Free Republic

Up to 11,000 Pennsylvanians could benefit from low-interest home loans under a $1.2 billion state package announced Tuesday that is meant to stimulate the housing market. ''To kick-start the housing recovery we need to repair the damage of the past few years and again make it possible for qualified homebuyers to get loans,'' Gov. Ed Rendell said in announcing the package.

DANVILLE — State officials seem to have lots of money to make their offices more comfortable, but claim there isn’t enough to meet their legal obligations to counties, the Montour County commissioners say. The commissioners are trying to force state lawmakers to pay 65 percent of District Attorney Robert Buehner’s salary as required by the state law that made the prosecutor’s position full-time. Montour County is already owed about $200,000, they say. Officials of other counties have voiced similar complaints. During a recent trip to Harrisburg to notify state officials that Montour County is suing them for their share of...

MILTON — A Republican lawmaker and a school superintendent are still arguing over whether it was appropriate for the Milton district to host Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell’s Sunday morning press conference a month ago. The dispute between state Sen. John Gordner and Superintendent William A. Clark came to light Tuesday night during a work session of the Milton school board, when Clark said he and the politician had a 12-minute conversation that ended with neither giving ground. Contacted Wednesday, Gordner said Rendell’s visit to Milton was purely political in nature. The state senator said Rendell has been visiting schools in...

Note to Gov. Rendell: When trying to negotiate a final budget with legislative leaders, it’s perhaps not a good thing to utter publicly that you have daydreamed about killing a roomful of them. You might think it, governor. Just don’t say it out loud. But he did just that this morning. Rendell told reporters that he was frustrated with the way the conference committee of legislative leaders charged with finalizing a budget bill was progressing. The initial two committee meetings were held in public with Democrats and Republicans spending most of the time bickering about procedure and making little if...

Pennsylvania Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell said Tuesday that much of the outrage being demonstrated at town halls across the country comes from so-called birthers, whom he described as “absolutely nuts.” Responding to a question on the fury demonstrated at numerous town halls, the governor asserted that “many of these people are birthers.” “The birthers are a perfect slice of these people who have lost their rationality and they have become obsessed with certain things, and that obsession is hurting the democratic process,” Rendell said during an appearance on MSNBC’s “Hardball,” referring to the conspiracy theorists who believe President Barack Obama...

Dear Governor Rendell: I noted with interest that your current approval rating stands at just 39 percent — the lowest point in your career. Despite denying my repeated requests for a one-on-one interview, I nonetheless offer my thoughts as to why you have fallen out of favor with so many Pennsylvanians. Conflicts Of Interest First and foremost, the citizens of the Keystone State are fed up with what they see as huge conflicts of interest permeating every level of your Administration, with you being the focal point of many. The appearance of a governor showing favoritism and special treatment to...

A Pennsylvania Turnpike spokesman calls it a "fork in the road," but it might be a giant financial pothole that PennDOT is approaching. The turnpike yesterday transferred $225 million to the state for highway projects and public transit, the first of four payments scheduled for the fiscal year under Act 44, the transportation funding law enacted in 2007. The $900 million in annual payments will shrink to $450 million in the fiscal year that starts next July if the state fails to win federal approval to impose tolls on Interstate 80, or come up with some other revenue source. That...

Convicted killer William Wright III of Altoona on Wednesday reiterated his desire to die. Wright asked a federal appeals court to step in, remove public defenders from his case and allow his execution to proceed. In a legalistic, self-written appeal filed in U.S. District Court in Johns-town, Wright said federal public defenders in Pittsburgh “do not have petitioner’s consent to file any further pleadings of any kind on petitioner’s behalf.” The Federal Public Defender’s Office in Pittsburgh had no comment Wednesday. The petition was the latest development in back-and-forth volleys in which Wright’s life hangs in the balance: •  In...

HARRISBURG — If you work, own a home, drive, smoke cigarettes, drink liquor or buy tires — and even when you die — there's a tax bill to pay to state or local governments in Pennsylvania. The per capita tax burden in Pennsylvania, 11th highest in the nation, increased steadily during the past 10 years, according to figures from the Tax Foundation, a nonprofit research group in Washington. The amount Pennsylvanians pay — $4,463, annually — is for each man, woman and child. "Pennsylvanians pay about two-thirds of that to their own state and local governments," said Bill Ahern, spokesman...

No wonder Ed is always smiling. Just another Dem who can't keep his pecker in his pants.. Man, Ed Rendell is so screwed -- literally. I don't normally listen to Opie & Anthony looking for breaking news, but astonishingly that's what I just got. A few minutes ago, the cast of the show on Sirius XM radio were interviewing Kristin Davis -- not the one from Sex and the City, the former Manhattan Madam who spent four months in Rikers in connection with the Eliot Spitzer hooker scandal from last year. There's been quite a bit of speculation that her...

