How Ed Rendell Became The Face Of A Fiasco

We've long pointed to Ed Rendell as the last great Mayor of Philadelphia.
But, it's ben a long time since Rendell was Mayor and it's even been quite some time since he was Governor of Pennsylvania. Mayor, Governor, Chair of the Democratic National Committee -- Rendell did it all. But he did it a long time ago. And, when we say "long" we also mean long[er] by 21st century standards, which is to say very long in the age of social media and cyberspace.
Anyway, the intervening years have not been kind to Rendell.  His marriage broke up, his health is failing (Parkinson's and back ailments) and he lives alone with with his dogs no meaningful public role or title to call his own.
Things might have looked brighter for Rendell if Hillary Clinton had been elected. Rendell had a lot riding on that race. But we all know how that turned out and more than three long years later the Clintons are history. Hell, even Obama is history now!
Anyway, Rendell's still trying to stay in the spotlight. He's raising money for Joe Biden's campaign and a story in this month's Philadelphia magazine has Rendell talking about being some kind of infrastructure czar in a Biden administration. Well, politics teaches us never to say "never" but . . . .
A recevoir of goodwill toward Rendell gives him a wide berth and no city is more forgiving of its loyalists and civic champions than Philadelphia.
But Rendell's upfront role in the latest drug injection center scheme has been a sorry chapter for him and is bound to leave even former devotees wondering. 

Rendell joined the board of Safehouse, the nonprofit that hoped to open an injection site in South Philly. But the whole thing was never fully vetted with nor approved by the community and even members of Philadelphia City Council felt left out of the loop and were put off by Safehouse's shennanigans. Characteristically, Philly's slippery Mayor Jim Kenney said he backed the effort but was conveniently nowhere to be found when the whole thing blew up amidst predictable public outrage. Hey, don't mess with South Philly!

And so, in the end it was Rendell who became the scoundrel. 

And unfortunately he looked the part -- a conniving old pol trying to pull a fast one.

We wish it hadn't come to this. But when you don't know when to hang up the megaphone, this is what happens. 

Don't Ever, Ever, EVER Mess With South Philly!

South Philly mom tears into officials for allowing a drug injection site in their neighborhood without informing residents pic.twitter.com/SD9A8e1K6i

— Jack Posobiec 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) February 27, 2020

Chris Christie, Jerry Jones And Those Cowboys

Last night New Jersey Governor Chris Christie joined the Dallas Cowboys as they came to Philadelphia to play the Eagles (aka 'Iggles).
And Christie sat in a sky box with Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and cheered on the Boys.
The Boys won and this drove Birds fans bonkers.
The game was critical and very well may have doomed the 'Iggles playoff hopes this year. Once again, a Philly team came up short and lost the Big One. Once again, Philly solidified its reputation as a hard-luck town. It's sad, we suppose. But it happens.
OK, forget all that.
Vitriolic green maniacs still needed someone to blame for their team's loss. They couldn't simply say "You won, we lost, you played better, nice game." They needed a scapegoat. So, they decided to trash Chris Christie.
Philadelphia City Councilman Jim Kenney  tweeted that Christie is "a fat assed . . . creep."

"Chris Christie is sitting on his very large ass next to Jerry Jones in his box at the Linc. You suck! Kissing Texas ass for 2016. Awful!," Kenney tweeted. 

Later, Kenney added this: "Hey fat assed Christie, kiss Jerry Jones' ass in his box in Dallas. Not across the river from Philly. You are just a creep!"

