Tag: Clarion County

Drill Here, Drill Now — But What Are The Oil Companies Planning?

Nationally, Drill Here, Drill Now seems to be the only issue where Republicans are gaining any traction with voters during 2008.  For those who don’t know, Drill Here, Drill Now started on the website www.americansolutions.com.  A couple of mouse clicks on the American Solutions website will take you to a screen with friendly welcome from none other than former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich.  

Based on where this started, skeptics can easily surmise that Drill Here, Drill Now is nothing more than a political ploy to distract voters from real issues of the 2008 election.  There are many questions about what the oil companies will do if Drill Here, Drill Now actually brings policy changes in Washington.  Do oil companies really want to Drill Here, Drill Now and put more oil on the open market, causing oil prices to go down thus decreasing their record profits?  Could the oil companies and the politicians that are friendly with them have other motives in mind beyond providing less expensive gas at the pumps?

Realize this, there is nothing about Drill Here, Drill Now that will mandate oil companies to start drilling to put more oil on the market.  In fact, all that President Bush and those supporting Drill Here, Drill Now will do is lift long standing moratoriums that have been placed on offshore drilling and drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).  Once the moratoriums are lifted, oil companies can start acquiring leases that will allow them to drill in areas that have been off limits, but not mandate them to do so.  In fact, under our market driven economy, the oil companies can, and likely will, sit on the leases until prices are higher and they can make bigger profits.

People throughout the 5th District have been asking where I stand on Drill Here, Drill Now.  My answer is this: I can support drilling domestic oil reserves if it is needed to stabilize the price of oil for consumers in the United States or if conditions around the world would cause a shortage in oil supplies.  However, if we are going to make leases available for the oil reserves offshore or in ANWR, the leases must have language to mandate that oil companies actually put the oil on the market for consumers in the United States.  I also believe we must address the issue of the 68 million acres oil companies currently have available for domestic drilling but have yet to tap.  If we need to Drill Here, Drill Now, then it must be done to benefit the people by providing affordable gas and heating oil not as a way to make larger profits for the oil companies.

However, Drill Here, Drill Now remains a short term solution at best.  I still believe the only long term solution is a real national energy policy that will invest in domestically produced alternative fuel solutions.  

Sad News Out of Clarion County — Sealy Closing Strattanville Plant

I was very sorry to read in the Tri-County Sunday that Sealy Corporation has decided to close their plant in Strattanville, Clarion County.  The plant, which has been in operation since 1981, will leave 114 workers without jobs when the plant ceases operations in late October.  Sadly, this is the hard truth of how the failing national economy can hit close to home.  We’ll keep the 114 people affected by the closing of the Sealy plant and their families in our thoughts and prayers.

The Week In Review:

This week we attended fairs in Clinton, Elk, Jefferson (Sykesville), Warren and Venango counties and met with the Sierra Club in State College.  We also paid a visit and met with some people at the Centre County HQ on Thursday.  Kelly, Amanda and I missed today’s Potter / Cameron County Democratic Picnic because the location was changed from the Austin Dam Memorial Park to a location in Coudersport.  I had the event on my schedule since May at the original location.  We did make a stop in Emporium for lunch.

At the Warren County Fair

At the Venango County 4H Fair

Schedule for the Week:

Monday: McKean County Fair — 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM

Wednesday: Emporium / Cameron County — Attending Hilliard for Senate Event — 6:00 PM

Thursday: Bud George Day Picnic — Clearfield County — 4:30 PM to 8:30 PM

  NOTE – Governor Ed Rendell and Auditor General Jack Wagner to attend.

Friday: McCracken for Congress Fundraiser — DuBois Lions Club Sky Lodge  6 PM

  Tickets are available for $20 – Please email mccrackenforcongress@verizon.net.  

Saturday: Car Show — Cameron County early afternoon — McKean County Fair evening.

