Final Philadelphia Totals in Some Races

A few State House races results:

With 100% of the precincts reporting: Democrat Brendan Boyle has won the 170th district, defeating Republican Matt Taubenberger.

In the 172nd district, with all precincts reporting, incumbent Republican John Perzel kept his spot with 66% of the vote, against Democratic challenger (and a fave of mine), Rich Costello. Thank you, Rich for running.

Judge: Emergency Paper Ballots Counted Friday

Scout Kraus at the Morning Call's Pennsylvania Avenue blog is reporting that a Philadelphia judge has decided emergency paper ballots do not have to be counted until this Friday

Afternoon Sitemeter Notes

These are some search terms notes from about 3:30 to 800 from the sitemeter stats for this blog.

A lot of people looking for Steve Santarsiero (he should have been on the earlier list also). He is the Democrat running for the open 31st state house district.

Still a notable number of people looking for Marina Kats, the Republican challenging 13th district Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz.

Patrick Murphy and Tom Manion also popular although now more as separate searches instead of together. Murphy is the incumbent, Manion the Republican challenger in the 8th congressional district.

Todd Stephens, the Republican challenger to State Rep. Rick Taylor are back on the charts.

John Linder, the Democratic challenger, and Dominic Pileggi the Republican incumbent in the 9th state senate district.

Afternoon Common Cause Election Update

From the inbox and the Common Cause website:

By Lauren Coletta
Posted on Tue Nov 04, 2008 at 06:15:56 PM EST

It is difficult to make general statements about whether or not Pennsylvania experienced serious systemic problems today-serious meaning that the problems were so many that they impacted the outcome, disenfranchised voters, or caused people to lose faith in the process. Days and weeks will be needed to do that sort of analysis and at this moment there are still a few hours to go at the polls. What is clear is that many of the problems in Pennsylvania, long lines, too few machines, too few well trained poll workers were predictable and could have been avoided. How long should voters be expected to stand in line? Certainly an hour is reasonable but some voters waited as long as three hours in State College, Philadelphia and in Allegheny County. At what point does a voter give up, forfeiting their right to vote for personal considerations--essentially being disenfranchised because of the government's inability to collect votes in a reasonably swift and accurate way?

Clearly, the system needs more resources, voters need more time to vote via early voting and an Election Day holiday, poll workers need training, and machines need to be accessible and trustworthy. We can do these things! When we address these issues in the future, and we must, most of us will just be curious about the results come Election Day, we won't have to wonder if the election was clean or if people were wrongly shut out of the process.

Summary of top problems Election Day Afternoon

* One significant statewide issue is a breakdown between state voter registration lists and the lists that have been printed out for the polling places. This issue is widespread and as caused an unknown number of voters to vote provisionally.

* We still have a three hour long line in State College at the Quaker Meeting House. Students names are not appearing on the rolls even though they were registered causing a number of provisional ballots. An unusually high voter turnout is contributing to the problem as well. Student groups were passing out food and games to their fellow students to pass the time.

* Scranton: Generally quiet but they have had a number of optical scan machines break down. Voters have to leave ballots without scanning them until the machines are repaired.

* Allentown: A republican poll worker is challenging voters--it is really slowing the lines down. This is in the 4th Ward, 12th Precinct. Common Cause is sending an attorney, unknown if Election Protection has already sent one.

* Armed police (Constables) continue to be an issue in various places. In Redding we have reports of a security guard wearing a FBI cap which has intimidated voters.

* Ben Salem: A gas leak forced two polling places to close. Judges told the people to come back later. The polling places have reopened. We don't know the exact times or how many voters were turned away.

* Hazelton: Complaints from the Hazelton City Hall polling place about the lack of privacy of the voting booths and the intrusive behavior of an election judge. A report was made to Luzerne Count Head of Elections Tom Piazza and the situation was resolved.

CN8 Election Coverage

From the inbox:

CN8, The Comcast Network announced that Pennsylvania Gov. Edward G. Rendell will appear live for an hour on the Nov. 5 edition of “It’s Your Call With Lynn Doyle” to analyze Election Day results and take viewer calls.

Rendell’s appearance will cap a busy slate of election coverage on CN8 that offers viewers numerous programs, as well as the on-air, online and ON DEMAND viewing methods that have been a part of the network’s comprehensive America ’s Next President campaign.

On Election Day itself, Political Director Lynn Doyle and Reporter Kevin Walsh will oversee programming with numerous guests beginning at 8 p.m.

Live in Philadelphia will be CN8 political analysts Steve Ayscue and Brad Brewster; Democratic strategist Tony Bawidamann; Republican activist Dr. Janice Hollis and CN8 D.C. Bureau Chief Robert Traynham.

