35: News & Views -- March 6, 2006

Some very interesting articles in the news as your state government continues to march right over you.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bob Casey, Jr. has joined the lawsuit filed by Gene Stilp that is suing the General Assembly, and Bob Casey, Jr. (who filed a brief in defense of himself in response to the suit). Boy, is that ever confusing:

John Baer In twisty pay-raise saga, the beat just goes on

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After years of crowing over huge profits that earned the fund administrators enormous bonuses, the Pennsylvania State Employees Retirement fund is in big trouble:

State employees' pensions might carry big price tag

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No news here: The Pennsylvania House and Senate disagree on proposed changes to the real estate property tax laws, in a putative effort to grant relief to homeowners from skyrocketing taxes:

House, Senate disagree on reductions

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This is worth a look-see just to catch the front page image of the Philadelphia Daily News’ irreverent commentary on last night’s Oscars:

The Philadelphia Daily News (front page

And while you are there, scroll down a little to catch Signe Wilkinson’s great editorial cartoon!

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For those of you either buying or building a new home, or adding substantially onto an older one, this article is scary to say the least. It comes with a cautionary tale:

Consumer Watch Stealth Pa. bill favors builders

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Rick Santorum, who has fallen behind challenger Bob Casey, Jr. in the race for US Senate, appears to be making a rather strong comeback. We knew he would. But read it for yourself:

Santorum expected to cut Casey's big edge

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Have a great day, and a greater tomorrow! Stay involved!

THE CENTRIST

“Kick the hubris out of Harrisburg!” -- THE CENTRIST

"It is the duty of every citizen according to his best capacities to give validity to his convictions in political affairs. " -- Albert Einstein

Copyright © 2006: “THE CENTRIST”. All Rights Reserved.

34: “This is Very Important”

[Reposted from GettysBLOG]

Friend Diane Berlin from Casino Free Pennsylvania (CasinoFreePA) is conducting a hearing on the repeal of the Gaming Control Bill, Act 71. Anyone who has followed this blogger for the past months knows all too well that since last May, we have insisted that Act 71 was one of the most ethically challenged pieces of legislation ever written. We have gone so far as to make a plea here, not once, but twice, that in addition to their local fights, the various groups around the state that are fighting the imposition of casinos in their communities, coalesce in a central group to cooperate with each other in raising grassroots support statewide to put pressure on the legislators in the General Assembly, to back the repeal legislation sponsored by Representative Paul Clymer (R-145, Bucks County). They are apparently on the move. Here is a grassroots organization, CasinoFreePA, organized to do just that.

CasinoFreePA TO HOLD CITIZENS' HEARING ON BILL TO REPEAL ACT 71, PA'S SLOTS LAW

After being turned down for a hearing in the House Tourism and Recreational Development Committee on HB 2298, the bill to repeal Pennsylvania’s slots law, CasinoFreePA decided to hold its own. Experts will be spotlighting reasons to repeal Act 71.

The hearing will take place on Monday, March 6, 2006, at 10:00 a.m. at Grace United Methodist Church, 216 State St., Harrisburg which served as the temporary Capitol for Pennsylvania when our current Capitol was being built. (Estimated time is 2 hours.)

The hearing was scheduled to coincide with the deadline for registering to speak at Gaming Control Board hearings on the state’s 22 casino proposals, and with the statewide Gaming Congress which will begin on the evening of March 6.

Among those scheduled to testify at the CasinoFreePA hearing are: Prof. John Kindt, an internationally respected expert on the gambling issue, Rep. Paul Clymer, Chair of the House State Government Committee and staunch gambling opponent, Tim Potts, plaintiff in PAGE Fund lawsuit, Bonita Hoke, from the PA League of Women Voters, physician, Dr. John Kreider, former gambler, Bill Kearney as well as several community members.

CasinoFreePA is a statewide coalition of groups and individuals opposing casino gambling in Pennsylvania.

This same group helped file the lawsuit effort to declare Act 71 unconstitutional last year, only to have the State Supreme Court simply ignore the most salient points, and rule against it. I strongly recommend you take the time to read the PAGE Fund Brief on their website. I guarantee you will have your eyes opened to what’s been going on in the State Assembly for the past few years. It will disturb you deeply. If it does not, you are jaded. It should disturb you greatly. When you read the words Vince Fumo, Mike Veon and David Brightbill spoke on the floor of the General Assembly it will boggle your mind.

Then keep reading about what the representatives who were asking for more time were saying. This should indeed, clarify for all that leadership, particularly that of Senator Vincent Fumo, has been dictating to the members of both houses for years, what goes on in their own legislation. Dictating. Vince Fumo is a Democrat who is the minority leader of the Senate Appropriations Committee. Both houses of the General Assembly are, and have been for more than a few years, majority controlled by the Republicans.

$o, tell me, how does a minority $enator, granted a very powerfully placed minority $enator, dictate not only to the $enate, which is controlled by his political opposition, but also to the Hou$e, which is also controlled by his political opposition?

If that doesn’t have the bile rising in your throat, consider this. The people who wrote that bill, Act 71, had to include some of the Judges of the Supreme Court, and/or members of their staff, under direction or guidance of the judges. It was well researched in advance. Has anyone compared the words, as cited in the brief, of Veon, Fumo, and Brightbill, all members of leadership in the General Assembly, to the words in the decision on the PAGE Fund Brief?

Note: In the decision to reject the call for declaring Act 71 unconstitutional, the State Supreme Court, (led by our 'good friend' Ralph Cappy, of Midnight pay raise fame – he openly consulted with and advised leadership of the General Assembly on the raise!) did reject the proviso in the law allowing the Gaming Control Board to ignore and override, if necessary, local zoning ordinances in granting licenses for casinos. It should also be noted, that in most areas targeted by government or developers for development, development-friendly supervisors have been elected to township boards of supervisors across the state, making moot that declaration by Cappy, et al.

I hope you get very angry. Only anger can sustain long enough to win this fight. These people, in particular the State Supreme Court, the Governor who brought you gambling on a stick, and the leadership (and the membership, for the most part) of the legislature are in this purely, completely, and utterly for themselves.

A close examination of Act 71 itself will reveal into just how many slices the gambling pie has been divided. Even a good read of the first 30 pages of the PAGE Fund Brief will give one an idea how this “mega fund” has been carved up.

You are being swindled by your state government.

Ever hear the term “Ponzi Scheme”? Wikipedia defines it thusly:

A Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investment operation that involves paying abnormally high returns ("profits") to investors out of the money paid in by subsequent investors, rather than from net revenues generated by any real business. In fact, a Ponzi scheme must have abnormally high short-term returns in order to entice new investors. The high returns that a Ponzi scheme advertises (and pays) require an ever-increasing flow of money from investors in order to keep the scheme going.

The system is doomed to collapse because there are little or no underlying earnings from the money received by the promoter. However, the scheme is often interrupted by legal authorities before it collapses, because a Ponzi scheme is suspected and/or because the promoter is selling unregistered securities. (As more and more investors become involved, the likelihood of the scheme coming to the attention of authorities will continue to increase.)

