PA GOP News Brief – 7.30.10

1. Rasmussen Reports: Election 2010: Pennsylvania Senate

2. PA GOP: Will Joe Sestak And Other Pennsylvania Democratic Members Of Congress Join The Call For Charlie Rangel To Resign?

3. Altoona Mirror: Tax hikes hurt job creation

4. The Wall Street Journal: The Rangel Dispensation

5. Town Hall: “Bipartisan” Dems Go on the Attack

1. Rasmussen Reports: Election 2010: Pennsylvania Senate

Republican Pat Toomey continues to hold a small lead over Democratic Congressman Joe Sestak in Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate race.

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Pennsylvania Voters shows Toomey earning 45% support, while Sestak picks up 39% of the vote. Six percent (6%) prefer another candidate in the race, and 10% are undecided.

That’s little changed from two weeks ago.

Sixty-six percent (66%) of Pennsylvania voters regard Toomey as politically conservative, and 42% place his views in the mainstream. Twenty-seven percent (27%) see him as an extremist, with 31% undecided.

Forty-five percent (45%) feel that Sestak is politically liberal, while 27% characterize him as a moderate. But 39% regard his views an extreme, while nearly as many (37%) think his views are in the mainstream. But roughly one-in-four voters (23%) aren’t sure.

2. PA GOP: Will Joe Sestak And Other Pennsylvania Democratic Members Of Congress Join The Call For Charlie Rangel To Resign?

Republican Party of Pennsylvania Spokesman Mike Barley released the following statement calling on Joe Sestak and fellow Democratic members of Congress Paul Kanjorski, Kathy Dahlkemper, Jason Altmire, Chris Carney, Tim Holden, Mark Critz, Allyson Schwartz, Mike Doyle, Chaka Fattah and Bob Brady continued refusal to call for Charlie Rangel’s resignation.

“What will it take for Joe Sestak and his fellow Democratic members of Congress to finally take a stand and call for the ethically challenged Congressman Charlie Rangel to resign,” Barley said. “It’s been months since allegations surrounding Charlie Rangel’s unethical behavior first came to light, and yet Joe Sestak and nearly all of his Democratic colleagues have remained silent on this issue as Charlie Rangel continues to serve as a United States Congressman.”

3. Altoona Mirror: Tax hikes hurt job creation

With the nation’s unemployment rate still troubling at 9.5 percent, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner believes it is time to kill more of the country’s job-creation ability.

Geithner did not put it that way, of course. He and his boss, President Barack Obama, continue to insist their actions are lifting the United States out of recession.

While some economic indicators have trended upwards, the unemployment rate remains unacceptably high. In some states, it exceeds the national rate. Ohio, for example, is suffering from 10.5 percent unemployment.

Economists warn the recovery is a very fragile one. Missteps could plunge us back into a more severe downturn. Geithner, Obama and other policy makers do not seem to understand that. On Sunday, the treasury secretary suggested tax increases may be a good idea.

4. The Wall Street Journal: The Rangel Dispensation

As we went to press last night, it wasn’t clear if Charlie Rangel would cut a plea deal with the House ethics committee to avoid a public trial. Still, the rap sheet of 13 alleged violations the committee released yesterday after a two-year investigation of the New York Democrat’s conduct in office are an object lesson in the reasons the public holds Congress in contempt. They reveal in detail the culture of entitlement and self-dealing that typifies modern Washington.

***

The most pungent allegations concern the Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service at the City College of New York and suggest that he used his Chairmanship of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee to lure corporate donations in return for the expectation or hope of favorable tax treatment. The vanity project in Mr. Rangel’s Harlem district was akin to a Presidential library to “preserve the work of my public life,” as he put it in a 2004 letter, and it used several taxpayer earmarks as seed money, including a $1.9 million appropriation in 2007.

5. Town Hall: “Bipartisan” Dems Go on the Attack

With their poll numbers plunging in a jobless recovery, skyrocketing budget deficits, an unpopular health care plan, and their majority teetering on the edge of defeat, Democrats have switched to a novel election strategy: attack the Republicans.

In a campaign strategy that comes directly from the White House high command, Democrats are ditching President Obama’s 2008 campaign promise of political reconciliation and attempting to smear the GOP by tying it to the tea party movement.

The decision, announced Wednesday by Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine, has failure and desperation written all over it.

The tea party movement, which is not a party and has no central organization, was born in the fiery debate over the health care bill in the summer of 2009 as thousands of dissident voters showed up at town hall meetings to express their opposition. It grew over time as Obama’s budget deficits grew to $1.4 trillion last year, then to $1.5 trillion this year. Their common sense response: Enough is enough!

1. The Morning Call: Corbett: Job loss in Pa. is Rendell’s fault

2. Erie Times News: Pat Toomey: Toomey defends vote to allow lake drilling

3. The Wall Street Journal: Karl Rove: The Missing Word In Our Afghanistan Strategy

4. The Hill: Republicans focus on tax cuts for recess

5. Politico: New business plan: crushing Dems

1.    The Morning Call: Corbett: Job loss in Pa. is Rendell’s fault

Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Corbett on Wednesday laid the blame for nearly 600,000 lost Pennsylvania jobs at the feet of Gov. Ed Rendell, charging that his tax-and spend policies have hindered the state’s ability to ride out the worst economic downturn since the 1930s.

“In the last eight years our state budget has gone from $22 billion to $28 billion,” Corbett said. “And what’s the result today? Our state has nearly 600,000 unemployed citizens on the rolls.”

Corbett made his remarks at Longwood Gardens, a regional attraction where he touted the link between Pennsylvania’s tourism industry and economic development.
2. Erie Times News: Pat Toomey: Toomey defends vote to allow lake drilling

I decided to run for political office because I believe there are serious changes needed in Washington so we can reduce our country’s exploding deficit, create the jobs we desperately need and reduce the rising cost of health care.

