Corrected: PCN Coverage of State Budget Address

corrected, from the inbox:

On Tuesday, February 5, Governor Tom Corbett will deliver his third state budget address before a joint session of the PA House and Senate.  The address is the first step in the Commonwealth’s annual fiscal process.  The Pennsylvania Cable Network (PCN) will devote the day’s programming to extensive LIVE budget address coverage. 

The February 5 budget address coverage on PCN is as follows:

• LIVE coverage begins at 11:00 a.m. with former state representative, Kathy Manderino of Intercommunity Action and former Chief of Staff to Governor Dick Thornburgh, Rick Stafford of Carnegie Mellon University joining host Larry Kaspar in the PCN studio.
• LIVE coverage of the Governor’s Budget Address before a joint session of the House and Senate.
• LIVE coverage from the state Capitol will continue with budget reaction from legislators.
• At 7:00 p.m., viewers will get a chance to share their thoughts or ask questions concerning the state budget by dialing toll-free 1-877-PA6-5001 during the hour-long LIVE PCN Call-In program.

In the coming weeks, PCN will provide extensive coverage of the 2013-2014 fiscal year state budget proceedings.  Check the schedule at www.pcntv.com for upcoming programming details.

Streaming of this coverage will also be made available on the PCN Plus streaming page at http://pcntv.com/pcn-plus/ on the network’s website at www.pcntv./com.

PCN is a nonprofit, noncommercial news organization created and supported by cable television companies. PCN receives no state or federal funding. Network programming is distributed by participating cable systems in Pennsylvania serving more than 10 million Pennsylvanians in 3.3 million homes.  For more information about PCN as well as network channel designations, visit www.pcntv.com.

Mark Your Calendars: PCN Coverage of Budget Talks

from our friends at PCN:

On Tuesday, February 5, Governor Tom Corbett will deliver his third state budget address before a joint session of the PA House and Senate.  The address is the first step in the Commonwealth’s annual fiscal process.  The Pennsylvania Cable Network (PCN) will devote the day’s programming to extensive LIVE budget address coverage. 

The February 5 budget address coverage on PCN is as follows:

• LIVE coverage begins at 11:00 a.m. with former state representative, Kathy Manderino of Intercommunity Action and former Chief of Staff to Governor Dick Thornburgh, Rick Stafford of Carnegie Mellon University joining host Larry Kaspar in the PCN studio.
• LIVE coverage of the Governor’s Budget Address before a joint session of the House and Senate.
• LIVE coverage from the state Capitol will continue with budget reaction from legislators.
• At 7:00 p.m., viewers will get a chance to share their thoughts or ask questions concerning the state budget during the hour-long LIVE PCN Call-In program.

PA Dems: Corbett Honeymoon Over

from our friends at the Pennsylvania Democratic Party:

A new poll by Franklin & Marshall College found that Pennsylvanians oppose Tom Corbett's recent budget cuts by a huge margin. Seventy eight percent of of Pennsylvanians oppose cuts to local school districts - which will likely raise property taxes - and 67 percent oppose cuts to public universities - which will likely raise tuition.

Corbett's budget ideas end honeymoon (Tribune Review) Heather Bohaning is tired of getting squeezed. The New Kensington woman has one daughter who will enter school next year and another in junior high school. She knows the state has financial woes, but she worries the education cuts Gov. Tom Corbett proposed in his budget would make things tougher on her girls, and she cannot afford the $16,000 annual tuition at the only nearby parochial school.

Poll: Two-thirds of Pennsylvania adults oppose budget cuts to education (Patriot News) Seventy-eight percent of Pennsylvanians oppose cutting funding to local school districts and 67 percent dislike the idea of slashing funding in half for the state's public universities, according to a Franklin & Marshall College poll out today.

Poll: Pa. supports natural gas tax, not ed cuts (AP) Pennsylvanians are at odds with their new governor over two hot-button issues - whether to tax natural-gas drilling and if education funding should be cut, according to a statewide poll released Thursday.

Poll shows Pennsylvanians support drilling tax, more for cash for education (Times Tribune) Gov. Tom Corbett's push for education and Medicaid cuts and opposition to a natural gas extraction tax conflict sharply with what large majorities of Pennsylvanians want, according to a new statewide poll released Wednesday.

Poll: Don't make health, education cuts - tax drilling, voters say (Philadelphia Daily News) It hasn't gone unnoticed to Pennsylvanians that the natural-gas industry is drilling the Marcellus Shale without paying taxes, while Gov. Corbett has been drilling into education and Medicaid.

F&M poll: Pa. rates Corbett (Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era) A majority of Pennsylvanians are confident Gov. Tom Corbett can handle the state's budget problems, a statewide Franklin & Marshall College poll found

Corbett's Transition Team

Governor-elect Tom Corbett has announced his transition team, and, as might be expected of any elected official, not everyone is happy with it. There are 17 committees with a total of 400 people involved. The full list of people on the various subject oriented committees can be found at http://www.philly.com/transitionteam

Angela Couloumbis of the Inquirer noted in "Corbett names huge cast to transition panels," (12/01):

In choosing the group that will advise him on education, Corbett included several staunch charter school advocates. They include Vahan Gureghian, a Gladwyne lawyer who operates the state's largest charter school, Chester Community Charter School in Chester.

Gureghian contributed $250,000 to Corbett's campaign and donated heavily to other Republican campaign funds as well, state records show. Gureghian was also named to cochair Corbett's working group on transportation and infrastructure.

Also on Corbett's education committee: State Sen. Anthony Hardy Williams, the Philadelphia Democrat who is one of the most vocal proponents in the legislature for charter schools and school choice, and David Pollard and Joel Greenberg, both with Susquehanna International Group.

Susquehanna International's executives - Greenberg among them - gave an astonishing $5 million to Williams' unsuccessful campaign for governor in this year's primary because they liked his stance on school choice, particularly his support for the use of publicly funded vouchers to enable more families to pay for private education.

"When I look at the list of people he's chosen for education, no one jumps out who is an advocate for traditional K-12 education," said Lawrence A. Feinberg, a Haverford Township school board member and cochair of the Keystone State Education Coalition, which advocates for public education.

Also on the education team is a Bucks County woman who leads a tea party group. According to the Pittsburgh Tribune ("Transition team member irks Dems," by Mike Wereschagin, 12/02). She is quoted as calling President Obama a Marxist and saying liberals are in league with radical Islam. According to the article she was chosen because of her home schooling advocacy work.

The Delaware County Daily Times reports ("Corbett under fire for advisers' links to industry," by Marc Levy 12/06):

The head of another citizen advocacy group, Barry Kauffman of Common Cause Pennsylvania, said he saw nothing wrong with including people from all walks of industry, as long as the perspective is balanced. But he criticized Corbett's team as being light on public interest viewpoints.

Kauffman gave Corbett credit for reserving a transportation committee slot for AAA, the consumer-oriented nonprofit travel club with millions of members, but noted that the health and welfare committees lack AARP representation. There are no student associations or parent-teacher organizations on the education committee, Kauffman said.

The energy and environment committee does not include the Sierra Club or Audubon, and the veterans' committee includes a representative of Veterans for Corbett, but not any of the various veterans groups in Pennsylvania, he said.

