Hill Billy Jon Radio Show

Pennsylvania can feel like a place where you get taxed coming and going and then somehow taxed again after you’re gone. We get into that hard truth head-on, starting with the inheritance tax that can bite families at the worst possible time, turning grief into paperwork, bills, and forced decisions about land that’s been in a family for generations. If you’ve ever asked why it’s so hard to get ahead here, this conversation puts rea...

We make the case that Pennsylvania’s Republican Party is built by working people, not insiders, and we argue it is time to hand power back to the grassroots. Larry Dougherty joins us to explain why he is running for State GOP committeeman in Fayette County and how he plans to stay reachable, listen hard, and push real ideas for local jobs. 
• sponsors, bills, and how local advertising keeps the show going 
• why grassroots ...

If you’ve ever looked at politics and thought, “How did we get this far off track?”, this conversation goes straight to the foundation. We sit down with John Diamond, a field representative for the John Birch Society, to talk about faith, freedom, and the idea that our rights are not granted by government but secured by it. That one distinction changes how you see everything from daily headlines to the choices made in your state ca...

George Washington’s name is everywhere, but it hits different when the story lives on a real front porch you can still stand on. We sit down with Mark Cook to trace the living history of Cook Farm in Washington Township, Fayette County, Pennsylvania, and why one family is opening their home place to celebrate America’s 250th anniversary.

We talk about what people miss when they talk about food like it just “shows up” in st...

They tried to keep our guest off the ballot, and the fight ended up in court. That alone tells you something about how high the stakes are in Pennsylvania politics right now. I sit down with Al Buckton, a Pennsylvania State Senate candidate, to talk about the legal battle over ballot access, why courts matter to everyday voters, and what it means when people feel like the system is designed to narrow choices instead of expand them....

“Be on your guard, stand firm, be courageous, and be strong” sets the tone, and then we get practical fast. I’m John Marietta, joined by Bud Cook, and we talk about what service looks like when the calls are real, the paperwork is endless, and people just want someone to help them cut through Harrisburg bureaucracy. That “We the People” mindset is not a slogan to us; it’s the standard we use to measure everything from local trust t...

Voters keep getting told to “pick a side,” but the ballot belongs to you, not party insiders. We open with a simple challenge: reason together, stop shouting, and let candidates speak in their own words. That’s why we sit down with John Thomas, the Libertarian candidate for lieutenant governor in Pennsylvania, to hear a full-strength argument for free markets, personal choice, and cutting government control where it doesn’t belong....

They’re talking about “resiliency” and “economic development,” but what we’re hearing on the ground in Southern Fayette County sounds like something else entirely: a massive high voltage transmission line pushed forward while the people who live on the land scramble for basic facts. I’m joined by Susan, who walks us through how neighbors got blindsided, how routes reportedly shifted from several options down to two, and why blurred...

Patriotism isn’t something you buy at a store or slap on a bumper sticker. We start with a faith-forward challenge: if freedom is real, it should show up as truth, courage, humility, justice, and repentance, not pride and performance. That message sets up a straight talk conversation about how regular citizens can stop outsourcing politics to insiders and start earning influence again.

Then we get practical with grassroots...

We draw a hard line against secrecy in Fayette County and lay out why NDAs and closed-door deals break public trust. We connect the FAYPEN scandal to insider patterns, political influence, and a concrete plan to publish documents and push investigators to act. 
• NDAs as a tool for an “invisible government” 
• Why an elected official refuses to sign silence agreements 
• Concerns about disclosed money versus what stays ...

We follow a paper trail that we say points to insider benefits inside Fayette County’s economic development world, even as the wider county struggles. We push for outside oversight, urge listeners to check the documents themselves, and argue that trust requires transparency and proof. 
• citing nonprofit 990 filings and what they show about loans 
• questioning repayment visibility and record gaps 
• alleging insiders r...

Something smells wrong when public money keeps flowing and regular people keep falling behind. We’re looking straight at Fayette County, Pennsylvania and asking the questions that make powerful people uncomfortable: where do public grants and economic development dollars actually go, and why do taxpayers still feel broke while insiders look protected?

I’m joined by Harry Cochran, who lays out a real-time example of how har...

A ballot fight can sound like pure politics until you see what actually decides it: procedure. We walk through a Pennsylvania election challenge where the outcome hinges on one unglamorous legal requirement, proper service. If you do not serve the right official the right way and on time, the objection can be dead on arrival. No amount of certainty on social media fixes that, and email is not a shortcut the law accepts.

Th...

They don’t want to beat you at the ballot box, they want to erase your choices before you ever vote. That’s the charge we dig into from right here in Fayette County, where local politics shows how power really works when petitions, courts, and party leadership collide.

I’m John Marriott, and I sit down with Harry, a candidate in Pennsylvania’s 32nd senatorial district, after a legal challenge targets his ballot access. We ...

A courthouse can feel far away until it starts touching your wallet. I’m John Marietta, and I’m sounding the alarm on what I see as Fayette County politics drifting into backroom habits, bigger budgets, and taxpayer costs that never get a clear explanation. I lay out the frustrations driving a lot of local voters right now: spending that looks cushy for insiders, contracts that deserve sunlight, and leaders who talk like conservati...

Your property tax bill can feel personal, but the person collecting it usually has the least power over what you owe. We sit down with Mary Grace Butello, a Dunbar Township tax collector with more than two decades on the job, to separate tax policy from tax administration and to explain what really happens between a recorded deed and a Fayette County real estate tax notice landing in your mailbox.

We get specific about the...

The moment regular people decide they’re done being treated like an afterthought, politics changes fast. We start with a straight talk challenge to government that shields itself with bloated budgets, hush-hush NDAs, and insider protection, and we frame it in plain terms: if the rules apply to taxpayers, they should apply to lawmakers and local leaders too. Accountability is not revenge. It’s a reckoning that sets things right.

We call for a local revival rooted in faith, gratitude to the military, and community action, then welcome guest Chris Morolo to share an event with Ted Cruz and a powerful WWII family story that shapes his civic work. We examine today’s political climate, the War Powers Act, and why quick, focused strategies matter more than endless wars.

• call to wake up counties and towns
• honoring service and the American militar...