Free Republic

The pundits say Jason "Glory Grabber" Altmire will be among the few Dem congressional incumbents who won't be sweating on Tuesday but there those in his Pennsylvania 4th District who still have hopes to change that. (snip) And those pundits? The most recent Susquehanna poll showed Altmire ahead of Rothfus 47 percent to 35 percent. It seems any well-known incumbent under 50 percent ought to sweat a little.

Seeking to pick up some steam for the last stretch of his senate bid, Congressman Joe Sestak held a rally at 5 o'clock today in the heart of his 7th District in Media Borough which is the Democrat-sympathetic Delaware County seat. He was greeted by 25 Republicans and tea party protesters which was not all that much smaller than the pro-Sestak contingent estimated to be about 100 at the time of the speech but included several supporters of other candidates. Since the Sestak rally was in the parking lot of a vacant car dealership -- an unwise and poorly planned...

GOP Challenger Tim Burns has the edge in dollars for the final sprint in Pennsylvania's 12 District congressional race. As of Sept. 30, he had $409,735 in the bank compared to $263,182 for incumbent Democrat Mark Critz.

DUBUQUE, IOWA — Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell is throwing down the gauntlet in the first-in-the-nation state of Iowa. The former Philadelphia mayor and chairman of the Democratic National Committee is calling on Democrats to help him match the political star power of Sarah Palin. In an e-mail to Iowa Democrats, the tough-talking Rendell is promising to draw a bigger crowd at the state party's upcoming Jefferson-Jackson dinner than Palin was able to muster at the GOP's annual Ronald Reagan dinner last month. "Sarah Palin was able to get 1,300 people to show up at the Republican Party of Iowa’s dinner...

The Pennsylvania Fraternal Order of Police, today, endorsed Republican and former Congressman Pat Toomey, who represented the 15th District, for U.S. Senate over Democrat Congressman Joe Sestak who represents the 7th District.

Distressing signals for Democrats keep streaming in as key polls in two major electoral bellwether states show the prospect of major gains for Republicans in November. Long considered two critical and accurate measures of the electorate’s mood in Presidential and other federal races, recent polls in Ohio and Pennsylvania are showing signs of voter disappointment with Democrats, particularly in hard fought Senate and Gubernatorial races gaining national attention. In a soon-to-be-released survey by Raleigh, NC-based Public Policy Polling, a majority of Ohio-based respondents surveyed claim they’d prefer former President George W. Bush in the White House than current President Barack...

The Republican's road to returning as the party representing Pennsylvania's 8th District in Congress got a little easier after a successful petition challenge knocked conservative independent Tom Lingenfelter off the ballot, Thursday. Commonwealth Court Judge Dan Pellegrini ruled that 769 signatures on the petition were invalid because they were obtained by circulators who lived outside the district. snip Among those circulating the petitions for Lingenfelter were two interns working for Democrat incumbent Patrick Murphy. The Republican in the race is former Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick, who Murphy beat by 1,518 votes in 2006.

The state Supreme Court, yesterday, ordered the trial judge to unseal documents relating to the cases of state Sen. Jane Clare Orie (R-40) and her sister, Janine Orie. The Ories have been charged in Allegheny County with theft of service and other crimes relating to the allegation that they improperly assigned state employees to work on the successful election campaign of their sister Joan Orie Melvin to the state Supreme Court last fall. The 40th District includes part of Allegheny County. The District Attorney is Stephen Zappala, a Democrat and a political enemy of the Ories.

LibertyIndex.com run by Bob Guzzardi of Bryn Mawr is a fascinating site full of useful information where each bill passed by the Pennsylvania legislature since 2003 is analyzed with regard as to how it effects the liberty of the residents of the Commonwealth. The legislators are then graded on their support for liberty based on their votes. The site defines The Liberty Index rating as an "assessment of whether a piece of legislation advances or restrains individual liberty, particularly, economic freedom to spend your money the way you think best." The highest grade for a Delaware County legislator is the...

Pennsylvania's filing deadline for minor and independent candidates for state-wide races was yesterday. Among those who appear to have acquired the needed number of signatures are John Krupa, who is running for governor under the "Tea Party" banner; engineer Douglas Jaimson who is running for U.S. Senate as a Libertarian; and York County homosexual activist Marakay Rogers who will be the Libertarian candidate for governor. Ms. Rogers running mate will be Kat Valleley.