Just to take one example, here is the membership list for the education committee:

Co-Chair – Joel Greenberg, Susquehanna International Group
Co-Chair – Mark Nordenberg, Chancellor University of Pittsburgh

* Jim Agras, CEO of Triangle Tech and State Board of Education
* Jeanne Allen, President of Center for Education Reform
* Chris Bravacos, President, Bravo Group
* Matt Brouillette, President, Commonwealth Foundation
* PA State Rep. Paul Clymer
* Marie Conley, Chair of the Human Resources Committee, Board of Governors
* Bill Donahue, Treasurer of Donahue Family Foundation
* Carolyn Dumaresq, Partner, Dumaresq Consulting
* Dan Fitzpatrick, President/CEO, Citizens Bank
* Amy Foerster, Saul Ewing
* Don Francis, Independent Colleges & Universities
* Dennis Giorno, Malady & Wooten
* Vahan Gureghian, Chester County Charter School
* Larry Jones, President of Charter School Association
* Michael Karp, President of University City Housing
* Ruth O'Block Grant, Member, Board of Trustees, Seton Hill University
* Pat O'Connor, COB, Temple University, Cozen & O'Connor
* PA State Senator Jeffrey Piccola
* David Pollard, Susquehanna International Group
* Ana Puig, Co-Chair of Kitchen Table Patriots
* Father Ed Quinlan, Secretary of Education, Harrisburg Diocese
* Cynthia Richey, Director of Mt. Lebanon Library System
* Richard Sand, Managing Partner of Sand & Saidel Law Firm
* Dave Schulik, Shulick Law Offices
* Carl Singley, Counsel, Ciardi, Ciardi and Astin
* Karen Stout, President of Montgomery County Community College
* Bob Taylor, Trustee, Slippery Rock University
* Paul Taylor, Executive Director Archabbey, St. Vincent's College
* Ron Tomalis, Director of Dutko Worldwide
* Dennis Tulli, Cyber Charters
* PA State Senator Anthony Williams
* Charles Zogby, K12 Inc. (Knowledge Universe).

There aren't any teachers listed and no one is identified as being part of any pta or pto or parents' association. Other than someone on the state board of education I don't see any representation of public k-12 schools at all. Granted some of the people are the listed are likely parents but their identification is business related and none of those businesses are related to public k-12 education.

Transition team members are asked to sign ethics and confidentiality agreements. Their duties include coming up with recommendations for the new administration by mid-January. Corbett is not obligated to follow their recommendations. Appearances do matter, though, and, as a parent and former pta board member, I'm a little concerned about the absence of a representative of public education on that committee.

General Comparison of Candidates for Pennsylvania Governor

There seems to be a lot of interest in finding a comparison between the two candidates for governor so let me see if I can supply it. (full disclosure: the blogger is a Democrat).

Republican Tom Corbett does not want to put any tax on marcellus shale extraction; Democrat Dan Onorato wants an impact tax on the natural gas that companies extract, which will bring Pennsylvania in line with other gas-producing states. Both want to reduce business taxes. Corbett calls for a 10% reduction in state government; Onorato calls for 20%. As County Executive of Allegheny County Onorato reduced the number of elected row offices and consolidated 911 call centers to cut government spending. Onorato calls for campaign finance reform; Corbett does not. Onorato calls for term limits; Corbett does not. Both call for reform of perks and unvouchered expenses. You can read more on the policy statements on their campaign web sites.

The Pittsburgh area, where Onorato has been Allegheny County executive, has not had a property tax increase in years, and the unemployment level is lower than that of the state. Corbett is the state attorney general. He has filed charges against some legislators in the bonusgate cases. In this process he used subpeona power to try to find out who owned a twitter account that had been critical of him.

As for campaign donations, Corbett has taken sizable donations from the natural gas and drilling industries (the marcellus shale people). Onorato has received a lot of union money. Both received support from national party organizations such as the Republican Governors Association and the Democratic Governors Assocation.

You are encouraged to visit their sites yourself and look at their finance reports at campaignfinance.state.pa.us

Following Dan Onorato Around

In 2006, I wrote up some general guidelines for evaluating candidates. A few times I’ve used those guidelines to write about meeting candidates over a period of months and how they measured up to them. It’s been awhile since I wrote a “meeting” post, so let’s dust off the guidelines and see what happens.

Dan Onorato is the Democratic candidate for governor. I’ve watched a couple of gubernatorial debates on pcn and written them up, went to an early endorsement rally, read his policies extensively and posted on that, did an email interview, reviewed his campaign finance reports, attended three of the picnics he held on this side of the state over the summer, went to one house party where he was the featured guest, and attended one diner stop (see the Dan Onorato and Governor 2010 blog post labels for those and other posts). That’s not as extensive as the contact I had with previous “meeting” post candidates so this is more a “following around” post. Also, at very few of these events did Onorato make public remarks, for the most part he would walk around the room or area and talk with people individually. But his detailed policy statements fill in, providing his platform and electoral positions. Having read up on his work in Allegheny County and Pittsburgh I see a lot of consistency in what he promised and what he did in office. So, here goes:

The Utility Test
Voters might assume that high rollers and influentials can get face time with elected officials and candidates, but how are those further down the food chain treated? This is important because no matter how useful you are at any one point in time the wheel usually turns at some point and you will lose your utility. What happens then? How receptive is the candidate to regular voters?

I think some people on the Onorato campaign were tipped off early on as to who I might be, which removes the some of the element of surprise and objectivity. All the same, this is a governors race and I am a low level blogger. At most of these events I sat quietly and watched the interaction between candidate and people, but a couple of times I had specific questions about policy matters or campaign finance. Not all candidates take unexpectedly detailed or pointed questions well, but Onorato did. He was willing to discuss matters and explain his position, and, when I did not appear convinced, where he thought we agreed. I still disagree but appreciate the effort he put into his answer. I saw him engage in lengthy discussions with other people as well. A videographer from the campaign of his opponent, Tom Corbett, attended some of the same events I did. I watched carefully to see how the young man was treated. At each event he was invited to get something to eat or drink. Onorato came over to talk with him at one event. If a representative from the opposition is greeted in a calm, welcoming fashion, then voters can expect the same. The research I have done on various posts, on Onorato and the minority business community in Pittsburgh for example, indicate that he works with the community he represents. Of the various criticisms I have heard and read, inaccessibility is not one of them.

The Staff and Supporters Test
People are judged by the company they keep. What sort of staff does a candidate hire and do they stick around? High turnover is a warning sign. What kind of people attend the candidate’s events? As always, one reason I can write a post like this is that someone on the campaign staff kept me in the loop, where would the candidate be and when. I was added to the press release list and, especially in the last few months of the election, there was a public schedule with a number of free public events on it. I could usually get an answer to an emailed question. Campaign staff were efficient and friendly. Onorato hosted a number of picnics in various parts of the greater Philadelphia area over the summer, and has done a number of diner stops. The people I spoke to at events were civic-minded and pleasant. I enjoyed going out to Onorato events and just chatting with the people who were there. Onorato appears comfortable wading into the masses and chatting with people one on one. He doesn’t seem to bend his campaign positions to fit the audience – I saw and heard a lot of consistency in what he said in public remarks and in what was said in individual and small group conversations.

The Motivation Test
Can the candidate get people who otherwise disagree to work together? Can the candidate get people to come out and get involved? Here again I’d say yes. In doing research on his work in the Pittsburgh city council and Allegheny County government I found evidence that he could work with people he disagreed with and get them to come on board for projects. His low key, no drama approach seems effective. As always, when writing a post like this, it is worth noting that I was willing to give up a fair number of Saturday or Sunday afternoons to drive around and go to events to follow the campaign.

The Rope Test
My mother's basic judge of character is to ask this: If you were dangling over a cliff and hanging on to a rope, would you want this person to be holding the other end of the rope? In this case I’d say “yes.” Onorato is methodical, both an accountant and a lawyer. If he makes a commitment, say holding a rope, I think he would carry through. He would, of course, make sure he got the rope at a good price and you shouldn’t expect a big fuss when you got back up the cliff, but you would not fall.

