Off Topic: A Kit for S'mores?

I was picking up some groceries today and saw a new product that just stopped me in my tracks -- a prepackaged kit for making S'mores. That's right, a box with some graham crackers, a few marshmallows and a chocolate bar. Complete with instructions. Think about that. If you need a kit and instructions to make s'mores I think it is likely you have more serious problems to deal with. C'mon people, how hard is it? You microwave a couple marshmallows for 10 seconds, put some part of a chocolate bar a halved graham cracker and use the marshmallows to glue the two halves together. The hardest part is getting the marshmallow off the spoon or whatever you use to get it out of whatever you used to microwave it. If you are outdoors and near fire, toast the marshmallow on a stick.

Who needs a kit for this? How lazy and uninformed are we these days? A sad sad commentary.

weekly legislative update

As I mentioned in the previous posting, the governor called a special legislative session to look into property tax reform. Information from that session is included here as well. Standard caveats apply (resolutions not generally included, list of sponsors deleted if it was too long - three lines in the originally formatting).

Our accountants friends at PICPA have updated their legislative page, and have a lot to say about property tax reform.
http://www.picpa.org/govt/legislative_update/archive/2006/061606.asp#1

Other weekly updates are available for this week:

PA House Democrats
PA House GOP daily updates
PA Senate Democrats
PA Senate Republicans

Special Session

Monday In the House, HB 42 laid on the table and removed
Tuesday no action
Wednesday HB0039 - Conference committee report adopted by House
Thursday no action
Friday no action

Regular Session

Resolutions

Nothing jumped out at me this week.

Bills

House

HB 529 Prior Printer's No. 1713. Printer's No. 4033. An Act amending the act of March 4, 1971 (P.L.6, No.2), known as the Tax Reform Code of 1971, further providing for classes of income.

HB 1746 Prior Printer's Nos. 2236, 4036. Printer's No. 4226. An Act amending Title 42 (Judiciary and Judicial Procedure) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, further providing for establishment of fees and charges; eliminating the expiration of provisions on access to justice; and making a related repeal.

HB 1880 Prior Printer's Nos. 2555, 3846. Printer's No. 4228. An Act amending the act of March 4, 1971 (P.L.6, No.2), known as the Tax Reform Code of 1971, further providing, in research and development tax credit, for the definition of "small business," for credit for research and development expenses, for time limitations, for limitation on credits and for termination.

HB 2285 Printer's No. 3197. An Act amending Title 18 (Crimes and Offenses) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, providing for the illegal dumping of methamphetamine waste.

HB 2330 By Representatives DERMODY, PETRARCA, WALKO, PALLONE, LaGROTTA, BEBKO-JONES, CORRIGAN, JAMES, STABACK, MELIO, PISTELLA, WOJNAROSKI, CALTAGIRONE, DeLUCA and FRANKEL. Printer's No. 3318. An Act amending Title 18 (Crimes and Offenses) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, prohibiting the purchase, sale and use of alcohol vaporizing devices; and imposing a penalty.

SB 243 Prior Printer's No. 244. Printer's No. 1836. An Act amending the act of June 28, 1935 (P.L.477, No.193), referred to as the Enforcement Officer Disability Benefits Law, extending the payment of the salary, medical and hospital expenses to sheriffs and deputy sheriffs under certain circumstances.

SB 332 By Senators VANCE, GREENLEAF, EARLL, COSTA, BOSCOLA, KITCHEN, O'PAKE, RAFFERTY, ROBBINS, STOUT, WAUGH, WENGER, M. WHITE, WONDERLING and PIPPY. Prior Printer's Nos. 388, 805. Printer's No. 1777. An Act amending Title 23 (Domestic Relations) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, further providing for foreign decree of adoption.

SB 1150 Prior Printer's Nos. 1617, 1679. Printer's No. 1835. An Act amending Titles 18 (Crimes and Offenses) and 42 (Judiciary and Judicial Procedure) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, providing for offense of demonstrating at a commemorative service and for commemorative service demonstration action.

HB 1944 Prior Printer's No. 2689. Printer's No. 4037. An Act amending Titles 18 (Crimes and Offenses) and 42 (Judiciary and Judicial Procedure) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, providing for a Statewide registry of protective orders; further providing for protective orders, for notice on protective orders and for violation of orders; providing for civil protective orders; and making editorial changes.

HB 2096 Prior Printer's Nos. 2898, 4034. Printer's No. 4209. An Act amending the act of March 4, 1971 (P.L.6, No.2), known as the Tax Reform Code of 1971, further providing for classes of income.

HB 2467 Prior Printer's Nos. 3625, 3716. Printer's No. 4213. An Act amending Titles 18 (Crimes and Offenses) and 42 (Judiciary and Judicial Procedure) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, further providing for sentence for murder and murder of unborn child; providing for the offense of criminal homicide of law enforcement officer and for the offense of assault of law enforcement officer; imposing penalties; and prescribing sentences for offenses committed against law enforcement officer.

SB 1169 Prior Printer's No. 1628. Printer's No. 1756. An Act designating a portion of State Route 279 in Allegheny County as the Pennsylvania State Police Cpl. Joseph R. Pokorny, Jr., Memorial Highway.

HB 698 Prior Printer's No. 791. Printer's No. 4192. An Act amending Title 42 (Judiciary and Judicial Procedure) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, further providing for exemptions from jury duty, for jurisdiction and proceedings, for relief and order and for sentencing procedure for murder of the first degree; and providing for mental retardation of defendant.

HB 2055 Prior Printer's Nos. 2832, 3854. Printer's No. 4194. An Act amending the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), known as the Public School Code of 1949, further providing for manner of election of district superintendents and assistant superintendents and for their removal; and providing for conditional certification of persons by the Department of Education.

Senate

HB 153 Prior Printer's Nos. 153, 3756. Printer's No. 4212. An Act relating to organ and bone marrow donation; providing for a special leave of absence for organ and bone marrow donors; and providing for a tax credit and for additional duties of the Department of Revenue.

HB 2315 By Representatives ARMSTRONG, CALTAGIRONE, CREIGHTON, FAIRCHILD, GEIST, HARPER, HARRIS, HENNESSEY, ROHRER and E. Z. TAYLOR. Printer's No. 3276. An Act amending Title 74 (Transportation) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, further providing for the Aviation Advisory Committee.

SB 414 Prior Printer's Nos. 439, 1267. Printer's No. 1816. An Act amending the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), known as the Public School Code of 1949, establishing the Science Technology Partnership Program; providing for State grants; and making an appropriation.

SB 1134 Prior Printer's No. 1593. Printer's No. 1788. An Act amending the act of March 4, 1971 (P.L.6, No.2), known as the Tax Reform Code of 1971, further providing, in sales and use tax, for the definition of "tangible personal property."

SB 1222 By Senators ROBBINS, LEMMOND, EARLL, MADIGAN, MELLOW, SCARNATI and M. WHITE. Prior Printer's No. 1810. Printer's No. 1829. An Act designating the portion of U.S. Route 6 in Linesville Borough, Crawford County, as the U.S. Route 6 "Gateway to the West" and "Gateway to Pennsylvania" and designating the portion of U.S. Route 6 in Matamoras Borough, Pike County, as the U.S. Route 6 "Gateway to the East" and "Gateway to Pennsylvania."

HB 2443 Prior Printer's Nos. 3519, 3817. Printer's No. 4193. An Act amending the act of July 19, 1979 (P.L.130, No.48), known as the Health Care Facilities Act, providing for continuation of demonstration projects for cardiac care.

Change of Heart

Last week I wrote about two online straw polls being held by DFA and the Foward Together PAC. I was, how shall we say, less than enthusiastic about them. However, I keep getting emails from campaigns and reading about them on campaign blogs and it appears that this sort of thing is very important to them. So, last night, I voted in both. On the Forward Together site ("Change the Map") there is an opt out for being on the email list.

If you are interested, here are the links:

DFA Grassroots All-Star (US House races only)

Forward Together's Change the Map has a broader focus.

There are a lot of good candidates listed, Patrick Murphy, Lois Murphy, Joe Sestak, Chris Carney, and others. Who did I vote for? You may have noticed I have a favorite house candidate.

A Quick Look at the 15th Congressional Race

Freshman Republican incumbent Charlie Dent now has a Democratic challenger, Charles Dertinger. Dertinger is currently a Northampton county councilman and is on the November ballot after getting 3700+ write in votes, no msall task.

article from Pennlive.com 6/07 ("It'll be Dertinger vs. Dent in fall," By Daniel Hausmann)

Description of district from Dent's congressional website:

The 15th District of Pennsylvania is a diverse area in Eastern Pennsylvania, comprising all or parts of Lehigh, Northampton , Montgomery and Berks counties. The district includes the Lehigh Valley , Indian Valley and Upper Perkiomen Valley regions.

The majority of the district's population lives in the Lehigh Valley — Pennsylvania 's third-largest metropolitan area, comprised of the cities of Allentown , Bethlehem and Easton , and numerous surrounding boroughs and townships.

