Not only have the House Democrats proven that business goes on as usual in Harrisburg, but they have undone the hope for change their own Speaker's Commission on Reform had begun.Read the full editorial, "House Democrats undo last year's reforms with party-line vote on rules," at the newspaper's Web site.
The Democratic leadership and membership in the House have demonstrated just how seriously they view the opinions of Pennsylvania voters.
Apparently, not seriously at all.
School boards can voluntarily disclose the terms of contract proposals. If they feel like it. So much for transparency.Read "Teacher contracts: Let the sunshine in" at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Web site.
The General Assembly must solve this perennial problem once and for all by creating overarching legislation demanding that all school district contracts be made public before they are adopted.
Transparency prior to a done deal is the best deal for taxpayers.
The Office of Open Records is in place to help people understand those rights and exercise them to become more informed citizens, whether their question is with a local school board or the state Legislature.Read "Office of Open Records has busy start enforcing new public access laws" at The Mercury Web site.
Director Terry Mutchler said the office is already overworked, a positive sign that public officials and their constituents are working to make government dealings more transparent.
Keep up the good work.
U.S. Rep. Jim Gerlach, who represents Pennsylvania's 6th Congressional District, announced today has formed an exploratory committee to run for governor of Pennsylvania in 2010.
How many freshman Democrats who ran as "reformers" last November voted with the party bosses to kill state House reform measures recommended by a bipartisan commission? All of them."The Speaker's Reform Commission's goals were to make sure House members, the press and the public could see what legislation was being proposed and have time to study it," said Schroder. "The commission's goal was to ensure transparency. Yes, it takes more time, but it is necessary to ensure openness."This is the result of voters sending a Democratic majority back to Harrisburg despite the fact that 12 people connected with the House Democratic Caucus have been indicted in the "Bonusgate" corruption probe. You wanted business as usual in Harrisburg ... and you got it.
Schroder said the vote by House Democrats to restore the old policies was akin to exchanging openness for expediency.
"This action rolls back and retreats from the rules established by the bipartisan Speaker's Reform Commission a couple of years ago that required 24 hours before an amended bill could be considered on final passage," said Schroder. "We are indeed opening the door to the bad old days. Under the new House rules, legislation may be rewritten at the last minute and brought to the floor for a vote and become law without giving adequate time for legislators and the public to absorb the changes."
In addition to the 24-hour rule change, the new rules pave the way for sessions to go past the 11 p.m. deadline established by the Reform Commission. They also give the Rules Committee more power to manipulate bills.
"The House rules adopted Wednesday night dim the light that was shone on the legislative process by the work of the Speaker's Reform Commission. The rule requiring a 24-hour waiting period to vote a bill after it is amended is now rendered ineffective; gut-and-run, last-minute amendments can once again be passed by the House Rules Committee and the likelihood is now greater that bills will be passed in the middle of the night once again," Schroder said. "The Democrat members of the Reform Commission and first-term Democrats who ran on a reform agenda were party to this destruction of openness."
Also Wednesday night, Schroder voted for an amendment that would have prohibited House members from being employed by lobbying firms. House Democrats defeated it.
While working on such front-page news as Obama complaining that his kids missed a day of school in Washington, D.C., because of a few inches of snow, the Obama Media missed out on reporting the first major crisis of the new administration.Obama, whose administration on taking office vilified Bush on Katrina, has done no more for the victims of the winter storm. Yet no tirade has been forthcoming from either the media or the loopy orbit of Celebrity Planet.Read the full editorial at the newspaper's Web site.
The double standard is what we've come to expect, but it's not what we should continue to accept.
Tune in Thursday at 5 p.m. on WPAZ 1370 AM for a special edition of "Talking Politics with Tony Phyrillas & Mike Pincus."
Critics in the Legislature say providing tuition relief is a laudable goal, but legalizing video poker machines is an expansion of slot machine gambling.Rendell may have fooled enough lawmakers in 2004 when he won approval to bring 71,000 slot machines to Pennsylvania, but don't bet on Fast Eddie pulling another fast one on the current Legislature.
