Razzle Dazzle 'em

In this scene from the movie Chicago (Richard Gere and Renee Zellweger), the screen adaptation of the Broadway musical, I can't help but think of Montgomery County's 2 democrat commissioner candidates.

Joe Hoeffel is the pompous Billy Flynn (Gere) character, a trial lawyer no less, with Ruth played by the timid Roxy (Zellweger), just another victim. The key line from this scene, about one minute in...

(Billy Flynn): It's all a circus, a three ring circus. This whole thing, the trial, the whole world...it's all show business.

It's the way I see the Damsker/Hoeffel team prepping for a debate. Their MO is the same. Use smoke and mirrors, with just a hint of razzle-dazzle, to confuse voters. Attempt to tie Bush (now the cause of everything from Islamic hatred to 25 year old kids being denied health care) to the issues that face Montgomery County. From no-bid contracts, to questionable campaign financing, to incompetent staff, the Democrat challenger Hoeffel (remember Damsker is the incumbent) will attempt to fabricate a scene for the jury (voters) to absorb.

The press plays along, buying into the charade in front of them. Never once challenging Joe on his sweetheart deals; never once asking him about the controversy brewing in Harrisburg; never once asking about Norman Zsu; never once asking if Montgomery County is one of the best places to live in the entire nation, never mind in Pennsylvania; never once asking why in the world voters would risk all that to put his circus in office.

Damsker/Hoeffel Chair Getting Heat

Wait a minute...wait a minute!! The past several days, Joe Hoeffel has been ranting about Jim Matthews recieving campaign contributions from Bob Asher. He uses Matthews running mate Bruce Castor's own words about Asher to emphasize his problem with the relationship. He repeatedly calls on Matthews to return the money; much like Ed Rendell and Hillary Clinton did with Norman Hsu's contributions.

Joe however would be wise to keep a closer eye on those next to him. It seems, from this article from the Philadelphia Inquirer, the cochairwoman to Damsker/Hoeffel campaign has her own issues to deal with, ones which should be resolved if he wants to control Montgomery County.

In a 9 month probe, which spanned 3 suburban counties, over $2 million in cash were seized and 17 search warrants were issued, by state and county law enforcement officials, to people associated to 9 different suburban bars and restaurants. Among those apparently involved, Joanne Cisco Olszewski, owner of Cisco's Bar and Grill in Flourtown.

Olszewski, until yesterday, was co-chairwoman for the Damsker/Hoeffel campaign, democrats for Montgomery County Commissioner. She also serves as a Montgomery County jury commissioner, a position which she, as of the Inquirer article, refuses to resign from.

I wonder what Joe's wit and wisdom will enlighten us with tomorrow?

Who's Reading Page13News?

Page13News would like to welcome two new viewers to Philly's alternative opinion source. It seems as though Montgomery County, PA Commissioner candidates Joe Hoeffel and Ruth Damsker have found this blog and apparently like it so much, they feel compelled to rip it's headlines.

In this press release from Hoeffel/Damsker, titled "If the Hsu Fits..." (I think I've heard that before), an attempt is made to claim that Jim Matthews should follow the lead of Hillary Clinton and Fast-Eddie Rendell. You see, Rendell and Clinton received campaign donations from a fugitive named Norman Hsu (see below article) . While they did eventually donate the money they received to charity, in Rendell's case, it took a second jumping of bail by Hsu, to warrant the cash being surrendered.

Now, Joe and Ruth want Jim Matthews to return money he got from Bob Asher, a long-time Republican donor. Asher was convicted of bribery in 1986 and served 9 months in jail for the offense. Hoeffel and Damsker want voters to believe their is some sort of moral relativism between the Rendell/Clinton relationship with Hsu, and Matthews' relationship with Asher.

One problem, there is no such parallel!! While it is true about Asher's prior conviction, it's also true that he served his time; he paid his debt. Hsu on the other hand, fled to Asia when he was convicted, came back, donated BIG money to Democrats, and tried to flee again when authorities caught up to him.