Man, Ed Rendell is so screwed -- literally. I don't normally listen to Opie & Anthony looking for breaking news, but astonishingly that's what I just got. A few minutes ago, the cast of the show on Sirius XM radio were interviewing Kristin Davis -- not the one from Sex and the City, the former Manhattan Madam who spent four months in Rikers in connection with the Eliot Spitzer hooker scandal from last year. There's been quite a bit of speculation that her operation at one time serviced another high-profile governor, besides Spitzer, and up until now she's been largely...

The state House voted 49-150 this afternoon to defeat the Senate's $27.1 billion budget proposal, which sends the budget discussions to a House-Senate conference committee. No plan was announced for the committee to start work. Its meetings must be held in public. Many expect closed-door negotiations between legislative leaders and Gov. Ed Rendell to continue while the committee does its work. The state has been without a budget since July 1.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation is spending $60,000 of its stimulus money on $2,000 road signs to highlight projects funded by the massive economic recovery package. The large green signs mark about 30 of what PennDOT calls ''higher visibility projects'' statewide. Each denotes the project is funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and features the act's logo. Nationwide, several million dollars are being spent producing the signs. PennDOT spokesman Steve Chizmar said Pennsylvania elected to take a ''middle-of-the-road'' approach to the federal government's strong encouragement that the signs be put at every project site around the state, choosing...

Gov. Rendell said today that even if former State Senator Vincent J. Fumo had received only a year in prison, it would have been a sufficient warning to any potentially corrupt politician. He also said that as a former prosecutor, he would want to appeal the Fumo's 55-month sentence, calling it inconsistent with sentences in other recent public corruption cases. The governor spoke a day after Fumo received a prison term that federal prosecutors said was far too short and didn't send "a strong enough message." "If I were a public official, one year would be enough to deter me,"...

Gov. Rendell cannot cut Pennsylvania's four state-related universities out of $42 million in federal stimulus funds, the Department of Education said today. In applying for Pennsylvania public colleges' share of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Rendell listed the 14 state schools as beneficiaries but excluded Temple University, Pennsylvania State University, Lincoln University in Chester County and the University of Pittsburgh. Last week, 14 of the state's 19 U.S. representatives sent a letter to U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan protesting Rendell's application. They got results. Earlier this evening, Rep. Glenn Thompson (R., Centre County) said, he received a call from...

HARRISBURG — As powerful politicians clash over Pennsylvania’s lengthening state budget impasse, members of a small band of largely backbench conservative Democrats are exercising a little muscle of their own. The so-called “Blue Dog” Democrats in the House have openly defied a call by Gov. Ed Rendell and leaders of the House Democratic majority to support an increase in the personal income tax. And they did so in a building in which rank-and-file legislators generally fear the punishment that might result from thumbing their noses at their caucus leaders. Many of the 25 or so Blue Dogs are from western...

Tens Of Thousands Pennsylvania Prison Inmates ... ... will still be paid for the jobs they do at state correctional institutions even as the people who guard them and see to their welfare run the risk of going unpaid in the event of a budget impasse this summer, The Morning Call has learned. Concerns about public safety helped drive the decision to continue paying the 31,175 inmates who do everything from serve meals to sweep cell-blocks at the state’s 27 correctional institutions. They’re paid 19 cents to 42 cents an hour for their labors, spokespeople for Gov. Ed Rendell and...

Tens of thousands of Pennsylvania prison inmates still will be paid for the jobs they do at state correctional institutions, even as the people who guard them and see to their welfare run the risk of going unpaid in the event of a budget impasse this summer. Concerns about public safety helped drive the decision to continue paying the 31,175 inmates who do everything from serve meals to sweep cellblocks at the state's 27 correctional institutions, spokespeople for Gov. Ed Rendell and the state Corrections Department said. The inmates are paid 19 cents to 42 cents an hour for their...

Gov. Ed Rendell believes Teva Pharmaceuticals would make the ideal tenant for his future Horsham Joint Interagency Installation. So much so, he would like the Navy to transfer 150 acres of land at the Willow Grove Naval Air Station immediately so he doesn't lose the giant generic drug manufacturer to another location. The Navy is scheduled to leave the base by September 2011 and the commonwealth is planning for the land to be turned into a mix of military and governmental agencies dedicated to national defense, homeland security and emergency preparedness. But to keep the base self-sustaining, it needs to...

