2012 March » PureBunkum

The Bunkies

Mar 312012

There are simply too many contenders to just give out one round of our Bunkie Awards, as we did last week. Like the Oscars, the Tonys, and the Emmys, the Bunkies are given out for excellence, in this case, for utterances Rick Santorum might call, ”Bulls….t.”

So, we proudly announce this week’s winners. And they are winners, in more ways than one.

10. “Blacks are under attack,” rabble-rouser Jesse “Craving for Attention” Jackson, following the tragic shooting of 17-year old, unarmed Trayvon Martin by a Hispanic/white crime watch member, who is claiming self-defense under Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law, which allows a person to shoot if he or she feels threatened.

9. “If I had a son, he would look like Trayvon,” President Barack “Stoking The Fires” Obama. Obama also said if he had a muse, she would look like Sandra Fluke. Just kidding. But, no kidding, if you saw a picture of the fresh-faced Trayvon, which is the dated one that’s circulating, he really does look a little like Obama.

8. “The principal felt that she was not monitoring her classroom adequately,” Superintendent Lisa Wilmore, commenting on the firing of an elementary school teacher in Tallulah, Louisiana. You could say that, since she didn’t notice two third-graders were having oral sex under their desks. The source of this shocking story, including a teacher actually being fired, was CBSHouston.

7. “I’m too smart to get married.” Bob Kadluboski, 56, the subject of a front-page story in last Sunday’s Times Leader, which attempted to figure out what makes the owner of City Wide Towning tick. One thing that does, he said, is plotting revenge in his spare time. Kobby, as he’s known to many except to Wilkes-Barre City Mayor Tom Leighton, who prefers to call him “Cupcake,” doesn’t miss a city council meeting, and, more often than not, is thrown out of them. But, rest assured, he will get even. He said as much.

6. “Could we talk about my book?” former U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, of Pennsylvania, changing the touchy subject after a Fox News host got him to admit that it was his vote that clinched the deal for ObamaCare and the humongous stimulus package, which had a minimal effect on job creation. Way to go, Arlen.

5. He’s “a foul-mouthed, big-headed oaf,” a “pea-brained, pithheaded simpleton with too much testosterone,” and “a prize, good-for-nothing ignoramous.” Guess whom Pravda, the former Soviet newspaper’s website, so eloquently bad-mouthed in an editorial? Barack Obama? No, he doesn’t have excess testosterone. Al Sharpton? No, but that’s a good guess. Actually, Pravda threw those sticks and stones at Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney – another reason to vote for Mr. Testosterone; the Russians don’t like him.

4. “You folks read stuff more than I do.” This brainy statement was uttered by none other than our country’s Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Perpetuating the Democratic Party’s new talking points, Reid said that if the U.S. Supreme Court rules that ObamaCare is unconstitutional, that would be good for Obama’s re-election campaign. Sounds like a win-win for the president’s attempted power grab.

3. “I am a small business owner. I have prepared budgets. I am committed to using my experiences, both individually and as a business owner, to be the voice of the people in Congress.” – Wilkes-Barre Attorney William Vinsko, who, according to his 2011 financial statement, published in The Times Leader, lists income of $98,170 and rental income of between $15,001 to $50,000 from a property in Brant Beach, NJ. He lists three mortgages on that property, one ranging from $250,001 to $500,000 and two others from $50,001 to $100,000 each. His debts also include five business loans, including one from $500,000 to $1 million, an outstanding credit card balance of between $15,000 to $50,000 and a 2000 unpaid student loan through Sallie Mae of between $15,001 and $50,000.

With a national debt of almost $16 trillion, Attorney Vinsko wants to be our voice in Washington? Why would we want to send someone there who owes far more money than he takes in? Actually, maybe he’ll fit right in at our nation’s Capitol.

2. “You can’t go take a trip to Las Vegas or go down to the Super Bowl on the taxpayers’ dime.” That’s what multiple Bunkie winner President Barack Obama said in 2009 about corporations using federal bailout money. Fast forward to 2012. Last week, after visiting Mt. Rushmore, First Lady Michelle Obama and daughers Malia and Sasha headed to Las Vegas for “a private trip,” which part of, at least was “on the taxpayers’ dime.” These three must be living out of their suitcases. February, the trio went skiing in Aspen to celebrate President’s Day, and Malia just returned from spring break in Mexico. But who’s counting? Certainly, not them. Vacation #17 for the Obama family in three years and three months.

1. “This is my last election. After my election, I have more flexibility,” Obama, unaware a microphone was on, discussing missile defense systems with outgoing Russian President Dmitri Medvedev.” A little over-confident, don’t you think? And Pravda calls Mitt Romney a “big-headed oaf?”

- Betty Roccograndi

Could Someone Explain How An Hispanic Killing A Black Man Is Racial Profiling?

Local, National

Mar 302012

Some locals are hopping on the rush-to-judgment bandwagon, planning a candlelight vigil for 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, who was shot to death in Florida last month.

The Peace Center, whatever that is, is urging everyone to attend next Wednesday night’s vigil on Public Square in Wilkes-Barre and to wear a hoodie, which Trayvon was wearing when he was shot. The group wants to shine the light on racial profiling, according to a sketchy press release, when it gathers at 6:30.

One minority killing another minority is now considered racial profiling as is, apparently, going after someone because he wears a hoodie.

Tragic as this case is, it is only getting the national attention that it is because the victim was black and the shooter was part white. There is no evidence to date that George Zimmerman, who has a bounty on his head, was a racist. Yet the tragedy has captured the spotlight as brightly as when Rodney King was caught on tape being brutally beaten by white police officers.

That was a hate crime.

Florida has a law that allows someone to shoot someone else if he believes he is being threatened. We don’t know yet what happened that night except that a 17-year old, unarmed boy got killed by a crime watch leader.

