Almost everyone in Pennsylvania is aware by now that our state legislature is the second highest paid in the nation — behind only California — since Pennsylvania lawmakers gave themselves pay raises of 16 percent to 54 percent. Yes, 54 percent!
While it’s been widely reported that the pay raises range from 16 percent ($11,000 a year) to 34 percent ($32,000 a year), it turns out that some Pennsylvania lawmakers will make out like bandits, seeing their annual salaries go from $69,648 to $106,986 overnight under the July 7 pay raise they approved without debate at 2 a.m.
The vote approving the pay-jacking was 27-23 in the Senate and 119-79 in the House. Gov. Ed Rendell promptly signed the bill into law and praised the lawmakers for raiding the public treasury.
As the weeks went by and it became clear to Rendell that he might have made the biggest political mistake of his life, the governor flip-flopped quicker than John Kerry on the war in Iraq. Now Rendell is saying the pay raise was a mistake and probably against the law, and he is willing to sign a bill to repeal the measure, if the legislators would just up their ill-gotten gain.
Standing in Rendell’s way is Big Bad John Perzel, the most powerful man in Pennsylvania. Perzel, whose salary rose to $145,000 as speaker of the House, doesn’t want to give the money back. Not one penny.
In fact, Perzel thinks members of the Pennsylvania legislature are still underpaid, even though they now make at least twice as much as the average Pennsylvania worker and half of what a member of Congress earns. Perzel also thinks that the work of governing Pennsylvania is comparable to running California, so of course Pennsylvania legislators should be the second highest-paid in the nation.
The California comparison has been bugging me, so I decided to do a little research. Let’s throw out some facts and you can draw your own conclusions.
California is the most populous state in the nation with about 36 million residents. Pennsylvania is sixth in population with around 12.4 million and dropping. California has the fifth-largest economy in the world — not just the United States — but the world. Naturally, you would assume that a state that has three times the number of people would need a lot more legislators to run the place. Not so.
California has 40 state senators elected to four-year terms. California pays its legislators $100,000 a year. An independent salary board determines the pay of legislators in California. The board recently approved an increase that will pay California legislators $111,000 next year.) Pennsylvania legislators set their own salaries. Anyone see an inherent conflict of interest there?
Pennsylvania has 50 state senators, elected to four-year terms. Perhaps Mr. Perzel can explain why a state like Pennsylvania, which is one-third the size of California, needs more senators in its state capitol?
The disparity is worse in the House. California has 80 members in its House of Representatives. Pennsylvania has 203. Yes, 203! Can anyone explain why we need 203 politicians making at least $81,000 a year when California makes due with 80? Do the math. Multiply 80 times $100,000 and compare it to 203 times $81,000. Guess which state saddles its residents with a bigger bill to pay a corpulent legislative body?
California state senators can serve up to two terms and then have to get a job in the real world. That concept is foreign to Pennsylvania lawmakers. How do you make a career of feeding at the public trough if you can only serve eight years? There are no term limits in Pennsylvania, so politicians can leech off the public for 40 years if they so desire. And many do.
Over in the House, California residents may serve up to three terms of two years each. That’s it. Serve for six years and then you have to get a real job. In Pennsylvania, members of the House can serve as many two-year terms as they wish.
Did I mention that California legislators don’t get pensions? In Pennsylvania, a legislator who serves 20 years receives a taxpayer-paid pension of $57,000 a year. It’s the gift that keeps on giving.
California also has an alien concept called democracy. In addition to constitutionally imposed term limits on politicians, California residents enjoy the power of initiative and referendum. Voters can petition to get a measure on the ballot. That’s how many propositions that have improved California (including term limits) have been passed. If Californians don’t like a law that the legislators have passed (hint: pay raise for themselves), they can use the referendum to repeal the law.
So let’s review. Because Pennsylvania has a bloated legislative aristocracy of 253 members, with 3,000 staff members to do their bidding, Pennsylvania taxpayers spend around $500 million a year to support their state legislature.
That gives Pennsylvania the distinction of having the most expensive legislature in the United States. Not only is Pennsylvania the No. 1 trash importer in the country, but we can also claim first place in the most tax dollars siphoned to pay career politicians.
E-mail Tony Phyrillas at tphyrillas@pottsmerc.com
Thursday, September 15, 2005
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
Pay raise farce: The legislative aristocracy vs. those overpaid Pennsylvania farmers
State House Speaker John M. Perzel, the boss of bosses in the Pennsylvania Legislature, wants you to know that he works a lot harder than some lazybones farmer who get up at 4 a.m. to milk his cows.
Perzel, a Republican from Philadelphia, stood before a roomful of GOP faithful over the weekend and told them they can take their concerns about the July 7 legislative pay raise and stick it where the sun don’t shine.
Nobody works harder than John Perzel when it comes home to bringing home the bacon.
"The people in Lancaster County who milk cows are making $50,000 to $55,000 (a year). … You are paying a guy who milks cows $55,000, and (they’re) saying it’s too much to pay a member of the General Assembly half of what a member of Congress makes?" Perzel said.
Philadelphia isn’t exactly farm country, but I’m beginning to wonder what planet John Perzel is living on Guys who milk cows make $55,000 a year? The Pennsylvania Farm Bureau says the average salary for a person milking cows on a large farm is $20,500 a year. Perzel makes $145,000 under the pay raise he pushed through the legislature.
Perzel went on to say that the 16 percent to 34 percent pay raises lawmakers gave themselves were justified because politicians "work hard and make personal sacrifices to serve the people of Pennsylvania."
Never mind that legislators make at least two to three times more for their part-time jobs than the average Pennsylvania resident earns at his or her full-time job.
In another outlandish comment, Perzel called legislators "volunteers" who often have to work weekends and frequently miss "holidays" and "birthdays" in the name of public service. Pass me a tissue. I think I’m going to cry. Which are they, John? Full-time legislators who deserve to be paid a minimum of $81,000 a year or volunteers? Now, I’m really confused.
A "volunteer" is someone from the Red Cross who went to New Orleans to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina. A state legislator making $81,000 to $145,000 a year for a part-time job is not a "volunteer."
If there was any doubt in your mind that Perzel and his flunkies need to be booted out of Harrisburg, his performance Saturday should put that hesitancy to rest. Perzel, a career politician whose own salary rose to $145,000 a year under the July 7 pay raise, is the poster child of everything wrong with the people we send to Harrisburg.
Not only are they not serving the people of Pennsylvania, but clearly the only concern Perzel and the rest of the legislators have is to line their own pockets.
While Pennsylvanians are struggling to make enough money to feed and clothe their children and provide shelter for their families, Perzel and the country club set in Harrisburg has lost touch with the average Pennsylvania — not to mention reality.
They’ve established themselves as new class of professional politicians — an aristocracy that is not accountable to the people. Their only purpose is to suck the lifeblood out of working Pennsylvanians.
Not only did they give themselves pay raises of $11,000 to $32,000 a year — just months after their last pay raise went into effect — but legislators also receive free health care, life insurance, a generous pension, $129 in lunch money, long-term disability insurance, an automobile allowance of $650 per month and all the free gasoline the gas tanks in their luxury vehicles can hold.
While the rest of us are scraping pennies to pay for $3 gas to get to work or take our kids to school, Perzel and the rest of the Harrisburg Hogs are riding around in SUVs and Cadillacs, with a full tank of gas courtesy of you and me.
It’s obvious Perzel has never worked on a farm. I’m not sure he’s ever worked a day in his life. Farming is a seven-day-a-week, 24-hour-a-day job. Most farmers will never see $145,000 in income in a year. The "job" of a Pennsylvania legislator consists of pushing paper around and looting the state treasury.
Over the past five years, the Pennsylvania legislature has been in session an average of 77 days a year. That’s all the time the job demands. The rest of the time, the Keystone State’s nobility are attending Rotary and Kiwanis breakfasts telling us what a wonderful job they do. Some of them take on tougher tasks such as cutting ribbons at store openings, riding around in parades or delivering oversize cardboard checks for various slush funds the legislator has created.
And if Perzel and his minions work so hard, why are we paying 3,000 other people to keep the state Capitol running? Do you think those form letters you get back when you write one of these moochers was written by them? They have staff to do the work. They have legislative assistants to draft the bills. They have aides to answer the phones and do the leg work at their district offices.
If you rounded up all 253 members of the Pennsylvania House of Lords and shipped them down South to do some honest work helping the hurricane victims, nobody in Pennsylvania would miss them. What’s there to miss? They don’t do anything.
There are close to 9 million registered voters in Pennsylvania. If 9 million people don’t show up at the polls next May to vote out every incumbent on the ballot, Pennsylvania is doomed. If we allow 253 leeches to continue to feed off the rest of us, we have nobody to blame but ourselves.
E-mail Tony Phyrillas at tphyrillas@pottsmerc.com
Perzel, a Republican from Philadelphia, stood before a roomful of GOP faithful over the weekend and told them they can take their concerns about the July 7 legislative pay raise and stick it where the sun don’t shine.
Nobody works harder than John Perzel when it comes home to bringing home the bacon.
"The people in Lancaster County who milk cows are making $50,000 to $55,000 (a year). … You are paying a guy who milks cows $55,000, and (they’re) saying it’s too much to pay a member of the General Assembly half of what a member of Congress makes?" Perzel said.
Philadelphia isn’t exactly farm country, but I’m beginning to wonder what planet John Perzel is living on Guys who milk cows make $55,000 a year? The Pennsylvania Farm Bureau says the average salary for a person milking cows on a large farm is $20,500 a year. Perzel makes $145,000 under the pay raise he pushed through the legislature.
Perzel went on to say that the 16 percent to 34 percent pay raises lawmakers gave themselves were justified because politicians "work hard and make personal sacrifices to serve the people of Pennsylvania."
Never mind that legislators make at least two to three times more for their part-time jobs than the average Pennsylvania resident earns at his or her full-time job.
In another outlandish comment, Perzel called legislators "volunteers" who often have to work weekends and frequently miss "holidays" and "birthdays" in the name of public service. Pass me a tissue. I think I’m going to cry. Which are they, John? Full-time legislators who deserve to be paid a minimum of $81,000 a year or volunteers? Now, I’m really confused.
A "volunteer" is someone from the Red Cross who went to New Orleans to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina. A state legislator making $81,000 to $145,000 a year for a part-time job is not a "volunteer."
If there was any doubt in your mind that Perzel and his flunkies need to be booted out of Harrisburg, his performance Saturday should put that hesitancy to rest. Perzel, a career politician whose own salary rose to $145,000 a year under the July 7 pay raise, is the poster child of everything wrong with the people we send to Harrisburg.
Not only are they not serving the people of Pennsylvania, but clearly the only concern Perzel and the rest of the legislators have is to line their own pockets.
While Pennsylvanians are struggling to make enough money to feed and clothe their children and provide shelter for their families, Perzel and the country club set in Harrisburg has lost touch with the average Pennsylvania — not to mention reality.
They’ve established themselves as new class of professional politicians — an aristocracy that is not accountable to the people. Their only purpose is to suck the lifeblood out of working Pennsylvanians.
Not only did they give themselves pay raises of $11,000 to $32,000 a year — just months after their last pay raise went into effect — but legislators also receive free health care, life insurance, a generous pension, $129 in lunch money, long-term disability insurance, an automobile allowance of $650 per month and all the free gasoline the gas tanks in their luxury vehicles can hold.
While the rest of us are scraping pennies to pay for $3 gas to get to work or take our kids to school, Perzel and the rest of the Harrisburg Hogs are riding around in SUVs and Cadillacs, with a full tank of gas courtesy of you and me.
It’s obvious Perzel has never worked on a farm. I’m not sure he’s ever worked a day in his life. Farming is a seven-day-a-week, 24-hour-a-day job. Most farmers will never see $145,000 in income in a year. The "job" of a Pennsylvania legislator consists of pushing paper around and looting the state treasury.
Over the past five years, the Pennsylvania legislature has been in session an average of 77 days a year. That’s all the time the job demands. The rest of the time, the Keystone State’s nobility are attending Rotary and Kiwanis breakfasts telling us what a wonderful job they do. Some of them take on tougher tasks such as cutting ribbons at store openings, riding around in parades or delivering oversize cardboard checks for various slush funds the legislator has created.
And if Perzel and his minions work so hard, why are we paying 3,000 other people to keep the state Capitol running? Do you think those form letters you get back when you write one of these moochers was written by them? They have staff to do the work. They have legislative assistants to draft the bills. They have aides to answer the phones and do the leg work at their district offices.
If you rounded up all 253 members of the Pennsylvania House of Lords and shipped them down South to do some honest work helping the hurricane victims, nobody in Pennsylvania would miss them. What’s there to miss? They don’t do anything.
There are close to 9 million registered voters in Pennsylvania. If 9 million people don’t show up at the polls next May to vote out every incumbent on the ballot, Pennsylvania is doomed. If we allow 253 leeches to continue to feed off the rest of us, we have nobody to blame but ourselves.
E-mail Tony Phyrillas at tphyrillas@pottsmerc.com
Friday, September 09, 2005
Pay raise revolt: Is there one honest person in Harrisburg?
"I am looking for an honest man."
— Diogenes (c. 400-325 B.C.)
Legend has it that the Greek philosopher Diogenes wandered the known world in the fourth century B.C. holding a lamp in his right hand as he searched for an honest man. Had Diogenes stumbled into Harrisburg circa 2005, he might still be searching for that one honest person today.
I’ve been using the term House of Lords to describe the royal lifestyle that members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly have established for themselves — at our expense. But it’s becoming clear that Pennsylvania is governed more like a feudal system run by warlords rather than a monarchy. And guess who’s serving the role of serfs? You and I — the beleaguered taxpayers of Pennsylvania.
Diogenes is best remembered for developing the notion of cynicism. Now that’s more like it. You can’t talk about the 253 "public servants" who inhabit the halls and offices of the state capitol without a healthy dose of cynicism.
Labor Day has come and gone and we’re still talking about the Great Legislative Pay Grab of 2005, the middle-of-the-night raid on the state treasury by 253 desperadoes. OK, it wasn’t that many. Some voted no, but I have yet to hear one of the legislators who voted against the pay raise come out and call their colleagues what they are — scoundrels who betrayed the public trust. As Edmund Burke said, "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."
Too many legislators looked the other way or used the excuse that they were only "following orders" from the party bosses when the middle-of-the-night pay heist occurred. That’s not good enough. We don’t send representatives to Harrisburg so they can bow down and tremble before self-serving career politicians from Altoona or Philadelphia when the bosses decide it’s time to plunder the state treasury again.
No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. Matthew 6:24
Who are the people we send to Harrisburg serving? Their constituents or the pay-jackers? Can any state legislator look a constituent in the eye and tell you in all honesty that taking a 16 percent to 34 percent pay raise for themselves at a time when so many Pennsylvanians are struggling is good for the folks back home?
We can’t give ourselves $11,000 to $34,000 pay raises. Most of us haven’t seen cumulative 16 percent pay increases over 10 years, let alone in one year and just six months after a 5.2 percent cost-of-living hike kicked in.
We can’t take 10-week vacations. We don’t get $129 a day for lunch. We don’t get taxpayer-paid luxury cars to drive around in. We have to shell out $3.50 for gas to get to our jobs. Legislators don’t pay for their gas. They stick the folks back home with the bill. And how many of us can retire after 20 years on the job and receive a $50,000 annual pension?
The fact that the legislative pay grab is the dominant story involving Pennsylvania government two months later is a victory in itself. Despite the conspiracy of silence among the 253 members of the Pennsylvania House of Lords, the pay grab is all anyone wants to talk about.
I ran into an acquaintance at the supermarket last week. Hadn’t seen the man in six months. After exchanging pleasantries, he starts up with, "How about those state legislators? Can you believe what they did? They’re not going to get away with it." This was not a man who ever discussed politics with me before. But he’s looking forward to 2006 so he can vote against the incumbents.
Just the other day, a car passed by me with two large signs taped to its side windows. The signs read "Impeach Legislators!" in big, red letters, followed by a list of transgressions committed by state lawmakers against the citizens of Pennsylvania.
Letters to the editor continue to appear in newspapers weeks after the issue should have gone away. The Mercury has collected nearly 7,000 signed letters from readers demanding the legislators give back the pay raise. Petition drives across the state have collected tens of thousands of letters. At least 15 candidates have publicly announced their intention to run against incumbents and the spring primary is still eight months away.
The Harrisburg Hogs underestimated the level of abuse Pennsylvania voters are willing to endure before they fight back. Pennsylvanians are tired of high property taxes, lousy roads, mediocre schools, underfunded libraries. The last humiliation voters are willing to take at the hands of the most bloated and ineffectual state legislature is to be forced to pay these politicians more money.
E-mail Tony Phyrillas at tphyrillas@pottsmerc.com
— Diogenes (c. 400-325 B.C.)
Legend has it that the Greek philosopher Diogenes wandered the known world in the fourth century B.C. holding a lamp in his right hand as he searched for an honest man. Had Diogenes stumbled into Harrisburg circa 2005, he might still be searching for that one honest person today.
I’ve been using the term House of Lords to describe the royal lifestyle that members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly have established for themselves — at our expense. But it’s becoming clear that Pennsylvania is governed more like a feudal system run by warlords rather than a monarchy. And guess who’s serving the role of serfs? You and I — the beleaguered taxpayers of Pennsylvania.
Diogenes is best remembered for developing the notion of cynicism. Now that’s more like it. You can’t talk about the 253 "public servants" who inhabit the halls and offices of the state capitol without a healthy dose of cynicism.
Labor Day has come and gone and we’re still talking about the Great Legislative Pay Grab of 2005, the middle-of-the-night raid on the state treasury by 253 desperadoes. OK, it wasn’t that many. Some voted no, but I have yet to hear one of the legislators who voted against the pay raise come out and call their colleagues what they are — scoundrels who betrayed the public trust. As Edmund Burke said, "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."
Too many legislators looked the other way or used the excuse that they were only "following orders" from the party bosses when the middle-of-the-night pay heist occurred. That’s not good enough. We don’t send representatives to Harrisburg so they can bow down and tremble before self-serving career politicians from Altoona or Philadelphia when the bosses decide it’s time to plunder the state treasury again.
No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. Matthew 6:24
Who are the people we send to Harrisburg serving? Their constituents or the pay-jackers? Can any state legislator look a constituent in the eye and tell you in all honesty that taking a 16 percent to 34 percent pay raise for themselves at a time when so many Pennsylvanians are struggling is good for the folks back home?
We can’t give ourselves $11,000 to $34,000 pay raises. Most of us haven’t seen cumulative 16 percent pay increases over 10 years, let alone in one year and just six months after a 5.2 percent cost-of-living hike kicked in.
