Inspector General: Zach Mako Violated DOD Directives in State House Race

Wanna' know why State House candidate Zach Mako refuses to face Phillips Armstrong in the race for Julie Harhart's seat? In addition to being completely uninformed, Mako has violated military directives in his race for the state house.

According to the Office of Inspector General for the US Army, Mako improperly disclosed "future mission information" during a tea party-sponsored debate. he disclosed he would be heading to Europe, and that NATO generals would be getting advice from him.

In addition, Mako improperly played upon his military background in the primary.

Any adverse action against Mako will be taken by the Commander of his aviation brigade.

If there were a medal for stupidity, Mako would have several by now.

His Campaign theme? Make America Stupid Again.

The letter from the Inspector General is below.

Inspector General: Zach Mako Violated DOD Policy by BernieOHare on Scribd

Armstrong Shines in State House Debate

Long time State Rep. Julie Harhart has decided to retire at the end of her term this year in the gerrymandered 183rd, which twists and turns from part of South Whitehall to Northampton and Slatington and over to Lehigh Township and points east.

The LV Tea Party has already hosted one debate featuring Republicans Cindy Miller and Zach Mako. Unfortunately, Democrat Phillips Armstrong was unable to attend that debate because of a family emergency. But he was free for a second debate at Fellowship Hall last week. You can watch the video above and reach your own conclusions. I consider Armstrong a very impressive candidate, the best I've seen in some time.

A little bit about each candidate.

Mako is a helicopter mechanic turned pilot after making it through two years of flight training. He claimed that Julie Harhart "has been helping me out, keeping me motivated along the way.". A candidate who accepted money from other Republican State Reps, laundered through State Rep. mark Mustio, claimed he would be an "independent voice."

Miller, who claims to have spent 98% of her career in the private sector. She took credit for many of the satellite facilities that Lehigh Valley Hospital plants like dandelions.She has been a Lehigh Township Supervisor for five years, has been a Planning Commissioner there for 14 years and also works for and has accepted contributions from State Senator Mario Scavello. Miller has a Master's degree from Wilkes in health care and is a certified paralegal.

Phillips is retired after 40 years as a social studies teacher at Whitehall High School. He also has a master's degree. While teaching, he was also a tour bus driver for 38 years "I totally enjoyed that," he said. After retiring, he decided to continue public service in local government. He is currently the President of Whitehall Township's Board of Commissioners. He also is involved in CTC (Community that Cares). He wants to go to Harrisburg "to make a difference." "I don't want a job,. I don't want a career," he said. His campaign finance reveals heavy union support. The root of all evil in state government, according to him, is gerrymandering. "We don't vote for our representatives. They vote for themselves. We can't do that anymore.

State Police Funding Shortfall.- Mako was stumped by the very first question of the debate, demonstrating for a second time that he really is clueless. You can make your own call. Miller said it's time for municipalities with no local police coverage to be assessed. Phillips called for more regional police departments, which he claimed would solve the financial dilemma of state police while allowing for a greater "police presence."

Medical Marijuana. - Miller is opposed, claiming it would be difficult for those who need to be drug tested for jobs or for police who stop drivers suspected of impaired driving. Armstrong disagreed noting that the bill passed into law already contains "numerous regulations." He doubts that people will be able to get it for recreational use. He suggested we should look "at all the children and all the people suffering from diseases who will be helped by this." Mako agreed with Armstrong, noting that the benefits and revenue outweigh Miller's concerns.

Privatization of state liquor stores. - Phillips would support privatization if Prohibition were just ending now, but he said that solution is impractical st this time. It would lead to one-time revenue as licenses are sold, not the steady stream received from state stores. He pointed to the possibility of some 18 year-old clerk selling hard liquor to her underage friends. He argued that the state generally has lower prices because it purchases in bulk. "Just like Wal Mart, the more you buy, the cheaper you can sell."

Mako was unable to pronounce the word "privatization," but said it would be beneficial for the state. "That is all," he said as he handed the mike to Miller. She expressed concerns about auctioning off licenses, which would lead to a few chain stores ruining small businesses. But she supports privatization anyway.

