Final TED talk installment

I've been on a mission to create a TED talk. I doubt that I'll ever get to give it, but at least I was able to write it. This is the final piece, which I used for this week's column. My premise is that we cannot allow social media to overshadow real journalism, which, ironically created the first social media platform. Talk amongst yourselves!

Newspapers: The original social media platform

Have you heard of TED talks? I want to do one. There’s an online application and as soon as I come up with enough words for an 18-minute speech I’m going to apply. A TED talk is cut off at 18 minutes. I’m not sure why, but attention span probably has a lot to do with it. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design, and there are conferences held around the country where people speak on a particular topic. So, I’m auditioning here today. The following is the beginning of my talk. Newspapers were the first social media platform. Sure, cave drawings were probably first, but you had to be invited into the cave to see the etchings. Then there were hieroglyphics, but again, if you weren’t standing in the pyramid, you didn’t know what you were missing. The Romans, of course, were the first to publish a public document, Acta Diurna, which were public notices etched into stone and put in the town square for people to see. A more advanced version of the cave drawings to say the least. The publications would sometimes be copied and sent out to the outlying regions of the empire and be shared with the people there; a very heavy social media platform, but social media nonetheless as the notices soon evolved to include birth announcements, marriages and deaths. The first Acta is believed to be dated to 131 BC. Years before, Egyptian hieroglyphics were used as a form of communication. Hieroglyphics date back to nearly 4,000 BC, but most people couldn’t read them, so I’m not sure we’re able to qualify them as a social media platform. In my latest rant, I talk about the evolution of the forerunners for social media as we know it today, from the cave dwellers above to the brave souls who founded this country. After the revolution newspapers spread like wildfire, sharing stories of triumphs and tribulations of individuals for the first time, unfettered. Sharing is the staple of social media, and sharing true news, written by trained journalists is a form of sharing our Republic cannot survive without, and yet newspapers being threatened by the very movement they started hundreds of years ago.

The social world is all a Twitter

In my humble opinion, Common Sense by Thomas Paine, was one of the first useful pieces of social media to permeate our society, no matter how small it was back in the Revolutionary War days. Thankfully, Mr. Paine didn’t take the opportunity to tell folks what he had for lunch, or where he was heading off to for vacation, but to inform the public that the British were getting out of hand with their heavy handed way of ruling the colonies. Five years ago, parents around the world were trying to figure out what the heck Facebook was all about, and now they've nearly taken over the social media platform. In this week's rant I talk about the how socially acceptable Twitter is becoming. In another five years, we'll probably have another five popular platforms for people to espouse their daily routines from and Twitter will be as commonplace as a quick telephone call.

Spring tax bill is jolting reminder of school property tax bill to come

The annual rite of spring that brings my local and county tax bill to my door always brings a burst of sunshine into my humble abode. You did read that with the appropriate amount of sarcasm laced in, didn’t you? To be perfectly honest, I really don’t mind paying the local and county tax bill. And, to keep with the honesty thing, I meant what I wrote in that last sentence. The local and county tax bill pays for my roads and bridges; it also pays for my police protection, things that I couldn’t provide for myself, thus the need for government to step in. But that spring bill reminds of the one that comes due in the fall. Now that I think about it, I’ll ad the school property tax bill to the ever growing list of reasons why I don’t like the fall. I know what’s coming. And I think you know what's coming in my latest rant.

What's in a name?

When it comes right down to it, anything but complete elimination of the school property tax will be a complete and utter failure. We all know that any form of a property tax left open at the local level will be used to tax us again and again. In my latest rant I use the name game to make my point.

Saying goodbye to Chick's will take some time

Bridgeport is losing an institution. What was your favorite meal? Mine? I went through the wings, the mussels and more, but the tuna melt, my favorite by far. In this week's rant I, well, I don't really rant at all, but I do go down memory lane and remember a childhood kind of Chick's. If you didn't frequent Chick's in Bridgeport, tell us about your favorite restaurant. Where is it, what kind of food did they serve, and what was/is your favorite dish?

What a difference a party makes

About 10 years ago former Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell was able to get gambling passed under the guise of providing property tax relief for Pennsylvanians. Now Democratic Governor Tom Wolf is proposing a budget that will provide property tax relief, if he can only raise taxes. Unfortunately, the local school property tax will remain. Please tell me we're not falling for a different sheep in 'Wolf's' clothing. Sorry, I couldn't resist. Here's this week's rant. 

Should all documents produced with taxpayer dollars be open to the public?

I probably do this every year, and if you’re a regular reader you may be able to recite the following from memory, but I think it is important to keep alive what I consider to be one of the most profound statements from one of our founding fathers, Thomas Jefferson. “We’re it left for me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.” At the heart of the quote is Jefferson’s well known distrust of a government with too much power, and the power of a free press. In this week's rant, I take a look at national Sunshine Week, and at all the documents that should be available to the taxpaying public. I guess the issue here is, do you agree?

The sweet smell of vindication

It doesn't happen very often, at least for me, but when it does, why not enjoy it? In last week's rant I talked about the possibility of Montgomery County, PA following in the footsteps of Montgomery County, Maryland...about 10 years ago. The vindication came when I read a report by the Economy League of Greater Philadelphia that talks about doing the exact same thing!

Not all Muslims are terrorists, but are all terrorists Muslim?

This week’s rant is about President Obama’s speech at the National Prayer Breakfast. Obama told the audience that we should make sure to not get on our high horse about the violence taking place in the name of Islam because Christians are also guilty of the same sins. Of course, he had to reach back nearly a millenium to the crusades to make his analogy. He did try to bring his analogy a little closer to our time in history by referencing slavery and Jim Crow laws, but I’m not sure either was linked to Christianity. There has been national outrage over Obama’s remarks at the breakfast, and perhaps rightfully so, but in my opinion, his remarks are right in line with other remarks he has made about terrorists over the years. He doesn’t seem to want to link terrorism to Islam. Think about that for a minute. Can you think of any act of terrorism carried out in recent memory that wasn’t done in the name of Islam, radical though it may be. And I’m not by any stretch of the imagination trying to say that all Muslims are terrorists, but it sure is starting to seem like all terrorists are Muslim.

Where would you spend your money if it wasn't going to property taxes?

Long headline, I know, but that's the gist of this week's rant. What’s your biggest bill every month? For most of us, it’s going to most likely be the amount of money you pay toward your mortgage, or your rent. Unless of course you’re driving around in a Lamborghini, then you probably have a higher car payment than I have a mortgage payment. But let’s just go with your mortgage payment. Now, depending on what you paid for your home, and how long you’ve owned your home, there’s a chance the amount of taxes you’re paying each fall may just exceed the amount you’re paying each month for the actual house. I was talking with someone who lives in a nice house, not a McMansion by any stretch, but a nice house, and I was shocked to learn they were paying $8,000 a year in school district property taxes. That works out to, oddly enough, $666 a month. I’m not saying the devil is at work here, but I will say the devil is certainly in the details. Imagine you have an extra $666 a month in disposable income. The first thing I would do is try squirrel away about half of it, but I’d almost guarantee I’d be spending the other half.

Which piece of the puzzle is Norristown missing?

That's probably a loaded question, but it needs to be asked. There are a lot of good things happening in Norristown right now, and there is momentum for revitalization, but it certainly hasn't kicked into gear just yet. So what's missing? In this week's rant I look at what I believe just might be the missing piece.

Would you donate a dollar to save your town?

How much change do you have in your pocket or purse right now? Chances are, it’s close to a dollar, maybe two. If so, how much would it affect your ability to pay your bills this month if you were to send one dollar to a worthy cause? And what if you knew that dollar could make a difference? I mean a real difference. Norristown is on the brink of revitalization, but there are certain key pieces to the puzzle that also have to be in place for it to make a real come back. A town not only needs to be clean, and safe, and have a thriving business community, but it also needs to have a vibrant arts scene. Unfortunately, the arts community cannot be self-sustaining. It needs the help of the communities it serves to keep the creative juices flowing. To that end, the Centre Theater in Norristown is struggling and it needs your help. In this week's rant I explore the possibilities of what a dollar could actually do for the county seat of Norristown, Pennsylvania.

