HUFF POST:  One of the leading civil rights organizations working to end discrimination against the obese is taking up the defense of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie amid growing commentary that his weight could pose a problem for his presidential ambitions.

Peggy Howell, the public relations director of the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance, called the discussion around Christie a “ridiculous” effort to stigmatize the obese and distract from the governor’s actual politics.

“I see it as a tactic to try and take attention away from his accomplishments and instead focus on his body size,” she said. “Do people have a bias against President Obama because he smokes? Why should there be any difference in supporting a leader who smokes cigarettes or a leader who has a little extra weight on his body? Neither are perceived to be healthy choices.” …  (more)

EDITOR:  Christie has much to lose and little to gain by entering the presidential race.  Each day it appears more that Mitt Romney will be the Republican candidate, and a formidable one at that.

AL JAZEERA:  …  Nabil Sha’ath, the Palestinian Authority’s first ever foreign minister, told me last year: “Forget Tony Blair. I think Mr Blair is at the wrong time at the wrong place and he’s just making it easier for Mr Netanyahu to deceive us, really, in more ways than one.”

Despite their suspicion that Blair betrayed them on more than a few occasions – siding with Israel behind their backs – he remained set in his position shuttling between Jerusalem, London and Washington.

And last week, Blair was dispatched to sell US and Israeli arguments for rejecting the Palestinian request for membership to reluctant UN Security Council members. He went beyond the call of duty. …   (more)

FINANCIAL TIMES:  Wildcat strikes in Greece have prevented the country’s bureaucrats from finalising next year’s vital budget figures, potentially holding up this month’s release of sorely needed fiscal aid and capping an ignominious quarter for global markets.

Despite a tentative improvement in sentiment over the past week, mounting fears over a potential Greek default and the tepid pace of the global economic recovery led to one of the worst three months on record for financial markets.

The S&P 500 dropped 2.5 per cent on Friday, a fall of 7.2 per cent in September and 14.3 per cent decline over the third quarter, its worst performance since the final three months of 2008…  (more)

CNN:  A record 15.4 million suburban residents lived below the poverty line last year, up 11.5% from the year before, according to a Brookings Institution analysis of Census data released Thursday. That’s one-third of the nation’s poor.

And their ranks are swelling fast, as jobs disappear and incomes decline amid the continued weak economy.

Since 2000, the number of suburban poor has skyrocketed by 53%, battered by the two recessions that wiped out many manufacturing jobs early on, and low-wage construction and retail positions more recently….   (more)

HUFF POST:   Democratic lawmakers on Thursday called for a federal investigation into Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ failure to report hundreds of thousands of dollars on annual financial disclosure forms.

Led by House Rules Committee ranking member Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.), 20 House Democrats sent a letter to the Judicial Conference of the United States — the entity that frames guidelines for the administration of federal courts — requesting that the conference refer the matter of Thomas’ non-compliance with the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 to the Department of Justice.

The letter outlines how, throughout his 20-year tenure on the Supreme Court, Thomas routinely checked a box titled “none” on his annual financial disclosure forms, indicating that his wife had received no income. But in reality, the letter states, she earned nearly $700,000 from the Heritage Foundation from 2003 to 2007 alone. ..  (more)

Editorial “Pa.’s leper colonies” opines:  “Why does the state Legislature continue to treat Pennsylvania’s small cities like leper colonies?”…

“Roughly 30 percent of the properties in the city are tax exempt.”…

“Unlike Philadelphia or Pittsburgh, the city is not permitted to levy an additional 1 percent sales tax.”…

WATCHDOG: Although in general sympathetic to their thesis, we note both irony and also danger in some of their observations.

The most outlandish example of abuse of tax exempt status is the Marriott Hotel of which the Lancaster Newspapers is a 50% equitable owner.  The real estate tax exemption was finagled by having the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Lancaster (RACL) own the property with a sweet heart deal that allows the profits to flow to Penn Square Partners and then, when the mortgage is paid off, for the property to be sold to them at a very low price.

As for a 1% additional sales tax on citywide purchases, this would just about be the death knell for downtown business and Park City.    We tried this with the 5% hotel room sales tax which has crippled the tourist industry.

By Kevin Zwick
Staff Reporter
Capitolwire

HARRISBURG (Sept. 29) – Some pretty big political names with pretty deep pockets were appointed to Gov. Tom Corbett’s privatization commission on Thursday.

Other than the who’s-who of GOP power players on the list, including Republican State Committeeman Bob Asher and Allegheny County GOP Chairman Jim Roddey, the list contains the names of several GOP donors.