Former Pennsy Governor and Philly Mayor Ed Rendell has also bashed Christie.
“How can a Jersey guy be a Cowboys fan? It’s pathetic,” said Rendell.
“It’s legal but it indicates a basic inferiority complex. If you are a Jerseyite or a Pennsylvanian and you’re rooting for the Cowboys, it means you’re not secure in yourself and you wanted to root for a team that was a team in your youth that was a constant winner.”
Well, yes Governor Rendell. Chris Christie was a fan of the Dallas Cowboys in his youth.
Chris Christie has always been a Cowboys fan and it's never been a secret.
Here's how the Governor explains it: “My father was a Giants fan and I used to remember watching him when I was eight, nine years old and every Sunday he would watch the Giants and yell at the TV set. I used to think to myself why would I want to root for a team that makes you angry? The Cowboys were really good.”
Makes sense to us.
In addition to that, Christie idolized legendary Dallas quarterback Roger Staubach, a true American hero. Hey, we could think of a lot worse people to idolize than Roger Staubach.
So, Christie became a fan of America's Team -- a truly national team that has fans not just all over the country but all over the world.
And Christie was drawn to a team that played its heart out -- played a great game -- and often won.
And Christie idolized an iconic quarterback whose record as a great player and outstanding American role model remains umblemished.
And Christie always rooted for this team in seasons when they went to the Super Bowl and in seasons when they went nowhere, whether they were up or down, in or out.
And Christie never made any bones about it. He never pretended it was otherwise.
He told Eagles fans. He told Giants fans. He told Jets fans. He said: "My team is the Cowboys." He did this just as he told Yankees fans that his team was the Mets. He was open, above-board, honest about it.
What the hell is wrong with that?
Doesn't every American kid have the right to pick whatever team he wants to call his own?
In fact, give Christie credit that as a kid growing up in the shadow of New York he dared to cheer on an arch rival team from the other side of the country just because he liked them more and thought they had a better team. It must not have been easy to be a Cowboys fan when you were living practically around the corner from Meadowlands Staudium.
And give him credit for this as well: He did not change his allegiance once he became famous and successful. He did not pander to New York or Philadelphia. Chris Christie is who he is. And his allegiances and loyalties are what they are -- they do not necessarily change to fit the circumstances or the latest passing fad or some expediency. The guy is real.
Which really makes some of the people who are attacking Governor Christie today look foolish and petty.
So, listen Eagles fans: Mind your own team and the manners and prejudices of your own town. Chris Christie can root for any team he wants and sit in any box in any stadium with whoever he wants. And so can you.
That's what makes horse races and neighborly rivalries and yes, football teams.
It's called America.

Tom Wolf: A Third Term For Obama/Rendell?

In Pennsylvania, the Corbett-Cawley campaign today released their latest television commercial, “Threepeat.” The ad highlights Tom Wolf's belief in reinstating the Ed Rendell tax-and-spend agenda in Harrisburg that left Pennsylvanians with a $4.2 billion budget deficit and unemployment as high as 8.7%, in addition to his support for President Barack Obama's big government liberal agenda in Washington, DC that would kill Pennsylvania energy jobs. Voting for multi-millionaire Secretary Tom Wolf is like voting to give Barack Obama and Ed Rendell a third term.

"Multi-millionaire Secretary Tom Wolf is a major donor to President Obama and has given hundreds of thousands of dollars to former Governor Ed Rendell, supporting the tax-and-spend job-killing agenda they all hope to force on hardworking Pennsylvanians," said Communications Director Chris Pack. "Pennsylvanians aren't looking for a third term of President Barack Obama or Governor Ed Rendell who support raising taxes, killing middle-class jobs, and taking away Pennsylvanians 2nd amendment rights."
 

 The commercial script and sources are listed below.

* * *

"We already know Tom Wolf was Ed Rendell’s tax collecting hatchet man[1], where Wolf never saw a tax he didn’t like. But millionaire Wolf is also a maxed out donor to Obama[2]. Wolf not only supports disastrous Obamacare[3] which raises rates[4] and takes away your right to your own doctor[5], Wolf also supports Obama’s radical gun control agenda[6][7], and Obama’s war on PA coal jobs[8][9]. Tom Wolf: voting for him is like voting to give Obama and Rendell a third term."


“Wolf…never met a tax he didn’t like” – Pittsburgh Tribune Review, 8/9/14[10]

Tom Wolf was a large financial donor to Obama. – Federal Election Commission[11]

Wolf supports disastrous Obamacare. – PA Progressive Summit, 2/28/14[12]

Wolf supports single-payer government healthcare. – PA Progressive Summit, 2/28/14[13]

Wolf supports Obama’s extreme gun-control agenda. – WHYY, 4/7/14[14]

Wolf supports Obama’s War on PA Coal jobs – Time Magazine, 6/1/14[15]

Sources

[1] Tom Wolf served as Secretary of Revenue under Governor Ed Rendell from February 2007 – December 2008
[2] According to FEC records, Tom Wolf contributed a total of $4,600 to Barack Obama in 2008. The maximum legal combined contribution for the primary and general election that year.
[3] PA Progressive Summit Democratic Governor’s Candidates Forum, 2/28/14 – At 27:00 mark “We should do everything in our power to make the ACA [Obamacare] work.”
[4] The Hill, 8/11/14 – “ObamaCare premiums slated to rise by an average of 7.5 percent”
[5] Time, 1/1/14 – “Keeping Your Doctor Under Obamacare Is No Easy Feat”
[6] WHYY, 4/7/14 – “Neither McCord nor Wolf opposed any measures supported by CeaseFirePA…”
[7] CeaseFirePA, 1/16/13 – “CeaseFirePA’s…agenda for fighting fun violence in Pennsylvania in many ways tracks the agenda the President outlined today.”
[8] WHYY, 6/12/14 – “’One day, the carbon-based energy system we rely on right now will be a thing of the past,’ Wolf said”
[9] York Daily Record, 6/3/14 – “The ‘cap-and-trade tax�� is a reference to Wolf’s support of emission caps. Wolf supports joining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, an effort among nine states to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”
[10] Pittsburgh Tribune Review, 8/9/14
[11] Supra note 2
[12] Supra note 3
[13] Id.
[14] Supra note 6
[15] Time, 6/1/14

