2010 November » PureBunkum

Jimmy Carter: Fair and Unbalanced

National

Nov 302010

Still striving to remain relevant, Jimmy Carter has accused Fox News, which, by the way, is relevant, of distorting the news. “Deliberately” distorting the news.

He said this on “Reliable Sources,” which makes his comments all the more laughable. We know Carter is the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize and all, but a reliable source? We don’t think so.

The former president singled out Glenn Beck in his critique on the state of contemporary journalism. He forgot to target Sarah Palin, another favorite of the left’s, although she’s probably included in the “others” from Fox whom Carter claims distorts the news.

Who does he really believe is fair and balanced? Why, CNN.

Case closed. Carter is a nut.

But in case you’re still not convinced, he said this: “My Republican friends say that MSNBC might be just as biased on the other side in supporting the Democratic Party, the liberal element.” Carter actually needs his Republican friends to point out the obvious – that Chris Matthews, Rachel Maddow and Keith Olbermann “might” be biased?

Matthews “might” be biased when he blathered on that Barack Obama sent a tingle up his leg?

Then, playing up to CNN, who had him as a guest probably because it was a slow news day, Carter said, ”I think CNN, more than others, has kind of tried to play the middle to their detriment as far as viewership is concerned and profits are concerned.”

No, sad to say, CNN’s detriment is CNN. No one is interested in watching its newscast even though Wolf Blitzer reeks of charisma.

Carter also whined that when he was President, reporters treated him unfairly, according to The Hill’s report. Carter admitted that he could have reached out to them more.

“Yes, I think I should have had a much more assiduous desire when I got into the White House to court the friendly relationship and a compatible and mutually trustworthy relationship with the key members of the press corps. There’s no doubt about that.”

There’s also no doubt that Jimmy Carter was one of our country’s worst presidents. And even if he did have a much more assiduous desire to court the press, would it really have made a difference?

That, we doubt.

- PureBunkum

Retire – It Pays More – For Some

Local, Today's BULLSH*T

Nov 272010

By Betty Roccograndi

No wonder state Sen. Ray Musto is bizarrely blase in the wake of a six-count indictment filed against him last week.

On Tuesday, when he retires, he will begin collecting a $117,000 a year pension. When he worked, his salary was under $80,000, except for the tens of thousands of dollars he’s charged with pocketing on the side for helping out contractors.

He may lose that pension, the Associated Press is reporting, if he is convicted of bribery and other crimes.

If you need any more proof that the pension systems of government employees has gone haywire, look no further than Harrisburg.

The AP article said Musto’s pension is about 50-percent higher than was his salary.

To the rest of you saps working your lives away to provide for your families, take comfort in knowing that it is your tax dollars that is allowing Musto and the rest of the bloated state legislature to sit pretty when they retire. Having a problem paying your increased health care premiums? Get over it; we have to provide health care for the retiring Sen. Musto and Kevin Blaum and all the other former state lawmakers.

Blaum, in a column last week, had the temerity to urge Presiden Barack Obama to stand tough and end the Bush tax cuts for small business owners.

U.S. Sen. Bobby Casey, was quoted last week as saying this: “Those who are spewing the hot air have a job, the security of a job and the security of health care. So they don’t really understand what real people are living through.”

In case you hadn’t heard, Casey wants to spend your money to extend unemployment benefits for an estimated 2 million longtime unemployed Americans. He’s the one who’s not real. We wonder if Casey would be so generous if those unending unemployment benefits came out of his pension fund.

We reported earlier that Mr. Moneybags also wants to bail out the reportedly mismanaged retirement pension fund for the Teamsters. Gotta keep the unions happy. They may be breaking the bank, but they turn out the vote.

So, you and I are expected to work each and every day; some holding down two jobs, for what? To pay enough taxes so Musto can collect more money than he did while working? For Casey and his ilk to provide handouts upon handouts upon handouts, which provides little incentive for finding work.

If you’re not justifiably furious yet, in the article about Musto, the AP reports that under the runaway taxpayer ripoff, another retiring senator, Robert J. Mellow, of Peckville, will receive, beginning Tuesday, a pension of $300,000 - three times his annual salary.

“This is the proverbial gold mine for politicians,” said Eric Epstein, the founder of Rock the Capital, a government reform group. He also criticized the pension system as “not aligned with reality.”

Ya think?

It’s no wonder very little gets done in Harrisburg and in Washington. The politicians are too busy planning for their own futures – at our expense.

Don’t Cry For Me, Luzerne County

Local

Nov 252010

Everything's Fine

By Betty Roccograndi

The only one seemingly not shocked by Tuesday’s indictment of Ray Musto is, incredibly, Ray Musto.

Either the longtime state senator missed his calling as one terrific actor, or we want whatever he’s on.

