Category: Pennsylvania Governor

Corbetts Colossal Cockiness Castrates His Credibility

By Chris Freind

“Stevie Welch sat on a wall (of cards); Stevie Welch had a great fall (winning a mere two of 67 counties). All of King (or is it Joker?) Corbett’s horses (jackasses), and all the King’s men (endorsements by 27 County Commissioners and 35 State Legislators), couldn’t put Stevie’s candidacy together again (4 of 5 Republican voters rejected the Welch-Corbett-Obama “ticket”).

And so Freindly Fire’s prediction that Governor Corbett-endorsed U.S. Senate candidate Steve Welch would come in a whoppingly-bad third place was proven correct, though it didn’t take a political genius to guess that result.  After all, asking — strong-arming, actually — Republicans to support the Obama-voting, Joe Sestak-supporting Welch was anathema to common sense and political savvy.  And the resulting carnage is everywhere: the endorsement of the state Republican Party is as meaningful as being valedictorian of summer school; getting backed by Corbett now carries substantial negative baggage, and GOP legislators will think long and hard about aligning themselves with the Governor on his signature issues (are there any?), fearing that his promises of support could be akin to political suicide.

And all of this occurred just 15 months after being ushered into office with a ten-point margin and solid majorities in the House and Senate. And ironically, so easily preventable.

Many insiders will claim the blow to Corbett’s prestige will be a fleeting, short-term event. As is most often the case, those “experts” will be wrong. The political reality is that next month, when the Governor wants his ill-fated and unpopular voucher plan for only low-income families (which ignores the middle class) to pass, he will fall short, as his Party walks away from him. When he attempts to garner support for his proposed education cuts in the budget, he will meet substantial resistance. And should he try his hand at privatizing liquor, many in his GOP caucuses will cut and run.  Very few will risk their neck for a Guv who in the best of times was invisible, preferring the shadows to the bully pulpit. Now, Corbett has become a liability.

(Sidenote: Corbett’s low-income voucher allies made that issue the only issue this election, losing all of the races in which they were involved.  In particular, they spent big money trying to defeat West Philadelphia State Representative James Roebuck and mid-state Senator Pat Vance –who only ran again because she was “not going to be pushed out by any Political Action Committee.”. Both won easily — another reason Corbett will have a difficult time with that issue.)

Not only is Corbett’s popularity plummeting, but his reputation has been cemented as a lightweight empty-suit who simply can’t deliver.  The fact that he poisoned his own Party and made it a national laughingstock is icing on the cake.

In addition to Corbett’s endorsement of Welch (and the fact the he personally recorded the voice vote of every State Committee member during the GOP endorsement process), he went to the mat for his boy through mailers, phone calls, fundraisers and speeches.  Yet his election night was a disaster. Consider:

-The Corbett- Welch-ObamaDrama Ticket had all the advantages going into the race. With Santorum out of the presidential contest, many conservative-leaning Republicans did not vote — and low turnout elections almost always favor the endorsed candidate (especially the hand-picked favorite of a Governor).  The Party’s organizational structure and resources are usually sufficient to propel the anointed candidate to victory, but many Party committee people rebuked the Governor by openly supporting non-Welch candidates.

– Even better for Welch, there were two other major candidates in the race (Tom Smith, Sam Rohrer), both of whom would split the anti-establishment, anti-endorsement vote (and the remaining two candidates, David Christian and Marc Scaringi, did the same, taking 18 percent collectively). It should have been an easy “divide and conquer” campaign for Welch. Instead, it was a Kamikaze mission.


-There was a large snowstorm the day before the election across much of western Pennsylvania — Smith’s critical home base. Any dampening of that vote should have proven beneficial to the endorsed candidate, but it was Smith’s supporters who out-performed the once-vaunted statewide GOP machine.

– It should have been a slam-dunk for Welch to raise millions from Corbett and the big GOP donors.  But he took in an embarrassing $150,000 in the entire first quarter —half of Smith’s total and, quite possibly, even less than Smith’s dog. That lack of gravitas is quite telling.

– There was one bright spot: Welch’s campaign consultants reaped the benefits of the $1 million Welch personally gave his campaign.  The effectiveness of how they spent that money is another story, since there was no Philadelphia broadcast TV, limited media, and, come to think of it, virtually no campaign at all — usually not the best way to win an election.

-By far the most surreal moment of the night was Welch crying poor, complaining about being outspent 5-1 —even though he is accurately described in every news article as being the self-funding millionaire entrepreneur.  All self-funders claim that they will only spend a fixed amount, and, of course, exceed that after consultants convince them they are “closing fast.”  That never happened with Steve.  The irony is that he was always perceived as a self-funder (and no one wants to contribute to a rich candidate), but he clearly wasn’t able to micturate (look it up) with the big dogs in the tall grass.  Playing the rich-guy card (against a really rich guy like Smith) without having the aces in your hand isn’t just a bad bluff. It’s a dead-man’s hand.

Kind of makes you wonder what the hell the point was in going for the endorsement — or running at all.

