StopLouBarletta.com

Yet again, Mayor Lou Barletta is trying to pretend that he has a position on a major issue, when in fact, it would appear to almost anyone of at least average intelligence that he does not. This time the issue is the War in Iraq. Barletta, questioned about his position on the war, offered up some vague, meaningless statements that contradicted earlier statements that he made. In other words, more of the same from Lou Barletta.

In a Scranton Times article, it becomes clear that Barletta is unwilling to say anything meaningful about his position on the Iraq War. As explained in the article…

“Lou Barletta, Mr. Kanjorski’s Republican challenger in the upcoming election, won’t say now whether he would have voted for the war, even though he supported authorization of the war when he ran against Mr. Kanjorski in 2002. He wants the troops home as swiftly as possible, but favors letting military commanders decide when.

He won’t fault Mr. Kanjorski for voting for the war, although he once implied Mr. Kanjorski’s vote was politically motivated.”

The article goes on to highlight Mayor Barletta’s confusing, contradictory statements on the Iraq War, saying…

“Mr. Barletta declined to characterize the war as a mistake. In at least two interviews this year, he declined to say whether he would have voted for it.

“It would be speculating,” he said. “It might not have been they were justified to go to war in Iraq with what we know now. … Hindsight is 20-20. I’m sure many of the congressmen who voted for it regret their decision. I can’t fault him (Mr. Kanjorski), because they were acting on the information they were given.”

He notes now that he didn’t have the information Mr. Kanjorski had in deciding on what to do about Iraq, but during the 2002 campaign, he unequivocally backed the war.

“I fully support the actions called for in the joint resolution,” he said, according to an Oct. 4, 2002, campaign news release.

The mayor said the shifts in his position show he’s willing to change his mind when new information comes along.”

So Barletta is now bragging about his willingness to shift his position on important issues when “new information” comes along. Clearly, by “new information” he is referring to political opinion polls. Barletta has a history of flip-flopping on major issues in an attempt to get on the more popular side of an issue. Just look at his “position” on privatizing Social Security. He was, the last time he ran for Congress in 2002, in strong support of privatizing Social Security. Now he is saying he is adamantly opposed to it.

I find it highly insulting that Mayor Lou Barletta, who is attempting to get himself elected to the United States Congress, is unwilling to take a stand on an issue as important as the War in Iraq. Mr. Barletta wants to be elected to a position of political leadership, but he is refusing to act like a political leader. If Barletta doesn’t have the courage to even voice his opinion on the Iraq War, what can we expect from him if he actually were to get elected to the Congress? It would be a crap-shoot, at best.

Lou Barletta is political scum. He has a long and well documented track record of telling bold-faced lies. He has waffled on several major political issues facing this nation. And now he is REFUSING to take a position on the War in Iraq, a conflict that has already claimed over three thousand US lives. A vote for Lou Barletta is November is a vote for cowardice, shame, and disgrace. Mayor Barletta does not deserve to be elected to the United States Congress.

-Dan Cheek
www.StopLouBarletta.com
StopLouBarletta@gmail.com

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With the upcoming election getting closer and closer, and the stakes for the American people getting larger and larger, Mayor Lou Barletta is showing less and less intelligence and worse and worse leadership. This is a trend that has come to exemplify Barletta. Rather than take real stands on real issues, Barletta attempts to use clever soundbytes and press releases to trick voters into thinking that he is taking a stand on an issue. In almost every case, on every issue, Lou Barletta has failed to show any real leadership.

That trend continues with the Bailout Package that Congress is considering. Barletta has come out against that package and has offered one of his most idiotic ramblings to date as an explanation for his position. In a recent press release, Barletta explained his opposition to the Bailout Package like this…

“Congress is about to reward financial institutions that think nothing of charging citizens exorbitant penalties for late payments, increasing interest rates for individuals with poor credit, and foreclosing on homes. Those institutions would receive a get-out-of-jail free card with nothing more than a slap on the wrist. These financial institutions are getting far better treatment than they give to their consumers.”