Quick Property Tax Links

A few quick links on the newly passed property tax bill:

"'Weak' property tax relief bill passes Pa. House: Representatives send governor a plan that provides limited relief," By Tom Barnes, Post-Gazette Harrisburg Bureau.

Press release from Josh Shapiro (provides a summary of key provisions).

(via politicspa)

More PA Senate Info Online Now

The state Senate has put several files of data relating to lobbying on their web page. Worth a look. It's not everything but it's a start. As a reminder, we're still waiting for the House to even pass a bill requiring them to keep this sort of stuff. Drop your rep a note and goose them along a little.

House Journals for January 2006

The House Journals for January 2006 are now online. Not much in the Jan. 3rd, 23rd or 25th, but there is some lively conversation in the 24th, pages 23-25 of the journal page numbering, pages 11-13 of the pdf version.

The topic is a bill on the allocation of funds to county mental health and mental retardation programs. Rep. Kenney is questioned about the bill by Mr. Vitali and Mr. Cappelli. They are asking good questions about the validity and expense of the programs, and Kenney is supplying the answers. It is a wonderful example of how things should work. It was hard to pick out just a few lines to present, so please take a few moments to read through those few pages yourself.

Now, see, was that hard? The Journals get put on the Internet, people read them and note the good parts. Do you think we could get them before they are 6 months old?

Another Blogger Returns

Another lost lamb is back in the blogging fold. LVDem is also blogging again. Welcome, back!!!

Off on the Wrong Foot

Josh Shapiro, freshman representative for the 153rd district faces a Republic challenger, Lou Guerra, Jr. I have written positively about Shapiro in the past and had looked into his opponent. Guerra has an impressive background and I had hopes of a good race, cleanly fought. Alas, it is not to be.

Guerra's first press real press release (besides the one announcing his candidacy), criticizes Shapiro for voting against the "marriage amendment." The release says, in part:

The bill does not take away rights from anyone. All United States citizens are accorded basic rights under the U.S. Constitution. I firmly believe that everyone should be treated with respect, including those with whom we disagree. An amendment defining marriage as a union between one man and one woman does nothing to hinder rights or diminish the ability of citizens to honor private commitments. This bill simply recognizes the importance of the traditional family and protects it from activists who would radically re-define what marriage is, Guerra said.

Unfortunately, the incumbent state representative voted against the traditional family. It is sad that Josh Shapiro does not recognize the value of marriage and refused to vote for this basic protection.

The amendment itself reads:

Only a marriage between one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in this Commonwealth, and neither the commonwealth nor any of its political subdivisions shall create or recognize a legal status identical or substantially equivalent to that of mariage for unmarried individuals.

That means no civil unions for either homosexual or heterosexual couples. The 153rd district is in Montgomery County, which currently offers benefits to domestic partners of employees, which it might not be able to do if the amendment becomes law. I'm not sure how this "does nothing to hinder rights or diminish the ability of citizens to honor private commitments," as Guerra states.

Pennsylvania already has a "Defense of Marriage Act," which, according to the Inky, "upholds the traditional definition of marriage, but does not expressly prohibit civil unions." ("Same-sex partners fear losing rights -- Ripples from Pa. vote on gay marriage," by Amy Worden)

I have been married to Mr. J for over 20 years and not once have I felt our marriage was threatened by recognizing the unions of gay couples who could not legally be married.

What I find so odd about Guerra's choice of this issue as his opening salvo is that he is qualified to speak on so many other issues pertinent to the state. He is an expert in watershed protection, an important topic in a floodprone area like the 153rd. He has 20 years experience in the public sector. Surely there is something else he can hang his hat on.

I am very disappointed that Guerra decided to pick on this issue above all others. It colors his campaign and what seems to be perhaps a shaky grasp of the issue's ramifications for the county he lives in. It surely isn't something that important to the 153rd. A promising race has suddenly become another mudfest, at least on Guerra's part.

Tattered Coat Returns

Hey, kids, Matt's back!!!

A BBQ in Croydon (near Bristol)

This evening I went to a bbq sponsored by the Patrick Murphy campaign. Former Georgia Sen. Max Cleland was in attendance. He seems to be spending more time in Pennsylvania these days than Rick Santorum. There was a press conference just before the event and a number of reporters were still around when I arrived, including Gwen Ifill, now on the McNeil Lehrer News Hour and host of Washington Week in Review (the only political commentary show I watch, Fridays at 9:00 p.m.). Gwen and her producer were very personable, walking through the crowd, talking with people. Gwen signed autographs and posed for photos. I was really impressed at her ease with people. (Even the press at Murphy events are nice).

Several other candidates were there, Paul Lang (6th state senate), Chris Serpico (10th state senate), Jeff Albert (12th state senate), and the always pleasant and discerning Joe Hoeffel, former congressman for PA-13. There may have been others there that I didn’t recognize. Oh, and Patrick was there, too. To be honest, I was having such a good time talking with other guests that I didn’t get around to greeting all the candidates. If there were speeches I missed them.

I continue to be pleasantly surprised by Murphy events. Not only are other candidates welcome, and come to talk with the audience (something you don’t always see at political events), but those who attend are generally very nice people. This is such a welcome change from a lot of these things. It’s one of the main reasons I keep showing up. Murphy just seems to bring out a good crowd, not only in numbers (I stopped counting at 62 because it was time to eat) but in personality as well.

News Round Up

A few interesting news links.

Ben over at Keystone Politics has some interesting remarks on the race for the 48th senate district (currently held by Chip Brightbill).

The Intelligencer has an article on lobbyists, charitable donations, and the timing thereof. ("Lobbyists, legislators and being in the limelight," by Alison Hawkes). worth reading

Murphyness, or How Many Roses By the Same Name?

Pennsylvania has a Rep. Murphy (Tim Murphy R-18). Two Democrats named Murphy are running for House seats from Pennsylvania (Lois Murphy PA-06, and Patrick Murphy PA-08). A third, John Murphy is running as a independent candidate for the 16th congressional district. So, what happens if some of these Murphys win? How many states have more than one representative with the same surname? I checked. Here's the list:

Florida has Rep. Corrine Brown (D) and Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite (R).

Virginia has two Republican Rep. Davis, JoAnn Davis and Thomas M. Davis III.

Florida has Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart and Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, both Republicans.

Texas has Rep. Al Green and Rep. Gene Green, both Democrats.

Texas also has Rep. Eddie Johnson (D) and Rep. Sam Johnson (R).

California has Rep. Gary Miller (R) and Rep. George Miller (D).

California also has Rep. Linda Sanchez (D) and Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D).

So, Florida, Texas, and California both have two pair of same-named representatives. Michigan has a representative and a senator nameed Levin. Colorado has a representative and a senator named Salazar.

In other useless trivia, Davis is the most common surname in the Congress, with 8 representatives named Davis. Miller and Johnson are tied for second place with 5 each. All the Millers are representatives. One of the Johnsons is a senator.

You, too, can while away the hours looking up this kind of trivia. Check www.house.gov and www.senate.gov, or look in CQ's Politics in America or the Almanac of American Politics. For historical data, check the Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress.

Another Baker Knoll Press Secretary Leaves

According to today's Morning Call ("Knoll loses press secretary — her sixth since 2003," by John L. Micek):

Johnna Pro, a former Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reporter who joined Knoll's staff in October, resigned Monday. Neither Pro nor Rendell administration spokeswoman Kate Philips would comment Friday on the reason for the departure.

Pro, 42, said she will remain on the state payroll until June 30 but will leave her job Friday. Pro also said she's ''exploring other opportunities.''

''It's a challenging job,'' a senior Rendell administration source said. ''The way the media portrays [Knoll] can be difficult. And when you're a government press secretary in the middle of a campaign, there's not much for you to do.''

Describing a job that doesn't require you to do much as a challenge seems kind fo odd. Many would find it a dream come true.

weekly legislative update

As I mentioned in the previous posting, the governor called a special legislative session to look into property tax reform. Information from that session is included here as well. Standard caveats apply (resolutions not generally included, list of sponsors deleted if it was too long - three lines in the originally formatting).

If you check the resolutions -- a week this past May has been designated National Postcard Week. You can use your postcard to write your state representative to either praise or complain about how he or she voted on the bill to ban civil unions or gay marriage.

Our accountants friends at PICPA have updated their legislative page, and have a lot to say about property tax reform.


Other weekly updates are available for this week:

PA House Democrats
PA House GOP daily updates
PA Senate Democrats
PA Senate Republicans

Special Session

Monday In the House, HB59 laid on the table and removed
Tuesday no action
Wednesday no action
Thursday no action
Friday no action

Regular Session

Resolutions

These are selected resolutions that passed either the house or senate this week.

HR0774 A Resolution recognizing the communities of Hershey, Dauphin County, and Intercourse and Lititz, Lancaster County, as "Foodie Towns."

HR0776 A Resolution recognizing the week of May 7 through 13, 2006, as "National Postcard Week" in Pennsylvania.

Bills

These bills passed either the house or senate this week.

House

HB 28 By Representatives LEDERER and McILHINNEY. Prior Printer's Nos. 31, 3529. Printer's No. 4142. An Act authorizing the Department of Transportation, with the approval of the Governor, to grant and convey to the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority a tract of land situate in the City of Philadelphia, Philadelphia County.