Satellite guests include media analysts Steve Adubato from New York ; CN8 Host Mary Caraccioli and Republican strategist Jack Burkman from Washington , D.C. ; and Democratic political analyst Paul Afonso from Boston .

Meantime, CN8’s Greg Coy will be in the field in the Philadelphia area with Obama supporters, while Janet Zappala will be with McCain supporters. CN8 Special Correspondent Emily Ryan will be in McLean , Va. , to report on the state’s pivotal role in the election as well as the race for an open U.S. Senate seat between Democrat Mark Warner and Republican Jim Gilmore.

Sitemeter Notes for the Day

I haven't been as obsessive as usual in keeping track of sitemeter stats lately and so have only reviewed part of the day's usage, but there are some interesting blips.

Over the past few days the 151st state house race between freshman Democrat Rick Taylor and Republican challenger Todd Stephens was a popular search item. Not so much today.

From 11:30 - 2:30 there were a lot of searches for Congressman Patrick Murphy and the Republican challenger Tom Manion for the 8th congressional district. What is odd is that people search for both names, not just one.

There have been a number of searches for Marina Kats (running against Democratic Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz in the 13th district).

Rich Costello, the Democrat trying to unseat John Perzel has been popular. I wish him luck.

Guy Ciarrocchi and Paul Drucker, competing for Carole Rubley's State House seat in Chester and Montco have also been popular, with more people looking for info on Ciarrocchi than Drucker.

The oddest in the group is a 2-day rush of searches for Tom Ellis's views on abortion. He's running for state treasurer, people, it really doesn't matter. Ellis is the Republican. I've seen less interest in Democrat Rob McCord, but perhaps the people intending to vote for him are looking for more job-related credentials.

I've also had some hits on the water / sewer referendum.

This rush of blog usage always happens on election day and it always makes me happy. It means that people are researching the candidates before they vote.

More updates throughout the day.

Common Cause Election Day Update

From the inbox, and posted also on the Common Cause website:

Pennsylvania Morning Rush Wrap-Up

This morning I was asked to monitor my old home state of Pennsylvania for the Common Cause Protect the Vote project. Our operations in PA are aided by more than 80 poll monitors across the state and by the operations of our colleagues in the Election Projecting coalition. Here is what we learned:

Perhaps the biggest news maybe that Philadelphia Election Authorities may not count emergency ballots cast by voters because of broken machines until Friday. John Bonifaz of Voter Action is challenging the decision but if the vote is close tonight it might be that we won’t have the results in Pennsylvania until Friday. Under the law, these ballots are to be treated the same as regular ballots.

Overall Pennsylvania is receiving the second most calls on the 1-888 Our-Vote hotline, just behind New York. The majority of problems are occurring in Philadelphia, Allegheny and Delaware counties. Like elsewhere in the country the primary problems people are experiencing deal with long lines caused by high voter turnout, voting machine breakdowns, and too few poll workers. Another issue particular to the poll workers in Pennsylvania deals with the amount and type of training they receive to prepare for Election Day. The law requires that counties “instruct election officers in their duties,” but does not specifically require that each election officer be trained before s/he serves.

Below are some other issues that have arisen during the course of the morning vote that we will be monitoring throughout the day.

* Voter suppression efforts have been reported in Pittsburgh, Allentown, Redding and parts of Philadelphia prior to Election Day. New reports have come in from Pottsville, Pennsylvania of deceptive practices warning voters if they vote they will have to pay their parking tickets.
* Common Cause enlisted the help of actor Danny Glover to record a phone message to watch out for deceptive practices designed to suppress vote. The automated calls were directed to over 300,000 households in Pennsylvania and Virginia where misleading fliers had been discovered.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=96536421

* The presence of Armed police (Constables) is causing concern among some voters in Reading and Wilkes-Barre. Also, in Wayne County Common Cause poll workers were being told by the Constables there they did have permission to monitor the polls; this was corrected with the Wayne County Election Authorities.
* Bucks County voters experiencing registration problems are meeting resistance when they ask for provisional ballots.
* State College: A polling place in Osceola Mills is blaring partisan radio station.
* Students at the University of Pittsburgh and State College are being asked to fill out provisional ballots for a variety of reasons; this includes situations where the students are on the voter registration rolls. The situation has led to long lines and confusion.
* In Allentown there is concern over Hispanic precincts with unusually low turnout this morning. The worry is that this is a result of deceptive practices urging Hispanics to vote only during finite hours.

