Two Roads Diverged in Penn's Woods

Will PA-12 be NY-23 or Massachusetts?

By Lowman S. Henry

Will the special election to fill the seat left vacant by the death of Congressman John P. Murtha be a re-run of New York 23, or a Republican coup like the election of U.S. Senator Scott Brown in Massachusetts?

The direction of the race now lies in the hands of the nine county Republican committees who will select conferees to a convention that will choose the GOP nominee in the special election likely to be held in conjunction with the upcoming May Primary.

New York 23, you may recall, was won by the Democrat Bill Owens after a Republican civil war erupted when the party establishment selected a nominee who held views to the left of President Obama. This spawned the third party candidacy of Doug Hoffman who quickly became a cause célèbre for the conservative wing of the Republican Party. Ultimately GOP nominee Dede Scozzafava withdrew from the race; then plunged the knife in Hoffman by endorsing Owens.

In Massachusetts the scenario unfolded very differently. The establishment GOP early on wrote off Scott Brown. But, the Bay state's TEA party movement ignited a grassroots brushfire for Brown which lifted his candidacy putting it back on the national Republican radar screen. The GOP establishment engaged in the race; forged a common bond with the TEA partiers and Brown scored an upset victory that literally changed the political landscape in Washington, D.C.

The PA-12 special election could go either way.

Bill Russell was the party's 2008 nominee against Murtha and he gave the incumbent a run for his money. Murtha and the Democrats went into panic mode the last weeks of the campaign and then rode the national Democratic wave to victory.

Russell has never stopped running. He has been engaged fore square in the TEA party movement that burns bright throughout southwestern Pennsylvania. It is likely Russell will be the choice of a majority of the grassroots, TEA party types and certainly has emerged as a favorite of the GOP's conservative wing.

But the TEA party activists will have no voice in the party selection process. Under the rules of the Republican State Committee each of the nine counties which have territory in the 12th Congressional District will select conferees who will meet in convention to select the nominee. Typically conferees are tried and true party activists. Thus, the establishment GOP will pick the candidate.

What makes the picture both more complicated and more hopeful is the fact that southwestern Pennsylvania Republican party leaders tend to be more conservative than those in some other parts of the state. They also tend to be fiercely independent. Thus, the establishment party in Murtha's district is more in tune with the grassroots back-to-our-principles movement sweeping the region, the state and the nation.

Left to their own devices, Republican leaders in PA-12 likely will arrive at a party-uniting consensus. But, this is a special election and that means outside interests - including the National Republican Congressional Committee and the Republican National Committee will try and bring about the selection of a cookie cutter candidate who fits Washington's poll and focus group driven view of the world.

Also complicating matters is that Republican State Committee Chairman Robert A. Gleason, Jr. hails from Cambria County, which will send one of the biggest delegations of conferees to the convention. Under Gleason, the Republican State Committee has recruited candidates in congressional districts around the state to oppose grassroots conservatives, and even tried to gin up competition to Pat Toomey in the U.S. Senate race.

Gleason has also had an unholy alliance with Murtha over the years. Thus, he will want a candidate beholden to him. But he is also pragmatic, and with the eyes of the nation on PA-12 Gleason will want, above all, to win. This means the considerable influence of the Gleason organization will, for the first time in decades, be deployed on behalf of the Republican candidate. And that dramatically improves chances for a Republican victory.

The upcoming special election in PA-12 will be a gut check for the Republican Party in Pennsylvania. All the crosscurrents and rip tides that currently roil both the state and national Republican parties will be at play in this selection process.

In the end we are going to get either NY-23 or a Pennsylvania version of Scott Brown. It will be interesting to see what happens.

(Lowman S. Henry is Chairman & CEO of the Lincoln Institute and host of the weekly Lincoln Radio Journal. His e-mail address is lhenry@lincolninstitute.org.)

PA GOP Facebook Deletions Continued.....New Strategy To Squash Dissent Is To Insult People

From Vonne Andring, GM of TJ Development Co, & Supporter of Sam Rohrer...

