PAWaterCooler.com

PRESS RELEASE
MERCER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA

Independent State Senate candidate Roberta Biros received verification from the Pennsylvania Department of State this afternoon that the nomination papers that she filed on Thursday, July 29, have gone unchallenged. According to Pennsylvania election law, all challenges to nomination papers were to be filed with the Department of State no later than 5 pm on Monday, August 9. As a result, her name will appear as an independent candidate for State Senate in Pennsylvania’s 50th District on the November 2nd General Election ballot.

To mark the closing of the nomination process, Mrs. Biros today proudly introduced the members of her campaign committee, Citizens to Elect Roberta Biros for State Senate.

Dr. Martha Moore of Sandy Lake serves as Committee Treasurer.

“Dr. Moore is a former CPA and a well-respected medical professional,” Mrs.Biros said. “As the primary administrator of the committee, Dr. Moore is the lead for all campaign and committee activities. I am thrilled to have someone of her reputation and character working with me.”

Mrs. Biros selected Joe Zentis of Hermitage to be her Committee Chairman.

“Mr. Zentis brings a high level of energy and creative thinking to the team,” Mrs. Biros said. “He is a well-known writer, author, and entrepreneur, and his level of commitment to my Platform of Good Government is unmatched. Mr. Zentis will be involved in campaign strategy, planning, and team building.”

As a hands-on candidate, Roberta will be working shoulder-to-shoulder with Dr. Moore, Mr. Zentis, and her entire team of volunteers during her campaign for State Senate in Pennsylvania’s 50th District. If you are interested in joining Roberta’s campaign team, please contact the campaign committee by email at biros4senate@gmail.com or access the campaign website at http://www.electbiros.com/ for additional information.

.

Email Roberta Biros, Start the discussion or Share This...

Roberta Biros, Independent Candidate for State Senate, officially filed her nomination papers in the Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth today, July 29, 2010.

Roberta personally delivered the nomination papers that qualify her as a candidate for State Senate in Pennsylvania’s 50th District this afternoon. According to the election standards of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Roberta was required to gather 827 signatures from registered voters in the 50th District (including Mercer, Crawford, and portions of Butler and Lawrence Counties) in order for her name to appear as an Unaffiliated Independent candidate in the November election.

Roberta Biros’ opponent in November is long-time Republican Senator Bob Robbins, who will be running as the nominee on both the Democrat and Republican tickets this year.

Roberta Biros is challenging Mr. Robbins on a platform of Good Government. She believes that Pennsylvania needs to decrease the size and cost of government and decrease spending. Roberta supports (and has agreed to in writing) the initiatives of EmpowerPA.org including term limits, support of a part-time legislature, and pension and tax reforms. Roberta has signed a “Declination of State Pension” pledge where she states that, if elected, she will decline enrollment in the State Employees’ Retirement System (SERS). She has also accepted the “Taxpayer Protection Pledge” where she officially opposes increases in State spending and taxes. In her effort towards full transparency and accountability, Roberta’s Platform for Good Government is available through here website at http://www.electbiros.com/.

Email Roberta Biros, Start the discussion or Share This...

Bill Murray must be furious.

Two decades after the release of his classic “Groundhog Day” —- in which a series of events is repeated over and over — Governor Rendell and the Pennsylvania legislature have trumped him.

The passage of yet another horrendous budget has made our politicians the new poster children for “Groundhog Day.”

While, ironically, the movie and budget debacle are set in the same state, there is one key difference.

The movie is a make-believe two-hour comedy.  But the budget is a tragedy that will play out for decades to come.  And it’s one from which we can’t awaken, relieved that it was all a bad dream.

*****

Give Rendell and the legislature credit where it’s due.  If nothing else, they’re consistent.

Collectively, they haven’t executed a budget on time in ANY of the eight Rendell years.

And each budget is a replay of the year prior: bloated spending, job-crushing tax increases, more bureaucracy, and the preservation of pols’ pet projects.

The consequence of this deliberate malfeasance is no longer opinion, but simple fact:

Our state is at or near the bottom of job creation, employment prospects, and college students remaining in the state after graduation.  We have the most hostile legal system in the country, levy some of the highest taxes, and produce a vastly inferior educational product.

