Survey: O'Pake, Caltagirone, Santoni among worst legislators in Pennsylvania

I've been telling readers for years that Berks County has some of the worst elected state officials in Pennsylvania. A new assessment of the voting records of all Pennsylvania lawmakers by an independent watchdog group confirms my views.

PACleanSweep, the non-partisan organization that helped Pennsylvanians begin to reclaim state government after the July 2005 pay raise, released a report card Monday for all members of the General Assembly, issuing a final grade to each according to their performance.

Three Berks County lawmakers received some of the lowest scores in the PACleanSweep report card: State Sen. Michael A. O'Pake, D-11th Dist., and state Reps. Tom Caltagirone, D-127th Dist., and Dante Santoni Jr., D-126th Dist.

The PACleanSweep assessment basically looked at whether elected lawmakers voted to help themselves or respond to constituents. It's clear that O'Pake, Caltagirone and Santoni are working for themselves and not the people of Berks County.

All three career politicians — with a combined 83 years of collecting money from taxpayers — will stand for re-election in 2008.

Caltagirone and Santoni were among the 10 lowest-ranked legislators on a list of 203 members of the House. O'Pake was among the 10 lowest-ranked senators in the 50-member Senate.

Two other Berks County lawmakers who appear headed for bad grades are too new to score in the rankings, but based on their voting patterns so far this year, you'll be able to add Rep. David Kessler, D-130th Dist., and Rep. Tim Seip, D.-125th, to the list of lousy legislators from Berks.

Among Republicans whose districts come into Berks, Rep. David G. Argall received a low grade but Rep. Sam Rohrer scored high. Over in the Senate, state Sen. John Rafferty scored high. The rest of the Berks legislators were too new to make the grade.

The assessment reaches back to cover major policy initiatives enacted by the state since 1998, including the stadium funding and legislative pension increase bills under the Ridge administration, according to PACleanSweep. Also receiving attention are major initiatives advanced on Ed Rendell's watch including a 10 percent increase in the state's personal income tax rate in 2003, the slots bill and the infamous pay raise with its accompanying unvouchered expenses provisions, the organization states.

PaCleanSweep also looked at how lawmakers voted on property tax relief issues: Lawmakers' positions on three failed attempts to partially solve the continuing property tax problem over the past 10 years are taken into account, as is length of service beyond 10 years, to reflect the preference by 75 percent of Pennsylvanians for legislative term limits, according to a recent poll.

The report card can be viewed at the PaCleanSweep Web site, www.pacleansweep.com, or by clicking here View the Legislative Report Card

I recommend printing out the report card and keeping it in a safe place until next year's primary election as a reminder of which status quo politicians voters need to remove in order of reform of Pennsylvania government to take place.

Legislative report card time

From our good friend Russ Diamond and the folks at PACleanSweep, comes this timely assessment of the most expensive state Legislature in these United States:

PACleanSweep Issues Legislative Report Card

PACleanSweep, the non-partisan organization that helped Pennsylvanians begin to reclaim state government after the 2005 pay raise, today released a report card for all members of the General Assembly, issuing a final grade to each according to their performance.

The assessment reaches back to cover major policy initiatives enacted by the state since 1998, including the stadium funding and legislative pension increase bills under the Ridge administration. Also receiving attention are major initiatives advanced on Ed Rendell's watch including a 10 percent increase in the state's personal income tax rate in 2003, the slots bill and the infamous pay raise with its accompanying unvouchered expenses provisions.

Lawmakers' positions on three failed attempts to partially solve the continuing property tax problem over the past ten years are taken into account, as is length of service beyond ten years, to reflect the preference by 75 percent of Pennsylvanians for legislative term limits, according to a recent poll.

While efforts to reform state government are relatively new developments in the General Assembly, each chamber's members were given credit where due for their personal commitment to change, evidenced either by their signature on the PACleanSweep candidate declaration last year or their co-sponsorship on one of two existing bills to enable a constitutional convention.

Finally, participation in what some have dubbed the "Incumbent Protection Plan" was calculated into final grades through a weighted scoring system on the most self-serving pieces of legislation highlighted by the report card, by assessing each member's radio and television public service announcement spending during 2005-06, and for the involvement of their respective caucus leaders in the unresolved "Bonusgate" affair.

Members are listed on the report card alphabetically by default, but visitors can also sort the list by seniority, county or legislative district for ease of use. Sorting by seniority, due to the format of the report card, reveals a distinct tendency by long term lawmakers to support more egregious pieces of legislation over the years.

Visitors are provided a complete explanation of the grading system employed in the report card and links are provided to the text of each piece of legislation highlighted.

Clicking on a lawmaker's name within the report card will open a new window with a more detailed look at that individual's legislative career, leadership role, committee assignments and district voter registration statistics. Also included on each lawmaker's page is an opportunity for citizens to provide additional credible information regarding the individual's job performance in the General Assembly.

The report card will serve as a reference for all Pennsylvania voters during the 2008 election cycle. Any major statewide initiatives enacted in the future will be added and figured into each lawmaker's grade. All 203 members of the House of Representatives face re-election in 2008, as do the 25 Senators from odd-numbered districts.

The report card can be viewed by visiting the PACleanSweep website at www.pacleansweep.com.

View the Legislative Report Card

Phyrillas among Most Influential Political Bloggers in Pennsylvania

The new rankings of Pennsylvania's "Most Influential Political blogs" is out. There was a lot of movement on the list this week, but liberal sites continue to dominate, which either means the left is taking control of the Internet (like they control the mainstream media) or they've figured out a way to stack the deck in the way the list is compiled.

You'll find Tony Phyrillas in the Top 10 for the second week in a row and Top 20 for the fourth week in a row. If you eliminate all the liberal sites, Tony Phyrillas is the No. 2 most influential conservative site in Pennsylvania, right behind the granddady of blogs, GrassrootsPA.com

Tony Phyrillas continues to hold the top spot in the 2007 cumulative rankings by readers of BlogNetNews.com, so give the readers some credit for recognizing quality.

Here's how the top blogs in Pennsylvania fell into place this week:

1	Suburban Guerrilla
2	Pennsyltucky Politics
3	The Pennsylvania Progressive
4	PSoTD
5	Brendan Calling
6	GrassrootsPA
7	The Carbolic Smoke Ball
8	www.keystonepolitics.com
9	Lehigh Valley Ramblings
10	TONY PHYRILLAS
11	:::Philebrity...media, culture, music and more:::
12	Save The GOP
13	Capitol Ideas
14	Phillybits
15	PowerBlog!
16	Mark Rauterkus & Running Mates ponder current events
17	Pittsburgh Hoagie: All meat no filler
18	The Angry Drunk Bureaucrat
19	Attytood
20	2 Political Junkies

Nobody is really sure how the rankings are determined, but this is the explanation on the BlogNetNews' Web site: BNN's Pennsylvania Blogosphere Influence Rating combines a variety of data sets to determine which blogs are most powerfully influencing the direction of the Pennsylvania political blogosphere. The exact method BNN uses to calculate influence scores must remain proprietary in order to prevent attempts to game the system. BNN's methodology takes into account the fact that all Internet data is profoundly limited in its reliability by using multiple data sets that, when combined, reveal a fair picture of activity in the blogosphere.

The Pope needs to brush up on Christianity

Things must be slow around the Vatican these days. Pope Benedict XVI has decided to stir up a hornet's nest by insulting a few hundred million of his fellow Christians.

The Pope recently used the term "defects" to describe every Christian denomination other than his own Roman Catholicism.

Unlike his predecessor, Pope John Paul II, who devoted much of his time trying to unite various branches of Christianity, Pope Benedict XVI decided to reopen some old wounds — and pour some salt into them.

If you're a member of the numerous Protestant or Eastern Orthodox denominations around the world, consider yourself warned. The Pope thinks Orthodox churches are "defective" and that other Christian denominations are not true churches. Makes you want to stay home on Sunday, doesn't it? If the former Cardinal Joseph Alois Ratzinger says you don't belong to a true church, what's the point of getting dressed up for Sunday services?

The heart of the problem is this infallibility business. The Pope is supposed to be "infallible." I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure the only person who ever lived who should be considered "infallible" is Jesus Christ.

