Former GOP leader Brightbill supports Democrat

A lot of Republicans have accused David J. "Chip" Brightbill, the former Republican Majority Leader in the Pennsylvania Senate, of being a RINO (Republican In Name Only).

Brightbill, who was soundly defeated for re-election last spring thanks largely to the efforts of conservative groups, including the Young Conservatives of Pennsylvania (YCOP), may have proven his critics right.

Brightbill's name appears prominently on a campaign finance report filed by Berks County Commissioner Judy Schwank, a lifelong Democrat, and the current chairwoman of the three-member Board of Commissioners.

Brightbill contributed $250 to Schwank's re-election campaign, according to her first-quarter campaign finance statement. That's an odd thing to do for a man who led the GOP-controlled Senate up until the end of 2006.

It reinforces the belief that Brightbill betrayed the Republican Party during his years in Harrisburg, helping guide Gov. Ed Rendell's massive tax hike of 2003 through the Senate and rubber-stamping Rendell's budgets, which increased state spending by $6 billion in four years.

It's not like Brightbill didn't have any GOP commissioner candidates to support in Berks, which used to be part of Brightbill's Senate district. There were six Republicans running in the May 15 primary, from all ends of the political spectrum. Surely, Brightbill could have found a Republican close to his political beliefs. (For the record, Brightbill did not contribute to any of the six GOP commissioner candidates).

Maybe Brightbill, now a lawyer and lobbyist, is ready to come out of the political closet and admit he's been masquerading as a Republican all those years.

And Brightbill and his supporters still don't understand why GOP conservatives turned on him? (Residents of Lebanon and Berks county should feel privileged that Mike Folmer is now their state senator.)

One thing I've always said about Republican voters. They take care of their own problems when somebody in the party strays too far from authentic Republican beliefs.

Unlike those Kool Aid-drinking Democrats (who returned payjacker Bill DeWeese to Harrisburg last year), Republicans are willing to dispose of political fakers in primary elections.

It sucks to be Ed Rendell

Gov. Ed Rendell woke up with a hangover today.

Primary Election Day 2007 did not go well for the governor, who many regard as political genius.

Not only did Act 1, Rendell's tax-relief scheme, go down in flames, but the candidates Rendell endorsed in the May 15 primary, lost their respective races.

Rendell backed C. Darnell Jones for a Democratic nomination to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Jones came in a distant third with just 18 percent of the vote.

Rendell also backed state Rep. Dwight Evans for mayor of Philadelphia. Evans came in a distant fifth with just 8 percent of the vote.

Just more chinks in the armor of the once invincible governor. Good thing the Pennsylvania Constitution doesn't allow recall elections.

Back to Act 1, which was rejected by an overwhelming majority of voters. (The state reports that only 4 districts approved Act 1. A trade group for the state's school boards believes 9 districts approved it.)

Rendell, through his spokesman, hinted that voters were too stupid to understand that voting to raise their taxes was a good thing.

"The governor believes that voters ought to have local control over the mix of taxes that support their schools," Rendell spokesman Chuck Ardo told the Associated Press. "The dollar-for-dollar exchange (under the tax shifts) was straightforward. Unfortunately, the interpretation, by the time it got to the voters, seemed to be much more complicated."

Rendell also attempted to blame Republican leaders in the Legislature for forcing him to sign Act 1 into law.

Excuse me?

Here's what Rendell said on June 27, 2006, when he went to an elderly woman's house (see photo above) to sign Act 1:

"This day is a major victory for Pennsylvanians who have fought for decades to have their property taxes cut. Every homeowner in Pennsylvania will not only get significant reduction, but they will finally get a say in future tax increases. This bill represents a victory of the possible over politics-as-usual."

That doesn't sound like anybody was twisting Rendell's arm to get him to sign Act 1, which he proclaimed as a historic tax cut for all Pennsylvanians.