I was at the Mobilize for Liberty event when it was announced that comments referencing the GOP's Corbett endorsement, were deleted on the GOP's Facebook page.

I was incensed! While probably not politically brilliant, I did send message to Glitch and Gleason, received several responses and responded in kind. All thus far, is copied in the thread below:

On Mon, Feb 15, 2010 at 2:21 PM, TJDCo wrote:

"the PA GOP cannot support comments that slanderize our process or our candidates"

Mr. Glick when you make reference to "your process," and "your candidates," you show just how far from reality the GOP has strayed. This is not YOUR process, and neither are these YOUR candidates. Both are OURS, and despite the gross liberty the GOP has unilaterally awarded itself, you have no exclusivity toward either.

Vonne Andring, GM
TJ Development Co.
Phone: (412) 527-2759
Fax: (412) 246-7235
Email: tjdvlp@mac.com

On Feb 15, 2010, at 2:41 PM, Michael Glick wrote:

Sir, I work for the Republican Party of Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania has voted to endorse candidates for US Senate, Governor and Lt. Governor. I will do my job to the best of my ability. While I have many responsibilities as an employee of the PA GOP, the primary mission of this organization is to elect the candidates the State Committee chooses to endorse. I will advise you that the State Committee who has voted to endorse these candidates are also elected officials. They were elected by you. They are your representatives for the Republican Party.

So, I will do my job as well as I possibly can. As I am sure you do the best job you can as the GM for TJ Developement Co. Since you so adamantly believe that State Committee has made the wrong decisions. I encourage you, as a passionate individual, to become involved, run for State Committee if you feel so inclined. I truly hope that your anger over something like a party endorsement (of candidates who I truly believe are unbelievably qualified) does not blind you to the injustices that are being perpetrated in Washington by the extreme liberal agenda of President Obama and Nancy Pelosi.

I hope that we can find common ground instead of just pointing fingers at each other. I believe that we believe in the same core principals. We may simply have different beliefs on the best way to get there. I truly hope those differences can be reconciled.

I stand behind Toomey and Corbett 100%. I believe they are absolutely the best candidates to win in November. The Members of State Committee, your elected representatives, have chosen to stand behind them as well. Thus, I will do my job to the absolute best of my ability to ensure that they are elected. It is not only my job. It is my passionate belief.

Thank you.

J. Michael Glick

On Mon, Feb 15, 2010 at 3:55 PM, TJDCo wrote:

Mr. Glick,

I am not a sir, but a woman. I appreciate your response just the same. I do believe the State Committee has made the wrong decision. It has, with its clout, and despite repeated requests from vocal constituents, (a group larger than the committee itself), denied republican voters the right to fair representation, and the process of vetting.

We elected you to represent we the people, not yourselves. You ignored us instead and have effectively committed all that we've given you to further your agenda, and a process so many oppose.

Where there is open, pre-endorsed debate, the people can make sense of your eventual endorsement whether they agree or disagree. Where there is only your endorsement, you are shutting the people out altogether.

And as we voice the opinion we elected you to consider and represent, you erase it. You are shutting out the very people that elected you--erasing us as though we don't exist. It's false representation, an abuse of position, and a misappropriation of resources. Not only do you refuse to represent us, you stand in the way of letting us represent ourselves on a platform that belongs to us. Shame on you all.

As you ignore, and delete the will of the people, you grow and strengthen the resolve of the effort unfolding on the ground.

I don't know if a run for State Committee is the best route, but I will surely move forward with my focus trained on the goal, and will seek the best way to accomplish it. You can be sure of that.

Regards,

Vonne Andring, GM
TJ Development Co.
Phone: (412) 527-2759
Fax: (412) 246-7235
Email: tjdvlp@mac.com

On Feb 15, 2010, at 4:12 PM, Michael Glick wrote:

Apologies Mam.