We can’t take 10-week vacations. We don’t get $129 a day for lunch. We don’t get taxpayer-paid luxury cars to drive around in. We have to shell out $3.50 for gas to get to our jobs. Legislators don’t pay for their gas. They stick the folks back home with the bill. And how many of us can retire after 20 years on the job and receive a $50,000 annual pension?
The fact that the legislative pay grab is the dominant story involving Pennsylvania government two months later is a victory in itself. Despite the conspiracy of silence among the 253 members of the Pennsylvania House of Lords, the pay grab is all anyone wants to talk about.
I ran into an acquaintance at the supermarket last week. Hadn’t seen the man in six months. After exchanging pleasantries, he starts up with, "How about those state legislators? Can you believe what they did? They’re not going to get away with it." This was not a man who ever discussed politics with me before. But he’s looking forward to 2006 so he can vote against the incumbents.
Just the other day, a car passed by me with two large signs taped to its side windows. The signs read "Impeach Legislators!" in big, red letters, followed by a list of transgressions committed by state lawmakers against the citizens of Pennsylvania.
Letters to the editor continue to appear in newspapers weeks after the issue should have gone away. The Mercury has collected nearly 7,000 signed letters from readers demanding the legislators give back the pay raise. Petition drives across the state have collected tens of thousands of letters. At least 15 candidates have publicly announced their intention to run against incumbents and the spring primary is still eight months away.
The Harrisburg Hogs underestimated the level of abuse Pennsylvania voters are willing to endure before they fight back. Pennsylvanians are tired of high property taxes, lousy roads, mediocre schools, underfunded libraries. The last humiliation voters are willing to take at the hands of the most bloated and ineffectual state legislature is to be forced to pay these politicians more money.
E-mail Tony Phyrillas at tphyrillas@pottsmerc.com
Thursday, September 08, 2005
Pay raise shame: Legislators deny life insurance to National Guard as they line own pockets
Among the many pieces of important legislation not enacted by the Pennsylvania legislature in 2005 was a bill that would permit the state to pay life insurance premiums for Pennsylvania National Guard members serving their country in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kosovo.
More than 3,300 Pennsylvania guardsmen are serving in active combat zones overseas, and sadly, 11 have been killed in Iraq so far.
In the frenzy to line their own pockets with 16 to 24 percent pay raises before taking a 10-week summer vacation, legislators never bothered to vote on the insurance bill, or any other legislation to assist National Guard servicemen and women and their families.
The total cost to cover life insurance premiums for Pennsylvania’s National Guard soldiers and airmen for one year comes to about $1 million. The annual premium for a member of the National Guard or reserves is $312 a year, which provides $400,000 coverage for their families.
The $1 million cost of the program is a pittance in the bloated $24 billion state budget that was adopted by the legislature and signed by Gov. Ed Rendell in July.
At least one lawmaker was quoted in news accounts as saying he was looking for ways to save money and didn’t want to set a precedent by picking up the cost of the life insurance for guardsmen on federal duty because other government workers would expect the same benefit.
Ask any Pennsylvania resident where they would like to see the money go: in the pockets of the second-highest paid legislature in the country or to the families of National Guard members?
Our insensitive, greedy and unethical legislature never bothered to vote on the life insurance bill before heading for its summer vacation to spend the money its members gave themselves. In fact, lawmakers couldn’t even find the time to hold a hearing on the insurance bill, which was sponsored by Democratic Rep. Tom Tangretti.
We keep hearing how hard our lawmakers work and how many hours they spend in Harrisburg. Apparently not enough hours to schedule a hearing on this important bill or bring it to a vote over the first six months of this year.
State lawmakers have an opportunity to correct this disgraceful error in judgment when they return to Harrisburg on Sept. 26. One of the first orders of business should be to pass the 12-bill package intended to assist National Guard members and reservists.
In addition to paying the life insurance premiums, the bills would establish a Military Family Relief Fund, provide college education assistance for service members, implement anti-discriminatory measures, provide extended paid leave for service members and ensure absentee voter privacy for service members.
The legislature’s reluctance to support Pennsylvania men and women who are risking their lives for their country and their state is reprehensible. It’s another condemnation of a legislative body that has miles to go to win back the public trust it betrayed with middle-of-the night pay hikes, revelations of slush funds and the blatant disregard of the state Constitution by taking early pay raises as "unvouchered expenses."
When giving yourself a pay raise takes priority over providing assistance for the families of Pennsylvania servicemen and women killed in the line of duty, it’s time for sweeping changes in Harrisburg.
More than 3,300 Pennsylvania guardsmen are serving in active combat zones overseas, and sadly, 11 have been killed in Iraq so far.
In the frenzy to line their own pockets with 16 to 24 percent pay raises before taking a 10-week summer vacation, legislators never bothered to vote on the insurance bill, or any other legislation to assist National Guard servicemen and women and their families.
The total cost to cover life insurance premiums for Pennsylvania’s National Guard soldiers and airmen for one year comes to about $1 million. The annual premium for a member of the National Guard or reserves is $312 a year, which provides $400,000 coverage for their families.
The $1 million cost of the program is a pittance in the bloated $24 billion state budget that was adopted by the legislature and signed by Gov. Ed Rendell in July.
At least one lawmaker was quoted in news accounts as saying he was looking for ways to save money and didn’t want to set a precedent by picking up the cost of the life insurance for guardsmen on federal duty because other government workers would expect the same benefit.
Ask any Pennsylvania resident where they would like to see the money go: in the pockets of the second-highest paid legislature in the country or to the families of National Guard members?
Our insensitive, greedy and unethical legislature never bothered to vote on the life insurance bill before heading for its summer vacation to spend the money its members gave themselves. In fact, lawmakers couldn’t even find the time to hold a hearing on the insurance bill, which was sponsored by Democratic Rep. Tom Tangretti.
We keep hearing how hard our lawmakers work and how many hours they spend in Harrisburg. Apparently not enough hours to schedule a hearing on this important bill or bring it to a vote over the first six months of this year.
State lawmakers have an opportunity to correct this disgraceful error in judgment when they return to Harrisburg on Sept. 26. One of the first orders of business should be to pass the 12-bill package intended to assist National Guard members and reservists.
In addition to paying the life insurance premiums, the bills would establish a Military Family Relief Fund, provide college education assistance for service members, implement anti-discriminatory measures, provide extended paid leave for service members and ensure absentee voter privacy for service members.
The legislature’s reluctance to support Pennsylvania men and women who are risking their lives for their country and their state is reprehensible. It’s another condemnation of a legislative body that has miles to go to win back the public trust it betrayed with middle-of-the night pay hikes, revelations of slush funds and the blatant disregard of the state Constitution by taking early pay raises as "unvouchered expenses."
When giving yourself a pay raise takes priority over providing assistance for the families of Pennsylvania servicemen and women killed in the line of duty, it’s time for sweeping changes in Harrisburg.
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
Taxpayer dollars will be used to defend Legislative pay raise
This editorial was published in The Mercury on Tuesday, September 6. Talk about rubbing salt in the wound.
Where else but in Pennsylvania would taxpayers have to cough up the money to pay the lawyers hired by state lawmakers to defend themselves against a lawsuit challenging the middle-of-the-night pay raise legislators gave themselves?
No wonder thousands of Pennsylvania taxpayers are fighting so hard to take back their state government from a group of self-serving politicians who consistently vote to line their own pockets without a word of debate -- without any justification -- and then used a loophole to circumvent the state Constitution in order to collect the money early.
Pennsylvania law says that the state attorney general is responsible for defending the constitutionality of state laws, but the party bosses who control Harrisburg have hired outside law firms to defend them in a lawsuit brought by Harrisburg-area activist Eugene Stilp, who is seeking to overturn the controversial July 7 pay raise. The legislature also employs a large in-house legal staff at taxpayer expense, but those lawyers must be busy working on another pay-raise bill to represent their bosses in the lawsuit.
As long as they’re spending your money, the party bosses are willing to go hog wild with legal fees. The House has hired Philadelphia-based Stradley Ronon, while the Senate employed Kirkpatrick & Lockhard Nicholson Graham LLP, a law firm from Pittsburgh. Neither outfit comes cheap, but as the legislators would say, "It’s only taxpayer money, so just write a blank check."
Stilp was incredulous when he heard the news that House and Senate leaders had hired private lawyers to help them defend the pay grab. "It’s beyond belief that the defense of the illegal pay raise is being paid for by the people of Pennsylvania," Stilp said.
One of the problems with the pay raise -- in addition to the fact that lawmakers have done nothing to earn it and it’s repugnant to give yourself a pay raise -- is the fact that the attorney general, every judge in Pennsylvania and many members of the Rendell administration, including the governor, are included in the pay raise legislation. There is no place taxpayers can turn to in Pennsylvania to get an impartial hearing.
Regardless of how many lawyers the legislators hire, the judges who will end up hearing the case would have to give up their own pay raises if they rule against the legislature.
The deck is stacked against taxpayers. So don’t hold your breath waiting for justice in Pennsylvania. But don’t forget who brought us to this juncture in the first place -- the largest, costliest state legislature in the country. A group of 253 men and women who earn two to three times more than the average Pennsylvania worker doing a part-time job that requires them to be in session about 77 days a year.
Stilp, who is not a lawyer, will be representing himself as a citizen of Pennsylvania and a taxpayer when this case goes to court. Stilp won’t be alone. He has the moral backing of 12 million beleaguered Pennsylvanians who have been betrayed by their own lawmakers.
If the citizens of Pennsylvania lose this court case -- and the odds are long that justice will prevail -- they will have one more opportunity to restore rule of law to this state -- at the ballot box in 2006, when they can fire most of the legislators once and for all.
© Copyright The Mercury 2005
Where else but in Pennsylvania would taxpayers have to cough up the money to pay the lawyers hired by state lawmakers to defend themselves against a lawsuit challenging the middle-of-the-night pay raise legislators gave themselves?
No wonder thousands of Pennsylvania taxpayers are fighting so hard to take back their state government from a group of self-serving politicians who consistently vote to line their own pockets without a word of debate -- without any justification -- and then used a loophole to circumvent the state Constitution in order to collect the money early.
Pennsylvania law says that the state attorney general is responsible for defending the constitutionality of state laws, but the party bosses who control Harrisburg have hired outside law firms to defend them in a lawsuit brought by Harrisburg-area activist Eugene Stilp, who is seeking to overturn the controversial July 7 pay raise. The legislature also employs a large in-house legal staff at taxpayer expense, but those lawyers must be busy working on another pay-raise bill to represent their bosses in the lawsuit.
As long as they’re spending your money, the party bosses are willing to go hog wild with legal fees. The House has hired Philadelphia-based Stradley Ronon, while the Senate employed Kirkpatrick & Lockhard Nicholson Graham LLP, a law firm from Pittsburgh. Neither outfit comes cheap, but as the legislators would say, "It’s only taxpayer money, so just write a blank check."
Stilp was incredulous when he heard the news that House and Senate leaders had hired private lawyers to help them defend the pay grab. "It’s beyond belief that the defense of the illegal pay raise is being paid for by the people of Pennsylvania," Stilp said.
One of the problems with the pay raise -- in addition to the fact that lawmakers have done nothing to earn it and it’s repugnant to give yourself a pay raise -- is the fact that the attorney general, every judge in Pennsylvania and many members of the Rendell administration, including the governor, are included in the pay raise legislation. There is no place taxpayers can turn to in Pennsylvania to get an impartial hearing.
Regardless of how many lawyers the legislators hire, the judges who will end up hearing the case would have to give up their own pay raises if they rule against the legislature.
The deck is stacked against taxpayers. So don’t hold your breath waiting for justice in Pennsylvania. But don’t forget who brought us to this juncture in the first place -- the largest, costliest state legislature in the country. A group of 253 men and women who earn two to three times more than the average Pennsylvania worker doing a part-time job that requires them to be in session about 77 days a year.
Stilp, who is not a lawyer, will be representing himself as a citizen of Pennsylvania and a taxpayer when this case goes to court. Stilp won’t be alone. He has the moral backing of 12 million beleaguered Pennsylvanians who have been betrayed by their own lawmakers.
If the citizens of Pennsylvania lose this court case -- and the odds are long that justice will prevail -- they will have one more opportunity to restore rule of law to this state -- at the ballot box in 2006, when they can fire most of the legislators once and for all.
© Copyright The Mercury 2005
Saturday, September 03, 2005
Pay raise tally: 2 big idiots; 25 who saw the light
Kudos to the 25 Pennsylvania legislators who have seen the error of their ways and decided not to accept the "unvouchered expenses" that enable lawmakers to collect pay raises 16 months early, despite a Constitutional ban on midterm salary hikes.
Rep. John W. Fichter, a Republican from Montgomery County, is the latest lawmaker to reject the extra money after initially accepting it in his paycheck that went out Aug. 1. The 25 legislators are in the minority, but at least they're willing to heed the pleas of their constituents.
A total of 133 of the state's 252 Senate and House members have accepted the expenses, which increased lawmakers' pay by at least 16 percent to a minimum $81,050 a year. Fichter would have made $85,100 a year with the unvouchered expenses, getting an extra boost because of his subcommittee chairmanship post. Instead, he will make $69,647 this year.
The salary increases for all House members will take effect after the November 2006 election — unless they’re voted out of office before then. The Constitution bars midterm pay raises, but many lawmakers have used a loophole in the law to start collecting the money early.
Now let's turn to the Abbot and Costello of the Pennsylvania Assembly.
Daggers to Pennsylvania House Speaker John M. Perzel, believed to be the mastermind of the Great Pay Grab of 2005. Perzel, a Republican, made his first public appearance in Harrisburg since the raises were approved on July 7, but refused to answer questions about the fleecing of taxpayers.
Several reporters attempted to get Perzel to comment about the pay raise and the public backlash, but Perzel would only say, "There’s nothing to talk about. It was passed on July 7." Wrong, answer, Big John. There’s plenty to say about the middle-of-the night heist of taxpayer dollars without debate or public hearings. Not to mention the scandalous violation of the state Constitution by lawmakers who sneaked their pay raises early under the guise of unvouchered expenses.
Playing dumb, Perzel told reporters he knew nothing about plans by rank-and-file legislators to introduce bills to either rescind the raises entirely or repeal the unvouchered expenses scam.
"I haven't heard about it yet. If that’s what you guys are saying, I guess somebody's going to introduce it. We'll see what happens," Perzel said.
This is the most powerful man in Pennsylvania? The problems in Harrisburg start with the leadership and Perzel is Exhibit A.
Daggers to Senate Pro Tempore Robert Jubilirer, another party boss who instigated the 2 a.m. pay raise, for attacking critics (voters) in radio commercials.
Jubilirer, a Republican, doesn’t defend the middle-of-the-night pay grab in commercials airing in his home district near Altoona, but goes on the attack against a group call Young Conservatives of Pennsylvania, which is spearheading a campaign to expose the money-grubbing politicians who control Harrisburg.
"An outside special interest group is spending thousands of dollars on negative radio ads attacking our state senator, Robert Jubilirer. Don't believe them," the commercial trumpets. Attacking the messenger is a popular tactic when phonies are exposed. All the information presented by YCOP is a matter of public record.
Jubilirer voted for the pay raise and demanded loyalty from his rank-and-file members. Now that most Pennsylvanians are wise to career politicians like Jubilirer, the party bosses are going on the attack.
The primary election is still eight months away, but Jubilirer’s desperate attempt to cover his tracks shows us how worried politicians are that the voters are on to them.
Rep. John W. Fichter, a Republican from Montgomery County, is the latest lawmaker to reject the extra money after initially accepting it in his paycheck that went out Aug. 1. The 25 legislators are in the minority, but at least they're willing to heed the pleas of their constituents.
A total of 133 of the state's 252 Senate and House members have accepted the expenses, which increased lawmakers' pay by at least 16 percent to a minimum $81,050 a year. Fichter would have made $85,100 a year with the unvouchered expenses, getting an extra boost because of his subcommittee chairmanship post. Instead, he will make $69,647 this year.
The salary increases for all House members will take effect after the November 2006 election — unless they’re voted out of office before then. The Constitution bars midterm pay raises, but many lawmakers have used a loophole in the law to start collecting the money early.
Now let's turn to the Abbot and Costello of the Pennsylvania Assembly.
Daggers to Pennsylvania House Speaker John M. Perzel, believed to be the mastermind of the Great Pay Grab of 2005. Perzel, a Republican, made his first public appearance in Harrisburg since the raises were approved on July 7, but refused to answer questions about the fleecing of taxpayers.
Several reporters attempted to get Perzel to comment about the pay raise and the public backlash, but Perzel would only say, "There’s nothing to talk about. It was passed on July 7." Wrong, answer, Big John. There’s plenty to say about the middle-of-the night heist of taxpayer dollars without debate or public hearings. Not to mention the scandalous violation of the state Constitution by lawmakers who sneaked their pay raises early under the guise of unvouchered expenses.
Playing dumb, Perzel told reporters he knew nothing about plans by rank-and-file legislators to introduce bills to either rescind the raises entirely or repeal the unvouchered expenses scam.
"I haven't heard about it yet. If that’s what you guys are saying, I guess somebody's going to introduce it. We'll see what happens," Perzel said.
This is the most powerful man in Pennsylvania? The problems in Harrisburg start with the leadership and Perzel is Exhibit A.
Daggers to Senate Pro Tempore Robert Jubilirer, another party boss who instigated the 2 a.m. pay raise, for attacking critics (voters) in radio commercials.
Jubilirer, a Republican, doesn’t defend the middle-of-the-night pay grab in commercials airing in his home district near Altoona, but goes on the attack against a group call Young Conservatives of Pennsylvania, which is spearheading a campaign to expose the money-grubbing politicians who control Harrisburg.
"An outside special interest group is spending thousands of dollars on negative radio ads attacking our state senator, Robert Jubilirer. Don't believe them," the commercial trumpets. Attacking the messenger is a popular tactic when phonies are exposed. All the information presented by YCOP is a matter of public record.
Jubilirer voted for the pay raise and demanded loyalty from his rank-and-file members. Now that most Pennsylvanians are wise to career politicians like Jubilirer, the party bosses are going on the attack.
The primary election is still eight months away, but Jubilirer’s desperate attempt to cover his tracks shows us how worried politicians are that the voters are on to them.
Friday, September 02, 2005
Exploiting human misery for political gain
It came as no surprise that Cindy Sheehan, the troubled woman who spent the summer camped near President Bush’s ranch in Crawford, Texas, would find a way to blame the president for Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath.
Judging from her previous rants ("The United States is the biggest mass murderer in the history of the world" and "This country is not worth dying for" and "George Bush is a killer"), Sheehan followed the script of her left-wing puppet masters by blaming the president for the death and destruction left behind by the hurricane.
