I miss all of you. South Carolina is the polarized mess I thought it might have been. It’s beautiful and I love it anyway.
I hear things are crazy back NEPA way. I plan on reading every paper I missed, don’t worry.
Ciao!
Shortly, I’ll be headed down to Greenville, South Carolina to visit family. Bob Jones University, where George Bush announced he was running for President way back when, is located therein. Yes, the belly of the beast.
Greenville is a beautiful town and has a lot going on (it’s comparable in size to Scranton, but seems to have a more vibrant arts community). My cousin Maureen is an actress in a comedy troupe and I’ll be going to see their most recent play, Sanford in Love, which parodies Mark Sanford, SC’s governor, who literally disappeared from the Governor’s mansion for days. Supposedly, he was hiking the Appalachian Trail, but really he was cheating on his wife with his Argentinean mistress. I’m sure I’ll enjoy the play.
The bad news is you won’t see me here for a little while. I’ll check back and if I have time I’ll make my phone calls and write about relevant news, but don’t expect much for the next week.
I’ll miss you all!
In Pennsylvania, teachers are required to get their master’s degrees in five years or they get fired. So, when the time came (almost immediately after I got my first teaching job), I had a choice. Many teachers go for an education degree. That didn’t appeal to me. I was already an educator. Locally, there were no master’s programs in English left (the University of Scranton got rid of theirs). I luckily came across an MA in Creative Writing at Wilkes University. I enrolled, and my life took a wonderful turn for the better.
An MA and MFA in Creative Writing later, I’ve made friendships and connections all over the country with writers and aspiring writers. Many of the people I got close to were screenwriters and though my focus was both fiction and playwriting, I had and have an intense interest in screenplays and their composition.
A group of friends and I have all collaborated on a television series called Magnolia. This is based on the life experiences of writer/collaborator/friend Bill Howe. Also in the mix are James McCabe, a Wilkes-Barrian producer and Joe Bomba, who wrote an awesome and hilarious film about an inept wanna-be serial killer.
Bill was a quarterback for the Chargers very briefly, having gotten injured before the season started. He played well in college and happened to have been an ambidextrous quarterback. Bill is white and went briefly to Mississippi Valley State University, a historically black college. This is the well from which we draw the series.
I won’t belabor this anymore and will let the first two videos we put out speak for themselves. The first is introductory, the second contains scenes we recently shot (there is a vulgarity, be careful).
Paul Kanjorski has had a busy day in terms of press releases. I will publish anything I find relevant when it comes to press releases, so today is a pretty relevant day, it seems (I get a lot more releases than I put up).
Kanjorski scored some points with me by directly confronting a company about outsourcing. It’s a shame that any company puts profits before people, but such is the nature of capitalism. At least we can complain about it.
WASHINGTON – Congressman Paul E. Kanjorski (PA-11) released the following statement after meeting with Christine Marcks, President of Prudential Retirement division, about the recent layoffs at Prudential’s office in Northeastern Pennsylvania.
“This afternoon, I had an open and frank discussion with one of the top executives from Prudential who is responsible for the decision to lay off employees at its Montage Mountain facility,” said Congressman Kanjorski. “Though Prudential and many other companies face business pressures during these difficult economic times, it is incredibly disappointing that Prudential would choose to not only reduce its workforce, but also outsource those jobs to foreign workers. Not only does this put American workers out of jobs, but it also negatively impacts our economy. Prudential assured me that they are continuing to explore alternative methods to reach their financial goals, and I will continue to monitor their actions. This conversation is not finished.”
“We must incentivize American companies to keep jobs here and hire American workers, and I will continue to work to create new policies to help maximize American employment at companies like Prudential,” added Congressman Kanjorski. “Ms. Marcks stated that Prudential is fully committed to keeping this facility in Northeastern Pennsylvania and that there are currently 29 open positions at that facility in different divisions. She added that any employees affected by the recent layoffs are encouraged to apply for these jobs.”
