pictoral.)

UPDATE May 15 According to David Baloga-- an executive committee member at "Luzerne" GOP-- Saporito likely gave money to Casey in 2010 as a way of thanking him for appearing to an event hosted by the Luzerne County bar association. Baloga suggested that Saporito also gave to Casey partly because the two were college buddies. However, Saporito gave money to Casey in 2005. Saporito supports Casey.


Friday, May 6, 2011

Barletta Spotted in Front of Irem Temple Mosque

Around 2:30pm on May 6th, Lou Barletta was seen posing for a photo on the steps of the Irem Temple Mosque on Franklin Street in Wilkes-Barre. A city chamber employee related that Barletta was there to see about options for saving the building, presumably with federal money.

According to a 2007 Times Leader article, the mosque building is owned by the Greater Wilkes-Barre Development Corp., an arm of the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Business and Industry, which has solicited bids to repair and "stabilize" the mosque.

However, a Shriner insignia bumper-sticker on the back of a nearby parked SUV, and the fact that the Irem Temple operates a website covering the history of the mosque building provides ample evidence that the masons (or whoever) have a significant interest in the renovation of the property.

Giving federal money for this old building that is predominantly appreciated by a private affluent club and political insiders is immoral and doesn't even garner a "welfare for the poor" socialistic justification. Moreover, the budget crisis attests that federal money ought to be too tight for such recreational upkeep.

Here's an idea. Sell the building. But, if the chamber tries to sell the building, it will clamor for more money anyway in order to prep it for sale.

Supposing they can sell the building without gobbling up beaucoup d' tax dollars for "stabilization" beforehand, then maybe they can sell it to the many robed Mohammedans in the area, who probably would take a mock mosque over no mosque at all. On the downside, Mohammedan owners may get the idea from the minarets to drone out their calls to prayer, which would make for an odd scene at nearby King's College--with the college's hourly bells tolls accompanied by Islamic droning in the background. It would be an Interfaith cacophony--in addition to proverbial Interfaith cacophonies already reverberating throughout the college.

Regardless, the mosque building should receive no federal money, and the City of Wilkes-Barre along with the chamber are misguided to seek such funds when the road the mosque sits on, Franklin Street, is a gauntlet of bumps and pot holes like many other roads in Wilkes-Barre.

If you don't want a sequel to the Hotel Sterling debacle, then contact Lou Barletta and tell him not to graft or earmark money for the building.