Nothing in that statement means anything. There are many good, logical reasons to be either for or against the Bailout Package. Not wanting to offer financial assistance to banks because they “raise interest rates for individuals with poor credit” or “foreclose on homes” is not one of them. Is Mr. Barletta now supporting the idea that banks begin issuing money to whomever asks for it, in whatever denominations they ask? Or is he suggesting that Congress simply allow the financial crisis to continue to spread, wiping out BILLIONS in investor savings in the process? It’s not exactly clear.

Barletta’s statement goes on to read…

“If we are going to fix this problem, we need to give Wall Street more of a workout than a bailout. Congress needs to do more to hold these companies accountable and to learn why they failed to stop the crisis.”

Again, I’m not exactly sure what Barletta means with this statement. What does “more of a workout than a bailout” mean? How will Congress hold these companies accountable if many of them are days or weeks away from bankruptcy? Barletta offers no insight into these questions. This is, I believe, a result of Lou Barletta suffering from an above average level of stupidity, inexperience, and ignorance. Barletta has no clue about what caused the financial crisis or what needs to be done to correct it.

If Barletta is suggesting that this bill be re-worked so that all it does is point a big, scornful finger at bank executives and blame everything on them, fine. I would just wonder what effect he would think that would have on the continuing financial crisis. If Barletta is suggesting that Congress offer no help to the nation’s financial institutions, I would question him on what impact he would think that would have on the American peoples’ financial future and faith in the economy.

This entire statement issued by Lou Barletta is a bunch of hot air. It accomplishes nothing and adds even less to the debate about what should be done to remedy this financial crisis. Lou Barletta obviously has no intelligent opinions on what needs to be done to correct this financial crisis, even though he is trying very hard to give the impression that he does. In these trouble times, where so much of our future is on the line and in the hands of our political leaders, we simply can not afford to send a man like Lou Barletta to Congress.

-Dan Cheek
www.StopLouBarletta.com
StopLouBarletta@gmail.com 

Mayor Lou Barletta, I have come to realize, is not a very smart man. However, his latest allegations, in which he blames his opponent, Representative Paul Kanjorski, for the collapsing stock market are beyond belief. That Barletta can pin the blame for all of the current stock market turmoil and financial institution failures on one person says a lot about how out of touch and simplistic Lou Barletta really is.

In a statement, Barletta explains why the stock market has done so poorly as of late, saying…

“Stock markets are plunging and financial institutions are collapsing, and it’s Paul Kanjorski’s fault,” said Hazleton Mayor and 11th Congressional District candidate Lou Barletta. “He was greedy and accepted contributions from the institutions he was supposed to regulate and monitor. Now, the hardworking taxpayers of the 11th District and the United States have to pay the price. Mr. Kanjorski’s greed destroyed the American dream for millions of people. Mr. Kanjorski sold us out and got us into this mess, but now he claims to be coming to our rescue. If he had done his job in the first place and held proper oversight of these institutions and industries, we might not be in this situation. Once again, he put his own personal interests ahead of his constituents, and once again, we’re forced to pay for Mr. Kanjorski’s personal blunder.”

Really? “It’s all Paul Kanjorski’s fault?” Clearly, Lou Barletta has absolutely zero understanding of how financial markets work, of the events surrounding the recent collapse of Lehman Brothers and Bear Sterns, or of the stock market in general. One man did not cause the stock market to plunge, yesterday. One man did not cause Freddy Mac and Fanny May to have to be bailed out by the government. And one man did not bring down Lehman Brothers.

And as for taxpayers being “forced to pay for Mr. Kanjorski’s personal blunder,” let’s take a look at what tax payers have had to pay as a result of Mayor Barletta’s personal blunders. The city of Hazleton is currently swamped with debt, over $2 million, as a direct result of Mayor Barletta attempting to defend his “Illegal Immigration Relief Act” in Federal Court. That defense failed, and the act (one of the most oppressive immigration bills ever enacted in this country) was declared unconstitutional. Worse, Barletta went ahead with this costly legal defense without permission from the city council. Hazleton tax payers are now being drilled into the ground as they have to hand over their money to pay for Barletta’s horrible miscalculation.