*****

So what happens from here?  Prosecutor Kathleen Kane, who whipped the whining Patrick Murphy despite his endorsements from all the wrong folks (career pols Rendell and Nutter), is in the driver’s seat to become the first Democrat Attorney General. And expect the Penn State scandal to be front-and-center in the fall election, with Kane pounding away about what former Attorney General Tom Corbett knew, and when he knew it.

Not only would a Kane victory reflect negatively on Corbett (since the Dems would have captured that prize on his watch, and in doing so, beaten the Governor’s hand-selected candidate in what should be a Republican-leaning election), but his image and effectiveness will be further compromised as more is learned — and publicized —about his role in how the Penn State investigation was handled.

From having it all just a year ago, Tom Corbett will witness his own Party run away from him on the issues and in the election — and helplessly watch as the Democrats make him the issue.

It took George W. Bush six years to get to that point.   If Tom Corbett’s goal was to best the former President, well…Mission Accomplished.

Corbetts Colossal Cockiness Castrates His Credibility

Ed Rendell Media Mogul Has Problem

Ed Rendell Media Mogul Has Problem

By Chris Freind

Famed political strategist James Carville once referred to Pennsylvania as two major cities with Alabama in between. What an insult to Alabama.

The folks in the nation’s fifth-largest state – all of them – are the backwards ones, the sad result of refusing to hold their leaders accountable for broken campaign promises and abject failures. All the while, their neighboring states – AKA “the competition” – continue to make gains at Pennsylvania’s expense.

Ohio and West Virginia are successfully courting natural
gas and oil companies, which are beginning to exit Pennsylvania.
Indiana is thriving after enacting comprehensive statewide school choice
and becoming a Right To Work state, where compulsory unionism is no
required as a condition of employment.

New Jersey (yes, Jersey!)
can woo companies across the river because of faith that a real leader,
Chris Christie, is righting the ship. Everyone else on the planet can
buy liquor easier and cheaper than Pennsylvanians. And corruption, both
criminal and institutionalized, remains rampant, killing optimism and
trampling the hope that you can beat City Hall.

From Ed Rendell
to Tom Corbett (is there a difference?), a lack of leadership has left
Pennsylvania on the precipice, its citizens staring into the abyss of
permanent mediocrity, paralyzed by fear to take the risks necessary to
forge ahead. Such a malaise is anathema to employers looking for
economic stability, a less hostile atmosphere and a better educational
system.

While that lack of leadership is inexcusable, there is
another, even more important factor as to why the state finds itself in
such a precarious situation: a media that has sold its soul, forsaking
its most basic mission of holding everyone accountable, with a “no
sacred cows” approach. For far too long, stories that needed to be told
were relegated to the dustbin. And unsavory politicians and business
leaders counted on that. Without an aggressive press, it was, and
remains, the Wild West where bad guys operate with impunity.

There is no better example of the media’s fall from grace than that of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Once a paper of national significance that took a bulldog approach to
its reporting, it has since become a shell of its former self, an
also-ran full of AP feeds and local fluff stories of virtually no
interest.

The Inky really jumped the tracks  when it was “led”
by Brian Tierney, who, along with investors, paid over half a billion
for the paper (and the Daily News) in 2006.

Mired in debt,
Tierney did the unthinkable – he approached then-Gov. Rendell for a
taxpayer-funded bailout to keep the papers afloat in 2009, a story that
Freindly Fire broke ( http://freindlyfirezone.com/home/item/43-possible-inquirer-bailout-draws-ire
) and was picked up by the Wall Street Journal in its harshly-worded
editorial “Bad News In Philadelphia – The Worst Bailout Idea So Far:
Newspapers.”

WSJ Link

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123353263226537457.html

Predictably,
Rendell was ready and willing to lend that helping hand. But as
negative fallout for the bailout plan grew, the deal fell apart and the
papers filed for bankruptcy.

Despite what common sense
unquestionably tells us – that a taxpayer-funded newspaper would in fact
be an “adjunct of the state,” as the WSJ so adroitly described it – the
players in that ill-fated bailout attempt saw nothing wrong with their
actions.

Thankfully, Tierney is out of the picture, having lost
the papers to an investor group who held much of the original debt. But
incomprehensibly, the situation has come full circle. Now the current
owners want out, and it has been reported that none other than Ed
Rendell has been approached to put together an investor group to
possibly buy the papers.

Really? Ed Rendell? How is that even remotely possible?

Where
is the journalistic integrity in working with the very man who stood
cocked, ready to unleash millions in taxpayer funds to bail out an
“independent” media entity? It’s no secret that it has become
increasingly difficult for papers to make a profit in the age of The New
Media, but having Rendell as your “Go-To” man underscores just how
desperate the situation has become.

Taking marching orders from elected officials destroys the very essence of being a journalist and jeopardizes the unique constitutional protections afforded to media members. Sure, Ed Rendell is a private citizen now, but his mentality – how he sees the role of the government working hand-in-hand with the media – has undoubtedly not changed.

The last thing the region
needs is an investor group led by political insiders and
ideologically-supercharged individuals with aggressive personal agendas.
As painful as it would be for the thousands of hard-working folks at
the those newspapers, it would be better for the entire entity to close
its doors than be associated with folks who may, at any given time, make
a pitch for public financing.

