Back in 2005, I referred to Lehigh County Prison as our growth industry. Unfortunately, our other cities in eastern Pennsylvania were suffering from the same consequences of the poverty magnet. While Governor Cheesesteak sped around the state giving out hundreds of millions in cardboard checks, Pennsylvania remained the State of choice for the problematic crowd. County Governments were mandated to provide service within twelve seconds of claimed residency, and the buses never stopped coming. Today John Micek, Morning Call Harrisburg reporter, informs us that we will be exporting prisoners because our prisons are overflowing. Once upon a time, we used to export manufactured goods, now it's scumbags. We were paid for the goods, which provided good jobs and made us the All American City. Now, we will pay over $60 a day to house our excess scumbags. Our initial shipment will be 2000 inmates to Michigan and Virginia. Rest assure that those states will speedily return them at the expiration of their terms.
Gov. Cheesesteak lost about 100 pounds. I think it's officially Gov. Salad now.
ReplyDeleteWell at least we are exporting something.
ReplyDeletePlease don't call our governor names. You are too sophisticated for that. Do you hate everybody?
ReplyDeletebetty, actually i don't hate anybody. i do dislike hypocrisy. if you found nothing insincere about the casino approval sequence, or nothing ironic about handing out millions for 6 years, and now being broke, you're a saint. i'm not.
ReplyDeletei've deleted a comment which defended me using the term "governor cheesesteak", but used what could be misconstrued as a racial slur in the process. unfortunately, our local blogosphere is under relentless attack, both overtly and subversively, by a local couple. in addition to resulting in most blogs being moderated, productive discourse on important issues has been curtailed.
ReplyDeletewest end betty, i've rejected your current comment, perhaps you should send it on to one of the blogs which blindly support and enable our demise
ReplyDeleteA nice (and well deserved) 'slam dunk' on our West End Betty! And expressed very concisely, too. Allentown residents of the West End in the 1950's and 1960's were all pretty much middle of the roaders to slightly conservative in their political and social outlook, whether Dem or Republican. In recent years a new phenomenon like 'WEB' has started to surface on our doorsteps here in Allentown's west end... people who through their education, self-education via reading respected publications (not the Morning Call), etc. should know better than to defend and glorify an Ed Rendell... a real scum bag of a politician who succeeded in taxing and spending this state to near bankruptcy. From an ethical point of view his administration has a record of slease. Like Goethe's Faust, everyone, including Betty, has their price! (But apparently no sense of honor).
ReplyDeleteAnon.
I just wanted to say that we shouldn't assume people in jail are 'scumbags'. This state/city does everything it can to criminalize the poor for just being poor
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