Live-blogging the Paul Kanjorski telephone town hall meeting

On hold, waiting for a Paul Kanjorski "telephone town hall meeting" to begin. Five minutes late so far...

Started at 7:38. In line to call.

In line to ask a question, I mean. Just got to put my question online: "Is Congressman Kanjorski pursuing solar panel and wind generator manufacturing in Northeastern Pennsyvania?"

He's talking about predatory lending legislation, which he pursued in 2001 following the post-9/11 influx of New Yorkers to PA - sellers and mortgage brokers were colluding to inflate the prices of properties being sold to those dumb city slickers. I learned about this in June of 2001, when I went on a date with someone who knew about this stuff from the inside. (Not sure how - I think she was a beautician. We went to see Shrek, go to Wilkes-Barre's Fine Arts Fiesta, and had dinner at a now-closed restaraunt. I had linguine with scallops, and splattered myself with butter sauce.)

There have been no more bank failures in the last 20 months...?

Ten minutes in...no questions so far. Wait...

One question...two minute monologue so far...wait, she's getting to the question...

Just got a call 14 minutes in telling me that in a few minutes, Paul Kanjorski will be holding a telephone town hall meeting. The same one I've been on for fifteen minutes now.

First question was about mortgages. Now another one about the recession, and the job loss, and the health care.

Mary Ann from Exeter. Damn, she sounds familiar. Is Social Security going to go up in the next four years?

S-I-N-G-L-E is not pronounced "signal", folks.

Steve from Henryville. Lived within his means, played by the rules - out of control spending in the Federal Government! When will the Federal Government learn to live within its means? Somebody needs to study basic Economics. If the Federal Government lived within its means now, we'd go straight into Depression.

"Things we couldn't control - like two wars, one in Iraq and one in Afghanistan." Ummm, wait. You could have said "NO" to either or both of those.

Next question: shipping jobs overseas.

"Great job opportunity - the gas industry." Yeah, we know you're in their pocket, Paul. And so is your opponent.

Flood insurance in Plainsville. Anything with the word "Plain" in it generally means "Flood Plain."

Stimulus stuff.

Last question - Frank from Olyphant. Stimulus money. Why aren't you pounding the pavement showing people where this stimulus money is going? Good question: Kanjorski is actually very bad at tooting his own horn. He's been in office for so long because of voter inertia, not because people are in awe of his accomplishments. In reality, he actually HAS accomplished quite a bit - not all to my liking, but that's life.

Never got to ask my question, but I got to leave it as a message. A warning about economic monocrops, like the coal industry in Northeastern PA and the oil industry in the Gulf, and how a single major disaster - like the Knox Mine Disaster in 1959, or the BP Oil Disaster in the Gulf - can shut down an entire region's economy. Now Kanjorski is encouraging us to slip on the noose of Marcellus Shale drilling - putting all of our chips on one number. What is he doing to bring solar cell / solar panel manufacturing and wind generator manufacturing to Northeastern Pennsylvania?