Two years ago, before he was elected pope, Cardinal Ratzinger wasn't infallible. Today he is. How does one become infallible overnight? And why did it take four ballots for Ratzinger to win the election for pope? And we won't even go into Joseph Ratzinger's past in Germany where he was a member of the Hitler Youth.

I don't have little white cap or the keys to the Pope-mobile, but I did some research and I think the Pope is a bit hazy in his church history.

It appears that it's the Roman Catholic Church that is an offshoot of the original Christian church. Shouldn't the Catholic Church be at the top of the pope's "defects" list.

For the benefit of Pope Benedict XVI, here's a little history that could help clear up his holiness' confusion about Christianity.

The Christian church came into existence on the Day of Pentecost in Jerusalem in 33 A.D. — 50 days after the resurrection of Jesus Christ. For the next 1,000 years, there was one Christian Church — the one that was persecuted by the Romans until the Emperor Constantine the Great converted to Christianity, which eventually became the state religion.

As the Roman empire grew, the center of church authority began to splinter into rival factions, one centered in Constantinople (still the home base of the Orthodox Church) and the other based in Rome (eventually becoming Vatican City), where popes rule the Catholic Church.

The official split came in 1054 A.D. when the Patriarch of Rome (also known as the Pope of Rome) broke away from the Eastern church in what religious scholars refer to as the "Great Schism."

The major difference between the Catholic and the Orthodox Christian churches is the Catholic belief in the infallibility of the pope. The Eastern churches are autonomous, headed by senior bishops known as patriarchs, and do not recognize the authority or superiority of the pope.

His All Holiness Bartholomew I, Archbishop of Constantinople, New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch, is the 270th successor of the 2,000 year-old Christian Church founded by St. Andrew. (In contrast, Pope Benedict XVI is the 265th reigning pope.)

Bartholomew is the "first among equals" of the Orthodox Primates, who govern their respective churches in Greece, Cyprus, Russia, eastern Europe, Africa and North and South America.

Since the Great Schism of 1054, the Roman Catholic Church has splintered into numerous other denominations:

• The Lutheran Church was founded by Martin Luther in 1522.
• The Anglican Church of England was founded by King Henry VIII in 1534.
• The Presbyterian Church was founded by John Knox of Scotland in 1580.
• The Congregational Church was founded by Robert Brown in Holland in 1582.
• The Baptist Church was founded by John Smyth in Amsterdam in 1606.
• The Dutch Reformed Church was founded in New York in 1628 by Michelis Jones.
• The Protestant Episcopal Church is an offshoot on the Church of England and was founded by Samuel Seabury in the American Colonies in the 18th Century.
• The Methodist Church was founded by John and Charles Wesley in England in 1774.
• The Unitarian Church was founded by Theophilus Lindley in London in 1774.
• The Mormon Church (Latter Day Saints) was founded by Joseph Smith in 1829.
• The Protestant churches also splintered into various branches: Church of the Nazarene, Pentecostal Churches, Holiness Church, Assemblies of God Churches, and many Bible and Evangelical and non-denominational churches, as well as the Jehovah's Witnesses.

Religious observers say the Pope's pronouncement last week that if you're not Catholic, you don't count had more to do with internal church politics inside the Vatican than anything else. But why should the Pope be concerned with church politics? He's got a job for life.

Shouldn't the Pope be a little more tolerant of other Christian sects? Shouldn't the Pope be more concerned about the rise of Islamic Fascism around the world than causing hard feelings among his fellow Christians? This concludes today's sermon.

Conduct Unbecoming A Governor

I'm not sure if this qualifies as a citizen's arrest. I'd like to issue a citation to Gov. Edward G. Rendell. The charge? Conduct unbecoming a governor.

If you haven't heard by now, Gov. Rendell has teed off in recent days against a citizen activist and a state senator, not to mention officials at one of the most prestigious think tanks in the state.

Rendell "losing it" is nothing new. He has a legendary short fuse, going back to his days as district attorney and later mayor of Philadelphia. Rendell put the bully in bully pulpit. A couple of years ago, he snatched the tape recorder from a reporter who was asking tough questions, stuck it in his pocket and walked away. He's also called the Pennsylvania Cable Network to chew out program executives when panelists have criticized him on "Journalists Roundtable."

The second-term Democratic governor has issues. There's a rumor going around that Jack Nicholson's role in "Anger Management" was based on Ed Rendell. But it's another movie, "The Silence of the Lambs," that came to the forefront this week when Rendell compared citizen activist Eric Epstein to Hannibal Lechter.

Rendell also called the staff of the Commonwealth Foundation a bunch of "imbeciles."

And the governor also called Republican state Sen. Mike Folmer "certifiable." (Folmer ousted longtime Rendell political ally David "Chip" Brightbill from the state Senate last year, but Rendell went too far in questioning the mental stability of the popular reformer, known to his constituents as "Citizen Mike.")

Maybe the governor has been watching too many movies or the realization that his second term is turning into a disaster is setting in, but Rendell needs to grow a thicker skin. That might be asking a lot of a 62-year old career politician, but criticism comes with the territory.

And while the governor may not like what reporters, columnists, commentators and bloggers say about him, he's got to avoid personal attacks on his critics.

I've had my differences with Rendell in the past couple of years on various issues, but I've never felt the need to call him names. That's the least Rendell should do for his fellow citizens. The governor of one of the largest states does not have the right to make fun of any of his constituents, regardless of what they say about him.

Eric Epstein has a right to criticize Rendell. Epstein doesn't collect a salary from taxpayers. You and I have that same right. We pay Gov. Rendell's salary. He works for us. We can criticize him whenever we want. That's our right as citizens in a Democracy. Rendell doesn't have the privilege of ugly name-calling or questioning their motives of any Pennsylvania citizen.

Rendell can respond to criticism about his policies, but spewing venom at his critics is out of bounds. If the governor doesn't want to be criticized, he is welcome to step down and take a job in the private sector. I'm sure he can find a well-paid position with the many corporate benefactors he has helped with taxpayer money over the past four years, including Comcast or any of the casinos that he brought to Pennsylvania.

Epstein, who is coordinator of the grassroots citizens group Rock the Capitol, was quoted in The Philadelphia Inquirer as saying Rendell "believes he has a mandate to pillage, but he won 61 percent of the vote against an empty suit last year and he didn't have a clear agenda until June 30."

A furious Rendell called the reporter who write the story and spewed: "Eric Epstein is about as mentally stable as that guy who ate all those people."

Epstein told the Lancaster New Era he isn't sure to whom the governor compared him. "Hopefully it's Hannibal. Some people think it's Idi Amin" — the late diabolical Ugandan president — "or Jeffrey Dahmer," Epstein laughed. "I've been asked if I deserve an apology. My answer is no. I wasn't the guy who went into a cave and held 24,000 families hostage," said Epstein, referring to the government shutdown that resulted in the furloughs of more than 23,500 "non-critical" state workers.

Epstein told the newspaper he was surprised the governor has stooped so low.

"I'm hoping we can get past the name-calling and behave like adults. Apparently the governor is experiencing an emotional meltdown," he continued. "A lot of us have interesting thoughts. That doesn't mean we're obligated to share them with the public. What's amazing about this is that he went out of his way to call a reporter to offer his psychiatric evaluation."

Rendell's beef with the Commonwealth Foundation and Sen. Folmer stems from the fact that they questioned Rendell's budget numbers after the governor announced an agreement on the nine-day-old dispute over the 2007-08 state budget.

Rendell, in an interview with The Patriot-News on Wednesday, addressed the Commonwealth folks first: "What these imbeciles don't understand is that most cost drivers in a budget, you don't control."

The New Era contacted the group's policy director, Nate Benefield, and asked if he'd seen Rendell's remarks in the newspaper. "Well, no, I'm too much of an imbecile to read," he said. "I guess it's better to be called stupid than to be called crazy. I think we got the better end of that deal."

Folmer, who represents the 48th Senate district, drew Rendell's wrath by suggesting the state's spending growth could reach 6 percent by the time lawmakers are finished drafting it. "He's certifiable," Rendell told the Harrisburg paper, adding that the 6 percent estimate is "just not rational."

