Sunday, October 06, 2013
Pa. lawmakers master art of doing nothing
Excellent editorial in the Pottsville Republican about Pennsylvania's do-nothing state legislature, especially when it comes to the issue of school property taxes.
Lawmakers master art of doing nothing - Opinion - Republican Herald
Lawmakers master art of doing nothing - Opinion - Republican Herald
Saturday, October 05, 2013
Columnist: Property tax reform hopes move to Pa. Senate
Don't be fooled by the bogus tax reform bill pushed by Rep. Seth Grove on behalf of the GOP House leadership. It's a sham designed to give politicians cover in the 2014 elections. The only hope for real property tax reform in Pennsylvania is House Bill. 76.
Mary Young: Tax-shift hopes move to Senate
Mary Young: Tax-shift hopes move to Senate
Friday, October 04, 2013
Republican U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts: I Agree With Senator Obama
By Congressman Joe Pitts
Parts of the
federal government are shut today, because the House and Senate can’t agree on
a spending plan. Democrats are unwilling to delay or even improve
Obamacare and Republicans are unwilling to shrug our shoulders as the law
continues to hurt people. We have retreated significantly from our initial
desire to defund Obamacare. Now we are proposing that we keep the
government open and just delay the provision that punishes people for not
signing up. We think that’s reasonable.
The Obama
Administration has also asked Congress to increase the $16.7 trillion credit
limit on Uncle Sam’s credit card by October 17. Republicans don’t want to
do it without a bipartisan commitment to make the government stop borrowing so
much.
Congress is
squabbling like kindergarteners. But the stakes are big. To understand
why, I want to remind readers about how we got here.
The
Affordable Care Act was jammed through congress in 2010 in the most
aggressively partisan act of brute force in modern legislative history.
Every Republican and most moderate Democrats voted against it. Washington
lobbyists reported being told, “either you’re at the table or you’re on the
menu.” Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, “We will go through the gate. If
the gate is closed, we will go over the fence. If the fence is too high, we
will pole vault in. If that doesn’t work, we will parachute in. But we are
going to get health care reform passed.” Even White House Chief of Staff Rahm
Emanuel begged the president to scale the bill down, but was rebuffed.
The result
was fury. The Tea Party movement was born. The Democrats lost their House
majority. The laws of political physics broke when Massachusetts elected
a Republican senator. Three years later, America still doesn’t like the law.
Obamacare
helps people who couldn’t previously get insurance. That’s a good
thing. But it does so by hurting everyone else. There are better
ways to care for people. You can read more about my own ideas at www.pitts.house.gov/issues.
The law will
spend $2.6 trillion over the next ten years. We can’t afford that. We are
already borrowing nearly 40 cents of every dollar the government spends. We are borrowing $1 trillion every year. We have $200 trillion in future
spending commitments with no plan to pay for them. This is dangerous,
foolish, and unsustainable.
President
Obama knew this when he took office. But he punted. He appointed the
Simpson-Bowles Commission to study the issue until after the 2010
election. Then he ignored their suggestions. In 2011, Congress consequently
refused to allow more debt without a plan to rein in borrowing. This
resulted in the “Supercommittee” which was tasked with coming up with a
sustainable spending plan. If they failed, automatic spending
cuts — “sequestration” — were to take effect. They failed, and sequestration
happened. But federal spending is increasing so quickly that even
sequestration failed to result in a net reduction in federal outlays.
Five years
into his Presidency, Barack Obama has yet to propose a plan to achieve a
balanced budget — or even sustainable levels of debt. Time is running out and he
has made no effort to lead.
This is
strange for a man who, as a senator, sharply criticized Congress for raising
the debt limit. In 2007, Senator Obama complained, “The fact that we are here
today to debate raising America’s debt limit is a sign of leadership failure.
It is a sign that the U.S. Government can’t pay its own bills. It is a sign
that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to
finance our Government’s reckless fiscal policies. Over the past 5 years, our
federal debt has increased by $3.5 trillion to $8.6 trillion. That is
‘trillion’ with a ‘T.’ That is money that we have borrowed from the Social
Security trust fund, borrowed from China and Japan, borrowed from American
taxpayers.”
