Public employees

On our recent trip to California we encountered a number of state and federal employees.  We arrived at Lincoln’s home in Springfield just before closing, but we found the National Park Service guides to be welcoming and patient.  We visited the Empire State Mine in Grass Valley, where the staff was helpful, and the volunteer docent was one of the best guides I have ever encountered.

We also had lunch with our daughter and three of her friends who work at the Far Northern Regional Center in Chico  They handle clients who have mental or physical problems and need assistance.  We had lunch on a Friday--it was a furlough day that the employees must take once a month because the state has run out of money. 

None of the four women complained about the forced day off.  What they discussed was the difficulty of working with increased case loads and the problems referring clients who needed help to agencies that have cut back.  They were frustrated with their jobs not because they had more work, but because they were seeing clients who weren’t getting needed assistance.  

Public workers--teachers, liquor store operators, EPA employees, road crews--are under attack everywhere.  Defend them.  The next time someone starts in on how the road crew stands around, note that it might not be too easy working with hot tar on summer day.  When people attack teachers, mention some of the good ones you had.  Change public perception. 

In the interests of full disclosure, I was a public employee myself.  I taught at various community colleges, at Hayward State and San Francisco State, and at San Jose State for 29 years.  When I moved back to Pennsylvania, I taught at LCCC and East Stroudsburg State.  I was always aware that my paycheck was from the taxpayers, and I always did my best to give them good value.  I am proud to have been a public employee.

The election for magistrate

I sent off a letter to the Times News tonight on the upcoming election for magistrate.  Just in case the letter is not printed, here it is.

     All the members of the judiciary in Pennsylvania, from local magistrates to the state supreme court, are selected in partisan elections.  Although many experts believe this system leads to all sorts of abuses, we seem to be stuck with it.

     In any case, candidates for judicial offices often try to project an aura of non-partisanship. They avoid party gatherings and overt partisan activities and often cross-file.

     It is with dismay, therefore, that I read that district magistrate candidate Kissner attended a rally sponsored by the Carbon County Republican Party to honor Rep. Lou Barletta.  Mr. Kissner won both the Republican and Democratic primaries, yet I have seen him at the Republican Party booth at the county fair, and he was hobnobbing with  Sen. Toomey’s staff last month.  Now he appears at a rally for a man who I believe owes his position to attacking minorities and representing the interests of Wall Street.

     I am a environmentalist, feminist, pro-labor union liberal Democrat.l  I wonder whether or not someone like me could get a fair hearing before a magistrate who is obviously following Republican ideology.  I don’t think so.

Are Democrats Doomed?

An on-line dating service called “OK Cupid” (no, I am not a subscriber; I read about it in the New Yorker) has looked at the data collected to determine how political opinions affect the choice of dating partners.

The findings were that Republicans have more in common with Republicans than Democrats have in common with Democrats.  This has led one researcher to conclude:  “The Democrats are doomed.”

My take on this is just the opposite.  I think Democrats will sleep with just about anybody.

Pep talk

Tonight a large group of activists from Summit Hill, Nesquehoning, Palmerton, Jim Thorpe, Lehighton, Albrightsville, Mahoning, Lake Harmony, and Towamensing met in Jim Thorpe to hear Mike Morrill, Executive Director of Keystone Progress, an on-line advocacy group.

Mr. Morrill explained that in a state where the Republican Party controls the executive branch, both houses of the legislative branch, and the state supreme court, we are seeing efforts to rig the presidential election by changes in the Electoral College and new requirements on voting.  We are witnessing efforts to break unions with “right to work for less” proposals.  We have energy companies given a license to pollute with Marcellus Shale drilling.  Efforts continue to privatize liquor stores and state parks.  School vouchers, which will divert up to a billion dollars from public schools, are advanced.  

Mr. Morrill then noted that these policy changes are in the works.  They have not yet been signed into law.  There is still time to oppose.  People left the meeting with determination.  We can fight this. 

Remember, knocked down four times, rising up five.

Working together

Towamensing and Lower Towamensing Township officials share equipment, workers, and a belief that the zoning regulations in the two townships need both updating and improvement.

