Pennsylvania Ave.

The Fight Over Health-Care Reform.

We Get A Lot Of Press Releases ...
... here at the Call's Harrisburg Bureau -- scads of 'em in fact. It's one of the benefits and the banes of leading the glamorous life of a newspaper reporter. Everyone has a story to tell -- or to sell -- and they want you to hear it.

As you might imagine, we've been receiving a profusion of healthcare-related press releases these days. And this morning, we're dipping into the mailbag to share just two of them with you, because they provide a fairly instructive look at what passes for civilized dialogue these days.

In the interests of bipartisanship, we've selected one from a Republican interest and one from a Democratic interest. If nothing else, we are a fair and balanced 'blog.

First up, it's the Republicans. And this particular missive comes to us courtesy of the Republican State Committee of Pennsylvania.

Through a spokesman, state Republican Chairman Rob Gleason opines that the mammoth healthcare bill rolled out by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., earlier this week is "the same awful legislation that the American people have already rejected."

This is because, Gleason informs us, the bill is "full of spending increases, more debt, massive tax increases and legislation that puts bureaucrats between you and your doctor."

We could spend hours picking apart each of the claims in those two sentences. But instead, we're only going to focus on two: Gleason's assertion that the bill has "already been rejected" by the populace and that it will drive up debt.

For the first claim, we'll direct your attention to a Nov. 13 CBS News poll.

We'll concede from the outset that the poll does conclude that Americans are fairly evenly split over whether changing the current system is a good idea (45-40 percent disapprove).

But the intriguing number for us comes deeper in the poll, where a nearly two-thirds of respondents say (61 percent) say they believe there should be government-run, public option for people who can't afford coverage.

Taken together, that hardly constitutes a proposal that "the American people have already rejected." Unless you count the histrionics at last summer's town halls. It also ignores the reality that, so far, only one bill has been put to an actual vote (in the majority-Democrat U.S. House) and it passed.

Then there's Gleason's claim that the Reid proposal will drive up debt and spending. Yes, the proposal costs north of $800 billion. And yes, it will take some tax increases to fund. But the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has concluded that the Reid plan will actually reduce the national budget deficit by $130 billion. The Gleason statement makes no mention of the CBO estimates.

From there, we'll move onto the second piece of mail we received this week. It comes from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which breathlessly informs that GOP U.S. Senate candidate Pat Toomey is so far outside the mainstream of political thought on healthcare reform that he needs an entrance visa just to visit it.

The occasion for this broadside is an Op-Ed that Toomey penned for the Philly Daily News this week, in which he restated his opposition to the White House's health-care agenda and offered his own Rx for reform.

It shouldn't come as a surprise to even the most casual observer of politics that Toomey, of Zionsville, Lehigh County, is opposed to Big Government. He's staked a career on it -- first, in Congress, and then as head of the pro-business Club for Growth. It's one of the reasons he's so beloved of movement conservatives. He'll never be mistaken for George McGovern.

In the piece, Toomey makes what sound like some rational suggestions for change. First, he suggests allowing tax deductions for individuals who purchase their own coverage -- which is something currently afforded to employers. Second, he posits that people should be able to purchase coverage across state lines. And third, he again makes the case that tort/civil litigation reform will help drive down the cost of care.

These all come straight out of of the Big Book of Republican Political Cliches. And, on their face, there's nothing earth-shatteringly offensive about them.

For instance, if we can buy a copy of "Das Kapital" from a book-vendor in North Carolina (and we're not saying we have), then it only stands to reason that we should be able to purchase coverage from a company in Skokie if we choose to do so. Not allowing such a change only buttresses in-state monopolies by insurance carriers (in which there is apparently bipartisan interest in preserving).

The DSCC press release makes the twin claims that Toomey "racked up a voting record that places him significantly to the right of defeated former senator Rick Santorum," and that no less a personage than U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, had declared him "unelectable" in Pennsylvania.

In fact, Toomey's record -- at least on economic issues -- was similar to Santorum's. The release also disregards the fact that Toomey spent three terms representing the Allentown-based 15th Congressional District, which is one of the swing-iest in the state. Toomey would not have been re-elected as many times as he was if he was too far to the right for the district's fiscally conservative, but socially moderate voters.

