Bird’s-Eye View

Just not from the state. State Lt. Gov./Senate President Pro Tem Joe Scarnati, a Republican, has said he doesn’t think the state’s projected billion dollar shortfall will require a tax increase (hint: spending cuts!) and Gov. Ed Rendell said he wants to try and not raise taxes but hasn’t ruled them out.
But as Politickerpa.com rightly points […]

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John Baer of the Philadelphia Daily News says state Attorney General Tom Corbett’s dominating win over his Democratic challenger makes him a likely frontrunner for the 2010 GOP gubernatorial nomination. Corbett won a second four-year term by defeating Democratic John Morganelli by 390,000 and won 61 of 67 counties in a year when Democrats had just […]

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 Not exactly a FDR-style fireside chat during these tough economic times, but Gov. Ed Rendell put the entire state government on notice: More spending cuts are coming.
From the Associated Press:
“We are going to do everything we can to get through this with as little harm as possible, but I also want to remind people that the […]

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Just received word current Minority Republican Leader Sam Smith beat back a challenge by colleague and former House Speaker John Perzel to retain his leadership post. I’m not surprised especially given the allegations that Perzel may have hired an outside consultant to do opposition research against members of his own caucus; Perzel has denied this. Smith […]

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Tom Wolf, Gov. Ed Rendell’s secretary of revenue, resigned today. While that may be a yawner at first impression, see this from the Associated Press:
Wolf, however, would not elaborate on his plans during a Capitol news conference with Gov. Ed Rendell. He sidestepped a question about whether he was running for governor.
“I’ve made a decision, […]

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Sick of presidential politics? Skipping the news stories about President-elect Barack Obama? Craving for something else to read?
I hear yah. But as an alternative to the endless cycle of stories about Obama’s transition team, I have some interesting stuff out of the state House to talk about, mainly about Republican House Speaker Denny O’Brien.
Nesters may remember O’Brien […]

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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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