Rapid Fire Reading Around The State

Toohil appointed to leadership post in state House- State Representative Tarah Toohil who trounced then House Majority Leader Todd Eachus evicting him from his 116th Legislative District seat earns the deputy House Majority Whip post announced by House Majority Whip Stan Saylor, R-94, York. ( Read More............) What's that naysayers about losing seniority? If he had won he would have been in the minority anyway, same for Kanjorski, so don't buy into the typical election rhetoric about seniority. It's really about chutzpah..

Towns’ secession won’t be easy, commissioner says- Municipalities are looking to secede from Luzerne County and join Columbia County, one selling point, lower taxes (Read More...........)

Congressional race loser wins Corbett’s nomination- Pride Mobility Owner Dan Meuser's $60,000 campaing contributions to Governor-Elect Tom Corbett parlays into a $135,000 position. Last month, the Pittsburgh Post Gazette reported that members of Corbett’s transition team and their employers gave almost $5 million to Corbett’s campaign, or 19 percent of his total contributions. ( Read More.........)

Grants OK'd by Rendell rapped- During his last three months in office, Gov. Ed Rendell approved almost $488 million worth of projects financed through state borrowing, about a third of them in Philadelphia, where Rendell was mayor.

The largest grant was $20 million to refurbish Lackawanna County Baseball Stadium, where a New York Yankees farm team will play. Three Philadelphia projects each received $10 million, including a corporate headquarters for brokerage firm Janney Montgomery Scott LLC. Smaller projects included $3 million for the Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender senior housing center in Philadelphia and $500,000 for a Kohl's store in Lycoming County. ( Read More............)

Gov. Ed Rendell signs execution warrants, including Middletown man's(Read More..........)
Rendell: Streamline executions or scrap them
Gov. Ed Rendell says the state's death penalty needs to be reviewed by the Legislature and either be fixed so that more murderers are executed or replaced with life sentences without the possibility of pardons.
(Read More..........)

Gov. Ed Rendell Has Meltdown On 60 Minutes, Suggests Lesley Stahl Is A “Simpleton” In case you missed it, Governor Ed Rendell was interviewed by Lesley Stahl on 60 Minutes and he demonstrated his apparently “infamous temper” over a harmless question about casino gambling (Read More.........)

Did anyone notice Sallie Mae is lowering interest rates on student loans? Isn't this the agency that Paul Kanjorski touted about becoming one of the top ten employers in our region? From May, 2010- Sallie Mae, the USA's largest private student lender, will announce today that starting May 10, rates on its Smart Option Student Loan will be 2.88% to 10.25%, based on the current London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR), the benchmark for the variable-rate loan. That's down from a range of 4.38% to 12.88%. And they picked on the mob???!!! Oh and....The rates for borrowers attending non-degree granting institutions will range from LIBOR + 7.75% to LIBOR + 12.50% (8.13% APR to 13.88% APR

Here is a link on how to refinance a Sallie Mae loan for those in need. By the way you can save money by paying back Sallie Mae while you are still in school...duhhh..Sallie...who can afford to pay back while still in school??? Would they be borrowing the money in the first place??

One Of The Few Times I Ever Agreed With Him

It's Not My Problem- Back To The Future

John Cole Cartoon

The latest on the pension crisis facing Pennsylvania is reported today in the Standard Speaker. Bill pushes pension spike impact into future Rather than facing the pension crisis issue headon Todd Eachus and Company want to postpone the fiscal impact into the future. It's just like saying "It's Not My Problem" hoping a different legislature in the future will get the blame for any taxes tied to its rescue. These very same legislators had not problem voting themselves a 50% pension increase in 2001 that legally can't be taken away from them. Most of the legisltors who will benefit from that vote will be long gone living off the residents of the Commonwealth in retirement while blaming the funding issue on the future legislature. Wow, what a scam

Just a peak at what it will cost us taxpayers- $52 Billion!

From The Mercury, Pottstown:

By Richard C. Dreyfuss, guest columnist


Gov. Ed Rendell and the Democrat-controlled House are trying to redefine pension "reform" by further deferring the scheduled taxpayers' contributions to the state's largest government pension plans — the Public School Employees Retirement System (PSERS) and State Employees Retirement System (SERS). The cost of this "reform" with interest is a breathtaking $52 billion.

Rendell's Abuse of Taxpayer Dollars To Solidify Political Base

The Pennsylvania Independent published a story about Ed Rendell distributing a disproportionate amount of Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP) funding to the City of Philadelphia.

Philadelphia County received $109.5 million in RACP funds for 12 projects, a little more than a third of the total funding doled out in the bill signed yesterday by Mr. Rendell, including $10 million for the Sen. Arlen Specter Library at Philadelphia University. Mr. Specter, who served as Philadelphia District Attorney from 1965 until 1974, was Mr. Rendell’s first employer.

