Posts tagged ‘lou barletta’

For those concerned about Marcellus Shale drilling, which all of us should be given the methane welling up in the Susquehanna, the poisoned well-water of families in Susquehanna, and on and on, then Paul Kanjorski is the man to vote for.

The League of Conservation Voters gave Kanjorski a perfect score last year.  That means he voted for the environment 100% of the time.

If elected, Kanjorski would continue that trend and protect our region’s environment, something it sorely needs from elected officials.  It’s an easy choice for November, I’d say.

On a related note, Republican Lou Barletta has claimed that he isn’t responsible for his city’s unemployment.  Hmm…  So what exactly is he saying he’s done as Mayor of Hazleton?  Nothing?  This would be laughable if he weren’t running for a promotion.  He won’t be responsible for his votes in Congress, too, I guess.  The gas drillers who donate to him will be.

We can file this one in the Irony Drawer.

Yesterday, I received a Lou Barletta press release dated August 31^st and boy, it’s full of some fun stuff!  Barletta, that’s Lou Barletta, Republican running against Paul Kanjorski.  Yup, Barletta criticized Kanjorski for the district’s unemployment.  While, of course, Kanjo has a part to play in the region’s unemployment, Barletta has ZERO business criticizing anybody over unemployment.  Hazleton is over 15%!  That’s the worst in the state!  And you know what, if you take Hazleton out of the equation, Lou Barletta’s Hazleton, then maybe NEPA wouldn’t have the worst unemployment.

I guess Kanjo’s team can reply, “Thanks for helping us clinch the title!”  Although maybe it’s not quite so exciting as that.  Kanjorksi has presided over 10% unemployment in a recession, Barletta 15%.  Who is better for jobs, again?

Statistics expose 26-year incumbent’s failed economic policies

August 31st

Hazleton, PA – The unemployment rate in Paul Kanjorski’s congressional district is now the highest in the entire state of Pennsylvania, continuing to show that the 26-year incumbent’s failed economic policies are destroying our regional economy and costing area residents thousands of jobs.

Kanjorski’s district has “significantly higher unemployment” than the state and the national average, according to the Scranton Times. In the same article, a professor of economics stated, “Being the worst in the state doesn’t speak well of our economy.” (8/31/10)

It also doesn’t speak well of Kanjorski’s economic policies.

The regional unemployment rate is now the highest in Pennsylvania at 10.4 percent – a number that has seen “a fairly steady ascent from 8.8 percent in July 2009,” according to the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader (8/31/10). That mirrors Kanjorski’s lock-step votes for the government takeover of health care and the destructive energy tax known as cap and trade.

“The official unemployment data provides irrefutable proof that Kanjorski’s actions have severely hurt our region. It’s no wonder he is afraid to meet the people of his district face-to-face at public town meetings. Kanjorski and Nancy Pelosi promised us that if they passed the $800 billion stimulus bill, unemployment wouldn’t go above 8 percent. Clearly, that was a lie, and both our unemployment rate and national debt continue to rise. Kanjorski’s reckless vote to take over our health care system directly cost the jobs of at least 100 Sallie Mae employees in Hanover Township. Many other Kanjorski votes – for cap and trade, to raise taxes and fees 150 times – have cost thousands of other jobs right here in Northeastern Pennsylvania,” said Shawn Kelly, spokesman for the campaign of Lou Barletta. “At the end of the day, Kanjorski only cares about one job – his.”

Today, Paul Kanjorski, in conjunction with Bob Casey, will announce federal funding for an innovation center in Wilkes-Barre.

Allow me to engage in some augury and channel for you the coming Barletta response.

Hazleton, Pa – Lou Barletta took time today to respond to Paul Kanjorski’s announcement of federal funding for an innovation center.  “Paul Kanjorski will stop at nothing to invest in this region,” Barletta said, disgusted.  “From State Department jobs, to wind farms, to hybrid manufacturers, this endless barrage of good news for the local economy proves that he is a liberal, Pelosi-loving Democrat and voters won’t have that.