Morning Election Update

Mr. J went out to vote early, and was voter #35 in line at 6:56. When he left he said there were about 80 people line. A neighbor who voted around 8:00 said it took him about an hour to go through the process. After the traditional election day breakfast at IHOP, I went down around 10:00 and was voter #288. I counted 14 kids of varying ages (stroller through older elementary). It is always nice to see people bring their children out to vote with them, though in some cases (stroller especially) it is probably more necessity than educational. All of the Little Janes had the opportunity to push one or more buttons on the voting machines (closely supervised, of course).

The water / sewer upgrade issue was off in a corner and I had to look around for it.

As usual, voting is my area is a pseudo-block party where you catch up with people you haven't seen in a while and chat while in line or going into or out of the polls. I talked with someone I know through a community group. I also had a chance to schmooze someone who volunteers with an organization I need an intro to, so that was good. And I was schmoozed in return by someone looking for volunteers for another project.

Back home, I baked brownies for an election day bake sale at another polling place. After they cooled a little I ran them over and quizzed the bake sale ladies about turnout. They said it was mobbed when the polls opened but was quiet over the lunch hour.

Later this afternoon I'll snoop around some other polling places.

AAJ Election Updates on Twitter

Instead of posting a lot of little blog posts throughout the day I'm going to use twitter for quick updates and post fewer, but longer, blog entries consolidating them.

www.twitter.com/aajane

You don't a twitter account to read "tweats" but you will need to refresh your screen if you leave it on twitter. There are a lot of good election watchers twittering today and it might be worth setting up an account to follow them.

Barack Obama Writes of His Grandmother

A planned in-depth review of Barack Obama’s Dreams From My Father isn’t likely to happen, at least not before the election. It’s a good book, a young man’s journey to find himself, primarily through his exploration of family relationships.

However, in honor of his grandmother, who died last Sunday, let me instead bring out some of quotes from the book that highlight her life.

On his grandparents’ courtship (p. 15):

I sometimes imagine them in every American town in those years before the war, him in baggy pants and a starched undershirt, brim hat cocked back on his head, offering a cigarette to this smart-talking girl with too much red lipstick and hair dyed blonde and legs nice enough to model hosier for a local department store.

On his grandparents meeting his father (p. 17):

Gramps is probably too busy telling one of his jokes or arguing with Toot [his grandmother] over hot to cook the steaks to notice my mother reach out and squeeze the sooth, sinewy hand beside hers. Toot notices, but she’s polite enough to bite her lip and offer dessert; her instincts warn her against making a scene.

On his grandmother’s job as a bank vice president (56):

Without a college education, she had started out as a secretary to help defray the costs of my unexpected birth. But she had a quick mind and sound judgment, and the capacity for sustained work. Slowly she had risen, playing by the rules, until she reached the threshold where competence didn’t suffice. There she would stay for twenty years, watching her male counterparts kept moving up the corporate ladder, playing a bit loose with information passed on between the ninth hole and the ride to the clubhouse, becoming wealthy men.

She sounds like a fascinating woman.

Vote "Yes" on Clean Water Referendum

I've been meaning to write about this but did not get all the needed information marshalled in time. Fortunately, the Inquirer had a front page story on it Saturday.

From "Beneath the surface, sewer systems fading fast," by Sandy Bauer 11/01/08:

Throughout the region and the nation, the water and sewer infrastructure is aging. The question is how to fund repairs and upgrades to meet new, stringent standards.

On Tuesday, Pennsylvanians will vote in a referendum on $400 million in grants and loans.

The price tag statewide has been estimated at $36.5 billion over the next 20 years, according to a state report released yesterday. With operation, maintenance and debt service added, the cost balloons to $113.6 billion.

"This is about making sure our streams and rivers are not polluted with raw sewage, about making sure the tap water we rely on is safe," said John Hanger, acting secretary of the state Department of Environmental Protection.

"Unfortunately, right now we have too much raw sewage going into rivers," he said. "In some cases, and I'm only slightly exaggerating, the pipes leak more water than they carry."

Hanger said the $400 million would also provide 12,000 construction, engineering and other jobs.

The governor sent out a robocall today in support of the referendum. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has information for those who wish to learn more.

Many of these systems must be updated but less and less is covered by the federal government which means without more state funding the local governments would have to pay. For smaller areas this would be a devastating costs.

Given that we all live downstream I think this is a good reason for the costs to be taken on by the state.

PA in the WSJ 10/20-10/26

Almost caught up! Only a week behind now.

This is a list of articles regarding Pennsylvania in this week's Wall Street Journal. Chances are I missed something, but these are the articles that caught my eye.

It should be noted that I routinely do not read the editorials in the WSJ. So any discussions of the state, its elected officials, businesses, or citizens, in editorials will not be mentioned here.

