Pennsylvania needs to dump the GOP in 2014

                I live in Northeastern Pennsylvania. This is a Democrat heavy area, as is most of Pennsylvania. Gerrymandering has given our state a Republican Governor and House majority. Although the state overwhelmingly voted for President Obama.

Governor Corbett has proposed so many pro-business bills, you would think he was a Natural Gas Drilling Lobbyist. He has given corporations hundreds of millions of dollars in tax cuts while cutting State Health Care and education budgets. He refuses to let Pennsylvania take part in the ACA, because people on Medicaid get too much for free. The state has sunk to 49th in job creation under Corbett, he says too many Pennsylvaniabs are on drugs. Stats tend to disagree.

Republicans suspend the laws of the State Legislature when they don’t suit them. They invoked God’s Law when the States only openly gay Senator wanted to talk about the Supreme Courts decision on the DOMA case. They refused to let him speak. Sadly Republicans are doing this nationwide as well as in Pennsylvania.

Democrats in the State have fought Corbett at every step. They have stopped much of his conservative agenda. But the only true way to stop his unconstitutional methods is to vote him out. No voter apathy, Voter Restriction Laws cannot stop us, he needs to go. Our children and our state deserve better.

Governor Corbett has to defend another pro-business law.

                Governor Tom Corbett is yet again defending another of his Bills. Several of his Bills, which helped make up his conservative agenda, have been found unconstitutional or dismissed by the Commonwealth Court. This time it is his Gas Royalty Bill. Another pro-business Bill from a man who refuses to tax Natural Gas Drilling Companies and gave businesses another $310 million tax break in his new budget. While at the same time cutting funds from Education and Health Care.

Critics of the Bill contend that it undermines landowners negotiating rights. It gives an unfair advantage to Natural Gas Drilling Companies. Many landowners in Pennsylvania have negotiated drilling contracts so companies can get at the Marcellus Shale.

The Bill enjoyed overwhelming support from the Republicans who control the Pennsylvania legislature. Democrats fought against, but like many issues they have fought against the Republican majority will dismiss Constitutional rules to get what they want. Corbett signed the Bill without public comment. Corbett believes the law enhances the efficiency of oil and gad drilling. He also says the Bill will limit environmental damage and protect landowner rights. Governor Corbett said fracking doesn’t cause pollution, in fact the EPA stopped investigating it. That is odd he mentions pollution.

This law like most of Corbett’s other proposed laws, is pro-business. Corbett uses rhetoric to disguise them as helping people. This is designed specifically to help drilling companies get at all of the Marcellus Shale natural gas. The Fracking process which is used to bore horizontally underground that extend thousands of feet from the vertical well bore. This law allows them to cross property lines as well. Fracking is widely known for causing environmental pollution, as well as making people sick. There are at least 23 known carcinogens in the fluid used to Frack. Why isn’t the EPA investigating Fracking Companies and chemicals? Could it be lobbying companies have bought off the top levels of government?

Governor Corbett and unConstitutional GOP Policies wastes time and money.

              Another of Governor Corbett’s landmark policies was determined by the Commonwealth Court to violate the Pennsylvania State Constitution. His Human Services Block Grant Program got hit this time. Ths 2012 program, was said to give counties flexibility to spend Human Services funds where they most needed them. There was also another 10% slashed from their budgets.

Apperently it was so flexible in its interpretation of State Law that it went outside the bounds of the Constitution. Court reviews of laws presented by Governor Corbett and the Republican party are quite normal over the last 2 years. The Voter I.D., Act 13, stripped municipalities of the ability to establish their own zoning regulations. The elimination of the Adult Basic Health Care Program. It provided Health Care for working Pennsylvanians and partially paid for tabacco settlement funds. Republicans first attempts at reapportionment were all found unConstitutional.

Governor Corbett’s lawsuit against the NCAA was dismissed. His plan to privatize the Pennsylvania state lottery was rejected by the attorney general. The truth is the laws Governor Corbett is trying to pass are a waste if taxpayer money. The Governor’s office has spent almost $3 million on consulting firms for the lottery alone. If House Republicans would allow fair debate in the House these expenses could be avoided. During both the Act 13 and Voter I.D. debates, Democrats brought up the issue of Constitutionality only to be rebuked.

If Corbett’s liquor privatization and pension schemes get signed they will likely see court. Governor Corbett, just like Republicans nationwide care little for what the people want. It seems as if the Constitution only matters if it works in their favor and if not they stomp all over it. It is just a matter of time before they overwhelm the people and we are governed by the Koch Brothers.

Governor Corbett’s education budget is preferential treatment masquerading as broad based supplements.