He continued,
“This rising debt is a hidden domestic enemy, robbing our cities and States of
critical investments in infrastructure like bridges, ports, and levees; robbing
our families and our children of critical investments in education and health
care reform; robbing our seniors of the retirement and health security they
have counted on.”
President
Obama speaks very differently these days, even though our debt has doubled
under his watch. He has also changed his tune on healthcare policy. In 2008, he
sharply criticized Hillary Clinton for proposing an individual insurance
mandate. Now it is the cornerstone of “Obamacare.”
Republicans
disagree with President Obama on the debt ceiling and the individual mandate.
But we agree completely with Senator Obama. If he agreed with us so
recently on these two things, surely there’s room to find common ground now.
Rep. Joe Pitts is a Republican who represents Pennsylvania's 16th Congressional District.
Thorns to Pa. AG Kathleen Kane for hiring another relative
From The editorial page of The Pottstown Mercury:
THORNS to state Attorney General Kathleen Kane for another example of nepotism in her office, this time involving her cousin as an executive assistant being paid $56,665 a year. Brad Bumsted of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported that Kane hired her cousin Colleen Tighe as executive assistant. A deputy said she was the most qualified for the job. In August, Kane’s office confirmed that her identical twin received a 19.65 percent pay raise in April to head the office’s Child Protection Unit. Ellen Granahan worked in the office before Kane arrived, under former Attorneys General Linda Kelly and Gov. Tom Corbett, who hired her. Hiring relatives is nothing new in government, but it troubles us nonetheless.
Thorns to Pa. State Sen. Daylin Leach for skipping out on taxpayer-paid job
From the editorial page of The Pottstown Mercury:
THORNS to Pennsylvania legislators who don’t show up for voting days in Harrisburg. A Philadelphia Inquirer review of records since 2011 shows several of the region’s lawmakers are routinely absent on voting days. Some missed days or weeks at a time, the Inquirer reported. Among suburban legislators, state Sen. Daylin Leach, D-17th Dist., has skipped a quarter of this year’s voting days, the newspaper reported. In the state Senate, senators can be recorded as present even though they’re not physically in the Capitol on voting days. Legislators returned to Harrisburg recently after their three-month summer break, and we would like to think they’re ready to get down to business. But first that means showing up. Is that asking too much of an $83,000 a year job?
Thursday, October 03, 2013
Trust, loyalty led PA Democratic AG Kane to her cousin for her staff
Gotta love Democrats when it comes to spending other people's money. Pennsylvania's Democratic Attorney General Kathleen Kane says the most qualified person she could find for a $56,000-a-year "executive assistant" job was her cousin.
Trust, loyalty led AG Kane to move cousin from campaign to state staff
Trust, loyalty led AG Kane to move cousin from campaign to state staff
Looney Liberal Tom Hanks wants third term for Obama
Life is good for multi-millionaires under Obama. Not so good for the rest of us.
Tom Hanks wants third term for Obama - The Hill's In The Know
Tom Hanks wants third term for Obama - The Hill's In The Know
Voter ID laws on the increase (except in Pennsylvania)
Activist judges continue to block Pennsylvania's Voter ID law two years after it was passed by the Legislature and signed into law by the governor.
Voter ID laws on the increase
Voter ID laws on the increase
Wednesday, October 02, 2013
815,000 Page Views
My site counter has recorded 815,000 Page Views from 460,000 Unique Visitors to Tony Phyrillas On Politics. Thanks for checking out the blog ... and come back again.
Tuesday, October 01, 2013
October is 'Cyber Security Awareness Month' in Pa.
Pennsylvania Governor Corbett Proclaims October as 'Cyber Security Awareness Month' (via PR Newswire)Pennsylvanians encouraged to take the "Cyber Pledge" HARRISBURG, Pa., Oct. 1, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Governor Corbett has proclaimed October as "Cyber Security Awareness Month" as a reminder to everyone about the importance of protecting your…
Pa. tax revenues for Sept. higher than projected
Pennsylvania Revenue Department Releases September 2013 Collections (via PR Newswire)HARRISBURG, Pa., Oct. 1, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Pennsylvania collected $2.4 billion in General Fund revenue in September, which was $15.2 million, or 0.6 percent, more than anticipated, Secretary of Revenue Daniel Meuser reported today. Fiscal…
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)