If you haven’t been following Sheehan’s meteoric rise in the left-wing media as a 21st century version of "Hanoi Jane," Sheehan believes her son’s death fighting in Iraq was caused by President Bush — not the Islamic terrorists who killed Army Spc. Casey Sheehan. Doesn’t matter that her son volunteered for the Army and never objected to serving his country in a time of war.
"Baghdad Cindy" Sheehan wants the United States to surrender from Iraq and Afghanistan and abandon Israel. She also wants President Bush, whom she has called "the biggest terrorist in the world," a "filth-spewer and warmonger," an "evil maniac," and a "war criminal" impeached and put in jail.
The apologists for the radical left say Sheehan is exercising her right to free speech. Any reasonable observer would conclude she crossed the line into treason a long time ago.
Cindy Sheehan can stand in the Texas sun all day and scream obscenities at the president’s motorcade, but do we need to see her face on television every night or read her tirades in newspapers every day? Sheehan offers no alternative to facing the Islamic fascists who want to kill every man, woman and child in the United States except to surrender.
The United States is not worth dying for? Tell that to the millions of Americans who gave their lives in World War I and World War II and Korea and Vietnam. Tell that to the brave men and women in Iraq and Afghanistan who took the fight to the enemy to protect their homeland from another attack.
Openly sympathizing with the fanatics who killed 3,000 innocent Americans on Sept. 11 — not to mention her own son — is the mark of a lunatic. When the puppetmasters behind Sheehan — Michael Moore and his Hollywood pals, Democratic Party strategists (including Howard Dean’s former campaign manager) and The New York Times — are done using her for their purposes, they’ll toss aside.
Speaking of The New York Times, the newspaper’s editorial writers are complaining that President Bush gave "the worst speech of his life" when he announced how the federal government would respond to the hurricane relief effort. Didn’t give a good speech? Give me a break. The people of New Orleans don’t need inspiring speeches or political harangue. They need water, food, medicine and shelter. But the New York Times couldn’t resist taking a pot-shot at President Bush in an editorial titled, "Waiting for a Leader."
No criticism of the Democratic governor of Louisiana, who looked like a deer caught in the headlights of oncoming traffic during the first 48 hours after the hurricane struck. No criticism of New Orleans’ Democratic mayor, who got the first lifeboat out of town and abandoned the city’s poorest people to fend for themselves.
Cindy Sheehan is a pawn of the radical left. But how do you explain a string of Democratic politicians — Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Al Sharpton, New York Sen. Charles Schumer, New Jersey Sen. Frank Lautenberg, Illinois Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., New York Rep. Charles B. Rangel and Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco — jumping on the "It’s all Bush’s fault" bandwagon?
All of them came out with absurd statements that the President’s environmental and economic policies somehow led to one of the greatest natural disasters in history. Last time I checked, New Orleans was settled 300 years ago. Bush wasn’t the president back then. He wasn’t the one who decided to build a city below sea level in one of the most active hurricane zones in the world.
And what kind of nitwit would hold a political leader responsible for floods, earthquakes, droughts or hurricanes? Criticizing the response to the natural disaster is one thing. But blaming the president for causing it?
Instead of working as one nation to rescue the people who are suffering and work to rebuild the devastated Gulf Coast, the Michael Moore/Cindy Sheehan crowd is trying to use the misery of the victims of Hurricane Katrina for political gain.
The left has already played the race card, calling the disaster a "Black Genocide," implying that a white president is intentionally killing black Americans.
Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. inexplicably compared the hurricane to the invasion of Iraq and questioned how a president who professes to be a Christian would allow the black residents of New Orleans to suffer? An NAACP spokesperson accused the administration of "disparate treatment" of the victims because most were black. An ACLU leader said the federal response would have been much different if white people were trapped in New Orleans. And the absurdity goes on.
"Baghdad Cindy" and the bottom feeders from the political left have done more harm to their cause than they realize. The floodwaters will recede. Homes, offices, churches and schools will be rebuilt. New Orleans, one of America’s great cities, will rise again. The left has lost what little credibility it had by using Hurricane Katrina for political grandstanding.
E-mail Tony Phyrillas at tphyrillas@pottsmerc.com
Judging from her previous rants ("The United States is the biggest mass murderer in the history of the world" and "This country is not worth dying for" and "George Bush is a killer"), Sheehan followed the script of her left-wing puppet masters by blaming the president for the death and destruction left behind by the hurricane.
If you haven’t been following Sheehan’s meteoric rise in the left-wing media as a 21st century version of "Hanoi Jane," Sheehan believes her son’s death fighting in Iraq was caused by President Bush — not the Islamic terrorists who killed Army Spc. Casey Sheehan. Doesn’t matter that her son volunteered for the Army and never objected to serving his country in a time of war.
"Baghdad Cindy" Sheehan wants the United States to surrender from Iraq and Afghanistan and abandon Israel. She also wants President Bush, whom she has called "the biggest terrorist in the world," a "filth-spewer and warmonger," an "evil maniac," and a "war criminal" impeached and put in jail.
The apologists for the radical left say Sheehan is exercising her right to free speech. Any reasonable observer would conclude she crossed the line into treason a long time ago.
Cindy Sheehan can stand in the Texas sun all day and scream obscenities at the president’s motorcade, but do we need to see her face on television every night or read her tirades in newspapers every day? Sheehan offers no alternative to facing the Islamic fascists who want to kill every man, woman and child in the United States except to surrender.
The United States is not worth dying for? Tell that to the millions of Americans who gave their lives in World War I and World War II and Korea and Vietnam. Tell that to the brave men and women in Iraq and Afghanistan who took the fight to the enemy to protect their homeland from another attack.
Openly sympathizing with the fanatics who killed 3,000 innocent Americans on Sept. 11 — not to mention her own son — is the mark of a lunatic. When the puppetmasters behind Sheehan — Michael Moore and his Hollywood pals, Democratic Party strategists (including Howard Dean’s former campaign manager) and The New York Times — are done using her for their purposes, they’ll toss aside.
Speaking of The New York Times, the newspaper’s editorial writers are complaining that President Bush gave "the worst speech of his life" when he announced how the federal government would respond to the hurricane relief effort. Didn’t give a good speech? Give me a break. The people of New Orleans don’t need inspiring speeches or political harangue. They need water, food, medicine and shelter. But the New York Times couldn’t resist taking a pot-shot at President Bush in an editorial titled, "Waiting for a Leader."
No criticism of the Democratic governor of Louisiana, who looked like a deer caught in the headlights of oncoming traffic during the first 48 hours after the hurricane struck. No criticism of New Orleans’ Democratic mayor, who got the first lifeboat out of town and abandoned the city’s poorest people to fend for themselves.
Cindy Sheehan is a pawn of the radical left. But how do you explain a string of Democratic politicians — Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Al Sharpton, New York Sen. Charles Schumer, New Jersey Sen. Frank Lautenberg, Illinois Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., New York Rep. Charles B. Rangel and Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco — jumping on the "It’s all Bush’s fault" bandwagon?
All of them came out with absurd statements that the President’s environmental and economic policies somehow led to one of the greatest natural disasters in history. Last time I checked, New Orleans was settled 300 years ago. Bush wasn’t the president back then. He wasn’t the one who decided to build a city below sea level in one of the most active hurricane zones in the world.
And what kind of nitwit would hold a political leader responsible for floods, earthquakes, droughts or hurricanes? Criticizing the response to the natural disaster is one thing. But blaming the president for causing it?
Instead of working as one nation to rescue the people who are suffering and work to rebuild the devastated Gulf Coast, the Michael Moore/Cindy Sheehan crowd is trying to use the misery of the victims of Hurricane Katrina for political gain.
The left has already played the race card, calling the disaster a "Black Genocide," implying that a white president is intentionally killing black Americans.
Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. inexplicably compared the hurricane to the invasion of Iraq and questioned how a president who professes to be a Christian would allow the black residents of New Orleans to suffer? An NAACP spokesperson accused the administration of "disparate treatment" of the victims because most were black. An ACLU leader said the federal response would have been much different if white people were trapped in New Orleans. And the absurdity goes on.
"Baghdad Cindy" and the bottom feeders from the political left have done more harm to their cause than they realize. The floodwaters will recede. Homes, offices, churches and schools will be rebuilt. New Orleans, one of America’s great cities, will rise again. The left has lost what little credibility it had by using Hurricane Katrina for political grandstanding.
E-mail Tony Phyrillas at tphyrillas@pottsmerc.com
Monday, August 29, 2005
Pay raise arrogance reaches a new low
Legislators dare you to vote them out
Hey, stupid. Yeah, you. Go ahead. Try to vote me out. Do your best. I’m a member of the Pennsylvania House of Lords (aka state legislature). You can’t touch me. I’m invincible. I can rob you blind any time of day or night, and there’s nothing you can do about it.
That, in essence, is the attitude of many of the people you’ve hired to serve in the Pennsylvania House and Senate. Not only did they vote themselves exorbitant pay raises in the middle of the night, but they believe you’re too chicken to do anything about it.
Sure, about two dozen of the 253 lawmakers have seen the error of their ways and decided not to take the 16 percent to 34 percent pay raises. Some have even pledged to repeal the pay hike when they get back to Harrisburg on Sept. 26. But the vast majority are digging in.
They don’t think you’ve got the brains or guts to stand up to them — to fire them. So they’re going to take the $11,000 raise on top of the 5.2 percent cost-of-living increase they took at the beginning of the year, and they’re going to tack on another cost-of-living increase in 2006 just because they can.
And you’ll continue to pay every penny to maintain Pennsylvania’s royalty in the lifestyle they’ve become accustomed to.
Allow me to introduce you to state Rep. Jacqueline R. Crahalla, a Republican from the 150th House District, which includes Collegeville, Lower Providence, Trappe, Upper Providence and West Norriton. What does Rep. Crahalla have to say to her constituents who would rather she not have increased her own pay to $81,027 a year, as well as that of her husband, District Judge Benjamin Crahalla, to $74,566 a year as part of the same pay raise bill?
"I’m staying the course," Crahalla told The Philadelphia Inquirer when asked if she was willing to heed the demands of constituents. "The nastier people get, the more stubborn I get."
Hmmm. Stubbornness. Just the kind of trait we need in a lawmaker. To her credit, Rep. Crahalla has been one of the few lawmakers willing to explain the indefensible 2 a.m. raid on the state treasury. She says she routinely puts in more than 50 hours a week on the job. She says judges and cabinet officers should be paid more.
Rep. Crahalla could make a strong case for boosting the salaries of judges and county district attorneys, but there’s no justification for giving herself an $11,000 raise.
Crahalla conveniently forgets that the state legislature met an average of 77 days in each of the past five years.
While the typical Pennsylvania worker puts in at least 245 work days during the year (assuming three weeks vacation), state legislators go to Harrisburg 77 days, take a 10-week summer vacation, go home for at least a month for a winter holiday and take every government holiday off as well.
I’m guessing Rep. Crahalla finds things to do around her district the 200-plus days the legislature is not in session. On the bright side, there’s no heavy lifting involved in being a state lawmaker — unless you pick up that hefty paycheck in cash. Does any of this justify legislators being paid more than twice what the average worker in Pennsylvania is making?
Has Crahalla given any thought to the thousands of senior citizens in her district who are struggling on Social Security? Their cost-of-living increase this year was 2.7 percent, or $15 a month. If the Crahallas need $20,000 more to get by, what does Rep. Crahalla tell the folks back home trying to stretch that $15 until next month’s check?
Arrogant is not a strong enough word to describe the hundreds of Harrisburg pay-grabbers. Insolent might be the better word. The contempt these "public servants" have shown the people who elected them is palpable.
In addition to the unbelievable display of disdain these politicians have for the people in their home districts, another interesting point in the Inquirer article was the fact that so few politicians were even willing to "defend" the pay grab. The reporter who wrote the story called 25 lawmakers, but only two were willing to talk. Imagine that. A politician who doesn’t want his or her name in the newspaper. That’s a first.
We’re approaching the two-month anniversary of the Great Pay Grab of 2005. The politicians who orchestrated this betrayal of public trust can’t hide forever. Eventually, they will return to the scene of the crime.
Will the 23 legislators who voted for the pay hike but changed their minds about taking the money stand up to the party bosses who run Harrisburg? Will the 79 House members who opposed the pay grab in the first place stand up to the tyrants? Will the 23 senators who voted against the pay hike demand a vote to rescind the pay raise?
Only three state senators need to reverse their vote on the pay hike. And 26 state representatives need to change their vote to repeal the raises. Gov. Ed Rendell, who is getting booed more often than Terrell Owens these days, said he will sign the bill abolishing the pay grab.
Voters in the 150th District will let Rep. Crahalla know if she still has a job in Harrisburg when she faces reelection in May 2006.
What about your state legislator? Have you told him or her in no uncertain terms that their future hinges on whether they do the right thing for the people they promised to represent?
E-mail Tony Phyrillas at tphyrillas@pottsmerc.com
Hey, stupid. Yeah, you. Go ahead. Try to vote me out. Do your best. I’m a member of the Pennsylvania House of Lords (aka state legislature). You can’t touch me. I’m invincible. I can rob you blind any time of day or night, and there’s nothing you can do about it.
That, in essence, is the attitude of many of the people you’ve hired to serve in the Pennsylvania House and Senate. Not only did they vote themselves exorbitant pay raises in the middle of the night, but they believe you’re too chicken to do anything about it.
Sure, about two dozen of the 253 lawmakers have seen the error of their ways and decided not to take the 16 percent to 34 percent pay raises. Some have even pledged to repeal the pay hike when they get back to Harrisburg on Sept. 26. But the vast majority are digging in.
They don’t think you’ve got the brains or guts to stand up to them — to fire them. So they’re going to take the $11,000 raise on top of the 5.2 percent cost-of-living increase they took at the beginning of the year, and they’re going to tack on another cost-of-living increase in 2006 just because they can.
And you’ll continue to pay every penny to maintain Pennsylvania’s royalty in the lifestyle they’ve become accustomed to.
Allow me to introduce you to state Rep. Jacqueline R. Crahalla, a Republican from the 150th House District, which includes Collegeville, Lower Providence, Trappe, Upper Providence and West Norriton. What does Rep. Crahalla have to say to her constituents who would rather she not have increased her own pay to $81,027 a year, as well as that of her husband, District Judge Benjamin Crahalla, to $74,566 a year as part of the same pay raise bill?
"I’m staying the course," Crahalla told The Philadelphia Inquirer when asked if she was willing to heed the demands of constituents. "The nastier people get, the more stubborn I get."
Hmmm. Stubbornness. Just the kind of trait we need in a lawmaker. To her credit, Rep. Crahalla has been one of the few lawmakers willing to explain the indefensible 2 a.m. raid on the state treasury. She says she routinely puts in more than 50 hours a week on the job. She says judges and cabinet officers should be paid more.
Rep. Crahalla could make a strong case for boosting the salaries of judges and county district attorneys, but there’s no justification for giving herself an $11,000 raise.
Crahalla conveniently forgets that the state legislature met an average of 77 days in each of the past five years.
While the typical Pennsylvania worker puts in at least 245 work days during the year (assuming three weeks vacation), state legislators go to Harrisburg 77 days, take a 10-week summer vacation, go home for at least a month for a winter holiday and take every government holiday off as well.
I’m guessing Rep. Crahalla finds things to do around her district the 200-plus days the legislature is not in session. On the bright side, there’s no heavy lifting involved in being a state lawmaker — unless you pick up that hefty paycheck in cash. Does any of this justify legislators being paid more than twice what the average worker in Pennsylvania is making?
Has Crahalla given any thought to the thousands of senior citizens in her district who are struggling on Social Security? Their cost-of-living increase this year was 2.7 percent, or $15 a month. If the Crahallas need $20,000 more to get by, what does Rep. Crahalla tell the folks back home trying to stretch that $15 until next month’s check?
Arrogant is not a strong enough word to describe the hundreds of Harrisburg pay-grabbers. Insolent might be the better word. The contempt these "public servants" have shown the people who elected them is palpable.
In addition to the unbelievable display of disdain these politicians have for the people in their home districts, another interesting point in the Inquirer article was the fact that so few politicians were even willing to "defend" the pay grab. The reporter who wrote the story called 25 lawmakers, but only two were willing to talk. Imagine that. A politician who doesn’t want his or her name in the newspaper. That’s a first.
We’re approaching the two-month anniversary of the Great Pay Grab of 2005. The politicians who orchestrated this betrayal of public trust can’t hide forever. Eventually, they will return to the scene of the crime.
Will the 23 legislators who voted for the pay hike but changed their minds about taking the money stand up to the party bosses who run Harrisburg? Will the 79 House members who opposed the pay grab in the first place stand up to the tyrants? Will the 23 senators who voted against the pay hike demand a vote to rescind the pay raise?
Only three state senators need to reverse their vote on the pay hike. And 26 state representatives need to change their vote to repeal the raises. Gov. Ed Rendell, who is getting booed more often than Terrell Owens these days, said he will sign the bill abolishing the pay grab.
Voters in the 150th District will let Rep. Crahalla know if she still has a job in Harrisburg when she faces reelection in May 2006.
What about your state legislator? Have you told him or her in no uncertain terms that their future hinges on whether they do the right thing for the people they promised to represent?
E-mail Tony Phyrillas at tphyrillas@pottsmerc.com
Thursday, August 25, 2005
Pay raise outcry continues into week 7
This is the latest editorial in The Mercury (Pottstown, Pa.) on the Legislative pay grab. The newspaper has collected 7,000 protest letters from readers in the past three weeks. They will be delivered to Harrisburg when the Legislators return on Sept. 26.
At the beginning of week seven since the legislative pay grab, few things have changed since the debacle first unfolded on July 7.
The first legislative leader to change his mind on collecting the midterm raise as an unvouchered expense — Rep. Brett Feese, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee — came forward last week. He became the first leader to reverse his earlier decision. Feese’s decision does not apply to his actual raise, however, which he will collect, starting in December 2006.
Most of the leaders, who received the biggest raises, accepted the early payments. Three others in leadership — Sens. Jeffrey Piccola, R-Dauphin; Mary Jo White, R-Franklin; and Connie Williams, D-Delaware — refused the special payments from the beginning.
Feese was among the three latest lawmakers to rescind their acceptance of the unvouchered expenses, pushing the total to 17.
At the same time, other legislators dug in their heels in defense of the 16 to 34 percent raises they awarded themselves on July 7, repeating the argument that they work hard and deserve the raise.
“I think this is fair compensation for the amount of hours we put in,” said state Rep. Jacqueline R. Crahalla, R-150th Dist., noting she routinely works 50-plus hour weeks. “This job is tough and every two years, your reputation gets knocked to hell if you are seeking reelection, and there is no job security,” said Crahalla, adding that “municipal administrators” often get paid more and have better job security than state lawmakers.