"The reality of it is, they are slot machines," said Rep. Mike Vereb, R-Montgomery County. "We're being barbaric. We're going into neighborhoods with gambling when we don't have gambling under control."
If the administration's logic is that it's OK to legalize practices that take place illegally, said Republican Rep. Doug Reichley of Allentown, "The Chicken Ranch in Reno, Nev., is looking forward to the day we open prostitution in the Capitol."
Through the Local Law Enforcement Grant Program, the state recently spent more than $3 million to combat illegal slots and video poker machines.
Tune in Thursday at 5 p.m. on WPAZ 1370 AM for a special edition of "Talking Politics with Tony Phyrillas & Mike Pincus."
Another month, another depressing tax collection report from the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue* Sales tax receipts totaled $799.6 million for January, $55.9 million below estimate. Sales tax collections, year-to-date, total $5 billion, which is $238.5 million, or 4.5 percent, less than anticipated.You can read the full report at the link below:
* Personal income tax (PIT) revenue in January was $1.1 billion, $141.2 million below estimate. This brings year-to-date PIT collections to $5.7 billion, which is $275.9 million, or 4.6 percent, below estimate.
* January corporation tax revenue of $103.3 million was $18.1 million below estimate. Year-to-date corporation tax collections total $1.5 billion, which is $152.8 million, or 9.4 percent, below estimate.
Tom Daschle, President Obama's choice to lead the Health and Human Services Department, is sorry he didn't pay more than $120,000 in back taxes.… less honest. Liberals are more likely to believe that it's okay to be dishonest or deceptive, cheat on their taxes (and their spouse), keep money that doesn't belong to them, and sell a used car with a faulty transmission to a family member.If that doesn't sound like the new Obama administration, I don't know what does.
… more selfish. Liberals are much more likely to think about themselves first and less willing to make sacrifices for others. They are less interested in caring for a physically ill or elderly family member, and more concerned with ensuring that their own needs are met.
… more focused on money. Liberals are much more likely to report that money is important to them, that they don't earn enough money, and that money is what matters in a job. They are also more likely to be envious of others.
… less knowledgeable about civic affairs and economics. Despite claims that conservatives are ignorant, studies and surveys show that conservatives and Republicans tend to know more about public affairs, have a better understanding of economics, and do better on word association tests.
Writing in The Pottstown Mercury, Congressman Joe Pitts, who represents Pennsylvania's 16th Congressional District, explains why he and every Republican member of Congress voted against the sham stimulus bill put forth by Nancy Pelosi on behalf of President Obama.Newspaper editorial pages across the ideological spectrum, from the Wall Street Journal to the Washington Post, have pointed out the lack of actual stimulus in the Democrats economic stimulus plan. I would like to point out some of the most egregious examples of such spending that were included in the bill that passed the House.Read the full column at the newspaper's Web site.
Fifty million dollars will go to the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), whose recent expenditures include $95,000 for the American Ballet Theatre in New York City and $300,000 to restore an outdoor sculpture collection in Miami, Florida. In fact, the bill provides fewer funds for small business tax relief in the form of expensing than it provides for the NEA. That's more money for art than the small businesses that will create jobs to get our economy moving again—hardly economic stimulus.
Another $650 million will go to subsidize the purchase of TV converter boxes, and $3 billion will be spent on prevention and wellness programs, including $335 million for sexually transmitted disease prevention education.
Not wanting to leave out the federal bureaucracy, the bill included $600 million to buy new cars for government workers. This is in addition to the $3.5 billion a year the federal government already spends to acquire, operate, and maintain a fleet of about 642,000 trucks, passenger cars, and other vehicles.
Another $1 billion was allocated to be spent for the follow-up to the 2010 Census. The follow-up will not even begin until April of 2010.
In fact, the only thing bipartisan about this bill was the group of lawmakers voting no in the House, as several Democrats crossed the aisle to oppose the plan.
A Pennsylvanian's moderate conservative commentary about state and national politics and other stuff.
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