The Firing of John Quigley

John Quigley was the head of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Quality until last week, when Governor Wolf fired him, supposedly for sending an email to environmental groups urging them to get off their butts and support legislation to better regulate fracking.  According to news reports, one of the main instigators of the firing was my very own State Senator, John Yudichak.  

That is the same John Yudichak who wrote a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission praising the PennEast/UGI pipeline, something that not even Rep. Doyle Heffley has done.

Amazingly, Sen. Yudichak is the ranking minority member of the Pennsylvania Senate Committee that oversees environmental legislation.

The New York Times today ran an editorial urging Gov. Wolf to appoint a new head of the DEP who shares Mr. Quigley’s values.  Why would he, since he was the guy who fired Quigley?  And why would Senator Yudichak approve of a strong environmentalist to head the DEP?

I am tired of Democrats who think sucking up to frackers and coal companies is more important than renewable energy and global warming.

Swallows on the porch, milkweeds in the garden

Two barn swallows are building a nest on our front porch.  When I was a kid they would sometimes do that, and my mom would have a fit.  When the babies hatch, they stick their butts over the edge of the nest and poop on the porch.  My dad, who liked birds, made a small wooden platform to catch the droppings and keep my mom happy.

Now, since I am not much of a carpenter, we just let them poop on the porch floor.  It is worth it to watch them bring mud to build the nest, and later to watch them feed the hungry babies.  They are one of the prettiest birds around.

I also have milkweeds growing among my hot peppers.  With almost all of the local farmers using Roundup Ready corn and soybeans, there are few milkweeds left for the Monarch butterflies.  I don’t think the milkweeds will interfere with my habeñeros and jalapeños, so I’m letting them grow.

And aren’t you impressed that I’ve leaned how to do the tilde above habeñeros and jalapeños?

Dead trees

The Forest Service announced last week that there are about 40 million dead trees in California.  This is the result of a beetle that has moved northward with climate change, and according to Timothy Egan of the Times, has created the largest insect outbreak in global history.  

Trump has called global warming “a total hoax.”  Trump appointed as his energy advisor Kevin Cramer, a Republican Congressman from North Dakota, who is so stupid he said in 2012 :”We know the globe is cooling.”

Cramer may have been influenced by the $500,000 he received from the fossil fuel industry for his campaigns.

Still, I might vote for Trump, now that I know that Clinton messed up on her emails.  I’m told that is really an important issue.

Free advice for Ruthann Schlecht

I don’t know Ms. Schlecht, but I found myself agreeing with her letter in the Times News today about the money wasted by the Lehighton School Board.  With the death of Bill Hill and the resignation of Hal Resh from the Board, the tax and spend crowd is back in charge.

And then what does Ms. Schlecht do?  She attacks President Obama and links him to the activities of the Lehighton Board.  I’ve heard Obama blamed for many things, but the Lehighton School Board?  Really?

Here’s the free advice.  If you want to build support for a cause, or you want to form a coalition, reach out to people who agree with you ON THAT ISSUE.  Don’t drag in irrelevant matters that will turn off possible supporters.  You’ll do much better.

Trump, Clinton, and false equivalence

Again and again I hear how neither Trump nor Clinton is “liked.”  Both have high negatives.  People threaten to stay home on election day or vote for “none of the above.”

Let’s get serious, folks.  I don’t care if you really dislike Clinton, if you don’t want to have a beer with her, if you think she is cold, arrogant, aloof, or a friend of Wall Street.  I don’t care if you think she messed up in Libya or should have been more careful with her emails.

There is only one candidate who thinks women who have abortions should be punished.  Only one candidate who thinks global warming is a Chinese plot to hurt American industry.  Only one candidate who says he will make Mexico pay for a wall.  Only one candidate who talks about deporting millions of people.  Only one who wants to bring back torture.  Only one who won’t release his tax returns.  Only one who conducts business by bankruptcies.  Only one who supports “more drilling and few rules.”  Only one who suggests that one way to balance the budget is to renege on U.S. debts.