I believe it is important to discuss these issues so voters can make accurate, informed decisions about whom to support.

Unfortunately, my opponent Joe Sestak does not feel the same way. A couple of days ago, he wrote an Op-Ed piece that dramatically distorted a vote I took in 2001, claiming I support drilling in Lake Erie (”Toomey wrong on lake drilling,” Erie Times-News, July 15). That is not the case.

The vote in question would have imposed an across-the-board federal prohibition on oil exploration in many bodies of water across the United States. I, along with half of the Pennsylvania congressional delegation, voted against this federal prohibition. I do not believe that it is the federal government’s job to dictate to the people of Erie or anywhere else in the country whether or not they can engage in oil and gas exploration in their local bodies of water.

3. The Wall Street Journal: Karl Rove: The Missing Word In Our Afghanistan Strategy

What President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron didn’t say during last week’s joint news conference may have mattered more than what they did say. The omissions could lead to a grave setback in the war on terror and deadly results for the Afghan people.

The president and prime minister declared their solidarity on the Afghanistan war. Both leaders “reaffirmed our commitment to the overall strategy,” in Mr. Cameron’s words. Mr. Obama said that approach aimed to “build Afghan capacity so Afghans can take responsibility for their future,” a point Mr. Cameron called “a key part” of the coalition’s strategy.

All well and good. But neither leader uttered the word “victory” or “win” or any other similar phrase. They made it sound as if the strategic goal was to stand up the Afghan security forces, leave as soon as that was done, and hope the locals were up to keeping things together.

4. The Hill: Republicans focus on tax cuts for recess

Instead of calling for an extension of Bush’s tax cuts, which House Republican leaders support, they refer to the looming “Democrats’ tax hikes.”

Under the heading “Job Creation,” Republicans call the expiring tax cuts, set to lapse at the end of this year, a Democratic plan “on increasing taxes by $3.8 trillion.”

The scarce references to Bush come as Democrats attempt to tie the Republican Party to the 43rd president three months before the midterm elections.

…

The document, provided to The Hill, states, “Since taking office, President Obama has spent more than $6.1 trillion in 18 months. At $333 billion per month, that is more than twice the amount spent during the first two years of the George W. Bush administration.”

5. Politico: New business plan: crushing Dems

Democrats may be going out of their way to say they aren’t anti-business, but business is gearing up to demonstrate that it’s anti-Democrats — at least when it comes to members of the party’s liberal wing.

The latest blatant signs of hostility come from coal executives who are considering starting up their own political operation to work against candidates they deem unfriendly to their interests. Their first three targets are all Democrats.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has already vowed to invest $75 million in the mid-term elections. And health insurers are also planning to play big in November, although the specifics remain in flux. Both groups are hedging their bets by aligning themselves with some moderate or conservative Democrats in case Republicans don’t win control of Congress.

PA GOP News Brief – 7.28.10

1. Philadelphia Daily News: Sestak’s tone-deaf when it comes to earmarks

2. The Hill: Voters can’t shake deficit worries

3. Delaware County Times: Corbett: Businesses need help from state

4. Delaware County Times: Public health insurance divides 7^th district candidates

5. The Hill: Obama flubs on creating new jobs

1. Philadelphia Daily News: Sestak’s tone-deaf when it comes to earmarks

Joe Sestak readily admits he has trouble answering questions succinctly.

He says that much of what he’s asked about is so complicated that he needs time to explain things. He also says this is a drawback in his profession and tells me that he works on it “constantly.”

The Democratic congressman and Senate candidate should work a little harder to reconcile taking campaign contributions from those benefiting from federal “earmarks” (which direct money to be spent on specific projects) while claiming “a personal policy” against doing so.

2. The Hill: Voters can’t shake deficit worries

The federal budget deficit will matter more to voters this year than it has in the past decade, according to polls.

While it continues to trail the near-double-digit unemployment rates and overall state of the economy as a leading concern for voters, it is proving central to the 2010 election.

“It used to be that people had vague concerns about the deficit. They knew there was one, but it didn’t seem to really matter,” said Republican Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a likely candidate in the 2012 presidential race. “Now average people outside of politics are zoomed in on it. You go to the grocery store or the dry cleaners or some place and average people, they make comments about the debt, the deficit and spending.”

The rise in deficit worries is exposing the political risk in a key plank of the Democratic agenda: pumping taxpayer money into the economy in the short term, while attempting to keep deficits and debt in check in the long term.

After barely registering for at least a decade, deficits began rising rapidly among voter concerns in 2009. Massive Tea Party protests around the country since early last year helped stir up public attention and unrest.

By February of this year, 11 percent of those polled by Gallup said the federal deficit was the most important issue facing the nation.

3. Delaware County Times: Corbett: Businesses need help from state

The next governor needs to reduce spending and remove any barriers for small businesses to flourish, said Pennsylvania Attorney General and Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Corbett during a visit to Archway Press Inc. in Sharon Hill Tuesday.

Corbett called the family-owned Archway a success story in Pennsylvania for weathering the economic storm; though owner Tom Gaffney said the business has taken its lumps too, with a full-time workforce reduced from 20 percent to nine employees and productivity down about 20 or 25 percent in the last two years.

Corbett said such small businesses need government to be on their side. He has proposed cutting business taxes and holding the line on new taxes, streamlining tax paperwork, aligning state and federal investment expenses, and eliminating the inheritance tax.

4. Delaware County Times: Public health insurance divides 7^th district candidates

While the Democratic candidate for the 7th Congressional District kicked off an economic tour Tuesday, the Republican candidate denounced a public health insurance option.

State Rep. Bryan Lentz, D-161, of Swarthmore, is running against Republican Pat Meehan, a former U.S. attorney, for the seat currently occupied by U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak, who is running for U.S. Senate.