Bipartisanship.- Mako claimed the state legislature is already bi-partisan, but the Governor has been an obstacle. Miller added that the Governor has retaliated against Democrats who compromised. But she agreed there should be more cooperation on pension reform, privatization and education reform.

Armstrong blames this lack of dialogue on gerrymandering. He noted that if a legislative district is made up of all kinds of people, state representatives would have to represent everybody. He noted that, fortunately, the 183rd is one of the few split districts left.

"This country was formed on compromise," he said. "Something that I think the legislature has forgotten, and maybe even the Governor. We have to be able to compromise. Some of the biggest decisions in American history came because two sides differed, but were statesmen, not politicians."

Term limits.- All three candidates agreed there should be term limits.

Harhart Launders $10,000 Contribution to Mako

Cindy Miller

I was sure that Cindy Miller, who is running to succeed Julie Harhart in the 183rd legislative district, was her heir apparent. After all, Miller works for State Senator Mario Scavello. But I was wrong. Harhart and other establishment Republicans actually support Zachary Mako, Miller's clueless opponent. I know this from the pre-primary campaign finance report just filed by Mako.

Miller has managed to alienate a lot of people in her quest for the state house. She suffers from a "vaulting ambition which o'erleaps itself." This became evident last year, long before she announced. In Northampton County, Executive John Brown attempted to put her on the Gaming Board, even though to do so he would have to remove Tony Pristash, a Northampton Borough Council member and a Republican who was doing a good job and wanted to remain.

Brown disingenuously told Council he wanted to replace Miller with Pristash to "mix it up," but the reality is he wanted to raise her visibility to assist her election to the state house. Smelling that politics was in the mix, Council refused to confirm this appointment, and Brown was ultimately forced to withdraw Miller's nomination.

As an indication of just how smart I am, I completely missed out on why Brown nominated Miller.But her hubris became more evident when she jumped the gun and announced her candidacy without giving Harhart a chance to announce her retirement.

From there, she went on to file two nomination challenges against the two other Republicans running for this seat, Zach Mako and Marc Grammes. In a news release about her challenge to Grammes, she referred to herself as a "small businesswoman, trusted township supervisor, wife, and mother." But returning a call from me about that news release was apparently beneath her, even though she included a contact number. She succeeded in removing Grammes, which alienated his supporters as well as numerous other Lehigh County Republicans. But she failed to get rid of Mako.

At a debate, Mako was so uninformed about most issues that I question whether he should even be allowed to fly a helicopter. "As you can tell, I am not a politician and this is not my bag," he said at one point. But his pre-election campaign finance report, which is available at the state site, makes pretty clear that he has the support of politicians.

Mako reports $12,000 in contributions, with the biggest contribution by far being $10,000 from State Rep. Marc Mustio on April 8. In addition, retired political consultant Tom Severson provided a $450 in-kind contribution of street lists and robo calls.

Why would Severson get involved? It's no secret that he and Julie Harhart were close friends for many years. He ran many of her campaigns.

Then there's Mustio from Moon Township on the other side of the state. Why would he give Mako $10,000?

Zach Mako

Let's look at who gave to him. Lo and behold, Julie Harhart contributed $5,000 to his campaign!. Marcia Hahn and Joe Emrick, two other Republican in the LV delegation, kicked in another $1,000 and $500, respectively. State Reps John Taylor and Jim Marshall and State Senator Guy Reschenthaler threw in another $3,000.

Though Harhart will not come and directly endorse Mako, she and her colleagues in the state house and senate are willing to be sneaky. They laundered contributions to Mako through Mustio. It's safe to say he is her preferred successor.

Harhart, Emrick and Hahn refuse to file electronic campaign finance reports. They file paper reports, and likely hoped that the election would be over long before we were any the wiser. But someone forget to tell Mustio to file a paper report.

How about Miller? She filed a paper report. She'll fit right in.

Basically, the Republicans have one ambitious candidate who has alienated everyone and one clueless candidate who will be controlled.

And Democrat Phillips Armstrong. He filed an electronic report so the public can follow his campaign finance.