I am not closing this blog down, but any new postings on Lou Barletta's run against Paul Kanjorski can now be found at:
RightWingWizKid
I will,over time,transfer the postings from here to the new blog, and I will continue to post new info about Lou, Big Paul, as well as cover various other topics. So be sure to check out the new site, you'll find that I will be covering a wide rang of topics.
RightWingWizKid
On Feb. 7th Hazleton Pa. mayor Lou Barletta officially announced
he is a candidate for Congress for Pennsylvania's 11th Congressional District.
Declaring that "We don't need another politician in Washington, we need a leader", Mr. Barletta will challenge 12 term Democrat Paul Kanjorski
in November.
This is something we have been working toward for months, and now that
mayor Barletta has decided to run, we realize our work is really just beginning.
Some very important points!
The dates on the postings are irrelevant,they are for posting in a certain order only.
Each post will have a line at the bottom that says Read more**** If the bottom of the postng says END OF POST,that's it. If it doesn't, click on the Read more**** to finish reading.
To come back to the main page, click the "back" button on your browser.
Let Lou Barletta know that you support his efforts, and that you believe that we need more people like him in Congress. And we want to hear from you. Send us your comments, news tips, etc.
You can e-mail us by clicking here.
As Mayor Barletta recently stated: “This fight is far from over.”
Help us take it to the next level.
END OF POST
Mayor Lou Barletta now has his own website for those interested in his run for Congress.
You can learn about Lou, sign up for e-mail alerts, volunteer to help in his campaign, make a donation directly to his campaign fund, etc.
Click HERE to check out loubarletta.com.
END OF POST
Make a statement! Help spread the word about Lou Barletta and his quest to take this fight to Congress. You can view our complete line of Officially Unofficial Lou Crew Gear by clicking here.
Anyone who is wondering where I went, stop and see me at:
The Freedom Medium
In the mail today there was a glossy, full color, 4 page announcement from Paul Kanjorski outlining how he is working hard to so something about rising energy costs.
Blah blah blah.
Hey Paul, here's a little reality check. This didn't happen overnight, where the hell have you been on this issue for the past 24 years that you've been in office?
And although I can't form a sentence containing the words "Paul Kanjorski" and "ethics" and keep a straight face, I do have a question that perhaps someone with more knowledge of FEC regulations can answer for me:
With Mr. Kanjorski spending taxpayer funds in order to promote his own agenda (AGAIN) by wasting the tons of (our) money it took to print and mail this thing to his constituents during an election year doesn't it seem just a little bit shady?
Can you imagine what an uproar there would be if Lou Barletta was to do something similar and took the money out of the Hazleton city treasury to do it?
Today is July 15th, which is the deadline for filing financial reports with the FEC.
And as always, Lou Barletta is much more open and honest with the voters than his opponent Paul Kanjorski.
when asked by a local newspaper reporter how much money Kanjorski's campaign has raised this quarter, spokesman Ed Mitchell stated "You'll have to wait until it's posted on the FEC site, just like every other media outlet."
It would seem Mr. Mitchell has the same regard for the intelligence of the voters as Paul Kanjorski does.
Sorry Ed, but after the reports are made public, we will learn that a LOT of Kanjorski's campaign contributions came from the PAC's of investment houses and sub-prime mortage lenders.
Lou Barletta, on the other hand, had no problem with disclosing the fact that his COngressional campaign raised slightly over $515,000, most of which came from working-class folks contributing 10 or 20 dollars.
And that, Mr. Kanjorski, doesn't bode well for you come November.
Because it shows that, while you may have the big political action committes and the Wall Street boys on your side, Lou Barletta has someone much more important on his side.
The voters.
End Of Post
With a little less than 4 months to go before the voters of Pennsylvania’s 11th Congressional District choose between Paul Kanjorski or Lou Barletta, it’s time for a “call to arms” for the voters to get behind Lou Barletta. That post will be coming soon.
But before we get to that, I’d like to offer another suggestion, and that is for everyone who comes into contact with Kanjorski to demand the truth regarding the claims of himself and his campaign team.
I won’t rehash the whole CornerStone Technologies debacle, simply ask him what scientific qualifications his family members had that made them qualified to do the research the company was supposed to be engaged in.
Veterans should ask him how he could lie about ending the war in Iraq so he could ensure a Democrat takeover of Congress.
Question him as to why all of a sudden we can’t seem to turn on the TV or open a newspaper without him “endorsing” this or “proposing” that, when we all know these are simply publicity stunts.
Inquire as to why after continually claiming that Lou Barletta was a “one trick pony”, his campaign manager, Ed Mitchell, seems to be making excuses as to why the Congressman cannot commit to the debates that Barletta has challenged him to.
On the same subject, I for one would like Mr, Mitchell to explain his claim that Barletta’s debate challenge is nothing more than a cheap way to win publicity and to try and raise campaign funds.