Now Joe, let's talk about Rendell's appointment of a political cronie (yourself) to a high position in Harrisburg as a political payoff for your bowing out of a run for Lieutenant Governor. Perhaps the tax-payer funded six-figure salary should also be given to charity?? I won't hold my breath.

Missing BIG News

Courtesy of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette - The Democrat State Office of "Legislative" Research was searched by state officials last Thursday in an on-going investigation into charges that state employees were used to run campaigns. Additionally (from the Beaver County Times and Allegheny Times - online), former state representative Mike Veon (D-Beaver Falls) is being investigated for his involvement with a nonprofit organization called BIG (Beaver Initiative for Growth) he started and state money the group received.

Two questions I have...

1. Why can't I find this news from last week anywhere in the local news outlets search engines? If you find the magical combo of search terms, please let me know.

2. Will Joe Hoeffel mention the Harrisburg investigations when he tries to draw parallels between Norristown and Washington? Will he dare to draw parallels between his friends in the legislature and Democrat William Jefferson from Louisiana?

Clean Governance?

Extra! Extra! Read all about it! Democrat Commissioner Candidates have signed a "Clean Governance" pledge! This time, it's Bucks County donkeys making these statements which sound vaguely familiar to claims leftist politicians from sea to shining sea (including Montgomery County) are making this election off-season. I'm sensing a pattern here.

First however, let's take a look at history. Many Democrats and media analysts assumed that the war in Iraq was the reason for both the United States House and Senate going Democrat in 2006. However, after numerous failed attempts to force Bush to abandon the troops in Iraq, that myth never materialized. Now that signs of the surge working in Iraq are surfacing, Democrats are quick to qualify "success" by stating that political progress is far from being realized. And calls for withdrawal are being replaced with suggestions (even by some leading Democrats) of how dangerous rushing troops home would be.

The real reason the Dems won last November was because Republican voters revolted against their party for a variety of reasons. The Senate might still be Republican today if George Allen had not made a stupid comment that made him look cocky and gave his opponent much-needed momentum. Tom Foley's email sex scandal, Tom Delay's relationship with Abramoff, Katrina, and even Terry Schaivo, all contributed to a general lack of confidence and/or trust in the GOP.

But Democrats are smart, if not hypocritical, for taking advantage of the slightest appearance of dirty governance. The truth is, perception is reality. Their calls for clean and transparent government is not a new concept, but one they all seem to be making in unison. This obvious strategy on Southeastern PA Democrats part, is a curious concept for them to tackle.

The party with Senator Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) deep in his own scandal, the incompetent House Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), and Ed Rendell's "sweetheart" Joe Hoeffel, might want to look in the mirror before they try those tactics.

Another Bad Donkey Idea

"Today we propose fundamental changes in the contracting process," Damsker said, "so taxpayers get what they have been told they already have - a business-like government."

The Democrat candidates for Montgomery County Commissioner outline a 13 point plan (actually a 23 since item #5 had 10 bullet points of it's own) to, as they claim, improve the contracting process.

The points of their argument have several flaws. The most obvious is the assumption (you know what they say about assuming) that none of their "ideas" are currently implemented on county projects.

However, the one point they make which raises my eyebrow involves the "class A apprenticeship" concept (idea #9) that all county contractors' employees are required to possess. The only workers who officially receive this type of training are, of course, union employees.

So are the donkeys' plans real ideas to create a "business-like" government...or are they resolutions to created problems, used to fulfill campaign promises to the Democrat's largest contributors?

Taxpayer's "Sweetheart" Deal

Ruth Damsker claims "only voters will get sweetheart deals" if she and Joe Hoeffel are elected as Montgomery County Commissioners. She is referencing the created controversies trying to claim that Jim Matthews is somehow as dirty as say, I dunno, Mayor Street perhaps.

