Posts Tagged ‘Toomey’

PA GOP News Brief – 8.27.10

1. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Political poll shows Toomey, Corbett ahead

2. Erie Times-News: Toomey campaigns in Erie, Crawford counties

3. Centre Daily Times: GOP candidates stump at Grange Fair

4. The Hill: New ad slams Sestak’s votes on the economy

5. Scranton Times-Tribune: Kanjorski’s projects don’t always pan out

1. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Political poll shows Toomey, Corbett ahead

A new poll shows Republican Pat Toomey ahead of Democrat Joe Sestak in their U.S. Senate race.

The Franklin & Marshall College poll shows Mr. Toomey with the support of 40 percent of likely voters to Mr. Sestak’s 31 percent. About a quarter remain undecided with about 9 weeks left until the Nov. 2 general election.

Mr. Toomey and Mr. Sestak are vying for the seat currently held by Arlen Specter, who was knocked off by Mr. Sestak in the primary.

2. Erie Times-News: Toomey campaigns in Erie, Crawford counties

U.S. Senate candidate Pat Toomey brought his RV tour of Pennsylvania communities to a mostly friendly audience in Erie but encountered a few speed bumps.

Toomey, the GOP candidate in one of the most closely watched Senate races in the nation, spoke Thursday morning to about 50 people at the Manufacturer & Business Association.

Toomey, a former Lehigh County congressman, told the group that he wants to create job growth and restore what he called balance and fiscal sanity to Washington, D.C.

Toomey, who is running against Democrat Joe Sestak, made Erie and the Crawford County Fair two stops on the final day of his 23-county, four-day “more jobs, less government” recreational-vehicle tour.

3. Centre Daily Times: GOP candidates stump at Grange Fair

Fairgoers saw a lot of Republican red Thursday while the Centre County Democratic Committee’s booth, two tents away, stood empty.

Pennsylvania lieutenant governor candidate Jim Cawley joked about the absence of his opponent, Rep. Scott Conklin, who is also seeking reelection to the state’s 77th House District.

“Maybe he can’t figure out which sign he has to put up: the lieutenant governor sign or the state representative sign,” Cawley said as he waited for U.S. Senate candidate Pat Toomey’s bus to arrive.

The Centre County Republican Committee tent buzzed with activity as Toomey dropped in for about 30 minutes and got a quick tour of the grounds with Joyce Haas, the Republican who’s running against Conklin for the 77th district seat.

4. The Hill: New ad slams Sestak’s votes on the economy

The Club for Growth on Friday announced a new ad that criticizes Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Penn.) for supporting mortgage and energy reform, and the stimulus bill, saying the votes were too liberal and too expensive for Pennsylvania voters.

“We can’t afford Joe Sestak’s liberal schemes,” the ad states.

The ad is the group’s first against Sestak as he and Rep. Pat Toomey (R-Penn.) vie for the seat currently held by Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Penn.).

5. Scranton Times-Tribune: Kanjorski’s projects don’t always pan out

As unemployment remains high and polls show voters nervous about the economy, U.S. Rep. Paul E. Kanjorski, facing re-election, is doing everything he can to focus on bringing jobs to the area.

Last week, Mr. Kanjorski casually dropped word that a hybrid automobile manufacturer is considering Northeast Pennsylvania for a national headquarters and factory that could eventually employ 4,000 people.

“They came to us,” Mr. Kanjorski said.

On Thursday, Mr. Kanjorski took officials of the U.S. Department of State and the General Services Administration on a tour of Earth Conservancy land because they are looking for a place to build a center to train about 10,000 people a year in diplomatic security. If built here, it could mean 1,000 jobs, Mr. Kanjorski said.

The common thread to the two developments is this: Mr. Kanjorski is getting attention as he runs for election, but neither is guaranteed.

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 – 8.25.10

1. Philadelphia Daily News: Toomey’s window has a view of DC

2. PA GOP: Time For DRPA Chairman John Estey To Go! Does Onorato agree?

3. The Hill: Boehner dials up attack on Obama; calls for firing of White House economic team

4. PA 2010: Rothfus says Altmire’s mosque opposition just posturing

5. Altoona Mirror: Obama props lacking

1. Philadelphia Daily News: Toomey’s window has a view of DC

There’s no mystery behind what looks like a surge for Pat Toomey.

Elections turn on windows opening at various times on various issues. Toomey’s benefiting from an open window with a view of a sour economy.

And in the Senate race pitting Republican Toomey against Democrat Joe Sestak, at the moment little else matters: If that window stays open on the same view, you might want to get used to calling Toomey “Senator.”

Sestak, naturally, disagrees.