             Recently Pennsylvania gave an extra $1 million in state money to a school district through an unusually specific supplement. Only one district, Hazleton Area School District, recieved the $1 million. As much as that cash strapped district can use the money, so can almost every other School District in Pennsylvania.

There was a bit more than $30 million handed out to a few schools under titles like Small School District Supplement, Small Rural School District Supplement and Third Class County School District Supplement. There are 154 districts in the states 12 third class counties, designation is determined by population. But to qualify for the piece of the $1 million supplement, a district had to have a stare calculated “Aid Ratio” that fell in a very narrow range, leaving only 24 qualified districts. 6 of those districts were in Luzerne County, 5 of them, as well as 18 out of the 24 did not meet the last requirement based on enrollment for the supplement. It seems as if the supplement was tailor made for the full $1 million to go to Hazleton.

There were 12 supplements, 6 went to single districts. With the rest divided by 2 and 3 to 5 districts. The $500,000 Rural School District Supplement went to Phillipsburg-Osceola School District in Clearfield County. The $500,000 Small School District Supplement went entirely to Penns Valley Area School District in Centre County. If size was the only consideration, requirement was 1,600 students or fewer, it could have been divided between 166 districts, 152 of which were smaller.

This is not a reflection on the School Districts who recieved these supplements. With all the cuts Corbett and his Republican supporters made to the Education Budget, any and all schools needs this money. This is a direct reflection on Governor Corbett and his ludicrous policies. All of the School Districts are suffering with him as Governor. Instead of focusing on Education, he has focused on Privatizing Liquor Sales, Privatizing the Pennsylvania Lottery and another Anti-Abortion lawmaker. He has Pennsylvania ranked 49th in the country in job creation. Good job Governor.

A recent poll shows how Pennsylvanians feel about Governor Corbett. 43% of Republicans believe he will be reelected. 25% of Independents believe he should be reelected. Democrats just plain want him outvof office. He is as much as 10% behind his probable Democrat challenger for Governor. Things are not looking peachy for Corbett and it is his own doing. To sacrafice Education and Seniors to give large Tax Breaks to corporations does not endear you to the people.

Governor Corbett signs Pennsylvania budget into law, but is not satisfied that the wider agenda may wait until the fall.

                 The main Pennsylvania state budget was signed into law last night by Governor Corbett. Governor Corbett was not happy that his wider agenda has not been met. He sought to overhaul the public employee pensions systems, privatizing State Liquor Stores, privatizing the State Lottery and increasing transportation funding. The minority Democrats have put a halt to some of Corbett’s agenda.

The House voted along party lines, 111-92, while a more bipartisan Senate supported the Budget proposal. It is a $28.4 billion spending plan, an increase of 2.6% or $719 million. The increase is largely for health care for the poor, social services, public employee pensions, school budgets and prisons. It also gives another tax cut to businesses at cost of about $300 million. The bill is $65 million less than Governor Corbett originally proposed.

Democrats have tried to free up more money for School Budgets and social programs by delaying business tax cuts. The House Republicans have not been able to get enough votes to pass a $2 billion transportation bill. House Democrats do not support I t because they feel it is inadequate for mass transut systems. Senate Republicans have refused to approve the bill to Privatize State Liquor Stores, unless the bill remains unchanged and the transportation bill gets approval.

The Senate also approved legislation to potentially expand Medicaid eligibility to hundreds of thousands of adult Pennsylvanians under the ACA. Of course Republicans oppose this, anything that President Obama supports Republicans are against. The issue could become a sticking point as lawmakers consider other budget related bills.

Hopefully with the 2014 election looming; this parts that have been stalled will be stopped. Governor Corbett is well behind his possible Democrat challengers in early polls. His approval numbers have dipped consistently. His connections to big business may be his undoing. Governor Corbett needs to be removed from office to move Pennsylvania forward.

2014 election can save Pennsylvania from Governor Corbett’s corporate cronyism.

             Governor Corbett has been recieving large donations from corporations since he was Attorney General. He recieved over $1 million from the Natural Gas Drilling Industry while the AG and another $350,000 since he became Governor. He recieved over $15,000 worth of corporate gifts in 2012 alone. A corporation even bought his wife a dress for some sort of fundraiser. Add in the fact that he recieved money from corporations that benefitted from his decisions and you have one of the most corrupt Governors in Pennsylvania history.

Governor Corbett, while not quite as bad as Governor Rick Perry of Texas, has done quite a bit of damage to Pennsylvania. He has cut several billion dollars from the Education Budget. He has closed many of the State Health Centers, resulting in the loss of nurses who helped catch several outbreaks and helped administer vaccinations, just not enough according to Corbett. Pennsylvania ranks among the worst in the country at processing Food Stamp applications in the Federally Mandated time limit. Pennsylvania also ranks 49th in the country in Job Creation, which Corbett blames on Pennsylvanians being drug abusers.

