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.

Tom Corbett, A Contradiction In Terms

GOP gubernatorial front-runner Tom Corbett seems to be getting a little too comfortable as things begin to heat up on the campaign trail this election year. Corbett's gubernatorial campaign has brilliantly masked Corbett's Harrisburg insider status by depicting him as a good government crusader/reformer. Despite the fact that Corbett has been a major political force in Pennsylvania politics since the start of the Ridge administration.

In 1994 Corbet was asked to provide criminal law and policy expertise to the gubernatorial campaign of then-Congressman Tom Ridge. Once Ridge was elected Governor of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett was asked to fill several key roles in service to the Commonwealth which eventually led to his appointment as Attorney General.

Despite his campaign finance connections to state GOP power players like Governor Ridge, former President Pro Temp Bob Jubelirer and former House Speaker John Perzel, Corbett himself has managed to distance himself from all the political corruption scandals that have plagued many state lawmakers by indicting 12 democratic members of the state legislature and two of their aids who received illegally $4 million in bonuses for campaign work. Despite the pending indictments Corbett still accepted campaign contributions from the very same people he he was indicting. Former Speaker of the House John Perzel even held a campaign fundraiser that Corbett attended weeks before Perzel was indicted.

Perhaps the most laughable pillar of Corbett's my hands are squeaky clean gubernatorial campaign is how he has manage to distance himself from the illegal 2005 pay raise scandal. Corbett has even gotten away with criticizing his primary opponent state Representative Sam Rohrer for voting for both the 2005 pay raise and the 2001 pension legislation. At a recent gubernatorial forum in Philadelphia he blasted his republican primary opponent Sam Rohrer for his support for the pension increase.

From the Philadelphia Daily News: "The only political shot of the night came from Corbett, when asked about the state's burgeoning public-pension crisis. He noted that some of the participants in the forum had voted to raise state pension benefits - a veiled reference to Rohrer."

His criticism of Rohrer's legislative voting record on the pension issue and the pay raise issue is laughable because Corbett himself benefited from both of Rohrer's votes. Corbett gladly accepted the pay raise that Governor Rendell negotiated for executive offices in 2005 knowing full well the pay raise was illegal and that it violated the state's constitution.

At the time the pay raise was passed I didn't hear of any outrage radiating from the Attorney General's office. I don't remember Tom Corbet, the state's chief law enforcement officer, holding press conferences saying hey wait a minute we need to investigate the legality of these unvouchered expenses. We never seen any grand jury indictments from the Attorney General's Office resulting from the overwhelming evidence of collusion between the judicial, legislative, and executive branches of government.

Corbett is a candidate that seems to love having his cake and eating it too. At a recent state budget hearing Corbett warned state lawmakers of potential layoffs if the Attorney General's office budget wasn't increased despite his gubernatorial campaign calling for dramatic cuts in state spending.

But these contradictions are only the tip of the iceberg for Tricky Tom Corbett. I just cannot allow myself to support a candidate where the more you learn about him the more confused you become.

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?

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.

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???

Rats in the PA Capitol Cafeteria causing a media frenzy in Harrisburg

KWY Newsradio 1060 is reporting that the Capitol Cafeteria in Harrisburg operated by Philadelphia-based Aramark and overseen by the Rendell administration has failed another cleanliness inspection. The Capitol Cafeteria had to be shut down in December when an inspector found numerous violations and even rodent droppings all over the place. Click Here To Read More

All Of This Has The Patron's Of The Capitol Cafeteria Mainly The Harrisburg Media In An UpRoar!!! The following is an interview with Rep. Bill DeWeese:

Media: Representative DeWeese!!!! Representative DeWeese!!!!! Can you give us a statement on the rats that were found in the Capitol Cafeteria area?

Rep. DeWeese: "Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents of the superfamily Muroidea. "True rats" are members of the genus Rattus, the most important of which to humans are the black rat, Rattus rattus, and the brown rat, Rattus norvegicus."

Media: But what about the rats? What is the Democratic leadership in the House planning to do about all these rats running around the Capitol especially in the cafeteria.

Rep. DeWeese: Well guys I've heard of rats in the Capital before, but I don't know of any rats that particularly like to hang out in the Capitol Cafeteria.

Media: Is there an ongoing investigation of the rats in the Capital building and can you share any details?

Rep. DeWeese: Lets see. MMM! I always thought that former Speaker of the House John Perzel was a rat, but i do not know of any initiative that is moving forward emphasizing the extermination of the rats in the Capitol.

Media: What about the rumors going around that the leadership in each caucus planted the rats in the Capitol to deflect public attention away from the bonusgate trial?

Rep. DeWeese: "Any speculation that I knew about this unsanitary act is absolutely false and there is no evidence to support this opinion"

Let me tell you folks. It is Ratgate not bonusgate that is the real reason nothing is getting done done in Harrisburg. The rat infestation has severely impacted the legislative process. Everywhere you go lawmakers think they are seeing rats.

THEY ARE EVERYWHERE!!

PETA IS ACTUALLY LOBBYING FOR THE ETHICAL TREATMENT OF THE RATS!

Now everyone knows that the company overseeing the Capitol Cafeteria has connections to Governor Rendell. The company is from Philadelphia so it is not a far stretch to assume that the rats have somehow migrated from that area of the state!!!

But I have to Give Rendell credit. He has been calm throughout the crisis. I love that Rendell finds the humor in it all.

Here is Rendell's answer to a reporters question about ratgate:

(Romeo:) “Any witticisms about rats and mice in the capitol?”

(Rendell:) “(laughs) Just put it this way: assuming there were rats and mice there, they’re not the first rats and mice to be in the capitol.”

YOU ALSO HAVE TO LIKE HOW GOVERNOR RENDELL
DOESN'T MIND EATING WITH RATS

Just think of all the gambling lobby lunches and dinners Rendell must have participated in. I'm sure he is used to all the rat droppings by now!

Ah What's A Computer? State Senator Jane Orie Accused Of Using Her State Senate Office Resources To Campaign For Her Sister

The Tribune-Review is reporting that State Senator Jane Orie, the third ranking republican in the state senate, is under investigation for alleged misuse of state resources for campaign purposes. According to the article an intern complained to Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. that Orie's office was being used to campaign for her sister, Joan Orie Melvin, who won election in November to the state Supreme Court.

Orie, a former county prosecutor, comes from a prominent North Hills family. Her sister, Joan Orie Melvin, won election in November to the state Supreme Court, returning control of the seven-member court to the Republicans.

McDevitt contends Zappala is pursuing the case because of Melvin's victory over Democrat Jack Panella. The investigation began right after the election, he said.

McDevitt suggested the investigation might be focused on whether there was political activity in Orie's office for her sister.

An intern for Orie complained to the District Attorney's office about alleged campaigning in the office for Melvin.

Orie's lawyer, McDevitt, is naturally spinning the charges as being political motivated, but this is laughable considering Orie's own intern reported the abuses.

I find all this very ironic considering Orie is one of the most outspoken supporters in Harrisburg for reform. Kind of sums up the leadership in Harrisburg these days. Hubris run a muck

Also: Grand jury investigating state Sen. Jane Orie (Post-Gazette)