PA Politicians

Kanjo does the honors. Rep. Paul Kanjorski is the subject of “Congressman, in tight election, puts his votes for rescue front and center,”by Sara Murray 10/20

Gov. Rendell is mentioned as ordering a statewide 4.25% cut in most departmental budgets in “States’ tax receipts fell sharply in latest quarter,” by Jesse Drucker 10/25. A photo of him accompanies the article.

McCain campaign hopes to exploit Obama’s weakness in Keystone Primary,” by Elizabeth Holmes 10/22

PA Businesses

Note from “Pollution credits let dumps double dip,” by Jeffrey Ball 10/20: “Over the past two years, landfills from Pennsylvania to North Dakota have started selling extra credits on the Chicago [Climate] exchange to profit from methane there were capturing anyway.” The first of these landfills was in Lancaster County, the Lancaster County Solid Waste Management Authority. It sells the methane to a local power company who in part uses it to generate steam for Turkey Hill Dairy. From landfills to ice cream – what’s next!

Philadelphia private-equity firm Lubert-Adler partners is one of the partners featured in “Miami mogul plays buyer, seller,” by Jonathan Karp 10/22

“Comcast to crank up Internet speeds,” by Vishesh Kumar 10/23

“PNC buys National City in bank shakeout,” by Dan Fitzpatrick, David Enrich, and Damian Paletta 10/25

Other PA

Chadd’s Ford real estate agent John Bell is quoted in “Delinquencies mount for American Express,” by Robin Sidel 10/20

Wharton prof Olivia Mitchell is quoted in “Boomer bust: how will the economy rebound without post-war babies financing their Harleys?” by Joe White 10/21

Uniontown investment club, The Satin Bags, is featured in “Investment club weighs future amid turmoil,” by Clare Ansberry 10/21. Pittsburgh bank National City Corp is also mentioned.

Pittsburgh is the setting of “Retirees fret over investments,” by Clare Ansberry 10/21

A rare editorial included in this list: “Can Phillies fans embrace optimism,” by Allen Barra 10/21

That lifespan calculator developed in part by a Wharton prof, that I wrote about a few months ago is in the news again: “My so-called life span: expectancy calcuators falter,” by Carl Bialik 10/24

Pittsburgh gets a Nordstrom, in “For Nordstrom launch, business as usual – sort of,” by Kris Maher 10/25

Another PA-based editorial: “Pennsylvania is driving its doctors away,” by Frederic Jarrett 10/25

Evelyne Schuster of the Office of Medical Ethics at the Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center is quoted in “The Toughest Test” by Gautam Naik 10/25. The ARPKD / CHF Alliance of Kirkwood, PA is also mentioned.

Other Interesting Tidbits

“Executive pay curbs go global,” by Joann S. Lublin and Mike Esterl 10/21. Good.

“Money squeeze play bedevils Rays,” by Matthew Futterman 10/22. Tampa Bay Rays

This is interesting: “Bioplastics begin to get real,” by Anjali Cordeiro 10/22. One company uses corn sugar to make plastics. Can we entice one of those companies to come here to PA?

McGinty on Poossible Obama Cabinet List

The Politico has put together a list of potential picks for an Obama cabinet and other administrative posts. The only identifiable Pennsylvania name was Kathleen McGinty, former secretary of Environmental Protection, listed as potential head of the EPA.

For the full list see: "Dems sketch Obama staff, Cabinet," by Mike Allen

Rick Taylor and Todd Stephens on Comment Please by Univest

State Rep.Rick Taylor and his Republican challenger Todd Stephens appeared on one of my favorite radio show, WNPV's Comment Please by Univest,on Oct. 17th. Darryl Berger is a very skillful interviewer

Comment Please by Univest
Host: Darryl Berger

(incumbent Democrat) Rick Taylor and (Republican) Todd Stephens
Friday, Oct. 17
151st district state house district

1 minute opening, questions, 1 minute closing

RT: Thank you. It’s good to be here as always. Thank listeners. [describes district] Two years ago when I ran for this office I ran because I believed I could make peoples lives better. I’ve been fighting for that. Health care, education, dignity for older citizens. Ambler, fight over asbestos. Willow Grove Naval Air Station. Fight for quality of life to be preserved. My experience in public and private industry has taught me how to work with all kinds of people.

TS: Appreciate opportunity to be here. Been an assistant district attorney in Montgomery County for almost 8 yrs. Opportunity to serve the people of Montco in that capacity and US Attorney’s office in Philadelphia. Being a state rep provides opportunity to serve people in a greater way. Disappointed in state house of rep. Too much time spent bickering. Indictments and continuing investigation. As it relates to the average individual. No one says how great state legislature is. In fact, headlines to the contrary. Lived in Horsham all my life. Time we made some changes. Been fighting for people in the courthouse and would like to move on to state house and fight for people there.

