Archive for the ‘State’ Category

PA GOP News Brief 9.1.10

1. PA GOP: Sestak Tries, Fails To Use Common Sense

2.    Delaware County Times: Guest Column: Sestak tax would see rates rocket

3.    The Mercury: GOP candidate: Reduce spending, extend tax cuts, repeal Obamacare

4.    Rasmussen Reports: Election 2010: Pennsylvania Senate

5.    The Washington Times: Editorial: Democrats party while nation suffers

1. PA GOP: Sestak Tries, Fails To Use Common Sense

Republican Party of Pennsylvania Chairman Rob Gleason released the following statement regarding U.S. Senate Democratic candidate Joe Sestak’s continued refusal to take responsibility for his latest earmark scandal.

“How many times must the people of Pennsylvania be subjected to another scandal involving Joe Sestak, and how many times must we be forced to watch him refuse to take responsibility for his actions?,” Gleason said. “No matter how often he tries to avoid the countless questions regarding his actions, it was Joe Sestak who requested an unethical $350,000 earmark so that a group dedicated to promoting the ideals of a Founding Father could supposedly build a wind turbine.

“Joe Sestak’s office said he did ‘due diligence’ when his office decided to pursue this unethical earmark. Knowing what we know about the Thomas Paine Foundation, does it sound like an organization that is active in the field of turbine construction? Did Joe Sestak miss the fact that the Thomas Paine Foundation hadn’t filed with the IRS in the past six years, or did he just not care?

“Once again, the voters of Pennsylvania are left to draw their own conclusions regarding this shady situation. It’s time for Joe Sestak to learn that leaders stand up and take responsibility for their actions.”

2.Delaware County Times: Guest Column: Sestak tax would see rates rocket

Common sense says that if you impose a massive tax on a product, that product will be more expensive. And if that product is essential to a particular sector of our economy, then we will witness job losses in that sector. In fact, if I told you that taxing a particular industry would create jobs in that industry, you would probably laugh out loud.

Last spring, Congressman Sestak co-sponsored and voted for a cap-and-trade bill that would impose a massive tax on energy … This is a non-controversial concept. And a host of independent studies and bipartisan elected officials across Pennsylvania understand it — but not Congressman Sestak.

2. The Mercury: GOP candidate: Reduce spending, extend tax cuts, repeal Obamacare

Congressional candidate Dee Adcock says the best way to strengthen the nation’s economy is to pull the plug on the remaining money in the “stimulus” package approved last year.

For the sake of cost certainty, Adcock also said Congress should act to extend the current tax cuts set to expire at the end of the year, even for Americans making more than $250,000 annually.

4. Rasmussen Reports: Election 2010: Pennsylvania Senate

Republican Pat Toomey continues to hold a modest lead over his Democratic Challenger, Joe Sestak, in the U.S. Senate race in Pennsylvania.

A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Voters in the state finds Toomey earning 45% of the vote, while Sestak earns 39% support. Five percent (5%) prefer some other candidate, and 11% are not sure.

5. The Washington Times: Editorial: Democrats party while nation suffers

It’s striking how little empathy Democrats seem to have for the economic troubles facing ordinary Americans. While unemployment and underemployment rates remain sky-high, economic growth falters. During the last quarter of 2009, gross domestic product grew 1.4 percent, but that figure fell to 0.9 percent in the first quarter of this year and just 0.4 percent in the second. “Now the fun stuff starts!” Vice President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. said in a bubbly interview with Time magazine last week regarding the administration’s stimulus plan. “This is a chance to do something big, man!”

The team at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. has more interest in redecorating the Oval Office than in feeling your pain. In fact, it is downright excited to take advantage of the economic downturn to push the stuff that otherwise could never be done.

PA GOP News Brief – 8.26.10

1. Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: Toomey defends financial positions during campaign stop

2. Indiana Gazette: Gubernatorial hopeful Corbett tours IRMC

3. The Morning Call: Dent takes aim at Callahan

4. The Patriot News: Republican candidates in Pennsylvania senate, governor’s races lead among likely voters, poll shows

5. The Wall Street Journal: Karl Rove: Honey, I Shrunk My Approval Ratings

1. Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: Toomey defends financial positions during campaign stop

Republican Senate candidate Pat Toomey yesterday accused Democrats of “demagoguery” for criticizing his positions on Social Security and deregulating the financial instruments some blame for deepening the recession.