Longtime Democratic fundraiser Norman Hsu was convicted yesterday of violating campaign finance laws in a case that became an embarrassment to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and other prominent Democrats, including Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell. Mr. Hsu donated nearly $40,000 to Mr. Rendell’s campaign coffers. According to published reports, Mr. Hsu also hosted an $18,000 dinner for Mr. Rendell at an exclusive New York City restaurant, in which less than 20 people attended. The governor reportedly referred to Mr. Hsu as “one of the best 10 people I’ve me.” He had also said Mr. Hsu “raised money for me...

When Gov. Ed Rendell was asked this week about Richard Poplawski, who is accused of shooting and killing three Pittsburgh police officers, he said he would sign a death warrant for the 22-year-old Stanton Heights man "without a moment's thought." Today, in a court filing, Mr. Poplawski's attorney said she wants Mr. Rendell to take a few moments to think before he speaks publicly about her client. Lisa G. Middleman, a public defender, is requesting that a judge extend a gag order in the case to the governor and all public officials. "Should the District Attorney of Allegheny County elect...

In Harrisburg tomorrow, Rendell is expected to call for the reinstatement of the federal ban on the sale of AK-47s and other automatic firearms. "Assault weapons were not made to hunt," Rendell added. "No one goes out and shoots a deer with an AK-47 or an M-16. No one does. No one."

Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell’s recent decision to criticize the Sunoco oil company for laying off 750 workers raises a number of intriguing questions. While the governor held a press conference last week solely to excoriate Sunoco, calling the company’s decision “unconscionable,” he has been notably silent concerning the 3,000 layoffs — four times the number at Sunoco — that Comcast has executed in the past year. Since the governor’s election in 2002, SUN PAC, Sunoco’s political action committee, has contributed $55,000 to Mr. Rendell, with Sunoco employees donating an additional $2,650. During that same time period, Comcast’s PAC, its employees,...

It was early in the investigation, but already the FBI was getting on Vince Fumo's nerves. In a typically blunt e-mail, he wrote to a top aide in 2004 that a delicate part of his anatomy had just been "busted by my 2 friendly female FBI agents." Then he cursed them. His aide replied: "I do not like those people. Long live the realm of Fumo-world! :-)" Now former State Sen. Fumo stands convicted of scores of counts of corruption in a $4 million fraud, his aide has lost his job, and Fumo-world is a smoking ruin. Relentlessly civil, but...

Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell predicted on Thursday that Michael Steele's "days are numbered" as chairman of the Republican National Committee. "He's in trouble because I just think that those who control the Republican Party don't want a big tent," Rendell told reporters during a lunch hosted by the Christian Science Monitor. Rendell, a past chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said he believes the approaching special election in New York's 20th Congressional District — to replace Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand, who was appointed senator — is not likely a make-or-break event for Steele, whom Rendell said also faces more fundamental problems.

To those hurt by the recession but too proud to seek government help, Gov. Ed Rendell says: If not for yourself, do it for your country. He urged people to view food stamps not as welfare, but as economic stimulus. "Think of it this way: If you avail yourself of these sources of government relief, you'll have money to spend in the economy, and that's exactly what we need to reboot the economy," Rendell said Wednesday at Brashear High School in Beechview. His 45-minute address was televised live to gatherings in six other cities. Property owners should take advantage of...

Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell -- the architect of the 2004 law that brought slots casinos to the state -- now wants to legalize the use of video poker machines in taverns and clubs in a move to generate $500 million in tax revenue for his state.

The Rendell administration is scoffing at rumors in Washington, D.C. that Gov. Ed is on the short list to become secretary of Health and Human Services. The White House declined to comment at this time. University of Virginia political science professor Larry Sabato says he'd be surprised if President Obama picked Rendell. “That would turn the governorship over to a Republican,” he said. Late last year, Republican Sen. Joseph Scarnati became Rendell's lieutenant governor upon the death of Catherine Baker Knoll. “Democrats over in Arizona were very unhappy when Gov. Janet Napolitano was chosen to run the Department of Homeland...

Rendell administration contends services can be delivered by other governmental entities for less money. SCRANTON – The state has notified the Scranton School for the Deaf that it will close as of July 1, board members said Wednesday. Funding for the 129-year-old school was not included in the budget proposal announced Wednesday by Gov. Ed Rendell, who unveiled his $29 billion spending plan for 2009-10. Marge Davison Matisko, chairwoman of the schools Board of Trustees, and Trustee Mahmoud Fahmy said the decision was announced late Tuesday night and meetings were held Wednesday with state officials, administrative staff and board members....