…

Meehan kicked off his business tour back in May with a stop at the Ridley Park Business District. Since then, Meehan has hosted a roundtable discussion, forums and other events with small-business owners and executives.

Meehan on Tuesday said he was concerned about U.S. Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-Nev.) call for a public health insurance option. He said it “will cost the taxpayers billions of dollars and over time crowd out private insurance companies, leaving consumers with no choice but to sign up for a government plan.”

5. The Hill: Obama flubs on creating new jobs

The Obama administration has been focused on the wrong jobs numbers. Instead of obsessing over the president’s sagging job approval ratings, the focus should have been on a job-creation initiative.

We finally have a genuine “most important issue or problem” according to every poll out there, yet the president doesn’t seem to be responding, except to try and keep people on unemployment benefits. Even a public jobs initiative would be welcomed at this juncture, but things won’t really get better in this economy until consumer confidence rises in response to the availability of more jobs in the private sector.

The president isn’t the only one who seems confused about this matter. Last week a Quinnipiac University poll announced that Americans believe jobs are more important than deficit reduction. “American voters say 64-30 percent that reducing unemployment is more important than reducing the federal budget deficit,” said the pollsters’ release. It went on, “Even Republicans say 58-38 percent that reducing unemployment is more important.”

Mike Barley
Director of the Communications and Technology Departments

Republican Party of Pennsylvania
717-234-4901, ext. 115
mbarley@pagop.org

PA GOP News Brief – 7.27.10

1. The Patriot-News: Joe Sestak finds rough sailing at Pennsylvania Press Club luncheon

2. Politico: Abortion provision threatens Dems

3. Delaware County Times: Officials push for Public Integrity Commission

4. Fosters: Don’t let Obama tax increases go into effect

5. Roll Call: GOP Tax Message Honed for Campaign

1. The Patriot-News: Joe Sestak finds rough sailing at Pennsylvania Press Club luncheon

Former Navy admiral Joe Sestak tried to break bread Monday with a few captains of industry, or at least their policy watchdogs.

Pan the Hilton Harrisburg ballroom, where in front of the Democratic Senate candidate there sat entire tables filled with Harrisburg business leaders whose faces were set like stone, their arms clenched across their chests.

With body language like that, who needed air conditioning?

…

Now, with such clear ideological differences in play, Sestak’s tactics and message have had to change, while Toomey has been able to stay on message, hammering the government bailouts and stimulus and the passage of health care reform legislation.

2. Politico: Abortion provision threatens Dems

Freshman Rep. Kathleen Dahlkemper (D-Pa.) seemed destined for a tough reelection campaign from the moment she was sworn into office two years ago.

She ousted a Republican incumbent with just 51 percent of the vote, even as Republican John McCain scored a narrow victory over Democrat Barack Obama in her district.

Now, the issues of health care and abortion could make Dahlkemper’s campaign against Republican Mike Kelly even tougher.

Advocates on both sides of the abortion issue are raising money and mobilizing volunteers for a showdown in Dahlkemper’s conservative rural district in the far northwestern corner of Pennsylvania.

The question being debated: Will the reform of the health care system create a loophole that allows taxpayer money to fund abortions? The White House says it won’t; abortion opponents say it will.

“We are going to do everything we can to point out that Democrats who said they were pro-life caved on the big one,” said Marilyn Musgrave, a former Colorado congresswoman who is project director of the Votes Have Consequences campaign for the conservative women’s group Susan B. Anthony List.

3. Delaware County Times: Officials push for Public Integrity Commission

Several legislators, including the Democratic candidate for the 7th Congressional seat, unveiled Monday their effort to create a Public Integrity Commission in Pennsylvania, which would combat public corruption.

“I found it appalling that Bryan Lentz was touting his appearance at an official state House press conference as a congressional candidate,” said Michael Barley, a spokesman for the Republican Party of Pennsylvania, in a statement. “The irony of this event is astounding. Bryan Lentz allowed state taxpayers to pay for a media event talking about the need to curb public corruption and questionable behavior to benefit his race for Congress.”

4. Fosters: Don’t let Obama tax increases go into effect

Nearly lost midst the political debate of health care, cap and trade, immigration and the like are the pending tax increases which will hit nearly all tax-paying Americans on Jan. 1.

That is unless the much-excoriated Bush tax cuts are extended by the Democratically controlled House and Senate.

If no action is taken rates will increase, some by double digits. For example, the lowest tax rate for individuals will jump by 50 percent, from 10 percent to 15 percent. Capital gains rates, greatly valued by seniors citizens, will jump by a third, from 15 percent to 20 percent. The child tax credit will be cut by 50 percent, from $1,000 to $500. And the marriage penalty will return.

While Congress has time to stave off these increases, there appears to be no consensus, even among the Democrats who are in control.

5. Roll Call: GOP Tax Message Honed for Campaign

Republicans are formulating a messaging strategy that ties unemployment to Democratic tax policy and rebuts charges that they support tax cuts for the rich at the expense of deficit reduction.

Many of the major tax cuts enacted in 2001 and 2003 by President George W. Bush and a Republican-controlled Congress are set to expire at the end of this year, and the White House and Democratic leaders in the House and Senate are advocating their extension of tax cuts only for families earning less than $250,000 annually. Republicans are nearly unanimous in supporting an extension for all income brackets, believing the issue could be a winner in the midterm elections.

But in the face of continued Democratic attacks, Republicans are building a more developed defense of their support for tax cuts than in years past. Rather than simply arguing that the government’s money belongs to the taxpayers, Republicans are claiming a direct correlation between extending the Bush-era tax cuts with a small-business owner’s ability to hire more workers and give employees a raise.