During Governor Corbett’s reign of inadequacy; Natural Gas Drilling Companies have paid a pittance in taxes. These companies claimed they pay over $1 billion in taxes, when in actuality they only paid about $75 million. At last count there were 85 actual drilling companies, about 75% pay zero in taxes. Why is Pennsylvania not taxing these companies? Corbett speaks of all the good they do, but doesn’t mention the water and air pollution, or the damage done to the roads. Someone is picking up the tab for that. The Pennsylvania tax payers, of course. The lazy, drug addicted and did I mention the leeches who suck the lifeblood of the Government.

Corporate Corbett wants to privatize the State run Liquor Stores. Cutting another 3,000 and some good paying jobs. He said it will create more private industry jobs, at minimum wage of course. He wants to privatize the State Lottery, which many of the proceeds go to helping the elderly. He wants to sell that to a British company. AG Kathleen Kane has at least temporarily stopped that, saying it violates Pennsylvania’s Constitution. His newest bright idea, to screw the people, is reforming the Pension Plan. Which of course was contractually agreed to. He wants to turn it into a 401k style plan, Republicans love those plans. Please don’t forget while he us doing all this, he is the highest paid Governor at least in the East and I believe in the whole country as well at 170, 000.

At this moment One Term Tommy is losing to any possible Democrat challenger, the closest was 8 percentage points. I think he might be losing to the clerk at the Turkey Hill around the corner. That was a lame joke, I hope you get my meaning. The Voter I.D. was aimed specifically to prevent minorities in larger cities from voting. A Republican lawmaker in the State Senate said as much, saying that this was how they would beat President Obama. But Pennsylvanians are very unhappy with Governor Corbett. We just need to get everyone out to vote, so we can remove this parasite from office. GET OUT TO VOTE 2014! TAKE PENNSYLVANIA BACK FROM CORPORATIONS!

2014, the year we remove Governor Corbett from office.

              Governor Tom Corbett took office in 2010 and no one really knows how. I don’t know anyone who voted for him. Pennsylvania generally votes democrat. We voted for President Obama by about 6% points. Corbett has a pretty spotty record since taking over as governor and he is behind in the polls to any Democratic challenger.

He has cut funding to education, instead of taxing Natural Gas Drilling, which could easily make up the money for education. He has been implicated in receving illegal benefits from these companies. He has also recieved over $1 million from Natural Gas Drilling Companies since becoming governor. Under his watch Pennsylvania is ranked 49 in the country in job creation.

His once popular privatization of the State’s Liquor Stores is losing steam. His Pension Reform Plan has been deemed unconstitutional. It seems every move that he makes is wrong for the state. As a typical Republican he is blaming the people for the lack of jobs, saying that companies cannot hire people because they cannot pass a drug test. He is out of touch with his constituents.

Democrats in the state have attempted to keep his radical agenda in check. Voting to keep his more extreme measures in check, while attempting to work with him on his more bipartisan bills. His attempt to give education money back the year before election stinks of desperation. Hopefully our state votes intelligently this time around and removes One Term Tommy from office. He is in office to help corporations make more money and protect them from responsibility. Just look at the Frackers who are free to do as they will. This is Corporate Pennsylvania now.

Governor Corbett blames high unemployment numbers in Pa. on jobless using drugs.

                    Governor Tom Corbett of Pennsylvania explains away poor job numbers, saying that most unemployed are on drugs. He is battling an uphill battle trying to keep his post as governor. He has a negative job approval rating and the states slow economic recovery are both working against him. The states unemployment rate dropped to 7.9%, but the number of people working in Pa. tumbled about 14,000 employees in March, following a drop of 6,000 in February. Private job creations has remained flat for over a year, growing by 1,000 jobs and leaving the state ranked 49th in the country in job creations.

              In trying to explain away Pennsylvania’s less than stellar jobs performance, he argued that the state gained 111,000 private sector jobs, since he took office. He insists Pennsylvania is doing better than other states on his watch. He grew defensive when interviewed and complained that a lot of bussineses are having trouble filling job openings because many Pennsylvanians use illegal drugs.

               A Quinnipac University Polling Institute Poll released recently found Corbett trailing potential Democratic opponents by at least 9 percentage points. His approval rating has been in steady decline. He has been linked directly to several scandals and many of his ideas have been met with cynicism because of his overly friendly relationship with the Natural Gas Drilling Industry. His aattempts to alter the state pension funds have been called unconstitutional and have been held up. His cuts to education have been well documented, as well as the fact he has received over $1 million from Natural Gas Drillers since becoming governor.