Musto’s as cool as Evita Peron, smiling at a skeptical crowd, as she sings from her balcony, “Don’t Cry For Me, Argentina:”

“It won’t be easy. You’ll think it strange. When I try to explain how I feel. That I still need your love. After all that I’ve done.”

Think it strange? What’s strange about being unfazed when a 10-year prison sentence is staring you in the face?

Following the announcement of a six-count indictment against him, Musto said, “I feel fine.” Who wouldn’t be fine after being charged with accepting $38,000 in kickbacks?

Will this dampen his Thanksgiving Day holiday, radio talk show host Steve Corbett asked the veteran senator. ”I don’t think so,” Musto said. “I’m going to enjoy my family and a great Thanksgiving Day dinner.”

Okaaayyyy.

When Corbett thanked him for appearing on his show on “what must be a very stressful day,” the senator responded, “Not really.”

Sen. Musto takes the phrase, “Don’t Worry; Be Happy” to a whole new level.

No one should really be the least bit surprised, though, at his Cool Hand Luke demeanor. In August, when an army of federal agents showed up at his Pittston home and began rummaging through his personal belongings, Musto did what any of us would do in that predicament.

“I sat on the back porch and enjoyed the sun,” he said back then. He didn’t seem to take any of this seriously even when the feds hauled away his Sirius satellite radio from his Lexus.

Musto’s Philadelphia lawyer, Jack Riley, said it was “regrettable” that prosecutors decided to charge the senator. Riley really needs to relax, like his client.

The attorney said, “As we all know, the prosecutors are far from infallible and have proven it again by their actions today.”

Of course it is possible - kind of - that the FBI got Musto mixed up with some other senator after finding six envelopes containing $6,500 in cash in his home.

Needless to say, word spread quickly about the inconvenient indictment against the 40-year public servant.

“This is a sad day for our area,” said fellow state Sen. Lisa Baker. No it isn’t, Lisa. Just ask Ray.

John Yudichak, who will replace the retiring Musto, told The Times Leader, ”The charges are serious.” No, they’re not, silly.

State Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski, said, “I’m speechless.” Take a chill pill, Eddie. If you don’t have one, we’re quite sure that Sen. Musto has a stash hidden away somewhere.

Let’s face it, if facing serious criminal charges, a possible $225,000 fine and 10 years in prison on the eve of his retirement doesn’t rattle the senator, what will?

So Don’t Cry For Him. He’s fine.

“All through my wild days. My mad existence. I kept my promise. Don’t keep your distance.”

We won’t, Sen. Musto. But, unfortunately, we can’t say the same for the U.S. Attorney’s Office – or the FBI – or the IRS.

It Taxed My Patience Reading Kevin Blaum

Local, National

Nov 242010

After watching a great Sunday afternoon of football and finishing a delicious meal, I made the mistake of reading the editorial section of The Times Leader before tuning into the Eagles and the Giants game. I had a tough time keeping that meal down after reading Kevin Blaum’s column. Why The Times Leader pays for such drivel is beyond me.

I really don’t like to be lectured to by lifetime public employees who never created a job with their own money or ever worked in the private sector. It’s not surprising that a parasite like Blaum advocates raising taxes. How else could we pay for all these civil servant “do-gooders” like Blaum without taxing your hard-earned labor? It irks me that the very people who broke the system just won’t go away. Maybe some of them are concerned that we will ask them to give back some of their six-figure pensions that as taxpayers we are forced to pay.

No political elitist, like Blaum, still thinks the American dream is created by bureaucrats like him. Maybe if the President didn’t take over health care, which, no doubt, will increase the deficit or the $1 trillion stimulus, or the cash for clunkers, or TARP, or GM, or AIG, or …, then maybe we can take your deficit talk seriously.

His socialist rhetoric about taxing the rich because the deficit is too high is laughable. Unfortunately, keeping the middle class tax cuts increases the deficit too, Kevin. Funny, I didn’t see that anywhere in your propaganda.

Blaum even started a paragraph “almost everyone in Washington believes … “ I don’t know how I kept reading after that stupidity. I guess Kevin didn’t see the election results from three weeks ago. His good friend, Paul Kanjorski, was soundly defeated. We don’t really care what the political class thinks in Washington. It’s this kind of big government tax policy that got the President “shellacked.”

Of course, like every good socialist who wants to keep his job (er pension), he conveniently plays with the numbers. He talks about people making more than a million but wants to raise taxes on the people making more than $250,000. That’s exactly where small business owners reside. They won’t be getting that $105,000 tax break Kevin writes about but will get much less if taxes are raised back up. Maybe it will cost one of your neighbors his or her job, Kevin, unless,of course, they are on the government payroll like you.

I’m sure that a lot of small business owners out there can only hope to generate enough profits to get half the pension you get without the government asking for more of it.

