July 2009 Archives

We're on the verge of concluding a whole month without a new state budget. Honestly, I never thought it would come to this.

Even if members of the state legislature reached a compromise this afternoon (not that there's any indication they will), 77,000 state workers won't get a paycheck tomorrow.

It's a hazardous situation, beyond any short-term problems it may cause.

The last time something like this happened, in 1991, a provision got inserted into the state budget that stopped basing education funding on the number of students in a district. Nobody seems to know who came up with this provision, or what he or she meant to accomplish. Given the atmosphere of crisis that prevaied at the time, trying to figure that out is like trying to investigate a single act of vandalism in the middle of a riot.

Nobody even noticed it at the time. Lawmakers became aware of it years down the line, when its cumulative effect caused some major funding problems for growing areas such as York County.

York County lawmakers played a major role in getting their colleagues from other affected areas to band together and eliminate the provision. But it took more than a decade for that to happen.

Let's hope that whatever version of the budget holds no similar unpleasant surprises.

For my story last Sunday, I did a piece on the health care reform debate. In the course of it, I took a look at local Congressman Todd Platts' campaign contributions, via the Website www.OpenSecrets.org, which is run by the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics.

I previously posted a video of a crazy guy at a public meeting, and mentioned that you see that a lot when you cover municipal politics. Here's another ... archetype, I guess you'd call it, of the public meeting speaker.

These types can be amusing, unless you're a reporter who needs to get back and file a story about the meeting you're covering, and deadline is rapidly approaching. In that case, you should make sure the local cable access station doesn't catch you mouthing obscenities on-air. It looks unprofessional.

Hawaii's health director has reiterated the fact that she's personally seen Barack Obama's birth certificate in the Health Department archives.

I doubt that will make any difference to the "birthers," the group of people that insists Obama wasn't born in the U.S., and thus doesn't meet the Constitutional requirements to be president.

One thing I've learned in my years as a reporter is that it's impossible to argue with a hardcore conspiracy theorist.

U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter stopped by York County Democratic headquarters for about an hour this afternoon.

I found it kind of disorienting. I was talking to Democratic County Commissioner Doug Hoke before Specter showed up. Hoke mentioned that it would be his first time meeting Specter in person.

At first I thought -- What? Specter's been in York plenty of times! Then I realized that Hoke never met him because Specter had always showed up at Republican functions in the past.

OK, so I got this idea. I wanted to see if the transcript of a Pennsylvania House of Representatives Finance Committee hearing would be more interesting if read by the cast of York Little Theatre's "Rocky Horror Show" -- in character and in costume.

The results were ... well, see for yourself. All I have to add is: Do yourself a favor and SEE THIS SHOW! The folks putting it on are just amazing! I had a blast making this video.

For more information, go to here.

I happen to think Ricky Gervais is one of the funniest human beings on the planet. I admire the way the best humorists can make you laugh even as they make you deeply uncomfortable.

This afternoon, I got something from my confidential informant -- aka: my man on the street, Huggy Bear.

It's an e-mail exchange that took place between state Rep. Seth Grove, R-Dover Township, and a guy from Philadelphia (who I guess I won't name, seeing as he's not a public official).

I gave Grove a call this afternoon, and he confirmed that the exchange took place. He said, in efect -- hey, there's no legal prohibition on paying more taxes if you really want to.

Whether it was a valid response, or whether you share the Philadelphia guy's viewpoint that it was unduly snarky, I'm reproducing it here for the following reasons:

1) It went out to a big list of recipients (more on that in a second), so I don't feel it's tantamount to invading anybody's privacy.

2) I find testy e-mail exchanges to be entertaining. Don't you? Oh c'mon! Fess up!

This kind of cracked me up. I got an e-mail from the campaign of U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak, who will likely be U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter's opponent in the Democratic primary.

Sestak's campaign collected a bunch of excerpts from news stories highlighting Specter's grilling of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor. Here's a representative sample, from Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post:

"Specter apparently forgot he had switched to the Democratic party a few months ago. He was irritable and challenging of Sotomayor -- often spending five minutes asking his question before allowing the judge 30 seconds of response time before interrupting her."

My reaction was -- well, duh! Specter comes across as irritable and challenging with pretty much everyone. He's well known for this among his colleagues in the Senate, where he's picked up the nickname "Snarlin' Arlen."

I can tell you from experience that he's not the easiest guy in the world to interview. But I'll give credit where it's due. Whatever else you say about him, it's hard to accuse him of being a political glad-hander.

This is one I made over the weekend. You know, sorry-looking sock puppets have been a sorely underutilized tool for political commentary ... until now!

I don't want to get mawkish about this, but Walter Cronkite was always a hero of mine. Nothing I could write would pay higher tribute to the man than one of his own quotes.

In 2000 interview, Russ Mitchell asked Cronkite what he was most proud of in his 50 years at CBS.

His reply: "Oh I think probably holding onto my integrity and perhaps passing on a little of that feeling about journalistic standards on to others that came with me and after me."

Remember that budget standoff?

