Category: Toomey

Pennsylvania Pushed For FAA Site

Pennsylvania Pushed For FAA Site — Sen Pat Toomey says that he visited Tobyhanna Army Depot in Monroe County last week to tour the impressive facility and to urge the Federal Aviation Administration to give Pennsylvania equal consideration with New York for construction of a new air traffic control facility.

Numerous properties in Eastern Pennsylvania such as Tobyhanna fit the criteria outlined by the FAA, he said. They are located in areas with considerably lower costs of living and an existing security presence which may provide an opportunity for significant cost savings. Moreover, many of these sites are also closer to New York City than Albany, where the agency is considering locating the new facility.

 

Pennsylvania Pushed For FAA Site

Smoking Joe’s Gym Officially Historic

Smoking Joe’s Gym Officially Historic — Sen. Pat Toomey reports that the National Park Service informed him last week that Joe Frazier’s Gym  at Broad Street and Glenwood Avenue in Philadelphia will be added to the National Register of Historic Places.

“Smoking Joe” Frazier won 32 out of 37 career matches, won an Olympic gold medal and was the world heavyweight champion from 1970-73. He began training at the gym in 1968; it played a significant role in the story of his life and legacy as he trained there for many of his most famous bouts, including his victory against Muhammad Ali in the 1971 “Fight of the Century.”

 

Smoking Joe’s Gym Officially Historic

Toomey Air Traffic Controller Furloughs

Toomey Air Traffic Controller Furloughs — Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa) has sent this statement concerning the furloughing of air traffic controllers by President Obama and the solution offered by the Senator which has been approved by Congress and now awaits the President’s signature.

(On April 25), the Senate approved my bipartisan bill to halt furloughs of air traffic controllers. And today, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed this legislation which now awaits President Obama’s signature.

This bill maintains the savings in the sequester and provides the Transportation Secretary the flexibility to avoid furloughs of essential employees, such as air traffic controllers, at the Federal Aviation Administration.

Two months ago, I co-authored with Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) legislation that would have achieved the savings of the sequester while giving the administration the flexibility to cut the lowest priority spending items throughout the federal government rather than the across-the-board spending cuts in the sequester. Preferring to make the political point that spending cuts were not manageable, President Obama threatened to veto this approach and insisted on making the most disruptive spending cuts possible.

I am delighted that my Democratic colleagues have now finally come around to accept that the spending cuts of the sequester are entirely manageable.  Congressional passage of this measure to halt the furloughs of air traffic controllers is great news and a victory for common sense. This bill, a narrower version of the one Sen. Inhofe and I proposed, preserves essential services and cuts lower priority spending.  It’s what we need to do across the entire federal government.

 

Toomey Air Traffic Controller Furloughs

Medical Device Tax $194 Million Per Month

Medical Device Tax $194 Million Per Month — Senator Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) says the medical device tax that took effect in January as part of Obamacare is expected to cost device manufacturers roughly $194 million per month putting 43,000 American jobs at risk.

He says that in Pennsylvania, the medical device tax will cost our economy $100 million a year, causing job losses and harming the ability of companies to expand and hire.

“I have heard from many manufacturers including Fujirebio Diagnostics based in Malvern, B. Braun located in the Lehigh Valley, and Cook Medical with a location in Vandergrift that this tax is already eliminating Pennsylvania jobs, undermining our economy, and driving up the cost of care for patients,” he said. “I continue to work to repeal the medical device tax that was created in the president’s health care law. We must eliminate a burdensome provision of this law which forces manufacturers of medical devices – ranging from cochlear implants to pacemakers to artificial joints – to pay a 2.3 percent tax on their sales.”

 

Medical Device Tax $194 Million Per Month

Medical Device Tax $194 Million Per Month

Letter To Toomey

I sent this about an hour and a half ago to Sen. Toomey:

Dear Sen. Toomey

I’m sure you are getting a lot of grief for the proposal by Sen. Manchin and yourself to expand background checks for firearm purchases.

And you deserve it.

Still, I don’t hate you and you can continue to chalk me up as a supporter albeit with concerns that you are catching Potomac fever.

I do wish that you and other Republicans would stop playing defense and take the offense. How about you start making the case about the benefits of private firearm ownership. Our murder rate, for instance, is at a near low for my lifetime despite (because?) the number of states allowing concealed carry rose from 10 to 41 since 1980.

Philadelphia is a less dangerous city that it was in the ’80s & ’90s. Really. How about pointing things like that out?

Regarding mass school shootings it would also be nice if someone noted that  they didn’t occur — the first was the Grover Cleveland School shootings in 1979 that inspired the song “I Don’t Like Mondays — when the children started the day with a prayer and looked at the Golden Rule on classroom wall.

And, of course, when our society recognized that helpless life was something to be protected and not defined away for the sake of convenience.

I don’t think that is a coincidence.

 

Letter To Toomey

 

Letter To Toomey

Toomey Gives Response On Gun Bill

James J. Fitzpatrick, the Southeast Pa. regional manager for Sen. Pat Toomey,  has sent the following response to Mary Ellen Jones of the Delaware County Patriots regarding proposed firearm background check legislation that Toomey and Joe Manchin (D-W. Va.) are supporting.

On the gun issue, first I think we have come a long way. When it started out they were talking about bans, registries, and magazine limits. When the back and forth debate is whether or not to slightly expand background checks I think it is a win either way with this President.