So what will Lou Barletta attempt to pin on his opponent, next? The assassination of Abraham Lincoln? The Great Depression? Paris Hilton’s music career? Barletta is a rat of a man and will say anything if he thinks it will get him five minutes of media attention or one more vote in November. His reputation is filthy and full of reasons not to trust a word that comes out of his mouth. Clearly, Lou Barletta should not be elected to the United States Congress.

-Dan Cheek
www.StopLouBarletta.com
StopLouBarletta@gmail.com

Today, Mayor Lou Barletta put out a press release talking about how he’s joined an alliance to stop Interstate 80 from being turned into a toll road.  Several state leaders want to toll the road as a way of funding urgent bridge and road repairs.  Barletta and his group of buddies think this is a bad idea that will hurt small businesses.  Unfortunately, in his press statement, Barletta offers no explanation as to how he would raise money to fix Pennsylvania roads.  Typical.

To quote from Barletta’s press release…

“Putting tolls on I-80 will cripple local businesses. It will hurt commuters and tourism. It will hurt local farmers. And it will hurt communities all along the I-80 corridor, because they will not only see the loss of businesses, jobs, and local tax revenue, but they will also see an increase in traffic on municipal roads, jeopardizing public safety and increasing the cost of repairing those roads,” Mayor Barletta added.

So, according to Mayor Barletta, Pennsylvania will collapse into a steaming pile of dog mess if Interstate 80 is turned into a toll road.  Okay, assuming we buy into that logic, what is the brilliant Mayor Lou proposing we do to raise the money for the roads?  Another quote from the press statement….

“So where do we come up with the money we need to fix our roads? First, we need Congress to make fixing our infrastructure a priority. This is a national emergency. Congress needs to adjust its spending priorities. Forget bridges to nowhere. We need bridges right here – like those along Interstate 80 in Monroe County, those on all of our highways here, and around the country. Our elected leaders need to show financial discipline and fix our roads.

Oh, well that clears things up.  Or not.  The truth of the matter is that Pennsylvania, along with every other state, needs millions of dollars right now.  Bridges all around the country are crumbling.  Anyone who’s driven on I-80, or I-81 for that matter, knows that the roads are in horrible shape.  Bottom line: they need to be fixed and soon.  Or things will get much, much worse.

Saying that “Congress needs to make fixing our infrastructure a priority” is meaningless blabber.  It’s fluff.  The problem is hugely complex and too difficult, apparently, for Mayor Barletta to get a handle on.  Where will the BILLIONS of dollars needed to fix these roads and bridges come from?  How much money will come from the state?  Which roads will receive the bulk of the money?  Once the repairs are made, where will the money come from to maintain them?  Barletta has no answers to these questions.

Am I thrilled at the idea of turning I-80 into a toll road?  No.  I’m a full time college student who has to commute to school every day.  Paying to use a road isn’t all that of an exciting idea to me.  However, it is a plan.  It will raise money, quickly, to help repair roads.  Bridges will at least begin to be worked on.  It would help.

If Mayor Barletta is so staunchly opposed to this idea, he needs to present a detailed plan of his own.  Why should we scrap an idea that will help fix the problem and just go back to square one without any hope or promise of an alternative?  ”Just elect me to office and I’ll figure it out later,” is not a sollution.  And it will not fix our roads.

Mayor Barletta has perfected the art of spouting off lots of words and sound bytes while not really saying all that much.  This is more of the same.  Lou Barletta has no plans on how to get the money needed to fix Pennsylvania’s roads.  Lou Barletta will not fix our roads and bridges and neither will his meaningless talk.  Mayor Lou Barletta should remain a mayor and not be elected to the United States Congress.  We can’t afford it.

-Dan Cheek
www.StopLouBarletta.com
StopLouBarletta@gmail.com 

Mayor Lou Barletta has unveiled his “position” on American Foreign Policy.  In six short paragraphs, Lou Barletta explains his vision of American’s role in the world.  Sadly, however, this “foreign policy” statement is nothing more than a rambling mess.  In attempting to explain his Foreign Policy position, Barletta has demonstrated that he doesn’t understand the first thing about it.