The scheme is named after Charles Ponzi, who became notorious for using the technique after immigrating to the United States from Italy in 1903. Today's schemes are often considerably more sophisticated than Ponzi's (though the underlying formula is quite similar), but the principle behind every Ponzi scheme is to exploit a lack of judgment based on greed.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Act 71 is a Ponzi scheme that has the legitimacy of passage by the state legislature, approval by the governor, and all done with the blessing (and complicity) of the state supreme court. The 'ponzis' are the governor, the legislature and the state supreme court. They are funded by the one entity that will consistently make money out of this whole thing: the national gaming industry, few of whom reside now, or ever will reside in Pennsylvania. The early investors are the local investors who are funding the construction of the casinos – they will make their money in the first two years of the casino operation and sell, and likely move to another state. The later investors are you, the citizens, and you will make your investments by visiting the casinos, which will have table games within two years of opening, and by the significant rise in your taxes to support an industry that promised to spread millions of dollars all over the state, and has failed to produce anywhere near that figure. That fact will be the key rationale in expanding gaming to include those table games. And that rationale will be presented as the only viable alternative to the failure of gaming in Pennsylvania to live up to its promises as expressed by the 'ponzis'.

Recent news articles cite $1.1 million paid over the past two years by gaming interests in and out of Pennsylvania, to Pennsylvania politicians, the most notable of which are, Ed Rendell, Vince Fumo, William DeWeese, John Perzel, Robert Jubelirer (all 'ponzis' already) and Lynn Swann (a potential future 'ponzi' who has received over $100,000 from gaming interests for his campaign). Some of Rendell's former aides, and a good many lobbyists are now owners, or investors in the legislation required Pennsylvania-owned slot machine distributors! An eclectic mix of Democrats and Republicans representing leadership in the State Assembly and in the Governor’s Office. We have made the estimate before that the true amount invested by all gaming interests in the politicians of the state to be about $1 billion. What you see in the news, the $1.1 million, is money required to be reported by Federal Election laws. There are no other laws in Pennsylvania that require a politician to declare receipt of such funding, nor that require reporting by lobbying and industry interests of the amounts contributed to persons of political influence (politicians, political operatives, etc.). There is no lobbying law in Pennsylvania.

The 'ponzi’s' have seen to that.

Get angry. Get very angry.

THE CENTRIST

“Kick the hubris out of Harrisburg!” -- THE CENTRIST

“Be steadfast in your anger, be sure in your convictions, be moved by the right and certainty that abuse of power must be defeated at every turn; uphold Liberty as the just reward of a watchful people, and let not those who have infringed upon that Liberty steal it away from you. Never loosen your grip on Liberty!" --GettysBLOG

“Legislation without representation is tyranny.” --GettysBLOG

Remember in May! Before you vote, GettysBLOG!

Copyright © 2006: THE CENTRIST; All Rights Reserved.

33: "Taking Back the Power

We thought to bring you something special for this issue, and then considered how to present a post representative of the first 100 essays. It is no small task, as the topics range from pure history to rotten politics, from heroes to hubris, and from vandalism to the vassalization of the citizens of this Commonwealth. In the end, we chose to go with the platform that will cure the hubris and the rotten politics, and stop the vassalization of our citizens. There is no better representative of what we are about.

The good folks over at Operation Clean Sweep -- Russ Diamond is the Chair -- have sent out this note to ask you to sign petitions for the May primary of any Clean Sweep candidates you are allowed to vote for. There is also other news, and links to various tools available on his website. Get involved. Let’s stop “politics as usual”!

Greetings PACleanSweepers!
March 7 is the last day to collect signatures to get on the ballot for the May 16 primary election. If you haven't already done so, please sign a petition or help our candidates gather signatures. This is a unique opportunity for change in PA. Let's not miss it by failing to act!

Have You Signed Yet?
Six days and counting.......We are down to the final six days for the Democrat and Republican candidates signature gathering period. If you have not done so yet, we IMPLORE you to seek out your local candidate and ask them if you can sign their petition. Some of our candidates have volunteers who are circulating their petitions, they may not have been able to get to every person who would like to sign. We have asked our candidates to gather double the signatures required to ensure them a spot on the ballot.

There is only one of them and many of you. Get on the website, look them up on the list of candidates and give them a call or send an email to find out how you can help. Six days is not much time and if they fail to get the signatures they will not get on the ballot. You say you want a change? Make it happen by being a part of the process.

First, click on the link below, then go to the PA Voter Survival Guide.
Learn How to Sign a Petition...

PA Voter Survival Guide
For those of you new to politics in Pennsylvania, we've developed a quick way to find out if you have any PACleanSweep candidates in your area.

All you need to know to get started is your Zip Code or the name of your county. Then you can find out which House & Senate districts you live in.

From there you can find out if there are any PACleanSweep candidates running and who your incumbents are. It's easy as 1-2-3!
Try the PA Voter Survival Guide...

PACleanSweep Files Lawsuit...
PACleanSweep has filed a Federal Lawsuit in response to to the anti-CleanSweep website that was launched last month. The lawsuit charges Bob Nye, owner and publisher of the website and Senator John Doe and State Representative John Doe with Defamation, Libel and False Light Representation, and Civil Rights Violations.

Mr. Nye certainly has the right to free speech and PACleanSweep in no way seeks to abridge that right. What we seek is truthfulness and accuracy in representations made of PACleanSweep by Mr. Nye, or any individual for that matter.
Read the Lawsuit...

Upcoming Events
Want to become more involved or learn more about PACleanSweep? Stop by at any PACleanSweep event to meet and chat with other CleanSweepers. We will be holding meetings at the following locations:

3-09: Clarion Meetup/ Clarion Gun Owners

Times and locations are available from the Events Calendar on the PACleanSweep web site.
Events Calendar

It's YOUR Commonwealth; It's YOUR job!
We cannot rest until this problem is solved. Write more letters to the editor. Call more talk radio shows. Blog the bloggers. Read and post on the PACleanSweep Discussion group. Contribute to PACleanSweep.

This is not our best chance to make some changes; this is our ONLY chance. It’s now or never. We’re looking for Founding Fathers for a NEW Pennsylvania.

Sincerely,
Your PACleanSweep Team

Thanks, Russ and friends! Operation Clean Sweep will go far in cleaning out what has become a rats’ nest of greed and avarice. This blogger believes, along with many others, that our current politicians do not answer the need for clean government, for the people. Indeed, they have shown themselves repeatedly as being only for themselves. They will do anything to prevent Operation Clean Sweep from being successful. There are quiet threats, and intimidations (even this blog has been visited by the IRS, and the National Counter Terrorism Center!) occurring daily.

This must stop. You already have in front of you a public record of the abuses and probable illegalities of this state administration, the state supreme court, and their puppet legislature. Now, as you see from Russ’s letter, they resort to outright libel and defamation in public by a sacrificial underling.