“Here’s the point. What they’re saying, in effect, against the advice of any economist I’ve ever met [is] that it would be a good idea to raise taxes in the middle of a recession,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Monday. “This is the worst recession since the early ’80s. Raising taxes in the middle of a recession will only guarantee the economy continues either a tepid rate of growth or no growth at all. That’s the point.”

Support for across-the-board tax cuts has long served as the philosophical bulwark of Republican fiscal policy. But beginning about 10 years ago, Democratic arguments that tax cuts should be “paid for” — and that they flowed mostly to wealthier Americans — gained political currency, cutting into some of the GOP’s historical political advantage on the issue.

Democrats also improved the effectiveness of their rhetoric, transitioning from a party that opposed tax cuts in favor of government spending to one that supported targeted middle-class tax cuts and pay-as-you-go rules to keep the federal deficit in check. Recognizing this, Senate Republican leaders have been meeting to construct a message palatable to the Conference and capable of winning the argument.

The refined GOP message includes painting every dollar in increased taxes as a levy on small-business owners, and a key part of the Republicans’ strategy is to use the words of moderate Democrats sympathetic to their point of view. Republicans believe the 9.5 percent unemployment rate and record-high federal deficit have cost the Democrats credibility on economic issues and created an opening with voters for the GOP.

“We realized, kind of like health care, that we faced a big messaging hurdle,” a senior Republican Senate aide said. “It’s so ingrained, when people say ‘tax cuts for the rich.’ … It’s not about tax cuts for the rich, it’s about stopping tax hikes for job creators and small businesses.”

Among the taxes due to rise on Jan. 1 are those on married couples that file jointly, individuals in all income brackets, capital gains and dividends.

Democratic leaders and President Barack Obama are urging that these tax increases be allowed except for families earning less than $250,000 per year, and they are tarring Republicans as deficit spenders for failing to propose specific spending cuts to offset the cost of extending the tax cuts.

But House Republican aides said Monday that the GOP would continue to cast the expiration of the tax cuts as a tax increase on small businesses and the middle class in a tough economy.

One aide said that if the tax cuts are not renewed this session, Republicans would hammer Democrats on the issue all the way into the November elections. Should Democrats choose to “fix” the portion of the tax cuts that apply to the middle class, the aide said, the taxes would still go up for small business.

Responding to criticism that GOP tax policies would exacerbate the federal debt, House Republican Conference Chairman Mike Pence (Ind.) said it was possible to simultaneously lower taxes and the deficit if legislators are committed to implementing policies that create jobs while exercising fiscal restraint in other areas. Pence told reporters Monday that he does not believe lawmakers have to choose between tax cuts and deficit reduction.

“To put our fiscal house in order, we are going to have to walk and chew gum,” Pence said. “We are going to have to practice fiscal discipline and we are going to have to pursue policies to get this economy growing again.”

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PA GOP News Brief – 7.26.10

1. Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: Allegheny’s poured drink tax ruined businesses, bar owners say

2. PA2010: GOPers hit Dems anew over Rangel cash

3. The Times Leader: Marino is critical of Carney on fund issues

4. Town Hall: Senate Small Business Job Scam

5. The Wall Street Journal: The Democratic Fisc

6. Las Vegas Review-Journal: The financial services ‘reform’ mess

1. Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: Allegheny’s poured drink tax ruined businesses, bar owners say

Mike Speranzo considers himself a casualty of the Allegheny County booze tax. But at least he survived.

The owner of Mr. Small’s Funhouse said he needed a bailout from a friend and a break from his mortgage holder to pay $30,000 of overdue drink taxes and avoid closing his Millvale concert venue.

But more than 50 bars have closed — some shut down by the county for unpaid drink taxes, while others closed on their own while holding past-due balances. Several owners cited the tax as the tipping point toward bankruptcy.

“It killed me and put me into default with the banks,” said Speranzo, who borrowed money for a new register system to help staff calculate the tax quickly enough to keep up with the frenetic pace of a concert crowd. “I was a super casualty. I don’t think the system was designed for people like me in mind, people who didn’t have the ability to raise their prices.”

2. PA2010: GOPers hit Dems anew over Rangel cash

The latest troubles for Congressman Charles Rangel (D-NY) have led Republican challengers to once again criticize their Democratic opponents for taking—and not returning—campaign contributions from the embattled lawmaker.

The attacks of recent days have come as Rangel was reportedly in talks with a House ethics committee that has been investigating him for two years. Republican Senate candidate Pat Toomey and at least two House challengers have made Rangel contributions an issue, calling on Democrats to return the money.

“Throughout the campaign, Congressman [Joe] Sestak has spoken about accountability and putting principle over politics, but it is now becoming clear that his pledges and lofty promises are just hollow words from another Washington insider,” Toomey campaign spokeswoman Nachama Soloveichik said about contributions Sestak has received from Rangel’s political action committees.

3. The Times Leader: Marino is critical of Carney on fund issues

Republican congressional candidate Tom Marino criticized his Democratic opponent U.S. Rep. Chris Carney for supporting health care legislation that will allow funding for certain abortions.

“I am deeply troubled to hear that taxpayer dollars will be used to fund abortions in Pennsylvania,” Marino, the former U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, said in a press release sent by his campaign late Friday. “This is only further evidence that the Executive Order that was signed by President Obama, and supported by liberals in Congress like Chris Carney, is a total sham.”

The candidates are running in the 10th Congressional District.

4. Town Hall: Senate Small Business Job Scam

The Senate Finance Committee recently announced its latest scam: a small business jobs act that will do little to promote entrepreneurship or create jobs.

The legislation, seemingly designed to give Democrats cover with voters in the fall, is much ado about nothing, for nothing is what the legislation does for small business.  Memo to Congress: no new laws are needed to grow small businesses, just enforce the laws already on the books.

Few members of congress or the Obama Administration have ever had to experience what Jerry McGuire calls the “up-at-dawn, pride-swallowing siege,” of starting a company and trying to win a customer’s business. So, it’s not surprising that they do not know what’s important and what’s window-dressing.

