92: "Republican Gotterdammerung"

John Perzel has entered his bunker, determined to go out with a flame, rather than a whisper, desperate to do as much damage to the enemy as possible in the dying days of the current legislative session. He has decided to bring on Gotterdammerung on the Republican Party, rather than act like a Republican.

Gotterdammerung is defined as:

n.
A turbulent ending of a regime or an institution: “The nation had been flirting with forms of götterdämmerung, with extremes of vocabulary and behavior and an appetite for violent resolution” (Lance Morrow).
[After Götterdämmerung, an opera by Richard Wagner, from German, twilight of the gods : Götter, genitive pl. of Gott, god (from Middle High German got, from Old High German) + Dämmerung, twilight (from Middle High German demerunge, from Old High German demerunga, from demar, twilight).]

In forcing the passage of House Bill 39, [property tax relief], Perzel showed how completely in bed with the Democrats he really is. This is essentially the same package that the House Republicans revolted against the week before the primary when Perzel was busy making money overseeing the finances of a Florida Corporation that was about to sign a 58 million dollar contract with Delaware County to run its prison. The revolt caused Prince Mike Veon and Duke Bill DeWeese to pop their corks. The floor revolt overran the weakling Republican Floor Leader, Sam Smith, who is apparently Perzel’s lap dog.

Last night, only 61 votes were cast against HB 39. Perzel, Smith, and DeWeese were repeatedly shown to be visibly gloating during the coverage on the Pennsylvania Cable Network, and on newscasts at 11.

Perzel presides over a legislature in which his [supposed] party – Republican -- has the majority, by more than a few. Instead of wielding that power, he uses bullying tactics and threats and intimidation of members of his caucus to push through legislation favored by Rendell, Fumo, DeWeese, and Veon forcing his own [majority] party to capitulate.

Another blogger made the comment that the floor Republicans lacked the necessary anatomical parts to stand up for their constituents and vote like Republicans. Last night 49 spineless Republicans crossed the aisle to vote with the Democrats to pass the re-painted Act 72. They mouth the words about revisiting the legislation and improving the cuts in property taxes at a later date, but it will never happen with the current caucus, and its leadership. We have the list and how they voted and will keep it handy for the weeks before the General Election in November. 49 gutless lemmings and their leaders will find out how tens of thousands of Republic voters will treat them in kind.

Perzel does not even qualify for RINO [Republican in Name Only] status any more. He may be a registered Republican, but we’ve seen nothing from him in the past four years that would qualify him as anything other than Democrat.

Here is the reaction last night from some of the Democrats at the Capitol after the vote:
AP Photo.

Tim Potts from Democracy Rising points to Perzel’s proposed lobbyist reform.

It’s months (actually years) late. It was crafted in secret after promises of open meetings. It’s the lobbyist control proposal promised in February by House Speaker John Perzel, R-Philadelphia.
http://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/BI/BT/2005/0/HB2753P4204.HTM

How bad is it? Instead of the best PA citizens can get, it looks like the worst Perzel thinks he can get away with.

Democracy Rising PA compared Perzel’s proposal against the 48 standards that the Center for Public Integrity, http://www.publicintegrity.org/, uses to rate state lobbyist control laws. The full 11-page comparison can soon be found at the Democracy Rising website.

If enacted, Perzel’s proposal still would give Pennsylvania one of the worst lobbyist control laws in America. The proposal fails to match the best practices of other states in 36 of 48 standards. When the proposal does match the highest standards in other states, it is often for things that are easy to do or embarrassing if not done, i.e. having registration forms available on the Internet.

Some of the lowlights are telling.
Nothing in Perzel’s proposal requires lobbyists to divulge:
· What specific gifts, travel and entertainment they give to public officials
· Which specific public officials take those gifts, travel and entertainment
· What laws or proposed laws the lobbyists are trying to influence
· What subjects the lobbyists are trying to influence
· When lobbyists provided gifts or entertainment to each public official
· Whether lobbyists are trying to influence public officials by giving gifts, travel and entertainment to the officials’ in-laws
· Expenditures under $2,500. This is the highest reporting threshold in America. It’s five times higher than the notoriously corrupt U.S. Congress, while at least 32 states require reporting as soon as lobbyists spend $1.

In every one of these examples, Perzel’s proposal is worse than nearly every other state in the nation.

This proposal protects corruption, waste, secrecy and mistrust. From the perspective of a citizen trying to hold his or her own lawmakers accountable, it is completely worthless.

Questions:
Why do Republican lawmakers want to keep John Perzel as their leader and
standard-bearer?
Why do Democrat lawmakers, who also get a vote on who serves as Speaker of the House, want to keep John Perzel as their leader and standard-bearer? (Hint: The first co-sponsor of Perzel’s proposal is House Minority Leader Bill DeWeese, D-Greene.)

Tick, Tick, Tick
Days since the pay raise of 2005: 343
Days until Election Day: 138
Roadmap reforms enacted: 0

Thanks, Tim, for as you usually do, an outstanding job. I wish we had more like you and they were serving in the Pennsylvania General Assembly, instead of the lemmings we have there now.

Tim appropriately points out the one area where Perzel could have been a shining star as a Republican leader. And instead, he works as a Democrat. Perzel is definitely in a bunker mentality. He is bound and determined to do as much damage to the Republican Party as he possibly can before he is bounced unceremoniously from office in November.

Speaking of bunker mentalities, King Vince Fumo went to the floor of the Pennsylvania Senate on Monday and literally called President George W. Bush ‘Hitler’. Fumo is fuming because he is the target of an ongoing Federal probe into his use of a non-profit agency he controls for political purposes.

Calling someone ‘Hitler’ during a session on the floor of the Pennsylvania Senate is far out of bounds and far beyond the realm of decency and taste. It may even be outside the rules of the Senate. The action is simply despicable, and not usually what you would expect from King Vince Fumo. Usually unflappable, Fumo has been getting progressively worse press coverage since the investigation began, and after the arrest two weeks ago of two of his underlings for trying to hide evidence [deleting emails on computer hard drives that Fumo’s non-profit staff used, and which contained inflammatory emails from Fumo to his staff] the coverage became even worse.

Now, there is a difference between defining someone’s actions as caused by a ‘bunker mentality’, and going on the floor of the Senate where polite discourse and good manners are the rule, and calling the President of the United States ‘Hitler’. Fumo sounds like every Democrat running for national office! Gee, Vince, don’t you think it’s a little late in the game for that. 6 years of braying assaults on the character of the president have fallen on deaf ears. It simply does not work, especially in the absence of a clear message from your party. The politics of hate is a failed plan. Sooner or later the Democrats are going to have to come up with and advance a plan for change.

And Vince, you must always remember, you reap what you sow. You too, Perzel.

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

Remember in November! Before you vote, GettysBLOG!

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

.

PennLiberty: Swann's Reform Package

I'm only going to talk about one piece of Lynn Swann's "Reform" package - the idea of having a 72-hour waiting period before a governor could sign a bill that passed both houses of the legislature.

Are you kidding me?

I had to figure out the logic on this one. Why would a candidate for governor want to put pressure on himself if he were elected governor? Think about that for a moment. If a bill were passed, and people found out that it was a horrible bill, why would a governor want all the griping?

Then I realized what was going on - look at the people Lynn Swann has advising him - many come from legislative jobs and will go back to working for the legislature after the election.

Now it makes perfect sense - they don't want to have the legislature take the heat on a bad bill, let the governor deal with it.

The problem isn't with how much time a governor has to sign or veto a bill. Rendell shouldn't have signed the pay raise bill into law, but you can't fault him for not following proper protocol and working within the correct constitutional functions of his office.

The problem is with the legislature. It was the legislature that ignored the constitution by passing the bill with no debate in the dead of night. If the legislature actually respected the document they swear to defend and uphold, the public would have found out about the bill, and ensured that the bill would have been defeated - it would have never made it to Rendell's desk in the first place.

My advice to Swann - you've got people advising you that are more interested in their own future rather than your own - dump them - you've been had.

