The press release put out by Gov. Ed Rendell's office Tuesday began with a screaming headline: "Rendell Signs Bill to Deliver Largest Property Tax Cut in Pennsylvania History." That sure sounds like big news. Too bad it's not true. None of it.
Rendell posed in front of the cameras inside the Nanticoke home of senior citizen Nellie Hughes and put on a performance worthy of an Oscar.
"Today is a great day for Pennsylvania homeowners, especially seniors who have been driven from their homes as they attempt to escape the burden of skyrocketing property taxes for far too long," Rendell said. "After 30 years of debate and failed plans, Pennsylvanians like Nellie Hughes will finally get the tax relief they deserve."
Rendell is a smooth-talking politician who never lets the truth get in the way of self-serving adulation. The governor nearly dislocated his shoulder trying to pat himself on the back.
The $1 billion tax cut that Rendell took credit for Tuesday is not a tax cut after all. It's not even $1 billion. It's a rebate plan for a small group of senior citizens (600,000) who will have to hold on at least four more years to see any money. In other words, Nellie Hughes, who is 88, and the other seniors that Rendell is trying to snow may not live long enough to see their $200 rebate, which won't come until the 2009-10 school year at the earliest.
The rest of the state's 12 million residents get nothing under Rendell's "property tax cut."
And the entire plan is predicated on the need for gamblers, many of whom are senior citizens, to lose $1 billion when the state’s slot parlors finally open in 2009 or 2010. In the meantime, Rendell will borrow $400 million from the state lottery to fund the rebate scheme and pay it back from those future gambling revenues. This is what Rendell calls tax relief?
In the meantime, the school district Nellie Hughes lives in will raise property taxes in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 — guaranteed. If she's still alive, Nellie Hughes will most likely be paying more in taxes in 2010 than she is today. That’s what Ed Rendell considers a property tax.
This is where the Kool Aid drinkers from the left chime in about how the tax rebate plan was passed by the Republican-controlled House and Senate. That is correct. The measure passed the Senate and House by wide margins.
But it did not become law until Gov. Rendell went to Nellie Hughes' home and signed the bill. The buck stops with Ed Rendell.
The Lynn Swann campaign also put out a press release Tuesday about Rendell's "Band-Aid property tax bill" that is a lot closer to the truth than anything Rendell's propaganda machine spit out. Swann's press release has the more accurate headline on it: "Legislation Leaves 80 percent of Pennsylvania's Homeowners Without Any Relief."
"With the signing of this legislation, Ed Rendell has made it official — he has broken his election year promise to 'drop property taxes for every Pennsylvanian by 30 percent,'" Swann said.
Swann couldn't help but take a jab at Rendell’s use of the term "historic" to describe the tax rebate ploy.
"The last time Ed Rendell signed property tax legislation that he deemed 'historic,' it was called Act 72, and it was rejected by 80 percent of Pennsylvania’s school districts," Swann said. "Since then, property taxes have skyrocketed nearly $2 billion under this administration, and Pennsylvania’s homeowners have been left in the cold."
Hoping to finally kick-start his sluggish campaign to unseat Rendell, Republican Swann went on the offensive: "As the Governor declares 'We did it!' and signs this Band-Aid legislation, the majority of Pennsylvanians are looking at their rising property tax bills and wondering 'You did what!?'"
Swann recently introduced a plan that will provide every property owner in Pennsylvania with tax relief during Swann's first year in office. The full plan can be viewed at www.swannforgovernor.com
Rendell's "plan" is an afterthought that comes four months before the election. It took Rendell 3½ years to finally address property taxes, but leaving 80 percent of homeowners without relief is not exactly a plan.
Voters will have a clear choice this November when they elect a new governor. More of Rendell's broken promises and parlor tricks or Swann's promise to deal with property taxes in his first year in office.
E-mail Tony Phyrillas at tphyrillas@pottsmerc.com
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Voters aren't buying what Rendell, Perzel are selling
One of the most popular features that runs in our newspaper, The Mercury, is called Sound Off. It's a way for readers to provide instant feedback on news articles they read in the paper. Readers call a dedicated phone number and can leave a 30-second voice mail about an issue that's in the news. We publish the comments verbatim in the next day's edition (unless they're libelous or in poor taste).
Since we began the feature earlier this year, it's been one of the most read pages in the newspaper. Some people like the phone line because it provides anonymity while others would rather call because they have trouble putting their thoughts down on paper for a letter to the editor.
Below is a sampling of calls to the Sound Off line over several days after two interesting stories broke in Harrisburg. The first was House Bill 39 (which Gov. Rendell signed into law Tuesday) and the second bit of news was John Perzel's ludicrous remarks about state legislators with a base salary of $72,000 per year not being able to qualify for a credit card.
Readers were also appalled by a letter sent to The Mercury by Rep. Dennis Leh's wife, essentially telling voters they made a terrible mistake in not re-electing her husband to another term in the state House in the May 16 primary.
The comments below mirror those of readers who have written letters to the editors and personal e-mails I've received from readers in the past week. The bottom line is that nobody is fooled by the tax rebate scheme or Perzel's insipid remarks.
Here's what our readers (and people who I guarantee will be voters in November) are saying about Rendell and Perzel (and Leh):
I am totally disgusted to read about how 30 or so lawmakers are having terrible financial problems and they can't even get a credit card when they make about $72,000 a year. Why don't they try living on an average working man's salary which is tens of thousands of dollars less a year with all the continuously rising gas prices? Maybe they should come down to earth and live among us so-called little people and stop complaining and do what they are suppose to do and what is best for us. For the people and by the people — what a crock.
TOTALLY DISGUSTED
This is in regards to speaker John Perzel's comments about the 30 lawmakers who are having serious financial problems. This is just one more reason why we should vote these incumbents out of office. If they can't take care of their own personal affairs, why would we want them taking care of our finances and affairs?
VOTE THEM ALL OUT
Regarding the tax bill that was just passed, does anyone even know someone who the tax bill would help? I know it doesn't even come close to helping my 79-year-old mother who pays $6,000 plus a year in taxes. She doesn't qualify for the $650 but even if she did, that would be a slap in the face. This is crazy.
DISGUSTED POTTSGROVIAN
Voters, don't be fooled by this pitiful property tax bill our worthless legislature is passing. This won't amount to a hill of beans for those who really need relief. It's a meager effort to appease the large sector of senior voters in our state. If they were really concerned about helping the needy, they would eliminate school tax for poor, disabled people too. This bill does not do that. We need to clean house in the next election.
DISABLED AND HURTING
Sounds like state Rep. Sam Rohrer is the only one in Harrisburg who understands what the taxpayers want and need to alleviate property taxes. If only the rest of those thieves would wake up and smell the roses.
Would someone please start a pity party for House Speaker Perzel and all his cohorts in Harrisburg. If things are so bad for them financially, why did they run for the position? $70,000 a year and all the perks they get, maybe they have to tighten their boot straps like the rest of us have to do. Quit your whining and do the job you were elected to. And what's with hiring lawyers at $625 an hour at our expense? There is just no end to their greed. I pray in November you will all get to live in the real world. Wait, that's right, you will leave office and still live high on the hog thanks to the taxpayers.
I'd like to thank Fast Eddie Rendell and all the legislators for our great so-called tax cut that we got. People should remember these legislators and our governor in November and vote them out of office.
VERY DISGUSTED TAXPAYER IN AMITY
This is reference to the article that the state House sends Rendell bill to reduce property taxes. I think that is the most absurd thing which possibly could happen. If he wants re-election, I think the only thing that would save his butt is the commonwealth caucus. I'm paying $3,666 which is a drop in the ocean and that is ridiculous.
I think our representatives thought that we wanted comic relief instead of tax relief. This is what most of us probably expected though.
THIS IS A JOKE
This new property tax reform bill that is going before the governor is not what we should be getting. There are more citizens in this state than just the senior citizens. What about the middle class homeowner who needs more help?
I believe that the state House and Senate have failed us as well as the governor. He is just trying to look like he has fulfilled a campaign promise when he's really done nothing at all. This is just a mere Band-Aid for something that is so broken, they are afraid to fix it. They weren't afraid to fix their salaries but they're really afraid to fix property tax. What they need to do is eliminate them but no one has enough courage in our state anymore to do what's right. I think we should vote all of them out, Republican or Democrat. I think the next governor should be Lynn Swann because all Rendell's interested in is sports.
DISGUSTED IN PERKIOMEN
The new reduced property tax is just pie in the sky. They are projected; there is no such thing as a gambling revenue yet. I think we senior citizens were taken for a ride and there will have to be more changes in Harrisburg this fall.
The school tax relief package is a joke. A state income tax is the only fair way to fund schools but it must be coupled with realistic spending caps for school districts and elimination of school bureaucracy, runaway salaries and real school discipline of students. You'll never see it with the current crowd.
VOTE THEM ALL OUT
I'm calling in regards to Dennis Leh's wife, Columbia. It took the taxpayers 18 years to figure out that your husband was robbing us and it only took one day to tear down your husband's 18 year career. I love democracy — such a beautiful thing.
The property tax relief program is a joke. Two hundred dollars is not going to go very far. They should have done the sales tax. This plan was just done to justify having gambling in Pennsylvania. The sales tax plan is the way to go. It would give senior citizens better relief because they do not consume as much as the younger generation.
I'm calling about the Rendell bill to reduce property taxes. I feel the property taxes should be eliminated and since Rendell hasn't done anything in his term as governor significantly except on the SportsNet program to talk about sports, he's going to be voted out of office. These taxes need to be eliminated permanently, not reduced by one billion every year. So, Rendell, you're gone in 2006 and say hello to new governor, Lynn Swann.
What part of 5 percent flat tax do the state legislators not understand? That is the fair way to tax everybody. That's why there's going to be a clean sweep this year and hopefully every year until we finally get some politicians in office, statewide, township wide and federal wide who know what the people want and not what they want.
JUST REMEMBER THE CLEAN SWEEP
I read the article about Dennis Leh and the hard work he has done. I don't want to hear it. The whole stonewalling crowd in Washington and Harrisburg aren't doing the people's will for the people. They do the will for the special interest and hand us a piece of trash like House Bill 39.
VOTE THEM ALL OUT
Disgruntled Democrat had better wake up. Rendell hasn't done anything to help the taxpayers except raise taxes. He controls Perzel, a Republican, who controls the other Republicans to vote their way or go to the bottom of the ladder. The Democratic party has now become the tax and spend party. They are only concerned for themselves and try to fool the voters and it seems like you're one of them.
ANOTHER DISGRUNTLED DEMOCRAT
The Pottsgrove taxpayers are now being asked to assume another $164 a year in property taxes. Commonwealth Caucus Plan was the only plan that would have worked for real tax relief in the state of Pennsylvania. Please everyone, come November, it's time to vote out Ed Rendell and all his buddies who voted for this ridiculous gambling tax revenue bill and vote for the people who are into the Commonwealth Caucus Plan.
FRUSTRATED PROPERTY OWNER IN THE POTTSGROVES
Poor Dennis Leh. Maybe he can get one of those family supporting union jobs that he worked so hard to destroy.
GOOD RIDDANCE
E-mail Tony Phyrillas at tphyrillas@pottsmerc.com
Since we began the feature earlier this year, it's been one of the most read pages in the newspaper. Some people like the phone line because it provides anonymity while others would rather call because they have trouble putting their thoughts down on paper for a letter to the editor.
Below is a sampling of calls to the Sound Off line over several days after two interesting stories broke in Harrisburg. The first was House Bill 39 (which Gov. Rendell signed into law Tuesday) and the second bit of news was John Perzel's ludicrous remarks about state legislators with a base salary of $72,000 per year not being able to qualify for a credit card.
Readers were also appalled by a letter sent to The Mercury by Rep. Dennis Leh's wife, essentially telling voters they made a terrible mistake in not re-electing her husband to another term in the state House in the May 16 primary.
The comments below mirror those of readers who have written letters to the editors and personal e-mails I've received from readers in the past week. The bottom line is that nobody is fooled by the tax rebate scheme or Perzel's insipid remarks.
Here's what our readers (and people who I guarantee will be voters in November) are saying about Rendell and Perzel (and Leh):
I am totally disgusted to read about how 30 or so lawmakers are having terrible financial problems and they can't even get a credit card when they make about $72,000 a year. Why don't they try living on an average working man's salary which is tens of thousands of dollars less a year with all the continuously rising gas prices? Maybe they should come down to earth and live among us so-called little people and stop complaining and do what they are suppose to do and what is best for us. For the people and by the people — what a crock.
TOTALLY DISGUSTED
This is in regards to speaker John Perzel's comments about the 30 lawmakers who are having serious financial problems. This is just one more reason why we should vote these incumbents out of office. If they can't take care of their own personal affairs, why would we want them taking care of our finances and affairs?
VOTE THEM ALL OUT
Regarding the tax bill that was just passed, does anyone even know someone who the tax bill would help? I know it doesn't even come close to helping my 79-year-old mother who pays $6,000 plus a year in taxes. She doesn't qualify for the $650 but even if she did, that would be a slap in the face. This is crazy.
DISGUSTED POTTSGROVIAN
Voters, don't be fooled by this pitiful property tax bill our worthless legislature is passing. This won't amount to a hill of beans for those who really need relief. It's a meager effort to appease the large sector of senior voters in our state. If they were really concerned about helping the needy, they would eliminate school tax for poor, disabled people too. This bill does not do that. We need to clean house in the next election.
DISABLED AND HURTING
Sounds like state Rep. Sam Rohrer is the only one in Harrisburg who understands what the taxpayers want and need to alleviate property taxes. If only the rest of those thieves would wake up and smell the roses.
Would someone please start a pity party for House Speaker Perzel and all his cohorts in Harrisburg. If things are so bad for them financially, why did they run for the position? $70,000 a year and all the perks they get, maybe they have to tighten their boot straps like the rest of us have to do. Quit your whining and do the job you were elected to. And what's with hiring lawyers at $625 an hour at our expense? There is just no end to their greed. I pray in November you will all get to live in the real world. Wait, that's right, you will leave office and still live high on the hog thanks to the taxpayers.
I'd like to thank Fast Eddie Rendell and all the legislators for our great so-called tax cut that we got. People should remember these legislators and our governor in November and vote them out of office.
VERY DISGUSTED TAXPAYER IN AMITY
This is reference to the article that the state House sends Rendell bill to reduce property taxes. I think that is the most absurd thing which possibly could happen. If he wants re-election, I think the only thing that would save his butt is the commonwealth caucus. I'm paying $3,666 which is a drop in the ocean and that is ridiculous.
I think our representatives thought that we wanted comic relief instead of tax relief. This is what most of us probably expected though.
THIS IS A JOKE
This new property tax reform bill that is going before the governor is not what we should be getting. There are more citizens in this state than just the senior citizens. What about the middle class homeowner who needs more help?
I believe that the state House and Senate have failed us as well as the governor. He is just trying to look like he has fulfilled a campaign promise when he's really done nothing at all. This is just a mere Band-Aid for something that is so broken, they are afraid to fix it. They weren't afraid to fix their salaries but they're really afraid to fix property tax. What they need to do is eliminate them but no one has enough courage in our state anymore to do what's right. I think we should vote all of them out, Republican or Democrat. I think the next governor should be Lynn Swann because all Rendell's interested in is sports.
DISGUSTED IN PERKIOMEN
The new reduced property tax is just pie in the sky. They are projected; there is no such thing as a gambling revenue yet. I think we senior citizens were taken for a ride and there will have to be more changes in Harrisburg this fall.
The school tax relief package is a joke. A state income tax is the only fair way to fund schools but it must be coupled with realistic spending caps for school districts and elimination of school bureaucracy, runaway salaries and real school discipline of students. You'll never see it with the current crowd.
VOTE THEM ALL OUT
I'm calling in regards to Dennis Leh's wife, Columbia. It took the taxpayers 18 years to figure out that your husband was robbing us and it only took one day to tear down your husband's 18 year career. I love democracy — such a beautiful thing.
The property tax relief program is a joke. Two hundred dollars is not going to go very far. They should have done the sales tax. This plan was just done to justify having gambling in Pennsylvania. The sales tax plan is the way to go. It would give senior citizens better relief because they do not consume as much as the younger generation.
I'm calling about the Rendell bill to reduce property taxes. I feel the property taxes should be eliminated and since Rendell hasn't done anything in his term as governor significantly except on the SportsNet program to talk about sports, he's going to be voted out of office. These taxes need to be eliminated permanently, not reduced by one billion every year. So, Rendell, you're gone in 2006 and say hello to new governor, Lynn Swann.
What part of 5 percent flat tax do the state legislators not understand? That is the fair way to tax everybody. That's why there's going to be a clean sweep this year and hopefully every year until we finally get some politicians in office, statewide, township wide and federal wide who know what the people want and not what they want.
JUST REMEMBER THE CLEAN SWEEP
I read the article about Dennis Leh and the hard work he has done. I don't want to hear it. The whole stonewalling crowd in Washington and Harrisburg aren't doing the people's will for the people. They do the will for the special interest and hand us a piece of trash like House Bill 39.
VOTE THEM ALL OUT
Disgruntled Democrat had better wake up. Rendell hasn't done anything to help the taxpayers except raise taxes. He controls Perzel, a Republican, who controls the other Republicans to vote their way or go to the bottom of the ladder. The Democratic party has now become the tax and spend party. They are only concerned for themselves and try to fool the voters and it seems like you're one of them.
ANOTHER DISGRUNTLED DEMOCRAT
The Pottsgrove taxpayers are now being asked to assume another $164 a year in property taxes. Commonwealth Caucus Plan was the only plan that would have worked for real tax relief in the state of Pennsylvania. Please everyone, come November, it's time to vote out Ed Rendell and all his buddies who voted for this ridiculous gambling tax revenue bill and vote for the people who are into the Commonwealth Caucus Plan.
FRUSTRATED PROPERTY OWNER IN THE POTTSGROVES
Poor Dennis Leh. Maybe he can get one of those family supporting union jobs that he worked so hard to destroy.
GOOD RIDDANCE
E-mail Tony Phyrillas at tphyrillas@pottsmerc.com
Friday, June 23, 2006
Tax rebate ploy isn't fooling anyone
The verdict is in.
Even before Gov. Ed Rendell has had a chance to sign the compromise Senate-House tax rebate bill into law and stand before the TV cameras to pretend he's delivered on his promise to cut property taxes, just about everybody agrees the bill stinks to high hell.
