Andy Reilly and the GOP Council candidates can't keep their partisan politics out of the way of the public good.
Delco Times: Democrats slam GOP mailing on FAA issue
This week, the GOP sought to undermine progress made by Joe Sestak and Bryan Lentz by putting out a mailing claiming that the Democrats have no plan. This break from bipartisanship shows how irresponsible the GOP council candidates are.
Here's a Democratic "plan" for you: Work with your congressman and legislator, instead of working against them.
Clearly, the GOP would rather undermine Joe and Bryan to make themselves look good, rather than work in the public interest on the FAA problem.
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28 comments:
This is probably the lamest complaint that the Democrats have come up with yet.
Do you really think the FAA will say, oh, wow, a chink in the armor in Delaware County!
That's just ridiculous, and I am surprised that Sestak and Lentz would join in this nonsense.
I saw this mailing and it was pretty clear to me that the Democrats without a plan are the candidates for County Council, not Sestak and Lentz.
Take a look at O'Keefe's website... no mention of the FAA plan at all. And Landau's website says pretty much that he will work with Sestak. That's not a plan, its a cop out! The GOP mailing was dead on!
Meanwhile, the FAA flight plan is all over McGarrigle, Lewis and Fizzano Cannon's website at www.delco2007.com. There's their the Republicans position paper on the issue, a press release outlining their plan and links to TV interviews the candidates did on CBS 3 and NBC10 other news outlets slamming the FAA the day after it announced its decision. Now that's taking the fight to the FAA.
The only chink in the Delco armor on this issue is the Democrats for County Council who have been AWOL (Absent With Out Leadership) on this issue. Maybe their lack of a plan or inattention to this issue is being interpretted by the FAA to mean that Delco is NOT united on this issue, that some people don't really care. It certainly seems like the dem candidates for County council don't care.
We need strong leadership on this issue on County council. Its clear to me that the Dem candidates are not going to provide it.
Pat and Delco-
The council already filed a lawsuit, which is exactly what any council Dem or Rep would have done. However, much of the issue is beyond council control, whereas having a Health Dept. and lower taxes by eliminating fraud and waste are things a Dem council CAN control. The topic barely came up at the council debate.
The FAA issue is NOT a voting issue for me this election and it wasn't for me last election. Frankly, I was surprised that Sestak was able to make such great headway with the issue (being in the Majority party helped a lot).
The GOP machine would rather lose the FAA issue if they could pin the loss on Democrats.
who really cares--the GOP is doing too much too little too late. Where was Weldona nd teh GOP controlled Council for the years that this plan was proceeding? Where was Andy Lewis and Chris Cannon and Tom mcGarrigle during the years this has been progressing? Nowhere. Why? Because it was not politically expedient. They had better be pushing for an injunction or some other legal relief now, because they have squandered past opportunities and this will all be pinned on them and their watch. The GOP credo--its aboout politics, NOT people.
whynotus:
Please this issue was not on anybody's radar screen until last year when the FAA finally made their plans public. Learn a little about the issue before spouting off.
DD:
Its not surprising this sin't a voting issue for you since you won's be as impacted by the huge increase in decibel levels of planes flying over your house at all hours like many of the ocmmunities closer to the airport. Once you become a homeowner and stop living in your mom's basement, you might come to appreciate the equity that so many people have in their homes and the impact this will have on their property values. Also, I have seen no progress from Sestak on this. Did the FAA suddenly repeal their decision?
Delco-
My understanding is that Sestak has had some success delaying this with some GAO report and talking to a key Dem on the budget committee. Rather than killing it directly, I think that strategy is to starve it. However, I don't recall the details off the top of my head.
It's not a voting issue for me because there are bigger issues for which the council can actually have an impact, rather than take credit for the actions of others at the state or federal level.
Delco:
Do you think we are all that foolish to believe the rhetoric that this just popped on to the scene last year? It is obvious to anyone who is not a brain washed republican that this was in the planning stages for along time, and the repubicans in Council and Mr. Wedon were either compicitous or asleep at the switch. In either case, that is why there must be a change.
Whynotus:
What are you talking about? If you had paid even passing interest to this issue, you would know that the Draft Environmental Impact Study was not completed until December 2005, just a few days before Christmas. so yes, it was basically 2006 before the impact on Delco ws known.
The FAA has been playing games with elected officials and the public all laong, as evidenced by their timing of releasing the information. It was at that point it was shared with elected officials and Members of Congress and the public.
Before that, no one knew what the FAA's plan would like, what the environmental and noise impacts would be, communities that would be impacted, etc. It wasn't until the impact study was finished at the end of 2006 that the impact was really known.
DD:
However, much of the issue is beyond council control, whereas having a Health Dept. and lower taxes by eliminating fraud and waste are things a Dem council CAN control.
Lame, David, really lame.
The FAA issue is NOT a voting issue for me this election and it wasn't for me last election.
And of course, it's all about you.
The GOP machine would rather lose the FAA issue if they could pin the loss on Democrats.