Q: bonusgate. Rick, you are involved in this to some degree. One of the people indicted was your cm for a brief time. Have you answered all the questions on that? You ran as a reformer.

RT: Yes, what has happened as far as Bonusgate goes. If allegations are true it is saddening and disappointing. Let me be clear, there has never been an accusation that I did anything wrong. Two weeks before the election there was a need to replace my campaign manager. We called state party as the campaign manager was not my employee. Said I could go it alone but called them first. I did not know she was on state money until the day indictments announced. While in Harrisburg I have worked to change the problems that have eroded the trust. First issues were legislation being rammed down people’s throats late at night. Lessened power of leadership on rules committee. Increased time for legislators to review legislation. Used to be asked to vote on legislation with no time to read it. Worked on open financing. Need campaign finance reform. Worked with Common Cause. Redistricting reform is another thing. Upper Dublin. 8 years ago there was one representative. Now in 4 different districts in Upper Dublin. Would like a nonpartisan commission. Rep. Samuelson has a nice bill on that. As soon as Bonusgate came out I introduced a bill to ban bonuses. We have to deal with systemic issues.

TS: quite frankly, with all due respect to Rep. Taylor it’s great to talk about redistricting reform but now the time has passed. Can’t happen before 2010 when redistricts. Had 2 years to address it and didn’t. Bonusgate issues. Rep. Taylor hasn’t ever shown on his campaign finance report the in kind donation for Rachel Manzo’s work. He hasn’t amended his report to show he received her work for 2 weeks. There was already a bill banning bonuses sitting in the house, passed in the senate. Sat in committee. But he introduces another bill. This whole notion that the rules were tightened is wrong. The most important bill that comes up is the budget but they suspended the rules on the budget bill. We need to make sure the caucus expenses are put online. I and others have asked about the amount spent on Rep. Taylor’s newsletters. He didn’t start putting his expenses online until Dec. of last year. Nothing in there about newsletters or tv commercials. Need to make sure one committee chair, like chair of State Govt committee chair, can’t derail legislation. We have got to stop allowing our tax dollars to defend against criminal investigations. When legislature said they were in favor of open records but D caucus fought Bonusgate subpoenas they were using tax dollars. Whole lot of lip service but no substantial changes.

RT: As far as the bonus issue goes. The existing bill banning bonuses was on all of state government. Too broad in scope. We were really concerned about people using it for political purposes. So that’s why I introduced the bill to fastrack it. On committee chair bottling legislation, just had a discharge resolution on MCare abatement (helps doctors pay medical liability). On the budget. I voted against suspending the 24 hour deadline. I agree the budget is important but the majority voted to suspend.

Q: Leadership has too much power?

RT: Having a strong leadership is frustrating. They still have a lot of powers. It’s not all bad. The legislative accounts not all bad, sometimes all four caucuses will share costs of something with the governor. I believe in kind services were reported from HDCC. They gave us a statement saying what services were rendered. Both campaign managers were same, an in kind service provided. On the mailings, I think these mailings serve an educational purpose for constituents. For example, announce free breast cancer screenings for low income women. Not excessive. Property tax rebates for seniors. Education people about these services. Has gone to visit constituents even in off years to help them and educate them. I have more constituent service hours than any other rep according to a survey. Televised publis service announcements also serve to educate public. One early PSA on TAP 529 programs. Dual enrollment, get college credits while in high school. Work on making college more affordable.

TS: Still confused. Open records. How much did we spend on newsletters. You don’t’ even know how much you spent?

RT: That comes through the caucus.

TS I don’t disagree that there is important issue information to disseminate to constituents. I worked on Internet crime safety. Developed on my own time and distributed Mouse pads with Internet safety. Got corporate sponsorship. Ricks’ tv ads, 45K spent on 529 programs. If every state legislator spent that kind of money wouldn’t it be smarter if there was one commercial from the treasurer’s office instead of individual ad from each legislator.

Q: RT not the only one doing this.

TS: We need to change these things.

Q: Willow Grove Naval Air Station (Joint Air Reserve Station at Willow Grove)

RT: There are 3 principles I’ve been working with. Base and runway is important. After 9/11 it became apparent that the old way of working needed change. We need to keep it and keep runway. Need for national defense, emergency preparedness. Whatever happens at the base should not diminish quality of life who live in the surrounding communities. Been a strong proponent of working with both sides. Been working with the state and local representatives. Greatest concern being commercial flights. Two pieces of legislation given to locals to mark up until they are comfortable with it. I’ve been working in a very bipartisan fashion. Have worked with different cultures and be an honest mediator. Legislation would block commercial flights and narrow definition of associated user. I’ve spurred the debate and brought Gov. Rendell in to meet with some of the township officials. At the end of the day you cannot diminish quality of life in Horsham.

