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Is there any kind of tax more regressive and harmful to the poor than a gasoline tax?  So much for all of the P-G’s rhetoric about the poor getting poorer while the rich get richer.

Also, how ironic is it that the P-G is using the “politics of fear” to get us to support this regressive tax?  “Support the gas tax hike… or you’ll end up driving right into the Mon river!”

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Mayoral candidate Michael Nutter continued to claim leadership of the 52nd Ward yesterday, calling a Tuesday night vote to oust him illegal.

During the meeting of ward committee people, Nutter was replaced by ward chairman and second-in-command Steve Jones. Jones did not return a call for comment yesterday.

Read on

A Democrat complaining about illegal Democrat Party tactics in Philadelphia?

What is this city coming to…

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Pa Republicans are going to dig in in Chester County’s 156th district.

“It’s not over till it’s over, and it’s not over,” insisted Steve Miskin, an aide to the current House majority leader, Rep. Sam Smith, R-Punxsutawney.

 

Despite claims Tuesday by House Democratic leader H. William DeWeese that Democrats would control the House by a 102-101 margin in 2007-08, Mr. Miskin said, “It’s premature right now to say it’s totally over.”

 

The Democratic candidate in the 156th House District race, Barbara McIlwaine Smith, leads her Republican opponent, Shannon Royer, by 23 votes, according to Chester County officials.

The 11 provisional votes won’t affect the outcome, but the ChescoGOP has five days to request another recount.

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DA Bruce Castor had commissioned a poll of the political climate in Montgomery County and had proposed to discuss the results in a forum with county party leaders and the pollsters.

Mr Castor writes…

Many of you have called me in the last week. All of you expressed to me one or both of the following:

 

1. Chairman Ken Davis called you to say he didn’t want people to attend the poll presentation. He says the poll is invalid as a “push poll.” Bruce, you are known as a “straight shooter”, why would Ken say such things?

 

2. Are you, Bruce, willing to reconsider your decision to not run for County Commissioner?

 

Not to worry. I contacted our Chairman, who wrote that he has not (and is not) calling people to keep them from coming to the poll presentation. Those of you who thought he had done so, then, are mistaken. Chairman Davis further wrote that since he was not involved in the development of the poll, he could not be sure of the validity of the results. I understand his position in this regard clearly. To give Ken the comfort level he needs with the poll, I have invited him, along with Bob Asher, Tom Ellis, and Jim Matthews to attend a special briefing from the pollster in advance where they may question him on the validity of the polling results. I am convinced that the poll is accurate and I intend to base my own political strategy on it. Obviously, then, I am putting my reputation and credibility on the line. However, I respectfully suggest that you make your own decision on the poll and its validity after hearing what the pollster has to say on December 6th.

Read the whole thing.

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The deadline looms…

Leaders of the largest union, the Newspaper Guild of Greater Philadelphia, said they are most upset about company proposals to freeze and take over the pension plan, disregard seniority when it comes to layoffs and cut sick pay.

 

The papers’ nine other unions voted Thursday to extend their contracts through 12:01 a.m. on Dec. 9, said Joe Lyons, president of the Philadelphia Council of Newspaper Unions.

 

The newspapers were long part of Knight Ridder Inc., which was sold in March to McClatchy Co. McClatchy sold the Philadelphia papers three months later to Philadelphia Media Holdings, an investment group led by Brian Tierney, a former public relations executive who is now the papers’ chief executive, in a deal worth $562 million.

 

After the purchase, Tierney spoke optimistically of the papers’ futures. But since then, the news at the papers has only been bad.

 

Weekday circulation at the Inquirer fell 7.6 percent to nearly 331,000 in the six months ended Sept. 30, compared with a national decline in daily circulation of 2.8 percent. And last month Tierney announced that declining ad revenues would require contract concessions and other cost-cutting and that layoffs were unavoidable. The top editor has also since been replaced.

