The opponent of Mayor Lou Barletta in the 11th congressional district race in Pennsylvania is the focus of an earmarks story tonight on CBS News with Katie Couric. The piece will focus on $5.6 million in earmarks by Paul Kanjorski that were slated to be used for a parking garage in Nanticoke, PA. It turns out that that money has not been used for a garage, but was magically turned into a surface parking lot. Kanjorski, a 12 term Democrat, has been in congress too long obviously. Mayor Barletta, a staunch hero in the pro-American immigration enforcement community is challenging him for his seat.
The complaints on the earmarks come not from Barletta however, but from a state representative, John Yudichak who happens to be a Democrat. This is not the first time that Kanjorski has been involved in shady dealings. In May a story broke on Kanjorski being involved in bankrupt Cornerstone Technologies, a company run by his daughter and four of his nephews, that received over $9 million in government grants and contracts.
My other question in this case is why are people in Florida and California and elsewhere in the country paying for a parking garage in Pennsylvania? That is ridiculous and why earmarks need to be reigned in heavily.
Do citizens of Pennsylvania in the 11th district need to continue to put up with this corrupt official? No, they have a choice this year. Mayor Lou Barletta.
I'll hopefully have the video of the CBS report tonight.
Times-Leader
Yudichak said he believes tonight’s report will focus on how Kanjorski, a 12-term Democrat, treats the federal funds as “free money.”
“I told them I was appalled by such a statement,” Yudichak said. “We are talking about taxpayers’ dollars that must be treated with as much transparency and openness as possible and spent with as much due diligence as possible to assure the best return on those tax dollars.”
A spokeswoman in Kanjorski’s Washington office said the $5.6 million is meant to help build sufficient parking and to complete related street improvements for the Kanjorski Center in Nanticoke. Luzerne County Community College is negotiating a lease-purchase agreement with the Kanjorski Center for the school’s health sciences center.
Oh I get it, this is for The Kanjorski Center, funny how all of this comes back to one man's ego. Must be nice to appropriate $5.6 million to add to a location named after yourself.
Lou Barletta needs all the help he can get. If you want to get corrupt officials like Kanjorski out of Washington - even if you don't live in the 11th congressional district in Pennsylvania - donate to Mayor Lou Barletta. Someone whom you know will stand on the right side of enforcing immigration law.
Update
I have captured and uploaded the video. You can watch Paul Kanjorski state that federal tax dollars are "free money". See "Congressman Kanjorski: Federal Tax Dollars Are 'Free Money'"