Well, it's still going on. Here's a statement that state Rep. Dan Moul, R-Conewago Township, released today.

"An attempt by House Republican leaders to position Senate Bill 850 for a vote this week was blocked in a party-line vote, dashing the hopes of thousands of state employees whol will be facing payless paydays after this week. Many of those employees live in my legislative district and are already experiencing pay losses.

"Republican leaders had planned to amend Senate Bill 850 and bring it to a vote by Friday. It was the only option we had to get this budget done this week to avoid further harm to the families of state employees. We didn't get the cooperation we needed from House Democrats and it didn't happen. This was preventable, and it's a shame that all of those families will now have to suffer."

The temperature's supposed to reach 90 degrees today. But November's closer than you might think. I got this in my e-mail this morning:

The Democratic Party of York County is accepting applications for two positions that have opened on the ballot for the November General Election. Election laws dictate that the vacated ballot positions be filled by the party.

The two positions are:
-- York City School Board: Two-year term to fill a vacancy created by the removal of Hiawatha Powell.
-- West York Borough Council: Two-year term to fill a vacancy created by the resignation of Sean Mauck.

Interested applicants should send letters explaining why they are seeking the office and resumes that describe their qualifications to the Democratic Party of York County, 275 W. Market St., York, PA 17404.

Information must be received no later than July 31. Applicants must be registered Democrats and live in the City of York or West York borough, as applicable. They will be notified when interviews are scheduled with the Executive Committee of the DPOYC. These interviews will be open to the public.Questions about the application process may be addressed to Democratic party headquarters by phone, 812-1200, or by e-mail at yorkpadems@verizon.net.

I was taking some vacation time in West Virginia (no, I WASN'T really in Argentina), which is why the blog has been a bit inactive lately.

I had this whole bit worked out where I would predict things that would happen -- ie: Sarah Palin announced today that she's returning to her home planet -- and the blog would post them on the appropriate days. But I couldn't make that part of the blog work. Sorry.

Well, I'm home just in time to post the Video of the Week. Maybe I'm cheating, posting my second video from The Onion in a row. Frankly, I'm trying to take care of the backlog of stuff waiting on my return, so I don't have a lot of time to dig around for new videos right now.

And this one is pretty funny. Though I doubt I'm the only guy whose reaction on first seeing it was:"Ouch!"

It just occurred to me that I should probably explain a previous post, where I posted an e-mail exchange between myself and city council member Cameron Texter.

I like to think of the blog as a forum for two-way communication that the regular newspaper, by its very nature, can't provide.

That may include criticism of me, but I figure that's fair game -- the same as criticism of public figures such as politicians. As long as it's nothing that's dubious in nature, such as anonymous sniping against specific people in the form of unfounded allegations.

To sum up, I figured it was only fair to give Texter a forum to tell his side of things. I'd like to clarify that I wouldn't post such an e-mail without first checking with the sender, as I did with Texter.

I think "The Onion" is still my all-time favorite Website. It blows my mind how they manage to be so funny every week.

In recent years, they've added spot-on videos satirizing TV news, including their take on C-SPAN.

Here's an e-mail I received from City Council member Cameron Texter, and my response. While covering the cops shift on Sunday, I wrote about an arrest that occurred Saturday night in York spurred by people setting off fireworks. I referred to an incident that occurred in 2007, and Texter believes I micharacterized what happened.

Here's the exchange.

Call me a cockeyed optimist, but I genuinely figured that we'd have a new state budget by the time the July 4th weekend was over.

I don't know about you folks, but I'm starting to get a little cold sweat going.

Basically, it comes down to a standoff between the Republicans who dominate the Senate, and Gov. Ed Rendell and his fellow Democrats who dominate the House.

It's interesting, in a queasy kind of way, to speculate about who has the most to lose. On the one hand, the Republicans probably wouldn't mind seeing Rendell get the blame for a budget crisis, in light of next year's gubernatorial race. Whoever ends up as the GOP candidate could argue that things didn't go so well under the last Democratic administration.

On the other hand, it could easily backfire. I gotta hand it to Pennsylvania's Republicans -- they hold their government representatives accountable. The GOP in Harrisburg took a bigger hit than the Democrats in the wake of that pay raise flap a few years back, losing their majority status in the House and barely hanging onto it in the Senate.

Could be that they just can't afford to risk ticking off their base with an extended budget standoff right now.

I guess we'll have to wait and see. Hopefully, we won't have to wait too long. Here's an Associated Press story about it:

HARRISBURG, Pa.--State budget negotiations that include Gov. Ed Rendell are scheduled to resume in Harrisburg, nearly a week after Pennsylvania's fiscal year began without a deal in place.

A spokesman for Rendell said the governor plans to attend a meeting for legislative leaders scheduled to begin late Monday afternoon.

Rendell and his Democratic allies in the General Assembly are pushing for a mixture of spending cuts and new revenue sources, while Republican leaders oppose higher taxes.

There were no signs of progress after two lengthy sessions at the executive residence last week.

The pay of many state workers will be held up, starting on July 17, until there's a resolution.