Mayor Barletta sums up his “Foreign Policy” statement with this two sentence paragraph…

“The United States - both on its own and through our global alliances - is be a beacon of hope for the entire world. That is the promise and pledge of this nation, and it’s a responsibility I take seriously.”

That’s it?  The rest of the statement is just as pointless.  I mean, “a beacon of hope?”  How is a beacon of hope a foreign policy?  What does that even mean?  I don’t know and I’m willing to bet that Lou Barletta doesn’t know, either.

In the second to last paragraph, Barletta sums up his outlook on the world…

“The world is not a uniformly safe and secure place. Each day, millions of people live in fear of physical attack. They live in poverty and hunger. They are under constant threat of disease and disaster.”

Again, this statement reveals nothing about Lou Barletta’s “foreign policy.”  Saying that the world is a scary, mean, and unfair place is all fine and good.  However, that is NOT a foreign policy.  A foreign policy would, by definition, explain, at least in some detail, how the United States should interact with this scary, mean, and unfair world.  At no point in Barletta’s entire statement does he even attempt to offer such an explanation.

I realize that as a first-term Congressman serving in the House of Representatives, Lou Barletta would have almost zero impact on American Foreign Policy.  That said, however, I do think it is important for someone looking to take up a leadership role in the United States Government to have a basic understanding of foreign affairs and have intelligent opinions on what America’s role in the world should be.  Lou Barletta has neither and his “Foreign Policy” statement is proof of that.

Lou Barletta would like you to believe that he is an intelligent candidate with solid positions on meaningful issues facing the constituents he is seeking to represent.  He doesn’t.  Lou Barletta is a troubled candidate who is not fit to represent the people of the 11th Congressional District.  Mayor Barletta should not be elected to the United States Congress.

-Dan Cheek
www.StopLouBarletta.com
StopLouBarletta@gmail.com

Click HERE to learn about Lou Barletta’s Organized Crime Connections

Mayor Lou Barletta is dipping deep into the “stupid things I can say to get people to notice me” well.  This time, he has released a statement blasting his opponent in Pennsylvania’s 11th Congressional race, Representative Paul Kanjorski, for failing to bring more money to Lackawanna County.  Considering Barletta’s outright ineptness in handling any sort of finances, this statement is stupid on an epic scale.

Consider the following:

• One of Mayor Lou Barletta’s first acts as mayor of Hazleton was to cut the Hazleton Police Department in half.  He did this, he said, to help ballance the city budget.  And when the crime rate skyrocketed, Barletta blamed it on an “illegal immigrant crime wave” and not on the fact that there were now half as many cops on the street.
• A political hell-storm has been swirling around the Barletta campaign because of a $65,000 “loan” that Barletta took out in 2002 to help pay for his last, failed, Congressional campaign.  This “loan”, according to paperwork filed by the Barletta campaign, hasn’t been repaid, at all, and has accrued no interest.  In six years.  When local papers brought the issue up, the Barletta campaign offered three different explanations (1. There was no loan.  You’re all on drugs.  Leave us alone.  2. Okay, there was no loan, but we said there was a loan, but it was just a paperwork error.  3. There was a loan.  I am stupid.  Elect me to Congress.) over the course of eleven days.
• Barletta, if elected to Congress, will be one of the most controversial politicians in the House of Representatives.  So controversial, in fact, that John McCain, Republican presidential candidate, wants nothing to do with Barletta and has refused to meet with him.  Add to this that Barletta will be a first term Congressman.  Add to this that Barletta will be a Republican in a Democratic controlled Congress.  All of this adds up to the fact that Barletta will be lucky to be able to bring home pocket change to his district.

Now, based on all of that, I find it stupefying that Lou Barletta would be dumb enough to even try and insinuate that he could bring more money to the 11th Congressional District that Representative Kanjorski.  He can’t.  It simply isn’t possible.  So, either Lou Barletta is lying or he is very stupid.  At any rate, clearly, Lou Barletta should not be elected to the United States Congress.

-Dan Cheek
www.StopLouBarletta.com
stoploubarletta@gmail.com

Lou Barletta must really be desperate.  He’s attempting to try and make people believe that he has overcome his long-time fear of taking stands on issues.  Recently, he’s released a whole slew of videos on YouTube in which he claims to “talk about the issues.”  Sadly, however, Mayor Barletta has done nothing of the sort.