Summation: No candidate will share your views on everything, or do everything the way you would have liked. What is important is if you can voice that view and be heard without fear or repercussion, and if you can count on the candidate to follow through with stated intentions. That has been my experience with the Onorato campaign and what has been reflected in the research I have done on his work in office. It may be telling that in nearly six years of blogging, this is my third “meeting” post.

Conference Call with Nutter on Voter Suppression

This afternoon Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter and Will Crossley, Director of Voter Protection at the Democratic National Committee held a conference call on voting in the city. It was in response to Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Corbett's comments on keeping the voting percentage down in Philadelphia. To be fair, directly after the "keep it down" comment he did say he wanted everyone to vote, but from the fuller comments I saw on an extended video, he did seem to be saying he wanted to keep Democratic voting down, and wanted lots of people of all political stripes to vote for him. Sure, every candidate wants everyone to vote for him or her. But there is no denying that Corbett said:

I saw today that the Governor said yesterday that Bob Brady should resign as chairman of the Democratic committee of Philadelphia if he doesn't get 50% turnout....

I don't think he's going to get 50%.

But we want to make sure that they don't get 50%.

Keep that down." (watch video of comments here)

Given the history of voting rights among the African American community comments like that can bring up old and ugly memories. Nutter referenced the many who fought and suffered, even violence, for the right to vote. He called on all Philadelphians to come out on election day and vote.

Crossley referenced other voter suppression tactics across the country:

From sending out flyers with the wrong date for Election Day to misleading voters by telling them that if they have parking tickets or owe child support you will not be allowed to vote.

In Nevada there were ads telling Latinos not to vote.

In concert with Mayor Nutter I would encourage all registered voters to participate in the Democratic process.

Corbett Wants Fewer Philadelphians to Vote

from the inbox:

Pennsylvania’s chief law enforcement official and GOP gubernatorial nominee Tom Corbett yesterday said that “we want to make sure” that city residents do not come out to vote on Tuesday.

In a speech to Delaware County Republicans, Corbett implored his followers to “keep” down the vote in urban areas:

“President Clinton is coming back into Pennsylvania on behalf of my opponent again. The President is coming in on Saturday. Mrs. Obama is coming in on Sunday or Monday….

I saw today that the Governor said yesterday that Bob Brady should resign as chairman of the Democratic committee of Philadelphia if he doesn’t get 50% turnout….

I don’t think he’s going to get 50%.

But we want to make sure that they don’t get 50%.

Keep that down.”

Click here to view the clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwpXTg6Ryjw

“The Attorney General’s job is to protect our right to vote and make sure that every vote counts, so why is Tom Corbett instead telling his Republican activists to ‘keep’ the vote down in the City of Philadelphia?” said Onorato for Governor Communications Director Brian Herman. “With two new polls in the last week showing Dan Onorato ahead of Tom Corbett among registered voters, having as few votes as possible come out of Philadelphia is the Republican’s only path to victory.”

On Wednesday, the CNN/Time poll gave Onorato a 2-point lead among registered voters, up from a 5-point deficit the prior month. And the Reuters/Ipsos poll showed Onorato beating Corbett by 3 points among registered voters.

“Republican Tom Corbett has proven time and time again that he’s willing to put his extreme political agenda ahead of average voters: from suing to block President Obama’s health care law to doing the bidding of his Big Oil & Gas donors,” said Herman. “And now five days before Election Day, he’s telling supporters to help him ‘keep that down’ when it comes to inner-city voting.”

Onorato and Minority Business

Dan Onorato, the Democratic candidate for governor, isn't very well known on this side of the state, even after months of campaigning. While some aspects of his work in the Pittsburgh area have been written about, others haven't. A strong showing from the voters of the Philadelphia area could make a big difference in the outcome of the race. Out of curiosity I looked into his relationship with the African American business community in Pittsburgh.

To avoid getting only the mainstream view I made a special effort to research in Pittsburgh's ethnic newspapers. (The Ethnic Newswatch database is an excellent resource for this.) While this is a relatively short post a lot of background research went into it. This is only a summary, but it may provide voters with some idea of how Onorato dealt with minority businesses.

The first executive order Dan Onorato signed after taking office as Allegheny County Executive directed all departments to make diversity a top priority. He also announced a new fund “to provide short-term, working capital for minority and women-owned government contractors” (Toler 05/09/2004).

"We are creating economic opportunities for firms that have traditionally faced challenges in obtaining enough working capital to participate in the government projects," said Onorato, adding that this will help the qualifying companies grow.(Toler 05/09/2004)

This is an issue he has been involved in as far back as 1994 when he was on the Pittsburgh city council (Bull, 7/21/1994).

Onorato does not use traditional set asides or quotas. In fact, in 1999, when he was on the Pittsburgh City Council, Onorato voted against a city council proposal mandating a set asides for city residents and minorities, though he has supported goals for inclusion. (Morrow, 5/29/1999) He was also on the board of the Stadium Authority, where the lack of minorities in the concessions was an issue. In his view, “We’ve got to make sure business ventures reflect what this city looks like” (Hamm, 8/16/1995). Making sure minority owned ventures knew the system and how to maneuver through it seemed preferable to him, rather than court battles. Later, as county controller he estimated that 40% of the auditing contracts in his office went to minority and women owned businesses. One of those was a $12 million contract for medical services at the county jail (Morrow,10/07.2000). He also said that 25% of the people hired in his office were African-American. (Toler, 8/06/2003)

In response to criticism that his office did not do enough to combat the problem of companies claiming more diversity in their work than was accurate, Onorato’s office studied primary contractor’s and subcontractor’s inclusion of minority and women-owned businesses in large public infrastructure projects. He then established eight recommendations to increase the number of minority and women-owned businesses involved in county construction projects, such as verifying payments and requiring proof of “good faith” efforts from contractors. The president of Minority Enterprise Corp and the Pittsburgh branch of the NAACP praised his efforts. (Toler 8/07/2002) In the next year, the Port Authority, exceeded its 18% minority and women-owned business participation goal. (Toler, 4/007/2004). Prior to that he advocated merging the county and city offices that verified minority contractors, and began doing the work in house instead of hiring outside firms to do it. This was to cut down or eliminate fraud. (McNulty and Boyd, 6/16/2000).

When he ran for county executive Onorato had the support of African Americans he had served on the city council with, even those with whom he had occasionally had disagreements. Here are some quotes:

McDonald-Roberts served on Pittsburgh City Council with Onorato.
"He's smart, he thinks outside of the box, he knows government, he knows finance and he's one who cares about the many different people who make up this community. It's time," she said. "He has always been there for our community."
"Name me one other political event that has brought together this diverse (in opinion) a group of Black politicians," said Pittsburgh Councilman Sala Udin. "You can't because there is not one."

later

State Rep. Joseph Preston Jr., D-East Liberty, added that Onorato's platform includes issues beyond economic development that affect people where they are.
"It's about substance and who can deliver," Preston said in explaining why he supports Onorato over Roddey.
After "sitting down" with Onorato, Preston said he supports him because his plan addresses the needs in the areas of health and human services and senior citizens' issues. (Morrow & Toler, 9/27/2003)

Valerie McDonald Roberts, quoted above, ran for lieutenant governor in 2006 and many, myself included, were very impressed by her during her campaign visits to the Philadelphia area. Onorato won the election and in his first month of office appointed African-American Tim Johnson as the Director of Administrative Service (Morrow, 1/21/2004) and Ruby Byrd Smith to be director of the county’s Minority, Women and Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (Morrow, 1/28/2004). After five months in office, Onorato said that 21% of the 178 people he had hired were African American, as were 26.3% of those he had appointed to boards and authorities (Toler, 5/09/2004). After a year in office he said that a third of the 150 people he had appointed to boards and authorities were minorities, though he defined that term broadly. "When I say diversity, I'm not just talking about African-American," Onorato said. "I'm talking about gender, I'm talking about age” (Toler 1/26/2006)

There are a number of roadblocks to increasing the diversity of those getting government contracts. Onorato has supported a number of possible solutions. Some examples the city of Pittsburgh tried were reducing the size of contracts, increasing outreach to minority and women owned firms (Morrow, 10/31/2007). Perhaps as an example of that outreach he led off a 13 week radio effort to let small business owners know how to find information on upcoming projects and how to become involved in them (Belser, 1/13/2007). In 2009 a large Detroit-based minority owned, contracting firm opened a regional office in Pittsburgh. The company could do $100 million in bonding. (Morrow, 10/14/2009).