“I think that’s been this governor’s mode of operation,” said state Rep. Daryl Metcalfe (R – Butler). “Dole out the goodies from Harrisburg that he can grab a hold of for his base, for the Philadelphia area especially.”

The Legal Intelligencer penned this story about the Feds appeal of the light sentence imposed on former Senator Vince Fumo after his conviction in what amounts to one of the worst corruption cases in Pennsylvania.

Weighing in at 281 pages and more than 53,000 words, the appellate brief filed by the Justice Department on Thursday to challenge the leniency of the 55-month sentence imposed on former state Sen. Vincent Fumo is like a Harry Potter novel for the judiciary -- highly anticipated, loaded with entertaining vocabulary, and chock full of talk about darkness and wicked ways.

What are the similarities between these two stories? Here is more information from the appeal by the Feds in the Fumo Case.

"The corruption exposed in this case was breathtaking," they wrote.

Fumo was a 30-year member of the Pennsylvania Senate, they wrote, who "used his control of a well-funded Senate committee and of a nonprofit organization he created and supported (Citizens Alliance), as well as his influence over another nonprofit institution, to support a lavish lifestyle and illegally amass political power."

The brief says Fumo used funds and resources of the Senate and of the nonprofit organizations "to provide him with staffers who served his every whim, from running political campaigns, to aiding his personal business ventures, to attending to his needs at the five homes he maintained."

Fumo used the funds of Citizens Alliance "for political purposes, and to acquire over $1 million of luxury vehicles, merchandise, farm equipment, and myriad other items," the brief says, noting that Buckwalter calculated more than $2 million in losses from Fumo's crimes when "in actuality, the loss was at least double that."

And "just as strikingly," the prosecutors wrote, "once the federal investigation began, Fumo embarked on a determined effort to obstruct justice, directing his public employees to destroy extensive computer evidence of his crimes."

In a previous post I highlighted the Ogontz Avenue Revitalization Corp, the tax-exempt, taxpayer-supported nonprofit group founded by State Rep. Dwight Evans, chairman of the all-powerful House Appropriations Committee and the waste of $1 million in Pennsylvania taxpayer's money on a jazz festival.

From Eachus's office Brett Marcy this comment back on May 09, 2010.

"We have worked hard to trim costs and find ways to improve efficiencies," said Brett Marcy, press secretary to House Majority Leader Todd Eachus, D-Luzerne.

Over at the Capitol Wire With John Micek he quotes House Majority Leader Todd Eachus about the budget:

"This is a responsible budget, and it's a win for Pennsylvania taxpayers. It holds the line on state taxes and it keeps our commitment to invest appropriately in our children's education and protect our local property tax payers from having to shoulder more of the burden for funding our schools."

How he can make that claim with the obvious waste of taxpayer money is beyond me.

Outgoing Specter Honored With $10 Million Dollars Of Pennsylvania Tax Money

Just when Harrisburg was trying to convince Pennsylvania taxpayers that this year's budget has sacrifices in it(and it does for SELECT non-profits and social programs) this story surfaces from the political watchdog group, Commonwealth Foundation, that Pennsylvania taxpayers are supplying $10 million for the "Arlen Specter Project Library Center" and another $10 million to Johnstown for the "John P. Murtha Center for Public Policy".

Nathan Benefield of the Commonwealth Foundation, a fiscally conservative Harrisburg-based think tank, responded by e-mail: "Unbelievable. Not only are taxpayers going to be forced to shoulder the burden for these projects (which despite billions in spending over the years, have shown no economic benefits), but they're not even getting proper credit. At least call it 'The Taxpayers Library' or the 'Pennsylvania State Debt Center.'"

It's amazing that Rendell sneaks in these legacy projects but touts education as the headliner for the budget. Ed always gets you looking left when you should be looking right.

Arlen, will veterans be able to read about tax on prosthetics in your library?

House of Greed- State of Despair

Newspaper after newspaper are giving a thumbs down to the on-time delivery of the Pennsylvania General Fund budget. Much to the chagrin of our illustreous solons the media is not taking the bait to pat them on the back for a job well done.

The Philadelphia Inquirer assessment. Pennsylvania's state budget meets the deadline... but it's still one ugly baby

Opinion in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Faux budget: Hey, Harrisburg, your work's not done

Assessment of the budget by Pennlive.com Pennsylvania budget: What it means to you

Editorial that appeared in the Times-Shamrock publications. Lawmakers pass sacrifice to others New budget contains many cuts in service

It is painfully obvious that many legislators are going to have a tough re-election battle come this fall. It is evident that the Democratic party attacking the Repulicans over fiscal conservancy will surely cost them dearly. But the Repulicans are not without blame over the lack of cuts in the legislative budget. Per diems, per diems, per diems. That is a message Harrisburg will hear loud and clear.

