LCFS Program Would Mandate the Replacement of Traditional Fuels

As the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) looses momentum, a new policy threatens to take its place.  Low carbon fuel standards, or LCFS, are being introduced across the Northeastern States. While Pennsylvania was not a member of RGGI, it will be included under a regional LCFS if passed.  An LCFS program will mandate the replacement of traditional fuels such as gasoline and diesel with alternative “low carbon” fuels such as ethanol. While a federal renewable fuel standard is already in place to promote low-carbon fuels, these fuels are unavailable in the affordable quantities required by the public.  

According to a 2010 study by the Charles River Associates, a national LCFS would cause U.S. gasoline and diesel prices to increase by nearly 80% within five years and 170% within ten years.  Forcing providers to ration their traditional fuels to supply these scarce fuel alternatives will drastically increase the cost of gasoline, diesel, and home heating oil for the consumer. 

Despite efforts, an LCFS does not accomplish its goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs).  In fact, the implementation of LCFS will generate increased emissions as a result of “crude shifting,” a product of forcing increased transportation of crudes to and from far away markets.  Further limitations will be placed on secure crude imports from Canada into the United States, forcing Canada to ship its exports greater distances to the Asian market. In the U.S., regional “fuel islands” will emerge, distorting the crude market and further increasing costs.  

Pennsylvania is home to the world’s first commercial oil well and leads the northeast in petroleum refining. As a leader and pioneer in America’s energy sector, Pennsylvania should act now to secure its prominent position in American energy production.  Pennsylvania voters should be educated on the consequences of implementing an LCFS to ensure that the proposed policy does not become law.  A regional LCFS will increase the cost of fuel and hurt jobs at a time when Americans can least afford it. 

To learn more about how a low carbon fuel standard would hurt Pennsylvania consumers you can visit www.secureourfuels.org.  Follow us on twitter or like us on Facebook to stay up to day on how to help defeat an LCFS in Pennsylvania.

Stop The DRPA “Takers”, And You Stop The Toll Hike

Throughout history, there have always been makers and takers.

Makers create things: jobs, products and wealth.  Takers produce nothing. Instead, they leech off the makers. 

And the biggest taker of all is government.

Oppressive, “taking” governments hold center stage in most foreign countries, where taxpayer rights and the rule of law are cocktail party jokes. But increasingly, the takers are also making their mark in America, squeezing the economic lifeblood out of business and zapping citizens’ creativity and hope.

Usually, the take comes in increments, with public officials saying it’s our duty to accept such small sacrifices. But once the takers set their hooks, they never let go. Consider:

-The tax we pay on every bottle of Pennsylvania liquor to rebuild Johnstown from the flood is “just” 18 cents per dollar.  Granted, reconstructing the mega-metropolis of Johnstown must have been a Herculean task, but the flood was…. in 1936.

-The recent city sales tax hike for Philadelphia is “only” a penny, and the city’s 10 percent property tax increase is “temporary.”  The truth: residents are leaving the city to make purchases because of the “small,” 100 percent hike; and no tax is ever temporary.

-And of course, we have the Delaware River Port Authority (DRPA) who, after mismanaging our toll dollars (READ: spending half-a-BILLION dollars on economic development projects having nothing to do with the bridges), now finds it fitting to raise tolls --- again --- on its four bridges and the PATCO train line. But hey, it’s just a dollar!  Take one for the team, we’re told.

So what’s a toll-payer to do?  Answer: Relax, you’ve already done it.  You elected Republican Attorney General Tom Corbett as Pennsylvania’s new Governor, and he gets to wipe the Rendell-slate clean and appoint a new DRPA Chairman and Board of Commissioners for Pennsylvania.

And make no mistake, with the no-nonsense law-and-order bookends of Corbett and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie now running the Authority, it’s a whole new ballgame, and the toll hike can, and should, be stopped before it goes into effect on July 1.

All it takes is political will.

*****

It is not enough to play the blame-game with Port Authority executives and former Governors Rendell and Corzine, all of whom presided over the unmitigated disaster that now defines the DRPA.

While it is important to remember how the Authority got us into this mess, and to hold accountable those who disregarded the toll-paying public (and possibly the law), only immediate, concrete solutions can halt the back-breaking hikes, and prevent future increases that the public simply can’t afford, and shouldn’t have to pay. 

To put into perspective how truly bad things have become, just look at the driving force behind the toll increase: Wall Street bondholders.  That’s right.  Those financiers are so concerned about their investment that they have been relentlessly pushing the Board to put the screws to commuters and jack up the rates.

The mind-blowing lesson from this past week’s Board meeting is that the DRPA isn't being run for the public anymore (not that it ever was). Instead, its reckless spending now has them dancing to Wall Street's tune.  The interest of bondholders trump the public because of the debt carried for economic development projects that A) don't help the economy, and B) develop only animosity for the DRPA.  With absolutely no revenue return to the DRPA, the projects were, and still are, a black hole of political patronage, funded by the public for the sole benefit of the DRPA insiders.