Tonight representatives from the two townships met at the Towamensing Township municipal building with consultants from Hanover Engineering to develop a work schedule.  If all goes according to plan, the end product will be a zoning ordinance as well as a Subdivision and Land Use ordinance for each township.

The Towamensing representatives include two supervisors and three planning commission members, one of whom is also the zoning officer.  The Lower Towamensing representatives include three planning commissioners, the zoning officer, and a local businesswoman.  The gender breakdown is 50/50, unusual in a Pennsylvania local government body.

The hard work on storm water runoff, stream buffers, development rights, and industrial zones is yet to come.  Nevertheless, from what I observed at the first meeting, these are people who want to solve problems.  I think this process will succeed.  

The Holocaust Conference in Morocco

Usually what I do falls under the rubric of “content aggregator.”  I look for stuff to write about, and I share it with my readers.  Occasionally, like tomorrow when I report on the Lower Towamensing and Towamensing joint planning effort, I am a “content provider,” reporting original news.  

The reason we need content aggregators is because in a world of information overload, we may miss some important developments.  Perhaps the Holocaust Conference was played up on NBC or Fox, but I doubt it.  In the New York Times the item appeared in yesterday’s issue on page 19, not exactly front page.

The story:  A Moroccan college student named Elmehdi Boudra became interested in the history of Moroccan Jews.  At Al Akhawayn University he and other students formed a club to study Morocco’s Jewish heritage and history. A conference was organized with scholarly presentations, museum visits, and kosher food.  The students learned that the King of Morocco, Mohammed V, refused to cooperate with the Vichy French authorities who tried to deport the country’s Jews.  

Mr. Boudra wrote last week:  “What upsets me about this subject is some people’s claim that the Holocaust never took place.  It is simply absurd to hear such claims in the light of the historical evidence the world has today.”

To read more go to <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/24/us/distinctive-mission-for-muslims-conference-remembering-the-holocaust.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=Remembering%20the%20Holocaust&st=cse>.

Solyndra

In the second “Red Scare” in the Fifties, Senator Joe McCarthy often badgered witnesses who, on the advice of their attorneys, “took the Fifth” at Congressional hearings.  It was good advice.  Any statements that would later found to be less than 100% accurate were subject to perjury convictions; the smart legal strategy was not to answer anything.

McCarthy, of course, saw this as evidence of guilt.  If the witnesses weren’t guilty, why not answer?  I thought of McCarthy when the executives from Solyndra invoked the Fifth Amendment at a House hearing yesterday.  The interrogators were not interested in solar panels or saving federal money.  They were interested in attacking the Obama administration that made a $535 million guaranteed loan to Solyndra, which has now filed for bankruptcy.

Why was the loan made?  it was an attempt to invigorate an American company to compete successfully with the Chinese.  Over half the solar panels in the world are now made in China, and the Chinese share of the market grows every year.  When we put solar panels on our shed roof next year, they will no doubt be made in China, not Fremont, California, where Solyndra was located.   

China has an industrial policy.  The government invests in high tech industries and innovative technologies.  We also have an industrial policy, supported by the Republican Party.  That policy is to ship industries and jobs to China.  

Tomorrow:  Moroccan college students hold a conference on the Holocaust

We're back

Long day, long drive.  We passed two bad wrecks on I-80 West and drove through torrential downpours.  Nutrition expert Michael Pollen says you should never purchase your food at the same place you buy gas for your car, but that is what we did today.

It seems that every time we have driven across I-80 in Pennsylvania, approximately half of the road is being fixed.  What is with that?  I’m blaming Corbett.

Now we have two weeks of mail to read and two weeks of grass to mow.  The house was in great shape, and the goats and chickens are doing fine thanks to Marguerite and Drew, our house sitters.  It was a fun trip, but it good to be back in Carbon County.  

Trifecta

We are in northwest Indiana.  Today on I-80 we passed the birthplaces of Herbert Hoover, John Wayne, and Ronald Reagan.  We just didn't have time to stop.  Darn.

