Free Republic

Democratic governors defend health care overhaulJon Lentz WASHINGTON Fri Jun 25, 2010 4:35pm EDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A small group of Democratic governors this week launched a counter-attack over the federal healthcare overhaul, firing back against legal challenges from nearly two dozen state attorneys general who are seeking to overturn the new law. In a sign of the partisan divisions over the landmark health care law, each governor is a Democrat representing a state with a Republican attorney general trying to strike down the legislation. The governors of Colorado, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Washington requested permission to file an amicus, or...

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Gov. Ed Rendell says there is no truth to gossip that he is involved in an extramarital affair with a state employee. In an advance copy of a Philadelphia magazine article obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press, the governor and Kirstin Snow, the former beauty queen who works for him, say in separate interviews that they are not romantically involved. “Do I have some flaws? Absolutely!” Rendell tells the magazine. “For all of the rumors, has any woman ever said that I have had sex with her? Other than my wife?” Statehouse rumors of an affair gained...

On Hannity just now, Ed Rendell said he was in talks with Rahm Emanuel about wanting Sestak not to run against Specter. Hannity cut him off while he was in the process of admitting another job offer to someone against Santorum. I can't believe Sean would just cut him off like that. Oops!

Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell said Sunday that the results of his home state's special election show that the Tea Party's electoral influence is limited. Mark Critz, a Democrat, won the election Tuesday to fill the seat of the late Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.). Rendell also said on CNN's "State of the Union" that the post-election controversy with Rand Paul and his comments about the Civil Rights Act shows that the Tea Party will flail come November elections. "The Tea Party candidates are going to be more easy to beat in the general election" than Republicans such as Florida Gov. Charlie...

Chambers Of Horrors Ed Rendell has done more to hurt business in Pennsylvania than any governor in recent memory. So why do our local chambers of commerce keep patting him on the back? Posted on 5/12/2010 at 8:33AM “The Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce is dedicated to promoting regional economic growth…and advancing business-friendly public policies.” So says the mission statement of Philadelphia’s Chamber of Commerce. It further states that it is “dedicated to supporting and encouraging the continued growth” of its members by striving “to influence business-friendly legislation in all levels of government, participate in initiatives to improve education and...

“If I can call a rally for stronger laws for puppies I will draw 100 000 people to Washington just like that” Snap! That was the Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell this morning on FOX accusing the tea party of being not able to draw a crowd bigger than a thousand people in Washington DC. Besides the fact that his numbers on tea party attendance are wrong it is amazing to witness Rendell who is usually appealing to the folks of all political backgrounds turn into fierce campaign against a grassroots movement to which about 60% of the Americans sympathize. Seems...

<p>Ed Rendell, the Democratic governor of Pennsylvania and former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, told Fox News on Saturday that the Tea Party movement reflects the anger many Americans feel about the current state of the economy, but dismissed the notion of the Tea Party as a legitimate political movement.</p>

Let’s give credit where it’s due. Fast Eddie never gives up, no matter how short-sighted his ideas may be. When we last left our lameduck leader during the 2009 fiscal debacle, which took 101 days to pass a budget, the Governor was doing what Democrats do best — transferring money from the people to government coffers. No surprise there. At a time when Pennsylvania families are doing the responsible thing — tightening the belt and exercising fiscal restraint — the Governor does the polar opposite. Rendell has proposed a budget increase of 4 percent, in large part to pay for...

Freedom Radio spoke with Chris Freind about the machine-politic shannanigans going on in Philadelpia. Here is the audio of the interview: Believe it or not, the deceased have retained legal counsel to challenge the petitions of people running for Republican Ward Committee posts. Iím not sure whatís more fascinating --- the deceased figuring out which lawyer to hire, or the attorney brilliant enough to so creatively expand his client base. And just who is the uber-barrister responsible for this miraculous act? Michael Meehan, General Counsel and de facto head of the Philadelphia Republican City Committee, who also chairs the powerful...

The idiocy of some people never ceases to amaze. For the latest example, just look how the political hacks reacted to the recent week of Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett. First, Corbett’s office was successful in prosecuting former state representative Mike Veon and two others in the Bonusgate scandal, bringing the total number of felony convictions in that corruption investigation to 10. Veon and his cronies were convicted on numerous charges related to using taxpayer money for political campaigns. Taxpayer money is, in fact, the people’s hard-earned cash that is sent to Harrisburg for the purposes of good government. Using...