Norristown needs to resolve itself to revitalize

In my latest rant I go off about New Year's resolutions and how people pretty much dumped them after the first couple of weeks of January are in the books. I think people should resolve to do things when the moment strikes, not at the end of the year when they're thinking about all the things they should have done before the calendar came around for a change.

Calling Christopher Walken: Norristown needs more cow bell!

In my latest rant I talk about the good things in Norristown that are attracting people to downtown again, but, as I see it, there just aren't enough venues. We need more cowbell! Within the past couple of years we have seen new restaurants come along, including Banh Mi and Almaz Café, to join La Michoacana and August Moon, two established restaurants that anchor Main and Arch streets. The international flair is there, we just need to bring everyone together to talk about it, and more importantly to tell people who live outside Norristown about it. The addition of the new Five Saints Distillery, which is expected to debut sometime late this year, will add another dimension to Main Street. August Moon also hosts Second Saturday jazz nights every month drawing a crowd from far and wide to come into town to hear authentic jazz that might make you think you were sitting in a speak easy on Iberville St. in New Orleans. But the restaurants alone won’t keep the momentum going. We need specialty shops, and more eateries, to complement the two theaters we have in the county seat. The Centre Theater is holding ‘A Night of Wine and Roses’ with two live shows on, you guessed it, Valentine’s Day. Tickets can be purchased at thecentretheater.ticketleap.com. There are a lot of other events at the theater, which is currently undergoing a series of renovations throughout the building to attract a more diverse audience, including a space for music lessons and a small independent and second run movie theater. Theatre Horizon, celebrating its 10th anniversary, continues to produce stellar stage productions, and also holds acting classes, hosts an autism drama program as well as an after school drama club. These are the things that attract people to downtowns all across America. And we need more of them.

Journalism's future in 2015 and beyond

No, I'm not trying to channel Buzz Lightyear, I'm just thinking about the future of our newsrooms. In this week's rant I take a moment to reflect on the past year, but spend the majority of time talking about what the future of journalism holds. I think it's a bright future. You may not. No matter where you stand on the subject always remember the words of Thomas Jefferson: "Were it left to me to decide whether there should be government without newspapers or newspapers without government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter." Well said, Tom, well said.

What deserves our attention in 2015?

Last week's column caught me off guard, but I'm already gearing up for my first column of the New Year. What's the biggest issue facing us in 2015? Property taxes are still in my cross hairs, but is there something else that deserves more attention? Just in case you missed it, here's last week's rant. And, when you're sitting around the house this weekend, take a moment or two to think about what really gets you fired up. It might just be something we should all be a little ticked off about.

Trying to put a bow on 2014 just won't work

More people than I imagined actually showed up in this year’s mid-term election. I was predicting somewhere along the lines of our primary, which was dismal. Less than 19 percent of voters in the county level and less than 7 percent in the county seat decided it was worth their while to vote back in May. The general election was much healthier, with more than 40 percent turnout on the county level. But honestly, I can’t in good conscious put a bow on turnout until we get a little closer to the 70 and 80 percent turnout, and sometimes 90 percent, we see in third-world countries. When we do get there, or at least get close to those numbers, perhaps then we could take a look at the size of our government on the state and federal levels. For this week’s rant, though, let’s concentrate on state government. Did you know we have the second largest state legislature in the United States? Well, did you know our second largest state legislature actually costs twice as much as the largest, California’s, by about double? Let’s try putting a bow on this slippery little devil when 2015 rolls around, shall we? There have been several attempts in the past. A couple of years ago Speaker of the House Sam Smith offered up a bill to reduce the size of state government. The first time around it died in the Senate because of inaction. Surprise, surprise. The second time around, just last year, the speaker split his effort into two bills, one for the House and one for the Senate, but of course, members of both bodies decided to tack amendments on that, I’m speculating, they knew would probably table the proposals. There’s a lot going on in Harrisburg that even the most experienced bow tier would have trouble getting into one shiny box, but we simply cannot give up on the effort. Closer to home, we did pull off a major redesign of all of our newspapers in the Philadelphia area. And, we actually put some bows on them during Breast Cancer Awareness month. On a personal level, I joined the newly formed board of the Greater Norristown Society of the Arts and we’ve been working extremely hard this year to breathe new life into the Centre Theater. We’re nowhere near putting a bow on the theater, but we are making strides toward getting the society to a solvent level. We’re launching a new music school that we’re hoping will become all the rage. Think about it, a music school in Norristown. What’s next, a symphony orchestra? And, of course, it wouldn’t be a rant if I didn’t end this week’s column with the biggest missing bow of the year, property tax reform. We just don’t seem to be able to get that bowed tied, even a little bit. Just when you think we at least have a piece of ribbon wrapped around a portion of the problem someone comes along with a pair of scissors.

To be fair, state legislator pay should be frozen

As I look back on my columns for 2014 it seems like I’ve written one long column, I’m talking novel long, about the need for property tax reform in Pennsylvania. Along the way I complained about some of the things our state legislature deemed more important than providing relief to property owners, who are being held hostage in the name of public education, and while I know my words have not fallen on deaf ears, our elected officials have been successful in sidestepping the issue the entire legislative session. In their defense they have been busy, though. This past legislative session a total of 369 proposals were enacted, according to witf.org, a Harrisburg-based media outlet. House members introduced 3,160 proposals, and 1,091 resolutions, while their counterparts in the Senate introduce 1,981 proposals and more than 500 resolutions. Man, that’s a lot of paperwork. Somehow or another, our state legislature found a way to come together to pass 369 bills during this past legislative session. And yet not a single measure on property tax relief found its way to the governor’s desk. To be fair, though, neither did a measure on liquor privatization or pension reform. You know that guy in the office that always looks like he’s busier than a one-legged man in a butt kicking contest, that’s our state legislature. While I’m not one to complain, as I tried to explain in my complete rant in this week's column, which you can find in its entirety right here, I’m suggesting we freeze the salaries of our state legislators right where they are.

Our elected officials give life to bills, or crush them

This entire year I've written about property tax reform. Now, while I'm not political expert by any stretch of the imagination, I do pay attention to what's going on in the world of politics, both here and abroad. One thing that has become perfectly clear to me is that our elected officials can give life to a bill in a matter of days. They can also sit on a bill until it suffocates. Or, they can simply crush it. In my latest rant, I talk about, you guessed it, property tax reform. How are the bills designed to bring some form of relief to property tax owners doing?

Venting about something other than politics

With just a few weeks left until Election Day, I thought it would be a good time to vent about something other than politics. In this week's rant, I take on drivers, or more accurately, people who don't know how to drive.

Time to put ISIS in deep freeze

It's not often that I agree with our president, but when it comes to ISIS, or ISEL or whatever you want to call them, our president has it right. We need to bomb them right off the face of the planet. In my latest rant I talk about a particularly disturbing segment of a recent 60 Minutes airing that should have gotten everyone's attention.

Real quick, where will you be on Oct. 4?

Next up on the agenda...Oct. 4 craft beer and food fundraiser for The Centre Theater Who needs tickets? I describe it all in my latest rant in The Times Herald. We have a fundraiser coming up on Oct. 4 for the Centre Theater. We’re doing a craft beer and food pairing event to raise money for the venerable venue. It promises to be a great afternoon, starting around 4:30 and going until 7:30. I’ll be the guest bartender, so come on by and say hello if you’re in the neighborhood. If you’re not in the neighborhood, make a U-turn and come on over anyway. The fundraiser is going to help the entire theater, but just in case you had no idea what goes on at 208 DeKalb, I’ll let you in on a few of the events. Wallafest is held every summer and features about 16 bands over two days. There are plays and poetry readings, and there are kids programs as well, lots of programs for kids. Citizen Paine is an off-Broadway show that will be making a return appearance this fall, and we’re in the planning stages for the upcoming theatrical season. Oh, and we’re just about to launch a music school. Did you know there was a music school in Norristown? We’ve been lucky enough to get a couple of donations from our two local state representatives, Matt Bradford and Mike Vereb, and we’ve purchased a few instruments. We’re teaming up with the Police Athletic League to brings kids over after school to give them a taste of the arts through this incredibly low cost program. Come down Oct. 4 and I’ll tell you all about it.

