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March 31, 2004
Kerry Struggling in Pennsylvania
A new poll shows Kerry slipping some in Pennsylvania. The Swing State Project has the goods.
Posted by seamus at 10:33 PM | Comments (0)
Air America Radio Kicks Ass
"Does his last name," Mr. Seder asked, "rhyme with Chriscroft?"
Well, this should be interesting and fun! Air America Radio blasts off in six hours (or 12 depending on what account you go by). Regardless. Oh hell, irregardless (I don't care of its not a word!) the liberal or progressive or whatever radio network launches tomorrow with the Morning Sedition program and the O'Franken Factor (talk about rubbing salt in wounds). And I can't wait to catch the internet feed while at work!
The NY Times has a piece up tonight and click here for the Air America Radio website which looks lame right now but will apparently have streaming audio tomorrow. And it does have a list of stations that will carry it live. I'll probably post something on my first impressions.
Posted by seamus at 12:14 AM | Comments (0)
March 30, 2004
White House Gives In
The White House has agreed to let Condi Testify in Public in exchange for a written statement by the Commission that it would not be precedent setting. Huh? This is a huge defeat for the White House. There is no other way to put it. I agree with Josh Marshall that the written statement means next to nothing.
Posted by seamus at 11:57 AM | Comments (0)
March 29, 2004
BackFire
Looking over the top story on the NY Times website covering Condaleeza Rice's appearance on 60 Minutes tonight one gets the distinct feeling that it may have backfired. Here are the first six paragraphs.
WASHINGTON, March 28 — The White House acknowledged Sunday that on the day after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, President Bush asked his top counterterrorism adviser, Richard A. Clarke, to find out whether Iraq was involved.Mr. Bush wanted to know "did Iraq have anything to do with this? Were they complicit in it?" Condoleezza Rice, the president's national security adviser, recounted in an interview on CBS' "60 Minutes."
Mr. Bush was not trying to intimidate anyone to "produce information," she said. Rather, given the United States' "actively hostile relationship" with Iraq at the time, he was asking Mr. Clarke "a perfectly logical question," Ms. Rice said.
The conversation — which the White House suggested last week had never taken place — centers on perhaps the most volatile charge Mr. Clarke has made public in recent days: that the Bush White House became fixated on Iraq and Saddam Hussein at the expense of focusing on Al Qaeda.
In his new book, "Against All Enemies," Mr. Clarke recounts that the president pulled him and several other aides into the White House Situation Room on the evening of Sept. 12, 2001, and instructed them "to go back over everything, everything. See if Saddam did this. See if he's linked in any way."
Mr. Clarke was incredulous, he said in the book. "But, Mr. President, Al Qaeda did this," he said he responded.
Mr. Bush answered: "I know, I know, but . . . see if Saddam was involved. Just look. I want to know any shred," according to Mr. Clarke's account. Mr. Clarke added in later interviews that he felt he was being intimidated to find a link between the attacks and Iraq.
Last week, the White House said it had no record that Mr. Bush had even been in the Situation Room that day and said the president had no recollection of such a conversation. Although administration officials stopped short of denying the account, they used it to cast doubt on Mr. Clarke's credibility as they sought to debunk the charge that the administration played down the threat posed by Al Qaeda in the months before the Sept. 11 attacks and worried instead about Iraq.
Posted by seamus at 12:20 AM | Comments (0)
March 28, 2004
blogging until my heart is content
I could blog to infinity with all of the things going on right now. So I'll just say this about the news that Bush's campaign is criticizing Kerry for quoting the Bible. Besides the obvious (what? Bush doesn't use religion as a political tool?) what strikes me about this is that it strikes me as a lame attempt to retaliate for the legitimate criticism of Bush's use of 9/11 in his ads. I think that the Bushies think they are being clever, and it might work in the sense that they can neutralize criticism from the media (who will suddenly decide that the two different cases somehow cancel each other out irregardless, look i know its not a word and I don't care!, of the merits of such a conclusion), but I think its an obvious stretch. Find me a national politician in America who doesn't try to use religion to his or her advantage and ... well, I don't know what I'll do. But it will be shocking! shocking I tell you!
who wrote all that?
Posted by seamus at 10:28 PM | Comments (0)
Nader Meet Kerry Defeat Bush
Alright, I hope that this means the Democrats will stop hating the wrong opposition candidate. Apparently Nader will meet Kerry next month to discuss coordinating efforts to defeat Bush. Mind you that Nader is still holding his appropriate position as an alternative to Kerry as well as Bush.