Onorato supports the idea of public / private partnerships and one example of that is a fund financed equally by the county and a donation from Citizens Bank. Each put in $500,000. The fund was to short-term working capitol to minority and women owned or disadvantaged businesses who wished to work on government contracts (Kendrick, 9/19/2004). A year and a half later the program “produced solid results” (Morrow, 4/12/2006). Another example is a “sheltered bond” program that would allow qualified contractors to apply for bonds of up to $1 million; it also provided short term financing for start-up costs. Some of the funds for this came from the state, others from private foundations. Bonding and finance are listed as two obstacles for small and minority owned firms. Onorato has also noted that the closing of a Pittsburgh based trade school has reduced the training venues for those wishing to go into the construction trades (Morrow, 1/27/2010). The issues of financing and education are represented in the policy statements he has set out for his campaign.


Sources:

Belser, Ann, “County buys air time on WAMO to reach disadvantaged businesses,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, January 13, 2007.

Bull, John M. R., “Loan to pirates limits city borrowing for construction,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette July 21, 1994.

Hamm, Sandy, “Brewer gets first African-American stadium food contract,” New Pittsburgh Courier. Aug, 16, 1995: . A-1

Kendrick, Louis ‘Hop.’ ”To Tell The Truth; Reparations yes, but not cash, ownership,” New Pittsburgh Courier. :Sep 19, 2004. p. A7

McNulty, Timothy, and Tom Barnes, “County, city to join forces on certifying contractors,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette June 16, 2000.

Morrow, Christian, “Brinker Group opens office in Pittsburgh,” New Pittsburgh Courier. Oct 14-Oct 20, 2009. p. A1,A4

Morrow, Christian, “County loan program produces solid results,” New Pittsburgh Courier. Apr 12-Apr 18, 2006. C1-C2

Morrow, Christian, “Johnson tapped for county post,” New Pittsburgh Courier, Jan 21, 2004, p. A-1.

Morrow, Christian, “Racial summit elicits praise and response,” New Pittsburgh Courier. Oct 31-Nov 6, 2007. p. A1,A5

Morrow, Christian, “Robinson look sinto row office contacts with minorities,” New Pittsburgh Courier Oct. 7, 2000, p. A-1.

Morrow, Christian, “ Smith named to county M/WBE post,” New Pittsburgh Courier, Jan 28, 2004, p. A-1

Morrow, Christian, “Udin takes Pgh works crusade to the people,” New Pittsburgh Courier, May 29, 1999, p. A-1

Morrow, Christian, “Union job inclusion still a challenge,” New Pittsburgh Courier, Jan 27-Feb 2, 2010., P. A1, A4.

Morrow, Christian and Sonya M Toler, “Black Dems show support for Onorato,” New Pittsburgh Courier Sept. 27, 2003, p. A-1.

Toler, Sonya M.. “First county exec debate a political brawl,” New Pittsburgh Courier. (City Edition). Pittsburgh, Pa.:Aug 6, 2003. p. A1

Toler, Sonya M. “Is MBE certification worth it? Cumbersome process about to get easier through County / Port Authority effort?” New Pittsburgh Courier (Apr 07, 2004), p. B1

Toler, Sonya M.. “Onorato exec order makes diversity priority,” New Pittsburgh Courier. :May 09, 2004. p. A1

Toler, Sonya M. “Onorato says plan increases minority contracts,” New Pittsburgh Courier Aug, 7, 2002, p. A-1.

Toler, Sonya M. “Onorato shares vision for region, accomplishments,” New Pittsburgh Courier Jan 26-Jan 30, 2005. p. C1

A Few Notes from Saturday's Inky

A few things that caught my eye from Saturday's Inquirer:

from "Health insurers' donations shift to GOP," by Jim Kuhnhenn and Richardo Alonso-Zaldivar: The gist is that health insurance PACs supported the health insurance reform bill as long as it included a mandate for everyone to have insurance (otherwise it isn't financially feasible) but now that it has passed the donations are tipping more towards Republicans hoping for less stringent regulations. For instance the bill that passed called for health insurance companies to spend 80% of premiums people pay to actually be spent on medical care. The insurance companies don't like that.

from the editorials, "Cash on the barrel:"

An so Senate President Pro Tem Joseph Scarnati (R., Jefferson) has amassed at least $143,000 in campaign donations from the [natural gas] industry. The Senate GOP never even held a vote on a tax proposal. When Scarnati's team left town, it was considering a tax that would have been among the lowest in the nation.

If Republican Tom Corbett is elected governor in November, the tax issue will be dead for at least four more years. He opposes the production tax and has accepted more than $700,000 from an industry hoping he wins. Democrat Dan Onorato, who has received far less from gas drillers, wants to impose a production tax.

Notes from Onorato / Corbett Debate on Oct. 18th

Again, thanks to our friends at PCN I taped and watched a debate. Unfortunately I missed the first few minutes so if there were opening statements I missed them. As always these are just rough notes. I apologize in advance for any errors or misconceptions.

Gubernatorial Candidates debate
October 18, 2010
Democrat Dan Onorato
Republican Tom Corbett
open office, no incumbent
Moderator: Jim Gardner

Q1: voters feel disaffected and alienated, are you part of the problem?

TC; As governor the first thing is to become the leader, make difficult decisions. not necessarily in political best interests and will have political consequences but need to be made. not in this race for me personally but for my children and future grandchildren. PA needs to become a shining example that other states want to measures themselves by. we are crawling into the past, in part because of rancor. I don’t think I’ve been part of that. what I do is in the best interests of PA.

DO: thanks. people are worried upset at Harrisburg and DC and they should be because of unemployment levels.. I spent last 7 years governing, able to reform government, took on own party, consolidated row offices and 911 centers, downsize payroll, clean up old industrial sites, not raised property taxes in 7 years, froze assessments, unemployment below state level. want to reform Harrisburg, We have the most expensive legislature in nation, I will reduce by 20%, create an environment where private industries want to come to PA, regulatory agencies act in timely manner, train people for jobs of tomorrow.

Q2: why are voters in Southeastern Pennsylvania not engaged in state government

TC: difficult question. people start paying attention in last two weeks. don’t know who Dan and I are at this point.

DO: obviously a lot of races going on, congressional, senate, governor. crazy attack ads, people disgusted. I’ve spent a lot of time in SEPA last two years, talking about how things will affect Southeastern Pennsylvania, now its up to the field operation

Q3: hate crimes and bullying, what steps to increase diversities, outlaw discrimination based on orientation. would you sign [missed this].

DO: I’ve already done it. As the county executive of Allegheny Co passed anti-discrimination bill for sex orientation and gender identity. We shouldn’t discriminate against anyone. I even talk about in policy papers. No one should be intimidated at school or work. As governor I would sign.