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Please feel free to share your thoughts with us.  We will continue to travel this district and greet as many people as possible.  Don’t forget to pick up your campaign materials. They can be found on our campaign website.

Mark B. McCracken

Your Candidate For Congress

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This diary is cross-posted at McCracken’s campaign blog, PA’s Blue Fifth

Mark McCracken for Congress

ActBlue page

A busy week campaigning across the 5th district:

The highlight of the past week was the opening of the Centre County Democratic Campaign Headquarters in State College.  Over 200 people were on hand to celebrate  the opening that included a round of rousing speeches from candidates and campaign representatives including Greg Stewart and Jay Paterno for the Obama campaign, Auditor General Jack Wagner, State Representative Scott Conklin and candidate for state representative Joanne Tosti-Vasey.  I want to thank and congratulate Centre County Democratic Chair Diane Gregg, Greg Stewart, Ben Flatgard and everyone else involved in getting the headquarters up and running.  Having a facility like this in downtown State College is going to be a tremendous help to all the candidates and the people who are working on the campaigns.

This week I made a trip to Harrison Valley in Potter County for Tioga / Potter Counties Farm Bureau picnic.  I got the chance to field some questions on issues that concern the farming communities in a rural part of the district.  Not surprisingly, the subject of natural gas drilling that is going on throughout the district also came up.

The weeks events also included a visit to New Bethlehem for the Clarion County Fair, to Pleasant Gap in Centre County for a parade and to Oil City in Venango County also for a parade.  The week concluded with Kelly and I attending Dan Surra’s “Night at the Races” annual fundraiser Saturday evening and on Sunday I attended the AFL-CIO regional trap shoot held at the Fox Township Sportsman’s Club in Elk County.

The coming week will close out July and we’ll be into August with 3 months to go until Election Day.  

Mark B. McCracken

Your Candidate For Congress

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This diary is cross-posted at McCracken’s campaign blog, PA’s Blue Fifth

Mark McCracken for Congress

ActBlue page

6 Counties in 1 Week:

Monday — Tioga County:   I started out the week with a day long visit to Tioga County with the day’s agenda coordinated by Emily Rizzo.  Emily took me around to several communities in Tioga County including Wellsboro, which included a visit to the Tioga County Courthouse to meet the elected officials, and to Mansfield where we stopped to meet with the staff at the Obama headquarters.  I found Tioga County to be one of the most scenic counties, not only in the 5th district, but in the entire state.

The day ended with a candidate forum that was attended by 10 of the 12 candidates (the 2 missing candidates had people stand in for them) for the 5th district seat.  For the first time at one of these multi-candidate events, I drew the 12th position so I had to sit and wait as every other candidate did their 10 minute presentations.   Here is what the Elmira Star Gazette wrote about my presentation:

“After sitting silent for two hours, Democrat Mark McCracken, a Clearfield County commissioner, finally got his turn to speak.   He said the nation’s $9.4 trillion debt was tragic and that his priority would be getting the federal budget back in order.   “We’re in a deeper hole than we have ever been in before,” he said.    “This is a threat to our national security.   Foreign interests could pull the rug out from under us at any time.”

“Congress also needs to address energy costs and supplies…We missed a wake-up call in the ’70s,” he said. “We really need to get an energy plan in place. We need to be looking at alternate energy sources.    This is our second wake-up call. We’d better take it.”

Tuesday — Clarion County:   Tuesday evening, Kelly and I made the trip to Clarion County for the Spring Democratic Banquet.  Like Democrats all over the region, the folks in Clarion are excited about our party’s prospects for 2008.

Wednesday — Elk and Mifflin Counties:  Wednesday morning brought a trip to St.Marys for a candidate forum in front of members of the Allegheny Hardwoods Utilization Group AHUG.  The members of AHUG quizzed 11 of the 12 candidates on where we stood in regards to the lumber and timber business that is so important to the economy in north central Pennsylvania.

