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Welcome to www.dante7.com. The personal web site of Dante Picciano and friends.
NO NEED TO TOLL INTERSTATE 81
Posted - January 02, 2008 Our highways and bridges are crumbling and badly in need of repair. Our governor and legislators claim that they don't have the money for the repairs and the only way to get the necessary money is to either increase the tax on gasoline or toll Interstate 80. They have decided to raise the money by tolling Interstate 80. Act 44 will allow the leasing of Interstate 80 to the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission for 50 years. In return, the commission will provide $83 billion to PennDOT for highway and bridge repairs. Recently, I wrote a letter to the editor detailing the folly of tolling I-80 (Lehighton Times-News, December 13, 2007, http://www.tnonline.com. I summarized the situation by saying that we do not have a funding crisis; we have a priorities crisis. In the letter, I listed the following examples of wasteful spending with our tax money: • $700 million on the Philadelphia Convention Center; Having found a new way to tax the people of Pennsylvania, our elected officials have floated a trial balloon suggesting the tolling of Interstate 81 as an additional tax on the people of Pennsylvania (Pottsville Republican & Herald, December 5, 2007, www.zwire.com. If we need to toll any of our highways in order to raise the money for the necessary repairs, and I do not believe that we do, then I would suggest that we toll the Schuylkill Expressway! At the same time that our legislators are unable to find any money for repair of our bridges and highways, they are thinking about giving away additional hundreds of millions of our tax money in the form of corporate welfare loans and grants. On December 12, 2007, the Pennsylvania Senate passed the $650 million Special Session Senate Bill 1 (Alternative Energy Investment Act). The bill now goes to the House of Representatives for approval. First, the legislation contains $250 million in new borrowing for which future generations will have to pay. Then the senators get down to the spending: • $210 million in loans and grants to help finance energy projects for businesses; Our legislators can't find any money for bridge and highway repair but they can find hundreds of millions of dollars for loans, grants and tax credits for highly profitable utilities and coal companies! Likewise, our legislators can't find any money for bridge and highway repair but they can find millions of dollars to replace sidewalks, many of which were in excellent condition! Likewise, our legislators can't find any money for bridge and highway repair but they can find millions of dollars to renovate an abandoned shoe factory into tax-free housing units! As I said above, we do not have a funding crisis; we have a priorities crisis. Our legislators should do what we sent them to Harrisburg to do. They should give priority to programs that benefit all Pennsylvanians such as bridge and highway repair and should stop giving priority to discretionary programs and programs that only benefit a few politically connected individuals. I hope that you remember the new taxes and wasteful spending of our elected officials the next time that they are up for re-election. John H. Schickram WHY POLITICAL ISSUES?
Posted - January 02, 2008 People have asked why we have been spending so much time on political issues. There is a two-part answer. First, we are concerned citizens and environmental issues are only part of our concerns, as are property tax reform, bridge and highway repair, local control, wasteful government spending such as corporate welfare programs and Keystone Opportunity Zones (KOZs), etc. All of these topics have been and will continue to be subjects of discussion on this web site. Second, our elected officials are responsible for passing the laws that have made it legal to spew toxic substances into our air and water. In other words, our elected officials are enablers for the polluters. How else could corporate polluters get away with dumping toxic wastes into unlined mine pits and calling it "beneficial use?" The polluters couldn't do what they do without the support and votes of our representatives. In return, our public officials receive campaign contributions from the polluters. A recent newspaper article shows the influence of our politicians on environmental concerns and the lack of concern for the people (December 8, 2007, Three leave GOP committee, www.zwire.com. Michael Cadau was a Republican candidate for state representative in the 123rd district in 2006. The article reported: Cadau made (Schuylkill) county environmental issues a top priority during his campaign, something he says party leaders frowned upon. "I had people in the party telling me to stop the environmental stuff," Cadau said. "They basically said ‘go away, Mike. We don't want you talking about this.'" We will continue to write about environmental and political issues and to expose the elected officials who are living off the fat of the land and doing nothing for us...and remember to use your power of the VOTE. HEATING OIL PRICES AND CARDBOARD CHECKS
