It’s a tough year for Republicans. Ask Chet Beiler, the Republican nominee for state auditor general. He is trailing Democratic incumbent Jack Wagner by nearly $400,000 in the amount of cash he has to spend in the month until the Nov. 4 election, according to the Web site PolitickerPA.com. Beiler’s most recent campaign finance […]

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This time, in our statehouse. Way to go, guys.
From the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:
Bills designed to reform state government and make its workings more open to Pennsylvania taxpayers likely will die this session because of inaction in the House, the Senate majority leader said Monday.
Sen. Dominic Pileggi, R-Delaware County, told the Tribune-Review he has received no indication […]

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The Wall Street Journal wins with this zinger: “Congress lives up to its 10% approval rating”
Says the Journal in a particularly brutal and spot-on commentary: “America has survived a feckless political class in the past, and it will again after this week. But Monday’s crash and burn of the Paulson plan on Capitol Hill reveals […]

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A few of my faves from The New Yorker:

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Bruce Slater, the Democrat challenging U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts in the Nov. 4 election, said in the below news release that Republican lawmakers — his opponent included — failed to put politics behind them and deliver the $700 billion bailout of the financial industry.

slaters29 - Upload a Document to Scribd

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Statement from U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts, who opposed the bailout proposal that failed the House this afternoon:
“Doing something about the current market situation is critically important, but rushing to approve a flawed bill violates the responsibility I have to my constituents.  I could not support forcing the taxpayers to carry the burden of $700 billion […]

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U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts joined most of his Republican colleagues in voting “no” to the $700 billion emergency bailout of the financial industry this afternoon, helping the House to defeat a plan that had been pushed heavily by President Bush and a bipartisan coalition of congressional leaders. We’re awaiting a statement from the Republican lawmaker, […]

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… but this is a little ridiculous, no?
From today’s New Era:
It wasn’t his political views that got a young Ephrata man in trouble. It was how he expressed them. Martin G. Flegal, 24, allegedly vandalized a John McCain-Sarah Palin campaign sign in a yard the 400 block of East Main Street, Ephrata, around 8:30 p.m. […]

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An interesting column from an old friend and mentor, Terry Michael, director of the Washington Center for Politics and Journalism and former spokesman for the late Sen. Paul Simon. He argues that Barack Obama and John McCain, as they prepare for their debates, ought to be paying attention to how voters are judging them with […]

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This will be cool.
Here’s the press release:

CURRENT AND TWITTER TEAM UP TO “HACK THE DEBATE”
Integration of Real-Time, On-Screen Twitter Posts Allows Viewers To Participate In Current’s Broadcasts 
Of The 2008 Presidential And Vice Presidential Debates, Beginning Sept. 26 at 8:45 p.m. ET/5:45 p.m. PT

SAN FRANCISCO (September 15, 2008) - Current, […]

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