Let’s get serious.  We are not talking about having a beer with Trump or Clinton.  We are talking about electing the President of the United States.  Grow up.  Be an American voter with American values and American common sense.  Don’t pretend for one second that these two candidates are in any way equal.

Payback

In 2007 Gawker’s “Valleywag” blog published an article about Peter Thiel, co-founder of Pay-Pal and an early investor in Facebook.  The article was headlined, “Peter Thiel is totally gay, people.”

I don’t understand modern American culture.  Why would a publication feel it incumbent to “out” a gay person who doesn’t want to be outed?    What is the purpose of that other than sheer meanness?

Remember the court case involving a sex tape of Hulk Hogan, in which a jury awarded Mr. Hogan $140 million?  That might just break “Gawker” if the award stands.  Who helped pay the legal costs for Mr. Hogan?  Peter Thiel.  

There’s an expression “Payback’s a bitch.”  I see no need for a publication such as Gawker, and I would love to see it bankrupt.  

The information for this post is from The New York Times, (May 26, 2016), p. 1, B8.

Stay in school?

Good jobs are scarce in Pennsylvania, especially if you don’t have a high school diploma.  According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the percent of young adults (18-34) in Pennsylvania not enrolled in school and no high school diploma or GED was 7.5%.  (Those are 2014 figures.)  The figure in Vermont (the lowest) was approximately 3.4%; in Louisiana (the highest), it was just below 13%.  

The U.S. as a whole clocked in at 9.1%.

I know that high school students are not the most rational people on the planet, but those figures are alarming.  We ought to do better.

Doyle Heffley and the PennEast/UGI pipeline

A recent proposal to build 40 large wind turbines in Penn Forest Township has generated intense opposition.  State Representative Doyle Heffley has stated “I am opposed to the possibility of wind turbines tarnishing our beautiful landscape.” and he has mentioned the possible bad effects on tourism. 

A recent letter by Towamensing Township resident George White, Jr.,  published in the Times News questioned Heffley’s failure to also oppose the PennEast/UGI pipeline.  Here are some excerpts from that letter:

Why is Heffley staying silent with regard to the proposed PennEast pipeline that would cut a scar throughout our beautiful Carbon County.  

With a clear-cut path of 100 feet wide, the proposed route crosses wetlands and stream corridors of Lehigh River and Beltzville State Park....

Not to mention Hickory Run State Park, other state parks, and many acres of our forests which will be scarred forever.

Heffley should be supporting the Carbon County commissioners and all the municipalities that have formally opposed the construction of the PennEast pipeline.

I’m rather curious about Heffley’s position myself.

Rocket Science It's Not

The American economy is not expected to expand very much in the near future.  The Congressional Budget Office thinks the economy will grow about 2 percent a year over the next ten years, but many economists think even that low figure is optimistic.  

A stagnant economy, of course, means paying pensions is more difficult, raising wages is more difficult, and tax revenues don’t grow.

And “Mr. Make American Great Again” is clueless.  Deport millions of people?  Give tax cuts to the rich?  Put up trade barriers?  Clueless.

Here is what Princeton Professor Alan S. Blinder, former vice chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, said:  “Students learn in Economics 101 that lower taxes and/or higher levels of government spending can mitigate recessions by boosting aggregate demand.  That simple Keynesian idea should be no more controversial today than Darwinian natural selection or global warming.”

It shouldn’t, but evidently most Republicans never took Econ 101.  I read that over half don’t even think the climate is changing, and many of those same Republicans believe the earth was created in six days.  As for Trump, he thinks global warming is a myth foisted by the Chinese to hurt American industry.  I am not kidding.

[My editor points out that Republicans often call for lower taxes.  The problem is that they call for lower taxes for the rich, which does little to raise aggregate demand.  We should have learned by now that tax breaks for the rich have almost no effect on increasing demand.  You need to cut taxes for people who will actually spend the money.]