However, there is a silver lining to this mess.  For the first time, the public and honorable politicians are starting to look at how the DRPA can be dismantled.  Leasing it to a private entity, selling PATCO, and dissolving the governing compact are all options --- once unthinkable --- now on the table. 

Here are several actions that would allow to the DRPA to regain a solid financial footing while not raising the toll, and, most important, start down the long road of earning back the public’s trust:

1)      Gov. Christie should veto the Board’s actions, which approved $200 million in more spending for PATCO.  Whether that money must be spent is irrelevant; common sense dictates that the DRPA should wait 30 more days until Corbett and his appointees come to power and have their say.  This is exactly what the Board did last December when it rushed to pass patronage projects ahead of Christie’s inauguration (and his veto power).

2)      Gut the DRPA, starting at the top.  Fire all high-level executives, who would have been canned long ago had they worked in the private sector.  Their lack of even basic performance reminds us of the speech delivered to shareholders by Gordon Gekko in Wall Street, “…Teldar Paper has 33 different vice presidents, each earning over 200 thousand dollars a year. Now, I have spent the last two months analyzing what all these guys do, and I still can't figure it out…. in my book you either do it right or you get eliminated.”  The DRPA’s top brass are the toll-payers’ Teldar executives.

3)      Slash employees, salaries and benefits. Why the need for 900 employees --- with lavish salaries and benefits --- to operate four bridges and a short rail line is still a mystery.  And to add insult to injury, many executives make more than the governors of both states.  For example, CEO John Matheussen betters them by $50,000 per year, and, up until recently, had a $17,000/year car allowance.  It is unfortunate when people get laid off, but many positions should never have been created in the first place.  The DRPA is a revolving jobs program for the politically connected, subsidized by hapless commuters, and that must end.

4)      Freeze all economic development money, period.  That goes for dollars still in the pot and monies allocated but unspent.  Rendell’s lack of legal knowledge in this area notwithstanding, the DRPA is not contractually obligated to spend the money already awarded for these projects.  And to those recipients who yell that they want “their” money, the toll-payers have news for them: it’s not “their” money, and they possess no God-given right to pig-out at the public trough.

5)      Perform a bend-over, proctologist-like forensic audit, top to bottom (no pun intended) of absolutely everything.  Here’s the key: it cannot be performed by the Pennsylvania Auditor General since he sits on the Board, and, no disrespect to Gov. Christie, but the New Jersey Comptroller is a political appointee.  The only way this type of audit bears any fruit is to have an outside firm --- way, way outside, with no political ties whatsoever --- come in and turn over every stone. Heck, maybe they’ll even find more interesting tidbits to pass along to the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office, currently investigating the Authority.

6)      Have only one cash lane per bridge, eliminating three shifts of toll-takers making $24/hour plus benefits.  Ideal?  No, but that’s the price for getting back to a bare bones operation without paying more tolls.

7)      Explore public-private partnership and leasing options. DRPA executives were never motivated to run the Authority like a business; in fact, the opposite was true.  The more money they spread around, from no-bid legal work (often where NJ and PA law firms would each generate billing for the same project) and insurance contracts, to engineering and economic development expenditures, the “return” was not Port Authority efficiencies, but personal gain and political profit.

If all management and operational aspects were turned over to a private, for-profit company skilled in streamlining techniques and maximizing efficiencies, the cost savings could be astronomical.  Such programs have been tried successfully with other toll roads, and a management company (with government oversight) could provide immediate and long-lasting savings.

It is time, once and for all, to see the DRPA return to its original mandate: collect toll dollars to operate and maintain safe bridges… bridgesthat have been paid for numerous times over.  Gov. Corbett has an historic opportunity to do just that by appointing reform-minded, accountable Commissioners --- former cop and current State Representative Mike Vereb, who continues to bulldog the DRPA into more reforms, comes to mind --- and immediately move to stop the toll hike. 

By instituting common sense cost-cutting measures and working closely with Gov. Christie to root out corruption and explore privatization options, Corbett may yet drive the DRPA back from the bridge to nowhere.

Who says you can’t fight City Hall?

Chris Freind is an independent columnist, television commentator, and investigative reporter who operates his own news bureau, www.FreindlyFireZone.com
Readers of his column, “Freindly Fire,” hail from six continents, thirty countries and all fifty states. His work has been referenced in numerous publications including The Wall Street Journal, National Review Online, foreign newspapers, and in Dick Morris' recent bestseller "Catastrophe."
Freind, whose column appears nationally in Newsmax, also serves as a guest commentator on Philadelphia-area talk radio shows, and makes numerous other television and radio appearances, most notably on FOX.  He can be reached at CF@FreindlyFireZone.com

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!!!!!

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.

