State Politicians

PA Republicans and Democrats fight over redrawing congressional districts

POSTED: Friday, December 2, 2011, 1:15 PM

Filed Under: Maps | News | State Politicians | State Politics

Babette Josephs

Here's something that's really important that you probably don't understand (I sure didn't): redistricting in Pennsylvania.

State Rep. Babette Josephs (D-Phila) is accusing right-wing State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe (R-Butler) and Republican Majority Leader Mike Turzai of "push[ing] through a Congressional map that the public will have little to no time to examine or provide input on how it will affect their communities. This is not democracy. It is dictatorship."

Indeed, the redistricting bill, which Metcalfe announced they would vote on next week, has basically no content: no maps, no details. Just sentences like "The First District is composed of a portion of this Commonwealth."

So what is going on?

Click for more »

Posted by Daniel Denvir @ 1:15 PM Permalink | 1 comment

PA state senator Stewart Greenleaf running for president

POSTED: Tuesday, November 1, 2011, 3:32 PM

Filed Under: Nation | News | State Politicians | State Politics

Montgomery County Sen. Stewart J. Greenleaf has announced that he will seek the Republican nomination for president. Yes, of the United States of America. He joins a few dozen other randoms, alongside the dozen “serious” candidates (44 candidates total!) that round out a Republican field that is already mighty difficult to take seriously.

Though Greenleaf, who has zero name recognition outside the state, acknowledges that he has absolutely no chance of becoming the Republican nominee, he seems to betray — nay, broadcast — an equally narcissistic ambition. Something is missing from the current debate, according to his statement, that only he, a humble public servant, can add:

“Seeking the office of the President isn’t Greenleaf’s goal. Greenleaf seeks to add to the debate in New Hampshire and stimulate a real and robust discussion on eliminating our national debt and making it unconstitutional for future Presidents and Congresses to pass unbalanced budgets in the future.”

So where, exactly, does Mr. Greenleaf get off? Here’s the curious thing: according to Terry Madonna, Director of the Center for Politics and Public Affairs at Franklin & Marshall College and a ubiquitous commenter on state politics, Greenleaf has never been much of a showboat.

Posted by Daniel Denvir @ 3:32 PM Permalink | Post a comment

Legislation to use public money to pay private school tuition passes PA Senate

POSTED: Thursday, October 27, 2011, 3:06 PM

Filed Under: News | Schools | State Politicians | State Politics | Education

Yesterday the Pennsylvania Senate passed school vouchers legislation that would give public funds to poor students at underperforming schools to attend private schools, including religious institutions. The legislation has been a priority for Republican Gov. Tom Corbett, and received support from some Democrats, notably Philadelphia Democratic Sen. Anthony Williams. But the teachers' union, public education advocates, and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) immediately criticized the legislation, which will now be taken up by the House.

“Taxpayers see school vouchers for what they are — an expensive new entitlement program that takes money from the poorest public schools and puts it into the pockets of private and religious schools that are not accountable financially or academically to taxpayers,” according to a statement from Jerry T. Jordan, President of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers. "Meanwhile, public schools with inadequate funding are left with even fewer resources than before to provide the education that disadvantaged children need to lift them out of poverty."

Indeed, Gov. Corbett presided over a nearly billion-dollar cut to public schools this summer, and his school vouchers legislation would use an increasingly limited pot of public school monies to send students to private schools. And there is no guarantee that any given private school will admit a given student. Unlike public schools, they can turn down whomever they choose, including because of a student’s religion or sexual orientation — or just because of weak academic performance, which will be the case with many lower-income students.

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Posted by Daniel Denvir @ 3:06 PM Permalink | Post a comment

Santorum as presidential candidate: Does anyone care?

POSTED: Tuesday, June 28, 2011, 2:12 PM

Filed Under: State Politicians

Rick Santorum, of course, has a “Google problem” thanks to spreadingsantorum.com, a website created by sex columnist and gay-rights advocate Dan Savage defining “santorum” as “the frothy mixture of lube and fecal matter that is sometimes the by-product of anal sex.” The former Pennsylvania senator’s biggest problem running for president, however, is that few Republicans know or care who he is.

“Improbable but not impossible” is how Franklin and Marshall College political scientist Terry Madonna puts Santorum’s chances. “But it borders on being impossible.” He needs a “breakthrough moment ... something that allows him to capture some attention. Something that makes people say, ‘This guy has something that nobody else has.’”

But what Santorum has right now is name recognition in all the wrong ways and with all the wrong people, landing him somewhere near the bottom of a pack that is 10 candidates deep and growing. A Gallup poll from earlier this month found that Santorum’s name recognition among Republican voters has actually gone down since March, from 46 percent to 44 percent. A recent Quinnipiac poll even shows Mitt Romney beating Santorum in Pennsylvania.

Santorum, who has compared homosexuality to bestiality (“man on dog,” thereby earning Savage’s contempt), is touting himself as the authentic “family values” guy in the race (pat on the back: seven kids, all home-schooled) and criticizes Romney for his past support of abortion rights.

One fan is Glenn Beck, who has praised Santorum for having “spine” and for being “ahead of the curve on the threat of radical Islam.” Beck even got so excited that he told Santorum, “I could kiss you in the mouth!”

Posted by Daniel Denvir @ 2:12 PM Permalink | Post a comment

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