As I said, you are not speaking to an elected official. You are speaking to an employee, who is hired by your elected officials. I am paid to do a job. And I will do this job to the best of my ability. I work for people like yourself, indirectly, as I work directly for the Republican representatives whom you and your Republican friends have elected.

I wish that you would not simply discount the decision of the committee as irrelevent, simply because you do not support it. If you do not like the way the people you elected have voted, I advise you to vote in a different direction this May. That is your right as a Republican. It is also your right as a Republican to vote for an alternative candidate in the primary. It is also your right as a citizen to volunteer as you see fit to defend the candidates you support.

As I said, I think anger and finger pointing within the Republican Party will only lead to a division of resources that could otherwise be used to defeat the real threat, President Obama's euro-socialist agenda. I do not have a doubt in my mind that the candidates who were endorsed by the party are absolutely the best route we can take to help defeat this threat. I know what I am doing and the principals I am fighting for is the right thing to do.

As an employee and a true believer, I will do all that I can to defeat this threat. I hope that you will do the same without resorting to smearing your fellow Republicans, like myself, or your competing Republican candidates, like Corbett or Toomey. I believe that is wrong and self defeating. For after the May primaries there will be one candidate for Governor and one candidate for Senate. Whoever is elected, at that time, I hope that we can put aside our differences and truly fight for what is right.

On Feb 15, 2010, at 4:32 PM, TJ Development wrote:

Mr. Glick,

I discount the decision of the committee, not because I don't support it, which I don't, but instead on the grounds that it excluded the people. You are assigning anger to me but what I feel is not anger. I feel resolve. I know my rights, and I, along with many, will assert them.

No one has smeared or slandered the GOP. We have questioned the practice and the process of excluding voters. Rather than address the remarks, you deleted them. If handled appropriately, such a challenge would give the GOP the opportunity to strengthen it's position. Instead, it has chosen to further alienate us. You erase our remarks because they offer a view that is different than your own, and you talk of self-defeating behaviors?

It is not our actions, our anger, nor any finger pointing that will divide the party, but instead it is the the GOP that will divide and damage the party by shutting out those who people the party.

Vonne Andring, GM
TJ Development Co.
Phone: (412) 527-2759
Fax: (412) 246-7235
Email: tjdvlp@mac.com

On Feb 15, 2010, at 4:40 PM, Michael Glick wrote:

I am glad that you have the passion and resolve to exercize your rights in the greatest Democracy in the world.

In regards to you attacking me for deleting facebook posts, I discount your argument that I am alienating Republicans by deleting posts. I am doing my job, as I have tried to explain to you. My job is to support the Committee in the decisions that they make.

They have chosen to endorse specific candidtes. So, when you ask me to allow people to make posts intended to degrade the respect that many PA voters feel for these candidates, you ask me to ignore my responsibilities. I will not do that. I will do my job.

I will do everything in my power to encourage the voters of PA to support the candidates that the Committee has endorsed. I will do so because it is my job and my belief. And while I am doing so, I will not go onto your facebook page or your companies facebook page and post derogatory things about yourself or your company. If I did so, I'd expect you would delete them as well, as a rational human being would do.

So, do not attack me for doing my job. I have no respect for that kind of attack. I will do my job and I will do it well. As a business person, I would think you could understand that.

On Mon, Feb 15, 2010 at 5:02 PM, TJDCo wrote:

Mr. Glick,

You confuse debate with attack. You confuse question and opinion with anger and slander. Were you not so confused you might see that you represent all the people of the party, not just those that agree with you. Has the committee instructed that you blackball differing opinions? Is this in your job description?

It is not ok, under any circumstances, and certainly not in this country, for an employee to delete the will of those who fund his salary. You are all running amuck.

Kindly,

Vonne Andring, GM
TJ Development Co.
Phone: (412) 527-2759
Fax: (412) 246-7235
Email: tjdvlp@mac.com

On Feb 15, 2010, at 5:22 PM, Michael Glick wrote:

I am done discussing this with you. You have not addressed one of the points that I have brought up. You are not debating anything. You are simply pointing fingers and blaming everyone else for what is wrong.