The Washington Redskins and the Lehighton Indians

I’m listening to a Teaching Company course on the English language.  In a recent lecture I learned that groups can sometimes “reclaim” a word that has been used as a pejorative term.  For example, some universities offer “queer studies.”  I personally feel uncomfortable using that term, which has been considered a slur for most of my life, but if gay people (another pejorative term that has now been fully reclaimed) want to use it, I certainly can’t object.

Which brings us to the “Redskins.”  The Washington Post recently took a poll and found that nine out of ten American Indians said they took no offense at the word “Redskin.”  The poll questioned 504 people.  There are over 5 million American Indians.  I wonder how many white people would call an American Indian a “Redskin” to his or her face unless they were trying to provoke an incident.

The American Psychological Association some years ago said Native American Indian team mascots and symbols appear “to have a negative impact on the self-esteem of American Indian children.”

If reservation teams want to use the term Redskins or Braves, that is their right.  It is hardly the right for a spoiled rich owner of an NFL team to decide that it is ok.

Which brings us to Lehighton.  Lehighton High School teams, known as the Indians, sport a logo with a headdress worn by Plains Indians.  The Lenni Lanape Indians who remained after the introduction of European diseases and the extermination campaigns were first forced to move to Ohio and then to Oklahoma.  Descendents in the area are few, but why would you name a team “Indians” in any case?  Why not “the Dutchies,” since quite a few Pennsylvania Dutch descendants still live the Lehighton School District.  

Trump has been making a big deal out of not being “politically correct.”  Another word for being “politically incorrect” is asshole.  Why not call people what they want to be called?  Why go out of the way to be an insulting boor?  Why not behave with some manners?  Why do we still have a team called “Redskins.”  And a high school team called “Indians”?

Carbon County Hotels and Motels

I know my faithful readers want political red meat accompanied by cogent analysis, but sometimes I just have to take a break.  Tonight’s topic is Carbon County hotels and motels.  We have 12.  I learned this factoid from the newsletter published by the Center for Rural Pennsylvania.  I also learned that 56% of all hotels and motels in rural Pennsylvania are within two miles of an interstate highway or Turnpike exit.  

The numbers do not include Bed and Breakfast establishments.  I thought I knew Carbon County rather well, but I can only think of six hotels or motels.  The newsletter lists raw numbers, not names.

By the way, Fulton County has zero, and Juniata, and Cameron have one each.  Lancaster, on the other hand, has 87.  

Back to politics tomorrow.

Protecting Excellent Teachers Act

That has to be one of the most misleading bill titles ever cooked up by the Pennsylvania Republican legislature, already famous for its half-truths, untruths, and outright lies.

The bill would have ended the seniority system for teacher lay-offs, basing layoffs instead on standardized tests (which Republicans in the state legislature have also criticized in the past) and classroom evaluations by principals, who may visit a classroom once or twice a semester.

So let's think of a school board strapped for cash, and in this state, that's a high number of school boards.  Which teachers will be terminated–the senior teachers with the highest salaries, or the newly hired teachers who receive the lowest salaries?  It's obvious, isn't it?

Last week Governor Wolf vetoed the bill.

Weatherly buys Schwab School

I have a test on whether a historical building should be preserved.  I ask people to name a building that has been preserved that they wish had been demolished.  They never can think of one.  Then I ask them to name a building that was demolished that should have been preserved, and they can usually name quite a few.

Congratulations to the Weatherly, Pennsylvania, Borough Council, which voted earlier this week to buy the Schwab School.  If you drive into Weatherly, you don’t need to hunt for the school.  It dominates the skyline of the borough from any direction.

It was built with funds from the steel magnate Charles Schwab, who married Emma Eurana Dinkey of Weatherly.  The building, last used in 1991, is in need of major repair.  It is the kind of project that can revitalize a town.  Way to go, Weatherly.

