If you’re Mayor Lou Barletta, the last thing you want people talking about is Hazleton. Yes, Hazleton is the city that Mayor Barletta has run since 1999. However, with the city’s finances in tatters, tax rates sky rocketing, and the highest unemployment rate in the state, Lou Barletta would much prefer if you just turned a blind eye to his city and how he’s been running it. Lou Barletta is embarrassed by Hazleton and he’s doing everything he can to not talk about the city.

Instead, Mayor Lou would much rather talk about other things. Like the current immigration debate raging in Arizona. Bareltta is sending out messages across Facebook and Twitter bragging about, “Before Arizona, there was Lou Barletta & Hazleton.” He’s also produced a new video, in which he claims to be the first local official, ever, in the history of mankind, to stand up against illegal immigration. Barletta loves talking about illegal immigration because it keeps people’s minds off of Hazleton, and how horribly he’s managed the city.

But I think it’s critical to look at how Barletta has run the city of Hazleton. The man is running for Congress. I think it’s important to look at the decisions he’s made as the elected leader of the city that he’s been running for over a decade, now. If you owned a business and someone came to you looking for a job, wouldn’t you find it odd if they said they had eleven years experience, but didn’t want to talk about it? Shouldn’t that be a red flag that, hey, maybe this guy is a bumbling idiot? If you’ve been an elected official for over ten years, and your performance during that time is so embarrassing that you’d rather talk about something happening in another state, across the country, I find it difficult to put very much trust in you.

Here are some of the things that Mayor Lou Barletta has done (or not done) as mayor of Hazleton…

• This year, he’s raised property taxes in Hazleton by 70%
• One of his first actions as mayor was to slash the police force in half
• He’s illegally taken money from the Hazleton City Pension Fund for purposes other than for what it was intended
• He’s run businesses out of town, Hazleton now has the highest unemployment rate in the state of Pennsylvania
• He’s allowed the city streets to rot and fall apart.  I get emails every day from people blasting the mayor over the condition of Hazleton roads and his refusal to fix them.
• He’s accepted political donations from convicted drug dealers, and then defended these scumbags as “hard working citizens.”

So considering all of this, why in the hell would you want to vote for him?  As far as I can tell, he’s done about as bad of a job as humanly possible while working as Mayor of Hazleton.  If running a single city is too daunting of a task for this man, how can he be trusted to represent an entire Congressional District?  These are the things that Mayor Lou needs to be talking about.  He needs to explain why we should trust him not to screw the entire 11th Congressional District in the same way that he’s screwed the city of Hazleton.  He needs to explain why we should trust him to help rebuild our economy when the economy of Hazleton has imploded during his time as mayor.  And he needs to explain how he can keep jobs for residents of the District, even though his policies of mayor have sent businesses fleeing the city he governs.  He needs to explain why we should trust him to not do us what he’s already done to Hazleton.

The immigration debate is a debate worth having.  It’s an important issue that needs to be addressed.  However, when you’re unemployed and struggling with property taxes that you couldn’t afford even if you did have a job, the immigration debate is not the most important issue at hand.  As mayor of Hazleton, Lou Barletta has systematically lowered the quality of living for the residents of the city.  Taxes are high, jobs are scarce, and the city’s budget is on life support.  Mayor Barletta needs to spend less time talking about Arizona and more time fixing the mess that he’s made in Hazleton, Pennsylvania.  For the sake of everyone, Lou Barletta should not be elected to Congress.

-Dan Cheek
StopLouBarletta.com
StopLouBarletta@gmail.com
Twitter.com/StopLouBarletta

Post from: StopLouBarletta

Lou Barletta Doesn’t Want to Talk About Hazleton

One of the reasons I love writing a blog about Mayor Lou Barletta, or “America’s Mayor” as his PR people like to say, is that I never run out of stuff to write about.  I can always count on Mayor Barletta to come along and say and/or do something stupid and provide me with enough material to fill several blog posts.  This past week was no exception.  Once again, “America’s Mayor” has figured out how to continue to embarrass both himself and the Republican Party that he represents.  On June 17th, Barletta posted an article on his website that basically demanded that the US Government leave poor old BP alone and just trust them to fix the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico.  Seriously, people, I can’t make this stuff up.  Lou Barletta is now sticking up for BP.

