Bird’s-Eye View

Breathe a sigh of relief. Call off the search dogs. The kids can come out the play, again.
Late last night, Gov. Ed Rendell announced an agreement between his office and the Legislature over a budget that was more than $500 million less than what Rendell wanted. Here’s some details from his press release:
The Governor said […]

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The state Senate this afternoon passed a tax cut package. From the Associated Press:
The four bills that passed Monday are a Republican plan to deliver relief to businesses and low-income taxpayers and to jump-start a sluggish economy.
But Democrats argued against the bills, saying now isn’t the time to cut taxes, when the state is scrounging […]

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We at the Nest are taking out our Army helmets. The political bombs at the state Capitol are flying back and forth as Republicans and Democrats launch daily salvos. Here’s today’s damage report:

Senate Republicans unveiled their own health care reform package they say only costs $100 million and would cover 500,000 Pennsylvanians currently uninsured. That’s […]

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The Nest looked at the calendar and saw only three weeks remain before the state budget deadline, and the drums are beating in Harrisburg over the possible furlough of state employees. If you remember last year, when Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell and Senate Republicans couldn’t compromise on the budget, state workers were shut out of […]

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Whatever you can do I can do better … That’s the feeling out of Harrisburg now that Gov. Rendell’s administration is threatening to furlough state workers if the budget isn’t passed by June 30, according to the Associated Press:
Naomi Wyatt, Gov. Ed Rendell’s secretary of administration, told state employees that if the governor and Legislature […]

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I wanted to thank those who visit the Nest for their patience. Haven’t posted since Monday and that’s because a surgeon went digging and uprooted four wisdom teeth last week. A bottle of Vicadin, nearly a week’s worth of rest and several packets of Carnation Instant Breakfast later, the Nest is back and operating (with […]

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From the Associated Press:
Pennsylvania rang up $3.7 billion in revenue, or $256 million above projections, in the year’s second-biggest tax collection month.
That boosts the state’s running surplus for the fiscal year to $437 million, or nearly 2 percent over projections.
Cue you, Mr. and Ms. We Need Tax Cuts. Cue you, Mr. and Ms. Let’s Use […]

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The Republican primary for the 13th state Senate District is starting to resemble a playground scrap among four separate factions.
What stood out to me in this week’s Sunday News roundup on is former state Sen. Noah Wenger’s endorsement of Paul Thibault. Yeah, former state Rep. John Barley on Saturday made a public appearance, too, in […]

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