Please stop lecturing us on the virtues of the government taxing us while we’re coping with an economy damaged by your tax and spend and borrow policies.

No thank you, Kevin. Keep your hands in your own pocket unless you’re a TSA worker.

Happy Thanksgiving.

- The Plumber

It’s Going To Be A Long Day

Local, National

Nov 232010

By Betty Roccograndi

How is one expected to get through the work day with such a big announcement on the way?

It will be hard to concentrate, wondering who will fall this time.

It could be any one of them. Do they even know? How could they not? Oh, they’ll deny it, but, surely, at least they’ve been told.

It seems a little cruel, don’t you think – all the teasers? All they’ll say is today’s the day.

So we’re left to play the guessing day, toiling through a day filled with speculation and angst before we learn:

Will Bristol Palin actually take home the mirror ball trophy on tonight’s finale of Dancing With The Stars? Will she beat out the Dirty Dancing Queen herself, Jennifer Grey?

Will sourpuss Joy Behar and all the other members of the vast left-wing conspiracy have a conniption if Bristol defies the odds and wins the thing? They sure will.

It’s bad enough Behar and her ilk make no secret of detesting Bristol’s mother, Sarah. Now, they’re going after this young girl, whom even the tough judges, Carrie Ann, Len and Bruno, agreed has improved remarkably week after grueling week. Isn’t that what this show is all about anyway?

But, of course, Behar thinks that America is being duped, that the Tea Party movement has tied up the telephone lines to rig the competition in Bristol Palin’s favor. Even though Grey is by far the superior dancer and, without question, nailed her Paso Doble, I’m rooting for Bristol, the underdog. It would be such fun watching Behar go bonkers.

Well, hang in there, it will be 9 p. m. before you know it.

Oh, you probably thought I was talking about all the tension surrounding the big press conference in Scranton this afternoon involving the latest installment of As The Corruption Probe Turns.

Yes, that’s going to be a cliffhanger too.

This One’s Going Into Overtime

Local

Nov 222010

By Betty Roccograndi

A South Abington Twp. resident has compared Luzerne County’s commissioners to bitter siblings fighting over “a minor inheritance.”

He did admit in a letter to the editor in Friday’s Times Leader that if the shoe were on the other foot, maybe he’d feel differently. “I, too, might experience a few moments of righteous indignation regarding my ‘entitlement’ to half of the proceeds” from the pending sale of a local Triple A baseball franchise.

Then he came to his senses and recognized “that expecting this is neither appropriate nor justified.”

Let’s hope this guy isn’t sitting on the jury when Luzerne County’s court case is heard.

The paltry inheritance he’s talking about is $7.3 million. Luzerne County believes it’s owed half of $14.6 million when Lackawanna County sells the baseball franchise, which both counties purchased in 1986.

Now, maybe that guy from Abington has money to burn, but Luzerne County can really use that “minor inheritance.” So, yes, we’re staking a claim through a lawsuit.

Lackawanna believes the 1986 purchase agreement is irrelevant. That was then; this is now, it is arguing.

If anyone thinks this court battle won’t go into overtime, think again.

Luzerne sued Lackawanna and that county’s Multi-Purpose Stadium Authority in August. In October, Lackawanna responded. Did it ever!

Lackawanna County’s lawyer, Lawrence J. Moran, claims Luzerne is unjustly trying to enrich itself, claiming we sat back and “appreciated the benefits of Lackawanna County’s investment for the past 24 years.”

What he’s saying is that Luzerne County contributed not a dime toward its sibling’s stadium and baseball in general beyond its initial $1 million investment in the franchise and that it has a lot of nerve expecting to now share equally in the franchise’s sale.

Luzerne County Commissioners Chairwoman Maryanne Petrilla said Luzerne County does not own the stadium and had no obligation to assist in making any repairs.

She and county Solicitor Vito DeLuca believe we have a strong case for obtaining half of the sale proceeds.

Let’s hope so, because Lackawanna County is fighting back hard.

For instance, not only is it claiming unjust enrichment, under “New Matters, it is also arguing that Luzerne County’s claims are barred by the Doctrine of Ripeness and the Doctrine of Laches.

We presume that our Philadelphia attorneys, who are being paid $395 an hour each, know what they’re talking about.

We also presume they will be able to effectively respond to the charge that, ”The County of Lackawanna pleads the affirmative defense of illegality,” and the even worse one of, “The County of Lackawanna also “pleads the affirmative defense of unclean hands.”

Ya gotta love lawyers.

For now, we’ll just have to take Maryanne Petrilla’s and Vito DeLuca’s words for it that we have a strong case.

A jury trial has been demanded. Hopefully, Luzerne County will request a change of venue. It’s not very likely that the jury pool in our sister county will side with us – especially when their lawyers present evidence that our claims should be barred by the doctrines of ripeness and laches.