I understand that Lou Barletta is having trouble raising cash for his faltering Congressional campaign.  He has amassed a mountain of debt and his fund raising efforts are on life support, at best.  So I guess it should be no surprise that, apparently, Lou Barletta is now trying to make nice with the oil industry.  Because, hey, who has more money that Big Oil, right?  Barletta’s little rant, which blasts the Federal Government and calls for them to end their criminal investigation probe of BP, sounds as if it were really a BP press release.  But don’t take my word for it, allow me to quote directly from Mayor Barletta’s op-ed…

“This oil spill has exposed serious flaws in our government, just as Hurricane Katrina did in August 2006.

In this case, private industries clearly made serious mistakes. But our government has failed us – and continues to fail us in this area on a daily basis.

It pains me to say that the president failed to lead during this crisis. His response and that of his administration has been too slow, too disorganized, and too scattered. The Obama administration is so concerned about playing the Washington Blame Game that plugging the leaking well seems to be a secondary concern.

BP and other private firms should be held accountable for whatever damages they caused.

But the federal government’s first priority should be stopping the leak and cleaning up the damage. Next, it should determine what went wrong and make sure a similar tragedy never happens again.

There will be time for criminal investigations and federal probes. For now, the Obama administration should keep political scheming at the water’s edge.”

Get that?  Essentially, Lou Barletta is saying that yeah, maybe BP made a little mistake, but it’s really the Federal Government’s response that we should be pissed about.  And, really, why should we even be conducting criminal investigations into the oil leak?  These mean people from the government should just get the hell out of BP’s way and let them do what they’re good at.  Fixing massive oil leaks.  God bless America, and God bless BP!

Or something like that.  Honestly, I’m not even sure what the point of Barletta’s article really is.  At one point he says that there’s too much government involvement in the Gulf, a few lines later he says that the Federal Government’s first priority should be plugging the leak, then he ends by adding that the government should halt it’s criminal investigation into BP.  He also, at the very beginning, quotes Ronald Reagan because that’s what all good Republicans do.  At no point in this article, however, does Lou Barletta express outrage at BP or the role that they’ve played in this entire disaster.  In fact, reading this article, you’d think that the Federal Government caused the oil leak and that BP was just an innocent victim.

Lou Barletta just recently released a YouTube video proclaiming that he “Stands with You!”  Supposedly, Lou Barletta wants to go to Congress to look out for all of us.  However, it would seem, from content posted to Barletta’s own website, that he really wants to go to Congress to stand up for BP.  If he had his way, Barletta would halt all government intervention, keeping oversight at “water’s edge”, and allow BP to do whatever the hell it wants to do in the Gulf.  Because, as we all know, BP does amazing things when left to their own devices.  Oh.  Wait…

So, in closing, let’s take a moment to reflect on who Lou Barletta is really standing up for.  He just wrote this little article defending BP and decrying the government’s involvement in the crisis.  He has accepted thousands of dollars and multiple donations from The Eagle Forum, a group of political crazies who wants to keep women shackled in their homes and make it okay for men to rape their wives.  He has, in the past, accepted money from convicted drug dealers and publicly defended these gentlemen as decent and hard working people.  And, he has also been endorsed for Congress by David Duke, a self-proclaimed white supremacist and former member of the Ku Klux Klan’s senior leadership.  So, yeah, how do we get this guy elected to Congress?  He’s a regular Captain America.