These are the acts of political bullies and thugs, who are very scared. They fear losing power. They fear the ignominy of being turned out of office and losing their gravy train. They fear being forced to work for a living. The fear is so great, many who are up for re-election have opted not to run, in order to avoid being a target of Operation Clean Sweep. It is happening in record numbers. It won’t salvage them, however. There will be repercussions. People will be held accountable. As the new general assembly gathers next year to begin work, they will be seeking to undo as much of the damage done, and hardship caused by this group of greed and hubris driven misanthropes. A Constitutional Convention will be convened to take the step required to right the ship of Pennsylvania. Most likely, the legislature will revert to part time status, with the House at least cut in half. Ethics legislation will be built into the Constitution. Lobbyist disclosure laws will also be built in. Limits on the term of leadership positions will be built in to protect the citizens from the accumulation of political power such as that which we are fighting against now.

Stir your stumps, people! Get out there and get involved. Spread the word. Write to your newspapers. Every incumbent replaced in the Primary is almost a guaranteed victory for Operation Clean Sweep in November. Let us rid ourselves of this great insult to the character of Pennsylvanians.

Seize the power back from those who would deny you its use and protection; wield it then for yourselves to secure your lives, your liberty, and your honor!

THE CENTRIST

“Kick the hubris out of Harrisburg!” -- THE CENTRIST

"It is the duty of every citizen according to his best capacities to give validity to his convictions in political affairs. " -- Albert Einstein

Copyright © 2006: “THE CENTRIST”. All Rights Reserved.

32: “Happy Birthday Republican Party!”

On this date in 1854, the Republican Party was founded in Ripon, Wisconsin. The founding principle was the opposition of slavery, first to stop its spread, then to eradicate it. As its second presidential candidate, and first Republican president, Abraham Lincoln said,

"No man is good enough to govern another man without that other's consent. I say this is the leading principle --the sheet anchor of American republicanism."

At the time, the power in the nation was found in the Democratic Party, predominately a product of the 3/5th clause in the Constitution which counted every slave as 3/5th of a person for congressional apportionment, thus giving the Southern dominated Democratic party an almost insurmountable edge in the House of Representatives. Indeed, the majority of the Speakers of the House, the Supreme Court Justices, and the Presidents to that time had been either slave owners, or sympathetic to slavery.

Born out of the death of the old Whig Party, and its earlier split of the Free Soilers, the Republicans quickly organized and gained a national following. Indeed, it was a radical path the Republicans were on in 1854. They were staring at a very steep hill to climb. They nominated the great western explorer, John C. Fremont as their candidate. He ran on a ticket promising “Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Speech, Free Men, Fremont!” He was defeated, but the margin was not nearly so wide as the Democrats had expected. Just as the Whigs had split earlier in the decade, the Democrats were about to experience a split of their own.

At their 1860 convention, the Democratic party was split so deeply that it finally called a halt to the proceedings, only to pick them up again after a few weeks cooling off. That didn’t help. The Southern Democrats went on to nominate John C. Breckenridge, from Kentucky. He had been Northern Democrat James Buchanan’s Vice President. Meanwhile, the Northern wing of the party nominated the Little Giant from Illinois, Steven A. Douglas.

For the Republican nominee, Abe Lincoln, things looked bleak. Throughout the south, he was not even on the ballot in most states. At the end of the election campaign, Douglas realized the split was deadly to the Democrats, and even more perilous to the Union, so he threw his candidacy away and campaigned throughout the South trying desperately to avoid the threatened secession. It failed. Lincoln won handily.

Over the next 70 years, Republican Presidents dominated the scene, perhaps peaking in the 1904 election of Teddy Roosevelt. TR was an exuberant, energetic, straight forward man, practical, and talented, possessed of a keen intellect. He had gotten himself made into a war hero during the Spanish American War by campaigning for a position at the head of a regiment of “Rough Riders”, a mixture of fading cowboys and New York dandies. They achieved their moment of glory on San Juan Hill in Cuba. It was justly earned.

As president, TR was a progressive, trying to change things for the better, in the spirit of Lincoln and the first Republicans. He gave over a chance for a full third term (having taken over for the assassinated McKinley early in his term), pushing hard for Taft in 1908. By 1912, Roosevelt was frustrated with the Republican Party as not being progressive enough, so he (and others) formed the Progressive Party and ran Teddy as its candidate. The Progressive Party was better known as the "Bull Moose” party.

Like the Democrats in 1860, the third party split from the Republicans was deadly, and Democrat Woodrow Wilson was elected.

The post World War II era ushered in the presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower, and proved him as able a civilian commander as he was a military one during the war. “Ike” was personable, friendly, with an engaging grin. Even today, campaign buttons professing that “I like Ike” are highly prized. Since Ike, we have had Richard Nixon, the man who reopened China to the west; Ronald Reagan, who restored a flagging American spirit, and a flagging American economy, and bluffed the Soviets clear out of their “Evil Empire”; George H. W. Bush, who defeated Saddam Hussein and forcibly ejected his troops from Kuwait in one of the most masterful military operations the world has ever witnessed; and our current Commander in Chief, George W. Bush, who is leading us in a War of unknown duration, but certain victory.

We do not always get the best presidents after an election, but we always get good men, who work to fulfill the roll of President with honor and courage. We have been fortunate in the Republican Party that so many have been statesmen, soldiers, scholars, and wonderful presidents, and great leaders. And why not? Look who set the bench mark as a Republican president, 146 years ago.

Happy Birthday Republican Party – 152 years old today!

THE CENTRIST

"It is the duty of every citizen according to his best capacities to give validity to his convictions in political affairs. "
--Albert Einstein

Copyright © 2006: “THE CENTRIST”. All Rights Reserved.

31: "Non-endorsement of Lynn Swann"

THE CENTRIST has been torn all winter over the Republican endorsement for Pennsylvania's next governor. We were at odds over the three main choices, Scranton, Swann and Panyard. When the Scranton campaign fumbled it reduced the field to two. We had already reviewed Panyard back in December in THE CENTRIST #4: "Anti-Gambling Republican for Governor". Jim Panyard came out in favor of repealing the virulently unethical legislation enabling gaming in Pennsylvania, Act 71 of 2004. We were thrilled to have a candidate who promised to sign, not veto, a repeal of that legislation.

We queried Lynn Swann's campaign about it by email. No response. We sent another query. This got a response from "Receptionist" (apparently someone who screens Swann's email), and promised that THE CENTRIST would hear back shortly from David Alexander, Deputy Political Director. After another week, we sent a follow up message pointing out that political candidates really should not treat friends this way. Still nothing. After several more days, we sent a final email to "Receptionist", informing them that not only would there be no endorsement of Mr. Swann from THE CENTRIST, there would indeed be a non-endorsement posting. This is it.

We believe the Republican Party of Pennsylvania has made a terrible mistake. Frankly, except for a select few, no one in the state knows exactly what Lynn Swann stands for, besides less government, lower taxes, restricting abortion, and educating our children. In other words, 'boiler-plate' Republican issues.

"So what?", you ask. We are glad you asked that question.