The pay raise legislation, passed at 2 a.m. on July 7, boosts the base salary of state lawmakers from $69,647 to $81,050, with committee heads and those in leadership posts getting additional hikes. Pennsylvania now has the second highest paid legislators in the country, behind only California.
Throughout the state, voter outrage has continued loud and strong. More than 7,000 people have sent protest letters to legislators as part of Operation Giveback, a letter-writing campaign sponsored by The Mercury to “send a message to Harrisburg.” A Web site and a radio station conducting similar campaigns have also reported phenomenal voter reaction.
Area lawmakers voting against the pay hike were state Sen. John C. Rafferty, R-44th Dist., state Sen. Rob Wonderling, R-24th Dist., state Rep. Tom Quigley, R-146th Dist., state Rep. Carole Rubley, R-157th Dist., and state Rep. Douglas Reichley, R-134th. Reichley, however, took the money as an unvouchered expense.
Voting for the hike were Crahalla; state Sen. Michael O’Pake, D-11th; state Sen. Robert Thompson, R-19th; state Rep. Dennis Leh, R-130th; state Rep. Raymond Bunt, R-47th; state Rep. Timothy Hennessey, R-25th; state Rep. Curt Schroder, R-155th, and state Rep. Robert Flick, R-167th. Schroder reversed himself after initially accepting the unvouchered expenses and announced he would not take the raise early.
Taxpayers are upset not only with the magnitude of the pay hike but also with legislators’ poor track record on property tax reform, jobs growth and schools funding. One legislator ludicrously defended the vote to give themselves a raise as part of a package that ultimately benefitted taxpayers.
Ask taxpayers how much they’ve benefitted from the legislators’ pay grab.
In particular, ask them this week as they try to pull together the money for local school tax bills that have a discount due date if paid by Aug. 31.
We think we know what their answers will be.
Copyright 2005 The Mercury
At the beginning of week seven since the legislative pay grab, few things have changed since the debacle first unfolded on July 7.
The first legislative leader to change his mind on collecting the midterm raise as an unvouchered expense — Rep. Brett Feese, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee — came forward last week. He became the first leader to reverse his earlier decision. Feese’s decision does not apply to his actual raise, however, which he will collect, starting in December 2006.
Most of the leaders, who received the biggest raises, accepted the early payments. Three others in leadership — Sens. Jeffrey Piccola, R-Dauphin; Mary Jo White, R-Franklin; and Connie Williams, D-Delaware — refused the special payments from the beginning.
Feese was among the three latest lawmakers to rescind their acceptance of the unvouchered expenses, pushing the total to 17.
At the same time, other legislators dug in their heels in defense of the 16 to 34 percent raises they awarded themselves on July 7, repeating the argument that they work hard and deserve the raise.
“I think this is fair compensation for the amount of hours we put in,” said state Rep. Jacqueline R. Crahalla, R-150th Dist., noting she routinely works 50-plus hour weeks. “This job is tough and every two years, your reputation gets knocked to hell if you are seeking reelection, and there is no job security,” said Crahalla, adding that “municipal administrators” often get paid more and have better job security than state lawmakers.
The pay raise legislation, passed at 2 a.m. on July 7, boosts the base salary of state lawmakers from $69,647 to $81,050, with committee heads and those in leadership posts getting additional hikes. Pennsylvania now has the second highest paid legislators in the country, behind only California.
Throughout the state, voter outrage has continued loud and strong. More than 7,000 people have sent protest letters to legislators as part of Operation Giveback, a letter-writing campaign sponsored by The Mercury to “send a message to Harrisburg.” A Web site and a radio station conducting similar campaigns have also reported phenomenal voter reaction.
Area lawmakers voting against the pay hike were state Sen. John C. Rafferty, R-44th Dist., state Sen. Rob Wonderling, R-24th Dist., state Rep. Tom Quigley, R-146th Dist., state Rep. Carole Rubley, R-157th Dist., and state Rep. Douglas Reichley, R-134th. Reichley, however, took the money as an unvouchered expense.
Voting for the hike were Crahalla; state Sen. Michael O’Pake, D-11th; state Sen. Robert Thompson, R-19th; state Rep. Dennis Leh, R-130th; state Rep. Raymond Bunt, R-47th; state Rep. Timothy Hennessey, R-25th; state Rep. Curt Schroder, R-155th, and state Rep. Robert Flick, R-167th. Schroder reversed himself after initially accepting the unvouchered expenses and announced he would not take the raise early.
Taxpayers are upset not only with the magnitude of the pay hike but also with legislators’ poor track record on property tax reform, jobs growth and schools funding. One legislator ludicrously defended the vote to give themselves a raise as part of a package that ultimately benefitted taxpayers.
Ask taxpayers how much they’ve benefitted from the legislators’ pay grab.
In particular, ask them this week as they try to pull together the money for local school tax bills that have a discount due date if paid by Aug. 31.
We think we know what their answers will be.
Copyright 2005 The Mercury
Monday, August 22, 2005
Has your state legislator apologized yet?
I’ve been checking Web sites of newspapers across Pennsylvania since the House of Lords (aka the state legislature) gave itself an exorbitant pay raise six weeks ago.
To my pleasant surprise, every newspaper in the state — from the big city papers in Philadelphia, Allentown and Pittsburgh to the smallest daily papers scattered across the state — has editorialized against the unjustified pay raise and the reprehensible method it was approved (under cover of darkness on the last day of the Legislative session before lawmakers went on their 10-week summer vacation).
I’ve read hundreds of letters sent to newspapers by residents of Pennsylvania who feel violated and betrayed by people who are supposed to look out for them. It’s like having a member of your own family commit a crime against you.
One of the most interesting articles I’ve come across was in the Lancaster New Era.
It was a story about a state legislator from central Pennsylvania who not only reversed his stand on the pay hike (at least 16 legislators have done so since July 7) but this lawmaker publicly apologized to his constituents.
State Rep. Tom Creighton, who originally voted for the pay raise and defended it for five weeks, now admits it was an "error in judgment" that violated the "faith and trust" voters placed in him, according to the newspaper.
"In asking for your forgiveness on my vote on the pay raise, I’m committing my full energies in the remaining days of my term to fixing a broken system," Creighton said in a letter to residents of the 37th District.
"In the coming days, I will be introducing legislation to repeal the legislative pay raise, and intend to work with my colleagues and a growing number of concerned citizens like you, to restore the faith and trust you’ve placed in me," he wrote.
Creighton also told the newspaper that he originally voted for the pay raise because the Harrisburg party bosses put the squeeze on him. Voters in Creighton’s district need to think long and hard if they want to send this man back to Harrisburg next year when it appears he turns into a spineless jellyfish and does what he’s told. Imagine his campaign theme: "I will mindlessly obey others."
It’s difficult to say if Creighton’s apology is sincere, but it is a step in the right direction. Unlike the conceited party bosses — John Perzel, William DeWeese, Robert Mellow, David Brightbill, Robert Mellow, Samuel Smith — who refuse to even acknowledge that the pay raise was a mistake, at least Creighton heard what his constituents were saying and put their needs ahead of his own.
When will area lawmakers show some backbone and apologize for their grave error in judgment?
I am referring to Sens. Michael O’Pake, Robert Thompson, Connie Williams and Stewart Greenleaf and state Reps. Tim Hennessey, Raymond Bunt, Dennis Leh, Robert J. Flick, Dante Santoni Jr., Tom Caltagirone, Sam Rohrer and Jacqueline Crahalla. They voted for the pay raise and have so far refused to give the ill-gotten gain back.
State Rep. Douglas Reichley also has a lot of explaining to do. He initially voted against the pay raise, but then showed up in Harrisburg to collect the pay hike even though the state Constitution prohibits lawmakers from approving pay raises for themselves during their current term.
Rep. Curt Schroder decided not to take the pay raises even though he voted in favor of boosting his salary by a minimum of $11,000 a year on top of the very generous perks legislators enjoy as members of the House of Lords. One recent study determined the total compensation package (salary and benefits) for a single state legislator costs taxpayers $150,000 a year.
While wholesale changes are needed in Harrisburg (228 of the 253 members of the bloated Pennsylvania House of Lords will be up for reelection in 2006), voters should be willing to give Sens. Rob Wonderling and John Rafferty and state Reps. Tom Quigley and Carole Rubley the benefit of the doubt. They voted against the pay raise, and as far as I know, have not accepted the money as "unvouchered expenses," the euphemism lawmakers are using to circumvent the Pennsylvania Constitution.
On the bright side, the list of legislators who have decided not to participate in the "unvouchered expense" scam is now up to 105.
Back to Rep. Creighton. "Trading principled decisions for legislative expediency is never right," Creighton wrote. "Unfortunately, for me, the State Capitol and its internal system of punishments and rewards got the best of me in that fateful vote."
Creighton wrote that he reversed his position "after much reflection, prayer and the counsel from countless friends like you."
He concluded by saying he is deeply sorry that the residents of Pennsylvania have lost faith in their lawmakers because of the pay grab. "The process needs to be responsive to the people, to the voters. If I made a mistake, I think I need to state why I made the mistake and explain why I won’t do it again and try to fix it."
The rest of the legislators who voted for the pay grab need to step up to the plate and say they’re sorry. They still have a long way to go to regain the public trust they violated, but an apology is a good place to start.
E-mail Tony Phyrillas at tphyrillas@pottsmerc.com
To my pleasant surprise, every newspaper in the state — from the big city papers in Philadelphia, Allentown and Pittsburgh to the smallest daily papers scattered across the state — has editorialized against the unjustified pay raise and the reprehensible method it was approved (under cover of darkness on the last day of the Legislative session before lawmakers went on their 10-week summer vacation).
I’ve read hundreds of letters sent to newspapers by residents of Pennsylvania who feel violated and betrayed by people who are supposed to look out for them. It’s like having a member of your own family commit a crime against you.
One of the most interesting articles I’ve come across was in the Lancaster New Era.
It was a story about a state legislator from central Pennsylvania who not only reversed his stand on the pay hike (at least 16 legislators have done so since July 7) but this lawmaker publicly apologized to his constituents.
State Rep. Tom Creighton, who originally voted for the pay raise and defended it for five weeks, now admits it was an "error in judgment" that violated the "faith and trust" voters placed in him, according to the newspaper.
"In asking for your forgiveness on my vote on the pay raise, I’m committing my full energies in the remaining days of my term to fixing a broken system," Creighton said in a letter to residents of the 37th District.
"In the coming days, I will be introducing legislation to repeal the legislative pay raise, and intend to work with my colleagues and a growing number of concerned citizens like you, to restore the faith and trust you’ve placed in me," he wrote.
Creighton also told the newspaper that he originally voted for the pay raise because the Harrisburg party bosses put the squeeze on him. Voters in Creighton’s district need to think long and hard if they want to send this man back to Harrisburg next year when it appears he turns into a spineless jellyfish and does what he’s told. Imagine his campaign theme: "I will mindlessly obey others."
It’s difficult to say if Creighton’s apology is sincere, but it is a step in the right direction. Unlike the conceited party bosses — John Perzel, William DeWeese, Robert Mellow, David Brightbill, Robert Mellow, Samuel Smith — who refuse to even acknowledge that the pay raise was a mistake, at least Creighton heard what his constituents were saying and put their needs ahead of his own.
When will area lawmakers show some backbone and apologize for their grave error in judgment?
I am referring to Sens. Michael O’Pake, Robert Thompson, Connie Williams and Stewart Greenleaf and state Reps. Tim Hennessey, Raymond Bunt, Dennis Leh, Robert J. Flick, Dante Santoni Jr., Tom Caltagirone, Sam Rohrer and Jacqueline Crahalla. They voted for the pay raise and have so far refused to give the ill-gotten gain back.
State Rep. Douglas Reichley also has a lot of explaining to do. He initially voted against the pay raise, but then showed up in Harrisburg to collect the pay hike even though the state Constitution prohibits lawmakers from approving pay raises for themselves during their current term.
Rep. Curt Schroder decided not to take the pay raises even though he voted in favor of boosting his salary by a minimum of $11,000 a year on top of the very generous perks legislators enjoy as members of the House of Lords. One recent study determined the total compensation package (salary and benefits) for a single state legislator costs taxpayers $150,000 a year.
While wholesale changes are needed in Harrisburg (228 of the 253 members of the bloated Pennsylvania House of Lords will be up for reelection in 2006), voters should be willing to give Sens. Rob Wonderling and John Rafferty and state Reps. Tom Quigley and Carole Rubley the benefit of the doubt. They voted against the pay raise, and as far as I know, have not accepted the money as "unvouchered expenses," the euphemism lawmakers are using to circumvent the Pennsylvania Constitution.
On the bright side, the list of legislators who have decided not to participate in the "unvouchered expense" scam is now up to 105.
Back to Rep. Creighton. "Trading principled decisions for legislative expediency is never right," Creighton wrote. "Unfortunately, for me, the State Capitol and its internal system of punishments and rewards got the best of me in that fateful vote."
Creighton wrote that he reversed his position "after much reflection, prayer and the counsel from countless friends like you."
He concluded by saying he is deeply sorry that the residents of Pennsylvania have lost faith in their lawmakers because of the pay grab. "The process needs to be responsive to the people, to the voters. If I made a mistake, I think I need to state why I made the mistake and explain why I won’t do it again and try to fix it."
The rest of the legislators who voted for the pay grab need to step up to the plate and say they’re sorry. They still have a long way to go to regain the public trust they violated, but an apology is a good place to start.
E-mail Tony Phyrillas at tphyrillas@pottsmerc.com
Thursday, August 18, 2005
Money-grubbing politicians feel the heat
An editorial cartoon in The Mercury this week raised the question of whether Pennsylvania lawmakers were hearing the public outrage over the Great Pay Grab of 2005. Rest assured, they’re hearing you loud and clear.
The citizens of Pennsylvania are going to win this one. The Pennsylvania House of Lords (aka state legislature) is feeling the heat. The 253 state House and Senate members remind me of George Armstrong Custer’s 7th Cavalry at the Little Big Horn. Through arrogance and audacity, legislative leaders have led their troops into hostile territory, where they are greatly outnumbered by Pennsylvania taxpayers. Like Custer, the party bosses have managed to get their forces surrounded. And we all know how the Battle of the Little Big Horn turned out.
The party bosses that masterminded the pay grab — Perzel, DeWeese, Jubelirer, Mellow, Brightbill — are losing soldiers daily. Two more legislators have changed their minds and decided not to accept "unvouchered expenses" that let lawmakers collect their new pay raises 16 months before the Pennsylvania Constitution allows, according to The (Delaware County) Daily Times. Rep. Nicholas A. Micozzie and Sen. Dominic E. Pileggi joined 12 other legislators who initially accepted and — amid a roar of public disapproval — subsequently rejected the special payments that are equal to their prospective raises, the newspaper reports.
The party bosses have circled the wagons and are preparing to fight for the pay raise to the last man. But the foot soldiers who were led into this battle with the promise that voters are too dumb to figure out what the Legislature did at 2 a.m. on July 7 or too lazy to do anything about it are deserting the Custers who led them into the quagmire. As constituents continue to confront legislators, it’s becoming every man for himself, and politicians, by their very nature, will do whatever it takes to save their own skin.
Newspapers continue to lead the charge with daily revelations of the greed and back-room dealing in the Pennsylvania House of Lords. The Mercury has collected 3,400 signatures opposing the pay grab in just 10 days. Four of The Mercury’s sister newspapers in southeastern Pennsylvania have joined the cause. We will deliver the letters to Harrisburg next month.
The number of Web sites helping organize the people’s revolt against the greedy politicians is growing. PACleanSweep.com reports 38,000 visitors to its Web site. The group has also signed up 2,200 subscribers to receive e-mail updates on the progress to clean up the mess in Harrisburg. Former state Rep. John Kennedy, who launched his own campaign to repeal the pay raise, reports 17,000 people have visited his Web site, www.declarationofaction.
The newest Web site devoted to winning back Pennsylvania from the gluttonous politicians is www.InformedPA.com. The group is planning to plaster the faces of the leaders of the pay grab on billboards across the state.
The politicians are blaming news coverage of the pay raise for stirring up the public, but as usual, they underestimate the intelligence of voters. You don’t need a Ph.D. to realize someone just reached into your pocket to relieve you of your hard-earned money. This revolt is grassroots. And voters won’t forget the pay raise when 228 of the 253 members of the House of Lords face reelection in 2006.
It’s not just the pay raise that is drawing public scrutiny. Residents are fuming about the $150,000 in taxpayer money being wasted by state lawmakers attending a junket in Seattle. Pennsylvania is sending nearly 100 delegates to the National Conference of State Legislatures. The only legislator from Berks, Chester or Montgomery counties I know went to Seattle is Rep. Dante Santoni Jr., a Democrat who "serves" the 126th District outside Reading.
Santoni, one of the drones who was promoted to a committee chairmanship when Democratic leader Bill DeWeese punished 15 Democrats who voted their conscience by not supporting the pay grab, willingly took the $11,000 pay raise and the chairmanship post, which added another $4,050 to his pockets. Santoni is also billing constituents for the $1,750 cost of attending the conference.
In western Pennsylvania, Rep. Frank LaGrotta said someone approached him in a supermarket and called him a thief for taking a "vacation" at taxpayers’ expense. LaGrotta decided not go to Seattle.
This is a defining moment in Pennsylvania history. Citizens must stand and fight the flagrant theft of public money and public trust. There are nearly 8 million registered voters in Pennsylvania.
Regardless of party affiliation, we need to work together to oust the 200 or so legislators who raided the public treasury on July 7.
Even if the 2 a.m. cowards rescind the pay raise when they get back to Harrisburg after their 10-week vacation, they will try to rob us again.
The only solution is remove them from the temptation of taking our money. Remember the pay raise! Vote them out!
E-mail Tony Phyrillas at tphyrillas@pottsmerc.com
The citizens of Pennsylvania are going to win this one. The Pennsylvania House of Lords (aka state legislature) is feeling the heat. The 253 state House and Senate members remind me of George Armstrong Custer’s 7th Cavalry at the Little Big Horn. Through arrogance and audacity, legislative leaders have led their troops into hostile territory, where they are greatly outnumbered by Pennsylvania taxpayers. Like Custer, the party bosses have managed to get their forces surrounded. And we all know how the Battle of the Little Big Horn turned out.
The party bosses that masterminded the pay grab — Perzel, DeWeese, Jubelirer, Mellow, Brightbill — are losing soldiers daily. Two more legislators have changed their minds and decided not to accept "unvouchered expenses" that let lawmakers collect their new pay raises 16 months before the Pennsylvania Constitution allows, according to The (Delaware County) Daily Times. Rep. Nicholas A. Micozzie and Sen. Dominic E. Pileggi joined 12 other legislators who initially accepted and — amid a roar of public disapproval — subsequently rejected the special payments that are equal to their prospective raises, the newspaper reports.