The truth of the matter is that, as I’ve pointed out on this blog for over two years now, Lou Barletta is political scum.  If you look at who Lou Barletta supports, and who supports him, it becomes clear that Mayor Barletta is not on our side.  Because, if he was, he wouldn’t be spending his time writing articles that defend BP.  He wouldn’t be accepting money from The Eagle Forum.  And he wouldn’t accept endorsements from members of the KKK.  Lou Barletta should not be elected to the United States Congress.

See also: “False Statements” About Lou Barletta Really Aren’t False and Barletta Disrespects US Military

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

Post from: StopLouBarletta

In Gulf Oil Spill, Barletta Sides with BP

According to the FEC’s Campaign Finance website, Lou Barletta has accepted multiple donations and thousands of dollars from the Eagle Forum PAC.  For those that don’t know, the Eagle Forum is one of the most extremist political action groups in the nation.  The belief system that they champion is widely considered to be one of the most dangerous in US politics.  It’s interesting, then, that Mayor Lou Barletta is so cozy with this group of crazies.

The Eagle Forum is a political action committee that was established in 1967 by Phyllis Schlafly, a life-long opponent to the equal rights movement.  I mentioned that the Eagle Forum is one of the most extremist groups in American politics, and I wasn’t exaggerating.  Among other things, the group believes that it should not be illegal for a man to rape his wife, opposes sex education in public schools, believe women should be relegated to “full time homemakers,” as opposed to pursuing careers, and is strongly opposed to vaccinations for infants.  The Eagle Forum has been a long time supporter of Mayor Barletta, donating thousands of dollars to his various political campaigns.

Since December 17th, the Eagle Forum has donated $2,000 to Lou Barletta’s campaign for Congress.  Considering what this group of scary people believe in, I find it troubling that Lou Barletta has not only accepted money from them, but has also accepted multiple donations from the group.  Groups like the Eagle Forum don’t donate money to candidates at random.  They donate money to individuals who they believe will further their cause in the halls of government.  And by continuing to accept their money, Lou Barletta is sending the message that, “Yes, I will support your beliefs in Congress.  You can count on me, guys!”

On his website, Lou Barletta has just released a video claiming that he “stand with you.”  Unless you oppose equal rights for women and feel that infants have no right receiving life-saving vaccinations, I would cast serious doubt on that statement.  The Eagle Forum, one of Barletta’s strongest backers, is working very hard to get Lou Barletta elected to Congress.  Considering the horrific, Taliban-like beliefs that the Eagle Forum endorses, I would be strongly opposed to any candidate that this group thinks is a good idea.  The fact that the Eagle Forum supports Lou Barletta is reason enough for sane people everywhere not to.  Clearly, Lou Barletta does not belong in the United States Congress.

See also: Barletta Palling Around with White Supremacists and Racists

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

Post from: StopLouBarletta

Barletta Accepts Money from Extremist Groups

Lou Barletta and Rep. Paul Kanjorski are preparing to put up their dukes and go at it, again.  For a third time, Mayor Lou Barletta of Hazleton, PA will attempt to unseat Rep. Paul Kanjorski in the November general election.  Barletta won the Republican primary unopposed.  Kanjorski beat, by a huge margin, two other candidates to win the Democratic primary.  This November, voters will decide who will represent them for the next two years in the United States Congress.

For the sake of all that is good and great, I really hope they don’t choose Lou Barletta.  Barletta has spent the last several years, while serving as mayor of Hazleton, bankrupting the city, raising tax rates to astronomical levels, and making an embarrassment of himself, his city, and the Republican Party.  Barletta’s political campaign is running on fumes.  Barletta only has about $2,000 in cash available for his fight.  Compare this with Paul Kanjorski’s war chest, which is stocked with close to $1 million.  In short, if Lou Barletta were a lollipop flavor, it would be Steamed Pig Crap.

