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Tom Borthwick – Page 7 – Author, Teacher, Blogger
All Politics Writing
Politics
Assault on Teaching: PA Senate Edition
May 17, 2016 By Tom Borthwick

The teaching profession has been systematically under assault for some time.  Stop me if you’ve heard these: Teachers get summers off. Teachers are glorified babysitters. Teachers get paid too much. Teacher benefits are too high. All this ignores: That teachers are required to keep getting college credits, or we lose our jobs.  Many of us […]

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Politics
PA-112: Thanks to Farina, the Daily Hag Will Return
April 30, 2016 By Tom Borthwick

Years ago, when I ran NEPArtisan and commented on local politics pretty regularly, I started a regular series called “The Daily Hag” about the exploits of perpetual misanthrope Kevin Haggerty.  I’m sad to say that the column will be returning and we only have Frank Farina to thank blame. Given Frank’s accomplishments in the House as […]

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Politics
PA-112: This Race Is A Distaster
April 17, 2016 By Tom Borthwick

The race in the 112th legislative district (which covers the Midvalley, Dunmore, and parts of Scranton) has, in my view, been a lock for Frank Farina from the beginning.  He’s got Tom Lukasewicz, who was for the Landfill before he was against it.  And then there’s Kevin Haggerty, who probably definitely needs counselling. The solid political strategy for […]

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Politics
The Scranton Times: Revising Revisionist Revisionism
March 21, 2016 By Tom Borthwick

Losing an argument?  I’m sure you’ve heard of this simple strategy: deny, and counter with false accusations.  It’s a great way to throw people off, since it’s a natural human tendency to respond to whatever train of thought you’re being presented with.  I see it at public meetings a lot when elected officials don’t want to […]

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Politics
WNEP’s Disservice to Students and Teachers
March 19, 2016 By Tom Borthwick

Every year in my capacity as a teacher at Riverside, I take my AP Literature & Composition kids, along with another teacher and his AP US History kids, to State Rep. Sid Michaels Kavulich’s annual Youth and Government Forum at Keystone College.  It’s a wonderful experience. Check this video out and draw your own conclusions […]

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Politics
PA-112: Bill Paid, But More to Come
March 15, 2016 By Tom Borthwick

After last week’s post about Kevin Haggerty’s large unpaid bill with Lamar Advertising, the Scranton Times has told us that he’s all squared up. Or is he?  (Yeah, that’s me being dramatic.) One of my favorite pastimes is looking at campaign finance reports (my life isn’t that exciting).  According to Haggerty’s campaign finance reports, which you can […]

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Politics
PA-112: There’s a Race, and It’ll Be Fun!
March 5, 2016 By Tom Borthwick

When I was more active as a political blogger, I spent a lot of time writing about local races.  There isn’t really much going on locally in even-numbered years.  The School Board, Council, Mayoral, and Commissioner races are always during odd-numbered years (every 4 years, staggered), which means you’ll probably see me on fire in […]

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Politics
The Trumpening: I Get His Appeal Despite Not Buying In
February 25, 2016 By Tom Borthwick

Donald Trump, more persona than person, has demonstrated that style, not substance, is what Americans want in a leader.  Sure, there’s substance behind Trump.  He’s got positions on things.  But they aren’t really what we care about.  We care about spectacle.  It’s why more people tune into network reality shows than cable news.  Trump has […]

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