Forget any political mileage Rendell and the legislators who voted for it anticipated to get. I've yet to come across a single person dumb enough to believe that House Bill 39 is anything more than a feeble attempt by career politicians to fool voters. Rendell and the Harrisburg bunch aren't fooling anyone but themselves.
The scheme has been panned by the Pennsylvania Taxpayer Alliance, an umbrella organization that represents a dozen grassroots citizen groups across the state.
Lynn Swann, the Republican candidate for governor, and Russ Diamond, the founder of PaCleanSweep and an independent candidate for governor, has also blasted the rebate plan. "Call this bill 'relief' or 'reform' is a joke," Diamond said.
Even members of the legislature have been uncharacteristically frank in their assessment of the compromise plan.
"The people of Pennsylvania deserve more than a legislature that takes the course of least resistance just so something can be passed. This is nothing more than political appeasement, and we are going to be right back where we started in only a year or two as property taxes continue to rise," stated Rep. Curt Schroder, a Republican from Chester County. "This plan simply just does not go far enough to help the hard working families of Pennsylvania."
Under the plan approved by the House, seniors with an annual income under $15,000 will get a few hundred dollars back in 2009 or 2010 — if state revenues from casinos reaches $1 billion. Seniors still have to pay property taxes.
Schroder pointed out that relatively few seniors in his district will be eligible for the tax rebates because of the low income threshold. He also cautioned that the rebates could quickly be eaten up in future years as school districts again increase property taxes. In other words, don't spend that $200 right away because you may end paying $600 more to support your local school district.
Schroder was one of 61 House members, mostly Republicans, who voted against the tax rebate plan previously approved by the state Senate and championed by Rendell.
Many of the 61 conservatives in the House supported an amendment that would have increased the sales tax by 1 percent and eliminated property taxes.
"We had an opportunity to provide the citizens of this Commonwealth with significant relief, but we settled for a plan being pushed by the governor and the Senate," said Schroder, pointing fingers at the Democratic governor and the Republican-controlled Senate.
Another Republican who took his frustration out at his fellow House members was Rep. Sam Rohrer, chairman of the Commonwealth Caucus, a group of legislators who've been pushing for the elimination of property taxes by expanding and increasing the state sales tax.
The House has taken three votes on the Commonwealth Caucus in the past year, but too many Republicans joined Democrats to defeat the measure.
"The reality that the Pennsylvania House of Representatives cannot agree to eliminate 100 percent of school property taxes when the opportunity was handed to them for a third time on a silver platter is impossible to accept for Pennsylvania property owners who have been promised this economic relief for more than three decades," Rohrer said. "They are tired of being insecure in their properties that they have toiled, saved and raised their families in for years. They are tired of living under the very realistic fear of losing their homes, farms or businesses due to property tax bills they can no longer afford to pay. They are tired of political pandering. But most of all, they are tired of being ignored by their elected officials at all levels of state government from the General Assembly to the governor’s office who talk about taking revolutionary action and ultimately choose to decide against the crystal clear will of the people."
Wow! When was the last time a politician was so candid?
Although the theme of the past year has been a clean sweep of Harrisburg politicians, there are decent legislators who are looking out for the people of Pennsylvania, including Schroder and Rohrer. Other Pottstown-area representatives who voted against the rebate scheme include Raymond Bunt, Jackie Crahalla, Tim Hennessey and Tom Quigley.
The problem is there aren't enough of them to move the roadblocks put up by self-serving Philadelphia politicians like Ed Rendell and Republican House Speaker John Perzel.
E-mail Tony Phyrillas at tphyrillas@pottsmerc.com
Even before Gov. Ed Rendell has had a chance to sign the compromise Senate-House tax rebate bill into law and stand before the TV cameras to pretend he's delivered on his promise to cut property taxes, just about everybody agrees the bill stinks to high hell.
Forget any political mileage Rendell and the legislators who voted for it anticipated to get. I've yet to come across a single person dumb enough to believe that House Bill 39 is anything more than a feeble attempt by career politicians to fool voters. Rendell and the Harrisburg bunch aren't fooling anyone but themselves.
The scheme has been panned by the Pennsylvania Taxpayer Alliance, an umbrella organization that represents a dozen grassroots citizen groups across the state.
Lynn Swann, the Republican candidate for governor, and Russ Diamond, the founder of PaCleanSweep and an independent candidate for governor, has also blasted the rebate plan. "Call this bill 'relief' or 'reform' is a joke," Diamond said.
Even members of the legislature have been uncharacteristically frank in their assessment of the compromise plan.
"The people of Pennsylvania deserve more than a legislature that takes the course of least resistance just so something can be passed. This is nothing more than political appeasement, and we are going to be right back where we started in only a year or two as property taxes continue to rise," stated Rep. Curt Schroder, a Republican from Chester County. "This plan simply just does not go far enough to help the hard working families of Pennsylvania."
Under the plan approved by the House, seniors with an annual income under $15,000 will get a few hundred dollars back in 2009 or 2010 — if state revenues from casinos reaches $1 billion. Seniors still have to pay property taxes.
Schroder pointed out that relatively few seniors in his district will be eligible for the tax rebates because of the low income threshold. He also cautioned that the rebates could quickly be eaten up in future years as school districts again increase property taxes. In other words, don't spend that $200 right away because you may end paying $600 more to support your local school district.
Schroder was one of 61 House members, mostly Republicans, who voted against the tax rebate plan previously approved by the state Senate and championed by Rendell.
Many of the 61 conservatives in the House supported an amendment that would have increased the sales tax by 1 percent and eliminated property taxes.
"We had an opportunity to provide the citizens of this Commonwealth with significant relief, but we settled for a plan being pushed by the governor and the Senate," said Schroder, pointing fingers at the Democratic governor and the Republican-controlled Senate.
Another Republican who took his frustration out at his fellow House members was Rep. Sam Rohrer, chairman of the Commonwealth Caucus, a group of legislators who've been pushing for the elimination of property taxes by expanding and increasing the state sales tax.
The House has taken three votes on the Commonwealth Caucus in the past year, but too many Republicans joined Democrats to defeat the measure.
"The reality that the Pennsylvania House of Representatives cannot agree to eliminate 100 percent of school property taxes when the opportunity was handed to them for a third time on a silver platter is impossible to accept for Pennsylvania property owners who have been promised this economic relief for more than three decades," Rohrer said. "They are tired of being insecure in their properties that they have toiled, saved and raised their families in for years. They are tired of living under the very realistic fear of losing their homes, farms or businesses due to property tax bills they can no longer afford to pay. They are tired of political pandering. But most of all, they are tired of being ignored by their elected officials at all levels of state government from the General Assembly to the governor’s office who talk about taking revolutionary action and ultimately choose to decide against the crystal clear will of the people."
Wow! When was the last time a politician was so candid?
Although the theme of the past year has been a clean sweep of Harrisburg politicians, there are decent legislators who are looking out for the people of Pennsylvania, including Schroder and Rohrer. Other Pottstown-area representatives who voted against the rebate scheme include Raymond Bunt, Jackie Crahalla, Tim Hennessey and Tom Quigley.
The problem is there aren't enough of them to move the roadblocks put up by self-serving Philadelphia politicians like Ed Rendell and Republican House Speaker John Perzel.
E-mail Tony Phyrillas at tphyrillas@pottsmerc.com
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
We're all paying for Rendell's poor judgment
Gov. Ed Rendell has signed a lot of bad legislation during his first four years in Harrisburg.
In 2003, Rendell put his signature on a $1 billion increase in the state income tax that put the breaks on economic growth in Pennsylvania while much of the rest of the nation has experienced a booming economy.
In 2004, Rendell signed a bill that ushered in the era of casino gambling to the Keystone State, but the bill was so poorly drafted that we still don't have tangible signs of gaming today other than the bureaucracy Rendell set up to administer gambling. But the Gaming Board is so inept that it's unlikely the state will see any revenues until 2009 or 2010 at the earliest.
The companion legislation to gambling was Act 72, Rendell's hair-brained scheme to fund public education using those pie-in-the-sky gambling revenues. The law was so full of ambiguity and loopholes that it was rejected by 80 percent of the state's school boards.
In July 2005, Rendell signed the infamous pay raise bill into law, giving himself, judges and the bloated state legislature raises of 16 percent to 54 percent. We know how well that turned out.
Pennsylvania residents were so outraged by the middle-of-the-night pay grab that they tossed out a state Supreme Court justice seeking retention vote in November 2005. Voter anger continued through the May primary when voters threw out 17 incumbent legislators, including the two most powerful men in the state Senate.
There's plenty of other ways Rendell has hit working Pennsylvanians where it hurts — in the wallet.
Under Rendell, the state gasoline tax has risen to 32 cents per gallon, the second highest in the nation. Fees to inspect your car or to go hunting and fishing or just to have a piece of paper notarized have jumped to record highs under Rendell, a classic tax-and-spend liberal who believes government should take more of your money and spend it any way it wants.
And don't get me started on the state liquor store system that Rendell loves so much. Pennsylvanians who want to enjoy a bottle of wine or other spirits have to buy from a state-run monopoly that rivals the Soviet Union for mismanagement and price gouging.
Rendell apologists are quick to point out that all bills came out of the Republican-controlled legislature. True, but none of the bills mentioned could become law until Rendell signs them. The governor can veto any legislation that isn't in the best interest of Pennsylvania residents, a priority that generally finishes a distant second behind Rendell's personal political interests.
Republicans don't have enough of a majority in either chamber of the state legislature to override any of Rendell's veto because the lockstep Democrats always back Rendell, so the buck stops with the governor.
Sadly, Rendell's biggest allies in the legislature appear to be Republicans, who share equal responsibility for the sad state of Pennsylvania affairs.
Without the help of Senate Pro Tempore Robert Jubelirer, Senate Majority Leader Chip Brightbill and House Speaker John Perzel — the top three Republicans in the legislature — Rendell would never have been able to get his liberal agenda through the General Assembly.
Take note that Jubelirer and Brightbill were voted out of office May 16 by Republican primary voters in their respective home districts and Perzel (rhymes with Rendell) has to get through the November election unscathed to continue assisting his good pal and fellow Philadelphian, Ed Rendell.
Another bad piece of legislation Rendell signed into law was almost forgotten until a recent traffic accident involving the star quarterback of Pennsylvania's best football team. (Hint: It wasn't Donovan McNabb).
Rendell signed a bill in 2003 that repealed a 35-year-old law that required Pennsylvania motorcyclists to wear helmets. The helmet law repeal made absolutely no sense, but Rendell couldn't pass up an opportunity to kiss up to a few thrill-seekers who don't want to wear helmets while hurtling through the state's highways at 80 mph with only their skulls to protect their brains from macadam.
Rendell's repeal of the helmet law has resulted in hundreds of serious crashes involving motorcycle riders who died or suffered serious injuries.
The most publicized crash was June 12 when Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was struck by a car while riding his motorcycle sans helmet.
State law requires that motorists wear seatbelts or face fines if they're pulled over for other infractions. There are laws protecting infants and children riding in cars. Kids riding bicycles must wear helmets. Why would you allow a motorcyclist to ride without a helmet?
Just like the people who choose to ride without helmets, you have to wonder about Rendell's impaired judgment when it comes to signing bills into law. Rendell's record of failure speaks for itself. Pennsylvania can't afford four more years of Ed Rendell.
E-mail Tony Phyrillas at tphyrillas@pottsmerc.com
In 2003, Rendell put his signature on a $1 billion increase in the state income tax that put the breaks on economic growth in Pennsylvania while much of the rest of the nation has experienced a booming economy.
In 2004, Rendell signed a bill that ushered in the era of casino gambling to the Keystone State, but the bill was so poorly drafted that we still don't have tangible signs of gaming today other than the bureaucracy Rendell set up to administer gambling. But the Gaming Board is so inept that it's unlikely the state will see any revenues until 2009 or 2010 at the earliest.
The companion legislation to gambling was Act 72, Rendell's hair-brained scheme to fund public education using those pie-in-the-sky gambling revenues. The law was so full of ambiguity and loopholes that it was rejected by 80 percent of the state's school boards.
In July 2005, Rendell signed the infamous pay raise bill into law, giving himself, judges and the bloated state legislature raises of 16 percent to 54 percent. We know how well that turned out.
Pennsylvania residents were so outraged by the middle-of-the-night pay grab that they tossed out a state Supreme Court justice seeking retention vote in November 2005. Voter anger continued through the May primary when voters threw out 17 incumbent legislators, including the two most powerful men in the state Senate.
There's plenty of other ways Rendell has hit working Pennsylvanians where it hurts — in the wallet.
Under Rendell, the state gasoline tax has risen to 32 cents per gallon, the second highest in the nation. Fees to inspect your car or to go hunting and fishing or just to have a piece of paper notarized have jumped to record highs under Rendell, a classic tax-and-spend liberal who believes government should take more of your money and spend it any way it wants.
And don't get me started on the state liquor store system that Rendell loves so much. Pennsylvanians who want to enjoy a bottle of wine or other spirits have to buy from a state-run monopoly that rivals the Soviet Union for mismanagement and price gouging.
Rendell apologists are quick to point out that all bills came out of the Republican-controlled legislature. True, but none of the bills mentioned could become law until Rendell signs them. The governor can veto any legislation that isn't in the best interest of Pennsylvania residents, a priority that generally finishes a distant second behind Rendell's personal political interests.
Republicans don't have enough of a majority in either chamber of the state legislature to override any of Rendell's veto because the lockstep Democrats always back Rendell, so the buck stops with the governor.
Sadly, Rendell's biggest allies in the legislature appear to be Republicans, who share equal responsibility for the sad state of Pennsylvania affairs.
Without the help of Senate Pro Tempore Robert Jubelirer, Senate Majority Leader Chip Brightbill and House Speaker John Perzel — the top three Republicans in the legislature — Rendell would never have been able to get his liberal agenda through the General Assembly.
Take note that Jubelirer and Brightbill were voted out of office May 16 by Republican primary voters in their respective home districts and Perzel (rhymes with Rendell) has to get through the November election unscathed to continue assisting his good pal and fellow Philadelphian, Ed Rendell.
Another bad piece of legislation Rendell signed into law was almost forgotten until a recent traffic accident involving the star quarterback of Pennsylvania's best football team. (Hint: It wasn't Donovan McNabb).
Rendell signed a bill in 2003 that repealed a 35-year-old law that required Pennsylvania motorcyclists to wear helmets. The helmet law repeal made absolutely no sense, but Rendell couldn't pass up an opportunity to kiss up to a few thrill-seekers who don't want to wear helmets while hurtling through the state's highways at 80 mph with only their skulls to protect their brains from macadam.
Rendell's repeal of the helmet law has resulted in hundreds of serious crashes involving motorcycle riders who died or suffered serious injuries.
The most publicized crash was June 12 when Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was struck by a car while riding his motorcycle sans helmet.
State law requires that motorists wear seatbelts or face fines if they're pulled over for other infractions. There are laws protecting infants and children riding in cars. Kids riding bicycles must wear helmets. Why would you allow a motorcyclist to ride without a helmet?
Just like the people who choose to ride without helmets, you have to wonder about Rendell's impaired judgment when it comes to signing bills into law. Rendell's record of failure speaks for itself. Pennsylvania can't afford four more years of Ed Rendell.
E-mail Tony Phyrillas at tphyrillas@pottsmerc.com
Monday, June 19, 2006
Congress gives itself a sneaky pay raise
The national debt is more than $8.3 trillion and rising. Let me write out the entire number so you can get a sense of how money that is. Currently, the U.S. debt is estimated at $8,382,069,710,723. If you divide the debt among every man, woman and child living in the United States, it means each of us owes $28,035.
The national debt is just one of many problems plaguing this country.
More than 45 million Americans don't have health insurance.
Millions of Americans live below the poverty level. The national minimum wage is $5.15 and Congress has repeatedly rejected calls to raise it for an estimated 7.3 million Americans.
More than 12 million illegal aliens are living among us, with thousands more streaming across our border every day.
The war in Iraq and Afghanistan is more than three years old and has drained $400 billion from our treasury, with no end in sight for either conflict.
Gas prices have eaten away at the incomes of most working Americans and Congress hasn't lifted a finger to curtail the runaway profits of multinational oil companies.
Cable companies have increased their rates more than 50 percent higher than the rate of inflation in the past decade.
Our infrastructure (roads, bridges, highways, sewer plants) is crumbling around us.
So what has Congress been doing to fix all these problems? Not much.
Your congressman has been busy collecting lots of money from lobbyists and corporate interests so he or she can return to Washington, D.C., for another two years (or six years in the case of the U.S. Senate).
But Congress did find time from its busy schedule to give itself a pay raise.
Despite record low approval ratings (which are much deserved), lawmakers accepted a $3,300 pay raise on June 13 that will increase their annual salaries to $168,500.
The 2 percent cost-of-living (COLA) raise was the seventh straight pay raise for members of the House and the Senate.
There was a time when lawmakers routinely turned down the annual COLA, but the Republicans who have controlled Congress for the past decade decided they wouldn’t mind more money in their pockets.
Since 1989, Congress voted to make annual cost-of-living pay increases automatic unless the lawmakers voted otherwise. And guess what? They've forgotten to turn down the money ever since.
The pay raise didn't get much coverage in the media. I don't recall a press release from my congressman saying what a wonderful job he’s doing and how he deserves more money.
The pay raise was hidden inside the annual Transportation and Treasury Department spending bill. Members of Congress may be greedy, but they're not stupid. They'll take your money, but they won't be up front about it.
The bill gave government civil servants get raises of 2.7 percent, the same as military personnel will receive, according to the Associated Press. Under a complicated formula, the increase translates to 2 percent for members of Congress, the AP reported.
Who's going to notice a measly $3,300 more for members of Congress when these public servants have run up an $8.3 trillion debt?
It's not just the House that gave itself a sneaky pay raise. Last year, the Senate voted 92-6 to deny the raise, but those sneaky senators quietly backed away from the raise issue in House-Senate talks. In other words, if the House members vote to give themselves a raise, who are we to stand in the way?
Two-thirds of the members of the Senate are millionaires, so another $3,300 is pocket change for them. But wouldn't $3,300 go a long way to helping you and I pay for gas to get to work so we can pay taxes to keep these congressmen living in the lap of luxury? I know I could use another $3,300 to pay my electric and food bills this summer. I'm still paying off my heating bills from last winter.
I might even use the money to take my kids to the shore for a couple of days. We haven't take a vacation in six years. By the way, Congress will take its annual two-month summer vacation soon. That's not to be confused with the spring vacation congressmen recently took or the one they'll take right before the November election.