Of course this is a tragedy, but in our country, we’re presumed innocent until proven guilty. We don’t rush to judgment. But, in this case, who needs facts? There are some who are demanding that Zimmerman, who was forced into hiding, be shot on the spot.

“An attack on blacks,” shouted rabble rouser Jesse Jackson. Black director Spike Lee circulated the address of Zimmerman’s parents, but, oops, it was the wrong address, and now an elderly couple, whose address it was, lives in fear. Sorry about that.

Even President Barack Obama weighed in, saying that if he had a son, he’d look like Trayvon. For crying out loud.

Now it seems that hoodies have come to symbolize racial profiling. If you see someone dressed in a hoodie, grab him, he’s trouble. U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush, of Illinois, brought his theater of the absurd to the floor of the U.S. Congress last week when he pulled a hoodie over his suit. The former Black Panthers member said, before being escorted out, “Just because someone wears a hoodie does not make them a hoodlum.”

Profound words, although police haven’t yet concluded that Zimmerman went after Martin simply because he was wearing a hoodie.

At least one black leader has stepped forward to condemn this madness.

Former NAACP leader C.L. Bryant accused Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton of exploiting this tragedy, calling them “racial hustlers.”

Bryant said the teen’s family “should be outraged at the fact that they’re using this child as bait to inflame racial passions,” Bryant told The Daily Caller. Kudos to Mr. Bryant.

Regarding Obama’s comparison to the son he doesn’t have, Bryant asked, “What does that mean? What was the purpose of that?”

One could say that because Obama will say and do anything to get re-elected, the purpose of his entering the fray was to court the black vote.

So now the local “Peace Center” wants to get in on the act.

Maybe this group should channel its energies into protesting the influx of Philadelphia, New Jersey and New York drug dealers and gang members to this area, where they set up shop in subsidized housing developments like Sherman Hills and Marion Terrace in Hanover Twp.

There have never been more incidents of stabbings, shootings and killings in our area. And when arrests are made, check out the last known addresses of some of these low-lifes – Philadelphia, New Jersey, New York, the Dominican Republic.

Yeah, go gather on Public Square and wear your hoodies and light your candles. That will do a lot of good in cleaning up our area and making it safe for law-abiding, peace-loving citizens. In the meantime, dangerous out-of-town gang members will kill each other on our streets.

Betty Roccograndi

We Want Our Fees, But Thanks Again For Forgiving Our Back Taxes

Local

Mar 292012

It still amazes me that all the bickering over who will pay for the demolition of the Hotel Sterling excludes the owner.

Wilkes-Barre City Council to date is not backing down on waiving $50,000 in permit fees to tear it down. That’s the city’s going rate, it seems. It’s what Leo Glodzik pays the city each year for an exclusive towing contract.

Luzerne County wants those fees waived before deciding whether to spend an allocated $1 million to rid the area of this aging wreck. The county already doled out $6 million to CityVest to restore it, and we all know how that went.

City Vest, the Sterling’s less than sterling non-profit owner, has nary a care. It’s broke. It can’t pay back its $6 million county loan. End of story. Get over it already.

The Luzerne County Council plans to tackle the Sterling problem at its April 10 meeting, The Times Leader reported today. Newspaper sources said the county may be leaning toward not investing another dime in the failed project. Hopefully, they’re also leaning toward taking legal action against CityVest for defaulting on its loan.

Wilkes-Barre City council members were expected to discuss whether to waive the permit fees at an earlier meeting, but that meeting came and went with not a word. The council is waiting for its cue from Mayor Tom Leighton, the very same Mayor Tom Leighton who wasn’t shy about asking the Wilkes-Barre Area School Board to forgive over $400,000 in back taxes so he could sell the abandoned Old River Road Bakery property a few years back to Glodzik, who contributes regularly to the mayor’s campaign coffers.

The city sure wasn’t shy about asking Luzerne County years ago to forgive $44,000 in back taxes on that same property so a developer could build townhouses on that site. The county cooperated, and the city reneged on its end of the bargain.

So, now the city is holding up the demolition of a building, which come November won’t even be insured. It wants its $50,000 in permit fees because it has agreed to use $250,000 in state gaming funds toward demolishing the building it condemned, The TL also reported.

Never mind that’s a drop in the bucket compared to the lost $6 million investment the county made.

In the meantime, Mayor Leighton says the city is paying $5,000 a month to barricade the building so its parts don’t come raining down on drivers and pedestrians. So while Leighton holds out for $50,000, the city’s annual barricade tab is $60,000.

But the city can afford to play games because it’s only $74 million in debt, which Mayor Leighton characterized as no biggie.

And where is CityVest in all of this? Hey, don’t you get it? They have no more taxpayers’ money left. So we haven’t heard from them lately.

- Betty Roccograndi

Go Ahead. Make His Day.

Local

Mar 272012

How do you solve a problem like Kadluboski?

And I quote from The Sound of Music, “How do you catch a cloud and pin it down? How do you find a word that means (Kadluboski)? A fibbertijibbet? A will-o’- the wisp? A clown?”

Well, Bob Kadluboski is no will-o’- the wisp. A clown? No, he’s much too dead serious.

Kobby, which is his nickname, admitted in a quite interesting, if not unusual, front-page article in Sunday’s Times Leader that he spends some of his spare time plotting revenge. A regular at Wilkes-Barre City Council meetings, it’s safe to say that the city’s former towing contractor makes the council members nervous . And he seems to take delight in pushing their buttons, almost daring them to deny him his First Amendment right to free speech.

Nuisance or gadfly? the TL’s headline read. Perhaps, he’s a little bit of both. Okay, a lot of both.

The ACLU has said it may send a representative – again - to a future council meeting after a somewhat dictatorial council President Mike Merritt reprimanded citizen Linda Urban for ”speaking beyond the rail,” which in itself went beyond the pale. Merritt then slammed down his gavel and ordered her removed, along with Kadluboski, who protested.