In an interview with the Lancaster newspaper, Sen. Folmer said, "I've been called worse. Ask my wife." He went on to chide Rendell: "There's a huge myth out there that because he's governor he should always get his way. He forgets the system of government we have," Folmer said. "He's not king. He's not a dictator. He's not commissar. He's a governor in a representative republic form of government," Folmer told the newspaper.

A Rendell spokesperson said the governor has no intention of apologizing to anyone over his recent remarks. "He did not intend to offend anybody," spokesman Chuck Ardo said. "He was responding passionately to a series of questions, and he is well known both in Harrisburg throughout the commonwealth and throughout the country for speaking his mind."

What's another word for zombie?

Our friends over at DemocracyRisingPA have come up with a fascinating ranking of the current crop of Pennsylvania Legislators, including all those freshmen who ran last year on a reform platform. You remember those guys and gals. They promised to change the way Harrisburg conducts the people's business.

Those promises are now running smack into reality. Splat! DemocracyRisingPA has compiled a list of which zombies (I mean lawmakers) voted with party leaders most of the time during the first half of 2007.

Some rank-and-file members vote with leadership 99 percent of the time, according to the chart. Is your lawmaker working for you or the status quo party bosses in Harrisburg? Are they mindless drones who do what their masters' bidding?

More from DemocracyRisingPA (including the link to find where your legislator falls) below:

The Reformers' First Semester: Voting with Leadership
Conventional wisdom says that Republicans exert more party discipline than Democrats. But you can't prove it by the votes of 23 new Republicans and 27 new Democrats in the PA House. In fact, it's the new Democrats who follow their leader with much greater frequency than the new Republicans. Looking at 232 important votes (as of July 9 and excluding resolutions), all first-term Republicans voted with their floor leader less often than all first-term Democrats.

This record makes the first-term lawmakers almost indistinguishable from the veteran lawmakers. The split between veteran Democrats and veteran Republicans is almost as clear and reinforces the point that House Democrats appear to display stronger party discipline than Republicans. Following is the percentage that each group voted with caucus floor leaders:

Freshmen
Democrats: 91-98%
Republicans: 69-86%

Veterans
Democrats: 86-99%*
Republicans: 63-89%

* There is one anomaly. Rep. Robert Belfanti, D-Northumberland, voted just 57% of the time with Majority Leader Bill DeWeese, D-Greene. The next lowest Democrat registered 86%.

Click here for an Excel spreadsheet with data for each first-term lawmaker, and here for an Excel spreadsheet with data for each veteran lawmaker.

What explains this unexpected, if not inconvenient, truth about the new lawmakers? Perhaps Republicans are witnessing:

• a new streak of independence among younger members.
• the effect of being in the minority where it often doesn't matter whether rank-and-file Representatives follow leadership.
• a new streak of independence among younger members.

Perhaps Democrats are seeing:

• the effect of having to govern on the edge of majority so that no Representative can be allowed to stray too far from the party home.
• the influence of a reasonably popular governor of your own party, especially a governor who knows how to raise campaign money.

Maybe we should stop talking about "party discipline" and talk instead of "power discipline." The party names are interchangeable. The effect of power is relatively constant.

On second thought

I've had a recurring nightmare the last couple of nights. That image of Ed Rendell laughing it up at the podium when he announced a budget deal is something I can't get out of my head. Ed Rendell may have put one over on us again.

This is after all the man who promised to cut property taxes in 2002 standing on his head and still hasn’t delivered a penny of tax relief. This is the man who coerced a Republican Legislature to pass a 10 percent income tax hike in 2003. The man who ushered in 61,000 slot machines in 2004. The man who signed the pay raise into law in 2005. Maybe this budget deal that Rendell said was a "win-win" for both sides of the political aisle isnt what we thought.

The blogosphere and talk radio are up in arms over the budget agreement between Gov. Ed Rendell and the Senate GOP leadership. Solid information about what’s contained in the budget is hard to come by, but I like the analysis done by The Commonwealth Foundation, which borrowed my "Good, Bad and Ugly" analogy from last month.

As the budget is being finalized for final debate in both the House and Senate, here are some points to ponder, courtesy of the Foundation:

The Good (with some caveats)

No new taxes. None of Governor Rendell's proposed tax increases were included in the agreement. But tax increases were a moot point because taxpayers were over-billed by Harrisburg by $650 million in the 2006-07 fiscal year. Indeed, the policy debate should be over the depth of tax cuts for working Pennsylvanians, not tax increases when excess revenues are flowing into state government coffers.

Independent consideration of most of Rendell’s legislative agenda. With some exceptions, most of Governor Rendell’s legislative agenda will have to be considered independently of the budgeting process. Although the governor was willing to shut down public services and furlough state workers to force his legislative agenda through the General Assembly, the current budget agreement will allow for consideration of his policy priorities on an individual basis.

Spending growth at 5.3%. According to Gov. Rendell, spending will increase 5.3% to $27.5 billion over last fiscal year’s original budget of $26.1 billion. This amount is below the average 6.37% increase in spending during the first four years of the Rendell Administration. Therefore, relative to past budget deals, this budget grows spending at a slower pace. However…

The Bad

Spending growth at 5.3%. Inflation over the past three years was an average of 2.95%; last year it was 1.3%. The 5.3% spending increase is also 68% higher than the 3.15% limit embodied in the Taxpayer Protection Act—a proposal that has co-sponsorship from 30 of 50 state senators.

WAMs and “corporate welfare.” It has been reported that tax revenues used as “walking around money” which is handed out to politically connected businesses and organizations by the governor and legislative leaders will be less than last year’s budget. However, these pork-barrel spending projects are expected to be higher than what was included in the budget passed in the Senate with a 49-1 vote on June 20, 2007.

The Ugly

Largest government takeover of preschool education. Instead of expanding the highly successful and far less expensive Preschool Educational Improvement Tax Credit program, Gov. Rendell got $75 million to dramatically expand the government’s creation of new taxpayer-funded preschools that will force many privately funded schools out of business. The eventual expansion of universal preschool throughout Pennsylvania will cost taxpayers billions of dollars in higher property taxes, while simultaneously running private and religious preschools out of business.

Transportation policy will be set back for decades. Despite the strong recommendation from the Pennsylvania Transportation Funding and Reform Commission that “no additional funding should be provided for highways, bridges and transit unless a series of parallel actions are taken to reform funding structure and a number of transportation business practices” [emphasis added], this proposal not only provides more money, but it dramatically increases taxpayers’ indebtedness and expands the authority and control of the patronage-ridden Turnpike Commission. Pennsylvanians will be paying interest—rather than earning interest from a Turnpike lease—and an opportunity to bring private-sector capital, incentives, and innovations into Pennsylvania transportation policy will be lost. Finally, the entire transportation deal is premised on the tolling I-80, despite clear interpretations of federal law that would prevent such a scheme. What is Plan B if this proposal fails to receive federal approval?

A Fistful of Unspent Dollars

Taxpayer Protection: Rhetoric or Reality? A majority of Senators (30 out of 50) have co-sponsored legislation and a constitutional amendment that, if applied to the current fiscal year budget, would limit the growth in General Fund spending to 3.15%—or $823 million more than the last fiscal year. How these 28 Republicans and 2 Democrats vote on the FY 2007-08 budget will determine if their co-sponsorship of the Taxpayer Protection Act and Taxpayer Protection Amendment is just rhetoric or reality.

Additional borrowing for corporate welfare? Gov. Rendell’s proposals for billions in additional borrowing remain on the table and will be voted on in the fall, including:

• $850 million in bonded debt (or other source of funds) for the Governor’s energy plan to deliver handouts to politically selected alternative energy companies;

• $500 million in bonded debt for the Jonas Salk Legacy Fund; and

• An increase of the debt limit for the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program, which provides grants to politically selected projects across the state.

Pension and Health Care crisis continues. This budget did nothing to address the multi-billion liability that is continuing to accrue on taxpayers’ backs. The day of reckoning will be upon Pennsylvania very soon.

Peter DeCoursey of Capitolwire.com also had an interesting piece Tuesday about the fuzzy math the Rendell administration is using. The $27.369 billion budget announced Sunday by Rendell jumped to $27.494 billion by Tuesday.

