It’s Election Day. If the pundits are correct, 8 out of 10 Pennsylvania residents could care less. They won’t bother showing up at the polls today to decide who will represent them for various county and local offices and school boards. That’s a shame because most of the tax burden property owners pay goes to fund their local school districts and county services.
Will voters confound the experts and set a record today for what’s considered an "off-year" election? There’s no George W. Bush or John F. Kerry on the ballot to attract voters like last year’s election. Pennsylvania voters don’t even get the opportunity to tell Gov. Ed Rendell and the larcenous legislature what they think of their middle-of-the-night pay heist on July 7. The Harrisburg Hogs timed the pay-grab right to avoid voters’ wrath.
Of course, things didn’t exactly work out the way the politicians (or the so-called pundits) predicted. Four months of relentless backlash against the pay raise forced the cowardly politicians to repeal the 16 percent to 54 percent raises they gave themselves. I wonder how many Pennsylvania residents believe the repeal was a sincere effort to undo an action that could not be defended or whether it’s just a ploy to take voters’ attention (and the heat) off the legislators and the governor.
Pennsylvanians can take the next step in regaining control of their state government from self-serving career politicians by just saying no today to two Supreme Court justices seeking retention to new 10-year terms.
The only state officials on the ballot are Russell Nigro and Sandra Schultz Newman. Neither Nigro nor Newman voted for the pay raise and so far they haven’t had to rule on the Constitutionality of the vote. But Nigro and Newman are part of the problem. Harrisburg lawmakers feel they can stick it to the taxpayers whenever they feel like it because the state’s courts have always looked the other way or winked at the legislators when they’ve circumvented the state Constitution to line their own pockets.
The only way to put the fear of God into the 253 legislators and one part-time governor (you’re more likely to find the governor offering color commentary on Comcast after Eagles’ games than working in Harrisburg) is to vote out their cronies — Nigro and Newman.
Some of the state’s largest newspapers — including the Allentown Morning Call, the Harrisburg Patriot-News and the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review — are urging their readers to vote ‘No’ to retain Newman and Nigro.
The Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania, the state’s No. 3 political party, wants its members to reject Newman and Nigro.
Citizens’ organizations such as PACleanSweep and DemocracyRisingPA, which want more responsive and more ethical state government, are calling for the ouster of Nigro and Newman.
Just as the voices of outraged Pennsylvanians were heard by the larcenous legislators when they voted to repeal the pay raise, voters must continue to send a message to Harrisburg: "We’re mad as hell and we’re not going to take it anymore!"
You can send that message by making an example of Nigro and Newman. People all over the country are watching Pennsylvania to see if people still matter in a country where government intrude with all aspects of our lives. We the people have created monsters in our statehouses and in Washington, D.C., where government exists not to serve people but to perpetuate itself.
Pennsylvania not only suffers from having the most ineffective and most bloated legislature in the country, with 253 leeches feeding off taxpayers, but those 253 bloodsuckers have an army of 3,000 servants to do their bidding — with you and I paying the bill.
The story of the people’s revolt against the political elite is making news all over the country. It’s been covered by newspapers in Los Angeles and Baltimore. Just this past Sunday, the New York Times ran an article titled, "In a Rare Battle, Justices Are Fighting for Their Seats," on the effort to defeat Nigro and Newman
The political bosses behind Nigro and Newman have been spending tons of money to run radio and television ads trying to save their jobs. Don’t be fooled by the ads. Nigro and Newman are not innocent bystanders in the problems going in Harrisburg. They are part of the problem. The only solution is a clean sweep of the Harrisburg Hogs.
"Newman's and Nigro's ads are attempting to paint a warm and fuzzy picture of these two, but they didn't have a very warm and fuzzy attitude towards citizens when they trampled the Constitution on Act 71 and in 2002," said PACleanSweep Chair Russ Diamond. "And they certainly didn't exhibit a warm and fuzzy view of taxpayers when they abused their expense accounts by charging Pennsylvanians for $85 bottles of wine, $300 dinners, On Star systems for their taxpayer funded luxury cars and golden junkets to the Bahamas and other high-priced resorts."
The most important decision on the ballot today is the retention of Newman and Nigro. Vote yes if you want to see business as usual in Harrisburg. Vote no if you want to see this state have a future.
E-mail Tony Phyrillas at tphyrillas@pottsmerc.com
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