Christine Bethea, owner of the art and antique store Artica in the Garfield-Friendship business district, said she pays her corporate taxes faithfully. She didn't realize until Thursday what a rarity that is. Bethea was among about 20 business owners gathered at a Shadyside Borders bookstore to hear Gov. Ed Rendell decry a business tax structure that lets 71 percent of companies in Pennsylvania skip out on the tax. The system needs to change, Rendell said, if the state is to avoid a budget crisis in the next two years. "When you hear how other people are slipping through the cracks,...

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...

The trouble with hope and change is that it only works for the unelected. After you get the job you have to provide more than hope, and change is suddenly defined as "not you". Since President Obama took office, each time American voters have gotten the opportunity they have voted for a different kind of change. Yet the president and his fellow Democrats continue to believe that if they just change the wrapping paper, we'll suddenly want what they're offering.

WASHINGTON – It is probably fair to say that U.S. Senator Arlen Specter, D-Pa., started it all. He perceived, long before anyone else, that this will not be the year of the incumbent. Armed with campaign battle scars, a cantankerous personality and fairly long-in-the-tooth seniority (even by Senate standards), Specter has come to symbolize the end of the incumbent. A CNN poll last week showed that only one-third of U.S. voters (a record-low number) think their members of Congress deserve to go back next year. When Specter switched parties last spring, he was brutally honest why: He didn't want to...

The most important budget in decades is about to be negotiated in Harrisburg, where Gov. Rendell introduced his final spending plan this week. Not only is the state facing a structural deficit that has been masked by gimmicks such as the "stimulus." It's also about to be hit by a pension tsunami that will increase the multibillion-dollar deficit by multibillions. (snip) The word we never hear from Harrisburg is one that those in the private sector often hear: downsizing. Our elected officials have a spending problem, and it's time for them to work up the courage to break the habit....

HARRISBURG, Pa., - With travel conditions worsening dramatically in southeast Pennsylvania, Governor Edward G. Rendell said the non-toll portions of four interstates will close at 2 p.m. today. The Governor said the affected highways include the Schuylkill Expressway (I-76), I-476, I-176, and I-676. "Other than emergency responders, no one should be driving on Pennsylvania's highways today," Governor Rendell said. "This is a serious storm that will jeopardize the safety of anyone who attempts to travel." Earlier today, the Governor announced the closure of I-81 from the Maryland border to I-80, and all of interstates 83 and 78. In addition, PA...

It was then that Leslie Merrill McCombs appeared on scene. Mrs. McCombs is the hot blonde senior consultant for government relations at UPMC who developed a close working relationship with Gov. X-Man Rendell while successfully lobbying on behalf of Lions Gate Entertainment for the $75 million 2007 Pennsylvania Film Tax Credit program. Mrs McCombs never disclosed the relationship -- with Lions Gate that is albeit she vociferously denied having one with X-Man-- and wound up being fined $5,025 in July 2009 for failing to do so. Anyway, Mrs. McCombs told Mrs. Buchanan that UPMC would be the sole handler of...

Gov. Ed Rendell, Channel 11 has learned, was one of those on the flight from Pittsburgh International Airport to bring back dozens of orphans from the BRESMA orphanage in Haiti. Two sisters from Ben Avon run the orphanage and their story is making national headlines

Governor Ed Rendell, who approaches taxes the way he assaults cheesesteak sandwiches, will reportedly expand the tax on table games to include air hockey and pool tables. Jimmy "Extra Thumbs" Minnomano, the governor's table games liaison, said the tax is necessary to match the state government's wild spending spree. "Here's da ting," said Minnomano. "If you want to provide for the needed government services--like, bribing state workers to help out on campaigns or large per diem checks--then you need to seek alternative revenue sources. Know what I mean?" Air hockey and pool table owners would be forced to pay a...

“U.S. elected officials accused China on Tuesday of stealing American jobs.” I was trying to visualize how the Chinese snuck over and stole these jobs. They would certainly have used the largely unprotected southern border with Mexico to take the jobs, but how did they transport the jobs? The “U.S official” turns out to be Pennsylvania’s Gov. Ed Rendell who is an expert in jobs losses as he has lead Pennsylania from 5.5% unemployment when he was first elected in 2002 to a whopping 9.5% today (data available through September 2009). Playing on our fears about job losses and a...