PennLiberty

Perzel may take GOP down with him

When the only major conservative newspaper in Pennsylvania, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and the most liberal newspaper in the state, the Philadelphia Inquirer, run editorials the same day agreeing on something, it's worth taking a closer look.

Both newspapers focused their attention on the scandalous waste of taxpayer money by Philadelphia Republican John Perzel, the Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.

Perzel, a modern-day version of Gen. George Custer, led a bunch of fellow Republicans into the Little Big Horn last July 7 by ordering them to vote for the infamous pay raise. Perzel told the lemmings (aka Republicans) that the Indians (aka the voters) were friendly.

Perzel's miscalculation has led to the ouster of a Supreme Court justice and the defeat of at least 11 House Republicans in the May 16 primary. The two most powerful members of the state Senate, Republicans Robert Jubilirer and Chip Brightbill, also lost, but their ouster has as much to do with their own arrogance and incompetence as Perzel's antics.

Perzel's continuing hubris and unwillingness to permit any meaningful reforms in the worst state legislature in the country could lead to disastrous results for Republicans in November.

Perzel is the Tom Delay of Pennsylvania politics. He has become a lightning rod for critics of the way state government operates.

Perzel's top political ally in Harrisburg is none other than Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell, a fellow Philadelphian. Perzel, as well as Brightbill and Jubilirer, have worked closely with Rendell to push through massive tax hikes and huge spending increases in Harrisburg. Perzel and Rendell are birds of a feather who care more about Philadelphia patronage than doing anything good for Pennsylvania.

Here's part of what the Tribune-Review had to say about Perzel in a recent editorial:

"Pennsylvania House Speaker John Perzel — whose amoral justification rationalizing the scandalous misuse of his campaign contributions was offered with stupefying indifference — is a prohibitively costly civics lesson about state government.

The Trib discovered Mr. Perzel spent $9,000 in campaign dollars for trips to Super Bowls, $34,000 for trips to Las Vegas, almost $1,350 on liquor for a state Supreme Court committee meeting, $1,800 for staying at an Atlantic City luxury hotel casino, $41,109 for food in Philadelphia even though Perzel and staff members live there, including $1,900 in home deliveries for Chinese food and pizza on 52 occasions and on and on and on.

And $700,000 in reimbursements to legislative staffers — including $56,000 in salary in 2005 and $264,000 in reimbursements in two years for Perzel's chief of staff, who also is paid $160,000 by taxpayers."

Here's part of what the Inquirer said about Perzel in its editorial:

"John Perzel had a bad case of foot-in-mouth disease. So he took an expensive cure. On the taxpayer’s dime. Well, a lot more than a dime.

Last year, the speaker of the Pennsylvania House started paying a Harrisburg-area firm $5,000 a month — in taxpayer money — to advise him on public relations.

The advice boiled down to: Stop talking so much … The $60,000-a-year PR contract with Hershey-Philbin Associates came on top of another $60,000 the GOP caucus pays to a Philly-based consultant to handle local media relations for Perzel and two other lawmakers."

The two editorials were published the same week Perzel trumpeted his long-delayed lobbyist reform package. Pennsylvania is the only state in the United States where lobbyists don't have to say how much money they spend to influence politicians or which politicians get the lion's share of the money to vote a certain way. That's the way Perzel likes it.

If his fellow Republican House members don't rise up and take Perzel out before the November election, be prepared to see the Pennsylvania House of Representatives fall into Democratic control for the first time in a decade.

At least Tom Delay had the decency to resign from Congress rather than cause further damage to the Republican Party. Perzel, the personification of conceit, doesn't care about the party.

He cares only about John Perzel. He is willing to sacrifice as many GOP legislators as necessary in his vain attempt to hold on to power.

If more Republicans lose in November, they don't have to look further than the rudderless leadership of John Perzel.

Tony Phyrillas is a columnist for The Mercury in Pottstown, Pa.

The demise of political parties

I've been trying to think of a movie that best describes what happened in last month's Pennsylvania primary, where 17 incumbents, mostly Republicans, were ousted by voters. The film that sums up the present state of party politics is "Titanic."

The Titanic struck the iceberg on May 16. The ship is going down. The party leaders, especially on the Republican side, are busy re-arranging the deck chairs when they should be manning the lifeboats.

Party bosses, from Capt. John Perzel -- skipper of the Titanic -- on down, have been trying to calm the panicky crew members (the legislators) but the water is chest-high and rising. It's every man for himself. The voters have shown that blind obedience to one party or to party leadership is a thing of the past.

As we get closer to the November election and the rank-and-file Republican legislators figure out that they will soon be swimming with the fishes, you'll see a fight for the few remaining lifeboats the likes of which has never been seen before.

It's painfully clear that House Speaker John Perzel is the Tom Delay of Pennsylvania politics. He is the poster child for everything that is wrong with the ship of state. The sooner the rank-and-file legislators dump Perzel, the sooner they can fight for the remaining lifeboats. Otherwise, the GOP casualty list will be extensive after the Nov. 7 election.

The party bosses, insulated by legions of sycophants, are usually the last to deal with reality. This explains why the Republicans picked an insurance salesman from Cambria County to lead the party after the hapless Eileen Melvin fell on her sword following May 16's disastrous showing by Republican incumbents.

The election of status-quo candidate Robert Gleason shows how out-of-touch the party leadership is with the voters. The people who went to the polls on May 16 -- the serious voters every party depends on -- spoke loud and clear: They want change. They want results. The political establishment responded by blaming the media, the weather and high gas prices for their losses.

I want to share a couple of examples from southeastern Pennsylvania that prove my point that party loyalty is a thing of the past.

In a stunning upset, Democrat Andrew Dinniman defeated Republican Carol Aichele for Pennsylvania's 19th Senatorial District seat on May 16. How historic was Dinniman's victory? Dinniman is the first Democrat to win a state Senate seat from Chester County in 115 years. He took 21,478 votes to Aichele’s 16,733.

Dinniman, who earned more than 55 percent of the vote on May 16, told the West Chester Daily Local news that he knows he could not have won without the support of 35 to 40 percent of the Republicans who came out to vote. Republicans outnumber Democrats in the 19th District by 83,632 to 48,787.

In neighboring Montgomery County, another GOP stronghold, Ken Davis was re-elected county chairman by a 37-vote margin over reformer Robert J. Kerns. The 400-363 vote by Republican committee members shows the divide between the status quo and reform factions in the GOP. In other words, half the foot soldiers who are crucial to getting out the vote in November may not be so enthusiastic about the job ahead with Davis leading the troops. This is happening all over the state.

Another interesting development in Montgomery County that does not bode well for the GOP was recently detailed by columnist Margaret Gibbons in the Norristown Times Herald.

Gibbons studied voter registration numbers and found that 2,272 Montgomery County voters switched their registration from a political party to independent (non-partisan) in the months leading up to the primary. Gibbons’ take on those switches is that both Democratic and Republican voters were fed up with politics as usual and their switch to non-partisan status was their own private protest.

"After all, these folks could simply have remained on the rolls as Democratic or Republican but they made the effort to switch," Gibbons writes.

While there's no way to figure out how many Republicans dropped out of the party to register as independents, the fact that Montgomery County still has a huge GOP advantage in voter registration leads one to conclude that it’s mostly disenchanted Republicans who left the party.

Republicans control both houses of the state legislature, hold both of Pennsylvania's U.S. Senate seats and there are more Republican Congressmen from Pennsylvania than their Democratic counterparts. The only Democrats in power are Gov. Ed Rendell and Treasurer Bob Casey Jr., who wants to be a U.S. Senator.

If Pennsylvania Republicans lose control of the state House, if they are unable to oust a failed governor like Rendell or if they contribute to the loss of the either house in Congress by allowing Democrats to defeat GOP incumbents, look no further than the status quo leadership of the Republican Party for the blame.

Tony Phyrillas is a columnist for The Mercury in Pottstown, Pa. His columns are also posted at http://tonyphyrillas.blogspot.com

91: “Are You Kidding Me?”