TC: been dealing with this myself. As attorney general, going into schools talking about cyber bulling. this concerns me. The governor should participate in education. teach tolerance in schools. The civil rights division in the attorney general’s office, very active, important to continue being active. The amendment won’t make enforcement any better, The laws already there.

Q4: changes in gun laws, specificially in Philly

TC: the Supreme Court has ruled on whether cities can have separate ordinances. It is clear you cannot have separate ordinances. I’m not in favor of more gun laws. My office created a gun violence task force with Philadelphia DA’s office. Recently issued a report, 1300 active investigations, taken nearly 1k guns off street. enforcement of existing laws. courts have to help with this. when we get people in courts, sometimes lack of enforcement

follow up – Florida loop hole

TC: I cannot change this. Restrictions in Florida greater than in PA, have to demonstrate that you have taken 12 hour gun safety course, fingerprints, background check, no convictions or committed for mental illness, we have reciprocity with Florida.

DO: totally disagree. Supreme Court made it clear that we have an individual right to own guns but also right to reasonable regulations. in favor of that, of requirement to report lost or stolen guns, child safety locks, Florida loophole. I believe the Attorney General does have ability to close. Florida giving permits to carry concealed weapons.

TC: The Dept of agriculture and licensing in Florida issue permits, not like bunch of farmers make this decisions.

DO: I respect sportsmen and sportswomen and self-defense in home. Regarding dept of agriculture and licensing. should Florida’s dept be dictating to PA who should carry a concealed weapon

Q5: job creation -- what specifically would you do? How many jobs will your administrations create?

DO: I can’t give you a number because we don’t know what the future holds. Can tell you what we did in Allegheny Co. We have lost jobs as every other county has. Allegheny has weathered storm better tan other parts of the state. create a better business tax environment, lower business tax, phase out corporate stock tax, look at regulatory agency. get permits in 4 months not 2 years. train workers for jobs of future. marcellus shale – potential 80k new jobs, part of my platform, we want them to hire Pennsylvanians..

TC: If we could say how many jobs we would create we should be in different business. We have to create private sector climate when taxes 11th worst burden in nation. clear correlation between the two. whole list of taxes, look on campaign site for list. stock and franchise, inheritance tax, tort reform, grow young businesses already here, regulatory reform. agencies must work with business, not be adversarial. I’m the only candidate that has ever worked in a regulated industry. I understand when agencies hounds you. we have the potential in this state for hundreds of thousands of jobs.

follow-up: how long will it take you to lower those taxes

DO: can’t give exact timeline. it all depends on what is on the table. Are some corporate loopholes on the table? push hard to get down what I want to do.

TC: can’t give date …… will cut size and cost of state government, be accountable to money paid into Harrisburg

Q6: Harrisburg close to declaring bankruptcy. 19 towns and cities in distressed status. mayors asking for more taxing authority. in favor of this?

TC: look at Act 47. many cities in act 47 status for long time. haven’t been responsible with them, overseeing plan they develop so they can come out of it. state has responsibility that municipalities work to reduce time under act 47. work with towns before they go into act 47. not looking at new taxes, look at cost reductions, efficiencies. one thing state does do is send down unfounded mandates. should review that area.

DO: I run a local government, watched unfounded mandates and won’t send those down as governor. provide incentives to stressed cities to work outside box, consolidate police and fire depts.. if municipalities want help, need to look at how we provide services. look at school districts, local government. look at options. look at efficiencies. glad we were able to be creative in Allegheny county. not raised prop taxes because we are efficient. I don’t use more taxes, are there other options. demand efficiencies, shared services, lower cost.

Q7: 3 things you will cut?

DO: I do understand why people cynical when talk about downsizing legislature. They told me the same things when I said I would downsize county government, but we consolidated offices and streamlined government, got it down. cut and save, want to cut 20%. legislature sitting on $200M in leadership funds and walking around monies, look at turnpike and [missed this] agency, can we be more efficient. Won’t cut school funding. continue to fund basic funding forward, early childhood education. would rather invest pre-k than spend 10 times more building jails.

TC: We need to go through and look at budget and work with agencies. use auditor generals example of ineligible payments in welfare, reform plan, work with legislature, cut per diems, reduce size of fleet, institute zero based budgeting, Dept of Community and Economic Development has 300 separate programs. school funding, take a look at it, not committed to cost funding program, in favor of early childhood education. generational change. if we invest in pre-k education, we’re going to save ourselves money over a generation.

Q8: property taxes, what is wrong with HB 1275, shift from property tax to sales tax, with exemptions

TC: issue been going on since eisenhouwer administration. Looked at hb 1275, concerned that amount of revenue raised is insufficient to support school districts and counties. talked to many people, can look at what revenues we have, and what size of sales tax, idea appears to be fair, reaches all kinds of people. the problem is a spending problem. schools and counties spending a lot of money. need to get that under control.

DO: Tom has campaign ad against me for this. the largest property tax was under predecessor, who is now on tom’s campaign committee. Allegheny County has not had a property tax increase in 7 years. I delivered on campaign promise. In first debate Tom criticized me on school education, now agrees with me. He changes his views. That house bill needs serious consideration. but if we do that take it to voters via referendum. I would investigate issue of doing away with property tax but only if way to fund schools and passes a referendum.

TC: we will take a look at this. nice if we could find a source to fund all this but must be sure you are replacing revenue with revenue neutral. He says ads incorrect. He said he would cut prop tax 10% but he hasn’t.

Q9: kids can’t make grade level in reading in math, failing schools in particular areas, school choice?

DO: Tom voted to raise taxes when he was elected. On education, continue to reform and fix charters, supported them in my city. but don’t pit one school against another. hold them accountable. support program where companies can give money to schools, support grant program for kids stuck in poorly performing schools.

TC: school system across state that is failing and broken. we have to fix it. very detailed plan on website. early childhood initiative. earned income tax benefit for businesses, vouchers are a yes for me. let students and teachers and parents know what schools are failing.

Q10: taxes versus fees, Corbett quote that people prefer to take unemployment vs work

TC: People of PA out there looking for jobs. we need to work much better on workforce development, to match jobs that are available. need to develop workforce for the future. recently in career center in Northeast PA, observed 65 year old man learning skills to run a computer to run a lathe. statement I made was in response to two anecdotes reported to me. got to get people the jobs we should develop. Marcellus shale will grow 100k of jobs. I have signed a pledge not to increase taxes or fees

DO: I take exception with what he’s saying. He’s on records saying he doesn’t want to extend unemployment because jobs are there. I don’t need to sign a pledge because I’ve done that. I heard TC say in first debate that he would increase unemployment taxes. I have a track record and platform, applauded in some places, not in others but consistent. Allegheny has lowest foreclosure and is recognized on “best” lists in magazines

Q11: Marcellus shale. severance tax? do we ask developers to pay now or let them pay state later in diff kinds of taxes

DO: we should do what every state is doing, a competitive severance tax. replace all cuts in Dept of Environmental Protection, has taken 28% cut, watch water quality, growing greener fund, watch roads, etc for wear. make sure industry understand they will hire our people not people from elsewhere before we will issue permits.

TC: we have to understand we are the Saudi Arabia of natural gas. need to develop now because will bring hundreds of thousands of jobs. no severance, they pay through income and royalty taxes. economy in areas there are now growing. DEP secretary has said permits have allowed him to hire enough people to make sure environment guarded. I’m the only one here that has protected environment as US attorney. As attorney General worked with legislature to increase penalties against those who have harmed environment

DO: Tom not the only one who has protected environment. TC taken more money than anyone from natural gas. He is jeopardizing the environment. while in private sector he defended largest [missed this] of the environment, goes both ways. these CEOs know they have to pay the tax, they are willing to pay the tax

TC: my record is clear on protecting environment. When I was working with that company it was to make them compliant with environmental laws. look at taxes of Texas. if looking at how other states have severance tax, let’s look at their entire tax system.