Here's my interpretation of why Act 1 sank faster than the Titanic. Voters are not as stupid as Rendell thinks they are.

Pennsylvania residents want the elimination of all property taxes used to fund public education. Rendell gave them a shell game that increased taxes for two-thirds of Pennsylvania residents in return for a promise of a few hundred dollars back down the road.

The only proposal that has a chance of eliminating property taxes is the Commonwealth Caucus Plan, also known as the Plan for Pennsylvania's Future.

Voters have finally figured out Rendell and his empty promises. Unfortunately, that moment of realization came six months after Rendell was re-elected to another four years as governor.

Berks Dems look vulnerable

I hate to pick on a fellow blogger, but since self-proclaimed political expert John Morgan did make some rather bold predictions Tuesday about the outcome of the Republican race for Berks County commissioner, I have to comment.

Mr. Morgan, who writes a lot about Berks County Democratic politics, predicted incumbent Republican Commissioner Mark Scott was going down because of "discontent" with Scott within the Republican Party.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Scott was the top-votegetter in the six-way race for two GOP nominations, with 12,467 votes.

I guess those 12,467 Republicans failed to check with Morgan before going to the polls.

The real interesting numbers Tuesday were on the Democratic side, where incumbent Commissioner Tom Gajewski came within 515 votes of losing his bid for re-election. There's a lot of discontent with Gajewski in the Democratic Party.

Don't be surprised if Mark Scott and Christian Leinbach return Republican control to the Berks Board of Commissioners in November.

17 of 18 Berks school districts reject Act 1

Berks County voters sent a loud message to Gov. Ed Rendell and the Legislature on the Act 1 tax-shift scheme. No thanks!

Act 1 was rejected overwhelmingly by a majority of Berks County voters Tuesday. The tax shift plan was defeated in 17 of the 18 school districts in Berks County. In most school districts, the NO votes ran 2-1 ahead of the YES votes.

The only Berks district where Act 1 passed was the Reading School District, which relies heavily on state funding to run its schools. But even in Reading, Act 1 barely passed. Less than 50 votes decided the referendum question in Reading!

It appears Reading voters didn't understand the Act 1 tax shift. They must have have fallen for Ed Rendell's line that Act 1 was genuine property tax relief.

Kudos to Berks County's own David Baldinger and the Pennsylvania Taxpayers Cyber Coalition for their public education campaign to inform voters that Act 1 was a cruel hoax, not tax relief.

And this just in from neighboring Montgomery County ... the Perkiomen Valley, Pottsgrove, Pottstown, Spring-Ford and Upper Perkiomen school districts have rejected Act 1, according to unofficial results posted on the county's election Web site.

Chester County results were very slow coming in Tuesday, but it appears that the Owen J. Roberts and Phoenixville school districts rejected the Act 1 proposal, according to unofficial election results.

Gov. Ed Rendell and the the legislative aristocracy underestimated the intelligence of Pennsylvania taxpayers again.

If lawmakers thought they dodged a bullet with the pay raise fiasco, they're in for a rude awakening. The tax revolt is on. Anger over the refusal of lawmakers to eliminate property taxes will carry into into the 2008 election cycle.

The pay raise claimed 55 politicians. The tax revolt will end the political lives of many more career politicians in Harrisburg.

Do endorsements matter?

I have a pretty good track record of predicting winners in Berks County, but I have no idea how today's voting will go for the hotly-contested county commissioners races.

Six Republicans and four Democrats are seeking their respective party's nominations. The top two vote-getters from each party will face off in the November General Election.

Incumbents usually have the advantage, but it may not be the case this year in Berks. If the endorsements by the Greater Reading Chamber of Commerce are any indication, we may have some new faces running the county next year.

The Chamber endorsed incumbent Democrat Judy Schwank for re-election, but not the other incumbent Democratic commissioner, Tom Gajewski. Instead, the chamber threw its support behind Kevin Barnhardt, the mayor of West Reading.