Posted by seamus at 09:42 PM | Comments (0)
March 27, 2004
Shocker!
ssssshhhhhh.. don't tell anyone. Keep it on the down low.
ssssshhhhhh... seriously, this is like serious stuff!
no, it is totally like totally true dude. totally true!
Yes, the Democrats are running candidates for State House and ... as if to totally shock me, state senate as well! No kidding. So tune back here for some blow by blows from Pennsylvania's 63rd Rep District and 21st Senate District.
Senate: White (R - oil lobbyist) v. Yenerall (D - Poli. Science Professor)
House: McIlhattan (R) v. Shropshire (D)
This is good news. It means I don't have to run a slash and burn campaign as a Green against tax the working poor McIlhattan and drilling for oil White.
The House race is interesting to me. For one, I'm glad to Jaime Shropshire running. She has an excellent reputation. She runs a small business in Clarion called Images of the West which is a nice little store. This story in the Clarion News has some nice background information. She would be a major improvement over McIlhattan in a lot of areas including the environment. Her late husband was a big loss to Clarion County but he will be remembered in the future as our county's first African-American - no small accomplishment.
But here is the unfortunate thing - and quite frankly this is criminial to deny her ballot access over this mistake apparently caused by the county elections board:
Democrat Jamie Shropshire of Marianne last week announced she will launch a write-in campaign for her party’s nomination.Shropshire was denied a place on the ballot when the state Bureau of Elections ruled her nominating petitions were invalid because out-of-date forms, supplied by the Clarion County elections office, were used to collect the signatures needed.
The county election office never received the new forms, nor were they informed the old forms were no longer valid, said county commissioner and county election board chairwoman Donna Oberlander, a Republican.
The form change was not evident on the state Bureau of Elections website, Oberlander said, “and there was not much public notice of the change.”
State election officials met with county officials last week and discussed the matter, but the state would not change its position and Shropshire will have to run as a write in candidate.
I just read about this but I would like to know more. I would like to know whether or not legal challenges were considered or not. And if they weren't I'd like to know why not - these types of ballot access issues are important. In any case, I hope it doesn't create problems for her in terms of earning the nomination. She would be an excellent candidate and one I could easily get behind.
I'll even put a sign up on my lawn! Oh, nevermind, I forgot I don't have a lawn and its quite impossible to drive by my house anyway. Oh no - not one more bumper sticker! I suppose I could cover that Dean one up... nah!
For more info on Yenerall and the Senate race check out this article from the Oil City Derrick on his campaign announcement.
Posted by seamus at 09:54 PM | Comments (0)
The Heinz Factor and Western Pennsylvania
Cross-posted from the Swing State Project
It is often noted that Pennsylvania is Philadelphia & Pittsburgh with Alabama in between. While the basic implications of this are true it does overlook something else - the significantly different political landscape between eastern and western Pennsylvania. Philadelphia is the fourth largest media market in the country and much of the Poconos, although rural, is democratic and dominated by visitors from New York City, Philadelphia, and suburban New Jersey. Pittsburgh, in contrast, seems more like an island surrounded largely by a small suburban area (by eastern Pennsylvania standards) and very conservative rural areas.
One of the landscape differences that is unique to the 2004 Presidential election is the direct involvement of the Heinz Family through Teresa Heinz. Now, the Heinz family isn't new to politics but this is most definitely different by prior accounts given the national scope of the election and the state of the nation. I know from experience that in rural Pennsylvania, the Heinz Endowments, in which Teresa plays a significant role, themselves can be voiced as a sort of slur where the implication is often tied to some grand conspiracy of liberals. Actually, conspiracy theories are popular in these parts and are deep rooted in some of the bizarre power dynamics of western Pennsylvania.
Anyhow, the short of this is that the involvement of Teresa Heinz's husband John Kerry in the Presidential race will have some impact on the election in 2004. I think we will hear a lot of conservative hyperbole about the Heinz family and some of this will connect with voters. On the other hand, I think that the memory of Senator Heinz and the general positive feeling that people get from having a geographic representative of sorts can be helpful to Kerry. In either case, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette took a look at how the ketchup company itself is being affected and how this has already taken a hold on conservative talk radio.
Posted by seamus at 07:28 AM | Comments (0)
March 26, 2004
See no Evil, Hear no Evil
The Bush administration policy of hiding all dissent against them shuld disgust all advocates of democracy. Apparently Bush is now so high and mighty that he needs to keep all Irish men and women at least one mile away from him at all times. Does he smell that bad? Courtesy of the Belfast Telegraph via PSoTD on Daily Kos.