Panther Valley School District may raise taxes

The Panther Valley School District includes Coaldale, Summit Hill, Lansford, and Nesquehoning.  Although Kovatch Motors is in the district, there are few other valuable properties.  Like many other low property value districts, Panther Valley is caught in a squeeze.  Even a large hike in the tax rate doesn’t bring in much money, and low income people are already strapped.  The result is that school programs are cut and students suffer.

Both Senator Argall and Representative Heffley promised to end the property tax system in this state.  What they needed was a Republican legislature and a Republican governor, and then they could have done it.

Wait.  Wait.  They did have a Republican legislature and a Republican governor.  His name was Corbett.  And they did nothing.

Incidentally, Argall and Heffley are still promising to eliminate the property tax.  They do that before every election.

Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory

At the Nevada Democratic Party convention on Saturday, Sanders supporters booed, threw chairs, and even threatened the grandchildren of the Nevada State Democratic chairwoman.  The Sanders delegates thought Sanders should get an equal number of Nevada delegates, even though Clinton had won the Nevada caucuses.

Today the Times ran a front page article about the anger of unions at environmentalists who are doing their best to block pipelines.  Labor unions and environmentalists have always been among the largest of the Democratic support groups.

Come next January, I wonder if the labor union leadership and the Nevada Sanders delegates will have second thoughts when they watch Trump deliver his inaugural address.

Trump the panderer

We’ve heard time and again how Trump says what’s on his mind without worrying what either his opponents or the Republican Party establishment think about him.  For example, he never really cared about abortion.  Abortion was no big deal.

Oh, but wait.  In an effort to gain support from the evangelical right, he says he will appoint a Supreme Court Justice who will overturn Roe v. Wade.  That, my friends, is called pandering, and I predict we will see a lot more of it from Trump over the next few months.  

How Trump can win

Republican Presidential candidates have received majorities of the white vote in every election from 1968 on.  They did not always receive a majority of the white women’s vote, but if you take whites as a bloc, and only whites had voted, the last Democratic President would have been Lyndon Johnson.

This year will be no different.  Older white men feel they are getting left out of the public dialogue.  Maybe they are.  Is bathroom accessibility for transgender students really an important national issue?

According to a study by two Princeton economists last year, since the year 2000 middle-aged white Americans, mostly with low education, have been dying at increasing rates.  According to the study, this is true of no other ethnic or age group.

Main factors seem to be opioids, alcohol, and suicide.  

Remember Trump’s boast:  “I love the poorly educated.”  The saddest thing is that while many white working class Americans will vote for him, their health care won’t be better, their children will be in the armed forces, industry isn’t coming back, and the rich will continue to run the political system.  

Somebody needs to explain that, but in an election year filled with bombast and Fox News bullshit, it is hard to get across.

Windmills in Penn Forest Township–Obama's fault

At least that is what our astute state representative, Doyle Heffley, would have us believe.  He said so on one of his call-in phone conversations, in which he pretends to answer constituent questions but is really campaigning for reelection.  Through some twisted logic, a proposal by a private company to contract with the Bethlehem Municipal Water Authority to install windmills in Penn Forest Township is all a result of the President’s energy policy.

On the way to the bathroom this morning I stubbed my toe.  Goddam Obama, I exclaimed.

The Cloisters

Today Linda and I drove to Manhattan to see the Cloisters, an attraction owned by the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art.  It’s easy to get to–take the first exit North after you cross the George Washington Bridge and follow the signs.  It is a bit pricey: $25 a person, but seniors do get a discount.

The Cloisters, overlooking the Hudson, is a collection of medieval art, including three chapels, tapestries (you’ll recognize the one with the captured unicorn), and three cloisters, two of which include wonderful gardens.  I’ll admit the food in the cafe is not exactly gourmet, but the experience is worth the trip.  Do not skip any of the rooms or exhibits.  

