Uncontested Races Troubling

Guest Column By Denny Bonavita

So, the Tea Party folks are going to force the national government to change its ways, are they? Hot air. Ditto for screamers in Internet chat rooms, for strident espousers of Second Amendment gun rights, for the people who claim our government is spending us into bankruptcy.

We yak about that, but it's simply lip-flapping. Nobody will change the current system of government, despite all the jaw-jabber. Why do we say that?

Look at who is running for election this year: Mostly, it's incumbents, or former incumbents. In area races for the state House of Representatives, there is not one contested race in the May 18 primary election, according to the filings with the Department of State. Matt Gabler (R), Kathy Rapp (R), Sam Smith (R), Martin Causer (R), Donna Oberlander (R), Bud George (D) are all assured of renomination.

Rapp, Causer and Oberlander are all but assured of re-election. No Democrats filed against them, so there probably won't be any major contests in November, either.
On the federal level, first-term incumbent Glenn Thompson, a Republican, is unopposed in both the primary and in the general election. So is Altoona-area Rep. Bill Shuster.

Sure, incumbent U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter is opposed - but by a current member of the federal Congress in the primary, and by a former member of Congress in the general election. More incumbents.

To hear the critics of government tell it, the state and federal governments are poorly run. But the critics are lip-flappers, only. Otherwise, some would have joined in the campaigns.

It doesn't take a lot of money, either. Gabler won the Republican nomination two years ago on a write-in basis. In our system of government, it is impossible to vote "No," or "None of the above," except in judicial retention elections. We can't vote people out of office if there is no opponent to vote in. Don't blame the incumbents. It isn't their fault if they do not have opponents. That is our fault.

Even the best incumbents benefit from having opponents - for the same reason that we learn something best when we know we have to teach about it. When an incumbent knows that he or she will be called to account on an issue, the incumbent rethinks the issue. Sometimes, the incumbent even changes positions, because the circumstances surrounding the issue have changed.

But that won't happen this year. We just don't care enough about our system of government to help to lead it. So the incumbents can just keep on doing what they have been doing.

Conservative News: The Disemboweling of America - HUMAN EVENTS

Pat Buchanan has an excellent article today on the state of American industry and the growth of big government under both Bush administrations and the Clinton administration. All have basically outsourced American industry while growing the size of government and running up huge deficits. Both political parties are guilty of trading good, hardworking American jobs for international political favors. Now we have a so called service economy based on what? That's right more government.

Things that we once made in America -- indeed, we made everything -- we now buy from abroad with money that we borrow from abroad.

Over this Lost Decade, 5.8 million manufacturing jobs, one of every three we had in Y2K, disappeared. That unprecedented job loss was partly made up by adding 1.9 million government workers.

The last decade was the first in history where government employed more workers than manufacturing, a stunning development to those of us who remember an America where nearly one-third of the U.S. labor force was producing almost all of our goods and much of the world's, as well.

Click Here To Read More

For those voters out there who think the American economy now under the control of President Obama is going to turn around soon are absolutely crazy. I have to give Pat Buchanan credit for at least speaking the truth about what we have become as a nation. America doesn't create anything. It doesn't produce anything. We need big government to prop up the failing industries that we do have. Our government's free trade economic policies have basically eliminated the American middle class and outsourced our livelihoods. I think it is high time for another revolution in America. It is time for a TEA PARTY Revolution!!!!!

Pennsylvania Tax Revenues Falling Short Of What State Lawmakers Projected

THE KEYSTONE COPS BUDGET SAGA CONTINUES!!!!!!

Pennsylvania is on course for another fiscal train wreck this year according to the latest Department Of Revenue figures. Last year Governor Ed Rendell and state legislative leaders in both the House and Senate were not able to pass a budget until the end of October. Even then the budget that was passed was packed full of projected revenue numbers and voodoo mathematics. Just imagine how this year's budget negotiations are going to play out with these figures.

From The Department Of Revenue Press Release:

Acting Secretary of Revenue C. Daniel Hassell today reported that Pennsylvania collected $1.5 billion in General Fund revenue in February, which was $102.3 million, or 6.4 percent, less than anticipated. Fiscal year-to-date General Fund collections total $16 billion, which is $476.7 million, or 2.9 percent, below estimate.

Click Here To Read More

I just don't understand how our state lawmakers don't do something to cut spending when they know state tax revenues are coming int 2.8 percent below estimates. Commonsense tells you not to just set back and do nothing. That isn't leadership. Neither is Governor Ed Rendell's budget proposal that wants to once again increase state government spending. Again where does the madness stop?