Toomey, a former Lehigh County congressman, said he still supports a law that exempted derivatives from some of the laws governing securities. He noted the law — the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000 — passed the House by a vote of 377 to 4, passed the Senate unanimously and was signed by Democratic President Bill Clinton.

“That bill did absolutely nothing to cause the financial crisis, and no credible person has tried to make that argument,” Toomey said between campaign stops in Butler and McCandless. Asked whether he’d vote for it again, he said: “Yes. I think all 377 (House members) would vote for it again.”

2. Indiana Gazette: Gubernatorial hopeful Corbett tours IRMC

Gubernatorial candidate Tom Corbett said while he hasn’t read all 2,000 pages of the health care reform bill, he’s heard from community hospitals such as Indiana Regional Medical Center that the impact is “going to be hard.”

As Pennsylvania’s attorney general, Corbett joined a lawsuit with a number of other states challenging the constitutionality of the bill, which was signed into law by the president in March.

“It is such a challenging issue for the next governor,” he told administrators and staff at IRMC Tuesday afternoon. “We’re not counting on Washington; we’re doing everything we can.”

3. The Morning Call: Dent takes aim at Callahan

Gearing up for perhaps his toughest re-election fight, three-term Congressman Charlie Dent cast an opponent Wednesday as a tax-and-spend Democrat who had been “deceptive” about his own record and is ducking major issues like national security.

Meanwhile, Republican Dent described himself as serving as a “check and balance against reckless spending and job-killing legislation.”

4. The Patriot News: Republican candidates in Pennsylvania senate, governor’s races lead among likely voters, poll shows

With voter anxiety over the shaky economy and faltering recovery, Republican candidates at the top of Pennsylvania’s ballot are riding high.

The poll points to ominous signs for Democrats. Voters are pessimistic about the state’s direction, the economy, and the performance of President Barack Obama, Madonna said. And Democratic voters say they are less likely to vote than Republicans.

5. The Wall Street Journal: Karl Rove: Honey, I Shrunk My Approval Ratings

In what will rank as one of the all-time presidential PR disasters, we’re now well over half way through what the White House called “the summer of recovery.” And what a recovery it’s been.

Earlier this month, first-time claims for unemployment hit a nine-month high. The unemployment rate remains at 9.5% and 18.4% of workers are out of a job, can only get part-time work, or have given up looking for a job altogether. Sales of existing homes dropped 27% from June to July, hitting the lowest point since data were first collected in 1999. The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index fell to 50.4 in July, continuing a slide that started in February. And the stock market is down 11% from its peak in April.

All of this has helped shatter public confidence in the president. In early May, Mr. Obama’s approval on the economy in the YouGov/Polimetrix poll was 42%. By mid-August, it was 35%—a frightening number for Democrats less than 70 days from a midterm election.

PA GOP News Brief 8.24.10

1. PA GOP: Blago: My Scandal And ‘Job-gate’ Are The “Same”

2. Philadelphia Inquirer: Toomey Stresses Economy As He Begins Tour Of Pennsylvania

3. Wilkes-Barre Citizens’ Voice: Toomey: Bailout Not Fair To Taxpayers

4. Chambersburg Public Opinion: Pennsylvania Gubernatorial Candidate Tom Corbett Campaigns In Chambersburg

5. The Hill: House GOP Leader To Call On Obama To Fire Geithner, Summers

1. PA GOP: Blago: My Scandal And ‘Job-gate’ Are The “Same”

Republican Party of Pennsylvania Chairman Rob Gleason was not surprised to learn that impeached former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich is equating his attempts to sell a U.S. Senate seat in Illinois with the White House’s attempts to bribe Joe Sestak out of the U.S. Senate race.

“You know it’s a bad time to be Joe Sestak when Rod Blagojevich is one of your biggest ‘Job-gate’ defenders,” Gleason said. “For months, Joe Sestak has refused to ‘spill the beans’ regarding the White House’s attempts to bribe him out of the U.S. Senate race, providing a series of confusing statements that have led to more questions than answers. It’s been seven months since ‘Job-gate’ first broke, and it looks like the only one who understands what happened is Rod Blagojevich.