The party bosses have circled the wagons and are preparing to fight for the pay raise to the last man. But the foot soldiers who were led into this battle with the promise that voters are too dumb to figure out what the Legislature did at 2 a.m. on July 7 or too lazy to do anything about it are deserting the Custers who led them into the quagmire. As constituents continue to confront legislators, it’s becoming every man for himself, and politicians, by their very nature, will do whatever it takes to save their own skin.
Newspapers continue to lead the charge with daily revelations of the greed and back-room dealing in the Pennsylvania House of Lords. The Mercury has collected 3,400 signatures opposing the pay grab in just 10 days. Four of The Mercury’s sister newspapers in southeastern Pennsylvania have joined the cause. We will deliver the letters to Harrisburg next month.
The number of Web sites helping organize the people’s revolt against the greedy politicians is growing. PACleanSweep.com reports 38,000 visitors to its Web site. The group has also signed up 2,200 subscribers to receive e-mail updates on the progress to clean up the mess in Harrisburg. Former state Rep. John Kennedy, who launched his own campaign to repeal the pay raise, reports 17,000 people have visited his Web site, www.declarationofaction.
The newest Web site devoted to winning back Pennsylvania from the gluttonous politicians is www.InformedPA.com. The group is planning to plaster the faces of the leaders of the pay grab on billboards across the state.
The politicians are blaming news coverage of the pay raise for stirring up the public, but as usual, they underestimate the intelligence of voters. You don’t need a Ph.D. to realize someone just reached into your pocket to relieve you of your hard-earned money. This revolt is grassroots. And voters won’t forget the pay raise when 228 of the 253 members of the House of Lords face reelection in 2006.
It’s not just the pay raise that is drawing public scrutiny. Residents are fuming about the $150,000 in taxpayer money being wasted by state lawmakers attending a junket in Seattle. Pennsylvania is sending nearly 100 delegates to the National Conference of State Legislatures. The only legislator from Berks, Chester or Montgomery counties I know went to Seattle is Rep. Dante Santoni Jr., a Democrat who "serves" the 126th District outside Reading.
Santoni, one of the drones who was promoted to a committee chairmanship when Democratic leader Bill DeWeese punished 15 Democrats who voted their conscience by not supporting the pay grab, willingly took the $11,000 pay raise and the chairmanship post, which added another $4,050 to his pockets. Santoni is also billing constituents for the $1,750 cost of attending the conference.
In western Pennsylvania, Rep. Frank LaGrotta said someone approached him in a supermarket and called him a thief for taking a "vacation" at taxpayers’ expense. LaGrotta decided not go to Seattle.
This is a defining moment in Pennsylvania history. Citizens must stand and fight the flagrant theft of public money and public trust. There are nearly 8 million registered voters in Pennsylvania.
Regardless of party affiliation, we need to work together to oust the 200 or so legislators who raided the public treasury on July 7.
Even if the 2 a.m. cowards rescind the pay raise when they get back to Harrisburg after their 10-week vacation, they will try to rob us again.
The only solution is remove them from the temptation of taking our money. Remember the pay raise! Vote them out!
E-mail Tony Phyrillas at tphyrillas@pottsmerc.com
Monday, August 15, 2005
Pa. residents must organize to take back their state
The revolution is on. The shots were fired in the wee small hours of the morning of July 7 when most Pennsylvanians were fast asleep. That’s when 253 renegade politicians gave themselves outrageous pay raises on the last day of the legislative session before going on a 10-week summer vacation.
The 2004-05 session was one in which our well-paid legislators again failed to deliver property tax relief to the state’s beleaguered homeowners, failed to deliver health insurance reform for small business, leaving thousands of Pennsylvanians without health coverage, failed to provide adequate Medicare funding for the state’s poor, and failed to raise the state’s minimum wage, keeping thousands of the state’s working poor in poverty.
To reward themselves for complete failure, they broke into the state treasury in the middle of the night and ran off with pay raises ranging from $11,000 to $36,000.
The anger and frustration among the state’s besieged taxpayers continues to rise with the August heat. The revelation that Pennsylvania lawmakers will fleece taxpayers for another $150,000 to spend the week vacationing (I meant to say attending a conference) in Seattle is another kick in the groin for Pennsylvania taxpayers.
That bit of news was followed by an investigative piece in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that exposed a $135 million slush fund set up by the party bosses who rule Harrisburg. This account is controlled by legislative leaders — the same ones who pushed through the pay raise and the very same ones who punished legislators who voted against the money grab by removing them from committee chairmanships. The $135 million can be spent at the discretion of the party bosses. They can buy off anyone in the state with the money, which used to be part of the state treasury until the party bosses confiscated it for their private accounts.
And the very same article in the Tribune-Review revealed that our hard-working, full-time state legislators averaged 77 session days a year for the past five years in Harrisburg. So much for working "24/7" as some of these charlatans have been telling constituents. Anyone interested in a part-time job (you only have to show up 77 days a year) that pays $81,027 to start with the potential to make $145,553 if you rise to the post of party boss? The line forms behind me.
So what can the tormented taxpayer do between now and May 2006, when Pennsylvania residents can extract their revenge on these bandits in three-piece suits?
First, educate yourself. House Democratic leader William "Boss Hogg" DeWeese complained last week that Pennsylvania newspapers have been writing too much about the pay raise. He thinks the news coverage is behind the outrage. In other words, if taxpayers would be kept in the dark, it would be a lot easier for the state Legislature to carry on its criminal activities.
DeWeese’s contempt for the people of Pennsylvania speaks volumes of the arrogance of elected officials in this state. They are not public servants. They have crowned themselves as royalty — a Pennsylvania House of Lords — to rule over the rest of us commoners. This is all the reason Pennsylvania residents need to clean house in Harrisburg.
Second, continue to voice your opposition. Call and write your legislators. Challenge them at public forums to defend the pillage of taxpayers so they can maintain the lifestyles of the rich and famous. Participate in The Mercury’s Operation Giveback. Write a letter to the editor. Call your local talk radio station. Keep it alive.
Third, and most importantly, start making plans for the May 2006 primary election. All 203 members of the House of Representatives and 25 of the 50 Senators will face reelection next year. Unless the incumbents have opposition on the ballot, there’s no way to get rid of them. Consider running for office yourself. You can’t do any worse than the do-nothing dregs we have in office now. If you’re an independent, a libertarian or a member of another third-party, you must change your registration to Republican or Democrat in order to vote in the primary. That’s crucial.
There are several Web sites already set up offering advice on how Pennsylvania residents can organize and work to take back their government from the freeloaders who inhabit Harrisburg.
Former state Rep. John Kennedy, a Republican from Cumberland County who declined his pension and perks while serving from 1981 to 1988, has set up an informative site called: www.declarationofaction.org.
Another good site is www.genestilp.blogspot.com, the Web log of activist Eugene Stilp of Harrisburg, who has filed a lawsuit to overturn the pay hike.
The newest site attempting to organize residents is www.democracyrisingpa.com
Also worth checking out is www.pacleansweep.com, which was set up by Russ Diamond, a Lebanon County businessman, whose goal is to kick out the entire Legislature. Diamond’s site offers a lot of practical advice on how to make wholesale changes in Harrisburg in 2006 and beyond. And who — except for the 253 mutineers — doesn’t believe change is needed?
E-mail Tony Phyrillas at tphyrillas@pottsmerc.com
The 2004-05 session was one in which our well-paid legislators again failed to deliver property tax relief to the state’s beleaguered homeowners, failed to deliver health insurance reform for small business, leaving thousands of Pennsylvanians without health coverage, failed to provide adequate Medicare funding for the state’s poor, and failed to raise the state’s minimum wage, keeping thousands of the state’s working poor in poverty.
To reward themselves for complete failure, they broke into the state treasury in the middle of the night and ran off with pay raises ranging from $11,000 to $36,000.
The anger and frustration among the state’s besieged taxpayers continues to rise with the August heat. The revelation that Pennsylvania lawmakers will fleece taxpayers for another $150,000 to spend the week vacationing (I meant to say attending a conference) in Seattle is another kick in the groin for Pennsylvania taxpayers.
That bit of news was followed by an investigative piece in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that exposed a $135 million slush fund set up by the party bosses who rule Harrisburg. This account is controlled by legislative leaders — the same ones who pushed through the pay raise and the very same ones who punished legislators who voted against the money grab by removing them from committee chairmanships. The $135 million can be spent at the discretion of the party bosses. They can buy off anyone in the state with the money, which used to be part of the state treasury until the party bosses confiscated it for their private accounts.
And the very same article in the Tribune-Review revealed that our hard-working, full-time state legislators averaged 77 session days a year for the past five years in Harrisburg. So much for working "24/7" as some of these charlatans have been telling constituents. Anyone interested in a part-time job (you only have to show up 77 days a year) that pays $81,027 to start with the potential to make $145,553 if you rise to the post of party boss? The line forms behind me.
So what can the tormented taxpayer do between now and May 2006, when Pennsylvania residents can extract their revenge on these bandits in three-piece suits?
First, educate yourself. House Democratic leader William "Boss Hogg" DeWeese complained last week that Pennsylvania newspapers have been writing too much about the pay raise. He thinks the news coverage is behind the outrage. In other words, if taxpayers would be kept in the dark, it would be a lot easier for the state Legislature to carry on its criminal activities.
DeWeese’s contempt for the people of Pennsylvania speaks volumes of the arrogance of elected officials in this state. They are not public servants. They have crowned themselves as royalty — a Pennsylvania House of Lords — to rule over the rest of us commoners. This is all the reason Pennsylvania residents need to clean house in Harrisburg.
Second, continue to voice your opposition. Call and write your legislators. Challenge them at public forums to defend the pillage of taxpayers so they can maintain the lifestyles of the rich and famous. Participate in The Mercury’s Operation Giveback. Write a letter to the editor. Call your local talk radio station. Keep it alive.
Third, and most importantly, start making plans for the May 2006 primary election. All 203 members of the House of Representatives and 25 of the 50 Senators will face reelection next year. Unless the incumbents have opposition on the ballot, there’s no way to get rid of them. Consider running for office yourself. You can’t do any worse than the do-nothing dregs we have in office now. If you’re an independent, a libertarian or a member of another third-party, you must change your registration to Republican or Democrat in order to vote in the primary. That’s crucial.
There are several Web sites already set up offering advice on how Pennsylvania residents can organize and work to take back their government from the freeloaders who inhabit Harrisburg.
Former state Rep. John Kennedy, a Republican from Cumberland County who declined his pension and perks while serving from 1981 to 1988, has set up an informative site called: www.declarationofaction.org.
Another good site is www.genestilp.blogspot.com, the Web log of activist Eugene Stilp of Harrisburg, who has filed a lawsuit to overturn the pay hike.
The newest site attempting to organize residents is www.democracyrisingpa.com
Also worth checking out is www.pacleansweep.com, which was set up by Russ Diamond, a Lebanon County businessman, whose goal is to kick out the entire Legislature. Diamond’s site offers a lot of practical advice on how to make wholesale changes in Harrisburg in 2006 and beyond. And who — except for the 253 mutineers — doesn’t believe change is needed?
E-mail Tony Phyrillas at tphyrillas@pottsmerc.com
Pay raise revolt heats up: Letters pour in
This article was published Sunday, August 14, 2005, in The Mercury, Pottstown, PA
POTTSTOWN — One week after The Mercury began a campaign urging Pennsylvania lawmakers to return the large pay raise they gave themselves, nearly 3,000 readers have responded.
Enraged by the 2 a.m. July 7 vote by House and Senate members to increase lawmakers' salaries between 16 and 34 percent, readers have been mailing signed letters in droves to The Mercury office.
Titled Operation Giveback, the crusade aims to have state lawmakers repeal the pay increase and consider the needs of its citizens, many of whom are "struggling to pay property taxes and health care costs."
During the past week, The Mercury has been joined by four other Philadelphia area newspapers: The (Delaware County) Daily Times in Primos, the Daily Local News in West Chester, the Times Herald in Norristown and The Phoenix in Phoenixville.
Letters gathered by the five newspapers will be collectively hand-delivered to the state Capitol building in Harrisburg when the House and the Senate return from a 10-week summer recess on Sept 26.
Mercury editor Nancy March said the letter-writing campaign was inspired by a message left by a reader.
"A woman called and asked if we could print a petition so people could pass it around and let legislators know just how angry they are," she said. "So we thought, ‘Why not invite readers to send letters?’ Taking a huge stack of mail from angry constituents to Harrisburg is one way to let lawmakers see firsthand the furor they’ve created."
The reaction of readers has been gratifying, March added.
"People are calling us and coming into the office to thank us for the opportunity," she said. "In just one week, the campaign has generated a tremendous response, and it has all been positive. The people of the Pottstown area are telling us they welcome this opportunity to send a message to their elected representatives."
Bill Sharon, an employee of the Pottstown Codes Department, made 500 copies of the Operation Giveback letter and has spread them among six friends who are finding people to sign them. Although his letter is similar to The Mercury's, Sharon's goes a step further by demanding tax reform.
"I tell people they have to stop talking, and now is the time to take action," Sharon said. "We have to get out there and really make a statement."
Sharon has also set up a stand in front of his home at 131 King St. in Pottstown where passersby can stop and sign a letter. If people continue to respond, Sharon said he will copy another 500 letters and get more signatures.
"Maybe this pay raise issue is the kick in the backside that we need." Sharon said. "Everybody in the Pottstown area should sign a letter. There's not a reason why we shouldn't have 20,000, and it'd be great if people outside the area sent in letters, too."
Marie Piroschak, a senior citizen living in Pottstown, said she took 50 copies from Sharon and distributed all of them at the Pottstown Area Seniors Center. She said the response was so tremendous that she intends to hand them out again on Monday.
"Everybody wanted to sign, no problem at all, and they all seemed to know what this was all about. I was surprised," Piroschak said.
Although last month's pay increase is still fresh in the minds of constituents, many citizens are hoping that the taxpayers remember this vote during next year's elections when all 203 members of the state House and 25 of the 50 members of the state Senate face reelection.
Henry Flack of Schwenksville said signing an Operation Giveback letter was a no-brainer. The lawmakers' salary raise as well as the failure of the Legislature to enact property tax reform made his decision in next year's election an easy one.
"There isn't an incumbent that I would vote for again. I'm fed up with all of them," Flack said. "If a dog catcher ran against them, I still wouldn't vote for them."
By Don Brensinger
Copyright 2005 The Mercury
POTTSTOWN — One week after The Mercury began a campaign urging Pennsylvania lawmakers to return the large pay raise they gave themselves, nearly 3,000 readers have responded.
Enraged by the 2 a.m. July 7 vote by House and Senate members to increase lawmakers' salaries between 16 and 34 percent, readers have been mailing signed letters in droves to The Mercury office.
Titled Operation Giveback, the crusade aims to have state lawmakers repeal the pay increase and consider the needs of its citizens, many of whom are "struggling to pay property taxes and health care costs."
During the past week, The Mercury has been joined by four other Philadelphia area newspapers: The (Delaware County) Daily Times in Primos, the Daily Local News in West Chester, the Times Herald in Norristown and The Phoenix in Phoenixville.
Letters gathered by the five newspapers will be collectively hand-delivered to the state Capitol building in Harrisburg when the House and the Senate return from a 10-week summer recess on Sept 26.
Mercury editor Nancy March said the letter-writing campaign was inspired by a message left by a reader.
"A woman called and asked if we could print a petition so people could pass it around and let legislators know just how angry they are," she said. "So we thought, ‘Why not invite readers to send letters?’ Taking a huge stack of mail from angry constituents to Harrisburg is one way to let lawmakers see firsthand the furor they’ve created."
The reaction of readers has been gratifying, March added.
"People are calling us and coming into the office to thank us for the opportunity," she said. "In just one week, the campaign has generated a tremendous response, and it has all been positive. The people of the Pottstown area are telling us they welcome this opportunity to send a message to their elected representatives."
Bill Sharon, an employee of the Pottstown Codes Department, made 500 copies of the Operation Giveback letter and has spread them among six friends who are finding people to sign them. Although his letter is similar to The Mercury's, Sharon's goes a step further by demanding tax reform.
"I tell people they have to stop talking, and now is the time to take action," Sharon said. "We have to get out there and really make a statement."
Sharon has also set up a stand in front of his home at 131 King St. in Pottstown where passersby can stop and sign a letter. If people continue to respond, Sharon said he will copy another 500 letters and get more signatures.
"Maybe this pay raise issue is the kick in the backside that we need." Sharon said. "Everybody in the Pottstown area should sign a letter. There's not a reason why we shouldn't have 20,000, and it'd be great if people outside the area sent in letters, too."
Marie Piroschak, a senior citizen living in Pottstown, said she took 50 copies from Sharon and distributed all of them at the Pottstown Area Seniors Center. She said the response was so tremendous that she intends to hand them out again on Monday.
"Everybody wanted to sign, no problem at all, and they all seemed to know what this was all about. I was surprised," Piroschak said.
Although last month's pay increase is still fresh in the minds of constituents, many citizens are hoping that the taxpayers remember this vote during next year's elections when all 203 members of the state House and 25 of the 50 members of the state Senate face reelection.
Henry Flack of Schwenksville said signing an Operation Giveback letter was a no-brainer. The lawmakers' salary raise as well as the failure of the Legislature to enact property tax reform made his decision in next year's election an easy one.
"There isn't an incumbent that I would vote for again. I'm fed up with all of them," Flack said. "If a dog catcher ran against them, I still wouldn't vote for them."
By Don Brensinger
Copyright 2005 The Mercury
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
Legislative pay raise: Throw the bums out only goes so far
It’s been 30 days since the Pennsylvania Legislature pulled off the Great Pay Grab of 2005. The fact we’re still talking about the crime a month later is a victory in itself. But a lot more needs to be done between now and the primary election in 2006, which will be the first opportunity voters have to throw the bums out.
The news media has a short attention span. Stories are followed for a day or two and then forgotten. Television is the worst. Unless you’re a runaway bride or an attractive blonde high school senior who disappeared in Aruba, you’re lucky if the story stays on the air more than a day.
Since the initial vote on July 7 when legislators gave themselves pay raises of 16 percent to 34 percent, there’s been hardly a mention of the Great Pay Grab on any television newscasts, which, sadly, is the main source of news for many people. It’s been up to newspapers and a few radio stations to keep the issue alive.
I’ve browsed Web sites of many Pennsylvania newspapers over the past 30 days to see how this story is being covered across the state. To my surprise, every newspaper — large and small, liberal and conservative — has been outraged by the flagrant abuse of power displayed by the Pennsylvania Legislature. I’ve read more than two dozen editorials, at least 100 letters to the editor and dozens of columnists. Everyone is on the same page.