TS: On Horsham planning commission for years. We need to abate traffic around Horsham. Maybe use some of the land to decrease traffic. When the military said they don’t want it ever other gov’t agency given the option of coming to WG for free. All declined. Gov. came in and said it should be preserved as joint agency installation. I have mixed feelings on whether it is necessary or not. All agencies had previously declined. Gov. has found he can’t possibly afford to maintain base with just gov’t monies. Kimball Report said some private use. RT said he endorsed Kimball Plan, more buildings and hangars. Issue is you will be using commercial air traffic to foot the bill for the base. Congress passed legislation to allow for commercial and cargo air traffic for WG. Keeps trying to wrap this up in national security but ask and pharmaceutical companies keep coming up. I was at the meeting when Burger King was listed as being part of national security. [read from committee minutes]. If you told me this was going to be a gov’t facility with gov’t planes and gov’t pilots for national defense and homeland security, I could support it. I’ve been a neighbor of the naval air base all my life. There’s nothing like watching a fighter taking off. But that’s not what is happening here. Those associated users would access to the runway so they will foot the bill.

RT: What I endorsed was the vision of a homeland security hub with a runway. The associated user is part of the discussion the township and the state need to have. We do need to make sure the township has a say. The governor said the township would have a say. I am trying to work with the township to make sure they have a say. Trying to be an honest broker. I’ve knocked on thousands and thousands of doors. We’ve got to define what associated users are. Taxation issues. Sovereignty of the state should not be given up. Fed legislation said no commercial and cargo flights.

TS: You can’t be a broker you’ve got to take a side. Horsham declared a great place to live. We didn’t get that by letting the state come in and dictate what happens to all these acres. The decisions need to be made in Horsham and Montgomery townships. If we’re going to relocate businesses from Montgomery Township to federal land in Horsham where they won’t pass taxes; that is a concern. Never once has RT talked about land use or local taxes. Just ban non-gov’t flights. None of that has happened. We heard from the state there would be a public meeting back in March. There have been no public meetings. All closed door meetings. Kimball Plan made in closed door meeting. Footing the bill for that facility is wrong. I would fight tooth and nail.

RT: Horsham also part of this Kimball Report. I was supporting the vision. There was legislation we were going to run right before we broke for the budget. A lot of the issues the twp wanted to deal with and they asked me to hold up that legislation. We redrafted the legislation.

TS: When you were asked if you will support this legislation you said you didn’t know and then made a phone call and said you would support it.

RT: At the meeting I said to the twp I said I supported what they were doing in principal but wanted the conversation to continue. You have to have a number of legislators and the governor to pass legislation. I told Horsham I believed in the principal but did not want dialogue to end.

TS: you didn’t go and introduce the legislation. Tom Murt did and you jumped on. How are you going to pay for that runway unless you’re going to use commercial tenants to pay the bill.

RT: We drafted the legislation, sent it to solicitor of Horsham twp, didn’t hear back. It was after Murt’s bill was introduced that we heard back. Rep. Murt and I are communicating but I heard about the bill after it was introduced.

Closing

TS: I certainly appreciate you having me here. I would love to have another debate. We need some new leadership, someone who understands the issues are it relates to WG, traffic issues. I have a 98% conviction record in DA’s office. Deserve and opportunity to go Harrisburg www.toddstephens08.com

RT: In the last 2 years I have worked hard to make a difference in people’s lives. Helping push Bo-Rite on national list. Dual enrollment. Asbestos. Work for those who don’t have a voice. www.taylorforpa.com

Tonight's Television Viewing

Having been to all the political events I can stand for awhile, I stayed in with the family tonight. We're still a little shaken as Mr. J's car was nearly hit by a tree yesterday and felt a need to cocoon.

First up was Barack Obama's infomercial. I thought it was very well done, excellent writing and production. Mr. J's favorite part was the man putting on the Wal-Mart name tag.

Next was the Phillies game. The last time I watched part of a ballgame Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire were trying to break a record of some kind. This was, honest, the first time I'd watched the Phillies play. It was a good starting point since they won. Must be because of the William Penn statue put on the top of the Comcast building. Stranger things have happened.

Daily News Endorses Costello

The Philadelphia Daily News has endorsed Democrat Rich Costello for the 172nd state house seat. Excerpt:

The race for the 172nd, between former House Speaker John Perzel and Rich Costello, former head of the Fraternal Order of Police, is not completely unrelated. For one thing, John Perzel is paying for the nasty anti-Boyle ads.

But that's only the latest in Perzel's list of transgressions.