Sign Petition: Demand Dem Candidates Release Tax Data

The Corbett campaign today announced the launch of an online petition calling on their opponents to release 10 years of personal tax returns. The campaign is also calling on millionaire Secretary Tom Wolf to release his corporate tax returns due to the vested interest the Pennsylvania taxpayers have in the company that Wolf used as collateral to get a $4.5 million loan to fund his primary campaign. Corbett is still the only candidate to publicly release 10 years of tax returns.

“Our campaign has released tax returns to the public going back to 2004 because we believe that the people of Pennsylvania deserve to know the long-term financial interests of those seeking to serve as their governor,” stated Campaign Manager Mike Barley. “Candidate disclosure of tax returns is an issue that has been supported in the past by both Democrats and Republicans across Pennsylvania, so I hope that our opponents for governor will join Governor Corbett in the spirit of total transparency in providing a long-term snapshot of their financial interests.”

The Corbett campaign’s petition is available at www.tomcorbettforgovernor.com/tenyearsoftaxreturns.

Secretary Tom Wolf has indicated that he has no intentions of releasing further tax returns beyond 2010, 2011 and 2012 where he paid an average of 8.73 percent in taxes. By contrast, Governor Corbett paid 16.5 percent over the same time period. In 2012, former Governor Rendell criticized Presidential candidate Mitt Romney for paying 14 percent, characterizing that, despite being nearly double the rate that Wolf paid, as being “at the low end of the spectrum.”

On Wednesday, Corbett’s campaign called on the Pennsylvania Democratic Party and Governor Rendell to condemn the extremely low tax rate, but both have remained silent. The campaign also noted that they will be sending personal invitations to the Democratic officials across Pennsylvania who have previously voiced their support for the long term release of tax returns to sign the Corbett campaign’s petition.

“Governor Rendell and the Democratic Party beat up Mitt Romney for paying a 14 percent tax rate, so I would only expect that they would join us in criticizing millionaire Secretary Tom Wolf for paying nearly half of that,” added Barley. “How did he get to that tax rate? The people of Pennsylvania deserve to know who the real Tom Wolf is and that will require him to be open and transparent about his campaign loans and questionable business practices.”

Rendell: Obama's Attacks On Romney 'Go Too Far'

“Yesterday, former Governor Ed Rendell had the courage to do what President Obama would not: admit the Obama campaign’s baseless and unsubstantiated attacks on Mitt Romney went too far. President Obama may talk about a different kind of politics and bringing people together, but it’s just another broken promise from a president who has failed to keep so many.” –Ryan Williams, Romney Spokesman

Former Pennsylvania Governor And DNC Chair Ed Rendell: Obama’s Attacks Go “Too Far”
Rendell: The Obama Campaign’s Attacks Hurt The President’s “Brand” And Go “Too Far.” RENDELL: “I think Carol also made a very good point about all this attack may be hurting the President's brand a little bit, too. I think our supporters went a little bit too far with the felony business.” (MSNBC’s “NOW With Alex Wagner,” 7/13/12)

Click Here To Watch Governor Rendell's Comments

Big Corporate Honcho Give Obama Philly Boost

Media giant Comcast apparently counts some major Obamacons among its top echelon.
Chief among these would seem to be the man Philadelphians know as "David L." That would be David L. Cohen, the executive vice president of Comcast which is now the parent company of  NBC -- as in MSNBC. Cohen was the driving force behind the political ascendancy of Ed Rendell, first as Mayor of Philadelphia and then as Governor.
Here's an excerpt from an interesting story in the Washington Post:

President Obama raised more than $1.2 million at two campaign fundraisers [in Philadelphia] Thursday night, the last events of his money-raising blitz in this early stage of the 2012 campaign.
Campaign officials said about 800 people, each giving at least $100, attended the first event, at a Hyatt hotel. Later in the evening, Comcast’s executive vice president, David L. Cohen, hosted about 120 people in his home for a dinner, each of the attendees giving at least $10,000 for Obama’s reelection campaign.
Among the attendees were Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) and Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter (D). Dinner was arranged by restaurateur Stephen Starr, whose popular eateries include Morimoto and Buddakan.
Cohen, a longtime Democratic operative, has successfully sheparded the regulatory review of Comcast’s merger with NBC Universal earlier this year.

Click here to read more.