I can’t recall any issue in my 23 years in the newspaper industry where there has been universal agreement. What the legislators did on July 7 is reprehensible. A betrayal of public trust. Utter contempt for the people these legislators claim to represent.
The pay heist wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment crime. It was premeditated. Down to the last detail. The party bosses knew which legislators came from safe districts. They voted yes. The party bosses knew which freshmen legislators were vulnerable. They were allowed to vote no. But don’t be fooled. Nineteen House and Senate members who voted against the pay raise took the money anyway.
The smug political bosses who run this state miscalculated on the pay grab. They figured the whole thing would blow over in a week or two. But five weeks after Pennsylvania residents were fleeced by their own state representatives, the anger continues to grow. Spurred by newspapers, talk radio and the Internet, residents are organizing and planning their response to July 7, 2005 — a date that will live in infamy in the annals of Pennsylvania history.
After voting themselves pay raises of 16 percent to 34 percent at 2 a.m. on July 7, the 253 members of the legislative body in the country went on a 10-week summer vacation. Legislators are spending the month of August at their shore homes or in their cabins in the Poconos. Some of them are at their homes in Florida. Others are on European vacations. Who can blame them? If you just "found" an extra $11,000 in your pocket, wouldn’t you go on a spending spree?
If they’re not relaxing on the beach, our legislators are spending the summer in underground bunkers. Politicians love to see their name in print and their smiling face on the front pages of newspapers. But for the past five weeks, they’ve been in hiding, refusing requests for interviews about the pay grab. Readers have contacted me to say they believe the legislators disabled their e-mail systems so constituents could not contact them.
Gov. Ed Rendell, who signed the pay grab into law, and Pennsylvania Supreme Court Chief Justice Ralph J. Cappy are the only politicians who’ve publicly defended the heist. (Rendell gets a $21,228 annual pay raise under the same legislation, while Cappy gets an $18,144 per year pay boost.)
Their arguments are weak: "Legislators work hard. They put in long hours. They’re away from their families." Nobody is putting a gun to anyone’s head forcing them to run for public office. Legislators are free to leave Harrisburg for private sector jobs any time they want. But name one private sector job where you can set your own salary and boost your pay any time you want (as long as you do it in the middle of the night when your boss is asleep).
Rendell, whose own re-election in 2006 is jeopardized by the pay heist, dropped by the Reading Fair Monday to grab something to eat. He was booed by the fairgoers. Nothing planned. No organized protest. Just hard-working residents of Pennsylvania trying to provide a day out for their families. They saw a well-dressed politician making four times the pay they bring home and spontaneously started booing Rendell.
Rendell is lucky fairgoers didn’t toss tomatoes or eggs or cow chips in his direction.
There’s no doubt politicians are feeling the heat. But the key is to channel the anger into action. It’s time for wholesale changes in Harrisburg. Unless most the incumbents on the ballot in 2006 are voted out of office, the politicians will continue to rape taxpayers.
E-mail Tony Phyrillas at tphyrillas@pottsmerc.com
The news media has a short attention span. Stories are followed for a day or two and then forgotten. Television is the worst. Unless you’re a runaway bride or an attractive blonde high school senior who disappeared in Aruba, you’re lucky if the story stays on the air more than a day.
Since the initial vote on July 7 when legislators gave themselves pay raises of 16 percent to 34 percent, there’s been hardly a mention of the Great Pay Grab on any television newscasts, which, sadly, is the main source of news for many people. It’s been up to newspapers and a few radio stations to keep the issue alive.
I’ve browsed Web sites of many Pennsylvania newspapers over the past 30 days to see how this story is being covered across the state. To my surprise, every newspaper — large and small, liberal and conservative — has been outraged by the flagrant abuse of power displayed by the Pennsylvania Legislature. I’ve read more than two dozen editorials, at least 100 letters to the editor and dozens of columnists. Everyone is on the same page.
I can’t recall any issue in my 23 years in the newspaper industry where there has been universal agreement. What the legislators did on July 7 is reprehensible. A betrayal of public trust. Utter contempt for the people these legislators claim to represent.
The pay heist wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment crime. It was premeditated. Down to the last detail. The party bosses knew which legislators came from safe districts. They voted yes. The party bosses knew which freshmen legislators were vulnerable. They were allowed to vote no. But don’t be fooled. Nineteen House and Senate members who voted against the pay raise took the money anyway.
The smug political bosses who run this state miscalculated on the pay grab. They figured the whole thing would blow over in a week or two. But five weeks after Pennsylvania residents were fleeced by their own state representatives, the anger continues to grow. Spurred by newspapers, talk radio and the Internet, residents are organizing and planning their response to July 7, 2005 — a date that will live in infamy in the annals of Pennsylvania history.
After voting themselves pay raises of 16 percent to 34 percent at 2 a.m. on July 7, the 253 members of the legislative body in the country went on a 10-week summer vacation. Legislators are spending the month of August at their shore homes or in their cabins in the Poconos. Some of them are at their homes in Florida. Others are on European vacations. Who can blame them? If you just "found" an extra $11,000 in your pocket, wouldn’t you go on a spending spree?
If they’re not relaxing on the beach, our legislators are spending the summer in underground bunkers. Politicians love to see their name in print and their smiling face on the front pages of newspapers. But for the past five weeks, they’ve been in hiding, refusing requests for interviews about the pay grab. Readers have contacted me to say they believe the legislators disabled their e-mail systems so constituents could not contact them.
Gov. Ed Rendell, who signed the pay grab into law, and Pennsylvania Supreme Court Chief Justice Ralph J. Cappy are the only politicians who’ve publicly defended the heist. (Rendell gets a $21,228 annual pay raise under the same legislation, while Cappy gets an $18,144 per year pay boost.)
Their arguments are weak: "Legislators work hard. They put in long hours. They’re away from their families." Nobody is putting a gun to anyone’s head forcing them to run for public office. Legislators are free to leave Harrisburg for private sector jobs any time they want. But name one private sector job where you can set your own salary and boost your pay any time you want (as long as you do it in the middle of the night when your boss is asleep).
Rendell, whose own re-election in 2006 is jeopardized by the pay heist, dropped by the Reading Fair Monday to grab something to eat. He was booed by the fairgoers. Nothing planned. No organized protest. Just hard-working residents of Pennsylvania trying to provide a day out for their families. They saw a well-dressed politician making four times the pay they bring home and spontaneously started booing Rendell.
Rendell is lucky fairgoers didn’t toss tomatoes or eggs or cow chips in his direction.
There’s no doubt politicians are feeling the heat. But the key is to channel the anger into action. It’s time for wholesale changes in Harrisburg. Unless most the incumbents on the ballot in 2006 are voted out of office, the politicians will continue to rape taxpayers.
E-mail Tony Phyrillas at tphyrillas@pottsmerc.com
Monday, August 08, 2005
Give it back: Newspaper launches campaign to rescind Legislative pay grab
The Mercury, the largest circulation newspaper based in Montgomery County, ran a front-page editorial in its Sunday, Aug. 7, 2005, edition, along with a letter that readers can clip and send to the newspaper, which plans to deliver the letters to Harrisburg. The editorial is reprinted below:
Legislators are urged to give it back
Anger is brewing in the state of Pennsylvania.
The spark for this anger is House Bill 1521 approved by Pennsylvania lawmakers early in the morning of July 7. The legislation drove the annual base salaries of Pennsylvania lawmakers from $69,647 to $81,050, making them the second highest paid legislators in the nation.
The increases ranged from 16 to 34 percent with legislative leaders and committee chairmen getting the largest pay hikes.
As if that wasn’t enough to raise the hackles of folks struggling with high taxes and health care costs, the legislators then skirted the law so they could collect their money now instead of waiting until Jan. 1, 2007, when the raises take effect.
Using the tactic of "unvouchered expenses," 131 of the 201 sitting House members and 27 of the 50 senators got their money in checks on Aug. 1. That group included several who had voted against the bill but chose to accept the money anyway.
The legislators who said no to the raise — including both Rep. Tom Quigley and state Sen. John Rafferty of Montgomery County and state Rep. Carole Rubley of Chester County — are getting kudos from their constituents. Legislative leaders, however, punished those who voted against the bill by taking away committee posts.
The stream of letters, phone calls and e-mail to legislators has not slowed since the July 7 vote became public.
Instead, furor has grown as more details have been revealed about the package deal legislators are getting. Lawmakers get fully paid health insurance, up to $7,800 a year for vehicles, and those who live more than 50 miles from Harrisburg get expenses of $129 per day during legislative sessions. They also get fully paid pension benefits, which went up proportionately with the new salaries.
The pay raise bill was negotiated in secret, and the vote to approve it was taken in the middle of the night, just hours after a state budget was approved — six days behind schedule — that cut benefits for human services. As one Pottstown School Board member commented: "They can’t afford to feed the hungry school children, but they can find money for their own wallets."
Among the last-minute actions that the legislators left unfinished before starting their 10-week summer vacation was a proposal to raise the minimum wage. As was pointed out in an editorial in the Delaware County Daily Times: "The average $11,000 pay hike legislators are pocketing is more than a person working at minimum wage in the Keystone State makes in a year."
Those are just a few of the reasons for taxpayers to feel betrayed.
Another reason is the poor track record demonstrated by lawmakers.
They have failed to improve the economy. Pennsylvania ranks 47th in the nation in percentage employment growth and loses more young employment prospects to other areas than any other state. Population growth is nearly stagnant with a national ranking of 48th among the 50 states.
Pennsylvania ranks 40th in percentage income growth. The average Pennsylvania earned just $38,532 last year. The state is 44th in new business starts and growth.
In public education, Pennsylvania consistently gets low marks for how public schools are funded. It is 48th in the nation for state funding of public education and at the top of the list for the reliance on local property taxes to fund schools. Reliance on local property taxes creates lopsided funding that differs from school district to school district and makes Pennsylvania among the worst states for addressing equity in school funding.
The arguments that legislators work long hours and need high salaries to keep them equal with the private sector do not hold water. Their abysmal track record in fixing the commonwealth’s problems would get them fired in the private sector. They surely wouldn’t get such hefty raises.
Pennsylvania is rich in many ways. The stirrings that led to the birth of the nation started here. The state’s natural resources fueled industry and commerce for centuries. It has a wealth of culture and natural beauty.
But the citizens are getting tired of riches wasted on potential, on decades of lobbying for tax reform, on schools struggling with an antiquated funding system and on an economy stalled by a lack of initiative and incentive.
The only category in which this legislature has managed to rise to the top is in how much lawmakers get paid.
Pennsylvania is spending more than any other state in the nation on paying its legislators. And to borrow a phrase from an old movie: We’re mad as hell and we’re not going to take this anymore.
Readers are encouraged to cut out and mail to The Mercury the letter to legislators on the front page of this newspaper. The letters will be collected and hand-delivered to the state Capitol. Readers may also wish to contact their representatives by letter, phone or e-mail.
Legislators are urged to give it back
Anger is brewing in the state of Pennsylvania.
The spark for this anger is House Bill 1521 approved by Pennsylvania lawmakers early in the morning of July 7. The legislation drove the annual base salaries of Pennsylvania lawmakers from $69,647 to $81,050, making them the second highest paid legislators in the nation.
The increases ranged from 16 to 34 percent with legislative leaders and committee chairmen getting the largest pay hikes.
As if that wasn’t enough to raise the hackles of folks struggling with high taxes and health care costs, the legislators then skirted the law so they could collect their money now instead of waiting until Jan. 1, 2007, when the raises take effect.
Using the tactic of "unvouchered expenses," 131 of the 201 sitting House members and 27 of the 50 senators got their money in checks on Aug. 1. That group included several who had voted against the bill but chose to accept the money anyway.
The legislators who said no to the raise — including both Rep. Tom Quigley and state Sen. John Rafferty of Montgomery County and state Rep. Carole Rubley of Chester County — are getting kudos from their constituents. Legislative leaders, however, punished those who voted against the bill by taking away committee posts.
The stream of letters, phone calls and e-mail to legislators has not slowed since the July 7 vote became public.
Instead, furor has grown as more details have been revealed about the package deal legislators are getting. Lawmakers get fully paid health insurance, up to $7,800 a year for vehicles, and those who live more than 50 miles from Harrisburg get expenses of $129 per day during legislative sessions. They also get fully paid pension benefits, which went up proportionately with the new salaries.
The pay raise bill was negotiated in secret, and the vote to approve it was taken in the middle of the night, just hours after a state budget was approved — six days behind schedule — that cut benefits for human services. As one Pottstown School Board member commented: "They can’t afford to feed the hungry school children, but they can find money for their own wallets."
Among the last-minute actions that the legislators left unfinished before starting their 10-week summer vacation was a proposal to raise the minimum wage. As was pointed out in an editorial in the Delaware County Daily Times: "The average $11,000 pay hike legislators are pocketing is more than a person working at minimum wage in the Keystone State makes in a year."
Those are just a few of the reasons for taxpayers to feel betrayed.
Another reason is the poor track record demonstrated by lawmakers.
They have failed to improve the economy. Pennsylvania ranks 47th in the nation in percentage employment growth and loses more young employment prospects to other areas than any other state. Population growth is nearly stagnant with a national ranking of 48th among the 50 states.
Pennsylvania ranks 40th in percentage income growth. The average Pennsylvania earned just $38,532 last year. The state is 44th in new business starts and growth.
In public education, Pennsylvania consistently gets low marks for how public schools are funded. It is 48th in the nation for state funding of public education and at the top of the list for the reliance on local property taxes to fund schools. Reliance on local property taxes creates lopsided funding that differs from school district to school district and makes Pennsylvania among the worst states for addressing equity in school funding.
The arguments that legislators work long hours and need high salaries to keep them equal with the private sector do not hold water. Their abysmal track record in fixing the commonwealth’s problems would get them fired in the private sector. They surely wouldn’t get such hefty raises.
Pennsylvania is rich in many ways. The stirrings that led to the birth of the nation started here. The state’s natural resources fueled industry and commerce for centuries. It has a wealth of culture and natural beauty.
But the citizens are getting tired of riches wasted on potential, on decades of lobbying for tax reform, on schools struggling with an antiquated funding system and on an economy stalled by a lack of initiative and incentive.
The only category in which this legislature has managed to rise to the top is in how much lawmakers get paid.
Pennsylvania is spending more than any other state in the nation on paying its legislators. And to borrow a phrase from an old movie: We’re mad as hell and we’re not going to take this anymore.
Readers are encouraged to cut out and mail to The Mercury the letter to legislators on the front page of this newspaper. The letters will be collected and hand-delivered to the state Capitol. Readers may also wish to contact their representatives by letter, phone or e-mail.
Sunday, July 31, 2005
Politicians miscalculated; Voters will not forget
This is the editorial from the Sunday, July 31, 2005, edition of The Mercury, Pottstown, Pa.
Lawmakers count on voters forgetting the raise debacle
"Nothing more than a tempest in a teapot."
Those were the words of one legislative aide regarding the allegations that Democratic legislators were punished with committee demotions for voting against the recent pay raise for themselves.
The tempest that’s brewing regarding the pay raises is gaining some steam, but not enough to knock some sense into lawmakers. Pennsylvania’s tax-paying residents are angry and upset that their elected officials voted themselves a 16 percent pay raise at a time when most workers are seeing far smaller increases in their paychecks.
But the legislators, and particularly legislative leaders — who got even larger pay raises — are neither hearing nor heeding the outrage. Instead, they will be collecting their first super-sized paychecks on Monday.
In the latest revelation on the raises, it was reported that state House Democratic Leader H. William DeWeese demoted 15 Democrats from their committee posts as punishment for voting against the raises. The demotions affected 12 subcommittee chairmen and three committee vice chairmen.
Michael Manzo, chief of staff to DeWeese, said, "It's nothing more than a tempest in a teapot," referring to the reports about the demotions.
Rep. Thomas F. Yewcic of Cambria County, who lost his post as chairman of the economic development subcommittee, told The Associated Press: "We were told before the pay-raise vote that if people voted against it, we would be removed. It was punishment. People who had less seniority were promoted because they voted for the pay raise."
The pay-raise bill passed July 7 by lawmakers and signed by Gov. Ed Rendell increases legislators' base pay from $69,647 to $81,050. Subcommittee chairs and committee vice chairs, who previously were paid the same rank-and-file salary, receive an additional $4,050.
DeWeese, whose salary will increase from $100,911 to $134,771 annually, did not respond on Thursday to requests from The Associated Press for comment.
Speaking for DeWeese, Manzo said Democratic leaders determined that about a dozen of the 61 Democrats who voted for the raises would receive only the base pay because they did not currently hold positions as subcommittee chairmen or committee vice chairmen. "It is unfair that those who put up that vote should be paid less than those who did not," Manzo said.
The demotion news was the latest in a long list of reports out of Harrisburg that shock and disgust tax-paying citizens of the Commonwealth.
The Associated Press also reported last week that the raise will give members of the Pennsylvania Legislature a similar boost to pensions that are already considered generous when compared with many public employee retirement systems around the country.
A rank-and-file state representative who retires this month after 20 years in the Pennsylvania Legislature would get an annual pension of up to $40,000. But thanks to the pay raise, a 20-year rank-and-file House representative who gets the 16 percent raise and retires in three years could get an annual pension of roughly $50,000, factoring in cost-of-living salary increases.
Lawmakers who chair a committee will see a 28 percent salary boost — from $69,647 to $89,155. At that salary, a 20-year veteran who retires in 2008 could get an annual pension of roughly $55,000. (Unless, of course, the committee chair voted against the pay raise, and then he or she will be demoted.)
Lawmakers and judges defend the pay raises as a way to make their salaries commensurate with those of other public officials, such as school superintendents, or private sector employees. But in the private sector, raises are often withheld if employees do a lousy job and fail to produce results.
Pennsylvania ranks in the lowest tier of states in economic growth and jobs creation and for how schools are funded and how residents are taxed. The raises give the state the dubious distinction of being number one in legislative pay and benefits.
The salary vote and the controversies surrounding it speak volumes about the quality of our legislators — or lack of it. Several movements are afoot to oust current lawmakers the next time they come up for election. But will voters remember?
Apparently the legislators don’t think so, as they will interrupt their summer vacations on Monday long enough to collect their raise.
We, however, will not forget. This newspaper will continue to publish the names and addresses of those who voted for this raise and those who voted against it from now until the next time they face election. Make sure they know where you stand.
Copyright 2005 The Mercury
Lawmakers count on voters forgetting the raise debacle
"Nothing more than a tempest in a teapot."
Those were the words of one legislative aide regarding the allegations that Democratic legislators were punished with committee demotions for voting against the recent pay raise for themselves.