I make no claims to being an expert on these matters, but I doubt that Lou Barletta will raise enough money from debates to overcome the fact that Barletta has 150k in his campaign chest as opposed to the almost 2 million dollars in funds that Kanjorksi has available.
I’d want an explanation of how someone could consider themselves a person of “middle-class” values when their salary is 163 thousand a year, and their personal net worth is over 6 million dollars.
I could go on with this for quite some time, but for now I only want the answer to one more thing:
For the 24 years that he has been in Congress, one of Kanjorski’s biggest claims is how he works hard to bring good, high paying jobs to Northeastern Pennsylvania.
I’d like to know, one, where the hell are they, two, why his own website cites as examples firms such as Techneglas which went out of business years ago, and last of all, after 24 YEARS of “fighting for us”, why is the average yearly income in each of the 5 counties you represent 3 to 7 thousand dollars a year below the average wages for the rest of Pennsylvania.
You can reach the Congressman by the following methods:
Washington, DC Office:
2188 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20515-3811
(202) 225-6511(202) 225-0764 (fax)
Luzerne County Office:
The Stegmaier Building7 North Wilkes-Barre Boulevard Suite 400M Wilkes-Barre, PA 18702-5283
(570) 825-2200 (570) 825-8685 (fax)
Lackawanna County Office:546 Spruce Street Scranton, PA 18503
(570) 496-1011 (570) 496-6439
Monroe County Office: (by appointment only)102 Pocono Boulevard Mount Pocono, PA 18344-1412
(570) 895-4176
Toll-Free Help Line:(800) 222-2346
These are the only listings available, if your area isn't on the list please write to him at the DC address.
End Of Post
On June 25th, Lou Barletta challenged his opponent Paul Kanjorski to a series of 11 debates.
He wants 6 of the debates to be aired on Northeastern Pa. talk radio station WILK.
And he wants to do them during the summer.
Barletta said the other 5 debates could take place during the fall, some of them to be televised.
Ed Mitchell, the spokesman for Kanjorski’s campaign, has already started with the “The Congressman has to focus on his schedule in Congress" excuses as a way of ducking Barletta.
He also claims that “ Lou Barletta can’t raise any money” and “This is just a ploy for free publicity”.
I can see that Mr. Mitchell isn’t one to be dissuaded by reality. These debates wouldn’t raise any money, and why should Kanjorski care when he has 2 million bucks to spend.
The money Barletta has on hand is chump change compared to that.
The reality is that the Kanjorski camp has repeatedly accused Barletta of being a “one trick pony”, with only one issue under his belt, illegal immigration.
The fact that Barletta wants public debates on issues such as social security, health care, the economy, the war in Iraq………. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WAIT A MINUTE!!!
That’s why they don’t want to debate Barletta.
Big Paul might have to answer a question about “stretching the facts”.
Or how someone with a net worth over 6 million dollars could be considered middle class.
Now I get it.
Maybe this Mitchell dude is smarter than I thought.
End Of Post
In Paul Kanjorksi's first campaign commercial, he talks about how he stiil holds to the "same middle class values".
Really?
Click on the link below to learn the TRUTH! Check his net worth.
Click on assets to see what he owns.
If that's middle class what the heck are you and I?
Kanjorski is middle class my a..
End Of Post
The video below is a clip of Pennsylvania 11th district Congressman
Paul Kanjorski speaking at a town hall meeting.
If for some reason the video doesn't load, here is what Mr.
Kanjorski had to say regarding the 2006 elections, in which the Democrats won control of Congress:
"We didn't say it, but we implied it, that if we won the Congressional elections, we could stop the war.
Now anybody who was a good student of government knew that wasn't true.
But you know, the temptation to want to win back the Congress, we sort of stretched the facts".
To anyone who has questioned why I have spent so much of my time
and money promoting the candidacy of Lou Barletta, that statement
should explain it all.
"We sort of stretched the facts.
I would like to see Mr.
Kanjorski walk into an American Legion or VFW post and tell all the vets sitting at the bar that he and his fellow Democrats lied to the men and women of our armed forces, and their familes, simply to win an election.
I'm usually not too disturbed when a politician lies to me, hell to most of them it comes as naturally as breathing.
But when Mr.Kanjorski flat-out admits that he and his fellow Democrats used our armed forces as pawns in order to gain political power, it's time someone called these lying SOB's to task.
Let it begin here.
END OF POST
Can you believe the arrogance of this guy?
He must think we HAVE to believe whatever he tells us, or he just doesn't give a damn!
TidbitsThursday, June 21, 2007 By: Leslie K. PaigeWastewatcher, June 2007
Congressman Kanjorski (D-Pa.) joins a mushrooming list of members of Congress whose earmarking habits are getting a lot of media attention.
Over an eight-year period, Rep. Kanjorski steered $10 million in earmarked federal funding (from the Energy and Defense Departments, as well as the Economic Development Administration) to Cornerstone Technologies, LLC, which employed his four nephews and his daughter as either owners or board members.
The ostensible purpose of the grants was to do research on using high-pressure jets of water to pulverize anthracite into microscopic particles for subsequent use in vehicle parts.