Now, back to the point of this post.  Can Lou Barletta beat Paul Kanjorski in November?  The Standard Speaker featured an interesting article on this very topic, and while they didn’t answer this question directly, they did imply that if Barletta ever had a chance at beating Kanjorski, this would be it.  And not because of anything that Lou Barletta has done right.  Rather, the article explains that there is an “anti-incumbent” wave that may work against Paul Kanjorski.  Allow me to explain why I think that Barletta will, despite this very real “anti-incumbent” sentiment, still come up short against Kanjorski.

1. Lou Barletta is a poor candidate.  And I mean that both literally and figuratively.  Even with the political winds working in his favor, Barletta isn’t a skilled enough politician to actually take advantage of this.  The biggest evidence of this is Barletta’s historic inability to raise campaign cash.  If Barletta were worth his weight as a political candidate, he wouldn’t struggle, election after election after election, to raise cash.  And he certainly isn’t a good enough candidate to take on a political powerhouse like Paul Kanjorksi, who is backed by a mighty, battle tested campaign machine and a small fortune in cash.
2. Lou Barletta isn’t as popular as he, or his supporters, thinks he is.  Yes, he is extremely popular in his home city of Hazleton.  If this Congressional election were held only in Hazleton, Barletta would probably win.  However, this is not the case.  In two previous elections, Barletta tried to convince the voters of the 11th Congressional District that he was a better choice than Paul Kanjorski.  Both times, voters didn’t buy what Barletta was selling.  For further proof of Barletta’s lackluster popularity, I again point to his campaign finances.  If Lou Barletta were as popular as he’d like to believe that he is, he would have a lot more cash on hand.  People donate money to candidates that they like.  The fact that Barletta has struggled to raise money from people speaks volumes.
3. Paul Kanjorski is going to bulldoze Barletta.  You can bet that Kanjorski is going to spend early, and spend heavily.  He will run television ads all Summer long.  He will put up dozens of billboards.  There will be radio ads.  With his tiny bit of money, Barletta won’t be able to compete against this media onslaught.  All Summer long, voters will hear all about how great of a candidate Paul Kanjorski is, how rotten of a person Lou Barletta is, and why voters would be better off voting for Paul Kanjorski in November.  They won’t hear a peep from Barletta, because Lou needs to save all his money for the Fall.
4. Barletta’s failures as mayor of Hazleton will catch up with him.  As I’ve pointed out multiple times on this blog, Lou Barletta has driven the city of Hazleton into the dirt.  He’s slashed the Hazleton Police Department in half, he’s brought the city to it’s knees and to the brink of bankruptcy, and he’s raised taxes to some of the highest in the State.  Those type of things, when brought to the attention of voters, don’t tend to go over very well.  Kanjorski could very easily, and very quickly, throw Barletta on the defensive.  It’s entirely possible that while there may be an anti-incumbent sentiment, by Summer’s end, there could also be an anti-Barletta sentiment, as well.

Now, despite all of this, can Lou Barletta still manage to eek out a victory against Paul Kanjorski?  Possibly.  Hey, stranger things have happened.  However, I really do think that Barletta is clearly the underdog in this race.  I think the combination of Barletta’s record, his weaknesses as a candidate, and Kanjorski’s position of power will prove too much for him to overcome.  The important question, however, isn’t whether or not Barletta could beat Kanjorski.  The real question that people need to focus on is, does Barletta deserve to beat Kanjorski.  And the answer to that question, in my mind, is a resounding “NO!”  Lou Barletta should not be elected to the United States Congress.

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

Post from: StopLouBarletta

Can Lou Barletta Beat Paul Kanjorski?

Gort, the legendary local political blogger, is putting a “blogger meetup” together.  The event, which is open to everyone interested, will be held on Friday, March 26th at 5pm.  It will be hosted at Rooney’s Irish Pub in Pittston, PA.  In addition to local bloggers, the event will also feature politicians from the area, providing an opportunity for everyone to ask some questions or express some opinions.

