Off The Cuff Friday 2-2-2007
Speak your mind!
This entry was posted on February 2, 2007 at 9:48 am and is filed under Off The Cuff Friday. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.
February 3, 2007 at 12:13 pm
I like your blog.
February 3, 2007 at 9:59 pm
Thanks Jose
February 6, 2007 at 10:26 am
Check this out!!
Pa. Senator Says He’ll Be Indicted
Feb 05 6:45 PM US/Eastern
Harrisburg, PA -
One of Pennsylvania’s most powerful politicians announced on the state Senate floor Monday that he expects to be indicted soon in an extortion case and that he was temporarily giving up a key committee post.
Sen. Vincent J. Fumo, a Philadelphia Democrat, said he would likely be charged this week with using a neighborhood nonprofit group for his own personal and political gain.
“I know in my heart that I have not done anything illegal,” said Fumo, 63.
A federal grand jury has been investigating whether Fumo extorted tens of millions of dollars in corporate donations for the Citizens’ Alliance for Better Neighborhoods. Two of his former Senate staffers are scheduled to stand trial on obstruction charges May 21 on suspicion of deleting e-mail about Fumo’s ties to the charity from office and other computers.
Fumo would have been required to give up his leadership post as soon as he was indicted. He portrayed his resignation as minority party chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee as a temporary measure “until I am vindicated.”
Fumo charged that the investigation “has been marked by threats, intimidations and frequent leaks to the media intended to embarrass me” and vowed to fight the allegations.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Zauzmer declined to comment on Fumo’s remarks.
The Citizens’ Alliance for Better Neighborhoods is run by Fumo’s aides and does economic development and beautification projects in his district.
Peco Energy Co. gave the nonprofit group $17 million as it sought to win state deregulation of the electricity markets. Fumo initially opposed the effort but later threw his support behind the utility.
A lawyer, Fumo is an architect of the 2004 law that legalized slot- machine gambling in the state.
February 7, 2007 at 9:30 am
Rendell is absolutely nuts!!
Rendell’s budget proposals
SPENDING
Increase total state general fund spending by 3.6 percent to $27.3 billion.
TAXES
Increase the state sales tax from 6 percent to 7 percent to help provide property-tax cuts, along with gambling revenues, of $900 million next year. About a third of the sales-tax revenues in the first year would go to property-tax cuts, increasing to about half the revenue in future years. In Philadelphia and Allegheny counties where an extra 1 percent is earmarked for local uses the sales tax would rise to 8 percent.
Impose a new electricity consumption tax amounting to about 45 cents a month for the average household, to pay off $850 million in borrowing for alternative power development and energy conservation.
Increase municipal solid-waste disposal fees by $2.75 per ton for hazardous-waste cleanup and the environmental stewardship fund.
Impose a tax on oil companies’ gross profits and exempt those companies from the state’s corporate net-income tax.
Increase the cigarette tax from $1.35 to $1.45 per pack; levy a new tax on other forms of tobacco; and impose a new 3 percent payroll tax on employers who do not provide employee health benefits.
EDUCATION
Boost overall spending by 6 percent.
Expand accountability block grants for pre-K and kindergarten by $100 million.
Expand programs for special education students; improve elementary science education; make academic programs in 30 high schools more rigorous; and provide laptops.
HEALTH CARE
Implement the $302 million Cover All Pennsylvanians program to provide small businesses and about 800,000 uninsured people with low-cost health insurance.
Ban smoking in workplaces, restaurants and bars.
Expand by more than 18 percent an early intervention program for 76,000 children, age 5 and younger, with developmental delays.
PUBLIC SAFETY
Increase Corrections Department spending by 13 percent to handle growth in the state prison population by adding beds and to reduce recidivism by treating substance abuse and better monitoring inmates after they are released.
Make possession of a stolen gun a felony; require police notification whenever a gun is lost or stolen; let local communities restrict the distribution and use of handguns; and limit gun purchases to one per month.
ENERGY
Establish the Energy Independence Fund to pay for such items as conservation initiatives, solar energy, research, support for emerging clean-energy products and companies, and purchase of low-power appliances.
Seek legislative and voter approval for $850 million in bonds to encourage alternative energy development and energy conservation.
RESEARCH
Create a $500 million Jonas Salk Legacy Fund to foster biomedical research, funded by tobacco settlement revenue.
TRANSPORTATION
Lease the Pennsylvania Turnpike to a private company to raise $965 million for roads and bridges.
Tax oil companies’ gross profits to raise $760 million for mass transit.
http://www.readingeagle.com/re/lead/1621326.asp
February 10, 2007 at 12:48 am
Word has it that Larry Medaglia is no longer in charge of the Berks GOP. Ron Stanko is the man with the plan.
February 24, 2007 at 6:16 pm
Yes, new committee persons were elected in the 2006 Primary, and then both the Democrats and Republicans hold their organizational meeting to elect the officers for the next four years, so Larry M. has been out since last May/June time frame.