Of course, Philly is a longstanding Democrat/liberal bastion and will fall into line behind most any Democrat candidate.
But Pennsylvania is another matter. As Rendell himself has pointed out, Pennsylvania can hardly be considered a blue state. Indeed, in recent statewide elections Pennsylvania is trending red. Case in point: The election of Senator Pat Toomey. In fact, many believe that Senator Bob Casey will face a stiff GOP challenge when he comes up for re-election. Right now, the climate does not look good.
But we're getting ahead of ourselves. Because first, the Dems will have to win the Keystone State for Obama. And there's no chance that will happen without a huge Obama victory coming out of Philadelphia. Thus, Cohen & Co. have been enlisted.
The President hopes to raise $60 million (on his way to a BILLION dollar campaign) during this fund-raising cycle. If only Obama were as good at raising our economic level and generating jobs as he is at raising money for his own campaign.
BTW: Ever notice how skilled the President is at hobnobbing with corporate fat cats one day and lambasting corporate interests (as he launches into class warfare) the next? Now, that's a quick step.,

 

Former PA. Gov. Rendell, Wife Call It Quits

Friends told me months ago.
They said that Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell and his wife would call it splitsville once the Governor was out of office. It was just a matter of time.
They told me the split would probably be amicable. They said the Governor was totally smitten by his new main squeeze and that that's where he'd be spending his time once he was done with his job in Harrisburg. "He wants a whole new life," they said.
These friends swore me to secrecy but they said that Ed Rendell was looking forward to living his own life his way once he broke free of public scrutiny: Becoming a sports announcer and/or TV commentator, making a lot of money and being with his new gal pal.
They also told me that his wonderful wife, Midge (a federal judge) seemed to be OK with it all.
And so now comes the word that apparently everything I heard was true.
But I kept my word. I said I wouldn't write it up -- here or anywhere. And I didn't.
Now though, it's just been announced. So it's OK to talk about it.
It's official: Gov. Rendell and his wife, U.S. Appellate Judge Marjorie “Midge” Rendell, have announced in an e-mail to friends today that they will be “living separately” now that they have left the Governor’s Mansion in Harrisburg.
We wish them well.
Click here to read more.
BTW: It's a safe bet that most reporters, editors and media type heard the same stories that I did and generally chose not to follow the reports any further. I'm told that in Big Time Democrat political circles (and inside Harrisburg and among the power elite in Philadelphia) all of this was well-known.
Not being a professional journalist, I saw no need to follow through -- plus I had given my word to friends that I would not report the story. The friends who told me did not want to be found out. But the media provided cover.

Pennsylvania Lawmakers Eyeing Education Vouchers

Pennsylvania lawmakers are once again looking favorably toward a state education voucher plan that will allow parents and students throughout the state to choose their schools from within various school districts.
While Democrats and teachers' unions have almost always steadfastly opposed vouchers, the Republicans will be firmly in charge of Pennsylvania (controlling the Governor's office and both house of the General Assembly) in juust a few days. And the GOP is high on vouchers. Plus, there are at least a few Dems who seem to be willing to go along with the idea.
Here's how CBS Philly and KYW Newsradio report part of the story:

Two state Senators – Republican Jeffrey Piccola, the chairman of the senate education committee, and Philadelphia Democrat Anthony Williams – have unveiled their proposal for a voucher program for low-income students.
On his way out the door, Governor Rendell promptly criticized the plan saying there may have been a need for school choice in the past but, “We’ve filled that need with the incredible expansion of charter schools during my eight years as governor.”

Clcik here for more on this story from CBS Philly and KYW Newsradio.

Ed Rendell Bares His Teeth On 60 Minutes

Big, Big Pennsylvania Society Weekend, NYC

We headed up to New York over the weekend (along with Adam Cirucci) to attend the events surrounding the annual meeting of the Pennsylvania Society at the Waldorf Astoria.

The Society is a non-profit, charitable organization with nearly two thousand members around the Commonwealth, the United States and the world.  

It is not formally affiliated with any particular political party, business or profession.  Its purpose is to honor achievement, to reward excellence, to promote good will and understanding and to celebrate service to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and to humanity in general.

Thriving and still growing in its third century of existence, the Society is the longest-lived organization of its kind in the country.