5. The Wall Street Journal: The Democratic Fisc

Democrats have been running Congress for nearly four years, and President Obama has been at the White House for 18 months, so it’s not too soon to ask: How’s that working out? One devastating scorecard came out Friday from the White House, in the form of its own semi-annual budget review.

The message: Tax revenues are smaller, spending is greater, and the deficits are thus larger than the White House has been saying. No wonder it dumped the news on the eve of a sweltering mid-July weekend.

Mr. Obama inherited a recession, so let’s give him a pass on the budget numbers for 2009. Clearly the deficit would have been large no matter who was President, even if the David Obey-Nancy Pelosi $862 billion stimulus made it larger than it otherwise would have been. What’s striking about the latest budget estimates, however, is that the White House is predicting the numbers won’t improve much through 2011, the third year of the President’s term.

6. Las Vegas Review-Journal: The financial services ‘reform’ mess

During my service in Congress, whenever legislation was dubbed “reform” it was especially necessary to analyze the details and consequences. So it is with congressional passage of President Barack Obama’s financial services “reform”– the biggest expansion of government power over banks and private markets since the Great Depression.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the 2,300-page law – crafted by Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., and Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass.- requires no fewer than 243 new rules by 11 federal agencies. “A general attack on our free enterprise system,” is how a frustrated U.S. Chamber of Commerce describes the law that will make it tougher for consumers and small businesses to borrow money.

PA GOP News Brief – 7.22.10

1. PA GOP: Professors Obama & Pelosi to Murphy: You Get an “A” In The LIBERAL Arts

2. Reading Eagle: Corbett touts economic plan during visit to Robesonia-area company

3. The Times Leader: Independent poll shows 11th race a ‘tossup’

4. The Hill: NRCC adds 33 to candidate program

5. USA Today: Opposing view on balancing the budget: Stop these tax hikes

6. The Wall Street Journal: Karl Rove: Friendly Fire on Capitol Hill

1. PA GOP: Professors Obama & Pelosi to Murphy: You Get an “A” In The LIBERAL Arts

Republican Party of Pennsylvania Spokesman Mike Barley released the following statement regarding news that 8th District Democratic Congressman Patrick Murphy has voted to advance the Obama-Pelosi Agenda 97% of the time according to The Washington Post.

“Make no mistake about it: Murphy is one of the most fierce supporters of the Obama-Pelosi Agenda,” said Barley, “Under their watch, unemployment and the national debt have nearly doubled with no end in sight. Patrick Murphy has voted to support the ultra-liberal Obama-Pelosi agenda 97% of the time, and by any standard, scoring a 97% on any test earns you an ‘A’.”

2. Reading Eagle: Corbett touts economic plan during visit to Robesonia-area company

Corbett, state attorney general and Republican candidate for governor, is visiting businesses around the state to learn more about their operations and to talk about what he would do to improve the economy and the business climate if he defeats Democrat Dan Onorato in the Nov. 2 election.

After touring the food distribution center and learning more about its computerized operation, Corbett talked about his plans with about 25 workers.

Corbett said he would reduce the corporate income tax rate and get rid of the inheritance tax that hurts families leaving small businesses and farms to their heirs.

3. The Times Leader: Independent poll shows 11th race a ‘tossup’

A poll done by an independent firm shows U.S. Rep. Paul Kanjorski struggling in his quest for a 14th term.

Kanjorski, 73, D-Nanticoke, is being challenged for the third time by Republican Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta in the 11th District race.

“We wouldn’t change our rating unless there were strong indicators indicating Barletta ahead,” said Stuart Rothenberg of the Rothenberg Political Report in Washington, D.C.

The Rothenberg Political Report will post today that it has moved the Barletta/Kanjorski race from “lean Democrat” to “toss-up/tilt Republican.”

The report states, “PA 11 Congressman Paul Kanjorski had a tough time disposing of challenger Lou Barletta (R), the mayor of Hazleton, and Barletta is running again, with polls showing serious trouble for the Democrat.”

4. The Hill: NRCC adds 33 to candidate program

The National Republican Congressional Committee Wednesday added 33 Republican candidates to its “On the Radar” and “Contender” lists.

“These candidates have worked hard to meet the benchmarks set to place them on the road to victory,” said NRCC Chairman Pete Sessions (Texas) in a statement. “With voters frustrated with an out-of-touch Democrat majority, these candidates are willing to take the necessary steps to achieve our goal of retiring Nancy Pelosi and winning and building a lasting Republican majority.”

Below is a full list of the candidates elevated by the committee.

On the Radar: Dee Adcock(Pa.-13), Jason Allen (Mich.-01), Dan Benishek (Mich.-01), Susan Bitter Smith (Ariz.-05), Tim Burns (Pa.-12), Donna Campbell (Texas-25), Peter Corrigan (Ohio-10), Hunt Downer (La.-03), John Gomez (N.Y.-02), Rich Iott (Ohio-09), Bill Johnson (Ohio-06), Jeff Landry (La.-03), Ben Lange (Iowa-01), Delia Lopez(Ore.-03), Mariannette Miller-Meeks (Iowa-02), Star Parker (Calif.-37), Keith Rothfus (Pa.-04), Frank Scaturro (N.Y.-04) and Brad Zaun (Iowa-03).

Contender: Charlie Bass (N.H.-02), Francisco Canseco (Texas-23), Dan Debicella (Conn.-04), Randy Demmer (Minn.-01), Chris Gibson (N.Y.-20), Jaime Herrera (Wash.-03), Dan Kapanke (Wis.-03), Mike Kelly (Pa.-03), John Koster (Wash.-02), Michele Rollins (Del.-At Large), Jon Runyan (N.J.-03), Bobby Schilling (Ill.-17), Scott Sipprelle (N.J.-12) and Steve Southerland (Fla.-02).

