'Fettermobile' -- a Fetterman-branded food truck set to criss-cross Pa.

Sep. 27—WILKES-BARRE — Pennsylvania Lt. Governor John Fetterman's campaign for U.S. Senate this week launched the "Fettermobile" — a food truck-style vehicle that will criss-cross Pennsylvania in the final six weeks of the campaign, selling merchandise, organizing, registering voters, and spreading Fetterman's message.

The Fettermobile debuted at Fetterman's rallies in Philadelphia and the Lehigh Valley, and will be at nearly every Fetterman campaign event through Nov. 8 — election day.

It will also make countless stops at other events throughout the Commonwealth not sponsored by the campaign — like community picnics, Democratic party events, high school and college football games, and other events.

The campaign hopes that the Fettermobile will visit nearly every Pennsylvania county before the election.

Fetterman on Friday released the following statement after a new analysis showed that Dr. Oz "opposes recent tax changes that benefited poorer and middle-income Americans, but not those that benefited wealthier people and businesses."

Here's what Fetterman said:

"Dr. Oz is a charlatan who's only looking out for himself. This new reporting shows exactly who he is and what he stands for: enriching himself and his rich friends, while leaving everyone else in the dust.

"Oz doesn't give a damn about Pennsylvania's working people. If he is elected Senator, he will only pad his own pockets and make life even easier for the kind of people who own 10 houses. Oz can't be trusted to represent the hardworking people of Pennsylvania. He'll sell them out the first chance he gets."

Dr. Oz says Biden-Fetterman reckless

spending responsible for interest rate hikes

Dr. Mehmet Oz this week said "the radical, tax-and-spend Biden-Fetterman agenda is the reason that the Federal Reserve raised interest rates by 75 basis points yesterday. Oz said the Federal Reserve's decision to raise interest rates another 75 basis points is the latest in a series of aggressive steps to combat the inflation crisis spurred by Biden-Fetterman tax and spend policies. Oz added that the Biden crisis has been marked by a consumer price index that remains at 8.3% — more than 4 times higher than the targeted rate of 2%.

"John Fetterman's tax and spend economic policies are what got us raging inflation that has cost every Pennsylvanian over $600 last month and more than $5,700 since January 2021," Oz said. "While Fetterman refuses to pay his own taxes, being sued 67 times, he continues to push higher taxes and more spending that will push us further into a recession. In the U.S. Senate, I will fight to restore fiscal responsibility, get us out of this recession, protect important social safety nets like social security and Medicare, and lower costs for families."

According to the Dr. Oz campaign:

Pennsylvania's monthly household inflation costs calculations relative to January 2021

The Oz campaign says the Consumer Price Index shows the Mid-Atlantic region is facing a 7.5% increase over last year.

Fuel oil is up 69%

Meat, poultry, and fish are up 9%

Baby food is up 13%

Groceries are up 13.5% (the largest increase in 43 years)

Milk is up 17%

Gas is up 26%

Airline fares are up 33%

Eggs are up 40%

Cartwright campaign says

Bognet is 'ducking debates'

The campaign of U/S. Rep. Matt Cartwright, D-Moosic, says when it comes to debates, former Washington D.C. lobbying executive, Jim Bognet, continues to do one thing and say another.

According to the Cartwright campaign:

Bognet is still saying publicly that he wants a debate.

But privately, it looks like this is a fight that Bognet would rather run from. An invitation to join a debate hosted by WVIA-FM has gone unanswered by the Bognet campaign for months.

It must be easier to dodge invites from moderators than to get onstage and defend his lobbying firm that fought for Big Pharma and slashes to Social Security while the people of his "hometown" got left behind.

Matt Cartwright campaign press secretary, David Early, issued the following statement:

"Jim Bognet is clearly lying to the people of our community by claiming to want a debate, while privately ignoring an offer already on the table. These are classic Washington, D.C. tactics that Jim must have picked up during his time as a lobbying executive collecting checks from big corporations. We've said it before and we'll say it again, we look forward to beating Jim Bognet in November and sending him back to his cushy D.C. lobbying firm where he is far more at home."