City Mayor Tom Leighton has called Kadluboski, Cupcake. Kadluboski has called the mayor a pig and a crook. so, they’re even.

We never quite understood why Leighton chose the name Cupcake to get under Kadluboski’s skin. For a man who dresses in camouflage and dons dark sunglasses, looking more like Rambo than a Tastycake? Actually, we never quite understood how a mayor of a city could act so childishly in the first place.

In a sit down with TL Staff Writer Bill O’Boyle, Kadluboski, who toyed briefly with the idea of running for mayor, said he’s not crazy, just frustrated and angry that Leighton took away his city towing contract because he didn’t keep records. That’s a good one considering his replacement, Leo Glodzik, a donor to Leighton’s campaign coffers, hasn’t kept them either.

“They will be sorry. They won’t get away with what they’ve done to me,” he told O’Boyle. It’s not hard to see where he’s coming from. The city hurt his livelihood. That’s not an easy thing, we imagine, to get over, despite the old saying, that in elections, to the victor goes the spoils.

We’re not sure what he has up his sleeve, but if any council member, Leighton or city administrator has any skeletons hiding in their closets, we have no doubt Kadluboski will unearth them.

This is one guy who means business. His comments to The Times Leader were rather unnerving as they bordered on veiled threats. Plotting revenge. They’ll be sorry.

Let’s just hope his deep-seeded anger doesn’t get the best of him.

- Betty Roccograndi

Life, Liberty And The Pursuit of Power

National

Mar 262012

It’s hard to believe, but beginning this morning, our future individual liberties, bestowed on us by our Founding Fathers, are on the line.

The United States Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on whether the President of the United States and the Congress can order you to buy something, and punish you if you don’t.

Maybe you didn’t realize that this unprecedented power grab is at the heart of Obama’s health care overhaul. More than half the country is against it and has been since the Democrats in Congress approved it and President Barack Obama signed it two years ago. They scraped up the votes after offering bribes to a handful of hold-outs. Not a single Republican lawmaker voted for it.

It says, in part, that beginning in 2014 you must purchase health care insurance. If you don’t, you will be subjected to penalties.

There is plenty of reason to worry. If the Supreme Court rules that this provision is constitutional, it is not a stretch for a president, such as Obama, to next order all Americans to buy a hybrid car or to equip their homes with solar panels. Refuse to do so at your own risk.

This bill is called the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Sounds good, but you know what they say about not judging a book by its cover. How can anyone ever forget then Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi crowing that once the bill is passed, you’ll learn what’s in it? That’s quite a flippant remark for a bill that involves life and death issues. And we still don’t know what devils are in the details.

We’ve already witnessed how, under this bill, religious institutions, are stripped of their First Amendment rights. The Obama administration insists that faith-based organizations’ health care plans include coverage for contraceptives and sterilization procedures.

“We have entered dangerous territory,” says a statement from Pennsylvania’s Catholic bishops. They called this bill an “assault by the federal government on constitutionally guaranteed religious liberty.”

The bill contains rationing of health care services. Sarah Palin was crucified when she said that this was tantamount to “death panels.” Isn’t that what it is when a government bureaucrat decides whether your life is worth the cost of saving?

A Wall Street Journal editorial published Friday spelled out the ramifications of the Supreme Court’s ultimate ruling, and it is chilling.

“Few legal cases in the modern era are as consequential, or as defining,” the newspaper said of the legal challenges to this bill. Twenty six states and the National Federation of Independent Business have challenged it. The WSJ also said that “the White House is even organizing demonstrations during the proceedings, including a ‘prayerful witness’ encircling the Supreme Court.” Does the irony here of a prayerful witness escape anyone?

It’s not every day that more than half the country is opposed to a bill out of Washington. It’s not every day that the President of the United States and his foot soldiers in the Congress ignore the concerns of half the country and inflict their will on us.

This is not a government for the people.

It is actions such as this which propelled the American Revolution.

I agree with the Catholic bishops on this one. We are indeed entering dangerous territory.

- Betty Roccograndi

PureBunkum’s Gems Of The Month

Local, National

Mar 232012

There’s never a shortage of asinine remarks that are worthy of the PureBunkum Badge of Dishonor. Today we announce our first round of Bunky Awards.

10. “I am glad to see that Sen. Mellow and federal authorities have come to an agreement to resolve their differences.” – PA Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa. Their differences? Federal prosecutors deemed conspiracy to commit mail fraud and tax evasion crimes where Mellow believed that was simply business as usual.

9. ”Election fraud is a myth.” State Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski, defending his vote against requiring state voters to provide a valid photo ID.

8. ”When the cat’s away, the mice will play.” Defense Attorney William Costopoulos. The feline Costopoulos speaks of is his client, state Sen. Jane Orie. The mice are her staff members whom he claims are the real culprits for using Orie’s taxpayer-funded office to raise cash for the cat’s re-election campaign and for her sister’s campaign. The mice apparently did one great job because Orie was re-elected and sis, Joan Orie Melvin, was elected a state Supreme Court Justice, of all things.

7. “I know I used poor judgment and made a mistake.” Mike Pasonick, the valley’s engineer of choice before his conviction. His “mistake” was bribing a school board member in exchange for a contract for his firm. His poor judgement was believing that he’d never get caught.

6. ”The federal government can and should do more.“ U.S. Sen. Bob “Money Bags” Casey. Casey visited Duryea earlier this month to announce that the half-billion dollars in flood recovery efforts was not enough. Sure, the government can do more. With the nation’s debt topping $16 trillion, $1 million now seems like chump change.

5. ”He cooperated, but let me tell you, as a defense lawyer I’m going to have second thoughts about cooperating in the future.” Pasonick’s defense attorney, Joseph Sklarosky, who was indignant that Pasonick ratted out other area crooks, and the judge still wouldn’t let him serve his prison term at home.