AN advance party of US secret service agents is to arrive in the Republic next month to make detailed plans with the gardai for the visit of President George W Bush on June 25 and 26.It is intended that Mr Bush will fly into Shannon airport on the evening of June 25 and stay overnight, probably at Dromoland which is located is a short distance from Shannon.
Stringent security measures being planned by the gardai will ensure that protesters, including overseas demonstrators planning to travel from all over Europe, will be kept at least a mile away from the president during the short visit.
Posted by seamus at 04:11 PM | Comments (0)
The Game Commission versus Quinn
This is an interesting case. The Game Commission has asked District Justice Quinn, who some might recall won a close contested election here not too long ago, to recuse himself because his record regarding the prosecutions against violators of state game laws contrasts starkly with other District Justices. According to yesterday's article in the Clarion News:
According to the game commission, in 2003, 31 game law violation cases were tried before Quinn. Of those, 13 defendants – roughly 43 percent - were found guilty.During this same time, 32 game law violations were brought before Clarion County ’s other three district justices. A guilty verdict was obtained in 27 of those cases.
OK. that is some pretty damning circumstantial evidence. Even if other justices are too quick to go along with statements by the Pennsylvania Game Commission it would still seem questionable. No doubt that this reflects a large long-standing tension between outdoors hunters, fishermen, and others with PGC Officers. Personally I think most of this rivalry is due to imbalanced prosecution that goes beyond the PGC into the arenas of environmental protection as well (powerful interests such as corporations regularly get off with heinous acts while powerless individuals are routinely prosecuted for even the smallest crimes).
I wish I'd been following this closer so that I could say better but this next aspect of this is totally and entirely bizarre. Instead of ruling on a request from the PGC to have Quinn removed from PGC cases (apparently Quinn won't recuse himself) Clarion County Judge of Common Pleas James Arner has told the Clarion News that he won't remove Quinn either.
CLARION - Clarion County Judge of Common Pleas James Arner will not remove a district justice from hearing game commission cases, nor will he ask the magistrate to recuse himself from such cases.Arner told the Clarion News he has no intention of removing District Justice Duane Quinn ( 18-3-02 ) from game commission cases.
Arner said both parties – the game commission and Quinn – have different opinions on the request.
...
Arner said the best way for complaints about Quinn’s decisions are through the summary appeals process during which Arner hears appeals filed by defendants found guilty at the district justice level.
It is the last thing that is most disturbing. Arner is correct that the summary appeals process is the proper place to address this. But why is he talking to the press then? Doesn't he realize that telling the press that he won't take Quinn off of PGC cases can give the appearance of prejudice before the fact? And why is he issueing this decision in statements to the press instead of in a written issuance by the court? This all seems highly proper to me although I am far from an expert on judicial etiquette.
On the other hand, any question of impartiality on Quinn's part is subverted by his own campaign literature apparently. It isn't often that I agree with the PGC but this is damning. And its one of the bizarre aspects of having justices elected - they are more responsive to voters than the letter of the law.
The game commission also said it questioned Quinn’s impartiality in game commission cases after Quinn’s re-election effort last year included a campaign brochure which emphasized Quinn was not “supported by WCO Bimber” and that his opponent, Nancy Kadunce, now employed by the district attorney’s office, was.The outcome of the election for district justice is still tied up in court with a recount of the ballots leaving the contest in a tie.
...
Quinn said he has put the matter behind him.
“I had a very good meeting Judge Arner and we got things cleared up as to the way I handle the game commission cases,” said Quinn.
Posted by seamus at 03:57 PM | Comments (0)
Right Wing Militia Extremist Arrested
It is hard to know what to think of this from the Erie Times-News (registraion required) until more information is unveiled. There is quite a large extremist movement in this area. I wasn't aware of "Braveheart Radio" though. Next time I drive through Crawford County (assuming he gets out of jail) I'll have to check it out. But I do hvae one question: how exactly does calling yourself a patriotic, Christian American separate yourself from the other tens of millions of patriotic, Christian Americans. I'm sure he believes he is the only one or something. Doesn't exactly strike me as all that rationale.
MEADVILLE — A Crawford County gun dealer known for his outspoken criticism of government power was arrested on firearm violations Thursday after heavily armed federal agents raided his West Mead home and adjacent business.Agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives served a search warrant and took self-proclaimed "patriotic, Christian American" Darrell Sivik into custody at about 9 a.m.