We certainly expected better from Jeff Piccola (R-Dauphin). He and fellow State Senator Joe Conti (R-Bucks) called a press conference to release their “plan” for property tax reform.

In a nutshell, they want to increase the number of items taxed under the State Sales and Use Tax (SUT) to raise $2 billion to be applied for property tax relief, and to allow for mandatory voter approval for increases in property taxes effective in 2008 IF property taxes are still around! They then toss in about $9-11 billion from the new Gambling industry to supply any amount required to fill the gap in tax revenues.

It was almost enough to make us laugh, if it hadn’t been so patently absurd. New? Hardly. This is simply one of the “plans” argued in the General Assembly earlier this year. Please note it was never proposed as a bill, and that’s a good thing.

The current property taxes in Pennsylvania supply about $12 billion in revenues. So a $2 billion shift to the SUT will only result in about a 16% decrease in Property Taxes – if the proceeds are split proportionately and not geographically. In other words, if they give every person who pays property taxes a 16% decrease that would be proportional. If they divvy up the proceeds geographically, which is VERY possible since they want to modify school funding so that areas with lower tax bases get a minimum amount. [A purely liberal effort at redistributing the wealth of Pennsylvanians.]

If Conti and Piccola think the Gambling Industry will be providing $9+ billion dollars per year starting in 2008, they are delusional. We think they do not believe it, and are simply running an idea up the flagpole to see who salutes. All this amounts to is another thin disguise for the much reviled and overwhelmingly rejected Act 72 of 2004. 80% of the school districts in the state rejected the plan a year ago. No one likes it. Rendell keeps pushing it.

Obviously, Piccola and Conti have turned a deaf ear on the hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of Reformers out here. Or, they are deceiving themselves. But they are not deceiving more than a few others.

This move qualifies Conti and Piccola for Business as Usual RINO status!

While this is going on there are several pieces of legislation regarding school and other local taxes being maneuvered through both houses.

Between the Democrats in the General Assembly and in the Governor’s Mansion, and the RINOs in the General Assembly, the plan is to extract every penny they can from you, either by taxation, or through gambling in order to fund their bloated government.

The worst piece of fraud ever perpetrated on the citizens of this Commonwealth is the gambling bill of 2004. The money the state derives from this corruption-ridden piece of legislation has been promised three or four times over. Even what was promised the first time will never be realized.

Should the expansion of gambling ever come about in Pennsylvania, it will extract from Pennsylvanians money they cannot afford in a vain attempt to fund Rendell’s expanded government. Do not think for one moment that out of state gamblers will pour billions into our coffers. Out of state gamblers will be a large number at first and then will dwindle to a trickle. And the higher gasoline prices go, the fewer out of state gamblers there will be.

Another reason why casino gambling will fail in Pennsylvania is the fact that the state is physically surrounded by states that either already have at least slots at the tracks or full fledged gambling (New York, New Jersey, Delaware, West Virginia) or states that are on the verge of enacting their own gambling laws to allow slots parlors and or casino gambling (Ohio, Maryland). For people in Western Maryland it is far easier to visit Charlestown, West Virginia than it will be to come to Gettysburg. Only people from western New Jersey will bother to come to the casinos in Philly, Allentown, Bethlehem, or the Poconos. Very few will make the drive from Ohio to Pittsburgh to visit their slots parlors.

The promises of casino gambling in Pennsylvania will never be realized as far as state government, and tax payers go. The few investors in any of the casino projects that are from Pennsylvania will get rich, slowly, and there will be some money that goes to the state.

Is it worth all the risk and trouble to see dollars get sucked out of the state’s economy (and out of the state altogether!) by the billions while Pennsylvanians still struggle to pay taxes and get ahead in an economy where schools simply do not get enough money?

Not on your life!

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

Remember in November! Before you vote, GettysBLOG!

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

90: "We Took a Hit Today"

Unfortunately, Federal Judge Yvette Kane ruled that a suit filed against the principals of Pennsylvania State government (legislative leadership, the Governor, and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court) seeking relief from the unconstitutional actions of the principals in passing legislation, notably Acts 71 and 72 and last summer's Midnight Pay Raise, belong to the "political and electoral process” and not the courts, according to an Associate Press report just flashed over the wires.

We say unfortunate as such a ruling would seem to indicate that the Constitution of the United States and the Pennsylvania Constitution, both of which were violated by the actions indicated, have no bearing with the Federal Court.

It remains to be seen if the coalition of groups backing the suit filed by Common Cause of Pennsylvania will file an appeal. This blogger expects that to happen quickly.

We believe Judge Kane erred greatly in her judgment that the case had no merits on which the Federal Court could or should rule. The suit was indeed about Constitutionally defined issues, and therefore, while a remedy may be sought within the “political and electoral process”, it will be neither timely, nor will there be a guarantee that any remedy at all will be accomplished. Clearly this is a case requiring the Federal Courts to act on Constitutional grounds.

Gentlemen, please be speedy in your appeal of Judge Kane’s ruling.

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

Remember in November! Before you vote, GettysBLOG!

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

89: “Jack Murtha Unmasked”

They say there is no such thing as an “ex-Marine”, that “once a Marine, always a Marine”. The exception that proves the rule is Lee Harvey Oswald, and even he is sometimes used (darkly) to illustrate one of the finer points of Marine training: marksmanship.

Jack Murtha is a certified Marine Corps Hero in the traditional sense of the word. Unlike a certain recent Presidential Candidate who was a Navy Vet, Jack Murtha did not receive medals without legitimately earning them, even Purple Hearts. He fought in Korea, and in Vietnam. His Vietnam service saw him receive the Bronze Star and two Purple Hearts.

Accordingly, John Murtha should be due some respect.

John Kerry returned from the Vietnam War with a fistful of medals of questionable integrity, which he promptly threw away to show his disdain for American involvement in Vietnam. While still a U.S. Navy officer on active duty, Kerry went to Paris and involved himself in the peace negotiations there by meeting with the North Vietnamese delegation. Kerry’s actions there, and at home, particularly in his fraudulent testimony against the war in front of Congress, and his involvement in the now discredited Winter Soldier movement, showed him to be a traitor to the United State of America.

No such actions taint the background of John Murtha. For decades, Murtha, even though a Democrat, has supported our actions overseas, and was a solid voice behind the military.

However, in 2005 he suddenly became a strident opponent of the War in Iraq.

We look into his background for a sign that would point to this shift. We can find little. He was an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1980 ABSCAM investigation, but was eventually cleared by the Democratically controlled House Ethics Committee.

Based on his recent announcement that if the Democrats were to gain the seats required for a majority in the fall elections, he would take over leadership in the House, perhaps he has seen a ticking clock and begun maneuvering himself into position for a run at Speaker of the House. In so doing, he would have to become one of the braying liberals that constantly harp at the Bush administration. This he did in 2005. He continues today, though he cleverly limits his public scorn to the War in Iraq since his background is strongly military. Supposedly, this gives him more credibility, especially with the ultra liberal “Gang of Nine” (Kerry, Pelosi, Reid, Feingold, Kennedy, Clinton, Schumer, Biden, and Specter).

Recently, Murtha backed his hand by shouting the news from the rooftops that his own US Marines committed a war atrocity at a place called Haditha in Iraq. Murtha had them tried, convicted and condemned before the news really hit the newsstands. But the MSM (Main Stream Media) could not move fast enough to latch onto the Murtha condemnations.

Murtha was apparently tipped to the Haditha story by Time Magazine which has since backed off on the validity of their source (see Setting the record straight on Haditha by Mary Katherine Ham at Townhall.com). In fact, as more and more is revealed about what happened at Haditha, there is no certainty that a massacre happened at all. Indeed, it may turn out to have been a regrettable tragic, understandable mistake. Perhaps. But the important part is: the investigation is not over, and charges have not been filed!.

But we all know that the MSM does not ascribe to the American principle of law that all are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Apparently Jack Murtha has forgotten that as well. In particular, however, he has also forgotten his loyalty to the Corps.