Taxpayer Friends or Big Spenders?

By Tony Phyrillas

For the past 31 years, the National Taxpayers Union, an independent, nonpartisan advocate for overburdened taxpayers, has been issuing an annual report card for members of Congress.

The Washington, D.C.-based NTU rates each member of Congress based on his or her voting record to determine how "friendly" or "unfriendly" they are to taxpayers.

The group has just released its report card on the first session of the 111th Congress, led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

"Despite a few encouraging trends, the results from NTU's rating vividly demonstrate why 2009 was such a fiscal disaster," said NTU President Duane Parde. "For every member of Congress doing his or her best to relieve overburdened taxpayers, five other lawmakers were doing their worst."

A Taxpayer Score is determined for each member of Congress and a letter grade is awarded based on the score. If you want to review the process NTU uses or the actual votes taken on specific bills, visit the group's Web site at www.ntu.org

NTU rates House and Senate members on their actual votes — every vote that affects taxes, spending and debt. While many other watchdog groups release ratings based on selected votes, NTU considers every vote taken by every member of Congress during a particular session, making its rankings the fairest and most accurate guide available on Congressional spending.

A total of 333 House votes and 227 Senate votes taken last year were considered in determining the NTU rankings.

"NTU has no partisan ax to grind," according to its Web site. "All members of Congress are treated the same regardless of political affiliation. Our only constituency is the overburdened American taxpayer. Grades are given impartially, based on the Taxpayer Score."

The Taxpayer Score measures the "strength of support for reducing spending and opposing higher taxes," according to the NTU. A higher score is better because it means a member of Congress voted to spend less money, the group says.

The Taxpayer Score can range between zero and 100, but to date, not a single member of Congress has ever scored a perfect 100.

In 2009, 55 lawmakers attained scores sufficient for a grade of "A" (earning at least a 90 percent in the House and the Senate) and hence were eligible for the "Taxpayers' Friend Award" — an increase from the 48 who earned top grades in 2008, according to NTU.

Unfortunately, 267 Senators and Representatives captured the title of "Big Spender" for posting "F" grades (15 percent or less in the House and 16 percent or less in the Senate), according to the group. This number is unchanged from the record 267 Big Spenders recorded in 2008.

The top scorer from Pennsylvania is Rep. Joe Pitts, a Republican who represents parts of Berks, Chester and Lancaster counties. Pitts earned a B+ in the report card.

On the bottom of the scale, Rep. Chaka Fattah, a Democrat from Philadelphia, turned in the lowest House score, rounded to 1 percent. However, 21 other House Members had scores that were higher by fractions, but which still amounted to 1 percent when rounded, notes the NTU.

I spent time on the NTU Web site looking up Pennsylvania members of Congress to find out how many "taxpayers' friends" are on the 2009 list. Unfortunately for Pennsylvania taxpayers, far too many of the 21 lawmakers who represent the state earned "F" grades from the NTU, qualifying for the group's "Big Spender" category.

Here's a look at how Pennsylvania members of Congress did on the taxpayer report card:

SEN. BOB CASEY JR. — F

SEN. ARLEN SPECTER — D

REP. JASON ALTMIRE — D

REP. BOB BRADY — F

REP. CHRIS CARNEY — D

REP. KATHY DAHLKEMPER — F

REP. CHARLIE DENT — C+

REP. MIKE DOYLE — F

REP. CHAKA FATTAH — F

REP. JIM GERLACH — C+

REP. TIM HOLDEN — F

REP. PAUL KANJORKSI — F

REP. PAT MURPHY — F

REP. TIM MURPHY — C

REP. JOHN MURTHA — DECEASED

REP. JOE PITTS — B+

REP. TODD PLATTS — C+

REP. ALYSON SCHWARTZ — F

REP. JOE SESTAK — F

REP. BUD SHUSTER — B

REP. GLENN THOMPSON — B

In the Senate, Specter and Casey are both Democrats. In the House, all of the Democrats from Pennsylvania received "F" grades.

Something to keep in mind as you go to the polls this year. Every member of the House plus Sen. Specter is up for reelection.

Tony Phyrillas writes about politics for The Pottstown Mercury. E-mail him at tphyrillas@pottsmerc.com

Mary Young: Tea Party fighting against 'politics as usual'

Today the Reading Eagle has a column written by Mary Young that captures the essence of the Tea Party movement both Nationally and here in Pennsylvania.