HB 901 Prior Printer's No. 1024. Printer's No. 3978. An Act amending Title 75 (Vehicles) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, providing for lighting on motorcycles.

HB 1195 By Representatives YUDICHAK, GEORGE, THOMAS, SURRA, CALTAGIRONE, DeWEESE, BELARDI, BELFANTI, BOYD, CAPPELLI, FRANKEL, GRUCELA, MUNDY, PRESTON, REICHLEY, SAINATO, SOLOBAY, WALKO, YOUNGBLOOD and DENLINGER. Printer's No. 1401. An Act amending the act of July 6, 1989 (P.L.169, No.32), known as the Storage Tank and Spill Prevention Act, further providing for Underground Storage Tank Pollution Prevention Program.

HB1447 Printer's No. 1745. An Act amending Title 18 (Crimes and Offenses) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, providing for probable cause arrests in misdemeanor sexual offenses.

HB 1526 By Representatives GEIST, CAPPELLI, GINGRICH, GODSHALL, MARKOSEK, R. MILLER, SCAVELLO, E. Z. TAYLOR and WILT. Printer's No. 1859. An Act amending the act of April 8, 1937 (P.L.262, No.66), known as the Consumer Discount Company Act, further providing for powers conferred on licensees.

HB 2248 By Representatives DALLY, ADOLPH, CALTAGIRONE, GINGRICH, HARPER, HARRIS, MUSTIO, REICHLEY, WILT and YUDICHAK. Printer's No. 3136. An Act amending the act of March 28, 2000 (P.L.23, No.7), known as the Fair Credit Extension Uniformity Act, further providing for the definition of "debt."

HB 2318 Prior Printer's Nos. 3285, 3979. Printer's No. 4143. An Act amending Title 75 (Vehicles) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, further providing for securing loads in vehicles by permitting an exception for forage transportation from the field to storage facilities.

HB2381 Prior Printer's Nos. 3397, 3754. Printer's No. 4145. A Joint Resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, providing for marriage between one man and one woman.

HB2399 Prior Printer's No. 3447. Printer's No. 3961. An Act amending Title 18 (Crimes and Offenses) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, further providing for grading the offense of impersonating a public servant.

HB2401 Printer's No. 3435. An Act amending the act of March 7, 1901 (P.L.20, No.14), referred to as the Second Class City Law, further providing for penalty for false personification.

HB 2402 Printer's No. 3436. An Act amending the act of June 25, 1919 (P.L.581, No.274), referred to as the First Class City Government Law, further providing for penalty for false personification.

HB2403 Printer's No. 3437. An Act repealing the act of June 1, 1915 (P.L.708, No.326), entitled "An act to prevent the wearing of the badge of the Bureau of Police, in cities of the first class, by unauthorized persons, and providing a penalty therefor."

SB 303 By Senators PILEGGI, PUNT, GREENLEAF, ERICKSON, THOMPSON, RHOADES, WOZNIAK, TOMLINSON, KITCHEN, WONDERLING, TARTAGLIONE, LOGAN, KASUNIC, MUSTO, WAUGH, LEMMOND, RAFFERTY and STOUT. Prior Printer's Nos. 315, 1356, 1748. Printer's No. 1780. An Act amending Title 42 Judiciary and Judicial Procedure) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, further providing for fees for constables.

SB 775 By Senators GREENLEAF, COSTA, LEMMOND, O'PAKE, RAFFERTY, STACK, ERICKSON and FERLO. Prior Printer's No. 954. Printer's No. 1795. An Act amending the act of June 19, 2002 (P.L.377, No.56), known as the Interstate Compact for the Supervision of Adult Offenders Act, imposing an application fee; providing for the collection and the use of the application fee; and providing for definitions.

SB 986 By Senators LEMMOND, THOMPSON, PUNT, RAFFERTY, ERICKSON, MUSTO, ARMSTRONG, COSTA, VANCE, WAUGH, WENGER, PILEGGI, O'PAKE, FONTANA, CORMAN, M. WHITE, ORIE, EARLL and C. WILLIAMS. Printer's No. 1317. An Act amending the act of May 1, 1933 (P.L.103, No.69), known as The Second Class Township Code, further providing for personal property.

SB 1056 By Senators PIPPY, BRIGHTBILL, MADIGAN, ORIE, M. WHITE, WONDERLING, RAFFERTY, WAUGH, COSTA, KITCHEN and WOZNIAK. Prior Printer's No. 1445. Printer's No. 1809. An Act amending Title 75 (Vehicles) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, further providing for commercial driver's license requirements and for operation of all-terrain vehicles and snowmobiles by persons under sixteen years of age.

Senate

HB1834 Prior Printer's No. 2448. Printer's No. 3169. An Act amending Title 20 (Decedents, Estates and Fiduciaries) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, further providing for electronic access to driver records to confirm organ donor status.

SB 1200 By Senators STACK, BOSCOLA, KITCHEN, FONTANA, MUSTO, PILEGGI, MELLOW, ORIE, TARTAGLIONE, EARLL, STOUT, RAFFERTY, COSTA, O'PAKE, LOGAN, RHOADES, PUNT, PIPPY, GREENLEAF, ROBBINS and WASHINGTON. Printer's No. 1713. An Act amending the act of October 10, 1974 (P.L.705, No.235), known as the Lethal Weapons Training Act, further providing for certification.

HB 2304 By Representatives SOLOBAY, McCALL and GEIST. Printer's No. 3228. An Act designating the bridge carrying State Route 1025 over Interstate 79 in North Strabane Township, Washington County, as the Canon-McMillan Alumni Bridge.

SB 1139 By Senators BROWNE, BOSCOLA, CORMAN, ORIE, GORDNER, PILEGGI, RAFFERTY, WONDERLING and C. WILLIAMS. Prior Printer's No. 1598. Printer's No. 1657. An Act amending the act of March 4, 1971 (P.L.6, No.2), known as the Tax Reform Code of 1971, further providing, in personal income tax, for definitions and for tax status election by small corporations.

SB 1153 By Senators GREENLEAF, COSTA, LEMMOND, PICCOLA, O'PAKE, RAFFERTY, GORDNER, EARLL, PILEGGI, BROWNE and WASHINGTON. Prior Printer's No. 1633. Printer's No. 1680. An Act amending the act of April 24, 1931 (P.L.48, No.40), entitled "An act requiring the recording of certain written agreements pertaining to real property, and prescribing the effect thereof as to subsequent purchasers, mortgagees, and judgment creditors of the parties thereto," providing for the requirements for valid recording of documents.

SB 1179 By Senators RHOADES, D. WHITE, O'PAKE, MUSTO, WONDERLING, LEMMOND, REGOLA and WOZNIAK. Printer's No. 1672. An Act amending the act of November 10, 1999 (P.L.491, No.45), known as the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act, further providing for applicability.

For Those Who Like Straw Polls

DFA is having an election for Grassroots All-Star. Of the 34 candidates, four are from PA: Joe Sestak (PA-07), Patrick Murphy (PA-08), Chris Carney (PA-10) and Lois Herr (PA-16). Be aware that to vote you have to enter first and last name, zipcode and email and you will be added to mailing lists.

Virginia Gov. Mark Warner is heading up a "Change the Map" vote for Forward Together PAC, with 3 rounds. June 1-13 nominate; June 14-25 top 10, June 25-July 4 grand prize (a fundraiser with Mark Warner). Nominations are divided into East and West. The East section has options for Ed Rendell, Bob Casey, the four congressional candidates listed above plus four others. Note that in order to vote you have to create an account on Forward Together PAC, with name, email and zipcode. Given the rumored presidential ambitions of Gov. Warner, I assume this is a not so subtle way of putting together a national database of potential supporters.

Me, personally, I say just send your favorite congressional candidate a donation instead, but if you like these things, knock yourself out.

PA in the WSJ

I've been catching up on the Wall Street Journal. A few Pennsylvania-related items this week:

"Republicans Reingnite Hot-button Issues" by Sarah Kueck and Brody Mullins (6/06/06) has this paragraph:

In Pennsylvania, where Republican Sen. Rick Santorum is in a close contest to keep his seat, Republicans have highlighted his support of the gay-marraige amendment to help separate him from Democrat Bob Casey Jr. Mr. Casey has blurred his differences with the incumbent on social issues, since he is one of the few prominent Democrats who, like Mr. Santorum, opposes abortion. Mr. Casey said in an April debate that he opposes gay marriage but wouldn't support a constitutional ban, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

This is not politically related but caught my eye anyway. "Plan to Build Chidren's DNA Database Raises Concerns," by Atonio Regalado. First two paragraphs:

Why do some children become obese when they eat junk food, while others don't? Which kids are most susceptible to asthma?

Attempting to answer such questions, the Children's Hopsital of Philadelphia, the nation's oldest pediatric medical center, is launching a major effort to collect and analyze detailed DNA profiles on as many as 100,000 of its child patients, the first effort to collect DNA on so many children.