It in unconscionable that a legislator making a minimum of $78,314.00 per year demands another $163.00 TAX FREE PER DAY to perform his or her work. Don't let any legislator fool you. Eachus keeps saying what he takes is legal. It's only legal because he gets to make the rules. Its like saying you think a hole in golf "shouldn't be PAR 4 I'll change it to PAR 8".

The unaccountable expense account, fully paid healthcare, dental, eye, vision, too generous pension, car allowance, and telephone provisions plus franking privileges will not be tolerated in a 10 plus percent unemployment environment well into its second year.

To thumb their nose at constituents will go down in history as a period in Pennsylvania government when the legislature finally subcombed to a culture of greed. Not all legislators are greedy but those that aren't need to step up to the plate with a voice much louder than what we are hearing from the House Majority Leader.

Mr. Eachus allowed the power of the leadership to haze his understanding of the needs of those he represents. Families are affected directly by his decisions and votes. He ignores that possiblity when he tries to attack his opponents. He quickly forgets what he did to the people of the 116th who once supported him. Well, come November, he will be reminded.

He can't be Majority Leader unless he gets re-elected. Of course from the ramblings in Harrisburg his tenure will be cut short anyway if he is. His bully style of leadership, the same way he deals with certain constituents, has a short leash of toleration.

Pennsylvania will earn the nickname "State of Despair" unless its leaders or those who should be leaders step forward and do the right thing. Don't tell us you eliminated wasteful spending, DO IT!

What Budget???

The Capitol Building in Harrisburg should be renamed the Spin Machine building.

From the Commonwealth Foundation:

Pennsylvania Education Spending

•Pennsylvania's education spending increased from $4 billion in 1980 to over $25 billion in 2009-a 133% increase in per-pupil spending (from $6,171 to $14,420, in 2010 dollars).
•Since 2000, enrollment has decreased by 26,960 while schools have hired 32,937 more staff members.
•School district fund reserves are almost eight times the amount of Gov. Rendell's proposed $354 million increase in state subsidies.

A Taxpayer's Budget 2010: Responsible Spending for Pennsylvania

A Taxpayer's Budget 2010: Responsible Spending for Pennsylvania identifies opportunities to cut over $4 billion in wasteful state spending in Gov. Rendell's proposed FY 2010-11 budget. The report also offers a series of recommendations for resolving the current revenue shortfall and reducing the size and burden of government on Pennsylvanians.

State government consumption and spending of taxpayer money have grown dramatically in recent years. Since 1970, Pennsylvania's total operating budget has increased from $4.2 billion to $65.9 billion, an inflation-adjusted increase of over 167%.[1] As a share of state personal income, Pennsylvania's operating budget rose from 8.8% in FY 1970-71 to an estimated 13.2% in FY 2009-10-an increase of more than 51%.[2]

The effect of this tax-borrow-and-spend agenda has not produced the promised economic revitalization, but stagnation. During Ed Rendell's tenure as governor, Pennsylvania ranks 32nd, 41st, and 39th in job, personal income, and population growth, respectively, among the 50 states.[3]

On October 9, 2009, after an unprecedented 101-day delay, the Pennsylvania General Assembly approved, and Governor Ed Rendell signed, a $27.8 billion General Fund Budget for FY 2009-2010. A revenue shortfall has since emerged, and politicians will be scrambling to fill a multi-billion dollar budget gap with rising pension contributions and the disappearance of federal "stimulus" dollars on the horizon. Against Commonwealth Foundation recommendations, the FY 2009-10 budget exhausted the state's "Rainy Day" fund and other one-time revenue sources. A Taxpayer's Budget 2010 offers budgetary and public policy alternatives to deal with this fiscal crisis.

A Taxpayer's Budget 2010 identifies wasteful and unnecessary programs in the state budget and off-budget agencies and offers recommendations for improving government services and reforming the budget process for greater efficiency. Our recommendations are organized into three sections:

•Eliminate Wasteful Spending: A Taxpayers Budget 2010 identifies $4.13 billion in spending cuts - $1.00 billion from the state General Fund Budget, $2.21 billion from other operating funds, and $926 million from the capital budget and off-budget programs.

•Adopt Market-Based Delivery of Government Services: Spending on public education, benefits for state workers, and Medicaid is growing far beyond taxpayers' ability to pay. By adopting market-based reforms in the delivery of services, state government can not only reduce costs, but improve quality.