Our bridges and infrastructure are, literally, falling apart, and, year after year, we earn the dubious distinction of having the worst roads in the nation.

And, certainly not least, the legislature’s excessive coddling of the unions and their sacred-cow state pension system has made the state insolvent, with bankruptcy in the next two to three years a very real possibility.

Quite a legacy.

We are imploding, and will soon reach fiscal Armageddon. 

(As an aside, it was quite strange to repeatedly hear the Governor refer to our situation as “Armageddon,” a term he seems to have borrowed from Yours Truly, despite that fact that 1) he won’t consent to an interview with Freindly Fire, and 2) he, more than anyone, is responsible for the financial calamity in which we find ourselves.)

Why?

Because our elected officials “have theirs.”  It’s that simple.

The Governor will parachute into a seven-figure job when he’s done in January, and legislators enjoy one of the most lavish pension and perk systems in the country. Which, of course, they voted to give themselves, courtesy of we the (forgotten) taxpayers.

Oh, and one more thing.

In order to facilitate this legendary budget prowess, they break the law on an annual basis….

Read more at Philadelphia Magazine’s Philly Post:

http://blogs.phillymag.com/the_philly_post/2010/07/06/armageddon-in-pennsylvania/

Email Chris Freind, Start the discussion or Share This...

Bill Murray must be furious.

Two decades after the release of his classic “Groundhog Day” —- in which a series of events is repeated over and over — Governor Rendell and the Pennsylvania legislature have trumped him.

The passage of yet another horrendous budget has made our politicians the new poster children for “Groundhog Day.”

While, ironically, the movie and budget debacle are set in the same state, there is one key difference.

The movie is a make-believe two-hour comedy.  But the budget is a tragedy that will play out for decades to come.  And it’s one from which we can’t awaken, relieved that it was all a bad dream.

*****

Give Rendell and the legislature credit where it’s due.  If nothing else, they’re consistent.

Collectively, they haven’t executed a budget on time in ANY of the eight Rendell years.

And each budget is a replay of the year prior: bloated spending, job-crushing tax increases, more bureaucracy, and the preservation of pols’ pet projects.

The consequence of this deliberate malfeasance is no longer opinion, but simple fact:

Our state is at or near the bottom of job creation, employment prospects, and college students remaining in the state after graduation.  We have the most hostile legal system in the country, levy some of the highest taxes, and produce a vastly inferior educational product.

Our bridges and infrastructure are, literally, falling apart, and, year after year, we earn the dubious distinction of having the worst roads in the nation.

And, certainly not least, the legislature’s excessive coddling of the unions and their sacred-cow state pension system has made the state insolvent, with bankruptcy in the next two to three years a very real possibility.

Quite a legacy.

We are imploding, and will soon reach fiscal Armageddon. 

(As an aside, it was quite strange to repeatedly hear the Governor refer to our situation as “Armageddon,” a term he seems to have borrowed from Yours Truly, despite that fact that 1) he won’t consent to an interview with Freindly Fire, and 2) he, more than anyone, is responsible for the financial calamity in which we find ourselves.)

Why?

Because our elected officials “have theirs.”  It’s that simple.

The Governor will parachute into a seven-figure job when he’s done in January, and legislators enjoy one of the most lavish pension and perk systems in the country. Which, of course, they voted to give themselves, courtesy of we the (forgotten) taxpayers.

Oh, and one more thing.

In order to facilitate this legendary budget prowess, they break the law on an annual basis….

Read more at Philadelphia Magazine’s Philly Post:

http://blogs.phillymag.com/the_philly_post/2010/07/06/armageddon-in-pennsylvania/

Email Chris Freind, Start the discussion or Share This...

First off, kudos to Roberta for her post. She wins my “First Person to Actually Look at Pennsylvania’s Very Own Constitution” award. A budget that depends on money that doesn’t yet exist is not a balanced budget. QED.

There there’s this. A new bureaucracy to analyze the budget? Really? THAT WILL FIX EVERYTHING!!! Hey–don’t we elect something like 253 legislators to do that? And pay the handsomely (if unconstitutionally)?

This budget is crap. Joe Scarnati, I’m talking to you. Kill this thing, throw it back in Fast Eddie’s face, and fight for a real budget that controls spending, does NOT tax the Marcellus Shale (which is the biggest thing to happen to Pennsylvania industry since coal and steel), and forces the government to live within our means.

