Bird’s-Eye View

From the Associated Press:
Pennsylvania’s attorney general says he does not expect to file new charges before the end of the year in the investigation of alleged corruption in the Legislature.
But Tom Corbett told a Harrisburg news conference Thursday that could change as investigators uncover new details.
The Republican, who was re-elected Tuesday, reiterated that the probe […]

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Attorney General Tom Corbett told the Pennsylvania Press Club he would file no new charges in the Bonusgate scandal until after the election, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune Review:
Corbett, a Republican, had previously said he would not file any charges after Oct. 1, observing a month-long moratorium before the election. That was the policy he […]

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Ooops!
From CNN:

Sarah Palin likes to tell voters around the country about how she “put the government checkbook online” in Alaska. On Thursday, Palin suggested she would take that same proposal to Washington.
“We’re going to do a few new things also,” she said at a rally in Cedar Rapids. “For instance, as Alaska’s governor, I put […]

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Politico.com has an interesting assessment of what would happen if a President John McCain follows through on his promise to veto any spending bill chock full of pork barrel spending:
Because Congress has failed again to finish its spending bills on time, the new president will likely receive a new omnibus spending bill just after taking […]

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Stopping by the Nest this mid-afternoon, and I happened upon this poll conducted by the Associated Press and the National Constitution Center. The major finding is:
Two-thirds of Americans oppose altering the balance of power among the three branches of government to strengthen the presidency, even when they thought that doing so would improve the economy […]

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Jon Baer of the Philadelphia Daily News penned a sharp op-ed noting how not only did taxpayers fund the illegal bonuses alledgedly dolled out to legislative staffers for campaign work, but taxpayers also paid for attorney fees, a double whammy Baer notes:
As reported by the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and the Associated Press, House Democrats paid more […]

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CapitolWire.com’s Pete DeCoursey has a column published in today’s Intelligencer Journal on A10 slamming elected officials and statewide candidates for “ducking” questions on whether Democratic House Leader Bill DeWeese should resign. DeWeese was in the top Democratic House post when the alleged Bonusgate transgressions took place.
Writes DeCoursey:
The hundreds of felony counts, it is true, did […]

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Maybe this will get things going:

Political reform activist Gene Stilp brought his trademark pink pig and 11 contestants to the State Capitol rotunda on Monday for a beauty contest of sorts.
The point of the “Miss Legislative Reform” pageant was to push for proposals that are currently stalled in the Legislature, such as mandatory term limits, […]

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We come to it at last. State Attorney General Tom Corbett is set to appear at a 2 p.m. press conference to announce criminal charges related to an investigation into whether legislative employees were paid illegal bonuses for campaign work. How widespread the net will be - current lawmakers, former lawmakers, current or former staffers […]

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Oh Louisiana … How did thee not learn the lesson of our sweet Commonwealth? From the New York Times:
The reformist image of Gov. Bobby Jindal, considered by Republicans a top potential vice-presidential choice, has recently taken a beating after Mr. Jindal refused to veto a sizable pay increase that Louisiana legislators voted for themselves this month.
The […]

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