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PA-Sen: Sestak Visits Budgetless Harrisburg

Sestak HarrisburgStanding on the steps of the state Capitol, Joe Sestak did something the lawmakers in the building behind him have not been able to for the last six months: help.

After a trip to the capital two weeks ago to hand out food, blankets and other supplies, the Democratic Senate candidate was back with more on Monday afternoon.

Former Navy Admiral Sestak said he can remember handing out humanitarian aid “from the Horn of Africa to the Middle East,” but never thought he would have to do it when he returned home to Pennsylvania.

While in Harrisburg, Sestak lamented the federal funding behind help up during the state’s six-month standoff, due to state law.

“We’re talking about millions of federal dollars prevented from reaching public schools that educate our children, nonprofits that feed the hungry, organizations that provide shelter to the victims of domestic violence and programs that help keep roofs over the heads of of those in danger of losing their homes,” Sestak said.

Since the budget impasse began on July 1st, 25 of PA’s 60 domestic violence shelters have cut services, with 54 set to close by mid-January if they do not get state funding, Peg Dierkers, executive director of the PA Coalition Against Domestic Violence told the Huffington Post.

Survivors in Gettysburg, a rape crisis center, has had to turn away 300 people as the lack of funding began to cripple vital services, including 8 pregnant women.

With the first half of the 2015-16 fiscal year almost over, PA school districts are approaching $1 billion in borrowing, while some have not survived the 25-week standoff. Philadelphia schools Superintendent William Hite told staff last week the district will run out of money by Jan. 29th without a budget.

35 Responses

  1. Anyone who knows joe knows that he doesnt do politics this way and def doesmt have any “g-men” shaking people down for him. Weird story, but has to be more and im not buying a tin-foil hat conspiracy here

  2. Diano: Incidentally, 7-8 years is not an unusual amount of time to elapse for federal investigations. Congressman Fattah’s alleged offenses, if you recall, occurred during the 2007 Philadelphia mayoral campaign – and he was only recently indicted. There are many other notable examples I could cite. Federal inquiries typically take many years to complete, especially when they involve more than one well-known figure…

    And the woman you met with? I understand she was visited at home by a g-man – in 2014. Whooops…maybe things aren’t as “over” as you assumed.

  3. Randy Paul

    It won’t. I’ve been psyched about this for months, and my early Christmas present was learning of confirmation.

    But, it has to drop at the right time, especially if plenty of reporters around to cover it.

  4. Randy Paul-

    I appreciate your healthy skepticism. However, this is a very cut and dry matter.

    Put simply, a former Sestak staffer reached out to me several months ago after reading my comments here. In the course of trading several Sestak stories, including how Sestak covers up various financial information. However, he dropped a particularly huge gem in my lap that would be far more devastating when revealed, than any of his mistreating of employees, psychotic fits, or other stuff behind closed doors.

    I passed the information onto those who have the resources to investigate the claims, and verify them. That part is now done.

    The sweet part about all of it, is that it’s so purely documented that Sestak can’t weasel out of it.

    For my part, I’d like/hope that we can get Sestak on tape owning what he did and embracing it, before realizing he’s embraced a grenade with the pin already pulled.

    Also, I have mentioned this information to several political operatives who know Sestak well. Few were surprised by his actions, because they know his character and that his “honor” is a facade. But, they all agreed that if this information were revealed publicly during the height of the campaign, his campaign and career would be done overnight.

    So, sorry to drag this out. It’s killing me not to be able to post it, but the evidence is in the hands of others who gathered it, and they deserve the right to release it when it will yield the most bang-for-the-buck.

    I did ask that when they do release it, that they let Sestak know the lead came from me. 🙂

  5. I think I’m with McGinty Door on this one. This has become a vague conspiracy discussion that seems more focused on allusions and “what-Ifs”.

    If there is a serious allegation regarding Sestak that is about to be addressed, I’ll be curious to see it come to light. But, unless more specific details are given, I’ll maintain my skepticism that this is just another conspiracy theory that has no evidence (or even a claim) to back it up.

  6. Kris Higgins-

    The ONLY reason I’m holding off on this is because of the maximum impact it will have later, as Sestak digs a deeper hole for himself. This is a VERY cut and dry matter with no ambiguity nor alternate explanation for Sestak to slink out of it with. There’s no defense Sestak can offer and he can’t claim it was a one-time mistake/oversight, as it was both deliberate and repeated.