One of the great things about living back east is how many attractions are within a day’s drive.  Last week the Montclair Art Museum and a Jamaican restaurant three blocks away, today the Cloisters, next week the Boalsburg military museum.  If you live in Carbon County, Penna., get out a map, take a compass, and draw a circle of about 150 miles.  That will include New York, Philly, Lancaster, State College, Scranton, and so much more.  See it now.

Horse Race

No, I’m not referring to the Kentucky Derby.  Every four years newspapers and television reporters are criticized for focusing on presidential polls and ignoring ideas.  The criticism is justified.  Today, for example, the Morning Call published a poll noting that Trump and Clinton were neck and neck in key states.

But wait.  Neither party has held its convention.  Trump may announce the whole thing has been a big joke to improve his brand.  Clinton may decide that Sanders has the best chance of being president and withdraw her candidacy.  The election is approximately half a year from now.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the Morning Call took a serious look at some of the proposals by the candidates?  Will Mexico really pay for a wall?  Can industrial activity be brought back, and if it can, will robots replace humans anyway?  What will happen to the health care of millions of Americans if the Affordable Care Act is repealed?  

Yes, it would be wonderful if the Morning Call did that, but don’t hold your breath waiting for it to happen.  And while I no longer watch television, I have a feeling things may be even worse there.

Rick Friday

Rick Friday was a cartoonist for a small newspaper, the Farm News, that has a 24,000 readership in Iowa.  The newspaper is a freebie and covers 34 counties.  Mr. Friday recently ran a cartoon that showed two farmers talking over a fence.  

Farmer #1 says,”I wish there was more profit in farming.”

Farmer #2 says, “There is.  In year 2015 the C.E.Os of Monsanto, DuPont Pioneer and John Deere made more money combined than 2,120 Iowa farmers.”

The newspaper then fired Mr. Friday as its cartoonist.  It seems that one of the three companies objected to the cartoon.

The Columbia Journalism Review (<www.cjr.org>) has a good article explaining why this is important.  And if you live in the Mahoning Valley area of Carbon County, PA, you should buy your vegetables from Tom Merkel, who does not depend on Monsanto, DuPont Pioneer, or John Deere.

Getting Trump wrong

Articles have been appearing in recent days apologizing for not foreseeing Trump’s success.  Nate Silver, who made his reputation predicting election outcomes, was one such author, but there have been others, including an ace political reporter for the New York Times.  

I was one of those people who got Trump wrong.  I kept thinking he would implode, would be stopped by establishment Republicans, would be seen as the joke he is.  It never happened.  He had lousy opponents, he received an amazing amount of free media coverage, and he appealed to the dark side of American voters.

The biggest mistake I made, however, was to forget the words of H. L. Mencken:  “No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people.” 

Now the question is, could he win the presidency?  See above quote.

50 Minutes a Day

Let’s say you are an anthropologist who last visited a primitive Amazon tribe in 2004.  This year you went back for another visit.  You discover that the men and women of the tribe are now spending an average of 50 minutes a day on an activity that didn’t even exist the last time you were there.  You’d immediately start asking how this new activity affect tribal ties, leadership, gender relations, child rearing, perhaps even eating habits.  

Facebook began in 2004.  The average Facebook user now spends 50 minutes a day on Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger platforms..  That’s average, so some people must be on Facebook for many more minutes.  To compare, people spend 17 minutes on sports or exercise.  They also spend 19 minutes a day reading.

Going back to the Amazon, as you study the tribe and the effects of the minutes allocated to the new activity, you might find one of the wise elders who considers the whole thing a colossal waste of time and sits off by himself watching birds and writing poems.

Alexander Hamilton and Donald Trump

During the American Revolution, the Continental Congress ran up huge debts.  Some of these debts were shifted over to the states, which also did not have the funds to pay them off.  It gets complicated, but speculators bought up much of the I.O.U.s, considered worthless by most people.  (The phrase “Not worth a Continental” stems from this period.)  