Posted - January 6, 2008 We are particularly concerned about the destruction of our way of life and the lack of concern by our elected officials. The price of gasoline is hovering around $3.20 per gallon and the price of heating oil is up 30 per cent from last year. An average household will be spending $700 to $800 more this year to heat a home, based on 1,000 gallons of heating oil consumption per year. There is no way that supply and demand can explain this gouge. The more people spend for gasoline and heating oil, the less money they have to spend on anything else. People have less money to spend on food, medicine, health care, clothing, education, etc. We are becoming a third world nation. At the same time, our congressman, U.S. Representative Tim Holden, is lauded for bringing back some pork to Schuylkill County (County receives $620K, Pottsville Republican & Herald, December 22, 2007, www.zwire.com Last month, Rep. Holden presented the Schuylkill County Commissioners with three cardboard checks: • $400,000 in federal funding for the Schuylkill Transportation System (STS), First, Mr. Holden is returning our tax money to us and he is claiming that he has done something special for us. The truth is that he is simply trying to bribe us with our own money. The money was coming whether or not he was our representative and he seldom, if ever, has anything to do with getting the money. In addition, the number of cardboard checks always increases as Election Day nears. Is there any doubt that cardboards checks are just a tool for incumbent legislators to campaign for re-election? Second, Rep. Holden indicated that STS provides public transportation for county residents and that earmarked money has a bad reputation, but without it, transportation funding would be shoveled into bigger cities, like Philadelphia, while STS would be largely ignored. State Representative Tim Seip added that STS is an underrated asset in the county. Mr. Seip said, "We don't know exactly how much STS is saving us, but it's a lot." Really? I think Mr. Seip would have been correct if he had said, "We don't know how much STS is costing us, but it's a lot." Third, and most importantly, what has Mr. Holden done to help ensure reasonable prices for heating oil for all people or what has he done to prevent corporations from gouging us at the pump? The answer is NOTHING. And please don't insult our intelligence about his efforts with the coal-to-oil fiasco. What has Mr. Holden done for any of the real problems facing the people in his district? The answer is NOTHING. When Mr. Holden was asked about a real problem in his district, the polycythemia vera cancer epidemic, he stated, "Don't ask me to answer any questions because I don't know any more than you." Mr. Holden appears to be too busy having his picture taken giving away our money with cardboard checks than with understanding and dealing with the real problems in his district. If you are satisfied with the price of heating oil, the price of gasoline, property taxes, the condition of our bridges and highways, the cost of health care, the cancer epidemic and the cardboard checks, please re-elect the current cast in November. WHERE HAVE ALL THE LEADERS GONE?
Posted - January 12, 2008 Remember Lee Iacocca, the man who rescued Chrysler Corporation from it's death throes? He has a new book, and here are some excerpts. Lee Iacocca says: Am I the only guy in this country who's fed up with what's happening? Where the hell is our outrage? We should be screaming bloody murder. We've got a gang of clueless bozos steering our ship of state right over a cliff, we've got corporate gangsters stealing us blind, and we can't even clean up after a hurricane much less build a hybrid car. But instead of getting mad, everyone sits around and nods their heads when the politicians say, 'Stay the course.' Stay the course? You've got to be kidding. This is America, not the damned 'Titanic'. I'll give you a sound bite: 'Throw all the bums out!' You might think I'm getting senile, that I've gone off my rocker, and maybe I have. But someone has to speak up. I hardly recognize this country anymore. The most famous business leaders are not the innovators but the guys in handcuffs. While we're fiddling in Iraq, the Middle East is burning and nobody seems to know what to do. And the press is waving 'pom-poms' instead of asking hard questions. That's not the promise of the 'America' my parents and yours traveled across the ocean for. I've had enough. How about you? I'll go a step further. You can't call yourself a patriot if you're not outraged. This is a fight I'm ready and willing to