•Adopt Spending and Budgetary Transparency Reforms: Transparency in government spending and instituting performance-based budgeting would help identify and eliminate wasteful expenditures, as shown in other states.
Before imposing tax increases on working Pennsylvanians and job creators, Harrisburg policymakers need to prioritize spending, justify all $66 billion in state spending, and cut waste from state government.

Pennsylvania ran up a $3 billion loan to the U.S. government that will need to be repaid back starting the end of this year according to this article by LARA BRENCKLE of The Patriot-News.

The submitted budget document relies on $850 million coming from the federal government for Medical Assistance that has not been passed by Congress or the Senate yet.

Pileggi warned that even if a new budget is approved by the deadline, a state revenue deficit in the range of $4 billion to $5 billion will await the new governor-elected in November

Finally the fiscal bill that must accompany the budget that spells out where the revenues will come from that are delineated in the budget has not been passed. Legislators will tell you that budget is in place

In recent days, House and Senate leaders expressed a determination to enact a on-time budget for the first time during Mr. Rendell's tenure. But this feat will likely be accomplished by leaving action on the fiscal bill, which is normally part of the budget package until later in the week. The fiscal bill is important because it spells out where the revenues originate. The agreement doesn't provide for a tax on smokeless tobacco and cigars or a hike in the state cigarette tax, as Mr. Rendell had sought.

It's like writing checks out of a checkbook but not calling the bank to find out if the funds are there or not. This budget is nothing but a political document so incumbents can make a "claim" they got it done on time. In reality it is a misrepresentation of a failed effort to meet their obligation and the duties of their office. Inflated figures, bogus income, and maintenance of per diems don't qualify Rendell to call this a "conservative" budget.

Unemployment In NEPA UP TO 10.3%

The Times-Tribune published the latest unemployment figures for NEPA today.
With all the stimulus money that has been spent unemployment increased by three tenths of one percent to an 18 year high of 10.3%. Yet Congressman Paul Kanjorski states this is the "best economy of all mankind". He won his first term to Congress by convincing voters Frank Harrison was out of touch with his district. One would have believed Kanjo learned an important political lesson that year.

Over at my buddy Gort's blogspot he critques Chris Carney's press release about investigating the BP Gulf Spill mess.

I'm sure his subcommittee has jurisdiction on this but I think there are about a dozen Congressional Committees already investigating the spill.

There is an environmental disaster in the making in Pennsylvania that Carney hasn't said much about that has already seen his neighbors in Dimock living with water buffaloes because there wells have been poisoned.

Carney's release is a classic political tactic of wagging the dog to divert voter attention away from the real problems he and his cohorts have failed to address with billions upon billions of dollars, namely permanent job creation.

Senator Dominic Pileggi was right on point about the economic impact that loss of the stimulus money will have on Pennsylvania. He predicts a $4 billion to $5 billion dollar deficit in the state budget. Brad Bumsted called the stimulus money "crack cocaine" for the state governments.

Look at this comment by Ed Rendell. "Ladies and gentleman, the stimulus program is working and working big-time in Pennsylvania," Rendell said at a news conference last week. It seems the Democratic Party as witnessed by Rendell and Kanjorski's comments has an agenda to keep telling us how rosy the picture is despite the bad economic data. But he didn't fool Bumsted.

And Rendell says the poor public has been misled. A recent poll showing 64 percent of Americans oppose the stimulus bill is just a shame, Rendell adds, and it's not the voters' fault. For once you are right, Ed. It's Nancy Pelosi, Chris Carney, Paul Kanjorski, Harry Reid, and Barack Obama who head the all star cast of the "Great Stimulus Robbery" of the American public. Only the misleading roles also include you.

Chris, forget the well in the Gulf. How about getting NEPA out of the well of economic despair and create more jobs. Kanjo, isn't it time you quit taking the limousine rides paid for by campaign money and walk the streets with your constituents. Ed Rendell, please ride off into the Comcast sunset and leave the important decisions to the next governor.

The budget was $22 billion when Rendell took the reins and it has climbed to $28 billion. Eachus doesn't get that the state needs to go on a diet so maybe its time to trim the fat by rejecting those for re-election. That's a diet we all could stay on.

The Budget -Another Day Closer And Deeper In Debt

It's another year in the life of Pennsylvania and it's the same old song. We won't have a budget passed on time. Lack of leadership to reach across the aisle and convince all to do what is right for Pennsylvania seems to be a character flaw in Harrisburg. In today's Times Leader Andrew Seder informs us that meeting a deadline imposed by Harrisburg lawmkers upon themselves is nearly impossible at this point. Gov. Rendell's legacy will point to a record of never getting a budget passed on time during his tenure.