In 1790 Alexander Hamilton, then head of the Treasury Department, issued his “First Report on the Public Credit.”  Hamilton proposed that all the bond holders be paid off in full.  Keep in mind that many of the people who held the bonds had bought them for pennies on the dollar.  Jefferson and Madison both opposed full payment, arguing that many of the people who held the bonds did not deserve the reimbursement.

Hamilton argued that paying off the full amount would set a precedent.  He also said that the national government should also accept state I.O.U.s, since creditors would then give their loyalty and support to the national government.  Hamilton won the argument, and from that day forward, the credit of the U.S. has been rock solid.

Which brings us to Trump.  He has proposed that a way to solve the national debt is to get creditors to accept less than full payment.  Republicans are always talking about running government like a business, and this is how Trump, who has declared numerous bankruptcies, has run his businesses.  Stiff the creditors.  Screw the people to whom money is owned.  Wreck the reputation the U.S. has built since the days of Alexander Hamilton.

There are times I secretly hope Trump wins.  The Republican mantra has been “Run government like a business.”  OK, go ahead.  Make American great again.  Do it.  

The Soft Energy Path

In the Seventies Amory Lovins published a book entitled “Soft Energy Paths.” .Lovins advocated an energy policy that was decentralized, depended on renewable energy, and did not require a huge capital investment or a distribution grid.

At the time Lovins was concerned about nuclear power and coal-fired electrical plants, but we can bring this up to date.  The division between “soft” and “hard” energy has less to do with whether or not the energy is renewable and more to do with the way it is produced and distributed.

For example,the Ivanpah solar power plant in the Mojave Desert relies on acres of mirrors tracking the sun.  The power generated is centralized, requires a large investment, and needs a distribution network to carry the electricity.  The solar panels on our shed roof required a relatively small investment and no distribution grid.  Both energy sources are renewable, but one is “hard” and one is “soft.” 

The windmills recently proposed for Penn Forest Township and the PennEast/UGI pipeline for transporting gas produced by fracking are both “hard” energy sources.  Both are destructive to the environment, both are backed by large financial interests, and both have generated intense opposition.  A forty-foot backyard windmill generating electricity is soft energy; an array of 300-plus foot windmills is definitely hard energy.

The solar panels on our shed roof have not generated any opposition from local residents, although I should note that the Koch Brothers are doing their best to push policies to impede small-scale solar power generation.  

If you want to save this planet, the only one we have, push the soft energy path.

The kids are all right

Zarifeh Shalabi, a high school senior in Fontana, California, was recently elected to be the prom queen at her high school.  Ms. Shalabi, a Muslim, wears a hijab.  Her home is a few miles away from the attack site in San Bernardino, and after that attack, she worried that people might hurt her in the anti-Muslim backlash.  

Her friends had other ideas.  During the balloting for prom, queen, they passed out scarves and held balloons that said, “Don’t be a baddie, vote for the hijabi.”  Of the 2000 students at the school, approximately four girls wear the hajab.

On the night of the prom, Zarifeh and a large group of female friends rode a bus to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in L.A.  And there she was, on stage with the court, Summit High’s prom queen.  (It took some convincing for her mother to let her go to the prom, but people in her mosque were proud.)

There are times when I look at the vote for Donald Trump, and I am in despair.  And then I read about Zarifeh Shalabi, and I am so proud to live in America. 

Voting rights for people who have served their time

Terry McAuliffe, the Governor of Virginia, issued an executive order that felons who have served their time and finished their probation would be allowed to vote.  His action overturned a law passed after the Civil War aimed at keeping blacks from voting.

The law still affects blacks and poor people disproportionately.  Now Republican legislators, who control the Virginia legislature, are considering a push to overturn the Governor’s ruling.  They say it will benefit Democrats.