Cornerstone has now declared bankruptcy, but while contracts were flowing, the company was paying hefty salaries to at least two of Kanjorski’s nephews.
Not only was Cornerstone funded with federal contracts, one of its affiliates, Pennsylvania Micronics, run by other Kanjorski relatives, also benefited from subcontracts.
A former head of Penn State’s Energy Institute is quoted in a June 3, 2007 Scranton Times-Tribune as saying “It was like the Three Stooges meet anthracite.”
END OF POST
There are some misguided folks out there saying:
“Well, Lou Barletta didn’t do this, and Lou Barletta didn’t do that”.
And it’s true.
There are a lot of things Lou Barletta hasn’t done.
Lou Barletta never “stretched the truth about ending the war in Iraq in order to win an election.
Lou Barletta has never denied saying something that he said.
Lou Barletta has never been profiled by Fox news for shady political dealings.
Lou Barletta didn’t waste millions of taxpayer dollars for feasibility studies for hair brained schemes like inflatable dams and monorails.
Lou Barletta hasn’t paid his own brother 30,000 dollars out of a political action fund to rent office space in a building his brother just happens to own.
Lou Barletta never had a hand in getting a three million dollar earmark for a company in Colorado that just happens to employ one of his nephews.
And Lou Barletta certainly never gave his family members 9.3 million dollars in federal funds so they could waste it in trying to do a job that none of them had the least amount of qualifications for.
Fox News recently ran a show entitled Porked, showcasing three members of Congress who used taxpayer money via earmarks to benefit themselves or their families.
And our own Paul Kanjorski was the star of the show.
If you've gotten this far, you have already read the saga of Cornerstone.
What you possibly didn't know was that the gentleman who was the main focus of the interview, Joe Yudichak, had been friends with Kanjorski for over thirty years!
And of course Kanjorski refused to face the truth once again,
stating in an e-mail response to Fox News ,(he refused numerous requests for an interview) that the whole thing was a Republican smear job.
He made this claim in spite of the fact that the other 2 members of Congress exposed on the show were Republicans.
The interview also showed how he will step over anyone who gets in his way.
Mr Yudichak surely had nothing to gain by coming forward, in fact some people will hold a lesser opinion of him for having done so.
I,and anyone who is sick of Kanjorski playing us for fools, will not be one of them.
I applaud Mr. Yudichak for his courage, and I trust he will show the same resolve when Congress starts the inevitable ethics violations against Mr. Kanjorski.
To view the segment regarding Cornerstone,watch the video:
END OF POST
I'm glad to find that other people see Paul Kanjorski for the
posturing politician that he is. I just wish that I had thought
of calling him "Paulie the K".
The following story appeared in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:
Click on the READ MORE to see the entire story, then click on Home
to return here.
By Colin McNickle
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, May 4, 2008
The New Deal never dies; it merely comes back as a new shade of pig lipstick.
Witness a proposal by U.S. Rep. Paul Kanjorski, D-Pa., who's represented the 11th Congressional District over in Northeastern Pennsylvania since what seems like the 18th century but actually since 1985.
Talk about beating a dead gasoline pump: Mad as hell at Big Oil and urging the public to "shout out, dammit, we've had enough," he's back with the latest incarnation of his Consumer Reasonable Energy Price Protection Act.
Not only does Paulie the K want a "windfall profits tax" on oil and gasoline, he proposes the establishment of a "Reasonable Profits Board" to determine when those earnings exceed a "rational" threshold.
Can you imagine empowering the government to determine when your profits no longer are "reasonable" and "rational"? This is Orwellian nuttiness incarnate, the stuff not only of misguided New Dealism but of communistic five-year planning.
First, the more you tax something, the less you get of it. In this case, that means less domestically discovered and procured oil and refined gasoline and more foreign oil. Right-wing theory? Hardly. Review the data from the 1980s, the last time "windfall" oil profits were taxed:
Domestic production dropped between 3 percent and 6 percent and dependence on foreign oil increased between 8 percent and 16 percent, reported the Congressional Research Service.
How Kanjorski concludes his proposal would force oil companies trying avoid a tax on their "windfall profits" to reduce prices suggests a very nasty case of brain flatulence. What's more likely to happen? Unable to maximize the return on their investment, oil companies would start withholding product, diverting it where they can. It's like handing the Chinese an endless supply of succulent Cantonese roast duck.
Second, an analysis by the Tax Foundation (in 2005) found that, since 1977, governments collected tax revenues "more than twice the amount of domestic profits earned by major U.S. oil companies." Of course, Congressman Kanjorski's "windfall profits" levy would not apply to the only true "gouger" in this equation -- state and federal governments.
Third, there are many other industries whose profits per dollar of sales equal or exceed those of Big Oil; they're not targeted by Kanjorksi. Apparently, "windfall" is in the blind eye of the tax 'em beholder, usually holding a lifetime membership in The Club for the Economic Ignorami.