Since Adam Cirucci is intimately involved with the workings of Pennsylvania government (as Communications Director for State Senator Andy Dinniman) we once again allowed him to take the lead in guiding us through the maze of receptions and events surrounding the Society's weekend confab.If you've ever maneuvered your way through a full day or more of Society events, you know that the schedule is nothing less than staggering. But it's also worth it in terms of the people that you meet and the contacts that you make.
We managed to cover eight events in eight hours, with a brief rest in between.
Overall, make no mistake about it, this was a big GOP year at the Pennsylvania Society weekend. Many Big Time Republicans were present and they were avidly celebrating the return of the Red State.
Anyway, we began on Friday on Times Square with a party sponsored by the Broadband Cable Association of Pennsylvania. Then it was off to events sponsored by the Metropolitan Caucus, Auditor General Jack Wagner, the Blank Rome law firm, IBEW Local 98, PoliticsPA/Governor Miflin Society, the Duane Morris law firm and the Book Bash.
In no particular order, here are just some of the people that we saw and/or chatted with: Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, Philadelphia City Councilman Frank Rizzo, Pennsylvania Auditor general Jack Wagner, Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, Philadelphia Managing Director and Deputy Mayor Richard Negrin, former Senator Rick Santorum, Sen.-Elect Pat Toomey, former Philadelphia Bar Association Chancellors Abe Reich, Larry Beaser, Michael Pratt and Sayde Ladov, Comcast honcho and honcha David L. Cohen and Charisse Lillie, Dilworth law firm partner Greg Cirillo, PR maven Bonnie Squires, Philadelphia Bar Association Chancellor Scott Cooper, Sherri Reich, Shelly Beaser, Lynn Marks of Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts,  Pennsylvania Society Executive Director Carol Fitzgerald, former State Senators Rob Rovner, City GOP leaders Michael Meehan and Vito Canuso, State Representative Kathy Manderino and of course State Senator Andy Dinniman.
But there's more. Lots more. We also huddled with Pennsylvania Superior Court Judge Anne Lazarus, former Phillies pitcher Mitch Williams, Cozen O'Connor partner David Ladov, former state GOP leader Alan Novak, Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Independence Blue Cross Paul Tufano, Bill Tyson of Aqua Pennsylvania's PR team, Pennsylvania Superior Court Judge James J. Fitzgerald, Pennsylvania Chief Justice Ron Castille, attorney Michael Adler, Judge John Younge, Judge Richard Klein, attorney Romey Diaz, attorney Tom McGill, Blank Rome partner Sam Becker, Jonathan Cetel of Kipp Charter Schools, Maxim Alexander Kind, Brittany Tressler of the Montgomery County Republican Committee, Blank Rome Government Relations managing Principal Peter Peyser, former Pennsylvania Bar Association President Leslie Anne Miller, Blank Rome partner Adam Laver, Morgan Lewis partner Marc Sonnenfeld, former Pennsylvania Bar Association President James Mundy, attorney Joe Prim, attorney Tom Wilkinson, Philadelphia Daily News columnist John Baer, and one of the bright new stars of the Philadelphia legal community, Philadelphia bar Association Vice Chancellor Elect Kathleen Wilkinson.
And more: One of the great joys of the weekend was being with our dear friend Gayle Michael and her son, Geoffrey Michael, a partner with the prestigious Washington law firm of Arnold & Porter. Geoffrey was later joined by his brother, Matthew, also with Arnold & Porter. Gayle is a powerhouse in Pennsylvania Republican circles and both of her sons are highly accomplished attorneys in the nation's capital.
To be with Gayle is to be in the presence of a vivacious and passionate public citizen and loyal friend who is keenly committed to cherished ideals and high standards.
Well, before we knew it midnight was approaching.
So, it was adieu to all of the Commonwealth's movers and shakers.
But this was only Friday.
Saturday was reserved for Christmas fun in Manhattan.
But that's another story.

Poll: Toomey, Corbett Increase Their Leads

Pennsylvania GOP senate candidates Pat Toomey and Tom Corbett are both enjoying comfortable leads over their opponents for US Senate and Governor, respectively.
That's the word from a new Franklin & Marshall poll that shows Toomey with a seven point lead among likely voters and Corbett with a 15 point lead.
In the same poll almost two-thirds of Pennsylvanians say the state is headed in the wrong direction. And, get this: Two in three voters disapprove of the jobs President Obama and Gov. Ed Rendell are doing.
Those figures do not bode well for the Democrats.
BTW: A daily tracking poll released Monday by Muhlenberg College shows results similar to the Franklin & Marshall Poll, with Toomey up 8 percentage points and Corbett ahead by 11.
To be sure, Toomey and Corbett are taking nothing for granted. It's full speed ahead at both of their campaigns with plenty of events scheduled between now and election day.
Click here to help Pat Toomey.
Click here to help Tom Corbett.

Did Rendell Story Trigger Platt Resignation?