Congressman Kanjorski concluded, “I am deeply frustrated by Prudential’s decision to reduce its workforce in the area. While the company claims that it is impacted by the difficult economy, so too are the people and families in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Prudential’s actions are certainly not unnoticed. I will continue to closely examine alternatives for these employees and to Prudential’s actions. Since I began my service in Congress, I have worked first and foremost to create jobs in Northeastern Pennsylvania, and I will continue to do everything that I can to help keep jobs in our communities.”
Paul Kanjorski voted to extend unemployment benefits today. Keep in mind that Republican Tom Corbett believes there are jobs out there and people don’t need this. Since Republicans voted almost in lock step against extending benefits, we can guess that Lou Barletta would’ve joined them.
WASHINGTON – Today, Congressman Paul E. Kanjorski (PA-11) voted for H.R. 4213, the Unemployment Compensation Extension Act, which passed in the House by a vote of 272-152. The bill will extend the availability of emergency unemployment benefits through November 30, 2010 to help the many individuals and families that have been forced out of their jobs as a result of the difficult economic situation. The bill also retroactively restores benefits to the about 173,900 Pennsylvanians and over 2.5 million Americans who started losing their benefits as early as the beginning of June. Congressman Kanjorski has voted multiple times in the House to extend unemployment insurance, but because of Republican opposition in the Senate, many Americans had lost their benefits.
“Too many people throughout Northeastern Pennsylvania and the country have lost their jobs, and we must continue to help these jobless workers survive during this extended recession so that they can find jobs and get back on their feet. Now is not the time to turn our backs on the American people,” said Congressman Kanjorski. “Unfortunately, millions of people throughout the country have not been receiving need unemployment assistance for weeks because many Republicans made politics their priority, rather than the people they represent. By providing this assistance to families which have temporarily lost their incomes, the entire American economy can benefit because those dollars will be immediately spent on needed goods and services. Today, many Americans who were laid off will regain this vital assistance.”
The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office has cited unemployment benefits as one of the most cost-effective and quickest ways to stimulate the economy, and every dollar spent on unemployment benefits generates $1.61 in new demand, according to Moody’s chief economist Mark Zandi. Additionally, according a study by the Economic Policy Institute, unemployment benefits were responsible for creating more than 1 million jobs since the recession started, and adding almost 2 percent to the gross domestic product.
Unemployment insurance is temporary income for workers who are unemployed through no fault of their own. Many Pennsylvanians who have been unable to find jobs can now receive up to 99 weeks of unemployment insurance. Regular unemployment insurance provides up to 26 weeks of benefits. Emergency unemployment insurance is a federally funded program created by Congress to provide additional insurance of up to 53 weeks. This legislation also helps states provide State Extended Benefits, which in Pennsylvania provides for an additional 20 weeks of unemployment insurance.
State unemployment offices should notify individuals who have almost exhausted their regular benefits to make them aware of their potential eligibility for emergency unemployment benefits. Once eligible individuals apply, they should receive extended benefits with very little or no gap in coverage. If you have questions, contact the Scranton Unemployment Compensation Service Center, which covers all of Northeastern Pennsylvania, at (570) 496-2332.
Observation: The Philadelphia Inquirer has called for Attorney General Tom Corbett to resign. His campaign, they say, is interfering with his job. Who would’ve thought campaigning would take away from investigating crime? Aside from being distracted from doing his job, he has blatantly used his office to advance his political agenda. He is suing over health care reform. It’s a waste of time and money. Unless you’re Corbett and you’re getting free press. The Attorney General’s office functions as an extension of his campaign.
Observation: As one friend said to me recently, it’s good to be a Democrat. Why? This month, the state will go live with an insurance pool for high-risk people with pre-existing conditions. Tom Corbett would rather these people go uninsured and is using taxpayer dollars to make sure.
Observation: The Orie sisters, a trio of Republican politicians, will stand trail on charges that they used taxpayer-funded staff to do campaign work. Tom Corbett charged Democrats for this left and right, but refused to charge them, despite whistleblowers trying to inform him of wrongdoing.
Observation: Corbett has claimed that Onorato is only “attacking, attacking, attacking” and hasn’t put forth any constructive ideas. Going to Onorato’s website disproves this. Corbett is now refusing to talk about how he basically spat on all unemployed Pennsylvanians. I wonder why.