And while past performance is not indicative of future results, it’s a damn good bet.

Better
to have no paper at all than one that prostrates itself at the feet of
the very people it purports to objectively cover. And since the
Philadelphia newspapers have been anything but a watchdog over the last
six years, churning out less than a handful of quality investigations,
the bad guys would see virtually no difference, since they’re not
exactly sweating investigative reporters knocking on their doors.

But the behavior of the Inquirer’s
ownership should come as no surprise, given that it recently accepted a
$2.9 million loan from the City of Philadelphia to assist the company
move to a new headquarters. Yes, the same city, the same Mayor and the
same City Council that the newspapers are supposed to be objectively
covering. Is nothing scared anymore?

Where The Media Went Wrong

The
sad reality is that The Fourth Estate has abdicated its sacred
responsibility of keeping American institutions honest and true. No
longer respected as the entity which holds feet to the fire and follows
investigations wherever they may lead, the American media has instead
become part and parcel of the Establishment. Too many journalists play
the “go-along, get-along” game – some because it’s easy, others because
they want to be liked, still others who are afraid they will lose
“access” if they ask the tough questions.

These people have
forgotten that their profession does not lend itself to having
“friends,” since nothing and no one should ever be off the table. The
result of these close alliances is blatant conflicts of interest, both
personal and professional. Once that line is crossed, it is nearly
impossible to return.

No medium is immune from this malady. Those
in television, radio, newspaper and internet are all complicit. As an
entity, the media has fallen down on its most basic journalistic
responsibilities, losing its integrity, and ultimately its credibility,
along the way.

Consequently, the public’s view of the media is at
an historic low. And while complaints abound that the media is biased,
which to a certain extent it is, this is but a symptom of a much greater
illness. A slant towards liberalism or conservatism is wrong, to be
sure, but inherent laziness and, by extension, incompetence, are the
first problems that must be rectified. Competence and vision will trump
bias every time.

Resurrecting the media’s image is a Herculean
task. And when the free press reaches the point where it is no longer
believed, it stands on the edge of becoming completely irrelevant.

Whether
it is nauseating nonstop coverage of Anna Nicole Smith’s funeral
procession or feel-good fluff stories in our nation’s pre-eminent
newspapers, the lack of hard-hitting investigative reporting and
aggressive interviews with top national and international leaders is
appalling. Producers and editors are constantly looking over their
shoulders at the competition, choosing to push out content to be like
“every other station,” passing on golden opportunities to be different,
to be journalists – to be leaders.

These people spend more time trying to keep their jobs than actually doing them.

There
is a certain irony here. If media executives produced the quality work
that the American people expect, their ratings would skyrocket, and
advertisers would pay a premium. The biggest myth being propagated about
the bankruptcy of media companies is that they are victims of the
economy. Nothing could be further from the truth.

They are victims of their own ineptitude.

Americans
still have an unquenchable thirst for the news, but they are
increasingly tuning out the mainstream media because the content is
utterly lacking of substance.

The solution is simple – it’s just
not easy. Nothing and no one should be off the table. Not politicians,
government officials, businessmen, media personalities, sports stars,
nor celebrities. With no agenda except the truth, the media should
pursue stories with no boundaries and no restrictions.

Americans
don’t gravitate to question marks, but exclamation points. It’s time to
put the exclamation point back in the American press, not through new
technologies and gimmicks, but by pursuing the only thing that matters:
the truth.

As the voice in the classic baseball movie Field Of
Dreams commanded, “Build it and they will come.” In the same way, if the
media gets off its duff and starts producing content worthy of the
world’s best press, readers and viewers will come – in unprecedented
numbers.

Unfortunately, if Ed Rendell takes over Philadelphia’s newspapers, the ballpark will be empty before the new game even begins.

 

Ed Rendell Media Mogul Has Problem

Why Can’t Corbett Seem To Anything Right?

Why Can’t Corbett Seem To Anything Right? — Gov. Tom Corbett  told a joint session of the state House and Senate, today, Feb. 7,  that there will be no change in spending from the current $27.1 billion budget. He said there will be no   increases to the sales or income tax rates, and no tax on natural gas drilling.

Of course, the Democrats are going to be upset with the lack of a drilling tax, and they are going to go positively nuts about his proposed cuts to education: 20 percent to $330.2 million for the 14 state-owned universites; 4 percent to $221.9 million to community colleges; 28 percent to $163.5 million  for Penn State University (that one should be cut $163.5 million more); 30 percent to $95.2 million for Pitt; 30 percent to $97. 9 million to Temple and the elimination of $100 million in accountability grants to public schools

What is surprising is that some of the better Republicans aren’t that thrilled with it either.

State Rep. Jim Cox (R-129) notes the governor was dead silent on the matter of property tax reform.

“Pennsylvania homeowners are struggling right now under the archaic and
burdensome property tax system,” Cox said. “They are at risk of losing
their homes. I am disappointed the governor did not address this issue
with a bold approach to completely replace the school property tax
system. This shows that those of us who want to replace the school
property tax have our work cut out for us.”