4. ”You had to prepare the petition, check and double check the invoices, take it over to the court and pick it up.” Attorney Laureen Yeager Pierce, justifying why taxpayers should pay her $55 per hour to prepare her bills for payment.

3. ”We talked about attorney Lupas and they asked questions about what he does and what did he do, questions about the bills he submitted, things like that.” Easy-going Wilkes-Barre Area School District Superintendent Jeff Namey. Hopefully, the Secret Service also asked how Namey, district Business Manager Leonard Pryzwara and the school board could sit by while former solicitor Tony Lupas racked up $328,956 in legal fees last year. You know, “things like that.”

2. “If they’re going to be a little different, we might as well stay with what we have instead of taking a risk of what may be the Etch A Sketch candidate of the future.” Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum, suggesting that voters should stick with Barack Obama rather than elect his Republican rival Mitt Romney. If Santorum’s whiny, pouty, stop-picking -on-me demeanor wasn’t enough to turn off voters, this spiteful remark should do the trick.

And the number one prize which tops them all is two-fold. First, let’s hear from our very own President Barack Obama, addressing the little problem of Solyndra, the California plant which went bankrupt a short time after the Obama administration approved a half-billion dollar government guaranteed loan to manufacture solar panels.

“Obviously, we wish Solyndra hadn’t gone bankrupt. Part of the reason they did was because the Chinese were subsidizing their solar industy and flooding the market in ways that Solyndra couldn’t compete. But understand, this was not our program, per se. Congress – the Democrats and Republicans – put together a loan guarantee program because they understood historically that when you get new industries, it’s easy to raise money for startups.”

You can only fully appreciate Obama’s latest, The buck doesn’t stop with me, remark if you viewed the ”The Road We’ve Traveled,” the propaganda, Hollywood-made film narrated by actor Tom Hanks to boost the president’s re-election campaign. “When he faced his country, which looked to him for answers, he would not dwell in blame,” said Forrest Gump. Right. Don’t look at me. Solyndra was the Congress’s baby.

Ya gotta love it.

- Betty Roccograndi

Dedication or Orchestration?

Local

Mar 222012

Because it’s so rare, it’s always refreshing to find an elected official, so dedicated, he or she feels bad about missing a meeting.

Wilkes-Barre City Councilman Bill Barrett is one such public servant. Barrett didn’t attend the council’s last meeting and for some reason couldn’t make the next regularly-scheduled one, so he asked that it be changed because he didn’t want to miss two in a row.

And for you skeptics out there, it’s not necessarily because a third vote is needed to appoint former city human resources director Christine Jensen to the city Planning Commission. Because Barrett wasn’t at the last council meeting, her appointment ended in a tie vote. He likely was immediately given his marching orders.

Now we don’t know for sure if that’s the reason Barrett is anxious to attend tonight’s meeting at 5 p.m., which was upped from March 29 . If 5 p.m. is inconvenient because you’re not home from work yet or it’s dinner time, that’s just too bad. You need to understand that Barrett’s presence is more important than yours. There’s work to be done.

Barrett told The Times Leader that his request to change the meeting had nothing to do with Jensen’s nomination to the Planning Commission. And he was careful not to tip his hand on whether he’ll vote for Jensen. He did praise her, though, as being ”very intelligent,” and having extensive knowledge of the city. Then, keeping us all in suspense, added, ”I’ll leave it at that until Thursday.”

Jensen, you may remember, was responsible for Mayor Tom Leighton taking all the heat last summer when his daughter won the coveted $10-per-hour internship in the city police department. Jensen recommended her while the mayor simply signed the executive order. Leighton was unfairly blamed for having something to do with his daughter’s appointment. He is the mayor, after all, and how would that have looked had he overridden his human resources director, who really believed the mayor’s daughter was the best person for the job?

Last week, city administrator Drew Mc -Laugh – in told TL Staff Writer Bill O’Boyle to beat it when he asked him if the commission appointment would even be on the next meeting agenda.

Actually, he said something like that’s for me to know and for you to find out. “The city council agenda will be public. You’ll have to consult that regarding the Planning Commission appointment.”

Mayor Leighton issued a statement this week saying Jensen will be a credit to the planning commission.

Wait, we thought the council didn’t vote yet. The mayor apparently knows something the rest of us don’t – like it’s a done deal.

- Betty Roccograndi

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

National

Mar 202012

Fresh off her skiing trip to Aspen with her jet-setting mother, First Lady Michelle Obama, 13-year-old Malia Obama is spending spring break in Mexico, accompanied by a reported 25 Secret Service agents.

Wait a minute, isn’t spring break a time for college students to get away and let loose before finishing their grueling semesters?

But, shhhh, we’re not supposed to know about this latest Obama indulgence.

TheBlaze.com reported that it was included on several websites but that the article began to mysteriously disappear, including at www.freerepublic.com, which now says, “This thread has been pulled.”

The White House later admitted it asked news agencies to pull the stories “in order to protect the privacy and protection of these girls.” That makes perfect sense.

But likely there were other reasons as well. Maybe the Obamas simply don’t want anyone to know that with gasoline prices slowly inching toward $5 a gallon, family members are once again jetting across the country on the public’s dime. Michelle Obama was in New York City yesterday yukking it up on David Letterman’s show. The Duchess of DC had her own Secret Service entourage in tow.

Or maybe the Obamas simply don’t think, with an election around the corner, the public would appreciate yet again another pompous example of Do As I Say, Not As I Do.

Malia and 12 of her BFFs are taking in the sites in Oaxaca, a historic city a New York Times travel section says is “as cosmopolitan as it is architecturally stunning.” But at home, the Department of State has warned U.S. citizens against traveling to Mexico because ”crime and violence are serious problems throughout the country.”

Clearly one would need the protection of 25 Secret Service agents before even thinking about going there.