Maybe the above analogy of a battle over an estate isn’t so far-fetched after all.

Maybe I Should Sue Big Sis

Local, National

Nov 182010

By Betty Roccograndi

Last week, in a diversion from commenting on political matters, I told you about my somewhat humiliating experience at the Ft. Lauderdale airport - being subjected to a full body scan AND a partial pat down.

I brushed it off as a sign of the times, and, perhaps, I wasn’t so outraged because my friends found it hilarious.

Now it’s coming out that scores of Americans are furious at having been likewise violated. Some are suing.

To recap, I couldn’t believe it when a TSA agent waved me onto a platform for a full body scan. My mind naturally leapt to who was behind the screen checking me out? But it was over in a minute - or so I thought. Next, a short, stocky woman informed me that she had to pat me down. And she did, with her disgusting blue gloves. I froze, wondering how far it was to the nearest bar.

I could have protested like the now famous guy who crassly said, “Go ahead, but if you touch my junk, I’ll have you arrested.” Thank goodness I didn’t. No, all I could muster at the prospect of being mauled by a stranger was asking her, ”Why?” She could have said, “None of your business, girlie,” but she explained that I was wearing a watch (like everyone else, I might add) and a zipped up sweater, and thus could have been wired. If you say so, Madame TSA.

The other guy, John Tyner, whose experience is still being broadcast all over the place, was hauled away and faced being fined.

On Wednesday, Texas Congressman John J. Duncan, a Republican, condemned the Transportation Security Administration ( TSA) during a speech on the floor of the House of Representatives for its invasive “pat-downs” of United States citizens.

He was talking about ME. My privacy was invaded like so many others. In a strange way, I now feel a kinship with my fellow body scan victims.

Duncan said, “Unfortunately, for the traveling public, big brother never makes a mistake, so I am not surprised they are trying to defend the purchase of these scanners.”

You tell ‘em, Dunc.

He told his fellow House members that, ”A nationwide revolt is developing over the body scanners at the airports, and it should.” YES, YES, IT SHOULD INDEED!

The debate regarding security versus privacy rages on. TSA Administrator John Pistole said if you don’t like the body scans or the pat downs, then don’t fly. Big Sis, aka Homeland Security Director Janet Napolitano, said the same thing. I’ll be honest with you, if she were the one doing the pat down, I would have freaked out.

At least Rep. Duncan was much more level-headed. ”The American people should not have to choose between having full body radiation or a very embarrasing, intrusive pat down every time they fly, as if they were criminals.”

Now he tells me.

A Triple A Sellout?

Local

Nov 172010

By Betty Roccograndi

The good news for Luzerne County taxpayers is that county commissioners Chairwoman Maryanne Petrilla and Solicitor Vito DeLuca both believe we have a strong case for obtaining half of the proceeds of the impending $14.6-million sale of a Triple A baseball franchise to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees.

The bad news is they both believe that taxpayers from both counties are being shortchanged.

And two major questions remain unanswered: Why did former Lackawanna County commissioner, Robert Cordaro, not get an appraisal of the franchise before engineering its sale for $14.6 million, and why did former Luzerne County commissioner, Greg Skrepenak, back out at the last minute in 2007 from announcing a lawsuit intended to protect his county’s ownership rights? That aborted lawsuit, by the way, had already cost taxpayers a reported $60,000 plus.

Skrepenak, we are learning more and more, used his elected position to cut deals on his own behalf. He’s in prison for accepting a kickback from a developer in exchange for getting him a tax break. Then there are those nine TVs he finagled out of Thom Greco for his father’s sports bar.

Cordaro, by several accounts, was a master wheeler- dealer. He faces a slew of criminal charges, including racketeering, bribery, extortion and money laundering. Prosecutors allege he and fellow commissioner, A.J. Munchak, took hundreds of thousands of dollars in kickbacks from companies doing business with their county.

Whether those companies include the New York Yankees remains to be seen.

Petrilla and DeLuca both said during separate interviews Tuesday that it was Cordaro who traveled to New York to negotiate with the Yankees, settling on the $14.6 million sales price for the franchise. Neither knows why an appraisal wasn’t done, but both agree that if the franchise were appraised, the price tag would not be $14.6 million.

“It could be worth $30 million,” DeLuca speculated. ”They had a fiduciary responsibility to the taxpayers of both Luzerne County and Lackawanna County,” he said of the Lackawanna County officials who negotiated and then approved the deal with the Yankees. DeLuca also said he believes they breached that responsibility.

Petrilla agrees, citing the recent $14-15-million sale of the Padres, a Double A team. “A Triple A team would clearly be worth more than $14.6 million,” she said.

What’s not so clear is why Cordaro agreed to that amount in a 2007 deal, and why Skrepenak abruptly pulled out of an intended lawsuit that very same year.