He was arraigned at about 4 p.m. in Erie before Federal Magistrate Susan Paradise Baxter. The courtroom was ordered closed, and the search and arrest warrants were sealed and not available.
Federal officials said the documents will be made available Monday.
Sivik in past interviews called himself a patriotic, Christian American, a member of the Patriot Movement and a member of the Pennsylvania Militia.
"By virtue of being a citizen, you have an obligation to be a militia member," he said in a 1998 interview.
Federal agents spent more than five hours searching Sivik's Williamson Road home, occasionally hauling out materials — most of which appeared to be files and metal ammunition boxes — and placing them in their vehicles.
Posted by seamus at 03:35 PM | Comments (3)
Is That Oval Office Chair Feeling a bit Uncomfortable?
Check out this article on the sales of Richard Clarke's new book, Against All Enemies. It is no surprise that the book is selling as well as it is, which explains the Bush administration's vitriole for Clarke (if only the Bushies were this tough on terrorism).
Posted by seamus at 03:11 PM | Comments (0)
At a Loss
I'm completely at a loss why it took so long for the press to focus on the Bush administration's routine of assaulting every one of their critics - even when the critic is one of their own. So this headline from the Washington Post is a bit of a relief:
To preempt damage, administration is waging all-out war on former aide."
Unfortunately I can't find it now, but it was either the Post or NY Time (yeah, that so-called liberal media) that said in their article on Monday that the Bush Administration's attacks on Clarke were unusual for the administration. Of course, I can see why they might forget the character assasination attempts on Joe Wilson and Paul O'neill, I mean them being minor figures and all.
In short, I don't know why it took four days for the Post to catch on, but I suppose I should be glad that they finally caught on.
Posted by seamus at 11:21 AM | Comments (0)
March 25, 2004
Bush Continues to Mislead
Over and over the Bush administration has attempted to link 9/11 to Saddam Hussein and Iraq. More and more evidence has come forward to demonstrate that there was no link. Yet, more and more Bush continues to obfuscate the issue to use 9/11 to justify invading Iraq. Tell me that this isn't blatant obfuscation with intent to mislead?
"Part of the war on terror is broader than just Al Qaeda," Mr. Bush said in Nashua, N.H. "The war on terror encompasses other theaters as well.""You can't just see a threat and hope it goes away," Mr. Bush told a friendly gathering convened to discuss home ownership. "That's the lesson of Sept. 11. Remember, prior to Sept. 11 we thought oceans could protect us. But the strategic calculations of America must shift in order to do our duty to keep this country safe."
"I saw a threat," Mr. Bush said a moment later. "The Congress saw a threat, the United Nations Security Council saw a threat in the form of Saddam Hussein. He was not only a threat to people in the Middle East because of terrorist ties, he was a threat to America or anybody else who loved freedom."
Posted by seamus at 08:44 PM | Comments (0)
March 19, 2004
Remembering Bob Zangas
Thanks to Daily Kos I learned about Bob Zangas, his blog, and his life this morning. There isn't much that I can say except that here is a true American hero who gave his life to help out the people of Iraq. Bob was killed in Iraq along with a fellow CPA employee and interpreter.
Bob left us with his blog which includes some very touching entries on life in Iraq. Read his most recent entry here. He gives a good context for his good work. This entry from January was difficult to get through. The third paragraph in particular.
Posted by seamus at 08:34 AM | Comments (0)
March 17, 2004
Go Figure
From the apparent capital of closed-mindedness:
DAYTON, Tenn. (AP) -- The county that was the site of the Scopes ``Monkey Trial'' over the teaching of evolution is asking lawmakers to amend state law so the county can charge homosexuals with crimes against nature.The Rhea County commissioners approved the request 8-0 Tuesday.
Commissioner J.C. Fugate, who introduced the measure, also asked the county attorney to find a way to enact an ordinance banning homosexuals from living in the county.
``We need to keep them out of here,'' Fugate said.
The vote was denounced by Matt Nevels, president of the Chattanooga chapter of Parents, Family and Friends of Lesbians and Gays.
``That is the most farfetched idea put forth by any kind of public official,'' Nevels said. ``I'm outraged.''