“I am 100% against federal funding of anything.  Therefore, I am against innovation.  Innovation is stifling and time-consuming.  Instead, people need to be spending their time driving illegal brown people from our land, as St. Patrick did to the snakes in Ireland.  It’s the only way to end unemployment, which, even though Hazleton’s is nearly 16%, I promise I will lower.  It’s the Mexicans’ fault.  I swear,” Barletta said, pointing to a chart riddled with stick figures in sombreros.

“Voters in Northeastern Pennsylvania won’t be fooled by Kanjorski’s tireless fight for the region,” Barletta said.

Paul Kanjorski has released his first campaign commercial, hitting Lou Barletta for all the wonderful things Lou Barletta has done as Mayor, like, for example, ushering his city into an era of the highest unemployment in the state.  Go Lou!  Lou has had 10 years to fix his city and only served to dig it into a hole.  I guess digging us into a hole is all Republican electeds can do.  At least they have something for their resume.

As per the ad, add a few other items to the resume:

Barletta hiked Hazleton property taxes 70%.  Obviously, he’s a tax and spend Republican.

Barletta hiked income taxes 20%.  Again, tax and spend Republican.

So, elect Barletta, and see higher taxes and higher unemployment.  Usually, Democrats raise taxes and lower unemployment.  Most Republicans fight for lower taxes and higher unemployment.  Not Lou.  He’s the worst of both worlds.

Check it out for yourselves:

A release from Paul Kanjorski’s camp, blasting Barletta for very stupidly coming out against jobs.  The release has an amusing point, in the GOP’s quest to be the Party of “No” Barletta has even decided to extend that to jobs.  Enjoy!

Lou Barletta’s dangerous demagoguery

would cost Northeastern PA jobs

WILKES-BARRE, PA – Yesterday, within minutes of Congressman Paul Kanjorski’s announcement that Northeastern Pennsylvania was under consideration to be the home for the Department of State’s Foreign Affairs Security Training Center (FASTC), Lou Barletta issued a press release vowing to fight against the Center, which would employ up to 1000 federal employees.

“I realize that Mayor Barletta is increasingly desperate to leave behind the mess he created in Hazleton and will do almost anything to win in his third race for Congress,” said Ed Mitchell, Kanjorski campaign spokesman.  “But even I never thought he would stoop so low as to oppose the creation of up to one thousand solid, good-paying jobs for Northeastern Pennsylvania.  Shame on Lou Barletta.

“Lou Barletta is always ‘Mr. No’ when it comes to any jobs or progress that Congressman Kanjorski proposes. He would fit right in with the ‘No’ mentality of Republicans in Congress.”

“In his hastily drafted, incendiary press release, Barletta recklessly attempts to inflame opposition by portraying the training center as a ‘military-style training camp’ and a ‘bomb range’ that would ‘put residents of this district in danger.’”

“The center is nothing close to that. No one will be in danger, or even inconvenienced,” said Mitchell.

“In fact, the training center would employ between 850 and 1000 permanent federal employees and would annually train 10,000 students who work for Diplomatic Security, the division of the State Department that is responsible for protecting the safety of Americans overseas at U.S. Embassies and other American installations.

“Aside from the jobs, there will be ancillary benefits like a boost to our hotel and restaurant businesses.

“Apparently there is no limit to how low Lou Barletta will go with his dangerous demagoguery.  He is even willing to oppose the American heroes who risk their lives to protect American personnel and facilities overseas.

“Perhaps most disturbing is the speed with which he attacked this project; he clearly thought he could score quick political points against the Congressman without taking the time to learn anything about this project,” said Mitchell.  “Lou Barletta is not on our side.  He’s always for the status quo. No wonder Hazleton has the highest unemployment rate in the state.”

Believe it or not, Lou Barletta actually issued a press release in which he announced his opposition to job creation in his district.  This is not satire (unlike my Marino piece, mwahaha).

Yes, it’s out there.  The Republican plan for the middle class has always been to disenfranchise us to the betterment of the rich.  Just look at the death of upward mobility and the concentration of wealth into the hands of the wealthy.  Well, Barletta is getting bold, blatantly letting us know that he wants us to be poor and unemployed.

I urge you to read these excerpts from Barletta’s release, and then the follow-up afterwards.