While national media outlets and blogs like The Huffington Post attempt to portray the Tea Party movement as a "circus show" primarily made up of radical conservative, at the grassroots level Tea Party party groups continue to grow in numbers locally.

In her article Mary correctly identifies that the Tea Party movement is really about restoring our country to the limited government principles that it was founded upon and rebellion against "politics as usual".

Here a snip from Mary's article:

According to the Berks Patriots mission statement, the group is committed to restoring and promoting the conservative values and ideals of the country's founding documents.

They believe their creator, not the government, gave them certain inalienable rights including life, liberty, property, free speech, a free market and the pursuit of happiness.

They believe a limited government is necessary to ensure those rights. Click Here To Read More

This is what political pundits from both political parties cannot seem to rap their thick noggins around. They just can't understand that the American people still believe in and agree with our founding fathers who created a system of limited government to protect us from Tyranny.

Both elected politicians and party leaders can't seem to understand that documents like the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution are not mere historical documents. They are documents that still have real meaning in our lives and to the unidentified majority who gave up on politics the past 30 years they are still worth fighting for.

That is right folks. This movement isn't a conservative majority or a liberal majority. The movement is made up of the 55% of Americans who didn't vote in the past because they felt like their vote didn't matter or didn't feel they could impact the political process. The Tea Party movement is showing these disengaged voters that their voice and vote can impact the direction of our country.

Let me give some advice to the political aristocracy in this country a.k.a the republican and democratic parties. Phrases like "Viva liberty" and "Give me liberty or give me death" still mean the same in 2010 as they did back in 1776.

PA Teacher Pensions Out Of Control

Guest Column Submitted By Ed Inghrim

Recently New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie announced a freeze on spending and said pensions and benefits are the major driver of spending increases at all levels of government. He cited two examples of retired public employees. A 49-year-old retiree, who paid $124,000 toward retirement pension and health benefits, will get $3.3 million in pension payments and nearly $500,000 for health care benefits -- $3.8 million on a $120,000 investment. A retired teacher who paid $62,000 toward her pension and nothing for full family medical, dental and vision coverage, will collect $1.4 million in pension and $215,000 in health care benefit premiums over her lifetime.

I decided to check his math using the Saucon Valley School District teacher contract as a model. I assumed a teacher hired at age 24 at $40,000 would work 30 years and get an average pay increase of 4 percent a year (quite conservative) and contribute 7.5 percent of salary to the state retirement system. Retiring at 54, the teacher's total pension contribution would be $168,255. Assuming the teacher lived to 85 and got health benefits until Medicare eligible, he or she would collect about $3.4 million after retiring. Not a bad return. If the annual raise were 5 percent, the teacher would get a return of $4.2 million on an investment of $199,317.

Like New Jersey, Pennsylvania faces out-of-control spending and a seriously underfunded public pension system. Unfortunately, our elected representatives committed their taxing authority to correct any bad decisions they or the pension fund managers made to guarantee benefits. Perhaps Gov. Ed Rendell and our legislators should get a copy of Christie's budget speech and read it.

Ed Inghrim is the Director of Saucon Valley School Board in Lower Saucon Township

Now is the time, Sam is the man, and we are the people!

An 18-year veteran of the PA House of Representatives from Berks County, Honorable Sam Rohrer is above all else, a Christian whose pro-family agenda is capturing great attention, and loads of support among grassroots activists, and many many constitutional conservatives across the state.

A constitutional conservative himself, Sam has spent the last six years attempting to eliminate property taxes altogether, and has garnered the support and endorsement of Pennsylvania Tax Payer's Coalition. Sam's view is that we should not have to pay rent to the Government for property we've purchased in good faith. We are essentially buying our home three and four times over. Sam has fought tirelessly against this, and as Governor, he will make it right.

When it comes to education, Sam believes the ultimate responsibility for our children's education lies with the parent--not Government. One has only to take a look at how our students stack up against other nations, and other states, and it becomes clear Government has not done such a great job.

Sam will seek to bring about educational choice for parents. I had a teacher friend of mine, now a principal, scoff at Sam's educational policy. Despite that my friend is a democrat, he is extremely interested in Sam and the majority of his principles. We talked about Sam's proposal, and he realized that Sam is talking about choice for parents (providing a set of tools), but that what this creates is competition. Competition is good for everything and everyone who truly wants the best. It raises the bar on standards, and no teacher or administrator that takes his or her position to heart need worry in time of higher standards and competition. On the other hand, those that are merely putting in time until pension day kicks in may experience slight anxiety with Sam as Governor.