OK, so Larry Platt has resigned as editor of Philadelphia magazine after eight years.
And the position of editor of Philly Mag should never, ever be considered anything approaching even a semi-permanent job since the magazine's owner and muse D. Herbert Lipson goes through editors faster than Lady Gaga goes through costumes.
So, as things go, Platt has had an impressive run at the top.
But, still . . . could there be some connection between a recent sequence of events?
Last month, Lipson's magazine-opening "Off The Cuff" column took the form of an open letter to Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell asking him to come back to Philadelphia, challenge Mayor Michael Nutter and take over the reigns of the city once again. The column is the closest thing to a love letter that the curmudgeon Lipson has ever written.
You read it and you think: Rendell and Lipson are tight. And that's not surprising since Rendell is a world-class shmoozer.
Then, this month right there on the cover, Philly Mag asks: "Who is that woman with Ed Rendell?" Inside the magazine we find "The Governor, the blonde and the rumor mill" telling us that "people are talking about Ed Rendell and the former beauty pageant winner who works for him." The article repeats rumors of an affair between the two but allows the Governor and the blonde to deny and deny while it repeats and repeats . . . and repeats the rumor.
The story made Big News. Even before the magazine appeared, the story was on the nightly news.
And though Rendell did a passable job of appearing to slough the story off, you've got to figure he was steamed.
Hey, Ed Rendell is a politician and he likes to guard his image. And Ed Rendell has also been known to have a temper.
So - what's wrong with this picture?
Lipson's cheering his friend Rendell on and urging him to be King of the City once again while Lipson's magazine is running Rendell down and leading with unsubstantiated rumors about an affair.
It doesn't make sense. Seems as if the mag may have gotten away from The Man.
Which means that maybe something had to give.
And maybe (just maybe) that something was a someone -- someone named Larry Platt.
Not that this was necessarily the reason given for the Platt dismissal. But it's hard to imagine that it didn't play some role in the scheme of things.
Just speculating.

Specter Bites The Dust

The Arlen Specter era is over in Pennsylvania.
The state's longest-serving US Senator ever has come to the end of the line.
Eighty-year-old Arlen Specter was defeated tonight by uber-liberal Democrat renegade Joe Sestak even though Sestak enjoyed NO establishment Democrat support.
It may be a happy night for Sestak but the Democrat Congressman faces a tough road in November:
1) Sestak's views are out of line with the mainstream and would appear to be far too liberal for Pennsylvania.
2) Former Navy Admiral Sestak has apparently never come clean on some questions that popped up about his performance while in the military and he refused requests from Specter to release his military records.
3) Sestak has left a bitter taste in the mouths of major Democrat operative in Pennslyvania. This lone ranger does not play well with others.
4) Sestak faces a strong, smart, determined opponent in Pat Toomey. Toomey is well-liked and has a fully-united Republican Party behind him.
5) Pennsylvania has a record of alternating between democrat and GOP Governors and this is a Republican year. With the help of a strong GOP gubernatorial candidate like Tom Corbett, Toomey and most Pennsylvania republicans are well positioned.
6) The GOP will remind voters of all the awful things that Democrats (such as Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell) said about Sestak.

PA: Toomey Leads Specter

Republicans Lead In Pennsylvania Senate, Governor Races, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Obama Approval Is Down

Republican Pat Toomey is on top 46 - 41 percent over Sen. Arlen Specter in Pennsylvania's U.S. Senate race, while Attorney General Tom Corbett, the leader for the Republican gubernatorial nomination, remains ahead of each of the three top Democratic contenders by double digits, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.

Gov. Ed Rendell's job approval rating is 45 - 45 percent, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University survey finds. But President Barack Obama's approval is a negative 45 - 49 percent, down from 49 - 46 percent.

Disapproval of the President's health care plan, 53 - 39 percent, is unchanged from a 52 - 37 percent disapproval March 2. Pennsylvania voters say 39 - 20 percent they are more likely to vote against a lawmaker who supported the health plan.

Toomey also leads U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak, who is challenging Specter in the Democratic primary, by 42 - 34 percent. Specter leads Sestak for the Democratic nomination 53 - 32 percent in a Quinnipiac University poll released yesterday of likely Democratic primary voters, a different sample.

Specter is a known quantity to Pennsylvanians since he has been their U.S. senator since 1981. Asked to rate him, 40 percent view him favorably, 46 percent unfavorably and 11 percent say they haven't heard enough about him to have an opinion.

In the governor's race, Corbett - by far the best known of the contenders - retains a double digit lead over the three leading contenders for the Democratic nomination, which will be decided in the May 18 primary.

Corbett gets a 47 - 13 percent favorability rating. For the Democratic contenders, Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato, State Auditor General Jack Wagner and former U.S. Senate nominee Joe Hoeffel, the "don't know enough" factor ranges from 66 to 75 percent.