I applaud Rep. Jim Matheson, a Democrat from Utah, for attempting to get a direct vote to block the pay raise, which is automatically awarded unless lawmakers vote not to accept it. His efforts went nowhere. Matheson was the only member to speak on the topic, according to the Associated Press.
"I do not think that it is appropriate to let this bill go through without an up or down vote on whether or not Congress should have an increase in its own pay," Matheson said. But by a 249-167 vote, the House rejected Matheson's procedural attempt to get a direct vote on the pay raise, the Associated Press reported.
Matheson said he will once again be donating his annual pay raise to local Utah charities.
Maybe you should ask your representative or senator why he or she took the pay raise when they come around this fall asking for your vote.
Let's not forget that public pressure forced the Pennsylvania Legislature to give back its ill-gotten pay raise of July 2005. Americans everywhere should demand that Congress give back the money — and start earning its pay for a change.
The national debt is just one of many problems plaguing this country.
More than 45 million Americans don't have health insurance.
Millions of Americans live below the poverty level. The national minimum wage is $5.15 and Congress has repeatedly rejected calls to raise it for an estimated 7.3 million Americans.
More than 12 million illegal aliens are living among us, with thousands more streaming across our border every day.
The war in Iraq and Afghanistan is more than three years old and has drained $400 billion from our treasury, with no end in sight for either conflict.
Gas prices have eaten away at the incomes of most working Americans and Congress hasn't lifted a finger to curtail the runaway profits of multinational oil companies.
Cable companies have increased their rates more than 50 percent higher than the rate of inflation in the past decade.
Our infrastructure (roads, bridges, highways, sewer plants) is crumbling around us.
So what has Congress been doing to fix all these problems? Not much.
Your congressman has been busy collecting lots of money from lobbyists and corporate interests so he or she can return to Washington, D.C., for another two years (or six years in the case of the U.S. Senate).
But Congress did find time from its busy schedule to give itself a pay raise.
Despite record low approval ratings (which are much deserved), lawmakers accepted a $3,300 pay raise on June 13 that will increase their annual salaries to $168,500.
The 2 percent cost-of-living (COLA) raise was the seventh straight pay raise for members of the House and the Senate.
There was a time when lawmakers routinely turned down the annual COLA, but the Republicans who have controlled Congress for the past decade decided they wouldn’t mind more money in their pockets.
Since 1989, Congress voted to make annual cost-of-living pay increases automatic unless the lawmakers voted otherwise. And guess what? They've forgotten to turn down the money ever since.
The pay raise didn't get much coverage in the media. I don't recall a press release from my congressman saying what a wonderful job he’s doing and how he deserves more money.
The pay raise was hidden inside the annual Transportation and Treasury Department spending bill. Members of Congress may be greedy, but they're not stupid. They'll take your money, but they won't be up front about it.
The bill gave government civil servants get raises of 2.7 percent, the same as military personnel will receive, according to the Associated Press. Under a complicated formula, the increase translates to 2 percent for members of Congress, the AP reported.
Who's going to notice a measly $3,300 more for members of Congress when these public servants have run up an $8.3 trillion debt?
It's not just the House that gave itself a sneaky pay raise. Last year, the Senate voted 92-6 to deny the raise, but those sneaky senators quietly backed away from the raise issue in House-Senate talks. In other words, if the House members vote to give themselves a raise, who are we to stand in the way?
Two-thirds of the members of the Senate are millionaires, so another $3,300 is pocket change for them. But wouldn't $3,300 go a long way to helping you and I pay for gas to get to work so we can pay taxes to keep these congressmen living in the lap of luxury? I know I could use another $3,300 to pay my electric and food bills this summer. I'm still paying off my heating bills from last winter.
I might even use the money to take my kids to the shore for a couple of days. We haven't take a vacation in six years. By the way, Congress will take its annual two-month summer vacation soon. That's not to be confused with the spring vacation congressmen recently took or the one they'll take right before the November election.
I applaud Rep. Jim Matheson, a Democrat from Utah, for attempting to get a direct vote to block the pay raise, which is automatically awarded unless lawmakers vote not to accept it. His efforts went nowhere. Matheson was the only member to speak on the topic, according to the Associated Press.
"I do not think that it is appropriate to let this bill go through without an up or down vote on whether or not Congress should have an increase in its own pay," Matheson said. But by a 249-167 vote, the House rejected Matheson's procedural attempt to get a direct vote on the pay raise, the Associated Press reported.
Matheson said he will once again be donating his annual pay raise to local Utah charities.
Maybe you should ask your representative or senator why he or she took the pay raise when they come around this fall asking for your vote.
Let's not forget that public pressure forced the Pennsylvania Legislature to give back its ill-gotten pay raise of July 2005. Americans everywhere should demand that Congress give back the money — and start earning its pay for a change.
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Perzel may take GOP down with him
When the only major conservative newspaper in Pennsylvania, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and the most liberal newspaper in the state, the Philadelphia Inquirer, run editorials the same day agreeing on something, it’s worth taking a closer look.
Both newspapers focused their attention on the scandalous waste of taxpayer money by Philadelphia Republican John Perzel, the Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.
Perzel, a modern-day version of Gen. George Custer, led a bunch of fellow Republicans into the Little Big Horn last July 7 by ordering them to vote for the infamous pay raise. Perzel told the lemmings (aka Republicans) that the Indians (aka the voters) were friendly.
Perzel's miscalculation has led to the ouster of a Supreme Court justice and the defeat of at least 11 House Republicans in the May 16 primary. The two most powerful members of the state Senate, Republicans Robert Jubilirer and Chip Brightbill, also lost, but their ouster has as much to do with their own arrogance and incompetence as Perzel’s antics.
Perzel's continuing hubris and unwillingness to permit any meaningful reforms in the worst state legislature in the country could lead to disastrous results for Republicans in November.
Perzel is the Tom Delay of Pennsylvania politics. He has become a lightning rod for critics of the way state government operates.
Perzel's top political ally in Harrisburg is none other than Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell, a fellow Philadelphian. Perzel, as well as Brightbill and Jubilirer, have worked closely with Rendell to push through massive tax hikes and huge spending increases in Harrisburg. Perzel and Rendell are birds of a feather who care more about Philadelphia patronage than doing anything good for Pennsylvania.
Here's part of what the Tribune-Review had to say about Perzel in a recent editorial:
"Pennsylvania House Speaker John Perzel — whose amoral justification rationalizing the scandalous misuse of his campaign contributions was offered with stupefying indifference — is a prohibitively costly civics lesson about state government.
The Trib discovered Mr. Perzel spent $9,000 in campaign dollars for trips to Super Bowls, $34,000 for trips to Las Vegas, almost $1,350 on liquor for a state Supreme Court committee meeting, $1,800 for staying at an Atlantic City luxury hotel casino, $41,109 for food in Philadelphia even though Perzel and staff members live there, including $1,900 in home deliveries for Chinese food and pizza on 52 occasions and on and on and on.
And $700,000 in reimbursements to legislative staffers — including $56,000 in salary in 2005 and $264,000 in reimbursements in two years for Perzel's chief of staff, who also is paid $160,000 by taxpayers."
Here's part of what the Inquirer said about Perzel in its editorial:
"John Perzel had a bad case of foot-in-mouth disease. So he took an expensive cure. On the taxpayer’s dime. Well, a lot more than a dime.
Last year, the speaker of the Pennsylvania House started paying a Harrisburg-area firm $5,000 a month — in taxpayer money — to advise him on public relations.
The advice boiled down to: Stop talking so much … The $60,000-a-year PR contract with Hershey-Philbin Associates came on top of another $60,000 the GOP caucus pays to a Philly-based consultant to handle local media relations for Perzel and two other lawmakers."
The two editorials were published the same week Perzel trumpeted his long-delayed lobbyist reform package. Pennsylvania is the only state in the United States where lobbyists don't have to say how much money they spend to influence politicians or which politicians get the lion's share of the money to vote a certain way. That's the way Perzel likes it.
If his fellow Republican House members don't rise up and take Perzel out before the November election, be prepared to see the Pennsylvania House fall into Democratic control for the first time in a decade.
At least Tom Delay had the decency to resign from Congress rather than cause further damage to the Republican Party. Perzel, the personification of conceit, doesn't care about the party.
He cares only about John Perzel. He is willing to sacrifice as many GOP legislators as necessary in his vain attempt to hold on to power.
If more Republicans lose in November, they don't have to look further than the rudderless leadership of John Perzel.
Both newspapers focused their attention on the scandalous waste of taxpayer money by Philadelphia Republican John Perzel, the Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.
Perzel, a modern-day version of Gen. George Custer, led a bunch of fellow Republicans into the Little Big Horn last July 7 by ordering them to vote for the infamous pay raise. Perzel told the lemmings (aka Republicans) that the Indians (aka the voters) were friendly.
Perzel's miscalculation has led to the ouster of a Supreme Court justice and the defeat of at least 11 House Republicans in the May 16 primary. The two most powerful members of the state Senate, Republicans Robert Jubilirer and Chip Brightbill, also lost, but their ouster has as much to do with their own arrogance and incompetence as Perzel’s antics.
Perzel's continuing hubris and unwillingness to permit any meaningful reforms in the worst state legislature in the country could lead to disastrous results for Republicans in November.
Perzel is the Tom Delay of Pennsylvania politics. He has become a lightning rod for critics of the way state government operates.
Perzel's top political ally in Harrisburg is none other than Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell, a fellow Philadelphian. Perzel, as well as Brightbill and Jubilirer, have worked closely with Rendell to push through massive tax hikes and huge spending increases in Harrisburg. Perzel and Rendell are birds of a feather who care more about Philadelphia patronage than doing anything good for Pennsylvania.
Here's part of what the Tribune-Review had to say about Perzel in a recent editorial:
"Pennsylvania House Speaker John Perzel — whose amoral justification rationalizing the scandalous misuse of his campaign contributions was offered with stupefying indifference — is a prohibitively costly civics lesson about state government.
The Trib discovered Mr. Perzel spent $9,000 in campaign dollars for trips to Super Bowls, $34,000 for trips to Las Vegas, almost $1,350 on liquor for a state Supreme Court committee meeting, $1,800 for staying at an Atlantic City luxury hotel casino, $41,109 for food in Philadelphia even though Perzel and staff members live there, including $1,900 in home deliveries for Chinese food and pizza on 52 occasions and on and on and on.
And $700,000 in reimbursements to legislative staffers — including $56,000 in salary in 2005 and $264,000 in reimbursements in two years for Perzel's chief of staff, who also is paid $160,000 by taxpayers."
Here's part of what the Inquirer said about Perzel in its editorial:
"John Perzel had a bad case of foot-in-mouth disease. So he took an expensive cure. On the taxpayer’s dime. Well, a lot more than a dime.
Last year, the speaker of the Pennsylvania House started paying a Harrisburg-area firm $5,000 a month — in taxpayer money — to advise him on public relations.
The advice boiled down to: Stop talking so much … The $60,000-a-year PR contract with Hershey-Philbin Associates came on top of another $60,000 the GOP caucus pays to a Philly-based consultant to handle local media relations for Perzel and two other lawmakers."
The two editorials were published the same week Perzel trumpeted his long-delayed lobbyist reform package. Pennsylvania is the only state in the United States where lobbyists don't have to say how much money they spend to influence politicians or which politicians get the lion's share of the money to vote a certain way. That's the way Perzel likes it.
If his fellow Republican House members don't rise up and take Perzel out before the November election, be prepared to see the Pennsylvania House fall into Democratic control for the first time in a decade.
At least Tom Delay had the decency to resign from Congress rather than cause further damage to the Republican Party. Perzel, the personification of conceit, doesn't care about the party.
He cares only about John Perzel. He is willing to sacrifice as many GOP legislators as necessary in his vain attempt to hold on to power.
If more Republicans lose in November, they don't have to look further than the rudderless leadership of John Perzel.
Monday, June 12, 2006
The decline of political parties
I've been trying to think of a movie that best describes what happened in last month's Pennsylvania primary, where 17 incumbents, mostly Republicans, were ousted by voters.
The film that sums up the present state of party politics is "Titanic."
The Titanic struck the iceberg on May 16. The ship is going down. The party leaders, especially on the Republican side, are busy re-arranging the deck chairs when they should be manning the lifeboats.
Party bosses, from Capt. John Perzel -- skipper of the Titanic -- on down, have been trying to calm the panicky crew members (the legislators) but the water is chest-high and rising. It's every man for himself. The voters have shown that blind obedience to one party or to party leadership is a thing of the past.
As we get closer to the November election and the rank-and-file Republican legislators figure out that they will soon be swimming with the fishes, you'll see a fight for the few remaining lifeboats the likes of which has never been seen before.
It's painfully clear that House Speaker John Perzel is the Tom Delay of Pennsylvania politics. He is the poster child for everything that is wrong with the ship of state. The sooner the rank-and-file legislators dump Perzel, the sooner they can fight for the remaining lifeboats. Otherwise, the GOP casualty list will be extensive after the Nov. 7 election.
The party bosses, insulated by legions of sycophants, are usually the last to deal with reality. This explains why the Republicans picked an insurance salesman from Cambria County to lead the party after the hapless Eileen Melvin fell on her sword following May 16's disastrous showing by Republican incumbents.
The election of status-quo candidate Robert Gleason shows how out-of-touch the party leadership is with the voters. The people who went to the polls on May 16 -- the serious voters every party depends on -- spoke loud and clear: They want change. They want results. The political establishment responded by blaming the media, the weather and high gas prices for their losses.
I want to share a couple of examples from southeastern Pennsylvania that prove my point that party loyalty is a thing of the past.
In a stunning upset, Democrat Andrew Dinniman defeated Republican Carol Aichele for Pennsylvania's 19th Senatorial District seat on May 16. How historic was Dinniman's victory? Dinniman is the first Democrat to win a state Senate seat from Chester County in 115 years. He took 21,478 votes to Aichele’s 16,733.
Dinniman, who earned more than 55 percent of the vote on May 16, told the West Chester Daily Local news that he knows he could not have won without the support of 35 to 40 percent of the Republicans who came out to vote. Republicans outnumber Democrats in the 19th District by 83,632 to 48,787.
In neighboring Montgomery County, another GOP stronghold, Ken Davis was re-elected county chairman by a 37-vote margin over reformer Robert J. Kerns. The 400-363 vote by Republican committee members shows the divide between the status quo and reform factions in the GOP. In other words, half the foot soldiers who are crucial to getting out the vote in November may not be so enthusiastic about the job ahead with Davis leading the troops. This is happening all over the state.
Another interesting development in Montgomery County that does not bode well for the GOP was recently detailed by columnist Margaret Gibbons in the Norristown Times Herald.
Gibbons studied voter registration numbers and found that 2,272 Montgomery County voters switched their registration from a political party to independent (non-partisan) in the months leading up to the primary. Gibbons’ take on those switches is that both Democratic and Republican voters were fed up with politics as usual and their switch to non-partisan status was their own private protest.
"After all, these folks could simply have remained on the rolls as Democratic or Republican but they made the effort to switch," Gibbons writes.
While there's no way to figure out how many Republicans dropped out of the party to register as independents, the fact that Montgomery County still has a huge GOP advantage in voter registration leads one to conclude that it’s mostly disenchanted Republicans who left the party.
Republicans control both houses of the state legislature, hold both of Pennsylvania's U.S. Senate seats and there are more Republican Congressmen from Pennsylvania than their Democratic counterparts. The only Democrats in power are Gov. Ed Rendell and Treasurer Bob Casey Jr., who wants to be a U.S. Senator.
If Pennsylvania Republicans lose control of the state House, if they are unable to oust a failed governor like Rendell or if they contribute to the loss of the either house in Congress by allowing Democrats to defeat GOP incumbents, look no further than the status quo leadership of the Republican Party for the blame.
The film that sums up the present state of party politics is "Titanic."
The Titanic struck the iceberg on May 16. The ship is going down. The party leaders, especially on the Republican side, are busy re-arranging the deck chairs when they should be manning the lifeboats.
Party bosses, from Capt. John Perzel -- skipper of the Titanic -- on down, have been trying to calm the panicky crew members (the legislators) but the water is chest-high and rising. It's every man for himself. The voters have shown that blind obedience to one party or to party leadership is a thing of the past.
As we get closer to the November election and the rank-and-file Republican legislators figure out that they will soon be swimming with the fishes, you'll see a fight for the few remaining lifeboats the likes of which has never been seen before.
It's painfully clear that House Speaker John Perzel is the Tom Delay of Pennsylvania politics. He is the poster child for everything that is wrong with the ship of state. The sooner the rank-and-file legislators dump Perzel, the sooner they can fight for the remaining lifeboats. Otherwise, the GOP casualty list will be extensive after the Nov. 7 election.
The party bosses, insulated by legions of sycophants, are usually the last to deal with reality. This explains why the Republicans picked an insurance salesman from Cambria County to lead the party after the hapless Eileen Melvin fell on her sword following May 16's disastrous showing by Republican incumbents.
The election of status-quo candidate Robert Gleason shows how out-of-touch the party leadership is with the voters. The people who went to the polls on May 16 -- the serious voters every party depends on -- spoke loud and clear: They want change. They want results. The political establishment responded by blaming the media, the weather and high gas prices for their losses.
I want to share a couple of examples from southeastern Pennsylvania that prove my point that party loyalty is a thing of the past.
In a stunning upset, Democrat Andrew Dinniman defeated Republican Carol Aichele for Pennsylvania's 19th Senatorial District seat on May 16. How historic was Dinniman's victory? Dinniman is the first Democrat to win a state Senate seat from Chester County in 115 years. He took 21,478 votes to Aichele’s 16,733.
Dinniman, who earned more than 55 percent of the vote on May 16, told the West Chester Daily Local news that he knows he could not have won without the support of 35 to 40 percent of the Republicans who came out to vote. Republicans outnumber Democrats in the 19th District by 83,632 to 48,787.
In neighboring Montgomery County, another GOP stronghold, Ken Davis was re-elected county chairman by a 37-vote margin over reformer Robert J. Kerns. The 400-363 vote by Republican committee members shows the divide between the status quo and reform factions in the GOP. In other words, half the foot soldiers who are crucial to getting out the vote in November may not be so enthusiastic about the job ahead with Davis leading the troops. This is happening all over the state.
Another interesting development in Montgomery County that does not bode well for the GOP was recently detailed by columnist Margaret Gibbons in the Norristown Times Herald.