The greatest threat to Pennsylvanians today is not more or less government, it is not abortion, it is not the state of our educational system, it is not high taxes. All of these ARE issues. But the greatest issue in Pennsylvania today is the massive corruption of our body politic. By that, I mean, not just the elected officials from Governor to dog-catcher, but the people who back them politically...the party committees, the ward leaders, the local and county and statewide organizations that now rely on voters to walk into a booth and pull the party lever.

Who are these people? Many of them are your friends, relatives, and neighbors. Many are not. Many of them are committed to political ideals, while others are committed to backing candidates who will thank them by passing legislation that will make them money. The higher you go in the hierarchy of politics in the state, the greater the number of those seeking wealth and power, and the fewer who are idealistically motivated. There are few idealists in politics at the state level.

The proof is in the pudding. Look at our state legislature and our governor. Last year they tried to sneak an enormous pay raise through in the dead of night, hoping no one was watching. 16-34%. And it was done at the bidding of the Chief Justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. The governor, who's wife is a sitting Federal judge, signed the legislation into law. All parties tried to defend it when the news hit the streets. It created enough voter anger that an organized, grass roots campaign got a sitting state Supreme Court justice ousted from office, and only a last minute flurry of campaign ads by former governor Ridge, saved a second justice from a similar fate.

The legislature repealed the raise in November, AFTER the election. There was no admission of wrong doing, or even of 'errors of judgment'. To this day, there are still legislators who have kept the money they took by way of a highly unethical, probably illegal "unvouchered expense" under the raise. Rendell refuses to press the issue.

In 2004, in the very same underhanded and furtive manner, the legislature passed Act 71, which enabled gaming in Pennsylvania. There is so much wrong with this legislation that we would need a few more essays to lay it all out. Suffice to say that it is replete with unethical, unconstitutional, and perhaps illegal sections which allow, among other things, the legislators to secretly own investments in casinos, even while being the appointing body to the Gaming Control Board (GCB); the right for the GCB to allow a casino to be built anywhere, regardless of local opposition, or zoning laws; the right of the GCB to act in secret, to limit public comment, and to meet in private.

Perhaps the biggest threat to Pennsylvania is the harm that will be done by the presence of gaming to its citizens. The gaming industry has been shown to prey on addictive persons, primarily gambling addicts and alcoholics. In many cases, persons who had no idea they were addictive wind up being addicted to both gambling and alcohol. Both are destructive of the individual, the family, and social and economic network surrounding them, and the community social framework.

There are not a lot of people who will get rich from this industry. A handful of investors, a large number of out of state investors and partners, and a bunch of politicians. The odds against Joe Citizen striking it rich in a casino in Pennsylvania are astronomically high. And odds mean very little to the addicted gambler. A recent story on the news told of a woman who gambled daily on her way to work, and stole from her son to support it. At one point, she lost all her money, and on the way out of the casino, was searching the floor for one more nickel to get it all back. This is typical of the desperation created by gambling addiction.

Clearly, Pennsylvania government is in the hands of ‘developers’ – the somewhat nebulous group of investors, builders and some realtors, who are guilty of imposing runaway development on some parts of the state that need little development, while ignoring the large portions of the state that are in need of economic and physical development. This group includes those who would build casinos. Because there are several state agencies that oversee how land is used in Pennsylvania, there is no clear strategy to control development. It is going strictly where it will provide the biggest payoff for the ‘developers’. The worst culprit is the state Department of Community and Economic Development, with its very powerful Commonwealth Financing Authority. They finance the local, County Economic Development Corporations who have totally lost sight of their purpose. They build wherever there is green – space to build on, and money to make.

The laws must be rewritten to correct this as there is simply no protection any more for the rights of the citizen to own property.

Article One of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania states in its Declaration of Rights:

Inherent Rights of Mankind
Section 1.
All men are born equally free and independent, and have certain inherent and indefeasible rights, among which are those of enjoying and defending life and liberty, of acquiring, possessing and protecting property and reputation, and of pursuing their own happiness.

Reservation of Powers in People
Section 25.
To guard against the transgressions of the high powers which we have delegated, we declare that everything in this article is excepted out of the general powers of government and shall forever remain inviolate.

Natural Resources and the Public Estate
Section 27.
The people have a right to clean air, pure water, and to the preservation of the natural, scenic, historic and esthetic values of the environment. Pennsylvania's public natural resources are the common property of all the people, including generations yet to come. As trustee of these resources, the Commonwealth shall conserve and maintain them for the benefit of all the people.

We believe the current legislature, and the current governor, have violated these articles of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. They have put vast numbers of the citizens of Pennsylvania at risk of great harm to life, and property, and encouraged the spoiling of the natural resources as enumerated in Section 27, by the ‘developers’.

Lynn Swann takes no position on any of these issues – not gambling, or political corruption, or runaway development. For all the voters of Pennsylvania know Swann may be an investor in a casino, and therefore unwilling to commit to the repeal of gaming in Pennsylvania. So this same man who cares so much for your youth that he wants to see them properly educated, and cares so much for the unborn of Pennsylvania, who wants to reduce your taxes by reducing your government, may very well care less about the adults in this Commonwealth being seduced by alcohol and gambling into addictions requiring greater government, and more taxes to handle the growing treatment of problem addicts fostered by the gaming industry in Pennsylvania.

We do not know if Lynn Swann feels that way or not, but we cannot afford to take the risk in not knowing. There is too much at stake.

We had great hopes for Mr. Swann – an outsider with charm, name and face recognition, and a clean background. He seemed to have a message, but when we looked for it, it wasn’t there. Indeed, his own voting record casts a shadow on his fitness to run for elected office, having not participated in many of the elections over the past decade. If he was not interested in Pennsylvania politics then, how can we be sure he is interested now? The fact is, even as an outsider, Swann's endorsement last weekend by the Republican State Committee smacked of politics as usual, and lacked any indicators of the required reforms as demonstrated by the voters last November.

We cannot, and will not, under any circumstances, advocate voting for Ed Rendell. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. Not only has he practically destroyed many of the departments in state government, he is the principle architect of gaming in Pennsylvania. That is a hideous affront to the people of this Commonwealth.

We cannot back Lynn Swann. He is an empty candidate, who charmed his way to the state committee endorsement, gaining it by default more than anything else.

We don’t need a schmooze artist as governor, as we have now. We need a man of character, ethics, and strong moral fiber.

There is one man that fits that bill, but he has withdrawn from the race for financial reasons. That is Jim Panyard.

Come the May Primary Election, I am writing Jim Panyard’s name in as my choice for Republican gubernatorial candidate. If necessary, I will do the same in November.

I encourage you to do the same.

THE CENTRIST

“Kick the hubris out of Harrisburg!” -- THE CENTRIST

"It is the duty of every citizen according to his best capacities to give validity to his convictions in political affairs. " -- Albert Einstein

Copyright © 2006: “THE CENTRIST”. All Rights Reserved.

30: “Encouraging News!”

This short message from friend Russ Diamond, over at Operation Clean Sweep. It seems the “Ins”, that is the current crop of legislators who would not know an ethic if it struck them between the eyes, and in particular, legislative leadership, will stoop to any depths to attempt to discredit any opposition.