Q12: no bid contracts, Rendell criticized for this

TC: The governor serves the people of PA. Under Gov. Ridge there was a bar for people to lobby government. totally inappropriate for governor to create contracts or hire legislator who is out of office to keep them on payroll.

DO: I will not do that. I have a reform paper out on that. Everything will be competitively bid. no sole sourcing of contracts. 2 year or more moratorium on lobbying, etc by former employees.

Q13: You are Catholic, how will faith affect decisions, abortion

DO: product of Catholic school, part of who I am, wouldn’t change abortion law.

TC: Our faith guides how we make decisions. must do the right thing. decisions will be made in best interests of PA. support current abortion law, if the legislature passes stricter law I will sign it.

Q14: Medicaid, 20% of state budget, will you pledge not to cut?

TC: find waste in Medicaid, look at auditor general’s report. won’t make pledge without knowing what money we will be getting from feds on that, do my best to keep it at 20%.

DO: do everything I can not to cut Medicaid. look at all parts of budget before looking at this part. health care generally will be a challenge. We need to implement it, watched costs of health care rise. problem with adult basic. called for insurance companies to extend contract till 2014 to make sure we don’t throw 45K off roles before health care reform implemented.

Q15: immigration only federal concern

DO: legally has to be done at fed level

TC: feds have duty to enforce laws. states can make sure payments not going to illegals.

Closing statements

TC: thanks, The next governor has serious challenges. I view them as opportunities. take PA back to being an example for other states. next governor has to make tough decisions. I’ve done that throughout my entire career. Look at Chris Christie (NJ) and Bob McDonnnell (VA) who were prosecutors and had to make tough decisions. distinct choices between candidates. Onorato will increase taxes and unemployment, trying to be all things to all people, Rendell-like policies. if you want someone who will bring change, job creation to PA, vote for me.

DO: thanks. Corbett wishes he were running against Ed Rendell but he is running against me. I have a record of downsizing government, will bring an outsiders point of view, never been part of Harrisburg. will make real reforms. worked with private sector to create more jobs. I’ll take on Harrisburg and even legislature. I know people are hurting out there. I respectfully ask for your vote.

Corbett Gets the Gas Money

from "Corbett leads everyone in gas-industry donations," by Bob Warner, in today's Daily News:

The front-running candidate for governor, Tom Corbett, a leading opponent of taxes on Pennsylvania's emerging shale-gas industry, has accepted more than $700,000 in campaign donations from that industry, more than all other Pennsylvania candidates combined.

Running a distant second in support from the gas industry, with $148,000 in donations, is a politician who won't even appear on next month's ballots - state Senate Republican leader Joe Scarnati, whose caucus has so far blocked action on an extraction tax.

Onorato Endorsed by CeaseFirePA

from the inbox:

Pennsylvania’s leading gun violence prevention organization, CeaseFirePA, endorsed Democratic gubernatorial nominee Dan Onorato today, praising his support of common-sense legislation that respects Pennsylvanians’ Second Amendment rights while getting illegal handguns off the streets.

“I am a strong believer in gun owners’ rights, and I know that we can respect those rights while making our communities safer,” said Onorato. “While Tom Corbett is representing the fringe of his party, I will stand with law enforcement and community leaders to fight for public safety.”

Most recently, Onorato, CeaseFirePA and mayors and chiefs of police from across the state have called on Corbett to use his existing authority as Attorney General to close the Florida Loophole. Under the loophole, even when Pennsylvania law enforcement officials deny or revoke a concealed-carry permit because of a history of arrests, domestic violence or substance abuse, a suspect can carry a concealed weapon with permission from the state of Florida.

Corbett can close the loophole with 30 days notice simply by dissolving the state’s reciprocity agreement with Florida.

But at Saturday night’s gubernatorial debate, the Harrisburg Republican went further than his usual statement that the loophole is not a problem. This time, he denied that it even existed.

“I do not believe, as the newspapers say, that there is a Florida Loophole, as everybody says there is,” Corbett told moderator John Baer. [Capitolwire, 10/16/2010]

In March, 175 Pennsylvania mayors signed a letter to Corbett asking him to close the loophole. Newspapers from Pittsburgh [Post Gazette, 10/4/2010] to Scranton [Times-Tribune, 6/5/2010] have called to end the loophole. The Pennsylvania Sheriffs’ Association, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the Western Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police, and other law enforcement leaders have all called for the loophole to be closed.

“No mother should have to bury her 14- month-old child," said Mary Beth Hacke, a CeaseFirePA board member whose son was killed in his car seat by a stray bullet. “We need real leadership to help keep our families and communities safe. Tom Corbett has proven that he's not on our side, and Dan Onorato is the only candidate for Governor who is.”

Onorato released a policy paper in March detailing his plans for public safety. It includes:

* fighting for common-sense laws such as requiring people to report when a handgun has been lost or stolen;
* prosecuting straw purchasers and other violators to the fullest extent of the law; and
* toughening penalties for criminals who violate gun laws.

“Dan Onorato is the only candidate who will protect our streets from gun violence and institute common-sense solutions,” CeaseFirePA President Phil Goldsmith said. “Reasonable proposals like child safety locks, mandatory reporting of stolen guns and closing the Florida Loophole are in the best interest of everyday Pennsylvanians and law-abiding gun owners.”

Onorato pledged that, as Governor, he will work with communities to improve public safety statewide.

“We should never outsource our law enforcement to other states, and as Attorney General, Tom Corbett should know that,” Onorato said. “Public safety is a basic requirement for economic growth and stable communities, and cracking down on illegal handguns will be a top priority when I’m Governor.”

Quick Look at the Women Who Would be First Lady

The candidates for governor have started to show up a lot in the media: commercials, newspaper articles, and all those ghastly blog posts (!). So we are learning about them. But what about the prospective first ladies? Who are the women behind the men?

Let’s take a quick look.

Shelly Onorato, wife of Democratic candidate Dan Onorato, is from Mountaintop, Luzerne County. She has a graduate degree in the health field and works part time as a dental hygienist and health care consultant. Mrs. Onorato has concentrated her energies on raising the couple’s three children.

Susan M. Corbett has played a much more public role. She worked at the Carnegie Institute, then the Carnegie Library. In 1993 she shifted to the Pittsburgh Arts and Lecture Series and in 1999 became director of the program. (This series was sometimes called the Three Rivers Lecture Series and the Drue Heinz Lectures) In 2005 she was named one of the top 50 creative forces in Pittsburgh. After her husband Tom was elected Attorney General of Pennsylvania in 2004 she looked for a job closer to Harrisburg and in 2006 joined the Gettysburg Foundation and is now a vice president for programming, membership and development.. According to their website (www.gettysburgfoundation.org), “The Gettysburg Foundation is a private, nonprofit educational organization working in partnership with the National Park Service to enhance the preservation and understanding of the heritage and lasting significance of Gettysburg.” Mrs. Corbett is also a trustee of the Carnegie Museum and was appointed by Gov. Rendell to the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. In 2008 2007 her Gettysburg Foundation salary was $81,054. [blogger’s note: According to public documents her salary in 2009 was $117,865.]. Update: apologies -- I used the date of the source article's publication (2008) not the year of the data (2007).

Mrs. Onorato could probably continue to work part-time as a dental hygienist but Mrs. Corbett might run into some problems working as a fundraiser while serving as the state’s first lady, although I will confess a great deal of ignorance on the rules surrounding this.