    McGinty’s revolving door to $$-

    Sestak is Toomey’s favorite choice for an opponent for good reason.

  7. I really love the unknown allegators…..again Sestak is good….these guys not so much…..when their’bomb drops’I am quite certain Joe will have an explanation and the full story……they tried a witch hunt against Hillary…..they must be scary to folks if they want to get rid of them so badly. …sorry I’m still with Joe….laughing that you guys obviously don’t have a life if you need to spend all your time in here…meanwhiile….Merry Christmas and happy holidays!

  8. I’m about as much a Sestak staffer as you are. Only you and one other makes such a claim. I just want to beat Toomey, and Sestak will certainly do that.

  9. McGinty’s revolving door to $$

    The other posters seem convinced you are Sestak staffer.

    But, I know the dirty I’ve got on Sestak is going to be a deal-killer with the voters when it comes out.

    I’m familiar with the allegations that Unknown is referring to, and the story is interesting, but I don’t know the state of the evidence. It would seem to be easy to prove with a paper trail, since the trail should be large. But, there is a conspiracy element that (supposedly) has been blocking the truth. Unknown seems to think this logjam is finally breaking, after nearly 10 years.

    Given the timeframe, I’m not going to hold my breath. However, considering the recent changes in dynamics among the players and scrutiny on them, I’m going to keep my ears open and hope this all comes out.

  10. Sounds like we have a few conspiracy buffs on this thread. You are also going beyond what is fair political engagement. Over-the-top.

  11. Something to ponder, Diano: Former Philly NAACP head Whyatt Mondesire (who, like Richard Sestak, passed away rather suddenly in the past year). Judge William Carpenter. DA Risa Ferman. What do all three have in common? They are all involved in Kane’s case. And they were all deeply involved in the case surrounding the woman you met with in West Chester, too. Its all interconnected…

  12. Unknown-

    It would be amazing if he got bit in the ass now for his actions in 2006.

    The reveal that I’m anticipating may or may not have civil/criminal penalties depending upon an assessment of the offenses and compensation to the victims. However, the political penalty is worth $1 million in damages to his carefully crafted image and core message of his current campaign. It’s worse than the loop video of him running over children at a parade.

  13. Diano: There’s going to be far more than one “blockbuster reveal” concerning the Admiral in the near future. Far, far more.

  14. Randy Paul

    Sestak isn’t paying staff from his own pocket (or they’d be making even less). When Sestak was in congress, he paid his staff less than minimum hourly wage by (illegally, in my opinion) requiring them to work 70+ hours per week, for a 40 hour salary.

    My understanding/recollection was that the “savings” in his budget was used for more self-promotional mailings to constituents (a practice he decried when his predecessor sent such mailings).

    I must admit I am enjoying pumping up the Sestak supporters to make strong testimonials about Joe’s “character”. The higher they raise his pedestal, the harder it will crash after the blockbuster reveal.

    I’m going to need to set up a special hotline number to handle all the apologies coming my way. 🙂

  15. I think if he paid his staff more and gave them some time off, I would be more inclined to believe that this was more than a political gesture.

    I mean he’s a retired admiral who gets a nice pension, and a former Harvard grad. He has money. He should pay his staff likewise.

  16. This is equivalent to the people who show up to “help” at soup kitchens on Thanksgiving.

    Just another empty gesture to get votes. It’s pretty gross that anyone would report on it in this manner.

  17. Kris Higgins

    The party didn’t have a problem with Joe running against Weldon. In Dec 2005, there were rumors of some unknown outsider with a military background. By, January the Delco Dem leadership and the previous cycle’s sacrificial lamb had met with Joe and given him full support. The previous candidate gave the introduction to Joe at the opening of his HQ soon after.

    As for Specter, the party knew he could beat Toomey and Sestak could not. Specter owned the center and Sestak conceded it to Toomey. Sestak got outspent by Toomey, Specter had $10 million cash on hand in spring of 2010 that would have blown Toomey out of the water.