Petrilla also said when Gov. Ed Rendell met with Luzerne County officials, he asked what it would take “to make this go away.” The $1 million the county paid in 1986 for the franchise? $2 million? Neither, Petrilla said was her response. She said Luzerne County expects 50-percent of the sale proceeds. Rendell said that’s not going to happen.

Well, we’ll see about that, Eddie.

Closing in on a statute of limitations for claiming half of the sale proceeds, Luzerne County sued Lackawanna County and its Multi-Purpose Stadium Authority. The 120-page lawsuit defends its ownership rights from a 1986 two and a half-page document.

In 1986, both Luzerne and Lackawanna counties paid $1 million for the baseball franchise. Former Luzerne County Commissioners Frank Trinisewski Jr., Jim Phillips and Frank Crossin signed the “Memorandum of Agreement.” Lackawanna County Commissioner Joseph Corcoran and Multi-Purpose Stadium Authority Chairman James Keeler also did.

It states, “In the event that the professional baseball franchise is sold, exchanged other than in a transaction which results in a reorganization of the International League, or otherwise disposed of in any manner which results in a distribution of any kind, LA (Lackawanna County) and LU (Luzerne County) shall share equally in the distribution of any such proceeds after MPSA (Multi-Purpose Stadium Authority) receives cash or cash equivalents of $345,000,” which represents some of the acquisition costs.

So there you have it. Is “equally” the operative word here? If so, we in Luzerne County can thank Gov. Ed Rendell, who expected us to sell out for $1-2 million.

To Be Continued.

A Home Run – For Some

Local

Nov 152010

By Betty Roccograndi

The New York Yankees are so happy for us.

They were tickled pink last week when Lackawanna County officials voted to sell our Triple-A baseball franchise to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees. They called it a home run for the region.

They didn’t note that it was a home run for them as well. They’re getting the franchise for $14.6 million. We have no idea who struck the better deal because, according to Luzerne County Commissioner Steve Urban, no appraisal was done.

And the Yankees are getting $40 million in stadium renovations, $23 million from our benevolent outgoing governor Ed Rendell. Hope the rest of the state doesn’t mind Eddie committing $23 million of taxpayers’ money to a baseball stadium when Pennsylvania has enough financial problems of its own.

“Today, the real winners are the citizens of this region,” crowed Hal Steinbrenner, managing partner of the New York Yankees. Yeah, if you live in Lackawanna County. In addition to getting a $40-million stadium, the Yankees will pay that county’s Multi-Purpose Stadium Authority $750,000 a year in rent.

Luzerne County, which owns half of the franchise – we think - is a different story. That county is getting zero, nada, zilch, except if you count the warm, fuzzy feeling one gets from helping out a sister county.

Steinbrenner told The Times Leaderl last week that, “Our goal has always been for the next Yankees stars to play in a top-flight facility that provides fans championship-caliber baseball and a quality family entertainment experience.” (Expecially if we don’t have to kick in any of the estimated $40 million in stadium repairs.)

In a press release, Yankees officials said the baseball team loves being in “Scranton/Wilkes-Barre,” yet it didn’t mention Wilkes-Barre (Luzerne County) when it thanked everyone responsible for scoring the region’s home run.

“We appplaud the dedication of the Lackawanna County Commissioners,” they said. Of course, they do; it benefits them. ”We thank Gov. Rendell for his continued support for minor league baseball,” they said. Of course, they do. The Yankees failed to thank PA taxpayers, who will subsidize their spanking new stadium.

And, of course, they conspicuously didn’t thank Luzerne County, which entered into a joint agreement with Lackawanna County in 1986 to purchase the franchise. That’s probably because Luzerne County is suing for being frozen out of the negotiations. They’re also hopping mad that Lackawanna officials plan to spend Luzerne’s share of the sales proceeds for their stadium repairs.

Well, we’ll see about that.

Read my upcoming interview with Luzerne County Commissioner Chairwoman Maryanne Petrilla on Wednesday. We’re anxious to learn how Luzerne County plans to fight back.

A Dunn Deal

Local

Nov 132010

By Betty Roccograndi

As long as it’s okay with the union, who are we to complain, right?

Wrong.

The Wilkes-Barre Area School Board scored two wins Wednesday night. First it squashed a lawsuit filed by one of its own members, Christine Katsock, and it kept the ex-wife of a disgraced former colleague on the payroll, as it seemed determined to do all along.

Jodi Dunn, ex-wife of convicted felon Brian Dunn, was hired (demoted?) as a secretary at a generous salary of $54,000. She had been working as the district’s multi media/student safety coordinator. She won’t get a raise in three years, though. No biggie, she can always file a grievance later on.