With the November election five months away and with voter anger still simmering from last year’s 101-day budget impasse, state legislators are trying to balance the fine line of fiscal responsibility and political expediency as they try to approve a state budget before Wednesday’s 11:59 p.m. deadline.

That deadline, said some local legislators, will not be made. But there’s no way the stalemate will last 101 days and probably not even 10 days.

If these solons were employed in the private sector and missed their deadline year after year there would be so many pink slips issued with justification. Maybe the voters should keep that in mind come November.

Speaking of lack of leadership House Majority Leader Todd Eachus must have a problem facing the public or a severe case of political laryngitis. In this article he had David Georges, a campaign spokesperson, speak for him. In this article which appeared in the Allentown Call June 17th about the budget Brett Marcy responded as spokesman for House Majority Leader Todd Eachus. If Eachus could talk for himself he could save taxpayers alot of money. It seems almost a flagrant abuse of power that a campaign spokesperson would be responding to a legislative issue when there is a legislative staff specifically hired to do just that.

To make my point read the Times Leader article. Rep. John Yudichak who will go on to be a Pennsylvania Senator this November,(yes I am calling it now) doesn't hide behind spokespeople. It points to the reason Yudichak won his primary so handily. He's a hands on people person. Mr. Eachus is the type who talks down to his constituents, that is when he is willing to face them one on one.

Karen Boback is quoted in the article, heck even Senator Bob Mellow was out front and center.

But the coup de tat behind the scenes is the fact that when the stimulus money disappears Pennsylvania's budget will be between $4 billion to 5 billion in the hole according to Senator Dominic Pileggi. Unless spending is decreased taxes are going to rise for all of us.

The Democratic leadership politicians in Harrisburg have to get serious about decreasing spending. With the impending pension funding crisis upon us it is time for their culture to change and in a severe way. Taxpayers can no longer support a legislative staff that is only there for political purposes.

Tax And Spend Democratic Leaders In Pennsylvania

In today's Times Leader article about the budget debate in Harrisburg Mark Scolforo of the Associated Press indicates that Pennsylvania's leaders are hopeful a budget will pass before July 1st.

However, when you read further in the article the insensitivity of Pennsylvania's Democratic leaders to the economy and the loss of jobs in the state lights up the night sky like fireworks on the fourth of July.

Democratic leaders in the House, where tax bills originate, have considered raising taxes on Marcellus shale natural gas extraction and tobacco products — and raising new money from other sources — but so far they have not been able to muster the votes for passage.

Their leaders said the latest budget proposal included a menu of possible revenue sources, but did not specify what was on the list.

Rendell and his cronies want to put education out in the forefront as the reason taxes need to be raised. In truth they don't want to deal with a government bloated with excess payroll to reduce spending which would help keep the line on taxation.

Well Alice it's bam, zip to the moon with taxation. One would think in an election year they would want taxpayers to say "How sweet it is" by keeping the line or lowering taxes. The "teflon dons" of Harrisburg believe they are immune from taxpayer retaliation.

Rendell Extra-Marital Affair?

Evidently the Philadelphia Magazine is about to publish a story surrounding rumors that Fast Eddy has been having an affair with a former beauty queen, Kirstin Snow according to a story at Mcall.com.

Pennsylvania Kills Alternative Energy Tax Credit On the Sly

Diane Mastrull writes this article in today's Philadelphia Inquirer regarding the alternative energy tax credits that were promised by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and Governor Ed Rendell to individual homeowners and small business for going "green".

Pa. quietly pulls back solar tax credit
For a state that says it's trying to encourage more alternative-energy use, this is not an especially proud development. Which may explain why Pennsylvania put out no news releases and held no news conferences about it.

In fact, physician Mark Lounsbury said it was his own phone call to the state Department of Revenue a few weeks back that led him to a disheartening discovery: The state tax credit approved for a $75,000 photovoltaic system he added to his Chadds Ford home would not be coming.

Not for him or for the 109 other applicants OKd for more than $4 million in Alternative Energy Production Tax Credits since Gov. Rendell announced their availability last July. The credit was to cover 15 percent of a project's total costs, after all other grants and subsidies were subtracted, and was not to exceed $1 million per taxpayer. Lounsbury's share would have been $4,200.

Turns out that the money for those tax credits - about $50 million over eight years from the state's general fund - was eliminated as part of the 101-day budget duel last fall. The move came as the recession choked revenue streams and interest groups fought back a Rendell proposal for a new funding source - taxing natural gas extracted from Pennsylvania's Marcellus Shale.

Federal tax credits and grants from the Pennsylvania Sunshine Program remain available to homeowners and small businesses for solar-system purchases, he stressed. Together, those can reduce the purchase price for a solar unit by nearly 60 percent.

