Leighton Cohorts Falter in Primary

Leighton's cousin Bill Vinsko and J.J. Murphy's relative Patrick Murphy lost their Democrat primary elections.

It appears as though the house of Leighton is again unable break out from the political underworld of Wilkes-Barre City. Bill Vinsko, city attorney and cousin of Leighton, lost to Gene Stilp in the Democrat primary for the 11th Congressional District. Word had it that Democrat party elites had backed Vinsko. Interestingly, both Vinsko and Stilp were King's grads, but this was their lone similarity.

While Stilp seemed like an honest activist, Vinsko was more than complicit with all of W-B city's corruption; most notably, the contract he wrote between the city and price-gouging tow-truck operator Leo Glodzik. Although the contract mandates that logs be kept of each tow, they haven't been since it was written in 2006. Mayor Leighton has refused to enforce these provisions even after activist Mark Robbins went to the papers in 2011. All the while, Vinsko has looked the other way. Moreover, Vinsko has incorporated several businesses for Glodzik and was Facebook friends with him.

The Glodzik scam or "Cars for Cash" works like this: W-B City cops call him to tow a vehicle. He then charges outrageously high towing fees, which poor people can't afford to pay right away. Then, Glodzik charges high impounding fees, so that the person has virtually no hope of ever getting their car back. Meanwhile Glodzik guts the car and sells its parts. Each year, $50,000 of Glodzik's revenue goes to Wilkes-Barre city as mandated by the contract: a sort of legal pay-off. Glodzik is supposed to be prevented from price gouging people because the contract mandates that he charge industry standard and that logs be kept of these tows by city police. Glodzik lied to the Times Leader saying the flat rate of $200 he charged Mark Robbins for a rollback tow was industry standard, when it is actually around $80.* Robbins won a right to know request against W-B City Police and Glodzik, and according to Robbins, the records they produced did not match. This is the sort of baggage Vinsko carries around.

Stilp also had a modest but far-reaching celebrity status over his activism and opposition to the PA Legislature's pay raise vote. His demonstrations involved a pink pig prop, which he parlayed into a symbol of his campaign, even placing it as the background on his yard signs. If Stilp beats the emasculate "play it safe" dud Lou Barletta in the general election this November, hopefully he will continue with his opposition to corruption and not be a rubber stamp for the wantonly corrupt Obama agenda.

J.J. "the snake" Murphy is a former Wilkes-Barre City Administrator, and is said to be Leighton's top schmooze-artist. If his relative Patrick Murphy won the primary for attorney general and were elected, there would be absolutely no hope whatsoever of any W-B City Government corruption ever being investigated by the attorney general's office. Murphy lost primarily because his opponent Kathleen Kane (no known relation of W-B city controller Kathy Kane) received Bill Clinton's endorsement. It's amazing how simple-minded and sheepish Democrats are that they would be so affected by an endorsement from an establishment sleezebag like Clinton. Regardless, Kane probably also wouldn't investigate Cars for Cash, since even the Republican attorney general has hesitated to do so.

In 2010, Leighton lost to John Yudichak in the state senate primary 69% to 31%. We were told by an old resident of Wilkes-Barre that four or five families maintain political control over the entire city. Like modern Medici, their kind predominate in government offices throughout Wilkes-Barre and Luzerne County. But their political reach doesn't seem to go far beyond city limits, as these losses seem to attest.
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* http://nothingtonpost.blogspot.com/search/label/Bill%20Vinsko

NEPA Primary 2012 Endorsements

Update 4-26-12: Winning candidates are in bold and italicized.
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Criteria: Being pro-liberty and/or anti-corruption.

Republican
President -Ron Paul
US Senate -Marc Scaringi
Congressman 11th -Write-in "Repeal NDAA"
Congressman 17th -Write-in "End the Fed"

Delegates Congressional District 11
Michael Harrison
Michael Anderson
Joe Zapach
Alternate -Holly Anderson

Delegates Congressional District 17
Trent Miller
Anthony Antonello
John Manko
Alternate -Greg Sheeler

Democrat
President -Write in "Randall Terry"
US Senate -Joseph Vodvarka
Congressman 11th -Gene Stilp
Congressman 17th -Write-in "Bring the troops home"
Attorney General -Kathleen Kane
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Explanations