As a Vietnam veteran, it pains me to see another Vietnam veteran take a wrong turn. Just as it sickened me to watch a young John Kerry in action in the 1970s, it sickens me even more to see a real live U.S. Marine Corps hero lose himself in his own ambition.

In the end, sadly, perhaps Lee Harvey Oswald may have company in his historical niche as an ex-Marine.

What an utter shame.

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

Remember in November! Before you vote, GettysBLOG!

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

88: "Perzel Sinking Deeper and Deeper"

Well, now we know why John Perzel chose to go to Florida to attend a director’s meeting of GEO Group, Inc. Perzel, you may recall, absented himself at the end of the session just before the primary. Crucial during that period was the Republican floor uprising which stopped the Democratic/RINO cooperative effort to repackage Act 72 of 2004 in new clothes, thus infuriating a zoot-suit wearing Mike Veon.

It seems that in May, GEO Group, Inc. was the recipient of a $58 million Delaware County contract to continue to run a privately run prison in Delaware County.

Of course, Perzel claims he had no knowledge of the actions taken by the Board of Prison Inspectors.

Here are Perzel’s own words, from his website:

Reporter's [Philadelphia Inquirer] telephone query: -- The contract between Geo Group, Inc., and the Board of Prison Inspectors was renewed this week. Did you have any knowledge of this action? Were you involved in the decision? Could you clarify your responsibilities on the Geo Group, Inc. board of directors.

A -- "This pertains to my private business affairs and not as my function as Speaker. However, let say I had no knowledge of the actions taken by the Board of Prison Inspectors until I read about it in the newspapers today. I had no role in the negotiations or selection process. There has been no communication between me and the operational management of Geo Group, Inc. on this or any subject. There has been no communication between me and the Board of Prison Inspectors on this or any subject. "As to my role on the Board of Directors: As is public knowledge, I serve as a compensated administrative member of the board of directors. My compensation is no different than any other board member. I have no operational role within the corporation. I am not involved in the operations or management of the firm, nor am I privy to any sales, marketing or management decisions. "I serve in an administration function on the Audit Committee, with financial oversight and reporting responsibilities, reporting to the full board. I am not qualified to comment on the operations or management of the corporation. I refer all further questions on this matter to the company's corporate communications department."

Let(‘s) say…? Let’s say…? Mr. Speaker, you must you mean “Let’s pretend…”

In other words, your reply is totally fallacious.

Let’s lay this out in plain English. There is the appearance of graft here, raising the following questions:

· When did Pennsylvania pass legislation authorizing privatization of prisons?
· When was GEO Group, Inc. formed?
· When was John Perzel added to the Board of Directors?
· In what manner did Perzel obtain his stock holdings in GEO Groups, Inc.?

· Does no one understand what 'conflict of interest' means?

GEO Groups, Inc. just announced an agreement with the union representing the personnel who staff their Delaware County Prison, hence the Inquirer’s question. It should be noted that Perzel put this gem out as part of his answer:

"I serve in an administration function on the Audit Committee, with financial oversight and reporting responsibilities, reporting to the full board. I am not qualified to comment on the operations or management of the corporation. I refer all further questions on this matter to the company's corporate communications department."

Gosh, I’m no business major, but ‘financial oversight and reporting responsibilities?” Don’t they require close attention to the “operations” of the corporation?

Perzel has built a record of tripping over his own tongue, which is why he has decided to answer all press questions in writing. In fact, he has, at your expense, hired a $5,000/month PR firm for himself.

Obviously none of his efforts have helped.

I live half a state away, and I can smell it from here. Something's rotten in the 172nd District!

Perzel has to go, and he has to go now.

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

Remember in November! Before you vote, GettysBLOG!

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

87: A Happy Endorsement: Raj Bhakta for US Congress

Once in a great while they seem to appear out of nowhere. In baseball, he would be called a natural. [See the Robert Redford movie The Natural for a refresher.] In politics they are sometimes called "can't miss".

Thus, this morning we have come to know a political "Natural". We were quite taken with this young man's presence, confidence, and message. Raj Peter Bhakta calls himself a Teddy Roosevelt Republican. He is running for the US House of Representatives from the 13th Congressional District (Montgomery/NE Philadelphia County), a seat currently held by Democrat Allyson Schwartz. I encourage you to visit his website and get to know this young man. He will undoubtedly be a figure on the political scene for quite a while to come.

I am not a resident of his district, but if I were, this is a man I would vote for. Read his issues, listen to the Flash presentation on his first page. This is a no-nonsense, reform-minded candidate. He is more than worth the look, he is worth the vote!

Here is a press release from his campaign, dated today. This will give you an idea of what Raj is about:

Allyson Schwartz’s “Indefensible” Action

Republican congressional candidate Raj Bhakta is describing as "indefensible" the cut in funding Pennsylvania received from the federal government to address terrorism threats.

The state’s share dropped from $81.9 million last year to $49 million this year. Philadelphia’s portion went from $22.8 million to $19.5 million.

Bhakta, who is challenging Rep. Allyson Schwartz (D-13th dist.), noted that the Philadelphia area is large and has a busy port, military installations and a nuclear power plant. "If Philadelphia is not at risk, I don’t know who is," he said.

Bhakta wants more money to hire police officers and upgrade technology for cops, firefighters and other emergency responders. "Philadelphia is essentially being ignored by the federal government," he said.

The candidate said the Department of Homeland Security isn’t prioritizing its resources, pointing out that places like Kentucky, North Carolina and Nebraska have received funding increases. "Philadelphia certainly faces a greater terrorist threat than Omaha," he said.

Raj Peter Bhakta, Republican for US Congress in Pennsylvania's 13th Congressional District. A solid candidate with a plan, and an agenda to accomplish that plan. He strikes resonating tones on integrity, and reform. Vote Raj in November in the 13th District!

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

Remember in November! Before you vote, GettysBLOG!

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

86: "Why is Perzel Still Speaker?"

We would like very much to reproduce Tony Phyrillas’ latest blog, which zeroes in on a much needed action if our state is to survive and reform. We must first remove any roadblocks to reform. Starting with this one, as outlined by Tony:

Perzel May Take GOP Down With Him
by Tony Phyrillas
When the only major conservative newspaper in Pennsylvania (the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review) and the most liberal newspaper in the state (The Philadelphia Inquirer) run editorials the same day agreeing on something, it's worth a closer look.

Both newspapers focused their attention on the scandalous waste of taxpayer money by Republican Speaker of the House John Perzel.

John Perzel, the modern-day version of Gen. Custer, led a bunch of fellow House Republicans into the Little Big Horn last year by telling them to vote for the July 7 pay raise. Perzel told the House lemmings (aka Republicans) that the Indians (aka voters) were friendly.

Perzel's miscalculation so far has led to the ouster of a Supreme Court justice and the defeat of at least 11 House Republicans and the two most powerful members of the state Senate, Republicans Robert Jubilirer and Chip Brightbill.

Perzel's continuing arrogance and unwillingness to permit any meaningful reforms in the worst state legislature in the country will lead to disastrous results for Republicans in November.

Perzel is the Tom Delay of Pennsylvania politics. He is an embarrassment to the Republican Party. Perzel's top political ally in Harrisburg is none other than Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell, a fellow Philadelphian. Perzel, as well as Brightbill and Jubilirer, have worked closely with Rendell to push through massive tax hikes and huge spending increases in Harrisburg. Perzel and Rendell are birds of a feather who care more about Philadelphia patronage than doing anything good for the state.

Here's part of what the Tribune-Review had to say about Perzel in a June 7 editorial:

"Pennsylvania House Speaker John Perzel — whose amoral justification rationalizing the scandalous misuse of his campaign contributions was offered with stupefying indifference — is a prohibitively costly civics lesson about state government.

The Trib discovered Mr. Perzel spent $9,000 in campaign dollars for trips to Super Bowls, $34,000 for trips to Las Vegas, almost $1,350 on liquor for a state Supreme Court committee meeting, $1,800 for staying at an Atlantic City luxury hotel casino, $41,109 for food in Philadelphia even though Perzel and staff members live there, including $1,900 in home deliveries for Chinese food and pizza on 52 occasions and on and on and on.