In almost all of the videos, Lou Barletta speaks in soundbites.  He rants on and on in each of the videos, often opening by talking about illegal immigration, and says very little of substance.  Take his Social Security video, for example.  Barletta begins the video by reminding everyone about how he’s always hated immigrants, and then urges Congress to give the billions of dollars that they took from the Social Security Trust Fund back.  He then goes on to say that a “lock box law” needs to be passed and that anyone who says he is in favor of privitizing Social Security is a liar.

Sigh.  “Give the money back” isn’t a sollution.  “Pass a lock box law” to keep Congress from tapping into the Social Security Trust Fund is a tired idea that has been talked about for several years that has, repeatedly, amounted to nothing.  Finally, the bit where he says that anyone who says that he is in favor of privitizing Social Security is a “liar” is actually a lie on Barletta’s part.  When he ran for Congress in 2002, Lou Barletta was heavily in favor of privitizing Social Security.

The rest of Barletta’s videos offer much of the same.  Most of the things Barletta mentions are not his own ideas and he offers no details on how he would pay for or implement any of them.  All he does is throw out soundbites that he hopes will look good in the news and, possibly, help garner him some attention.  Mayor Lou Barletta obviously thinks that the voters in the 11th Congressional District are stupid.  Otherwise, why would he be using these slime-ball tactics?

-Dan Cheek
www.StopLouBarletta.com
StopLouBarletta@gmail.com

The above video, which was apparently shot by a crack-addled camera man obsessed with the zoom button, is of Mayor Lou Barletta talking about Social Security.  He, flanked by his six supporters, goes on to explain his “plan” for saving Social Security.  Or, rather, he goes on to say a whole lot of nothing.  Which is typicial for this failed leader.

Barletta opens his Social Security sermon by demanding that Congress “give the $4 trillion dollars back” to the Social Security trust fund.  Because, obviously, Lou Barletta thinks it’s just that easy.  The second part of his master plan is to have Congress pass a law, a “lock box law”, which would prevent them from ever touching that money again.  Again, this is the stuff of pipe dreams.

The “Lock Box Law” is no new idea.  It’s been around since the early 90’s and was touted heavily by Republicans when they took control of Congress in the mid-90s.  Democrats talked extesivily about it after the Republicans took control.  And guess what?  There is still no lock box law.  Congressmen, of any party, are simply unwilling to vote for it.  Even if they say they are willing to vote for it.

Also in the video, Lou Barletta talks about how once the War in Iraq is over, all of that money should be used to re-pay the Social Security Trust Fund.  No.  That money is needed, desperatley, for other things.  For starters, as a US Army Veteran, I know first hand that the US military will be needing LOTS of money to reconstitute equipment, restructure itself, and to increase funding and support for the Afghanistan mission.  The money is also needed for things like Federal Highway repair, aid for the victims of floods in the Mid West, helping to rebuild the Gulf Coast, any any number of other, more immidiate needs.

The best part of the video, however, is where he talks about how he is opposed to the privitization of Social Security.  “I don’t support privitizing Social Security and anyone who says I do is lying,” Barletta boldly exclaims.  Yep, they’re lying.  Unless they were talking about the Lou Barletta who was in favor of privitizing Social Security, which he was, only a few months ago.  This sudden flip-flop on Barletta’s part has nothing to do with a change of heart and everything to do with polling numbers suggesting that he should go, instantly and without explanation, from a pro-privitization stance to an anti-privitization one.  Now THAT is leadership, eh?

There is a difference between having a position on Social Security and simply talking about it.  Lou Barletta has no real plan to save Social Security.  His “lock box law” idea, which isn’t even his idea, will come to nothing.  And his naivity about how to help fund Social Security, and of the other massive financial burdens facing this country, are scary.  Lou Barletta should not be elected to the United States Congress.