Here we go again

Congressional Republicans are insisting that money to rebuild communities hit by Hurricane Irene and earlier disasters like the tornadoes in Joplin and Tuscaloosa be offset by even further cuts to Federal spending.    Democrats believe that the disaster money should be automatically restored as has been done by majorities of both parties in the past.  There are only ten days to resolve the issue and restore the funding or the Federal Government will be shut down.  Haven’t we been here before?  Republicans are holding us hostage again.

Roy and I are in Omaha, Nebraska tonight.  Omaha spent $15 million fighting floods on the Missouri River last year.  The $15 million in sandbagging and levee strengthening saved FEMA a billion dollars in claims, according to the Omaha mayor.  They haven’t been reimbursed, and they won’t be reimbursed until this issue is resolved.  How about instead of bickering over where the Federal Government will get the money, why don’t we just recognize that the citizens of Omaha saved the Federal Government  a Billion and now, we should pitch in to help out the citizens of Omaha and other communities hit by disasters.  For pity’s sake---let’s help out these people and quit politicking about the source of the money.

Guest posting by Linda.

Class warfare

We put up a poster at our booth at the “Yaller Dog Democrats” booth at the Redneck Festival in Weissport that said, “There’s class warfare and our class ain’t winning.”  

I saw in the Salt Lake Tribune this morning that the Republicans were calling Obama’s plan “class warfare.”  All the Republicans (and Fox “News”) will now make that claim over and over.  

We do have class warfare.  It is against the middle class, union members, people who have no health insurance, teachers, workers who lack papers, poor women, poor children. 

Who is winning this war?  Check out the compensation paid to company executives.  Look at the breaks oil companies get.  Think about the way elections can be bought in this country.  Look at foreclosures, and layoffs, and give-backs, and unemployment.  It’s time we fight back.

In darkest America

We left California this morning and drove through northern Nevada on I-80.  This is an area where the Democratic candidate for the recent special congressional election received approximately 20% of the vote.  

We crossed into Utah late this afternoon.  This  is the state that is funding Romney and Huntsman.  

Tomorrow we will probably get to Wyoming, the most Republican of the 50 states.  Then it is on to Nebraska.  

Get me out of here.

California Dreaming

We spent the evening with our nephew Clint.  Clint has 21 acres, and he raises pot.  He has a prescription for it.  In California you are allowed to grow up to six plants for medicinal purposes.  You are also allowed to grow six plants for up the five friends who also have prescriptions for medicinal marijuana, so Clint is growing 36 plants.

He showed us a picture of his crop on his cell phone.  I wish my tomato plants were just half that big.  From what Clint was telling us, it is relatively easy to get a prescription.

We're heading back to Pennsylvania tomorrow, but first I have to stop at the local clinic.

Ignoring the news

Today we visited Marysvillle.  We had a great Mexican lunch (chile relleños for me) at the Casa Carlos, were given a private tour of a 19th century Chinese temple (still used for religious purposes), and watched the salmon leap on their run up the Feather River.  

I know bad stuff is happening.  The New York Times is available in Chico, so I know about the Tea Party misleading school children about the Constitution.  I know about opposition to Obama’s jobs plan among Democratic Senators.  I am aware of that the issue of Palestine statehood will be a disaster for the U.S. in the Middle East.  I read about how Obama’s approval rating is in the tank.  I’m ignoring all of it. 

Tomorrow we’ll be touring the Empire Gold Mine in Grass Valley. 

Sen. Casey and the jobs bill

President Obama’s jobs bill is just what liberals like me have been clamoring for.  It will put people to work, end tax certain undeserving tax breaks, hire teachers, and help rebuild the nation’s roads and bridges.  It contains various components, and Republicans would like to pick it apart.  If it is split into pieces, we will see Congress attack regulations and federal spending and oppose ending tax loopholes.

Obama’s plan, if passed and implemented, could create between 1.3 and 1.9 million jobs.  This is why we elect Democrats.  

So what does Pennsylvania’s Senator Casey want to do?  He supports splitting Obama’s bill.  He thinks the bill is too big.  I’m pretty sure he thinks compromise and a go-slow approach will help him in 2012.  It won’t.  It will make Democrats angry and will not garner him Republican votes.  

Voters admire political leaders who stand for something.  Come on, Senator Casey.  Man up.