Gibbons studied voter registration numbers and found that 2,272 Montgomery County voters switched their registration from a political party to independent (non-partisan) in the months leading up to the primary. Gibbons’ take on those switches is that both Democratic and Republican voters were fed up with politics as usual and their switch to non-partisan status was their own private protest.
"After all, these folks could simply have remained on the rolls as Democratic or Republican but they made the effort to switch," Gibbons writes.
While there's no way to figure out how many Republicans dropped out of the party to register as independents, the fact that Montgomery County still has a huge GOP advantage in voter registration leads one to conclude that it’s mostly disenchanted Republicans who left the party.
Republicans control both houses of the state legislature, hold both of Pennsylvania's U.S. Senate seats and there are more Republican Congressmen from Pennsylvania than their Democratic counterparts. The only Democrats in power are Gov. Ed Rendell and Treasurer Bob Casey Jr., who wants to be a U.S. Senator.
If Pennsylvania Republicans lose control of the state House, if they are unable to oust a failed governor like Rendell or if they contribute to the loss of the either house in Congress by allowing Democrats to defeat GOP incumbents, look no further than the status quo leadership of the Republican Party for the blame.
Monday, June 05, 2006
When GOP insiders attack
I had no idea I had such power over voters until I received an e-mail last week from a Republican insider who single-handedly blames me for the Pennsylvania GOP's primary election massacre.
My Republican friend has showered me with praise for years as I skewered Democrats in this very same space. But the defeat of so many longtime Republican legislators on May 16 was too much for this rabid Republican to bear. He had to lash out at someone.
Plenty of old-school Republicans can't come to grips with the reality that when your party controls both houses of the state legislature and the legislature does nothing but rubber-stamp tax hikes and massive spending increases proposed by Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell, the Republicans bear as much of the responsibility for the troubled state of our state government.
I'm no fan of Rendell (see my previous column titled "The Worst Governor in the United States") but he signed $1.5 billion in tax hikes after the Republican-controlled House and Senate approved them. Rendell signed the notorious pay raise for himself, the legislature and state judges after it was passed by a bipartisan vote by Republicans and Democrats at 2 a.m. on July 7, 2005.
And when Republican voters went to the polls on May 16 to oust 14 Republican legislators, including the two most powerful GOP leaders in the state Senate (Chip Brightbill and Robert Jubelirer), they were sending a clear message to the good-old-boy Republican network that voters are tired of business as usual in Harrisburg.
That message apparently has not sunk in to political insiders, including the one who sent me the following note:
"I know where you stand vis-a-vis Republican incumbents, etc. My only comment: Be careful what you wish for. You might get it. Mike Folmer isn't qualified to carry Chip Brightbill's briefcase, and how much do you know about Dennis Leh's opponent? You can pile it on about the property tax and pay raise issues, but this blind-sidedness has cost the party and will make it significantly less difficult for Democrat candidates to take those seats. In my opinion, your efforts would have been more fruitful if directed at defeating Democratic incumbents — who also are up to their ears in property tax and pay raise actions. Grassroot efforts are admirable, but sometimes people put too much fertilizer on the grass and it burns off!
Let's try to walk a mile in this diehard Republican's shoes. Brightbill and Jubelirer have served in the state Senate for a combined 54 years. They've failed to produce meaningful tax relief. They've failed to contain runaway state spending. They've failed to curb Rendell's liberal agenda even though Senate Republicans enjoyed a 30-20 majority in the Senate before the primary. And Senate Republicans joined with Rendell to push through the July 2005 pay raise for themselves. So my GOP friend wants to send Brightbill and Jubelirer back to Harrisburg for four more years so they can fail some more?
What exactly scares GOP insiders about Mike Folmer (who defeated Brightbill by 7,600 votes) or John Eichelberger (who easily beat Jubelirer despite a three-way race), or Bill Reed who defeated 20-year incumbent Rep. Dennis Leh in Berks County?
Is it that these three individuals are not controlled by lobbyists? Is it because they want to reform Harrisburg? Is it that this new breed of Republican won't dance when GOP puppetmasters pull the strings? Is it because these conservative candidates answer to the people and not the party bosses?
The defeat of Jubelirer, Brightbill and Leh is good for the Republican Party and for Pennsylvania.
Jubelirer was sent into retirement by 22,335 Republican voters in his home district who no longer wanted him as their state senator. Brightbill was fired by 18,291 voters in Berks and Lebanon counties because he was too chummy with Rendell and too fond of the perks that elevated so many "public servants" into the rarefied air of the rich and famous.
Leh, who announced his retirement earlier this year but was talked into running for another term by party bosses, was given a permanent retirement by 1,675 voters who supported Reed, an unknown who financed his campaign by himself.
Change scares too many political insiders, but change is often necessary. Republicans can still salvage 2006 by embracing the reform candidates and tossing more political dead weight (are you listening John Perzel?) overboard.
Thanks to redistricting by the Republican-controlled state legislature, most districts are safe from Democratic incursions. But that's only if the party bosses put their egos aside and stop fighting the growing conservative tidal wave that swept so many new GOP candidates into the political spotlight on May 16.
If they play their cards right, Republicans can even take back traditionally Democratic districts. For example, three Republican candidates garnered a total of 2,429 votes in the 126th House District in Berks County, compared to 2,113 votes for 13-year incumbent Rep. Dante Santoni Jr., who is ripe for the picking.
Santoni and other vulnerable Democrats can be knocked off if GOP leaders stop acting like their whiny counterparts on the left, forget about helping Rendell and start listening to their conservative Republican base.
My Republican friend has showered me with praise for years as I skewered Democrats in this very same space. But the defeat of so many longtime Republican legislators on May 16 was too much for this rabid Republican to bear. He had to lash out at someone.
Plenty of old-school Republicans can't come to grips with the reality that when your party controls both houses of the state legislature and the legislature does nothing but rubber-stamp tax hikes and massive spending increases proposed by Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell, the Republicans bear as much of the responsibility for the troubled state of our state government.
I'm no fan of Rendell (see my previous column titled "The Worst Governor in the United States") but he signed $1.5 billion in tax hikes after the Republican-controlled House and Senate approved them. Rendell signed the notorious pay raise for himself, the legislature and state judges after it was passed by a bipartisan vote by Republicans and Democrats at 2 a.m. on July 7, 2005.
And when Republican voters went to the polls on May 16 to oust 14 Republican legislators, including the two most powerful GOP leaders in the state Senate (Chip Brightbill and Robert Jubelirer), they were sending a clear message to the good-old-boy Republican network that voters are tired of business as usual in Harrisburg.
That message apparently has not sunk in to political insiders, including the one who sent me the following note:
"I know where you stand vis-a-vis Republican incumbents, etc. My only comment: Be careful what you wish for. You might get it. Mike Folmer isn't qualified to carry Chip Brightbill's briefcase, and how much do you know about Dennis Leh's opponent? You can pile it on about the property tax and pay raise issues, but this blind-sidedness has cost the party and will make it significantly less difficult for Democrat candidates to take those seats. In my opinion, your efforts would have been more fruitful if directed at defeating Democratic incumbents — who also are up to their ears in property tax and pay raise actions. Grassroot efforts are admirable, but sometimes people put too much fertilizer on the grass and it burns off!
Let's try to walk a mile in this diehard Republican's shoes. Brightbill and Jubelirer have served in the state Senate for a combined 54 years. They've failed to produce meaningful tax relief. They've failed to contain runaway state spending. They've failed to curb Rendell's liberal agenda even though Senate Republicans enjoyed a 30-20 majority in the Senate before the primary. And Senate Republicans joined with Rendell to push through the July 2005 pay raise for themselves. So my GOP friend wants to send Brightbill and Jubelirer back to Harrisburg for four more years so they can fail some more?
What exactly scares GOP insiders about Mike Folmer (who defeated Brightbill by 7,600 votes) or John Eichelberger (who easily beat Jubelirer despite a three-way race), or Bill Reed who defeated 20-year incumbent Rep. Dennis Leh in Berks County?
Is it that these three individuals are not controlled by lobbyists? Is it because they want to reform Harrisburg? Is it that this new breed of Republican won't dance when GOP puppetmasters pull the strings? Is it because these conservative candidates answer to the people and not the party bosses?
The defeat of Jubelirer, Brightbill and Leh is good for the Republican Party and for Pennsylvania.
Jubelirer was sent into retirement by 22,335 Republican voters in his home district who no longer wanted him as their state senator. Brightbill was fired by 18,291 voters in Berks and Lebanon counties because he was too chummy with Rendell and too fond of the perks that elevated so many "public servants" into the rarefied air of the rich and famous.
Leh, who announced his retirement earlier this year but was talked into running for another term by party bosses, was given a permanent retirement by 1,675 voters who supported Reed, an unknown who financed his campaign by himself.
Change scares too many political insiders, but change is often necessary. Republicans can still salvage 2006 by embracing the reform candidates and tossing more political dead weight (are you listening John Perzel?) overboard.
Thanks to redistricting by the Republican-controlled state legislature, most districts are safe from Democratic incursions. But that's only if the party bosses put their egos aside and stop fighting the growing conservative tidal wave that swept so many new GOP candidates into the political spotlight on May 16.
If they play their cards right, Republicans can even take back traditionally Democratic districts. For example, three Republican candidates garnered a total of 2,429 votes in the 126th House District in Berks County, compared to 2,113 votes for 13-year incumbent Rep. Dante Santoni Jr., who is ripe for the picking.
Santoni and other vulnerable Democrats can be knocked off if GOP leaders stop acting like their whiny counterparts on the left, forget about helping Rendell and start listening to their conservative Republican base.
Thursday, June 01, 2006
Senate immigration bill betrays the U.S.
What do Ted Kennedy, Hillary Clinton, Barbara Boxer, John Kerry, Harry Reid, Russ Feingold, Joe Biden, Dick Durbin, Pat Leahy, Chuck Schumer and Diane Feinstein have in common?
They are among the most liberal members in the U.S. Senate. They're all Democrats. Some of them plan to run for president in 2008. And every one of them voted in favor of the sweeping "immigration reform" bill passed in the Senate last week.
Without having to read a word of the 614-page bill, ask yourself one question. Can anything supported by Hillary Clinton, Ted Kennedy and John Kerry be good for the United States? The fact that so many politicians on the far left support this bill is reason enough to sound the alarm.
It gets worse. The bill passed the Senate by a vote of 62 to 36, with two senators missing the vote. It passed with the support of 23 Republican senators, a motley crew that includes Sens. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, Bill Frist of Tennessee and John McCain of Arizona.
Frist and McCain essentially forfeited any chance of winning the Republican nomination for president in 2008 by turning their backs on the wishes of the majority of Americans. This bill is possibly the worst idea to come out of Washington, D.C., since Prohibition.
Frist and McCain sold out their country for political expediency. Latinos are the fastest growing segment of the electorate. They want to attract Latino voters at the expense of the rest of the country, including millions of immigrants who came here legally and followed the rules to become naturalized U.S. citizens. There cannot be any special treatment for illegal aliens. The fact that you broke into somebody's house does not entitle you to walk away with his belongings even after the police arrive.
The primary goal of the Senate bill is to provide amnesty to the millions of illegal aliens already living in the United States. It would make it easier for illegals to obtain citizenship and even gives them retroactive credit toward Social Security. In other words, it's not only OK with the majority of U.S. Senators that people break our laws, but we should make it easier for them to have a comfortable retirement.
The basic argument that senators are making is that there are too many illegal aliens already in the U.S. to consider sending them back home. It's the same as saying that there are too many criminals running around, so we'll tell the police to forget arresting any of them. Lawlessness has its rewards when it comes to the Senate bill.
The Senate bill was immediately hailed by Mexican President Vicente Fox, another reason this bill cannot possibly be good for the United States. If you were Fox, president of one of the most corrupt nations in the world, and had the opportunity to send millions of your poorest citizens into a neighboring country so they can make money, get free medical care and other benefits at the expense of the other nation’s taxpayers, of course you’d support it.
Mexico is not a good neighbor. The relationship between the U.S. and Mexico is a simple one. You get up in the morning, go next door to your neighbor's house, raid his refrigerator, put on his clothes, grab the keys to his car and help yourself to some spending money from his wallet on the way out.
The Senate's betrayal of America is nothing short of treason. Every senator who voted for the bill must be held accountable. (All but four Democrats in the Senate approved the bill). One-third of the Senate is up for re-election this year. Find out how your senator voted and fire him or her on Nov. 7.
In Pennsylvania, Specter doesn't have to face the voters until 2010, when he will probably retire. The state's other GOP senator, Rick Santorum, facing a tough re-election fight against the son of former Gov. Bob Casey, voted against the Senate bill even though Santorum is running behind the polls and is the No. 1 target of the far left during this election cycle. Santorum's courageous vote to oppose the amnesty bill is reason enough to re-elect him.
The fight is now in the House, where a House-Senate Conference Committee will attempt to "reconcile" the Senate amnesty bill. Let's make this real clear. There is nothing to reconcile. There is no compromise. The only hope the United States has to protect its borders from invasion and to save its sovereignty is for the House to reject the Senate bill outright.
All 435 members of the House face re-election in 2006. While most Democrats will follow the party line and support amnesty, some moderate Democrats may be persuaded to put down the Kool-Aid mixed by Howard Dean and do what's best for their country. Every Republican in the House must be told that their re-election depends on rejecting the amnesty bill.
Immigration reform is a complex issue, but the solution begins with the basic premise that the U.S. must secure its borders and stop illegal immigration. Amnesty is wrong. We must repair the holes in the dam before we worry about cleaning up the flood damage below.
They are among the most liberal members in the U.S. Senate. They're all Democrats. Some of them plan to run for president in 2008. And every one of them voted in favor of the sweeping "immigration reform" bill passed in the Senate last week.
Without having to read a word of the 614-page bill, ask yourself one question. Can anything supported by Hillary Clinton, Ted Kennedy and John Kerry be good for the United States? The fact that so many politicians on the far left support this bill is reason enough to sound the alarm.
It gets worse. The bill passed the Senate by a vote of 62 to 36, with two senators missing the vote. It passed with the support of 23 Republican senators, a motley crew that includes Sens. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, Bill Frist of Tennessee and John McCain of Arizona.
Frist and McCain essentially forfeited any chance of winning the Republican nomination for president in 2008 by turning their backs on the wishes of the majority of Americans. This bill is possibly the worst idea to come out of Washington, D.C., since Prohibition.
Frist and McCain sold out their country for political expediency. Latinos are the fastest growing segment of the electorate. They want to attract Latino voters at the expense of the rest of the country, including millions of immigrants who came here legally and followed the rules to become naturalized U.S. citizens. There cannot be any special treatment for illegal aliens. The fact that you broke into somebody's house does not entitle you to walk away with his belongings even after the police arrive.
The primary goal of the Senate bill is to provide amnesty to the millions of illegal aliens already living in the United States. It would make it easier for illegals to obtain citizenship and even gives them retroactive credit toward Social Security. In other words, it's not only OK with the majority of U.S. Senators that people break our laws, but we should make it easier for them to have a comfortable retirement.
The basic argument that senators are making is that there are too many illegal aliens already in the U.S. to consider sending them back home. It's the same as saying that there are too many criminals running around, so we'll tell the police to forget arresting any of them. Lawlessness has its rewards when it comes to the Senate bill.
The Senate bill was immediately hailed by Mexican President Vicente Fox, another reason this bill cannot possibly be good for the United States. If you were Fox, president of one of the most corrupt nations in the world, and had the opportunity to send millions of your poorest citizens into a neighboring country so they can make money, get free medical care and other benefits at the expense of the other nation’s taxpayers, of course you’d support it.
Mexico is not a good neighbor. The relationship between the U.S. and Mexico is a simple one. You get up in the morning, go next door to your neighbor's house, raid his refrigerator, put on his clothes, grab the keys to his car and help yourself to some spending money from his wallet on the way out.
The Senate's betrayal of America is nothing short of treason. Every senator who voted for the bill must be held accountable. (All but four Democrats in the Senate approved the bill). One-third of the Senate is up for re-election this year. Find out how your senator voted and fire him or her on Nov. 7.
In Pennsylvania, Specter doesn't have to face the voters until 2010, when he will probably retire. The state's other GOP senator, Rick Santorum, facing a tough re-election fight against the son of former Gov. Bob Casey, voted against the Senate bill even though Santorum is running behind the polls and is the No. 1 target of the far left during this election cycle. Santorum's courageous vote to oppose the amnesty bill is reason enough to re-elect him.
The fight is now in the House, where a House-Senate Conference Committee will attempt to "reconcile" the Senate amnesty bill. Let's make this real clear. There is nothing to reconcile. There is no compromise. The only hope the United States has to protect its borders from invasion and to save its sovereignty is for the House to reject the Senate bill outright.
All 435 members of the House face re-election in 2006. While most Democrats will follow the party line and support amnesty, some moderate Democrats may be persuaded to put down the Kool-Aid mixed by Howard Dean and do what's best for their country. Every Republican in the House must be told that their re-election depends on rejecting the amnesty bill.
Immigration reform is a complex issue, but the solution begins with the basic premise that the U.S. must secure its borders and stop illegal immigration. Amnesty is wrong. We must repair the holes in the dam before we worry about cleaning up the flood damage below.
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
We deserve a better state government
One out of five incumbent Pennsylvania legislators facing primary challengers on May 16 lost.
On the surface, that may not sound like a big deal, but considering that the re-election rate of Pennsylvania legislators hovers around 97 percent, it was a historic weeding out of many career politicians.
And the housecleaning isn't over yet. Come Nov. 7, all 203 members of the House, 25 members of the Senate and the governor face re-election and almost all of them will have competition on the ballot. Voters will get another chance to fire a lot more deadbeat politicians.
Now that the initial shock of getting kicked in the rump by voters is over, politicians in Harrisburg have begun talking about ways to save their own skins come November.
It may be wishful thinking to expect meaningful property tax reform this year because the Republicans who control the House and Senate don't want Democrat Ed Rendell to campaign for re-election having delivered on his No. 1 promise — cut property taxes.
But the word "reform" is being heard everywhere in Harrisburg these days. If the incumbents who survived the primary don't start producing, many more of them will join their colleagues on the unemployment line.
To make sure that reform is more than just talk, an unusual mix of organizations has formed a coalition that is pushing a "Roadmap to Reform."
The campaign was announced last week in Harrisburg by nine organizations representing the left, center and right of the political spectrum. The coalition listed 10 ways the legislature can improve the way the people's business is conducted in Harrisburg and it challenged politicians to have the reforms in place before Oct. 1.
