Reprinted from GettysBLOG, and from THE CENTRIST.
We have roots in Delaware County, so we take an interest in the goings-on in that neck of the woods. A while back we surfed our way into several interesting blogsites from Delco, including, but not limited to: Delaware County for a Better Democracy, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, and its companion blog, I Live In Delaware County. We were also caught up by the wonderful, wickedly pointed Common Sense, and have been disappointed that there have been no posts since May.
What really drew our attention was the website and blog of a rising young political hopeful who has the courage of his convictions to step up and challenge an entrenched RINO [Republican in Name Only] for a seat in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.
Casey Roncaglione is a student at Temple University who got sick and tired of seeing the fat cats in Harassburg get fatter, more harassing and graft laden with every passing moment. Our General Assembly no longer represents their constituents, but rather represents only their members. Statewide, both political parties have abandoned their roots, endorsing candidates who seek only to feather their own nests at the expense of the taxpaying public. Casey Roncaglione seeks to unseat a card-carrying charter member of the Great Pennsylvania Legislative Graft and Mutual Influence Machine. The GPLG&MIM is comprised mostly of lawyers [no surprise there…and we all know what Shakespeare had to say about lawyers] who have perverted the Pennsylvania Constitution and made a mockery of the legislation supposedly enacted to protect the public from just such people as the current representative of the 164th Legislative District, one Mario Civera.
“Civera is entrenched in a legislative position of leadership and we do not want Delaware County to lose that edge.”, you reason. “Casey is young and inexperienced.”, you state.
It is for those reasons, among others, that Roncaglione, and other first time candidates facing long-term incumbents should be your first choice come November’s General Election. If you haven’t figured out by now that all that experience gained by Mario Civera is what has enabled him, and his fellow ‘fat cats’ to pass flawed and unconstitutional laws in an unconstitutional fashion [Act 71 of 2004, Act 72 of 2004, the Pay Raise of 2005], and to dance the Gamblers Dance with the lobbyists from the casino industry, milking them for what the State Legislators think is all they are worth, but in reality is only a pittance. In other words, our General Assembly members, especially those in leadership positions like Civera, can’t even commit graft to any degree of competency.
Our Pennsylvania General Assembly is an embarrassment, the laughing-stock of the nation. Pennsylvania is the only state in the nation with no lobbyist disclosure law [No, the weak piece of pseudo-legislation that John Perzel pushed early this summer would not have worked, and indeed, would allow the legislators to get away with even more than they already do!].
Elected officials from the Borough, Town Council, and Township level on up give only lip service to our toothless Sunshine Law, sometimes not bothering to conceal their contempt for it when they blithely declare, “It does not apply.”
And one has to wonder why the taxpayers of this once great Commonwealth are forced to pay much more than $1 million in legal and PR fees for the State Senator from Philadelphia, Prince Vince Fumo, who is under investigation by the Feds for money shenanigans allegedly involving his non-profit corporation. Pardon me, but I never okayed that money being spent for his personal legal expenses! No body ever asked me, either. This guy just walked into about $80 million when he sold his family bank, so its not like he needed the money…he simply felt he was entitled to it, so he went ahead and spent it!
Even worse is an arrogant Speaker of the House who just cannot keep his mouth shut, in spite of the sound advice to do so given by his tax-payer funded attorneys! Perzel has apologized for last summer’s pay raise – and then proceeded to defend it by pointing out that some of his legislators have bad credit because they don’t make enough money! [And these folks only work, what, 72 days a year? 77 maybe?]
What’s wrong with this picture?
That kind of hubris, that kind of graft and the corruption that goes along with it, that arrogant disregard for the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, that selfishness, and pure, unadulterated greed has gotten the citizens of Pennsylvania into a deep mess the remedy for which requires heroic efforts, courage, and determination on the part of the Pennsylvania Electorate.
Look, I am a conservative [currently abandoned by my party], but to me that is irrelevant. This problem is deep enough that it transcends partisan politics.
The chronicler of the Constitutional Convention, and fourth President of the United States of America, James Madison wrote, "I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations."
That describes exactly what has happened in Pennsylvania.
There is something rotten in the State of Pennsylvania, and it is the General Assembly. People like Fumo, Perzel – and his lackey Mario Civera – have put us in a condition of terrible jeopardy by their utter greed and avarice. They have made me ashamed to be from Pennsylvania.
Call Casey Roncaglione a crusader, but that is exactly what we need. Casey’s élan, and intellect should serve us well in the House of Representatives. He has shown an insightful and analytical mind, clearly grasping the issues, and identifying the problems that need to be solved. He has embraced the Roadmap to Reform, and has vowed to work for meaningful changes in the way the General Assembly conducts the business of legislation. [click on the thumb print to visit the Roadmap to Reform.]
Mr. Roncaglione will provide a breath of fresh air in an otherwise foul and odiferous environment. We pray there will be many like Casey: new members of the legislature. For every new person elected, an incumbent is not. That is a first step to victory for the reform of our state government. Casey Roncaglione has much to offer the people of the 164th District, and the citizens of Pennsylvania. Explore his blog, and his website Casey Roncaglione for State Representative, and see what he is all about. Make an effort to get to know who he is and what he stands for. I think he’d make a pretty good Republican; I also think he’s pretty good for a Democrat!
We urge you in November to first make sure you go to the polls and vote. When you vote, we urge you to vote to regain control of your Commonwealth, and the way to do that is to vote out Mario Civera, complicit in what is very wrong in Harrisburg, and elect Casey Roncaglione, to give Delaware County and Pennsylvania a fresh, clean start.
Remember in November! Vote! And when you do, VOTE RONCAGLIONE!
Novus Livy
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