The new Times Herald is turning heads

I don't know if you had a chance to see it yet, but we've changed! I talk about the good, the bad and the ugly of going through a redesign in my latest rant.

Naming names in the war on property taxes in Pennsylvania

It's time to start naming names in the war on property taxes, and I do it here, in this week's rant. We've been talking about property tax reform for so long I can now type property tax reform with my eyes closed. Unfortunately, our elected officials don't seem to care about how long we've been talking about. Why should they when they know they have a few more years in office to mull it over. But guess what, those years are up, at least for our House members, and for half the state Senate.

The Pennsylvania property tax 'mistake'

Sometimes something you do wrong can lead to something right. With my vow to keep the pressure on our state legislators to address property tax reform, I was trying to come up with a theme for this week's column. A mistake I made in last week's column was weighing on me, and then it hit me what a huge mistake connecting property taxes to public education was when it was first conceived, which led me to this week's rant. Only back then property taxes really didn't affect that many people because the cost to educate a child was so low. Those were the days!

Wedding bells and newspapers, a match made in heaven

Something happened at the wedding of Nik Bucha and Amanda Culp that brought a smile to my face, and no I didn't catch the garter belt. Find out what happened right here!

Stall tactics won't work with property tax reform

If you were a betting person, where would you put the odds of property tax relief actually happening this year? I am a betting man, and I'm will to go out on a limb and say it will happen this year. There is more support for reform now than there has been in the past decade, so we need our elected officials to get it done this year. In this week's rant I talk about how we all try to get out of doing things, like taking out the trash. This is one issue we should not let our state legislators get away with not doing. That is, if they want to be our state legislators next year.

Advice to graduates; wear sunscreen...and vote

There's a lot of good advice floating around for seniors just getting ready to either make their way in the world or make their way into college. In this week's rant I dispense what I believe to be some very sound advice, with one specific admonition...vote!

What's the difference between a pension plan and a Ponzi scheme?

As I wrote in my column, don't answer. It's a trick question. In this week's rant I talk, half jokingly, about the differences between a Ponzi scheme and our taxpayer funded state pensions in PA. Personally, I think we're all being hoodwinked. What do you think?

Now's the time to bring the property tax reform heat in PA

With the primary in our rear view mirror, it's time to start demanding answers from those who want to be elected, and from those already in office. When and how will property tax reform take shape? That's it. Nothing else. Not if, when. In my latest rant I'm sounding the bell. It's not personal. It's business. Let's take care of it now.

What do you fret about?

When you stop to think about it, there are very few of life's major events that we actually have control over. In this week's rant I talk a little bit about my daughter's graduation and the primary election. Two events that I have little control over, so my advice is pretty solid. I tell myself and anyone who will listen...don't fret about it.

Column took a backseat to daughter's graduation

I missed writing my column last week. It would have been in today's print edition as well, but I had bigger fish to fry. My daughter graduated from the University of Georgia last week. I know I make part of my living putting words to work, but I really can't think of any nouns, verbs or adjectives good enough to express how proud I am of my daughter. Since words are failing me at this particular time, which is highly unusual for me, as most of you know, I thought I would just post this photo and let it speak for itself.

I have a couple of reasons for voting, how about you?

While I would normally be all on board the property tax reform train when it comes to pounding the drums to get everyone out to vote in the upcoming primary, there's just one little catch this year. There's only one district on the state level that has a competitive race, and that's only on the Republican side of a House race. In this week's rant I look at the upcoming primary, and mostly at the fact that we're not going to make one bit of difference with our votes this time around.

How well is the Affordable Care Act doing?

Honest opinions only. I mean, I was all for the concept. Everyone should have access to healthcare. Who wouldn't be? That's like saying you don't like kids. Who does that? OK, some people actually do say that. But I was ready, willing and able to give the Affordable Care Act the grade it deserved. And while the Obama administration is touting the 7-plus million people who signed up as achieving their original goal, there's a couple of key points that were left out. I take a look at the act in this week's rant. So, I'll ask again. How well do you think the Affordable Care Act is doing?

You reap what you sow

We've been talking about property tax reform for so long, another season is upon us. Planting season. In this week's rant, I talk about the idea of planting your garden while planting the property tax reform seed with your local legislator.

Unbolting from our 'normal' way of doing things

When you do things the same way for so long, they just become normal. Sometimes you don't even think about why you do something they way you do, it's just that you've always done it that way, so... In my latest rant I talk about an ongoing experiment at The Times Herald. We're unbolting our journalists from their 'normal' routines. We want them to think digital first in everything they do when it comes to reporting, editing and publishing. Last week, we ran a story on the front page of The Times Herald because, and only because, it was incredible popular online. My question is whether our print readers found it as interesting. If you happen to be one of those people who read print and digital. Let me know that you thought of the story about the vanity plates PennDOT refused to issue.

The Great Huskey Compromise of 2014

We've been pushing for property tax reform for two years, at least. Property tax reform has been an issue for more than two decades. The latest round of bills don't seem to have what it takes to get it done, so in my latest rant I've come up with a solution. It will take a couple of years to get it done, but in the end, it will be worth it. Let me know what you think.

Honesty, integrity and Voter ID

When you spend months ranting and raving about an injustice, shouldn't you make sure your own house is in order first? I was absolutely blown away when I saw a letter from the Montgomery County Democratic Committee inviting everyone to their nominating convention, because about two thirds of the way down the letter, it basically stated that members will be required to show ID if asked. Isn't this the same group that went ballistic when the Republican Party attempted to bring a little order to the voting process by asking for identification? Check out this week's rant for the rest of the story.

Putting a real face on property tax reform

I have been ranting about property tax reform for more than a year now. I would say now is the best time we've ever had to get it done, but I've been burned before. In my latest rant I try to put a real face on property taxes and what they're doing to our senior population.

I don't know which is more difficult, property tax reform or tiling your in-laws' house.

I've taken on a lot of big projects in my life, and in my latest rant I talk about the not-so-clear thinking I displayed in taking on the latest. But the real question here is whether it is a project worth taking on. You tell me.

Property tax reform from a different perspective

Since I've been beating the property tax drum for what seems like years now, I thought I would look at it from a different perspective...literally. I wrote this week's rant standing up!

Competition makes me want to push harder on property tax reform

Competition makes us better. No doubt about it. The hyper local news site, Patch, was sold last week. The sites are still up, but they're basically running canned copy through. I'm guessing they're holding them together for the new owner to decide what to do with them. Patch made us a little bit better because they beat us to the punch on more than one story. Nothing huge, just your run of the mill stories that most people don’t pay a whole lot of attention to, but as a former police reporter, I didn’t like getting beat on any story. Just for the record, I still don’t. When they first launched a few years ago they did their hiring right through our ranks. I believe every local Patch site was started with a journalist that was at the time working for our company, so it wasn’t your typical hyper local site started by someone who thought it would be cool to have their own news outlet. These were real, workaday journalists, some with more experience than others, but trained journalists nonetheless. And when I thought about that, the original “I’m glad they’re gone” feeling started fading away. Anytime colleagues, even former colleagues, are left without a beat to cover, it leaves a bit of an empty feeling. In this week's rant I talk a little bit about Patch, but the focus is on journalism. Hopefully, people will realize, someday soon, that local journalism is their voice, their eyes and ears on government.

Another 'Breakfastgate' brewing in Montco?

Who knew what when is always a pertinent question to ask, especially when a subpoena is involved. In this week's rant I look at the sale of Parkhouse, the Montgomery County geriatric center, and why a subpoena has been issued in connection with the agreement of sale. The whole mess, thus far, reeks of some kind of back door dealings, but we're not quite sure if it will rise to Breakfastgate status. We do know we'll keep digging until we find out exactly what is going on with the sale of the building, and perhaps just as important, the sale of the adjacent land.