5. USA Today: Opposing view on balancing the budget: Stop these tax hikes

On Jan. 1, Democrats will raise taxes — the question is whose and for how long. By not extending critical tax relief enacted in 2001 and 2003, our nation would face the largest tax increase in history.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) would take a 1.4% hit — potentially enough to trigger another recession, the last thing out-of-work Americans need.

We need to stop these tax hikes and create a foundation for economic growth that, coupled with spending cuts, will reduce our massive budget deficits.

6. The Wall Street Journal: Karl Rove: Friendly Fire on Capitol Hill

Describing the White House last week, Congressional Democrats used words like “ineptness,” “neglected” and “disconcerting,” and phrases like “isn’t aggressive enough.” President Barack Obama has only himself to blame for these protests.

Well, maybe more than just himself. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs may have spoken the truth when he admitted Democrats could lose the House. He forgot that White House staffers are expected to be advocates, not prognosticators, when their party faces electoral defeat. Mr. Gibbs need not lie, but he could have been discreet.

PA GOP News Brief – 7.21.2010

1. PA GOP: Return The Money, Joe!

2. The Philadelphia Inquirer: Corbett speaks out on jobs, jobless

3. Lancaster New Era: Rendell tax plan running on empty

4. The Hill: New poll shows GOP lead in generic ballot

5. Delaware County Daily Times: Spencer: Stimulus spending not so stimulating

6. Town Hall: 2010 Race of the Day: Taking Back a Longtime GOP Seat in Pennsylvania

7. The Washington Times: Obama’s bogus pro-business credentials

1. PA GOP: Return The Money, Joe!

Republican Party of Pennsylvania Chairman Rob Gleason released the following statement regarding Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Joe “Says Tax” Sestak’s failure to honor his pledge to refuse any campaign contributions from recipients of his earmark requests.

“Apparently, the Joe Sestak way of doing business is ‘do as I say, not as I do,’” Gleason said. “For months, Joe Sestak has tried to portray himself as a man of principle, only to flip-flop on one of his highly-touted ethical pledges at the first sign of political inconvenience. If he refuses to hold himself accountable to his constituents as a Congressman, how can we trust him to be an ethical U.S. Senator?”

“Joe Sestak continues to strike out with Pennsylvanians who are sick and tired of the ‘business-as-usual’ style of politics. It’s time for Joe Sestak to stop this taxpayer-funded charade and return any and all campaign contributions from recipients of his earmarks!”

2. The Philadelphia Inquirer: Corbett speaks out on jobs, jobless

Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Corbett, outlining his plan to lift Pennsylvania out of the recession, addressed the issue of jobs and the jobless Tuesday for the first time in a public forum since his controversial comments about unemployed people 11 days earlier.

Corbett, who is state attorney general, said that as governor he would work to foster a better business climate by reducing the state’s corporate taxes and developing job-training programs tailored to employers’ current needs.

“We need to align education with opportunity,” he said, just as the Senate was voting in Washington to extend unemployment benefits.

3. Lancaster New Era: Rendell tax plan running on empty

Gov. Ed Rendell seemingly is relentless when it comes to adding to the financial burden of Pennsylvania taxpayers.

Now the governor wants to raise the gasoline tax by 3.25 cents per gallon, which he says would generate $200 million toward the $472 million needed to fund road improvements, bridge replacements and various transit projects.

Rendell would raise another $265 million by increasing fees for various licensing and registration documents, driver’s license, car registration, inspection sticker, driver-history report.

The remaining $7 million of the $472 million could be raised by cracking down on uninsured drivers. (One way to do this, Rendell says, would be to install surveillance cameras at toll plazas and highway ramps, snap pictures of licenses plates, and compare license plate numbers with insurance records).

4. The Hill: New poll shows GOP lead in generic ballot

Republicans have a five-point lead over Democrats in a generic congressional ballot, the latest Qunnipiac poll shows.

The survey, which was released Monday, showed that registered voters prefer Republicans 43-38 percent. Republicans have a strong lead among independent voters, 44 percent said they would vote for a Republican for their district in the midterm elections if they were held today, opposed to 29 percent who said they would vote for a Democrat.

5. Delaware County Daily Times: Spencer: Stimulus spending not so stimulating

Who creates jobs in this country? Big and small businessmen. Why aren’t they hiring people? Because they aren’t convinced that hiring them will help them make more money.

We live in a country with the highest corporate tax rate in the free world (35 percent). We live in one of the most litigious societies on the planet, under a government that regulates business as strongly as any in civilization. All these things combine to kill jobs and send them overseas.

6. Town Hall: 2010 Race of the Day: Taking Back a Longtime GOP Seat in Pennsylvania

Sprawling across Northeastern Pennsylvania, the 10th Congressional District, which includes more than a dozen counties, covers the towns of Shamokin, Williamsport and Carbondale and extends into the corner of the Keystone State touching the New York State border.

Although two-term Democrat Chris Carney currently represents the 10th District, it is historically conservative and is rated R+8 by the Cook Partisan Voter Index. This November he faces former United States Attorney Tom Marino, who emerged from a contested primary with a double-digit victory on May 18.

Before Chris Carney won in 2006, Republicans held this seat for more than four decades with McCain winning 54 percent of the vote in 2008 and George W. Bush winning with 60 percent in 2004. Although Chris Carney claims to be a prominent member of the Blue Dog Caucus, his record of voting with Nancy Pelosi nearly 91 percent of the time proves otherwise.

7. The Washington Times: Obama’s bogus pro-business credentials

The Obama administration wants Americans to think it is pro-business. Top aides to the president have made the case on television and elsewhere that major corporations are better off now because Obama policies saved the economy from a complete meltdown and that pro-trade policies going forward will keep things afloat.