The tempest that’s brewing regarding the pay raises is gaining some steam, but not enough to knock some sense into lawmakers. Pennsylvania’s tax-paying residents are angry and upset that their elected officials voted themselves a 16 percent pay raise at a time when most workers are seeing far smaller increases in their paychecks.
But the legislators, and particularly legislative leaders — who got even larger pay raises — are neither hearing nor heeding the outrage. Instead, they will be collecting their first super-sized paychecks on Monday.
In the latest revelation on the raises, it was reported that state House Democratic Leader H. William DeWeese demoted 15 Democrats from their committee posts as punishment for voting against the raises. The demotions affected 12 subcommittee chairmen and three committee vice chairmen.
Michael Manzo, chief of staff to DeWeese, said, "It's nothing more than a tempest in a teapot," referring to the reports about the demotions.
Rep. Thomas F. Yewcic of Cambria County, who lost his post as chairman of the economic development subcommittee, told The Associated Press: "We were told before the pay-raise vote that if people voted against it, we would be removed. It was punishment. People who had less seniority were promoted because they voted for the pay raise."
The pay-raise bill passed July 7 by lawmakers and signed by Gov. Ed Rendell increases legislators' base pay from $69,647 to $81,050. Subcommittee chairs and committee vice chairs, who previously were paid the same rank-and-file salary, receive an additional $4,050.
DeWeese, whose salary will increase from $100,911 to $134,771 annually, did not respond on Thursday to requests from The Associated Press for comment.
Speaking for DeWeese, Manzo said Democratic leaders determined that about a dozen of the 61 Democrats who voted for the raises would receive only the base pay because they did not currently hold positions as subcommittee chairmen or committee vice chairmen. "It is unfair that those who put up that vote should be paid less than those who did not," Manzo said.
The demotion news was the latest in a long list of reports out of Harrisburg that shock and disgust tax-paying citizens of the Commonwealth.
The Associated Press also reported last week that the raise will give members of the Pennsylvania Legislature a similar boost to pensions that are already considered generous when compared with many public employee retirement systems around the country.
A rank-and-file state representative who retires this month after 20 years in the Pennsylvania Legislature would get an annual pension of up to $40,000. But thanks to the pay raise, a 20-year rank-and-file House representative who gets the 16 percent raise and retires in three years could get an annual pension of roughly $50,000, factoring in cost-of-living salary increases.
Lawmakers who chair a committee will see a 28 percent salary boost — from $69,647 to $89,155. At that salary, a 20-year veteran who retires in 2008 could get an annual pension of roughly $55,000. (Unless, of course, the committee chair voted against the pay raise, and then he or she will be demoted.)
Lawmakers and judges defend the pay raises as a way to make their salaries commensurate with those of other public officials, such as school superintendents, or private sector employees. But in the private sector, raises are often withheld if employees do a lousy job and fail to produce results.
Pennsylvania ranks in the lowest tier of states in economic growth and jobs creation and for how schools are funded and how residents are taxed. The raises give the state the dubious distinction of being number one in legislative pay and benefits.
The salary vote and the controversies surrounding it speak volumes about the quality of our legislators — or lack of it. Several movements are afoot to oust current lawmakers the next time they come up for election. But will voters remember?
Apparently the legislators don’t think so, as they will interrupt their summer vacations on Monday long enough to collect their raise.
We, however, will not forget. This newspaper will continue to publish the names and addresses of those who voted for this raise and those who voted against it from now until the next time they face election. Make sure they know where you stand.
Copyright 2005 The Mercury
Thursday, July 28, 2005
Pennsylvania is No. 1 in trash, overpaid politicians
This editorial was published Sunday, July 24, in The Mercury, Pottstown, Pa.
Item: "Pa. trash imports drop, but state still No. 1"
Item: "Report: Pa. lawmakers’ payroll tops nation"
Those headlines from this past week should make every politician in Pennsylvania — from the governor to the newly-rich state Legislature — hang his or her head in shame.
Those are two areas Pennsylvania should not be ranked No. 1, especially when the state usually drops to the mid- to low-40s (out of 50 states) when it comes to education, health care, transportation, the environment and economic growth.
We can thank Gov. Ed Rendell, a Democrat, and the Republican-controlled state Legislature for both dubious distinctions.
The amount of trash imported into Pennsylvania in 2004 dropped for the third straight year because of high fuel prices, state officials said, but the Keystone state easily remained the nation’s top destination for interstate waste shipments, according to The Associated Press.
And it’s not like our state officials are doing anything to discourage New York and New Jersey from using Pennsylvania as a garbage can. The reason trash shipments are down is because companies increasingly are switching trash shipments from trucks to rail because of the high cost of fuel. And you thought there wasn’t a positive side to rising gas prices.
Turns out Pennsylvania doesn’t have direct rail service to its landfills, so we’ve been spared some of the refuse from our neighboring states.
Trash imports to Pennsylvania dropped by 446,000 tons, or about 4 percent, in 2004, according to the state Department of Environmental Protection. At 10.1 million tons last year, Pennsylvania took 2.3 million more tons of out-of-state trash than the second-place state, Virginia, where trash imports increased by 1.2 million tons, or 18 percent, in 2004.
Gov. Rendell sponsored a contest last year to pick a new state motto. It appears to have been a waste of time. Pennsylvania already has a state motto: "America’s dumping ground."
While on the subject of waste, Pennsylvania’s legislative payroll is now the most expensive in the nation because of a pay raise that state lawmakers gave themselves earlier this month, according to a Harrisburg-based policy analysis group.
The state’s 253 lawmakers could earn nearly $20.5 million in base salary alone this fiscal year. According to the Pennsylvania Economy League, the base salary is enough to give the Pennsylvania Legislature the highest payroll — more than the $17 million base payroll in New York and $12 million in California.
Pennsylvania already had the largest state legislature in the nation but now the state’s beleaguered taxpayers will have to find another $20 million a year to keep their elected representatives in the luxury they’ve become accustomed to living.
The Pennsylvania Economy League report doesn’t make any conclusions on whether taxpayers are getting their money’s worth from their legislators.
"It’s a decision that each voter is going to have to make for him or herself," said Karen Miller, the executive director of the Pennsylvania Economy League.
Voters will be able to make that decision in 2006 when Gov. Rendell, the entire 203-member state House and half of the 50-member state Senate will face reelection.
Copyright 2005 The Mercury
Item: "Pa. trash imports drop, but state still No. 1"
Item: "Report: Pa. lawmakers’ payroll tops nation"
Those headlines from this past week should make every politician in Pennsylvania — from the governor to the newly-rich state Legislature — hang his or her head in shame.
Those are two areas Pennsylvania should not be ranked No. 1, especially when the state usually drops to the mid- to low-40s (out of 50 states) when it comes to education, health care, transportation, the environment and economic growth.
We can thank Gov. Ed Rendell, a Democrat, and the Republican-controlled state Legislature for both dubious distinctions.
The amount of trash imported into Pennsylvania in 2004 dropped for the third straight year because of high fuel prices, state officials said, but the Keystone state easily remained the nation’s top destination for interstate waste shipments, according to The Associated Press.
And it’s not like our state officials are doing anything to discourage New York and New Jersey from using Pennsylvania as a garbage can. The reason trash shipments are down is because companies increasingly are switching trash shipments from trucks to rail because of the high cost of fuel. And you thought there wasn’t a positive side to rising gas prices.
Turns out Pennsylvania doesn’t have direct rail service to its landfills, so we’ve been spared some of the refuse from our neighboring states.
Trash imports to Pennsylvania dropped by 446,000 tons, or about 4 percent, in 2004, according to the state Department of Environmental Protection. At 10.1 million tons last year, Pennsylvania took 2.3 million more tons of out-of-state trash than the second-place state, Virginia, where trash imports increased by 1.2 million tons, or 18 percent, in 2004.
Gov. Rendell sponsored a contest last year to pick a new state motto. It appears to have been a waste of time. Pennsylvania already has a state motto: "America’s dumping ground."
While on the subject of waste, Pennsylvania’s legislative payroll is now the most expensive in the nation because of a pay raise that state lawmakers gave themselves earlier this month, according to a Harrisburg-based policy analysis group.
The state’s 253 lawmakers could earn nearly $20.5 million in base salary alone this fiscal year. According to the Pennsylvania Economy League, the base salary is enough to give the Pennsylvania Legislature the highest payroll — more than the $17 million base payroll in New York and $12 million in California.
Pennsylvania already had the largest state legislature in the nation but now the state’s beleaguered taxpayers will have to find another $20 million a year to keep their elected representatives in the luxury they’ve become accustomed to living.
The Pennsylvania Economy League report doesn’t make any conclusions on whether taxpayers are getting their money’s worth from their legislators.
"It’s a decision that each voter is going to have to make for him or herself," said Karen Miller, the executive director of the Pennsylvania Economy League.
Voters will be able to make that decision in 2006 when Gov. Rendell, the entire 203-member state House and half of the 50-member state Senate will face reelection.
Copyright 2005 The Mercury
Thursday, July 21, 2005
Taxpayers should sue legislators who gave themselves pay raises
This editorial was published Thursday, July 21, in The Mercury, Pottstown, Pa.
When somebody confronts you on the street and steals your money or breaks into your house and runs off with your valuables, you call the police. The judicial system is designed to protect law-abiding citizens from those who are not willing to live by society’s rules.
When elected officials commit crimes, residents have two options: vote them out of office or turn to the courts for relief.
The first option is on the minds of almost every Pennsylvania taxpayer who was recently mugged by their own elected representatives. Judging from the articles, editorials and letters to the editor appearing in newspapers across the state, the great money-grab of 2005 has galvanized citizens as nothing has in recent memory.
Unfortunately, the perpetrators knew what they were doing. This was a well-planned crime.
The members of the state legislature who voted themselves pay raises of 16 percent to 34 percent a year did so in a year when none of them face reelection. The entire House membership and half of the state Senate won’t be on the ballot until 2006, but that’s 10 months away for the primary election and 16 months until the general election. The politicians are counting on the public forgetting the holdup by the time they face the voters.
Which brings us to the courts. While the way the pay raise was approved is reprehensible (a vote in the middle of the night without any public discussion of the numbers agreed to in secret by party bosses), there’s no debate that the legislators had the authority to give themselves pay raises. They can grant themselves titles of nobility and prance around in crowns and robes if they want.
But what is questionable is the scheme the politicians concocted to collect their pay raises today even though the Constitution prohibits such action.
From the Pennsylvania Constitution: Article II, Compensation, Section 8 ... No members of either House shall during the term for which he may have been elected, receive any increase of salary, or mileage, under any law passed during such term.
Can the language be any clearer? The Constitution forbids members of the legislature who vote themselves a pay raise from collecting that money until their current term expires. The Constitution was written that way so politicians would have to win reelection before enjoying the spoils of a pay raise. But our esteemed legislators have decided to start collecting their ill-gotten gain right away as "unvouchered expenses."
They have made a mockery of the very Constitution they swore to uphold. A salary is not an "unvouchered expense." Maybe somebody should tip off the IRS that Pennsylvania legislators are collecting part of their salary under the table.
There have been rumblings by a few citizen activists of filing a lawsuit to stop the pay hikes. Something similar was tried in 1995, the last time the Harrisburg politicians robbed the taxpayers. Unbelievably, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court didn’t have a problem with this flagrant breach of the Constitution.
This is an issue the court needs to revisit. And we hope the current crop of justices are able to read. The problem is that the very justices who would be asked to rule on the constitutionality of the pay-raise issue are themselves getting a pay raise. If they toss out the Legislature’s vote, the judges would be rejecting their own pay raise.
The way the legislature went about handing itself more money "demeans the entire legislative and democratic process ... it’s just a cynical way to do business," said Barry Kauffman, executive director of Common Cause Pennsylvania, a non-partisan citizens lobby group.
A lawsuit by the citizens of Pennsylvania is the first step. Voting out every member who approved the pay raise is the next step. And if necessary, impeaching the judges who refuse to uphold the Constitution should be the third step.
Something’s rotten in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It’s becoming clear that a thorough cleansing of the ruling class in Harrisburg is the only way to eliminate the stench.
Copyright 2005 The Mercury
When somebody confronts you on the street and steals your money or breaks into your house and runs off with your valuables, you call the police. The judicial system is designed to protect law-abiding citizens from those who are not willing to live by society’s rules.
When elected officials commit crimes, residents have two options: vote them out of office or turn to the courts for relief.
The first option is on the minds of almost every Pennsylvania taxpayer who was recently mugged by their own elected representatives. Judging from the articles, editorials and letters to the editor appearing in newspapers across the state, the great money-grab of 2005 has galvanized citizens as nothing has in recent memory.
Unfortunately, the perpetrators knew what they were doing. This was a well-planned crime.
The members of the state legislature who voted themselves pay raises of 16 percent to 34 percent a year did so in a year when none of them face reelection. The entire House membership and half of the state Senate won’t be on the ballot until 2006, but that’s 10 months away for the primary election and 16 months until the general election. The politicians are counting on the public forgetting the holdup by the time they face the voters.
Which brings us to the courts. While the way the pay raise was approved is reprehensible (a vote in the middle of the night without any public discussion of the numbers agreed to in secret by party bosses), there’s no debate that the legislators had the authority to give themselves pay raises. They can grant themselves titles of nobility and prance around in crowns and robes if they want.
But what is questionable is the scheme the politicians concocted to collect their pay raises today even though the Constitution prohibits such action.
From the Pennsylvania Constitution: Article II, Compensation, Section 8 ... No members of either House shall during the term for which he may have been elected, receive any increase of salary, or mileage, under any law passed during such term.
Can the language be any clearer? The Constitution forbids members of the legislature who vote themselves a pay raise from collecting that money until their current term expires. The Constitution was written that way so politicians would have to win reelection before enjoying the spoils of a pay raise. But our esteemed legislators have decided to start collecting their ill-gotten gain right away as "unvouchered expenses."
They have made a mockery of the very Constitution they swore to uphold. A salary is not an "unvouchered expense." Maybe somebody should tip off the IRS that Pennsylvania legislators are collecting part of their salary under the table.
There have been rumblings by a few citizen activists of filing a lawsuit to stop the pay hikes. Something similar was tried in 1995, the last time the Harrisburg politicians robbed the taxpayers. Unbelievably, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court didn’t have a problem with this flagrant breach of the Constitution.
This is an issue the court needs to revisit. And we hope the current crop of justices are able to read. The problem is that the very justices who would be asked to rule on the constitutionality of the pay-raise issue are themselves getting a pay raise. If they toss out the Legislature’s vote, the judges would be rejecting their own pay raise.
The way the legislature went about handing itself more money "demeans the entire legislative and democratic process ... it’s just a cynical way to do business," said Barry Kauffman, executive director of Common Cause Pennsylvania, a non-partisan citizens lobby group.
A lawsuit by the citizens of Pennsylvania is the first step. Voting out every member who approved the pay raise is the next step. And if necessary, impeaching the judges who refuse to uphold the Constitution should be the third step.
Something’s rotten in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It’s becoming clear that a thorough cleansing of the ruling class in Harrisburg is the only way to eliminate the stench.
Copyright 2005 The Mercury
Monday, July 18, 2005
Voters must not forget legislative money-grab
The editorial below was published Sunday, July 17, 2005, in The Mercury, Pottstown, Pa. It lists all the legislators in The Mercury's coverage area and how they voted on the pay raise issue. The editorial ran with a cartoon of a couple in bed who wake up to find a burglar going through their belongings in the middle of the night. The burglar smiles and tells the couple not to worry. He's not a thief, he's their local state legislator.
Thieves in the night.
That description embodies a growing consensus among Pennsylvania taxpayers that the action by state legislators to raise their own salaries between 16 and 34 percent last week was outright thievery.
For those who may have missed the details, state lawmakers passed House Bill 1521 in the early hours of the morning on Thursday, July 7. The legislation drove the annual base salaries of Pennsylvania lawmakers from $69,647 to $81,050, making them the second-highest paid legislators in the nation. The House voted 119-79 and the Senate voted 27-23.
Committee chairmen’s pay will increase by 28 percent to $89,155; committee vice chairmen to $85,103. Majority and minority leaders’ pay increased by 24 percent to $124,788, and pay for the Speaker of the House and Senate Pro Tem jumped 34 percent to $145,553.
Gov. Ed Rendell, who signed and defended the bill, said he would forgo his $21,000 raise if reelected next year.
The bill will go into effect Dec. 1, 2006. However, lawmakers have figured out a way to collect their raises right away by authorizing the payment of "unvouchered expenses" equal to the amount of the raises until the new salary levels take effect.
In addition, Pennsylvania lawmakers receive fully paid health insurance, a fully paid pension and as much as $7,800 a year for vehicle expenses. Those who live more than 50 miles from the Capitol get $129 a day in travel expenses.
Among area legislators, state Sens. Michael O’Pake (D-11th) and Robert Thompson (R-19th) voted yes; state Sens. John Rafferty (R-44th) and Robert Wonderling (R-24th) voted no.
State Reps. Tim Hennessey (R-26th), Dennis Leh (R-130th), Raymond Bunt (R-147th), Jacqueline Crahalla (R-150th), and Curt Schroder (R-155th) voted yes.
State Reps. Douglass Reichley (R-134th), Tom Quigley (R-146th), and Carole Rubley (R-157th) voted no.
When asked about their votes, some said they thought it was justified. Other claimed the raise was long overdue.
Think again.
In private industry, pay raises are tied to performance. When did failing to solve the problems of a state ranked near the bottom in every economic development and educational spending criteria match up with stellar performance?
And overdue? How many workers in the private sector have enjoyed automatic cost-of-living raises every year?
Crahalla said the raise was justified for some legislators who, like herself, pour many hours into their job. She also said she voted yes because her husband, who is a local district judge, deserves a raise, and that was part of the package.
Although O’Pake, voted in favor of the bill, Bill Evans, his executive assistant, said he planned to give the money to charity. (Taxpayers may have preferred it stay in their pockets, and they give it to the charity of their choice.)
Although voting against the bill, Reichley said his decision was a "personal opinion" and stood up for the legislators who favored the pay raise.
"I have no contrary opinion to those who voted for it. The criticism is not justified," Reichley said. "If people had a better sense of what goes into the job requirements, then they might have a different opinion on this issue."
The opinions on the issue arise from the fact that few taxpayers have the luxury of deciding how much they get paid.
Those same taxpayers are struggling to pay taxes in a system that desperately needs an overhaul. While they struggle with a lack of growth in the state’s economy and a graying population with a growing number on fixed incomes, they question the performance of the legislators in correcting these ills.
As an answer, lawmakers give themselves a raise.
Newspapers throughout the state are reminding voters that if they don’t have a say in how much legislators are paid, they do have a say in who gets the money.