Oooh, I don't know about this. According to the article:

Once the DNA is collected, patients won't be informed every time the data are studied. Philip R. Johnson, Jr., CHOP's chief scientific officer, says parents will sign forms that say "You can study my DNA and access my medical information." He says the wording is "very broad" to allow difference kinds of research.

This makes me very nervous....

One More "Our Part"

One more addition to the "our part of the bargain" discussion, from Phillyville. tomorrow I'll try to put a link to all of them on the sidebar.

Press Release Round-up

A few items from the inbox:

John Norvaisas, Democratic candidate running against Paul Clymer for the 145th state house district has a nice list of events on his website. the 145th district is in Bucks County and includes East Rockhill, Haycock, Milford, Perkasie, Quakertown, Richland Richlandtown, Sellersville, Springfield, Trumbauersville & West Rockhill.

Joe Sestak has released his plan for ending military engagement in Iraq. (via politicspa) Sestak has also been getting some good press lately. See this article in USA Today ("GOP lawmaker in Pa. fighting to keep his job," by Andrea Stone) and this article from Newsweek ("Politics: High-Level Interest in a Low-Level Race" by Mark Hosenball, 5/29/06 issue).

A Quick Look at the 10th Congressional District

Don Sherwood, incumbent Republican congressman for the 10th congressional district will face Democratic challenger Chris Carney in November.

Sherwood barely survived a tough primary battle against Kathy Scott, who spent less than $5,000 on the race. At the end of March Sherwood had over $600,000 on hand. His rather messy extramarital affair was a factor in the primary. The Hill had a nice article in early May discussing Sherwood, Scott, and Carney, a political science professor and in the Navy Reserves.

Carney's campaign has put together a nice introductory video for those wishing to learn more about him. (It is also on his website.)

The 10th District contains the Central Susquehanna Valley region of Snyder, Union, Northumberland and Montour counties; the Back Mountain area of Luzerne County; Bradford, Sullivan, Wyoming, Susquehanna, Wayne and Pike counties; parts of Lycoming County, parts of Lackawanna County and Ward Township in Tioga County.

PA-08 Update

Joe Wilson (husband of Valerie Plame) attended a fundraiser for Patrick Murphy yesterday. Article from the Inky here. (Dana Reddington, "Ex-envoy helps Murphy fund-raiser")

Murphy has been endorsed by the Planned Parenthood Action Fund of Bucks County. (press release via politicspa, article from phillyburbs, "Planned Parenthood endorses Murphy," by Brian Scheid)

Telephone Tax Debate in the State Senate

As promised, I have some information from the April 03, 2006, State Senate Journal. On pages 14-19 of the pdf version you will find some lively, informed, and civil debate on telephone and cell phone tax. The primary speakers are Sen. Fumo and Sen. Wonderling. I don't understand the subject well enough to figure out exactly what they are talking about but they both have some facts and figures to back up their opinions. Fumo is dogged in trying to pass Senate Bill 691, offering a variety of amendments. Wonderling kept up his opposition. It is really fascinating to read, even if you don't grasp all the complexities of the subject. Interesting bits, on p. 16 Fumo takes a swipe at the House and their inability to pass lobbying reform. On p. 19 he says the bill is a tax break for Verizon and he hopes they choke on it. I encourage you to read through the entire debate yourself.

As an additional tidbit, in the April 4th State Senate Journal, on pages 12 and 13 of the pdf version, Sen. Tartaglione and Sen. Hughes again bring up the minimum wage.

Two Notes from the Senate Journals

A few more days' worth of PA Senate Journals have been released. I'll have more on this tomorrow, but here are two quick notes.

1) On March 27, p. 12 of the pdf version, a Senate Democratic leader made (another) long speech on Pres. George Bush and his policies. In this he refers to Bush as King George and King George the Terrorist. I think this is out of place. I don't like Bush, didn't vote him, and plan to do a dance on the joyful, happy day that he leaves office. But until then he is Pres. Bush. In my view, it is unseemly for someone in a leadership position to use inflammatory and belittling language in official state senate chambers to describe another elected official, no matter how much we might all dislike him. It lowers the overall level of civility. Just my opinion. (If you want to know who it was you have to read the Journal online.)

2) I couldn't help but notice Senator Washington was on personal or legislative leave for all 9 days the Senate met in March. Not that there's anything wrong with that..... I just noticed, that's all.

A Miscellany of Links

Russ Shade has finally gotten confirmation that he won the Democratic primary for house district 183 and will face incumbent Republican Julie Harhart in November. Harhart and Shade both ran write-in campaigns for the Democratic spot on the ballot. Had she won, Harhart would have been unopposed in the general election.

PoliticsPA has put together a list of the 7 deadly sins and pols to match.

Lois Murphy, Democratic candidate for the 6th congressional district, is featured in a New York Times article.

Russ Diamond, independent candidate for governor, wants to abolish all property taxes.

A Quick Look at the 151st State House District

This is a quick look at a race I hope to watch. Longer posts will follow later in the election season.

Republican incumbent state representative Eugene McGill faces Democratic challenger Rick Taylor. I heard Taylor speak briefly at one of those multi-candidate forums I like so much earlier this spring and was really impressed. He did not appear packaged at all, but very genuine. You would want to live next door to this guy. I think you would want to be represented by him, too.

The district itself is one of those mutants created in the last redistricting mess. It includes large parts of Montgomery and Horsham Townships and parts of Lower Gwynedd, Upper Dublin and a smidge of Abington Townships. At least it is all in one county (Montgomery).

Good Post by Ferrick

Capitol Ideas (see sidebar) has been away so I haven't been getting my usual full daily dose of political commentary. In the meantime, Tom Ferrick had a great post today on the state legislature reconvening and it's post-election mood. I hear he is supplying the popcorn if you want to watch the show.

More on Our Part

Two more interesting posts today that relate, at least partially, to the "our part of the bargain" theme. I'll add them to the longer list.

PSOTD thinks we should have a system for rating voters. Intriguing idea. Some schools have wanted to grade parents. Same sort of thing. Your first reaction is "hey, wait a minute...." then "hmmm, maybe that's not such a bad idea...."

Susie over at The Suburban Guerilla recommends we all read a book that goes into some detail on the topic. (At one political event I was having a really interesting conversation with someone. Turns out he thought I was Susie and as soon as he found out I wasn't he got a sad look on his face and went off to talk to someone else. [sigh])

More News Bits

A few other news tidbits:

Joe Sestak has a few thoughts on veterans (here).

Lois Murphy and Jim Gerlach meet with Israeli ambassador to the US, from Philadelphia Jewish Voice.

Patrick Murphy's MurphyCorps got together and painted a house on Saturday.

Missing Monday

The Missing Monday project sets aside the first Monday of a month for bloggers to publicize a missing person's case. Full details of this case are available here.

Upper Providence Township, Delaware County, PA - 02/20/03
The Upper Providence Township Police Department is investigating the disappearance of Anita Scott. Anita Scott was last seen leaving her residence on Sycamore Mills Road in Upper Providence at 6:00pm on February 7, 2003. At that time she advised her husband and son that she was going out. Anita Scott has not been seen or heard from since that time. Anita Scott was driving a 1986 Volkswagen Golf, silver in color, bearing PA registration EGA-6700.

DOB: November 17, 1944
Height: 5'2" Weight: 140 lbs.
Eyes: Brown Hair: Blonde

Our Part of the Bargain: Another View

Interestingly enough, Chris Satullo's column in today's Inky discusses our responsibilities as citizen. Here is an excerpt:

People will spend hours on a Web site researching which MP3 player or hybrid golf club to buy - but claim to have no time to read up on what their government is doing in their names.

Being a citizen involves more than voting. Voting, lamentably, has become the most consumerlike activity of citizenship. Too many people judge candidates the same way they pick a Toyota dealer: Who's offering me the cheapest deal?

To be a citizen is to claim your place in a whole that transcends private interests. To be a citizen is to safeguard a legacy of liberty for which millions have dreamed, labored and risked lives. Citizens should never let partisan quarrels dwarf the bond they share with each fellow citizen.

Read the whole column here.

weekly legislative update

The legislature was not in session this week.

News Bits

A few items that caught my interest over the past few days:

Mark Cohen writes on the retirement of Bill Rieger. I looked for quotes to pull out but you really should read the whole thing yourself.

Ken Davis was reelected chair of the Montgomery County Republicans (inky article here). One paragraph that struck me in particular:

Davis, a managing director at Duane Morris Government Affairs in Philadelphia, lobbies in Washington and Harrisburg for clients including the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the Albert Einstein Healthcare Network, and Rite Aid. He also is paid $7,500 a month to lobby for Montgomery County.

Our Part of the Bargain: Other Views

As promised, here are links to other blogger's views on our part of the bargain (my view is here). Updated as needed. Thanks to all who wrote. The response has been great.

Matthew Best at PennPatriot
Liberal Doomsayer
Ellen at The Sam and Becky Boo Show
Next Direction
Trace 2000
Save Ardmore Coalition (comment on Philly Future)
The Smedley Log
Gort42
dragonballyee
eRobin at Factesque
Phillyville

Chris Satullo's column in the Inquirer (not a part of this effort but at least partly on the topic nonetheless).
PSOTD thinks voters should be rated.
Susie of The Suburban Guerilla recommends we read a book.


