Lou Shupe: the Brooks and Mackenzie Alternative in Pa. 07

Two years ago, when Ryan Mackenzie ran against Susan Wild in the Pa. 07 Congressional rare, I voted for Lou Shupe as a write-in. He has asked me to post a "Ask Me Anything" blog. I agreed but not before asking him why he's always too lazy to try to get on the ballot. 

His explanation? "Since I announced my latest Democratic candidacy on January 9th, my windshield was shot out a day before my first campaign event on February 2nd, (please see exhibit a), luckily a supporter was able to pay for an Uber to get me to Lafayette college on February 2nd where I found it difficult to distinguish myself from the others as we were all pretty much in agreement. And my sister got sick and died a few weeks later. Distracted, I was. Then I moved into her house so my nephew who has special needs did not have to move. For that, several democrats accused me of being a carpetbagger like Senator McCormick. They would rather continue to see me homeless. But no, that wasn't enough."

"In the weeks that followed, I have been banned, shunned, stalked, doxxed, almost run over, hacked, vandalized, unfriended, blocked from posting, discovered who my real friends are, and much more while dealing with mold and blood infections from wearing my prosthetic too much and literally punishing my stump to where I could not walk for days at a time."

He sent me a pic of his stump and I believe him. 

Ok, so here's what Lou has to say about himself.

Greetings all. My name is Lewis Shupe, and I am running a write-in campaign to become your Congressional representative in the PA 07th congressional district. So why should you vote for little old me? First off, I'm ugly. Second off, I have a plan available on real change dot us but I'll summarize most of my platform below.  I could go on bashing both of the candidates, but they seem quite busy and effective enough trying to own each other.

• Reverse the SCOTUS decision "Citizens United" 
• "Why is it that our constitution is considered the highest law in the land, yet it is infringed the most and infringers punished the least?"
• Reversing the trends of infringement against our constitution and amendments. 
• Public funded political campaigns at all levels, unless you prefer "The best democracy money can buy"?
• On my first official day, I will propose some version of the American Anti-Corruption Act.
• I would also propose a "Journalistic foundation act" to create a new exception in the IRS code similar to a 501 (c) 3, but benefiting news organizations.
• Single payer healthcare.
• When possible, stream non sensitive events directly to my voters like I sometimes did with the Facebook group “Let’s Build a New Allentown Together" This also includes all lobbyist meetings, they will be streamed directly to the registered voters by my hand.

•  Full restoration of The Fairness Doctrine. Removed by Republican President Ronald Regan in 1987.

• Ranked choice voting.

• Right to repair.

• Repair or replace SS7 or System Signaling Seven, an operating system used by telecoms and abused by spammers, scammers, and governments. 

• Data Center moratorium.

• Hand marked paper ballots.

• To save this planet for future generations, it’s the only one with beer.

All this won't mean diddly squat if in fact I do get elected. Because, I will be surrounded by 434 of the most corruptible people on the planet. Think " boss fight" on an epic scale. And this is where I will need the help of the smarter registered voters most of all because I have to get to know these people better than I do now and work with them In order to forward the legislative wish list I outlined above. Donald Trump will still be president, And it is remotely possible I can talk some sense into his head. Or not. But either way, our legislative and political focus must be on the truth and not the lies and rage bait that both the left and right wing talk about. And last week, Bernie had some interesting ideas worth exploring. 

The one promise I can make and deliver on is the registered voter forum. I have put much thought into this. A place where civil discourse would flourish. I would be able to converse with the registered voters of the PA 7th congressional district on a daily basis and where they can interact with each other to go over the news of the day, absorb the legislation that comes down from the Congressional API, or application programming interface, and give me their best recommendations on how and why I should vote for a particular software package as well as navigate the labyrinth that is DC politics. I think George Washington's ghost would approve. 

Thoughts?

NYT Poll of 401 Likely Voters Show Bob Brooks With 5-Point Lead Over Ryan Mackenzie

The New York Times, Inky and Siena teamed up to poll 401 likely voters in the Pa..07 Congressional race over the period between October 16 -22. According to the results, Democrat Bob Brooks leads incumbent Republican Ryan Mackenzie, 49% to 44%. Those who participated were nearly evenly split between Democrats and Republicans, with independents accounting for 25% of those who participated. 

Bob Brooks FRAUD Signs Blossom in Pa. 07 Congressional District

Along with chrysanthemums and marigolds, a batch of new political signs are blossoming throughout the Pa. 07 Congressional district. They are "Bob Brooks FRAUD" signs, some of which are planted next to Brooks' own signs. Paid for by the Ryan Mackenzie campaign, the signs contain the web address BobBrooksFraud.com. 

The webpage starts with "Meet the Real Bob Brooks", and asserts he has a "documented history of putting himself and his personal profit before others." It then goes on to list eight verifiable examples, including links

1. "Bob Brooks signed an agreement to pay his family for a property, lied about it in court, was found liable, and ordered to pay back over $130,000.

2. "Despite claiming to stand up for workers, Bob Brooks didn’t carry legally required workers’ compensation insurance for his own employees at the company he owns… for four years. That means Brooks pocketed the savings and his employees got stiffed."

3. "As a union president, Bob Brooks took big extra money for himself at the exact same time he cut the services he was supposed to provide to union members. Once again, more money for Brooks while others got denied."

4. "Bob Brooks lied on official government documents to get himself a $15,000 taxpayer-funded COVID grant. The penalty? Up to 5 years in jail and a $250,000 fine." (Blogger's Note, Brooks actually got $30,000 and appears to have lied twice on two separate applications.)

5. "If you want to know about Bob Brooks’ real character — or lack of it — imagine this: Bob Brooks called volunteer firefighters in our community “shitbags” and “scabs.” That’s people who volunteer to run into burning buildings for all of us."