He tells me that he sees no Toomey surge and says that Pennsylvanians realize that economic damage didn’t just happen: “It happened on his watch [Toomey was in Congress from 1999 to 2005] and because of policies he supported.”

Still, there’s a wind at Toomey’s back.

All polling shows dissatisfaction with incumbents on voters’ top priorities – jobs and the economy. Toomey plays to this, asking, “Where is this recovery?”

2. PA GOP: Time For DRPA Chairman John Estey To Go! Does Onorato agree?

Republican Party of Pennsylvania Chairman Rob Gleason released the following statement regarding the ongoing corruption scandals at the Delaware River Port Authority and called on DRPA Chairman John Estey to resign today.

“With an audit detailing excessive salaries, obscene car allowances and abuses of EZ Pass, I think many would agree that the way the DRPA is doing business under the leadership of John Estey is not in the best interests of the taxpayers,” Gleason said.  “Why wait to resign Mr. Estey?  Resign today!  I believe that every day that John Estey is allowed to stay in this position is another day that we allow mismanagement and a lack of leadership to continue at the DRPA.  In order for real reforms to take place and to help begin the long process of gaining back the public’s trust in the DRPA, Estey should resign now.”

…

“DRPA has put forth some reform measures only after getting caught; however, keeping Estey is akin to allowing a serial bank robber to guard the bank vault.”

3. The Hill: Boehner dials up attack on Obama; calls for firing of White House economic team

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

Boehner 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.

The White House fired back from the highest level. Speaking at a stimulus act event at the White House Tuesday, Vice President Biden ripped Boehner’s call to fire Geithner and Summers.

4. PA 2010: Rothfus says Altmire’s mosque opposition just posturing

If there’s one thing on which Congressman Jason Altmire (D-4) and Republican opponent Keith Rothfus agree, it’s that an Islamic community center shouldn’t be built two blocks from ground zero in New York.

But their agreement ends there, and Rothfus says Altmire is just playing politics—albeit with a subject that has become a political rallying cry for candidates across the ideological spectrum.

“He saw this as an opportunity to step away from the president, rather than defend his record on unemployment and job creation,” Rothfus told pa2010.com recently.

5. Altoona Mirror: Obama props lacking

President Barack Obama has taken use of human beings as props to a whole new level.

When the president wants Congress to approve one of his bills, he trots out some “real people” to build public opinion in his favor.

Too bad White House aides don’t “vet” the props very well.

In July, seeking to pressure Congress over a bill to extend unemployment benefits, Obama held a press conference with three people whose benefits had run out.

Unfortunately, one of them, Leslie Macko of Charlottesville, Va., lost her job because she had been arrested for prescription drug fraud.

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 8.23.10

1. Allentown Morning Call: So Far, Sestak Back On His Heels

2. Williamsport Sun-Gazette: Republican Candidate Visits Area Airport

3. Sunbury Daily Item: Corbett Praises Valley Firm

4. Williamsport Sun-Gazette: Republican Candidate Takes Tour Of Jersey Shore Steel

5. Wilkes-Barre Times-Leader: GOP Ahead In Area Congress Tilts

1. Allentown Morning Call: So Far, Sestak Back On His Heels

More than midway through the political calendar, Sestak seems endlessly on the defensive. It’s partly of his own doing, but largely because Toomey, with a sharper message and flush finances, has been the aggressor.

So far, Pennsylvania’s U.S. Senate battle has been fought on Toomey’s terms.

2. Williamsport Sun-Gazette: Republican Candidate Visits Area Airport

“Our campaign is in a great position,” he said, adding that the Democratic administration and Congress is “making it easier” to win.

“This is a dangerous agenda,” Toomey said of the Democrats’ continuous spending. “It is staggering in scope, breadth and the departure of everything that made this country great.”

Of his Democratic opponent, Joe Sestak, Toomey said that “the contrast between what we stand for couldn’t be more clear.”

“I would never support the job-killing agenda these guys are pushing on us,” he said. “Joe Sestak is for all of it. In fact, he doesn’t think it goes far enough.”

Toomey was speaking of the multi-billion dollar stimulus package recently pushed through by the Obama administration.

3. Sunbury Daily Item: Corbett Praises Valley Firm

State government must reduce taxes and become fiscally responsible to help keep businesses like L/B Water Service in Selinsgrove thriving, says Tom Corbett, state attorney general and Republican gubernatorial candidate.

During a tour Friday, Corbett praised the Selinsgrove company for its business practices, including buying many products manufactured in Pennsylvania.

4. Williamsport Sun-Gazette: Republican Candidate Takes Tour Of Jersey Shore Steel

Corbett called for fiscal discipline, limited government and free enterprise.