For further reading Carl suggests we all check out Rousseau on the social contract (wiki info here)

Our Part of the Bargain: My View

What is our part of the bargain with our elected officials? I haven’t read any of the other responses to this question yet, so these are solely my thoughts (with some input from the family). Being more of a Roman (roads, bridges, aqueducts, and manuals) than a Greek (theatre, arts, sculpture, and epics), I’m sticking to practical suggestions as opposed to theory.

What is our part of the bargain during elections?

Research the candidates, their stance on the issues, their past, their character, their record (for incumbents). Read interviews, attend debates where possible. If you support a candidate do so on the candidate’s merits instead of solely party affiliation, though they aren’t mutually exclusive.

Contribute to the campaign in some way. Money is good. Money is very good. Some people, however, are uncomfortable writing a check. Fine. Find another way. I’ve never seen a campaign turn away stamps. If you don’t want to write a check, take or send the campaign office 100 stamps. See if they would want a case of small water bottles for volunteers to take when going door to door. A ream of copy paper. Something. Find something you can give in support of the candidate. (Ask first if they need what you have or are thinking of). Volunteer. This can be knocking on doors or calling people. It can also be folding and stuffing. There are all sorts of things you can do, depending on your talents and comfort level. Remember, if you don’t provide money or supplies the campaign will get them somewhere else. And you may not like the option they choose.

Vote. I don’t understand people who purposefully do not vote. I just don’t.

What is our part of the bargain between elections?

Be informed. Keep track of what elected officials are doing.

Read at least one local paper on a regular basis (blogs are good, but they are in addition to, not instead of, a local paper).

Support your officials. Don’t just complain when they mess up, tell them when they’ve done something good. Want to see an elected official’s jaw drop? Mention a specific vote or stance they have taken that you like. They seldom hear this sort of thing. If someone on their staff has been helpful be sure to praise that person to the official.

Attend townhall meetings or open houses or other non-fundraiser events often enough to see each elected official at least once a year. You don’t have to ask them anything or talk to them but they need to see you and every other voter at least once a year. If they don’t have or attend such events, vote them out of office.

Be involved in at least one community-based effort or group – a religious group, a model train club, a garden club, school-based groups, the friends of the library, neighborhood watch, political party, bowling league, Drinking Liberally, something. This will weave you into the social fabric and you can hear what others in the community have to say about your elected officials and what their experiences are. If nothing else, talk with your neighbors about elected officials and see what they think.

Look beyond the edges of your neighborhood. An official who brings home a lot of money for local projects but whose votes are devastating the state or country is not a good official. Bite the bullet and vote them out. (This one comes from Mr. J.)

What is effect does this have?

Elected officials see that you and other voters are interested in what they are doing. That helps keep them honest. If you leave me alone in a room with a bowl of M&Ms and ask me not to eat any of them, the odds that I will comply are directly related to my perception of your knowledge of how many M&Ms are in the bowl. It’s human nature. If you want your elected officials to represent you and not special interests, they have to know what you want and if you are happy with them. Don’t let this information come to them solely through expensive polls at election time.

Maintenance is always more expensive and time consuming than acquisition. Anyone who has owned a house or car has learned this. Same with elected officials. Once we have them in office we have to support them. This is where community organizations can come in handy -- they can provide the hands and feet of an official’s community efforts. We can’t expect an official to accomplish everything single-handedly. We can expect them to lead, to help procure funding, to pass the laws we need, but they need our help to make where we live better, or just to keep it on track.

Democracy is not a spectator sport. This doesn’t just apply to taking jabs at the “other guy” during campaigns. It means being an active participant in the process all the time.

Patrick Murphy Endorsed by Mydd

Patrick Murphy has been added to mydd's netroots page on Act Blue. If you look at Act Blue you will see that this is one way of raising cash, sometimes lots of cash.

Max Cleland, Bryan Lentz, Paul Lang, and Me

Yesterday I took half a day of vacation to hit a couple of political events, both free (my favorite kind). Both featured former Sen. Max Cleland of Georgia. I’m late posting on this so links to other posts or articles on these events are included; you can see other points of view as well.

First stop, the Iron Hill Brewery in Media, for a rally highlighting Cleland and Bryan Lentz, Democratic candidate for the 161st state house seat. It was a short event, lasting about 30 minutes once it got started.

Cleland and Lentz had toured a veteran’s museum before the rally and Cleland had a number of positive things to say about it. He also spoke about the Pennsylvania legislature’s ill-fated pay raise, saying it was a violation of trust. In the military he said officers eat last (coming from a family of NCO’s and enlisted men I was a little surprised at this) and the legislature had eaten first. Lentz’s incumbent Republican opponent voted for the pay raise.

Lentz introduced some people in the crowd, including Mike Farrell, candidate for 26th state senate district, and some of the people who had served with Lentz in Iraq. The man who had served as the translator for their unit was also there. Lentz and his fellow soldiers are hoping to help him find a way to immigrate. You have to love that. How many people would have walked away and forgotten him?

Lentz pointed out that he took a pay cut to join the Reserves and go to Iraq, in contrast to the legislative payraise. He asked that we judge his future actions by his past actions. In his case, those are pretty good actions. (read Inky article here and Atrios’ take here). Lentz's web site has video of part of the rally here. I counted 30 some people but there may have been more.

Back to the car and off we go, heading northeast on the Blue Route and then the Turnpike.

Cleland appeared at an event for Paul Lang at the Disabled American Veterans post in Levittown. The room was chock full of candidates. Lentz accompanied Cleland. Mike Diamond, candidate for 31st state house district against incumbent David Steil, and Republican Joe Hogan who is running for the 141st state house district was there as was his incumbent Democratic incumbent Tony Melio. (Everyone was civil.) Bucks County Commissioner Sandy Miller, Milt Berkes and other local officials were also there. Patrick Murphy stopped in and was loudly applauded.

Cleland’s remarks were similar to the ones he gave at the Lentz event. He is a very approachable fellow and can tell a good story.

Lang gave a short biography. He graduated from Council Rock High School. He was initially turned down by the Coast Guard Academy but the baseball coach noted his skills in that area and next thing you know he’s in and eventually captain of the baseball team. Lang outlined his service in the Coast Guard, working as a law enforcement officer (wearing a 9 mm on his hip), stopping drug smugglers and unlawful immigrants. One point he made was that the crew often worked with outdated equipment and that his bulletproof vest had expired 6 years earlier. He discussed the incident when faulty equipment broke and dumped him and 8 other men (he was at the bottom of the pile) into the 32 degree Bering Sea. Initially doctors didn’t think he would walk again but with extensive physical therapy he recovered. He has also worked as a congressional liaison and the Department of Homeland Security.

He says he is running for veterans and the middle class, and that Republicans in Harrisburg have made the race a class issue (this point was met with great applause). As a contrast to the incumbent, Lang said he had more supporters with callouses on their hands than connections to special interests.

See the Bucks County Courier Times article here and eRobin’s take here. I counted about 45 in attendance.

It was great of Max Cleland to stop in and be seen with local candidates. Over the weekend he was campaigning with Chris Carney. My thanks for the Lentz and Lang campaigns for letting me know what was going on.

The Last Refuge of Scoundrels

Both patriotism and prayer have been described as the last refuge of scoundrels. Combining these, you might come up with the prayers offered at the opening of each day's session of the legislature. Now that the Senate Journals are online it is interesting to browse the opening prayers. If you know a theology student or a dual religion / poli sci major, you might suggest these as a thesis topic.

In the "when will the lightening bolts strike" category, here are some phrases I liked:

"We come to ask Your wisdom and guidance from above, that the things that take place here would be in accordance with your purposes and they they would result in blessings and good things for the people of this state." (3/15/06)

O holy and loving God, every one of our great religious traditions require us to remember the least, the lost, the lonely, the poor, the marginalized, and the disenfranchised among us. May we always keep in mind our children, young, and senior adults, for they are often the ones who have no voice and need to be heard. Help us remember those who are different from us in race or ethnicity, orientation, or ability, and may every citizen of Pennsylvania benefit from the work being done in this body today. (3/21/06)

and my personal favorite:

Lord, help us in our weaknesses, deliver us from jealousy, selfish amibition, and denial of the truth, but let us seek instead that wisdom which is from above, which is pure, peaceable, gentle, open to reason, and impartial, so that in finding this wisdom, we will see a harvest of righteousness, the righteousness which exalts a nation. (3/22/06)

and then you have this phrase:

We pray also for the Members of this Senate. We pray for their health, and we pray for any who are going through treatment for illness or injury. We pray for Your blessings upon them. We pray for their families. We pray for their other personal needs, financial and otherwise. (3/15/06)

I think some of those folks are praying for their financial needs enough themselves so maybe the public prayer can skip that part.