Katsock noted that the highest paid secretary in the district received $45,343. But the former Mrs. Dunn is no ordinary secretary. She was working without a valid contract since 2006, and no one had a problem with that, except Katsock, which is why she filed a lawsuit. She wanted that pact declared null and void, but the board curiously resisted.

So the directors found a way around the controversial suit. After having second thoughts, on the advice of a district attorney, it finally voided her unsigned “contract,” which the board never approved. It then decided in executive session that the district could use another secretary, and who was more qualified than Mrs. Dunn?

So all is well at Wilkes-Barre Area.

District Superintendend Jeff Namey said the union has no problem with Dunn getting almost $9,000 more than the formerly highest-paid secretary, who was hired 31 years earlier than Jodi Dunn. We’re guessing the same can’t be said of the formerly highest-paid secretary.

After Katsock questioned the whereabouts of the union’s written concurrence with this deal, Namey said it ”is coming.” Leave it WBA to put the horse before the cart.

We are pretty certain that Katsock will not let this matter drop. She said the board created a new position for Ms. Dunn and that such positions, under the contract for secretaries, must be advertised.

But didn’t the union say it’s fine with all this? We won’t know for sure until the forthcoming letter arrives, as Namey assured everyone it will.

So with one problem solved, the board moved onto another Wednesday night. It set fixed mileage reimbursement for trips between district buildings. Some of the members, The Times Leader reported, said that employees would make the same trip and turn in different mileage. Well fancy that. Maybe some of them drove around the block a few times, and it took them longer to get there.

Or, maybe some of them got the idea from the Luzerne County deputy sheriffs that if they delivered more than one package to the same destination, that counted as multiple trips.

Just another revelation of taxpayers being taken for a ride.

Skrep Betrayed Me, But He Helped Me Too

Local

Nov 112010

See Ya At The Soup Kitchen, Bob

By Betty Roccograndi

Before we comment further on the Luzerne County Probation Department’s latest ward, maybe Thom Greco can tell all of us how to get flat screen TVs at below retail prices.

He did that for Greg Skrepenak, but, then again, Greco had a dilapidated train station he was trying to unload.

Poor Thom. Skrepenak stuck him for $14,000. But it was far worse than that. He trusted the burly former county commissioner, not even asking for a deposit before fitting his father’s sports bar, Big Ugly’s, for ESPN. But Skrep betrayed that trust when he told Greco to take a hike when he sought reimbursement.

“At the time, I didn’t know any better. To me, I just thought I got hit,” he told The Times Leader. Ahhhh.

He was so shook up, it never dawned on him that an elected official cannot stiff someone for 14 grand and get away with it. We have to admit, we never pegged Skrepenak as being more business savvy than Thom Greco.

The hit Greco took must have been so daunting that when the FBI questioned him, the befuddled businessman said he believed he had been paid. By whom, he couldn’t remember. It was either Skrepenak or a third party, Greco told the feds.

Then, Greco came to and realized that the conniving commissioner hadn’t paid him after all.

Greco wasn’t charged with lying to an FBI agent or obstruction of justice, just for failing to report Skrepenak’s crime of taking an illegal gratuity. But that’s okay, because Skrepenak wasn’t charged with said crime. He’s in prison, but for taking a different kickback from a different businessman.

On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Richard Conaboy sentenced Greco to two years probation and 50 hours of community service at the St Vincent De Paul Kitchen, just like he did to former Luzerne County Clerk of Courts Bob Reilly. Greco was also fined $10,000.

Conaboy also scolded Greco for getting “caught up” in the the county’s culture of corruption. A few days earlier, he scolded Reilly, for getting “duped” into participating in it. Dumb and Dumber?

It’s necessary to suspend our disbelief here. And make no mistake, Greco is smarter than he let’s on. Who’s so nonchalant about taking a $14,000 “hit?”

No, Thom quietly slithered away after Skrepenak reminded him that, “For all we’ve done for you, you pay for them,” he told the TL.

But the best was yet to come.

Greco bought the nine TVs in 2005. A few months later, the county approved the $5.8 million purchase of Greco’s rusty, old train station. Prosecutors said that the county had earlier awarded a $200,000 loan to the county redevelopment authority toward the purchase.

Thom Greco may have taken a hit on some TVs, but it was county taxpayers who really took a bath. We’re the ones stuck with a row of decaying railroad cars.

Lackawanna County Plays Hardball

Local

Nov 102010

By Betty Roccograndi

At least they didn’t take our name off the marquee – yet. The local baseball team is still called the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees.

That may change now that Lackawanna County officials are moving full steam ahead to sell the Triple A baseball franchise.

Maybe next year, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees will be known as the Electric City Sluggers.

There’s a big problem here, and the sooner Luzerne County has its day in court, the better.