“In an election year, we expect Paul Kanjorski to come up with some wild ideas in his quest to retain power, but this one is hard to believe. Kanjorski is clearly out of touch if he believes the residents of Conyngham Township – and the miles around the site that will bear the brunt of repeated bomb blasts – would be in favor of this project. For Kanjorski to take a dangerous project that the people of Maryland rejected and now try to pass it on to the people of Northeastern Pennsylvania shows how desperate he is,” said Shawn Kelly, spokesman for Lou Barletta, Hazleton mayor and candidate for Congress.

Lou Barletta said, “I will never put residents of this district in danger by supporting a project like this. What guarantees are we going to have that children will not sneak onto this bomb range? What will this project do to home values? What businesses are going to move into a town that’s rocked by 500 explosions a year? Mr. Kanjorski’s project will completely destroy the area around it, and I’m going to fight it.

“We need good jobs and real answers to our problems, not more of Kanjorski’s fantasy projects – least of all ones that will turn our communities into bomb ranges. I believe Northeastern Pennsylvania needs jobs, but not at any cost – and certainly not in exchange for 500 bomb blasts a year.”

Okay.  So there you have it.

Now, many have focused, and rightly so, on the word “potential” in Kanjorski’s release.  Why announce “potential” jobs?  They may never come!

Right.  But Paul Kanjorski is in the fight of his life.  If this doesn’t happen, then he will be absolutely hammered into oblivion in November.  I’m guessing that he did the political calculus and the chances for this project to come to fruition are relatively high.  In fact, immediately following Kanjorski’s announcement, I got this document from his office, which gives a boatload of details about the project.

Barletta’s criticism, that this is going to be a military camp with bombs going off left and right, doesn’t make much sense.  The State Department isn’t a military institution, last I checked.  And Hillary Clinton, whom Kanjorski supported bigtime in the 2008 primary, is in charge of the State Department.  I think that only bodes well for the project happening.

The issue here is pretty clear: Kanjorski is working to create jobs and Barletta doesn’t like it.  Why not?  Well, every time the jobs issue comes up, voters have to be reminded that Lou Barletta has run Hazleton into the ground.  Hazleton has the highest unemployment rate IN THE STATE.  That’s right, in a state with thousands of towns, he somehow is on top.  You have to be pretty incompetent to pull that off.

Dramatic title, yes, but deserved.  Paul Kanjorski has been the herald of good, possibly great news left and right.

Last week, we learned from him that a hybrid car manufacturer is looking at putting its headquarters in Northeastern Pennsylvania.

That’s 1,000 to 4,000 jobs.

Today, he is set to announce a project that will create 1,000 jobs.  Tune into your local news sources at 1 PM (if they report it around then, who knows).  I’ll try to put it up as soon as I learn.

So, Paul Kanjorski heralds epic job creation.  Lou Barletta heralds the highest unemployment rate in the state.  The choice is clear.

And, in an enjoyable slap in the face to “Boohoo” Lou Barletta, who needs a few, but would probably weep uncontrollably if he got them, Paul Kanjorski will be opening his Hazleton office later today with much fanfare.

KANJORSKI AND AMERICANS FOR FINANCIAL REFORM EXPLAIN HOW

From the Kanjorski office, on the Wall Street Reform Bill.  It’s important to recognize that Lou Barletta, as the Wall Street candidate, would’ve voted against Wall Street Reform.  I guess he prefers it when the working class suffers at the hands of free-wheeling CEOs.

WALL STREET REFORM BILL WILL BETTER PROTECT NORTHEASTERN PENNSYLVANIANS

Kanjorski Was a Leader in Congress to Write and Pass This Historic New Law

WASHINGTON – Today, Congressman Paul E. Kanjorski (PA-11), Chairman of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government Sponsored Enterprises, and the coalition group, Americans for Financial Reform (AFR), spoke with Northeastern Pennsylvanians about some of the key provisions in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 that will directly impact them and ensure they are better protected.  For the past two years, Congressman Kanjorski has been working on this legislation, enacted on July 21, which provides the most sweeping financial regulatory reforms since the Great Depression.  AFR is a coalition of more than 250 national, state and local consumer, labor, investor, civil rights, community, small business, and senior citizen organizations that have worked to advocate for Wall Street reform legislation.