"This was supposed to be the year of openness and transparency in state government," DeCoursey writes. "But when it came to the simple act of telling Pennsylvanians how much they are increasing spending in this new budget, both sides resorted to their old budget tricks to pretend they are spending far less than they are."

The governor apparently forgot to count $125 million. When you’re dealing with billions, what's another $125 million among friends?

DeCoursey also points out that Senate Republicans are having problem with their math.

"Senate Republicans are saying the budget is really $27.178 billion, a 3.3 percent increase over last year's budget. How do they get there? They are not counting the $317 million that is going to a dedicated mass transit fund for this year and into the future," DeCoursey writes.

The problem with that math is those funds were in the budget last year. So dropping that $317 million out of sight by assigning it to another account in this budget, simply is a gimmick, DeCoursey said.

I'm getting this uneasy feeling that Rendell and Co. have sold us down the river again. It's time to get on the phone or get to a computer and tell your legislators that you're tired of the voodoo economics promised in Harrisburg. It's too late to punish Rendell for his deception, but you can vote out a lot of House and Senate members next year.

Dent, Gerlach, Murphy, English no longer voting as Republicans

Several Pennsylvania Congressional Republicans are voting less and less like Republicans these days.

CQPolitics.com has an article today listing the the Top 26 Republicans who frequently break ranks with the party on votes.

While nobody from Pennsylvania's Congressional delegation made the Top 10, some familiar names are hovering lower on the list: Tim Murphy, R-18th Dist., at No. 15; Charlie Dent, R-15th Dist., at No. 20; Jim Gerlach, R-6th Dist., at No. 21; and Phil English, R-3rd Dist., at No. 23.

It's pretty clear that Republicans are still running scared after last year's debacle at the polls, where Democrats swept into power.

Not only did the GOP lose control of the 110th Congress, but the few Pennsylvania Republicans who won re-election are no longer voting with the party.

We now have the Democrats and the Pseudo-Republicans in Congress. Where does that leave conservatives who voted for Dent and Gerlach? It might be time to start a third party.

To read the full Congressional Quarterly article by Greg Giroux and see the list of all 26 Republicans, follow this link: Party Unity Less of a Sure Thing for House GOP Minority

Hidden taxes on the poor

There's a fascinating article in today's edition of The Christian Science Monitor that should be required reading for Gov. Ed Rendell and the Democratic members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. Rendell and his cronies are always talking about helping the poor, but you wouldn't know it from their taxing policies, which are unfairly directed at lower-income Pennsylvanians. Taxes on liquor and cigarettes as well as state-run lotteries and gambling parlors are hidden ways to tax the poor.

Here's the link to the Monitor article:

The poor need help, not hidden taxes
Taxes on cigarettes and liquor hit poor people harder than the rich, but the 'voluntary tax' of state lotteries hits them hardest of all.
Click here to read this article.

If it quacks like a lame duck, it must be Ed Rendell

July 9, 2007, will go down as a significant date in Pennsylvania political history. It's the day 25,000 state workers were furloughed after a nine-day budget impasse. It's the day Gov. Ed Rendell and the Legislature reached agreement on a $27.4 billion budget for the 2007-08 fiscal year, bringing state spending to new record highs.

It's also the day Gov. Rendell officially became a lame duck. Behind the smiles and back-slapping at a Monday night press conference announcing the agreement, you could almost see the white flag of surrender coming from the Rendell camp.

Just six months into his second four-year term, Gov. Rendell gave up nearly everything he promised to fight for in the new budget. His ambitious second-term agenda, announced in February, expired on July 9, 2007. Rendell went up a united GOP Senate and got his clock cleaned.

Rendell proposed seven new or expanded taxes as part of his 2007-08 spending plan. He got none of them. That's 0 for 7. Rendell said he would never give up his energy independence initiative or his electricity tax. Rendell said he was prepared to drag the budget fight out all summer if necessary to get his way. The best Rendell could do was a promise from the GOP Senate that it would consider his $850 million energy plan in the fall during a special session.

You remember the last special session the Legislature held? That was last fall when the Legislature was supposed to solve the property tax problem. The best it could do was Act 1, which was rejected by voters in 99 percent of the state's school districts. Expect a similar fate for Rendell's energy plan.

Rendell promised to hold up the budget until the Legislature came up with a dedicated source of funding for mass transit. Rendell's grand scheme was to lease the Pennsylvania Turnpike to a private company. That's not happening. The best Rendell could get was a toll hike on the Turnpike and a plan to make Interstate 80 a toll road by 2010. The I-80 toll plan will end up in court and may not happen because federal dollars were used to build the road. That could force Rendell to come back with a Plan B.

Rendell promised to hold the General Fund budget and the Legislature hostage unless he got his universal health plan approved. That didn't happen either. No tax on businesses who don't provide health coverage to workers. Rendell huffed and puffed about a smoking ban. The best he could do is a watered down version.

Rendell also wanted to raise the state's debt ceiling by $500 million but Republicans stood their ground on that one, too.

Senate Republicans, under the new leadership team of Joe Scarnati, Dominic Pileggi, Jane Orie, Michael L. Waugh, Gibson E. Armstrong and Jake Corman came out looking pretty good.

They promised no new taxes and delivered on their pledge. (They also promised no new taxes in the 2008-09 fiscal year, so Rendell better start finding places to cut in next year's budget.)

Senate Republicans promised to hold the line on spending at the rate of inflation, and almost kept that promise. (The budget increase is somewhere between 3.5 percent and 4 percent depending on what you include in the budget numbers. Rendell original budget proposal would have increased state spending by 7 percent.)

Senate Republicans told Rendell they wouldn't consider his peripheral agenda (alternative energy, transportation funding, health care) until the budget was signed and they stuck to their word. Without the furloughs (and the threat of shutting casinos) hanging over them, Senate Republicans can take an even tougher stand against the Spendell Administration down the road.

Rendell's miscalcualted on the furloughs. He thought he could blackmail the GOP into rubber-stamping his initiatives by telling state workers to stay home. When it became clear over the weekend and into Monday that Pennsylvanians were blaming Rendell for the shutdown of state services, the governor and his Democratic pawns in the House quickly folded.

After four years of getting his way all the time, Rendell met his match this year. Senate GOP leaders stood up to Rendell, something their predecessors were unwilling to do. (That's why Chip Brightbill and Bob Jubelirer were voted out of office last year). The GOP has a solid majority in the Senate and could pick up a couple more seats from vulnerable Democrats (Mike O'Pake in Berks County and Andy Dinniman in Chester County) next year.

House Republicans also came out of the budget battle looking good. They attempted to pass a bill Sunday to prevent the worker furloughs, but Democrats wouldn't bring it up for a vote. (Democrats didn't have the guts to vote no.) Republicans tried again Monday, but Democrats didn't show up on the House floor. Many were hiding under their desks, some were playing golf, according to news report.

This was Rendell's best chance to get his big government, liberal agenda through the Legislature. Rendell has control of the House with 102 Democrats and GOP turncoat Dennis O'Brien as his puppet Speaker. Expect Democratic defections now that Rendell has waived the white flag.

House Republicans can go into the 2008 elections saying they stood up to Rendell on taxes and borrowing. The GOP's prospects of taking back the House in 2008 got a lot better — thanks to Ed Rendell.

24,000 visitors to TONY PHYRILLAS

I was expecting a slowdown in traffic with vacation season and the Fourth of July holiday, but my site counter keeps spinning.

I've recorded another 1,000 unique visitors in the past week, bringing the total to 24,000 in the past 8 months.

I'd like to thank Gov. Ed Rendell for his ill-fated powerplay on the state budget. I'm sure that brought a lot of visitors to my site for some insight on what is going in in Harrisburg.

Thanks to everyone for checking in. Unlike the governor and legislators, who will be taking most of the summer off, I'll be toiling away like the rest of you.

Check back later today for the winners and losers in the budget agreement and the significance of July 9, 2007.

Rendell gambles ... and Pennsylvania loses

Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell decided to play a high-stakes game of poker with the Republican-controlled state Senate over the 2007-08 state budget.

Rendell bet all his chips, including the jobs of 25,000 state employees, on one winning hand, but the Senate called his bluff.