What will your legacy be?

We have all have dreams of leaving behind a legacy that will carry on for years to come. In this week's rant I pose the question of whether what we believe we're leaving behind is actually what people will remember us for.

Change is good...when it comes to property tax reform

While we've been changing a few things in the print edition of The Times Herald, they haven't been as well received as, say, asking for change in the way we fund public education. In my latest rant I try to smooth things over with a fix for the puzzle players by making them a little bit larger, while using the opportunity to push for property tax reform yet again.

Caught between a rock and property tax reform

On many occasions I’ve found myself between a rock and a hard place. Nine times out of 10, I usually choose the hard place, since, well, what doesn’t kill us only makes us stronger. On a few occasions I’ve found myself between a rock and a crazy place, and that’s when I usually choose the rock because, well, you know, crazy is as crazy does. Property tax reform will be one of the key issues facing our state legislators this year. Here's to hoping they're prepared to act, or prepared to not be re-elected this year. This week's rant takes a look at the rock, which is the state legislature, and the hard place, which is being populated by those we’ve elected to office but have somehow forgotten the reason they’re in Harrisburg in the first place. And of course, what’s stuck in the middle is property tax reform.

A collective resolution for all: hold our elected officials accountable

This week's rant takes us back a couple of years to a time when Montgomery County was in turmoil... and nothing has changed. We had elected officials meeting in private to discuss public business, and nothing was done about it. Now we're attempting to get our state legislators to pass property tax reform, and I certainly don't want to be sitting here in two years writing about how nothing was done about it. So let's all make one collective resolution to hold our elected officials accountable for doing the people's business.

Property tax reform near the top of my Christmas wish list

I know it's wishful thinking, but property tax reform can become a reality of the Pennsylvania state Senate would simply listen to the people who elected them and bring House Bill 76 to the floor for a vote. I've been ranting about it for months now, and I'm calling on Montgomery County's state senators to do the right thing, considering that more than half have signed on as co-sponsors of the bill.

Not so thankful for an unresponsive state legislature

I have a lot to be thankful for. I can name a dozen or so right off the top of my head, but an unresponsive state legislature when it comes to property tax reform, ain't one of 'em. For anyone new to the blog, you may not be aware of my ongoing crusade to have the antiquated way we fund public education in Pennsylvania addressed, but for the rest of you, here is my latest rant, with an homage to Thanksgiving thrown in.

Politically Correct should be considered a crime

Every year when the holidays start to roll around I think about the way people tense up. When did this start? I can't put my finger on it, but I know it wasn't an issue when I was growing up. Now people are afraid to say or do anything that might for a moment, possibly, maybe offend someone else. Now I don't want to offend anyone, but at some point don't we have to take a hard look at the people claiming to be offended? I trace the origins in my latest column. Political correctness actually started in a comic strip, according to the Accuracy in Academia website. How appropriate is that? Or should I say ironic? Because it’s really not a joke. Political correctness has nearly eliminated free speech, or at least it has the potential.

Will more turnout when property tax reform is on the line?

The 24 percent turnout across Montgomery County on Election Day last week was abysmal at best. Several people asked me before last week’s election who they should vote for to make sure our property taxes don’t continue their ascent through our technically rented roofs. The short answer was; school board members. But I don’t really blame our school boards for the fact that our local districts own our homes and not us. Sure, they could do a better job of holding the line on expenses, but who couldn’t? When you’re given mandates and not the funds to carry them out, you’re not left with much of a choice. When you have a district full of special needs students, or you have to hire more English as Second Language teachers than other districts, you are given little choice other than to increase your spending, which, as we’re all well aware of by now, is subsidized by our tax dollars. So the answer for whom to vote in order to make sure our property taxes don’t continue their ascent through our technically rented roofs is a little easier, and they weren’t running in last week’s election. We’ll have our chance next year. For the rest of the story, click here

What day is it? Election Day

OK, so technically it's the day before, but I'm talking about Election Day in my latest rant, so I'm asking for a little poetic license here. How many of you will actually go to the polls on Election Day? How many of you will not complain about the way things are in this world if you don't go to the polls? It's really not that hard, folks. I do it twice a year. It's actually good for your psyche, so get up, get out, and...VOTE!

Where do you draw the line?

I've been railing against our state legislators for their inability to bring any real property tax reform to Pennsylvania, but I would never even think about threatening any of them, or anyone else for that matter, with physical violence because they don't agree with my opinion. When someone sits on the other side of the fence from you, you don't threatened them just because that's where they happen to like to sit. Where do you draw the line?

Time for state Senate to step up for property tax reform

Now that the state House has made it abundantly clear they do care anything about giving us property tax reform, especially in the form of House Bill 76, we need to turn our attention to the Senate, where a companion bill, SB 76, is being debated.

PA. Senate doing a similar property tax dance

My latest column looks at the Senate taking up SB 76, which is the mirror image of HB 76, also known as the Property Tax Independence Act. Unfortunately, it appears as if the Senate may be playing some of the same games as the House. Sen. Dominic Pileggi just introduced a bill that would provide relief for seniors. I'm not sure why our elected state legislators don't understand we want property tax elimination, not just 'relief' for some.

Property tax reform takes a shot to the gut

If you live in Pennsylvania, and you own a home, you need to read this column. It is absolutely astounding that we have state legislators who think they're in Harrisburg to please special interest groups and their party's leadership. We're going to make it very clear to all of them that we actually call the shots and that they're just there to run the plays. For Montgomery County residents, you can look to representatives Mike Vereb, Marcy Toepel and Mark Painter as three elected officials who get it. They voted in favor of the amendment that would have given us true property tax reform. All the others, especially those who signed on as co-signers of House Bill 76, made it very clear they're really no interested in doing what they were sent to Harrisburg to do.

Property owners officially snubbed by the people they put into office

For all of you who thought your state legislator was going to stand up for you because they were a cosponsor on House Bill 76, the Property Tax Independence Act, guess again. Unless you live in Rep. Toepel, Vereb or Painter's district, you were bamboozled, because they were the only three Montgomery County reps who voted yes to an amendment yesterday that would have put HB 76 on the floor for a vote, even if it was wrapped in HB 1189. Painter was the only Dem to vote in favor. I hope all you registered Democrats remember that come spring when the primary rolls around. All I can say now is, it's on!

Property tax reform finally being talked about in the PA state House

Property tax reform was supposed to be the topic of discussion in the House today. I'm not sure how far along they got, but here's my take on where we should be. In fact, I think the time for talking is done. If they're really going to strip HB 1189 and insert HB 76 is for the guts, let's get it done.

Fill A Bus, or a car, or just ride a motorcycle to Harrisburg

The Fill A Bus rally is tomorrow, and I'm hoping for a huge crowd to let our state legislators know that we think property tax reform is a really bid deal. I heard last Friday that a couple of bills were going to be run out of the finance committee today, but not HB76. Here are my thoughts, again, on what we should be demanding of our state legislators.

Pa House Finance Committee moving bills on Monday

So, you're not going to believe this. The House Finance Committee meets Monday and they're voting on a property tax relief package of bills, not one of them HB76. "On Monday, the House Finance Committee will discuss and vote on a four-bill property tax relief/reform package: House Bill 1189 (Rep. Seth Grove, R-York County) provides school districts with a menu of taxing options and affords those districts using these options the ability to tailor property tax relief specific to their district. Any tax shift occurring under this new authority is required to be used as a dollar-for-dollar reduction, or elimination, of property taxes." How is it a bill that's never been vetted (1189) get a vote and HB76 that's been vetted three ways to Sunday, doesn't?

Fool me twice...