I will be attending the event, representing StopLouBarletta.com.  I’ve been told that all of the 11th Congressional District candidates have been invited, including Mayor Lou Barletta.  I’m actually kind of hoping that Barletta does show up.  I’m not looking to yell or throw things at him, but I’d like the opportunity to maybe sit down with the man for a few minutes and have some back-and-forth on some of the things that I’ve been posting on this blog for the past couple of years.  Obviously, I’m not expecting Barletta to be a fan of the site, but I’m actually interested in hearing his response to some of the issues that I’ve been talking (or ranting, depending on your view) about for a while, now.

I’m also really looking forward to meeting some other bloggers who cover local politics, even the ones that have been ripping me since this blog’s inception.  Many of these bloggers have been covering the world of NEPA politics for far longer than I have and are bound to have a wealth of insight into many hot-topic issues.  And, in addition to all of that, it’s also a great opportunity for me to meet some of my readers, and vice-versa.  So, consider yourselves all formally invited to the event.  I hope all of you can make it.

Anyway, here are the details….

NEPA Blogger Meetup
When: Friday, March 26th 2010
Where: Rooney’s Irish Pub (67 S. Main Street, Pittston, PA 18704)
Time: 5pm

So, if you can make it, stop on by for a few drinks and some (hopefully) intelligent conversation.  Tell your friends, tell your neighbors, and if you know of any local bloggers, pass along an invite to them, as well.  It should be a great time.  See you then!

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

Post from: StopLouBarletta

Blogger Meetup 3-26-10

If you read the “Issues” section on Lou Barletta’s web page, you would notice that Mayor Barletta talks about Spending as his first “issue.”  Barletta budgets more space to the issue of spending than on any other issue on the page.  This is ironic, because as Mayor of Hazleton, Barletta has treated the issue of spending and budgeting as an afterthought.  A reasonable person must ask, if fiscal responsibility is so important to Lou Barletta, why is Hazleton in such financial disrepair?

The obvious answer is that despite what is claimed on Barletta’s website, responsible spending isn’t really all that important to Mayor Barletta.  On his website, Barletta makes the following statements…

“I’m tired of this blank-check attitude of Washington politicians.  We need to send people to Washington who will add real checks to our nation’s bank balance.”

This is an interesting choice of words coming from the mayor who illegally used the Hazleton Pension Fund for purposes other than what it was intended for.  That costly decision nearly bankrupt the city and required the State of Pennsylvania to intervene and fix Barletta’s screw-up.  Also, consider the fact that the city of Hazleton is now so strapped for cash that Mayor Barletta is looking to sell off the Hazleton Water Authority to the highest bidder.  Do these sound like the actions of a man who is really serious about fiscal responsibility?

Want further proof of Lou Barletta’s financial ineptitude?  Okay.  Just take a peek at his campaign finances.  Barletta has wracked up more debt than all other candidates, both Democrat and Republican, combined.  Things are so bad for Barletta’s campaign, in fact, that before he even announced his decision to run for Congress again, he sent out a letter begging people to donate money to him so he could pay off some of his existing campaign debt from his previous two failed Congressional campaigns.  Yes, Lou Barletta is the candidate who was asking for money for his campaign before he was a candidate.  Financial integrity at its finest, eh?

When allowed to play with money, Lou Barletta has a history of doing horribly stupid things.  He can write whatever he wants on his website about how serious he is about responsible spending.  However, despite his best efforts, Mayor Barletta can not re-write the facts.  As Mayor of Hazleton, Barletta has left the city in shambles.  As a political candidate, Barletta has burned through money like it was some sort of fossile fuel.  If Lou Barletta is serious about keeping people out of Washington who are going to waste and mismanage money, he should not be running for Congress.  Because Lou Barletta has a long history of wasting and mismanaging money.  Clearly, Lou Barletta should not be elected to the United States Congress.