Fourth, this concept of a "Reasonable Profits Board" is an incredibly slippery slope that, when applied by slippery politicos, could leave no business standing. Today, Big Oil; tomorrow, Big Software. Why risk any investment when the extent of your rewards is either predetermined by government or trampled by government when your enterprise is "too successful"?
Indeed, gasoline prices are high. The demand curve has exploded; the supply curve would be wise to ingest a cocktail of Viagra and Cialis. Greater domestic drilling and refining capacity would go a long way to start fixing the problem. It also would send a strong message abroad and bolster the weak dollar, said to account for about $40 of each barrel of crude.
As for Paul Kanjorski, let's try a windbag politicians tax.
Colin McNickle is the Trib's director of editorial pages. Ring him at 412-320-7836. E-mail him at: cmcnickle@tribweb.com
I am beginning to have some serious issues with all the naïve people who state that today’s (illegal) immigrants are no different than the millions of people who emigrated here starting back at the beginning of the 1900’s.
There are some VERY distinct differences.
These are the things they DID.
OUR ancestors spent weeks coming to the U.S. on ships from all across Europe.
They stood in long lines at places like Ellis Island, waiting to be documented.
They made a pledge to follow the laws of their new country.
They made learning English a priority.
They did al they could to assimilate themselves and their children into the culture of their new country.
These are the things they DIDN’T do.
Sneak across the borders.
Demand that signs in stores, product labels, etc. to be printed in their native language.
Place the flag of their native country above the Stars and Stripes.
Think they were entitled to free health care.
Line up for welfare, child support, rent subsidies, etc.
Feel that the government should be responsible for taking care of their children, spending millions of dollars to teach their kids English because they couldn’t be bothered to learn it themselves, and on and on.
And they surely did not expect that they could retain every facet of life in their native country while refusing to adopt the culture of the country they came to.
LEGALLY I MIGHT ADD!
END OF POST
A recent story in Hazleton ’s daily newspaper, the Standard-Speaker, outlines the claims of various Hispanic advocacy groups that Hazleton ’s Illegal Immigration Relief Act has cost the city of Hazleton more than 20 Hispanic-owned businesses.
Let’s examine some of their statements:
The Reverend Luis Cortez of Esperanza USA said “Illegal immigrants have been unfairly lumped in with legal Latino citizens.
He also claims that “The business owners who left were just afraid..that they were no longer wanted”.
The Reverend Jane Hess of the Faith United Church of Christ claims “We should hold government accountable (regarding illegal immigration), not take the law into our own hands” and “Mayor Barletta’s use of the term “illegal immigrant” is inflammatory”.
As usual, these folks are long on rhetoric and short on solutions.
Regarding Reverend Cortez’s claim of illegal immigrants being unfairly lumped in with legal Latino citizens, he should examine his own statement a little more carefully.
Illegal immigrants as opposed to legal Latino citizens.
Yes Reverend, as your own words show,there is a difference.
One group chose to come to America and go through the process of becoming U.S. citizens, the other did not. There is a distinction.
And the Illegal Immigration Relief Act did not target all Hispanics, rather it’s purpose is to hold accountable firms that employ or landlords who rent to individuals who are in this country illegally.
I am also curious as to why the Esperanza USA website does not mention the issue of illegal immigration.
An examination of that issue would seem to be a given for a Latino advocacy group, yet the focus of the website seems to be targeted to Hispanics that are legal U.S. citizens.
And to all those who claim that the process to become a citizen is too onerous, how is it that so many Latino’s have done so?
It surely cannot be any more difficult now than it was for my ancestors, who came to the U.S, unable to speak English and certainly did not have all the support systems and assistance that is available today..
It only seems logical that Reverend Cortez’s group should provide at least some information as to how to obtain U.S. citizenship.
As to the reverend’s claim about business owners leaving Hazleton because they were afraid they were no longer wanted, I fail to understand the logic of that statement also.
I have made numerous visits to the Hazleton Wal-Mart, both before and after the IIRA was proposed, and the predominant language I’ve heard spoken was Spanish.
So I can’t help but draw the conclusion that Wal-Mart was more of a factor in these stores closing than any proposed ordinance was.
Perhaps the citizenship status, or lack thereof, of the store owners and/or their employees was a factor in the closings. And I surely don’t recall anyone picketing outside of a Latino-owned establishment demanding that the proprietors leave town.
Reverend Hess’s statement about holding government accountable and not taking the law into our own hands also misses the mark.
No one is taking the law into their own hands; there are no bands of vigilantes roaming the streets of Hazleton targeting Hispanics.
To my way of thinking, the purpose of the IIRA is to attempt to remedy the fact that the federal government is NOT accountable.
If the government had been doing it’s job, cities and towns across the U.S. would not be passing laws whose aim is basically the same as those set forth in the IIRA.
As to Reverend Hess’s statement that Mayor Barletta’s use of the term “illegal immigrant” is inflammatory, I’m baffled.