The result? Rendell folded. He was forced to carry out his threat to furlough state workers.

Some 25,000 state employees are sitting home today because Rendell and Republican-controlled Senate can't agree on a state budget nine days into the start of the new fiscal year. (Forget about the state House, where the new Democratic majority turned out to be a doormat for Rendell.)

Without the authority to spend money that a signed budget provides, Rendell suspended nonessential services and furloughed employees.

"It doesn't have to be this way," said Rep. Curt Schroder of Chester County. "The governor is using state employees and government services as pawns in an attempt to garner support for tax, fee and spending increases that fall outside the General Fund budget. It is absurd that the governor is using the livelihood of state workers to leverage support for unpopular proposals."

In a hastily assembled press conference just before midnight Sunday, Rendell admitted he is partly to blame for the budget mess. "We didn't start early enough," Rendell said as he ordered the furloughs. "I think everybody was at fault."

This is big news. Rendell actually is willing to accept part of the blame for creating the budget crisis. Rendell is slow to admit mistakes and has been given the title of "Teflon Ed" for his abilit to avoid taking responsibility.

Rendell signed the pay raise of 2005, but the voters gave him a free pass to re-election in 2006. Rendell was watching a basketball game while thousands of motorists where stranded on Interstate 78, but Rendell skated away from that fiasco without long-term political damage. Rendell has repeatedly lied about property tax relief, but Pennsylvania residents still give him the benefit of the doubt.

It's going to be hard for Rendell to escape unscathed from the government shutdown, which could have been avoided had Rendell and his Democratic puppets in the state House been willing to put Pennsylvania residents ahead of their own political agenda.

State parks, many including public pools, are shut down on the hottest day of the year. Hundreds of Pennsylvania residents, plus out-of-state visitors, were forced to leave their campsites Sunday, ruining family vacations. Pennsylvania residents can't get driver's licenses or visit museums. And you have 25,000 state workers sitting home thanks to the governor's stubbornness.

Rendell proposed spending $27.3 billion for the fiscal year beginning July 1, but he also wanted to enact new taxes or raise current taxes on seven different items. The GOP-controlled Senate was willing to approve a $27 billion budget, but with no tax increases or new taxes.

Rendell then threatened to veto the budget unless the Legislature rubber-stamps his plan to borrow $850 million for wind energy and come up with nearly $1 billion to bail out mass transit.

Republicans have said all along that furloughs weren't necessary, even without an approved budget.

"The energy policy should not be holding these people hostage," said Rep. Bill Adolph of Delaware County. "We have a $650 million surplus. There is no budget crisis."

House Republicans attempted Sunday to avert the furloughs by proposing a bill that would have provided budget funding for a month and kept state facilities running and workers on the job. Democrats walked off the floor of the House chamber instead of allowing a vote on the bill. Once again, Democrats showed their true colors. They turned their backs on Pennsylvania residents and state workers.

"Our efforts were shut down by House Democrats who were more concerned with currying favor with the governor then the plight of Pennsylvania residents," Rep. Schroder said.

A lot of Pennsylvania residents also can't understand how the governor and lawmakers got into this mess because the state finished the 2006-07 fiscal year with a substantial surplus. It's not like the state is hurting for money. The problem is gluttonous politicians who want to spend beyond their means.

"We have a $650 million surplus in Pennsylvania," said Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, R-Delaware. "There's absolutely no reason why we can't have a budget agreement."

Rendell doesn't have the votes to get the Legislature to approve his electricity tax on homeowners because Republicans won't break their "No New Taxes" pledge.

So Rendell decided to hold the entire budget (and 25,000 state workers) hostage to get his way.

"I can't believe that a man who would call himself governor would do this to state employees," said Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati, R-Jefferson.

Yes, Sen. Scarnati, you can believe it. Rendell only cares about Rendell. He's a spoiled child who is used to getting his way. He's been able to get his way on tax increases, massive borrowing and state spending and bringing casinos to Pennsylvania.

I applaud Republicans in the House and the Senate for finally standing up to Gov. Rendell. It's time for the people of Pennsylvania to come first. No new taxes, no more borrowing, no more handouts for corrupt mass transit agencies.

Rendell needs to get the message that the well has run dry. Pennsylvania can't afford the government it has now.

Another black eye for Pennsylvania courtesy of Ed Rendell

Quotes on partial Pa. government shutdown, furloughs

By The Associated Press

"WHEN DO WE GET OUR MONEY BACK!" — Sign posted at Codorus State Park by a camper forced to leave early because of the government shutdown.

"It's embarrassing enough for Pennsylvania residents, but you have out-of-state vacationers going 'What!' ... The image for Pennsylvania is stunningly bad." — JoDee Dyerson, of State College, whose family had to leave their Black Moshannon State Park campsite early.

"I don't care about getting my money back, I just want my vacation." — Kay George, 53, a Philadelphia minister who was forced out of her cabin at Black Moshannon State Park.

"I don't think they should take away people's summer fun." — Gloria West, 52, of York, a disgruntled camper at Codorus State Park.

"I can't believe I came all the way down here. This don't make no sense. Everwhere's closed." — LaTanya Anderson, who took a one-hour bus ride to downtown Philadelphia to get a driver's license, only to find the office was closed.

"I didn't know about it until I got here. ... I don't know how I'm going to get my permit." — Dandan Hong, 21, a student at the University of Pittsburgh, who tried unsuccessfully to get her driver's license permit Monday morning.

Phyrillas No. 6 on Influence Ranking

Hollywood has its weekly Box Office list. Pennsylvania bloggers hold their breath every Monday for the release of the "Pennsylvania's Most Influential Political blogs" ranking by BlogNetNews.com

After a technical malfunction prevented the release of last week's rankings, bloggers anxiously awaited this week's list to see who's up and who's down.

Tony Phyrillas moved up to No. 6 on this week's list, the highest showing to date. (My blog also has the highest cumulative ranking by readers of BlogNetNews.com.)

Here's the TOP 20 LIST of the most influential bloggers in Pennsylvania courtesy of BlogNetNews.com

1 Suburban Guerrilla
2 The Carbolic Smoke Ball
3 GrassrootsPA
4 Pennsyltucky Politics
5 Brendan Calling
6 TONY PHYRILLAS
7 PSoTD
8 Save The GOP
9 :::Philebrity...media, culture, music and more:::
10 2 Political Junkies
11 The Pennsylvania Progressive
12 www.keystonepolitics.com
13 Capitol Ideas with John L. Micek
14 Lehigh Valley Ramblings
15 PowerBlog!
16 Gort42
17 Phillybits
18 Mark A. Kilmer (the weblog)
19 Mark Rauterkus & Running Mates ponder current events
20 Above Average Jane

Has it been 2 years since the pay raise?

Two years ago today...

You know what I'm talking about.

On July 7, 2005, while most Pennsylvania residents were asleep, members of the Pennsylvania Legislature raided the state treasury at 2 a.m. in what would be known as the Payjacking of 2005.

Lawmakers gave themselves pay raises of up to 16 percent to 54 percent, and in a clear violation of the state Constitution, took the money right away as "unvouchered expenses." (The pay raise vote in the House was 119-79. The pay raise passed the Senate by a 27-23 margin.)

I would be remiss to let the two-year anniversary of the pay raise pass by without a few comments.

So much has changed. So little has changed.

Some of the architects of the payjacking paid for their crime. Bob Jubelirer and Chip Brightbill, the Republican leaders of the state Senate, were tossed out by the voters in May 2006. Mike Veon, the No. 2 Democratic leader in the House, was ousted in November 2006. Republican Speaker of the House John Perzel was demoted to the title of "Speaker Emeritus" when his own party members turned against him. (It didn't help that Perzel lost control of the House after 12 years in GOP hands.)

But others who orchestrated the pay grab avoided paying a political price. The man who signed the payjacking into law, Gov. Ed Rendell, was re-elected to a second term in a landslide against Lynn Swann. (Although you could argue that Rendell's current troubles getting what he wants in the state budget are a result of lost political clout because of the pay raise.)