9 of the 10 unions representing the paper’s employees have agreed to extend their talks by a week, however.

Henry Holcomb, president of the [Newspaper] Guild, said its members are not interested in another lengthy extension because “it causes management to relax, then we’ll have a fire drill again.” The contract had already been extended one month.

The company and the Guild have clashed over management’s proposal to freeze and take over the pension, cut sick pay benefits and disregard seniority when it comes to layoffs.

Holcomb said he hadn’t heard directly from the council about its willingness to cross picket lines. If they do, they would be breaking a long Philadelphia tradition, he said.

The Guild’s best hope is that the newspaper delivery drivers also join them at the picket lines. The paper seems to have been lining up replacement reporters just in case… but with no drivers, there’s no papers.

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The Patriot-News covers the lamentations of mid-state legislators who have lost their voice with the new Democrat majority.

The midstate members said they fear the change in House control leaves southcentral Pennsylvania with a diminished voice in the Legislature, especially with the ouster of Senate Majority Leader David “Chip” Brightbill, R-Lebanon. He lost to Mike Folmer in the Republican primary, then Folmer won the seat.

 

Some midstate Republicans worry that they will have a tougher time pressing for matters important to this region, such as guaranteeing extra state aid for fast-growing school districts. Other fights loom over changing funding formulas for systems as diverse as roads, aging and mental health/mental retardation to better reflect population shifts.

 

“I thought we were about to take a small step forward” in terms of legislative power and influence in the House, Nickol said, noting the impending rise of four midstate Republicans to committee posts. “Now, we’re taking a bigger step backward.”

 

The eight southcentral Pennsylvania counties had 25 House members in the Republican majority — nearly a quarter of the membership.

It’s unfortunate, indeed, but I bet a number of these guys were involved in all of the schemes that helped lose that majority. Casinos, pay raises, spending hikes, tax hikes, etc.

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6ABC

T. Milton Street Sr., 67, appeared very briefly in federal court in Philadelphia to enter the plea.
Prosecutors said that soon after his brother took office in 2000, Street began hiring himself out as a high-priced consultant to companies that wanted to do business with the city. One firm paid Street, who is a longtime hot dog vendor, a $30,000-a-month consulting fee and required him to do no work, authorities said.

 

He and two other businessmen face charges of mail and wire fraud, filing false tax returns and related counts.

 

One of those businessman, Matthias A. Schwabe, plans to plead guilty to mail fraud and filing a false tax return and plans to testify against Street, his lawyer said.

 

“If the government wants him to be a witness, he will,” said Harvey A. Sernovitz, the lawyer for Schwabe, 38, of Malvern.

 

Schwabe had worked for one of the companies that hired Street as a consultant, Philadelphia Airport Services, as facilities maintenance manager.

I haven’t seen any pictures of Milton Street’s court appearance. Given his latest public image, I’m going to go out on a limb and say his jacket was from the House of Sanford.

Update: Hmm. See for yourself.

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Another name in the field for Philadelphia mayor.

Tom Knox.

Standing just down the hill from the public housing project where he was born, businessman Tom Knox today declared himself a candidate for mayor.

A millionaire who made his fortune running an insurance company, Knox has been angling for the run for months, establishing a “Knox for Philly” website and running advertisements touting his opposition to gun violence. Today’s declaration made it official.

In announcing his campaign, Knox vowed to “take the For Sale sign off of City Hall,” a slap at the Street Administration which has found itself a target of federal corruption probes.

His website is KnoxForPhilly.com.

Tom joins a field already crowded with career politicians including US Rep Chaka Fattah, former City Councilman and current State Rep Dwight Evans, City Controller Jonathan Saidel and former Councilman Michael Nutter. Union leader John Dougherty is also rumored to be interested.

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Apparently, there is villainy afooot.

