How Will Sequester Hurt Palmer/Forks?

Friday is the day when sequester tax cuts were expected to be implemented. Find out about the impact on Forks and Palmer.

Sen Toomey: Let Obama Make Sequester Cuts

Lehigh Valley Sen. Pat Toomey proposes letting the White House make targeted spending cuts to avoid across-the-board reductions if sequester kicks in Friday.

U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey wants to let the White House make federal budget cuts required by the impending sequester to "cut in the least disruptive way possible." How Sequester Cuts Would Affect Palmer, Forks Townships Toomey, a Republican from Zionsville, Lehigh County, said the move would help keep air traffic controllers on the job while cutting spending in redundant areas such as the federal government's 15 different financial literacy programs. "I'm not sure the federal government has demonstarted it's qualified to teach financial literacy," Toomey joked in a conference call with reporters Wednesday afternoon. He noted that the sequester will require only about 2 percent of spending to be cut from a government budget that has doubled in …

• Photos (1)

How Will Sequestration Cuts Affect Palmer/Forks?

The possible March 1 government spending cuts triggered by sequestration could affect residents of Forks and Palmer townships.

In Forks Township, the Board of Supervisors spent a good hour at last week's meeting lamenting, bickering, debating and grandstanding over a financial future that they say looks grim. Faced with tough choices over approving spending for minor township-related programs and with looming tax hikes expected, some officials wonder how much automatic "sequestration" spending cuts trickling down from Washington, D.C., Friday will pinch local government even further. "I think our representatives in Washington need to realize they represent all of us, not just a single issue or political party. As a Navy veteran, it is very hard to accept the fact our representatives and senator will not a find a way to pass a rational budget," Forks Supervisor …

• Photos (1)

A Federal Shutdown Could Have Dire Consequences

Almost 800,000 federal workers will join the ranks of the unemployed in the event of a shutdown. Members of Congress, however, will continue to be paid.

As a Democrat, I confess that I am not overjoyed with Obama. Sure, I would have been appalled if Romney had won. However, I did not vote for Obama to have him fail to defend the principles on which he ran: social justice such as health care, unemployment relief, food stamps, the redistribution of the tax burden, education and immigration reform, etc. He also ran on the proposition that the national debt should be reduced. To let the Tea Party succeed in holding hostage the country with threats of fiscal cliffs or other self-inflicted financial calamities because Republicans are in fear of being attacked from the right is simply to surrender his agenda to nincompoops. In short, Obama has allowed the idiots to run the asylum.  We are now …

•  1 Comment
• Photos (1)

Fiscal Cliff: What It Means For My 2013 Paycheck?

The financial deadline looms in Washington, with no deal yet made. Check this primer, and share your questions and thoughts.

With Christmas 2012 over, one reality check is that the looming "fiscal cliff" deadline is just a few days away. On Dec. 31, tax cuts dating to the George W. Bush presidential term are scheduled to expire, and President Obama and congressional leaders have not reached a compromise. Of course, that means tax bills would increase for many middle- and upper-class taxpayers. And that means paycheck withholding for many workers would change, leaving them with less take-home pay in the new year. Apparently, though, there will be no immediate change in withholding tables, while the situation is unresolved. According to John Tuzynski, the IRS’ chief of employment tax policy, employers should continue to use 2012 withholding tables and personal …

• Photos (1)

Easton, Wilson Mayors Want Tougher Gun Laws

Mayor Sal Panto of Easton and David Perrusso of Wilson are among several U.S. mayors signing

Editor's note: The following is a letter sent to the White House Wednesday from the group Mayors Against Illegal Guns. Among the mayors signing were Sal Panto of Easton and David Perruso of Wilson, as well as Gerald Gross of West Easton. In the last year, both Easton and Wilson have been struggling with gun violence. Easton had five homicides in 2012, four of them gun-related. A city man was shot and wounded in Wilson earlier this year. This letter is in response to a different gun crime: the school shooting last week in Newtown, Conn.   Dear President Obama, On Friday, Dec. 14, the entire nation watched as parents stood outside the Sandy Hook Elementary Schooland waited, desperately hoping to be reunited with their children.  That moment …

•  2 Comments
• Photos (1)

Giuliani, Voight Stump for Romney in Bethlehem

The former New York mayor and Hollywood star fire up volunteers at Bethlehem GOP Victory Center. Romney surrogates say Pennsylvania is still in play.

  Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani headed an all-star cast of Republican surrogates who came to the party’s Victory Center at the Westgate Mall in Bethlehem to make a last-minute pitch for Mitt Romney Monday night. Giuliani and his co-stars, actor Jon Voight, former Maryland Gov. Bob Ehrlich and former U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman, were there to thank and fire up volunteers and – to sell the idea that Pennsylvania is still in play in the presidential race.  “It will be quite a surprise and a kick in the you-know-what if Pennsylvania votes for Mitt Romney,” Guiliani said to a round of laughter and applause. Every major poll in the state – except for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review/Susquehanna Polling & Research poll, which scores the race a tie…

•  16 Comments
• Photos (6)

Michelle Obama Urges 2,400 in Bethlehem to Get 'One More'

First lady Michelle Obama delivers fiery speech before 2,400 supporters at Moravian College.

  First Lady Michelle Obama came to Bethlehem Thursday night and delivered a fiery speech aimed at inspiring the 2,400 in attendance to get at least one more person to the polls in November to help re-elect her husband. “Barack has said this election will be even closer than the last one. This election could come to those last few thousand votes, particularly in this state,” she told the standing-room-only crowd gathered at Moravian College in the Johnston Hall gym. “When you think of a few thousand votes spread out across the state, that could be the one new voter that you register, that one neighbor you get to the polls. That could be the difference. That could be the one that puts us over the top,” she continued. The first lady …

•  111 Comments
• Photos (23)

Frank

11:27 am on Monday, August 13, 2012

Yeah, Lee. louis kootsares is the boards jokester. He really isn't as stupid as he sounds, it's all comedy. LOL!   more ›

What Do You Think about the Death of Bin Laden?

With the news that Osama bin Laden was killed late last night, is it time to celebrate?

Last night, President Obama revealed how a U.S. operation, launched eight months ago, ended in a firefight that killed the most wanted man in the world, Osama bin Laden. U.S. intelligence led a small team to Abbottabad, Pakistan, where they killed Bin Laden and took possession of his body, the President said. That happened last week. This morning, the mother of World Trade Center victim Bill Sugra is happy Osama bin Laden is dead, according to a report early this morning on lehighvalleylive.com. "I’m totally happy, I guess," El Sugra, of Salisbury Township, said in the report. "It’s a horrible thing to say. But we’re happy that he’s dead." The Sugras' son, who was 30 when he was killed, worked at Cantor Fitzgerald Securities in the World …

•  14 Comments
• Photos (3)