Perzel, who could conceivably become speaker again if the political balance in Harrisburg shifts to Republican, was wrong on the legislative pay raise, wrong on the idea of limiting property-tax relief from casino revenues only to seniors, wrong on his lack of action on common-sense gun laws. He grabbed the Parking Authority for state oversight, but failed to deliver on the revenues promised to the schools from that grab. There are concerns about how he will fair in the Bonusgate probe and investigations surrounding a taxpayer-sponsored computer program possibly used for campaign purposes.

Rich Costello, whom we endorse, is smart and thoughtful. He was a popular police leader, and his experience as a police officer -and one who was shot at twice- should at the very least translate into a new, welcome direction for the conversation about guns that happens in Harrisburg.

Also this week, the Inquirer, published an article on the race this week ("Perzel has high-profile opponent in Costello," by Marcia Gelbart, 10/27). If you click on the link and look at the picture, for some reason John Perzel seems to be standing in front of a bunch of Taubenberger lawn signs. Here is an excerpt:

This time, Perzel faces former Fraternal Order of Police president Rich Costello, perhaps his most formidable opponent ever.

Costello's 34-year police career and vocal leadership for 10 years of Lodge 5 of the Fraternal Order of Police gives his campaign instant credibility.

"When a guy has been in Harrisburg for 30 years and forgets where he came from, that makes him dangerous," says the 57-year-old Costello, who believes Perzel is too cozy with lobbyists. "I don't think at the grassroots level he has the support of the rowhouse Republicans he thinks he has."

One More 8th Congressional District Debate

There have been, I think, seven debates in the 8th congressional district race. There is one more tomorrow night, Oct. 29th; the debate is taking place at Central Bucks High School West, 375 W. Court Street, in Doylestown. Doors open at 6:30pm and the debate begins at 7pm.

I've watched four of the debates, three in person and one replayed on PCN, and written on two of them (Shir Ami, PCN broadcast of Bristol Riverside Theater ). If you haven't attended any of the previous debates you should go out to the Oct 29th event. Here's a quick preview:

Tom Lingenfelter (Independent): Get government out of the way.
Tom Manion (Republican): Washington is broken.
Patrick Murphy (incumbent Democrat): Green energy jobs. Fourth largest solar field in the US being built in Bucks County. Increased veterans benefits. Veterans cemetery. Need to bring our troops home. Voted my conscience.

Mr. Lingenfelter has, in my opinion, grown more cantankerous as the debates have done on. At the last one I attended he seemed to have progressed from trying to educate the audience to hectoring them.

Mr. Manion is very low-key and often starts sentences with "Well, ..." The exception is when he got angry at Murphy for talking about naming a post office for a Bucks County resident who died in the war. Manion, who also lost a son in Iraq jabbed his finger at Murphy and shouted "Watch yourself!" two or three times. He also said at every debate I attended that Murphy's work to increase veterans benefits took no effort because, after all, who would oppose that? Actually Sen. McCain voted against increased educational benefits for veterans who served for only a few years because it would discourage people from re-enlisting. Manion also hits Murphy for voting against war funding bills that did not include a timeline for troop redeployment (bringing the troops home).

Murphy does well in these debates, though I may be prejudiced having following his 2006 campaign closely. He discusses his record and emphasizes his bipartisan approach in Congress. He often recognizes community leaders or businessmen in the audience that he knows. He mentions his family. At one event a man wearing a Manion button started kibbitzing; Murphy handled it well.

If you live in the 8th and haven't been to one of the previous debates, please try to attend the one on the 29th.

A Look at Paul Drucker

Another review of the 157th state house seat. Democrat Paul Drucker is running against Republican Guy Ciarrocchi. There is no incument; it is an open seat. Each candidate has a campaign website (http://www.votepauldrucker.com/ and http://www.guyciarrocchi.com/). Each has a negative site as well (http://slipandfallpaul.com and http//www.whatkindofguy.com).

Let's take a look at one of these sites. Ciarrocchi's campaign claims that Drucker has filed a number of lawsuits. "His focus wasn't on helping taxpayers, lowering healthcare costs, creating jobs or improving the quality of life in his community."