That’s good news. It means they are scared – very scared. It is highly deserved.

Here is the posting from Operation Clean Sweep.

Who's 'Unclean' Now?
You may have heard about the anti-CleanSweep website that was launched last weekend. The site spins some ridiculous tales and compares PACleanSweep founder Russ Diamond to Enron chief Ken Lay. Just to set the record straight, all PACleanSweep expenditures are examined and approved by our ten-member Board of Directors before being paid by Treasurer Leo Knepper.

The site was launched through the use of an anonymous registration service located in Arizona. When PACleanSweep contacted the company and filled them in on the details of the site's actual nature, they immediately revealed one Mr. Robert Nye of Elizabethtown PA as the actual registrant.

Apparently, Mr. Nye is an employee of the House Republican Caucus in Harrisburg. Big surprise (not). In 2004, Mr. Nye was apparently on the payroll of the Republican National Committee and served as Deputy Campaign Manager for Republican Scott Paterno, who was Russ's opponent in the race for PA's 17th Congressional district.

Mr. Nye admitted to the Harrisburg Patriot-News that he was indeed responsible for the site, but claims he did it with his own money on his own time and it isn't connected to any political party. Not connected to any political party? Riiiiight, Mr. Nye. Suuuure.

PACleanSweep has one pointed question for Mr. Nye: If you're so proud of the things you have to say, why the reluctance to SIGN YOUR NAME???

Yeah - we figured as much.

We've warned of this type of attack for months now, and here it is, but do we really need any MORE reasons to Sweep out the kind of people populating OUR capitol in Harrisburg?

Please visit Operation Clean Sweep and get involved.

We don’t know about you, but we view this as a very good sign. It certainly shows Republican leadership – that’s Robert Jubelirer, David Brightbill, Jeff Piccola, Joe Scarnati, and JoeConti in the Senate, and the ever honest and forthright (!!) John Perzel, Sam Smith, David Argall, and Elinor Z. Taylor, in the House, are worried about their jobs. And rightfully so!

This one, however, has the odor of Perzel all over it.

Personally, he is the one THE CENTRIST would like so very much to see sent packing. His constituents, who repeatedly elected him should finally be awake by now. He should be easy pickings after his distortions and false claims made in the wake of the Midnight Pay Raise.

These people make THE CENTRIST ashamed to be a Republican!

THE CENTRIST

“Kick the hubris out of Harrisburg!” THE CENTRIST

"It is the duty of every citizen according to his best capacities to give validity to his convictions in political affairs. " Albert Einstein

Copyright © 2006: “THE CENTRIST”. All Rights Reserved.

29: “Summer Soldiers and Sunshine Patriots”

There it was, in black and white. It stared back up at me like a snake, cornered in the basement, no place to go, but ready to strike. The headline: “Complaint against Pa. chief justice dismissed.” That familiar feeling struck…you know the one -- you get it in your gut when you’ve drunk way too much coffee.

Just one week ago we posted on similar complaints in an essay titled 26: “Taking control, Phase Two”. That, however, was about a suit filed in Federal Court. This one, however, was a request for review of judicial conduct.

Gene Stilp, a political activist from the greater Harrisburg area, had filed the complaint last August after word got out alleging that Chief Justice Ralph Cappy had acted improperly in consulting, (read: urging) the legislative leadership to pass the enormous (and infamous) pay raise, not just for the legislators, but for the judges of Pennsylvania, too. Stilp wanted the reviewers to determine if Cappy violated any ethics rules in the process of those negotiations. (There have been rumors to the effect that the pay raise itself was the brainchild of Cappy.)

First, though, you must understand that the complaint was dismissed by the reviewing body, The Pennsylvania Judicial Review Board. That’s right, the Pennsylvania Judicial Review Board, twelve persons sitting in review of the conduct of the courts in the Commonwealth, and half of them, three attorneys, and three judges, are appointed by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

Wait a minute, do you mean to tell me that judges and attorneys appointed by the State Supreme Court are ruling on the propriety of the actions of the Chief Justice of the…State Supreme Court?

Yes, that is exactly what I am telling you.

Wait, it gets better.

In November, Cappy’s lawyer, one W. Thomas McGough, Jr., Esquire, wrote a letter to the board defending his client. According to an AP story out of Harrisburg, the letter cited the Pennsylvania Code of Judicial Conduct, which allows judges to “…engage in activities to improve the law, the legal system, and the administration of justice”, and “…allows judges to participate in activities concerning the legal system and consult with individuals of the other two branches ‘on matters concerning the administration of justice’.”

Perhaps some kind soul out there could connect those two dots for me…the one about the administration of justice and the improvement of the legal system, to the one about the judge’s pay raise.

Is there a different oath of office for a judge paid $45,000 per year than the judge paid $85,000 per year? Do the people of this great Commonwealth get different qualities of justice based on how much the judges get?

How, exactly then, does a pay raise affect the administration of justice? The one answer possible is the retention of quality judges.

Hello?!?! Based on the performance of Cappy and his followers on the bench, I think that not only would the people of this Commonwealth get better judicial service at a lower rate, but they could also stand to wave good-bye to the current crop, en masse, and appoint a new crop, and by the next day forget all about “Ralph Whatshisname”. Quite frankly, I think the people of this Commonwealth would rather that happen.

Ralph Cappy’s actions regarding the Midnight Pay Raise of July, 2005, have all the appearances of his being involved in a conspiracy to commit grand larceny against the citizens of Pennsylvania.

State employees have not had a raise in two years. By this time next year, they will have had about a 5-6% increase, for an average of about 2% over the three year period. How much did the legislators and judges get in that now-repealed raise…11-34%? And the State employees can’t even get a raise concomitant with the annual rise in the cost of living?

The really sad thing about all of this is that none of them see it – not the governor, the legislators, or the judges…none of them see anything wrong with their actions. Oh, they repealed the raise, but only because the voters threw a sitting judge off the State Supreme Court in the last election. He was a sop thrown to the masses to assuage their anger. Nope, they don’t see it.

There is not a single one of that group that would know an ethic if it struck them between the eyes. So full of hubris are they, and greed, they conspire and change the rules to suit themselves, exempt each other from laws, and rules of ethics, and allow each other increasingly to operate in secret, and with a power to override the will of the people.

Somewhere down on the sidebar to the right is a quotation from President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He said, "The liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it comes stronger than their democratic state itself. That, in its essence, is fascism - ownership of government by an individual, by a group."

Government in Pennsylvania has reached that point.

Every day, more and more of your neighbors understand and grasp this fact.

Every day, more and more of your neighbors decide to take action.

You have but one weapon left to defeat this menace called state government: Your vote.

A vote for an incumbent means you do not care.

A vote for an incumbent means you will continue to see your government grow until it begins to take enough money from you that you cannot feed your family, the whole while, the legislators, the governor, and the judges will be getting wealthier and wealthier.

