You call this pension reform?

Phony pension reform under former Gov. Ed Rendell will end up costing Pennsylvania property owners for many years to come.

Pension reform needed before funding crisis - pottsmerc.com

Was Ed Rendell lying then or is he lying now?

Ed Rendell's Convenient Spin: Bashes Fox News Now After Praising 'Very Balanced' Network in 2008

PA Still Has A Spending Problem

Pennsylvania spent more than it took in during the month of March, adding to the budget deficit for the current fiscal year, which runs until June 30.

The state has spent $233 million more than it has taken in since the fiscal year began last July 1.

Keep in mind that the current budget is the one signed by former Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell.

Republican Tom Corbett inherited Rendell's mess, but Corbett needs to do more to stop the bleeding.

Revenue Department Releases March Collections

Corbett to sell Rendell 'Tour Bus'

A tour bus used by former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell to push his big government agenda - at taxpayer expense - will be sold, Gov. Tom Corbett announced Wednesday.

Corbett called the bus a "white elephant" that cost Pennsylvania taxpayers more than $66,000 for maintenance "despite it being driven less than 26,000 miles in eight years."

It appears Rendell shot the transmission on the bus, leaving behind an anticipated repair bill of at least $5,000.

"My administration is committed to refocusing state spending on the core functions of government and that does not include maintaining a 41-foot motor coach that has largely sat in the garage," Corbett said in a press release. "This fiscal year alone taxpayers have paid for batteries, towing and window tinting. As of today, we will not ask taxpayers to put one more cent into the upkeep of this vehicle."

On a more serious note, Corbett has commissioned a review of the state's massive vehicle fleet to determine if the state can save money by reducing the number of vehicles it owns.

Read the full release at the link below:

Governor Corbett Sends Defunct Tour Bus to the Auction Block

GradingTom Corbett's First Budget Address

Tom Corbett will never be mistaken for Ed Rendell.

His first budget address, delivered Tuesday, was as sharp a contrast as you will get between the slick, polished, media-savvy Ed Rendell and Tom Corbett, a prosecutor who still doesn't feel comfortable in front of large crowds, even after being elected governor of one of the nation's largest states.

Corbett was all business Tuesday as he addressed a joint session of the Pennsylvania Legislature. The subject, digging out of the fiscal mess left behind by Ed Rendell, was a sobering topic.

Corbett tried a couple of funny lines, but his delivery was off. If you're looking for charisma, start changing the channel until you find Charlie Sheen.

Corbett is at his best when he talks straight to fellow Pennsylvanias. It's a refreshing change from "Fast Eddie" Rendell, who had trouble telling the truth.

The Commonwealth Foundation gave Corbett a solid "B" for his message. That's a big improvement considering the same group gave Ed Rendell eight straight "F" grades on his budget addresses.

Here's the CF press release analyzing Corbett's speech:

The Commonwealth Foundation graded Gov. Tom Corbett's budget address a solid B today in its call to end the tax-borrow-and-spend approach to budgeting that placed Pennsylvanian in the present fiscal crisis.

"Unlike the past eight years that earned a fiscal grade of F, this budget puts the taxpayers first and deserves a solid B for not increasing taxes, reducing expenditures, and putting the taxpayers' interests first," said Commonwealth Foundation President and CEO Matthew J. Brouillette. "But much more can be done to limit state government to its core functions and begin reducing Pennsylvania's ranking as the 10th highest tax burden in the nation."

Brouillette praised the governor's call to give taxpayers greater control over school property tax increases above the rate of inflation, but encouraged him to go further. "Act 1 of 2006 failed to control property tax increases, and homeowners are paying for that legislative failure today," said Brouillette. "But we should give taxpayers a say over any and all tax increases. These are the taxpayers' schools and they should decide if they want to pay a penny more for them."

The governor also called for wage rollbacks and salary freezes for state workers who received pay increases while the private sector lost jobs. "Gov. Corbett gave great hope that Pennsylvania can end the inequity between private-sector taxpayers and government employees who enjoys better health care benefits, better pensions, better job security, and an earlier retirement," said Brouillette.

"In calling for ‘collective sacrifices' in the union bargaining process, Gov. Corbett asked state government workers to share in the same economic reality and burdens the taxpayers have every day," said Brouillette. "With 17 of 19 state union contracts set to expire in June, this is a reasonable approach to restoring the balance of power back to the taxpayers of Pennsylvania."

Setting the agenda for greater school choice and expanded privatization to include ending the state monopoly over liquor, Gov. Corbett called for "reality-based budgeting" by changing the budget focus from inputs to outcomes and having government prioritize spending based on well-defined core functions.

"This is a big step in the right direction, but it only slows the runaway tax-borrow-and-spend train that is state government," said Brouillette. "Pennsylvania still has a lot of work to be done, but we are hopeful this governor and this General Assembly will keep the promises they have made to the taxpayers."

To earn an A+, the Commonwealth Foundation recommends the complete elimination of "corporate welfare" programs; a more fiscally conservative revenue projection; reducing welfare fraud and abuse; and better financial planning for the coming pension, retiree health care, and Medicaid funding crises.

Columnist: Ed Rendell, Chick Magnet

Rendell Gossip Unfair to Attractive Women

AP Philly Abortion Clinic Story Gives Rendell a Pass

AP Philly Abortion Clinic Story Gives Rendell a Pass, Misses Serious Error in Grand Jury Timeline

Final Words From Ed Rendell

A road map to rebuild Pennsylvania

After eight disastrous years under Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell, Pennsylvania is is serious trouble.