And $700,000 in reimbursements to legislative staffers — including $56,000 in salary in 2005 and $264,000 in reimbursements in two years for Perzel's chief of staff, who also is paid $160,000 by taxpayers."

Here's what The Inquirer said about Perzel in its June 7 editorial:

"John Perzel had a bad case of foot-in-mouth disease. So he took an expensive cure. On the taxpayer's dime. Well, a lot more than a dime.

Last year, the speaker of the Pennsylvania House started paying a Harrisburg-area firm $5,000 a month — in taxpayer money — to advise him on public relations.

The advice boiled down to: Stop talking so much … The $60,000-a-year PR contract with Hershey-Philbin Associates came on top of another $60,000 the GOP caucus pays to a Philly-based consultant to handle local media relations for Perzel and two other lawmakers.

That all comes on top of the 46 staff flacks paid for by the House GOP — or, more properly, by taxpayers. Taxpayers surely get scant value for this PR spending, since its effect is to reduce candid talk by a key legislative leader. Perzel now responds to most press queries in writing. Anyone who believes Perzel personally types heartfelt responses, then hits the Send key, needs to take a cure for extreme naivete.

It's bad enough when this nonsense gets bankrolled with campaign cash, which gets raised by handing out political IOUs to the connected. It's beyond the pale when voters' own money is used to drown them in partisan distortion and fluff."

The two editorials came out the same week Perzel trumpeted his long-delayed lobbyist reform package. Pennsylvania is the only state in the United States where lobbyists don't have to say how much money the spend to influence politicians or which politicians get the lion’s share of the contributions. That's the way Perzel likes it. But his solders keep showing up with arrows in their back, so he felt compelled to make a token gesture at lobbying reform. What we've got is the typical Perzel shell game.

Are we to believe that Perzel is going to push through meaningful lobbyist reform for the House despite his abysmal track record so far? Talk about the fox guarding the chicken coop. Perzel and reform are incompatible. According to Rep. Greg Vitali, one of the few decent legislators in Harrisburg, Perzel's lobbying bill is so watered down, it's already sprung leaks.

Perzel's bill does not require lobbyists to disclose or companies to report how much they spent on specific lawmakers. It does not mandate the lobbyists disclose the specific issues or bills they are pushing. A meaningful lobbyist bill must disclose what lobbyist is giving what legislator how much to move what piece of legislation.

If his fellow Republican House members don't rise up and take Perzel out before the November election, be prepared to see the House fall into Democratic control.

Perzel is the poster child of everything wrong with modern politics. At least Tom Delay had the decency to resign from Congress rather cause any further damage to the Republican Party. Perzel, the personification of arrogance, doesn't care about the party. He cares only about Perzel. He is willing to take down as many GOP legislators with him as necessary in the vain hope of holding on to his position of power.

by Tony Phyrillas

Tony says it all. Folks should read and heed.

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

Remember in November! Before you vote, GettysBLOG!

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

Chuck Muth on Peggy Noonan - Mean It

Friends,
There is a critical message to candidates, especially Republican candidates, in the following column by former Reagan speech-writer Peggy Noonan. She nails it...big time. It articulates what much of the attraction was to Ross Perot and Jesse Ventura in the early stages of their initial campaigns. Take this message to heart if you want to win the hearts and minds of this year's voters...
Prof. Chuck Muth
Doctor of Psephology
Home-Schooled
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Mean It

Voters want sincerity. If they can't get it, they'll settle for simplicity.

Thursday, June 8, 2006 12:01 a.m.

A thought today about complexity and politics.
The American people right now are not in a mood to trust any political plan, proposal or policy that seems complicated--highly involved, technical, full of phased-in elements and glide paths and Part C's.

They are against complexity not because they don't think life is complex. They know it's complex. They know it because they live it every day. They assume public policy issues are also complicated. They know there are facts they don't know, which probably have to be factored in as policy is developed. But more and more they recoil from complicated, lengthy, abstruse proposals.

Why?

Because they think--they assume, at this point, reflexively--that slithery, slippery professional politicians are using and inventing complications to obfuscate and confuse. They think politicians are using complexity to creat e great clouds in which they can make their escape, like a cartoon character, like Road Runner.

They think modern politicians hide in complexity. They think politicians evade responsibility with it. We can't do the right thing, it's too complicated! Americans don't trust "comprehensive plans," because they don't trust the comprehensive planners.T

his, I think, is the essential problem with Congress's immigration proposals. All the phased-in-partial-assimilation-glide-paths-to-guest-worker-status stuff seems like a big 500-page con. It's all too complicated to be understood by anyone who's not a tenured political science professor with a second degree in accounting.What people will trust, and understand, is this: We will close the border tomorrow, and then figure it out from there.

People resist complicated proposals for realistic reasons.
First, they have a natural and healthy skepticism toward the political class. They think the Senate and House are in effect using public anxiety about our collapsed borders to sneak in--I use that term deliberately--their own party-favoring addendums and amendments. People sense Washington is using public concern as a plaything to get what will serve the political class.

Second, people know that while much of life is complicated, some of it is simple, such as what you can see with your eyes. They would believe a bill that closed the borders worked when they saw that it worked. They will know when the border has been closed. No one will be coming across it. It will be adequately patrolled. Those seeking illegal entry will be turned away.

No one, on the other hand, believes he will be able to know with certainty w hether a phased-in guest-worker plan is working in the short term, or the long term either. They'll only know if it was a disaster after the disaster is done. And they will have to rely for some of their data on government figures--about which they will be dubious, for one of the great modern American understandings is that statistics don't lie but liars use statistics.

And the third reason is they know everyone in Washington is not trustworthy in terms of basic normal human commitment on the immigration issue. They're not reliable.

The other day Rep. Tom Tancredo won a straw vote. A small vote, but, as Tom Tancredo is not exactly a longtime famous Republican party leader, it was interesting. Why would Republican voters choose Mr. Tancredo? Because they know where his heart is on immigration: Stop it, now. It's where he's been for years. He was out there alone on the issue. Now some have joined him. But you know where his heart is and his position is clear.
The irony is that this makes Mr. Tancredo one of the few among Republicans who would be given some leeway by his voters in fashioning an ultimate immigration plan. Why? Because they know he'd be doing his best. Because he means it. They know this because of his past: He was doing his best when there was nothing in it. He's committed to getting as much progress as possible. Which means his supporters would give him flexibility. They'd even allow him to get complicated. "If he gets complex, you must have to."

Democrats have the same problem on the same issue--who believes a word Hillary Clinton says when she speaks of immigration?--and on more.

Democrats use complexity as a thing to hide behind when they talk about taxes. Republicans can say, and can mean, "I hate taxes and will cut them." Democrats can't say that , because they don't hate taxes and in fact will raise them. Though they will not say it. They will say, "Tax cuts on the top 10% of income earners are nonprogressive and unhelpful, and I will cut their tax cut, or hike their taxes, and in turn make commensurate cuts on the taxes of the most deserving lower income taxpayers, though not in a way that will negatively impact the deficit."

When voters hear this they know exactly what it means: We will raise taxes.What is the answer to the public's skepticism about complexity, and a modern leader's need to look at complicated problems in a way that sometimes involves complicated solutions?
Mr. Tancredo knows. Ronald Reagan knew. Mean it.

Reagan's overhaul of the tax system in 1986 was rather complicated. It wasn't complicated for tax policy, but it was complicated for normal humans trying to figure out what they owe. Why did Reagan's base support a complicated plan? Because they knew Reagan meant it. They knew Reagan hated taxes, built his career in part on opposing high taxes, pushed for lower taxes, had cut them in his career. They trusted Reagan to get the best deal he could. The base did not doubt his sincerity. They didn't think he was using the tax issue to finagle advantages for his party. Because he wasn't.

