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Obama, Congress Kill The Middle Class

No more automatic pay raises for Pa. politicians

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Obama Loves His Drones

Trying to find the right word

Common Cause/PA seeks special session on reform issues

In the wake of the Bonusgate scandal, Common Cause/PA is asking Gov. Ed Rendell to call a special session of the Pennsylvania Legislature this fall to deal with reform issues.

The special session is needed to "repair the broken down machinery of state government, and plug loophole riddled government integrity standards," says Common Cause Executive Director Barry Kauffman.

"The activities exposed last week by Attorney General Corbett can only be characterized as clear abuses of power, motivated by illegal personal enrichment, with the intent, in many cases, to deprive citizens of free and fair elections," Kauffman said in a press release. "It is evident to Common Cause and most other government reform advocates, that there is a compelling need for the General Assembly to return to Harrisburg immediately, focus exclusively on the problems of government integrity, and spend as much time as it takes to enact culture-changing reforms that can end Harrisburg’s culture of corruption. Until those repairs are made Pennsylvanians will have no confidence in the actions of this legislature."

Kauffman has been pushing reform for years to no avail.

At the height of the Pay Raise Scandal during the 2006 gubernatorial campaign, Common Cause urged candidates Ed Rendell and Lynn Swann to call a special session of the General Assembly at the beginning of the 2007-08 legislative session to focus exclusively on government reform issues.

That never happened.

The need for a special session on reform is greater than ever, Kauffman says.

"Too many elected officials no longer fear being held accountable by the voters," Kauffman said.

Redistricting reform is the key to removing entrenched politicians who believe they are above the law, according to Kauffman.

"Until Pennsylvania establishes an honorable redistricting system and enacts strong campaign contribution limits real reform cannot occur," Kauffman said. "These reforms are essential for competitive elections that provide real choices to every voter. And it is only through competitive elections that government accountability can begin to occur."

While citizens remained furious over the pay raise scandal, some legislative leaders and staff were continuing to contrive ways to illegally raid the state treasury for political and personal self-gain in a manner that ultimate may have deprived Pennsylvanians of free and fair elections, Kauffman says.

By utilizing public employees on state paid time, as well as public resources, candidates favored by legislative leadership were getting publicly funded campaign assistance that was not available to all other candidates, Kauffman says.

"Some of the legislative leaders are either slow learners or just bold brazen abusers of their public offices. The public tolerance of such activities is over," Kauffman says.

Kauffman: "There is a desperate need for the legislature to meet in special session, focus exclusively on the vast array of corrupted government machinery, and rebuild decision-making systems to ensure Pennsylvanians that government is serving the citizens’ interests instead of the interests of greedy public officials and the special interests that support those officials."

For more on Common Cause/PA, visit the group's Web site.

Russ Diamond: 'Disorder in the Court'

A guest column today by Russ Diamond on the lawsuit against the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and threats made by Chief Justice Ron Castille against the League of Women Voters and its attorney for bringing the lawsuit.

Disorder in the Court
By Russ Diamond

Any hope for independent and impartially dispensed justice in Pennsylvania took a turn for the worse this week, as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Ronald Castille further revealed his true temperament in response to yet another round of criticism of the Court.

Bristling over a federal lawsuit filed by the apolitical League of Women Voters alleging stunningly corrupt actions by former Chief Justice Ralph Cappy that violated the League's due process rights, Castille threatened to use the iron fist of disciplinary action against League attorney Paul Rossi.

The outburst was a repeat of Castille's thinly veiled threat against Duquesne law professor Bruce Ledewitz last year after Ledewitz rightly called the Court's ruling retaining its clearly unconstitutional pay raise a "judicial swindle." That threat, made in the form of a letter to the law school that shocked the public and the Chairman of the Senate State Government Committee, led a Pittsburgh newspaper to cast Castille in the role of a "petty tyrant."

Last December, Castille prematurely divulged information about a Court decision regarding casino owner Louis DeNaples to a Philadelphia newspaper columnist outside a bar in New York City. The League's suit alleges that Castille made a similarly inappropriate early admission regarding the Court's 2006 slots law ruling with a "wink and a nod" to a member of the General Assembly.

In April, Castille lashed out at the Senate for its unwillingness to rubber-stamp the Governor's unilateral picks to fill four vacant seats on the appellate courts. For someone who proclaimed a desire to de-politicize the Court upon ascending to its top spot, Castille has only further embroiled the entire judicial system in petty political battles.

In the unlikely event the League's allegations are found to be completely baseless, the public threat to its counsel by Castille poisons any subsequent disciplinary action that may be undertaken. His indiscretion regarding not-yet-public rulings is a sign of an inability to deliver the dignity his position demands. His aggressiveness toward the Senate indicates a level of impatience unacceptable for any sitting judge.

Considering that the Supreme Court ultimately lords over the entire judicial system, the legal profession and the disciplinary processes for judges and lawyers, how can any Pennsylvanian have confidence in the courts with Castille at the helm? How can any citizen enter any court of this Commonwealth and expect rational justice to be dispensed while Castille is ranting and bullying from the apex of the judicial pyramid?

Less than five months into his tenure as the state's top judge, Castille's conduct indicates that he is not suited for the position. Although he expects Pennsylvanians to respect his authority, such authority must first be wielded with respectability.

While the League's federal complaint illustrates some of the underlying reasons for Pennsylvania's crisis of confidence, Castille's thuggish approach exacerbates it.

Pennsylvania cannot afford to wait until 2013 — when Castille is scheduled for a retention vote — to clear the decks and start rebuilding citizen confidence. For the good of the Commonwealth he should resign, effective immediately, and allow another jurist with a more appropriate temperament assume the duties of Chief Justice.

In the absence of a voluntary resignation, members of the General Assembly who are truly concerned about Pennsylvania's future should explore the possibility of removing Castille from office for his short but shockingly effective role in undermining public confidence in the judicial system.

Russ Diamond is founder and chairman of PA Clean Sweep, a citizens group pushing for reform of Pennsylvania government. Fore more information, visit www.pacleansweep.com

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