Remember the names of those who voted for this pay raise and then decide at election time if they’re worth the money.
Copyright 2005 The Mercury
Thieves in the night.
That description embodies a growing consensus among Pennsylvania taxpayers that the action by state legislators to raise their own salaries between 16 and 34 percent last week was outright thievery.
For those who may have missed the details, state lawmakers passed House Bill 1521 in the early hours of the morning on Thursday, July 7. The legislation drove the annual base salaries of Pennsylvania lawmakers from $69,647 to $81,050, making them the second-highest paid legislators in the nation. The House voted 119-79 and the Senate voted 27-23.
Committee chairmen’s pay will increase by 28 percent to $89,155; committee vice chairmen to $85,103. Majority and minority leaders’ pay increased by 24 percent to $124,788, and pay for the Speaker of the House and Senate Pro Tem jumped 34 percent to $145,553.
Gov. Ed Rendell, who signed and defended the bill, said he would forgo his $21,000 raise if reelected next year.
The bill will go into effect Dec. 1, 2006. However, lawmakers have figured out a way to collect their raises right away by authorizing the payment of "unvouchered expenses" equal to the amount of the raises until the new salary levels take effect.
In addition, Pennsylvania lawmakers receive fully paid health insurance, a fully paid pension and as much as $7,800 a year for vehicle expenses. Those who live more than 50 miles from the Capitol get $129 a day in travel expenses.
Among area legislators, state Sens. Michael O’Pake (D-11th) and Robert Thompson (R-19th) voted yes; state Sens. John Rafferty (R-44th) and Robert Wonderling (R-24th) voted no.
State Reps. Tim Hennessey (R-26th), Dennis Leh (R-130th), Raymond Bunt (R-147th), Jacqueline Crahalla (R-150th), and Curt Schroder (R-155th) voted yes.
State Reps. Douglass Reichley (R-134th), Tom Quigley (R-146th), and Carole Rubley (R-157th) voted no.
When asked about their votes, some said they thought it was justified. Other claimed the raise was long overdue.
Think again.
In private industry, pay raises are tied to performance. When did failing to solve the problems of a state ranked near the bottom in every economic development and educational spending criteria match up with stellar performance?
And overdue? How many workers in the private sector have enjoyed automatic cost-of-living raises every year?
Crahalla said the raise was justified for some legislators who, like herself, pour many hours into their job. She also said she voted yes because her husband, who is a local district judge, deserves a raise, and that was part of the package.
Although O’Pake, voted in favor of the bill, Bill Evans, his executive assistant, said he planned to give the money to charity. (Taxpayers may have preferred it stay in their pockets, and they give it to the charity of their choice.)
Although voting against the bill, Reichley said his decision was a "personal opinion" and stood up for the legislators who favored the pay raise.
"I have no contrary opinion to those who voted for it. The criticism is not justified," Reichley said. "If people had a better sense of what goes into the job requirements, then they might have a different opinion on this issue."
The opinions on the issue arise from the fact that few taxpayers have the luxury of deciding how much they get paid.
Those same taxpayers are struggling to pay taxes in a system that desperately needs an overhaul. While they struggle with a lack of growth in the state’s economy and a graying population with a growing number on fixed incomes, they question the performance of the legislators in correcting these ills.
As an answer, lawmakers give themselves a raise.
Newspapers throughout the state are reminding voters that if they don’t have a say in how much legislators are paid, they do have a say in who gets the money.
Remember the names of those who voted for this pay raise and then decide at election time if they’re worth the money.
Copyright 2005 The Mercury
Stop the presses! The New York Times admits bias
Dan Rather tried to swing the 2004 presidential election to John Kerry using faked memos about President Bush's National Guard service. Rather paid the price for his failed scheme when he was forced out as anchor of the "CBS Evening News" and the show where he broke the memo story — "60 Minutes II" — was canceled.
The New York Times tried something similar. Remember the front-page stories on the Iraqi weapons depot that was looted supposedly while U.S. forces were guarding it? That "scoop" on the eve of the election was part of a campaign of biased reporting at the Times to tip the election to Kerry. It failed, but nobody lost their job at the New York Times as a result of the "missing weapons" hoax. For the longest time, it looked like the newspaper would get away with spewing its leftist propaganda.
Should it matter to you what happens at the New York Times? Yes. The New York Times and the radical left have formed an unholy alliance. The newspaper legitimizes the left's extremist agenda and gives the Democratic Party a platform to contaminate the nation's political system.
The Times is an anti-Republican propaganda machine in the guise of an objective news source. The influence doesn't stop with the New York Times' declining readership base. The Times' parent company owns many other newspapers across the country and those papers use the same stories written by New York Times' reporters, exposing millions of Americans to its biased reporting.
Eight months after the phony weapons story was published (and obediently repeated by other newspapers and the evening news broadcasts on all three major networks), a remarkable report was released detailing a pattern of biased reporting at the New York Times. The report never made the front-page of the Times. But if you do a little bit of detective work, you can track it down on the Internet.
On the surface, the internal memo on the "newsroom culture" at the New York Times appears innocuous. But read the report carefully, get past the buzzwords and you come away with a startling conclusion. The New York Times' own reporters and editors acknowledge the newspaper has shown favoritism toward radical liberal causes and the Democratic politicians behind them.
The newspaper's Credibility Committee (is that a joke?) consisted of 19 veteran news people at the paper who spent eight months investigating a variety of concerns about the newspaper. The committee wants the newspaper's top brass to implement changes to address "an impression of one-sidedness" in the newspaper's pages. "The goal is not only to avoid appearing one-sided but also to find ways to present more contrarian and unexpected viewpoints in our news pages."
In other words, forget the Times' motto of "All the News That's Fit to Print." It's more like "What Our Radical Liberal Readers Want to Hear Today." A bad habit at the New York Times (and many other big city liberal newspapers) is inserting opinion into news stories and running opinion pieces on the front page and trying to pass them off as objective news stories.
Another suggestion the committee made is to hold regular seminars so reporters can learn how to cover "emotionally charged" topics in a "neutral way." If a reporter has gotten to the New York Times and doesn't know how to remain objective, there's a serious problem with the newspaper's hiring practices. The Credibility Committee wants the top editors to routinely look for "lapses that look like favoritism" in the pages of the New York Times and share those blunders with the rest of the staff.
The best line from the committee's report is: "Our news coverage needs to embrace unorthodox views and contrarian opinions." By "unorthodox" and "contrarian," the Times staffers are referring to such unusual persons as Republicans, conservatives, moderate Democrats, people who believe in God and attend a church or synagogue, heterosexuals and people who support U.S. troops in a time of war.
The smoking gun comes on page 14 of the 16-page report when the committee says, "In part because the Time's editorial page is clearly liberal, the news pages do need to make more effort not to seem monolithic."
The fact that the New York Times hasn't endorsed a Republican president since Abraham Lincoln should be a tip-off that the editorial pages lean radical left, but the key term in that sentence is "monolithic." What the Credibility Committee is saying is that the newspaper lacks credibility because its news coverage is just as biased as its editorial page.
The committee wants management to bring some "diversity" to the newsroom, but the committee isn't talking about hiring more minority reporters and editors. For the insular New York Times, "diversity" can be achieved by recruiting what the committee puts it as "talented journalists who happen to have military experience, who know rural America first hand, who are at home in different faiths."
In other words, everybody working at the New York Times hates the military, doesn't believe in God, came from a snobby Ivy League school and is a card-carrying member of the ACLU.
Do you suppose that fact alone may have something to do with how biased the news is inside the pages of the New York Times?
E-mail Tony Phyrillas at tphyrillas@pottsmerc.com
The New York Times tried something similar. Remember the front-page stories on the Iraqi weapons depot that was looted supposedly while U.S. forces were guarding it? That "scoop" on the eve of the election was part of a campaign of biased reporting at the Times to tip the election to Kerry. It failed, but nobody lost their job at the New York Times as a result of the "missing weapons" hoax. For the longest time, it looked like the newspaper would get away with spewing its leftist propaganda.
Should it matter to you what happens at the New York Times? Yes. The New York Times and the radical left have formed an unholy alliance. The newspaper legitimizes the left's extremist agenda and gives the Democratic Party a platform to contaminate the nation's political system.
The Times is an anti-Republican propaganda machine in the guise of an objective news source. The influence doesn't stop with the New York Times' declining readership base. The Times' parent company owns many other newspapers across the country and those papers use the same stories written by New York Times' reporters, exposing millions of Americans to its biased reporting.
Eight months after the phony weapons story was published (and obediently repeated by other newspapers and the evening news broadcasts on all three major networks), a remarkable report was released detailing a pattern of biased reporting at the New York Times. The report never made the front-page of the Times. But if you do a little bit of detective work, you can track it down on the Internet.
On the surface, the internal memo on the "newsroom culture" at the New York Times appears innocuous. But read the report carefully, get past the buzzwords and you come away with a startling conclusion. The New York Times' own reporters and editors acknowledge the newspaper has shown favoritism toward radical liberal causes and the Democratic politicians behind them.
The newspaper's Credibility Committee (is that a joke?) consisted of 19 veteran news people at the paper who spent eight months investigating a variety of concerns about the newspaper. The committee wants the newspaper's top brass to implement changes to address "an impression of one-sidedness" in the newspaper's pages. "The goal is not only to avoid appearing one-sided but also to find ways to present more contrarian and unexpected viewpoints in our news pages."
In other words, forget the Times' motto of "All the News That's Fit to Print." It's more like "What Our Radical Liberal Readers Want to Hear Today." A bad habit at the New York Times (and many other big city liberal newspapers) is inserting opinion into news stories and running opinion pieces on the front page and trying to pass them off as objective news stories.
Another suggestion the committee made is to hold regular seminars so reporters can learn how to cover "emotionally charged" topics in a "neutral way." If a reporter has gotten to the New York Times and doesn't know how to remain objective, there's a serious problem with the newspaper's hiring practices. The Credibility Committee wants the top editors to routinely look for "lapses that look like favoritism" in the pages of the New York Times and share those blunders with the rest of the staff.
The best line from the committee's report is: "Our news coverage needs to embrace unorthodox views and contrarian opinions." By "unorthodox" and "contrarian," the Times staffers are referring to such unusual persons as Republicans, conservatives, moderate Democrats, people who believe in God and attend a church or synagogue, heterosexuals and people who support U.S. troops in a time of war.
The smoking gun comes on page 14 of the 16-page report when the committee says, "In part because the Time's editorial page is clearly liberal, the news pages do need to make more effort not to seem monolithic."
The fact that the New York Times hasn't endorsed a Republican president since Abraham Lincoln should be a tip-off that the editorial pages lean radical left, but the key term in that sentence is "monolithic." What the Credibility Committee is saying is that the newspaper lacks credibility because its news coverage is just as biased as its editorial page.
The committee wants management to bring some "diversity" to the newsroom, but the committee isn't talking about hiring more minority reporters and editors. For the insular New York Times, "diversity" can be achieved by recruiting what the committee puts it as "talented journalists who happen to have military experience, who know rural America first hand, who are at home in different faiths."
In other words, everybody working at the New York Times hates the military, doesn't believe in God, came from a snobby Ivy League school and is a card-carrying member of the ACLU.
Do you suppose that fact alone may have something to do with how biased the news is inside the pages of the New York Times?
E-mail Tony Phyrillas at tphyrillas@pottsmerc.com
Thursday, July 14, 2005
Repeal the Legislative Pay Increase
I became aware Thursday of a campaign by Gene Stilp to organize a grass-roots effort by Pennsylvania taxpayers to repeal the money grab by our conniving state legislators and the governor, who signed the pay raise bill.
Gene Stilp is a Harrisburg-area resident who sued the state, governor and treasurer in 1995, the last time the politicos gave themselves a big fat pay raise. (That's not counting the automatic annual cost-of-living increases they voted themselves).
Mr. Stilp told The Associated Press he intends to sue again to overturn the latest travesty. The legislators are using the same sneaky tactic they invented in 1995 to bypass the state Constitution, which prohibits them from collecting the self-approved raise right away.
The Constitution says the scoundrels who gave themselves pay raises of 16 to 34 percent will have to wait until December 2006 to start collecting. But these unscrupulous "public servants" have decided to circumvent the Constitution by pretending that their pay hikes are "unvouchered expenses" so they can sneak the money into their pockets a year earlier.
Mr. Stilp's lawsuit was thrown out by a three-judge Commonwealth Court panel in 1997, but the court never ruled on the merits of the case. The fact that judges are also getting pay raises don't bode well, but maybe there are a few honest elected officials left in Pennsylvania and we can put a stop to this unconstitutional theft of taxpayer money and flagrant betrayal of the public trust by our so-called lawmakers.
Mr. Stilp has set up a Web site to help organize opposition to the highway robbery perpetrated on unsuspecting Pennsylvania taxpayers.
Visit the Web site at http://www.genestilp.blogspot.com to learn more about the campaign to expose these charlatans. And by all means, spread to the word to every victim of this crime: your relatives, friends, neighbors and co-workers in Pennsylvania.
And write to your state senator and representative and tell them there are too many witnesses to their crime to get away with it. Tell them to enjoy their pay raise for the next year because you will vote them out of office in 2006.
Gene Stilp is a Harrisburg-area resident who sued the state, governor and treasurer in 1995, the last time the politicos gave themselves a big fat pay raise. (That's not counting the automatic annual cost-of-living increases they voted themselves).
Mr. Stilp told The Associated Press he intends to sue again to overturn the latest travesty. The legislators are using the same sneaky tactic they invented in 1995 to bypass the state Constitution, which prohibits them from collecting the self-approved raise right away.
The Constitution says the scoundrels who gave themselves pay raises of 16 to 34 percent will have to wait until December 2006 to start collecting. But these unscrupulous "public servants" have decided to circumvent the Constitution by pretending that their pay hikes are "unvouchered expenses" so they can sneak the money into their pockets a year earlier.
Mr. Stilp's lawsuit was thrown out by a three-judge Commonwealth Court panel in 1997, but the court never ruled on the merits of the case. The fact that judges are also getting pay raises don't bode well, but maybe there are a few honest elected officials left in Pennsylvania and we can put a stop to this unconstitutional theft of taxpayer money and flagrant betrayal of the public trust by our so-called lawmakers.
Mr. Stilp has set up a Web site to help organize opposition to the highway robbery perpetrated on unsuspecting Pennsylvania taxpayers.
Visit the Web site at http://www.genestilp.blogspot.com to learn more about the campaign to expose these charlatans. And by all means, spread to the word to every victim of this crime: your relatives, friends, neighbors and co-workers in Pennsylvania.
And write to your state senator and representative and tell them there are too many witnesses to their crime to get away with it. Tell them to enjoy their pay raise for the next year because you will vote them out of office in 2006.
Monday, July 11, 2005
Why is Fast Eddie in such a hurry to pardon so many criminals?
If Dale Carnegie hadn’t come up with it first, an appropriate title for a book about Gov. Ed Rendell might be "How to Win Friends and Influence People." That pretty much sums up Rendell’s life. Rendell is the consummate politician. He tries to make people happy and he enjoys influence.
But the governor appears to be trying too hard to make friends from one particular group of Pennsylvanians — convicted criminals.
According to a recent review of clemency records by The Associated Press, Rendell is on a pace to set a new record for the number of criminals pardoned by a Pennsylvania governor.
Rendell, a Democrat, has granted 231 pardons and denied 31 requests during 2½ years in office, the vast majority for minor offenses, the AP reports.
Republican Tom Ridge, who campaigned aggressively to limit the clemency process, granted 270 applications and rejected 140 during nearly seven years in office, according to the AP.
If re-elected in 2006 and he maintains his current pace, Rendell would issue more pardons than any other modern governor, Democrat or Republican, who has served two terms.
Milton J. Shapp, a Democrat who served from 1971 to 1979 issued 475 pardons, and commuted 251 life sentences.
Dick Thornburgh, a Republican who served from 1979 to 1987 issued 61 pardons, and commuted 7 life sentences.
Robert P. Casey, a Democrat who served from 1987 to 1995 issued 302 pardons and commuted 27 life sentences.
In addition to the 231 pardons he’s issued so far, Rendell has another 133 appeals pending, according to the Pennsylvania Pardons Board.
The problem with being so quick to issue pardons is that pardons restore legal rights and privileges lost upon conviction, such as the right to vote, to purchase and carry a gun and employment rights.
The Associated Press discovered that half of Rendell's pardons involved theft-related offenses and one-fifth were granted to those convicted of drug offenses or drunken-driving. The most serious crimes among the governor’s pardons include aggravated assault, statutory rape, prison escape and arson.
Is the governor thinking of the safety and welfare of the majority of law-abiding citizens when he makes it easier for convicted criminals to acquire guns?
Rendell needs to make a better case to the people of Pennsylvania why he’s on a record pace to absolve criminals.
E-mail Tony Phyrillas at tphyrillas@pottsmerc.com
But the governor appears to be trying too hard to make friends from one particular group of Pennsylvanians — convicted criminals.
According to a recent review of clemency records by The Associated Press, Rendell is on a pace to set a new record for the number of criminals pardoned by a Pennsylvania governor.
Rendell, a Democrat, has granted 231 pardons and denied 31 requests during 2½ years in office, the vast majority for minor offenses, the AP reports.
Republican Tom Ridge, who campaigned aggressively to limit the clemency process, granted 270 applications and rejected 140 during nearly seven years in office, according to the AP.
If re-elected in 2006 and he maintains his current pace, Rendell would issue more pardons than any other modern governor, Democrat or Republican, who has served two terms.
Milton J. Shapp, a Democrat who served from 1971 to 1979 issued 475 pardons, and commuted 251 life sentences.
Dick Thornburgh, a Republican who served from 1979 to 1987 issued 61 pardons, and commuted 7 life sentences.
Robert P. Casey, a Democrat who served from 1987 to 1995 issued 302 pardons and commuted 27 life sentences.
In addition to the 231 pardons he’s issued so far, Rendell has another 133 appeals pending, according to the Pennsylvania Pardons Board.
The problem with being so quick to issue pardons is that pardons restore legal rights and privileges lost upon conviction, such as the right to vote, to purchase and carry a gun and employment rights.
The Associated Press discovered that half of Rendell's pardons involved theft-related offenses and one-fifth were granted to those convicted of drug offenses or drunken-driving. The most serious crimes among the governor’s pardons include aggravated assault, statutory rape, prison escape and arson.
Is the governor thinking of the safety and welfare of the majority of law-abiding citizens when he makes it easier for convicted criminals to acquire guns?
Rendell needs to make a better case to the people of Pennsylvania why he’s on a record pace to absolve criminals.
E-mail Tony Phyrillas at tphyrillas@pottsmerc.com
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