Cox did give kudos to the governor for his no-tax-hike pledge, and I’ll join him on that so at least Corbett might have done one thing right.

Other goals presented by Corbett include:

— a  $319 million decrease from the proposed elimination of cash payments for about 60,000 participants in the General Assistance program and new eligibility rules, including minimum work requirements, for about 30,000 General Assistance recipients who receive Medicaid benefits.

— a 20-percent cut to  $263.2 million for PennDOT which reflects cutss in federal funding.

— the elimination of state money for
rail freight assistance.

— a 4 percent cut to $260.8 million  for the Legislature.

— an 8 percent cut to $126.6 million for the Department of Environmental Protection

Cox noted that the governor’s budget speech simply  begins the process of adopting a state budget, and that the House and Senate will hold public hearings in the upcoming weeks regarding what to keep in or throw out.

“The governor has presented his proposal,” Cox said. “As legislators, we will now take some time to review the proposal and make alterations or improvements where necessary. What we are seeing today is far from a final product.”

And one further point of which the residents of this state should be aware: Pennsylvania spends far more than $27.1 billion annually.

Rogers Howard, who is challenging Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi in the GOP primary in the  9th District notes that when payments on bonds are included the outlay is actually about $65 billion.

Why Can’t Corbett Seem To Anything Right?

Rendell Inquirer Rescue Attempt

Rendell Inquirer Rescue Attempt — The denizens of the Philadelphia Inquirer are wishin’ and hopin’ and, well not prayin’ of course, that their sinking ship is purchased by a group of city business leaders organized by famous Philadelphia sports fan Ed Rendell who one-time chaired the Democrat National Committee and was once our governor.

Well, I’m praying for their success! Democrat money should be thrown down Democrat rat holes!

Of course, one kind of wonders why Ed Snider is allegedly a party to this. Maybe it’s a Francisco Anconia-type of ploy.

Rendell Inquirer Rescue Attempt

Corbett Twists Arms; Rohrer Twists Corbett

Corbett Twists Arms; Rohrer Twists Corbett
Senate candidate Sam Rohrer with his aunt Fran Coppock of Thornbury Township, Delaware County.

Corbett Twists Arms; Rohrer Twists Corbett — Sam Rohrer brought his freedom movement — the phrase he feels is more comprehensive than  “tea party” — to Newtown Square, tonight, Feb. 1, as he begins in earnest his campaign to be the Republican to take on incumbent Bob Casey in this fall’s U.S. Senate race.

The nominee will be decided at the April 24 primary election. The Republican establishment
has shamelessly endorsed Chester County businessman Steve Welch despite Welch having had voted for Barack Obama and given money to Democrat Congressman Joe Sestak.

Rohrer and others in the Knights of Columbus Hall on Route 252 described the apparently unprecedented pressure placed on the State Committee people by Gov. Tom Corbett and the party establishment to vote for Welch. Rohrer said he saw some of the committeepeople in tears from the intimidation which included threats of lost government jobs.

What was Corbett’s motivation? Rohrer —
who challenged Corbett in the 2010 gubernatorial primary —  wouldn’t say.

“Dig it out,” he directed.

Rohrer served 18 years in the Pennsylvania House representing the 128th District before stepping down for the governor’s race. Minnesota Congresswoman and recent presidential contender Michele Bachmann has credited him with getting her involved in politics.

Rohrer said his reasons for running is to return the nation to its moorings — he mentioned the recently passed
National Defense Authorization Act which arguably  gives the president the power to arrest people at will and hold them without trial — and to cushion the pain many feel is inevitable due to the policies pursued by both parties over the last two decades

“It doesn’t make sense for Congress to approve multiple increases in the debt ceiling,” he said.

Nor did it make sense for us to be dependent on others for energy.

“We have more energy under the ground than in any country in the world,” he said, and that Pennsylvania might have more energy than any other state.

Rohrer also noted  our unpayable debt. “Do we even have a sound currency?” he asked.

Rohrer said Casey needed to be replaced because “we can’t trust him.”

“He said he was pro life. His votes indicate he is not,” Rohrer said.

He said that  Casey, with words claims that he supports the Second Amendment but with deeds supports President Obama’s anti-Second Amendment appointees. He noted that Casey agrees with Obama that coal mines should be shut down and that drilling for natural gas should be made harder.

“You cannot have trust without telling the truth,” Rohrer said.

Rohrer estimates that in his career as a legislator he casts 120,000 votes.

“The single most important thing a person in elective office does is vote,” he said.

And he said everyone tries to buy it.

“The system has become so corrupt you could not even predict what a person would do,” he said.

He said that while in office he sat next to a Delaware County legislator, who told him ” I used to be able to go home at night, place my head on the pillow and say I did something good today. I can no longer do that.”

Rohrer said he developed a checklist for himself to protect him from that fate.

The first question he asks regarding legislation is “is it moral.” Rohrer noted that he has never voted to give funding to Planned Parenthood.

Question 2 is: Is it Constitutional?

Question 3 is: Does it strengthen individual freedom or does it strengthen government control over the individual? He noted he opposed the Real ID bill at the state level after asking this question.