-Dan Cheek
www.StopLouBarletta.com
StopLouBarletta@gmail.com

In a recent press release, Mayor Lou Barletta came forward and made the shocking announcement that he supports the American flag. And while Mayor Barletta, who is running for Congress in Pennsylvania’s 11th District against long time incumbent Paul Kanjorski, has come forward and taken a stand on the supporting the American flag issue, he has yet to actually let the voters know where he stands on the Iraq War. This is just another example of Lou Barletta saying nothing about anything while attempting to make it look like he is really taking serious stands on issues.

Announcing that you “support the American flag” is like saying you support world peace and butterflies. It’s meaningless fluff. In his statement, Barletta says;

“Our flag flies over our most treasured monuments. It is the sign of the United States of America in foreign lands. And when an American hero falls in battle, it is the solemn gift given to his or her family on behalf of a grateful nation. Just as we have said certain types of speech are obscene and not granted special protection, we should do the same for the desecration of the American flag.”

I find it interesting that while Lou Barletta goes out of his way to mention fallen soldiers, he fails to mention where he stands on the Iraq War or the War in Afghanistan. This, in my opinion, is shameful. Is this what Lou Barletta thinks “Courage and Leadership”, as his campaign slogan suggests, is? Clearly, Mayor Lou Barletta has no intention of taking a stand on any important issues. If Barletta thought it important to announce his support for the flag on Flag Day, why didn’t he announce his support for the military on Armed Forces Day (May 17th)?

The bottom line is this; Lou Barletta has been an official candidate in this race for several weeks now. To date, he has yet to take an official, on the record stand as to what his position is on the Iraq War and the War in Afghanistan. I believe that this is because 1.) He is afraid that making an official statement on the War would hurt his chances of getting elected 2.) He actually has no position or 3.) His campaign manager hasn’t yet told his what “his” position should be. At any rate, it is unacceptable.

Mayor Lou Barletta is one of the most pathetic examples of a leader one can imagine. He has, repeatedly, refused to take any meaningful stand on any meaningful issues. Instead of letting us know what he intends to do about rising gasoline and home heating oil prices, the Iraq War, and/or the Housing Crisis, he has decided to sign meaningless, toothless pledges of support. Mayor Barletta doesn’t have any positions, he only has cheap beauty pagent answers to non-existent problems.

-Dan Cheek
www.StopLouBarletta.com
StopLouBarletta@gmail.com

As the economy in our country continues to slow down, and as gas and heating oil prices continue to rise, Mayor Lou Barletta is still refusing to explain how he would address these problems, were he to be elected to the US Congress.  Considering that Barletta’s campaign slogan is “Courage and Leadership for America”, one would think that Lou Barletta would be all over these very serious issues.  However, Mayor Barletta has, for whatever reason, chosen to ignore these problems completely.

I find Lou Barletta’s silence on the economy and gas prices to be shocking, to say the least.  The state of the economy is one of the single biggest issues concerning American voters in this upcoming election.  Unemployment is at 5.5% and has recently increased at the highest rate since 1986.  The national average for gasoline is now at $4 and climbing.  For someone looking to gain entry into the United States Congress, against an incumbent who’s been serving since 1984, addressing these concerns, in detail, should be of the highest priorities.

However, Lou Barletta’s priorities differ vastly from the priorities of the people he is seeking to represent.  Lou Barletta believes the most important thing he can do for the people of North Eastern Pennsylvania is to rant, endlessly, about illegal immigration.  Read his press releases.  Almost every single one of them talks about his stance on illegal immigration.  Even the press release that was supposedly meant to wish Ted Kennedy well, after the discovery of his brain tumor, talks mostly about Lou Barletta and his illegal immigration policies.  This despite the fact that a Federal Court shot down Mayor Lou’s policies as being unconstitutional.

Mayor Lou Barletta is a weak, ineffectual leader.  He has no plan, or even a broad idea, regarding what should be done about the American economy.  Essentially, he wants to get to Congress so he can continue to rant about illegal immigration and get paid a higher salary for doing so.  If elected, Lou Barletta would do nothing to help the people he would be representing.  Lou Barletta should not be elected to the Unites States Congress.

-Dan Cheek
www.StopLouBarletta.com
StopLouBarletta@gmail.com