Tom Corbett Lies at RNC

According to PA Republican delegate Anthony Antonello of Pittston, Tom Corbett lied when announcing the delegates choices. There were 72 total delegates and 67 supported Romney. When announcing the allegiance of the remaining five delegates on the Convention floor, Corbett lied saying they supported "Paul Ryan", when in fact they supported Ron Paul! Antonello, Tom Boggia, Brian Dougherty, Tom Martin, and Thomas Brown all supported Ron Paul but had their positions misrepresented by the soulless Pennsylvania governor.

Lemmings in the GOP have said that Tom Corbett is "a good Christian man". I wish I could ask them whether they think he told a "good Christian lie".

Prominent Donor Dan Meuser Named to Corbett's Cabinet

Two articles detail how Big-time donor to the Corbett Campaign Dan Meuser has been named to his cabinet.

Meuser and Family Big Corbett Donors
Gov.-elect Corbett has trend of finding high-profile spots for campaign donors. by Andrew M. Seder of The Times Leader
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An excerpt from Financial Statements Disclosed to Ethics Group by Peter Jackson -AP [2-13-11]

...Also referring questions about his statement to the governor’s office was Daniel P. Meuser, Corbett’s prospective revenue secretary — Pennsylvania’s tax collector.

Meuser stepped down in 2008 as president of Pride Mobility Products Corp., an Exeter-based company that sells power chairs, scooters and other equipment for people with physical problems that limit their mobility. He retained nearly 5 percent equity in the company last year.

Meuser, 46, also held a 20 percent share in two real-estate companies — Commonwealth Resources in Honesdale and Fairland Resources LLC in Wysox — and owned two rental properties -- in Harveys Lake and Oak Beach, N.Y. Harley said Meuser will continue to accept dividends from Pride Mobility, but will not profit from the real-estate firms or rental properties.

“His only income is going to be from the state,” Corbett Spokesman Kevin Harley said.

Meuser spent $1 million of his money on an ultimately unsuccessful bid for the GOP nomination in northeast Pennsylvania’s 10th Congressional District in 2008. He contributed $50,000 to Corbett’s most recent campaign, according to state reports.

The governor said he is not concerned about conflicts of interest among his top advisers, even though he said many of them are taking pay cuts to work for the state...

Tom Corbett Mum on Key Reforms

According to a post on Politics PA by Jeanette Krebs, Tom Corbett's promised reform plan says nothing about:

Banning all public officials from accepting gifts and gratuities, which 66% of PA voters favor.

A referendum in November for a Constitution convention, supported by 72% of PA voters.

Prohibiting lame-duck legislative sessions, which 82% of PA voters want to do.

My question is, in a time of strong anti-establishment conservatism, why did so many people choose Corbett over Rohrer? For many, Rohrer's plan to eliminate the property tax may have seemed too daring, but his Bill meant to do so probably would not have been ratified by the house anyway.

For more, see the Politics PA story here.

Rob Gleason, PA GOP, Oblivious to their own Hypocrisy

A mass email from PA GOP chairman Rob Gleason dated Jan. 24 reads:

Let's make sure no parent is forced to send their child to a poor quality school without other choices. Let's give parents options--public, private, parochial, charter, distance learning, homeschool, and other choices... Today’s children don't have years or decades to wait for more of the same.

Yet, Gleason displayed a totally different outlook on choice in elections, when he served as a rubber stamp for the PA GOP's illogical endorsement-before-the-primary in 2010 and took measures to undermine Rohrer's campaign, while serving as a cheerleader for "endorsed" candidate Tom Corbett.

Choice in education is good, but it seems to me that it should go hand in hand with choice at the ballot box. After all, one's education often influences his choices at the ballot box. One might even say that the ballot box is a flowering of one's civic education.

Let's "give" PA voters options--real options: a chance to choose for themselves which candidate they want without being manipulated by the Party about which one they should choose.

Let's not groom and push through the political system "anointed" candidates like Tom Corbett who represent lawyers and all the usual political suspects, because there are many in politics who don't want more of the same.

Gleason was also hostile to choice in politics when he presided over the PA GOP as it used legal and financial intimidation tactics to get state-level Libertarian and other third party candidates thrown off the ballot. If Gleason advocates seemingly unlimited educational choices, shouldn't he be more friendly to choice in politics?

How is it possible that Gleason's political actions should so conflict with his political stances? In reality, Gleason is not an oblivious hypocrite since he is likely an intelligent man with political shrewdness. Gleason is a steely Machiavellian whose ends apparently justify his means, and whose ends of furthering the GOP's power seem to undermine what the GOP should stand for: freedom of choice. Clearly, the end of gaining power has become more important than values. Maybe, for Gleason, the values espoused by the GOP are only a means to the end of gaining power.

Finally, Gleason's language is very authoritarian, as he purports to "give" us our rights. On the contrary, the founding fathers, Sam Rohrer, and Peg Luksik all believe that men are born with certain inalienable rights, and we need no Rob Gleason to give them to us.

Tom Corbett Grandstanding in the Library?

In several public libraries in Luzerne County, and Lord knows how many others across Pennsylvania, there have appeared posters with a young(er) Tom Corbett's picture on them.



Now, I'm sure Brian Nutt, Corbett's campaign manager, would say that the posters have nothing to do with Corbett's current gubernatorial candidacy. But as the NuPo and other News outlets have shown, Nutt has denied other striking coincidences, including Corbett's subpoena of Twitter account users who alleged to expose his corrupt dealings in prosecuting the Bonusgate scandal, and his withdrawal from events at which then primary candidate Sam Rohrer was also scheduled to attend.