Do you know the saying, fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me? I think I first heard Gomer Pyle utter those words when I was a lot younger than I am today, but I got it.I had two state reps telling me House Bill 76 would never work because the numbers just don't add up, the trouble is, they were using old numbers. Shame on you. Another representative, the sponsor of HB 76 told me the new numbers show a surplus, so I did a little research on my own. We hold off on the shame on me until I learn otherwise. It's time we hold our elected officials accountable. We shouldn't be feed political rhetoric when people's homes are on the line here, folks. Call your state representative and ask them, point blank, if they'll vote in favor of HB 76.

Which do you like, apples or oranges?

Property tax relief, reform or just a shuffling of the deck chairs, which would you like to see Pennsylvania? I think it's becoming pretty clear that elimination is the only way to go with the funding mechanism currently used to fund public education in the Keystone State. I took a look at two options last week, House Bill 76 and House Bill 1189. It's like comparing apples and oranges. Personally, I like apples much better. How about you?

Do these guys deserve a chance on property tax reform?

So I had PA House finance chair Kerry Benninghoff and Rep. Seth Grove in my office for a little chat last week. I was waiting for the weekend to clear before posting it up here figuring everyone was going to be busy with their Labor Day activities. I hope you had a good break from reality, because here it is again, coming at you full steam. Grove says he has an alternative to House Bill 76, the Property Tax Independence Act. Here's the interview and a video. You tell me...does he?

Taking a break from property tax reform...sort of

While I had a little fun with the idea of taking a break from writing about property tax reform in this week's column, I did manage to slip in a very serious question. I'm trying to set up an interview with Rep. Kerry Benninghoff , he's the chair of the House finance committee where HB 76 resides, and where it will remain if Benninghoff has his way. I'm also trying to get Rep. Seth Grove, who has proposed an alternate to HB 76, to come in as well. Honestly, the only point I want to make to both of them is...the public doesn't really care which bill gets to the floor for a vote as long as it works, and as long as it gets there before the end of the year. So the serious question I slipped into my non-property tax reform column is, what would you ask these two gentlemen given the chance?

Keep pounding the property tax reform drum

It will be September before you know it, as time is always fleeting and our state legislators will be back in session. Let's keep pounding the issue until they return and after they return, or more importantly, until something gets done. Now I'm hearing about a bill authored by Rep. Grove that may fix the alleged funding shortfall found in HB 76. I'll do some research and get back to you. For now, take a moment to read my latest rant on the impossible situation.

My kingdom for a formula for funding public education

Funding public education cannot be as difficult as our state legislature is making it out to be. Of course, any process can get convoluted over the years. That's why I'm suggesting we start from scratch in my latest rant on property tax relief. Start with a zero-based budgeting model. Put the whole process under a microscope and go from there.

The silence out of Harrisburg is deafening

While the conversation across the state is getting louder and louder, we're hearing nothing out of Harrisburg. Of course, they are on their summer break. So, here's where you're going to keep hearing about House Bill 76, which will eliminate the property tax as a means of funding public education. I have been writing about this issue for the past month, and some of the comments are inspiring, and some are down right sad. Here's an example of some of the many:I'm so glad to see this issue being discussed in your column. As someone who is facing the tax sale in September of my home of 24 years, I've been following all publicity for this bill. It is impossible for people who have only Social Security for income to pay $8,000 + each year for property taxes. We drained our IRA's to meet the tax bill each year until we couldn't.

Now it's your turn to rant about property taxes

I'm pretty lucky. I get to tell you what's on my mind every week. I know there are a lot of you out there who would love to have the same opportunity, so this week I'm giving it to you. The response from my columns on property tax reform has been outstanding. Unfortunately, some of it has also been sad, because I'm hearing from a lot of people who are on their last leg, financially. I don't know if we can get House Bill 76 passed into law before more people lose their homes, but I certainly believe we should give it our best shot.

Mike Turzai needs to hear from you

I decided, after all of the emails, online comments and telephone calls, that I should follow up last week's column on property tax reform with another installment. I've been harping about property tax reform for several years now, but I really believe this is the time for We The People to stand up and be heard. It is unfathomable to me that we cannot get House Bill 76 out of committee and onto the floor for a vote. I've heard from people all over the state, and one of the most disturbing comments came from western PA and Mike Turzai's district. He's apparently made in clear that a vote won't happen because he doesn't want it to happen. Turzai is the Majority Leader of the House of Representatives, and can apparently decide whether a bill should come up for a vote, regardless of what a majority of the population wants. Here's Mike's website. Call him and tell him what you think about that.

Property Tax Reform Now!

We've been talking about property tax relief in Pennsylvania for far too long. Now it's time to let every one of our state legislators know that if they're not willing to work for the people we'll excuse them from their positions during the next state election cycle.

Time to start fixing the broken windows

For more than a decade I've been talking about Norristown's comeback. I've been vocal about making Norristown a destination, and I've also put my time and my money where my mouth is. We've just completed a month-long four-part series "Under the gun: A time for answers," and I don't want that to be the end of it. Rather than just talk about Norristown's woes, we offered up solutions. Now it's time for the residents of Norristown, and those who make their living in Norristown, to step up to the plate. An easy place to start can be found in the very easily attainable broken window approach.

Curing Norristown's ills

So, I looked at Norristown's economy in a previous column, and I address parents, or the lack thereof, in this week's column So, which of these two elements do you think has kept Norristown from making a comeback. Or, do you have another alternative, such as subsidized housing, as one reader commented? I certainly know I don't have all the answers, but I do know it's time to seriously start searching for them.

The county seat comeback

Revitalization has been talked about in Norristown for more than two decades. What's the problem? Why can't this small town remake itself in the same way Phoenixville, West Chester, and a dozen other municipalities have? Perhaps the answer can be found in the people who live and work in Norristown.

Can you smell what's cooking in Washington D.C?

This week's rant talks about all the nonsense taking place inside the beltway in our nation's capital. Do you agree with my assessment, or am I over-reacting?

The Newseum recognizes The Times Herald

Today's front page made the Top 10 list at the Newseum in Washington D.C. Very proud of my team in the newsroom. Adrianna Hoff took the photo and Gene Walsh and Cheryl Kehoe Rodgers worked on the design. Great work, all!

Cross filing needs to be crossed off the ballot

With just a day to go before the primary I thought keeping focus on what has become the forgotten election cycle would be in everyone’s best interest. But instead of harping on how low the turnout is going to be, how about we bring into view some of the things we actually need to fix on the political scene if we ever expect greater participation. Just for the record, though, and in case you missed last week’s rant, I’m predicting 21 percent turnout county wide and a paltry 13 percent for Norristown. So let’s focus on those who are going to do their civic duty and go to the polls. One of the most ridiculous, atrocious, 'oxymoronic' scenarios you can ever imagine plays out in the race for Court of Common Pleas. Judges, you know, those folks who are supposed to be the most impartial people on the planet, cross file. Cross file. Chew on that for a minute. I say we abolish cross filing once and for all. What do you say?

Is it time for a fish taco throwdown?

I want to take a couple of minutes to talk about this fairly new, at least to me, phenomenon, the fish taco. Now I’m a big fan of the taco, but I always thought of them as good when they were shoved full of meat. Not so fast, amigo. There are a lot of places offering up fish tacos these days, but I think I might have found the best. A new restaurant called Casa Bonita has opened up in Norristown. I tried their fish tacos, and not only was it a meal fit for a king, but they were absolutely excellent. A lot of places you go to serve up fairly dry fish tacos, but Casa Bonita adds a sauce across the top of theirs that not only takes the dryness away, but adds a kick that makes the dish. So, I’m throwing down a challenge to anyone out there reading this who thinks they know where the best fish taco can be found. My phone number, email address and Twitter handle are all below. Let me hear from you. And I wouldn’t be too surprised if I hear from some new place in East Norriton. You know, the new restaurant capital of Montgomery County. Stan Huskey is the editor of The Times Herald. He can be reached at 610-272-2500 ext. 215 or at shuskey@timesherald.com. Follow @StanHuskey on Twitter.