There are plenty of conservatives in Warren County. I’m sure at least one of them would love to run for the State Senate.

Email Fred Mullner, Start the discussion or Share This...

For the first time in his ‘reign’ as Governor, Ed Rendell has a budget that passed through the State House and Senate before the June 30th deadline. Congratulations Governor Rendell! Congratulations, too, to the 37 Senators and 177 Representatives that signed on to that “pile of garbage” that they called a State Budget.

Why is it a pile of garbage? . . . Because it is UNCONSTITUTIONAL

Our legislature is REQUIRED BY LAW to pass a balanced budget. The budget that passed the House and Senate yesterday is balanced on federal funds that don’t yet exist and a tax on the extraction of Marcellus Shale natural gas that has yet to be passed. In essence, “the budget stands for nothing” . . . which is appropriate since that is also the case with many of our legislators.

Who is to blame?

The opportunity to STOP the budget was in the Republican controlled Senate. The budget bill passed the State Senate by a vote of 37 to 13. There were only 13 Senators that did the right thing by voting NO to this example of fiscal irresponsibility. What about the Senate leadership? Here are their votes . . . for the record.

REPUBLICANS

YES – Joseph B. Scarnati III (President of the Senate)
YES – Dominic Pileggi (Majority Floor Leader)
YES – Michael Waugh (Majority Caucus Chair)
YES – Robert Robbins (Majority Caucus Secretary)
YES – Jake Corman (Majority Appropriations Committee Chair)
YES – Patrick M. Browne (Majority Caucus Administrator)
YES – Edwin Erickson (Majority Policy Committee Chair)

DEMOCRATS

YES – Roberta Mellow (Minority Floor Leader)
YES – Michael O’Pake (Minority Whip)
YES – Vincent Hughes (Minority Caucus Chair)
YES – Sean Logan (Minority Caucus Secretary)
YES – Jay Costa (Minority Appropriations Committee Chair)
YES – Christine Tartaglione (Minority Caucus Administrator)
YES – Richard Kasunic (Minority Policy Committee Chair)

THIS PROVES that the Senate leadership MUST change . . . one way or another!

The budget bill passed the State House by a vote of 117 to 84. This is not a shock seeing that the House is controlled by Rendell Democrats. What is shocking in this number, however, is that 16 Republicans voted WITH the Rendell Democrats in order to achieve a supermajority which was required to waive a rule requiring 24 hours’ notice before a bill is voted.

If you would like to see how your Senators and Representatives voted, please refer to the voting records below:

June 30 Budget Vote in Senate is HERE
June 30 Budget Vote in House is HERE

What about Northwest PA?

MOST of the legislators from our region in Northwest Pennsylvania agree with my views on the budget, and MOST of them voted against the budget bill yesterday. Specifically . . .

Mercer County Legislators

Representative Michele Brooks (R) – NO
Representative Dick Stevenson (R) – NO
Representative Mark Longietti (D) – YES
Senator Bob Robbins (R) – YES

Crawford County Legislators

Representative John Evans (R) – NO
Representative Brad Roae (R) – NO
Representative Michele Brooks (R) – NO
Senator Bob Robbins (R) – YES

Republican Representatives (and Conservatives) Michele Brooks, Dick Stevenson, John Evans, and Brad Roae all did the RIGHT thing and voted NO to the budget.

Rendell Democrats Bob Robbins and Representative Mark Longietti voted YES to the budget. Representative Mark Longietti did what his caucus told him to do . . . in the end he supported his Governor and his Caucus (right or wrong). Republican Senator Bob Robbins PROVED his allegiance to the Democrats that WROTE HIM IN in the Primary (all 800 of them) and he also supported his fellow Democrat Governor and his new Caucus.

As a Republican LEADER in the Senate, Bob Robbins should be ashamed of himself. Even more important, his CONSTITUENTS should be angry with him. It shows that he was more concerned with getting rid of the “budget problem” in an election year that he was with standing on principles of good government and fiscal responsibility.

In press releases that were sent out last night, Bob Robbins fellow legislators from this area made their thoughts about the budget clear . . .

Representative Michele Brooks stated:

“Although this budget was passed on time – as it should be – it falls short to earn my support. I have many serious concerns about funding allocations and the source of hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue.”

