Heartbreaking

HARRISBURG-- Senate Democratic leader Robert Mellow isn't shy about pushing for a $10,000 raise for state legislators -- to take their pay up to $80,000 a year.
"A pay raise is warranted," he said yesterday. "People work very hard in this job. I work a full day Saturdays and a half day many Sundays. It's a seven-day-a-week job at this point. And we haven't had an actual pay raise since 1995."
Legislators currently earn $69,700 a year, up from $66,000 last year. They got a two-year cost of living adjustment in December, based on the rate of inflation in Philadelphia.

My first reaction when I read this was I thought he sounds like Terrel Owens when he was crying he didn't make enough to feed his family. I work on weekends too and I don't make what they make. I'm going to ask my boss if we can have a vote of the employees to give ourselves a raise.

But then someone pointing some things that melted my heart. The story of these people living in such appalling conditions right in my own back yard brought a tear to my eye. I will never look at Harrisburg the same way again.

The Halls of the Harrisburg Capitol Building. It is the worst alley in the worst slum in the poorest corner of this depressed state. Street-urchin style interns and staffers line the sides of the hall. Too undernourished and weak to move, they can only look on. No one is smiling. A fat, jovial man who resembles Santa Claus in khaki shorts walks through the crippling poverty, holding a middle-aged man in a $900 suit.

Read the rest at Don't Panic.

There is no crying in baseball

Is nothing sacred? Does politics have to get in the way of everything?


Major League Baseball hasn't narrowed the list of the eight bidders seeking to buy the Washington Nationals and some Republicans on Capitol Hill already are hinting at revoking the league's antitrust exemption if billionaire financier George Soros , an ardent critic of President Bush and supporter of liberal causes, buys the team.
"It's not necessarily smart business sense to have anybody who is so polarizing in the political world," Rep. John E. Sweeney (R-N.Y.) said. "That goes for anybody, but especially as it relates to Major League Baseball because it's one of the few businesses that get incredibly special treatment from Congress and the federal government."

Rep. Tom M. Davis III (R-Va.), who was a strong supporter of bringing a baseball team to Virginia, told Roll Call yesterday that "Major League Baseball understands the stakes" if Soros buys the team. "I don't think they want to get involved in a political fight.

Tom Davis is the same clown who called the hearings on steroids. Do these guys have too much time on their hands? They are worried about steroids, who owns a baseball team and flag burning. Mr. Davis, how many people died in Iraq today? What have you done to reduce the national debt?

I don't agree with allot of George Soros agenda, but he is a good businessman. If he buys the team I'm sure he will do everything he can to make it a success. This really pisses me off. Get the government off my back, out of my bedroom, my library books and my favorite game.

Sharks are circling

It seems all the pols smell Don Sherwood's blood in the water. I think he probably could survive this thing if he settles the lawsuit. He would take some heat if he did, but by the election it would be old news. Of course it is entertaining to have someone who talks family values exposed as a hypocrite. If this does drag on and his poll numbers start going south I'm sure the powers that be will twist his arm to retire. At least one Republican is saying he will run if Sherwood steps down.

From the Times-Leader:

Jerry Birmelin, an 11-term state representative from Wayne County, said Wednesday he'll run if Sherwood does not seek a fifth term.
"I'd run only if Congressman Sherwood decides to resign or does not run'" said Birmelin. The 56-year-old chairman of the House Children and Youth Committee and a leader of the Pro-Life Caucus in the General Assembly, Birmelin proposed unsuccessful amendments last year that would have barred homosexuals from adopting children and prohibited the state from offering same-sex benefits to its employees.

I know Jerry from when I lived in Honesdale. He was very good at constituent service but he was mostly a one issue candidate.

The Democrats have two people testing the waters. Luzerne County Commissioner Greg Skrepnak and Susquehanna county political science professor Christopher Carney are both interested. According to the TL:

He has never before run for political office, but Carney said he believes he can win against Sherwood now that the four-term congressman is embroiled in a $5.5 million lawsuit brought by 29-year-old Cynthia Ore, who alleges Sherwood repeatedly beat her during a five-year relationship.
"There seem to be some cracks in Mr. Sherwood's armor now,” Carney said, adding that he would not make Ore's allegations a central theme in his campaign. "This is about judgment. What kind of judgment does this man really have?
"But that is not the focus of this campaign. This campaign is about issues."


I love the quote about issues. I think the only issue is the proper technique of giving a neck massage. Being unknown he would have a hard time raising the money to challenge Sherwood. Any serious Democrat is going to have to spend $2 million or more to win.

