The guy who lies all day about election integrity in Pennsylvania doesn’t think election laws in Pennsylvania apply to him…

WILKES - BARRE, LUZERNE CO. (WOLF) — Insider trading has become a hot topic in NEPA, and a petition has been making the rounds the last couple months to ban Luzerne and Lackawanna County officials from doing it. They needed a combined 20,000 signatures across both counties. They got over 40,000.

Their pitch is simple: elected officials shouldn’t be using the knowledge they learn from their office for personal profit.

Republicans have maintained a majority in the state Senate since taking control in 1978, with a brief interruption in 1993 after Sen. Frank Pecora switched from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party, shifting the Senate balance to a 25-25 tie and giving Democratic Lt. Gov. Mark Singel the tie-breaking vote. Republicans have also controlled the state House of Representatives, with Democrats only gaining their current slim majority in 2022.

Therefore, Democrats haven’t achieved the holy “trifecta” of control in Harrisburg for nearly 50 years, though Republicans have several times over the years, making the stakes “a lot higher this year,” said John Kennedy, professor of political science at West Chester University.

“There’s certainly a bit of pent-up frustration and pent-up legislative activity that’s been boiling for decades,” he said. “We’ve had essentially bipartisan split government since Gov. Wolfe was elected in 2014. The governor is in a strong position today for reelection to have that political trifecta.”

Berwood Yost, a political science professorand director of the Center for Opinion Research at Franklin & Marshall College, said that has long had a “moderating” effect on agendas put forth by Democratic governors, such as Shapiro.

“It would be a whole new world from a policy standpoint for Democrats to control all those levers of power because there are things that are never discussed that now might be,” he said. “I think about how many people favor, say, an increased minimum wage. That’s been dead in the Senate.”

This man is one of the most disgusting voices in our public discourse and he deserves no solidarity or promotion. He can’t target so many vulnerable and innocent people then claim the victim over a joke side comment. He uses his radio show to put people at risk all the time. I can’t believe any one would side with him even if another person said something they shouldn’t have about him.

He is a disgusting person and says horrible shit all the time. I can’t believe people are rallying to his defense at all.

Greg Rothman is also the Chair of the PA Republican Party. PA GOP in bed with Big Tech.

Action Together NEPA, based in Luzerne County, wants voters to sign petitions to place a question on the November election ballot. The question would ask voters if they want to amend the counties’ home rule charters to prohibit county officials and employees from stock trading or prediction market betting based on insider information.

Voters would also decide if county, state and federal officials who represent the counties must report ethics complaints and stock trades publicly.

Limited restrictions now

Neither state nor federal law bans stock trading by elected public officials. State law requires state and local government employees and elected officials to file financial interest statements with the government they work for showing their sources of income but not their investments. Federal laws require candidates for public office and sitting members of Congress to fill out forms detailing their investments.

Typically, talk of stock trading bans has been limited to banning members of Congress from trading.

“This is to send a message,” Alisha Hoffman-Mirilovich, the group’s executive director, said. “You know as well as I do in northeastern Pennsylvania, we are far too familiar with corruption, especially in Luzerne and Lackawanna counties.”

The group needs 11,650 people to sign petitions in Luzerne County, 8,900 in Lackawanna County, Hoffman-Mirilovich said.

The group can seek the amendments because both counties have charters, unlike most other counties, she said.

Volunteers would need to have the completed petitions submitted by Aug. 4.

Bresnahan and stocks

Stock trading by members of Congress has gained traction as an issue nationwide, including in Northeast Pennsylvania. After taking office in January 2025, U.S. Rep. Rob Bresnahan became one of the most prolific stock traders in Congress, despite calling for a ban on congressional stock trading as a candidate.

Not a good day for Rob Bresnahan and greedy politicians like him

"Action Together NEPA says it will begin collecting voter signatures in Pennsylvania’s Lackawanna and Luzerne counties on Tuesday with the goal of securing enough to force a November vote on whether to amend the counties’ charters to expressly ban local officials from insider trading and require elected officials to disclose more details about their personal finances. It also aims to compel the counties’ governments to produce an annual ethics report to “encourage transparency” for elected county officials."