       Earlier this year a Pennsylvania state senator introduced a bill requiring drug testing of all recipients and applicants for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families in Pa. The state is currently conducting a pilot program. 19 counties across the Commonwealth have started testing only those who have been convicted of felony drug offenses.

               This isn’t the first time Governor Corbett has attacked the jobless. During the 2010 gubernatorial campaign, he said many jobless are just going to sit there and not seek work until their unemployment benefits run out. It also worth noting that since Corbett took over as governor, Pennsylvania’s record on jobs has deteriorated. In 2011 the year Corbett took office, just 1.8% of workers in Federally regulated industries failed drug tests. Typical of a Republican to bland the people for his failings.

            Pennsylvania has been torn under Governor Corbett. Republicans and Democrats are in constant state of disagreement. Of the 100 people I have asked, I know alot of people who hate President Obama, 83 of them said they are unhappy with Corbett and will vote for someone else. It is not the most sophisticated poll, but it does show a small concensus about his performance. I guess he is not called One Term Tommy because he will be reelected.

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Governor Tom Corbetts pension reform plan.

             Governor Tom Corbetts administration touted pension reforms as one of the highlights of his new Pennsylvania budgets. Bit his plan has the potential to balloon the already $41 billion unfunded liability by applying new artificial collars to how much the state must pay into the system. But those collars allow Corbett to rehabitate his miserly reputation prior to his bid for reelection.

           The currents crisis in pension funding is because the state failed to pay its share of pension costs, creating the unfunded liability. It is important now because the artificial collars are slowly being lifted to pay off the debt in an orderly manner outlined in Act120 in 2010. This year the state pays 11.5% of payroll for SERS and 12.4% to PSERS. Next year those payments will rise to 16% and 16.75% of payroll and the rates will continue to rise until payments peak at 28% of payroll in 2019, at which time the rates will stay in place for several years before beginning to decline.

              He wants to put state abd school employees into a seperate retirement system that resembles a private sector 401k. He also wants to lower the multiplier used to calculate employee pensions from 2.5% to 2.0% to keep the Public School Employees Retirement System and State Employees Retirement System viable. He is also trying to limit the amount by which the commonwealth employer contributions can be increased.

                In 2000 PSERS was funded at 123.8%, a decade later it was at 69.2%. The governor says the decline can only be fixed by abadoning the defined-benefit plan and replacing it with a 401k for new employees. This puts the investment risk on the emloyee while more than doubling the needed lifetime employee contributions. More than 70% of the PSERS value comes from return on investment. The networth of the pension was hit by $15 billiin during the recession.

              Some are questioning the constitutionality of this because of it breaking a contracts. People are also worried about balancing a budget on something that might be thrown out in court. I further question why the highest paid governor in the country doesnt take a pay cut as a show of good will. We are also in the top 10 highest paid legislatures in the country. If either took a pay cut it would help towards the budget and a show of goid will. But they are protected by the Pa. Constitution where the pension plan is protected by the U.S. Constitution.

              Why didnt Corbett try doing any of this in previous budgets, just the one before reelection. I truly question thus mans motives because if he wanted to straighten out our budget Pa. would be taxing Natural Gas Drillers and using the severance tax with them. That alone would create enough money to avoid education cuts. But I think we will find out in the future what exactly is happening there.

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Pennsylvania doesnt agree with you Governor Corbett.

               80% of Pennsylvanians disagree with selling the lottery to a British Company, in fact to any company. A good majority think that you are guilty if taking illegal gifts. The people Pa. want a Marcellus Shale to be taxed. Corbetts answer are to attack pensions that the hasnt been paying into, essentially punishing the employees who signed a contract with the state.

               Privatizing the Pa. Lottery is going to benefit the people of Pa., how? Penbsylvanians are decrying this effort, we do not want it, but yet you are ignoring the voice of the people. Why Governor Corbett? Some of these people put you in office, do you not work for us? You will not get another term if continuing ignoring the people as you have. Your approval ratings are in the toilet because of the actions you have taken.

              You cry poverty for the state yet refuse to tap into a very lucrative tax income. The Natural Gas Drilling Companies. 85% of the 783 companies do not pay any taxes. We do not have a severance tax on them which woul generate another $400 billion a year. This tax alone cuts Education cuts over the last 2 years in half. But apperently these tax ideas do not come to your mind. Every other state has the tax why not us?

            It is unfortunate that this man is our governer. He does not care about our people as evidenced by him allegedly taking illegal gifts and his support for the poll tax. He is manhandling the state pension plans, even after Act120 was put into effect to alleviate the problem. Corbett will end up being a 1 term governor because he knows more than the people. This is why we vote governor.

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