The organizations proposing the "Roadmap to Reform" are: Common Cause Pennsylvania; Commonwealth Foundation, Democracy Rising PA, League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Citizens for Legislator Accountability, Pennsylvania Council of Churches, Rock the Capital, Stop the Illegal Pay Raise Inc. and Young Conservatives of Pennsylvania.
The "Roadmap to Reform" includes steps to make government transparent and elections more competitive, according to Tim Potts, co-founder of Democracy Rising PA. It also includes a call to convene the state’s first general constitutional convention since 1873.
Key elements of the 'Roadmap' include:
• Banning lawmakers from taking gifts and entertainment from lobbyists.
• Posting all legislative votes for the public within 24 hours.
• Passing an open records law for the legislature.
• Requiring the posting of lawmakers' expenditures and salary/benefits information online.
• Making lawmakers' health care insurance benefits consistent with the private sector.
• Banning fund-raisers while the legislature is in session.
• Authorizing and funding a constitutional convention to explore further reform.
It's an ambitious agenda, but why not shoot for the moon? The biggest obstacle to these reforms is the legislators themselves (and Gov. Ed Rendell) who like the status quo in Harrisburg. Now that the voters have the legislators over a barrel, there's no time like the present to make demands for better government.
The complete reform agenda can be reviewed at www.democracyrisingpa.com.
In the meantime, start calling your local legislators and demand that these reforms be voted on as quickly as possible.
If that means legislators bang down the door of Republican House Speaker John "Reform Stops Here" Perzel, start knocking. If that means legislators can't go on their annual two-month summer vacation, too bad.
These people make $150,000 a year in salary and benefits for a part-time job. They spend an average of 77 days a year in session in Harrisburg. If they want to keep their cushy jobs, they’d better start doing something for the voters.
And start asking the challengers who are planing to run in November, including the candidates who defeated the 17 incumbents in the primary, where they stand on these reform issues.
It's time for politicians to start working for the people who hired them — and who can fire them in November if they don't do the job.
On the surface, that may not sound like a big deal, but considering that the re-election rate of Pennsylvania legislators hovers around 97 percent, it was a historic weeding out of many career politicians.
And the housecleaning isn't over yet. Come Nov. 7, all 203 members of the House, 25 members of the Senate and the governor face re-election and almost all of them will have competition on the ballot. Voters will get another chance to fire a lot more deadbeat politicians.
Now that the initial shock of getting kicked in the rump by voters is over, politicians in Harrisburg have begun talking about ways to save their own skins come November.
It may be wishful thinking to expect meaningful property tax reform this year because the Republicans who control the House and Senate don't want Democrat Ed Rendell to campaign for re-election having delivered on his No. 1 promise — cut property taxes.
But the word "reform" is being heard everywhere in Harrisburg these days. If the incumbents who survived the primary don't start producing, many more of them will join their colleagues on the unemployment line.
To make sure that reform is more than just talk, an unusual mix of organizations has formed a coalition that is pushing a "Roadmap to Reform."
The campaign was announced last week in Harrisburg by nine organizations representing the left, center and right of the political spectrum. The coalition listed 10 ways the legislature can improve the way the people's business is conducted in Harrisburg and it challenged politicians to have the reforms in place before Oct. 1.
The organizations proposing the "Roadmap to Reform" are: Common Cause Pennsylvania; Commonwealth Foundation, Democracy Rising PA, League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Citizens for Legislator Accountability, Pennsylvania Council of Churches, Rock the Capital, Stop the Illegal Pay Raise Inc. and Young Conservatives of Pennsylvania.
The "Roadmap to Reform" includes steps to make government transparent and elections more competitive, according to Tim Potts, co-founder of Democracy Rising PA. It also includes a call to convene the state’s first general constitutional convention since 1873.
Key elements of the 'Roadmap' include:
• Banning lawmakers from taking gifts and entertainment from lobbyists.
• Posting all legislative votes for the public within 24 hours.
• Passing an open records law for the legislature.
• Requiring the posting of lawmakers' expenditures and salary/benefits information online.
• Making lawmakers' health care insurance benefits consistent with the private sector.
• Banning fund-raisers while the legislature is in session.
• Authorizing and funding a constitutional convention to explore further reform.
It's an ambitious agenda, but why not shoot for the moon? The biggest obstacle to these reforms is the legislators themselves (and Gov. Ed Rendell) who like the status quo in Harrisburg. Now that the voters have the legislators over a barrel, there's no time like the present to make demands for better government.
The complete reform agenda can be reviewed at www.democracyrisingpa.com.
In the meantime, start calling your local legislators and demand that these reforms be voted on as quickly as possible.
If that means legislators bang down the door of Republican House Speaker John "Reform Stops Here" Perzel, start knocking. If that means legislators can't go on their annual two-month summer vacation, too bad.
These people make $150,000 a year in salary and benefits for a part-time job. They spend an average of 77 days a year in session in Harrisburg. If they want to keep their cushy jobs, they’d better start doing something for the voters.
And start asking the challengers who are planing to run in November, including the candidates who defeated the 17 incumbents in the primary, where they stand on these reform issues.
It's time for politicians to start working for the people who hired them — and who can fire them in November if they don't do the job.
Friday, May 26, 2006
First Bush, then Swann visit Pottstown area
All of a sudden, the Pottstown area is the political center of the universe.
President Bush paid a visit Wednesday to the Limerick nuclear power plant on the outskirts of Pottstown before heading to Philadelphia to raise money for two area congressmen facing tough re-election campaigns.
On Thursday, GOP gubernatorial candidate Lynn Swann took a trolley tour of Pottstown before addressing a group of supporters outside Pottstown Borough Hall.
It's no coincidence Bush and Swann spent time in the Pottstown area. The re-election of Congressman Jim Gerlach -- and possibly Republican control of the House -- could be at stake as we head to the mid-term elections. Gerlach is being targeted by the Democrats, who are prepared to spend whatever it takes to replace him with liberal Lois Murphy.
The problem isn't Gerlach. He's a moderate Republican who works hard for his constituents. The problem is that the 6th District was drawn up by political insiders from Washington, D.C., who didn't have a clue about the changing demographics in the Philadelphia suburbs. Gerlach won the district in 2002 against a surprisingly strong Democratic challenger and then barely held on in 2004, beating back Murphy, a longtime lobbyist, by a few thousand votes.
Swann's visit to Pottstown is important for his chances to unseat Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell, who was elected in 2002 mainly by voters in Philadelphia and the four suburban counties around the City of Brotherly Love.
Considering Rendell won only 18 of Pennsylvania's 67 counties, he doesn't have a lot of room for error in his re-election bid. Rendell must hold on to every vote in the Philadelphia region, especially the suburbs, or he'll be Pennsylvania's first one-term governor since the state constitution was amended 40 years to allow governors to serve consecutive terms.
Western Montgomery County, where Pottstown is located, is in play in 2006. While the eastern half of the county, which borders Philadelphia, is becoming more Democratic, Republicans still hold a registration advantage as you move further away from Philly.
Republicans have had recent success in places like Pottstown, where they were able to oust a longtime Democratic mayor and win three seats on the local town council last year. The election of Republican Mayor Sharon Valentine-Thomas and GOP council members Mark Gibson, Jim Vlahos and Greg Berry took many political observers by surprise in 2005.
It was no coincidence to find all four officials riding the trolley with Swann Thursday and introducing the GOP gubernatorial candidate to potential voters.
Valentine-Thomas and Swann talked about the resurgence of the GOP in Pottstown and how to build on that momentum to help Swann during part of the trolley ride. Also aboard were Swann's running-mate, lieutenant governor candidate Jim Matthews, and state Rep. Tom Quigley. State Sen. John Rafferty, another popular area Republican, tagged along for part of the tour.
Swann hammered away at Rendell's broken promises on property tax reform. Rendell promised voters in 2002 he would reduce the tax burden on homeowners by at least 30 percent. In Rendell's first three years in office, the tax burden on Pennsylvania residents has gone up nearly $1.5 billion, according to Swann.
One of the best lines Swann had concerned his relative inexperience in politics. Comparing himself to a veteran politician like Ed Rendell who has decades in government but has failed to deliver on his promises, Swann said, "If that's what experience does for you, I'm happy not to have any experience."
Bush did well on Wednesday speaking to several hundred employees at the Limerick nuclear plant about the nation's need to ease its dependence on foreign oil. Despite his low job approval numbers, Bush received an enthusiastic welcome from nuclear plant workers when he said he'd like to see the U.S. rely more on nuclear energy.
In Philadelphia, Bush helped raise $450,000 for Gerlach and Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick. The president said Gerlach and Fitzpatrick were "two of the young stars of the United States Congress" and both deserved re-election.
Fitzpatrick is running against a lawyer by the name of Patrick Murphy, no relation to Lois Murphy, who is also a lawyer and a former campaign worker for Ed Rendell.
Expect Pennsylvania -- and Pottstown in particular -- to receive more attention from state and national candidates as we get closer to the Nov. 7 election.
President Bush paid a visit Wednesday to the Limerick nuclear power plant on the outskirts of Pottstown before heading to Philadelphia to raise money for two area congressmen facing tough re-election campaigns.
On Thursday, GOP gubernatorial candidate Lynn Swann took a trolley tour of Pottstown before addressing a group of supporters outside Pottstown Borough Hall.
It's no coincidence Bush and Swann spent time in the Pottstown area. The re-election of Congressman Jim Gerlach -- and possibly Republican control of the House -- could be at stake as we head to the mid-term elections. Gerlach is being targeted by the Democrats, who are prepared to spend whatever it takes to replace him with liberal Lois Murphy.
The problem isn't Gerlach. He's a moderate Republican who works hard for his constituents. The problem is that the 6th District was drawn up by political insiders from Washington, D.C., who didn't have a clue about the changing demographics in the Philadelphia suburbs. Gerlach won the district in 2002 against a surprisingly strong Democratic challenger and then barely held on in 2004, beating back Murphy, a longtime lobbyist, by a few thousand votes.
Swann's visit to Pottstown is important for his chances to unseat Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell, who was elected in 2002 mainly by voters in Philadelphia and the four suburban counties around the City of Brotherly Love.
Considering Rendell won only 18 of Pennsylvania's 67 counties, he doesn't have a lot of room for error in his re-election bid. Rendell must hold on to every vote in the Philadelphia region, especially the suburbs, or he'll be Pennsylvania's first one-term governor since the state constitution was amended 40 years to allow governors to serve consecutive terms.
Western Montgomery County, where Pottstown is located, is in play in 2006. While the eastern half of the county, which borders Philadelphia, is becoming more Democratic, Republicans still hold a registration advantage as you move further away from Philly.
Republicans have had recent success in places like Pottstown, where they were able to oust a longtime Democratic mayor and win three seats on the local town council last year. The election of Republican Mayor Sharon Valentine-Thomas and GOP council members Mark Gibson, Jim Vlahos and Greg Berry took many political observers by surprise in 2005.
It was no coincidence to find all four officials riding the trolley with Swann Thursday and introducing the GOP gubernatorial candidate to potential voters.
Valentine-Thomas and Swann talked about the resurgence of the GOP in Pottstown and how to build on that momentum to help Swann during part of the trolley ride. Also aboard were Swann's running-mate, lieutenant governor candidate Jim Matthews, and state Rep. Tom Quigley. State Sen. John Rafferty, another popular area Republican, tagged along for part of the tour.
Swann hammered away at Rendell's broken promises on property tax reform. Rendell promised voters in 2002 he would reduce the tax burden on homeowners by at least 30 percent. In Rendell's first three years in office, the tax burden on Pennsylvania residents has gone up nearly $1.5 billion, according to Swann.
One of the best lines Swann had concerned his relative inexperience in politics. Comparing himself to a veteran politician like Ed Rendell who has decades in government but has failed to deliver on his promises, Swann said, "If that's what experience does for you, I'm happy not to have any experience."
Bush did well on Wednesday speaking to several hundred employees at the Limerick nuclear plant about the nation's need to ease its dependence on foreign oil. Despite his low job approval numbers, Bush received an enthusiastic welcome from nuclear plant workers when he said he'd like to see the U.S. rely more on nuclear energy.
In Philadelphia, Bush helped raise $450,000 for Gerlach and Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick. The president said Gerlach and Fitzpatrick were "two of the young stars of the United States Congress" and both deserved re-election.
Fitzpatrick is running against a lawyer by the name of Patrick Murphy, no relation to Lois Murphy, who is also a lawyer and a former campaign worker for Ed Rendell.
Expect Pennsylvania -- and Pottstown in particular -- to receive more attention from state and national candidates as we get closer to the Nov. 7 election.
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
The job isn't done yet
If you were flipping through the channels last week and caught my TV debut on the Pennsylvania Cable Network's "Journalists Roundtable" program, some of these observations may sound familiar.
The topic of the show was the fallout from the historic May 16 Primary Election in which Pennsylvania voters ousted at least 17 incumbent legislators (it could be more with a handful of races still too close to call).
All of the legislators had one thing in common: They voted for the July 7 pay raise for themselves, the governor and state judges. That infamous vote, taken at 2 a.m. without any public debate, lit the fuse of the current voter revolt in the Keystone State.
Here are some highlights from what I said on the show (or wish I had said at the time of the taping.)
Berks County voters did their job on May 16. They kicked out four of the five incumbents who had primary challengers. The only one who survived was Democrat Dante Santoni, but just barely. Two challengers split the anti-incumbent vote, allowing Santoni to secure the nomination, but 55 percent of the Democratic voters in the 126th House District rejected the veteran lawmaker, who is vulnerable in November.
Political pundits — including many who've appeared on PCN — have been saying the anti-incumbent movement is limited to the central and western Pennsylvania. That's not the case. Berks voters were very angry. And I had a lot of people in Chester and Montgomery counties tell me they were disappointed they didn’t get an opportunity to vote against an incumbent.
Most of the pay-jackers from Chester and Montgomery counties retired rather than face the voters or they were not facing opposition in the primary. Many will face challengers in November. There will be more political bloodletting this fall.
The defeat of Sen. Chip Brightbill and Sen. Bob Jubelirer, powerful Republicans who collectively spent $2.5 million to defend their seats against little-known and under-funded challengers, doesn't bode well for Ed Rendell.
The pay raise was a three-headed monster. All three branches of state government conspired to pass off the pay raise on taxpayers. The voters punished the judiciary last November by kicking Russell Nigro off the Supreme Court. They punished the GOP leadership in the Legislature on May 16. Rendell is next. He signed the pay raise into law. He defended it. He was in on the back-room dealings that crafted the pay raise. Payback is coming for Rendell.
Republicans took care of business on Tuesday. Brightbill and Jubilirer made too many deals with Rendell. They were too cozy with Pennsylvania's liberal, tax-and-spend governor. The voters — mainly the conservatives in their respective districts — gave Brightbill and Jubilirer a swift kick in the pants. Democrats had the same opportunity to punish their leadership — Bill DeWeese and Mike Veon — and didn't do it.
That's an important distinction between the two parties. If you have an infestation problem, you call an exterminator. Republicans took care of their problem. Democrats are more willing to live with their flawed leadership. I commend Republicans, especially conservative bloggers and talk radio hosts and groups like Young Conservatives of Pennsylvania and the Club for Growth, for going after Brightbill and Jubelirer. Democrats, as usual, were AWOL.
As for the future of reform in Pennsylvania, the genie is out of the bottle. It's going to be much harder for legislators to get away with all the shenanigans they've pulled in the past. The voters are on to them. It's going to be much harder for legislative leaders to control rank-and-file members. Let's not forget that the party bosses went to the rank-and-file last year and told them to vote for the pay raise and there would be no consequences. Tell that to the 17 legislators who were voted out of office Tuesday.
I predicted in a column back in January that when the dust settles on the 2006 election cycle — the retirements, the primary and the general election — Pennsylvania would have 50 to 60 new state legislators. So far, 30 incumbents have retired, at least 17 lost in the primary and I'm betting that another 15 to 20 incumbents will lose in November. Having 50 to 60 new legislators, coupled with the incumbents who voted against the pay raise and want genuine reform, could mean a new reform majority that will give House Speaker John Perzel sleepless nights.
Finally, everyone involved in the "People's Revolution" against the entrenched incumbency should be proud of the achievements on Primary Election Day. But let's not go overboard. There are many obstacles ahead. As I've said before, revolutions are not won overnight.
People think the United States declared its independence in 1776 and England surrendered. It didn't happen that way. The American Revolution lasted nearly seven years — until 1783. Real change is hard. We're in the same situation in Pennsylvania. We've made great strides to gain our independence from the political aristocracy that rules Harrisburg. But we have many more battles ahead.
The topic of the show was the fallout from the historic May 16 Primary Election in which Pennsylvania voters ousted at least 17 incumbent legislators (it could be more with a handful of races still too close to call).
All of the legislators had one thing in common: They voted for the July 7 pay raise for themselves, the governor and state judges. That infamous vote, taken at 2 a.m. without any public debate, lit the fuse of the current voter revolt in the Keystone State.
Here are some highlights from what I said on the show (or wish I had said at the time of the taping.)
Berks County voters did their job on May 16. They kicked out four of the five incumbents who had primary challengers. The only one who survived was Democrat Dante Santoni, but just barely. Two challengers split the anti-incumbent vote, allowing Santoni to secure the nomination, but 55 percent of the Democratic voters in the 126th House District rejected the veteran lawmaker, who is vulnerable in November.
Political pundits — including many who've appeared on PCN — have been saying the anti-incumbent movement is limited to the central and western Pennsylvania. That's not the case. Berks voters were very angry. And I had a lot of people in Chester and Montgomery counties tell me they were disappointed they didn’t get an opportunity to vote against an incumbent.
Most of the pay-jackers from Chester and Montgomery counties retired rather than face the voters or they were not facing opposition in the primary. Many will face challengers in November. There will be more political bloodletting this fall.
The defeat of Sen. Chip Brightbill and Sen. Bob Jubelirer, powerful Republicans who collectively spent $2.5 million to defend their seats against little-known and under-funded challengers, doesn't bode well for Ed Rendell.
The pay raise was a three-headed monster. All three branches of state government conspired to pass off the pay raise on taxpayers. The voters punished the judiciary last November by kicking Russell Nigro off the Supreme Court. They punished the GOP leadership in the Legislature on May 16. Rendell is next. He signed the pay raise into law. He defended it. He was in on the back-room dealings that crafted the pay raise. Payback is coming for Rendell.