A police official told “The Gazette,” an Agence France-Presse newspaper, “We are here to block access to the hotel by other people and escort the vehicles that are carrying the visitors to our tourism sites. He spoke on condition of anonymity, probably out of fear U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder would have him extradited and charged with shooting off his big, fat mouth.

First Daughter Malia’s Mexican get-away marks the 17th vacation members of the Obama family have taken in the past three years and three months.

The family spent the holidays in Hawaii. For President’s Day, Michelle and her daughters hit the slopes in ritzy Aspen. Spring break lured Malia to Mexico. Wherever will they go for Easter? Or for Arbor Day?

Cinco de Mayo is around the corner. Perhaps the Obamas will ignore the State Department’s warning to the rest of us, round up the Secret Service, gas up Air Force One and head to Cancun.

- Betty Roccograndi

Looks Shouldn’t Matter When Voting. Purchasing Beer Is Another Story

Local, National

Mar 192012

“Election fraud is a myth,” declared state Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski.

Right, and the tooth fairy lives on.

With all the fuss over requiring citizens to provide a photo ID before voting, one would think they were being asked to put $1,000 in escrow for the privilege.

The protests range from this will discriminate against Hispanics (who want to vote for Barack Obama) to senior citizens being forced to sit home on election day. And, of course, illegals, and they are here, Mr. Pashinski, will be stopped from voting for a President of the United States. Where’s the fairness in that?

Last Wednesday, Pennsylvania House members narrowly passed a law requiring anyone wishing to vote to provide a photo ID. The mean-spirited Republicans voted for it, except for three, who sided with the compassionate, caring Democrats.

“It’s a big government restriction in search of a problem,” Pashinski also said. Just like failed attempts to curb food stamp fraud in the state. That’s apparently also not a problem. So it must be another myth that many undeserving men and women are milking the system. Our own president encourages it but doesn’t like it when Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich aptly calls him the Food Stamp President.

The bill’s sponsor Rep. Daryl Metcalfe said that, “Currently in Pennsylvania it is impossible to board a commercial airplane, cash a paycheck, operate a motor vehicle or even purchase prescription eyeglasses without displaying a valid photo ID.

Isn’t that the truth. The bill requires Penn/DOT to provide free IDs, according to The Times Leader’s article last Thursday. College and military IDs as well as those issued from long-term care facilities will be accepted.

So why aren’t the critics screaming that it’s an invasion of privacy to make us show a photo ID before boarding a plane? And why should we drivers have to submit to photos on our licenses, especially when most of us never take a good picture, and we’re stuck with them for four years?

I’d love to know if you need a photo ID to collect welfare or get food stamps.

Despite the outcry by the ACLU and other liberal groups, no one is making it impossible for anyone wishing to vote to do so. Have we become that lazy that getting a photo ID is such a burden?

But as we speak, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder is likely drawing up the paperwork to strike down our new law just as he did the one recently passed in Texas. Texas also believes that to vote in this country you need to prove that you are a citizen of this country.

THAT’S WHAT YOU THINK, Holder, the country’s chief law enforcement officer, declared. Keep in mind, Holder is the same Attorney General who refused to prosecute when a Black Panthers thug stood outside a polling place a few years back and was accused of intimidating white voters. A top-ranking Department of Justice official resigned in protest over this blatant case of reverse discrimination.

So watch for Holder and his minions to impose their will on our state by telling us we can still require a photo ID at the Wilkes-Barre-Scranton International Airport or when applying for a driver’s license in PA or if we want to buy a six-pack at Wegman’s. But, let’s be clear; you will not ask a voter for proof that he’s an American citizen. Got it?

Yeah, we get it alright. A critical election is coming up, and Obama needs all the minorities, welfare recipients and others dependent on government to keep him in office.

If some illegal aliens, or deceased people or Mickey Mouse, slip through the cracks at the polling booths, so be it.

Go out and vote. The present Department of Justice doesn’t care what you look like or even who you are.

- Betty Roccograndi

George Clooney For Secretary Of State

National, PB-Ometer

Mar 182012

Actor George Clooney visited the White House last week to offer his expertise on the grave situation in Sudan, where people are starving.

And because he’s George Clooney, he got right into the Oval Office to meet with President Barack Obama. The Obamas are not ones to turn down visits by celebrities.

Clooney’s efforts are noble, of course, but don’t we already have a Secretary of State, whose job it is to monitor events around the globe? We also have a Senate Foreign Relations Committee. But Clooney used his celebrity power to urge Obama to try and get ”Chinese President Hu Jintao to join international efforts to bring peace to the ravaged region,” the Associated Press reported.

Does Obama really need the counsel of a Hollywood actor? Clooney told the throng of reporters, who naturally trailed him, that he understands that this is “a very complicated time in the world” with lots of problems competing for attention. But Sudan, and not Iran, is the Hollywood actor’s pet cause, so he got the president’s ear because he is George Clooney.

And for his efforts, Clooney got an invite to the state dinner that night for British Prime Minister David Cameron, along with the millionaires the president scorns except when they raise millions of dollars for his re-election campaign. No, Clooney’s not a British actor, but he is George Clooney. And believe it or not, he sat at the head table, right next to star-struck First Lady Michelle Obama.

Now, let’s talk about actor Tom Hanks. Hanks, another Obama cheerleader, has narrated a Hollywood-made 17-minute video, called, “The Road We’ve Traveled.” You really need to see it so you, like I, will be compelled to boycott any movie Tom Hanks appears in.

With American flags blowing gently in the wind, Hanks says that, ”Not since the days of Franklin Roosevelt had so much fallen on the shoulders of one president.” Unlike George W. Bush’s shoulders when Islamic terrorists hijacked jets and struck our homeland shortly after he was sworn into office. But that was nothing compared to what lay in store for Obama.

