Free Republic

Pennsylvania soon may scrape the bottom of the federal pork barrel. The Feb. 8 death of U.S. Rep. Jack Murtha was "a major blow" to federal funding in the state, according to Jeff Brauer, a political science professor at Keystone College. The Johnstown Democrat, in Congress since 1974, held considerable clout as chairman of the powerful House Appropriations Subcommittee. Brauer foresees another blow when Ed Rendell ends eight years as governor this year. The Philadelphia Democrat's influential national connections also have brought federal money into the state. And if U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, another Philadelphia Democrat, survives a May primary...

In the predawn hours this morning, over 30 people loaded a chartered bus in a parking lot across from Ross Park Mall were seeing red and it had nothing to do with getting up before 3:00 a.m. "We want to let Washington know that we are not going to let them pass legislation without them knowing how we feel," said Pam Smith of Evans City. Smith was part of a group of grassroots activists and concerned citizens heading down to Washington, D.C., this morning to issue a "code red" alert to stop the health care overhaul legislation from advancing in...

Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. says the majority and the most serious of criminal charges against workers for a community activist group stemming from a voter registration investigation will not be affected by a constitutional challenge filed by the American Civil liberties Union.

PennDOT has spent $60,000 to create large green road signs telling motorists that funding was secured by the federal stimulus package. Agency spokesman Eric Waters said the signs will be visible at 30 projects across the state. The signs will cost about $2,000 each. "We received $1 billion for roads and bridge projects; not all of the 242 projects will have signs," he said

A district judge who held another ACORN worker for trial Monday on election law violations urged prosecutors to go after the real culprit, the organization that employed him. "Somebody has to go after ACORN," Senior District Judge Richard H. Zoller said about the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. "It's happening all over the country. All you have to do is turn on the television," he said, referring to voter registration fraud charges brought recently against ACORN and its workers in Nevada. "We will," Allegheny County Detective Robert F. Keenan promised as he wrapped up his testimony. A spokesman...

Mt. Washington's Grandview Avenue "campaign" office of "Sanders for Senate" was so lifelike to those passing by that many stopped in to find out about the new candidate for the U.S. Senate. "Every single one of them asked if 'Sanders' would be running against (Pennsylvania Democrat U.S. Sen.) Arlen Specter, and, if so, where could they sign-up to volunteer," said media expert John Brabender on the set of "Moving Numbers," a Webcast about to go national for a new political entertainment group.

Pittsburgh native and former Ohio congressman John Kasich will be announcing his bid to take on Democratic Governor Ted Strickland for the Buckeye state's executive office in 2010. Look for the announcement to appear around the same time on his Web site Kasich hails from the McKees Rocks suburb of Pittsburgh that also gave Pennsylvania the late Lt. Gov. Catherine Baker Knoll and cable news junkies frequent appearances of Oxi-Clean spokesperson, Billy Mays (Hi, Billy Mays here!). A former nine-term congressman, presidential candidate and host of his own Fox News Show appropriately called "Heartland with John Kasich," Kasich, 57, filed...

Word out of Washington is that the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and the political wise-guys from the Obama administration plan on "visiting with" Pennsylvania Democrat Rep. Joe Sestak. Their objective? A clear message: Get off of the stage and out of a possible primary race against "incumbent" Democrat Sen. Arlen Specter. "I have received a call from DSCC chair Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey," admitted Sestak in an interview. "But we keep missing each other." Probably a good thing for both men at this moment: Sestak has no inclination to be pushed out of a race and Menendez's marching...

Despite the drubbing taken by American newspapers in recent months, the Tribune-Review has posted significant gains in circulation since 2007. Average circulation for the Sunday Tribune-Review rose by 2,681 newspapers, or 1.4 percent, to 193,563 in 2008, according to unaudited figures recently filed with Audit Bureau of Circulations. Since then, the Sunday Tribune-Review's average circulation for the six months ended March 31 increased by 1,084 to 193,507, or nearly 1 percent higher than a year ago. And average daily circulation for the six months ended March 31 jumped by 13,400 to 164,311, or almost 8.9 percent higher than the year...

Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter (R) finds himself down 21 points to former Rep. Pat Toomey in a potential 2010 Republican primary, according to a new Rasmussen poll. Specter now has a 42%/55% favorability rating, while Toomey enjoys a 66%/19% rating. Toomey lost to Specter by a slim margin in the 2004 Senate primary, but in an on-camera interview with Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reporter Salena Zito, Toomey said things are different this time. "It's a very different race," Toomey said. "I think the press has figured out that this time the outcome is going to be different." "Let me assure you, I...

Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher — better known as Joe the Plumber — headlined a raucous rally against pro-union legislation Monday night where critics and supporters of the Employee Free Choice Act jeered one another. Two Green Tree police officers broke up several arguments to prevent fights in the midst of a crowd of about 150 packed inside a Radisson ballroom. The crowd was divided

All eyes in Pennsylvania are on U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter and whether he votes for or against the $800 billion dollar stimulus bill, now called ‘the new stimulus compromise’ that may go up for vote this evening. “If he votes yes,” said one Republican strategist attending the Pennsylvania GOP state committee meeting in Harrisburg, “He guarantees himself a primary challenge.” Up for re-election in 2010 which ever way he goes, it will be the vote heard round the world. “There is potentially no member in the U.S. Senate that has it tougher in the next six to eight months than...

President Obama endorses the Black & Gold President Barack Obama just found the perfect way to win over the bitter gun clingers of Western Pennsylvania; endorsing the Pittsburgh Steelers over the Arizona Cardinals in this week’s upcoming Super Bowl game.

This coming Sunday, Gov. Edward G. Rendell will be all out for both the Philadelphia Eagles and the Pittsburgh Steelers in their NFL conference championship games. But if both teams happen to win, well, then it is all Eagles. Rendell told the New York Times that he has to be loyal. “If it costs me some political points, that’s life.” Rendell is a rabid Eagles fan, and is pretty sure that rabid Steelers fans would understand his Eagle loyalty. “The casual fans might be upset, but I don’t care,” he said. During World War II, the Steelers and the Eagles...

Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., has a bit of dilemma on his hands. It’s the kind of problem that has the potential to snowball and create an avalanche of political issues, depending on how he handles it. As the ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee, Specter will have a front-row seat to what could become a political spectacle: the confirmation hearings of President-elect Barack Obama’s pick for attorney general, Eric H. Holder Jr. Specter’s pivot point is not whether he decides to grill Holder, but how. Go overboard as many perceive he did with Anita Hill in the Clarence Thomas Supreme...

Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Pittsburgh, and Rep. Brian Bilbray, R-San Diego, don’t just differ on what direction the country should go. No, their partisanship runs much deeper than that. Their juggernaut is over who wins the critically important Steelers-Chargers playoff game that will be held in Pittsburgh this Sunday. At stake is a "friendly" wager that will mean lunch for the legislative staffs of whatever team comes up on top. If the Chargers win, Doyle will buy Primanti Brothers sandwiches and Iron City Beer for the meal. If the Steelers win, Bilbray will buy Rubio’s Mexican Food and Stone Brewery Beer....

MSNBC “Hardball” host Chris Matthews told his staff tonight that he will not be running for the U.S. Senate in 2010 from Pennsylvania, ending months of mind-numbing speculation. That move bumps up the profiles of the lesser known but more qualified possible Democratic contenders: State Rep. Josh Shapiro and U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy -- both of whom hail from eastern Pennsylvania. Whoever wins that spot would possibly face incumbent Republican Sen. Arlen Specter, depending on whether Pennsylvania’s longest-serving senator is “primaried” or not next spring. Specter faced a grueling

Jim Matthews, Republican chair of the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners and former candidate for lieutenant governor, says he would be surprised if brother Chris, a Democrat, would leave "hardballing" to run for the Senate. Matthews told the the AP that his brother loves his job as the anchor of MSNBC's Hardball, and is currently weighing a contract offer from the network. Rumors and polls have been flying at the possibility of a Matthews/Arlen Specter match-up if both men made it through their primaries in the race for the U.S. Senate in November 2010.

Mike Ditka has been a lot of things in life, including that man that could have possibly beaten then Illinois state senator Barack Obama when he ran for U.S. Senate in 2004. Instead Ditka chose not to run because of business obligations, Alan Keyes did the honors and we all know how that turned out. The Pittsburgh native, Republican, and accomplished former NFL player, television commentator, and coach is now being ‘drafted’ once again to run to fill the seat vacated by Obama. A seat that remains open despite Gov. Blagojevich’s perfectly legal (yet tainted) appointment of former Illinois attorney...

A member of the Pittsburgh family that owns the Steelers will take the oath of office in Congress today. Tom Rooney, 39, of Tequesta, Fla., a Republican elected to represent Florida's 16th Congressional District, is the first Rooney to hold elected office. He is the grandson of Steelers founder Art Rooney. "Anyone from Western Pennsylvania that walks into my office is going to feel right at home," Rooney said in a phone interview Monday. His office will exhibit Steelers pictures and memorabilia because "it is the only framed art that I own."