Gerlach: Obamacare Bad For PA

Republican Jim Gerlach on Wednesday sent letters to Gov. Ed Rendell and the Commonwealth’s two senators, Robert P. Casey Jr. and Arlen Specter, urging them to stand up for Pennsylvania's families and businesses by opposing the health care bill Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is frantically pushing to a vote on Christmas Eve.
“This bill is bad for Pennsylvania," Gerlach said. "That's why I made one last appeal for commonsense to prevail and for the governor and our two senators to put Pennsylvania's interests ahead of partisanship. Majority Leader Reid spent this past weekend cutting deals to benefit Nebraska and other states at Pennsylvania’s expense. If enacted, this legislation would lead to higher taxes or significant cuts to services for Pennsylvania residents. The governor needs to speak out and our senators should not be rubber stamps for Harry Reid's severely flawed bill.”

Below is the text of the letter sent Wednesday morning:

The Honorable Ed Rendell
Governor, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
200 Main Capital Building
Harrisburg, PA 17120

U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter
7711 Hart Office Building
Washington DC 20510

U.S. Sen. Robert P. Casey Jr.
363 Russell Office Building
Washington D.C. 20510

Gentlemen:

I am writing to urge you to oppose the U.S. Senate health care bill due to the huge burden it would place on Pennsylvania families and employers and the fiscal peril it poses to the Commonwealth’s already-strained budget.

Chief among my concerns is the federal Medicaid mandates contained in Senator Majority Leader Harry Reid’s 2,000-plus pages that call for expanding Medicaid to 133 percent of the Federal Poverty Level. The National Conference of State Legislators has estimated that this expansion would increase state Medicaid spending in Pennsylvania by approximately $2.2 billion over the next 10 years.

Asking Pennsylvania families and employers struggling to shoulder this huge, unfunded federal mandate would be bad enough in the midst of one of our nation’s greatest economic recessions. But to make matters worse, the Senate bill would force taxpayers in
Pennsylvania to underwrite an estimated $1.2 billion Medicaid bailout for Nebraska, Vermont and Massachusetts. This is an incredibly bad deal for Pennsylvanians who will either pay higher taxes or possibly see important state services significantly reduced.

In addition to the unfunded Medicaid mandate, the Senate bill would include a $2 billion per year tax on our Commonwealth’s thriving biotechnology and medical device manufacturing industries. Pennsylvania has approximately 600 medical device manufactures that employ roughly 20,000 people in jobs that often pay more than $50,000 per year. Executives at these companies have been very clear that this tax would hamper their ability to hire new workers and siphon money away from life-saving research and product development.

It is extremely disappointing that the Senate bill is laced with sweetheart deals and certainly appears aimed more toward scoring political points than making insurance affordable or improving the quality of health care in our Commonwealth. That’s why I am respectfully request that you oppose this severely-flawed legislation.

With kind regards, I am

Sincerely,
Jim Gerlach
Member of Congress

Rendell, Christie, Guadagno Meet

This morning New Jersey Governor-Elect Chris Christie and Lt. Governor-Elect Kim Guadagno met with Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell in Morrisville, Pa. (just across the Delaware from Trenton) at the headquarters of AE Polysilicon on the former site of the United States Steel plant. During their brief meeting, the leaders of the two states talked about economic development and job growth.
Afterward, they held a windswept news conference.
Christie noted that he and Rendell shared similar backgrounds. "We're both former prosecutors and we're similar personalities. We had a good meeting and I'm looking forward to working with Governor Rendell on matters of common interest," the Governor-Elect said.
"Pennsylvania has been a model for ways to pursue economic development in these difficult times, "Christie added. "So, while there will always be competition, I think we can also work together for jobs."
Christie said that he and Rendell went over a number of issues including the redevelopment of former industrial sites into clean energy businesses. AE Polysilicon makes the material that is used in solar panels. Rendell noted that Pennsylvania undertook a major effort to get AE Polysilicon to locate in Pennsylvania and pointed out that the company will pay no state or local taxes until 2018.
In other matters, the two Governors agreed to disagree about the dredging of the Delaware River (which Rendell favored and Christie campaigned against). When pressed on this, Christie explained: "We have a different view. But I listened to the Governor. I want to understand his position. I meet with people that I disagree with all the time. I'll listen and we'll see where it goes," he added.
Christie also said he has been talking to New Jersey Senate President Dick Codey and Assembly Speaker Joe Roberts and he did not expect any major spending initiative from the Democrat controlled legislature between now and Inauguration Day. "They've both assured me that this will not happen," Christie explained.
And the Governor-Elect reiterated his opposition to gay marriage in the Garden State by stating once again that if a gay marriage bill ever comes to his desk "I will veto it."
In the interim, gay marriage advocates are attempting to get legislation approved by the lame duck legislature and signed into law by departing Governor Jon Corzine.