"It was done in a way that is unfair to the people who were planning on it," said State Rep. Chris Ross (R., Chester).

Ross said he voted against the last state budget for a number of reasons, but he could not say with certainty whether he was aware at the time that it included the elimination of the alternative-energy tax credit.

And those Sunshine Program incentives? Adding insult to injury, Lounsbury said, he recently learned from his accountant that the state is going to tax as income the $22,000 in Sunshine funds he received to offset the price of his solar system.

Its not bad enough that the tax credits were taken away in the middle of the night and nobody was told about it. But to add insult to injury by taxing another incentive to go "green" is kinda ridiculous. Leave it up to the Democrats to pull another fast one.

To the legislature..now about those per diems you so desperately need???

Governor Rendell's Legacy Project Exposed

In this story from the Philadelphia Inquirer Governor Rendell has rescinded a contract designed to immortalize his poltical legacy that was being paid with our hard earned money. The Inquirer first broke the story on June 5, 2010by Angela Couloumbis.

Gov. Rendell said he will rescind the $30,000 contract his administration awarded to public relations expert Kevin Feeley, saying it is inappropriate for taxpayers to be paying for the publicity work.

Rendell said he will ask Feeley to return the $10,000 the state had paid him so far for the so-called legacy project. The project, which The Inquirer first reported last week, calls for amassing personal stories from residents to illustrate how Rendell's policies and programs have helped them.

The governor said he will pay Feeley with campaign funds.

"Anything else is inappropriate," he said.


Contrast that action with those of House Majority Leader Todd Eachus and his incumbent protection program paid for with our tax dollars.

...this information can be used to demonstrate how much better Pennsylvania fared as a result of our refusal to settle for the provisions of the Republican plan, S.B. 850.
If that statement isn't a political one for the Pennsylvania House Democratic Caucus then there's a need for pockets in a dead man's coat. This program should have been paid for with House Democratic Campaign Committee money, not Pennsylvania taxpayer dollars. No wonder we are running a $1.2 billion deficit.

How Eachus and Rendell Failed Seniors In Pennsylvania

Here's a link to an article where Representative Eachus makes the claim that he is introducing legislation in 2005 to add 500,000 seniors to the PACE and PACENET programs. In that article Eachus massages the seniors and makes them believe he is going to add 500,000 seniors to PACE/PACENET through the inclusion of Medicare Part D legislation.

In 2006 the House passes legislation and Rendell makes the claim Pennsylvania will add 120,000 seniors to the program. Here is a sounbite from the House Democratic Caucus website touting the 120,000 additional seniors claim.

In 2009 Eachus and Rendell proffer to the seniors they wants to add 30,000 more.

In the end the mass inclusion of seniors into the PACE/PACENET progam never happened. According to this chart from the 2008 PACE annual report you will see that enrollment remained steady through 2008.

Three times seniors were promised a benefit that never materialized. While House Majority Leader Eachus and Governor Rendell were enjoying a robust prescription program seniors were forced to pay for their medications in the Medicare Part D donut hole when inclusion in the PACE/PACENET program would have prevented that added expense.

Is this political gamesmanship and should we allow this practice to be politics as usual? Why should we allow politicians to decieve the public?

Something has to change in Harrisburg. We know the legislature is not going to change unless the public is educated and forces them to. If the voters remove the incumbents who are abusing the system it will send a clear message that it is not politics as usual.

Rendell is laughing as Eachus looks on. Maybe the joke will be on them come November. Enough of their "crying wolf".

PennDOT 35 Person Unit Criticized By Grand Jury To Be Disbanded

The Legal Intelligencer is reporting that Gov. Ed Rendell is disbanding a special unit of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation that a grand jury said exists only to expedite paperwork for legislators seeking to win favor with voters.

The panel that investigated the state legislative corruption scandal criticized the 35-person unit in a scathing assessment of the Legislature released this week.

Rendell spokesman Gary Tuma said Wednesday that the unit will be disbanded in the next few days and the employees reassigned elsewhere in PennDOT. However, he says they'll continue to help legislators with constituent requests.

The report also says the House Democratic and Republican caucuses employ — at a cost of nearly $900,000 a year — dozens of people to expedite processing of mostly routine PennDOT paperwork for businesses and other constituents.

Here are Brett Marcy two statements in the past week.

"We have worked hard to trim costs and find ways to improve efficiencies," said Brett Marcy, press secretary to House Majority Leader Todd Eachus, D-Luzerne.

On the grand jury report:

House Democratic spokesman Brett Marcy was critical of the report, saying it "seems to be based largely on the past and incorrect assumptions about the legislative process, rather than an accurate reflection of today's legislative operation."