As I said, in a very positive manner, I am happy you are now fighting for what you believe is right. I hope that you will continue to do so all the way through November and beyond. I will not say anything negative about yourself or your likeminded friends.

Should you have taken an interest in this debate before it became a popular topic, you would have noticed that prior to endorsement. All opinions were welcome. There was no deletion of any post that discussed open primaries or the various candidates. However, note that if a comment was posted that said, ANYTHING, negative about a candidate, it was deleted. Now that the committee has made a decision. The only posts that many people want to post are negative. They attack the candidates and the Party. So, keeping with the policy of deleting negative posts, I will delete all posts that are negative. Does that make sense to you, Vonne?

I will continue to do my job, promoting the candidates whom the Committee has endorsed. I hope that you will be able to put aside your bitterness towards the party as we approach the November elections. We look forward to working with you and ensuring victory in 2010.

Thank you and I hope you enjoy your Monday evening.

Editor's Note: First off let me thank Vonne Andring for post this thread on PennPatriot Blog. Since my original post many republicans have voiced their concerns and shared their outrage at the committee's position on this matter.

This post has to be the most hilarious thing I have ever read on a political blog. Mr. Glick is the gift that keeps on giving. Where does Mr. Gleason find these party hacks at the PA GOP anyway? No doubt Mr. Glick is a legacy of some finagled political connection some how.

PA GOP Starts Utilizing The Party Machine To Support Endorse Candidates.

Here we go folks. This is a firsthand look at party politics Soviet Politburo style. Oops! I mean Republican Party Of Pennsylvania style. I have already covered extensively in previous posts the deletion of comments either critical of the endorsement of candidates by state committee member or critical of the endorsed candidates themselves by PA GOP Facebook page administrator Mr. Glick.

Now my good friend David Baldinger, a taxpayer advocate and a spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Coalition of Taxpayer Associations, has informed me that the PA GOP website under their candidates link is only highlighting candidates that were endorsed by state committee members this weekend. Information on the other GOP candidates running in the statewide races in this years Primary Election have been removed. Click Here to see the information provided by the PA GOP Website.

So now the PA GOP website is implying that we only have the "endorsed" candidates running for statewide offices. Where is information about State Representative Sam Rohrer campaign for Governor or pro life activist Peg Luksik's campaign for U.S. Senate? Nowhere to be found.

Now the next step the PA GOP party machine is focusing on is helping their "endorsed" candidates with getting petitions signed so they can get on the ballot. Below is part of an email that I got today from my local GOP county committee Chairman. The subject title of the email is petitions.

If you’re willing to circulate a petition for Pat Toomey for Senate please send an e-mail to Blair4Toomey@verizon.net By tomorrow, I should also have petitions for Tom Corbett for Governor, Jim Cawley for Lt. Governor and Bill Shuster for Congress. Other candidates for these offices should also be available soon as well as petitions for Rick Geist, Jerry Stern and Mike Fleck. We are planning a full committee meeting which will be open to the public that will focus on getting petition signatures. More info will follow.

Now I'm not criticizing the local committee Chairman here, but I am demonstrating just how the party machine works. Being the "endorsed" candidate by the party's state committee places candidates like Sam Rohere at a tremendous disadvantage. Most candidates struggle to fulfill the signature requirements to even get on the ballot and then end up dropping out as all the party resources go to support the "endorsed" candidates.

Now you see how political parties limit debate even within their own ranks and influence the outcome of elections. This is the type of politics that have gotten us to where we are at today. It is time to find a new way of ensuring that our liberty and freedoms given to us by our forefathers remain protected. Something that both political parties have no interest in doing.

The PA GOP Saga Of Deleting Comments On Their Facebook Page Continues........

I received the following message via Facebook this morning from Michael Glick, Deputy Technology Director of the PA GOP or better known today as Pennsylvania's version of the Soviet Politburo!!