2. Philadelphia Inquirer: Toomey Stresses Economy As He Begins Tour Of Pennsylvania

Republican Senate candidate Pat Toomey rolled into town in an RV wallpapered with his campaign posters, on the first day of a four-day tour through 21 counties to argue that wrongheaded Democratic economic policies have failed to lift Main Street out of recession.

“I definitely want to see some changes, some new people in office,” Todd Miller, owner of M&S True Value Hardware on Broad Street, said when Toomey asked him how business was.

Earlier, in a speech to the Pennsylvania Press Club in Harrisburg, Toomey noted that the state had lost 71,700 jobs since the $787 billion federal stimulus was approved in early 2009. That bill was supposed to reduce the national unemployment rate to below 8 percent, he said.

“Where is the recovery?” Toomey asked.

3. Wilkes-Barre Citizens’ Voice: Toomey: Bailout Not Fair To Taxpayers

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Pat Toomey accused Democratic candidate Joe Sestak of supporting Democratic policies designed to turn the country into “a European-style welfare state.”

Citing the Wall Street and the automobile industry bailouts, the $787 billion economic stimulus package and the $940 billion health-care reform bill, Toomey said they have led to “deficits and debt that are completely unaffordable” and a tepid economic recovery.

4. Chambersburg Public Opinion: Pennsylvania Gubernatorial Candidate Tom Corbett Campaigns In Chambersburg

Local businessman William Gindlesperger on Monday pitched his Chambersburg company’s procurement technology to Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Corbett, Pennsylvania attorney general.

Corbett and his “More Jobs, Less Taxes” bus stopped Monday at e-LYNXX in Chambersburg as part of the his statewide campaign tour of innovative businesses.

Corbett and his wife, Susan, toured the e-LYNXX offices at 1051 Sheffler Drive for about 45 minutes.

“We enjoyed the learning experience,” Corbett told Gindlesperger and a small audience. “You’re going to allow small business to compete with large business. We need every savings we can get. You just presented me an option (on how to save money).”

5. The Hill: House GOP Leader To Call On Obama To Fire Geithner, Summers

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) is blasting the Obama administration’s economic policies in a speech Tuesday and calling on the president to fire his top two economic lieutenants.

Boehner, in prepared remarks, wants President Obama to ask for and accept the resignations of Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Larry Summers, head of the National Economic Council. Firing his economic team is one of five actions Boehner argues the president should take to right the economy.

Boehner criticized the administration’s economic team for lacking private sector experience, saying employers and small businesses are “rightly frustrated” by the administration. “The lack of real-world, hands-on experience shows in the policies of this administration,” Boehner plans to say.

PA GOP News Brief 8.11.10

1. PA GOP: Dan Onorato Attempts To Exploit The Tea Party

2. Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: Onorato allies aid Tea Party candidacy

3. Wayne Independent: Corbett rallies GOP party

4. The Daily Local News: Gerlach questions Trivedi’s resume

5. The Scranton Times Tribune: Barletta hits Kanjorski for not endorsing Paterno medal bid

6. The Washington Times: Democratic decline

1. PA GOP: Dan Onorato Attempts To Exploit The Tea Party

Republican Party of Pennsylvania Chairman Rob Gleason released the following statement regarding the allegations that Dan Onorato supporters and Democrat operatives circulated petitions for John Krupa, a candidate claiming to be the Tea Party nominee for Governor.

“It’s obvious that Dan Onorato is willing to resort to dishonest tactics in a desperate attempt to improve his chances to win elections this fall,” Gleason said. “The allegations made against the Onorato campaign and the Democratic Party, as they pertain to their involvement with John Krupa’s nominating papers, are extremely troubling.

“Dan Onorato and the Democratic Party need to answer some questions immediately with regard to his involvement with John Krupa’s campaign.  How involved was Dan Onorato in this attempt to hijack the Tea Party, a desperate attempt to help his faltering campaign? Who came up with the idea of deploying Onorato loyalists to gather petitions on behalf of John Krupa, and who was making the key decisions during that process?

2. Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: Onorato allies aid Tea Party candidacy

Members of unions that endorsed Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato, as well as one of his campaign workers, helped get Tea Party candidate John Krupa onto Pennsylvania’s gubernatorial ballot for November’s election, state records show.