Observation: Dan Onorato’s campaign has been going very well and they are doing all the right things. He’s constantly traveling, he’s pointing out Corbett’s failings, and, importantly, Onorato is talking about why he’ll be better for Pennsylvania. If he keeps this up, he’s got a decent shot at winning.
Observation: Yes, I have a lot of bad news about Tom Corbett. It’s because he’s bad news.
Pennsylvania has a big problem with roads and bridges. The Freedom Bridge is crumbling and that is beyond dangerous. Somebody could get killed if a chunk of concrete makes its way onto a car instead of, luckily, the grass.
The plan to toll I-80 fell through and there are a few proposals on the table.
The first, an “excess profits” tax, is awesome, as far as I’m concerned. Oil companies run away with money, so let’s use their excess to pave our roads. But I’m sure oil companies will lobby this to the graveyard.
Another potential solution is an increased tax on gas. I have no problem with this whatsoever. Yes, people will complain that it’ll hit the pocketbook and that is unfortunate. But what’s good about a gas tax is that it will encourage carpooling, walking, and the only people who pay it are people who use the roads in the first place. It strikes me as fair.
Congressman Kanjorski was heavily involved in the recently passed and signed Wall Street reform bill. Because of this, he had the opportunity to be with the President at the signing.
Janet Evans took the time to respond to the release from ECTV, clarifying what happened at Council last night.
“It is absolutely false that City Council is pulling the plug” Evans said. ”I spearheaded the fight to get cameras back in after the Mayor had them removed years ago.”
Evans explained that, yes, the agreement was amended, but that there would most certainly be a PEG channel (basically a public access channel). Comcast itself has no dealings with ECTV and it’s up to the Mayor and Council to administer funds to it.
The point of contention for Evans is that there is no contract between ECTV and Scranton. This is amazing, because if there’s nothing in writing, how do we know what services ECTV is even supposed to provide? They originally said they would put Council meetings up on the Internet, and for people like me with no Comcast, the Internet is the only way for me to watch my government meetings. Since there is no written agreement, ECTV isn’t obligated to do this (which is why they haven’t).
According to Evans, “ECTV has no accountability. They answer to nobody. They simply do their own programming without input from the city. The city funds their operations, but they have never provided any accounting to us in the two years they’ve existed until July of this year.” The city requested invoiced, Evans said, and the invoice they finally received was for unpaid salaries, but didn’t provide a breakdown of employees or job descriptions. One charge was for 300 hours of carpentry work, but no description of the work was included.
Evans pointed out that ECTV received a $90,000 loan from OECD, but never made a single payment on it and had the loan forgiven in 12 months. This is ridiculous.
Evans continued, “This amendment opens the door to have a new PEG provider through a request for proposals, but we need a contract. We will provide guidelines as to what we expect.” Putting this out to bid will give the city the best bang for its buck. In fact, ECTV purchased its equipment with city money and if, after bidding is done, they do not get selected as a provider, they must return the equipment.
To conclude, Evans said there would be public access no matter what and that was never and will never be in question.
I got my hands on a press release concerning a disturbing vote that occurred last night at Scranton City Council. Turns out that Council voted to amend the contract with Comcast and defund ECTV. Here’s the release (forgive the formatting):
During the primary campaign in the 112th, the issue of Ken Smith’s finances took hold. The man makes over $80,000 a year, but didn’t bother paying a dime in taxpayer-backed loans to his business. He also didn’t pay his taxes. This isn’t fair, as many people would’ve had their businesses axed immediately, not years after this payment abuse began.
Despite my displeasure as a taxpayer who pays his taxes on time and in full, it is sad to see a fixture of South Side go.
Scranton is one of least educated cities in America. Awesome. We are ranked 90th out of 100 by the Brookings Institute. They simply took a look at how many people have college degrees. This is depressing.
Lou Barletta, straight off of a fundraiser with 9/11 Rudy 9/11 Guiliani 9/11 which did not include cross-dressing (this time, anyway), sent Gort his position on Marcellus Shale.