Reverend, if someone enters a country without going through the proper channels and/or without the proper documentation, that person is an illegal immigrant in the eyes of that country.
However, I highly doubt that any country other than the United States would provide me with welfare benefits, allow me access to hospital emergency rooms, educate my children, etc.
All that the Reverends Cortez and Hess have don e is trot out the same old tired cliches’
without addressing the real issues
Rather than spending all their time deriding the efforts of people like Mayor Barletta, perhaps they should shift their focus towards helping these people understand tbhat they need to become legal U.S. citizens and to assimilate into OUR culture and way of life, not wait for us to change our way of life to suit them.
END OF POST
This is really too much!
PAUL KANJORKSI PUTS NORTHEASTERN PENNSYLVANIA IN THE RECORD BOOKS FOR THE MOST EXPENSIVE BOWLING GAME IN THE HISTORY OF MANKIND!
9.3 million dollars from your Congressman uncle, 1.34 million dollars owed to creditors, and you can put what’s left in the garage of a bowling alley?
The following story appeared in the April 7th edition of the Wilkes-Barre Pa. Times-Leader.
April 7 Cornerstone assets to be abandoned
$1M in claims, property worth a few thousand
ANDREW M. SEDER aseder@timesleader.com
WILKES-BARRE – The federal Bankruptcy Court-appointed trustee overseeing the Cornerstone Technologies case filed paperwork Sunday notifying more than 35 creditors that the failed-company’s assets will be abandoned. The filing signals the case is nearing closure.
Among the creditors contacted by trustee Robert P. Sheils Jr. were the Office of Naval Research, Penn State University and the University of Missouri at Rolla.
There were more than $1 million in creditor claims when Cornerstone filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in September 2006. The property available for creditors to retrieve is worth a few thousand. Sheils classifies the property, which has been stored in the parking garage of a Nanticoke bowling alley, as having “no excess value to benefit the estate and no equity exists for creditors.”
Cornerstone Technologies, a research company that received more than $9 million in federal grants and contracts, halted operations in 2003. The company, which was operated by U.S. Rep. Paul Kanjorski’s daughter and four of his nephews, promised to create hundreds of jobs and to turn the Wyoming Valley into a technology hotspot. Kanjorski, D-Nanticoke, earmarked several million dollars in federal spending toward the company and is the reason, according to one of the company’s former employees and a listed creditor, the company failed.
“The moment we had a greedy congressman trying to stuff his pockets with money, we were through,” said Bruce Conrad, of Weatherly, in March. Conrad owned 20 percent of the company. An additional 20 percent was owned by Peter Kanjorski, a Nanticoke attorney and a nephew of the congressman. The remaining 60 percent was owned by KOR Holdings, a partnership owned by the congressman’s daughter Nancy and nephews Peter, Paul Eric, Mark and Russell.
Creditors have 15 days to file an objection to the abandonment notice. If nobody does so the property would be abandoned. Among the property are office equipment and furniture and barrels of graphite.
Attorney John H. Doran, who represents Cornerstone, said it’s likely that the property will be retained by Cornerstone once it’s abandoned. He said that’s the likely scenario with so many creditors and so little value.
Andrew M. Seder, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 570-829-7269.
http://www.timesleader.com/business/20080408_08_cornerstone_as_ART.html
END OF POST
On Sunday April 6th, 11th Congressional District candidate Lou Barletta attended a fund-raising breakfast in Newport Township to raise funds for Newport Township EMS.For those of you not familiar, Newport is just a stone's throw away from Paul Kanjorski's hometown of Nanticoke.
The fire and ambulance personnel had no advance notice that Mayor Lou would be making an appearance.
It pleased me beyond words to see the amount of people in the heart of Kanjorski country expressing their support for Lou.
Mr. Barletta was already there when my family and I arrived, and a constant stream of well wishers was approaching him.
One of the EMS people told me "It's been like this since he walked through the door. People want to shake his hand, get pictures taken, or just tell him he has their vote."
I spoke to him for a moment, and then my family and I sat down to eat.
After half and hour or so, the folks approaching him finally eased off enough so that he could sit down to breakfast.
And as soon as rose from the table, it started all over again.
I could draw various conclusions from this, but one thing I'm sure of:
If this is the sort of reception Mayor Barletta can get in Paul Kanjorski's backyard, we'll be calling him Congressman Barletta soon.
END OF POST
If you are disturbed by pork-barrel spending, what you are about to read will raise your blood pressure.
If political stupidity and nepotism bothers you, prepare to be annoyed.
If you also live in Northeastern Pennsylvania, you should be furious.
Two front-page stories in the March 29th edition of the Wilkes-Barre Pa. Times-Leader illustrate how Congressman Paul Kanjorski continues to play the people of the 11th Congressional District for suckers.
The first story deals with the bankruptcy proceedings of Cornerstone Technologies.
For those of you unfamiliar with the details, Cornerstone Technologies was a company that was owned by the daughter and four nephews of Congressman Kanjorski.