Brett, now let me get this straight. Governor Rendell is disbanding a crew of 35 who serve the only purpose to expedite paperwork for legislators seeking to win favor with voters and you said what about the accurate reflection of the legislative operation?  On top of that the House Dems and the Republican caucuses are wasting another $900,000.00!! What a buffoon. Hanging around with Kanjorski teaches you how to stretch the facts.

PA House Dems Ram Through Tax Hike

From CommonwealthFoundation.org:

PA House Democrats Try to Ram Through Tax Hikes

May 25, 2010--Last night, the Pennsylvania House Appropriations Committee -- on a straight party line vote, with only Democrat support -- amended into a bill (HB 325) related to volunteer firefighters' tax status a $330 million tax increase. House Democrat leadership is trying to fast-track this bill for a vote on Tuesday night or Wednesday morning, even though some of the proposals have yet to be publicly debated by the House.

HB 325 would impose a severance tax of 8% of value plus 7 cents per thousand cubic feet, on natural gas extraction, giving Pennsylvania the highest comparable severance tax rate in the nation. The majority of states with a natural gas severance tax also delay implementation, offer tax exemptions, or discount the tax in hard-to-drill areas (like Marcellus Shale) to encourage drilling. For example, Texas and Arkansas reduced their severance taxes for high-cost gas wells by nearly 80%.

The House Democrats' proposal is higher than Gov. Rendell's proposed 5% tax on value plus 4.7 cents per thousand cubic feet. "Gov. Rendell's proposal was already economically detrimental to the development of this clean, affordable, and safe energy source, but the House Democrats' irresponsible actions last night just doubled-down on bad economic policy," said Matthew J. Brouillette, president of the Commonwealth Foundation. "Instead of finding a way to curb their over-spending habits, they have unfairly targeted one of Pennsylvania's greatest economic opportunities for job creation and prosperity in decades."

The legislation would also impose a new tax on smokeless tobacco, and would raise the cigarette tax another 30 cents per pack. The smokeless tax would also harm Pennsylvania's tobacco industry - most notably small farmers, including Amish and Mennonite - another growing sector (indeed, Pennsylvania is one of the only states where tobacco farming is expanding).

Based on the Pennsylvania State Tax Analysis Modeling Program (PA-STAMP), designed by economists at the Beacon Hill Institute at Suffolk University, the Commonwealth Foundation estimates that these tax increases will result in 4,200 fewer private sector jobs in Pennsylvania next year alone.

ACTION STEPS:
1. Please sign the petition for a "Taxpayer's Budget" ... and forward this email to friends, family, and coworkers and encourage them to sign it, too.

2. Contact your state legislators and urge them to support a "Taxpayer's Budget" that meets three criteria: Reduces taxes on working Pennsylvanians and job creators; eliminates corporate welfare, WAMs/pork-barrel projects, and special interests spendin; and balances the budget without accounting gimmicks, shell games, or new debt.

3. Write a letter-to-the-editor urging the General Assembly and the Governor to adopt a "Taxpayer's Budget."

REMEMBER: The Commonwealth Foundation will crown one Pennsylvania resident the 2010 Grassroots Champion, and award that person $500. For details on how to qualify, click here

AFL-CIO Wants You To Pay More Taxes

In a bold statement the AFL-CIO, part of the newly formed Coalition for Labor Engagement and Accountable Revenue, representing 1.1 million Pennsylvanians wants us to pay more in taxes to protect their lucrative jobs and retirement. In this report from Jan Murphy of the Patriot News the unions position is very clear.

Labor unions representing Pennsylvania state and school employees are banding together to urge the state Legislature to look at raising revenue to balance next year’s budget instead of cutting employees and services. “We think the cuts have gone far,” said Pennsylvania AFL-CIO President-elect Rick Bloomingdale.

They make the outlandish claim that Rendell's budget would eliminate half the government workforce. Not even close.

Philadelphia Courthouse Building Questions

In a developing story coming out of Philadelphia over a new courthouse building Democratic candidate in the 103rd district- Gene Stilp filed complaint against Chief Justice Castille in the Philly Courthouse bid scandal according to RoxburyNews.

Over the weekend the Philadelphia Inquirer penned this edtiorial concerning its eleventh-hour disclosure by an Inquirer investigative team that a courthouse consultant holds what appears to be a conflicting role as codeveloper of the project, casts doubt on the fairness of the $200 million price tag.

In this story published May 21, 2010 by staff writers Joseph Tanfani and Mark Fazlollah the reporters discovered that real estate lawyer and developer Jeffrey B. Rotwitt was working both sides of construction project to build a $200 million courthouse. He was paid $3.9 million as fees on the project from the courts.