See also: Lou Barletta is a Bad Investment and Barletta Struggling to Raise Funds

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

Post from: StopLouBarletta

Lou Barletta Financially Inept

While Mayor Lou Barletta’s Congressional Campaign continues to do a whole lot of nothing, Chris Paige is continuing to try and take the fight to Barletta.  From today until Sunday, Chris Paige and volunteers from his campaign will be staffing booths at the Columbia and Steamtown Malls.  They’ll be there, collecting signatures to get Paige on the ballot, answering voter questions, and (hopefully) talking poorly about Mayor Barletta.

As a Republican, I can’t think of a worse candidate to represent the Party than Lou Barletta.  He has proven, in multiple campaigns, unable to raise campaign money or to run a competitive operation.  As a mayor, he has ruined the city of Hazleton, bringing it to the point of financial collapse.  The thought of this man representing anyone in any higher office is a frightening thought, indeed.  This is why I feel that having Chris Paige as a challenger to Lou Barletta in the Republican Primary is such a good thing.

The Republican voters deserve to have a choice.  Barletta has walked into the Republican nomination twice before, and watching his campaign was like watching a toddler beat his toys on the floor.  His fund raising operation was a joke.  He failed to articulate any clear positions on important issues.  His campaign manager, Vince Galko, has screwed up every election he’s ever been a part of.  And now on his third attempt at running for Congress, Lou Barletta shows no signs of learning from his past mistakes.

So at some point this week, stop by either the Columbia or Steamtown Malls and learn more about Chris Paige and his campaign.  If you’re so inclined, sign his petition to get him on the ballot.  Both the Republican Party and the voters of the 11th Congressional District deserve to have competitive political candidates.  Lou Barletta is not one of those candidates.  He never was and it appears he never will be.  It’s time to move on.  Lou Barletta does not deserve to be elected to the United States Congress.

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

Post from: StopLouBarletta

Chris Paige Campaign Takes to the Malls

In 2001, the town of Coatsville sold its water and sewer system to a private buyer.  That sale generated $40 million.  Today, only $14 million remains.  In less than 10 years, the town burned through well over half of that money.  They invested it in things that were supposed to generate steady income to the town.  Those investments have failed to generate anything.  In short, Coatsville did exactly what Lou Barletta wants to do with Hazleton.  And it didn’t work.

But, hey, maybe Lou Barletta could make this work.  Right?  Probably not.  Barletta has made bad decision after bad decision, bringing Hazleton to her knees and on the verge of bankruptcy.  He wasted millions in trying to defend his mindless “Illegal Immigration Relief Act” in Federal Court.  He illegally used the city’s pension fund for purpose it wasn’t intended for, and needed the State to come to the rescue of the city.  Honestly, if Hazleton was granted the authority to print money, Barletta would find a way to screw it up.  He’s just not very good with money.

For more proof, just look at the half-dead, sad looking thing that is his Congressional Campaign.  Already, Barletta has built up more debt than all of the other candidates, Democrat and Republican, combined.  Before he even launched his Congressional Campaign, he had to send out letters begging people to give him money because his debt was so massive.  And this is Barletta’s third consecutive attempt at running for Congress.  Every time he runs, he loses and accumulates more debt.  Most people get better at things with practice.  Not Lou Barletta.  He gets markedly worse.

The punchline in this un-funny joke is that Lou Barletta wants to take this brand of leadership to the Federal Government.  Why in the name of everything that is Holy would anyone cast a vote for Lou Barletta?  He’s not good at anything.  Unless you count ruining cities and embarrassing his own political party as a skill.  Because, I guess, Lou is pretty good at doing that.   Lou Barletta’s plan to sell the Hazleton Water Authority and save Hazleton will probably fail.  Not only because it’s a bad idea, but also because Lou Barletta is behind it.  Clearly, the voters of the 11th Congressional District simply can not afford to have Mayor Barletta represent them in the halls of the United States Congress.