A solemn Hanks, who gives a better performance here than he did in Forrest Gump, goes on to ask, “Do we remember what we as a country had been through?” (before Obama flew in from Krypton to save the day). Hanks was referring to the economic crisis that Obama advisor David Axelrod said was “beyond anything anybody had imagined.” And here we thought that was 9/11. Axelrod also said all he could think about in that moment was, “Could we get a recount?” A little comic relief.

The film then zeroes in on a troubled new president, looking woeful at the challenges that lay ahead. Oh, what will I do to save my beloved country? he seemed to be thinking. The weight of the world was clearly on his shoulders. The film doesn’t go on to say that under Obama, the deficit he so fretted over would increase by $1 trillion a year. But this is Hollywood. Tinseltown can edit out or dramatize whatever it likes. Keep reading.

No matter how dire the situation, our heroic new president “when he faced his country which looked to him for answers, he would not dwell in blame.” Hanks tells us. Tell that to George W. Bush – after you stop laughing and/or gagging. Obama has done nothing but blame his predecessor for the country’s continued woes. The buck stops with Bush.

Another nail-biting moment in the must-see film is when Obama, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden and others sat watching the screen intently and nervously as our Navy Seals moved in for the kill to capture Osama bin Laden. Obama okayed the request to do so, and we’re expected to believe that few would have taken this bold risk.

Hanks tells us that reports that bin Laden was in that compound “were promising but inconclusive.” But Obama made the tough call. “It was the ultimate test of leadership,” Forrest Gump said admiringly.

We knew that footage of Obama and Hillary Clinton, hand pressed nervously to her mouth, would come in handy around election time.

Tom Hanks hasn’t made any good movies lately, so if Obama does win re-election, he should really think about making the Hollywood flak his press secretary.

George Clooney and Tom Hanks at the White House.

Just think of all the parties. Just think of all the whitewash.

“The Road We’ve Traveled.” Do they give out Academy Awards for propaganda and Pure Bunkum?

- Betty Roccograndi

A Good Read – Especially If You’re Job Hunting

Local, PB-Ometer

Mar 162012

Who doesn’t start their day without first reading Wilkes-Barre City’s website?

It’s such a treasure trove of important information, not to mention a great read, that anyone would be crazy not to click onto it regularly, especially if they’re looking for a city job. The city plans to hire a police department secretary and someone for parking enforcement, positions which pay $26,000 and $26,110, respectively.

But you wouldn’t know it if you don’t have a computer or, shame on you, don’t regularly check the city’s website, because that’s where the job openings are posted.

The city is trying to save ”thousands of dollars in advertising” by not placing ads for some jobs in the local newspapers, city Mayor Tom Leighton told The Times Leader.

Wow, who knew help wanted ads went up so much in price, but good for the city for trying to save money. Leighton added that most job seekers get their information these days from their smartphones, online or from Internet access at public places like libraries.

Anyway, for those of you who rely on the newspaper, you’d better act fast if you’re interested in one of those two city jobs. The website posted them on Wednesday and the deadline for submitting an application is Monday.

But at least once you find the website, www.wilkes-barre.pa.us, the city makes it easy to find the job openings, although you have to dig a little. They’re not on the website’s front page. That’s where you’ll find a photo of a smiling Mayor Leighton, welcoming visitors to explore the city’s latest developments and updates, all in the interest of keeping “the public well-informed about their city government.”

It’s always fun to start off the day with a little chuckle.

So where are those job openings? Under Wilkes-Barre News? Nope, not there. City Government? Afraid not. I know, let’s try Police. Sorry.

They must be under Human Resources, and what kid, unless he’s a knucklehead, wouldn’t know that if you want a job in the police department, that’s where you go to check for any openings?

Bingo! They’re both there. And we learned the successful applicants will only have to work 37 1/2 hours a week, but with a paid hour off for lunch, the work week is only 32 1/2 hours. Doesn’t anyone work a 40-hour week anymore? Why, of course they do, but only in the private sector.

So, good luck, candidates. We hope PureBunkum helped you cut to the chase in finding those city job openings because time is of the essence. You have until Monday, and you have no one but yourself to blame for not reading the city’s website.

But don’t fret if you’re pressed for time because if the city is unsuccessful in finding a suitable applicant for either position, it may still run a newspaper ad, Mayor Leighton said.

“We will evaluate whether or not a print ad is warranted once the application period ends, he told the newspaper.

That’s highly unlikely though. After placing an ad for six days under Human Resources on the city’s website, we’re optimistic the city won’t have to look any further.

And now the city can say it did advertise these jobs and not get into trouble like last year when the mayor’s daughter was hired for a $10-an hour internship, a position which was not advertised.

- Betty Roccograndi

Every Lawyer’s Dream – A Blank Check

Local, PB-Ometer

Mar 152012

A few months ago, the Wilkes-Barre Area School District ‘s business manager informed the superintendent that the district’s legal bills were on the rise. They had been since 2009. Apparently, the delayed reaction finally kicked in after a few years.

“Lenny came over and said we were way over budget,” Superintendent Jeff Namey told The Times Leader.

To fully appreciate this absurdity, you need to know that district solicitor Tony Lupas’s legal bills skyrocketed from $55,979 in 2008 to $99,750 in 2009, then from $99,750 to $171,507 in 2010, then from $171,507 to $328,956 in 2011, The TL reported today.

Yet, only six to eight months ago did Lenny inform Namey that, ”we were way over budget.”

Whatever the district is paying its business manager, Leonard Przywara, it’s way too much.

It get’s better.

After Namey, who’s expected to know what’s going on in his school district, was tipped off that Lupas’ legal bills were out in left field, he said he and Lenny “took it to the board.”

And what did the board, which is expected to have at least a cursory grasp of district expenditures, do? Why it did what any board would do after learning its solicitor’s bills were growing by leaps and bounds.

“The board was coming up with ways to address the issue. Originally, they were going to put a cap on legal spending,” Namey told Times Leader Staff Writer Mark Guydish, who deserves a lot of credit if he was able to get through this interview without succumbing to fits of laughter.