“In July, I participated in history when I stood with the President as he signed the Wall Street reform bill, that I worked for years on, into law,” said Congressman Kanjorski.  “This legislation will impact each and every one of us as it works to rein in the reckless actions of Wall Street and better protect every American.  There are many pieces of this bill that will directly benefit Northeastern Pennsylvanians and all Americans, including many of the pieces of that I wrote.  Specifically, the law works to end the era of “too big to fail” financial institutions and prevent future bailouts, better protect American families from abusive mortgage practices, and create a home foreclosure prevention program nationwide based on Pennsylvania’s successful initiative, among other provisions.  The American public has unfortunately felt the severe consequences of Wall Street’s dire mistakes.  We still have much work to do as too many people are still struggling financially as a result of the recession.  This new law takes giant leaps in the right direction and will work to change that course to better protect people’s families, small businesses, and retirement savings.”

The new Wall Street reform law includes many provisions that will specifically work to help protect American families and businesses from facing much of the financial turmoil that has resulted in the past two years.  Some of these provisions include:

Preventing future bailouts and end the era of “too big to fail.”

The Kanjorski “too big to fail” amendment empowers federal regulators to rein in and dismantle financial firms that are so large, inter-connected, or risky that their collapse would put at risk the entire American economic system.  Therefore, American taxpayers should no longer be on the hook for bailouts, as financial companies would not be able to become “too big to fail.”

“Congressman Kanjorski has been a leader in Congress to reform the way Wall Street operates and better protect every Northeastern Pennsylvanian and American,” said Megan DeSmedt, Pennsylvania state director for Americans for Financial Reform.  “The Kanjorski amendment, which Congressman Kanjorski authored, is a key provision in the new law which should end the need for future taxpayer bailouts.  This amendment will protect the American public from experiencing the financial turmoil that we have felt for the past two years.  This landmark provision provides sweeping authority to try to prevent such circumstances from happening again.  Americans for Financial Reform applauds and thanks Congressman Kanjorski for his diligent work to protect working families and responsible businesses by cracking down on the abuses and the irresponsible behavior of big banks, credit card companies, and Wall Street insiders.”

Improving mortgage servicing standards.

For nine years, Congressman Kanjorski has been working on these issues, which first came to his attention because of predatory mortgage lending problems in the Poconos.  His 2004 hearing in the Poconos on this issue led to the introduction of his comprehensive bipartisan bill in 2005 to protect consumers.  Those bipartisan reforms have passed the House in 2007, 2009, and 2010, and are now law.

The new law establishes broad and comprehensive protections against abusive mortgages.  It requires lenders to evaluate borrowers’ abilities to repay loans.  The bill also eliminates the incentives to steer borrowers into loans they cannot afford, limits total fees to no more than five percent for almost all loans, and bans many common predatory lending practices.

“Congressman Kanjorski has been providing critical leadership in dealing with mortgage foreclosures since the beginning of this century because of the problems that arose in the Poconos that first brought this issue to his attention,” said Maureen McGrath, a resident of Monroe County and representative of the National Advocacy Against Mortgage Servicing Fraud.  “In 2004, Congressman Kanjorski held a Financial Services Subcommittee hearing in the Poconos and he has continued to work tirelessly to bring mortgage and appraisal reform to the nation.  I want to take this opportunity to make public all that Congressman Kanjorski has done for his constituents, for Northeastern Pennsylvania, and for the nation, and to thank Congressman Kanjorski for his support in this long uphill battle.”

Helping families to stay in their homes.

Congressman Kanjorski advocated on behalf of a national program to offer emergency bridge loans to help unemployed workers with reasonable prospects for reemployment to keep their homes.  This new national initiative is based on the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency’s Homeowners’ Emergency Mortgage Assistance program in Pennsylvania (HEMAP), which since 1983 has saved 43,000 homes from foreclosure by helping to cover mortgage payments until homeowners find new jobs.