Reminder: Fun Times on Tuesday

In a previous post I listed two events for tomorrow, Tuesday, May 30, featuring Max Cleland, former US Senator. One is for Bryan Lentz (Democratic candidate for state house district 161), the other for Paul Lang (Democratic candidate for state senate district 6). Both free of charge. See my previous post or either candidate's web site for details.

Our Part of the Bargain

We in the blogosphere write and comment a lot on what we want from candidates and elected officials. Things are seldom a one way street however; other than voting, what is our part of the bargain? What should we be doing during campaign season? If our candidates are elected, then what? Do we just sit around until the next election? I asked Joe Hoeffel this question in the most recent interview and he gave this answer

Q.: In the bargain between elected officials and voters, what are the responsibilities of each?

A.: Great question with a simple answer. Voters must stay informed, and officials must stay honest.

What do you think? Are we making a bargain with candidates? If so, what is our part? If you have your own blog and are interested, write on a posting on this topic sometime next week and let me know when your posting is up. I’ll compile a list of all of them on Friday. If you don't have your own blog, leave a comment on this or another participating blog. Let's see what we can come up with.

weekly legislative update

A few bills were shuffled, a few "cause of the month" resolutions introduced, otherwise our legislature was quiet this week. Our accountant friends at PICPA did compile an update of other news.

Memorial Day Memories

When I was a girl Memorial Day was a working holiday, a ritual that I enjoyed and looked foward to. My grandfather and my mother would cut some of the better looking flowers from their yards, peonies mostly, with some others thrown in. They would have saved up orange juice concentrate cans, which were then covered with aluminum foil to use as vases. My grandfather had moved into the area as a boy and his parents and some of his siblings were buried nearby. We made the round of cemeteries. There was almost always someone at the gate of the graveyard collecting money for upkeep. My grandfather would hand over a plain white envelope to each one. My mother would bring clippers and we'd spruce up the graves we visited, trimming back any encroaching weeds.

I've moved away from those cemeteries. In fact, I haven't visited my father's grave since his death, and my grandfather's only once or twice. It bothers me this time of year that I am not close enough to visit my dead. In rural areas old family cemeteries that were tucked away in an unused section of farmland are falling into disrepair. Mr. J's family helped care for a small graveyard that housed many of his ancestors as well as other pioneer settlers in that township. But most of the families have moved away or died out. The tombstones are broken and weathered to the point of near illegibility. (We took rubbings of some of them and trascribed as many as possible years ago.) Soon the cemetery records in the local public library will be all that remains of them.

While this bothers me, it is not the first time our families have faced this dilemma. With each wave of immigration or internal migration, we move away from our dead. The only way to avoid it is to never leave your birthplace. I miss the ritual though and have not found a way to replace it.

How to Work This Blog

Various segments of the political and activist communities are looking for ways to publicize their candidates or causes through blogs, and working with blogs and bloggers is a topic often seen in the schedules of training sessions for activists and operatives. While there are likely to be commonalities it seemed prudent to spell out the best ways of utilizing this blog in particular.

First off, my readers aren’t going to send you money. To the best of my knowledge, candidate mentions on this blog have resulted in exactly two campaign contributions, one of $50.00 and the other denomination unknown. There may be others but these are the only ones I’m aware of (see “the nicest thing….” below). For big money you need the big dogs.

What you can get here is exposure. As for the blog audience, sitemeter statistics tell me the greatest majority of my readers are from Pennsylvania (go figure). Many are from within government, federal, state, and local, or associated industries (lawyers, lobbying firms, media), but there are also quite a few readers coming in from verizon, comcast, etc., that appear to be just interested folks. At least a third of my business comes from search engines, people looking for specific information. Searches for candidates or causes will retrieve interviews, descriptions of events featuring candidates, information on organizations, and so on, months after those postings appeared. Since the blog is updated frequently it often shows up higher than might be expected in search engine results. The rest come straight to the blog or from aggregators such as Philly Future, Leftyblogs, or PoliticsPA.

I focus on the Philadelphia suburbs (Montgomery, Bucks, and Delaware counties, sometimes Chester), but occasionally venture into the city or further afield geographically. I am a Democrat and focus on Democratic candidates and progressive causes, but I’ve highlighted a few Republicans along the way.

The blog is written under a pseudonym; I don’t meet candidates or officials in person or talk with people on the phone. The easiest way to approach me is just to email me (see “view my complete profile” for the email). People do that all the time. They send me press releases, notices of events, links to relevant articles, and information on what they are doing. Sometimes I post it, sometimes I don’t. It depends on what else is going on and whether or not I agree with you and how substantive what you’ve sent is, and how often I’ve written about that candidate / cause lately. I may post on your topic but take the opposite or a variant stance on it. It may take a few days for a posting on your topic to show up. The blog is a hobby, shoehorned into days already full with work and family, so it can take time for me to investigate something.

Your email doesn’t have to be fancy – in fact the plainer the better. Flattery is neither sought nor appreciated, but “please” and “thank you” are always welcome. Heated campaign rhetoric will not win points. A long string of press releases on how awful the opposition is won’t have as much impact as a few examples of what you are doing, not what you plan to do or believe, but what you are actually doing or have done. I don’t always open attachments and won’t use your fancy graphics anyway, so cutting and pasting into an email is easier, at least for me. If the info is available online, provide a link, too.

Interviews with candidates and officials have been popular posts and I am open to doing more. If you are interested, let me know; interviews are done via email. The questions I prepare are detailed and specific to the candidate and the district. I’m told they are tough to answer. Since it takes time to research and prepare the questions and often takes weeks (sometimes months) to get the answers back, I won’t be taking interview requests after Sept. 1 for candidates running for office in the November elections. I don’t think there would be time to do a good job before the big day.

If you plan on a continuing contact with blogs, appoint a blog liaison. Personally, I like to have one main contact with a campaign or cause. That’s not to say that others shouldn’t get in touch; they are welcome to do so – it’s just easier to develop good communication with one person. Then I know what is an official communiqué and what is a side conversation. Otherwise there are bound to be conflicting messages and I get frustrated with that – trying to figure out whose messages take precedence or what is the burning issue of the day. The primary contact can be anyone from a volunteer to the candidate. It doesn’t matter to me, as long as I know who to contact with questions.

The nicest possible thing you can do for me is give me feedback. If you are working on a campaign and people tell you they have read about your candidate here, let me know. It will make my day. I can get some idea of what posts are being read and see what posts elicit comments but beyond that I’m in the dark.

That’s about it. As the song goes, “send me a postcard, drop me a line, stating point of view…”

A Few Links

eRobin was part of the MurphyCorps day of action last week. Read her report here.

BenPA at Young Philly Politics has a few things to say about the Lynn Swann campaign.

Max Cleland, Bryan Lentz, Paul Lang, and You

TUESDAY, MAY 30

Max Cleland, former U.S. Senator, will be in Pennsylvania on a whistle stop campaign to support local candidates.

2:30 Bryan Lentz, Democratic candidate for the 161st house district. Join Lentz and Cleland for a rally at the Iron Hill Brewery, 30 East State Street, Media, PA. details and directions here.

5:30 - 6:30 Paul Lang Democratic candidate for the 6th state senate district (and one of my favorite people) will be joined by Cleland for a coffee and cheesecake reception. Disabled American Veterans Chapter 117
5915 Bristol Emilie Road, Levittown, PA 19057. details and directions here. RSVP to info@electlang.com to reserve a spot, they are going fast!!

There is no charge for either event, but I'm sure both candidates would be more than happy to accept contributions.

2005 House Journals Online

My thanks to Russ Shade for letting me know -- the 2005 House Journals are now online. Oh, huzzah!!! Progress!!

Of course, it would be better if at least some 2006 issues were there, but this is definitely a move in the right direction. I will be skipping around all day.

Senate Journal Update

As promised I’ve read through the newest group of Senate Journal issues made available. Issues are released mid-month and are one month behind. So for May we have journals for March 14, 15, 20, 21, and 22.

There wasn’t much in the journal for March 14th.

Two items of interest in the 15th. Sen. Tartaglione brings up the minimum wage and wants to know what is going on with that bill (see p. 1357). On pages 1358 and 1359 there is an interesting exchange between Sen. Brightbill and Lt. Gov. Knoll on whether or not it is legal for her to sign a bill on Monday or if it has to be signed that day. You would think she would know this and not have to ask him.

Also on the 15th, in honor of St. Patrick’s Day, Pat Dugan is introduced as the winner of the National Sean MacBride Humanitarian Award from the Ancient Order of Hibernians. Dugan is a member of the Army Reserves, headquartered in Norristown and served most of 2004 in Iraq. He gave a speech, a very good one that I would recommend you read. One paragraph jumped out at me though. Dugan also wrote about this in a letter to the Inky. He describes his commander, who happened to be Bryan Lentz who is running for the state house seat in district 161 against Tom Gannon. Read:

You have not heard about my commander, Major Bryan Lentz, a Philadelphia attorney and former prosecutor who gave up his practice of law to serve and lead our company in Iraq. One time we were in a village just outside of Telafar, a town that was depicted on “60 Minutes” last Sunday. A small village just south of there, a hotbed of insurgency, an old man there held up a container of water and went up to my Commander to thank him and said every time I drink from this I will thank America. Now, this is a village in Mesopotamia, the land where the Ottomans came through and never took the time to dig a water well for this village. It was the first time they had water running in their village. The Ottomans did not to it, the Romans did not do it, Alexander the Great did not do it, Saddam did not do it, but every time anybody in that village drinks a glass of water, they will remember that Americans were there.