First of all, this law needed to be overturned, no matter which party benefits.  Once you have served a sentence, you should not continue to be punished.  In fact, I believe that prisoners should be allowed to vote.  Just because you are imprisoned doesn’t mean you give up your citizenship rights.

Secondly, I don’t care if this law benefits Democrats.  We are seeing state after state under Republican domination pass voter suppression laws with one object in mind, and that is to disenfranchise Democrats.  Unlike this ruling, those laws take away rights.  So, Virginia Republicans, shut the f--- up.

Sugar the Cat

About five years ago a distraught woman knocked on our door carrying a cat wrapped in some sort of cloth.  She said she had stopped to check on a cat beside the road.  The cat had badly mangled hindquarters and had been hit by a car.  She asked me if I could “put it down.”  I suppose she thought a guy who lived in the country probably had a gun.

I looked at the cat, which was obviously in pain, and told her I would do it.  She asked me not to shoot it until she drove away.  Somewhat annoyed at being put in this spot, I nonetheless agreed.  I felt really bad.  I dislike feral cats for the damage they do to the environment, but when it comes to shooting one, I feel queasy.

I thought about this whole sorry episode today when I read about a North Catasauqua officer who was charged by D.A. John Morganelli, the D.A. of Northampton County who never met a headline he didn’t like.

The officer, responding to a 911 call, found a cat dragging its hind legs and leaving a trail of blood.  He shot the cat.  Perhaps I should say, “He put the cat to sleep,” which may be more acceptable.  100,000 people called for the officer’s termination.  By the way, the cat, named Sugar, was not wearing a collar.  The cat clawed and hissed at a neighbor.  The cat showed “signs of mange.”  The owner had not called in to report his cat missing.  Northampton County has no facility that will take injured cats.

Here’s what I know about Morganelli.  He was running for A.G. of PA.  There are thousands of cat lovers.  He saw this as a way to gain votes.  He did not give a hoot about Sugar, but he did care about winning the A.G. race.  He came in third (i.e., last), probably because any one who knows his record voted against him.  

I stand with the officer on this one.  I’ve been in the same boat.  It isn’t pleasant, but you do what you think is the best thing under the circumstances.

Jack Rader, Trout Expert

At a meeting tonight at the Polk Township Municipal Building I picked up the 2016 Trout Stocking Schedule.  On the back was a picture of a smiling Jack Rader, Jr., of the 176th Legislative District, who seemingly sponsored the publication.

Does Jack Rader know anything about trout fishing?  I doubt it.  Did he do the research on when the trout would be stocked?  What do you think?

Is he an incumbent who is using taxpayer funds to run for re-election by printing his name on a publication put out by the PA Fish and Boat Commission?  YES.

I am constantly amazed at how corrupt this state is when it comes to incumbency protection.  

I wonder if Doyle Heffley is also an expert on trout stocking.  I’ll have to call his office tomorrow and find out.

Voter Fraud

Let’s think about in-person voter fraud, said to be a major problem that ID requirements are supposed to eliminate.  

First of all, when you vote in Pennsylvania, you need to give your name.  To cheat you would have to give the name of someone you knew was not planning to vote that day; if two people gave the same name the fraud would quickly become apparent.  Secondly, you must sign a book which has your previous signature.  You could fake a signature if you knew what it looked like ahead of time, but you’d have a hard time duplicating one you hadn’t seen before.  Third, you’d be taking a chance that one of the election officials would either know you or the person for whom you were voting.  Finally, you could only do it one time at one polling place.  If you did try it at three or four polling locations, you would be caught rather quickly.

Fraud may exist in registration procedures, or in the computer programming, or in gerrymandering, or in campaign finance, but the voter ID laws don’t address these issues.  

They do address one problem, and I will quote Morning Call columnist Bill White:

“In fairness, these laws are very good at addressing the problem they’re really intended to address, which is too many minority, student and poor elderly voters who are likely to vote Democratic.”