Local Government TV

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

The Man Who Cast a Spotlight on Kids-For-Cash

If you ever meet Lehigh Valley Tea Party blowhard Joe Hilliard, you'll only see one arm. No, he did not lose a limb in Iraq or Afghanistan. In fact, he's never served in the military. He uses the other arm to pat himself on the back repeatedly.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Joe is a "limited government community organizer," and is seeking gigs as a consultant, activist and speaker. He shares no employment history. He did attend Lehigh University for about 1,000 years, but it's unclear whether he ever graduated.

But one thing he has done is prop himself up as the unelected King of the Lehigh Valley Tea Party. And on their forum, from time to time, he shares little nuggets about his past. "It is always amazing when people I don't even know call or email me for advice," he modestly claims.

Joe then modestly takes credit for bringing Luzerne County to its knees, and all over a slice of pizza.

"We are having impacts at the local government level which include defeating illegal bond issues and exposing fiscal 'smoke and mirrors'. In fact, such an effort led to a total collapse of one county government in our state - and exposed a huge nest of corruption which has led to many indictments including a few sitting judges. It is amazing what can be accomplished by following a few simple principles and pulling back the curtain to expose politicians and the games they play. I was there at the beginning of that effort. In fact, it all started with a meeting with myself and one county resident over a couple of slices of pizza."

Yesterday, the Standard Speaker paid tribute to a true Luzerne County watchdog, former Controller Steve Flood. A Democrat, it was Flood, and not Joe Hilliard, who was calling for an investigation into corruption by the local judiciary, and for five years before an indictment was ever returned. He even hired private investigators.

Hilliard is currently embroiled in a debate over the continued existence of the Lehigh Valley Tea party.

And judicial corruption? It's alive and well, as evidenced by a Lancaster County District Judge accused of fixing her own tickets.

Blogger's Note: The photo is a joke ... I think.

6 comments:

  1. This reminds me of how Ron Angle claimed to be the reason Mike Solomon went to jail. He claimed at least seven county employees would go to jail.

    He lied on both counts. Hilliard and Angle should have lunch they have a lot in common. Two egomaniacal self-promoting bullshitters.

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  2. Hilliard is a bloviator's bloviator!

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  3. Drunks for cash in West Easton?

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  4. There are people in the Tea Party who are petitioning for Joe's removal.

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  5. That photo is hardly a joke. It may be a satire -- Bernie, I am much older than you, my kids are in their late thirties -- what a different world we inhabited -both generations. Different as in "better."

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  6. Bernie, I like the one arm story it fits Angle to a T

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