The claims made by both of the Democrat candidates for Montgomery County Commissioner are just this side of the land of Oz. They don't have any real issues to resolve, largley because Pennsylvania's wealthiest county is in great shape. Their best tag line - conveniently regurgitated by both the local hit-and-run press and some bloggers - is that Republicans have held onto Montgomery County for too long, and change is needed.

One question which immediately comes to this wacky conservative's mind; why don't we ever hear of the same concept applying to Philadelphia?

Let's compare. On one side we have Philadelphia, run by one party since 1951. On the other side Montgomery County, run by one party for the past 100 years. Take your time to think for a second. Time's up. Any doubt where you'd rather live? Any doubt where political corruption rules the day? Any doubt which county delivers better services?

I checked the record (silly notion, I know) to see how the Damsker/Hoeffel team might treat their "sweethearts". This April, Damsker supported the concept of property reassessment, until voter response squashed that idea. The last order by commissioners to have the county reassessed occurred in 1992, when Hoeffel was on the board. Isolated incident or a sign of things to come?

On the created issue of "sweetheart deals", Damsker voted yes to the same lobbying firm Matthews did; voted yes to the same medical examiner as the republicans did; and doesn't have any noted objection to the job that Rendell gave to Hoeffel after foiling Joe's bid for lieutenant governor.

Wait, what was that you say? A sweetheart job for a political operative? A job that was so critical to the state of Pennsylvania, that it sat vacant for 2 years before Joe got the $104, 431 gig? Yet Joe and Ruth want to hammer the current commissioners for giving a $35k county website job to a friend of Tom Ellis?

Seems to me, future Valentines Day might not be as sweet as the donkey's would like voters to think it will, if they run the Montco machine.

The Democrat Playbook

Last week, Joe Hoeffel and Ruth Damsker released a "plan" for Montgomery County. Damsker - former social worker - and Hoeffel - former commissioner, congressman, and senate candidate - want voters to believe they are concerned about women, kids and senior issues. They are following the nationwide Democrat template for winning elections. If it weren't possible for them to win in Montgomery County this coming fall, then their rhetoric would just be, well, rhetoric.

Here's how the template works...

First, proclaim yourself as being concerned about women, families, and the elderly. Next proclaim only you have the answers to making each of these target groups survive in the evil and unfair world of our GOP controlled county. As Hoeffel says (votedamskerhoeffel.com) ,

"We are determined to deliver better services more efficiently to our county residents."

Finally, announce grandiose plans which cite an "expert" report defining a problem, create a "task force" of some sort to address the report's findings, and introduce a program - like the "Healthy County" program these two are offering - to make it all better.

Hoeffel pointed out that the recent report of the Metropolitan Philadelphia Indicators Project, "Youth: Suburban Children at Risk"

As the caring candidate Damsker says,

"Last year an independent assessment report, authored by Temple University Business Professor of David Barton Smith identified gaps in service delivery, waiting lists, and problems that confront thousands of county residents each year,"

Once the foundation is set, how can anyone argue against it? Those evil Republicans must not care about the poor or they would endorse our ideas enthusiastically. And if the GOP offers similar ideas, they'll ask voters why not elect the original visionaries, the real caring politicians, of these grand plans.

I'll guarantee, before the end of this election, these candidates will proclaim that since Montgomery County is the wealthiest in the state, it must be failed political leadership which denies residents the level of services they are entitled to receive. The assumption that our residents somehow don't already receive top-notch services goes unchallenged by the local press. This typical Democrat approach focuses on the guilt-ridden suburban Philly soccer mom crowd who feel compelled to rely on these used car sales persons to resolve issues for the unfortunate.

Whether or not the results of these programs -like the FAILED programs offered in the Big City- actually prove to help their target victims doesn't matter. Their intentions are good, so we must elect them, or the victims will fall further into decline.

Now, who could be against that?