Michael sent you a message.

--------------------
Re: Page Block

I am just a guy. I believe in what I am fighting for. I understand you believe differently. Please respect that I am truly believe in the Republican Party and that we are the best chance at defeating President Obama and Nancy Pelosi's liberal agenda. It is absolutely nothing against your beliefs or passion. I hope you are having a great weekend and are looking forward to a great work week, not to mention (in light of a Democratic majority in the US House and Senate, a tremendous election year).

I truly believe that our country is being destroyed by a liberal socialist agenda. And that perhaps we may win a few seats by simply saying that Democrats are bad politicians. However, I believe that Americans want more than rhetoric about Corbett being an insider (which is an absurd notion considering Rohrer has been here longer or that Toomey is not a fiscal conservative)

I believe that these candidates, as do the State Committee Members who voted to endorse, that these candidates are what PA needs to win the support of a state that currently has more than 1,000,000,000 more registered Democrats than Republicans.

You, obviously, have the right to disagree. However, we will never discourage you from your beliefs. But please do not be slanderous to the Members of the Republican State Committee of PA by saying that an endorsement of a candidate is anti-American.

Best,
Michael Glick

I have not responded to this Facebook message from Michael Glick. In fact I don't think I will. Mr. Glick has a right to his own personal beliefs and his own personal opinions on what is best for the Republican Party. However, he does not have the right to inflict those beliefs on people that disagree with the same party he is a member of and works for. Heck our donations support his job. Is something wrong in the universe here or something.

This in a funny way sums up the essence of the entire Tea Party movement. The American people are finally standing up and saying, "Hey you guys work for us!". This entire situation is an embarrassment for the state party.

But apparently Mr. Glick is not the only one at the PA GOP that feels that dissent should be discouraged in the party. The entire organization apparently is discouraging dissent. John Micek of the Morning Call on his Capitol Ideas Blog has a great post today, "No Free Speech Please, We're Republicans.", covering the behind the scenes shenanigans that are going on at the PA GOP. According to the post:

Criticism of the endorsement, which came Saturday at the Harrisburg Hilton, is being efficiently purged from the page in the name of party unity, we learned this afternoon.

"We didn't allow any disparagement of our candidates before the endorsement and we won't allow it after the endorsement," state GOP spokesman Michael Barley told us this afternoon. "It's not in the best interests of the party. Our job is to win in November."

This is embarrassing and I am very ashamed that the party that I support has stooped to soviet style tactics in order to reaffirm their own agenda. The PA GOP will now forever be known as the PA Politburo for now on in my mind.

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.

Statewide Endorsement: Why Not Just Let The County Committee People Vote?

No less an insider than the current Chester County GOP put the whole open-primary case to me in the following manner, and I happen to agree with it. So never let it be said that I don't always give people a fair listen.

It isn't really in a party's best interest to happily let a primary with a whole raft of candidates hit the ballots. Inevitably in these situations the winner is the one who can really motivate a fire-breathing minority. If you're running against four or more candidates, the party will probably end up with a general election candidate with virtually no cross-party appeal. Fine for upstate, but not so fine for southeastern PA, or those parts of the Commonwealth that probably belong on Ohio. I kid, I kid.

But when you have just two or three candidates that are pretty well-liked, a primary is the best way to figure out which one is actually good at motivating voters. Winning the primary proves you know how to win an election, and it gets your organization in fighting trim for the general.

So by the logic of the chair of the Chester County Republican party, it would have probably been best for the state committee to winnow down the Lt. Governor's race. But for senator and Governor, where you really had only two viable candidates apiece, the state committee should have let a primary decide the winner.

Now, the way we do it in Chester County is in order for the two-way primary to happen with the party's blessing, each candidate needs to secure 40% of the committee votes. Then they're both "recommended". Obviously, up in Harrisburg this weekend, neither Rohrer nor Luksik got anywhere near that. So by the letter of the law, here in Chester County, we would have ended up with the same result.