“Many of us have concerns regarding whether this budget is constitutionally balanced as it relies heavily on $850 million in funding from the federal government, which has not yet been approved by Congress and there are some doubts whether it will be approved. It also has a structural deficit of approximately $3 billion.”

Representative Brad Roae stated:

“State budgets are about priorities,” Roae said. “This budget sets the wrong priorities for Pennsyvlania.”

“This budget literally spends money the state doesn’t have,” Roae said. “This budget is based on the hope of a federal bailout for the state. If the federal government runs up the deficit to pay for this bailout, taxpayers will be paying for it for years to come.”

“This budget doesn’t reflect my priorities and it certainly doesn’t reflect the wishes
of the people I represent,” Roae said. “We needed to reduce spending due to the recession, but the cuts in this budget weren’t applied fairly. This budget sets up huge tax increases or painful spending cuts for next year. I simply could not support a budget that is this irresponsible.”

According to these statements, it seems to me that the conservative legislators that represent our area need help to fight for fiscal responsibility in Harrisburg . . . and they are not getting that from their own Senator. Hmmmmmm.

Where do I stand on the subject?

Anyone that voted FOR this budget made a conscious effort to pull the wool over the eyes of taxpayers. This is not a VALID budget . . . no matter how you look at it.

It is the responsibility of our legislators to make certain that the state government does not spend beyond its means. If we don’t have the money, we ought not to be spending it. Federal dollars that simply aren’t there should not be considered in the calculations, and tax revenues from Marcellus Shale should NOT be considered in the equations either. IF the tax on Marcellus Shale extraction is pushed through (in October), it will be the worst fiscal decision in Pennsylvania . . . ever!

If I were the Senator in Pennsylvania’s 50th District, I would have voted NO to yesterday’s budget. I would have continued to vote NO until the budget was actually balanced on REAL numbers. More importantly, I would have been pushing for these changes back in February and March . . . when budget negotiations SHOULD have been taking place. Waiting until the 11th hour so that they can push through the equivalent of a legislative joke is shameful.

I usually sign off by stating “as alway, just my opinion”. Today it is important that I sign off by stating the following:

This is not just my opinion. It is my official statement.

Roberta Biros
Editor, Mercer County Conservatives

Email Roberta Biros, Join the other 2 commenters or Share This...

Lisa, Senator Leach writes:

The overwhelming majority of Pennsylvania’s legislators, on both sides of the aisle, are extremely smart, hard-working, completely honest people who are doing their level best to make Pennsylvania a better place.

The notion that legislators are, (except for rare exceptions) corrupt in any way is plain false. And thus any “reforms” based on this notion are ill-grounded.

I think taxpayers deserve the list of stupid, lazy, and dishonest legislators. Leach said they’re there. Don’t their constituents deserve to know who isn’t serving them?

Who is he covering for?

Email AlexC, Start the discussion or Share This...

Our discussion of hard-working, under-appreciated state legislators would be incomplete without acknowledging the tour-de-force column by State Senator Daylin Leach that appeared in many papers late last month. Some highlights:

First, let me concede that bashing the Legislature is effortless. Like any profession, we have our bad apples and it is lazy but easy to generalize their conduct to everyone. Further, because virtually every citizen is unhappy with some of our policy decisions, it’s not difficult for a candidate for governor or other office to glean votes by pandering to those who think that only people who are corrupt or stupid could make the decisions we make.

That said, it is important that the following also be said: The overwhelming majority of Pennsylvania’s legislators, on both sides of the aisle, are extremely smart, hard-working, completely honest people who are doing their level best to make Pennsylvania a better place.

The notion that legislators are, (except for rare exceptions) corrupt in any way is plain false. And thus any “reforms” based on this notion are ill-grounded.

The grand jury spent months investigating the criminal conduct of a few legislators. It is understandable that with this as their focus, they became cynical. They didn’t spend a great deal of time talking to the 99 percent of lawmakers not accused of a crime about what they do. Why would they?

But because the grand jury’s methodology was incomplete given its self-appointed role as the re-inventor of state government, its members’ factual findings were often inaccurate. And given that, the recommendations based upon those findings were, for the most part, ill-conceived.