On March 20, on p. 18, Sen. Vince Fumo gave a speech that focused on President Bush and his policies that I thought was ill-timed and out of place with the business at hand.

On March 21, if you look at pages 5-6 you will find some examples of senators doing good, with some heartfelt discussion on the Ounce of Prevention Bill for early intervention in fragile families. I recommend you read through that as well.

On the 22nd, though, I found some very entertaining passages. Again the topic was the minimum wage bill. In the pdf version online check pages 9-17. I have referenced here the official page numbers. If you are familiar with Shakespeare, you may remember his play “Julius Caeser.” When I read it in high school my English teacher pointed out that Marc Antony appealed to emotion and Brutus to reason and that appealing to emotion most often wins out. Many of our political figures seem to have noticed this as well. In any event, after Sen. Tartaglione again brings up the minimum wage bill, Sen. Piccola and Sen. Hughes get into a discussion that reminds me of the dichotomy represented in “Julius Caesar.” You can guess who plays what part.

Sen. Piccola: Madam President, over the last few months I have been listening to the debate on the minimum wage, and while I am a Member of the Committee on Labor and Industry, I am not engaged in that debate. But last week during this part of our agenda, the lady from Philadelphia [Sen. Tartaglione] challenged those of us on this side of the aisle who do not support minimum wage to, I believe her words were, search your souls. I took her challenge to heart, Madam President, and I searched my soul. I looked in every nook and cranny, I turned it inside out, and I also searched the library, because this is not just about feeling good, this is about facts, this is about economics, it is about reality and it is about jobs. After I did that search of my soul in the library, I found that I am on the side of the angels, at least in my view. (p. 1401)

I love that imagery – searching your soul in the library. More of us should search our soul and search the library and perhaps both at the same time. Piccola even includes a chart to enforce his views.

In page 1403, Senator Hughes makes some interesting statements:

So here we have voodoo economics, the costs are going up, the incomes are going down. Look at this spread, look at the spread between the two, and you are telling me that all my people are doing better with less money in their pocket? What kind of drugs are you on? What kind of hallucinates are you doing? What kind of chemical medications are you investing in? That is ridiculous. That is absurd. Okay, if it is that good, you work for less. Why do we not all work for minimum wage around here? Lord knows, if Mr. Diamond and his whole crew had their way, we would be paying people to work this job. Why do we not try that? Let us see how great that would be. Voodoo economics, costs going up, income going down, the spread is greater, the spread is increasing, and I am supposed to be happy. I have $20 in the right pocket, $5 in the left pocket and the left pocket is really going to get me to the promised land. Right? That is the idea?

On page 1404, Sen. Piccola picks up again:

Madam President, very briefly, I just took a couple of Excedrin before I came up, but that is all, no illegal drugs.

On page 1405 Sen. Conti offers this in part of his remarks:

I will be brief, because I know the hour is running late for a Wednesday. Having my good friend from Philadelphia confide how much money he has in his pocket, which is much more than I have in mine, I would like to meet him for lunch shortly, so I will get through this as quickly as I can.

Of course, much of the debate focuses on the particulars of minimum wage and how raising it would affect the state’s economy and again, I urge you to read it for yourself.

Unfortunately I cannot report on anything happening in the House because they don't make the House Journal available online and it takes several months for it to show up in the law library closest to me, where I go to search the nooks and crannies of my soul. [Update: I am corrected on this -- the 2005 House Journals are now online.]

Coming Attractions

Tomorrow I'll be posting some of the highlights of the most recently released Senate journals. For those leaving town for the holiday weekend, I'll try to post earlier than usual.

More on Weldon

As has been widely reported, yesterday's Wall Street Journal had an article ("Backing Away From Bush" by John D. McKinnon) that discussed Republican candidates preferring to avoid being seen or associated with the president. One mentioned was Rep. Curt Weldon (PA-07) who is quoted as saying (in reference to why he was not attending a fund raiser with Pres. Bush and area congressmen Gerlach and Fitzpatrick today):

"Mr. Bush is really doing poorly in our state." and "I've got to win this by myself."

Weldon's campaign had another story:

Tuesday, Pete Peterson, a Weldon spokesman, said Weldon's planned absence at Bush's Philadelphia appearance had nothing to do with the president's unpopularity in Pennsylvania. Instead, Peterson said Weldon “simply wasn't invited” to the event.

Just a quick note on Pres. Bush's visit today:

A third congressional candidate attended the fundraiser but did not share the dais with Gerlach, Fitzpatrick and Bush.

Mingling among the GOP supporters was Raj Bhakta, best known for being fired by Donald Trump during the second season of the NBC reality show "The Apprentice." He is the Republican challenging Democratic U.S. Rep. Allyson Schwartz for the state's 13th District seat representing suburban Philadelphia.

News Round Up

A few tidbits from here and there:

**Lynn Swann decides to campaign with tom Ridge instead of appearing at the West Branch Manufacturers's Association. Read through the entire article (via politicspa). This could prove costly. He may not find people as eager to book him for speaking engagements. As is customary the group had raised money for him:

The campaign manager will usually suggest a figure that should be met by the fundraiser, Metzger said. In this case, the amount was $10,000.

“We raised in excess of $15,000,” he said.

Funds raised specifically for Swann’s campaign were made out to “Swann for Governor.”

“I returned those checks to each of the donors. It’s the donor’s choice now” whether to give the money to Swann’s campaign, he said.

**Swann discussed his property tax reform plan this week. BenPA at Young Philly Politics points out that it applies to vacation properties as well. Another maybe not so good thing.

**Patrick Murphy and MurphyCorps did some good deeds today to point out the hardships caused by Pres. Bush's budget and incumbent GOP Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick's support of it.

As of 3PM today, the MurphyCorps:
Donated 249 food items to the Bucks County Housing Group in Penndel;
Donated 252 books to the community library at Foxwood Manor in Levittown;
Donated 115 toiletry items to the Delaware Valley Veterans Home;
Worked 65 man hours cleaning 1.2 miles of trail at Tyler Park in Newtown;
Worked 15 man hours assisting senior citizens at Twining Village in
Holland;
Delivered 12 meals with Meals on Wheels in Abington;
Sorted 492 items of clothing for a local non-profit thrift store;
Helped 20 kids with homework in Levittown.

**Our friends at Campaigns & Elections would like us to cast a vote in a mock Santorum / Casey election.

Montco #3: Trouble in the GOP

PoliticsPA has posted two letters from Montoc GOP officers. The first, dated May 21, from William Donnelly, treasurer of the Montgomery County Republican Committee, lists recet party losses and suggests a change in party leadership. He backs Bob Kerns, instead of incumbent county party chair, Ken Davis.

The second letter, undated, signed by Rick Santorum, Arlen Spector, Jim Gerlach, Charlie Dent, and Mike Fitzpatrick, lists party successes and asks for Ken Davis to be re-elected.

The election will be held June 1. It will be interesting to see what happens.

Montco #2: Wanted -- One Muzzle

The New York Post on American Idol (via politicspa)

CELEBRITY FANS TELL THE POST WHO'LL WIN IT ALL TOMORROW:

By MACKENZIE DAWSON, DON KAPLAN, MAXINE SHEN, MICHAEL STARR AND LINDA STASI

May 23, 2006 -- Mario (R&B singer): "I think Katharine will win despite Taylor's great talent. She has a big voice and sings with great passion."

Raj Bhakta (former "Apprentice" lothario turned Pa. congressional candidate): "Taylor and Katharine are obviously both talented, but as I am a man, I am rooting for Katharine to win it all."

Raj is running against incumbent Democrat Allyson Schwartz for the 13th congressional district. Wonder how the GOP will view this latest gaffe. First the DUIs, then the "congressional run as reality show" concept, and now this. Allyson, I think you can stop raising money. He seems to be self-destructing all on his own.

Montco #1: Learning the Political Ropes

This arrived in my inbox today, note the reasonable cost:

We are pleased to announce the second Montgomery County Democratic Committee's Surburban Victory Campaign Camp training program! With the important 2006 elections looming, now is the time to polish our skills and further develop our grassroots campaign techinques.

If you are a candidate, future paid campaign staffer, state or local party member, or grassroots volunteer, this training will help you build your campaign and networking skills.

We hope you can join us for the two-and-a-half-day campaign training, which will be held during the weekend of June 23-25 in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.

APPLY ONLINE

Camp participants are encouraged to sign up for one of the following training tracks:

* How to be a Better Candidate- The candidate track offers an introduction to and preparation for a run at elected office. Anyone thinking about running for elected office should attend this training. Participants will have the opportunity to be mentored by elected officials and some of the top political consultants in the country.