The Congressman secured a 9.2 million dollar earmark for Cornerstone to attempt to find practical application for water-jet technology.
And with someone competent running things, who knows.
Sadly, to say the company was poorly run is an understatement.
In an assessment of how the Kanjorski family handled the day-to-day operations, a former head of Penn State University's Energy Institute was quoted as saying "It was like the Three Stooges meet anthracite".
So it should come as no surprise that the Kanjorski clan squandered 9.2 million dollars of taxpayer money and after filing for bankruptcy is leaving creditors with no hope of regaining even a portion of the 1.34 million dollars in debt that this bunch left behind.
10.5 MILLION dollars and Cornerstone Technologies produced nothing of any practical value.
The next story details how AVA Solar, a Fort Collins, Colorado based company has just been given a 3 million dollar federal grant.
The company promises to employ up to 500 people by next year.
I would advise anyone living in the Fort Collins area not to quit the job they have in the hopes of working at AVA.
I say that because the Director for Strategic Planning for the company is none other than Russell Kanjorski.
Yes, he is one of the Cornerstone Kanjorski's that blew through the 9.2 million dollars that Uncle Paul got for them, produced nothing, and then left creditors on the hook for another 1.3 million.
If I were the suspicious type, I would be wondering if Congressman Kanjorski was involved with AVA Solar getting a 3 million dollar government grant.
And if it was conditional on his nephew Russell getting hired.
But the real irony of this saga is shown in a story about AVA Solar that appears in the Northern Colorado Business Report.
In the final line of the article, Russell Kanjorski is quoted as saying:
"It's really time for us to stop talking and start doing".
It's just a shame that Russell and the rest of the Kanjorski clan feeding at the public trough couldn't have figured that out 10 and a half million dollars ago.
END OF POST
John Murtha, who represents Pennsylvania's 12th Congressional District, has often been called the "King of Pork".
So all we can lay claim to is his protégé, Paul "Prince of Pork" Kanjorski.
Recently, the US Army Corps of Engineers let the air out of one of Mr. Kanjorski's favorite fantasies, the inflatable dam.
The idea of putting a dam across one of the most polluted rivers in the United States ranks right up there with one Mr. Kanjorski's earlier hair- brained schemes, the Nanticoke Monorail.
So, how much taxpayer money leaked out of the inflatable dam?
Well, according to recent news reports, the original earmark that Mr. Kanjorski was given for this project was 14 million dollars.
And Luzerne county spent 1.4 million dollars as it's share of the cost of the feasibility studies.
The same news accounts stated that of the original earmark, 13 million dollars is left.
And Luzerne county will only be able to recoup 75% of the money it put up.
So the taxpayers are out one million three hundred and fifty thousand dollars without a thing to show for it.
With other pork barrel projects, at least the taxpayers can point out something, no matter how ridiculous it may be, and say "My tax dollars paid for that".
You would think that having the Prince of Pork on our side would entitle us to something more than 1,350,000 dollars worth of hot air.
END OF POST
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, in a transparent ploy to focus attention away from Paul “The King of Nepotism” Kanjorski, has been making patently fraudulent claims regarding Lou Barletta’s campaign reports.
Perhaps they should scrutinize their own candidates first.
The Federal Elections Commission recently fined Citizens for Action, a political action committee associated with Congressman Kanjorski.
Citizens for Action falls into the category of what are routinely known as a leadership PAC.
Leadership PAC’S commonly receive the majority of their donations from special-interest groups.
Citizens for Action has received more than a quarter of a million dollars of these donations since 2006.
And a lot of that money has gone to either Democrat candidates or to the DCCC itself.
HOWEVER
Two of Mr. Kanjorski’s nephews who are,(surprise surprise) on the Cittizens for Action payroll have received over $75,000 in “consulting” fees and “expense” reimbursements.
Another Kanjorski affiliate, Pennsylvanian's for Kanjorski, paid K&K Real Estate $36,000 to rent a campaign office.
It appears that K&K made out like bandits, 36k for a campaign office is a tad steep.
Unless you consider the fact that Mr. Kanjorski and his brother Peter own K&K Real Estate.
So, members of the DCCC, before you start to sling mud, perhaps you should hose off your own candidate first.
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The following letter to the editor appeared in the Wilkes-Barre Pa.
Citizens Voice and the Hazleton Pa. Standard Speaker newspapers
after 11th Congressional District Congressman Paul Kanjorski
(the man Mayor Lou will be running against tried defending his
record on illegal immigration issues.
Editor:
Congressman Paul Kanjorski’s recent claims that he has been in the fight against illegal immigration much longer than Hazleton mayor Lou Barletta prompted me to examine his voting record on this as well as some other issues.
And some of what I discovered is quite interesting.
The following are just a few examples of his votes on the following House Resolutions:
Bill Number: HR 5970-Continues to allow tax deductions for qualified tuition and related expenses by amending the date to 2007 (Sec. 201)Have kids in college? Like being able to deduct tuition costs from your federal income tax?Paul voted NO
Bill Number: HR 4890Sought to give the President the power of the line item veto.Paul voted NO (Can you say Pork Barrel Spending?)