Posted by seamus at 03:10 PM | Comments (0)
March 05, 2004
Amishman Stranded in Canada
I thought this local story was quite interesting and worthy of note. Well, you might think there would be a means to facilitate the Amish community on this matter:
LICKING TWP. -- A young Amish man and his family cannot return to the United States, and the problem seems to be a conflict between homeland security and immigration policy versus the constitutional guarantee of freedom of religion.The man is a citizen of Canada, his wife and daughter are citizens of the United States. They are all Amish, and have a home among the Amish community in Licking Township.
The man went to Canada to visit his ailing father, and now U.S.immigration authorities will not allow him to return because he does not have a “green card,” showing he is allowed to stay and work in the U.S.
Because the Amish shun publicity and because the Amish man’s non-Amish friends contacted the Clarion News, the man’s name will not be included in this story.
A matter of rights
A green card – officially called a lawful permanent residence card – must include a photograph, but being photographed would violate the man’s religious beliefs.
Old Order Amish do not believe in being photographed because of the Biblical prohibition of the making of graven images.
What is clear is that our Congressman Peterson's local aid Dick Wiley (personally infamous for once telling me I didn't have a right to ask questions during a question and answer period at a public meeting) did his usual greet and do nothing with those trying to help out this Amish family.
Dick Wiles, an aide to Peterson, said he met Feb. 26 with members of the Amish community and Robertson at the Licking Township building. Wiles made some calls and learned there were no exceptions to the photo ID requirement.“The congressman knows about it and is sympathetic,” Wiles said, but there is little Peterson can do. “It could end up in court, is my guess. They could have to sue the government.”
Way to solve that problem Dick! Let me just say that I've never been all that impressed with Peterson's faux care for the people who actually live in his Congressional District. Lets call it the representation gap.
Posted by seamus at 02:54 PM | Comments (0)
Differing Motives
This Op-Ed in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is pretty good in the sense that it points out the obvious hypocrisy of conservatives on the role of government and their lack of any commitment to fiscal conservation. However, it does fall short of saying what the actual problem is - Republican conservatives aren't simply opposed to socialized programs for the benefit of the general public, they want that government money to go to wealthy corporate leaders instead. In fact, Republicans love government subsidized programs so long as they benefit their wealthy elite donors (And I should add that the problem with Democrats is that they act very similarly, only to a lesser degree).
Modern government is not an employment agency, and conservatives and businesses are often the first to defend the principle. So why do they have a hard time with the companion notion that government is not there to be a ready source of contracts?If government is to be run like a business, a favorite conservative mantra, then government should seek the best prices it can for the taxpayer's dollar. And that's what the Rendell administration is trying to do.
Yet some legislators and businesses around Pennsylvania are complaining -- complaining, mind you -- that the administration is trying to save the public up to $100 million a year. The state would do this through competitive mega-contracts that achieve lower unit pricing for items like food, office supplies and asphalt. A relative handful of big contracts would replace thousands of sales agreements with smaller, higher-priced dealers.
General Services Secretary Donald Cunningham said state government used to buy pens from 2,700 companies, two-thirds of which did $1,000 or less in state business. Office supplies bought that way cost Pennsylvania $22.5 million, he told a state House committee Tuesday. The new bulk-purchase contract would run less than $13 million.
But there is another problem here. Government isn't supposed to be a business. That is what corporate charters are for. Corporations are supposed to act like business. And lest we forget, corporations are supposed to serve at the behest of the public interest (something we've lost sight of in America and which our forefathers are rolling around in their graves over). Which means, business isn't supposed to function the way it does let alone government. Which gets us back to how corporations can exploit local commmunities throughout rural Pennsylvania so easily by making promises they never intend to keep and getting all of the tax dollars and exemptions they please. If we simply restored public control over corporate charters we may in fact get businesses in Pennsylvania to operate as they were intended to - in the public's best interests.
Posted by seamus at 11:30 AM | Comments (0)
Suffering the Job Losses
Once again, Americans are suffering under the Bush anti-economy. Today's job report says that we had more than 100,000 less jobs created in February than anticipated. Remember, the economy must create 150,000 jobs each month just to keep up with growth in the labor market (that be them there college graduates I guess). Just as significantly, the jobs report found that original job reports for November and December over-estimated job creation numbers as well.
But this article from late December should put things into even greater perspective. While our fairly high unemployment rate of 5.6% is disturbing - it is the rate of underemployed and those dropping out of the job market that is most disturbing. As of late December these totals were around 9.7%. Now our total unemployment numbers are likely over 10%.
What I do understand is that the 21,000 jobs created in February were government jobs. Meaning that without expanding government we would have zero job creation. That is disturbing.