Second, on the background check issue. We were approached by Sen. Machin’s office to potentially broker a deal on certain private sales and transfers. Right now in PA if you wanted to sell me a handgun/pistol, I would need to go to a federally licensed dealer to receive a background check. If, however, you wanted to sell me a rifle, or any other type of long gun, I would not need to do that. We think there is a potential room for a deal in that space given that many gun owners already require individuals to whom they are selling long guns or rifles to go through a background check. I think Pat’s thinking on it is at the very least on these transactions, the check would reduce the likelihood that someone would be selling to a felon, someone with a past of substance abuse, or someone that has a past of mental illness. It would also in turn protect the seller from liability on the back end if anything were to happen with the gun they sold.

With that said, these are simply conversations at this point between Manchin and Pat. No bill has been written and one will not be on the floor until next week at the earliest.

Ed note: The above message was sent April 9. A vote to start debate on the measure passed cloture in the U.S. Senate the afternoon of April 11 by a 68-31 margin preventing a filibuster. The Toomey-Manchin amendment has yet to be added.

Toomey Gives Response On Gun Bill

Toomey Gives Response On Gun Bill

Senator Toomey Nixes SOPA

Senator Toomey Nixes SOPA — Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) tweeted 20 minutes ago (about 8:25 p.m., Jan. 18) that he will not support either the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect IP Act (PIPA) in their present forms.

“Piracy of intellectual property is a legitimate concern that should be addressed. However, the PROTECT IP Act and the Stop Internet Piracy Act are flawed, and I cannot support them in their current form. I look forward to working with my Senate colleagues on this issue and finding a better legislative approach for tackling online piracy,” Sen. Toomey said Several major websites including Wikipedia went off-line today to protest the intrusive legislation.

In related news President Obama’s major Hollywood supporters said they were cutting off donations to him because he was against the legislation.

 

Senator Toomey Nixes SOPA

Toomey Response Regarding SOPA, PIPA

Toomey Response Regarding SOPA, PIPA — Here is the response I received from Sen. Toomey, regarding my communication regarding SOPA and PIPA:

Dear Bill,
Thank you for contacting me about S. 968, the Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property (PROTECT IP) Act. I appreciate hearing from you.
I understand your concerns about expanding intellectual property protection and value your input on S. 968. As you may know, Senator Patrick J. Leahy (D-VT) introduced this bill on May 12, 2011. Among its provisions, this measure would allow the U.S. Attorney General or qualifying plaintiffs to pursue legal action against registrants, owners, or operators of nondomestic Internet sites that infringe upon intellectual property rights. The Senate Committee on the Judiciary, of which I am not a member, favorably reported S. 968 on May 26, 2011. The legislation currently awaits consideration by the full Senate. Please be assured that I will keep your thoughts in mind as this measure awaits further consideration.
Thank you again for your correspondence. Please do not hesitate to contact me in the future if I can be of assistance.
Sincerely,

Pat Toomey
U.S. Senator, Pennsylvania

I have yet to hear from Sen. Casey.

FYI, Pat: Joe Sestak is coming on strong against SOPA/PIPA.

Goofy Street Sign Mandate That Toomey Fought

Goofy Street Sign Mandate That Toomey Fought  — The federal government has rescinded it’s bizarre deadline to change all the street signs in the country and credit goes to Sen. Pat Toomey.

The Federal Highway Administration in 2009 mandated that  street name signs throughout the nation be upper/lower case with a deadline of 2018.

For the historically challenged, 2009 is the first year of the Obama era.

It would have been a costly and wasteful endeavor with the burden falling on municipal governments.

The cost to replace a street sign is about $50. It  adds up. The expense to New York City was estimated to be $28 million.

Anyway, last November Pennsylvania elected a new Republican senator and upon taking office Sen. Toomey made it a point to make common sense prevail. First, he got Secretary of Transportation  Ray LaHood to grant a exception to Lower Merion — a place that was not what one would describe as supportive of  Toomey’s election it should be noted — to  grant the township a waiver to save its historic and picturesque street signs.

Then he got Secretary LaHood to waive the deadline for the entire nation, which Toomey announced Aug. 30.

It’s not ending the mandate but street signs do last a long time as those in Lower Merion would tell you.

Pennsylvania’s other senator, Little Bobby Casey, was apparently content with the pointless new burden. He certainly was indifferent to the problems that it was causing.

So kudos to Sen. Toomey.

Hat tip to Cathy Craddock of the Delaware County Patriots.

Goofy Street Sign Mandate That Toomey Fought

Toomey Explains Why We Won’t Default

Six days ago, July 13, Pennsylvania’s competent senator, Pat Toomey, explained the debt ceiling debate to Neil Cavuto of FoxNews.

“If we get to August 2 without having raised debt ceiling that will be disruptive,” he said. “That will be a partial government shutdown.  But we will not default on our debt. There is enough ongoing revenue in
the form of tax revenue to prevent that. And, frankly, if we just raised
the debt limit without the structural reform, without the real spending
cuts we need, then we’re inviting a catastrophe down the road.”

He also said the Republican are more than willing to raise the debt ceiling if the President offers a path to a balanced budget, which he has been strangely and extraordinarily adverse to doing.

“I think there is overwhelming, if not unanimous, support among Republicans
to raise the debt ceiling, which is what the president has insisted he
vitally needs,” Toomey said. “So, we’d be willing to do that. I won’t speak for all of my colleague,
but I think a big majority would be willing to raise the debt limit if
we were on a path to a sustainable balanced budget. I don’t see why the
president can’t accept that.”

Hat tip to Bob Guzzardi