Rep. Bill DeWeese remains majority leader in the House. Sen. Bob Mellow continues as minority leader in the state Senate. More than 100 Legislators who voted for the pay raise won re-election last year. (At least 32 lawmakers still refuse to return the money they took from us in 2005, according to citizen activists.)

But let's look on the bright side. Many of the Legislative payjackers were brought to justice. Fifty-five professional politicians were forced into retirement or tossed out by the voters in 2006. Two Pennsylvania Supreme Court justices who were on the court when the payjacking took place were also dispatched. Russel Nigro lost his retention vote in November 2005 and Sandra Schultz Newman, who narrowly won her retention vote, gave up her seat months later. Voters will have a chance this November to remove a third member of the Supreme Court when Justice Saylor seeks retention.

And I guarantee you that Chief Justice Ralph J. Cappy will "retire" instead of facing the voters for his retention vote in 2009.

Another positive result of the payjacking is the reform movement. Thanks to pressure from citizen activists, bloggers and newspapers, the Legislature spent most of 2007 talking about reform and should pass many of the reform initiatives that good government advocates have been seeking for years.

And let's not forget that half the Senate, including prominent payjackers like Mike O'Pake, the minority whip, will face the voters in 2008. It's the first time 25 Senators will go before the voters since the payjacking.

Expect more incumbents to face the wrath of the voters, especially since they have failed to keep their promise to deliver property tax reform.

Casino bosses, state workers sue Pennsylvania

Some interesting developments late Friday as Pennsylvania politicians begin their death march toward shutting down state government because of a budget stalemate between Gov. Ed Rendell and the state Legislature.

Pennsylvania's largest state employees' union threatened a lawsuit to block Monday’s anticipated furloughs of 25,000 state employees.

The lawsuit is expected to be filed Saturday in Commonwealth Court, seeking an injunction to prevent the furloughs, according to David Fillman, executive director of Council 13 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

The interesting thing about the lawsuit is that it doesn't challenge the state’s authority to furlough workers if it doesn’t have an approved budget for the fiscal year. (Are the union workers going to donate their time?) If the state doesn't have the money to pay workers, what else can it do?

Fillman said the union is challenging the legality of dividing most state workers' jobs into "essential" and "nonessential classifications. The 25,000 nonessential workers have been sent letters telling them to stay home Monday because the state doesn’t have the money to pay them. But there’s 45,000 other state workers who will continue on the job and receive paychecks.

Casino bosses are one step ahead of the labor union.

The owners of Pennsylvania's fledgling slot-machine parlors filed a lawsuit Friday afternoon asking the Commonwealth Court to prevent the state from closing the casinos because of the budget impasse.

The owners of Philadelphia Park Racetrack & Casino, Harrah's Chester Casino & Racetrack, Presque Isle Downs, Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs and The Meadows Racetrack & Casino filed the lawsuit seeking a temporary injunction to keep them open even if the state shuts down many of its services. (It's one thing if we shut down a state park, but heaven forbid we can't gamble on Monday.)

Gov. Rendell, who originally said the casinos would stay open, now says that the slots parlors have to close at 7 a.m. Monday because the Revenue Department workers who run computers that monitor slot-machine cash flow are among those who would be furloughed.

A judge is expected to rule on the casino lawsuit over the weekend.

You know my feelings from earlier posts about who's to blame for the budget mess. (Hint: It rhymes with Spendell.)

But I have a problem with the fact that unions and casino owners can put pressure on elected officials. Who does the governor and the Legislature answer to? The people or the unions and the casinos?

Will the threat of losing casino revenues force politicians to make bad decisions on the budget?

Sen. Folmer on why Rendell shut down Pa. government

Below is a terrific perspective on why state government is being shut down by Gov. Ed Rendell, who refuses to give up his campaign to raise taxes and mortgage the state's future with more borrowing. Stand with your GOP Senators and Representatives as they stand up to Gov. Spendell. Pennsylvania can have a new budget as soon as Rendell gives up his taxes and bailout of SEPTA.

Why is the Government shut down?

By Senator “Citizen Mike” Folmer

The big story in Pennsylvania politics right now is, of course, the standoff between Gov. Rendell and the Legislature over the state budget, which has resulted in state government being shutdown until the stalemate is resolved. I am appalled that the Governor is using state services, state employees, and the state’s future as pawns to leverage support for his pet projects. This is wrong and not an appropriate way to do business.

During his first term in office, Gov. Rendell succeeded in imposing his agenda of higher taxes, excessive borrowing, and unprecedented spending.

We borrowed $2 billion, which our children and grandchildren will one day have to pay back. Half of the money borrowed went toward corporate welfare, including $40 million for Comcast to build a new skyscraper in Philadelphia.

We increased General Fund spending by nearly the double the combined rates of inflation and population growth.

We increased taxes by more than $1 billion. About $110 million in revenues is collected every day by the Commonwealth. You can’t tell me that more is needed.

This year, Gov. Rendell again proposed a state budget with another massive spending increase of triple the rate of inflation and seven different tax increases. But hardworking Pennsylvanians can’t afford to have any more taken from their paychecks; our economy can’t withstand such a spending increase.

By an overwhelming bipartisan majority of 49-1, the Senate passed a budget with spending growth within the rate of inflation (3.2 percent), no new taxes either this year or next, and no new borrowing.

Unfortunately, the Governor and House Democrats have drawn a line in the sand by refusing to support a budget that doesn’t contain: 1) $240 million more in corporate welfare for the Pittsburgh Penguins hockey team to help pay for the cost of a new arena; and 2) electricity taxes to pay for the Governor’s so-called “energy independence.”

It is worth noting that Pennsylvania currently has a $640 million surplus.

So why is the Governor threatening to veto the state budget as leverage to hold Pennsylvania hostage for his ransom demand of higher taxes, more borrowing, and spending growth again in excess of inflation and population growth? It’s just not right.

Both the Governor and the Legislature have an obligation to the people of Pennsylvania, to state workers facing unemployment, and to those who rely upon public services.

The governor should stop playing politics with people’s live, sign a fiscally responsible budget, and then allow his other priorities to be voted on their merits.

To use the state budget as a negotiating tool in a high stakes game of political chess, impacting millions of families, is inexcusable. We can – and we should – pass a budget with no tax increases, no new taxes this year or next, no gimmicks, and no excessive spending.

State workers are pawns in Rendell power grab

I received a letter today from a state worker who is not amused by the bickering going on between Gov. Rendell and the Legislature over the 2007-08 state budget.

While the six-day budget impasse is typical of Harrisburg since Rendell became governor (five years in the governor’s mansion, five missed budget deadlines), the continuing deadlock will hit home for 25,000 state workers who have received letters telling them to stay home on Monday.

Here's how the budget stalemate looks from a state worker's perspective:

Where does the name "Pennsylvania" get its name from? "Penn's Woods," right? Pennsylvania is known for a whole variety of trees. But one type of tree that you will never find growing in PA is the money tree. There is a group in Harrisburg that believes that money grows on trees. Maybe I have a bunch of these trees in my basement under high-intensity lamps, making my electric meter go wacko.

I AM NOT MADE OUT OF MONEY! I am forced to live on a budget. I have a small car (fortunately paid off) with lots of miles — a replacement car is not in the budget. I have basic cable ($16 with tax) — more channels are not in the budget. (Digital cable starts off at $52 per month and that will be required in 2009.) I have dial-up Internet — broadband is not in the budget. I live in a two-bedroom house with one bathroom in a noisy neighborhood — anything else is not in the budget. I let my subscription drop on various magazines — they are not in the budget.

I am a state employee, working for PENNDOT. I will be one of many furloughed next week. I am a union member (AFSCME). I am a conservative. I am a Republican. For years, I was an Independent. A couple of years ago, I became a Republican so I could vote in the Primaries.

My blood boils when politicians try to pull the wool over my eyes. When a certain person said that I was confused when I voted against ACT 1, I knew exactly what I was doing. I don't let anybody try to tell me how to vote except God Almighty! Need I say more?

No, this state worker doesn’t have to say anything else. It’s clear that state workers are pawns in Rendell power grab.

The current budget impasse is a poor reflection on all elected officials in Harrisburg. The state finished the most recent fiscal year with a $650 million budget surplus and still can't come up with a compromise plan to keep state government running.