    Sestak’s lies to the party started early. When he ran in 2006, he promised to return the favor of support in the 2007 local elections. But, once in, he refused to help. In Sept 2007, he spoke at an awards breakfast about how his election was their victory not his victory. But, right after the speech, I asked his brother if Joe would be helping the Delco Dems raise money or host a fundraiser. Richard’s response: “Why should he? No one here did anything for him!” (in complete contradiction to Joe’s hollow speech).

    In 2009, he told a bunch of the candidates (and the county party) he would be giving them significant money. But, when election time rolled around, he arbitrarily claimed that they hadn’t worked hard enough and gave them insignificant amounts. What’s even worse is that he waited until the week before the election, long after budgeting, ordering and planning had been made, so no one could use it for additional signs/printing/mailing/advertising.

    Behind closed doors, in 2006, Sestak would trash the very same local Delco Dems who jumpstarted his campaign with funds (he never repaid) and data/donor lists (he never reciprocated with to raise funds for them).

    Sestak is an ungrateful bastard who acts more entitled than Trump.

  18. Kris, Sestak is about himself, not the people. Walking around, heading to rural counties that do nothing for democrats, it’s all about feeling like the center of attention. Even on election night, when he handed a seat that was safely moderate to a right wing ideologue, the first thing he wanted to tell everyone was how he would do it all again. He has hurt this commonwealth and this country, but it’s more important that he feel special….

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9u6hN8w-3I

    Unknown, I haven’t seen that youtube video you talk about but would love to.

  19. Again…to Diano. ….party not trust him?…. well that’s partly true. He is guided by a party but makes his own decisions. .which are usually right..The party didn’t want him to run against Weldon. He did and won. Sour grapes in the Weldon camp still exist over that one.. .as for the next party loyalty they didn’t want him to get in the way of Spector who had recently rejoined the party. Promises had probably already been made to Spector to sweeten the reentry……we are American.. if someone wants to run, guess what they can. Again…guess what Spector lost…again Joe was right on…….as for Toomey most of the folks across the state didn’t know Joe..so loss margin was slim…. well that won’t happen again……Joe has revisited every county several times since then. Next election no one will be able to say they don’t know him….I don’t know of anyone else who has done that.

  20. Kris Higgins

    I didn’t sign up for Sestak’s newsletter, and even asked to be removed from them 8.5 years ago after Sestak’s Iraq funding vote. But, the campaign resurrected an address I stopped using 8 years ago to send me donation requests (which is hysterical).

    Staffer was not low level, and the information has finally been verified by locating (at least) one of the injured parties and documents, which would convince even you of Sestak’s duplicity.

    Joe has established a reputation within the party as someone who cannot be trusted. He likes to make promises behind closed doors, then fail to honor his end by fabricating some previously unmentioned criteria (often subjective), or claim he meant something else, or get an underling to turn you away.

    The Real Joe: coming to a newspaper soon

  21. Diano: By the way – the woman you met with in West Chester 5 years ago? She and her husband have posted a video on Youtube all about her case. Almost 400 views already. Like former Congressman Weldon, she is suddenly speaking out. Gee, I wonder why…

  22. To David Diano….I suspect your jealous…. probably of his education, maybe that he’s doing something and talking about. Guess what it’s called keeping folks informed….in an easy and predictable way. If it bothers you so much than why did you sign up?..I suspect you don’t like the content of the letter..I suggest you unsubscribe to the newsletter and your blood pressure may go down…..as for rumors of evil…guess what…goes with the territory. …I suspect your lowlevel staffer only got part of a story and not the whole thing…..no one is a saint… spreading rumor and inuendo tells me more about your character than Joe’s.. . It’s interesting to see how they tried to ruin Kathleen Kane…again no one perfect but isn’t it interesting how all the folks accusing have dirty laundry in their own closet. You must be really worried about what’s in yours……..as for Joe. .he is a good guy. When he had his ship and his young men were missing their families and kids he figured out a way for them to stay in touch with them regularly from the ship…no matter where in the world it was…this was before cel phones and skype were common. ,.I’m sure those guys have a different take. …Joe is not easy. He is intense about a task. He is a worker who encourages that around him. It’s in his roots. His mom went to MIT. ..his dad military too……if he really did anything wrong his sisters would ‘take him out.’…..years ago I lost a sister to a drunk driver. She was dating a fellow from West Point.This was back in the early fifties. My sister died in 1953. My folks were beyond devastated.internet and cel phone didn’t exist. As each holiday and birthday would roll around my mom would be slow to leave the house. Her boys were gonna call. They always did. My sister died in 1953…my mom 1987. “Her boys’ never missed even one. Btw this is my story to publish.. anyone who sees this. Joe is cut from the same cloth…I would trust my life with him any day, any how…….Dave, I suspect you don’t inspire that type of loyalty. ..just sayin…