Thieves targeted equipment for producing state drivers’ licenses in what state police say was a sophisticated burglary of the PennDOT Photo and Exam Center in the Hanover Industrial Estates Tuesday night.She labeled the incident “sophisticated” because whoever did it had to be familiar with the building’s layout and security system, and was aware of what computer equipment was important.“Whoever did this definitely knew what they were doing,” Brogan said.The perpetrators also did not attempt to take any money from the center.

<…>

Fake drivers’ licenses are desirable to people who want to hide their real identities, or to those who are not eligible for legitimate drivers’ licenses.

<….>

State police notified the FBI, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation in Harrisburg and Gov. Ed Rendell’s office about the incident.

I’m intrigued at what sort of alarm system was used since it was so easily thwarted. And since they have alerted the FBI, I wonder if the USCIS (INS) or Homeland Security will be alerted? Hazelton township officials should be wary of this.

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…. except one.

It was a solemn pledge, repeated by Democratic leaders and candidates over and over: If elected to the majority in Congress, Democrats would implement all of the recommendations of the bipartisan commission that examined the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

But with control of Congress now secured, Democratic leaders have decided for now against implementing the one measure that would affect them most directly: a wholesale reorganization of Congress to improve oversight and funding of the nation’s intelligence agencies. Instead, Democratic leaders may create a panel to look at the issue and produce recommendations, according to congressional aides and lawmakers.

Because plans for implementing the commission’s recommendations are still fluid, Democratic officials would not speak for the record. But aides on the House and Senate appropriations, armed services and intelligence committees confirmed this week that a reorganization of Congress would not be part of the package of homeland-security changes up for passage in the “first 100 hours” of the Democratic Congress.

“I don’t think that suggestion is going anywhere,” said Rep. C.W. Bill Young (R-Fla.), the chairman of the Appropriations defense subcommittee and a close ally of the incoming subcommittee chairman, Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.). “That is not going to be their party position.”

Heaven forbid the Democrats have to reform the system they promised to reform.

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for now…

Gov. Ed Rendell said today that he would reject any legislation seeking to legalize table games before the state has a chance to gauge the success and impact of slot machines.

“We have to make sure that over time, the expansion of gaming is successful, it works well, and whatever negative sides there are to it, that we control them,” Rendell told reporters at an unrelated event in the Capitol.

“And until we’ve had a significant test period to see that in operation, I don’t think any of these bills should be considered and I wouldn’t sign them,” he said.

Would-be Speaker of the House Bill DeWeese wants to introduce a bill permitting table games shortly.

Still, any table games legislation could have trouble getting to Rendell.

The Senate’s new Republican leader, Dominic Pileggi of Delaware County, said he thinks the state needs a couple years at least to see how its experiment with slots gambling is going.

“I think it’s a reasonable position to see how the introduction of expanded slots across Pennsylvania works in practice, what sort of revenues it generates, what sort of problems it creates,” said Pileggi, whose district is home to Harrah’s Chester Casino and Racetrack.

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For a man under federal indictment, (no taxes paid on $2 million in income), Milton Street has an interesting strategy.

Take a high profile.

Here he is doing an interview in front of his house yesterday.

And on Philly’s NBC10 5PM newscast.

For having $2 million in recent income, he’s certainly not flaunting it. Just the opposite. He’s dressing down.

He doesn’t look like a millionaire. He looks like a regular guy.

Precisely the plan.

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Considering that it’s looking the Democrats are going to take over the PA House, and also considering that State Rep-elect Matt Smith of Pittsburgh promised to spend our money on embryonic stem cell research (ESCR) if elected, I wonder if the PA Dems will do as the US Dems are plotting to do and attempt to force all PA taxpayers to fund ESCR.

While as a Catholic pro-lifer I would be livid if the Dems attempted to force me to fund the pointless destruction of human embryos, I have to admit I would laugh in the face of every “pro-life Catholic” Pennsylvanian who voted for the Democrats on November 7.  Unfortunately they would most likely be far too ignorant to understand my derision.  But can you blame them, when PA is filled with newspapers like the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette?