A vote for an incumbent means the next time they pass a sneaky giant pay raise, they will ignore any uproar totally, because you do not care enough to tell them they are wrong, because you don’t care enough to vote somebody in who DOES know the difference between right and wrong. They surely don’t.

A vote for an incumbent will lose you the last public voice you have…the press. Like the legislators, they simply will not believe that you care enough to mean it when you threaten to chase them all out of office. The press has been your friend since last July, and has helped stoke the fires that got Justice Nigro voted out. The press is now being made to pay for their editorials about the Midnight Pay Raise. The legislature is trying to impose a tax that would affect print news media -- all because they were early in raising the alarm about the pay raise, and late supporters of the repeal. Because the press helped greatly in the effort to awaken the voters, the General Assembly has it in for them.

A vote for an incumbent is a signature on a contract to give away your personal sovereignty.

Expediency calls for the ouster of all of them, all the legislators up for office, the Governor, and the judges, when they come up for re-election. We’ll lose a few good ones in the bunch, but you just can’t tell the keepers from the greed-mongers. Vote ‘em all out, and let God sort them out.

The great social contract theorist of the 17th century, Thomas Hobbes wrote that kings not only declare law, they make law, and that they derive their power, or sovereignty, from the consent of the governed, who have given over to him their personal sovereignty.

Do not let apathy allow the last of your personal sovereignty to slip away into the hands of those who govern you.

In the United States, we fought a revolution from 1776 to 1783, to regain that personal sovereignty. And here we’ve gone and given just about all of it back!

THE CENTRIST

“Kick the hubris out of Harrisburg!” THE CENTRIST

"It is the duty of every citizen according to his best capacities to give validity to his convictions in political affairs. " Albert Einstein

Copyright © 2006: “THE CENTRIST”. All Rights Reserved

28: "Signing Time"

Time to put up or shut up. Starting tomorrow, February 14, 2006, Republican and Democratic candidates for the General Assembly and other offices, must begin gathering signatures on their petitions. Here is the latest from PA Clean Sweep, and friend Russ Diamond. Please make a note to go to the petition page (link included below), and learn the ins and outs of signing a candidate’s petition. It is important that you do it correctly or your signature will be challenged and thrown out. Far too many political campaigns are won and lost at this stage simply because the candidate was not prepared to submit proper paperwork. Here is the announcement:

PACleanSweep Announces 10 More Candidates
including a primary challenger to House Minority Leader Bill DeWeese

ANNVILLE, PA [02.13.06] - PACleanSweep today added 10 new names to their growing list of approved candidates, including a Democratic challenger to Bill DeWeese. The total number of PACleanSweep-approved candidates stands at 89 with 77 potential candidates awaiting approval.

House Candidates:
Bill Stalter (R-20)
Lisa Bennington (D-21)
Mike Galovich (D-27)
Robert F 'Bobby' Danko (D-50)
Jason D. Fularz (R-54)
John P Estok (D-59)
Jonathan Keeler (R-106)
Larry Farnese (D-182)
Justin Blumenthal (R-202)

Senate Candidate:
Drake Minder (D-16)

Petitioning for Republican and Democratic candidates begins on Valentine's Day, February 14. Candidates must file their candidacy with the state by March 7 to qualify for the May primary. State House candidates need 300 valid signatures to have their name appear on the primary ballot, while state Senate candidates are required to collect 500.

Complete PACleanSweep Candidate List

How to Sign a Petition...

Pennsylvania Voter Survival Guide

About PACleanSweep:
PACleanSweep is a non-partisan effort dedicated to defeating incumbent elected officials in Pennsylvania and replacing them with true public servants. For more information, please visit www.pacleansweep.com

For More Information:
Russ Diamond
PACleanSweep Chair
info@pacleansweep.com

Please get out and support the Clean Sweep candidates. It is long past time to kick the hubris out of Harrisburg! You've complained about Harrisburg for eight months (or longer!), so now it is time to take action and stand behind your words. Support these brave souls who are taking on the big guns in Harrisburg - the incumbents. You, the voters of Pennsylvania demonstrated your power when aroused last November by ousting a sitting Justice from the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. That's never been done before. In doing so, you have delivered a warning to the leadership in Harrisburg that you are very displeased with the way things are run. Some of them have ignored your warning, and others have ridiculed it. But, the floor has heard it. Incumbents in record numbers are NOT running for reelection.

So, know your candidates. Back them up. Sign their petitions. And when you get in that booth, make sure you do NOT vote for a candidate with an "I" after their name, indicating an incumbent. After all, this is Operation Clean Sweep.

THE CENTRIST

“Kick the hubris out of Harrisburg!” THE CENTRIST

"It is the duty of every citizen according to his best capacities to give validity to his convictions in political affairs. " Albert Einstein

Copyright © 2006: “THE CENTRIST”. All Rights Reserved.

27: "Clean out the Capital!"

Good friend Tim Potts is keeping the pressure on Pennsylvania Government. To go hand in hand with our call to the Attorney General to charge the thieves in the legislature who have not returned the money they are illegally keeping from last years now-repealed pay raise, Tim’s ‘Democracy Rising’ campaign has filed a request to the AG to investigate the alleged collusion that occurred between the three branches of government. Here is Tim Potts’ Democracy Rising Press Release, followed by a copy of the request to the Attorney General:

DR News February 9, 2006
tim@democracyrisngpa.com 717-243-8570
In this issue:
· Attorney General Investigation?
What Competition?
Ghost Voting Again
Faking Lobby Controls

Co-Founders Ask Corbett to Investigate Alleged Case-Fixing:

DR co-founders Kathleen Daugherty and Tim Potts yesterday asked PA Attorney General Tom Corbett to investigate allegations that in 1999 members of the state Supreme Court and members of the General Assembly negotiated the outcome of court cases in exchange for higher funding for the court system.

Former state Rep. Ed Krebs, R-Lebanon, made the allegations in a sworn affidavit submitted to the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. The affidavit supports a lawsuit brought by Common Cause Pennsylvania, the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania and individual plaintiffs, including DR co-founder Tim Potts.

The lawsuit argues that Pennsylvania citizens are being denied due process and equal rights protections under the U.S. Constitution because of an ongoing pattern of secret negotiations between the state courts and the state legislature. It asks the federal court to rule that last years pay raise, which state officials have admitted was worked out by all three branches of the government behind closed doors, was unconstitutional.

The Krebs affidavit alleges that in a closed-door meeting of the House Republicans in June 1999, Republican leaders told members they should support a dramatic increase in funding for the courts, because there were two issues currently before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, one concerning workers compensation legislation and the other concerning an increase in the state gasoline tax, about which the Republican leadership was very concerned. In reference to these two pending cases, [then] Majority Leader Perzel stated, We cannot afford to lose them.

Common Cause Executive Director Barry Kauffman also filed affidavits stating that Krebs' account was confirmed by two additional but anonymous members of the House Republican Caucus. For more about the lawsuit, email ccpa@dejazzd.com.

The DR letter to Corbett is attached.