Republicans took care of business on Tuesday. Brightbill and Jubilirer made too many deals with Rendell. They were too cozy with Pennsylvania's liberal, tax-and-spend governor. The voters — mainly the conservatives in their respective districts — gave Brightbill and Jubilirer a swift kick in the pants. Democrats had the same opportunity to punish their leadership — Bill DeWeese and Mike Veon — and didn't do it.
That's an important distinction between the two parties. If you have an infestation problem, you call an exterminator. Republicans took care of their problem. Democrats are more willing to live with their flawed leadership. I commend Republicans, especially conservative bloggers and talk radio hosts and groups like Young Conservatives of Pennsylvania and the Club for Growth, for going after Brightbill and Jubelirer. Democrats, as usual, were AWOL.
As for the future of reform in Pennsylvania, the genie is out of the bottle. It's going to be much harder for legislators to get away with all the shenanigans they've pulled in the past. The voters are on to them. It's going to be much harder for legislative leaders to control rank-and-file members. Let's not forget that the party bosses went to the rank-and-file last year and told them to vote for the pay raise and there would be no consequences. Tell that to the 17 legislators who were voted out of office Tuesday.
I predicted in a column back in January that when the dust settles on the 2006 election cycle — the retirements, the primary and the general election — Pennsylvania would have 50 to 60 new state legislators. So far, 30 incumbents have retired, at least 17 lost in the primary and I'm betting that another 15 to 20 incumbents will lose in November. Having 50 to 60 new legislators, coupled with the incumbents who voted against the pay raise and want genuine reform, could mean a new reform majority that will give House Speaker John Perzel sleepless nights.
Finally, everyone involved in the "People's Revolution" against the entrenched incumbency should be proud of the achievements on Primary Election Day. But let's not go overboard. There are many obstacles ahead. As I've said before, revolutions are not won overnight.
People think the United States declared its independence in 1776 and England surrendered. It didn't happen that way. The American Revolution lasted nearly seven years — until 1783. Real change is hard. We're in the same situation in Pennsylvania. We've made great strides to gain our independence from the political aristocracy that rules Harrisburg. But we have many more battles ahead.
Friday, May 19, 2006
Political winds of change in Pennsylvania
Incumbent Pennsylvania legislators who did not face challengers in the May 16 primary shouldn't feel too confident that they've survived the voter backlash.
Only 61 of the 228 legislators whose terms expire in 2006 faced opponents in the primary. But 18 of the incumbents were already sent packing by the voters, primarily by disgruntled conservative Republicans, in a political upheaval not seen in Pennsylvania for two decades.
The bloodbath included the top two Republican leaders of the Pennsylvania Senate, President Pro Tempore Robert Jubilirer and Majority Leader Chip Brightbill, who collectively spent $2.5 million to defend their seats against unknown and under-funded challengers. Jubilirer and Brightbill weren't just defeated at the polls, they were slapped around by voters.
Photos of Brightbill and Jubilirer posing with Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell were widely circulated by conservatives. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Those photos may have cost Brightbill and Jubilerer thousands of votes.
Any friend of liberal Ed Rendell is no friend of the Republican Party. That's the message Republican primary voters sent to Brightbill and Jubilirer, widely regarded as RINOs (Republicans In Name Only.)
Now comes a reality check for other incumbents. Almost all of the 40 incumbents who won on May 16 will face challengers in the Nov. 7 general election. And there's another 50 to 60 candidates waiting for a chance to take on incumbents in a year when voters want blood.
That includes independent, Libertarian, Green Party and Constitution Party members. There's even a Socialist Party member planning to run against a Republican incumbent in mostly-GOP Chester County. Don't look now, but Democracy is breaking out all over Pennsylvania.
How willing are voters to vote for somebody other than the incumbent?
Consider this. James Babb, a Libertarian who plans to challenge Rep. Carole Rubley in the 157th House District reports that he collected all of the signatures he needed for his nominating petition in one day — Tuesday, May 16.
Pennsylvania election law requires third-party and independent candidates to collect 466 signatures from district voters to qualify for the ballot in the 157th District, according to the Babb campaign.
The Babb for Pennsylvania volunteer team completed the task months before the Aug. 1 deadline. Registered Republicans and Democrats who showed up to vote in their primaries gladly filled page after page with their signatures.
"Now voters in our district will have a true choice in the fall," Babb said. "Many voters in our district are concerned about the never ending tax hikes and runaway spending authorized by incumbent Carole Rubley. I look forward to debating these issues at the earliest opportunity. I want to know why she keeps taking more and more of our hard-earned money."
Here's the rub. Rubley, who has represented the 157th District since 1993, did not vote for the July 2005 pay raise. She did not take the money as unvouchered expenses. Rubley has generally been response to the people of her district and is a member of the Jefferson Reform Initiative, a group calling for major changes in the way state business is conducted in Harrisburg.
In other words, Rubley one of the few incumbents who could make the case that she deserves re-election.
But she now faces two opponents in November. In addition to Babb, Rubley has to get past Democrat Rich Ciamacca.
The 157th House District includes the townships of Schuylkill and Tredyffrin and the borough of Phoenixville in Chester County and parts of the townships of Lower Providence and West Norriton in Montgomery County. It's going to be an interesting race in the fall.
Babb's platform includes a pledge to personally read all legislation that he votes for, and cite the exact clause in the Pennsylvania constitution that authorizes any new law he supports. He also pledges to pursue the repeal of all existing laws not explicitly authorized by the constitution. He advocates common sense, free-market solutions instead of expanded government power.
More information about the campaign can be found at www.JamesBabb.com.
So far, 18 incumbents have been punished by the voters and another four races are too close to call. Coupled with the 30 incumbents who retired rather than face the voters, we’ve already got nearly 50 new legislators headed to Harrisburg after November.
I predict another 15 to 20 incumbents will lose in the Nov. 7 general election. That will give us 60 to 70 new legislators. The people's revolution is on!
Only 61 of the 228 legislators whose terms expire in 2006 faced opponents in the primary. But 18 of the incumbents were already sent packing by the voters, primarily by disgruntled conservative Republicans, in a political upheaval not seen in Pennsylvania for two decades.
The bloodbath included the top two Republican leaders of the Pennsylvania Senate, President Pro Tempore Robert Jubilirer and Majority Leader Chip Brightbill, who collectively spent $2.5 million to defend their seats against unknown and under-funded challengers. Jubilirer and Brightbill weren't just defeated at the polls, they were slapped around by voters.
Photos of Brightbill and Jubilirer posing with Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell were widely circulated by conservatives. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Those photos may have cost Brightbill and Jubilerer thousands of votes.
Any friend of liberal Ed Rendell is no friend of the Republican Party. That's the message Republican primary voters sent to Brightbill and Jubilirer, widely regarded as RINOs (Republicans In Name Only.)
Now comes a reality check for other incumbents. Almost all of the 40 incumbents who won on May 16 will face challengers in the Nov. 7 general election. And there's another 50 to 60 candidates waiting for a chance to take on incumbents in a year when voters want blood.
That includes independent, Libertarian, Green Party and Constitution Party members. There's even a Socialist Party member planning to run against a Republican incumbent in mostly-GOP Chester County. Don't look now, but Democracy is breaking out all over Pennsylvania.
How willing are voters to vote for somebody other than the incumbent?
Consider this. James Babb, a Libertarian who plans to challenge Rep. Carole Rubley in the 157th House District reports that he collected all of the signatures he needed for his nominating petition in one day — Tuesday, May 16.
Pennsylvania election law requires third-party and independent candidates to collect 466 signatures from district voters to qualify for the ballot in the 157th District, according to the Babb campaign.
The Babb for Pennsylvania volunteer team completed the task months before the Aug. 1 deadline. Registered Republicans and Democrats who showed up to vote in their primaries gladly filled page after page with their signatures.
"Now voters in our district will have a true choice in the fall," Babb said. "Many voters in our district are concerned about the never ending tax hikes and runaway spending authorized by incumbent Carole Rubley. I look forward to debating these issues at the earliest opportunity. I want to know why she keeps taking more and more of our hard-earned money."
Here's the rub. Rubley, who has represented the 157th District since 1993, did not vote for the July 2005 pay raise. She did not take the money as unvouchered expenses. Rubley has generally been response to the people of her district and is a member of the Jefferson Reform Initiative, a group calling for major changes in the way state business is conducted in Harrisburg.
In other words, Rubley one of the few incumbents who could make the case that she deserves re-election.
But she now faces two opponents in November. In addition to Babb, Rubley has to get past Democrat Rich Ciamacca.
The 157th House District includes the townships of Schuylkill and Tredyffrin and the borough of Phoenixville in Chester County and parts of the townships of Lower Providence and West Norriton in Montgomery County. It's going to be an interesting race in the fall.
Babb's platform includes a pledge to personally read all legislation that he votes for, and cite the exact clause in the Pennsylvania constitution that authorizes any new law he supports. He also pledges to pursue the repeal of all existing laws not explicitly authorized by the constitution. He advocates common sense, free-market solutions instead of expanded government power.
More information about the campaign can be found at www.JamesBabb.com.
So far, 18 incumbents have been punished by the voters and another four races are too close to call. Coupled with the 30 incumbents who retired rather than face the voters, we’ve already got nearly 50 new legislators headed to Harrisburg after November.
I predict another 15 to 20 incumbents will lose in the Nov. 7 general election. That will give us 60 to 70 new legislators. The people's revolution is on!
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
Payback: Pennsylvania voters get their revenge
The incumbents had the money. They had the name recognition. They had the party machinery behind them. They had all the advantages. But they still lost.
Pennsylvania voters punished the pay-jacking Pennsylvania Legislature in the May 16 primary election, firing the state Senate’s two top Republicans, who collectively spent more than $2 million to defend their seats against unknown opponents.
More than a dozen other incumbents were voted out of office in Tuesday's primary. And it's only the beginning.
Only 61 of the 228 Legislators whose terms expire in 2006 faced primary challengers. There's another 50 candidates waiting to take on incumbents in the November general election. Independent and third-party candidates still have until Aug. 1 to gather enough signatures to get their names on the ballot.
Incumbents are not out of the woods yet.
The pundits kept saying that a low-voter turnout would help the incumbents, but they were wrong. The people who went to the polls Tuesday had a specific goal in mind — punish the incumbents, especially the leadership.
The experts kept saying that the anti-incumbent movement was regional, confined to the central and western parts of Pennsylvania. That wasn't the case, either.
Berks County voters did their part in helping punish the pay-jacking Pennsylvania legislators on Tuesday, firing four of the five legislators who had ballot competition.
The big catch was state Sen. Chip Brightbill, who paid for his arrogance and his eagerness to work closely with Gov. Ed Rendell in pushing through massive tax hikes, outrageous increases in state spending and the infamous July 2005 pay raise.
Despite spending more than $800,000 to buy back his Senate seat, Brightbill lost it to a tire salesman named Mike Folmer by a landslide. Brightbill, a 20-year-veteran of the Senate, managed to pick up just 37 percent of the vote to Folmer’s 63 percent in Lebanon and Berks counties.
The unsung heroes who helped Folmer and other challengers defeat the entrenched incumbents were the state's conservative activists and bloggers.
Led by organizations like Young Conservatives of Pennsylvania (YCOP) and its newly-minted Political Action Committee and the Club for Growth, the state's conservatives took out the trash by sending Brightbill and Senate Pro Tempore Robert Jubilerer to their political graveyards.
Jubelirer received 36 percent of the vote. Two challengers took the other 66 percent, with John Eichelberger winning the GOP nomination with 44 percent of the vote.
Unlike Republicans, Democrats failed to clean up their side of the aisle on Tuesday, re-electing Rep. Bill DeWeese and Rep. Mike Veon, two Democratic leaders of the July 2005 pay-jacking. Veon was the only member of the Legislature who voted against the pay raise repeal last November.
In Berks County, voters ousted two veteran GOP House members, Dennis Leh and Paul Semmel. Both voted for the pay raise and took the money early as unvouchered expenses. Despite more than 35 years of service in Harrisburg, Leh and Semmel paid the price for betraying their constituents.
The lone Democrat in Berks facing a primary challenge, Dante Santoni Jr., survived with just 45 percent of the vote because his two challengers (John DelCollo and Irv Livingood) split the anti-incumbent vote. The challengers received a total of 2,600 votes compared to 2,103 for Santoni, who has so far failed to distinguish himself in 13 years in Harrisburg.
The previously smug Santoni faces the prospect of seeking re-election in November with 55 percent of Democratic voters having already rejected him. His return to the Legislature is far from assured. The Republican challenger is Hal Baker, a political newcomer who beat out two other GOP candidates.
A fifth Berks County legislator facing opposition, Rep. Bob Allen, lost to challenger Gary Hornberger. So much for voters in the southeastern part of the state not being as upset with the pay raise or the lack of action on property tax relief.
The revolution is on. The people of Pennsylvania won another major victory Tuesday. The Nov. 7 general election cannot come soon enough.
If you're looking for more analysis on Tuesday's Pennsylvania primary results, tune in to the Pennsylvania Cable Network's "Journalist Roundtable" program this week. One of the guests on the show will be "yours truly" making his television debut. If you missed the initial broadcast Thursday, PCN will repeat the show Sunday at 7 p.m. and again at 11 p.m.
Pennsylvania voters punished the pay-jacking Pennsylvania Legislature in the May 16 primary election, firing the state Senate’s two top Republicans, who collectively spent more than $2 million to defend their seats against unknown opponents.
More than a dozen other incumbents were voted out of office in Tuesday's primary. And it's only the beginning.
Only 61 of the 228 Legislators whose terms expire in 2006 faced primary challengers. There's another 50 candidates waiting to take on incumbents in the November general election. Independent and third-party candidates still have until Aug. 1 to gather enough signatures to get their names on the ballot.
Incumbents are not out of the woods yet.
The pundits kept saying that a low-voter turnout would help the incumbents, but they were wrong. The people who went to the polls Tuesday had a specific goal in mind — punish the incumbents, especially the leadership.
The experts kept saying that the anti-incumbent movement was regional, confined to the central and western parts of Pennsylvania. That wasn't the case, either.
Berks County voters did their part in helping punish the pay-jacking Pennsylvania legislators on Tuesday, firing four of the five legislators who had ballot competition.
The big catch was state Sen. Chip Brightbill, who paid for his arrogance and his eagerness to work closely with Gov. Ed Rendell in pushing through massive tax hikes, outrageous increases in state spending and the infamous July 2005 pay raise.
Despite spending more than $800,000 to buy back his Senate seat, Brightbill lost it to a tire salesman named Mike Folmer by a landslide. Brightbill, a 20-year-veteran of the Senate, managed to pick up just 37 percent of the vote to Folmer’s 63 percent in Lebanon and Berks counties.
The unsung heroes who helped Folmer and other challengers defeat the entrenched incumbents were the state's conservative activists and bloggers.
Led by organizations like Young Conservatives of Pennsylvania (YCOP) and its newly-minted Political Action Committee and the Club for Growth, the state's conservatives took out the trash by sending Brightbill and Senate Pro Tempore Robert Jubilerer to their political graveyards.
Jubelirer received 36 percent of the vote. Two challengers took the other 66 percent, with John Eichelberger winning the GOP nomination with 44 percent of the vote.
Unlike Republicans, Democrats failed to clean up their side of the aisle on Tuesday, re-electing Rep. Bill DeWeese and Rep. Mike Veon, two Democratic leaders of the July 2005 pay-jacking. Veon was the only member of the Legislature who voted against the pay raise repeal last November.
In Berks County, voters ousted two veteran GOP House members, Dennis Leh and Paul Semmel. Both voted for the pay raise and took the money early as unvouchered expenses. Despite more than 35 years of service in Harrisburg, Leh and Semmel paid the price for betraying their constituents.
The lone Democrat in Berks facing a primary challenge, Dante Santoni Jr., survived with just 45 percent of the vote because his two challengers (John DelCollo and Irv Livingood) split the anti-incumbent vote. The challengers received a total of 2,600 votes compared to 2,103 for Santoni, who has so far failed to distinguish himself in 13 years in Harrisburg.
The previously smug Santoni faces the prospect of seeking re-election in November with 55 percent of Democratic voters having already rejected him. His return to the Legislature is far from assured. The Republican challenger is Hal Baker, a political newcomer who beat out two other GOP candidates.
A fifth Berks County legislator facing opposition, Rep. Bob Allen, lost to challenger Gary Hornberger. So much for voters in the southeastern part of the state not being as upset with the pay raise or the lack of action on property tax relief.
The revolution is on. The people of Pennsylvania won another major victory Tuesday. The Nov. 7 general election cannot come soon enough.
If you're looking for more analysis on Tuesday's Pennsylvania primary results, tune in to the Pennsylvania Cable Network's "Journalist Roundtable" program this week. One of the guests on the show will be "yours truly" making his television debut. If you missed the initial broadcast Thursday, PCN will repeat the show Sunday at 7 p.m. and again at 11 p.m.
Monday, May 15, 2006
Our future is at stake on May 16
Eight out of 10 registered voters usually stay home on primary election day in Pennsylvania. If that trend continues this Tuesday, we're doomed.
I've written nearly 50 columns in the past 10 months about the sad state of affairs of Pennsylvania government. Each column averaged 850 words. That's more than 42,000 words I've used to try to get through to readers that time is running out.
If you care about your family, you must vote Tuesday. If you care about your children's future or your grandchildren's future, you must vote Tuesday. If you care about your job, you must vote Tuesday.
If you believe that government should fear the people instead of the other way around, you must vote Tuesday.
If you believe that power should rest in the hands of 254 self-serving, career politicians (the most expensive legislature in the country and a governor who has a mortgaged Pennsylvania's future to the casino industry) instead of the 13 million Pennsylvania residents, send the same people back to Harrisburg and forget about open, honest, accountable government in your lifetime.
I've given you dozens of arguments why reform is needed in Pennsylvania. I've given you numerous examples of how our hard-earned tax money has been wasted by a political aristocracy that lives in luxury while the rest of us struggle to pay our bills. I've made you aware of a handful of heroes who are fighting to make things right in this state.
If you are contemplating voting for an incumbent on Tuesday, stay home. Clearly no measure of reason, no amount of logic, no levelheaded argument will ever get through to you. You're either related to a politician or you benefit financially from having a particular incumbent in office. Otherwise, you'd vote for change.
The people's revolution is on. The people won important battles. On Nov. 8, the voters rejected the retention of a state Supreme Court justice for the first time in history and nearly ousted a second justice. A week later, a fearful Legislature repealed its outrageous 2005 pay grab.