Wednesday evening brought a trip to Lewistown to appear at a candidate forum sponsored by the Mifflin County Farm Bureau.  It was decided that the 3 Democratic candidates would have our own portion of the forum since the Republican candidates would be arriving later due to party event also being held in Lewistown.

Thursday — Clearfield County:   The DuBois Democratic Committee sponsored a forum for the 3 Democratic candidates at the Penn State DuBois Campus.  PCN was on hand to record the forum which they will run several times over the next few days.  

I have to congratulate the people who put the event together.  It was a unique format which included the standard Q & A, followed by a 1 on 1 session with a moderator, then questions from the audience and ended with 5 minute closing statements from each candidate.  The format was different from any event we’ve participated in thus far and was a good challenge for me personally and I think for the other 2 candidates as well.

Friday — Centre County:  Friday evening Kelly and I traveled to the Tussey Mountain Lodge to attend the Centre County Democrats Spring Banquet.  This event turned into a celebration of the extraordinary gains in voter registration the Democratic party has made in central Pennsylvania.  Centre County led the way with the excitement for Sen. Obama’s candidacy leading to a huge wave of young people registering Democratic.  But, the excitement doesn’t end in Centre County as my home county of Clearfield and Rick Vilello’s home county of Clinton also turned “BLUE”!   Hmmm, with everything going the Democratic way, maybe a Democrat can win the 5th district after all.

Saturday — Clearfield County: I spent the day working on behalf of the Obama campaign doing some door to door canvassing at the invitation of Jody Grumblatt.  Jody has been putting her heart and soul into campaigning on behalf of Sen. Obama.  She was even out on the Clearfield Courthouse Plaza on a cold day a few weeks back registering voters.

Sunday — Clearfield County:  Kelly, Amanda and I went to the DuBois Democratic Committee spaghetti dinner.  Many campaigns were on hand for this well attended annual event.  

Auditor General Jack Wagner was the main speaker with Jay Paterno on hand to speak for the Obama campaign.    Rick Vilello and I each spoke to the crowd to make our case for votes on April 22nd.

Maybe the Wrong McCracken in on the Ballot:  Kelly had a very lucky week.    She won 4 tickets to a Pirate baseball game at the Clarion County Dinner and really cleaned up at the spaghetti dinner in DuBois winning 2 gift baskets.  

Amanda was really excited with the one gift basket that had a porcelain doll that she really liked.

We’re heading into the last full week of the primary campaign and there are a lot of miles left to travel.    Please be sure to remind your family and friends to vote on April 22nd.  Of course, a mention to vote for the 5th district candidate listed in the #1 position on the ballot would be appreciated.

Mark B. McCracken

Your Candidate for Congress

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This diary is cross-posted at McCracken’s campaign blog, PA’s Blue Fifth

Mark McCracken for Congress

ActBlue page

IF IT’S TUESDAY, THIS MUST BE BELLEFONTE:

The headline says it all as it was a very busy and sometimes hectic week.  I started out the week Sunday and Monday in Harrisburg where I was attending the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania spring conference.   I really wish I could have been in State College to see Senator Barack Obama’s historic visit to Penn State but, I had already scheduled to attend the CCAP conference several weeks ago.   I’ve heard from people who attended and they were all still buzzing late in the week from the rally.

I left Harrisburg Monday afternoon to attend the Lycoming County Democratic Dinner in Williamsport on Monday evening.   Lycoming County Chair Jessie Bloom put together a fantastic event that was so well attended they filled up 2 rooms with Democrats who are excited about 2008.  

Lycoming County is split between the 5th and the 10th congressional districts.  As I was working the rooms, I shook hands with one gentleman who apologized and said “sorry, you just wasted a handshake, I’m from the 10th district”.  I countered back to him, “No, it wasn’t wasted, if I met a Democrat who is going to be working to get Democrats elected in 2008 that was good enough for me”.  All the candidates in attendance got the chance to speak and Auditor General Jack Wagner was the keynote speaker for the evening.