An example of a sloppy factual assertion is that an “overwhelming majority” of legislators care more about serving themselves than serving their constituents.

There is no support offered for such a mind-reading claim and, after eight years as a legislator, I know it simply isn’t true.

They also say being a Pennsylvania legislator should not qualify as full-time work. Wrong again. Most legislators spend 70 to 80 hours per week, every week, at their jobs and still struggle to keep up.

Inaccurate information leads to poor recommendations. Sure, some of the technical suggestions, such as consolidating House printing offices, might have merit, but their broad policy suggestions would do great harm to our state if implemented.

For example, a part-time Legislature is a terrible idea. We make decisions affecting tens of billions of dollars in complicated policy areas such as transportation, health care, criminal justice and economic development. In some matters, such as abortion, the death penalty and access to medical care, our decisions literally have life and death consequences.

Do you really want people making these decisions who just dropped by on their way to taking a deposition or after their shift at Macy’s? Shouldn’t we demand our legislators actually take the time to read about issues, go to hearings, meet with advocates, tour facilities and do all of things that require a full-time commitment?

So selfless. So tireless. An inspiration to us all.

Email LisaMossie, Join the discussion or Share This...

Altogether now…. awwwwww…..

One of about every 20 bills introduced in the Legislature winds up as state law, according to state records.

Legislators introduced 4,461 bills in the 2007-08 session, and 213 became law.

The difficulty of getting a bill approved by both chambers is a double-edged sword, analysts say. While the low success rate might mean some good ideas never see the light of day, the process may ensure that enacted bills are comprehensive and fine-tuned, they say.

No matter how well-intentioned the campaign promises of a candidate might be, voters should remember the reality check waiting in Harrisburg, said Christopher Borick, a political science professor at Muhlenberg College in Allentown.

“For some of these (bills), it’s an annual rite,” Borick said.

Last session, Sen. Stewart Greenleaf, R-Montgomery County, introduced the most legislation, with 168 bills and resolutions; Rep. Nick Kotik, D-Coraopolis, introduced the fewest.

“A lot of the things that I contemplate running will never get brought up for vote,” said Kotik, who introduced only one piece of legislation during the last session, according to GovNetPA. “So I just view it as spinning wheels.”

That’s a feature.

Every stupid insidious invasive regulation or law was someone’s “good idea.”

These guys have to pass one bill a year. That’s it. The budget. Just the one. … and they can’t. Again and again and again and again (let’s make it eight in a row late this year).

Instead, they pass things like Milk & Ice Cream Appreciation Week and a Resolution Declaring that Mom and Apple Pie Are Great Things.

The budget.

The clock is ticking.

Email AlexC, Start the discussion or Share This...

This could be a problem.

Agents executed search warrants at the home and district office of a top Pennsylvania state senator as part of a federal investigation into allegations of illegal activity, an FBI official said Friday.

The search stems from a joint FBI-IRS investigation into Sen. Robert J. Mellow, FBI spokesman Frank Burton Jr. said.

A spokeswoman for Mellow, the Senate Democratic leader from Lackawanna County, said the office were not aware of an investigation before being informed Friday morning prior to agents’ arrival.

“Sen. Mellow is confident that in his 40 years serving northeastern Pennsylvania he’s done nothing wrong,” spokeswoman Lisa Scullin said.

Somewhat related, former Senator Mike Veon got six years for his role in Bonusgate.

Email AlexC, Start the discussion or Share This...

Figured I’d link this for those interested in watching as they come in.

Here are the PA-12 Special election results.

Legislative special elections: 20th(Allegheny County), 138th(Northampton), 147th(Montgomery).

Statewide primaries(governor, lt. governor, U.S. Senate).

U.S. Congress primaries.

PA Senate primaries.

PA Representative primaries.

Democratic state committee.

Republican state committee – may be an interesting write-in in this category

Email ChrisRenner, Start the discussion or Share This...

PRESS RELEASE

Ms. Biros, a small business owner, describes herself as a concerned citizen. She has been actively involved in issues of political and legislative activism through her blog, Mercer County Conservatives. Ms. Biros has published her Platform for Good Government on her campaign website at ElectBiros.com. In it she stresses her platform priorities and concerns as public service; transparency and accountability; fiscal responsibility; and limited government.