have. The Biggest 'C' is Crisis! Leaders are made, not born. Leadership is forged in times of crisis. It's easy to sit there with your feet up on the desk and talk theory. Or send someone else's kids off to war when you've never seen a battlefield yourself. It's another thing to lead when your world comes tumbling down. On September 11, 2001, we needed a strong leader more than any other time in our history. We needed a steady hand to guide us out of the ashes. A Hell of a Mess. So here's where we stand. We're immersed in a bloody war with no plan for winning and no plan for leaving. We're running the biggest deficit in the history of the country. We're losing the manufacturing edge to Asia, while our once-great companies are getting slaughtered by health care costs. Gas prices are skyrocketing, and nobody in power has a coherent energy policy. Our schools are in trouble. Our borders are like sieves. The middle class is being squeezed every which way. These are times that cry out for leadership. But when you look around, you've got to ask: 'Where have all the leaders gone?' Where are the curious, creative communicators? Where are the people of character, courage, conviction, omnipotence, and common sense? I may be a sucker for alliteration, but I think you get the point. Name me a leader who has a better idea for homeland security than making us take off our shoes in airports and throw away our shampoo? We've spent billions of dollars building a huge new bureaucracy, and all we know how to do is react to things that have already happened. Name me one leader who emerged from the crisis of Hurricane Katrina. Congress has yet to spend a single day evaluating the response to the hurricane, or demanding accountability for the decisions that were made in the crucial hours after the storm. Everyone's hunkering down, fingers crossed, hoping it doesn't happen again. Now, that's just crazy. Storms happen. Deal with it. Make a plan. Figure out what you're going to do the next time. Name me an industry leader who is thinking creatively about how we can restore our competitive edge in manufacturing. Who would have believed that there could ever be a time when 'The Big Three' referred to Japanese car companies? How did this happen, and more important, what are we going to do about it? Name me a government leader who can articulate a plan for paying down the debt, or solving the energy crisis, or managing the health care problem. The silence is deafening. But these are the crises that are eating away at our country and milking the middle class dry. I have news for the gang in Congress. We didn't elect you to sit on your asses and do nothing and remain silent while our democracy is being hijacked and our greatness is being replaced with mediocrity. What is everybody so afraid of? That some bonehead on Fox News will call them a name? Give me a break. Why don't you guys show some spine for a change? Had Enough? Hey, I'm not trying to be the voice of gloom and doom here. I'm trying to light a fire. I'm speaking out because I have hope I believe in America. In my lifetime I've had the privilege of living through some of America's greatest moments. I've also experienced some of our worst crises: the 'Great Depression', 'World War II', the 'Korean War', the 'Kennedy Assassination', the 'Vietnam War', the 1970s oil crisis, and the struggles of recent years culminating with 9/11. If I've learned one thing, it's this: 'You don't get anywhere by standing on the sidelines waiting for somebody else to take action. Whether it's building a better car or building a better future for our children, we all have a role to play. That's the challenge I'm raising in this book. It's a call to 'Action' for people who, like me, believe in America. It's not too late, but it's getting pretty close. So let's shake off the crap and go to work. Let's tell 'em all we've had 'enough.' Excerpted from 'Where Have All the Leaders Gone?' MORE ON PHEAA'S WASTEFUL SPENDING
Posted - January 20, 2008 Fly Fishing, Eye Brow Treatments, Falconry Lessons, Pedicures, Facials & More
As previously reported (www.dante7.com, Local Ties to PHEAA Malfeasance, December 16, 2007), the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA) is the state's leading provider of financial loans and grants for post-high school education. The agency received $451 million in taxpayer money from the General Assembly last year for grants, scholarships and other programs. In other words, taxpayers fund the agency. The Auditor General has criticized the agency for its exorbitant bonus program where executives receive more in bonuses than salary. As a result, some PHEAA employees' pensions exceed their salaries. PHEAA has been highly criticized for its wasteful separation pay program, for spending millions of taxpayer money on promotional items and for spending a million dollars a year on lobbying. That is right. PHEAA spent taxpayer money to