A battle over parking

This morning I saw a headline about Chico State University students protesting a policy on parking.  I just assumed that, like most college students, they were asking for more parking close to campus.  Then I read the article.  They were demanding that the University abandon plans to build a new parking garage.  They also wanted the University to stop issuing parking permits to any student who lived within a mile of campus--those students could walk or bike to class.

Sometimes I really really miss California.

Governor Brown

I’ve worked on many campaigns for many candidates.  I admired and respected most of them, including McGovern, Udall, Gore, Kerry, and Obama.  Of all the candidates I supported, however, only one actually changed the way I thought about the world.  That was Jerry Brown.  During his first term as governor, he recommended we read Small is Beautiful.  His administration included an “Office of Appropriate Technology.”  Columnist Mike Royko called him Governor Moonbeam, but his ideas were decades ahead of the rest of the country.

Yesterday Brown, again Governor of California, delivered the keynote speech at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference in San Francisco.  He said,  “Just as President Roosevelt put people to work during the Great Depression building dams, roads, schools and other public facilities, we can now put millions of people to work preparing our communities for the effects of climate change and building renewable energy projects.”

Try to imagine the Governor of Texas, or Ohio, or Florida, or Wisconsin, or New Jersey, or Pennsylvania saying something like that.  

We crossed the border into California about 10:30 this morning.  After a day here I realize just how much I miss the politics of this state.  

I've been through the desert in a car with no name

It seems that just about any place you visit, community groups are getting run over by interests with large pots of money.  We stopped at a gas station/casino/motel on the Utah/Nevada border and learned that Las Vegas wants to divert a huge amount of water from the Snake Valley, home to Indians, ranchers, and wildlife.  A group of locals trying to retain their water and their way of life have organized to fight the diversion.

In the west water and water rights are a big issue.  I hope the Snake Valley residents win, but there is an old saying out here:  “Water flows downhill, except when it flows uphill toward money.”

Rocky Mountain High

We are in Grand Junction, Colorado.  We got off to a bad start this morning.  At breakfast in Atwood, Kansas, two guys at the next table were discussing voting and the need for photo ID to prevent cheating.  I wanted to join in to set them straight, but Linda said no.

Now I wish I had.  The most recent issue of the Rolling Stone Magazine has an article about the coordinated Republican plan to take millions of Democrats out of the voting pool.  I learned that Texas will not accept a student ID for voting purposes, but will accept a gun owner’s permit.

On the way here we drove through some small towns in Eastern Colorado, on Route 36--Joes, Cope, Anton.  They are bleak little towns with boarded-up stores, but they are hanging on.  All three have post offices slated for closure.

On a more positive note, Route 6 between Golden and Idaho Springs is truly spectacular, winding along Clear Creek through a narrow canyon.  Route 36 between Anton and Byers is also wonderful in a different way, with pastel fields and views that go on forever.  What a lovely country.  Why does it have so many nasty people?

Dateline: Oberlin, Kansas

I always wanted to write that.  

We started out with a visit to Mark Twain’s house, which was closed because it was 8:15 a.m.  We had breakfast at the VFW in Monroe, Missouri, the only breakfast place in town on a Sunday morning.  We learned from a guy at our table that President Obama had stopped by Peggy Sue’s cafe for a hamburger when he visited a factory in the area, and Peggy Sue still has his picture on her wall.

We drove through St. Joseph, Missouri, the starting place for the Pony Express.  Those were the days when the government was willing to subsidize mail delivery.

If you look at a map of Kansas, we drove across (well, almost across) the state on Route 36.  We saw two commemorations of 9/11, one in Marysville with bagpipes and a huge event at the courthouse square in Phillipsburg.

I really like Kansas, but all along Route 36 are billboards that say things like “Choose life” and “Abortion kills a beating heart.”  Thomas Frank discussed this in a book entitled “What’s the Matter with Kansas?”  He pointed out that cynical politicians divert poor people from their own interests by emphasizing social issues that will not be changed anyway.

Note:  I hardly ever reply to comments, but I like to get them, I always read them, and I welcome more.  I want to thank all of you who do comment.