In 1986, Luzerne and Lackawanna counties each kicked in $1 million to buy the franchise. Somewhere along the way, Lackawanna knocked Luzerne out of the ballpark. In 2007, the former got the ball rolling to sell the franchise.

Former county Commissioner Greg Skrepenak was prepared to hold a press conference announcing Luzerne County’s intention to file a lawsuit to protect its ownership rights. Mysteriously, Skrepenak, who’s in prison for something else, cancelled the press conference.

Would someone please get to the bottom of this abrupt cancellation? Something apparently happened to change Skrepenak’s mind.

We’re beginning to wonder whether Lackawanna County officials are one brazen bunch, or that Luzerne County, somewhere along the way, forfeited its rights to the local Triple-A baseball franchise.

Lackawanna officials intend to sell it for $14.6 million to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees, a team owned by the New York Yankees. They also plan to spend Luzerne’s purported share of the sale proceeds to renovate their stadium. Gall, you say?

The Yankees don’t care that Luzerne County is suing. It’s irrelevant, they claimed. The Yankees and Lackawanna County officials make a good team, don’t you think?

Then there’s jolly ole St. Ed Rendell, who committed $20 million of Pennsylvania taxpayers’ money to renovate the stadium. For good measure, he threw in another $5 million, The Times Leader reported on Wednesday. Rendell must have strolled through Boscov’s at the Steamtown Mall and got in the Christmas spirit.

Come to think of it, why didn’t we get to vote on whether we wanted taxpayers’ money to go to a baseball stadium? We had a say when the Arena in Wilkes-Barre Township was being built.

Luzerne County Commissioner Chairwoman Maryanne Petrilla told the TL that “county taxpayers should be infuriated” over the planned sale. For her part, she toned down her apparent anger. ”I find the whole thing disturbing.”

“It’s clear they are negotiating without any involvement of Luzerne County, which owns half and should have representation at the bargaining table,” Petrilla said.

Actually, we’re wondering why no one from Luzerne County attended Tuesday night’s meeting in Scranton when the Lackawanna County Multi-Purpose Stadium Authority approved a ”memorandum of understanding” to push the sale one step further . Shouldn’t county Solicitor Vito DeLuca have at least attended? Hopefully, he’s not still mad that Home Rule passed.

Maybe Luzerne County officials have something up their sleeves, because it seems very odd that they’re watching these events play out from the sidelines when there’s a potential windfall at stake.

EXPOSED!!!!

Local

Nov 092010

By Betty Roccograndi

Over a week ago, Muslim terrorists from Yemen (Hope I’m allowed to call them that) attempted to plant bombs on two cargo planes. The targets, reportedly, were Chicago synagogues. With the country in high alert, I had the misfortune of flying home from Florida.

That’s when I came face to face , figuratively speaking, with Big Sis, also known as U.S. Homeland Security Director Janet Napolitano.

It was bad enough that our flight from Ft. Lauderdale was bumped up earlier than planned, and the airline had e-mailed this change to a computer back in Wilkes-Barre. So unbeknownst to us, we showed up 1 1/2 hours “late.” But that was nothing compared to what was lurking around the corner.

Flying is NOT what it used to be. Forget that it’s next to impossible to get a direct flight to just about anywhere any more. Forget that we have a beautiful airport in our own backyard with millions of dollars in renovations and are forced to board a puddle jumper to get to another airport that, after a four-hour lay-over, will eventually get you to Florida.

Forget the fact that you have to take off your shoes and risk all those bed bugs, that may be napping in the carpets, jumping onto your socks.

If it only stopped there. But it didn’t.

Dutifully following the procedure for carrying liquids, 3-oz. bottles in a transparent baggie, I set them in the drab, gray bin next to the shoes that I worried were about to carry aforementioned bed bugs to their next destination.

No one warned me; however, that wearing a watch and a zipped-up sweater carried with it consequences – in terms of human dignity.

Yes, that’s when the fun began.

“This way, miss,” said the TSA officer. Was he smiling, or was that my imagination?, I wondered.

“Oh, God,” I said to myself as he directed me to a platform for a full body scan, I complied (as if I had a choice) and assumed the role of common criminal, hands above my head and legs apart, looking like a 5’6″ giant X. The mystery camera took my picture from head to toe, if you know what I mean.

If only it stopped there. But it didn’t.

After surviving this assault, I was greeted by a drill sergeant who informed me that she had to pat me down.

“Why is that?” I dared to ask. Because you’re wearing a watch and a zipped sweater, she replied. HUH!

She explained that I could be wired. I can assure you, I don’t look the part, but in the name of safety, I was not offended at being mistaken for Osama bin Laden.

But all the while I kept wondering, are they this thorough with those who likely pose a threat?

From Comedy Central to 60 Minutes. Not Much Of A Difference

National

Nov 082010

Did you lose your mojo, Dude?