No one can doubt that the combined policies of Presidents George W. Bush and Obama saved the day over the past couple of years. But any notion that Mr. Obama is a corporate advocate beyond that is ludicrous. Even the Business Roundtable – the most mild-mannered of Washington’s corporate lobbies – recently wrote a letter that made clear at great length that the president is no friend of business.

The impact of new federal regulations on the economy “is enormous, and often harmful,” the Roundtable wrote. In addition, it said, Obama proposals to increase taxes on multinational corporations would kill thousands of jobs here at home.

PA GOP News Brief – 7.20.2010

1)  Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: Donations Pit Senate Hopefuls

2) Centre Daily Times: Toomey, Sestak spar on earmarks, jobless benefits

3)  The Morning Call: Giuliani stumps for Dent, Barletta

4) Bucks County Courier-Times: Specter Asks White House For Job

5)  Lancaster New Era: Editorial: Obama policies lacking promise

6) Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: Editorial Fatal conceit

1)      Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: Donations Pit Senate Hopefuls

Sniping in the Pennsylvania Senate race continued Monday with Republican Pat Toomey calling on Democratic Rep. Joe Sestak to return thousands of dollars in donations and Sestak blaming Toomey, a former congressman, for the recession.

Sestak, of Delaware County, said he wouldn’t give back donations from top executives of companies to which he’d steered federal money…

“If you make a pledge and you don’t keep it, isn’t that being unaccountable?” said Toomey spokeswoman Nachama Soloveichik.

2)       Centre Daily Times: Toomey, Sestak spar on earmarks, jobless benefits

The candidates running for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania are sparring over earmarks and unemployment benefits.

Republican Pat Toomey on Monday called on Democrat Joe Sestak to return more than $100,000 in campaign donations from people who work for companies that received federal earmarks that he steered.

Sestak says he routinely returns money from the senior officers of those companies, but it’s hard to track donations from lower-level employees.

3)       The Morning Call: Giuliani stumps for Dent, Barletta

Republican Rudy Giuliani on Monday brought his message of fiscal conservatism and national security to fundraisers for Congressman Charlie Dent and U.S. House hopeful Lou Barletta, picking up criticism along the way.

The former New York City mayor highlighted his reaction to the terrorist attacks that launched his national profile and made his 2008 presidential primary bid possible.

“On Sept. 11, that evening, I asked the people of New York City not to take out their aggression against people who are Arab or Islamic,” he told reporters at Hotel Bethlehem. “And they didn’t. And that was the right thing to do. That doesn’t mean we have to close our eyes to what’s going on because a country that closes its eyes is a country that’s in danger.”

4)        Courier Times: Specter Asks White House For Job

An ABC News report citing unnamed sources that Sen. Arlen Specter might be discussing a government job with the White House inflamed the chairman of Pennsylvania’s Republican Party on Friday.

The report by the network’s senior White House correspondent, Jake Tapper, said Specter, D-Philadelphia, “informed the White House that he would like to consider remaining in public service after his Senate terms ends at the end of this session, and White House officials are keeping an open mind about possible job openings for him.”

The White House did not respond to requests for comment. Specter’s office declined to comment.

But state GOP Chairman Bob Gleason criticized the White House for helping political allies with jobs while failing to create jobs for average Americans or a business-friendly climate.

“After all the scrutiny the White House took over the job offer they presented to Joe Sestak and the dozens of unanswered questions still hanging out there, one has to wonder what they are thinking, considering Arlen Specter for a job,” Gleason said.

5)       Lancaster New Era: Editorial: Obama policies lacking promise

If it sounds too good to be true …

The American public would be wise to keep that familiar adage in mind when listening to the Obama administration’s upbeat assessment of last year’s $862 billion stimulus law.

A new White House report claims the stimulus has “saved or created” between 2.5 million and 3.6 million jobs.

That’s up from a previous report, when the figure was between 2.2 million and 2.8 million.

The number grows, it seems, with each passing quarter in a manner similar to Pinocchio’s nose.

Christina Romer, head of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, says the law “appears to be stimulating private investment and job creation at a time when the economy needs it most.”

Really? Where are all these jobs?

6)        Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: Editorial Fatal conceit

Consider it a metaphor for Obamanomics.

The special inspector general of the Troubled Asset Relief Program says the Obama administration’s auto task force acted prematurely in forcing General Motors and Chrysler to close scores of dealerships.

IG Neil Barofsky says the companies didn’t adequately consider the jobs that would be lost in related businesses and how that would affect the recession. He also says the task force did not have a firm idea of the supposed cost savings.

PA GOP News Brief 7.19.2010

1) PA GOP: PA GOP Launches PuntPelosi.com As Biden and Pelosi Stump for Congressional Democrats in Philadelphia

2) PA GOP: Who Says The White House Can’t Create Jobs… For Their Political Allies? Specter Seeking White House Gig

3) Rasmussen: Toomey 45%, Sestak 38%

4) Morning Call: Contol of Pa. House up for grabs in fall election

5)     Wall Street Journal: GOP Sees Path to Control of Senate

6) Associated Press: Democrats can’t win without Independent voters

7) Detroit News: Obama should listen to Business Leaders

Politico: Reality Gap: U.S. struggles, D.C. booms

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1) PA GOP: PA GOP Launches PuntPelosi.com As Biden and Pelosi Stump for Congressional Democrats in Philadelphia

Republican Party of Pennsylvania Chairman Rob Gleason released the following statement regarding Vice President Joe Biden and Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s fundraiser in Philadelphia on behalf of Pennsylvania Congressional Democrats:

“Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi know that the fate of the Democratic majority in the House rests in the hands of Pennsylvania voters who will be casting ballots in ten contested Congressional contests,” Gleason said.  “While San Francisco liberals will certainly re-elect Speaker Pelosi this November, Pennsylvania voters have the chance to strip the gavel out of her hands by voting to elect Republican candidates who will form a fiscally responsible majority.  That is why our Party is excited to launch PuntPelosi.com, a site that allows visitors to support our efforts to win Pennsylvania Congressional races and punt Pelosi out of the Speaker’s chair.”