Question 4 is: Is it inefficient or ineffective. He said many bills are so poorly written they can’t be understood.

The last question is: Do we have the money to pay for it?

Rohrer said that during his 18 years he never violated the principles of his checklist. He said he soon had six other legislators following it, a number which had grown to 16 when he left office. There are 203 members in the State House.

There were as of last week six other conservative candidates seeking the nomination and they would likely split the vote amongst them leaving Welch to walk away with the prize.

Rohrer was asked if conservatives should present a united front.

“I would like them to consolidate around me,” he said. He noted that he had more volunteers than any other campaign.


Corbett Twists Arms; Rohrer Twists Corbett

What Are The Rules, Governor Corbett?

What Are The Rules, Governor Corbett? — Reader bfbarbie has submitted this link to a PoliticsPa.Com piece regarding the ironic headache a recent action by the Pennsylvania Department of State is causing Gov. Tom Corbett.

The State Department, for which the Governor is responsible, dropped off reams of nominating petitions to every legislative office in the Capitol in an attempt to save $1,436 in postage.

Fine and wise EXCEPT having the petitions handled by staffers during work hours could be construed as the kind illegal politicking that Corbett made his bones prosecuting in his previous life as Attorney General.

Eric Fillman, who is the legal counsel on the House Committee on Ethics, issued a warning to all staff that the petitions be left alone.

 

What Are The Rules, Governor Corbett?

Corbett Role In Penn State Scandal

Pop Quiz: What’s the relationship between the following two statements which have appeared in recent news articles:

1) “Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett’s national profile rises in the wake of Penn State scandal.”

2) “Tom Corbett has been mentioned as a possible Vice Presidential candidate.”

Strangely,
they are inversely proportional. When one’s profile rises, that’s
typically a good thing. But as the nation learns about some very
disturbing actions of Corbett related to the Penn State scandal, his
Veep chances are plummeting. As a direct result, his chances of ever
being a heartbeat away are between zero and forgetaboutit.

At this rate, he may be lucky just to survive his first term.

Why
the cover-up, and how far up the ladder did it go? Why the lack of
swift action, from not just the University, but from law enforcement?
And how could football — no matter how storied a program — have
risen above the protection of innocent children?

These questions
were supposed to be answered by a thorough and unbiased investigation by
the state Attorney General’s Office. But as more information emerges
on that front, the less faith people have that justice has been — or
will be — served.

Enter Tom Corbett.

For better or
worse, Corbett has been a quiet, behind-the-scenes governor during his
first year in office. Yet he felt compelled to address the state and
national media on the scandal. In doing so, he said more in one press
conference than he had in his entire governorship, despite the fact that
he declined to answer most questions.

Interestingly, Corbett is
wearing three hats. He is the Governor of a state that contributes
millions to Penn State. He is a Penn State Board Trustee who
participated in Board decisions, including the firings of Joe Paterno
and University President Graham Spanier. And most significantly, he is
the former Attorney General who launched the child molestation
investigation of former football coach Jerry Sandusky in 2009.

Corbett has attempted to have the
best of both worlds: national publicity where he touts the virtues of
morality, and a free pass on accountability because of alleged
confidentiality issues. But that tactic has backfired, as the media
spotlight turned on Corbett himself. The more that is learned about
Corbett’s actions — and inactions — regarding the investigation, the
more his credibility tanks.

Consider:

1) It took
substantially longer for the Attorney General’s office to bring charges
against Sandusky than it did for numerous politicians to be indicted in
the Bonusgate corruption probe. Bonusgate was a very complex
investigation involving crafty politicians with the best lawyers money
could buy. Since much of what was being investigated in Bonusgate was
not run-of-the mill illegalities, the investigators had to overcome a
hefty, time-consuming learning curve to understand the subject matter.

So
how can such a complicated investigation come to fruition more quickly
than a black-and-white child rape case? And where is the rule against
making an initial arrest to get the molester off the street — and warn
the public — while continuing to build the case?

Given the
appalling nature of the alleged crimes, and the real possibility that
more young children were molested during the three year investigation,
why did the Attorney General wait so long to make the staffing level as
robust as it should have been from the start?

If the answer is
that resources were limited — sorry, try again. As bad as other
crimes may have been, such as those committed in Bonusgate, no one was
physically hurt and the welfare of children was never an issue. Giving
priority to children who are at risk of rape and molestation is a
no-brainer. But inexplicably, that wasn’t done.

The Governor
continues to defend his actions — scolding those who dare question him
— by stating that it takes time to build such a case and that he
can’t comment further, but three years? That’s an insult to everyone,
especially the victims. Again, you can’t have it both ways,
grandstanding for political points but clamming up when the questions
get tough.

And fair or not, many are now asking if the
investigation was delayed so that Corbett could avoid being the
gubernatorial candidate who took down Joe Paterno and Penn State —
both wildly popular among the hundreds of thousands of alumni living in
the state.

2) This one is simply incomprehensible.