Krupa, 59, of Clinton County filed petitions Aug. 2 with more than 24,000 signatures to get his name on the ballot. Among those who gathered signatures are officers of building trades unions, whose statewide organization unanimously endorsed Onorato on June 9 — including several officers from a Pittsburgh union hall where Onorato announced his candidacy and celebrated his primary victory.

Another Krupa petition circulator, Heather Damron of Lehigh County, was paid $1,000 by Onorato’s campaign for his petition drive four months earlier.

3. Wayne Independent: Corbett rallies GOP party

Republican gubernatorial candidate and state Attorney General Tom Corbett spoke to a group of supporters Friday afternoon, emphasizing the importance of getting Republicans out to vote in the upcoming mid-term election.

Corbett, who is hoping to replace Gov. Edward G. Rendell, told supporters that the upcoming November general election will “change the course of Pennsylvania. This election is about our grandchildren growing up in a Pennsylvania we grew up in,” he said.

4. The Daily Local News: Gerlach questions Trivedi’s resume

The campaign of U.S. Rep. Jim Gerlach, a Republican from West Pikeland, has called into question the resume of his opponent in the race for the 6th District.

Gerlach spokesman Mark Campbell said in a recent interview Trivedi does not work at the hospital but has used his employment there as “the entire underpinning of his campaign.”

5. The Scranton Times Tribune: Barletta hits Kanjorski for not endorsing Paterno medal bid

Congressman would rather focus on jobs.

Penn State’s beloved 83-year-old football coach Joe Paterno landed smack in the middle of one of Pennsylvania’s most bitter Congressional races on Tuesday, adding a football twist to an already heated political contest.

Waging his third attempt to unseat U.S. Rep. Paul E. Kanjorski, D-Nanticoke, Republican Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta questioned why Mr. Kanjorski refused to sign a letter endorsing Mr. Paterno for the Presidential Medal of Freedom. A bipartisan group of 17 Pennsylvania congressman and one Virginia congressman nominated Mr. Paterno for America’s highest civilian honor, saying his record on and off the field merit presidential recognition.

“It’s extremely hard to comprehend why Kanjorski did not sign this nomination letter for JoePa,” Mr. Barletta’s spokesman, Shawn Kelly, said in a news release. “Even the most die-hard fans of other teams recognize Joe Paterno’s place in the history of college sports. By failing to sign this letter, Kanjorski shows once again how out of touch he is.”

6. The Washington Times: Democratic decline

Polls show the public knows Democratic policies have hurt the country. Having no defense, Democrats have ramped up efforts to blame George W. Bush for today’s troubles, going so far as to distribute “Blame Bush” pocket cards with talking points attacking the former president. American voters are too smart to fall for the blame game.

Voter focus this year should be on Congress. This is because the economy started to go haywire once Democrats took over Capitol Hill. The rule has held for 20 years. The economy sputtered under Democratic Congresses in the early 1990s until Republicans won majorities in 1994. A stock-market rally began that very day, and the boom lasted with only one interruption (following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks) all the way into early 2007.

In 2007, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid took control of the House and Senate respectively and accelerated a spending spree begun on a smaller scale under President Bush. Democrats pushed heavier regulations, more debt and a weaker dollar – and investor confidence evaporated. Panic started building in August 2007. Eventually, the whole economy tanked.

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PA GOP News Brief – 8.4.10

1. The Morning Call: Dent visits Gulf Coast

2. The Pubilus Foundation: Onorato Reveals Plan to Illegally Extort Jobs from Marcellus Drillers

3. Redstate: Corbett steady as Toomey and Sestak joust

4. The Hill: GOP could dominate state redistricting

5. The Washington Times: Our sputtering economic engine

1. The Morning Call: Dent visits Gulf Coast

After nearly two days spent in the Gulf Coast to survey the region’s post- oil spill conditions, U.S. Rep. Charlie Dent said Tuesday he’s returning even more convinced that a moratorium on offshore drilling needs to be lifted.