Frankel: Too Young To Die

At age 54, Larry Frankel was much too young to pass on.
Here's a follow up on the death of Larry Frankel from Matthew Spolar at the Philadelphia Inquirer:
Larry Frankel, who worked the halls of Harrisburg for 16 years as a civil liberties lobbyist, died Friday in Rock Creek Park in Washington. He was 54.
Relatives said he died of natural causes.
Mr. Frankel was legislative director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania from 1992 to 2008. He was also the organization's executive director from 1996 to 2001.
In March 2008, he took a job in Washington as state legislative counsel for the ACLU, but he kept his apartment in Philadelphia.
Mr. Frankel was well known at the state Capitol, where he worked to reform the state's Right to Know Law, defeat proposed state constitutional amendments to ban same-sex marriage, defend voting rights, and stop plans for school vouchers.
A native of Burbank, Calif., Mr. Frankel studied comparative literature at the University of California at Berkeley. He also attended the university's law school, where he met Andy Chirls, his longtime partner before their separation five months ago.
The two met in September 1978 at a seminar for law students organizing against a proposition to allow school boards to fire gay teachers. They moved to Philadelphia upon graduating in 1981; Frankel first worked in the law office of Harold Diamond before starting a solo practice.
In Harrisburg, Mr. Frankel's conviction and talent for persuasion thrived.
"He viewed his client as the Constitution of the United States," Chirls said.
In a statement, Gov. Rendell said Mr. Frankel served the people of Pennsylvania "as much as any elected official in the Commonwealth."
"I could count on Larry for his strategic insight and clever approach to advocacy, making him a pleasure to work with and a gentleman that I always wanted on my side," Rendell said.

Specter: What's The Deal?

It's been reported that Arlen Specter met with Joe Biden 14 times before he decided to switch parties.
Fourteen times.
It's known that Specter met not just with Biden but with Bob Casey and "Fast Eddie" Rendell as well.
Specter did all this while publicly insisting he would not abandon the GOP. But Specter didn't care if he had to deceive you because you didn't count. After all, there were larger matters at stake - things that are a lot more important than you and I.
Uber-politicians like Specter are very careful and very calculating.
In their own minds, they're Masters of the Universe. Their universe. So, they protect their own self-interests first.
Ditto, Obama.
Obviously, the President didn't want his fingerprints on this just in case the deal didn't go through.
And be sure of this: There was a deal.
Specter didn't switch without getting something in return. This is a man who brokered countless deals: a) with other lawyers, as a lawyer; b) with alleged criminals and defense attorneys, as a prosecutor and c) as a politician and major operator in civic life.
So, the question must be asked: What was Specter promised and what did Specter promise in return? And what will that cost us -- you and me, the taxpayers?
Because important votes and lots of bucks will be involved.
Will Specter support socialized medicine? Mandatory national service? Unilateral disarmament? Another round of tax hikes?
Will he change his position on card check and support it in the end?
Will he support the President's Supreme Court nominees no matter what?
Will he get Big Labor money or Move On money or Acorn support or George Soros money?
Has he been assured there will be no opposition in the Democrat primary?
And what about Senate chairmanships, new office digs and all those other perks?
Specter. Rendell. Casey. Obama.
Do I need to draw a diagram for you?
Just consider the possibilities.

Specter Should Resign

Arlen Specter should resign as U. S. Senator immediately.
Specter was elected as a Republican. Now, he wants to serve as a full-fledged Democrat.
He was elected with the name, promises and backing of one party.
Now he wants to continue to serve as part of another party.
He's broken faith with the electorate who were led to believe one thing but now are being asked to accept quite another.
He lied when he said he would remain a Republican.
He lied when he said he wanted to deprive the Democrats of a veto-proof majority.
He lied when he said he thought the two-party system was important and the GOP needed people like him to prevent a monopoly government.
He betrayed the people of Pennsylvania through a series of backroom deals and secret meetings.
I have no objection to Specter running for the Senate in 2010 as a Democrat. That's fine with me. But don't govern now as a Democrat when you haven't been elected as a Democrat.
Specter should resign now.
If they so desire, the Democrats (via Governor Ed Rendell) can appoint a caretaker Senator to hold Specter's seat. That will allow Specter to stand for election next year and, if he wins, serve anew as a Democrat with the support of the electorate. And if he loses, so be it.
Let the people decide.
If you agree, call Specter at any one of the following numbers and ask him to resign:202-224-4254 , 610-434-1444, 814-453-3010, 717-782-3951, 215-597-7200, 412-644-3400, 570-346-2006, 570-826-6265.
Or, you can e-mail Specter by clicking here.