The national economic downturn led to a revenue shortfall of nearly $3.3 billion for the year that just ended.

Well, my weekend is over. (I work a Sunday through Thursday shift.) I guess I might as well weigh on on Sarah Palin's decision to step down as governor.

So was her decision made as advance preparation for a presidential run? It's possible. She referred to a "higher calling," and it seems unlikely that she intends to enter a nunnery.

I'm reluctant to speculate, though. Like calculus and fashion sense, I tend to write the whole Sarah Palin phenomenon off as one of those things that's just beyond my power to comprehend.

I found it utterly baffling when John McCain selected her as a running mate. She seemed patently unqualified for the position.

Equally baffling is my inability to simply write it off as a bad decision on McCain's part. During the campaign, when I spoke to local Republicans, I found that they really liked her.

A lot of them told me they intended to hold their noses and vote for McCain, but they were genuinely enthusiastic about Palin. They seemed to embrace her as one of their own to an extent that just never happened with McCain.

Those anti-tax folks who brought us the "Tea Party" protests back in April are planning another Tea Party in Gettysburg on Saturday. The forecast is 82 degrees and sunny. I hope it's iced tea.

Here's their news release:

Who: Gettysburg Freedom Tea Party Organizing Committee
Sue Williams, Organizer, 717-677-9846
Walt Tuchalski, Co-Organizer, 717-309-2482 (Creator of this Press Release)

What: Like minded people who are TEA'ed Off gather to celebrate the Declaration of Independence, the US Constitution, and to let their elected officials know they are "Taxed Enough Already".

When: Saturday, July 4, 2009 Noon to 2 PM

Where: Adams County Courthouse Plaza
117 Baltimore Street
Gettysburg, PA 17325

The Gettysburg Freedom Tea Party Organizing Committee is planning a rally and program at the Adams County Courthouse Plaza on Baltimore Street in downtown Gettysburg this Saturday, July 4th. Its planned as a family friendly event where all generations can gather to unite their voices in a celebration of the greatness of the United States of American and to put their elected officials on notice that we are "Taxed Enough Already".

Sue Williams is organizing a program line up that will begin at Noon with festive, patriotic music, an opening Invocation, reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, singing of the National Anthem, remarks from local citizens, a reading of the Declaration of Independence, and feature our guest speaker, Jim Broussard, founder of the Citizens Against Higher Taxes.

A Voter Resource Center will be available with contact information for our elected officials, voter registration information, absentee ballot information, and information about taking back our "... government of the people, by the people, and for the people ...".

As the planned program comes to an end at the rally point, the assembled citizenry will march up Baltimore Street, around Lincoln Square, and back down Baltimore Street to return to the Adams County Courthouse within the rules of our Gettysburg Borough Permit.

Bring your friends, bring the kids, bring the grandparents, and enjoy a celebration of America's greatest Freedoms ... especially our Freedoms of Speech and Assembly. Let your voice be heard! Bring your own American Flags, your homemade message signs, and your love for American to the Gettysburg Freedom Tea Party, this Saturday, at Noon, in front of the Adams County Courthouse, 117 Baltimore Street, in Downtown Gettysburg.

Learn more at www.teapartyday.com .

For your Convenience - Jim Broussard's Bio follows:

Jim Broussard
Jim Broussard, Citizens Against Higher Taxes

Dr. James H. Broussard is professor of History and former chairman of the department, at Lebanon Valley College. He is a graduate of Harvard College and Duke University, and has taught at several colleges before coming to LVC in 1983. He founded and was first president and then executive director of the Society for Historians of the Early American Republic. He has published a book on The Southern Federalists (Louisiana State University Press) and several articles on American political history.

In 1989 he founded Citizens Against Higher Taxes and for the last twenty years has worked to elect pro-taxpayer candidates to the legislature and state office and to enact legislation to control spending, reduce taxes, and expand taxpayer rights. His current major priorities are to eliminate the school property tax, give taxpayers the right to vote on school tax increases, and pass a Taxpayer Bill of Rights in Pennsylvania. Citizens Against Higher Taxes also works with local taxpayer groups around the state to elect pro-taxpayer school board members.

The big budget dispute is getting all of the attention up Harrisburg way. But lawmakers have a lot of down time while the caucus leaders are negotiating, and this time of year is typically when they pass a lot of legislation before summer recess.

By the way, "summer recess" isn't as galling as it sounds. It just means they're in their district offices instead of Harrisburg.

Anyway, here's a news release regarding from legislation from state Sen. Mike Waugh, R-Shrewsbury, who represents most of York County.

I have to admit, people don't make it easy for you when you're a politician. You keep a grueling schedule, especially during campaigns. Somebody always has a camera pointed at you. You can be poised and articulate 99.9 percent of the time. But make one verbal screwup and suddenly the video's all over cable news and the Internet, making you look like a boob in perpetuity.

Which, of course, isn't going to dissuade me from posting this:

Looks like newly minted Democrat Arlen Specter is in for some competition in the Democratic primary.

Read about it here.