What do PA Democrats think of David Cohen of Comcast supporting Governor Corbett's reelection?

Guest Column by Bob Guzzardi

What do Democratic insiders around the state think about David Cohen of the (Rendell) Comcast billionaires’ network supporting Tom Corbett's reelection?

This means major Democratic money will fund the Republican! Ed Rendell will campaign publicly for the Democrat but raise little money because his money source is the Cohen / Comcast network of billionaires.

From my point of view as a Republican, I think this hurts Tom Corbett with Republican primary voters who are weighted outside Southeastern Pennsylvania.

The Republican grassroots is deeply disappointed that Republican Corbett, with clear majority in State House and State Senate has accomplished little of the limited government economic worker freedom agenda.

True, from my point Democrats cannot be trusted with money, but Corbett allied with Union Republicans is only marginally better and his failure to investigate Senate Republicans including the Orie sisters for Bonusgate is indefensible.

Of course, the slow rolling three year Sandusky Grand Jury gambit that delayed taking a serial child rapist and molester off the street churns my stomach. Corbett's explanations are not persuasive.

It is hard to think that neither Ed Rendell nor Republican establishment donors were unaware.

What do Democrats think about Cohen/ Comcast supporting Corbett?

Does pragmatism trump policy when Cohen Comcast (Rendell) Billionaires speak?

Can Liberal or Progressive Democrats vote for Republican Tom Corbett in General Election 2014?

Is this pragmatism to search for lesser of two evils or is it a n unprincipled sell out of core values?

Are the Cohen (Rendell) Comcast Billionaires throwing Allyson Schwartz and Rob McCord under the political bus?

State Supreme Court Justice Joan Orie Melvin Found Guilty

BREAKING NEWS: (AP)

The jury has found suspended state Supreme Court Justice Joan Orie Melvin and her sister, Janine Orie guilty on all but one count in a campaign corruption trial.

Both were found guilty on all counts except official oppression. On that charge, the jury was hung.

The jury returned the verdict on the fourth day of deliberations.

Earlier in the day, the jury sent the judge a note which read in part, “For as close as we are, could we hear the definition of accomplice” with regard to defendant Janine Orie.

The judge read the definition and the jury resumed deliberations.

The sisters are charged with misusing Melvin’s former Superior Court staff to help her campaign for the state’s highest court in 2003 and 2009.

Janine Orie was an aide to the judge then and Allegheny County prosecutors say she helped organize that illegal campaign work — as well as other allegedly illegal work done by the state-funded staff of a third sister, then-state Sen. Jane Orie.

The sisters have denied any wrongdoing.

More:  Orie Melvin Guilty on 6 of 7 Counts (PoliticsPA)
Pa. Supreme Court Justice Joan Orie Melvin convicted of corruption (Patriot-News)

Congresswoman Allison Schwartz's Political Director buys website domain www.schwartzforgovernor.com

Breaking: Hat tip: PoliticsPA


It looks like Pennsylvnaia Congresswoman Allisont Schwartz's Political Director Neil Deegan has officially registered the domain www.schwartzforgovernor.com. The domain name was registered February 9th. This a pretty good indication that Congresswoman Schwartz is running for governor in next year's gubernaitoral race in Pennsylvania. Reports came out after the annual Democtratic State Committee meeting two weeks ago suggesting Schwartz was about 90% sure she was going to run.

This will set up an epic political battle in the race for governor next year between Schwartz and current incumbent republican Tom Corbett. That is if Governor Corbett can make it out of what seems to be a tough primary election race. Montgomery County Commissioner Bruce Castor is already set to challenge Corbett. Also former Revenue Secretary Tom Wolf is considering challenging Corbett.

If Schwartz runs her only possible primary competition looks like PA Treasurer Rob McCord. I doubt if the Democratic Party wants a heated primary election battle and one would have to believe Schwartz would come out on top of any party negotiations. This will give Schwartz a tremendous advantage in the general election.