Sources:

Onorato:

Infield, Tom, “Onorato reports his 2009 family income,” Philadelphia Inquirer April 9, 2010

McNulty, Timothy, “Chief executive candidate Onorato not known for backing off quietly little posing, lots of passion,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 10/19/2003.

Corbett

Gettysburg Foundation (www.gettysburgfoundation.org)

Hoover, Bob, “Lecture series leader leaving,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette March 22, 2006.

James, Erin, “Following battlefield center’s cash,” Evening Sun, Sept. 17, 2008.

“The top 50 creative forces in Pittsburgh,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette June 5, 2005.

Corbett's AG Budget Increases

Tom Corbett, current state Attorney General and Republican candidate for governor, has been saying he wouldn't raise taxes if elected. His Democratic opponent, Dan Onorato has been pointing out that as Attorney General Corbett asked for more money for his department, which would seem to conflict with his promise of not increasing spending.

Some of these claims are examined in "Onorato, Corbett and the 13% solution," by Tom Murse 9/09 Lancaster Online. This is a really interesting and well-researched article. It turns out that Onorato's claim that Corbett asked for a 12% increase this year was wrong. It was actually 13%.

Hmmmmm ......

More on Corbett and Craigslist

Earlier I reported that while Pennsylvania Attorney General and GOP gubernatorial candidate had joined several other AGs in a lawsuit challenging the legality of health care reform legislation he did not sign a letter that several state AGs sent to Craigslist asking the service to discontinue its adult services section.

In 2008 Corbett was one of 43 attorneys general in asking Craigslist to crackdown on illegal content. He was not one of the signers of this week's letter (see "State AGs: Craigslist should drop adult services," by Everton Bailey, Jr., philly.com 8/24). The letter states in part:

The joint letter acknowledged Craigslist faces the prospect of losing revenue if it were to remove the adult services section.

"No amount of money, however, can justify the scourge of illegal prostitution and the suffering of the women and children who will continue to be victimized, in the market and trafficking provided by Craigslist," the letter said.

He did join the state attorney's general this past April in claiming that the health care reform legislation was unconstitutional (see his rationale here). The list of states in the suit is provided in "Attorneys general in 14 states sue to block healthcare reform," by Warren Richey, Christian Science Monitor 3/23/10)

It is interesting to look at the list of AGs in the health care reform suit and compare it to the list in the Craigslist letter. On health care all but one were Republicans. The Craigslist group is more diverse, 12 are Democrats and 5 are Republican. Four governors are on both lists, (Idaho, Michigan, South Carolina, and Texas), all are Republican. Corbett could have signed the letter -- there would surely not be any political fallout for doing so, but he didn't.

Again, I find his priorities questionable.

I would also note that Bob McCollum, Florida Attorney General, is another party to the lawsuit. This evening he lost the Republican primary for governor.

Corbetts Sues on Health Care Reform, But Not Prostitution

Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Corbett was part of a group of 13 state attorneys general who sued to block health care reform because they thought it was unconstitutional. However, he was not part of a group of 16 state attorneys general who wrote Craigslist asking them to stop their adult services section because it has not been able to screen out ads for prostitution and child trafficking (see AP article).

I question his priorities.

Onorato Talks With Philly Clout, And Other Onorato News

Last Thursday, Chris Brennan of Philly Clout talked with Dan Onorato, the Democratic candidate for governor. The five minute video is available on philly.com, at http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/cityhall/PhillyClout_Talks_WithDan_Onorato.html It is listed as being 18 minutes long but is actually on 5, so it's quick listen.

I typed up some brief notes, not intended as a transcription. As always, I apologize in advance for any errors or misconceptions.

Onorato is running against Republican Tom Corbett.

[Opening screen shot of Onorato talking]
DO: Considering that a year and a half ago I was down 25 points and now I'm 5 points down, with 40% not having an opinion, I'd say I'm making headway.

[Onorato and Brennan sit down to talk]

CB: Your campaign announced it had raised over $3M dollars, even though the next reporter period is about 6 weeks away, are you releasing that number to show momentum?

DO: The amount of money raised is a measuring stick but only one. The media reports on money when the reports are filed. This is another example of why my campaign if viable. Between fundraising, field operation, etc. we will win.
BC: Corbett is ahead. When will you go on the air and spend some of that money?

DO: I spent a lot of money in primary and had a big win. Both Tom and I need to get our name out there. We will run ads.

CB: You've held a fundraiser with Bill Clinton, possibly your biggest fundraiswer of the season. Will you ask President Obama to come and campaign for you? biggest fundraiers of season? BO?

DO: We haven't tried to contact the president yet.

CB: Corbett cals you his tax raising opponent. You placed a tax on alcoholic beverages. Corbett says he won't raise taxes but will balance the budget.

DO: His talk doesn’t match his rhetoric. He's never been an executive; he's never governed. The only department he runs he asks for more money each year. I know something about streamlining. I support a severance tax on Marcellus Shale; we can fund economic activity such as water and sewer lines.

CB: You are in favor the lowest severance tax in the country, as cited in a political publication.

DO: They got that wrong. They asked what I thought was a reasonable severance tax; I mentioned Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas as places that have taxes. We need to find a way that is safe for the environment but doesn't kill the industry.

Other Onorato news: If you follow Onorato on twitter (@dan_onorato) you will have noticed that this past weekend he was making his usual round of Philadelphia area picnics; one with Rep. Ron Waters Village Family Reunion another with Laborers Local 332, and I think there might have been a third event in there somewhere. Previously Onorato has visited with voters in, among other places, Montco, Bucks Co, and other sections of Philadelphia.

Mrs. Onorato has put together a small online photo scrapbook of his travels. Shelly has my sympathy -- I've been dealing with vacation photos recently.

Stu Bykofsky Candidates Comedy Night

20th Annual Stu Bykofsky Candidates Comedy Night.

This annual event is a fundraiser for Variety, the children’s charity. Bob Kelly of CBS 3 started things off. Stu Bykofsky acted as master of ceremonies with some assistance from his fellow Philadelphia Daily News colleague Jenice Armstrong. Mike Driscoll of Finnegan’s Wake donated the venue. The servers were working without pay to keep event costs down. The room was packed; there were considerably more people here this year than in 2008. (I wasn’t there in 2009 and so can’t comment on that.) More regular folks are attending – there were three “general admission” tables, compared to about 3 chairs in 2008.

Since this is a political blog I’m going to gloss over everything non-political. Since it is a family blog I won’t repeat any of the off-color humor, though I think there was less of it this year than in 2008. Remember that these candidates are not (intentionally) comedians, though most made a valiant effort. This is not an effort to provide a complete transcription, just a flavor of what was said. Check your local newspaper for coverage and statewide political blogs for video (www.pa2010.com is planning some video, others might as well).

Personal comments are in italics.

Tom Corbett, Attorney General and Republican candidate for governor, started things off. He reminded Stu that the Attorney General’s office has oversight over charities. John Baer of the Daily News said that Corbett is boring but Onorato is annoying. Corbett was born in Philadelphia, then moved to Pittsburgh. Noting that Dan Onorato has done research on him, Corbett said they had done research on Onorato and uncovered his secret [shows photos of Onorato in a Cowboys jersey, #81]. Corbett recently read a police blotter and learned that two people had pushed over the statue of the Philly Phanatic and that’s why he believes in the death penalty. He would have bought another table but bonuses are out in Harrisburg. Onorato put a tax on alcohol. If elected, Corbett will be the first governor born in Philadelphia for many years. He thinks Ed Rendell was born in Taxomia. Shows photo of the cover to an old book, Tom Corbett Goes to the Moon. Shows another photo of actor Leslie Nielsen and says they were separated at birth. [There is a strong resemblance.] He also took a fake phone call from Vince Fumo.