But when it comes to Sam Rohrer, every man and women in that room knew the vote would have been a LOT closer if left to the County committee people, let alone actual voters. So by the spirit of the Chester County rules, every man and women in that room should have at least consulted with their county people. Frankly, I'm not even sure why only the state committee votes on the statewide offices.

I mean, sure, a hundred years ago it would have been a tremendous chafe to organize precinct level endorsement votes. But it's no problem at all, today.

So perhaps the first step of reform, here, is not to insist the party never make an endorsement. Maybe it's just to say "We have two committee people in every precinct in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Why don't we let them vote on the endorsement?" Wouldn't that be the best way to figure out what Republicans on the ground want?

PA GOP Facebook Administrator Deletes My Comments Critical Of The Committee's Decision To Endorse Candidates

I love how comments can suddenly disappear on the PA GOP Facebook page. Today I have been following closely the GOP State Committee's endorsements of candidates running for statewide races on the organizations Facebook page. So, I decided to comment on the announcement that the committee has voted to endorse Attorney General Tom Corbett for Governor. I stated the following partial to voice my unhappiness with the party and to respond to someone who implied that State Representative Sam Rohrer was a Harrisburg insider.

A vote for an open primary would have been a better option. Second you are a fool to think that Tom Corbett isn't a Harrisburg insider.

I then returned to the PA GOP Facebook page later and was surprised to see that my comment was deleted by the administrator. So I re posted the following:

"I love how things can suddenly get deleted on the PA GOP facebook page. Let me say this again. A vote for an open primary would have been a better option. Second you are a fool to think that Tom Corbett isn't a Harrisburg insider. Please do not delete this again. I am an registered republican and financially support the party. Thank You."

Let see if they delete my comments again. To be continued.........

Hey I got a response from the PA GOP Facebook page administrator.

Mr. Potter,

We appreciate your desire to express your opinion on the PA GOP fan page wall. However, the PA GOP cannot support comments that slanderize our process or our candidates. We would appreciate if you could refrain from posting comments that are derogatory.

The facebook fan page is a positive messaging tool that the PA GOP uses to share news and excitement about our races and candidates. I apologize that the deletion of your posts may be offensive. However, it would simply not be rational for the PA GOP to allow such posts to remain.

Sincere Thanks.
Michael Glick
Deputy Technology Director
PA GOP

Apparently my comments were too slanderous and not positive enough for Mr. Glick. So I sent him this message in response.

Dear Mr. Glick. Please remove the comment that implies that candidate Sam Rohrer is a Harrisburg insider and will "provide more of the same". I do believe that is slanderize towards Mr. Rohrer.

Here is Mr. Glick's response to my request.

Sir, please refrain from making posts that are not supportive of the PA GOP's candidates or messaging. You will be blocked from participating if you continue. If you have a request, feel free to contact me directly. Thank you.

However Mr. Glick has allowed the following comment to remain posted on the PA GOP's Facebook page blasting Sam Rohrer.......

From Facebook member Johnny Leschinskie

Tom Corbett is the guy to do the job. Sam Rohrer has been in Harrisburg and I believe he'll provide us more of the same. Tom Corbett looked more confident in last night's debate. Tom Corbett will make a great Governor. He kept his promises as Attorney General so why should anyone second-guess his credibility?

If your comments have been deleted or if you want to voice your concerns to Mr. Glick. The following is his contact information. Click Here for Mr. Michael Glick's Facebook profile or email him at jmichaelglick@gmail.com.

PA GOP State Committee Votes Against An Open Primary And Endorses Candidates

Today Republican State Committee members once again have chosen to ignore the overwhelming public outcry of republicans throughout the state who were pleading for an open primary this year.

Sources say that the vote to endorse candidates wasn't even close. So the committee is moving full speed ahead with the party endorsement of candidates for all the statewide races.

We The People of the United States has become We The People who are sheep being herded by the two party political establishment.