After a great day of watching football on Sunday, I decided to watch 60 Minutes and listen to Steve Kroft’s interview with President Obama. The excuse maker-in-chief didn’t disappoint.

Kroft loaded up on softball question after softball question and even suggested the excuses before the President could give the standard ones. The main steam media is pathetic. My favorite was, get this, “Do you think you lost your mojo?” What? You’ve got to be kidding me! Why didn’t he just add “dude,” as comedian Jon Stewart did during Obama’s less than presidential, pre-election visit to Comedy Centeral?

The President performed his standard ”I’m for everyman” routine, saying things like, “Most of America doesn’t read the New York Times, and half of America voted for John McCain.” If that’s the case, Mr. President, then why have you been governing like the USA is Sweden?

Obama also acted, with an emphasis on acted, as though he were for limited government. Of course, Kroft didn’t challenge this blatant falsehood. Maybe Steve could have asked him why he has increased the federal deficit by $3 trillion and increased the federal payroll by 10% in two short years. Instead , Kroft allowed him to blather on that he saved the economy from sinking into a Depression and that we are now in much better shape because of the “emergency” actions his administration undertook.

My favorite was the class warfare question. In regards to extending the Bush tax cuts to everyone (not raising taxes on those making more than $250,000), the excuse maker-in-chief said that will increase our deficit by $700 billion over the next 10 years.

That begs the question, why didn’t he worry about the ballooning deficit when it was growing by $3 trillion over the last two years and when he pushed through a failed stimulus to save union jobs that cost us $787 billion in one year and will cost us over a trillion dollars in ten years? If he is really concerned like he says he is, shouldn’t the middle class tax rates increase? I wonder how much that would cut the deficit in the next 10 years? More on that in the next few months as we debate reversing the Bush tax cuts.

The main stream media will never ask Obama the tough questions. It refused to do its job when Obama ran for president, and it refuses to do it now.

I’m just going out on a limb here, but I’ll bet all takers that when the Today Show’s Matt Lauer interviews former President Bush, it will be anything but soft. Any takers?

–The Plumber

The Magnificent 11

Local

Nov 072010

By Betty Roccograndi

Who will they be?

Which 11 members of our community will replace three commissioners in calling the shots in Luzerne County?

We may have been fooled the last time Home Rule was on the table but not this time. The first time, Greg Skrepenak and Todd Vonderheid, running as a team for county commissioners, implored us to trust them. We didn’t need Home Rule; we had them, they said.

The joke was on us as we slowly became known as the corruption capital of the state, if not the planet. Skrep’s now in prison while Todd bolted from the Keystone Kourthouse before his term was up.

Commissioner Chairwoman Maryellen Petrilla and county Solicitor Vito DeLuca did their best to thrash Home Rule. Minority Commissioner Steve Urban, after losing his bid for state senator, predicted that county residents will one day regret changing the current form of government. He predicted a “big power grab” for county jobs and contracts.

And that is different, how?

County Prothonotary Carolee Medico-Olenginski, whose position will be abolished under Home Rule, envisions a county manager who will become a “bobble-head doll,” beholden to the new council. That’s a step up from some row officers and county manager bubble heads, who were beholden to their friends and families looking for contracts and jobs.

No, we’re going to give county voters some credit. They did a pretty good job in Tuesday’s elections. If Skrepenak were on the ballot, and they elected him a third time, we’d be worried.

Now onto the election of 11 part-time council members, who will then appoint a county executive. This is key to a real change for the better, and we have reason to believe that county residents are up to the task. It’s good to be fed up because you finally wake up.

If we end up with a professional business person running the county, who then hires other qualified managers to run our county offices, that will be a good thing. Hopefully, this person will also have the know-how to deal with the bloated union contracts breaking the bank.

The Kourthouse was in need of a good shake-up for far too long. While there have been some very competent and dedicated public servants working there throughout the years, there have also been many lazy, self-serving ones.

Although the future is uncertain, the thought of a fresh start is invigorating. We will be off to a very good start if county voters take seriously the election of the 11 council members. They will have a lot of power and responsiblility, especially in selecting the county chief executive.

Anyone remotely connected to the Luzerne County corruption scandal need not apply.

Older Entries

PureBunkum

Jimmy Carter: Fair and Unbalanced

Retire – It Pays More – For Some

Don’t Cry For Me, Luzerne County

It Taxed My Patience Reading Kevin Blaum

It’s Going To Be A Long Day

This One’s Going Into Overtime

Maybe I Should Sue Big Sis

A Triple A Sellout?

A Home Run – For Some

A Dunn Deal

Skrep Betrayed Me, But He Helped Me Too

Lackawanna County Plays Hardball

EXPOSED!!!!

From Comedy Central to 60 Minutes. Not Much Of A Difference

The Magnificent 11

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