Questions:

• Will the attorney general investigate?
• Were your lawmakers in office in 1999?
• Did they attend the House Republican Caucus?
• Were they aware of these allegations at the time?
• Do your lawmakers agree that these allegations are important enough for the attorney general to investigate?
• Will they publicly encourage the attorney general to do so?
  

Competition? What Competition?:

In 2002, only the Democrats provided the voters with a choice in the primary election for governor. With the withdrawal of Republican former Lt. Gov. William Scranton this week, the Republicans will still have a primary election. However, the only candidate to face Lynn Swann will be Jim Panyard, former head of the PA Manufacturers Association, who is not seeking the Republican endorsement and considers his candidacy a long shot.

But of the three remaining candidates Gov. Ed Rendell, Lynn Swann and Jim Panyard only Panyard has responded to the gubernatorial survey on integrity, a constitutional convention, and judicial appointments. The survey was authored by several statewide groups: DR, The League of Women Voters, Common Cause, PA Clean Sweep, the PA Council of Churches, Rock the Capital, Pennsylvanians for Legislator Accountability, and the Commonwealth Foundation.

See: http://www.democracyrisingpa.com/dr_fans.asp.

Questions:

• Do candidates believe that election laws should do more to encourage competition for public office? If so, what reforms are needed?
• Why haven’t Rendell and Swann responded to the survey?
• Now that the major candidates appear to have wrapped up their nominations, will they be more forthcoming about their views or less?

Ghost Voting Again:

On January 3, the only day of the year the Constitution requires members of the legislature to convene, the state House took 57 official actions on 26 bills with no lawmakers present but Speaker John Perzel, R-Phila. On February 1, the Senate took its turn by passing controversial legislation 42-3 when only 12 Senators were actually present. Senate rules permit proxy voting when senators are performing a legislative assignment outside of the Harrisburg area. However, no proxies were filed and the reason for most, if not all, of the absences was to attend the funeral of a fellow senators mother.

House rules also were violated, according to the Harrisburg Patriot, before the legislation passed 139-53. In the House, Rep. Steve Nickol, R-York, objected, saying that members had no chance to understand what they were doing because the language was inserted in the legislation the day before it was voted in both chambers.

Senate Majority Leader Chip Brightbill, R-Lebanon, told the Patriot, I feel comfortable with the process.

The decision of whether to bless this mess with his signature now rests with Gov. Rendell.

Questions:

• How much money did the various organizations interested in this legislation direct to Sen. Brightbill and other lawmakers before the action on this bill?
• What gifts did he receive?
• What entertainment did he receive?
• What campaign contributions did he receive?
• When did these transactions occur?
• Was legislation discussed?
• Will Gov. Rendell veto the legislation and insist that lawmakers adhere to the Constitution and their own rules when passing legislation?
• Will Gov. Rendell support the best lobby control law in America so that citizens can know as much as possible about the interests that are trying to influence government laws and decisions?

P.S.

Intends to protect executives and directors of Philadelphia-based Sovereign Bank from changes proposed by shareholders. Supporters say the bill protects jobs. Opponents, according to the Patriot, said the bill would weaken shareholder protections and could have the unintended consequence of making investors more reluctant to invest in companies here.

Faking Lobby Control:

House Speaker John Perzel on Tuesday predicted that Pennsylvania would have a new lobbyist control law by the end of June but refused to predict what would be in it. He did say, however, that he thinks the new law should be created by the same people who produced the pay raise. I will work closely with the governor, leaders of the House and Senate, and the Supreme Court to bring about Pennsylvania’s new Lobby Reform Law, Perzel said.

At the PA Newspaper Association conference last week, lawmakers from both the House and Senate downplayed expectations of true integrity in any new law, arguing that PA would have to take small steps for which they should get lavish praise rather than make the major improvements citizens want.

Comment:

When it comes to matters of integrity, the perfect is not the enemy of the good; it is the measure of the good. Mediocrity is the enemy of the good because it masquerades as the good.

Question:

• Why can't any legislative leader bring himself or herself to call for the best lobby control law in America? (See http://www.publicintegrity.org/ )
• Is it because they don’t want it, or because they just aren’t up to the job?

Tim Potts, Co-Founder, Democracy Rising PA

http://www.democracyrisingpa.com/

P.O. Box 618, Carlisle, PA 17013717-243-8570

If confirmed, this will expose the long-suspected dirty dealings of the Courts and the Legislature in Pennsylvania.

Here is the letter to the Attorney General of Pennsylvania, the Honorable Tom Corbett:

Hon. Tom Corbett, Attorney General of Pennsylvania
16th Floor, Strawberry Square
Harrisburg, PA 17120

Dear Attorney General Corbett:

On Monday, Common Cause of Pennsylvania, the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania, and individual plaintiffs filed an amended complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania (Civil Action No. 1:CV-05-2036). It was accompanied by several sworn affidavits, including one by former State Representative Edward G. Krebs of Lebanon County.

The complaint and its supporting affidavits allege that in 1999 members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly and members of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania negotiated the outcome of cases then pending before the Supreme Court in exchange for increased funding of the court system. If true, these allegations evince a monumental corruption of our constitutional system of representative democracy that must be remedied as quickly and thoroughly as possible.

The cases decided at that time, involving workers’ compensation and the enactment of an increased gasoline tax, have had a substantial impact on all citizens of Pennsylvania and have served as legal precedents in subsequent cases. All of the decisions since 1999 that have relied on the cases alleged to have been improperly decided are suspect, therefore, as fruit of the poisonous tree and may have to be reconsidered.

Events since July 7, 2005, already have eroded public confidence in the independence of our udiciary. This latest allegation can only weaken public confidence further.

While the federal court considers whether to permit the Common Cause case to go forward, we believe it is imperative that you, as Pennsylvania’s highest-ranking law enforcement officer, begin an immediate investigation into whether any civil or criminal laws of the Commonwealth were violated and what appropriate legal action should be taken. Perhaps a special grand jury or special investigating commission is appropriate to make recommendations on this matter. In any event, it is worth taking extraordinary steps to ensure that any investigation is free from even the appearance of political interference.

Mr. Krebs’s affidavit alleges that revelations about improper negotiations between the legislative and judicial branches occurred during a closed meeting of the House Republican Caucus on or about June 15, 1999. Although it is unlikely that there is a record of attendance at this meeting, the universe of potential attendees is known and should provide opportunities for cooperation with an investigation of these allegations. The universe of Supreme Court justices and staff also is known.

If this were an act of kidnapping or some other notorious crime, we believe you would pursue it aggressively. Nothing can be more notorious and worthy of aggressive investigation than the kidnapping of the judicial system itself. The citizens of Pennsylvania need someone they can trust to get to the bottom of this matter, to do what is necessary to restore public confidence in the impartiality of the courts, and to enforce the constitutional separation of powers. We urge you to accept this challenge.

Thank you for your consideration of this request.

Sincerely,

Timothy Potts, Co-Founder Kathleen Daugherty, Co-Founder

Great work Tim, and Kathleen! Oh, the tools that are available to the ordinary citizens of this Commonwealth! The current sack of…legislators and justices… have taken many of them away from us, but we still have some left. The Federal and State Constitutions allow the citizens to petition their government for a redress of grievances. Obviously, there are several methods, or remedies, available.