It has been said in politics that sincerity is everything, and once you can fake it you can do anything. But people can tell when you're faking sincerity--on immigration, o n taxes, on our very safety as a nation. Faking it isn't working anymore.Message to political leaders: You better mean it, or they'll never let you do your phased-in multitiered comprehensive plan anymore.

Absent sincerity, the future is simplicity.

PennLiberty

85: “Do You Want True Lobbying Reform?”

Harrisburg Online (this morning):

Speaker of the State House John Perzel yesterday rolled-out his proposed lobbying reform legislation that differs with requirements imposed by Senate rules or by the Governor's fiat...Perzel's proposal requires that any organization or company spending more than $10,000 a year to influence state government decisions to reveal what issue was lobbied and how much was spent...unless the House, Senate and Governor's ideas can be merged into one workable law, lobbyists will be burdened with more paperwork than the ridiculous demands of the Sarbanes-Oxley federal corporate accounting law...

Maybe it’s just me. Maybe I am out of step with the times, but I just do not believe that to be the case. In fact, although it seems a bit arrogant, I believe the times are out of step with me.

Obviously, Harrisburg Online does not like this move because it is published by one of the larger lobbying firms in the state (Greenlee Partners, LLC). Lobbying firms would love to have any requirements for reporting, and limits on their spending removed, giving them unfettered access, and unfettered spending amounts to influence government decision making, particularly in the General Assembly.

There is the arrogance in this issue.

The People’s Business
We send elected legislators to Harrisburg to do the people’s business. But since the advent of professional lobbying, it has become evident that it is not the people’s business that is conducted in our legislature, it is the business of the lobbyists. In fact, it has been increasingly difficult for an individual to meet with their representative at all.

When the lobbying industry (and that is exactly what it is – an industry) is the main force for legislation (witness the gambling bill of 2004) in our state, and the people no longer have direct access to their State Senators and State Representatives, and no longer wield influence with them except that based on the amount contributed to their reelection campaign funds, then the General Assembly is no longer doing the people’s business.

When the lobbying industry spends more than $10,000 per year on one issue, then there is no such thing as a level playing field. Few people can afford to match that kind of influence on their legislators. Those that can will hire lobbying firms like Greenlee Partners, LLC.

This is very important for you to understand: it was lobbying by the gambling industry that got Act 71, the State Gambling Act, enacted in the dark of a July night in 2004. It was millions of dollars of money from Las Vegas, Atlantic City, and Indian Tribes that got paid out in “entertainment” of Pennsylvania’s legislative leadership, and senior General Assembly members.

You weren’t asked. You weren’t consulted. You were not allowed to know the bill was under consideration. You were not allowed to comment on the bill How could you if you did not know it had even been proposed? All of this violates not only the letter, but the spirit of the Constitution of Pennsylvania.

What could possibly make supposedly good men and women, sent to the General Assembly to do the people’s business, go so far into “the dark side” in order to pass such a law?

The answer lies completely in the millions of dollars of lobbyist’s money rained on the leadership of the General Assembly.

To put it another way, leadership was bought. And for their 30 pieces of silver, leadership then forced their caucuses across the line into “the dark side” with them.

What is Lobbyist Reform?
Lobbyist reform is talking about disclosure. That’s pretty slick. John Perzel wants you to believe he is talking Reform! So lobbyists will continue to have unfettered access to the legislature with unfettered checkbooks. The only thing that changes is that lobbying firms will be required to report on any issues that required them to spend more than $10,000.

So, outfits like Greenlee Partners, LLC, which has as part of its clientele, gambling interests, would be able to break down their issues into such categories as slots suppliers, zoning boards for proposed slots parlors, modifying Act 71 to allow for table games, getting the tourism board to include the casinos in their national advertising campaigns, etc. There are four “issues” that might be better combined under “gambling”. So, we have identified a loophole in Perzel’s proposal.

It is that easy. Most lobbying firms are also law firms. Lawyers love to play word games, parsing the meaning of words down to the nth degree in order to win a point.

So, what do you do to fix the lobbying issue? Can you make it much more complex than Perzel is trying to do? Can you put limits on lobbyist’s spending?

Again, you run into loopholes.

Logic demands that there is one answer: Occam’s Razor. William of Occam (also Ockham) was a 14th century monk and philosopher from South East England. He developed a logical principle (called Occam’s Razor) that in essence says that the simplest explanation is usually the correct one. In Latin, it reads: entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem, which means: entities should not be multiplied beyond necessity.

The simplest answer to lobbying reform is to do away with lobbying altogether. Level the playing field, and put the people back into the professional lives of the members of the General Assembly.

How will it work?
No matter how you cut it, lobbying, as it is practiced now, is simply bribery. Buying influence. Outlawing professional lobbying is relatively simple, but calls for strict measures. For example, we recommend this:

• Make illegal any approach to legislatures by a person representing someone else’s interests. (Exception: non profit organizations, and community organizations.)
• Make illegal the transfer of any item of value, including money, by any person seeking to influence government. (Not even a pencil!). Make it a felony.
• Any person or entity doing so would be subject to a $5,000 fine and mandatory $3 years in prison.
• The legislator, or legislator’s staff member who accepts such compensation would be subject to a $5,000 fine, and a mandatory 3 years in prison, and loss of all benefits and retirement from the state. Acceptance of such compensation by any member of the legislator’s family would be covered under this.

Hard and cold. But if you truly want to end the corruption and graft in Harrisburg, these are the major steps you MUST take to do so.

So, the result is that if you want your legislator to support a bill, you make an appointment and go see him or her, or you call them on the phone, and make your case. If you are the CEO of a large corporation you call your Representative or you make an appointment and go see him or her in his or her office. No entertaining. No junkets. No freebies. No tickets to movies, sports events, concerts, etc. Not even a pencil. If you are that CEO, you are on an equal footing with Joe Sixpack when it comes to access to your legislator.

Current legislative leadership, and the Governor himself lack the necessary anatomical parts required to take such a step. It will take a large body of Reformers on the floor of both chambers, driven by a grassroots movement to accomplish this task.

Law firm lobbyists will fight this to the death…giving them an opportunity to actually practice law for a change instead of buying influence with legislative leadership.

Corporations will not like this because they feel they influence the economy far more than you do.

Well, perhaps a very few of them do, but most of them do not influence the economy as much as the ten thousand constituents in each of the Legislative or Senatorial Districts do.

The largest amounts of money expended in lobbying as recorded in the Pennsylvania Senate is done by the Health Care industry. That certainly bears some looking into, but perhaps another day.

Don’t you think it is time to stop this? Don’t you think there has been enough graft and corruption in Harrisburg?

If you don’t, then you believe in business as usual, and Reform is just a meaningless term to you.

If you do, then you will climb on board the Reform bandwagon (which embraces much more than just lobbying reform). Get active. Get political. And always, always, always remember that true Reform transcends partisan politics, but will make partisan politics better in the future.

THE CENTRIST

Support Russ Diamond for Governor!

“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

Remember in November! Before you vote, GettysBLOG!

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

84: "Signature Time"

This may seem like political dead time, but let me assure you it is not. This is a very important time in the political schedule as it is when campaigns are defined and set into motion. We are approaching the 30 day mark after the recent Primary. There are folks who need your help. You have all done magnificently in your first step in seizing back the power that has been usurped by others. But there remains much work to be done.

Russ Diamond is campaigning for Governor as an Independent. The Republicans and the Democrats have placed an unfair burden on him in terms of gathering an enormous number of signatures on his nominating petition to get on the ballot in November. Diamond is required to obtain slightly over 67,000 signatures. In order to assure that he has enough valid signatures, he is shooting for 100,000, as his opponents, Lynn Swann and Ed Rendell will likely challenge as many signatures as they can.

Pennsylvania deserves a third choice. Both parties have abandoned their base and become parties of monied interests, and political graft and corruption. They no longer represent you. Now they represent the lobbies, and the powerful and rich.