“I’m a single mother and a part-time student at Wilkes University,” said Jennifer Chappell, a resident of Long Pond, PA and beneficiary of HEMAP.  “After returning from service in Iraq, I bought a home within my means to house my family.  I started attending Wilkes University, but the VA was not yet releasing its education benefits which I should have been receiving, and as a result the expenses for school quickly added up and I was unable to pay my mortgage.  I applied for and received a loan through HEMAP which made it possible for my daughter and me to stay in our home and avoid foreclosure.  I am now able to work and go to school at the same time.  Without HEMAP, my child and I would have been out of a home.  I greatly thank Congressman Kanjorski for advocating to make a national program similar to HEMAP.  After experiencing such a frightening situation myself, I have no doubt that such a program at a national level will help many others who face losing their homes.”

Protecting consumers.

The Wall Street reform law creates a new independent watchdog, housed in the Federal Reserve, with the authority to ensure that American consumers get the clear, accurate information they need to shop for mortgages, credit cards and other financial products. This new consumer protection bureau will protect Americans from hidden fees, abusive loan terms, and deceptive practices.

Protecting small businesses from unreasonable fees.

The new law creates new protections for small businesses because too many of them are facing out-of-control swipe fees that banks and other credit and debit card issuers charge these businesses for debit or prepaid-card purchases.  As a result, small businesses stand to save billions, as debit swipe fees amount to about $20 billion a year.

Investing in local communities.

The law provides $1 billion through the Neighborhood Stabilization Program to states and localities to combat the ugly impact on neighborhood of the foreclosure crisis — such as falling property values and increased crime — by rehabilitating, redeveloping, and reusing abandoned and foreclosed properties.

Assisting people with personal financial knowledge.

The Wall Street reform law allows consumers free access to their credit score if their score negatively affects them in a financial transaction or a hiring decision.  It also gives consumers access to credit score disclosures as part of an adverse action and risk-based pricing notice.

Congressman Kanjorski wrote many other key provisions included in the Wall Street reform law which will better protect investors and enhance the powers of securities regulators, register and regulate hedge fund managers, reform the operations and regulation of credit rating agencies, and create a Federal office focused on insurance matters.

One of the reasons I started this blog way back in the early days of October of 2009 was to publicly voice complaints I had about the state of government, politics, and society.  My purposes have obviously evolved and while I do spend a lot of time commenting on the goings on of the world around me, I am interested in being constructive.

As such, my criticism of Lou Barletta yesterday, that hiding from one’s potential constituents and definite critics is not wise for a politician, has produced fruit!  On a whim, I checked “Boohoo” Lou’s Twitter and, lo and behold, I could follow it!

See, speaking does sometimes result in being heard.  This should be a lesson that complaining about politicians is a good thing.

Although… I still didn’t get a response from his press person on whether or not “Boohoo” Lou would repeal the Freedom of Religion clause for Muslims.

Since, on this auspicious day, Lou Barletta as allowed me to follow him on Twitter (his press person still hasn’t responded to me, though), I thought it appropriate to give him a greater forum for the numerous policy issues where we disagree.

Here is the full text of his anti-Freedom of Religion press release, along with my commentary:

“I strongly disagree with President Obama’s remarks about the construction of a mosque a few blocks away from Ground Zero. The area around the site of the former World Trade Center is hallowed ground, and we need to treat it as such. Ground Zero should forever stand as a perpetual reminder of that dark day in American history, and President Obama must recognize the strong feelings that many of us have about Sept. 11, 2001. The president must honor the wishes of the families of the victims, who have overwhelmingly opposed the construction of this mosque.

There are victims of families who aren’t opposed to this.  Regardless, the Constitution shouldn’t be suspended because people are upset.  That’s the beauty of the document.  It’s the law of the land no matter what.

Most American Muslims are peaceful people, but Islam’s most radical followers have a long history of placing mosques at the sites of their greatest victories. They did so in Israel, where they built the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, and in Spain, where they built the Great Mosque of Cordoba. To place a mosque this close to Ground Zero seems to follow that disturbing logic. There are plenty of other appropriate sites for this mosque across the island of Manhattan. The selection of this site – just two blocks from Ground Zero – is incredibly insensitive, almost to the point of provocation.

“Provocation” is a strong word.  What exactly is being provoked?  How do you plan to retaliate to this provocation, Mr. Barletta?  Beyond that, Christians routinely did the same exact thing… particularly during the Crusaders.  As Gort points out, Constantine did it, much to the chagrin of Bacchus-worshipping Greeks (I’m hilarious).  About how many blocks would be appropriate?  Three?  Five?  Two is just too close?