Tuesday brought 2 events in Centre County with an afternoon forum for the 5th District Democratic candidates at the Foxdale Retirement Community in State College.  Art Goldschmidt moderated the event and the residents asked many important questions.  

Then it was on to Bellefonte for a candidate’s forum with the 3 Democratic candidates taking center stage from 6:30 to 7:30 with the Republicans getting their chance from 8:00 to 9:30.

Wednesday brought an early morning trip to Clarion for legislative breakfast sponsored by the Clarion Chamber of Commerce.   This event had 16 candidates, 5 for the PA House seat being vacated by Rep. Fred McIllhatten and 11 of the 12 candidates for the 5th District seat.   Wednesday evening had us back in Centre County for the League of Women Voters debate.  Again, the Democratic candidates went first from 7:00 to 8:00 with the Republican candidates following.  Is it wrong to think the Republican candidates had viewers tuning out in favor of American Idol both nights?

Also on Wednesday, we released the news that both the IBEW Local #5 and the Ironworkers Local #772 have endorsed my candidacy.   It is important to me that we get endorsements from organizations that represent the hard working people of the 5th Congressional District.

You can read the endorsement letters here!

Thursday we had the Jefferson County Democratic spring banquet in Reynoldsville followed by a candidate forum for the Democratic candidates at the IBEW building in Clearfield.

Friday brought an important visitor to Clearfield County as US Senator Richard Durbin, the Assistant Majority Leader (also known as the Majority Whip), stopped in Clearfield and DuBois to support the Obama for President campaign.  It really is an exciting time for Democrats in central Pennsylvania as we are getting real attention from the presidential campaigns for the first time in my lifetime.

The longest day of the week was Saturday.  I was up a 5:15 AM to drive to Warren for a Democratic breakfast at 9:00 AM.  I found my theme that communities in the 5th district share many similarities took a new twist on Saturday morning.  The Clearfield County Courthouse sets at the corner of Second and Market streets and, believe it or not, the building where the Warren County breakfast was held was on the corner of Second and Market streets.  I pointed this coincidence out and the crowd got a chuckle from my observation.  I shared the microphone with 3 of the candidates running for the 3rd congressional district along with fellow 5th district candidate Rick Vilello.  We also heard from Jeff Eggleston for the Obama campaign and Congressman Marion Berry for the Clinton campaign.

Then it was on to Clarion for a League of Women Voters debate at Clarion University at 2 PM.  Rick Vilello and I shared the stage with 7 of the 9 Republican candidates for a joint debate.  Rick and I did the Democratic party proud as we addressed the issues important to the hard working people of the district.  The event concluded with a brief verbal skirmish between 2 of the Republican candidates during the closing statements.  I was very pleased when the Clarion County Democratic Chairman and several people in the audience came up and congratulated both of the Democratic candidates for our performances.

Saturday ended in Ridgway with the Elk County Democratic Spring Banquet.  Kelly joined me in Ridgway to hear 2 keynote speakers, Congressman Marion Berry representing the Clinton campaign and Jay Paterno representing the Obama campaign.  And, I can’t forget to mention that Victor Ordonez represented the campaign in Mifflin County for their spring dinner on Saturday evening.  A big thank you to Victor for making the trip to Lewistown.  It would have been impossible to do the debate in Clarion and also make it to Lewistown.

It was a long day to end a long week but I feel our campaign made great progress over the last 7 days.  The only downside to this is the reality that campaigning in such a large district is taking a toll on the family life.  Kelly and I knew what we were getting into back in January but it is difficult now that we are in the middle of the campaign.  April 22nd is coming fast and it will be nice once the outcome is known.  Either we will be campaigning through November or life will settle back down.

Mark B. McCracken

Your Candidate for Congress

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This diary is cross-posted at McCracken’s campaign blog, PA’s Blue Fifth

Mark McCracken for Congress

ActBlue page