There do, however, seem to be more than enough grievances to go around.

Get involved. Stay active. Vote. Organize your friends, relatives, neighbors, and co-workers (be careful there!), and spread the word. Tell your friends about Democracy Rising , and Operation Clean Sweep, Rock the Capital, Common Cause, and other grassroots organizations. Spread the word about this blog!

Do NOT accept this plutocratic form of government these miscreants have constructed for us.

Clean out the Capital!

THE CENTRIST

“Kick the hubris out of Harrisburg!” THE CENTRIST

"It is the duty of every citizen according to his best capacities to give validity to his convictions in political affairs. " Albert Einstein

Copyright © 2006: “THE CENTRIST”. All Rights Reserved.

26: “Taking control, Phase Two”

Now we are getting somewhere. Our form of government includes a tenet called “checks and balances.” The three branches of government, Executive, Legislative, and Judicial, are supposed to cooperate to a limited extent, but more importantly, they are supposed to watch each other to ensure there is no loss of sovereignty by the people. In other words, no branch should get too powerful.

The problem is that no one is watching all three branches to make sure they do not get too powerful. Indeed, over the past few years, we have seen our Pennsylvania government, all three branches, get far too powerful. It is the result of almost unprecedented cooperation between all three branches. For example, the three conspired to pass the midnight pay raise last year, thank God! I say that because it awakened the populace to such an extent that the actions of these hubris filled people we call Pennsylvania Government is being examined as it never has before.

Here is an article from the Philadelphia Inquirer. Click to go to the article.

Lawsuit alleges state legislators, courts traded favors

By Mario F. Cattabiani and Angela Couloumbis
INQUIRER STAFF WRITERS
HARRISBURG - Pennsylvania's leading watchdog group alleged in a lawsuit today that the highest ranks of the legislature traded millions in state aid to the courts for favorable decisions dating to 1999 - and possibly culminating last summer in generous pay raises for more than 1,000 judges.

A state Supreme Court spokesman called the accusations "preposterous."

The allegations were laid out in a revised federal court challenge in Harrisburg to last summer's legislative pay raise, in which Common Cause of Pennsylvania contends that there has been political "back scratching" between top House and Senate members and the state Supreme Court for years.

At the heart of the new allegations is the contention that, seven years ago, legislative leaders negotiated with the high court to fund the state's judiciary, fearing that if they did not, the justices would rule against them on two suits involving constitutional challenges.

Given that history, Common Cause alleges it is more than likely that last summer's unpopular pay raises were the result of a similar deal between Chief Justice Ralph Cappy and legislative leaders.

"What we are telling the court is that this may not be a unique instance, that this may have been going on at various levels for quite a few years," said Barry Kauffman, executive director of Common Cause. "We are asking the [federal] court to get to the bottom of it. If it is going on, it needs to be stopped and the federal courts need to put the hammer down."

Speaking on behalf of Cappy, Tom Darr, deputy court administrator of Pennsylvania, said: "It is regrettable that an organization like Common Cause, which has always stood for the principles of good government, would file such a frivolous lawsuit."

He added: "A preliminary reading shows the allegations to be preposterous, baseless and reckless and the relief sought ridiculous."

The suit provides as evidence conversations held behind closed doors between Republican members of the House in June 1999.

During that internal caucus meeting, then-Majority Leader John M. Perzel (R., Phila.), now speaker of the House, allegedly told colleagues that they were moving ahead with the court funding because "we cannot afford to have the courts rule against us" on the two suits. One suit involved workers compensation, the other an increase in the state tax on gasoline for highway-improvement projects.

Perzel's comments came after members of the caucus complained that the legislature should not give in to "blackmail" by the court, the suit contends.

Former Rep. Ed Krebs, who was at the meeting, attested to the allegation in an affidavit filed with the amended suit. In it, he also alleges that then-Speaker Matt Ryan told fellow Republicans that another member, J. Scot Chadwick, had acted as a negotiator with the Supreme Court on the matter.

In an interview today from his Lebanon County home, Krebs said, "To me, it meant that if we didn't give them the money for the courts, we would lose the cases. It was a quid pro quo."

Chadwick, a former Republican representative from Bradford County, told the Associated Press that he did consult with court officials over the 1999 legislation, but that the meeting was informational, not a quid pro quo negotiation.

"I think that would be very wrong," he said. "I am an attorney by training and that would raise a red flag with me immediately."

The high court wound up ruling in favor of the legislature in both cases.

That wasn't the only instance of possible collusion, according to the suit.

Last summer, the suit alleges, Cappy lobbied the legislature hard to implement the pay raise, which hiked legislative salaries as well as those for judges and other state officials. It was rescinded in November by a contrite legislature that had been whipped in public-opinion polls.

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a challenge to both the pay raise and the legislature's move to overturn it. Cappy has recused himself from hearing the case, which is separate from the Common Cause federal suit.

That lawsuit quotes an August e-mail about the pay raise that was allegedly written by Republican Senate employee Suzanne O'Berry to Matthew Brouillette, head of the Commonwealth Foundation, a conservative think tank.

"I watched the formulation of all this up close with my 'special connections' to certain offices, and it was much more unsavory than a lot know," O'Berry wrote, according to the suit. "... I will say that family dining debate has become much more exciting."

O'Berry is married to Mike Long, a top aide to Senate President Pro Tempore Robert C. Jubelirer (R., Blair). Jubelirer is among the defendants named in Common Cause's suit.

O'Berry told the Associated Press that she does not recall the e-mail and had no other immediate comment.

Attempts to reach Perzel and Jubelirer were unsuccessful today.

The Common Cause lawsuit asks the federal court to declare unconstitutional private conversations between judges and members of the executive or legislative branches about legislation that might come before them.

Joining in the lawsuit with Common Cause are the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania and state Rep. Greg Vitali (D., Delaware) among others. The defendants include top legislative leaders of both parties in the House and Senate, as well as Gov. Rendell and state Treasurer Robert P. Casey Jr.

Contact staff writer Mario F. Cattabiani at 717-787-5990

or mcattabiani@phillynews.com.

I tell you its enough to make you want to stomp around and shout. These folks are lucky you are not in the same room with them right now. I know I’d like to be, and I would give them a piece of my mind.

These folks have consistently sold out the people of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and apparently have been doing it for years.

What gives me particular joy is that these greedy people will now have to sit in court to answer for their actions. This is a great second step (after Operation Clean Sweep) in holding these treacherous, hubris-filled, greed-mongers to account. So let’s not stop there, let’s turn up the heat, and start knocking them out of office this spring in the Primary Election.

Congratulations to Common Cause, the League of Women Voters, and the others who have signed on to this effort.

THE CENTRIST

“Kick the hubris out of Harrisburg!” THE CENTRIST

"It is the duty of every citizen according to his best capacities to give validity to his convictions in political affairs. " Albert Einstein

Copyright © 2006: “THE CENTRIST”. All Rights Reserved.