If you do nothing else political this summer, please sign one of Russ Diamond’s nominating petitions. There are three ways to do this:

1. Visit one of Russ Diamond’s campaign stops (see latest schedule below) and sign there, or
2. Visit his website signature page and follow the instructions for downloading and printing the petition, then follow instructions for mailing it in to his campaign.
3. Gather signatures for Russ Diamond’s campaign. Again, visit his website’s Signature Central page and follow the instructions. It is not a difficult task, and is an exercise in civics that should leave you feeling proud of your contribution.

We have added several links for Russ Diamond’s various web pages on his site so you can get information anytime by clicking on one. The links are under the Endorsed Candidates section on the sidebar to the right.

Russ Diamond has the following campaign stops on his schedule.

----------
Cedar Lodge Tri-County Town Meeting
6/7/2006 6:30 p.m.
Cedar Lodge (formerly known as Greyhorse Tavern)
844 Fishing Creek Road
New Cumberland, PA 17070
Come meet Russ Diamond, Independent Candidate for Governor of Pennsylvania at a tri-county town meeting!
Contact:
Kathy Clark, (717) 938-4089, KCBSP@aol.com
----------
Ballot Access Coalition Fundraiser
6/16/2006 7:00 p.m.
Shady Maple Farm Market
129 Toddy Drive
East Earl, PA 17519
Doors open at 7:00 pm; Russ Diamond to speak.
Contact:
Ken Krawchuk, (800) 842-8477, KenKrawchuk@Enter.Net
-----------

Try to make at least one of these events. Sign his nominating petition and give yourself a real choice in November.

And that is free advice from one Republican who will not be voting for Swann, or Rendell. I’ll be voting for Russ Diamond.

We desperately need reform. We desperately need clean, transparent, government. Russ Diamond will give us that.

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

Remember in November! Before you vote, GettysBLOG!

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

82: Russ Diamond's Tax Plan (Part 1)

We are presenting this straight from Russ Diamond's website, which you should all be scouring daily for news and updates.

---------------------------------------

Diamond: Abolish Property Taxes
Calling property taxes "unfair, punitive and unconstitutional," Russ Diamond, Independent for Governor, today published his proposal for abolishing all property taxes in Pennsylvania on his campaign website in both written and audio formats.

Diamond set himself apart from other gubernatorial candidates by pointing out that property taxes run counter to the Pennsylvania Constitution, which provides for the protection of every citizen's right of "acquiring, possessing and protecting property."

"By taxing and threatening to take our property if we can't pay, government is violating a right it is specifically charged with protecting," Diamond said today. "Property rights are clearly spelled out in Article I, Section 1 of the Constitution and are included among the most important rights we have.

"Ed Rendell and Lynn Swann both plan to continue to chase people out of their homes to fund out-of-control government. Ed wants to keep playing his broken record of campaign promises from 2002, and Lynn thinks we can wait until he can change the Constitution - a three year process at minimum."

Diamond's outline includes a combination of a broad-based sales tax, the personal income tax and an overhaul of Pennsylvania's corporate tax system to replace the $11 billion currently collected through property taxes. It also recommends that a portion of the collection of those taxes could remain at the local level, retaining maximum control over local budgetary issues.

The outline also states that "true reform is not accomplished through revenue replacement alone. Controlling government spending is the other half of the solution. If we do not get government spending under control, we'll just end up with runaway increases in whichever taxes we modify to replace property taxes."

Rendell's proposed budget, if approved by the legislature, would represent a 23 percent increase in spending at the state level during his tenure, more than twice the rate of inflation during the same period.

"The clear victim of government growth is the standard of living of Pennsylvania's citizens. In addition to abolishing property taxes, we must decide whether we will continue to grow government or grow the economy. We can't do both," the outline stated.

"Even after we abolish property taxes, government will still have the ability to eat us out of house and home if we don't limit spending," Diamond concluded. He intends to come forward with his plan to control spending in the coming weeks.

Diamond's campaign is currently collecting the 67,070 signatures required to place his name on the ballot at the November general election, using an updated 'Signature Central' page on its website.

---------------------------------------

Stay tuned for Part 2: How will Russ Diamond approach the Tax Reforms?

In the meantime, we urge you to visit the Russ Diamond for Governor website and find out how you can help this principled man get elected.

And please, while you are there, check into how you can sign his petition.

Click here for Part 2.

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

Remember in November! Before you vote, GettysBLOG!

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

83: Russ Diamond's Tax Plan (Part 2)

continued from Part 1 (posted in reverse order for continuity)

Here is how Russ Diamond will approach tax reform as Governor:

Let's talk about abolishing property taxes in Pennsylvania and reaffirming our constitutionally guaranteed right to acquire, possess and protect our property. Before we start, though, let's get a couple things out of the way.

First, let's look at the goals taxation should meet. I believe any tax plan must pursue three very simple objectives:

1. Adequately funding the functions of government set forth in the Constitution for the common good.
2. Assessing that tax burden fairly, directly and equitably to all citizens of the Commonwealth and others who benefit from those governmental functions.
3. Developing a system which minimizes the impact to our state's economy and does not cause any undue hardship to any citizen, especially those in the humblest of economic circumstances.

Second, true reform is not accomplished through revenue replacement alone. Let me repeat that: true reform is not accomplished through revenue replacement alone.

Controlling government spending is the other half of the solution. I have some fantastic ideas on how to control spending - and I will come forward with them at a later date - but today we're only going to talk about my plan to abolish property taxes - without changing anything else.

The Nature of Property Taxes
The revenue generated by property tax in Pennsylvania is used to fund three different things: public education, county governments and municipal governments. By all available accounts, property taxes generate $11 billion annually to fund these things, with the lion's share going to public education.

It is important to understand how property taxes are collected to understand how unfair they are.

Each county in Pennsylvania assesses the value of individual properties and charges a portion of that value - or millage - in annual taxes to the property owner. In addition, school districts, cities, boroughs and townships use the same assessed value and charge their own millage rate.
The assessment process is extremely labor intensive and therefore a very expensive job for counties to undertake. As a result, counties are reluctant to update their assessment records with a regular countywide reassessment.

Also, newer homes are assessed on a completely different basis than existing homes, which may not have had their assessed value updated for years or even decades. This has created an extremely unbalanced and unfair system of taxation. By abolishing property taxes, we would also eliminate this arcane system of assessing the value of properties. It is important to note that the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania has requested that the state legislature allow them to use methods other than property tax to pay for county government. They have a keen understanding of how unfair and expensive the property tax system is to maintain.

One of the most popular arguments against abolishing property taxes is that property taxes are a reliable and stable form of taxation. In my book, this line of thinking is backwards.

I believe the stability of any government entity should not take priority over the ability of citizens to enjoy the God-given - and constitutionally protected - right to acquire, possess and protect their property. Government should be responsive to the ability of its citizens to thrive economically, not the other way around.

Replacing the Revenue
So what does state government have to do to abolish unfair, punitive and unconstitutional property taxes?

In short, we have to find a way to replace $11 billion dollars every year. To get an idea of how much that means in Pennsylvania, consider that the Commonwealth's entire General Fund budget will total around $25 billion dollars this year.

To replace the $11 billion collected annually through property taxes, state government must shift that burden to some other form of tax.

Let me make one thing crystal clear - there is no free ride. If we are to abolish property taxes, the revenue must be replaced somehow. Of all the various taxes the state collects, there are three major sources of revenue.

The biggest is the Personal Income Tax (PIT), which is expected to generate $9.8 billion this year. At a tax rate of 3.07%, every 1 percentage point of PIT generates $3.2 billion. This tax is pretty straight-forward, as everyone pays the same rate - although there are some reductions for low income Pennsylvanians.

Next comes the Sales and Use Tax (SUT), which is expected to generate $8.3 billion this year. At a tax rate of 6%, every 1 percentage point of SUT generates $1.4 billion. This tax is a bit more complicated, as not every sale is taxable, and trying to figure out what is and what isn't taxed can sometimes be a bit confusing.