  23. Diano: Former Congressman Curt Weldon’s recent remarks at West Chester University. Read them. Scrupulously. And wonder aloud why Weldon opted to divulge all this now…

  24. Joe Sestak-

    It’s a good thing to help the needy. It’s a bad thing to send out newsletters touting what you did to self-promote yourself for your campaign. If a paper picks up the story, fine. If you write the story yourself for political gain, that’s not fine.

    Having your staff film it, supply a voice over, and post it to your site reveals your “benevolent act” as “shameless self-promotion”. This is a campaign ad, nothing less.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgEIdzAjUYQ

    Ego Joe-

    You are right about Sestak having a “God-complex”. The VERY first time I met him at the opening of his campaign HQ, he told a story about a young ensign under his command on the eve of battle.

    According to Sestak, he was walking the ship late at night on the eve of battle, when he encountered a young ensign. The sailor looked up to him and asked, “Captain, are we going to war tomorrow?”

    Sestak then told us: “In that moment, I realized I was more than just his captain, I was his father figure, I was his confessor, I WAS HIS GOD!”

    Emphasis not added, that’s how Sestak told the story, shouting the last bit. F*cking scary!

    Kris Higgins-
    If you think Sestak is “a true man of honor”, you are going to be VERY hurt/shocked/surprised at an upcoming revelation that demonstrates beyond a shadow of a doubt that he hasn’t a shred of honor.

    I alluded to this a few months ago when I first found out (from a former campaign staffer) of a very despicable thing that Sestak has done to lay a cornerstone of his campaign. Sestak has linked this “cornerstone” to his honor and integrity, and when his hidden actions are revealed, you and Sestak’s other ardent followers will be forced to admit that Sestak really is a total fraud and a total piece of sh*t.

    I bring this up now because I recently learned that key details and evidence have been uncovered to corroborate the misdeeds of Joe Sestak. The big reveal is merely awaiting the most opportune and damaging time to become public. Reporters will easily be able to confirm it at that time, and Sestak’s political career will be over.

    Let’s just say this: it’s worse than if porn was found on his computer.

  25. I’ve known Joe and his family since 1966… what he says he means…a true man of honor. He is also very bright…top of my high school class which was large…at or near top of naval academy class. (John McCain went there too but was near bottom. …still love the guy but it is what it is.). Joe also went to Harvard and did well… he was also with military as you know.. …he is almost healthier than God….and a heart just as big………..so I suggest the naysayers here pick up a bag of groceries and walk to the capital with it…. If you’re not dead by then I suggest calling your state representative and tell him/her to give the new governor whatever he wants. I mean that. If you don’t, that guy may be out next time round just as our last governor was unceremoniously retired…. Joe Sestak is the one to trust…

  26. Kaight, you can’t line item veto when you want more added to the budget. Corbett did that to strip all that was good and progressive out and to set the stage for this group of GOP wackos to present the same budget as if it was sufficient. And these days, with a moronic, racist, megalomaniac leading the republican polls, I would take most liberal governor as a badge of honor.

    Oh and everyone hates Sestak.

  27. Sestak laments all the problems caused because, unlike every other governor in modern times, Wolf was unwilling to line-item veto those portion of the budget he did not like or want. Instead, as befits America’s most liberal Governor, he vetoed the entire budget!!! Now Sestak is moaning and complaining about what his own BFF did. Go figure.

  28. So I don’t think he’s the strongest candidate, but this was a good move on his (and his campaign’s) part. Helping others is helping others, regardless of the intent.

    Still, I know this will be seen through a political lens. A good deed doesn’t wash out the bad, nor the bad the good.

  29. Sestak is one of the worst politicians ever to be elected in PA. I dislike him even more than Kane. Kane clearly has issues, but not a God-complex like Sestak who thinks he is the next JFK. A strange. disturbed, egotistical man.

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