Barletta doesn’t say anything about the threat, and doesn’t even use the word “environment” in a piece about the environment. That had to have been a conscious choice. For Barletta, the environment isn’t an issue.
Instead, this caught my eye: Our region and our nation have been blessed with an abundance of natural resources. We should not turn our back on these blessings. We need to harness these gifts while continuing to be stewards of our land.
Barletta’s point, and his obvious position, is that we need to exploit our land. I like how he uses religious terminology (twice, we get that this is a “blessing”) because I guess gas extraction is a moral crusade.
Yet another reason not to vote Barletta. Keep ‘em coming Lou!
I missed this, but last week, Pat Toomey told The American Legion that “there are some in Washington who don’t really believe in American exceptional-ism.” He later confirmed that he was referring to President Obama.
That’s awesome. Head to a crowd of veterans to denounce the patriotism of the President. Pretty soon he’s going to start using Sarah Palin’s “real Americans” speech, you know, the one that claimed people from cities aren’t real.
Observation: A McClatchy report on the Tea Party and racism had a quote from a Tea Partier who was upset that people are calling elements of the party racist: “If I was a black man, I’d get down on my knees and thank God for slavery. Otherwise, I could be dying of AIDS now in Africa.” Nice. The following sentence? “Mr. Wight doesn’t consider that comment to be racist.” See, the some Tea Partiers simply don’t see racism for what it is, so it’ll be impossible to convince members that’s the case. Here’s the next defense we’ll here: “Hating black people isn’t racist, I have the freedom to hate and be a Neo-Nazi! I’m a patriot! America is about freedom! Go me!”
According to the pollster Rasumussen, which has a Republican-leaning House effect (fancy statistician talk for their polls are skewed Republican), Tom Corbett is up ten points over Dan Onorato. This isn’t a bad sign at all. Get rid of the house effect and the lead shrinks.
Further, even if ten were a legitimate number, that is still surmountable, particularly since Onorato is getting great play over Corbett’s total ignorance of the job situation in Pennsylvania.
To remind those who may have forgotten, Tom Corbett thinks people who are unemployed love it and don’t want to work because losing one’s job is awesome.
This has yet to be factored into any polls. When it does, I’m sure we’ll see a change.
Lou Barletta outraised Paul Kanjorski this time around. Barletta pulled $212,000 and Kanjo pulled $175,000. Despite this, Kanjo has an epic advantage in terms of cash-on-hand, over $1,000,000 compared to Barletta’s quarter million.
Barletta released a poll saying he was up 19 points over his opponent, but since none of the details of the poll or its cross-tabs or any of that were released, the poll may as well not exist as its veracity can’t be verified. It was an internal poll commissioned by Barletta anyway. My point is that this lead can easily evaporate as soon as Kanjo starts spending money. A few ads pointing out that Barletta led his city to the highest unemployment rate in the state, over 15%, and another ad pointing out Kanjo’s role in Wall Street Reform, particularly the “Too Big To Fail” amendment, and, well, a phony 19 point lead might turn into a real deficit.
A few weeks back, I reported that Bob Sheridan claimed there were a multitude of discrepancies and issues with the recent reorganization meeting of the Lackawanna County Democratic Committee. As of yesterday, Sheridan officially filed a “Notice of Contest” with State Committee detailing his complaints.
I have a copy of the document in hand and want to share some of what lies therein. Some of this you may have heard before, as Sheridan has given me press releases and interviews before. The difference here is that for every claim Sheridan makes in this Notice of Contest, he’s got people who will testify.
“…four days before the scheduled County Committee meeting, Harry McGrath, the incumbent Chairman and a candidate, sent a letter to all committeemen and committeewomen, requesting their support for his candidacy… Harry McGrath’s letter was on County Committee letterhead, which… clearly states that it was paid for by the County Committee.”
I have a copy of this letter. This is akin to a politician using the funds of his office, rather than his campaign committee, to campaign for himself.
Next, “…out of the 235 individuals signing the voter log: only 229 market a ballot, there was 1 blank ballot, and 5 people did not submit a ballot. There are many discrepancies as the number of voters cannot be reconciled with the number of votes that were cast.”