Since then, the people of Pennsylvania have shamed 30 incumbent legislators into retiring rather than face the voters in 2006. And a record number of challengers emerged to take on incumbents this year.
The decisive battle to retake this state back from the political elite will come Tuesday. If the voters can knock out at least 50 incumbents, the political warlords who control Harrisburg will lose their grip on power.
We, the people, will gain the advantage and we will continue the revolution through the Nov. 7 election.
It all comes down to this one election. Republicans and Democrats, conservatives and liberals, young and old must unite to take back Pennsylvania. We deserve better. How many of you show up at the polls and how many do the right thing will determine Pennsylvania's future. There's nothing else for me to say on the matter.
The eyes of the nation are on Pennsylvania. The Wall Street Journal ran an article Monday on the sad state of Pennsylvania politics, "Incumbents Under Fire." The New York Times profiled Russ Diamond a couple of weeks ago. Lynn Swann has been featured in The Washington Post and on several network news programs.
I will leave you with some comments from three astute political observers that put Tuesday's election into perspective.
Terry Madonna, a political science professor at Franklin & Marshall College, had this to say on why reform hinges on the May 16 election results: "If incumbents win, I think it's all over. It's all dead." Madonna also warns about the death of competition in Pennsylvania elections: "If we don't do it now, the incumbents will continue to get re-elected."
Brad Bumstead, a political columnist and state capitol reporter for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, wrote this in a recent column, "Voters, save yourselves," about the consequences if the party bosses retain control: "It's scarier than a Stephen King novel. Here's the scenario: All legislative leaders win in the May 16 primary. Then what happens? Will we see a reign of terror against taxpayers and journalists? It will set back efforts to reform the General Assembly for, perhaps, a decade. It would be a dark chapter in Pennsylvania history."
Russ Diamond, the founder or PaCleanSweep and independent candidate for governor, had this to say on what happens if challengers fail to outs incumbents: "The Legislature is capable of anything. I wouldn't put it past them to reinstate the pay raise unless a substantial number of legislators are swept out of office this year. Imagine if we can't dump these people after what they've done to this state. What kind of message does that send?"
I've written nearly 50 columns in the past 10 months about the sad state of affairs of Pennsylvania government. Each column averaged 850 words. That's more than 42,000 words I've used to try to get through to readers that time is running out.
If you care about your family, you must vote Tuesday. If you care about your children's future or your grandchildren's future, you must vote Tuesday. If you care about your job, you must vote Tuesday.
If you believe that government should fear the people instead of the other way around, you must vote Tuesday.
If you believe that power should rest in the hands of 254 self-serving, career politicians (the most expensive legislature in the country and a governor who has a mortgaged Pennsylvania's future to the casino industry) instead of the 13 million Pennsylvania residents, send the same people back to Harrisburg and forget about open, honest, accountable government in your lifetime.
I've given you dozens of arguments why reform is needed in Pennsylvania. I've given you numerous examples of how our hard-earned tax money has been wasted by a political aristocracy that lives in luxury while the rest of us struggle to pay our bills. I've made you aware of a handful of heroes who are fighting to make things right in this state.
If you are contemplating voting for an incumbent on Tuesday, stay home. Clearly no measure of reason, no amount of logic, no levelheaded argument will ever get through to you. You're either related to a politician or you benefit financially from having a particular incumbent in office. Otherwise, you'd vote for change.
The people's revolution is on. The people won important battles. On Nov. 8, the voters rejected the retention of a state Supreme Court justice for the first time in history and nearly ousted a second justice. A week later, a fearful Legislature repealed its outrageous 2005 pay grab.
Since then, the people of Pennsylvania have shamed 30 incumbent legislators into retiring rather than face the voters in 2006. And a record number of challengers emerged to take on incumbents this year.
The decisive battle to retake this state back from the political elite will come Tuesday. If the voters can knock out at least 50 incumbents, the political warlords who control Harrisburg will lose their grip on power.
We, the people, will gain the advantage and we will continue the revolution through the Nov. 7 election.
It all comes down to this one election. Republicans and Democrats, conservatives and liberals, young and old must unite to take back Pennsylvania. We deserve better. How many of you show up at the polls and how many do the right thing will determine Pennsylvania's future. There's nothing else for me to say on the matter.
The eyes of the nation are on Pennsylvania. The Wall Street Journal ran an article Monday on the sad state of Pennsylvania politics, "Incumbents Under Fire." The New York Times profiled Russ Diamond a couple of weeks ago. Lynn Swann has been featured in The Washington Post and on several network news programs.
I will leave you with some comments from three astute political observers that put Tuesday's election into perspective.
Terry Madonna, a political science professor at Franklin & Marshall College, had this to say on why reform hinges on the May 16 election results: "If incumbents win, I think it's all over. It's all dead." Madonna also warns about the death of competition in Pennsylvania elections: "If we don't do it now, the incumbents will continue to get re-elected."
Brad Bumstead, a political columnist and state capitol reporter for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, wrote this in a recent column, "Voters, save yourselves," about the consequences if the party bosses retain control: "It's scarier than a Stephen King novel. Here's the scenario: All legislative leaders win in the May 16 primary. Then what happens? Will we see a reign of terror against taxpayers and journalists? It will set back efforts to reform the General Assembly for, perhaps, a decade. It would be a dark chapter in Pennsylvania history."
Russ Diamond, the founder or PaCleanSweep and independent candidate for governor, had this to say on what happens if challengers fail to outs incumbents: "The Legislature is capable of anything. I wouldn't put it past them to reinstate the pay raise unless a substantial number of legislators are swept out of office this year. Imagine if we can't dump these people after what they've done to this state. What kind of message does that send?"
Friday, May 12, 2006
My secret life as a Democrat
I hope this doesn't go any further than it has to, but I've been keeping a secret for the past few weeks. I feel the need to tell someone.
I'm a Democrat.
I never thought I'd utter those words. But it's true. Says so on my voter registration card. As of April 12, 2006, I have been a registered Democrat.
Before you start thinking that I've gone off the deep end, I haven't turned completely to the Dark Side. I can assure you I will not be voting for any of these presidential hopefuls in 2008: Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, John Edwards or Al Gore.
I've written more than 40 columns in the past year asking voters to oust the political aristocracy that has sacked and pillaged the state of Pennsylvania.
I've argued that it doesn't matter if you're Republican or Democrat — both parties have let Pennsylvania taxpayers down. The leaders of both parties must be removed. That starts with Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell and Republican House Speaker John Perzel.
What kind of political commentator would I be if I didn't practice what I preach? I switched my party affiliation so I can do my part to get rid of a career politician who has accomplished nothing for his constituents.
Prior to April 12, I was a registered Republican for 27 years. Despite being a lifelong Republican voter (and this is where I differ from the Kool-Aid drinking liberals who will defend Ed Rendell to the end), I can state categorically that Pennsylvania would be much better off without the following GOP leaders: Speaker Perzel, Senate Majority Leader Chip Brightbill, Senate Pro Tempore Robert Jubilerer, House Majority Leader Sam Smith and House Majority Whip David Argall. Can we exile this motley crew to Delaware?
They may be registered as Republican, but every one of those people has betrayed Republican principles of fiscal responsibility, limited government interference and accountability to the people. All should be voted out of office this year.
Same goes for the Democrats, including Ed Rendell, House Minority Leader Bill DeWeese, Senate Minority Leader Robert Mellow, Senate Minority Whip Mike O’Pake and House Minority Whip Mike Veon.
I live in a legislative district that is predominantly Democratic. Registered Democrats have a 2-1 edge over Republicans in the 126th District. It's one of the "safe districts" that the Republican-controlled legislature carved up for the minority party so it can call in favors from Democratic cronies when needed. The July 2005 pay raise would not have passed unless Democrats joined the Republicans to push it through both houses of the legislature.
If I want to have a say on ousting my state legislator, who is a Democrat, I needed to switch my party registration in order to vote in the Democratic primary. That's how strongly I feel about removing the self-serving politician in my district.
On May 16, I will vote for someone other than Rep. Dante Santoni Jr., a hanger-on who does what he's told by the party bosses. In 14 years in Harrisburg, Santoni has made as much an impact on state politics as a potted plant. He's sponsored zero bills, chaired no committees and brought back a few thousand dollars for projects in his district while collecting more than $1 million in salary and perks from taxpayers. Voters in the 126th District could find a better legislator than Santoni by closing their eyes and pointing to a name in the phone book.
Fortunately, there are two good candidates running against Santoni this year. I've decided to support Irv Livingood, a mechanic who is running under the PaCleanSweep banner. I've met Livingood several times in recent months. I like the guy. His campaign theme is straightforward: "A common man with common sense for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania."
I've never met Santoni. In fact, I've never seen this guy in person in the 13 years I've lived in his district. Santoni's campaign theme is "Working for us." I'm not sure who "us" includes. I know he hasn't done a thing for me in 13 years.
The worst-case scenario in the 126th District would be Livingood and the other Democratic challenger, John DelCollo, splitting the anti-incumbent vote, thus allowing Santoni to win the nomination on May 16.
If that happens, I will get another shot at ousting Santoni in November because there are also two Republican candidates on the primary ballot. One of them will be the GOP nominee in the November general election.
Another reason I decided to become a Democrat is the opportunity to vote for Gene Stilp, the Harrisburg-area activist running for lieutenant governor. Stilp was the first person in Pennsylvania to stand up to the Harrisburg Hogs, filing a lawsuit against the long-forgotten pay raise legislators gave themselves in 1995. Stilp filed another lawsuit when the larcenous legislators pulled off another heist in July 2005.
A vote for Stilp is a vote against the corrupt Harrisburg political machine.
While I'm in the voting booth, I plan to have a little fun with the ballot. I will cast a vote for Chuck Pennacchio over Silent Bob Casey, the Forrest Gump of Pennsylvania politics. And I'll be voting for Mike Leibowitz over Lois Murphy, an Ed Rendell protégé and darling of the far left.
If you're still upset about my turning to the political Dark Side, I promise that I will change my registration the day after the primary election.
I'm a Democrat.
I never thought I'd utter those words. But it's true. Says so on my voter registration card. As of April 12, 2006, I have been a registered Democrat.
Before you start thinking that I've gone off the deep end, I haven't turned completely to the Dark Side. I can assure you I will not be voting for any of these presidential hopefuls in 2008: Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, John Edwards or Al Gore.
I've written more than 40 columns in the past year asking voters to oust the political aristocracy that has sacked and pillaged the state of Pennsylvania.
I've argued that it doesn't matter if you're Republican or Democrat — both parties have let Pennsylvania taxpayers down. The leaders of both parties must be removed. That starts with Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell and Republican House Speaker John Perzel.
What kind of political commentator would I be if I didn't practice what I preach? I switched my party affiliation so I can do my part to get rid of a career politician who has accomplished nothing for his constituents.
Prior to April 12, I was a registered Republican for 27 years. Despite being a lifelong Republican voter (and this is where I differ from the Kool-Aid drinking liberals who will defend Ed Rendell to the end), I can state categorically that Pennsylvania would be much better off without the following GOP leaders: Speaker Perzel, Senate Majority Leader Chip Brightbill, Senate Pro Tempore Robert Jubilerer, House Majority Leader Sam Smith and House Majority Whip David Argall. Can we exile this motley crew to Delaware?
They may be registered as Republican, but every one of those people has betrayed Republican principles of fiscal responsibility, limited government interference and accountability to the people. All should be voted out of office this year.
Same goes for the Democrats, including Ed Rendell, House Minority Leader Bill DeWeese, Senate Minority Leader Robert Mellow, Senate Minority Whip Mike O’Pake and House Minority Whip Mike Veon.
I live in a legislative district that is predominantly Democratic. Registered Democrats have a 2-1 edge over Republicans in the 126th District. It's one of the "safe districts" that the Republican-controlled legislature carved up for the minority party so it can call in favors from Democratic cronies when needed. The July 2005 pay raise would not have passed unless Democrats joined the Republicans to push it through both houses of the legislature.
If I want to have a say on ousting my state legislator, who is a Democrat, I needed to switch my party registration in order to vote in the Democratic primary. That's how strongly I feel about removing the self-serving politician in my district.
On May 16, I will vote for someone other than Rep. Dante Santoni Jr., a hanger-on who does what he's told by the party bosses. In 14 years in Harrisburg, Santoni has made as much an impact on state politics as a potted plant. He's sponsored zero bills, chaired no committees and brought back a few thousand dollars for projects in his district while collecting more than $1 million in salary and perks from taxpayers. Voters in the 126th District could find a better legislator than Santoni by closing their eyes and pointing to a name in the phone book.
Fortunately, there are two good candidates running against Santoni this year. I've decided to support Irv Livingood, a mechanic who is running under the PaCleanSweep banner. I've met Livingood several times in recent months. I like the guy. His campaign theme is straightforward: "A common man with common sense for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania."
I've never met Santoni. In fact, I've never seen this guy in person in the 13 years I've lived in his district. Santoni's campaign theme is "Working for us." I'm not sure who "us" includes. I know he hasn't done a thing for me in 13 years.
The worst-case scenario in the 126th District would be Livingood and the other Democratic challenger, John DelCollo, splitting the anti-incumbent vote, thus allowing Santoni to win the nomination on May 16.
If that happens, I will get another shot at ousting Santoni in November because there are also two Republican candidates on the primary ballot. One of them will be the GOP nominee in the November general election.
Another reason I decided to become a Democrat is the opportunity to vote for Gene Stilp, the Harrisburg-area activist running for lieutenant governor. Stilp was the first person in Pennsylvania to stand up to the Harrisburg Hogs, filing a lawsuit against the long-forgotten pay raise legislators gave themselves in 1995. Stilp filed another lawsuit when the larcenous legislators pulled off another heist in July 2005.
A vote for Stilp is a vote against the corrupt Harrisburg political machine.
While I'm in the voting booth, I plan to have a little fun with the ballot. I will cast a vote for Chuck Pennacchio over Silent Bob Casey, the Forrest Gump of Pennsylvania politics. And I'll be voting for Mike Leibowitz over Lois Murphy, an Ed Rendell protégé and darling of the far left.
If you're still upset about my turning to the political Dark Side, I promise that I will change my registration the day after the primary election.
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
On what it means to be an immigrant
America is a nation of immigrants. It is a nation built by immigrants. The United States owes much of its success to the millions of immigrants who came here to work in its factories and farms and fight its wars.
America is also a nation that may not survive because of immigrants.
An estimated 12 million illegal aliens are living in the United States today. That number grows every day as states and the federal government refuse to protect our porous border with Mexico. These illegals don't pay taxes. They don't vote. They don't serve on juries. Many of them drive without licenses. Some have committed serious crimes.
There's no question illegal aliens contribute to the U.S. economy, many holding down jobs that nobody else wants. But let's not forget that they are not citizens. They are not entitled to the same rights as U.S. citizens.
America has been the destination for millions of people who were no longer wanted by their own counties. The fled religious or political persecution. They fled dictatorships. They fled famine and disease. Many wanted a better life for themselves and their families. They saw opportunity in the United States that they couldn't find anywhere else in the world.
My family came to the United States from Cyprus, where I was born. We came here legally. We learned the English language. We went to school. We paid our taxes. We renounced the citizenship of our birth country for our new homeland. We went to the county courthouse for a swearing-in ceremony for new citizens.
Today's immigrant is a different case. The first act of millions of illegal aliens is to break U.S. laws by sneaking into the country. Now they demand citizenship after they've broken the law instead of earning the privilege of becoming an American.
As a naturalized American citizen and one-time immigrant, I am appalled by the recent demonstrations, boycotts and calls for amnesty by and for illegal aliens. The actions of labor leaders and politicians who pander to the illegals because they see them as potential union members or a large voting block are reprehensible.
The problem of illegal immigration can't be taken lightly. The arguments that Mexicans are already here or there's too many of them to do anything about it won't wash. Being part of a mob doesn't make your crime any less serious. You still broke the law. You still have to answer for it.
A nation that cannot secure its borders will cease to remain a sovereign nation. Mexico is not the 51st state of the United States. As we learned in New Orleans with last year's devastation from Hurricane Katrina, you have to fix the breech in the dam before you can start cleaning up the flood. We still haven't plugged the holes in our border with Mexico. Every day, hundreds or perhaps thousands of illegal aliens cross into the U.S. illegally.
Those 12 million didn't come here overnight. They came day-by-day, year-after-year while our politicians looked the other way. Our current dilemma is decades in the making. It's as much Bill Clinton's fault as it is George Bush's. Neither administration has taken the necessary steps to secure our borders.
And let's not forget that the Sept. 11 highjackers were illegal aliens. Imagine what our response would have been if the 19 men who flew airplanes into buildings on 9/11 were Latinos instead of Muslims. How quickly would we have secured the border with Mexico?
This is a complicated issue, but it's also one ripe for demagoguery. It's too important to leave it in the hands of Congress, the most embarrassing deliberative body this side of the League of Nations.
Let's put immigration — including key issues such as deporting illegal aliens and protecting our national borders — to a national vote. A binding referendum. Take the decision away from pandering politicians and give it to the people.
Most Americans believe citizenship comes with responsibility. Sneaking into the U.S. illegally does not entitle you to anything except deportation if you're caught. Open borders and blanket amnesty should be taken off the table.
What's missing from today's new wave of illegal immigrants (and it was evident during the recent work stoppages and demonstrations) is the willingness to assimilate into American society. Assimilation, the process that leads to unity among America's diverse population, goes hand-in-hand with immigration.
That doesn't mean you have to abandon your cultural or religious heritage. It means you have to be willing to make some sacrifice to become an American. The flagrant refusal by so many to abide by U.S. immigration laws disrespects the tens of millions of immigrants who came to this country legally and followed established rules to become American citizens.
The majority of Americans, including most immigrants, believe new citizens should learn to read and write the language of their adopted country. Most Americans believe the immigrants should know the basic history of their new nation. They should know who George Washington and Abraham Lincoln were. They should be able to tell you how many stars and stripes are found on the American flag and what they symbolize. They should know the Pledge of Allegiance by heart and take it to heart.
Becoming a U.S. citizen is not just a way to improve your economic lot in life. It's not an elaborate "guest worker" program to send money to third-world countries like Mexico. It's believing and promising with all your hear that you will defend and support the Constitution of the greatest nation the world has ever known. If you're not willing to do that, you can't call yourself an American.
America is also a nation that may not survive because of immigrants.