But there is hope. Rendell is gone. Republican Tom Corbett will be sworn in today as the state's new governor.

With so many problems facing Gov. Corbett, where to begin?

The Commonwealth Foundation, an independent, non-partisan, free-market public policy think tank, has come up with a road map to help rebuild Pennsylvania's economic vitality, offering 80 concrete recommendations to make needed reforms to various state programs and agencies.

From the introduction to the report:

Pennsylvania's newly-elected governor and the 2011-12 General Assembly will face a host of challenges created by the previous governor bent on a tax-borrow-spend-and-control mentality that has driven the commonwealth into a potential $5 billion budget deficit. These fiscal challenges also include an education system with a wide achievement gap for students and parents demanding more options for their children, a recession that has led to the highest unemployment rate in 30 years, a public that has lost faith in its leaders and economic growth that has trailed the rest of the nation for decades.

Pennsylvania must undergo a rapid transformation to reverse the poor policy decisions that have eroded economic freedoms and brought the state to its present condition. To provide a road map for success in this critical endeavor, the Commonwealth Foundation has compiled a list of 80 policy recommendations for Gov. Corbett and state legislators to help lead a Pennsylvania comeback.

You can download the full 12-page "80 Ideas for a Prosperous Pennsylvania" report here.

Rendell Era Almost Over

Laura Vecsey of The Harrisburg Patriot-News, notes that Tom Corbett, the Anti-Rendell, is about to be sworn in as Pennsylvania's next governor. Not a moment too soon.

Check out her column, "Tom Corbett to usher in striking changes as Pennsylvania's governor," here.

Ed Spendell Strikes Again

Spending other people's money right to the end, Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendel, who leaves office Jan. 18, has announced $488 million in pork spending using borrowed money.

Rendell is leaving with a projected $4 billion budget deficit. Heckavu job, Ed.

Rendell's spending orgy is not without its critics:

"It's not something taxpayers should foot the bill for," Harrisburg activist Gene Stilp told The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. "In the end this governor (Rendell) will be known as a "wuss" because he was basically a "wuss" on reform."

Stilp was playing off Rendell's nationally publicized comments of two weeks ago that the country has become "a nation of wussies."

Check out the list of pet projects in The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

Rendell: It's Not My Fault

Rendell blames '60 Minutes' for tirade | The Times Leader, Wilkes-Barre, PA

Newspaper: Rendell's raise claims laughable

The Altoona Mirror doesn't think much of lame duck Gov. Ed Rendell's attempt to rewrite history.

Rendell's raise claims laughable - AltoonaMirror.com - Altoona

Ed Rendell Embarrasses Pennsylvania

Rendell regrets supporting pay raise

It took five years to sink into his thick skull, but lame-duck Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell has finally admitted he screwed up in supporting the infamous middle-of-the-night pay raise for state legislators, judges and other politicians in 2005.

From a story by Brad Bumsted in The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:

Gov. Ed Rendell said today his one regret during his eight-year tenure was that he agreed to sign the 2005 legislative pay raise, which hiked lawmakers' pay by 16 to 34 percent.

He said he agreed to sign it after opposing it a year before because he was told by legislative leaders he'd get nothing on his agenda approved during his remaining years in office.

"The pay raise and the way it was structured was untenable," Rendell said at a news conference to talk about his tenure as governor. He leaves office Jan. 18 when Republican Gov.-elect Tom Corbett is sworn in. Rendell was elected in 2002 and re-elected in 2006.

Most of the legislative leaders who hatched the pay raise scheme have been ousted or forced into early retirement in the past five years. The list includes John Perzel, Chip Brightbill, Robert Jubelirer, Mike Veon and Vince Fumo.

Also gone is former Pennsylvania Supreme Court Chief Justice Ralph Cappy, who also pushed for the pay raise. Cappy retired in 2007 instead of facing the voters in a retention election. The only person who escaped the wrath of voters was "Teflon" Ed Rendell.

Read the full story, "Rendell: Pay raise for lawmakers was bad idea," at the newspaper's website.

Pennsylvania Turnpike makes U-turn

Here's what we do know: Tolls on the Pennsylvania Turnpike will go up Jan. 2, 2011.

Up until today, motorists who pay cash would not know how much the tolls would be because the bureaucrats at the Turnpike Commission decided to print tickets without prices on them.

That controversial (and stupid) decision has been overturned.

But tolls are still going up thanks to a plan pushed a couple of years ago by Gov. Ed Rendell and Democrats in the state Legislature.

Turnpike makes U-turn, decides to print tolls on tickets - pottsmerc.com

Ed Rendell as The Grinch

Ed Rendell as The Grinch

A new nickname for Ed Rendell

He's known as "Fast Eddie" but perhaps a better nickname for Pennsylvania's governor is Ed "Turn 'em Loose" Rendell.

From The Associated Press:

Gov. Ed Rendell will leave office next month having signed more than twice as many pardons as any other Pennsylvania governor. Rendell, a Democrat with about a month left in his second term, has granted 1,059 pardons, according to the state Board of Pardons. His office said 29 more await action on his desk, and he expects to consider 34 others by the end of the year.

Auditor General Rejects Rendell Debt Plan

Ed Rendell originally wanted to borrow and spend another $1 billion before he leaves office next month.

Now he's willing to go down to $650 million How about he just goes away without saddling us with any more debt?

Too bad Democrats didn't nominate Jack Wagner as their candidate for governor this year instead of Rendell-clone Dan Onorato.

Auditor General Jack Wagner Says He Will Not Sign $650 Million Bond Issue, a Bad Deal for Pennsylvania Taxpayers