* Campaign Management for Future Paid Professionals - If you are interested in becoming paid staff on a campaign within two years, then join this track. This is an introduction to the fundamentals of political campaign management. During this two-and-a-half-day training you will learn the basics of fundraising, field organizing, media relations, advance, volunteer coordination, get out the vote, targeting, candidate relations, and the latest campaign technology. Attendees will be divided up into teams to write and present components of a campaign plan that will later be critiqued by respected, nationally known consultants.

* Campaign Management for Political Veterans/Party Leaders - This track is designed to give you and your election team the modern management fundamentals necessary to be successful at the grassroots level. Topics will include: voter contact programs, budgeting, planning, recruitment and the role of the volunteer coordinator, event fundraising, earned media, and creating a local party plan. You will learn the basic skills that are essential to putting your candidate or local committee in the best position to win.

The registration fee is $40 and covers dinner on Friday, lunch on Saturday, and lunch on Sunday. The training schedule is Friday from 3:00 until 9:00 PM, Saturday from 9:00 AM until 6:00 PM, and Sunday from 9:30 AM until 3:00 PM. Camp participants are responsible for their own accommodations.

SPACES ARE GOING FAST, SO APPLY ONLINE TODAY!

The deadline for applications is Friday, June 16 at 5 PM.
Two weeks before camp, we will send a confirmation email with the precise location of camp. For more information about this training, please contact Tyler Rosen at 202.419.1040 or tyler@grassrootssolutions.com

News Round Up

Attytood has a nice feature on Santorum and his status as #1 in taking lobbyist money.

Team (Patrick) Murphy is planning some strategic community service to highlight some deficiencies in Pres. Bush's domestic policy while the president is in town to help raise money for incumbent GOP congressman Mike Fitzpatrick.

Russ Shade would like us to know he is still in the race for the 183rd state house district. They are currently waiting for the definitive write-in vote results.

A Quick Look at the 13th Congressional District

This is just a quick look at the 13th congressional district, between incumbent Democrat Allyson Schwartz and Republican challenger Raj Bhakta. This is a lopsided race, especially considering that the has changed hands between parties within the last decade. A real GOP contender would be cause for some alarm, but, happy day for her, that isn't the case this time around.

On one hand we have Rep. Schwartz who is known for her fundraising abilities. Living up to her reputation she has, as of April 26, $1,331,222, 81% of it coming from individuals, 60% from in state. While some of her recent votes (bankruptcy, eminent domain, and so on) have disturbed the progressive netroots, she has a solid reputation.

One the other hand we have Raj Bhakta, who has, as of April 26, $78,806 on hand, 99% of it from individuals, 88% of it from out of state. In addition to confessing to 2 DUI's, he has decided to run his campaign as a reality show. On the news section of his website he includes this statement:

Right now, the former star of The Apprentice 2 is hiring between 50 and 100 young people to work for his campaign this summer. He will pay them a weekly stipend and provide housing for them. Heading into the fall campaign, he will select a smaller, undetermined number of those aides to stay on the payroll. If he wins, he’ll hire the three best campaign workers for his congressional staff. (from Northeast Times 5/04/06)

I don't know that this method would provide better staffers than some of the party hacks I've encountered in congressional offices but it would surely provide far worse than some of the truly dedicated staff I've encountered.

However, considering that Bhakta is probably not the most serious opponent that Rep. Schwartz could have, her recent email to supporters including the following passage is suprising:

But here in the 13th Congressional District, the Republican establishment has cleared the primary field for my opponent. Today they will nominate a candidate who has made clear his unyielding support of the failed policies of President Bush. In his eagerness to gain favor with the Republican right wing, he told the Washington Post, "I am VERY HAPPY with the second term agenda."

The Republicans are hoping to win this seat back and they are using any means necessary to ensure their success. But you can help me prepare for whatever they throw at me.

She asked for contributions. The $1.3 million she is sitting on is, at present, a war chest. It's certainly not being spent on her campaign website which remains primarily a place for contributions. There is very little content. Compare it to her congressional site (see link on her name above). If she doesn't intend to spend any of it on her own campaign, perhaps she would be willing to share the wealth among fellow Democrats challenging incumbent Repulicans, who, with proper funding, have a good chance of winning (hint, hint, hint) or any of the state level races being run in her district.

Just a thought.

[Update: taking the advice of one of the comments on this post I looked at the expenditure column on Schwartz's Open Secrets page. In 2005 she donated over $40,000 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. In 2006 she did donate $2000 to Lois Murphy. There are similar donations to Bob Casey and a number of candidates in ohter states, and smaller donations to Philly area groups. I would still like to see donations to other individual candidates in the area. These may be filtered through the DCCC but, honestly, I don't trust them very much.]

Sources: Opensecrets (http://www.opensecrets.org/races/summary.asp?cycle=2006&id=PA13)

Off Topic: Business Reading

You probably didn't notice but Working Woman magazine ceased publication in late 2001. I'd been a subscriber for over a decade (and still have most of those issues in boxes in the laundry room) and felt the loss keenly. After bouncing around the newstand for a few years I've finally found a new business reading routine. These are just for general knowledge. Professional journals keep me up to date at work, but I like to have a taste of things outside the bureaucracy that pays my mortgage. Fast Company is published 10 times a year and focuses a little more on the creative class and design issues than I'm comfortable with but a lot of the articles look at innovation through a variety of lenses. Take this article, "Record Time" by Charles Fishman from the April issue. It looks at a company that is computerizing medical records. Why should you care?

There is a sense of urgency about digitizing medical record-keeping--one study estimated that 100,000 people in the United States die each year (twice the number killed in car accidents) because of the sort of preventable medical errors that digital medical records help eliminate. A Rand study published last fall (paid for, in part, by Cerner) estimated that at the low end, the United States could save $140 billion a year if digital record-keeping were in place.

For gender related issues I've been reading Pink, which, like Fast Company, is aimed at a younger demographic than my own but there's not a lot else out there. American Business Woman published one issue but I haven't seen any others. NAFE (National Association for Female Executives) has a quarterly journal but it comes out too seldom and doesn't have enough content to keep me happy. For oldster news there's nothing like the Wall Street Journal.

weekly legislative update

A few bills were shuffled, two resolutions introduced, that's it. Everyone was out campaigning. My state rep was catching up on constituent service and called me to talk about a matter of mutual concern. The personal touch, you have to like that.

Politicspa Gives Mydd Up Arrow

In more surprising political news, politicspa's weekly up and down gave an up arrow this week to Chris Bowers of mydd for winning a write-in spot on the state Democratic committee. Perhaps not as gracious a compliment as it could have been, but small steps are still steps.

"Harrisburg Hogs" in today's WSJ

In the "Review & Outlook" of today's Wall Street Journal, p. A14, there is an editorial called "Harrisburg Hogs." The first paragraph reads as follows:

No, this isn't the name of a new Pennsylvania football team. It's the term of ridicule Pennsylvanians have been using for the gang of 15 incumbent, big-government Republicans swept out of office in this week's Bloody Tuesday primary elections. If Republican leaders in Washington still think their break-the-bank spending won't cause trouble with voters in November, they'd better pay attention to what just happened in the Quaker State's elections.

Interesting. Has anyone heard the term Harrisburg Hogs? It's new to me.

Class Act #2: Mike Paston

Tom Murt defeated Sue Cornell, incumbent Republican legislator in the 152nd state house district. In the fall he will face Democrat Mike Paston. In today's Inky ("Hatboro legislator swept out with tide," by Jeff Shields), we find this statement:

"I think it was more specifically a Sue Cornell backlash," said Michael Paston, owner of a local printing company and vice president of the Upper Dublin school board. "Tom's a better person, and I think his win assures us that we will have someone who will do a good job representing the district."

As I will say many times between now and November, the 152nd is a lucky district.

Class Act #1: Patrick Murphy

An email from Patrick Murphy to his supporters and volunteers:

Friends,

Three days ago, we asked you to raise your voice for change.

Well, you raised it alright - and it was heard loud and clear throughout Bucks County and the 8th District of Pennsylvania!

I share this victory with all of you. To those who attended the victory party Tuesday night and those who were there in spirit, to those who knocked on doors and those who manned the phones, to those who gave so much of their time and resources and heart to this campaign:

Thank you.

Andy Warren, a man who has served Bucks County all his life, deserves our thanks as well. He should be commended for his honorable campaign, and united, nothing can stop us now.

Last night saw the end of an important chapter in our campaign, a chapter that could never have been written without all of you. But we know this is just the beginning of the tough fight through to victory in November. Mike Fitzpatrick is gearing up for the race of his life because he knows that we are united, we are strong, and we are ready.

Let's send a message: we're here to fight, we're here to win, and we're here to take back our country!

Looking forward to seeing you out there on the campaign trail!

Patrick

Off Topic: One Less Bright Light

My weekend routine changed a few months ago. When I took the kids from one place to another, we used to cross paths with a young man, a graduate student. We would stop and talk for a minute or two when we ran into him. Since I hadn't seen him in a while I asked someone who worked with him how he was. Not long ago he killed himself. As all too often happens no one had any idea he was troubled. You just never know. A lot of people, my family included, will miss him.