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Tim Potts of Democracy Rising PA just informed me that Rendell says he will sign the Slots for Sots legislation, as he so affectionately calls it.  He was informed of this from a reporter at the Patriot-News looking for comment.

This is the stealth legislation that will permit unlimited alcohol to slots players.  

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In regards to the recent flurry of taxation and gambling …. can someone tell me where these slots are?

A third Pa. resort withdraws slots application

A second resort in southwestern Pennsylvania pulled its application yesterday for a slot-machine gambling license, becoming the third slots applicant to drop its plans in the last two months. The withdrawal of Nemacolin Woodlands Resort from Pennsylvania’s slots derby leaves no applicants left for the two licenses set aside for established resorts. It also means that the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board will be able to issue just 11 of the 14 total slots licenses when it meets to vote on the applicants Dec. 20.

And given that, why is my own pathetic township of Lower Moreland is considering an income tax increase from 1% to 2% just to help fund school expenses. I hope the students are learning how to spell fiasco – a complete and ignominious failure.

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Now now Tony. I thought we were the party of the big tent.

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Now that John Perzel and Sam Smith have cost the Republican Party control of the state House, is there any reason to keep these guys in the Republican Caucus?

I’d like to see returning GOP legislators kick out Perzel and Smith when they reconvene in January. I don’t mean just kick them out of the leadership posts Perzel and Smith were given when the Republican Caucus met after the Nov. 7 election. I mean kick them out of the party entirely. Lock the doors. Change the locks. Ask for a secret password.

Let Perzel and Smith sit with their buddies the Democrats for the next two years. Everybody talks about Rendell’s coattails in this year’s election. It’s clear that Perzel and Smith had more to do with the Democratic majority in the House than Rendell did.

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Lowman Henry writes a letter to former Speaker of the House John Perzel on behalf of The Real Republicans.

And John, the man you became is not the man I fell for. You failed to take care of your family, opening the door to slot machine gambling so that our money would go to casino operators instead of our children. You made it difficult to stay in our own home by failing to provide property tax reform. And the family budget, oh John, how badly you failed us there. You spent us into a debt our children and grandchildren will be repaying for decades, and you took more of the money we could have spent on ourselves from our paychecks to feed your addiction to spending.

The final straw was that you took too much for yourself. I realize you envy the incomes of cow milkers and tattoo artists, but John grabbing all that money and breaking your vows to uphold our constitution was just too much. Then you promised no one would ever lose their seat over a pay raise vote. But you couldn’t protect your family. The biggest losses came right in our own back yard, and now even your own staffer Shannon has lost.

To make matters worse we are homeless. John, your actions have cost us our House. It wasn’t much of a home, what with your climbing into bed with Ed Rendell all these years. Still, it was all we had, it was ours – and now it’s gone.

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Once slot parlors were legalized, we all knew it was a matter of time before the games expanded from slots to card games.

But it only took two weeks after the first opening.

A staff member for Democratic Minority Leader Rep. Bill DeWeese, of Greene County, said he plans to introduce legislation next year that would legalize games such as blackjack and poker at casinos. It’s expected DeWeese will be elected speaker when Democrats take over the House in January.

Table games would mean more money for property tax cuts and would help Pennsylvania stay competitive with surrounding states,said Mike Manzo, DeWeese’s chief of staff.

“We just want to add it to a long list of things we will try to achieve,” Manzo said today.

A Senate staffer who worked on the slots law said it’s “premature” to think about expanding legalized gambling. DeWeese’s proposal would require approval from the Senate and Gov. Ed Rendell.

In related news, New Jersey is considering banning smokes from their casinos.

I smell a marketing opportunity.

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Speaker to be Bill Deweese is drafting a bill for full service Casinos in PA!

I say “Be careful what you wish for” because many activists in the state wished, hoped, and openly rooted for the Republicans to lose the House. 

(more…)

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