Dent, a high-ranking Republican on the Homeland Security Committee, visited with Homeland Security and Coast Guard officials as well as local government and business leaders. The latter, Dent said, are worried about their economy in the aftermath of April’s BP oil rig explosion that has pumped up to 184.3 million gallons of oil into the Gulf, according to federal estimates.

“They do not want this environmental disaster to become an economic catastrophe,” the Lehigh Valley congressman said in a phone interview. “People down here are very anxious and panicked. You get a real, palpable sense down here.”

2. The Pubilus Foundation: Onorato Reveals Plan to Illegally Extort Jobs from Marcellus Drillers

In a stunning development in the debate over Marcellus Shale exploration, Allegheny County Executive and Democratic gubernatorial nominee Dan Onorato suggested “he’d pressure natural gas drilling companies to hire Pennsylvania residents by threatening to withhold state drilling permits,” Scott Detrow of State House Sound Bites reported.

Elaborating on this strategy, Onorato said, “I think all governors apply pressure on every industry. The whole idea of being governor is you try to bring jobs and improve the economy of your state. We have a golden opportunity here, with the Marcellus Shale find. But we get one chance to get it right.”

Onorato’s approach to the handling of drilling permits is, simply put, a plan to extort jobs from natural gas drilling companies and his explanation of the Governor’s role in the economy reveals that he would, apparently, approach all businesses in this way if he is given the chance to do so. This approach is also, importantly, not legal and Governor Ed Rendell pointed this out when he said, “It’s not what we do. And you might be able to do that, but you’d probably have to change some regulations or get some legislation.”

3. Redstate: Corbett steady as Toomey and Sestak joust

While the Pennsylvania Senate race has lived up to my expectations of volatility (Rasmussen has swing from Pat Toomey +8 to Joe Sestak +4 back to Toomey +6 most recently), the race for Governor has been pretty boring.

No matter how many times this race gets polled, Republican Tom Corbett defies the recent partisan trend of Pennsylvania and consistently leads Democrat Dan Onorato, most recently by 11.

4. The Hill: GOP could dominate state redistricting

Republicans could hold complete control over the redistricting process in several key states after the 2010 elections.

If the party’s gubernatorial candidates were to emerge with wins in Texas, Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Michigan — all states where Republicans either lead or are tied in recent polls — and the GOP holds or wins control of legislative chambers in those same states, Republicans could monopolize the post-2010 redraw.

“If Republicans do really well on Election Day, they could swing a lot more seats that they would have control over,” said analyst Kimball Brace, who heads Election Data Services, a bipartisan firm that specializes in the census and redistricting. “A shift of 10 to 15 [state legislative] chambers is enough to swing [the process] dramatically toward the Republicans.”

5. The Washington Times: Our sputtering economic engine

As the nation’s economic engine continues to sputter, Americans are wondering when the administration’s promised “recovery summer” is going to start. From a peak annual growth rate of 5 percent last autumn, the measure of gross domestic product slid to 3.7 percent in the first quarter of 2010 and was down to 2.4 percent by the end of June. With 561 days as president under his belt, Barack Obama no longer has the luxury of passing blame for the situation to his predecessor, George W. Bush.

That’s a troubling thought for congressional Democrats who, in just three months, face midterm elections at the hands of a public dissatisfied with the state of affairs. According to an Angus Reid survey released last week, 86 percent of Americans rated the economic conditions as “poor” or “very poor,” while a mere 11 percent found the conditions to be “good” or “very good.” The positive responses are down from 15 percent in April. As if that weren’t bad enough, Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner told ABC’s “Good Morning America” yesterday that things are likely to grow worse in the short term. Mr. Geithner predicted that unemployment would rise, which is an obvious consequence of the lack of growth in the private sector.

PA GOP News Brief – 8.3.10

1. Reading Eagle: Corbett touts plan to create jobs during stop in Perry

2. The Philadelphia Inquirer: Maine’s Sen. Collins, a key moderate, helps raise cash for Toomey

3. The Times Leader: Pat Toomey says spending is out of control

4. National Review Online: Sestak’s Double-Talk on Fiscal Responsibility

5. The Washington Times: Obama’s immigration back door

1. Reading Eagle: Corbett touts plan to create jobs during stop in Perry

Pennsylvania not only needs to create new jobs, it must hold on to the ones it has, the Republican candidate for governor said after touring a Perry Township brick plant Monday.