2) PA GOP: Who Says The White House Can’t Create Jobs… For Their Political Allies? Specter Seeking White House Gig

Republican Party of Pennsylvania Chairman Rob Gleason released the following statement regarding news that the White House may try to bail out their political ally Arlen Specter with a job:

“While the White House has failed miserably to create jobs for or a friendly business climate, they have been successful in creating jobs if that means helping their political allies,” Gleason said.  “After all the scrutiny the White House took over the job offer they presented to Joe Sestak and the dozens of unanswered questions still hanging out there, one has to wonder what they are thinking considering Arlen Specter for a job.  Clearly, the White House’s political arrogance knows no bounds.  Don’t believe me, just ask Nancy Pelosi – The Speaker has been complaining that her Democratic members will be losing their jobs in November.

3) Rasmussen: Toomey 45%, Sestak 38%

The numbers remain little changed this month in Pennsylvania’s race for the U.S. Senate, with Republican Pat Toomey continuing to maintain a slight lead over Democrat Joe Sestak.

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Voters in the state shows Toomey with 45% support, while Sestak earns 38% of the vote. Six percent (6%) prefer some other candidate in the race, and 12% are undecided.

Last month, Toomey held a near-identical 45% to 39% lead.

In fact, except for a brief surge after his mid-May victory over incumbent Arlen Specter in the state’s Democratic Senate Primary, support for Sestak has remained in the 36% to 40% range in matchups with Toomey back to February. In those same surveys, Toomey has received 42% to 47% of the vote.

With this latest result, the race is shifting from Toss-Up to Leans Republican in the Rasmussen Reports Balance of Power rankings,

4)     Morning Call: Contol of Pa. House up for grabs in fall election

If Republicans pick up just three seats in the 203-member Pennsylvania House of Representatives in the November election, it could bring sweeping policy changes to a state that can’t seem to make up its mind whether it wants to be blue or red.

There will be plenty to talk about on the campaign trail, from the dysfunctional budget process and state spending to the “bonusgate” corruption cases and lingering resentment over the 2005 pay raise and the 2001 pension grab.

The campaign news this summer has focused on the two high-profile races for governor and U.S. Senate, but the outcome of legislative races could largely determine what the state does about its multibillion-dollar budget shortfall, the funding crisis for public-sector pensions and redistricting — not to mention the thousands of bills lawmakers will introduce over the coming two-year session.

The House is currently controlled by Democrats, 104-99, and Republicans are salivating at the chance to parlay a favorable national political climate into a return after four years to majority status.

5)       Wall Street Journal: GOP Sees Path to Control of Senate

Democrats for the first time are acknowledging that Republicans could retake the Senate this November if everything falls into place for the GOP, less than two years after Democrats held a daunting 60-seat majority.

Leaders of both parties have believed for months that Republicans could win the House, where every lawmaker faces re-election. But a change of party control in the Senate, where only a third of the members are running and Republicans must capture 10 seats, seemed out of the question.

That’s no longer the case. The emergence of competitive Republican candidates in Wisconsin, Washington and California—Democratic-leaning states where polls now show tight races—bring the number of seats that Republicans could seize from the Democrats to 11.

6)      Associated Press: Democrats can’t win without Independent voters

Democrat Joe Sestak — a son of the Philadelphia suburbs — needs the independent voters in his backyard as he campaigns for a Senate seat in a swing state that may tilt Republican this year.

Independents have been turning away from President Barack Obama and the Democratic Party, frustrated with the economic downturn and administration initiatives, even in Pennsylvania where Obama won by double-digits two years ago. Sestak, a two-term congressman, has his work cut out for him.

“To vote for any of them right now, I’m not really sure I could. It’s too early to say,” says Tori Fisher, 45, an artist selling handmade jewelry at a picnic table down the street from Sestak’s bustling campaign headquarters.

7) Detroit News: Obama should listen to Business Leaders

President Barack Obama asked business leaders last week exactly what it is about his policies that has them so fretful. He asked for specifics, and that’s what he got. If he bothers to read the concerns and act to ease them, he may at last find some traction for his faltering drive to revive the economy.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce responded to the president’s request with a detailed letter outlining what his administration has done to hurt business, and suggested some remedies.

As you might imagine, taxes topped the chamber’s list of grievances. Noting that Congress has passed $700 billion in tax increases, the business group asked that all of the tax cuts adopted in 2001 be extended. Congress and the White House aren’t sure which of the cuts they’ll allow to expire at the end of the year, and that has contributed to an increasingly uncertain environment for investors.

Politico: Reality Gap: U.S. struggles, D.C. booms

America is struggling with a sputtering economy and high unemployment — but times are booming for Washington’s governing class.

The massive expansion of government under President Barack Obama has basically guaranteed a robust job market for policy professionals, regulators and contractors for years to come. The housing market, boosted by the large number of high-income earners in the area, many working in politics and government, is easily outpacing the markets in most of the country. And there are few signs of economic distress in hotels, restaurants or stores in the D.C. metro area.

As a result, there is a yawning gap between the American people and D.C.’s powerful when it comes to their economic reality — and their economic perceptions.

A new POLITICO poll, conducted by market research and consulting firm Penn Schoen Berland, underscores the big divide: Roughly 45 percent of “Washington elites” said the country and the economy are headed in the right direction, while roughly 25 percent of the general population said they felt that way.

Mike Barley
Director of the Communications and Technology Departments

Republican Party of Pennsylvania
717-234-4901, ext. 115
mbarley@pagop.org