Your comments are getting stupider by the minute. Yes, I am sure that Frank Catania who lives in Ridley, and John McNichol, who lives in Drexel Hill, and all the other Republican leaders who live in the flight path would happily endure a lifetime of mega-decibel airplane noise and vast quantities of pollution spewing over their heads and into their lungs, just so they can "pin the loss on the Democrats." (I am tempted to make a pun about pinning the tail on the donkey, but I'll resist.)
Delco:
Read the article in the DT--the plan's been being discussed for ten years. Stop trying to spin for the Republicans and pull the wool over everyone's eyes. Do you believe the cr*p you s**t???
Pat-
It's not "all about me", it's not just as important as other issues. I'll give you an example of how it's not that important to you or Andy either:
Let's say that the ONLY solution to the FAA problem would be immediately raising everyone in Delco's taxes by 10%. How important would it be then? Would people choose 10% tax hike over the noise?
Well for me, reducing the higher than average death rates in Delco with a Health Department is more important than hollow claims by GOP candidates that they can block the FAA and airplane noise. My guess is that the GOP plan is $100 million worth of earplugs.
Besides, what's all that patronage power and money worth compared to a little noise for the good old boys running the GOP machine?
These are the same people that supported George Bush, Santorum and Weldon after they sent thousands of young soldiers to their deaths (all in the name of GOP party unity). So, we lose FAA, they will blame it on the Dems. If we win, they'll try to take credit. It's all dirty politics, all the time with those guys. You KNOW they are worse than Moran/Twardy and your boy, St. Andy, was their pick to be on council.
David--
we all know that Andrew was the pick because of his access to new sources of money for the DELCO GOP. It wasn't because he's a great statesman or that he understands the problems of real people in DELCO. He also must have sold his sould to get the nomination because if he is such a crusader, how come he is soooo silent. Probably had to promise to do that to get the nomiantion so he can get his friends to feed in DELCO.
I guess this will require Pat to respond wiht more of her talking points defending her boy.
Whynotus:
I'm just telling the facts like they are. While the FAA has talked about a plan to increase capacity at Philadelphia Internation Airport for the past seven years or so, no details were available until the Draft Environmentla Impact Study was presented to elected officials and the public. That was in December 2005. And that was when our eected officials and the public mobilized agaisnt it.
Before that, the FAA had only spoken in general terms about increasing capacity. Up until the DEIS was released, no one knew where the planes were going or even if they would be lower altitiudes at all. For all anyone knew, the plan could have been to divert non-business air traffic to Atlantic City and Allentown. Or planes could have been taking off and landing at lower altitudes with patterns taking them over the Delaware River, Philadelphia, and/or New Jersey only.
Nobody knew that Delaware County residents were getting hosed until the DEIS was released. Take some time to understand the issue before spouting off your nonsense.
Delco-
Delaware county residents have been "getting hosed" for decades by GOP monopoly government.
Care to come out of the closet on your identity?
My guess: you are GOP official and/or part of campaign.
David,
Why is it that anyone who cares about this race and clearly knows more than you must be a party official or part of the campaign?
Believe it or not, there are many educated Delco residents out there who see through the BS you put out there.
Delco-
Anybody that knows more than me, also knows that the Delco GOP Courthouse is even worse than I've indicated.
The educated in Delco politics KNOW it's not BS. The shills, like you, act like either the patronage doesn't occur or is somehow "okay", all the while trying to distract the voters from the truth.
Do you honestly believe that 250 out of 255 positions (including sherrif's department, voter registration, personnel dept) should be GOP and that the taxpayers are getting the BEST?
Delco, are you claiming you are NOT a GOP insider, or just claiming you might not be one?
Halloween's over and the election is a few days away. Drop the mask and reveal your name. Let's see how connected you really are.
David, I know the issues better than you do, and I don't think the courthouse is worse than you say. To the contrary, I think much of what you say is recycled stories that the Delco Dems have been telling and retelling for years.
You're just a classic malcontent Delaware County Democrat, smug in your sense of superiority, and almost naive in the way you'll believe any bad thing you hear about the Delco GOP.
On Wednesday you'll revert to form, first by making excuses for why you lost so badly (I posted the likely list of excuses elsewhere on this blog), and then by cannibalizing your fellow Dems.
Pat-
My mistake. I should have said "an honest person that knows more than me".
Here's a great example of courthouse corruption just this week. Denying Democrats watcher certificates for alternate first names, like Rob or Bob instead of "Robert" (even though last name and address match). Even Dave vs David. The voter department tried claiming that the submitted people "did not exist".
This is the kind of election tampering that goes on regularly with the GOP run courthouse. This is one of the reasons that hiring in key departments can't be filled with all (or nearly all) people of the party in power.
Calling me dishonest doesn't improve your credibility any, and doesn't increase your candidates' chances.
For all your macho talk about how tough this blog would be, all you could pull off was insults and name-calling. You are not a good reflection on your candidates, or on your party, and you do them a great disservice.
I don't know anything about this poll-watcher issue, but I would bet, knowing you, that there is more to it than you are telling us. Or less.
I find it impossible to believe that the people in the Election Bureau have any interest in keeping Democrats from serving as poll watchers.