As an elected official, Lou Barletta is a failure.  The city of Hazleton is worse off, not better, as a result of having Barletta serve as its mayor.  The city’s economy is in shambles.  His plan to sell-off the Hazleton Water Authority is reckless and stupid.  Before he is finished, Barletta will have made Hazleton’s economy one of the worst in the nation.  And while the damage is already done for Hazleton, it’s not too late to keep Lou Barletta from wreaking the same havoc on the 11th Congressional District.  At all costs, Lou Barletta must be kept out of the United States Congress.

See also: Barletta: Question Me and You’re All Screwed and Lou Barletta’s Vision of America

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

Post from: StopLouBarletta

Barletta Ignoring History

Mayor Lou Barletta wants to sell the Hazleton Water Authority to the highest bidder and if anyone tries to stop him, murder, rape, and anarchy will ensue.  Barletta claims that if he can’t sell the Water Authority for a quick buck, Hazleton will collapse into a heap of rubbish.  Worse, the residents of Hazleton, now drug addicted serial killers, will spill into the surrounding towns and cities.  What will ensue will be nothing short of a Biblical plague of pain, suffering, and horror.  Or something like that.

Barletta appeared this week on the Sam Lesante Show and spoke about why he needs to sell the Hazleton Water Authority and what would happen if he wasn’t allowed to do so.  As reported in the Standard Speaker…

He said the 13 municipalities in addition to Hazleton where the authority sells water have a stake in the city’s well-being.

“If the City of Hazleton crumbles, we would lose our police department, our fire department … The crime and decay will reach out,” Barletta said.

And if that weren’t enough to scare the living crap out of all of you, keep this in mind.  Without the money from the Water Authority Sale, Barletta will have no choice but to raise everyone’s taxes to the point where people will have to begin selling off their children just to afford food.  Again, as reported by the Standard Speaker…

If the city doesn’t make the sale, however, Barletta said he expects taxes on a home assessed at $100,000 would increase by $3,057 during those five years. He said he does not think most taxpayers could afford the increase, nor does he think the city could continue to maintain roads or provide the current level of police and fire service.

Get that?  Higher taxes.  Widespread crime and decay.  No police or firefighters.  This is what will happen if Mayor Lou isn’t able to sell off the Hazleton Water Authority.  Yes, Barletta admits that the sale will probably result in higher water bills for Hazleton and all the surrounding areas currently being serviced by the Water Authority.  However, as Lou himself points out, that fee hike is nothing compared to the tax hike he will unleash if his grand-plan is thwarted.  Besides, think of all the money that the city will raise if it sells the Water Authority.  Right?

Not so fast, according to Chris Paige.  Paige, who is running against Barletta in the 11th Congressional District Republican Primary, says that the profits promised by Barletta are the stuff of pipe dreams and fiction.  According to Paige, who held a Townhall Meeting last night in Hazleton, Barletta’s numbers are a bit off.  As reported by the Standard Speaker…

According to the mayor’s presentation, the city stands to generate $1.5 million annually by investing proceeds from the sale of the water company into an irrevocable trust and in a solar power generation facility to be constructed on city land near the municipal airport.

Paige said Barletta’s investments would have to yield 14 percent in order for the projected profits to become a reality.

“Fourteen percent per year with no risk? Even Bernie Madoff only promised 10 percent,” Paige said.

Paige termed Barletta’s plan a “get rich quick scheme” and said, “Hazleton’s problems weren’t created overnight and they won’t be solved overnight.”

So now the plot thickens!  Not only will Barletta’s planned sale of the Water Authority probably result in higher water fees for the fine people of the greater Hazleton area, but the profits promised from such a sale may not ever materialize.  If true, selling the Water Authority will make things worse, not better, for Hazleton.  The city will still be near financial collapse, police and firefighters will still have to be laid off, taxes will still have to be jacked up, up, and away, and on top of all that, the cost of clean drinking water will be increased, as well.  But despite all of this, Lou Barletta still wants all of us to just go along with his plan and trust him.