In yet another instance of Corbett finishing what former Democratic Governor Ed Rendell started (others being $20 million of taxpayer money to renovate the Yankees’ AAA stadium, and $42 million to bail out the Philadelphia Shipyard to build ships with no buyers), the Governor personally approved a $3 million taxpayer-funded grant to Sandusky’s Second Mile charity — just four months ago!

That bears repeating. Tom Corbett,
with full knowledge that Sandusky was under investigation for multiple
child rapes, still approved the money to his charity.

How is that possible? And why on earth is the national media not yet running with this?

In
a response that was offensive to any rational person, here’s what his
spokesman said, as reported in the Pittsburgh Tribune Review:

“He
(Corbett) couldn’t block that (grant) from going forward because of
what he knew as attorney general…He couldn’t let on to anyone (including
the governor’s office) what he knew….”

That is so wrong that it begs the question as to the real motivation behind approving the grant.

First,
the fact that so many people had been interviewed by the grand jury
made the investigation anything but a secret. Second, the Harrisburg
Patriot News reported on the grand jury investigation —- in March.
Corbett approved the funds — in July! So not wanting to “let on” was
clearly bogus. The investigation was already well-established in the
public domain.

Secondly, there was an incredibly easy way to deal
with the grant without tipping off anyone: simply strike it. After
all, the budget Corbett signed cut everything else, so a grant to a
charity would have been seen as just another casualty of financial
cutbacks.

Veto the grant (why taxpayers are funding that in the
first place is obscene, but that’s another story) and be done with it.
It should have been that easy. But it didn’t happen.

Why?

Well, consider if the following may have had anything to do with it. According to the sports website Deadspin.com,
past and present board members of the Second Mile, along with their
businesses and families, have donated more than $640,000 to Corbett
since 2003.

That interesting — and massively
significant — point seemed to have slipped the Governor’s mind during
his press conferences. Go figure.

Something is rotten to the
core about how this whole affair has been investigated. It’s time for
the Feds to take the lead role in uncovering the whole truth, and that
includes possibly looking into the Attorney General’s investigation.

It’s
clear the Board of Trustees cannot be counted upon to conduct an
unbiased investigation, nor can the local police, and, sadly, even the
Attorney General’s office. And nothing emanating from the Governor’s
office on this issue can be taken at face value.

In discussing
why Paterno and Spanier were fired, the Governor said, “…the Board lost
confidence in their ability to lead Penn State through this time and
into the future.”

With all the opportunities Tom Corbett has had
to play it straight with the people of Pennsylvania — especially the
victims — on his dealings with the Penn State issue, he hasn’t done
so.

And that has caused an ever-increasing number of people to lose confidence in his ability to lead.

There
is a great scene in the movie The American President where Richard
Dreyfuss suggests that being president “was, to a certain extent, about
character.” And in classic Michael Douglas style, he replies, “I can
tell you, without hesitation, that being President is entirely about
character.”

Well, character isn’t limited to the Oval Office. It
resides in every one of us — and that includes Governors, Trustees,
coaches, police and investigators.

Moving forward, let’s demand that a basic legal and moral principle be followed to the very end:

Fiat justitia ruat caelum —“Let justice be done though the heavens fall.”

The victims deserve no less.

 

Corbett Role In Penn State Scandal

Defense Didn’t Get De Notes In Perzel Case

Dauphin County Judge Richard Lewis rejected an argument, July 29,  to dismiss charges against Former State House Speaker John Perzel and his co-defendants because prosecutors led by then Attorney General Tom Corbett had destroyed notes taken during witness interviews.

Perzel’s lawyer William Fetterhoff said the notes showed that prosecutors were abusive and intimidating to witnesses during interview sessions.

Perzel et al are accused of illegally using state computers for electioneering.

Perzel, a Republican, had represented the 172nd District which is in Philadelphia,

One has mixed feelings about this. Perzel was a hack and is probably guilty of something if not in letter but in spirit.

On the other hand, why destroy the notes?

Fetterhoff is also
attempting to show that Corbett did the same things in his elections
for which he is trying to put  Perzel  away.

Corbett got convictions in March 2010 against former state House Minority Whip Mike Veon,
a Democrat who represented the 14th District in Beaver County, and  two
aides for illegally using state money in the form of salary bonuses to
pay for electioneering.

Veon is serving a 6 to 14 year sentence. It should be noted that Vince Fumo got less time for a far
more serious and a far more blatant reign of destruction on the
Pennsylvania taxpayer.

Corbett strikes one as being a very ambitious fellow which is a trait to be feared in those who seek political office.

Sam Rohrer, if only you had won.

Corbett Gives Unions Sweetheart Deal

Corbett Gives Unions Sweetheart Deal —  This article by Chris Freind is being republished with his kind permission.


By Chris Freind


State workers in Pennsylvania just got an 11 percent raise.

In case you have been living under a rock, here’s a newsflash: We are experiencing one of the most severe recessions in our history, and there are no greener pastures in the immediate future. Common sense dictates that with high unemployment, decreased tax revenues, large deficits and, most significantly, massive pension obligations, governors would take whatever steps were necessary to ensure that their states, and citizens, remain solvent, especially when it comes to negotiating public-sector union contracts.