Ron Paul -Republican for President
The only true statesman besides Gary Johnson to run for president in 2011/2012. He has boldly opposed the military industrial complex and the warhawks who want to bankrupt America with unnecessary war with Iran. He wants to end the Fed, an institution which many economists believe is at the root of our economic woes and causes fincanical bubbles and other problems. He is also stranger to the lobbyist and friend of those who want sustainable government. Only his plan was found to actually balance the budget. He also polls better with Independents than Romney. Ron Paul offers better product differentiation than Romney, since unlike Romney and Obama, Ron Paul wants to bring the troops home, end the Fed, stop Homeland Security and TSA abuses, and initate policies to balance the budget. These are stances Ron Paul can deliver on that Obama and Romney can't due to being sold out to the same interests. But alas, the owners of media at its highest levels seem to have a strong hatred of him. It's amazing that so-called conservative talk radio hosts haven't put their differences aside and unanimously supported him.

Marc Scaringi -Republican for US Senate
Scaringi is the best candidate to balance the budget, and will likely vote 100% with Rand Paul in the Senate. He too offers a contrast with Casey that indpendents can find palatable, including bringing the troops home and ending drug prohibition. He has stated along with top US generals that the US should endeavor to AVOID war with Iran. He is thoroughly pro-life, pro-gun, and opposes redistibution of wealth. After vetting him personally, it is certain that he is against the: NDAA, "PATRIOT" Act, TSA, Homeland "Security", PIPA & SOPA, and Obamacare. He also wants to end the Fed and to balance the budget.

We chose Scaringi over Sam Rohrer because Rohrer unfortunately has flip-flopped on foreign policy, even once calling for a pre-emptive strike against Iran. He has been endorsed by Herman Cain who follows a Henry Kissenger foreign policy. It is a shame that Rohrer, someone who has taken radically pro-liberty stances such as being against drivers' licenses, would support a hawkish, morbidly establishmentarian foreign policy. Rohrer also favors drug prohibition. However, he opposes Homeland Security, REAL ID, the "PATRIOT" Act, and seems to be solidly pro-freedom on domestic issues. Because of superior name recognition, Rohrer also polls better than Scaringi, and thus has a better chance of beating the Toomey-esque Tom Smith and the liberal Steve Welch. There are legitimate reasons for voting for Rohrer, but the best man overall is Scaringi.

Joseph Vodvarka -Democrat for US Senate
Vovarka could be termed a "protest candidate" since he has a small campaign going. But Vodvarka has some really good beliefs, including being in favor of full gun rights and of auditing the Fed. His main theme is bringing manufacturing back to America, and withdrawing from international (and unconstitutional) trade agreements such as NAFTA and GATT.

Huffington was Moonstruck by Gingrich

Check out this post on the Ob Lure about Ariana Huffington's past support of Newt.

http://obscurelure.blogspot.com/2012/03/huffington-was-moonstruck-by-gingrich.html

Letter to NuPo: Free Enterprise Delegate

Letter by David Decoteau, candidate for Delegate in the New 11th Congressional District.

I’m a registered Republican, and I’m ashamed of the GOP.

I’m a Republican, because Pennsylvania says I have to belong to one of the two major parties in order to vote in the Primary elections. Primaries are the most important elections, because after the primaries are over, Americans usually have a choice between who is the “least worst” of the two candidates. I’d like to have a say in that choice.

Since Pennsylvania makes me choose a party in order to participate in our electoral system, I chose Republican because in the old, and classic definition of the word; I’m a conservative. Conservative used to mean you wanted sound money. Conservative used to mean balanced budgets and spending within our means. Conservative used to mean you didn’t care what people did in their bedrooms; because it is none of your damn business. Conservative used to mean pro-small business. Conservative used to mean a foreign policy of non-interventionism. In other words, “Trade with all and entangling alliances with none” as our Founders intended.

However, today I find my definition of “Conservative” to be a bit of a throwback. When I hear a guy like Rush Limbaugh proclaim himself to be conservative, but then in the next breath advocate things like a giant military and government involved in all aspects of people’s private lives; I get confused. Same with the front runner Republican candidates. When Newt Gingrich gets a standing ovation in a room full of “Republicans” for advocating “killing all of American’s enemies” and Ron Paul gets booed for mentioning the Golden Rule (do onto others...), I have to wonder, who are these Republicans? They aren’t Conservatives as I understand the definition.

But I’m not one to just complain. If I don’t like something, I do something about it. So I decided to run for Delegate to the Republican Convention, so I could go to the Convention in August and tell the party that I think the Republican’s have gone off track.