Land of Lincoln

We left Columbus early this morning. Yesterday we traveled on a portion of the old National Highway, one of the first public improvement projects in the U.S.  It started in Cumberland, Maryland, and ran across the Appalachian Mountains.  From Columbus to Indianapolis we were on I-70, a public improvement program of monumental scale started during the Eisenhower administration.  

In Springfield we visited Lincoln’s house.  The National Park Service had a great visitors’ center, and the rangers were knowledgeable and courteous as usual.  It was during President Lincoln’s tenure that the Transcontinental Railroad was planned, land grant colleges were formed, the Homestead Act was passed, and, of course, the Union was preserved.

Just in case you forgot, Lincoln was the first Republican president.

I hope to report from somewhere in Kansas tomorrow night.

Report from Columbus

I bought a MacBook Air so I could post as I drove west.  So now I am in a Motel 6 just west of Columbus, Ohio, with this really neat little computer and nothing to say.  
   
All these states with anti-labor Republican governors--Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana.  It will be nice to cross over into Illinois.

One more reason I am not a Republican

At the Republican debate yesterday, Rickie Santorum, Michelle Bachman, and Ron Paul criticized Gov. Rick Perry for signing a bill to inoculate girls against cervical cancer.  Three Republican candidates for the presidency of the U.S. would rather see girls die of cancer than have them inoculated against a sexually transmitted virus.

John Stewart

I watch very little television.  I know lots of people say that, but I really watch very little.  Shows come and go, and I never see even one episode.  I do watch the Weather Channel (I have a thing for Stephanie Abrams) and an occasional quarter on Monday Night Football, but that’s about it.

On the other hand, I do read.  Today I read that John Stewart on the Comedy Central channel attacked cable tv for overemphasizing the “issue” of President Obama postponing his job speech by one day.  Stewart pointed out that approximately 20 questions at Obama’s press conference were about postponing the speech, and only nine were about the contents of the speech.  

Stewart is the only person I know who eviscerates Fox News, explains the silliness of television “news” in general, and has occasional in-depth interviews where real issues are discussed.  If he were on a little earlier, I’d watch him every day.  He is the one tv personality I fully endorse.  Well, one of two.

Admiring China

I am fully aware that China is not an admirable country in many ways.  The Chinese execute even more people that the U.S., dissidents disappear, and pollution and worker safety laws are often ignored.  On the other hand, China does have that one-child policy that not only helps China, but the entire globe.

Here's another admirable Chinese policy.  The government has decided that the Chinese are buying too many cars.  According to an article in the September 5 New York Times, Lu Shize, director of air pollution control at the Ministry of Environmental Protection, said "...for the auto industry to develop, we should not try to sell more, but to improve the units sold."

The Chinese government has decided to emphasize fuel savings and technical progress rather than boosting sales.

The W.P.A.

Today’s Morning Call featured an Allentown man who is trying to save Works Progress Administration projects in the area.  Two of the projects pictured--a stairway and an amphitheater--look good seventy years after they were built.  Across America we are still using literally thousands of W.P.A. projects.  The Wild Creek Reservoir, a half mile from my house, is one of them.

 What a concept--the government hired the unemployed to build things.  Today we’d call it “infrastructure,” but those men (almost all were men) made a lasting contribution to this country, did useful work, and received a weekly paycheck to spend.

A mantra of the Republicans is that government can’t create jobs.  Really?  Two weeks ago I stopped by the Political Science Department at East Stroudsburg University to see if they were hiring for the spring.  The department chair told me to forget it--almost every adjunct was laid off and nobody was hiring.  Elementary and high school teachers are being laid off.  Today I read the Post Office is proposing the elimination of 125,000 jobs.  We are trying the Republican idea of austerity, just like we did under Herbert Hoover.  The results are the same.

I don’t know what the President will be proposing in his jobs speech, but if it is something the House of Representatives must pass, he may as well cancel the speech.   

It was said of the Czars of Russia that they forgot nothing, and they learned nothing.  That’s a good description of the Republican members of Congress.  

Redneck Festival in Weissport

Linda and I set up a booth at the Redneck Festival in Weissport yesterday and today.  This is the fourth year for the festival.  At the first festival, in September 2008, we ran a booth entitled “Rednecks for Obama.”  That was the week McCain picked Palin for his running mate, and we did very well--we registered over 20 Democrats and had orders for yard signs from five counties.