Sam is unequivocally pro-life, and is truly a man of honor and integrity--well-worth our support. He will bring about the fiscal responsibility our state, which is currently dreadfully insolvent, has lacked for so long. Sam knows we cannot afford more taxes. Sam will cut Government spending instead, by carefully inspecting every state program including welfare and ask simple questions like "what was your original mission and have you strayed from it?" "Do we need this program and this many employees?" "Are we wasting money on this program?" "Where are necessary employees wasting money?" Where our current Governor punts these issues away, Sam will face them head on.

Sam is first and foremost a sound, decent man, who really "gets it." He gets that government has grown large, and arrogant toward us. He knows that with the relationship so severely fractured and abused, politicians must move forward with great care as there is no room for even the slightest breach of trust. Sam will not spend his four years seeking re-election. That's not what he's about. He's passionate, and when elected, Sam will use every second of the time available to him focused on righting what is so wrong in our good state. He is integrity through and through.

Never before has the movement on the ground been so active. Sam has created quite a stir. The GOP, however, has sought to silence the Sam Rohrer movement, and forge ahead with their machine politics.

They would have us believe that Corbett's name recognition is the only chance we have of defeating the democrats in the general election. But the fact is when the underdog, a much lesser known defeats the Attorney General (a self-titled moderate republican) because of a silly little grassroots movement, he'll have plenty of name recognition, publicity and momentum to take with him to the election.

If Scott Brown were running against Corbett, after the attention he gained recently, my money says Scott Brown would have the name recognition and the momentum to defeat Corbett. It was the people of Mass. that elected Scott Brown. Not the machine.

Likewise, we the people believe we have the power to rise above the political machine when we assemble on the ground for what is right and good. Tom Corbett belongs to the machine that supports and endorses him. Sam Rohrer belongs to the people. He owes nothing to the machine. Now is the time, Sam is the man, and we are the people!

Warning

There is a secret government does not want you to know:

If you do not know your rights, you do not have them.

That is why they get away with laws that are unlawful, like the permit to carry concealed here in Pennsylvania. They get $25 from you, and in return you give up to carry as allowed by the Constitution of Pennsylvania -- without question. Article I, section 21: The right of the citizens to bear arms in defense of themselves and the state shall not be questioned.

Or like the members of the General Assembly taking compensation that defies the Constitution:
Article II, section 8: The members of the General Assembly shall receive such salary and mileage for regular and special sessions as shall be fixed by law, and no other compensation whatever, whether for service upon committee or otherwise. No member of either House shall during the term for which he may have been elected, receive any increase of salary, or mileage, under any law passed during such term.

Hmmm. So no health insurance, per diem, hotel rooms, meals, are legal? Afraid not.

While you scrimped for lunch money, you were paying for most of your elected employees in the General Assembly, both houses, to chow down at your expense. They feel free to take your property to pay for their rooms and lunch, even though they took an oath to preserve and defend the Constitution. By my calculation, about 99% of the General Assembly breaks that law every month, at your expense.

Get your federal and commonwealth Constitutions, read them, and defend them. You send young men to war to preserve and defend the Constitution, how can we dare not do the same here at home???

Endorsement

Why endorse? These are the answers I got from the State Committee and the County chairmen:
If we do not endorse, why bother having a state committee?
I worked hard, and deserve to choose the candidate.
These committee folks were elected by the local citizens.
The citizens of the Commonwealth are not smart enough to make the decision. We need to help them.

True, we did elect them. True, in the past, we were too trusting, allowing them to give us such foxes as Gov Spendell and Sen Specter.

I think we could have done better if we had randomly chosen from the phone book. The Republican/Democrat habit of endorsement has given us the mess we are in. If you like the way your elected employees are running the government, vote for another candidate endorsed by the Republocrat Machine.

If not, look at the Rohrer for Governor, and Luksik for Senator. Two God fearing leaders who have been fighting the Machine (in both the Democrat and Republican flavors) for the last two decades.

You own a business, called government. Your children need you to manage it. If you lack understanding, ask God to lead you, and visit the www.pfa-pa.org web site.