President Obama needs to strongly withdraw his support for its construction. If nothing else, common sense would dictate that we should not allow this. I hope that the backers of this mosque recognize the uproar and withdraw their plans. If they do not, I hope that New York City officials reverse course and halt this project.”

“If nothing else” is a funny phrase.  The Constitution is nothing else, Lou?

This man has no business being a Congressman.  For him, the Constitution is a matter of convenience to be thrown aside when fear and hate can be exploited.  Given that “Boohoo” Lou is running to represent NEPA, I have no idea why his opinion on the Mosque Islamic Community Center at near Ground Zero even is relevant.  He just wants to exploit an issue.  Good for you, Lou, you did it at the expense of the little integrity you had left after your anti-brown people crusade.

In a rather hilarious development, Lou Barletta, whom I criticize often for his ridiculous ideas, anti-Constitutional feelings, racism against all things brown, and disastrous tenure as Hazleton Mayor has Blocked me on Twitter!

This is amusing, because I can still see what he says.

Boohoo, Lou.  Boohoo.  In fact, “Boohoo” Lou has a good ring to it.  I think I’ll keep using it.

Rather than running from critics and hiding from them in vain, Mr. Barletta, you should engage them and try to quash notions that they may have which you feel are unfair.

Dislike my criticism of your anti-Freedom of Religion stance?  Engage me.  Don’t hide.

Dislike my criticism of Hazleton’s unemployment rate under your governance, the highest in the state?  Engage me.  Don’t hide.

Dislike any criticism?  Unless you have something to hide, you should confront it.  Instead, you reveal cowardice.  You’re running to represent ME in addition to everybody in the 11th Congressional District.  Will you hide from everybody who sees the world differently from you?

Lou Barletta has come out against the Mosque at Ground Zero, which is neither a Mosque nor at Ground Zero.  One would think, after fighting vehemently to be known as a racist crusading against the Great Brown Horde, he might try to be a little more sensitive and less bigoted.  Not so!  Barletta said, “I strongly disagree with President Obama’s remarks about the construction of a mosque a few blocks away from Ground Zero.”

That means he strongly disagrees with the Constitution.  Awesome.

The Constitution establishes freedom of religion.  I may not agree with tenets of most, if not all religions, but they have a right to exist.  People have a right to worship.  Nobody complained about the Pentagon Mosque.  Muslims in the World Trade Center were murdered when the terrorists flew planes into the building.  America went, supposedly, to liberate Iraqis.  Guess what, we lost thousands of our young men and women in a war to liberate Muslims from an oppressor.

Let us not forget the principles that this country was founded upon.

In Paul Kanjorski’s response to PaternoGate (Barletta criticized him for not loving PSU football enough, I guess), he gives a nice shout out to fellow West Sider, Matt McGloin, who plays for Penn State.

From Kanjorski:  “Joe Paterno is a hero of Pennsylvania. His dedicated work and leadership both on and off the football field is of great service to both Penn State and the Commonwealth. In addition to his many feats on the field, he has encouraged one of the highest graduation rates among college football players showing his dedication to both academics and football. He also creates an atmosphere that fosters emerging talent, as can be seen with Matt McGloin, a West Scranton graduate and former walk-on, who may become the team’s starting quarterback. Joe Paterno has fostered great pride in Penn State from all Pennsylvanians. At this time, Congress should focus its efforts on creating jobs in our communities and reviving the economy, rather than politicizing football. This is where my focus has been and where it will continue to be.”

Now, I’m not sure how Joe Paterno even matters in this race.  What does football have to do with politics?  I know in Luzerne County, they vote in football players, so maybe that has something to do with it, but given Skrepenack’s conviction, maybe they learned.  Barletta obviously feels otherwise.  A bold gamble!

Lou Barletta’s campaign must be reaching the desperate stage, just as Tom Marino’s in the 10th did.  In Barletta’s case, he is criticizing Kanjorski over not signing some letter in honor of Joe Paterno.

Here is a quote from the release: “By failing to sign this letter, Kanjorski shows once again how out of touch he is.”