Gajewski, a longtime political operative completing his first four-year term as commissioner, doesn't get along with Schwank or Republican Commissioner Mark Scott.

The Chamber's endorsement and Schwank's unwillingness to campaign with Gajewski, may be a signal that the Democratic Party wants to unload Gajewski in favor of a more personable candidate.

On the Republican side, the Chamber endorsed Scott and Christian Leinbach. There's no surprise in the Scott endorsement, but the support for Leinbach over Nelson Long, the current country treasurer and a proven vote-getter, is a surprise.

Long has an established relationship with the business community in Berks County but failed to gain the Chamber's endorsement.

Leinbach, who has never held public office, is popular with conservatives. Leinbach is endorsed by Pat Toomey, the president of the Club for Growth and darling of the conservative set. Toomey also contributed $500 to Leinbach's campaign.

Also supporting Leinbach is Montgomery County GOP activist Bob Guzzardi, who kicked in $2,500 to the Leinbach campaign.

Leinbach raised the most money of the six Republican candidates, according to campaign finance reports. Most of Leinbach's $44,000 received from January to April came from the construction and building industry.

Schwank and Scott are favored to win their party nominations. If Barnhardt and Leinbach win over established candidates Gajewski and Long, it would signal a changing of the guard in Berks County politics.

Too many good candidates on the ballot

The polls don't close until 8 p.m., but I still haven't voted today. I've been putting it off because I can't decide who to vote for in a couple of key races in Berks County.

The problem? Too many good candidates on the ballot.

Take Berks County Commissioner, for example. There's 6 Republicans on the ballot and 4 of them would make good county commissioners. At this point, I'm not sure which 2 of the 4 I'm going to vote for. I may not make up my mind until the curtain closes behind me in the voting booth.

Democrats in Berks face a similar problem this year. There's 4 names on the ballot and 3 of the candidates are worth voting for. That's an entirely new factor for Democratic voters, who usually have to settle for political hacks.

And speaking of Berks County Democrats, it appears that Judy Schwank, a two-term incumbent Democrat and current chairwoman of the Board of Commissioners, must be feeling a bit nervous about this election.

Four years ago, Schwank made a bid deal of the fact that she did not allow supporters to place her campaign signs on public property. However, this year, Schwank's signs can be found on the side of many of the county's roads. She must be feeling the heat from the other 3 Democrats seeking Democratic nominations to run for commissioner.

Schwank is also pouring a lot of money into her re-election campaign. According to the latest campaign finance reports, Schwank has spent nearly $30,000 as of April 30. Challenger Kevin Barnhardt has spent $21,000 and the other incumbent Democrat, Thomas Gajewski, has spent $16,000. The fourth candidate is David J. Batdorf, who appears a longshot to win either of the 2 nominations.

The big spender on the Republican side is newcomer Christian Y. Leinbach, who has spent a remarkable $44,000 in an attempt to to win one of the two GOP nominations. Leinbach, a political insider, has never held public office, but has a lot of friends with money. Many of his campaign contributors are from outside Berks County.

The most active campaigners have been incumbent Mark Scott, current county Treasurer Nelson Long and Randall Gartner.

There's two other contested races at the county level.

Two candidates -- Ron Stanko and Tim Rowley -- are seeking an open seat on Berks County Court of Common Pleas. My mailbox has been swamped by fliers from both candidates, but I still haven't decided who to vote for. Both have cross-filed, so the the winner of this contest could be decided today.

And maverick Republican John Fielding is challenging incumbent Recorder of Deeds Ellie Antoine in the GOP primary.

One other race of note. Incumbent Berks County District Attorney Mark Baldwin doesn't have an opponent in the GOP primary and has put all his effort into winning the Democratic Party nomination as a write-in so he doesn't have to worry about a contest in the fall. He'll probably accomplish his goal.

It's hard to believe that the Berks County Democratic Party couldn't find anybody to run for such a high-profile office.