There Are No Spending “Cuts” In Sequestration

Source: ConservativeHQ

President Barack Obama and his big spending allies, including some Republicans (such as House Armed Services Committee Chairman Buck McKeon), have launched an all-out attack on the reductions in spending set to take place March 1 through the “sequestration” agreed to in the 2011 deal to raise the debt ceiling.
As writer for U.S. News and World Report Anneke E. Green noted in a recent article, “In a speech last week, Mr. Obama talked about the ‘the economically damaging effects of the sequester' with a straight face. Nowhere in his remarks did he acknowledge that the impending spending cuts package was his idea from the start.”

What’s more, all of their gnashing of teeth and rending of clothes over sequestration’s allegedly “draconian cuts” in spending are completely phony.

The March 1 “sequestration” doesn’t actually “cut” spending -- at least as normal Americans outside the Beltway are inclined to think of “cutting” spending.

As Senator Rand Paul pointed out in his Tea Party sponsored rebuttal to Obama’s State of the Union message, “Few people understand that the sequester doesn’t even cut any spending. It just slows the rate of growth. Even with the sequester, government will grow over $7 trillion over the next decade.

Only in Washington could an increase of $7 trillion in spending over a decade be called a cut.”

The Club for Growth’s Chris Chocola took a slightly more sanguine view of sequestration, telling Steve Malzberg on Newsmax TV that, “We’ve been assured by several members of the House in leadership positions that sequestration will happen. I won’t believe it until I see it, but we think it’s a good thing… We think it starts to at least stall the road to suffocating in debt. It actually does reduce spending, it actually does reduce what they call the base lines. Future spending would be lower. All Republicans have to do is sit there and let it happen.’’

Anneke E. Greene’s article was a good reminder, generally ignored by the rest of the establishment media, that a triumphant Obama was the one to announce the deal both sides had agreed to for avoiding a default on U.S. debt in July 2011. A White House fact sheet at the time praised the deal as "a win for the economy and budget discipline."

Back in 2011, Obama termed sequester as a mere enforcement mechanism that equally hit priorities of both parties. Obama stressed that the deal didn't impact middleclass families. Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare benefits, unemployment insurance, programs for low-income families, and civilian and military retirement were exempt from cuts.

"The political calculation was that such draconian defense cuts would drive the GOP to offer concessions," notes Charles Krauthammer. "It backfired. The Republicans have offered no concessions. Obama's bluff is being called and he's the desperate party."

The good news is that, at least if Chocola’s prediction of Republican resolve proves true and sequestration holds, slowing spending is better than increasing spending. The bad news is that voters may think Congress has actually done something about the unsustainable growth of the federal budget and take the heat off their elected officials to enact real reductions in the federal government’s spending, deficit and debt.

Check out ConservativeHQ the online news source for conservatives and Tea Partiers committed to bringing small-government constitutional conservative to power.

The final word on the Paterno Report and the Sandusky Scandal

Ok here is my final word on the Paterno Family Report and Joe Paterno's role in the Sandusky Scandal. The Paterno's released the report last Sunday and the findings has caused many to revisit some of the inaccuracies and speculation that is undeniably evident in the Freeh Report released last July.

What do we now know after reading the two reports and the testimony from Sandusky's trial?

First, we now know there was no cover up to benefit the football program as suggested in the Freeh Report. Which makes the unprecedented sanctions placed upon Penn State's football program by the NCAA baseless.

Second we know that Joe Paterno followed the University's own policy when it comes to reporting incidents if sexual violence on campus. If you know anything about how allegations of sexual abuse cases are investigated we know there really was nothing more Joe Paterno could have done once he reported the incident to University officials and his supervisor.

This is contrary to the media defined narrative that they are desperately trying to hold on to. Again I have to emphasize that members of the media have no clue about how child abuse cases are investigated. Which is the main reason why their reporting has been so inaccurate and unreliable throughout this scandal.