Ms. Biros stated, “Voters need a choice in every election, and 2010 is more important than ever. Taxpayers have had enough of career politicians who are more concerned with their careers than with the constituents in their district. As a firm supporter of term limits, it is my opinion that it is time for Senator Robbins to move on. Instead, Senator Robbins has concentrated his efforts on voting for pay raises for politicians, protecting cost of living adjustments for lawmakers, and hiding from his constituents and the press. The time has come for taxpayers to stand up to self-serving politicians and let them know that they work for us.”

Ms. Biros stresses that “as a high-ranking leader in the State Senate, Mr. Robbins should be working to correct the problems in Pennsylvania. Instead, Mr. Robbins has only been concerned with bringing ‘pork’ back to the District as a tool for re-election. Unfortunately, ‘pork’ is part of the problem. We need a fiscal conservative in the State Senate that will work to cut spending, decrease the tax burden on individuals and small businesses, and turn the State government around. I am that person. I feel it is my responsibility to offer the voters of the 50th district an independent voice in Harrisburg.”

When asked about the challenges of gaining access to the November ballot, Ms. Biros stated “I’m confident that we will gather far more signatures than are required. We already began the process of gathering signatures and our sampling of constituents has been very positive. Concerned citizens realize that the only way to fix the problem in Harrisburg is to purge the General Assembly of dead weight . . . and Senator Robbins is a perfect example of that dead weight.” She added “we realize that our campaign will meet with immediate challenges from political insiders in the District and we anticipate that our nomination papers will be challenged in August, but we are confident that we will be successful in pushing past the corrupt circle of political incumbents and their legal teams. We are motivated and the people of the 50th district are motivated. We will not be prevented from our right to a fair election. 2010 will be the year that the people of Pennsylvania and the United States of America make a statement and take their country back. A move to fresh ideas and a fresh face in the 50th district will be an important part of that movement.”

Ms. Biros will begin the task of collecting signatures this week and she anticipates that her message, which reaches across all party lines, will resonate with the people of the area during the petition process and well into November.

Email Roberta Biros, Join the discussion or Share This...

KDKA

Sources close to the investigation of State Sen. Jane Orie tell KDKA’s Marty Griffin the grand jury finished its work a week ago.

The jury recommended what are being described as “significant multiple count” indictments against Jane Orie and a staff member.

Jane Orie is the Republican Majority Whip and the third-ranking Republican in the State Senate.

The grand jury investigation focused on allegations made by former and current employees.

Their claim is they were ordered to do campaign work on behalf of Orie’s sister, Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Joan Orie Melvin and that it was taking place in Orie’s Senate offices.

From the outset of the investigation, Orie and her attorneys have called the allegations “baseless, slanderous and defamatory.”

Email AlexC, Start the discussion or Share This...

No, I got that exactly backwards.

Witness: Pennsylvania taxpayers saved Dems $1 million

A former campaign coordinator for Democrats in the Pennsylvania House testified Wednesday that his candidates saved more than $1 million by being able to use the Legislature’s taxpayer-supplied high-volume e-mail system.

Dan Wiedemer told jurors in the public corruption trial of a former state lawmaker and three ex-aides that the blast e-mail system was only part of the public resources commandeered to run elections while he served as executive director of the House Democratic Campaign Committee, a nongovernmental campaign organization, from 2003 until 2007.

Wiedemer said the e-mail addresses themselves — purchased with public funds — can cost between a nickel and $1.50 each, and millions of them were used on behalf of candidates. Blast e-mail systems, which distribute material to large mailing lists, cost money in staff time and computer server capacity, adding to the total savings, he said.

“In my mind, it would have been certainly over a million dollars” that was saved, Wiedemer said under questioning by a prosecutor from the State Attorney General’s Office.

Email AlexC, Start the discussion or Share This...

Policy Blog:

Turns out, many legislators have indeed bought homes in Harrisburg, while continuing to collect per diems for their lodging. The Scranton Times finds that state Reps. Wansacz , Eachus, Peifer, Scavello, and Yudichak (who represent parts of Northeastern PA) all uses per diems to pay their mortgages on homes in Harrisburg.

Does it matter that they used the money to buy a home rather than rent a room in the Hilton? No. But the value of per diems is excessive for taxpayers, especially given the fact lawmakers need not actually spend that money, but could pocket it. I would also note that per diems are not mentioned in the PA Constitution, when it says lawmakers shall receive “salary and mileage…and no other compensation whatever” That would seem to include a new house.