Posted by seamus at 10:30 AM | Comments (0)
March 03, 2004
Mr. McIlhattan Goes to Harrisburg
But for whom? Reading over his Fall 2003 newsletter, I was reading about the sales tax plan backed by my State Representative Fred McIlhattan. Among other things this plan would could for a reduction in school property taxes and state sales taxes in exchange for the introduction of sales taxes on essential goods such as food and clothing (currently tax exempt for the benefit of the middle class and poor - you know, the rest of us).
What struck me was th graphic he used to show that this would reduce Pennsylvania's sales tax on such essential items as DVD players and lava lamps would go down to 4% - lower than all neighboring states. But as always it is what it doesn't show that is important.
If implemented, sales taxes on food, clothing, and a variety of important services would rise from 0% to 4% which would put us way above some of our neighboring states who don't tax these essential items. And when it comes down to it I guess that means that we are once again raising taxes on the poor in order to let those who can afford the taxes to get a better deal on farm animal waffle irons.
Which brings me back to my main point. Rural Pennsylvania is poor. We have a staggering age gap because despite our intense subsidies to multinational corporations and resource extraction companies (which includes handing over public lands areas for logging and drilling at discount rates) we don't have jobs for most adults between 25 and 40. Many rural Pennsylvanians are struggling to pay their bills. Yet, most of these poor rural areas are represented by Republicans who would love to do nothing more than tax those who are struggling the most.
And this is the problem - the people who "represent" us don't act in our best interests. And yet Representatives like Fred McIlhattan remain popular. I understand he is a nice guy and folks like him. But that doesn't make him a credible representative of our needs.
Posted by seamus at 10:15 PM | Comments (0)
Specter Playing Games
In my mind Specter has lost all claims to the middle ground with his votes for extremist policies and judges these past two years. Having Senator Santorum pledge to Specter's commitment to the right-wing Bush agenda in a campaign add clearly demonstrates Specter's inability to stand up to the extreme elements of his party. Nevertheless, there is an interesting campaign piece about Specter's attempts to play the middle in the Senate in today's Patriot-News.
The truth is that in the past Specter has, on occasion, played to the middle. However, he has moved hard to the right with many of his major votes since Bush came into office. He should be held accountable for this in my mind and that is why I'm supporting the Hoeffel campaign.
Posted by seamus at 05:38 PM | Comments (0)
Those Damned Trespassers
I don't know why I didn't hear about this before but this is pretty hilarious. You mean to tell me that they actually intended to prosecute 60 Minutes for pointing out the lax security at the chemical plant? Isn't that sort of, how do you say, bad pubility for the chemical plant?
A judge threw out a trespassing charge against a newspaper reporter who walked around a chemical plant to expose lax security there.Allegheny County Judge Robert C. Gallo said yesterday that what Tribune-Review reporter Carl Prine and “60 Minutes” reporter Steve Kroft did wasn’t right, but that all the parties learned a lesson.
“You learned a lesson and we all saw it on ‘60 Minutes.’ What they did wasn’t right, but they brought up a problem, a problem that everyone can walk around there,” Gallo said.
At Neville Chemical Co. on an industrial island near Pittsburgh, the reporters and a photographer reported they were able to enter the plant through unlocked or open gates and wander around the plant for more than a half hour.
Prine, Kroft and cameraman Gregory Andracke were charged with defiant trespass, which carried a fine of $25 plus court costs. Kroft and Andracke pleaded guilty and Prine was found guilty in November, but the newspaper appealed that decision.
Posted by seamus at 05:31 PM | Comments (0)
Incumbent Advantage?
OK, it is great that PA House Speaker Penzel is refunding the tax-payers for bankrolling this campaign gimic, but why isn't he being prosecuted for this blatant misuse of tax-payer's money?
PHILADELPHIA — House Speaker John M. Perzel will reimburse taxpayers about $57,000, the cost of producing and mailing more than 22,000 DVDs he sent out last summer showing his April swearing-in ceremony.Perzel, a Republican from Northeast Philadelphia, had agreed about three weeks ago to repay the state only the $35,000 cost of making the recordings.
But his campaign committee on Friday paid $21,930 to cover postage, even as an aide insisted the mailings were a legitimate legislative expense that was originally charged to taxpayers.
The DVDs went out to constituents, supporters and others.
Are we still to believe that Republicans are fiscal conservatives? (the bold emphasis is mine)
Posted by seamus at 05:24 PM | Comments (0)