That happened in places like Wisconsin, Indiana and Ohio, where true Republicans are in charge. Governors Scott Walker, Mitch Daniels and John Kasich took the heat and did what they had to do, reeling in the out-of-control taxpayer largess afforded to these unions.

But most amazing of all is New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s remarkable success. Just last week, he pushed through a monumental union pension and benefit-reform package that will save taxpayers over $120 billion—and did so with heavily Democratic, pro-union legislative majorities. So effective was Christie that alongside him at the bill-signing was the Senate President—a longtime union member.

Contrast that to the deal just reached by Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett with the largest state unions. Instead of acting in the best interests of the taxpayers footing the bill, he simply continued the Rendell legacy of keeping the cash register door wide open.

It’s bad enough the Governor rolled over on all the sweeping concessions he was seeking, but he ended up giving the unions a sweetheart deal.

Over the next four years, unionized state employees will receive an almost 11 percent raise and a guarantee of no furloughs. And remember, this significant bump is in addition to their three percent raise two years ago, four percent raise last year—and three annual step increases which averaged 2.25 percent during that time.

Cha-ching!

How do these pay raises compare to those in the private sector? With such high unemployment and underemployment rates, do you really have to ask? Most people are receiving no raises at all, not even cost-of-living adjustments. And those fortunate enough to still have a job have no choice but to hang on for dear life, praying they survive the next round of layoffs. Making matters worse, many have to also shoulder ever increasing healthcare costs, if they have coverage at all.

In addition to substantial retirement benefits, state workers have guaranteed healthcare, too. And while they will pay a bit more with this new contract, it’s still at a level way below many in the private sector.
It used to be that working in the public sector was a trade-off. You wouldn’t make as much money as in the business world, but the benefits were good and contracts were guaranteed. But all that changed as union contracts exploded upward—at the expense of taxpayers.

Now, in many cases, unionized public employees make more than their peers in the private sector, and retire on pensions and benefit packages that would make Wall Street financiers blush with envy. Of course, that has come with a price, especially in Pennsylvania, and now it’s time to pay the piper. State pension obligations go through the roof over the next several years, as annual taxpayer-funded contributions to the two state pension funds increase exponentially, ballooning from $800 million now … to billions per year.

The last Governor and legislature kicked the can down the road last year, but that only gets you so far and, in the process, devastates the future of our children and grandchildren.

By caving in to the unions, giving them a contract that would be way too generous even in a strong economy, this Governor has chosen not to address the reforms necessary to keep Pennsylvania on solid ground, which will eventually lead to higher state borrowing costs and push the state closer to the abyss.

While we’re on the subject of the state’s finances, let’s set the facts straight about the current budget. Reducing the budget by four percent is a good thing, but was inevitable after the loss of federal stimulus dollars. Had he won the governorship, Dan Onorato would have signed a budget almost exactly the same as the one Corbett did. For that matter, even Governor Spendell, who never saw a spending increase he didn’t like, would have been forced to reduce the budget to close the $4.2 billion budget deficit—which, in reality, is closer to $7 billion because no one in Harrisburg wants to address the real fiscal situation.

The budget, which is constitutionally required to be balanced, was passed last year on ghost revenue: $400 million from the tolling of Interstate 80 (which never got tolled); $800 million raided from the MCARE fund (used to offset high medical malpractice rates) which, in all likelihood, will be ordered repaid by the State Supreme Court; federal Medicaid dollars that were budgeted to be $800 million but actually amounted to $595 million; and a $1.1 billion revenue shortfall after 10 months of last year’s fiscal year.

This shortfall seems to have simply vanished off the books. Of course, do that with your own business and you go to jail. So with the looming pension bomb and the real state deficit, it’s not a pretty picture for Pennsylvania’s future.

There was a way to address these issues and begin to reverse the state’s decline. Governor Corbett could have mandated a situation whereby union members would negotiate with their prospective employer individually, and free market-type incentives would allow for a fair offer—fair for the employee, and fair for the “employer” (the taxpayer).

So an offer would be made—salary, healthcare, benefits—and the individual could choose to accept or decline it. Which is exactly how it’s done in the free market. And for those who would claim it wouldn’t be “fair” to the state worker, you know what? There would be a line a mile long of qualified individuals ready and willing to accept such an offer. Accountability and efficiencies would increase, and unmotivated, bureaucratic sloths would be eliminated in favor of those willing to be good stewards of taxpayer money.

Sound simple and fair enough? It is, and it’s called the elimination of collective bargaining. It’s something successfully implemented in other states, but was incomprehensibly taken off the table by Corbett three months ago—while getting absolutely nothing in return.

The result: No pension reform and a lucrative union contract that the Governor says will be a net cost to the taxpayers of $164 million (which means that figure can be safely doubled).

The Wall Street Journal just labeled Corbett as leader of Keystone Cops. After this latest debacle, it’s hard to disagree.

 

Corbett Gives Unions Sweetheart Deal

Why Did Corbett Punt On Privatizing Booze In Pa.?

Why Did Corbett Punt On Privatizing Booze In Pa.? — This article by Chris Freind is being republished with his kind permission.