I call foul. True, I was able to verify one of the cases mentioned on his site. However, I also found these legal cases that Drucker was involved in. Ciarrocchi did not mention them:

In 1994, Drucker represented a former policeman who shot and killed two young men who stole his car and abducted him. One of the carjackers pulled a gun which jammed. It was then that Drucker's client fired (Nolan, Jim, "Carjack victim 'didn't wait for 2nd click'," Daily News 10/22/1994)

In 1995, Drucker represented a disc jockey who was fired because of his ethnic background. The jury awarded him $68,888.("Disc jockey gets $68,000 in a bias suit in Reading" Inquirer 3/15/1995)

In 1996, Drucker represented the widower and daughter of a teacher who was shot and killed in front of her class. The suit was dismissed. (Martinez, Julia C., "In classroom murder, suit is dismissed," Inquirer 11/23/1996)

In 1999, Drucker represented a man who was supposed to be jailed for 72 hours for contempt of court, and was instead held for 28 days. (Naedele, Walter F., "Suit: man jailed too long at Delaware County prison," Inquirer 09/02/1999)

In 2000, Drucker represented a school district employee who said she was fired after reporting a bid-rigging scheme. (McCrary, Lacy, "A former employees sues Bensalem School District," Inquirer 3/25/2000)

In 2005, Drucker represented a man who house was sold out from under him by someone submitting a fraudulent deed; he was able to have his ownership restored. (Porter, Jill, "Fraud-fighting plan is working here," Daily News 4/22/2005)

These are not the wealthy or powerful. They are regular folks. They were taxpayers and Drucker tried to improve their quality of life.

Wealth Redistribution

A recent theme of the John McCain's campaign has been that Barack Obama intends to institute government redistribution of wealth. This has actually been around for quite some time. As someone who has been the recipient of it more than a few times, I can hardly argue against it now.

I was an olive drab baby. My father, who served in the U.S. Army for over 20 years, was an active duty serviceman when I was born. The only medical expenses for my birth that were not covered by tax dollars were my mother's meals ($3/day for 7 days). At that time fathers were not normally in the delivery room but were encouraged, at least at that hospital, to "share the experience" by donating blood. (Don't scoff, ladies, it was better than nothing.) So Pa used to tell me that I cost him $21 and a pint of blood. Up until my parents' divorce, and for a short time after that, my medical care was covered by the military, and that means the tax payers.

The American tax payers sent me to college, as it was entirely funded by grants and loans. (I wrote about this in 2005). I was extremely conscious of being a public works project and of the shift away from grants to loans and so graduated in three years instead of the usual four. A college education is always a good investment of public money as it is usually repaid many times over in the taxes on higher wages over the person's lifetime.

Anyone who received grants for college or took advantage of the GI Bill or benefited from a government program or business incentive has been the recipient of wealth redistribution. We take tax money from some people and give it to others, with the assumption that in some way that money will come back into the economy.

I'm really confused about this becoming an election issue. And certainly, it would be hypocritical of me to try to turn off the water for those behind me when I drank from the community well.

PA in the WSJ 10/13-10/19

Sorry this is late.

This is a list of articles regarding Pennsylvania in this week's Wall Street Journal. Chances are I missed something, but these are the articles that caught my eye.

It should be noted that I routinely do not read the editorials in the WSJ. So any discussions of the state, its elected officials, businesses, or citizens, in editorials will not be mentioned here.

PA Politicians


PA Businesses

Charles Aulino, directory of financial planning at Glenmede Trust Company is quoted in “Why now is the time to help you heirs,” by Anne Tergesen 10/18

Critical Homecare Solutions of Conshohocken is mentioned in “As home IVs grow, Medicare patients miss out,” by Laura Landro 10/15

Toll Brothers is mentioned in “Jersey City’s boom is set back,” by Dawn Wotapka 10/15

“Sovereign sells itself to Spain’s Santander,” by Robin Sidel 10/14 and “Santander nears Sovereign deal,” by Matthew Karnitschnig, Robin Sidel, and David Enrich 10/13 discuss the sale of the bank based in this area.

Other PA

Scranton is the focus of “Behind a blue-collar cliché,” by Kevin Hellicker, 10/18

Jamie Moyer is the focus of “What’s a geezer worth?” by Matthew Futterman 10/17. This is an important question for me as I’m easing into geezer territory myself.

Carnegie Mellon is mentioned in “Duke expands India offerings as U.S. schools seek foothold,” by Geeta Anand and Brittany Hite 10/16

From “School efforts to stem violence offer a textbook case of limits on speech,” by Dan Slater 10/16

Late last month, a federal judge in Pennsylvania sided with a school district in its decision to bar a student from wearing a T-shirt imprinted with images of guns and phrases such as “Volunteer Homeland Security” and “Terrorist Hunting Permit … No Bag Limit.”

Gettysburg and Valley Force parks are mentioned in “Developers and conservationists battle over national parks,” by Jonathan Karp 10/15

Richard J. Herring, co-director of the Financial Institutions Center at Wharton is quoted in “Devil is in the bailout’s details,” by Deborah Solomon and David Enrich 10/15

This week’s requisite Mark Zandi quote is in “Problems of home prices remain,” by Ruth Simon and Michael Corkery 10/15

“NFL’s Eagles tackle drunken, rowdy fans,” by Mark Yost 10/14