6. "Bob Brooks has been credibly accused of racism for enforcing a “white-only” membership policy as the Steward (manager) of a local social club."

7. "Bob Brooks says he’ll ban stock trading in Congress. But in his own life Brooks is a millionaire who is getting richer from trading stocks — including in the mega-corporations he says he’s against."

8. "Bob Brooks likes to act like he’s a working-class everyman. The fact is he’s a longtime political insider and registered lobbyist who was hand-picked by the political bosses. Brooks even admits they “called me into a backroom meeting” to be their candidate."

UPDATED: British Newspaper Reports Mackenzie Embellished Work in Private Sector ... Mackenzie Demands Retraction

Incumbent Lehigh Valley Congressman Ryan Mackenzie (R. Pa.), who represents the Pa, 7th Congressional District is facing allegations that he embellished his work in the private sector. According to The Guardian,, the DCCC has accused him of "fabricating" a career that he never had. 

The article cites several sources indicating that Mackenzie claimed on several occasion to have a real estate license (he did have one for two years) and to have worked in real estate.

According to The Guardian, Mackenzie's LinkedIn profile showed him as having experience in real estate sales, but his current profile only lists his experience in the state house and Congress. 

The DCCC statement, in part, asserts:

“Ryan Mackenzie was already disgustingly caught lying about his age on his Tinder profile by nearly 10 years. Now it looks like Mackenzie and his allies have embellished his résumé and fabricated a career in real estate that never existed. ... The truth is that Mackenzie is a career politician who has seemingly never worked a day in his life outside of politics and straight up does not understand the challenges that working Pennsylvanians are facing.”

A Mackenzie spokesperson said that references to real estate sales were "passing mentions." 

This race is gonna' get ugly. 

UPDATED 10:20 AM :

Mackenzie has responded to the Guardian article written by reporter Michael Sainato, and is demanding a retraction. It does appear to me that those who suggested that the Guardian is biased are right, but it also appears that the news outlet got its facts wrong.:

Michael,

I saw your article published today and it revealed something you did not disclose when reaching out to us - that the accusation about Congressman Mackenzie’s early career experience was coming from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), and that it isn’t backed up by anything other than their statements and opinion.

We have all of the documentation to support that Ryan Mackenzie did complete the required real estate coursework at Lehigh Carbon Community College, passed the real estate salesperson exam, carried the proper real estate license in Pennsylvania for 2 years, and entered into a contractual agreement with a broker to provide referrals to them while he worked full-time in two other jobs.

Like so many other young people, the congressman tried out different fields of work, including being a licensed real estate salesperson as a side gig while working full-time. Any accusation from the DCCC is easily refuted with the documentation we have and it is purely politically-motivated on their part.

We request a retraction of the article or update to reflect the factual information.

Mackenzie himself addresses the reporter:

“Your recent article driven by the unfounded accusations of a purely political organization (the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee) whose identity you refused to reveal until publishing falls far short of any journalistic standards. and, more importantly, ignores the facts that entirely disprove your writings. As noted in our original conversations with you, those facts are clear: I completed Pennsylvania’s rigorous process to earn a real estate sales license; I signed a contract with a real estate company as a referral agent while holding two other full-time jobs at the beginning of my career; and I successfully referred clients for sale. I have never claimed more or less than those facts. Further, you chose – despite being shown that I was not responsible for their creation – to attempt to credit me with biographies and promotional items written by other organizations.”

"Documentation showing that I held a PA license for real estate sales, my contract with the referral agency, and an example of a completed referral sales contract are attached. Names and addresses have been blacked out to protect the privacy of private citizens. We would request a retraction of the article or update to reflect the factual information and would encourage you, in the future, to not rely upon accusations from a partisan political organization as the basis of your reporting."

Brooks Appears to Dodge Debates with Mackenzie in Pa. 07 Race

According to Ryan Mackenzie's Congressional Campaign, Democratic nominee Bob Brooks is playing debate dodgeball. Brooks is accused of flat-out refusing to debate Mackenzie until after mail-in voting is done. He's ignored a request for a September debate on BRC 13 (Blue Ridge Cable), and wants to delay a debate at WFMZ-TV69. He is supposed to have agreed to a debate yesterday, but only on condition that the second half air on Election Eve. 

Mackenzie has released a statement slamming Brooks for denying then an opportunity to compare and contrast the candidates. “We have offered and agreed to several dates in September, but Bob Brooks has declined or ignored all of them. My opponent’s latest attempt to delay any debate from being broadcast until immediately before the election — when tens of thousands of district residents will have already voted — represents a deliberate effort to hide from voters. It’s time for my opponent to stop playing games, agree to a debate, and answer for his record of fraud and corruption.”

There would be three reasons for Brooks to refuse to debate Mackenzie. 

First, he could be so far ahead in the polls that debating Mackenzie would just be helping his race. I do think Brooks is likely ahead, but not by much in a purple district.

Second, Brooks is a lousy debater. I would buy that one from what I've seen. This includes his stumble when the hero of the working class was unable to define it at a Cedar Crest forum. 

Third, Brooks has a lot to hide. He's been accused of a fraudulent conveyance in the transfer of real estate to his second wife, and a judge has concluded there's enough detail in the complaint for the matter to move forward. He refuses to pay back $160,000 he took from his family notwithstanding a judgment filed against him. He deliberately refused to list that judgment in his financial disclosures. He called professional firefighters who volunteer in their home communities as "scum" and "scabs." 

As I've said many times about Brooks, he's too shady. 

Don't get me wrong. I have no intention of voting for Mackenzie, whom I regard as little more than a Trump lemming. Nor will I vote for the not so "Green" candidate, Andrew Tupone. 

If we could vote "None of the Above," that would be the hands down winner.