Among the names are John A. Moran, of Lewisburg, owner of Moran Industries, Inc., who donated over $200,000 to Corbett’s gubernatorial campaign, according to state campaign finance reports.

Another Corbett campaign donor on the list is Sue Schick, of Merion Station, CEO of United Healthcare Corp., who finance records show donated $13,000 to the governor’s gubernatorial campaign.

The governor’s office announced the formation of the 24-member Advisory Council on Privatization and Innovation on Thursday.

The commission will “explore if any functions now performed by state government might be better and more cost-effectively performed by the private sector,” according to the press release from the governor’s office. The panel will look at state government to evaluate potential privatization, public-private partnerships or managed-competition opportunities.

And unlike his Marcellus Shale and Transportation Funding commissions that had deadlines to meet, there’s no end in sight with this one.

“Many people may not recognize it, but privatization has been successful in government for many years. From snow removal services to social services, private job-creators have been doing work that government bodies simply could not do without an increased cost to taxpayers and a drop in efficiencies,” Gov. Tom Corbett said in a press release. “Too often, debates over privatization fail to recognize this simple fact – it’s already working to the benefit of taxpayers.”

John Barbour, CEO of Buchanan, Ingersol & Rooney, who co-chaired the governor’s transition team, will be the point man for the new privatization commission.

Some other familiar names are listed on the appointment list include: Matt Brouilette, president and CEO of The Commonwealth Foundation; Quantum Communications CEO Charlie Gerow; and Dennis Yablonsky, former Secretary of Department of Community and Economic Development under Gov. Ed Rendell.

Some criticized that the lineup for the new commission is stacked to favor the private sector.

Stephen Herzenberg, an economist with the liberal-leaning Keystone Research Center, said that the governor’s panel should include experienced public sector managers and researchers who have studied government service delivery.

Mark Nicastre, spokesman for the Pennsylvania Democratic Party, in a press release said Corbett’s newest commission is “another vehicle to reward his donors and corporate special interests.”

“Tom Corbett’s privatization task force is stacked with donors and special interests,” Nicastre said. “The most likely result is a path to more profits for Tom Corbett’s donors, but worse services for Pennsylvanians.”

Here’s the full list of members:

• Robert B. Asher, of Gwynedd Valley, southeastern PA GOP powerbroker and National Republican Committeeman, a member of Corbett’s inauguration committee;

• John A. Barbour (chair), of Mars, CEO of Buchanan, Ingersol and Rooney, and a member of Corbett’s transition team

• Matthew J. Brouillette, of Hershey, CEO and president of Commonwealth Foundation, a conservative Harrisburg-based think tank

• Peter N. Calcara, of Mechanicsburg, vice president at the Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants;

• Jerome Cochran, of Pittsburgh, Vice Chancellor of the University of Pittsburgh;

• Laura E. Ellsworth, of Sewickley, a Pittsburgh attorney, and member of Corbett’s inauguration committee;

• Gerald E. Feldman, of Bradford Woods, Resource Investments, Inc;

• Varsovia Fernandez, of Ardmore, head of the Greater Philadelphia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce

• Charlie Gerow, of Mechanicsburg, CEO of Quantum Communications and spokesmen for All Votes Matter;

• William P. Hankowsky, of Philadelphia, of Liberty Property Trust;

• Mark Hanna, Venetia, a political strategist with Hanna & Associates;

• Melissa A. Hart, of Bradford Woods, former United States Congresswoman

• Raymond W. Hoover, of Camp Hill, Hoover Rehabilitation Services

• Richard G. Jewell, of Grove City, president of Grove City College

• James E. McErlane, of Malvern, Lamb-McErlane Law firm;

• J. Paul McMillen, of Camp Hill, president of the Pennsylvania Automotive Association Foundation;

• John D. Moran Jr., of Lewisburg, of Moran Industries;

• Jonathan H. Newman, of Bryn Mawr, a former Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board CEO who favors privatizing the state’s liquor stores;

• James C. Roddey, of Oakmont, GOP Chairman from Allegheny County;

• Sue Schick, of Merion Station, CEO of United Healthcare;

• Andrew J. Sordoni III, of Forty Fort, a construction mogul, owner of Sordoni Construction;

• Robert S. Walker, of Lititz, former United States Congressman;

• Joseph P. Watkins, of Philadelphia, a proponent of school choice and former Republican strategist contributor to MSNBC; and

• Dennis Yablonsky, of Presto, a former Secretary of the Department of Economic and Community Development under former Gov. Ed Rendell.

Brouilette said he is looking forward to working with the governor to “identity and implement win-win solutions.”