“We’re going to reduce the business taxes that prevent us from growing or having new business come to Pennsylvania.”

2. The Philadelphia Inquirer: Maine’s Sen. Collins, a key moderate, helps raise cash for Toomey

Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, a prominent moderate Republican, raised campaign cash Monday for Pennsylvania GOP Senate nominee Pat Toomey, a conservative who as recently as last year was trying to defeat people such as Collins.

The endorsement could provide ammunition for Toomey against his Democratic opponent, Rep. Joe Sestak, as they battle to seize the middle ground and define each other as an extremist.

After a fund-raising lunch at the Union League, Collins and Toomey said they were united around the core Republican principles of lower taxes, limited government, and individual freedom.

Never mind that the Club for Growth, a free-market advocacy group that Toomey ran until he declared his Senate candidacy last year, had skewered Collins as “Comrade of the Month” for her vote for President Obama’s stimulus legislation.

“This is a pivotal race,” Collins said. “It is one of those key Senate races that is going to determine whether the Republicans are able to regain control of the Senate or at least increase our numbers so we can be an effective check on the excesses of this administration.“

3. The Times Leader: Pat Toomey says spending is out of control

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Pat Toomey on Monday laid out what he termed were the very clear differences between himself and his opponent – Democrat U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak.

Toomey, 48, and Sestak, 58, will square off in November for the seat currently held by former longtime Republican U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, now a Democrat, of Philadelphia.

“Spending in Washington is completely out of control,” Toomey said to supporters at the GOP headquarters on South Main Street. “It’s preventing job growth, and Joe Sestak is voting to make it worse.”

Toomey, who served three terms in Congress before going back to private industry, said Sestak voted for more than $3.5 trillion in new deficits.

“He supported the Wall Street bailouts, the auto bailout, the bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the stimulus, and the government-run health care bill, and he thinks the government isn’t spending enough money,” Toomey said of Sestak.

4. National Review Online: Sestak’s Double-Talk on Fiscal Responsibility

In a rather bizarre interview yesterday, Joe Sestak said that Democrat Party leadership (with whom he votes 97% of the time), has failed to “change politics in Washington, DC.”

Sestak thinks Pennsylvanians “just want to know if you’re trustworthy, and are you going to try to handle the tough problems.”

Also, the obligatory supply-side dig: “I don’t think we can go back to the types of policies that benefit the well-to-do, in a belief that wealth will trickle down.”

Yes, clearly, Joe Sestak gets it. After all, what better way to “handle the tough problems” than to devote one’s time in office to increasing spending (i.e. citizens’ debt obligations)?

5. The Washington Times: Obama’s immigration back door

The Obama administration’s way to deal with the problem of illegal immigration is to declare it legal. This is the upshot of an 11-page memo from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) about “Administrative alternatives to comprehensive immigration reform.” As the title suggests, it is a compendium of backdoor measures the executive branch claims it can take without having to deal with pesky things like congressional authorization.

The Obama administration is seeking to “reduce the threat of removal” for “individuals present in the United States without authorization,” employing the latest euphemism for illegal aliens. The fact that the government considers removal of people who have crossed the border illegally a “threat” is noteworthy; USCIS apparently considers its statutory obligation to take action against illegal immigration more of a menace than the outlaw migrants themselves.

PA GOP News Brief – 8.2.10

1. NRCC: Double Whammy: Murphy Sits on Funds from Another Corrupt Colleague

2. The Morning Call: Toomey calls for cooperation on debt

3. KDKA: Butler Co. Republican Challenging Dahlkemper

4. Philadelphia Daily News: They’re running for lieutenant governor

5. Rasmussen Reports: Election 2010: Pennsylvania Governor

6. The Wall Street Journal: Ethical Woes Fog Democrat Hopes for November

1. NRCC: Double Whammy: Murphy Sits on Funds from Another Corrupt Colleague

As Patrick Murphy continues to hold tightly onto dirty campaign contributions from corrupt Democrat colleague Charlie Rangel, a new round of charges from a House Ethics panel reveal that Murphy is sitting on even more tainted money. That’s because Democrat Maxine Waters has been charged with abusing her power in order to steer bailout funds to a bank with ties to Waters’ family. Waters has given Murphy at least $1,000, meaning that the Pennsylvania Democrat is sitting on $20,000 in tainted funds between the two troubled lawmakers. (Source: FEC)