Nate Benefield offers a solution.

A dorm for lawmakers.

I disagree.

Not only would that place be so icky and unsellable, it encourages them to linger in Harrisburg.

They dont need to be in Harrisburg long enough to need buy second homes. They need to go to work, then go the hell home. The more they hang around in Harrisburg they more they are tempted to do something.

… and that something is always with your money, not theirs. QED.

Email AlexC, Start the discussion or Share This...

A friend passes along a clipping from this weekend’s Times Herald, in which the ‘Cooler’s beloved Daylin Leach tackles a recent Star Parker column called “Sodom in the Nation’s Capital“.

Admitedly, this is not one of Parker’s more tightly constructed columns, however, her point is clear: gay marriage hurts the institution of the family, and the collapse of the American family is at the root of most of our inner city problems. Anyone who has read Parker more than twice will recognize this theme as it is a common thread that runs through most of Parker’s columns.

I have transcribed Daylin’s full response and it is available below the break. It’s worth a read just to bask in the feigned outrage over the word “Sodom” in the title of the column and to watch him conjure up his very own morally relative God out of thin air then insist that his that his morality is the only right way to live, while complaining that Star Parker has no right to insinuate her religious beliefs on the rest of the world. Apparently, because Parker does not worship the lollipop and gumdrop God of Daylin’s imagination, she is neither entitled to her first amendment rights either.

The gay marriage question is one on which people of good conscience can disagree and though I am against it, I can certainly understand the opposing point of view. And if Mr. Leach had bothered to address the real issues behind the defense of marriage, I would not have a problem with his response; indeed I would simply chuckle at his ridiculous make believe God and no-one-is-ever-wrong-but-bigoted-conservatives religion and go on my way.

But what Leach does here does not in any way address the concerns of those who believe that marriage should be between one man and one woman; what he does here is simply smear anyone who opposes gay marraige as a homophobe–a knuckle-dragging bigot whose arguments are not worth addressing. For someone who claims to be “very involved” with this issue, I find it hard to believe that Daylin does not fully understand the opposing point of view on this issue. Rather than address those concerns, he instead resorts to the lazy liberals weapon of last resort: shout your opponent down with charges of bigotry.

Here’s Maggie Gallagher in a classic column from the Weekly Standard on why it is important to keep the institution of marriage intact:

In other words, while individuals freely choose to enter marriage, society upholds the marriage option, formalizes its definition, and surrounds it with norms and reinforcements, so we can raise boys and girls who aspire to become the kind of men and women who can make successful marriages. Without this shared, public aspect, perpetuated generation after generation, marriage becomes what its critics say it is: a mere contract, a vessel with no particular content, one of a menu of sexual lifestyles, of no fundamental importance to anyone outside a given relationship.

The marriage idea is that children need mothers and fathers, that societies need babies, and that adults have an obligation to shape their sexual behavior so as to give their children stable families in which to grow up.

Which view of marriage is true? We have seen what has happened in our communities where marriage norms have failed. What has happened is not a flowering of libertarian freedom, but a breakdown of social and civic order that can reach frightening proportions. When law and culture retreat from sustaining the marriage idea, individuals cannot create marriage on their own.

(…)

THE PROBLEM with endorsing gay marriage is not that it would allow a handful of people to choose alternative family forms, but that it would require society at large to gut marriage of its central presumptions about family in order to accommodate a few adults’ desires

Just because a person believes that marriage should be between one man and one woman (a view the majority of Americans hold, by the way) it does not make them homophobes. Indeed, even some gays I know do not believe in gay marriage. If you want to argue for gay marriage, do it honestly and bravely. Don’t hide behind charges of “homophobia.” It is cowardly, intellectually lazy, and fundamentally dishonest. 

And really no surprise at all, the “argument” coming from whence it does.

(more…)

Email LisaMossie, Start the discussion or Share This...

What do you call a politician brave enough to endorse an unchallenged candidate?

What do you call that politician if he withdraws his endorsement when there is a challenger?

Senator Daylin Leach.

Email AlexC, Join the discussion or Share This...