But Rotwitt found a way to make even more money from the courts project, a 14-story tower planned for 15th and Arch Streets. It would be the largest current public works project in Philadelphia after the Convention Center expansion.

He made a separate deal with Donald W. Pulver, the Conshohocken developer who has development rights at the site. For more than a year, he and Pulver said, Rotwitt has been splitting the monthly development fees paid by the courts, fees that Rotwitt proposed in the first place. So far, that arrangement has earned Rotwitt close to $500,000.

"It was all open and above board," Rotwitt said.

State Chief Justice Ronald D. Castille, who has been working closely with Rotwitt on the courts project for two years, said he had no idea about that arrangement until The Inquirer's architecture critic, Inga Saffron, reported it and started asking questions about how Rotwitt could be on both sides of the deal.

Because he was relying on Rotwitt's advice, Castille said in an interview in his Philadelphia office, there's no way to know whether the public has gotten a good deal thus far on the $200 million Family Court project.

After the story broke Governor Rendell came to the rescue with an announcement that he would release the $200 million for the courthouse project but only with competitive bidding.

Rendell said he would release the $200 million for the huge courthouse at 15th and Arch Streets, but would require competitive bids, even if that means delays, to make sure the project is scrubbed of any conflicts of interest.

Rendell's announcement means the apparent end of the court system's two-year-old development deal with Donald W. Pulver, a developer from Conshohocken.

The Inquirer reported on Friday that Jeffrey B. Rotwitt, a lawyer the courts hired as a real estate consultant, has also been collecting fees on the other side of the deal as Pulver's co-developer.

"The commonwealth always looks at potential conflicts of interest, particularly when it comes to the taxpayers' money," Rendell said. "We will make sure there is no conflict of interest in this deal, even if it means slowing it up."

Rendell, joined by Chief Justice Ronald D. Castille and Mayor Nutter, appeared at City Hall to announce the funding for the 14-story, 29-courtroom building. Family Court handles some of the most sensitive cases in the justice system: juvenile crimes, divorces, child-neglect hearings.

On Tuesday, lawyer Henry E. Hockeimer Jr. of the firm Ballard Spahr, which represents the courts and Castille, sent Pulver and Rotwitt a letter asking them to detail their partnership and list everyone who received any money from the courts.

Rotwitt did not respond. Lawyers for Pulver did not provide the information, but said, "We previously advised your firm of the involvement of Deilwydd Property Group L.L.C. and Mr. Rotwitt in this project months ago."

Feeley declined to comment on Rotwitt's dual roles, other than to repeat that documents showed that court representatives knew about his work as developer.

Stilp's complaint isn't the first time he and Castille have clashed over an issue. As reported by John Micek at CapitolIdeas on January 15, 2008 after he was sworn into office yesterday, new state Supreme Court Chief Justice Ronald Castille got hit with a disciplinary complaint from professional gadfly Gene Stilp.

In what we're pretty sure is Stilp's millionth court filing since the short-lived 2005 pay raise, the Dauphin County activist and onetime Nader Raider claims that Castille ran afoul of disciplinary rules when he told Philly Daily News columnist John Baer late last year that he was soon going to allow a grand jury probe of casino owner Louis DeNaples to proceed.

According to Stilp, that action violated Canon 3 of the judicial code of ethics, which says "judges should abstain from public comment about a pending proceeding in any court."

To quote John Micek "Here we go again".

Rendell and Leighton- A Donation Come True

A poster put a comment on this article about Mayor Tom Leighton. SOP commented on the $5,000.00 donation the Committee To Election Tom Leighton made to Governor Rendell in 2008. According to this document which is a phone directory of key office people located in the Governor's office there is a listing for Kelly Leighton, daughter of Tom Leighton. It's amazing what a $5,000.00 donation will do with a wink and a nod.

Federal Money On The Way To Offset Snowstorm Costs

In one of the worst snowstorms Northeastern Pennsylvania has witnessed in decades this winter counties and municipalities incurred exorbitant costs to remove the white stuff from streets and highways. Gov. Rendell has announced that the federal government released $50 million to the Commonwealth to help defray those costs.

Joe Smydo and Len Barcousky of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette report that


Twenty-six counties and hundreds of municipalities will share more than $50 million for cleanup costs, Mr. Rendell said.

That figure represents 75 percent of what the counties and municipalities spent during their costliest 48 continuous hours of storm cleanup. Mr. Rendell had wanted a more generous reimbursement.

"The cleanup work in many counties took much longer than 48 hours," Mr. Rendell's office repeated Friday, noting that the governor's request for more money is "still pending a decision" by federal officials.

Rendell has an additional request in for more money. He is asking the federal government to waive its 48 hour limit.