That’s all you got, Mr. Barletta?  I mean, Kanjorski points out that Hazleton has the highest unemployment on the state and you point out how he didn’t sign a letter for a football coach.

I can’t wait to see the next headline:  Kanjorski Refuses to Name New Cat ‘Mittens’, Barletta Outraged

Some fun facts, courtesy of StopLouBarletta.com, that I didn’t know!

Lou Barletta raised property taxes in Hazleton by 70% (and they are still in a financial hole).

Lou Barletta cut the police force nearly in half.

Lou Barletta presides over a city with the highest unemployment in the state (okay, this I knew).

All of this points to a very important conclusion: Lou Barletta would be an unmitigated disaster for the 11^th Congressional District.

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!

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.

So, the Tarrance Group, a polling firm, hired by Lou Barletta came out with a big surprise, they said the person who paid them to put out a poll has favorable results for their employer.  The numbers, though, are disturbing.  Barletta supposedly has a 19-point advantage over Kanjorski, 56-37.  This is abysmal.

I don’t want to be represented by Barletta.  I just don’t.

Lou Barletta is hitting the airwaves with his first campaign commercial.  It highlights all of his accomplishments as Mayor!

He also touts his support of anti-immigration policy.  That may play well in this area, given a new poll saying NEPA supports Arizona’s law overwhelmingly.  The sad thing is that the Constitution explicitly states that the authority to deal with immigration issues is the Federal government’s alone, which means the Arizona law and those who support it are blatantly ignoring the Constitution.

Regardless, the ad is totally ironic, of course, given that Hazleton has the highest rate of unemployment in the state.  Go Lou!  Five percentage points higher than the state average!  That’s an accomplishment to be proud of!

Vote Lou, the guy who ushered his city into a period of economic decline that far exceeds the rest of the country!

Kanjorski, I’m sure, will point this out over and over.  Given his getting in front of the Prudential lay off issue, going so far as to meet with Prudential officials, Kanjo will come off as a job-creator.  There’s no way Barletta can make any kind of argument that he’ll create jobs.

With the economic climate the way it is, Kanjorski stands to benefit from a contrast between him and his opponent.

Lou Barletta is claiming that he’s halfway toward the necessary amount of money he needs to win.  That number?  (Cue Austin Powers voice) One Million Dollars!  Yes, Lou Barletta has said he needs a cool million to win, and he’s halfway there.  I guess he forgot that he needs votes, too.

Actually, maybe he didn’t forget.  He went to a fundraiser to support Arizona’s illegal immigration law, the one that is itself illegal.  Oh, and it targets brown people.  Which is racial profiling.  Which has itself been legally frowned upon since 1965.

In the Times article letting us know that Barletta was attending, he was referred to as a “national dignitary” but I dispute that characterization, as one requires dignity to be a dignitary, I would think.  The other “dignitary” that will be there is Arizona State Senator Russell Pearce.  He’s the guy who introduced a law saying that children born to illegal immigrants can’t be US citizens.  Except that the US Constitution explicitly states that anybody born on US soil is a US citizen.  It’s awesome how much these guys love the Constitution and America (except whenever it suits their racist agendas to ignore it).

Beyond this, why the hell is Barletta spending his time attending fundraisers for another state’s laws?  Should he be worrying about Pennsylvania, the place he supposedly wants to represent?

I mean, this is the guy who said the US Government shouldn’t investigate BP.  Poor, poor BP.  Persecuted wrongly for destroying the Gulf and devastating its ecosystem for decades to come.  Naw, we shouldn’t investigate.

What kind of wisdom is this?  How does somebody get it in his brain to actually come out and say that BP shouldn’t be investigated for wrongdoing and negligence?   I want my politicians thoughtful and reflective. Not ready to defend corporations at the drop of a hat.

I do not want this man representing my district.  Not at all.

Republican Lou Barletta has challenged Democrat Paul Kanjorski to five debates this fall in the race for the 11^th Congressional District seat.  This is a good sign for Kanjorski, because candidates usually don’t issue those kinds of challenges unless they think they’ll benefit from the press and their opponent will suffer. Sestak challenged Specter multiple times, only one debate materialized.  Corey O’Brien challenged Kanjo to about fifty debates, none materialized.

Look for Kanjorski to accept maybe one debate.