Trusting in Lou Barletta is the real source of this whole mess.  The people of Hazleton trusted in Barletta and elected him, multiple times, to the rank of mayor.  And what did they get in return?  One of the worst economies in the state.  Businesses are closing, homes and store fronts are sitting vacant, and the city’s finances have been thrown into the toilet.  Lou Barletta would like all of us to believe that everything is fine and that he’s got everything under control.  Hell, he even says as much on his website.  And what’s even scarier is that this man, who’s already ruined a city, now wants a shot at playing Congressman.

Lou Barletta must not be allowed to become a US Congressman.  He has shown, repeatedly, that if given the opportunity to make things worse, he will.  In fact, even when you think that there’s no possible way that he can make things worse than they already are, he will surprise you.  Lou Barletta has screwed the city and the people of Hazleton so far into the dirt that it will, if they’re lucky, take a generation for them to see daylight again.  And as the country slowly eeks its way out of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, we simply can not afford to put a man like Barletta in Congress.  Because he will find a way at screwing all of us.  It’s what he does.  Lou Barletta should not be elected to Congress.

See also: Hazleton for Sale…Maybe and Chris Paige to Challenge Barletta in Hazleton

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

Post from: StopLouBarletta

Barletta: Question Me and You’re All Screwed

I’ve been saying for quite a while now that Mayor Lou Barletta is not a serious candidate for Congress.  The latest fund raising numbers support that claim.  According to FEC filings, Barletta raised about $68,000 in cash.  That number might seem not all that bad, until you consider that $48,000 of that is Barletta’s own money.  Additionally, he now only has about $6,000 of cash on hand and has an accumulated debt of $110,000.  Lou Barletta’s campaign finances are about as troubled as those of the city that he runs.

A key indicator of a candidate’s popularity, and political viability, is his or her ability to raise funds.  Lou Barletta and his people love to walk around and claim that he is the darling of the Republican Party and that he’s the next political superstar and blah blah blah.  However, if Lou Barletta is such a political powerhouse, why is he struggling to raise cash?  If people love Lou Barletta so much, why aren’t they donating to his campaign?  If it’s true that numbers don’t lie, then Lou Barletta is much less popular and enjoys far less support than he’d like to admit.

Also, keep in mind that struggling to raise campaign cash has always been a problem for Barletta’s Congressional campaigns.  This is due in large part to the fact that while he is more popular than Jesus in his hometown of Hazleton, Barletta’s popularity begin to fall off rapidly the farther away he moves from the city.  So while Barletta’s congressional opponents (especially Paul Kanjorski) raise cash from all across the district, Barletta’s money comes from three major sources: 1. Himself 2. Citizens of Hazleton and 3. Loans.  This small cash base goes a long way toward putting Barletta at a strategic disadvantage with almost everyone else in this race.

Finally, Barletta is probably also struggling to raise funds due to potential donors not wanting to throw more money at a dead horse.  In two consecutive Congressional elections, against the same opponent, Barletta has come up short.  And now that he’s making a third attempt at it, many people who are looking to donate to a candidate have to be wondering if Lou Barletta has become a bad investment.  Republicans, and even quite a few Democrats, are eager to get Paul Kanjorski out of office.  However, there is serious doubt about whether Lou Barletta is the candidate capable of accomplishing that.

The saying of, “Something is only as valuable as someone is willing to pay for it,” comes to mind, here.  If the candidates in this race were items in a store, Lou Barletta would be on the clearance rack, right alongside the VHS cassettes and Christmas decorations.  His inability to raise cash combined with his huge (and growing) debt make him extremely unattractive to potential donors.  This, in turn, makes Lou Barletta a weak candidate and a poor choice for voters looking for someone with the ability to mount a serious challenge to Paul Kanjorski.  Lou Barletta has wasted enough voter money.  It’s time to leave him by the wayside and move along to bigger and better things.

See also: For $250,000, Lou Barletta Might Run for Congress and Barletta Accepts Money from Drug Dealers

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

Post from: StopLouBarletta

Barletta Struggling to Raise Funds