HARRISBURG, Pa. -- Gov. Ed Rendell outlined a $29 billion budget Wednesday that would expand spending on education, prisons and health coverage while drawing from federal aid and state surpluses, increasing some taxes and cutting other programs. The plan, a 2.5 percent increase from what was originally approved for the 2008-09 budget, also would withdraw hundreds of millions of dollars from the state's "rainy day" contingency fund without draining it completely. It does not call for increasing any broad-based tax. "The budget I propose requires considerable sacrifice and pain, so that we can close the deficit and put our fiscal...

Well, What The Heck Do You Know About That? Before last week, the chances are pretty good that you'd never heard of Leo J. Hindery, the big-shot business-guy whose relationship with former U.S. Sen. Tom Daschle has caused Daschle some serious headaches on his way to becoming the Obama administration's Health & Human Services secretary. According to news reports, Hindery's company, InterMedia Partners LP., provided Daschle with the car and driver that squired the former Senate Democratic leader around Washington since he rejoined the private sector, thus prompting more "Driving Mr. Daschle" headlines than you can shake a stick at.

Gov. Ed Rendell will appear in federal court next Monday as a defense witness in the corruption trial of former Sen. Vince Fumo, D-Philadelphia. Chuck Ardo, Rendell's press secretary, said that Rendell had been served with a subpoena earlier today at his Philadelphia office. "The governor isn't sure what relevant information he may have, but he will honor the subpoena and answer any questions that are asked," Ardo said. Fumo is charged with misusing more than $1 million in state resources and another $1 million from the Citizens' Alliance for Better Neighborhoods, a south Philadelphia charity he allegedly controlled, for...

Five hundred one people have been added to the state payroll at a cost of $12.35 million since Gov. Ed Rendell imposed a hiring freeze, according to a report prepared for Republican lawmakers and obtained by The Morning Call. Asked about the report, the Democratic Rendell administration said four of every five of those employees hold public safety positions that were exempted from the statewide freeze. About 100 state workers outside of public safety positions have been hired since Rendell's Sept. 16 announcement, spokesman Chuck Ardo said Friday. There are 78,000 state employees. ''Remember that the public safety agencies were...

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - The Rendell administration told employee unions that state workers could be furloughed in a month and demanded they relinquish pay raises as the government scrambles to close a multibillion-dollar gap in state finances. Negotiators for Gov. Ed Rendell also told representatives of the three major state workers' unions during a meeting Tuesday in Harrisburg that the administration wants to draw nearly $200 million from a reserve in their health insurance fund. The governor's office also said it may institute "rolling furloughs" in which large parts of state government would be shuttered on certain days, while the...

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...

Was Fast Eddie Rendell involved? http://www.thebulletin.us/articles/2009/01/07/top_stories/doc49643cc4b4c99010131027.txt

Rendell, His Political Friends—And More State Contracts By Chris Freind, The Bulletin 12/05/2008 Gov. Ed Rendell, D-Pa., has come under increased fire as more information comes to light regarding his relationships with campaign donors. Awarding contributors with lucrative state contracts is nothing new in Pennsylvania, but the frequency, large-dollar amounts and the number of secretive no-bid contracts awarded to political friends are perceived by many to have crossed the ethical line. As a result, numerous bills aimed at reforming how state contracts are awarded will be re-introduced in January when the new legislature convenes. When questioned on how his friendships...

Janet Napolitano wasn't the only female governor Ed Rendell was heard sizing up over an open mike at Tuesday's National Governors Conference. He also opined about Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, praising her "very good political instincts" in a conversation picked up near the podium.

Ed Rendell was the MC for the governor's meeting in Philly yesterday, where there was much to be heard on the open mics. CNN zeroed-in its microphones on Pa's motor-mouthed governor and heard him saying this about Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, Obama's pick for Homeland Security chief: "Janet's perfect for that job. Because for that job, you have to have no life. Janet has no family. Perfect. She can devote, literally, 19-20 hours a day to it." CNN's Campbell Brown went off on the guv last night: Wow. Now, I'm sure Gov. Napolitano has many qualifications for the job beyond...

Gov. Ed Rendell also secures $35 million to aid family regain Boscov’s chain. WILKES-BARRE – Seeking to retain a major downtown draw, the city of Wilkes-Barre will loan $3 million to a family group attempting to regain control of the Boscov’s Department Store chain and its South Main Street store. Scranton, where the Mall at Steamtown is anchored by a newer Boscov’s, has committed the same amount to the $300 million offer to purchase the 39-store chain, and Gov. Ed Rendell said Thursday the state has secured $35 million for the effort. Rendell and Wilkes-Barre Mayor Leighton said the loans...