Update On PA Senate Race Endorsement:

The Party just announced on the PA GOP Facebook page that committee members have voted to endorse Pat Toomey over Peg Luksik who only received 12 votes. Pat Toomey received 327 for Toomey votes.

Update On The PA Governor's Race Endorsement:

The Party just announced that committee members have voted to endorse Attorney General Tom Corbett for Governor over State Representative Sam Rohrer. Corbett received 329 votes to 10 for Rep. Sam Rohrer.

Update On The LT. Governor's Race Endorsement:

KDKA is reporting that state committee members have voted to endorse Jim Cawley, a Bucks County commissioner, for lieutenant governor.

This is a big blow to both Sam Rohrer and Peg Luksik who pushed hard for the committee to not endorse candidates for statewide races during the primary elections. This also puts them at a disadvantage as the endorsed candidates have the luxury of utilizing the party machine to get their campaign message out.

More: Pa. GOP Backs Corbett For Gov, Toomey For Senate (KDKA)

Forward to the Past

By John D McGinnis

George Will recently wrote that American government is largely a redistribution device from the young to the old. The size and growth of entitlements, most of which are for the benefit of the elderly, and the growing amount of health care expenses with the largest portion of them going to the elderly, make his point. Will concludes that by allocating more and more dollars to the old, American government is investing in its past.

There is another way our government sacrifices our future to invest in the past. Virtually all government economic development and economic policy is focused on the past. Witness the call for rail projects in the State of the Union address. Even high speed rail is an old idea and if it needs government subsidies to come into existence, how good an idea can it be? Still, legions of politicians on both sides of the political aisle, will get behind the idea, because they can grasped the concept of rail.

Economies, however, advance by concepts that aren't even known by politicians or most people in general. At the time, did any politician or pundit understand what Henry Ford and John Rockefeller were doing to change the world? Did they understand what Edison was doing? Who saw what Bill Gates and Steve Jobs were going to do 30 years ago? The point is, what politicians push is stuff that already exists, because that's all they see and all they know. They learn quickly how to exercise control and peddle influence in existing endeavors. They are merchants of the past and status quo. But economies advance, as Friedrich Hayek often pointed out, by discoveries and innovations that nobody can anticipate. When politicians redistribute wealth to the already known and established sectors of our economy, they not only reduce the opportunity available for advancing our standard of living, but they also provide incentives to stifle economic progress. This happens due to the fact that established businesses will play the political game, curry favor with political donations, and use government as a lifeline rather than engaging the fickle and responsive marketplace.

Oversight of our economy by government and quasi-governmental "economic development" organizations does not work. If it did, the 9th and 12th Congressional Districts in Pennsylvania would be leading the world in prosperity. Instead, those districts are plagued with a culture of dependency and economic stagnation. They are just two examples of so many across our Commonwealth and our county where elected officials, who have the hubris of thinking they know best and who disregard liberty and constitutional government, impose their out-of-date thinking on the rest of us.

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?

New Rasmussen Poll: Republican Tom Corbett Is Way Out Front In Race For Governor's Mansion

GOP front runner, Tom Corbett, is way ahead of three potential opponents according to the latest Rasmussen Reports survey.

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in the state shows Corbett leading former Congressman Joe Hoeffel 51% to 29%. Against Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato, he leads 52% to 26%. When State Auditor Jack Wagner is his Democratic opponent, Corbett is ahead 49% to 28%. However, in all three match-ups, at least 15% of voters remain undecided at this point.

Senator Arlen Specter is ahead of primary challenger Rep. Joe Sestak by 15 points, but could be hurt by the general mood of PA voters in the poll. 71 % of Pennsylvania voters surveyed are angry at Washington policies, including 46% who are very angry. Most alarming for incumbents like Specter is the 66% believe our country would be better off if incumbents up for reelection this year were voted out of office. Ouch!!! I'm glad I'm not an incumbent.

Click Here to read the entire Rasmussen poll