Unfortunately the board could not set this cap because there was legal work to be done. So, instead, the school directors continued to give Lupas a blank check, because the district was “aggressively attacking some of the tax appeals where we believe we are losing so much money,” Namey said. Like the $400,000 the board recently forgave in back taxes owed to the district from the former Old River Road Bakery in Wilkes-Barre?

So since the school board couldn’t (or wouldn’t) set a cap to control Lupas’ legal fees, what do you think it did instead? I suggest you set down whatever you’re drinking at the moment.

The board adopted a policy in which Lupas or assistant solicitor Ray Wendolowski would review all contracts from that point on.

And that’s how the rocket scientists on the WBA School Board curb spending. They authorize more work for its high-priced lawyer. But that begs the question. If the board needed a formal policy for its lawyer to review contracts, had there previously been no reviews, not even for teacher contracts?

That is very possible because Namey and Przywara also confirmed for Guydish that Lupas and Wendolowski have been working without contracts.

Duh, why do we need a contract? Lupas was our lawyer for Pete’s sake. And lawyers are honest. If Tony said it took him 5 1/2 hours to travel to Scranton and back, then it did.

“They’ve never had contracts as long as I’ve been here,” the district’s business manager actually said. So why rock the boat when it was so much easier to just give two lawyers carte blanche to bill the district with no questions asked?

Responding to Lupas’ legal fees more than tripling from 2009 to 2011, Namey said, “I want to make clear, I’m not in any way justifying that huge an increase.”

Words actually escape me here. Draw your own conclusion, readers.

- Betty Roccograndi

“Litigation et al.” That’ll Be $2,000

Local

Mar 142012

It sure appears that Attorney Anthony J. Lupas Jr. used the Wilkes-Barre Area School District as his personal cash cow.

And we’re learning, much to our disgust, that he did so because impotent school district officials did nothing to stop him.

Be sure, that if Lupas got away with charging 5.5 hours to travel to Scranton and back, which The Times Leader learned, he more than likely scalped taxpayers on other occasions as well during his long tenure as this school district’s solicitor.

Lupas’ bills routinely did not include dates or specifiy just what services he provided, Times Leader Staff Writer Mark Guydish reported today. One read, “Litigation, et al. subsequent to depositions taken in Scranton…”

Another stated ”day set aside for depositions, which was necessary to reschedule.” Why would that bill raise any questions or protests? Lupas set aside the day for nothing. As any lawyer worth his salt would say, time is money.

But at least district Superintendent Jeff Namey said he and Business Manager Leonard Przywara did take notice that legal bills seemed to be spiraling a little out of control.

“All legal services went over budget, not just for Tony Lupas but for Ray Wendolowski and for the attorney we use to handle special education cases,” Namey told the TL. Hey, it happens.

The superintendent said he took his concerns to the board and that some efforts were made to curb the spending but that the district took on more legal challenges. He has got to be kidding.

Guydish reported on Tuesday that the district paid Lupas an astounding $328,956 in 2011. So what were “some” of the so-called efforts made to curb the spending? Did Namey or Przywara or the school board tell Lupas, Please, Tony, take it easy with the bills, will you? No? Okay, sorry we asked; it won’t happen again.

We’d also sure love to know what concerns Namey took to the board members and what their responses were.

It probably went something like this:

Namey: Just so you know, the district pays Attorney Lupas a retainer of $25,381, but his bills are topping $300,000.

Board: So.

Namey: Hey, it’s okay with me, too, but what if the papers find out?

Board: They won’t. He’s been doing it for years.

Now that Lupas is being investigated for operating a Ponzi scheme and allegedly swindling his unsuspecting and trusting clients out of their life savings, two board members said they would consider seeking a forensic audit, Guydish reported. TWO? and that they’ll only CONSIDER it?

This board should have immediately scheduled a special meeting after this disturbing news broke and unanimously call for an audit. But we’re talking about a school district that throughout the years has reined supreme when it comes to pay-to-play schemes, nepotism and, yes, corruption.

And it wouldn’t surprise us in the least if some school district officials fear Lupas, a politically-connected player from way back.

Yesterday, a man who called Steve Corbett’s WILK radio talk show said if he doesn’t get a satisfactory explanation why the Wilkes-Barre Area School District paid its solicitor $328,956, he will not pay one more dime in school district taxes.

Maybe we should all think about that. We scrape and sacrifice to pay our ever increasing property taxes and for what? So this incompetent school board and administration can squander our hard-earned money?

We can’t trust them with it, and Attorney Tony Lupas’ bills are just the latest example of why we can’t.

- Betty Roccograndi

Beware Of Part-Time Solicitors Raking In Full-Time Salaries

Local

Mar 132012

Attorney Anthony J. Lupas Jr. was the long-time legal counsel for three of this area’s most corrupt school boards, so why should anyone be shocked that he may have ripped off close friends?

One could argue he also ripped off Wilkes-Barre Area School District taxpayers. $328,956 in legal fees for 2011 alone? For crying out loud, a solicitor is supposed to be a part-time position. Lupas was also the solicitor for another pure-as-the-driven snow school, the Wilkes-Barre Area Career and Technical Center. We’re confident our local newspapers will tally his “part-time” fees for services there.

I had dealings with Lupas when he was the solicitor for the LIU 18. He deftly guided the board in stonewalling my efforts at every turn as Times Leader colleague Mary Ellen Alu and I delved into stacks of restaurant and travel bills which revealed that LIU board members and administrators enjoyed the finer things in life as long as taxpayers were picking up the tabs.

Now Lupas has been exposed as a local Bernie Madoff, concocting a Ponzi scheme to dupe investors out of their life’s savings.

Call me a skeptic, but I’m not 100-percent convinced that Lupas’ son, county Judge David Lupas, threw his devoted father under the bus. In a carefully-crafted statement, Judge Lupas said he became aware of “circumstances” involving his father and reported him. Then he announced he’d have nothing more to say on the matter. I recall that Tony Lupas did everything in his power to make sure his son became a judge.