Philly Daily News:

State Attorney General Tom Corbett, now running for governor, met with state Rep. John Perzel, of Philadelphia, at a Harrisburg hotel in October 2007.

Two months later, Brian Preski, Perzel’s former chief of staff, organized a campaign fundraiser for Corbett.

In state politics, nothing about either event would seem strange. A high-profile elected official is expected to meet with members of his political party while seeking the state’s highest office.

But Corbett’s office at the time was actively investigating Perzel and Preski and others in the state General Assembly in what is now a 21-month probe known as “Bonusgate.”

Corbett charged 12 Democratic legislators and staffers in July 2008 with theft, criminal conspiracy and conflict of interest. Indictments against Republicans could come as soon as today.

Email AlexC, Start the discussion or Share This...

I felt that today was a good day to start writing again. This is because today is the day I say I’m done helping the Republican Party. This isn’t because I’m not a Republican, but because more to the point that I have No Idea what the Republican Party stands for anymore. I’m a conservative on a ship of moderates, which if you translate that to English means that they don’t stand really for anything except the next sound bite that will move that “Party” forward toward power again. The new song today is the same song from yesterday. This is truly one of the clearest moments in all of American History to clearly delineate the differences between Socialist principles and the Conservative values the Republican Party once stood for, what Ronald Reagan once spoke about and lived and breathed everyday proving to the world, Freedom of the Individual versus the Social Justice of the Collective. The chance to succeed or fail based on our own merits and hard work Vs. being just “too big” to fail and it’s our duty to “spread the wealth around”.

Never has there been a time to make such a clear distinction between two differing mindsets….and they fail to do so. And now I know why they have failed to do so: because the “Party mentality” of the Republicans OR the Democrats is not different at all. All they care about is power, and collecting more of it in their hands and not in ours…where it belongs.

Therefore, I now believe that I have no choice but to come to the conclusion of this: There really is no difference between the “Party” mentalities any longer. The Leadership of the Republican Party is not here to espouse my principles, which they “SAY” they believe. They don’t, and now I know it, and now I’m done helping the Party. The party is dead in my heart now.

I now have decided that I will only help individuals in the future. As soon as a Leader steps up to the plate and says “Here I am, with the bumps and hard edges and flaws and foibles of a real human being, and I believe in the Conservative principles of our Founding Fathers” I will be in there corner. This is why I believe that it was a stroke of Pure Genius that Sarah Palin left the Governor’s position in Alaska and tout the Conservative values to everyone that will listen to her. This allows her to get away from what is toxic in the Republican Party, which is the Republican Party, and maybe come back as a leader to show the way back to the principles and values that this great nation, the greatest nation ever, was founded on.

I didn’t join the military, serve my country and potentially risk my life if asked, to serve a “party” or an individual…but the Constitution of the United States of America. That is the oath all service members make. We made an oath to the Constitution. And it’s about time that I uphold that oath once again.

So, I hereby resign my position as a member of the Republican Committee here in Cumberland County, PA, effective immediately. I also re-pledge my oath to the US Constitution, like I did as a member of the US military. The next real candidate that upholds and believes those conservative values and principles espoused in the Constitution steps forward, I will be standing right behind them and helping them move our country back to sanity again, but the moment they forget the principles and values is the moment I leave them in the dust. You are either for our Constitution as the Founders created and intended it, or you’re not and that will determine whether my allegiance is with you OR I’m done with you. You choose.

Email Ian Hayes, Join the discussion or Share This...

Didn’t this happen in the old days before campaign finance laws?

Over the past nine years, state Senate Minority Leader Robert J. Mellow’s chief campaign committee paid more than $188,000 in checks made out to “cash,” without disclosing who received the money and, in many cases, exactly what the money was used for – despite a state election law that specifically calls for complete disclosure.

“The payments to cash” – an issue not unique to the Archbald Democrat, although his committee has issued by far the most checks to “cash” of any committee statewide – raise questions about the state’s ability and interest in enforcing the state campaign finance law, as well as in whose pockets contributions ultimately wind up.

A gold star to the Times-Tribune’s Borys Krawczeniuk not only for the fantastic Ukranian name, but putting Bob Mellow’s party affiliation in the 2nd paragraph. Usually you don’t get that. Unless the perp is a Republican.

Email AlexC, Join the discussion or Share This...