Bill Number: HR 4579 A bill to cut taxes for married couples, farmers, students, and others, and to set aside a portion of the budget surplus for Social Security.
I’ll be honest. Anything that takes less of my paycheck in taxes is ok with me. Paul voted NO
Bill Number: HR 2436 A bill to adopt a substitute amendment that establishes a federal criminal offense for an individual whose assault on a pregnant woman interrupts or terminates the pregnancy.
Seems reasonable to me. Assault a pregnant woman, do some serious jail time.Paul voted NO
Bill Number: HR 3722 A bill that would require hospitals to provide information on undocumented immigrants seeking emergency medical care.
Seems simple. Illegal alien goes to the hospital for free medical care, and unless the hospital provides the Department of Homeland Security with citizenship and employment records, the hospital doesn’t receive reimbursement from the federal government. Would also have sought to make the employer of the illegal alien responsible for paying the bill.Paul voted NO
Bill Number: HR 4844 A bill that requires voters to provide a government-issued photo identification cards in order to vote.You know, like a drivers license. It’s hard to be an illegal alien voter without one.Paul voted NO
Now to be fair I must point out that Mr. Kanjorski did vote in favor of tightening border security, increasing the number of Border Control agents, and a few other items related to illegal immigration.
However, it is one thing to raise your hand and vote “me too” on a bill that you know will make you look good to the folks back home, and quite another to take a serious stand on an issue.
Perhaps why that is talk of Lou Barletta running against him has him trying to do damage control. Maybe he has visited the http://www.louforcongress/.com website.
But I can’t help but think that Mr. Kanjorski has been a member of Congress for 23 years, and NOW he is going to hop on board this issue?
Congressman, to use an old cliché, I’d ask you to put your money where your mouth is, but the last time you did that, you gave 10 million of our tax dollars to your nephews.
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Today one of us was speaking to a woman who works in a physician’s office here in Hazleton.
She told us that because they treat Hispanic patients and get reimbursed through a federal program, the government has made a requirement that the office has to hire a translator.
According to this woman, the amount that the office is reimbursed would not make hiring a translator cost-effective.
She also made mention of the fact that Hazleton has many residents that have emigrated here from Eastern Europe, but that there is no requirement for a translator for these people because they have at least made an effort to learn to speak English!
What’s next, a translator riding on an ambulance?
Imagine an EMT or Paramedic responding to a call In Hazleton.
Chances are, the call they will be responding to will involve a person who doesn’t speak or understand English. The patient can’t tell the first-responder what’s wrong, and the EMT or Paramedic can’t make the patient understand what treatment they are trying to perform.
But you could be sure that if the person that was being treated didn’t feel that they received the highest level of care, the ACLU would be right there ready to file a lawsuit for negligence.
Anyway.
We didn’t want to put this lady on the spot.
We didn’t ask if she thought that any of the people being treated were illegals.
But we were left wondering what has happened to our country when a first-responder could possibly be sued for not speaking a foreign language, and how someone who claims not to speak or understand English still knows enough to receive free medical care.
Hazleton's daily newspaper, the Standard-Speaker, recently ran a story about a woman named Rosalinda.
Rosalinda came to America eight years ago on a temporary work visa and apparently never left when the visa expired.
Her three children, also illegals, joined her two years later.She lives in such fear of her status being discovered that she limits her daily routine to such things as going to and from work or shopping for groceries.
She supports herself and her three children with a job that pays her $7.00 an hour.
And I should mention that this interview was done through an interpreter, it would seem that Rosalinda couldn’t speak English.
This is somewhat confusing.
Here is a prime example of the type of person Congress would grant amnesty.
Congress would have us believe that a woman who has lived in America for EIGHT YEARS without bothering to learn to speak English,supporting herself and 3 children on seven dollars an hour is going to return to her native country, re-enter the U.S. legally,(don't forget she was here on a "guest worker visa" save enough money to pay a fine, and become a productive member of society. Not yet another drain on the welfare system.If this were a comedy routine, the comic would get a standing ovation.
Not a day goes by that we don't hear from some misguided individual making the claim that the numbers of illegal immigrants in America is actually a good thing. And to debate these points would take more space than we want to devote to it at this time.
But we do want to dispel 2 of the biggest myths.
Myth:
“Illegal aliens only take jobs that Americans won’t do.”
Fact:
First off, just what are these jobs that Americans won’t do? And who was doing them before the massive influx of illegal immigrants?
The fact is they take jobs that Americans CANT do, because of employers who hire the illegals at rock-bottom, below minimum wage rates of pay.
The illegal immigrants can take these jobs because in most cases they are paid in cash and pay no taxes on their income.
A perfect example of this was made clear by a man who called into the Rush Limbaugh radio show.
