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Friday, November 10, 2006

Rendell develops amnesia on property taxes

I warned you about Ed Rendell. In fact, I gave you 33 reasons why he did not deserve re-election. But did you listen? Nooooo! More than 2.4 million of you decided it was a good idea to give Rendell another four years to tax and spend Pennsylvania into the poor house.

Are you having second thoughts yet? If not, consider this.

The day after the Rendell landslide, the governor held a press conference to discuss his second-term agenda. What hot issues will Rendell tackle in 2007? He mentioned education, economic development, mass transit funding, the environment, health coverage, term limits for the state Legislature and campaign finance reform.

Conspicuously absent from the governor's list of priorities was property tax relief.

That's right. The No. 1 issue that voters want addressed escaped the governor's mind.

This is the very same governor who promised four years ago to cut everyone's property tax bill by 30 percent while standing on his head. The very same governor who called for a special session of the Legislature last September to deal with property tax relief.

The very same governor who has tried all kinds of parlor tricks (Act 72, Act 1, Slot Machines) to distract Pennsylvania taxpayers from the fact that he has failed to deal with property taxes.

Now that he's been re-elected, Rendell doesn't even want to discuss property taxes. Feeling duped?

Get ready for four more years of tax hikes. Rendell will push for an increase in the sales tax, the income tax and the gas tax in 2007. Get set for more spending. And brace yourself for more borrowing.

Right before the election, a report came out that Pennsylvania's debt has risen to $10 BILLION. It went up by $4 BILLION under Gov. Rendell. This is on top of record spending by Rendell, which has brought the state budget to $26.1 BILLION.

Pennsylvania is spending a twice the rate of inflation. And we're deeper in debt. That is Rendell’s legacy. We are going to be paying for Rendell's spending for generations to come.

And this Monday, the long-awaited report on the state of Pennsylvania's transportation infrastructure comes out. Interesting how the report is being released a week after the election.

The report will say that Pennsylvania needs to find billions more each year to fix its roads and bridges. And if you've been listening closely to Rendell, the state needs to find a "dedicated source of revenue" to subsidize mass transit in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

Translation: Get ready to pay more at the pump. Pennsylvania's gas tax will be going up!!!

Don't say I didn't warn you.

In the meantime, get in touch with Rendell and remind him that he still works for you. Here's where to call or write: Gov. Edward G. Rendell's Office, 225 Main Capitol Building, Harrisburg, PA 17120. Call 717-787-2500. E-mail at this Web site: www.governor.state.pa.us

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Tony, I came across your site prior to the election while doing some research on our esteemed governor. I agree with you 100% about Fast Eddie. I think part of the blame for his reelection has to fall to the Republican state leadership. For 2 elections now I have seen them run pretty pathetic campaigns for our candidate. This year especially. Why was there no mention of Eddie's promises from 4 years ago for dedicated funding for mass transit, malpractice insurance reform and property tax reform? Why did they not remind voters that it was our esteemed governor who signed the pay raises into law. We saw in the primaries what the voters thought of THAT. Keep up the good work and I'll keep reading. Thank you for your service.

Anonymous said...

Tony, I agree with you 100%. I feel much of the blame for our being stuck with Fast Eddie is the pathetic campaigns the Republicans have run for the last two governor candidates. Why was there no mention of his promises of 4 years ago like dedicated funding for mass transit, malpractice insurance reform and property tax reform? Instead we got slot machines and pay raises signed into law. Thanks Ed!