They expect us to believe that Joe Paterno was all powerful and could of done more even if it meant breaking the laws that dictate how these kind of allegations are investigated.

Bottom line is, let's imagine that all the people involved were sitting at a table. One is the President of the Second Mile foundation a child care agency responsible for the children placed in their care, one is a state police officer, one is a campus police officer, one is a state psychologist, one is a Children and Youth caseworker, two are district attorneys, one is the President of a state university, one is as athletic director, one is a school superintendent, one is a state attorney general and one is a college football coach. All were informed of incidents regarding Sandusky and children at some point.

Out of all these people sitting at the table we are supposed to believe according to the media that the football coach is the one responsible for protecting the children that Sandusky abused.

That just sounds ridiculous.

And please stop saying that Joe Paterno should have done more when he did what the university manual informs every other staff person to do when these kinds of incidents are brought to their attention.

Also don't give me the "what if this were your child" scenario because I sure would not be blaming the football coach who doesn't have the authority to investigate or arrest criminals over all the other officials informed of the allegations.

This is what will forever be ridiculous about all of this but the most alarming thing is all the gullible people buying this garbage being pushed by members of the media. The mass and the media wants a figure head to blame. One to sell more papers or watch their stations.

For those of you who want the truth I hope I broke it down for you. If you are a member of the media who wants to keep spreading lies that hurt the football players and the students who attend Penn State then I don't have anymore time for your nonsense!

Corbett addministration extends lottery contract bid

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) - A top budget aide to Gov. Tom Corbett says a British firm has extended its bid to manage the $3.5 billion Pennsylvania Lottery while the administration mulls over how it will respond to the state attorney general rejecting the deal.

Executive Deputy Budget Secretary Peter Tartline said the bid from Camelot Global Services that was scheduled to expire Saturday has been extended through Friday.

According to a top aid, Governor Tom Corbett's bid to privatize the lottery is still alive.

Sources say an agreement has been reached between the state and British firm Camelot Global Services to extend the firm's bid to run the Pennsylvania Lottery. The original bid expired on Saturday after new Attorney General Kathleen Kane rejected the contract between the two, citing it unconstitutional.

The original deal between Corbett and Camelot was a 30-year contract that promised to bring in at least $3.5 Billion in revenue for the state. The governor does have the option to challenge Kane's decision in court.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane has said she wouldn't approve the 20- to 30-year contract with Camelot because she says elements of it conflict with the state constitution and state lottery law.

Corbett could challenge Kane's decision in court. The contract's legality is also being challenged in court by Democratic lawmakers and the union that represents lottery employees.

Happy Valentine's Day Governor Corbett

Valentine's Day is the one day that men everywhere have the responsibility to make the women closest to us feel special and loved. It is a moment to take time out of our busy day to buy them flowers or chocolates. Open a bottle of champaign and tell them how important they are.


Somehow Governor Corbett didn't get the memo.

Today newly elected Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane issued a statement rejecting on constitutional grounds the contract Corbett and his administration signed with an English firm that would privatize the state's lottery system. In her statement Kane said that the Corbett overstepped his authority by moving forward with the contract.

Ouch! I guess Corbett forgot to send those roses that he has been meaning to send Kane since her election last November.

Kane also has moved forward in naming a special prosecutor to review Corbett's handling of the Sandusky investigation full filling the campaign promise she made during the election last year.

Now Corbett and his campaign staff must deal with a potential challenge from PA Congresswoman Allison Schwartz. News broke today that Schwartz is officially laying the ground work for a campaign to challenge Corbett in the gubernatorial election next year.

I guess Congresswoman Schwartz never got those chocolate covered strawberries you forgot to send her Governor.

As you can see our Governor is having some women troubles this Valentine's Day. I for one will be popping a bottle of champagn and watching how this all plays out.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY GOVERNOR CORBETT!