An estimated 12 million illegal aliens are living in the United States today. That number grows every day as states and the federal government refuse to protect our porous border with Mexico. These illegals don't pay taxes. They don't vote. They don't serve on juries. Many of them drive without licenses. Some have committed serious crimes.
There's no question illegal aliens contribute to the U.S. economy, many holding down jobs that nobody else wants. But let's not forget that they are not citizens. They are not entitled to the same rights as U.S. citizens.
America has been the destination for millions of people who were no longer wanted by their own counties. The fled religious or political persecution. They fled dictatorships. They fled famine and disease. Many wanted a better life for themselves and their families. They saw opportunity in the United States that they couldn't find anywhere else in the world.
My family came to the United States from Cyprus, where I was born. We came here legally. We learned the English language. We went to school. We paid our taxes. We renounced the citizenship of our birth country for our new homeland. We went to the county courthouse for a swearing-in ceremony for new citizens.
Today's immigrant is a different case. The first act of millions of illegal aliens is to break U.S. laws by sneaking into the country. Now they demand citizenship after they've broken the law instead of earning the privilege of becoming an American.
As a naturalized American citizen and one-time immigrant, I am appalled by the recent demonstrations, boycotts and calls for amnesty by and for illegal aliens. The actions of labor leaders and politicians who pander to the illegals because they see them as potential union members or a large voting block are reprehensible.
The problem of illegal immigration can't be taken lightly. The arguments that Mexicans are already here or there's too many of them to do anything about it won't wash. Being part of a mob doesn't make your crime any less serious. You still broke the law. You still have to answer for it.
A nation that cannot secure its borders will cease to remain a sovereign nation. Mexico is not the 51st state of the United States. As we learned in New Orleans with last year's devastation from Hurricane Katrina, you have to fix the breech in the dam before you can start cleaning up the flood. We still haven't plugged the holes in our border with Mexico. Every day, hundreds or perhaps thousands of illegal aliens cross into the U.S. illegally.
Those 12 million didn't come here overnight. They came day-by-day, year-after-year while our politicians looked the other way. Our current dilemma is decades in the making. It's as much Bill Clinton's fault as it is George Bush's. Neither administration has taken the necessary steps to secure our borders.
And let's not forget that the Sept. 11 highjackers were illegal aliens. Imagine what our response would have been if the 19 men who flew airplanes into buildings on 9/11 were Latinos instead of Muslims. How quickly would we have secured the border with Mexico?
This is a complicated issue, but it's also one ripe for demagoguery. It's too important to leave it in the hands of Congress, the most embarrassing deliberative body this side of the League of Nations.
Let's put immigration — including key issues such as deporting illegal aliens and protecting our national borders — to a national vote. A binding referendum. Take the decision away from pandering politicians and give it to the people.
Most Americans believe citizenship comes with responsibility. Sneaking into the U.S. illegally does not entitle you to anything except deportation if you're caught. Open borders and blanket amnesty should be taken off the table.
What's missing from today's new wave of illegal immigrants (and it was evident during the recent work stoppages and demonstrations) is the willingness to assimilate into American society. Assimilation, the process that leads to unity among America's diverse population, goes hand-in-hand with immigration.
That doesn't mean you have to abandon your cultural or religious heritage. It means you have to be willing to make some sacrifice to become an American. The flagrant refusal by so many to abide by U.S. immigration laws disrespects the tens of millions of immigrants who came to this country legally and followed established rules to become American citizens.
The majority of Americans, including most immigrants, believe new citizens should learn to read and write the language of their adopted country. Most Americans believe the immigrants should know the basic history of their new nation. They should know who George Washington and Abraham Lincoln were. They should be able to tell you how many stars and stripes are found on the American flag and what they symbolize. They should know the Pledge of Allegiance by heart and take it to heart.
Becoming a U.S. citizen is not just a way to improve your economic lot in life. It's not an elaborate "guest worker" program to send money to third-world countries like Mexico. It's believing and promising with all your hear that you will defend and support the Constitution of the greatest nation the world has ever known. If you're not willing to do that, you can't call yourself an American.
Saturday, May 06, 2006
Gene Stilp brings 'Squeal or No Squeal Tour' to Berks County
Activist inflates pink pigs to protest pay grab, perks
A 25-foot-long inflatable pink pig briefly made its area debut outside the Douglassville offices of a veteran Pennsylvania lawmaker.
The political publicity stunt by citizen activist Gene Stilp came to an abrupt end when the owner of the building demanded that Stilp remove the pig -- and himself -- from private property.
Stilp, who has driven across Pennsylvania with the pig in the backseat of his 1992 Buick, is stopping at district offices of legislative leaders to remind voters that the legislators voted themselves a pay raise last year and some never gave the money back when the raise was repealed.
The most recent target was state Rep. Dennis Leh, a Republican who rents office space in a commercial building off Route 662 in Douglassville.
The pig, once fully inflated, blocked the entrance to the building's parking lot. A large banner on the side of the pig read: "The Legislative Perk Barrel Game That The Voters Pay For." Stilp inflated a smaller piglet to bring attention to the legislature's lucrative pension plans.
Minutes after inflating the 15-foot-tall pig as part of the "Squeal or No Squeal Tour," Stilp was forced to deflate the pig and end his impromptu press conference in mid-sentence when the owner of the building rushed into the parking lot and demanded that Stilp and his pig leave the premises.
Stilp, a Harrisburg-area Democrat and candidate for lieutenant governor, complied with the landlord’s instructions and packed the pig back into his Buick.
Leh was not in his office and missed the pig display. Stilp left a message with Leh's office manager asking the longtime state representative to return any money collected as "unvouchered expenses" during the four months the pay raise was in effect last summer, and also pass legislation prohibiting politicians from collecting higher pensions as a result of the temporary spike in their salaries.
About 30 state legislators who retired this year rather than face the voters will get higher pensions because they voted themselves pay raises last year, according to Stilp, who has also challenged the practice of "unvouchered expenses" in court.
Leh, a Republican who has served in the state legislature for 20 years, is seeking re-election to another two-year term in the 130th District.
He is being challenged in the May 16 primary by Bill Reed, a Fleetwood-area business owner who is affiliated with PaCleanSweep, a group that is calling for the defeat of all incumbent state legislators and significant reforms in the way the legislature conducts business. David Kessler, a Democrat, will face the primary winner in November.
Stilp has driven the giant pink pig thousands of miles, criss-crossing Pennsylvania to bring attention to the lucrative salary and benefits legislators have voted themselves.
Stilp is targetting legislative leaders and incumbent legislators who may be vulnerable in 2006.
Recent stops included Philadelphia, where he set up the pig in front of House Speaker John Perzel's office, Hamburg, which has district offices for four legislative leaders: Sen. Chip Brightbill, Sen. James Rhodes, Rep. Bob Allen and Rep. David Argall, and Altoona, where Senate Pro Tempore Robert Jubilirer has his district office.
What many voters don't know is that the unvouchered expenses that were returned by legislators went into slush funds controlled by legislative leaders instead of the state treasury, Stilp said.
"Leh can get the unvouchered expenses back through a side door by playing ball with the leadership," Stilp said. "Harrisburg continues to be a cesspool. The legislators think of themselves first and the people second. It should be the other way around."
Stilp also took a few swipes at Lt. Gov. Catherine Baker Knoll, who is seeking re-election to another four-year term and has the support of Gov. Ed Rendell.
Knoll, who is 75 and has exhibited erratic behavior at several public appearances, is "totally incapable of stepping into the governor’s shoes" should something happen to Rendell, Stilp said.
Stilp also questioned what Knoll does with her time as lieutenant governor.
"She spent $8 million over the past four years and what do you have for it? Nothing," Stilp said.
Stilp, who has a law degree but doesn't practice law, also filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the July 2005 legislative pay raise. That case is before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, but a decision is unlikely to be announced before the primary election, Stilp said.
A 25-foot-long inflatable pink pig briefly made its area debut outside the Douglassville offices of a veteran Pennsylvania lawmaker.
The political publicity stunt by citizen activist Gene Stilp came to an abrupt end when the owner of the building demanded that Stilp remove the pig -- and himself -- from private property.
Stilp, who has driven across Pennsylvania with the pig in the backseat of his 1992 Buick, is stopping at district offices of legislative leaders to remind voters that the legislators voted themselves a pay raise last year and some never gave the money back when the raise was repealed.
The most recent target was state Rep. Dennis Leh, a Republican who rents office space in a commercial building off Route 662 in Douglassville.
The pig, once fully inflated, blocked the entrance to the building's parking lot. A large banner on the side of the pig read: "The Legislative Perk Barrel Game That The Voters Pay For." Stilp inflated a smaller piglet to bring attention to the legislature's lucrative pension plans.
Minutes after inflating the 15-foot-tall pig as part of the "Squeal or No Squeal Tour," Stilp was forced to deflate the pig and end his impromptu press conference in mid-sentence when the owner of the building rushed into the parking lot and demanded that Stilp and his pig leave the premises.
Stilp, a Harrisburg-area Democrat and candidate for lieutenant governor, complied with the landlord’s instructions and packed the pig back into his Buick.
Leh was not in his office and missed the pig display. Stilp left a message with Leh's office manager asking the longtime state representative to return any money collected as "unvouchered expenses" during the four months the pay raise was in effect last summer, and also pass legislation prohibiting politicians from collecting higher pensions as a result of the temporary spike in their salaries.
About 30 state legislators who retired this year rather than face the voters will get higher pensions because they voted themselves pay raises last year, according to Stilp, who has also challenged the practice of "unvouchered expenses" in court.
Leh, a Republican who has served in the state legislature for 20 years, is seeking re-election to another two-year term in the 130th District.
He is being challenged in the May 16 primary by Bill Reed, a Fleetwood-area business owner who is affiliated with PaCleanSweep, a group that is calling for the defeat of all incumbent state legislators and significant reforms in the way the legislature conducts business. David Kessler, a Democrat, will face the primary winner in November.
Stilp has driven the giant pink pig thousands of miles, criss-crossing Pennsylvania to bring attention to the lucrative salary and benefits legislators have voted themselves.
Stilp is targetting legislative leaders and incumbent legislators who may be vulnerable in 2006.
Recent stops included Philadelphia, where he set up the pig in front of House Speaker John Perzel's office, Hamburg, which has district offices for four legislative leaders: Sen. Chip Brightbill, Sen. James Rhodes, Rep. Bob Allen and Rep. David Argall, and Altoona, where Senate Pro Tempore Robert Jubilirer has his district office.
What many voters don't know is that the unvouchered expenses that were returned by legislators went into slush funds controlled by legislative leaders instead of the state treasury, Stilp said.
"Leh can get the unvouchered expenses back through a side door by playing ball with the leadership," Stilp said. "Harrisburg continues to be a cesspool. The legislators think of themselves first and the people second. It should be the other way around."
Stilp also took a few swipes at Lt. Gov. Catherine Baker Knoll, who is seeking re-election to another four-year term and has the support of Gov. Ed Rendell.
Knoll, who is 75 and has exhibited erratic behavior at several public appearances, is "totally incapable of stepping into the governor’s shoes" should something happen to Rendell, Stilp said.
Stilp also questioned what Knoll does with her time as lieutenant governor.
"She spent $8 million over the past four years and what do you have for it? Nothing," Stilp said.
Stilp, who has a law degree but doesn't practice law, also filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the July 2005 legislative pay raise. That case is before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, but a decision is unlikely to be announced before the primary election, Stilp said.
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
You call this tax relief?
With apologies to Peggy Lee, my first reaction to the news that a Legislative committee had reached agreement on "property tax relief" for Pennsylvanians was: "Is that all there is?"
This is what the most expensive state Legislature in the country came up with since Gov. Ed Rendell called a special session last Sept. 29 to address the property tax squeeze on Pennsylvania homeowners?
While Ed Rendell and the Legislature dine on filet mignon, taxpayers fight for table scraps.
The Harrisburg Hogs, who average $150,000 a year in salary and benefits, are throwing a bone to senior citizens in the hope they can fool enough of them to stay home on May 16 instead of showing up in record numbers to throw the bums out.
Two weeks before the primary election that could shape the future of Pennsylvania for decades to come, the Legislature and Rendell — the same people who brought you the July 2005 payjacking — are going to send a tiny percentage of Pennsylvania seniors a couple of hundred bucks in 2007. Maybe.
This is not property tax relief. It's a royal scam from the Pennsylvania aristocracy. Rendell will borrow money from the state lottery to give more seniors a rebate next year. The number of senior eligible for a few hundred dollars in rebates will go from 320,000 to roughly 740,000. Last time I checked, Pennsylvania's population was almost 13 million.
Terry Madonna, the noted political science professor at Franklin & Marshall College, said in a television interview Tuesday that the tax rebates will go to about 2 percent of Pennsylvania's elderly. The other 98 percent get nothing. As in zero, nada, zilch. Nothing for the middle class. Nothing for working Pennsylvanians. Nothing for the illegal immigrants who protested around the state Monday.
Any day now, expect Rendell and his co-conspirators in the payjacking (the Chip Brightbills, Robert Jubelirers and John Perzels of the world) to be high-fiving each other for passing the Save the Incumbents' Butts Act of 2006.
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. We've been fooled time and time again by Rendell and the Legislators.
State Rep. Sam Rohrer, the Berks County legislator who was instrumental in crafting the Commonwealth Caucus plan told the Reading Eagle that nobody who supports substantive tax relief could possibly vote for the House-Senate compromise plan. "It's cowardice," Rohrer told the newspaper.
Of course it's cowardice. It's election-year pandering at its worst. More promises. More IOUs. More lies from self-serving politicians. Give us another two years or four years in office and we'll keep stringing you idiots along. That's the bottom line from Rendell and Co.
A problem that has plagued the state for 30 years is suddenly "solved" two weeks before an election that is shaping up to be a nightmare for incumbents? Something is rotten in the state of Pennsylvania, especially when 40 Senators voted "yes" to the compromise plan Tuesday and sent it to the House.
The gambling revenues that Rendell is counting on are still two years away. And the key issue with slots revenues is that the money for tax relief will come only when gambling revenues (translation: losses by gamblers) reach $1 billion.
In other words, Pennsylvania seniors, who have been known to hit a slot machine or two, will have to lose $1 billion before Fast Eddie sends them a rebate of $250.
A roomful of monkeys could have crafted a better tax relief plan than the one Pennsylvania politicians are about to pawn off on unsuspecting voters.
Here's what won't change if Rendell signs this bill into law. Your school taxes will still go up this year and the tax increase will be much higher than the $250 rebates Rendell and his cronies are promising next year.
Only in Pennsylvania can voters demand tax relief and be forced by politicians into accepting tax increases, which is at the heart of this week's legislation. Residents of school districts that approve increases in the earned income tax would be the only ones eligible for Rendell's rebates.
This governor has never met a tax hike he didn't sign into law. He puts Hillary Clinton to shame in the Hall of Fame of tax-and-spend liberals.
Rendell's signature on this bill is a death warrant for Pennsylvania property owners. Remember that on May 16 when you see an incumbent's name on the ballot and Nov. 7 when Rendell wants another four years.
This is what the most expensive state Legislature in the country came up with since Gov. Ed Rendell called a special session last Sept. 29 to address the property tax squeeze on Pennsylvania homeowners?
While Ed Rendell and the Legislature dine on filet mignon, taxpayers fight for table scraps.
The Harrisburg Hogs, who average $150,000 a year in salary and benefits, are throwing a bone to senior citizens in the hope they can fool enough of them to stay home on May 16 instead of showing up in record numbers to throw the bums out.
Two weeks before the primary election that could shape the future of Pennsylvania for decades to come, the Legislature and Rendell — the same people who brought you the July 2005 payjacking — are going to send a tiny percentage of Pennsylvania seniors a couple of hundred bucks in 2007. Maybe.
This is not property tax relief. It's a royal scam from the Pennsylvania aristocracy. Rendell will borrow money from the state lottery to give more seniors a rebate next year. The number of senior eligible for a few hundred dollars in rebates will go from 320,000 to roughly 740,000. Last time I checked, Pennsylvania's population was almost 13 million.
Terry Madonna, the noted political science professor at Franklin & Marshall College, said in a television interview Tuesday that the tax rebates will go to about 2 percent of Pennsylvania's elderly. The other 98 percent get nothing. As in zero, nada, zilch. Nothing for the middle class. Nothing for working Pennsylvanians. Nothing for the illegal immigrants who protested around the state Monday.
Any day now, expect Rendell and his co-conspirators in the payjacking (the Chip Brightbills, Robert Jubelirers and John Perzels of the world) to be high-fiving each other for passing the Save the Incumbents' Butts Act of 2006.
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. We've been fooled time and time again by Rendell and the Legislators.
State Rep. Sam Rohrer, the Berks County legislator who was instrumental in crafting the Commonwealth Caucus plan told the Reading Eagle that nobody who supports substantive tax relief could possibly vote for the House-Senate compromise plan. "It's cowardice," Rohrer told the newspaper.
Of course it's cowardice. It's election-year pandering at its worst. More promises. More IOUs. More lies from self-serving politicians. Give us another two years or four years in office and we'll keep stringing you idiots along. That's the bottom line from Rendell and Co.
A problem that has plagued the state for 30 years is suddenly "solved" two weeks before an election that is shaping up to be a nightmare for incumbents? Something is rotten in the state of Pennsylvania, especially when 40 Senators voted "yes" to the compromise plan Tuesday and sent it to the House.
The gambling revenues that Rendell is counting on are still two years away. And the key issue with slots revenues is that the money for tax relief will come only when gambling revenues (translation: losses by gamblers) reach $1 billion.
In other words, Pennsylvania seniors, who have been known to hit a slot machine or two, will have to lose $1 billion before Fast Eddie sends them a rebate of $250.
A roomful of monkeys could have crafted a better tax relief plan than the one Pennsylvania politicians are about to pawn off on unsuspecting voters.
Here's what won't change if Rendell signs this bill into law. Your school taxes will still go up this year and the tax increase will be much higher than the $250 rebates Rendell and his cronies are promising next year.
Only in Pennsylvania can voters demand tax relief and be forced by politicians into accepting tax increases, which is at the heart of this week's legislation. Residents of school districts that approve increases in the earned income tax would be the only ones eligible for Rendell's rebates.
This governor has never met a tax hike he didn't sign into law. He puts Hillary Clinton to shame in the Hall of Fame of tax-and-spend liberals.
Rendell's signature on this bill is a death warrant for Pennsylvania property owners. Remember that on May 16 when you see an incumbent's name on the ballot and Nov. 7 when Rendell wants another four years.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)