The bulk of the blame goes to Rendell, who is addicted to spending and raising taxes. The House Democrats are No. 2 on the list. They are puppets who dance to Rendell's tune. They're so enamored or afraid of Emperor Rendell that they won't do what's right for their constituents.

Almost everyone in the Legislature is willing to approve $27 billion in general fund spending for the fiscal year that began July 1, but Gov. Rendell wants more. Rendell is trying to blackmail the Legislature into approving his very expensive plan to bail out mass transit and his alternative energy programs. (The Rendell apologists will tell you that the Emperor's electricity tax is so small, nobody would mind paying it. With Rendell's record on taxes, any tax is too much.)

So far, there are few takers in the Legislature, especially the Republican-controlled Senate, which is sticking to its "No New Taxes" budget. And that means "no" to something Rendell is calling a "service benefit charge" on electricity. That's a euphemism Rendell is using these days for a new tax on electricity to fund alternative energy projects.

This is the time to contact your state legislators and tell them that you support the "No New Taxes" budget voted out of the Senate. It's time to take away Gov. Rendell's credit card. He's already run up enormous debts this state will never be able to pay off.

Taxpayers need to contact freshman House members who ran on a reform platform in 2006. What happened to promises of fiscal responsibility?

Why is every single Democrat in the House so willing to rubber-stamp Rendell's tax-and-spend agenda?

You need to let lawmakers such as David Kessler and Tim Seip in Berks County or Barbara McIlvaine Smith in Chester County or Rick Taylor in Montgomery County that you're watching them and they will be one-term lawmakers if they don't start looking out for the people who elected them.

Rendell is holding the budget hostage and is using thousands of state workers as human shields. The Democrats in the state House are Rendell’s accomplices.

Why can't Pennsylvania live within its means? Why do politicians have to spend every penny that goes to Harrisburg.

Why isn't anyone talking about returning the $650 million surplus to the taxpayers?

Proof that Global Warming causes Poison Ivy

It's hard to keep up with all the damage global warming is doing to our lives.

Just when you think you've heard it all, some new study or report comes out blaming everything under the sun on global warming.

I haven't fallen under Al Gore's spell. Haven't seen his movie. Haven't read his book. Have no interest in either. The guy has an ax to grind. His "mock-umentary" is a duller version of the kind of left-wing propaganda that Michael Moore puts out. But enough of Al Gore.

When the lead article on the front page of my hometown paper today proclaims that "Poison ivy is caused by global warming," it's time to start running naked through the streets yelling, "Global warming is coming!!! Global warming is coming!!!"

According to the militant environmentalists, global warming, which has raised the temperature of our planet by one-tenth of one degree over the last 100 years is causing the polar ice caps to melt, holes in the ozone layer, beach erosion, hurricanes, tornadoes, tsunamis, flooding in Texas, droughts in the desert, wildfires in California, the death of U.S. bee colonies, increases in allergies, etc.

But the poison ivy story really gets me.

When I was a kid, long before anyone heard of global warming, long before anyone heard of Al Gore, my brothers and I used to get poison ivy a lot because we were kids and loved to play in fields and woods.

I haven't had a case of poison ivy in 35 years, but I'm to believe that increased carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere are causing a rash of poison ivy cases.

That's what the story in an area newspaper says.

Using anecdotal evidence by a park ranger who says he sees a lot more poison ivy in the woods and an emergency room doctor, not to mention a government study, the reporter proclaims that global warning is causing the sudden an unexplained increase in poison ivy cases.

The article is punctuated with such phrases as "exact figures weren't available" and the ER doctor "doesn't know why the number of cases has increased," but the reporter still draws the conclusion that it's global warming run amuck

The only "proof" the reporter needs to back his thesis in an interview with a U.S. Department of Agriculture plant physiologist who conducted a study that grew the poison ivy plant under two different conditions.

"One set of plants was exposed to air that contained 300 parts per million of carbon dioxide, which is roughly the equivalent of the amount in the atmosphere 50 years ago," the reporter states. "Another set of plants was exposed to air that contained 400 parts per million of carbon dioxide, which is the level found in the atmosphere today."

The conclusion: The plants grown at today's carbon dioxide levels were as much as 75 percent larger and had about the same increase in the amount of rash-causing oil they produced, according to the article.

There you have it folks. Conclusive proof. One study by one scientist under one set of conditions. Let's ban automobiles from the U.S. and shut down our factories. Otherwise, we run the risk getting poison ivy.

Maybe the plant guy could try growing poison ivy in soil loaded with manure to see if it grows faster. Maybe he could water one set of plants more than the other to see if water has anything to do with plants growing. But that wouldn't prove global warming, would it?

This is the kind of bogus science and biased reporting by the left-wing media that gives the media a bad name.

The far left is behind the global warming hysteria. It's another way for liberals to force the government to spend more money and to control how the government spends tax dollars. It's a scare tactic used by political has-beens like Al Gore to stage a comeback.

It's shameful that news reporters keep falling for the hysteria, but then again most reporters are liberals, so why should it surprise anyone that they would promote their political and social beliefs on the rest of us?

May I recommend a visit to http://www.climatepolice.com/ or to http://www.friendsofscience.org/ or http://www.globalwarming.org/ to get a sane perspective on the global warming hysteria.

And march down to your local library or bookstore and read "The Politically Incorrect Guide to Global Warming (and Environmentalism)" by Christopher C. Horner. It's available in paperback from Regnery Publishing. The book exposes the radical environmentalists and blows holes in the various myths about global warming that the media perpetuates.

How Pennsylvania got into its current budget mess

The Rendell Propaganda Machine is working overtime these days to deflect blame for the state missing its budget deadline for the fifth year in a row. (That's also how many years Rendell has been in the governor's mansion.)

On Tuesday, the governor announced that furlough letters were going out to 25,000 "nonessential" state workers telling them to stay home on Monday, July 9. The state doesn't have the money to pay them since the 2007-08 fiscal year began July 1 without an approved budget.

Rendell is blaming the Republican-controlled state Senate, saying the Legislature had 150 days to review his budget requests. As usual, the governor's nose was growing at the time he made his latest statement about the budget impasse.

The Senate approved a $27 billion budget on June 20 and sent it to the House, which is controlled by Democrats and is run by Dennis O'Brien, the Republican speaker who answers to Rendell.

On Saturday, June 30, the last day of the fiscal year, Speaker O'Brien joined 100 House Democrats in voting not to concur with the Senate version of the budget, thus creating the current budget crisis.

Forget about the spin coming from Rendell and the House Democrats. Here's the way the state got into the current mess.

The State Budget (HB 1286), as presented to the state House on June 30, while not perfect, is a responsible spending plan that supports the state’s priority needs. Moreover, this budget could be passed on time and could effectively support state governmental operations.

With this budget, the state would NOT need to increase taxes and it would effectively prepare the state for a responsible spending future, whereas excessive spending could lead to future tax increases.

• With $27 Billion in General Fund spending, this budget bill represents a $706.9 Million increase in spending or a growth rate of 2.7 Percent.

• In comparison to the governor’s plan, this budget spends $300 Million less but still supports the state’s essential needs.

• The state Senate passed this budget bill (HB 1286) by a vote of 49-1. House Republicans support this plan as well, but House Democrats refuse to enable this plan to go before the governor.

• This is the second opportunity for the House to pass a responsible budget and both times House Democrats have prevented this move from happening.

• Since the governor took office, each of his first four budgets together averaged more than a 6 Percent annual growth rate, which has raised the state’s fiscal concerns. This plan’s spending growth of 2.7 Percent falls well below the governor’s four-year average.

• House Bill 1286 matches the governor’s spending requests in priority areas such as 1) Basic Education, 2) Special Education, 3) MH/MR Funding and 4) provides more funding for Medical Assistance, restoring key funding for hospitals.

The governor, as of today is still demanding passage of his energy plan, transportation/mass transit, and parts of his healthcare plan, as well as funding his important budget initiatives and restoring funds to job-training, education mandate funding and other initiatives.

It's the governor, not the Legislature, who is holding up passage of the 2007-08 budget. It's the governor who is using 25,000 state workers as pawns.