This African-American gentleman said he was the head of a large labor union in California. And his statement was that African-American men were having trouble finding jobs, and even that one construction company spokesperson told him that he can hire two “undocumented aliens” for what he would have to pay one American worker.
Myth:
“If we deport all these people, we would be paying $10.00 for a head of lettuce.”
Fact:
What is that head of lettuce REALLY costing you?
According to a study done in 2002, the small percentage of illegals that DO pay taxes revealed that households headed by illegal aliens paid a total of 16 billion dollars in taxes.
On the face of it, this sounds reasonable.
Until you read a little further and see that in the same time period they received a total of $26.3 billion in government services such as food stamps, free medical care, etc.
You don’t have to be an economist to understand that a net loss of $10.3 billion dollars a year in reality makes that head of lettuce just a little more expensive for the American taxpayer.
And keep in mind this study was done five years ago. The hidden costs of illegal immigration have grown considerably since then.
To read Hazleton's Illegal Immigration Relief Act, follow this link:
Download the amended Illegal Immigration Relief Act (PDF)
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If you want to read Judge Munley's 206 page ruling against Hazleton's Illegal Immigration Relief act, you can find a link to it here. The link is contained in the first paragraph. See it here.
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So let me see if I understand this.
Judge Munley strikes down Hazleton's IIRA, saying it is unconstitutional and attempts to supersede federal immigration statutes.
Recently the Homeland Security Department decides that they are going to "crack down" on firms that hire illegal aliens.
Wasn't that one of the main points of Mayor Barletta's IIRA?
Perhaps the mayor and the city of Hazleton should look into suing the federal government for not enforcing their own laws.
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U.S. Immigration and Customs Service
Up to minute illegal immigration counters
The Federation for American Immigration Reform
The Bank of AMERICA? Then why do they give credit to illegals?
An excellent article on how illegal immigration affects African Americans
How to report illegal aliens and their employers
Mexico is the wealthiest nation in Latin America, with the highest GDP south of the Rio Grande. Certainly there are many poor people in Mexico, since perhaps half the country lives in poverty. However, the nation as a whole is quite wealthy and could well afford the sort of improvements in education and infrastructure that would better the living standards of all Mexicans.
But the Mexican ultra-rich don’t like to tax themselves for social investment, and it helps them most of all that the American taxpayer has been forced to support Mexicans living in the United States.
Every dollar spent in U.S. taxes for social services for illegal aliens frees up additional cash which can be part of the annual remittances which now provide the second highest source of foreign income for Mexico.
Consider some relevent facts:
• Mexico has the highest Gross Domestic Product in Latin America, substantially higher than runner-up Brazil.
• When measured in GDP per capita, Mexico ranks #2 behind Argentina.
• According to Forbes magazine, half of Latin American billionaires are Mexican. In terms of total money, Mexicans accounted for $24 billion, half (50.2 percent) of the total worth of Latin billionaires.
• Mexico raises less revenue through taxation than nearly any other Latin American country,just 12 percent, which is one reason why the nation's wealth is not better utilized. By
comparison, the United States takes in 25-28 percent of its gross domestic profit in taxes.
• Economist Gary Hufbauer of the Institute for International Economics has remarked, “It’s up to Mexico to solve its problem, and basically the wealthy classes do not want to tax themselves,
period. While I’m not usually an advocate for larger government, Mexico is a country where public investment, done wisely, could pay huge dividends.”
• Mexico expert Prof. George Grayson of William and Mary College calls Mexico an “immensely wealthy nation.”
• Mexico’s economy is the world’s tenth largest.
• When the ruling party needed a hefty sum for the 1994 election, Presidente Salinas leaned on rich businessmen to write $25 million checks at an infamous dinner party, where contributions totaled a staggering $750 million by evening’s end. (By comparison, in March 2004 President Bush had a campaign war chest of around $150 million.)
In short, Washington should stop treating Mexico as a poor nation needing our help in terms of immigration deals and financial support.
For supporting documentation of this material, please see:
http://www.limitstogrowth.org/WEB-text/finance-mexican.html
Immigration Information Online:
www.LimitsToGrowth.org and www.ImmigrationsHumanCost.org
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So often, we get caught up in a debate over political semantics and end up ignoring the hard-shell realities of what we're talking about.
Number of Illegal Aliens in the Country 20,807,645
Money Wired to Mexico City since January, 2006 $22,213,001,672.00
Cost of Social Security Services for Illegal Aliens since 1996 $397,450,739,563.00
Number of Children of Illegal Aliens in Public Schools 3,958,789
Cost of Illegal Aliens in K-12 Since 1996: $13, 965,063,431.00
Number of Illegal Aliens Incarcerated 332,594
Cost of Incarcerations Since 2001 $1,398,127,429.00
Number of Illegal Aliens Fugitives 642,799
Skilled Jobs Taken by Illegal Aliens 9,872,838
Figures can trick your eyes. Take particular note that items 2,3,5, and 7 reflect BILLION not millions of dollars !!
Can you imagine how much it will cost taxpayers if we triple the number of illegals entering this country!!
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