Then, Sheridan straight up says fraud occurred. “Further, the proxies permitted by the County Committee were issued in a manner that any holder could cast the vote and were transferable… without any regard to the intentions of the person who signed the proxy. This method allowed much fraud and manipulation of votes.”
And by way of example, “Petitioner Sheridan had at least 41 proxies that were obtained on his behalf, but only 27 of these proxies were signed into the voter log on his behalf.”
“At a minimum, 14 proxies that were pledged to Petitioner Sheridan were either trashed or fraudulently misappropriated to others.”
To summarize the rest of the complaint, Sheridan says that some of his proxies were registered as copies, which isn’t allowed. This means that somebody had a copy of his proxy and ended up using it to vote for his opponent. In one instance that Sheridan cites, the printing of his supporter’s name was in somebody else’s handwriting, which she will testify to.
The ballots, after the election, were in the sole possession of Chairman Harry McGrath, which is “a clear violation of every rule known to a democratic organization, including the Democratic Party. This was verified by the parliamentarian of the election.”
Sheridan points out that adjourning the meeting without having a vote for any other offices (both County and the City of Scranton) was a violation of County and State Committee by-laws.
Sheridan also said paperwork for other candidates was submitted in accordance with procedure (7 days in advance) but because it was received at 8:30 PM rather than 7 PM at McGrath’s office, that “Chairman McGrath refused to allow these nomination petitions.”
Then we get this gem, “Further, the County Committee headquarter doors are locked, are not staffed, and does not have a working fax machine. All this hinders the attempt of any person from submitting nomination papers.” Boy, I criticized the Party for not keeping up with the 21st century by not having a Facebook, Twitter, or even a website. They need to get to the 20th century first, it seems. Baby steps!
I’m sure if State Committee finds just one of these allegations to be true, then the election could easily be invalidated. Sheridan told me he would subpoena those he had to and that he had many willing to testify to the accuracy of his claims.
I e-mailed Harry McGrath for comment (after finally finding a public e-mail address at the Northeast Democratic Caucus website). I’ll post any official reply I may get.
The following is a guest post from Stephen Douglass, a young and energetic entrepreneur who will be holding an exciting event at the University of Scranton where other young and forward-thinking individuals can brainstorm for the future. Check it out:
Diamonds are the hardest naturally occurring material known to human, forming 100 miles below the Earth’s surface under time, heat, and high-pressure. Magma from buried eruptions push diamonds toward the Earth’s surface. Our diamonds of entrepreneurial talent and ambition exist below the crusted mantle of disillusionment and perceived apathy. It is our collective responsibility to erupt (forcefully push) one another to mine and extract these resources. This is how we extoll our heritage without selling our souls to the company store.
The health of a community’s grassroots startup scene–this refers to all startup business, social service, and artistic endeavors–provides a vital litmus test for local and regional economic development. The tell-tale sign of a mature startup scene is how efficiently and effectively the stream of collaboration between the Resourceful (idea generators and founders) and the Resources (stakeholders, mentors, customers, and investors) flow. At the ground level, thriving startup communities need to nurture people with a range of visions for the future; it typically starts with young people who swap fear of rejection for the belief that they are empowered to think and do.
Can you imagine the Scranton/Wilkes Barre area as a hotspot for ambitious college students, excitable 20-somethings, and vision-driven 30iches anxious to invest time, energy, and capital into manifesting enterprising ambitions? How about a network of experienced mentors and investors, accomplished artists, along with seasoned entrepreneurs and executive, all ready, able, and willing to leapfrog past precedence to extend critical fellowship and support budding entrepreneurial talent?
This next part is pointed: Northeast Pennsylvania’s (NEPA) current entrepreneurial landscape for young people is a barren, at times hostile, environment to grow ideas. Too often conversations about entrepreneurship and innovation in NEPA spike with a handful of recent success stories (Pepperjam, Solid Cactus, Hydro4GE, etc.), crest with the local business patrons’ successes (Benco Dental, Cornell Iron Works, i2M, Pride Mobility, Mericle Real Estate, and ERA One Source Realty), then crash into everything that’s wrong with the area (political creep, deficient startup support infrastructure and know-how, weak startup precedents and culture, brain drain, misaligned incentives, a perceived “innovation” monopoly, apathy, collusion and corruption, and poor relationship management and outreach–to name a few we encounter). Smaller upstarts (i.e. Green Being, Outrageous, and Vintage Theater) and the arts are largely overlooked in these discussions.