Republican House candidates in Pennsylvania, a state expected to be rich with electoral prizes for the GOP this fall, have fallen almost uniformly short in the competition for cash, imperiling their party's prospects in a knot of crucial congressional battlegrounds. In five districts, Republican challengers ended the second quarter of 2010 vastly outgunned in the fundraising department. Democratic Rep. Kathy Dahlkemper, who represents the 3rd District, reported having $1 million in the bank at the end of June, compared with $104,000 for challenger Mike Kelly, who raised a meager $79,000. In Rep. Jason Altmire's 4th District, the incumbent had $1.5...

Pennsylvania's state legislators are the fourth best paid in the nation, according to The Pew Center of the States. At $78,314, it puts the wonders of Harrisburg just behind third place New York ($79,500) and second place Michigan ($79,650) but with a ways to go to catch the champ which is California at $95,291. What's interesting about the rankings is that it correlates nicely with the listing of states with the greatest fiscal problems.

GOP senate nominee Pat Toomey has sent a letter to Dem opponent Congressman Joe Sestak (D-Pa7) asking he return $119,650 in campaign contributions. Why? The donor has received federal earmarks through Sestak's office and Sestak says "If an organization or individual has made a request for an appropriations project, and has made a contribution to his campaign, he returns that contribution"

Here are two of the four homes for sale in the 100 block of West Springfield Road, Springfield, Pa. Note, that's just in the 100 block. The tax pain suffered by the people of this state can be laid solely at the feet of government corruption; mostly by Democrats but the Republicans are far from innocent bystanders. It's only going to get worse and, no, the pending reform is not going to help.Enshrine this in gold: it is every bit as decent and moral to cut a public employee's pension as it is to force someone to sell their home...

That’s actually not the most intriguing data point from this poll, but I know the Palinistas will whine forever if I don’t highlight the fact that she’s leading somewhere, so there you go. Don’t get me wrong: It is interesting that she’d do well in a northeastern state, which traditionally aren’t thought of as “Palin country.” But of course these are primary voters we’re talking about, and Pennsylvania Republicans are sufficiently red-meat that Specter abandoned ship before having to face them in a primary. No shocker, really, that a “true conservative” would fare well with them. So what’s the intriguing...

A bill being considered by the state House to ease the pain of Pennsylvania taxpayers about to take an unforeseen hit to fund the pension plans of public employees is just going to postpone the pain until those who vote for it are themselves collecting pensions and probably residing in another state. HB 2497 would limit taxpayer contributions in the near term only to jack them up in later years , according to the always excellent Commonwealth Foundation. This plan would ultimately put Pennsylvanians on the hook for another $52 billion over 30 years according to CF.

State Sen. Daylin Leach whose 17th District includes Haverford and Radnor appears to be just peachy with the practices that caused Bonusgate. In a column on his website Daylinsignts.com he takes issue with the report of the Grand Jury that investigated the crimes implying the Grand Jury could be just as easily called "The Doofus Patrol" and dismissing the anger expressed by those who after sitting through months of testimony indicted several lawmakers and staff members for taking taxpayer money to finance political campaigns. The indictments, btw, have already led to several convictions. Among the objections in the report that...

A Rasmussen poll this month shows that by the definitions of some most Pennsylvanians are right-wing extremists.

PCN, the non-profit cable network covering Pennsylvania government and culture, has announced that it is canceling the debate scheduled for tomorrow between State Rep. Sam Rohrer and Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbet after Corbett announced he would not attend. Rohrer and Corbett are the candidates in the GOP gubernatorial primary which is May 18. Rohrer said both teams had confirmed participation and that he remains willing to debate.

The Commonwealth Foundation's celebration of "freedoms we enjoy but are under attack by Harrisburg and Washington" is 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., May 8, at the Elstonville Sportsman’s Associaton in Manheim. Live Free Pa. comes with breakfast, lunch, beer, shooting activities, cigars and live rock ‘n’ roll by Jump the Gun and features a chance to shoot up a car.