It's time for Pennsylvania to get out of the liquor business

The year is 1994. The place is somewhere in Chester County, Pa. I was in Pennsylvania for the first time, looking for a place to live. Moving all the way from Texas to the Keystone State was going to be an experience I’d never forget, and one that would shape my life in ways only now imaginable, but I’ll save that for another column. I had spent a busy day looking for an apartment in and around West Chester. There are a lot of options, and I like to be thorough, so I had probably been to about 10 different complexes that day. One place in particular caught my fancy and I decided to sign on the dotted line. Sharples Works was converted from an old dairy. There are giant wooden beams running through the apartments that give them character well beyond what you find in most of your cookie-cutter complexes. Feeling rather good about finally making my decision I decided to celebrate with a cold beer. I was traveling along 202 South headed back to my hotel when I spotted a beer store and pulled into the lot. My flight didn’t leave until the next day so a six pack of Amstel Light would do just fine, I was thinking as I walked in the door and said hello to the gentleman behind the counter. I didn’t see a cooler anywhere, other than the restaurant style walk-ins, so I told the fine fellow what I wanted, and asked where I could find it, looking around at the stacks of cases of beer. “I can’t sell you a six-pack,” he said. “What?” I said, completely taken off guard. “We don’t sell six-packs here,” he said. Thinking he was pulling my leg because of what was then a still lingering southern accent, I said something along the lines of what’s the matter, you about to run out? “No, no,” he said. “We don’t sell six packs here.” “You don’t sell six-packs in Pennsylvania?” “Not in beer stores,” he said. I kind of pride myself on having just a tad bit more common sense than your average Joe, but I was more than stumped at his reply. “Well, what do you sell?” I asked as politely as possible. “Cases only,” he responded. “Seriously,” I said. “But I only want a six-pack to take back to my hotel and relax by the pool.” Now I was really parched. “Why would I have to buy more than I want to drink?” I asked, still not getting the reasoning of the cases-only policy. Finally, after what seemed like a convoluted “Who’s on First?” routine, he informed me that I could go to the bar down the street and they would sell me a six-pack of Amstel Light. I half-heartedly thanked him for the education and headed to the bar to purchase my six-pack. When I walked up to the counter I remember mumbling something along the lines of, what are you doing here in Pennsylvania, promoting alcoholism? “What?” the young lady behind the bar asked. “Nothing, nothing,” I back-pedaled. “I just can’t believe I was just at a beer store and couldn’t buy the beer I wanted. Can I get a six-pack of Amstel Light, please?” When she rang me up, I was starting to see the light, and I’m not talking about the Amstel she was putting into a plastic bag. The price was about twice what it should have been. When I said as much she informed me that I could get it a lot cheaper at the beer store down the road if I bought it by the case. Thus began my education on the antiquated liquor laws here in the great state of Pennsylvania. While nothing has changed in the 20 years since, I have grown accustomed to making a stop at the beer store if I’m in the mood for a cold one, and the wine and spirits store if I’m in the mood for a glass of merlot. I also was careful to go during the week knowing at the time neither were open on Sundays. Thankfully, the good sense to allow them both to open up on Sundays finally prevailed. So I’ve been following the possible privatization of Pennsylvania’s liquor stores with some interest during the past few months. The state House passed a bill to do just that and it’s headed for the Senate, where hopefully, common sense will prevail once again. Convenience for a guy trying to buy a six-pack after a long day of apartment hunting is one thing, competition is another. Plain and simple, the state shouldn’t be in the liquor-selling business, and that was never more clear than when they started bottling their own wine and placing it on the shelves right next to the bottles produced by the hard-working folks at our local wineries and wineries across the country. A little common sense, and a brief lesson in capitalism, should make that point crystal clear. The year is 2013. The place is Montgomery County, Pa. I’ve been living here for nearly 20 years. I think it’s about time my now home state comes up to speed with every other state I’ve lived in. Stan Huskey is the editor of The Times Herald. He can be reached at 610-272-2500 ext. 215 or at shuskey@timesherald.com. Follow @StanHuskey on Twitter.

Getting great reception

I wrote about my foray into the rabbit ear industry for my column a couple of Mondays ago. The response has been incredible. It's amazing how many people called me to say they were tired of their cable bill as well. So, I've been doing my best to help people find rabbit ears of their own. I do have one confession to make here, though. We ended up not going completely cable free. We have scaled back tremendously though. We've been able to cut more than $60 off our monthly bill, and we do have one television in our house that is completely cable free. The reception is terrific and we're more than happy with the move. If you're not getting great reception, and I'm not just talking about the picture on the screen, I'm talking about the interaction you receive from your cable/Internet provider, then take a closer look at rabbit ears. Go ahead, they won't bite.

Accuracy trumps urgency every time

My latest rant points a finger at my own industry

The state pension 'calf' is costing us

My latest rant is getting a lot of response so I thought I'd post it here, too. Enjoy! A man was driving down the road out in Lancaster County when he hit and killed a calf that had walked right out in front of his car. Devastated, the man pulled over to the side of the road and realized the calf had wandered off from a nearby farm, so he trekked up the long driveway and knocked on the door. When the farmer came to the door the man told him what had happened and offered to pay for the calf. “How much was the calf worth?” the man asked. “Oh, I’d say about $200,” the farmer said. “But, in about six years he’d be worth about $800. So $800 is what I’m out, I’d say.” Feeling like he was being taken advantage of just a bit, the man reluctantly wrote out a check for $800. He handed it to the farmer and said, “Here you go, a check for $800. You can cash it in six years.” Now that’s probably not a true story, but when I heard that joke I couldn’t help but think of our state budget and what we could have done six years ago to keep from writing the massive checks we’re writing today to get us out of multiple jams. Most notably is the state pension jam. I wrote about this a couple of weeks ago after a visit to the governor’s mansion where a group of local editors were presented with what seemed eerily similar to a doomsday scenario by budget secretary Charles Zogby, who presented a chart filled with red numbers. For you non-accountant types out there, red numbers are not good. Every year since 2004 the state has been swimming deeper and deeper in red numbers related to the state’s two pension plans. And while I will quickly point out that our state budget should be a non-partisan issue, those red numbers just keep spiraling out of control while a Democrat sat in the governor’s seat. Now a Republican is doing something about it, and of course, the rancor is just getting underway. Gov. Corbett presented his budget last week before a joint session of the General Assembly. Thankfully, the $28.4 billion spending plan doesn’t include a raise in taxes. And it does so while funneling more money into education, health and welfare services as well as transportation. It has to be tough to be a Democrat and see these reforms taking place, especially when all of these problems were lingering throughout the Rendell administration. And please, please don’t come back at me with Corbett is just making up for the cuts he made to education two years ago. Corbett didn’t cut education spending when he came into office. He was simply presenting a budget that didn’t include Obama’s stimulus money, which everyone knew was going to go away. Now, the irony of this increase in education spending is that it is tied to reforms in the pension system. Corbett is calling for $90 million extra for education, including $6 million for Pre-K and Head Start programs. However, that’s not going to happen if current employees are not moved over to a 401K type of retirement plan. It needs to be made clear, though, that this can all be done without cutting any pension benefits already earned by teachers and administrators. In fact, the change in the way the state funds retirement benefits for school district employees will provide an additional $140 million in pension savings across the commonwealth. The pension debacle has been called a crisis, which it certainly has evolved into during the past decade, now sitting in a $41 billion hole. It’s been referred to by the governor as a tapeworm. Fixing it is equivalent to “building a plane while flying it,” Zogby said during our editorial meeting with the governor. The pension calf was worth a few hundred million about 10 years ago. It’s now worth $41 billion. If nothing is done, it could be worth $80 billion in six years. I don’t think anyone wants to write that check.

Journalists getting a bad rap?

Journalists rank 6th on the list of jobs with the most psychopaths. Are we getting a bad rap? I mean, I know I can be a little off from time to time, but a psychopath. I don't think so. Of course, you may have a different interpretation.

