Proposed Campaign Contribution Limits and Tax Law

Will the proposed campaign contribution limit proposed by J. Michael Schweder work? No. He apparently did not consider the tax law. According to Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Code Section 2503(b) in 2007, an individual can gift $12,000 or less to anyone and no gift tax filings need to be completed. Therefore, in order to circumvent any changes in campaign contribution limits, any individual could gift privately to the candidate any dollar amount $12,000 or less and the candidate could contribute to his or her own campaign. The aforementioned discussion is considered the "gift tax exclusion" regulations. In addition, the gift tax exclusion is adjusted every year for inflation. In 2006 the gift tax exclusion amount was $11,000.

Why does Jean Belinski Always Vote the Same as J. Michael Schweder?

Jean Belinski, is a nice woman on Bethlehem city council, however, she never seems to have her own opinion about anything. Ms. Belinski always votes the same way J. Michael Schweder does on every single item up for voting. Can Ms. Belinski think for herself? Or is Mr. Schweder such a bully, that she thinks she has to follow his lead on everything? I certainly hope that J. William Reynolds (the newest elected official to city council) can make his own decisions.

Schweder - Proposed Limit on City Political Donations

Yesterday, J. Michael Schweder proposed limiting campaign contributions to $1,000 for an individual for an election and $2,500 for a Political Action Committee for the mayor, city council, controller and treasurer. Mr. Schweder must have forgotten that he received $5,000 from the Campaign Committee of Former State Representative TJ Rooney and $5,000 from Dorothy Zug-Taylor in 2005 for his campaign for city council.

This is an example of another one of Schweder's personal attacks against the Mayor, since he plans to run for Mayor (and he'll lose). He hopes to prevent Mayor Callahan from raising funds which will exceed his own funds. This is also an attack against Meg Holland and an attempt to get his friend's name (Mr. DiGiacinto) in the paper again. Schweder needs to get a life and start doing GOOD things for the city rather than causing problems!

(Picture of J. Michael Schweder downloaded from the City of Bethlehem's website www.bethlehem-pa.gov)

Donchez President of City Council Again

On January 7, 2008, Jay Leeson nominated Bob Donchez to be President of Bethlehem City Council. City Council unanimously confirmed Donchez as the new President. Donchez takes over as President from J. Michael Schweder who was very vocal in 2007 against Mayor Callahan and his administration. Donchez is far more unbiased than Schweder and will most likely not criticize the Mayor and his administration (or at least not as much). Schweder seemed to have ulterior motives during 2007, as there have been rumors that he will run for Mayor against Callahan in the next election.