But when I got involved, I’ve discovered that the GOP machine is even more entrenched and prohibitive than it was even 4 years ago. Redistricting is one reason.

Redistricting is the process of carving new lines around the state that produce areas that make up a district. In the 2008 election, our district (then district 10) was primarily the surrounding areas. This assured that the Delegate from this district would be representative of the area (a rural resident with rural sensibilities) Apparently this did not suit the GOP establishment in 2008, and as a result, new maps have been drawn. The new districts guarantee that rural people WILL NOT be represented in PA. Each district has been created to make sure a portion of the district includes urban areas. By doing this, the GOP can select and groom the Delegates they want to represent them at the Convention. The “Common man” no longer need apply.

The GOP has tapped some of their stars to become Delegates this year. John Gordner and other local elected people are running as Delegates. Isn’t this a bit of a contradiction from the intent of the Convention?

The Convention is supposed to be used to select the Republican Candidate for President and to help shape the party going forward. What new ideas will the party get by only allowing the most connected of their insiders access to the Convention? What improvement should the party expect if the only opinions they hear at their Convention are the ones they hand-picked during the Delegate election process?

If you are a Republican (like me) that thinks the GOP is out of touch with the people; send me to Tampa Bay to tell them for you. I’ll tell them to get back to the traditional Conservative platform. I’ll pay my own way. No tax payer expense will be incurred.

I can be contacted at superiorfirepower@mac.com I will send you an email with locations where I will be collecting my 300 signatures over the next 3 weeks. Or, we can make arrangements and I will stop by your location if that is more convenient.

You’ll know me because I’ll be the guy wearing the cowboy hat or the powdered wig.

Talk Radio Goes for Gingrich

Many "conservative" talk radio show hosts want The Gingrinch to steal the election.

Chief among them is Sean Hannity, who became upset when Rand Paul mentioned on his show that The Gingrinch voted against the Reagan Republicans when he voted for the Federal Department of education in 1979. Hannity peeped in reply that Gingrich is a supporter of charter schools, to which Rand Paul replied that The Gingrinch favors federal government control of education just as Obama does. Hannity became so upset that he resorted to a Red Herring, saying that Gingrich had some faults just as Ron Paul allegedly had faults in foreign policy, to which Rand replied that Ron's views on foreign policy do nothing more than align with the constitution.

Rush the repetitive Limbaugh is incessantly setting up the false dilemma of the election being between Romney and Gingrich only. You wouldn't know any other candidates were running from listening to him.

Laura Ingram, who is chummy with Ed Rendell of all people, has been worshipping the glorious vision of Newtonian politics with the same vigor that she once used to laud the deep piety of Rick Perry. Ingram also seems to believe that uttering the name "Ron Paul" is against FCC regulations.

Additionally, other media outlets--liberal and conservative-- seem obsessed with giving Newt positive coverage.

But no matter how much talk radio et al lauds Gingrich, ultimately his chances will depend on how he himself appeals to the people. The media tried to uphold Rick Perry as a serious candidate, and he has plummeted in the polls due to his stupidity and phoniness. Hopefully, the phony conservative Gingrich will also be seen for what he is.

Villainous Stabile Stumbles

The infamous villain Vic Stabile, known for trying to get third party candidates kicked off the PA state-wide ballot, has fallen to the Democrat Devid Wecht. Stabile donated money to Arlen Specter when it was apparent that Specter might switch to Democrat. So, this is not a loss for the Republican Party; the loss occurred when the evil state committee endorsed Stabile.

Salavantis Wins

The Luzerne County DA results:
Stefanie J. Salavantis (R) 31,776
Jackie Musto-Carroll (D) 30,811

A wise Democrat who voted for Salavantis told us the main reason Musto-Carroll lost was that her Musto name had gone bad in the wake of Ray Musto's corruption scandal. Just as though who live by the sword die by the sword, those who live by name recognition die by it as well.

The campaign ads of Salavantis probably played a role as well. Regardless, Salavantis has won a monumental upset victory.

Although Salavantis will probably have to do a lot of learning on the job, she will not be a Democrat politician from a political family who is afraid of upsetting the corrupt establishment, and in any case we can expect Salavantis to be an improvement over the former overrated DA.

If Salavantis really does try to fight corruption, this could be one of the best things ever to happen to county government. Many corrupt insider Democrats around the county will be moaning and groaning about this. The rest of us are fairly thrilled though.