It is plain that the poster above is stealth propaganda, meant to show the on-the-fence voter, who may have heard Corbett criticized for challenging the supposedly beneficial Healthcare overhaul, that Corbett is "a man of the people," out to make sure we get fair health care.

For those of you who might say that the poster is not an all too convenient form of posturing, Answer me this: "When else have you seen a 'public service' poster with the attorney general's picture on it?"

PA Politics Makes Strange Bedfellows

When Tom Corbett made motion to challenge the Obamacare overhaul, he annoyed many Pennsylvania leftists.

As Tom Corbett dodged debate with Sam Rohrer, got the unfair endorsement before-the-primary, subpoenaed his Twitter critics, sent out disingenuous attack flyers about Sam, looked the other way regarding Reed Smith's potential involvement in Bonusgate, and said the Constitution was a 'living document', he made very many Pennsylvania Republicans angry. Most of those angry Republicans support Sam Rohrer.

So, strangely enough, Corbett has enemies on the Left and the Right. And some people of each persuasion--mostly Rohrer supporters and Obamacare supporters-- have joined a Facebook group "Tom Corbett Must Resign."

Indeed, in this group, people on the Left and Right in Pennsylvania who would normally be growling at each other are uniting, pointing to Corbett, and saying "Let's get him"--and for completely different reasons.

Corbett's Nemeses
The ACLU has come to the defense of Twitter users CasablancaPA and bfbarbie. It's understandable that Corbett would want to go after CasablancaPA: afterall, CasablancaPA has had the drop on Corbett's Bonusgate dealings since September of 2008--so Corbie may have gotten frustrated with the Casablanca blogger such that he rashly decided to go after him. But only preponderant ineptitude could have motivated Corbett to go after bfbarbie.

Imagine, the arch-enemy of Tom Corbett is bfbarbie...

Rendell: "I like Tom Corbett"

At 4:20 through the video, Ed Rendell says "I like Tom Corbett; we've had a pretty good working Relationship." He goes on to say that Corbett challenged the health care bill for political purposes and that Corbett has "always been a fairly moderate person in his approach to things."

Rendell does not necessarily mean that Corbett is politically "moderate." What he means is that Corbett is just plain wimpy and compliant with Democrats. In other words, Corbett may profess conservative principles, but when it comes to getting things done, he might as well be a moderate. Notice also in this video that Rendell reserves contempt for tea partiers, promotes big government, yet says he likes Tom Corbett...

PA Republican Royalty and Wind Chimes

In the days of yore, the King's word was not to be questioned. He didn't need to give reasons for his proclamations because he had absolute rule.

So also, the ruler of the Pennsylvania GOP, namely Rob Gleason, believes he needs no explanations for telling Republican voters by email to vote for Cawley and Corbett. Well, no explanation other than that he thinks they're the best candidates.

Lord Gleason, that is.

In other news, Corbett has a cockamamie radio ad running in which he says he'll save the state money by doing something with some cars or something. It's irrelevant. He is a fiscal moderate, and his site seems to indicate that he supports joint government-private ventures.

That aside, Corbett's campaign ad begins with the sound of wind chimes and a corny track plays throughout the ad. The music suggests the voter will reach a point of Nirvana if he votes for Corbett. But in reality, he'll just get an establishment moderate nominated. Governor Tom II. (An allusion to moderate Tom Ridge being succeded by Tom Corbett.)

A pictographic representation of Tom Corbett's campaign ad:

The Cowardly Corbett

Cowardly Tom Corbett backs out of debate with Sam Rohrer. See link:

http://www.paindependent.com/todays_news/detail/no-debate-here

Lawyers vs. Underdogs in PA Republican Primary

I just realized that for PA state Republican primaries, the conflict involves those with law degrees who are prematurely endorsed or monetarily advanced vs. those who have no law degrees.

Pat Toomey, Tom Corbett, and Jim Cawley have all been endorsed by the PA GOP state committee before the primary over non-lawyers Peg Luksik, Sam Rohrer, and Russ Diamond.

Also, PA 10th congressional district candidate Tom Marino, a former attorney for casino mogul Louis DeNaples, reported in April $110,000 in campaign funds, dwarfing the funds raised by his non-lawyer Republican competitors Malcolm Derk and David Madeira, who raised $18,216 and $17,681 respectively.

Some believe having only lawyers run for office is bad thing: an example of over representation of an occupation if there ever was one. Many suggest this as the reason why current US legal systems seem to be designed to extract as much money from clients as possible. Others posit this as the reason why tort reform was not seriously addressed during House and Senate healthcare debates.

Others would be quick to remind one that lawyers work very hard in law school. They may even go as far as to sate that lawyers have earned the right to a near political monopoly. More broadly, they would suggest that lawyers understand the law best, so they are best suited to be in legislative office.

But, history has shown that lawyers, unless they study economics independently, often have little to no understanding of it, but a great understanding of how to manipulate people and the law. This ignorance and cunning is not a good combination. Furthermore, their profession makes them susceptible to forming many suspect associations. Plus, those willing enough to engage in frivolous lawsuits (John Edwards) and to defend murderers and rapists cannot be said to be the most principled among us.

However, not all those having an Esq. after their names are bad. Many are good people. But the issue of lawyer over-representation in government should be publicized.