NEPA balances on a tipping point. Local businesses’ success should rightly be amplified–they are points of pride in our close-knit regional community. To continue to thrive, these very same businesses need highly skilled and evolving talent. One vehicle to nurture an eclectic base of local talent is to foster a next-generation grassroots startup culture. This requires transparency, collaboration, open communication, and a selflessness that drives personal biases aside and coerces us to support one another’s endeavors. What made NEPA burgeon in the past does not promise a flourishing future. Even new potential boons to area growth can become obstacles that threaten to perpetuate the status quo. Marcellus Shale natural gas deposits and the aggressive push to raise millions of dollars of risk capital side-track our focus on organic entrepreneurial culture-building to channel dollars into familiar reservoirs. This is decidedly not the optimal way to spur innovation in a transitional Tier 2 economy like NEPA.
Residual income from cottage industries sprung-off The Office are not the answer. We must become an agile and responsive community, once again. Establishing a revitalized precedent across NEPA–one that expects and encourages young people to take initiative and accountability to tackle issues and opportunities through enterprise–requires time, support (heat), and persistence (constant pressure)–just like diamonds. NEPA begs for a diverse startup scene. The state of our entrepreneurial community must embrace techies, artists, activists creatives, geeks, performers, marketeers, hipsters, investors, and anyone else interested in starting anything. We have not yet earned the luxury of selection and discretion; all startup ideas, anyone brave enough to align their ideas with action, must somehow be cultivated and incubated. Equal opportunity entrepreneurship (EOE) is a message that must resonate with those who fall off the radar screen of the Chamber and Power affiliates’ calls for action. This requires a shift in culture, not an abundance of capital. The situation is more empirically documented in Kevin O’Boyle’s May 2010 capstone case study, “NEPA Entrepreneurial Culture Enhancement Study.”
It is mission-critical: Engage your local network and lead as catalyst and proponent of/for action. Leadership necessitates a presence on the front-line. We need leaders. How can we better support the local startup community (the businesses, organizations, companies, and ventures that will never turn a VC term sheet, but aim to provide employees with a decent living)? Let’s stop managing the status quo and envision the new NEPA.
We need to activate the DNA students’ and young professionals’ entrepreneurial spirit with highly innovative events and programs. The StartUp Scramble NEPA Challenge is a mere touchpoint for community-building and venture development condensed into 54 hours.
Lastly, it is important that we are connected to continue this dialogue. I will hold “coffice” hours from 7-9 pm this Monday evening at Northern Light in Scranton to discuss anything startup related. Group correspondence should be directed to the StartUp Scramble Facebook Group or the StartUp Scramble NEPA Challenge blog for now.
Please feel free to share this email if you feel it is worthy. Connect with me via email, twitter, or Facebook…or join me and a potent line-up of mentors, speakers, and guests from July 30 – August 1st to build real business, social, and artistic ventures from scratch in 54 hours at the StartUp Scramble NEPA Challenge.
Yours in startup,
Stephen
The dynamic of the race in the 10th Congressional District has just changed greatly. Republican Tom Marino has had an absolutely embarrassing fundraising haul. Right now, he’s got $11,000. Chris Carney has nearly $800,000. So… Carney has nearly 80 times the amount that Marino has.
This tells me something very important: Tom Marino has no momentum or support. To illustrate, Carney had 400 contributions from whereas Marino had only 97. That’s not really a sign of faith. In fact, it’s a sign of being dead in the water.
Will Marino raise some more money? Sure, he’s made a lot of connections being a lawyer for whomever he could represent. But to have those kind of numbers in a heavily Republican district in July, only four months out from the primary, well, that’s a very bad sign.
There was a lot of controversy over White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs saying Republicans had a chance to take the House over. If that happens, it doesn’t look like it’ll be in the 10th.