I mean, really, who cares? What possible difference do you think it makes to anyone, except a bunch of paranoid Dems, who think their mere presence keeps the Republicans from intimidating voters?
Only the Delco Dems think so little of the voters that they think the voters need the Dems to protect them from the big bad Republicans. The voters aren't nearly as stupid as you think they are. They don't let anyone push them around. They are not a bunch of illiterate Third World villagers who need protection from the military. This isn't Pakistan.
So what possible reason would the good hardworking people in the Election Bureau have for keeping you from prancing around the Coopertown gym again this year, berating Republicans who inadvertently leave a campaign button on their lapel before entering? Do you really think you are even a little bit effective?
Pat-
Why does the GOP feel they need watchers then?
The GOP frequently violates rules and engaging in politics within the polling place. In far too many precincts, the GOP judge of election creates strike lists for the Republican Party poll workers.
It is not unheard of for voters to forget to push the green button. A Dem watcher reduces the temptation for a GOP worker to alter the vote before pushing the button themselves.
So now you are accusing people of federal crimes? Do you have any reason to believe this vote tampering actually happens, or is it just another of your multitudinous paranoid fantasies?
It's like you think, now if I were a really bad person, what would I do? And then assume the Republicans are doing it. That's called paranoia, David, and it's not rational.
The only persons I can think of in Delaware County history who did something wrong in the election process were Democrats, Dianne Merlino and her husband.
Remember how he falsified the signatures on petitions? And that Dianne was accused of macing state employees? (I don't remember if she was convicted or not, but I know she lost her job over it.)
So much for the purity of the Democratic party.
FYI: we get watcher certificates so that we can go into the poll and compile a strike list, and so we can be there for the count afterwards. Duh.
Pat-
Merlino was before my time.
The poll watchers are the ones that are supposed to do the strike lists. However, in previous elections GOP election judges and/or inspectors have compiled the strike lists for the party workers. This year our watchers are on the lookout for stuff like that and have been instructed to report it immediately.
During the primary, Cathy Kovach (sp?) walked voters right into the polling place (her husband, the election judge there, didn't care to enforce the rules). We didn't get into a fight about it, since it was a primary and we were watching for the Dems.
In Nov 06, the GOP judge in a Haverford precinct (7th or 9th ward) refused to hold the curbside election outside of the polling place for the minority inspector. The judge insisted that it be held inside, but then denied the Dems from entering the polling place without watcher certificates.
Let's put it this way: every dirty trick you've ever heard about being pulled in Philly or Chicago has been road-tested by the Delco GOP as well.
If those are the only two "dirty tricks" that you can cite, I think our democracy will survive.
Back in the 80s and early 90s, when I was a Democrat, I used to leave my strike list inside at the table while I went outside to work. Then when things got slow, I'd come in and catch up. (The Democrats never had enough people to do both jobs. We usually didn't have anyone to make phone calls, either, so the strike list was often pointless, unless I could get my mother to make some calls.)
Invariably, the poll workers would either give me a book with the list of names, so I could catch up, or do my strike list for me while I was gone.
The poll workers are just nice people, and we're all neighbors, after all.
So if that's the kind of stuff that gets you all hot and bothered, no wonder people roll their eyes when they see you coming.
Pat-
If you think denying the appointment of minority inspectors is acceptable, then you're really showing your true colors.
No, I didn't mean to say that denying the appointment of a minority inspector is acceptable; I didn't really understand what you were talking about there. (Curbside election?) But I am sure there's more to the story than you are letting on.
Pat-
It also also sometimes called a curbstone election.
It is a legal means to fill vacant positions of election officials on the day of election.
The Republican Judge of Election in question was in either the 7th or 9th ward last year. It WAS a violation of the rules. The Dems held off having that entire polling place shutdown until the County BOE could settle the matter, though it was an available option.
Speaking of GOP election fraud, aren't you the one that went after Ken Clouse for his girlfriend's mother-in-law voting absentee (even though she was an Alzheimer's patient, registered in both Haverford and Philly, and lived in nursing home in Philly)?
Didn't you alleged that Clouse had "gerrymandered" magisterial district judge's boundaries in the county to favor one candidate, who was the daughter of a girlfriend.
Yes, that was me, and that was Clouse, not the GOP.
Would you really close the poll and inconvenience God knows how many voters, just to be sure you had a minority inspector on site? Couldn't you just as easily sent one of your poll watchers in there to sit and make sure none of these terrible things you imagine actually happened?
Pat-
I wasn't at the poll, so it wasn't my call. But, if an election judge is going to violate the rule to deny minority party representation, then there is every reason to suspect there is something fishy. What valid reason would a "non-partisan" election judge have for keeping Dems out?
As for the watchers, we didn't have one there yet before the polls opened and the judge denied the prospective Dem election officials access to the polling place. The non-watcher Dems were denied access as inspectors/clerk. So, there was NO Democrat present to check if the machines had been properly initialized, or if votes had been entered before the poll opened or any of the things a minority party needs to check as part of certifying an election. If the Dems tried pulling something like that to keep Reps out, you'd be the first one filing a lawsuit.
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