Welcome to “Evening Coffee,” which unfortunately has not come out with an instant brew version.
But our friends at Starbucks have (you may have heard), and in Chicago they gave away free samples of their VIA instant brew. The on-the-street reviews … not entirely overwhelming, according to the Chicago Sun-Times:
While no one spat it out, reviews from those patrons the Sun-Times spoke with were decidedly lukewarm. Margot Considine, a 22-year-old bike messenger, called it “weak.”
“It didn’t taste very fresh,” she said. “It didn’t have a strong coffee flavor. It was kind of watery.”
David Montagano enjoyed his sample.
“It’s got the similarities to instant coffee,” he said between sips, “but it’s not as harsh tasting as [others] you’d find in the grocery store.”
Onto political poker.
While Gov. Ed Rendell’s call to look at consolidating Pennsylvania’s school districts from 500 to 100 appears sunk, there’s a continued push to legalize video poker and use the revenue to fund tuition aid.
Friend to the Nest R.B. Swift, who writes for Times-Shamrock papers out of the northeast, pens an article today that says House Democrats will start holding hearings shortly:
House Majority Leader Todd Eachus, D-116, said Wednesday his caucus agrees with the goal of making higher education more affordable, but he wouldn’t predict whether there’s enough support to pass a bill linked to video poker.
“I think we are still discussing that and trying to forge a consensus,” he added.
Huh?
If House Dems aren’t on board, why in the heck are they going to hold lengthy public hearings, invite speakers and grill ‘em in front of the media?
Kinda reminds of when there was a push by some House Republicans to increase the state sales tax and expand it to areas not currently subject to the tax. The idea was to provide relief for skyrocketing school property taxes. Well, the Senate GOP didn’t like it, and they held a series of hearings, inviting spokesperson after spokesperson who said their industries would be hurt by proposed changes in the sales tax. Wasn’t good for supporters of the tax plan. It went no where in the Senate.
The House Dems could put forward a lot of people to testify at these hearings who don’t like video poker much, and that would put a bad public face on the governor’s proposal as the media is sure to cover these hearings.
But as Swift notes, there may be an ulterior motive for the House Dems to hold public hearings on video poker:
House Majority Whip Bill DeWeese, D-50, Greene County, said he thinks lawmakers can discuss video poker and his own proposal to legalize table games at the existing casinos simultaneously (at the hearings).
Ah, suddenly it all becomes clear. See, even though House Dems ousted DeWeese as their caucus chief, he remains in leadership and very influential. Wouldn’t be surprise if the House Dems conclude after these series of hearings that
- Video poker is not a viable revenue-generating option when compared to table games at the casinos
- Having table games at the casinos keeps business in the casinos. Legalizing video poker would have local bars and taverns competing for revenue against the state-licensed slots parlors
We’ll wait and see.
Elsewhere:
*U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts is introducing a bill in Congress to direct the National Institute of Health to study post-abortion depression:
“Women deserve to know the long-term effects of abortion on their mental and emotional well-being, and women who have had an abortion deserve to have mental health professionals who acknowledge the emotional impact of abortion and have the tools to treat it.
I believe that increased research on post-abortion and postpartum depression will lead to greater awareness of this issue and the development of compassionate outreach and counseling programs to help women.”
*Rendell says state layoffs are still possible.
*The state library faces budget cuts. Expect that to generate a few political headlines.