FOP Wyoming Valley Lodge 3

endorses Bognet for Congress

The Fraternal Order of Police, Wyoming Valley Lodge 36 has endorsed Jim Bognet's campaign for Pennsylvania's 8th Congressional District, the Bognet campaign announced.

"Every day, our men and women in blue leave their families to serve and protect our communities. We owe a debt of gratitude to all our police officers who put their lives on the line to protect and serve," said 8th District Republican candidate, Jim Bognet. "Law enforcement heroes deserve the best pay, equipment, and training that we can offer. They should always feel like their political leaders have their backs while they are protecting our communities, and in Congress, I will."

The FOP Wyoming Valley Lodge 36 Union Board released the following statement:

"Jim Bognet has always been a supporter of the police. He understands our needs and he supports law enforcement on the issues that are most important to us. We believe he will be a true ally for us in Washington and we're excited to endorse his campaign for Congress."

DNC: Pennsylvania GOP's

extreme, anti-choice agenda

It's been three months since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, and with the midterm elections around the corner, the Democratic National Committee is "reminding Pennsylvanians just how out of touch Republican candidates are when it comes to choice."

The DNC stated if elected, candidates like Doug Mastriano, Mehmet Oz, Jim Bognet and others have made clear they will bring Pennsylvania and the country backward on reproductive freedom.

Here's a DNC refresher on Pennsylvania Republicans' extreme, anti-choice agenda:

Doug Mastriano

Following the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, Republican gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano released a statement titled "Roe V. Wade Is Rightly Relegated To The Ash Heap Of History."

Mastriano opposes abortions in cases that involve rape or incest — a position that 9 out of 10 Pennsylvanians disagree with — and said, "that baby deserves a right to life, whether it was conceived in incest or rape, or whether there's concerns otherwise for the mom." He's said himself, "my goal ultimately is to get it down to conception in the end."

Just last week, he doubled down on his extreme, anti-abortion stance and said that banning all abortion with no exception for rape, incest, or the life of the mother is "the single most important issue in our lifetime."

Mehmet Oz

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mehmet Oz celebrated when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June and called abortion "murder" at any stage of pregnancy.

Jim Bognet

Republican PA-08 candidate Jim Bognet said the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade was "amazing news" and "motivating." He's spent almost his entire career helping to elect extreme, anti-abortion Republicans. Bognet has also committed to supporting the Life at Conception Act, an extreme, nationwide abortion ban with no exceptions for instances of rape, incest, or when a woman's life is at stake.

NRSC: Fetterman continues to not

be transparent about his health

The National Republican Senate Committee this week said John Fetterman is rarely showing up on the campaign trail, stating one rally per week does not mean "he is back."

From the NRSC:

"That is a joke, especially because at these rallies he neither takes questions from the public nor press.

"Fetterman sometimes blames his health as the reason why he's on the road so rarely. But no one really knows what's going on with his health.

"He's had a problem telling the truth since the beginning. And Fetterman's campaign said they wouldn't share documentation of the test results."

According to the NRSC, it's been —

131 days since Fetterman's stroke with no clarity on the severity of it.

9 days since The Washington Post called for the release of Fetterman's medical records for independent review.

More from the NRSC:

"And 34 days until Fetterman will finally debate Dr. Oz, with 'unusual conditions' aka with closed captioning for Fetterman's health issues. This is over a month after absentee ballots are sent to Pennsylvanians and only two weeks before Election Day.

"Fetterman has officially denied Pennsylvania voters any opportunity to see him debate Dr. Mehmet Oz prior to the start of absentee ballot requests being processed and sent out to voters.

"Despite the designed and unfair (to the voters) delay, we look forward to Fetterman finally answering questions on his radical policies like why he wanted to ban fracking, why he supports Joe Biden's failed economic policies, and why he wants to release criminals back onto the streets, especially during these trying times of a recession, skyrocketing inflation and rising crime rates."

Reach Bill O'Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.