lobby state officials. PHEAA has also been criticized for spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on legal bills to keep the public from knowing what the Board of Directors was spending. Fortunately, PHEAA lost the legal battle and had to open its records to the public. Here are some examples of excessive, exorbitant and wasteful spending for retreats by the Board of Directors overseeing PHEAA: Hotel DuPont Cost of the 62 rooms was $11,718. The Greenbrier Forty people stayed in 30 rooms the two busiest nights. The Greenbrier $697.52 a night room charge for former board chairwoman and former Rep. Elinor Taylor, R-Chester Meadowood Cost of resort: $77,820.94 Colonial Williamsburg Inn The event ran from May 28 to June 1. The schedule shows meetings were
held from 9 a.m. to noon on two days. The rest of the time was given
over to golf, historic tours, receptions and meals. Hyatt Regency $1,305 greens fee for 15 people The Homestead $241.90 for spa services for the wife of board member Roy Reinard
$188.80 for a facial and escape pedicure for wife of Rep. Ronald
Buxton, D-Harrisburg, a board member Nemacolin Woodlands Resort $836.55 bill for fly fishing In a letter to the editor (Lehighton Times-News, www.tnonline.com), Larry Dubetsky wrote: "Who was going to the retreats at the high-priced resorts? The answer is the Board of Directors. Who is overseeing PHEAA? Again, the answer is the Board of Directors. Who is on the Board of Directors? There are 21 members of the Board, including 17 state senators and representatives. "Our own state senator, Jim Rhoades, is a member of the Board of Directors overseeing PHEAA. He represents Senate District 29, which includes all of Schuylkill County and parts of Berks, Carbon, Lehigh, Monroe and Northampton counties. "This is the same Jim Rhoades who introduced Senate Bill 142, which would allow political hacks and corporate polluters to determine the safety of sewage sludge to the exclusion of exposed victims and independent scientists (see www.dante7.com, "Legislative Garbage," September 20, 2007). "This is the same Jim Rhoades who voted himself a 28% pay increase of $19,508 on July 7, 2005 and then accepted $7,708.54 in unvouchered expenses. After public outcry, he agreed to pay back the unvouchered expenses over three years, in effect giving himself a three-year interest free loan. "Is there any wonder that PHEAA's extravagance is unchecked and out of control? "In November 2008, you will have a chance to let Senator Rhoades know what you think of his representation of the people. You can tell him what you think about his supervision of PHEAA, about the legislation that he has introduced and about the pay raise that he gave himself. It is up to you to VOTE." Polycythemia vera patient from Hometown area dies
Posted - January 26, 2008 The following story is by Sue Sturgis and is posted on her Hometown Hazards web site, www.hometownhazards.com: He survived the D-Day landing at Normandy and the Battle of the Bulge only to spend the last years of his life debilitated by polycythemia vera -- a disease likely caused by his heavily polluted environment. Lester Barney Kester, a resident of the Ben Titus Road community north of Hometown, passed away at his home three days ago, according to his published obituary. He was 84. Among Kester's survivors is his wife, Betty, who also suffers from the rare blood malignancy. The fact that two genetically unrelated people in one household were both diagnosed with the disease helped draw attention to what appeared to be the area's unusually high rate of PV -- an appearance that has since been confirmed as fact. Unfortunately, public health officials and political leaders have so far failed to take any action to address the problem, which independent scientists say appears to be environmental in origin. The Kesters live just downhill from the McAdoo Associates Superfund site, a former chemical dumping ground for some of America's biggest corporations; the Northeastern Power Co. waste-coal-burning power plant; and an enormous coal combustion waste dump dubbed "the Big Gorilla." Mrs. Kester recently told the Philadelphia Inquirer that doctors "flipped out" when her husband was diagnosed with the disease two years after her, so astounded were they to see two cases in one family. She admitted to feeling bitter over having their retirement years ruined by the disease but observed that at least they were up in years when diagnosed: "I'm thinking of the children," she said. "We're old, we're ready to die. But the children that are coming up -- I'd like something done for them, if possible." There will be visitation with the Kester family from 6 to 8 p.m. [on January 25, 2008] at the Lamar Christ Funeral Home in Hometown. My thoughts and prayers are with the family, and with all of those whose lives have been touched by the region's environmental crisis. POSTED BY SUE STURGIS AT 11:17 AM |