The bad apples are spoiling the whole bunch

I was talking with one of our reporters, Tony Fioriglio, this morning about the Christmas day murder in Norristown when he said if they would arrest about 40 people all of the recent violence would probably just go away. He's written about several of the recent shootings and it is becoming clear that they're connected. Revenge is a dirty business. I agreed with him and went on to say if they would round up about 80 or so bad apples they could probably clean the whole town up. What would it take to actually get this done? I'm thinking a little targeted enforcement along Green Street would be a great place to start. What do you think?

Newtown massacre

I haven't been on for a while, but the events in Newtown prompted me to invite a couple of local legislators in to talk about what can be done, if anything, to possibly prevent suce a tragedy from ever occuring again. Here is a link to my interview with state Sen. Daylin Leach, who would like to see our gun laws tightened.

Barack Obama and Mitt Romney are interviewing for the same job; who do you hire?

Have you ever been in a position to hire someone?

Over the years I’ve hired a lot of people, some I look back on with a smile, and some I look back on with a cringe, and a what the heck was I thinking.

We’ve recently had a few positions to fill, mostly due to promotions, so it’s a good thing.

A lot of you know John Berry, he was my online editor with the massive beard that seemed to be taking over his entire upper body. He was promoted to editor of a couple of papers in Connecticut. Ashley Campbell, recently named community engagement editor, was promoted to take John’s place.

So the newsroom shuffle resulted in an open entry level position.

Always a great opportunity. Every chance to hire someone should be taken seriously and entered into with eyes wide open.

There’s always that hire that turns out to be nothing like the person you interviewed.

Think about it. Someone trying to get their foot in the door of a company is going to put on their Sunday best and come prepared to dazzle.

When you’re the one doing the hiring, though, it’s your job to make sure you see through the spit and polish.

I’ve told people for years, if I have two candidates for the same position and one went to Harvard and the other went to Kutztown and the one from Harvard was completely arrogant and the one from Kutztown was down to earth and seemed like someone everyone in the newsroom would get along with, everything else being equal, I’d hire the kid from Kutztown.

Well, what would you do if one of the candidates already worked for you and was going up against someone from the outside?

Seems to me that kind of puts the person doing the hiring in the catbird seat now doesn’t it?

And that’s where we are today as we head into the final weeks before the presidential election.

One candidate has the job and wants to be rehired, and the other is coming in fresh, trying his best to make a good first impression.

While both candidates did indeed go to Harvard, I still have to hold true to my thought process on determining who would be the best candidate for the job.

We’ve had more than four years, counting the campaign leading to the last election, of President Obama telling us what we need, and the best way for us to get what we need.

I don’t know about you, but I just don’t think we’ve gotten anywhere near where he said he was going to get us, and I don’t think giving him four more years will get us any closer. I know he has that one month of unemployment dipping below eight percent to hang his hat on, but I don’t think anyone believes for a minute that the dip was a bellwether of great things to come.

And on top of it all, Obama seems to carry a little bit of arrogance with him as he tells us how and why and when we should be doing things to get ourselves back on the road to prosperity.

But at this point, I’m not even sure his own party is buying it.

While he does seem to be spending an inordinate amount of time hobnobbing with celebrities, he has at least attempted to accomplish some of his assigned duties, one of which is putting a budget up before Congress.

The problem is ... he couldn’t get anyone to vote for it. And I mean anyone. Not a single member of his own party would even give his proposal a vote of confidence, much less a vote on the floor, of either arm of our legislative body.

How is it possible that not one member of Congress saw fit to vote for his spending plan?

Perhaps it’s because he spends like a drunken sailor on leave? No offense to any drunken sailor anywhere by the way, because even drunken sailors only spend the money they have on them at the time. Obama is spending all the money he has on him, and all the money we have on us, too, and not just now, but all the money we might have on us in the future.

And I don’t know about you, but I haven’t heard much remorse in his voice during the past couple of debates about the fix he’s gotten us into. All I hear is about how much more we need to keep spending, and all of this coming on the heels of yet another company Obama gave millions to only to have them file for bankruptcy a short time after. First there was Solyndra, the solar panel company that received $535 million in loan guarantees, and then A123, a battery manufacturer that received $249.1 million. Since when did we authorize the federal government to go into the venture capital business?

So, we’re bringing the two candidates back in for their final interviews. Pay close attention. Both went to Harvard, but everything else here just doesn’t seem equal.

Which one do you hire?

Channeling David Byrne to explain Obama's poor performance in first debate

Have you ever had a moment when things just seem to come together? That moment when everything just crystallizes into one clear moment of realization?

I’m thinking that moment happened for about 61 million people on Oct. 3 after listening to our president ramble on about his health care plan, clearly trying with all his might not to use the term ‘death squad’.

At some point in the waning moments of the first presidential debate tens of millions of people had to have sat up razor straight and thought, “My God, what have we done?” And just to continue channeling David Byrne, the crystallizing moment most likely continued with, “How did we get here? This is not my country. This is not my Constitution.”

Mitt Romney stood tall at the debate. He was ready for his opponent, and clearly, without a Teleprompter close at hand, Obama wasn’t ready for Romney.

Certainly we can all understand how this country was swayed by Obama four years ago. He is a tall, good looking man with a gift for gathering an audience up in his hands.

But that was four years ago. All he had to do then was convince us that he was the better choice over George W. Bush.

Even the most polished pol among us would have to admit that really wasn’t a tall task.

Now, Obama is in the position of having to defend his record of the past four years, and without someone feeding him his lines, it is now crystal clear, he just doesn’t have the answers.

Four years ago we, and I mean we in the collective sense because I did not cast my lot with him, elected a man to the White House on a campaign of Hope and Change.

Since when did Hope become a campaign platform?

And where’s the change? Our economy is stuck in a rut, and four years later it really doesn’t matter how we got here. The fact is Obama launched a stimulus effort that did not work, and we’re billions of dollars in debt for the effort.

You know the left is desperate. They’re crowing about unemployment dipping below 8 percent. They don’t mention it’s for the first time since Obama took office. They also don’t mention that the number most likely dipped because people simply stopped looking for work and were dropped off the unemployment rolls.

It should now be abundantly clear to everyone that we need a president who knows how to steer clear of red ink. We need a business man at the helm, not a community organizer who convinced the majority of voters into casting a ballot for him on a promise of Hope and Change.

Obama didn’t deliver, it’s that simple, and yes, the blame lies solely on him. He surrounded himself with some of the dullest crystal he possibly could have; a treasury secretary who didn’t even bother to pay his own taxes? Timothy Geithner failed to pay some $35,000 in taxes, and while I admit that I wouldn’t have known I was responsible for paying them, I also was not the head of the New York Federal Reserve. Geithner blew off the whole issue as an oversight. Wow. Could you even imagine having a $35,000 oversight? We should also note here that Geithner was instrumental in the rescue of Bear Sterns, working alongside Bush’s Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. Some experts also considered Geithner’s decision to not bail out Lehman a direct contributor to the worsening of the global economic crisis. And this just months before Obama decided he was the right many for the treasure secretary cabinet post.

Really?

Rahm Emanuel. Now here’s a guy that knows how to be a public servant. In fact, he’s made a career out of it. To take it a step further, he made a killing during his short term at the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation. Yes, that would be Freddie Mac. The very same Freddie Mac that was half the housing crisis. Emanuel, who earned more than $300,000 while doing what some describe as ‘nothing,’ was named to the board of in 2000 by then President Bill Clinton. This was after he left the Clinton administration as an adviser and took a position with an investment banking firm, where, despite any prior banking experience, made more than $16 million with the firm in his less than three-year stint there. Emanuel, apparently not one to stick with much of anything for long, left Obama’s cabinet after just two years and ran for mayor of Chicago, where he is firmly entrenched today.

Eric Holder, well, at least he was an attorney, and even an attorney general, before being appointed Attorney General.

I could spend an entire column, in fact I have, addressing the botched Fast and Furious ‘anti-gun smuggling operation that resulted in the death of a border patrol agent. Holder still needs to be held accountable to the American public for his actions during the operation and subsequent investigation. Unfortunately, Obama stepped in and declared executive privilege to protect him.