Rendell Leaves Behind A Fiscal Mess

Look up the word "chutzpah" in the dictionary and you’ll find a picture of Gov. Ed Rendell next to it. Chutzpah, which means "unmitigated gall, audacity or nerve," is the perfect description of Rendell, who has run up massive deficits during his two terms as governor and now is warning his fellow Pennsylvanians that we have to deal with the fiscal crisis.

In this case, "we" means you and I — the beleaguered taxpayers of Pennsylvania — not Rendell, who will leave the governor's mansion after eight years of fiscal mismanagement to collect a huge taxpayer pension as his reward for screwing up the state’s finances.

It was classic Ed Rendell Tuesday as the governor delivered his eighth — and thank God, his final — budget to the Pennsylvania Legislature. Having run out of things to tax, Rendell proposed expanding the state sales tax to cover more items. Rendell and his lockstep Democrats in the Legislature have repeatedly opposed expansion of the sales tax to cover services when it was attached to a plan to eliminate property taxes. That's what Republican state Rep. Sam Rohrer has been pushing for years.

But now that Rendell has run out of opportunities to raise other taxes, he needs the expanded sales tax to fund his proposed $29 billion spending plan — and pay for years of deficit spending.

Despite running up huge deficits in the past two budgets, Rendell wants to increase state spending by another $1.1 billion for the 2010-11 fiscal year, which begins July 1. The first rule of holes is when you're in one, stop digging. Rendell plans to dig so deep that the next governor will never get out from the fiscal abyss "Fast Eddie" has created.

Rendell wants to pay for the new spending by using $1.1 billion in federal stimulus funds, which may or may not be approved by Congress. (Just imagine what will happen to "stimulus" handouts when Republicans take back control of Congress in November.)

And Rendell is leaving with a final "up yours" to the taxpayers of Pennsylvania. Having presided over a massive expansion of state spending over the past eight years — $9 billion and counting — Rendell warned lawmakers that Pennsylvania is facing a "fiscal tsunami" — a potential $5.6 billion deficit from the 2011 expiration of federal stimulus money and the ticking time bomb of public pension obligations.

For eight years, Rendell has ignored the growing pension crisis, which will result in massive property tax increases for Pennsylvania residents in 2012. That wallop will come after the 2011 deregulation of electricity rates, which will raise most residential bills by at least 30 percent.

You can't spend what you don't have, but Rendell and most legislators flunked Economics 101. Rendell, with the Legislature in tow, has been spending money the state doesn't have for years. The chickens will come home to roost. Unfortunately for Pennsylvania taxpayers, Rendell will have flown the coop.

Rendell wants to reduce the state sales tax rate from 6 percent to 4 percent, but expand it to more than 70 services currently exempt (lawyer and accountant fees, dry cleaning, for example) and items such as firewood, candy, gum, bottled water, magazines and personal hygiene products. (Groceries, clothing and prescription drugs would remain exempt from the sales tax under Rendell's plan).

Rep. Rohrer has proposed a similar plan, but it would lead to the elimination of the state's onerous school property taxes. Most taxpayers, especially senior citizens on fixed incomes, would come out ahead under Rohrer's plan. Rendell simply wants more money from taxpayers to cover his deficit spending.

The state finished with a $3.25 billion deficit for the 2008-09 fiscal year, which led to a 101-day budget impasse over Rendell's 2009-10 spending plan. And what did Rendell and the most expensive legislature in the country come up with for the current fiscal year? A budget that was in the red from Day 1. The state is looking at a minimum $500 million deficit for the 2009-10 fiscal year.

In addition to expanding the sales tax, Rendell wants to extend the tobacco tax to include cigars and smokeless tobacco products and enact a new severance tax on natural gas extraction. Both proposals were rejected by the Legislature last year.

Will any of these taxes pass? Rendell is prohibited by the state constitution from seeking a third term as governor. He's a lame duck. He can propose all the tax hikes he wants, but the Legislature will have the final say. All 203 members of the state House and half of the 50 members in the state Senate face the voters in 2010. How many of them are going to vote for one of the largest tax increases in Pennsylvania history?

Pennsylvania voters are already in a foul mood. A recent Franklin & Marshall College poll found only 16 percent of registered voters say the Legislature is doing a good job. How much lower will that number go if the Legislature goes along with Rendell's tax hikes? How many lawmakers will sacrifice their careers for Ed Rendell?

Tony Phyrillas writes about politics for The Mercury in Pottstown, Pa. Check out his daily blog here. You can also e-mail him at tphyrillas@gmail.com