The Partisan Dilemma

The Republican partisans are having quite a dilemma  about Donald Trump.  When Charlie Dent announced yesterday that he could not vote for Trump,  local party advocate Scott Armstrong derided Dent as a Rino,  who he could no longer support.  Now, it will become more complicated if Pat Toomey continues to withhold support for Trump, because Toomey hardly fits the Rino description.
I invited Scott to express his opinion for this post;

Mike, speaking as a committee person and someone who has been part of the local committee leadership for years, I find Charlie's announcement troubling and yes,hypocritical. We have for year been told, and I myself have stressed the message that our responsibility is to defeat the Democrats. Many of us have supported Charlie even though over the years, his positions and rhetoric have been counter to basic Republican tenets.  Now Charlie finds Trump's comments as something he cannot support. Fine! So the old adage of what's good for the goose is good for the gander comes to mind.  Finally, with this development, how can I or any other Republican leader ask our fellow activists to do for Charlie what he won't do for Donald.  I  know I won't.  Will this prevent a Dent victory this fall, doubt it. But like Charlie,  I will stand by my own principles and not vote for Dent or his opponent. I will vote to defeat Hillary. Scott Armstrong

For the last decade,  except for briefly exploring the possibility of running as an outsider Republican for state representative this past winter,  I have described myself as an independent.  I ran for office twice as an independent.  I believe that  the straight party lever, which is now a button, should not exist.  In my mind there is nothing at all wrong with a Republican not supporting Trump, or a Democrat not supporting Clinton.  I understand that it is an unusual position for an elected official to take, who for the most part owe their success to party politics. So, for me there are no rino's,  only independently thinking Republicans.

Irony Of The Rt.222 Bypass

In 2005, when the westward side of the Rt. 222 bypass opened, it was a long planned expensive state project, to eliminate congestion on a busy road.. By 2007, when the eastward side was completed, the commercial potential of the Krocks Road interesection was already being planned.  The 63 acre shopping center now straddles both sides of Krocks Road, on the south side of the bypass.  Target and some other stores have already open.  Because the Hamilton Crossing developers also  have the option on the north side of the bypass,  the bypass promises to create more congestion than existed before the new road was built.

Besides the Jaindl family owning so much land in the county,  this portion of the bypass is designated the Fred Jaindl Memorial Highway.

ADDENDUM:  When I opened the Morning Call this morning,  they coincidentally had an article on the expanding commerce of the bypass.  Although, I sometimes do write in response to an article in the paper, such was not the case today.  When I do write in response, I link to the source article.

Lehigh Valley Railroad Piers

In this era of class warfare, while we worry that the rich are only paying 35% income tax, instead of 39%, let us be grateful that once upon a time we had the Robber Barons. In this era when we have to give a grant for some woman to open a small cookie shop on Hamilton Street, let us be grateful that men built railroads with private money. Let us be grateful that incredible feats of private enterprise built piers, bridges and trestles. Trains allowed us to move vast amounts of raw and finished materials across America. This network allowed us to protect ourselves during two World Wars, and provided the prosperity upon which we now rest.

The Lehigh Valley Railroad tracks extended from their piers in New Jersey to the shores of Lake Erie. The Mile Long Pier in Jersey City was the scene of German sabotage in 1916. A train full of munitions, awaiting shipment to Europe, was blown up on July 30th of that year. In 1914, the railroad built the longest ore pier in the world, in Bayonne. The ore would come from Chile, through the new Panama Canal, for shipment to Bethlehem.

reprinted from September 2013

The Hubris of Allentown's Attorneys

Credit Emily Opilo of the Morning Call for a great exposé on the lawyers and firms that have benefitted for the last decade from the Pawlowski reign.   Prominent among them is Oldrich Foucek the Third.  Foucek is also chairman of the Allentown Planning Commission, and a member of the NIZ Board.  His firm was paid over $615,000 for chasing the riff raff away,  when the city demolished 37 properties to build its Great White Elephant.   All together, this firm received  $1.73 million in work, and contributed $32 thousand dollars  to Pawlowski.   He told Opilo that the work they have done for the city is very complex and extremely complicated. 

Now, I can believe that Oldrich's brain is big enough, but I don't believe that anybody should serve in multiple positions of influence in any town.  This isn't a new tradition in Allentown, but Pawlowski's appointments have been particularly strategic.

The Audacity of Hope

Posting on national news is an address this blog seldom visits.  As regular readers know, I keep baker hours.  So, in the early morning I watch  YouTubes of the previous evening's convention speeches.  Obama maintained his status as great speech giver Wednesday, while Bill Clinton has lost some his oratory prowess earlier in the week.  I enjoyed the audience shots during Obama's speech, talk about preaching to the choir.

The only thing wrong with the Audacity of Hope is that it has no substance as a national policy.  Now, while it's positive as a personal philosophy of life in dealing with our daily personal challenges, it provides no strategy for our country's economy or defense.  While Obama  claimed that we are experiencing higher employment and other upward statistics,  I don't think that it translates to many lives.  He even said that people are coming to American to open factories.  We are hard pressed to keep our remaining factories open.  People are working longer for less.  He can certainly lead the choir in singing Kumbaya,  but will the country again rally around hope and promise?

ADDENDUM: HILLARY AND THE GLASS CEILING

 Hillary delivered the best speech of her life, but no less would have sufficed.  She is caught in the contradiction of praising the recovery under Obama, but simultaneously addressing the underemployment reality of America.  In talking about her plans for the first 100 days, she promised to put a chicken in every pot.

While accusing Trump of dividing us, she would pay for those chickens by squeezing Wall Street and the rich.  The fact that she felt it necessary to mention Trump so many times, indicates how close she believes this election will be.

She was most successful when addressing the subject of weapons.  She built a  case that she might have a better demeanor to be Commander In Chief than Trump.  Her approach to gun control was pragmatic; Honor the second amendment,  but refine the background checks.

Both she and Trump are actually running on the same issues,  national security and jobs.

The Artless Walk

When J.B. Reilly built his Strata Flats 1,  he named the walkway along side it,  the ArtsWalk.  You may recall that they arrested the hapless street singer serenading the diners at Shula's,  which folded anyway.  We now learn that despite objections from the art institutions,  the Allentown Parking Authority is going to give the surface lot to J.B. Reilly.  Without the convenience of this lot for pick up and drop off, the Community Music School will leave Symphony Hall.  Why doesn't Reilly just build his new apartment house somewhere else?  He owns the square block between 7th and 8th, Hamilton and Walnut Streets.  Parking Authority board member and city council member Daryl Hendricks thinks that this problem represents success. The Morning Call keeps referring to a booming downtown, with new stores. The town is neither booming, or are the couple new stores doing any business.  What's in play here is simple greed.  Greed by Reilly, and greed by the Parking Authority, a partner in the deal.

Here would be an opportunity for still Mayor Pawlowski to make a contribution to the city, that he refuses to leave.  He should speak out against this plan, and advocate for that surface lot to remain.