Time for Kessler, Seip, McIlvaine Smith, Taylor to stand up for taxpayers

This is the time to contact your state legislators and tell them that you support the "No New Taxes" budget voted out of the Senate. It's time to take away Gov. Rendell's credit card. He's already run up enormous debts this state will never be able to pay off.Taxpayers need to contact freshman House members who ran on a reform platform in 2006. What happened to promises of fiscal responsibility?

Why is every single Democrat in the House so willing to rubber-stamp Rendell's tax-and-spend agenda?

You need to let lawmakers such as David Kessler and Tim Seip in Berks or Barbara McIlvaine Smith in Chester or Rick Taylorin Montgomery that you're watching them and they will be one-term legislators if they don't start looking out for the people who elected them.

Received this note today from Rep. Bob Mensch, a freshman lawmaker from Montgomery Couunty. It puts the current budget crisis into perspective.

Rep. Mensch reminds constituents that there is a lot of "spin" coming out of Harrisburg, especially from Gov. Rendell, on the state of the budget discussions.

Here are two facts to keep in mind:

1. Three of the four chambers have already approved a budget -- both chambers of the Senate and the House Republicans. The House Democrats are the one chamber insisting on a budget that has increased spending and taxes -- in essence, they're carrying the administration's water.

2. The commutative vote for the budget that the Senate approved by 49-1, when you add the house votes, is 147 yeas and 102 nays. The Democrat majority in the House is the stymy to having a budget that would have been approved on time, and would have had a 3% spending increase (but below the rate of inflation).

There is still at least one major spending initiative the governor is insisting on, and for which the House Dems will continue the fight, and that is an energy bill that has a surcharge that will be levied on businesses (up to $10,000) as well as on every rate payer. The argument is, the surcharge is minuscule for the resident, but when you consider the tax possibilities in the total budget it is indeed very cumulative!

Just wanted to share these few thoughts.

Have a great 4th -- we'll probably be here arguing with the one caucus that did not hear the electorate in the fall.

Sincerely,

Bob Mensch
Member, 147th Legislative District
PA House of Representatives

23,000 visitors to TONY PHYRILLAS in 7 months

My site counter keeps spinning.

I've recorded 23,000 unique visitors to this site in the past seven months.

Thanks to everyone for checking out my site and tell your friends about it.

They were expendable

Everyone likes to feel important, especially when it comes to their job. Imagine you're a state worker in Pennsylvania and have to hear the politicians bicker over the budget.

If the budget isn't approved in the next few days, the state has already decided to furlough "nonessential" workers.

All you "nonessential" workers take one step forward. It could be worse. Another word for "nonessential" is expendable. And it gets worse. Other descriptive words for nonessential include "superfluous," "insignificant" and "dispensable."

Pennsylvania is in Day 3 of its annual "budget crisis" created by Gov. Ed Rendell because he can't get all the spending increases and taxes he wants out of the Legislature.

The last time a state worker was furloughed was 1991 when the governor and Legislature battled for 34 days over the state budget.

You have to wonder where we'd be if the state was facing a serious financial crisis instead of showing a healthy surplus. The Revenue Department just reported that the state ended the fiscal year on June 30 with a $650 million surplus.

(You could make the argument that the state is taking too much money from residents in the form of taxes and should return the "surplus," but that's a topic for another discussion.)

Nearly everyone in the Legislature is willing to approve $27 billion in general fund spending for the fiscal year that began July 1, but Gov. Rendell wants more. Rendell is trying to blackmail the Legislature into approving his very expensive plan to bail out mass transit and his alternative energy programs.

So far, there are few takers in the Legislature, especially the Republican-controlled Senate, which is sticking to its "No New Taxes" budget. And that means "no" to something Rendell is calling a "service benefit charge" on electricity. That's a euphemism Rendell is using these days for a new tax on electricity to fund alternative energy projects.

"We're adamant about living within our means and we'll do everything we can to do that," says Sen. Gibson E. Armstrong, R-Lancaster.

If nobody is willing to budge in the next few days, anywhere from 25,000 to 40,000 "nonessential" state employees could be furloughed as soon as Monday, July 9.

Don't fret my fellow Pennsylvanians. That still leaves another 64,000 "essential" workers ready to serve you.

You wonder where that $27 billion goes. Sounds like the state payroll takes a good chunk of that.

Does the governor really want to drag this out and see how well the state functions without those 40,000 "nonessential" workers?

With Hillary Clinton in the race, it's no presidential beauty contest

I know they call the race for the White House a presidential beauty contest, but have you taken a good look at Hillary Clinton lately?.

The junior senator from New York, pictured here addressing a teachers union convention in Philadelphia, has seen better days.

And what's all this talk about Hillary Clinton having a little "nip-and-tuck" done? You wouldn't know it from this closeup. She should ask for her money back.

Hillary is a candidate for "Exteme Makeover" and I'm not just talking about her far-left views on most issues.

You know how all presidents age from the stress of the job? If Hillary Clinton is looking this haggard already, imagine what a couple of years in the White House will do for her.

Sneaky

The information below comes from our friends at Democracy Rising PA, which has been working to reform the Pennsylvania Legislature for the past two years. Clearly, the legislators will revert to their old tricks of bending the rules to pass legislation that normally would never see the light of day because it goes against everything the people of this state want: open government, fiscal responsibility and accountability. At the risk of repeating myself, the 55 professional politicians ousted by voters or forced into retirement in 2006 wasn't enough. More than 100 members of the legislative aristocracy must be tossed out in 2008 for real change to take place in Harrisburg. Read on:

Stealth Lawmaking Lives: House Suspends Rules, Commits $1.65 Billion
This week the PA House proved why changing the rules doesn't solve the basic problem of the highest-cost, lowest quality legislature in America.

Capitolwire's Pete DeCoursey documented an instance of what lobbyists are saying is happening more and more often: Members of the House are suspending their own rules to pass major legislation without public hearings or public knowledge.

This was supposed to stop when the House adopted rules to require at least 24 hours between final amendment and final vote. Yet when it came time to consider House Bill 1631 , the capital budget for the Gaming and Tourism Fund, 172 House members voted to suspend the 24-hour rule so that they could amend the bill and pass it in a matter of minutes.

What did the amendment do? Among other things, it committed state taxpayers to pay:

• $880 million in operating funds for the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia.
• $495 million for "the construction and development of a cargo airport" in Luzerne County.
• $240 million for a hockey rink in Pittsburgh.

Rep. John Maher, R-Allegheny, noted that the money for these projects comes from the fund that was supposed to provide property tax relief.

That's a total of $1,615,000,000 (more than $500 for every family of four) for just these three projects without the opportunity for any family of four to express their opinion about it.

You won't believe this part. As bad as this is, consider that the amendment also confesses that it isn't exactly accurate. On page 39 of the amendment t! hat 171 House members voted for, it says:

"Section 7. Editorial changes.
In editing and preparing this act for printing following the final enactment, the Legislative Reference Bureau shall insert or revise letters or numbers for projects where the letters or numbers are missing or require revision. The Bureau shall also revise the total monetary amounts for the total authorization, debt authorization, appropriations and departmental totals as necessary to agree with the total monetary amounts of the projects."

In other words, parts of the bill don't mean what they say and the numbers don't add up.

But that didn't stop 171 Representatives from voting for the amendment and 121 Representatives from passing it to the Senate.

Questions:

• Will the Senate do any better at giving citizens the chance to be heard?
• Why did 50 more Representatives vote to suspend the rules and adopt the amendment than were willing to vote for it on final passage? [Hint: The unwritten rule is that rank-and-file Representatives vote with their leaders on "procedural" issues such as suspending the rules. As leadership knows, the more times the rank and file vote with leadership on the little things, the more likely they become to vote with leadership on the big things.]
• Who voted for it before they voted against it?
• Are Representatives counting on the Senate to do their jobs for them and produce a clean bill?

Comment:
It's worth pointing out that the House couldn't suspend the rules and make stealth changes to important legislation without the unanimous and express written consent of the state Supreme Court.! See the slots gambling decision, the pay raise decision, and many other decisions going back years.

This kind of stealth lawmaking will continue until the justices on our Supreme Court change their minds, or until the citizens change the minds that serve on our Supreme Court.