Congressman Patrick Murphy (D-08) was next. He said he was nervous and would rather be having a tickle fight with Eric Massa. Murphy said he asked Joey Vento for advice and Vento told him to say [Murphy said “Hello, my name is Patrick Murphy” in Spanish.] Mike Fitzpatrick [the Republican challenger] couldn’t be here. He’s in Kenya with tea party activists looking for Obama’s birth certificate. They’ve almost found it – it’s right next to Sadam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction, Bush’s military records and Charlie Rangel’s tax returns. The Republicans are after him this year and might give him the kiss of death – Sarah Palin’s endorsement.

Bykofsky notes that Congressman Jim Gerlach is in Washington as the House is in session, and that Gerlach did not send a surrogate.

Congressman Bob Brady (D-01) was up next. [I think he is doing something different with his hair.]. Brady would rather be lucky than good. Most elected officials are jokes in their day job and now they have to be jokes in their night job, too. Someone put a gun in his face recently and asked for his money. He told the robber he was a congressman and the robber said “Then give me all my money.” Brady said he won’t cut people down in his comments. He tells one joke about the lack of a Mexican Olympic team – everyone who can run or jump is already in America. [He told two very off color jokes that I won’t repeat here.]

Congressman Chaka Fattah (D-02) took the stage next. His remarks were mean-spirited, generic Republican jokes. They weren’t funny and he left a poor impression. This is a charity event, Congressman, tone it down.

Joe Scott Conklin, a professional comedian, came out and told a number of jokes and did voice impersonations of several elected officials, including Mayor Mike Nutter, Gov.Ed Rendell and Sen. Arlen Specter. He was funny and the impressions were good.

Mike Fitzpatrick, former Republican congressman from the 8th congressional district, running for that office again, could not appear. He sent Andre Watson (not sure of the spelling here) as a surrogate. He says he told Obama he was worried about being in over his head and Obama said “Tell me about it.” Fattah alleviated his fears of being the least funniest man in the room [thunderous applause from audience] Fitzpatrick can’t be here for family reasons. He promised his kids or maybe they promised him to go camping. They were canoeing down a river hoping to see Charlie Rangel going up without a paddle. [two Irish jokes about Murphy and Fitzpatrick and one off color joke about the stiumulus]

Dee Carson Adcock, Republican candidate for the 13th district. Most of the time he’s been campaigning he’s been trying to keep people from laughing at him. Someone told him to break a leg and he asked if that was covered by the new health plan. [He told several sports jokes but I don’t know sports and so can’t record them well.]

Pat Meehan, Republican candidate for the 7th congressional district. [Starts with long joke about Republicans, very funny but a little off color and hard to write down all of it.] He got interested in politics when Thatcher Longstreth came to his school. This is a tough economy. Some of the Philadelphia city agencies are taking their bribes on the installment plan. He hoped if he got elected to take the train to Washington with Joe Biden and Arlen Specter but Biden doesn’t take the train anymore and Specter keeps switching seats.

Rick Hellberg, Republican candidate for the 2nd congressional district. He told several jokes about Stu Bykofsky, including saying that Bykofsky is the only journalist that can call Larry King a kid. It is hard to find out who your ward leader is in Philadelphia. He thought only that kid in The Sixth Sense could see dead people. As a Republican he’s supposed to think the Democrats are in bed with the media. At least Chaka Fattah married the media. Fattah is easing those Philadelphians who miss John Street.

Dr. Manan Trivedi, Democratic candidate for the 6th congressional district. He grew up in a rural area of Berks County. He’s the only kid who tipped a cow and then had to worship it. He and his brother were the only Indian-Americans at their school. They had the weight of the entire spelling bee team on their shoulders. He was voted most likely to own a convenience store and his yearbook quote was “thank you, come again.” He served as a battalion surgeon with the Navy in Iraq. The only phone call he got in the 6 months he was there was a fundraising call from Allyson Schwartz. He has a young daughter now, 3 months old. He practices his speeches in front of her. She burps, spits and poops in her pants. He said it was just like the last time he went out drinking with Patrick Murphy.

Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz (D-13) couldn’t be here and sent a surrogate but the surrogate was tied up in Washington also so the surrogate sent a surrogate, Neil Deegan. His remarks were short and he praised Variety and the event.

Pat Toomey, Republican candidate for Senate started off by saying “Does Bob Brady have a safe seat or what?” Joe Biden and Dan Quayle are both coming out with books this fall. Watch out for a shortage of crayons. Obama celebrated his birthday with Oprah and Gayle King. Gayle said it was great that they could celebrate with the most important person in the world and it was nice that Obama could be there, too. Al Gore is involved in an embarrassing scandal and it is all over Google – do you think he regrets inventing the Internet now? Al and Tipper have separated; even the trees reject his hugs now. Who would have thought that Bill and Hillary would be the happy couple. This year the Democrats have tackled some big topics – immigration, don’t ask don’t tell, legalizing marijuana, and so on. So if you’re a gay pot-smoking Mexican wanting a job in the Navy it’s a good year for you. He also had a list of the top ten reasons why he is running (among them, he needs the money, get the bonus due his father [this is a dig at Specter who said he ran for office to get the military bonus promised his father], fish stick Friday in the Senate dining room, etc.

Dan Onorato, Democratic candidate for governor, was late because he was at an event with Bill Clinton. [Onorato said the mirror event in Pittsburgh is off the record so he was surprised to see press here. I’ll give him a pass since he wasn’t expecting to be recorded, etc. The jokes I noted involved borrowing an EZ Pass from DRPA and the Philadelphia city council taking the Drop program.]

Joe Sestak, Democratic candidate for Senate. He runs his staff like the Navy, low pay, bad food and lots of flogging. Then he learned that Vince Fumo had his staff mow his lawn. He asked various pols for ideas on how to run. Brady said the last time he ran was when he heard Geno’s was closing. Nutter said to tell people you’re going to close the Library of Congress. Sestak is Slovak for job offer. He then showed slides of the top 10 job offers he received, including etiquette coach for Rahm Emmanuel. [The last one was nanny to Rick Santorum’s children with the photo of his sad children from election night when Santorum lost – picking on someone’s kids is, in my opinion, a cheap shot.

Bryan Lentz, Democratic candidate for the 7th congressional district closed the show. He said sitting through all the comedy routines he could see why some politicians chose prison over running for re-election. He really liked the guy do did the imitation of an angry Chaka Fattah. [much laughter and applause from the audience]. He had nothing to do with Jim Schneller getting on the ballot but Schneller is coming on after him and if their jokes sound the same it is because Lentz’s campaign volunteers wrote his jokes too. His opponent is giving him a hard time about Nancy Pelosi. It is true that she did host a fundraiser for him and he did have her name tattooed on his [pause] leg, and he did give her a pedicure. But if Meehan wins he’ll have to paint the tan on John Boehner.

And with that, at close to 10:30, the show closed and those remaining in the audience left.

My vote for best line: Lentz commenting on the guy who did an imitation of the angry Chaka Fattah. Best newcomer’s routine: Dr. Manan Trivedi. Worst of the show: Chaka Fattah.

New Site for US Governor Races

The Democratic Governors Association has set up a new website, www.fighttheright2010.com with an assortment of interactive pages, including "the fringe 16" that includes Pennsylvania's Republican Tom Corbett. It also has a video entitled "Never Surrender" that features clips from classic films. Note for the ladies (and gentlemen so inclined), one of those clips stars Viggo Mortensen ( ..... what? oh, sorry, lost my train of thought ....).

And, oh yes, it also has a blogroll on it, featuring at least one Pennsylvania blog.