“Streamlining state government to its core functions is good for taxpayers and good for government. If government is operating outside its core competencies, running liquor stores, for example, taxpayers lose twice: first in inefficiency and again in lost economic opportunities,” he said

Herzenberg said: “The fear has been that the Governor’s laudable pursuit of cost effective government service would become a one-size fits all rush to privatize.

“The bias of the Governor’s Advisory Council reinforces this fear: most members are either political supporters or people who think privatization is always the answer,” he said.

“In the real world, one size doesn’t fit all: privatization is sometimes a good idea and sometimes a bad one. But it’s hard to be optimistic that this panel will be discerning about when to outsource and when to bring some privatized work back in house,” he said.

The governor’s office says the commission posts are unpaid and voluntary.

NEW YORK POST:  A serial thief who repeatedly stole books from the New York Public Library and sold them to unwitting downtown stores was busted after a furious shopkeeper laid a trap for him, The Post has learned…

 “The guy tries to push me, [and] I slam into the floor,” Davis said. “I’m on top of him. He tries to get up. I was a high-school wrestler, so every time he tried to get up, I’m putting the riding move on him.”…

“There’s no other situation where I would do this. I was so angry that he was stealing from the library,” Davis said. “The library is just a very important piece of our community.”…   (more)

EDITOR:  The public is passionate about libraries which today provide so many services beyond lending out books.  Too bad that the county and local municipalities aren’t willing to do more for them. 

It was with a sense of shock and disgust that the Watchdog watched a full fifteen-minute segment, uninterrupted by commercials, of an interview at 8:00 AM by MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” of Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks, the program’s chief sponsor.

Although probably meaning well, Shultz spoke inanities having recently demanded a reduction in deficit spending and today endorsing stimulus and a broader social network.  Which would he have?

But whatever his view, the pandering to him by  hosts Joe Scarborough , Mika Brzezinski and Willie Geist and every panel members was so obsequious as to be revolting.  They gushed praise and admiration; not a critical word was to be heard.

Since when do we allow CEOs of sponsors fifteen minutes of morning prime time news and commentary to hawk their political ideas, their philanthropy and their wares?

A cynic might opine that this is a classic case of business “Doing well by doing good.”

There are ample other ways to make the same points about education.  Starbuck’s initiative could be covered as a regular 30 second news item accompanied by appropriate disclaimers.

A question that cross our mind was whether Shultz has aspirations for running for office at some future date.

We hope there will be sufficient outcry from both left and right to trigger an investigation, if needed new rules, and if not needed, the appropriate penalties.  Other spokesperson could be interviewed.

Below is an excerpt from an article appearing on MSNBC’s web site:

Starbucks CEO takes political crusade to public

Starbucks Corp chief executive Howard Schultz urged members of the public on Friday to join a novel campaign he launched last month seeking to break partisan gridlock in Washington and spur economic growth.

In an open letter circulated via email, the head of the world’s biggest coffee chain invited “concerned Americans” to take part in a national call-in conversation next Tuesday hosted by the nonpartisan group No Labels, dedicated to fostering cooperative and more effective government.

The group, based in Washington, hopes to draw “a couple hundred-thousand” citizens to join in the 90-minute “tele-townhall” with co-founders of the organization and Schultz, to be streamed live over the Internet, No Labels spokesman Dustin Carnevale said. …. (more)

Editor’s note:  This article is dated July 13, 2011 and was the genesis for the current demonstration in the Wall Street area.  Amazing, isn’t it, what a posting on a blog can trigger in this age of the Internet!

ADBUSTERS BLOG:  ….we demand that Barack Obama ordain a Presidential Commission tasked with ending the influence money has over our representatives in Washington. It’s time for DEMOCRACY NOT CORPORATOCRACY, we’re doomed without it.

This demand seems to capture the current national mood because cleaning up corruption in Washington is something all Americans, right and left, yearn for and can stand behind. If we hang in there, 20,000-strong, week after week against every police and National Guard effort to expel us from Wall Street, it would be impossible for Obama to ignore us. Our government would be forced to choose publicly between the will of the people and the lucre of the corporations.

This could be the beginning of a whole new social dynamic in America, a step beyond the Tea Party movement, where, instead of being caught helpless by the current power structure, we the people start getting what we want whether it be the dismantling of half the 1,000 military bases America has around the world to the reinstatement of the Glass-Steagall Act or a three strikes and you’re out law for corporate criminals. Beginning from one simple demand – a presidential commission to separate money from politics – we start setting the agenda for a new America…  (more)