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

What Went Wrong With The 'Change We Can Believe In' Revolution

The sudden drop in popularity of President Obama and democrats in general has to baffle mainstream political pundits. I've lived through a few conservative revolutions in my lifetime. Both the Reagan Revolution and the Newt Gingrich led Republican Revolution of 1994 were both conservative movements that had real political legs changing the Country's political landscape for 8 to 12 years. However, the "Change We Can Believe In" revolution lasted barely two years.

The architects of this Obama led revolution David Plouffe, Rahm Emanuel and David Axelrod managed to tap into the mood of an American electorate who at the time was desperately seeking CHANGE from Bush Administration's policies. Obama candidacy rode this momentum through the Democratic Presidential Primary defeating Washington insider Hillary Clinton. The momentum continued to carry Obama into the fall where he won a very convincing victory over GOP nominee Senator John McCain.

The revolution peeked with the election of President Obama in November of 2008 and now has been on a downward slide ever since. I must admit that the Democratic Party's victory was so sweeping that I thought it would be decades before another republican majority controlled Congress.

This year the political landscape of the country has already changed and democratic incumbents up for re-election in Congress are feeling the heat from the many political missteps by Congressional leaders and the Obama Administration.

Here is a list of missteps that have tipped the scale favoring republicans this election year:

1. Over estimating their political mandate that depended heavily on the idea of CHANGE. The country, especially independents, didn't vote for a move to more left of center policies. They just wanted change for change sake. This miscalculation led to the Obama Administration pushing an agenda geared towards satisfying the liberal left wing of the Democratic Party. This fatal mistake is why independents left the movement and has given rise to the Tea Party movement.

2. Passing a stimulus bill packed full of pork rather than real economic policy. The Obama Administration called the bill "shovel ready", but the bill was less stimulating to the American people who are still suffering from near 10% unemployment.

3. Focusing on passing health care reform instead of economic recovery. The now year long debacle has revealed to the American people Washington's true colors. The political partisanship and backroom, deal making continues to demonstrate that nothing really has changed in Washington at all. Obama and Congressional Democrats still haven't caught on to the fact that the more this health care debacle drags on the lower their poll numbers go!

4. The liberal media's portrayal of President Obama as a larger than life, Hollywood mogul has not helped the President's real poll numbers. The Obama is here, Obama everywhere strategy of the White House staff hasn't made Obama look very presidential. It is almost like Obama is still campaigning.

5. The beer summit staring President Obama, Professor Gates of Harvard, and police officer Crowley whom arrested Gates for trying to brake into his house. Obama said that the police officer acted "stupidly" in a press conference. In hindsight now I have to say the entire event was stupid.

6. President Obama losing the Chicago Olympic bid. This was an embarrassment and a first in a string of losses.

7. President Obama winning the Nobel Peace Prize. Accepting the honor before accomplishing anything really set well with the American people.

8. Accepting Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter into the Democratic ranks with open arms. This was a very big mistake. Obama and the Democratic leadership aligned themselves with and campaigned for Specter putting them in direct conflict with the CHANGE mantra that Obama so elegantly spouted during his campaign.

9. The two deals worked out by Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid, with Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson and Louisiana Sen. Landrieu in order to pass the Senate's Health Care Bill. This has left many Americans wondering if they can trust the current Congressional leadership.

10. Underestimating the political influence of the Tea Party movement. The Massachusetts special election proved that the continued disdain for the Tea Party movement by leaders in the Democratic Party is not paying off at the ballot box. They are the ones looking like fools for attacking a movement that is advocating for limited government. An idea that has been popular in America for over 200 years.

11. Underestimating just how much of a political issue sound fiscal policy and the growing federal deficit would be this election year.

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

President Obama Signs Law Increasing The Federal Debt Limit To 14.3 Trillion Dollars

In case you missed it, today is a historical day in the history of this great nation. Yes that is right folks. You are probably thinking to yourself that today has just been like any other day. But the historical significance of this day won't be published on the front page of every newspaper in America. Nor will you won't find it as the lead story on your local television news broadcast.

Why is today so significant?

Today is the day that President Obama signed legislation increasing the nation's debt limit by $1.9 trillion dollars. According to various sources there was no planned ceremony for the signing. In fact President Obama signed the legislation behind closed doors and with no cameras present. That's all. Just another day in Washington D.C.

Congressional Democrats rammed the legislation through Congress last week. Now signed by the President, the bill raises the total amount the federal government can borrow from $12.394 trillion to $14.3 trillion. The justification for raising the debt limit given by Democratic Party leaders in both the House and Senate was so the government could function the rest of the year.

What ever happened to cutting spending? Instead they chose to borrow more money. These are the choices that our elected leaders in Washington are making for us. Incredible!!!

O.K! Today's historical event is not Washington crossing the Delaware River. But to many Americans concerned about the fiscal health of our country, today is just as critical to our future. Today is the day that should ingrained into the minds of everyone concerned about out of control spending in by our federal government.

Seriously folks how long can we afford to put up with this madness?

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