“By holding onto thousands in dirty campaign contributions, Patrick Murphy is sending a clear message that he has no problem with the corruption that has been a hallmark of Democrat rule in Washington,” said NRCC Communications Director Ken Spain. “Despite empty promises to ‘drain the swamp,’ Democrats like Murphy are offering a silent endorsement of possible major ethics violations. The pressure to hand over these funds has been mounting for years, but Murphy is content to hold onto tainted money from colleagues whose violations appear so blatant that they will soon be defending them in front of a jury.”

2. The Morning Call: Toomey calls for cooperation on debt

Progress on the national debt and on looming Medicare and Social Security insolvencies will be more likely if Republicans regain control of the House, Pat Toomey, Pennsylvania’s Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, told The Associated Press on Thursday in an extensive interview.

Buy-in from both parties will be needed to reform huge programs, and there’s no way one party can ram through the kind of change that the country needs to deal with a record-high $13 trillion national debt, he said.

3. KDKA: Butler Co. Republican Challenging Dahlkemper

One race for Congress just north of Pittsburgh is expected to be hotly contested this fall.

Kelly is taking on Democratic incumbent Dahlkemper in the 3rd Congressional District that stretches from Erie south to Armstrong and Butler counties.

4. Philadelphia Daily News: They’re running for lieutenant governor

The Philly Daily News ran a great profile of Jim Cawley as they take a closer look at the Lt. Governor candidates on the ballot this year.  Jim Cawley is a great candidate and we are fortunate to have him out working on the trail so hard for the Corbett-Cawley ticket.
A lawyer friend who follows politics recently asked me who Tom Corbett’s running mate is in the upcoming race for governor.

I had to think.

Well, if you don’t know, says the lawyer, how do any of us?

So here goes. It’s Bucks County Commissioner Jim Cawley, the Republican-endorsed candidate for lieutenant governor who won a nine-way spring primary with 26 percent of the vote.

…

Cawley, 41, was born in Bristol, grew up in Levittown and lives in Langhorne. His father was a letter carrier, his mother a secretary. He went to Temple University for undergrad and law school.

He was, for a decade, a top aide to state Sen. Bob “Tommy” Tomlinson, R-Bucks County, before being elected county commissioner, a post he’s held since 2005. He also does some real-estate law with the Philly mega-firm Saul Ewing.

He’s married and has an adopted child. As commissioner, he’s pushed for and gotten no new taxes for the last four years, and cut the size of the county budget.

Like Corbett, he’s pro-life and a “strong supporter” of the Second Amendment.

5. Rasmussen Reports: Election 2010: Pennsylvania Governor

Little has changed in Pennsylvania’s race for governor, with Republican State Attorney General Tom Corbett earning 50% support this month against Democrat Dan Onorato.

The latest Rasmussen Reports statewide telephone survey of Likely Voters shows Onorato, the chief executive of Allegheny County, picking up 39% of the vote. Three percent (3%) prefer some other candidate, and eight percent (8%) are undecided.

Corbett held a similar lead two weeks ago and at the end of June.

In May, just after both candidates won their party primaries, Corbett was ahead 49% to 36%.  In surveys since February, the Republican’s support has ranged from 45% to 52%, while the Democrat’s in the same period has grown from 26% to 39%.

Corbett holds a 12-point lead among men and is ahead by 10 points among women.

6. The Wall Street Journal: Ethical Woes Fog Democrat Hopes for November

Two possible ethics trials of senior Democratic members of Congress are compounding the governing party’s political woes and raising hopes among Republican leaders that they can make large gains in November’s mid-term elections.

On Sunday, Republicans sought to capitalize on the ethics troubles of Democratic Reps. Charles Rangel of New York and Maxine Waters of California.

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R., Ohio) said on Fox News that Democrats had failed to “drain the swamp” of House ethics as they had promised.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) moved to limit the damage, saying the proceedings facing the two members show that Democrats are taking ethics seriously. “When I came in, we said, ‘We’ll drain the swamp,’ and we did,” she said on ABC’s “This Week.”

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 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