We now set up as the “Yaller Dog Democrats.”  The phrase comes from an old Missouri expression that says”  “I’d rather vote for an old yaller dog than for a goddam Republican.” 

Incidentally,  the term “redneck” was used as a label for small farmers, often sharecroppers, whose necks were red from working in the fields all summer.  Historically, most were Democrats.

Anyway, in two days our volunteers registered two Democrats, two independents, and one Republican.  I think the Republican booth did much better--bigger space, more volunteers, more literature, and more enthusiasm.  Perhaps this is not true of all Democrats, but right now some of us are feeling discouraged.

By the way, the back of my neck is red, and that doesn’t come from any tanning salon.  I’m legit.

Sen. Toomey, the Lehigh River, and government regulations

My friend George attended the Toomey event at Penn’s Peak on Thursday.  After Toomey’s appearance, he sent the following email to Sen. Toomey:

During your opening comments, you related your family’s recent outing on the beautiful Lehigh River.  Unfortunately you are too young to remember the river when it was loaded with acid mine water, coal dirt, and sewage.  I do.  As a kid growing up in Lehighton I was never allowed to go into the water for my safety.  Thanks to the EPA that created many rules and regulations that you now want to gut, we now have this beautiful river.  

Without those regulations, the borough of Jim Thorpe would be a ghost town.  Instead we have a thriving economy with many local small business that support many families.  Imagine where we would be without the government regulations that cleaned up this river. 

I hope Sen. Toomey takes my friend’s email to heart.  I, too, can remember the first time my Dad and I rafted from Jim Thorpe to Lehighton.  Raw sewage was coming out of the outflow pipe at Jim Thorpe.  It was not a great experience.  Thank goodness for government regulations.  

Resenting the poor

Earlier this week the New York Times editorial, entitled “The New Resentment of the Poor,”  discussed the push by Republicans top make everyone pay income taxes, including our poorest citizens.

Republicans like Eric Cantor, the House Majority leader (and the same guy who opposes disaster relief unless it is off-set by spending cuts elsewhere) think that poor people who make less than $20,000 a year should pay some income tax.

I found this hard to believe.  Maybe some Republican congress members might think this, but surely the average American wouldn’t want to punish poor people in America.  Then I heard a person (I didn’t seem him, because I had my back turned) ask Sen. Toomey at his Penn’s Peak appearance, “Don’t you think every American should pay income tax?  If you pay tax, you have a stake in the system.”

I have two comments.  First, when Warren Buffet pays a lower tax rate then one of his office workers, that is ______.  (Insert past tense “f-word” at this point.)

Secondly, poor people are already paying taxes, including payroll taxes, sales taxes, and gasoline excise taxes.

This sentiment should not have surprised me.  It is always easier to attack those below us than to fight those above us.  

Toomey visits Carbon County

While we were waiting to get in, I became embroiled in an argument with a Tea Party guy about my age who was anti-union.  He said he was an American individual and didn’t need a union.  I asked him if he really thought an individual Wal-Mart worker could bargain with Wal-Mart.  He said if he did a good job, he would get a raise.  I asked him how he could be so old and have learned so little.  People around us stepped back and looked uncomfortable.  The older I get, the nastier I get.  The problem is that I am just too old to put up with such crap.

I wasn’t allowed to take my small poster into the event.  The poster said, “Class warfare is raging in America, and our class ain’t winning.”  The security guy, who was dressed all in black and looked like a typical bouncer, said he was working for Penn’s Peak.  I asked him if I could bring in a gun, and he said “No.”  So much for the Second Amendment.  

I spent the entire event in the last row with my chair turned around and my back toward Toomey.  I did hear Toomey attack the NLRB, the EPA, the Health Care Reform, and the  stimulus.  Here’s a guy who made his money in currency manipulation presenting himself as a big expert on the economy.  He doesn’t represent people like me.  He represents oil companies, banks, and corporations.  He is a right-wing ideologue, willing to put people’s health and lives at risk in service to his corporate bosses.