This is just a small handful of the people Obama appointed to be his trusted advisors when he took office.

Isn’t there a saying about surrounding yourself with the right people?

How could he have come to the conclusions necessary to choose these folks?

Of course, this is also the same president that pushed through a health care bill that forces Americans for the first time in the history of our great nation, to purchase a product.

“This is not my Constitution. My God, how did we get here?"

It’s all becoming very clear to me now.

Stan Huskey is the editor of The Times Herald. He can be reached at 610-272-2500 ext. 215 or at shuskey@timesherald.com. Follow @StanHuskey on Twitter.

Voter ID law shelved

We'll have a live feed of slain Plymouth police Officer Brad Fox's funeral beginning at 11 a.m. Wed.

Check back here at 11 a.m. Wednesday for a live feed of the funeral proceedings. http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/livenow?id=8815514

Reaction swift to killing of Plymouth police Officer Brad Fox

<script src="http://storify.com/mbrooks/reaction-swift-to-killing-of-plymouth-

Are you better off now than you were four years ago?

It’s been nearly four years and this country is in the same shape it was when Obama took office, if not worse. And please remember, before Obama and Biden took office, the Democratic Party already had control over the House and Senate. Which evokes another duo, Pelosi and Reid. Then House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi took the gavel as Speaker of the House and said, “After years of historic deficits, this 110th Congress will commit itself to a higher standard: pay as you go,no new deficit spending. Our new America will provide unlimited opportunities for new generations, not burden them with mountains of debt.” That was in 2007 when the national debt was a little over $8 trillion. Absolutely much higher than it should have been, but please remember, since the mantra has always been to blame Bush for everything, that in 2001 when George Bush took office, the deficit was at $6 trillion. When Republicans finally were able to get the spend-crazy Democrats out of office and regained control of the House and Senate in 2011, the federal deficit had soared to nearly $14 trillion. You can attempt to blame it on anyone you want, but the numbers just don’t add up. I hope you’re starting to notice a trend here, folks. Unfortunately, President Obama has been saddled with Joe Biden. Fortunately, though, President Romney will have Paul Ryan at his side. And I’m betting you won’t hear a single ‘fbomb’ the whole time. Stan Huskey is the editor of The Times Herald. He can be reached at 610-272-2500 ext. 215 or at shuskey@timesherald.com. Follow @StanHuskey on Twitter.

Fireworks fireworks fireworks!

Check out the local fireworks displays in and around Montgomery County. Where will you be watching the shows from? Are you going to try to catch more than one?

Daylin Leach live from The Times Herald

At 2 PM we'll be talking to PA State Senator Daylin Leach live from the Times Herald newsroom. Check back here to watch the interview.
Live Video streaming by Ustream

Property tax hot potato

Here's a sample from this week's rant on property taxes. State Sen. Daylin Leach will be in next week to give his thoughts on how we should reform the current funding mechanism for public education. Where do you stand? I’ve been writing about House Bill 1776 for some time now, and for the most part, the majority of readers have been all in favor. One reader, though, made it perfectly clear that she was not in favor of the bill, which, for you newcomers, redistributes the tax burden for funding public education from the property tax to the earned income tax and the sales tax. “This bill would give all the money for education to Harrisburg to distribute and I don’t want that to happen. I don’t trust Harrisburg to distribute the money,” Sharon wrote last week. “Property tax has been in effect as a means to pay for education since shortly after the civil war. I don’t state this as a reason for not making a change, just as a reminder of howlong previous generations have been paying for future generations. When I do hear people in this area who are opposed to property tax, it usually seems that they are mad because they feel like renters are getting a free ride. I would love it if your paper took the time to explain that all properties are assessed and that taxes are paid on ALL properties, even rentals.” I think you explained it for them just fine. Thank you very much for the email, and mostly for a different perspective. To prove how much of a hot potato this issue is, I hadn’t so much as finished my interview with the sponsor of HB 1776, Rep. Jim Cox, R-129th Dist., when I received a note from state Sen. Daylin Leach, who is in favor of eliminating the school property tax “if we could replace it with an increase in the income tax.” Leach believes it is a bad idea to replace it with an expanded sales tax. Not being afraid of the heat, Leach also stepped forward with an example to clarify his stance. I pointed out in my last column that I didn’t think the expanded sales tax was regressive because it will not apply to government subsidized food programs and to a list of foods approved as healthy choices. I’m not sure if jalapenos were on that list, but it was apparently spicy enough for Leach to take offense. “Second (the ‘first’ in the email was an explanation of what a regressive tax is), as a general proposition, any sales tax is regressive. This is because as you make more money, the necessity and your ability to spend what you make goes down. To give you an example, a person who makes $15,000 per year must spend every cent they earn to survive. Marc Zuckerberg can’t possibly spend the $100 million plus he will earn this year. So if the sales tax rate is 7%, the person making $15,000 is paying 7% of his entire income, whereas Zuckerberg is spending 7% of a tiny fraction of his income. So the poor guy has an effective rate of 7%, Zuckerberg has an effective rate of something like .000002%.” Reasoned argument, Daylin. And that’s why I’m on board with this bill. That 7% sales tax will not apply to that guy's food bill.

Replay of Jim Cox interview

Here is out video with Representative Jim Cox talking about his property tax reform bill.

Join us for a live interview with PA State Rep. Jim Cox at 12:30 today.
Streaming Live by Ustream

Take the Property Tax Challenge

OK, folks, step right up. It's time to take the Property Tax Challenge. Please answer the following questions. Do you think your property taxes are too high? Do you think students across the state are getting equal access to education? Do you think there is a better way to fund public education? Congratulations, you've taken the Property Tax Challenge. Now there is only one more step. Send an email to shuskey@timesherald.com (That's me) and join the Property Tax Challenge. I'll make sure your state legislator hears from you. Remember, there's power in numbers, so let's tell our elected officials exactly where we stand.

Finally, a bill I can get behind

Wozniak Bill Waives Inspections for Newer Cars HARRISBURG, March 15, 2012 -- State Sen. John N. Wozniak announced today new legislation that would lift the requirement of annual inspections for cars less than two years old. (It should be less than 5 years old) “For purchasers of today’s new cars, the annual inspection is a pointless ritual that serves no purpose,” he said. “Owners of new cars have already paid dearly for a vehicle equipped with the latest safety technology. Requiring a state inspection is overkill.” Senate Bill 1451 would lift the annual inspection requirement for two years from the date of manufacture. Wozniak noted that most states have eliminated automobile inspections entirely as research has been inconclusive about their effect on overall safety. The federal government lifted the requirement for states to mandate vehicle inspection more than 25 years ago, and only 12 states still require annual inspections for all vehicles. Neighboring New Jersey, Maryland, and Ohio have ended automobile inspections, while Delaware does not require inspections for vehicles less than five years old. “The cost of driving continues to rise dramatically and federal safety guidelines for new cars are a contributor,” Wozniak said. “There is no reason that a person who has made that investment in a new car should have to pay again.” The bill is part of an effort by Wozniak to lift outdated mandates on drivers that have outlived their useful purchase. In January, noting a less than four percent failure rate, he sponsored a resolution seeking permission from the federal government to waive emissions tests required in 25 counties since 1990. “While it is the legislature’s duty to pass laws that keep up with changing times,” he said. “It is also our duty to repeal laws for the same reason.”

The Times Herald's 64th annual Spelling Bee

Welcome to a tradition. The Times Herald has been holding spelling bees for more than a half century, and I've personally hosted them for the past decade. The winner of tonight's bee goes on to compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington D.C. Good luck to all our champion spellers!

The "unplugged" tour

Whether I like it or not, I'm going to be unplugged, http://www.timesherald.com/article/20120219/OPINION03/120219608, for more than a week. I think I'm going to like it, even though I know I'm not going to like what I'll be coming home to. It's been more than a decade, at least, since I last completely disconnected. I think it can be done. What about you? Could you go for a week without the Internet?