So what happened? Did this son, finding himself in a precarious position, really turn on his father? Or did the two, perhaps, agree to distance the judge from Dad, who is accused of bilking trusting, elderly friends and associates out of millions of dollars? Or maybe Judge Lupas really was in the dark. We’re sure to find out.

For now, let’s get back to the ostriches in the Wilkes-Barre Area School District. No one there found it odd that their solicitor, who was retained at $25,381 a year, charged the district $328,956 last year, as The Times Leader reported?

Just what major lawsuit was that school district embroiled in last year?

School Director Christine Katsock did question why the district was budgeting $425,00 for legal services this year and made a motion to advertise for a new solicitor. Incredibly, no one backed her, the TL reported. Great question. How about it, Superintendent Jeff Namey? Was there some trouble on the horizon that prompted you and your administration to budget that much money for legal services?

Then again, this district has money to burn. It recently did the bidding of city Mayor Tom Leighton and forgave more than $400,000 in back taxes owed on the former Old River Road Bakery.

If this school district raises taxes this year, we should all revolt.

School Board President Maryanne Toole said no one is more surprised than she at the unfolding Lupas scandal. “We were just crawling out of the hole from a few years ago,” she told TL Staff Writer Mark Guydish. ”And now this.” Then she passed the buck.

Toole said the budget and finance committee chairperson is supposed to review bills before payment is approved but said maybe committee chairpeople don’t know what to look for. Robert Corcoran is the current chairperson. Previously it was Katsock.

Maybe the chairman could begin by reading ”Ripoffs for Dummies” to understand that paying a part-time district solicitor $328,956 in one year is a little over the top. Or they could pick up a copy of another Dummies book, “How To Know When You’re Being Scalped.”

Or maybe, like county Judge Tina Polachek Gartley, Corcoran, Katsock, Namey and the rest of the “overseers” of public money, simply trust lawyers to be honest with their bills and, relying on that skewed logic, feel no need to review them before sending them off for payment.

Could we still be at the tip of the iceberg stage regarding this area’s corruption tsunami? It would not be surprising because for far too long savvy, money-hungry elected and appointed public officials have been taking advantage of incompetent and negligent colleagues entrusted with minding the store.

That is one lethal partnership.

- Betty Roccograndi

Like Beauty, Misogyny Is In The Eye Of The Beholder

National

Mar 122012

President Barack Obama took the unusual step of calling a college student, saying he wants his daughters Sasha and Malia to never be afraid to speak up even if it means being insulted.

Georgetown University law student Sandra Fluke spoke up alright, demanding free birth control pills because she and her friends are going broke paying for their own protected sex. That is so unfair.

Ignore that part, Sasha and Malia. Daddy surely isn’t condoning sleeping around when you go to college. Or maybe he doesn’t have a problem with it, who knows?

But, girls, look up to Sandra because she supports Daddy’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which the rest of the country scorns as ObamaCare. Sandra is apparently a role model for the president’s daughters now because she praised his break-the-bank bill before members of Congress.

I may even invite her and one of her boyfriends to spend a night in the Lincoln bedroom. Maybe she’ll agree to read you a bedtime story before hopping into bed with her boyfriend.

Ever since Rush Limbaugh compared Fluke to a slut and a prostitute for expecting taxpayers to support her recreational sex through free contraceptives, the king of radio talk show has lost advertisers and has become the poster boy for misogyny.

Not so with HBO television hack Bill Maher, who called former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin the “c” word and other vulgar terms. Obama didn’t call her in order to teach his young daughters to stand tall in the face of harsh attacks. And Obama actually giggled when union tough guy Jimmy Hoffa Jr. suggested taking out tea party members.

And if that’s not enough hypocrisy for you, Obama has no plans on returning the $1 million Bill Maher donated to a Super PAC committee to re-elect him.

Girls, if someone wants to give you lots of money, even if he demeans a woman who also happens to be a governor, you just keep it if it helps the cause. Bill Maher is just a comedian whereas Rush Limbaugh is a filthy pig.

And now, attention-grabbing ambulance chaser Gloria Allred has called for Palm Beach law enforcement officials to charge Limbaugh with a crime. The crime, she said, is based on an obscure 1883 law, apparently still on the books, that makes it a misdemeanor to question a woman’s chastity. Yeah, you heard right. We’re supposed to forget that Sandra Fluke told not only members of Congress but also now the world that she’s no more chaste than Paris Hilton.

And speaking of obscurity, cable news commentator Chris Matthews, who admitted previously to getting a thrill up his leg after hearing Obama speak, apparently got an even bigger one when the president called Fluke. Matthews proclaimed the call heard around the country was as significant as the one then Sen. John Fitzgerald Kennedy had made to Coretta King when her husband, MLK, was hauled away in shackles. Bill Maher isn’t the only comedian hosting a news show.

Anyway, what we’re learning from all of this is that misogyny will be overlooked if the price is right, and that President Obama has no problem sending mixed messages to his impressionable daughters when it suits his purpose,

- Betty Roccograndi

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Could Someone Explain How An Hispanic Killing A Black Man Is Racial Profiling?

We Want Our Fees, But Thanks Again For Forgiving Our Back Taxes

Go Ahead. Make His Day.

Life, Liberty And The Pursuit of Power

PureBunkum’s Gems Of The Month

Dedication or Orchestration?

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

Looks Shouldn’t Matter When Voting. Purchasing Beer Is Another Story

George Clooney For Secretary Of State

A Good Read – Especially If You’re Job Hunting

Every Lawyer’s Dream – A Blank Check

“Litigation et al.” That’ll Be $2,000

Beware Of Part-Time Solicitors Raking In Full-Time Salaries

Like Beauty, Misogyny Is In The Eye Of The Beholder

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