After being rebuffed during the summer, Gov. Rendell is again pushing the Convention Center Authority to consider using a loan program backed with Chinese funds to generate millions of dollars for the center. Rendell raised the subject during phone calls last week with some of the authority's board members, according to several people familiar with the proposal. While no details have been finalized - including the interest rate, amount to be lent, and how the center would use the money - Rendell is hoping to persuade the board to embrace the loan program in a resolution to be introduced as...

On the morning after Tuesday's historic election, two political heavyweights in Pennsylvania politics offered their take -- each from his own party's perspective. Senior senator Arlen Specter (R-Pa., top right) and governor Ed Rendell (D, bottom right) appeared before the Committee of 70's post-election breakfast to offer commentary on the presidential election. Specter conceded that Republican John McCain's White House bid was hampered by the economy and an unpopular president. He says president-elect Barack Obama is likely to reach across the aisle when he actually begins to govern:

'Fast Eddie' Charged With Bribery, Fraud In Kickback Scheme CHICAGO (CBS) ― A federal judge says former Chicago Ald. Edward Vrdolyak is pleading guilty in kickback scheme. U.S. District Judge Milton Shadur apologized to jurors for calling them in Monday. But he said Vrdolyak changed his mind just on Saturday. Meanwhile, prosecutors revealed revised charges in a superseding information, which usually means the defendant is pleading guilty. Vrdolyak was facing bribery, wire fraud and mail fraud charges stemming from the $15 million sale of a Gold Coast property belonging to the former Chicago Medical School.

Rendell: Forget the polls, it's gonna be close in state Governor stops at ESU while on bus tour for Obama By Dan Berrett Pocono Record Writer November 01, 2008 6:00 AM EAST STROUDSBURG — Gov. Ed Rendell urged supporters of Sen. Barack Obama on Friday to get out the vote in the last 100 hours of the presidential campaign because the race for Pennsylvania is closer than polls suggest. "This is not a 10-, 12- or 14-point election for Barack Obama," the Democratic governor said Friday afternoon in the lobby of East Stroudsburg University's new Science and Technology Center. "A...

Times are tough for the state right now. How tough? The governor announced Tuesday that he is putting a freeze on new state vehicle leases and purchases, and that the freeze would apply to him as well. Gov. Ed Rendell has decided that in February, when the lease expires on his 2008 Cadillac DTS that costs taxpayers $829 a month, he will not replace it with a newer model, as he has done in the past. Instead, the governor will either extend or buy out the lease on the 2008 Caddie, said Ed Myslewicz, a spokesman for the state Department...

Joe Biden started it. The Democrats' vice-presidential nominee's comment that Barack Obama would be tested within the first six months if elected prompted commentary and analysis in the media and among pols and voters. The implication was that our nation's adversaries would pounce on a young president to see what he's made of. Well, Democrat Gov. Ed Rendell, speaking on behalf of the Obama campaign at a news conference, said there's no question who we want handling a crisis and the three presidential debates proved it. Which candidate was "calm, collected" during the debates?, Rendell asked. Which candidate was "angry,...

I was watching meet the depressed or whatever it was, the one with the baggy eyed bolsheviK as a host. Governor of PA was commenting that Palin is spending so much time there he should charge her state income tax. Wow, I know dems are sick and tested but they even think taxing visitors is funny.

Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell has written two separate memos to the Obama campaign in recent days begging for Sen. Obama to come back and campaign in his state. In the memos, Rendell, a former Hillary Clinton supporter, admits to being "a little nervous" about Obama's chances in the Keystone state. Rendell says that the McCain camp is making a strong push for Pennsylvania, with Sen. McCain and Gov. Sarah Palin spending significant time and resources there recently. Rendell wants Sen. Obama to return to his state and make three appearances to blunt McCain's momentum. He recommends a visit to what...

Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell was supposed to give “closing remarks” during this afternoon’s Shorenstein Center-sponsored panel discussion with all three Sunday show moderators — NBC’s Tom Brokaw, ABC’s George Stephanopoulous and CBS’s Bob Schieffer — but instead, he opened up a can of worms about bias in 2008 election coverage

Pennsylvania's Gov. Ed Rendell told PolitikerPA, a political Web site, that "Early on, I said I would cast my ballot for Sen. Clinton, I'm going to cast my ballot for her, and then the moment I cast my vote, I'm going to continue to enthusiastically support Sen. Obama. It's going to be a good release for all of us." Rendell spokesman Chuck Ardo confirmed to the Tribune-Review via email Rendell's statement with this response: "He (Rendell) will vote for Senator Clinton on the first ballot as part of his commitment as a pledged delegate. He will then support Sen. Obama...