Then comes the Corporate Net Income Tax (CNIT), which is expected to generate $2.1 billion this year. At a tax rate of 9.99%, this means that every 1 percentage point of CNIT generates $213 million. Although this is the least of the top three sources of revenue for the Commonwealth, it is important to note that less than 30% of all corporations in the Commonwealth pay this tax at all.

If we're simply looking to replace the $11 billion that property tax generates, we can just start doing some math to see which tax rates we want to modify to get the money from somewhere else.

Without changing the way any of these taxes are charged, you could do it - at least mathematically - with any one of them alone:

• We could generate $11 billion by raising the PIT to 6.5%, but most Pennsylvanians would balk at more than doubling their income tax.
• We could generate $11 billion by raising the SUT to 13.65%, but that would cause merchants to lose business to other states.
• Or we could generate $11 billion by raising the CNIT to 61.6%, but I'm sure you'll agree this is certainly not the way to go.

Realistically, it will take a combination of modifications to these tax rates - and the method by which they are assessed - if we're serious about replacing that $11 billion dollars.

Sharing the Burden
Let's mention again the three things that property taxes pay for: public schools, county government and municipal government. In general, we all benefit from these things, so it's only natural that we all share the burden - fairly and equally.

Once upon a time, citizens were only allowed to vote if they owned property. It quickly became apparent that this wasn't logical, so Americans abolished that practice. Likewise, it doesn't make any sense that only people who own property should be directly taxed for schools and other local government functions.

Since we all benefit from these things, then it's only logical that we all chip in - in a direct manner.

Sales and Use Tax
Of all types of taxation, I believe consumption taxes are the most fair and direct, and the Sales and Use Tax (SUT) is a consumption tax, so let's start there.

Realistically, the SUT rate could be raised to 7% without losing too much business to other states, but it wouldn't generate the kind of revenue we need.

The solution here is to broaden the base by making more items taxable. If we broaden the base sufficiently enough, we may actually be able to lower the rate and still meet our goal.

My starting point would be to apply the SUT to all goods and services - no exceptions. As soon as we grant even one exception, we'll see a parade of special interests demanding their own exceptions, and that's why the current SUT is such a puzzling patchwork quilt.

Frankly, I see no reason whatsoever why services and tangible products should be treated differently. For businesses which provide both goods and services, it would simplify their bookkeeping.

Of course, there are those who would argue that taxing food, clothing and prescription drugs would be regressive and would be an unfair burden on the most needy of Pennsylvanians.

But if the SUT base is sufficiently broad, the tax rate could be low enough that this burden is minimal. On top of that, we already subsidize food and prescription drugs for the most needy of Pennsylvanians. Additionally, Pennsylvania provides for income tax forgiveness for the poorest of the poor, and additional considerations could be made in this area if necessary.

Again, no system of taxation should cause any undue hardship to any citizen, especially those in the humblest of economic circumstances.

Personal Income Tax
After modifying the SUT, then we need to look at the Personal Income Tax (PIT). Frankly, increasing the tax on personal income by a point or two will not necessarily make Pennsylvania uncompetitive with other states.

In fact, there are states whose income tax rates are in excess of six, seven, and even nine percent. Admittedly, some of those states have a graduated income tax, but in Pennsylvania our Constitution forbids that, and I firmly believe it should remain that way.

Because the PIT provides $3.2 billion for every percentage point assessed, there's plenty of room to adjust it and get great positive results in the pursuit of abolishing property taxes.

Corporate Income Tax

We must also look at the Corporate Net Income Tax (CNIT), because one of the big worries about abolishing property taxes altogether is that we'd be giving big business a free ride.
But first, let me say this about all business and corporate taxes:

Businesses and corporations do not pay tax. Really, they don't. Any tax applied to a business is eventually paid by individuals. Business owners are individuals. If the business is a corporation, that corporation is owned by a group of individuals. In general, most of these individuals are already paying taxes.

Sometimes, business and corporate taxes are absorbed by these owners, but usually, those taxes are simply passed on to consumers through higher prices. This is indirect taxation. In a perfect world, there would be no indirect taxation, but we don't live in a perfect world. We live in a world with borders and sometimes, the people on the other side of those borders play by different rules than we do - and we have no control over that.

The problem - as I see it - is that eliminating property taxes and shifting that revenue burden to the SUT and PIT leaves the door open for people from outside Pennsylvania to set up shop here, take advantage of the infrastructure and education system that we're paying for, and then take their profits back out of Pennsylvania to spend elsewhere.

I am not opposed to non-Pennsylvanians coming here to do business - in fact I encourage it - but I am opposed to them being able to place undue burdens upon the communities where they situate themselves.

The CNIT is part of a cornucopia of corporate taxes the state levies against businesses. Because the corporate tax system is so complicated, businesses can waste a lot of productivity simply trying to figure out the most profitable way to play the system.

I believe we should completely scrap the current corporate tax structure in Pennsylvania in favor of a CNIT which can be reduced through credits based on a corporation's ownership, employment and reinvestment within the Commonwealth.

This is how it would work: If a corporation is wholly owned by Pennsylvanians, employs only Pennsylvanians and reinvests only in Pennsylvania, that corporation would pay the lowest amount of tax on the profits they generate within the Commonwealth.

On the other hand, if a corporation is wholly owned by individuals from elsewhere, employs only people from elsewhere and only reinvests elsewhere, that corporation would pay the highest amount of tax on the profits they generate within the Commonwealth.

Most corporations, who fall somewhere in between these two examples, would pay a pro-rated tax, based on their proportion of native ownership, native employees and their reinvestment in Pennsylvania.

Our goals in overhauling the corporate tax structure must be to foster Pennsylvania's economy while encouraging businesses to be good neighbors and participate in planning for the future.

This should only be considered as an interim solution. I believe that ultimately, the fairest way to deal with businesses who want to locate in our communities is to assign a fair impact fee which would cover a proportional amount of any expanded infrastructural needs required in the future to serve that business location.

The Big Picture
The ability to work with these three tax systems - the SUT, the PIT and the CNIT - to abolish property taxes in Pennsylvania forever is real and tangible. All we need is the collective will to do it and the realization that we're all in this together.

There are a few things we should discuss that go beyond just the task of abolishing property taxes.

First, abolishing property taxes would give an opportunity for rental property owners to take a huge windfall at the expense of their tenants. It would be my hope that all rental property owners would reduce their rents dollar for dollar in an amount equal to their annual savings in property taxes on those properties. But I realize that not every property owner will do that, so it remains a detail which needs to be discussed and worked out.

Should we mandate one-time rent reductions or should we let the free market decide? Or should we do something in between?

Second, we need to consider the idea of local control. We all know the golden rule: He who controls the gold, makes the rules. Should we send all our tax dollars to Harrisburg first, or should we keep them at the local level?

I believe we can do a little of both. Many states have mixed collection systems. Colorado has a statewide sales tax rate and allows local governments to stack their own sales tax rate on top of it - up to a certain limit. We could do the same thing with income and corporate taxes as well.

Third, because public education is both critical and constitutionally mandated, it must be funded in a stable manner, so as not to threaten the future of our children by subjecting educational budgets to widely fluctuating revenue streams. The stability of constitutionally mandated public education must take priority over state programs not mandated by the supreme law of the land.

Controlling Spending
Finally - and I know I'm repeating myself - true reform is not accomplished through revenue replacement alone. Controlling government spending is the other half of the solution. If we do not get government spending under control, we'll just end up with runaway increases in the taxes we modify to replace property taxes.

Again, I will be addressing spending at later date. At the state level alone - if Ed Rendell's budget is approved as proposed - spending will have increased by almost 23 percent during his tenure over the last four years - almost double the rate of inflation. The clear victim of state government growth is the standard of living of Pennsylvania's citizens.

In addition to abolishing property taxes, we must decide whether we will continue to grow government or grow the economy. We can't do both.

It's time to abolish property taxes in our Commonwealth - because I believe Pennsylvanians deserve better.

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Thanks Russ! This is about as clear and concise a plan as I have ever heard. It is absent GovSpeak, which is what you will hear from Rendell and Swann.

Russ Diamond is a people's candidate.

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