Last November, Pennsylvanians elected Tom Corbett to solve the state’s problems. But instead of leadership, they’ve received task forces and blue ribbon panels. In just three months, commissions have been formed to deal with Marcellus Shale natural gas (with a whopping 31 members), explore the core functions of government and figure out how to privatize liquor.

Sorry, but isn’t that why people elect politicians? Isn’t it their job to solve these problems?

Commissions and task forces are simply code for passing the buck and kicking the can down the road. We might as well just hang a sign that reads, “Welcome to Pennsylvania, Blue Ribbon State.” And if GOP leaders don’t start following through on campaign promises, the only “Red” they’ll see is voter anger when the state turns Democratic Blue.

*****

Since privatizing liquor is one of the only issues which enjoys a large consensus, and since it would provide billions to balance the ballooning budget deficit, it’s baffling why Corbett would punt away such political capital when he needs it most. Delaying the privatization initiative by instituting yet another study commission was a move that left many observers scratching their heads — and state store union employees punch-drunk with elation.

Even more perplexing is that Corbett has a solid ally in House Majority Leader Mike Turzai, who had been spearheading privatization legislation for years. Turzai had a right to expect that, with strong GOP majorities in both houses, the Governor would come charging out of the gate on an issue that was a cornerstone of his campaign. Instead, Corbett felt compelled to reach into the “Business As Usual” drawer and pull out another meaningless commission, which looks increasingly like a bad political calculation.

*****

Sometimes you have to walk out your door to realize that the grass really is greener somewhere else. For Pennsylvanians, that “green” is all the money saved by consumers in other states because they aren’t gouged when purchasing alcohol.

For the uninitiated, following is a primer for how the Pennsylvania alcohol monopoly works:

Pennsylvania is the largest purchaser of booze in the world. The state government, through the Liquor Control Board (LC, controls the purchase, distribution and sale of all wine and liquor. You might think that with such immense purchasing clout, its citizens would have outstanding selection and competitive pricing. But as any Pennsylvanian knows, that’s clearly not the case.

Interestingly, the LCB is charged with two distinct, and inherently contradictory, roles. While it’s responsible for raising revenue through the sale of wine and liquor, it’s also charged with controlling the sale of booze throughout the state. By definition, if the LCB is succeeding at one, it must be failing at the other.

Every bottle of liquor bought in the state comes with an added bonus: an 18 percent “temporary” tax, in addition to the 6 percent sales tax. So a $10 bottle jumps to $11.80 before the sales tax is calculated, totaling a whopping $12.50. In all fairness, the 18 percent tax was well intentioned—it was passed by the legislature to rebuild Johnstown after a devastating flood that destroyed the town.

In 1936. So much for “temporary” taxes.

Anyone who’s traveled outside Pennsylvania knows how refreshing it is to enter a grocery store and, remembering that you need a bottle of wine for dinner, walk two aisles over to the plethora of vino at your fingertips. Since others accomplish this with little difficulty, it’s incomprehensible that the nation’s sixth largest state can’t—or, more accurately, won’t—do the same.

It is infinitely more efficient when a private company, responsive to the needs of the free market (instead of bureaucrats), stocks its shelves with items that consumers want, at a fair market price. It is the core principle on which America was founded.

But Pennsylvania remains stuck in the Dark Ages, and what makes the sin mortal is that it chooses to remain there. It hasn’t dawned on the politicos in Harrisburg that they are losing untold revenue because of their Draconian system, with millions of residents crossing state lines to fill their liquor cabinets. (No offense to Governor Christie, but anytime New Jersey offers a better alternative, you know you have major problems).

And despite the Interstate Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution, if you’re caught bringing alcohol into Pennsylvania, it’s a criminal offense. In fact, such “criminals” used to have their cars confiscated for doing so.

To be fair, today’s LCB has made substantial progress in its operations and “customer service.” Not too long ago, all of its locations were “counter” stores, meaning that customers had to know exactly what they wanted before placing their order, since browsing was not permitted. The clerk would then disappear into the bowels of the store, only to return five or 10 minutes later, more often than not stating that they were “out of stock” and asking for a second choice. Now imagine this scene playing out at Christmas time, with 25 people in line.

But that’s not all.

Nothing in the store was chilled. No ancillary items, such as tonic water, were sold. No employees were permitted to offer advice. And no LCB stores accepted credit cards.

And all this because former Governor Gifford Pinchot, who as a young man became violently sick while imbibing in Germany, became bound and determined to make alcohol as difficult as possible to obtain.

But the LCB’s improvements amount to being valedictorian of summer school. The whole system has to be scrapped.

The ultimate irony is that the Keystone State, birthplace of American democracy and cradle of liberty, continues down the path of state control and government regulation, to the detriment of its twelve million citizens.

And what are liquor privatization’s chances? Dead for the spring session, possible in the fall and virtually nonexistent for 2012. With the makeup of the legislature sure to change next year, the time to take a “shot” is undoubtedly now.

The people have awakened from their stupor, demanding change. Instead, all they get is a (Pabst) “Blue Ribbon” commission.

Time for another drink.