Then there is Skrep. I think he has the star power and name recognition to mount a serious challenge. Too bad he hasn't done a very good job as commissioner. And I'm sure the GOP will make an issue of his wife's drug use. As a friend pointed out:

The district is gerrymandered conservative--only a Skrepenak could break the party hold because voters in this area don't read too many papers and are apt to be star struck. The only chance that the democrats have of taking the seat is to front a personality--some liberal think tank guy won't win that district.

Act 72

The idea of using slot machine proceeds to fund education is full of holes. They are giving school districts a new taxing authority with promise that the gambling revenue may reduce property taxes a few years from now.

From the Times-Leader:

Northwest Area finance committee Chairman Randy Tomasacci said he has concerns whether the program could generate the expected $1 billion in tax relief, but he voted yes anyway because he thinks there will be at least some form of property tax relief.

However, the district will have to raise the earned income tax by 0.1 percent to opt in to the program once the gambling money is made available.


The law also provides for a voter referendum to raise taxes in the future But:

The law limits how much a school district can raise taxes without voter approval, but there are multiple exceptions that could allow a school district to avoid a referendum. The amount of debt comes into play in the complicated formulas.

And I love this quote:

Wilkes-Barre Area Board member Charles Luce said he agreed with Corcoran, and pointed out the law is "of no benefit to education" because it provides no extra money. He said it would have been better if the state used the money to pay for numerous "unfunded mandates"that are draining school budgets and pushing property taxes up. Still, he said, he voted for it to give tax relief to area residents.

If you don't think it's a good law, why vote for it?

Clueless

What a way to lose a ballgame. Bret Myers is pitching a shutout and actually warms up in the 8th inning. Then Cholly takes him out! Unless he's hurt or something leave him in and go for the shutout. Of course the bullpen then blows the lead with Wagner one out away from ending the game giving up a dinger. On Monday night he sits Thome because Dontrell Willis has struck him out 10 times. But in the 7th he sends in Thome to pinch hit against Willis who of course struck him out. These are only latest of the bonehead moves this guy has made. Maybe Bowa hurt the feelings of all these sensitive millionaires, but he could manage a game.

Democratic Leader

“There's obviously bad blood out there. There’s no mandate for Dotty with the number of votes she got. She and certain other people have been a cancer within the organization,” Mazur said.

What a way for the county chairman to support the party nominee.


Despite his disappointment over Stankovic’s win, Mazur was gleeful over Flood’s loss. “Those 20,000 people didn’t come out because of Joe Mazur or the Democratic Party. A lot of them came out because they were against Steve Flood. If he thinks everything he was doing people agreed with, well they didn’t.”

Boy this is fun. Flood rocked the boat so he had to go. The whole party establishment was behind Petrilla. She spent over $130,000, Flood next to nothing. This is classic example of negative advertising that works. Of course Flood could have spent more. In fact his campaign was almost invisible. Except for a few yard signs I didn't see much of anything. If you want to win an election never take your opponent for granted. And if someone makes a negative accusation and you don't respond, the perception is that it is true.

Around the Neighborhood

Marc has a great post about the great Public Square bicycle debate.

Bill Fitz explains the challenges of opening a business in Wilkes-Barre.

Steve is keeping an eye on Don Sherwood.

Alex, Chris and everybody in the blogosphere is commenting on the Santorum Nazi remark.

Watchdog Goes Down

The powers that be in Luzerne county win again. Steve Flood Lost the Controllers race to the party favorite. The reasons they did not like him are the reasons I did. We need rabble rousers and bomb throwers. I even miss Fred Williams radio show on WILK. I did not agree with him on many things, but I like the way he stirred the pot. Steve was good at asking questions and just saying no. The way this county has been run during my lifetime I found him to be way overdue. When I lived in other areas I described m y hometown as a place that never got over the great depression, the best redevelopment project was the Agnes flood and the political reforms of the 1890's have yet to hit. Sadly, not much has changed.

Steroids

Now Lenny Dykstra has been accused of taking steroids. Am I the only baseball fan who does not care if someone is juiced. Baseball has a long proud history of cheating. Be it emory boards, spitballs, corked bats or pine tar. These are big boys. If they want to take something to enhance performance and ignore the possible long term health consequences, so be it. Athletes are always looking for an edge and will try just about anything.

Balance

The Phils played a well balanced game against the Braves yesterday. The starting pitcher was spent after 3 innings. But they made up for by not catching the ball or scoring any runs. The only inconsistency was the bullpen throwing 4 shutout innings.

Baseball

The Phils got clobbered by the braves last night and Shilling could not hold a 4 run lead for the Red Sox. The only good news was the Rangers thumping the Yankees. I’ve always likes the Red Sox and the Phillies, but they are frustrating. Until last year the Sox broke my heart almost every October but the Phillies usually got it out of the way in April.

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