“A tax increase does not help the economy,” he said.

The Rendell Administration has brought the state increased debt, higher taxes and a budget that in eight years rose from $22 billion to $28 billion, Corbett noted.

He said as attorney general he’s done more to clean up corruption in state government than any one else who’s held the office.

If elected governor, he’ll seek to reduce the state’s corporate net income tax to 6.9 percent and phase out the death tax. The corporate net tax stands at 9.99 percent.

5. Wilkes-Barre Times-Leader: GOP Ahead In Area Congress Tilts

In the 11th District, polling of 400 likely voters shows U.S. Rep. Paul E. Kanjorski, D-Nanticoke, with a 96-93 percent lead over Barletta in name recognition. The slim difference may be because Barletta has run for the seat two times previously.

But poll results show Barletta receiving 52 percent of the vote, compared to just 41 percent for Kanjorski, a 13-term congressman. Seven percent were undecided. Sixty-three percent said it’s time for someone else to represent the district, while 31 percent said Kanjorski deserves re-election.

PA GOP News Brief 8.19.10

1. Wilkes-Barre Times-Leader: Toomey op-ed: Tax On Energy Would Only Hike Costs, Hurt Taxpayers

2. NRSC: Web video: “Extreme” featuring the PA-SEN Race

3. pa2010.com: Toomey: Economy Would Have ‘Bounced Back’ Better Without Stimulus

4. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Polls Show Corbett With Big Lead in Governor’s Race

5. Delaware County Daily Times: GOP Targets Election in 7^th District as a Big One (with video)

6. Wall Street Journal: Rove: Deconstructing Harry

1. Wilkes-Barre Times-Leader: Toomey op-ed: Tax On Energy Would Only Hike Costs, Hurt Taxpayers

We can and must support common-sense policies that protect our environment; but that goal can be achieved without abandoning 70,000 or more Pennsylvania jobs and imposing higher gas and electricity prices on all Pennsylvanians.

A focus on renewable energy, conservation, low-carbon energy such as natural gas, nuclear energy and cleaner-coal technology are all part of the solution. But as unemployment hovers above 9 percent, protecting our hardworking families must be our first priority.

2. NRSC: Web video: “Extreme” featuring the PA-SEN Race

As Politico’s “Morning Score” notes today:

BUZZING ON TWITTER: A new NRSC ad has Republicans atwitter on Twitter. Titled ‘Extreme,’ the slickly produced web spot slams Democratic messaging about the GOP being a party of extremists by pointing to poll results in various Senate races and popular support for various Republican positions.

3. pa2010.com: Toomey: Economy Would Have ‘Bounced Back’ Better Without Stimulus

Pat Toomey says that not only did the 2009 economic stimulus package not work, but it probably made things worse.

The GOP Senate nominee said Wednesday that the economy would “probably have bounced back much more strongly” without the stimulus, “because borrowing and spending doesn’t get you to prosperity.”

“We were promised that unemployment wouldn’t reach eight percent, it went over 10 percent,” Toomey said on Fox29.

4. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Polls Show Corbett With Big Lead in Governor’s Race

Susquehanna Polling & Research shows Mr. Corbett leading 43 to 33 percent over Mr. Onorato, with support that is “wide and deep” across the state. The GOP candidate is benefitting — and Mr. Onorato is hurting — from extraordinarily poor approval ratings for Democratic incumbent Ed Rendell, as well as worries statewide about the economy.

“Simply put, this animosity is not a Republican or Democrat thing. Rather, its very foundation is more driven by a lousy economic climate, a sentiment shared by most that our state is on the wrong track, and eight years of bad Rendell publicity piled high from continued late budgets, high taxes and record state spending,” said a release from Harrisburg-based Susquehanna.

5. Delaware County Daily Times: GOP Targets Election in 7^th District as a Big One (with video)

The National Republican Congressional Committee recently announced that it has plans to reserve television advertisement time in 41 districts, including the local 7th Congressional District.

“I’m very grateful for their support,” said Republican candidate Pat Meehan in an interview Wednesday following his stop at the Sterling Health Care and Rehab Center in Media. “I appreciate the competitive environment and I appreciate the additional support.”

6. Wall Street Journal: Rove: Deconstructing Harry

Democrats are in a terrible bind. Having pursued policies that have made our fiscal situation unsustainable, they are now reverting to old habits, trying to raise taxes to pay for their profligacy.

Mr. Reid is drawing attention to some of his party’s very worst impressions. Already facing the prospect of huge election losses in November, many Democratic candidates may find themselves victims of their majority leader’s extraordinarily bad judgment if he follows through on his decision to schedule a tax debate next month.

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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.”

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.