And this may be nit-picking, but Hatch has since modulated his position on Toomey. True, he did make the claim in April that Toomey was "unelectable." But that was before the Republican primary field cleared and Toomey became the GOP's only chance of unseating new Democrat Arlen Specter.

Added note: Hatch was set to host a Capitol Hill fund-raiser for Toomey's senatorial effort on Tuesday. We don't know how it came off. But if Hatch truly believed Toomey to be unelectable, one assumes that he would not have lent his name or prestige to such an event.

So, to sum up, there's been a lot of hand-wringing over and lip-service paid to the degraded quality of the debate in our nation's capital. Based on what we've been reading lately, maybe the players should remember their complicity in it.

(Cross-Posted to Capitol Ideas)

Patrick Murphy gets JFK New Frontier Award

Bucks County Congressman Patrick Murphy, D-8th District, will be presented with the sixth annual John F. Kennedy New Frontier Award on Monday in Cambridge Mass., by the former president's daughter Caroline Kennedy.

The award is jointly sponsored by the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation and Harvard's Institute of Politics.

Elected in 2006, Murphy is the first Iraq War veteran to serve in Congress. Previous recipients include Newark Mayor Cory Booker, Youngstown, and Ohio Mayor Jay Williams, the city's youngest and first black mayor and Lisa Madigan, Illinois' first woman attorney general.

According to the release: "The John F. Kennedy New Frontier Awards were created by the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation and Harvard’s Institute of Politics (IOP) to honor Americans under the age of 40 who are changing their communities and the country with their commitment to public service. The awards are presented annually to two exceptional individuals whose contributions in elective office, community service, or advocacy demonstrate the impact and the value of public service in the spirit of John F. Kennedy."

Murphy will be joined on the dais by Rebecca Onie, who co-founded Project HEALTH, a national group that mobilizes college students to assist low-income patients at urban hospitals.

The awards will be handed out at 4:00 p.m. at the John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum at Harvard University’s Institute of Politics at the John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Check out the award here: John F. Kennedy New Frontier Award.

Dent comes out in favor of Eagle Scout volunteer projects

You know when an issue hits Michelle Malkin's website, it's soon going to be all the talk in conservative political circles: Eagle Scout Versus SEIU.

So don't be surprised if you hear tongues wagging this week about the union that represents city workers in Allentown taking on a volunteer project by a local Eagle Scout who tidied up the trails in a city park.

Fearless colleague Jarrett Renshaw was the first to report the story in Sunday's Morning Call.

Looks like U.S. Rep. Charlie Dent knows a sure winner when he sees it too.

Dent came out strongly today against the union.

The city's Service Employees International Union president Nick Balzano recently commented that he plans to look into the scout's effort and possibly file a grievance, suggesting that kind of work is something only his members, 39 of whom have been laid off, should be being paid to do. He did say he may be willing to cut the city a break on this one though.

Dent weighed in this morning: “I am appalled that a union representing city workers would consider filing a grievance against the City of Allentown for allowing a Boy Scout to perform a valuable public service.
“In this day and age, we should be grateful to young people who are willing to pursue the noble goals and ideals set forth in the Scouting program. Community service is one of those goals."

View the full text of Dent's letter to Balzano below:

Letter to Seiu Local President Balzano

Up next on Cat Country: Achy Breaky health care system

The Democratic National Committee has booked air time on Cat Country 96.1 FM to take on Republican 15th District Congressman Charlie Dent for voting against the House Democrats' Health Care reform bill.

Here's a little sample from the script:

"When the U.S. House passed health insurance reform that would provide Americans quality, affordable care, Congressman Dent stood with the insurance industry, not the people he was elected to represent."

Listen to the ad here: DNC radio ad.

The 15th is a district Obama won in 2008. But Dent eaily beat Democrat Siobhan "Sam" Bennett there anyway. The DNC warned Dent it would do this, after the vote, and it's following through.

It's one more sign the campaign is already heating up.

Similar ads will be running in Jim Gerlach's 6th Congressional District. Gerlach's not running for re-election, but he is running for governor in 2010 in the Republican primary. The ads might even help him with the voters he needs to reach in that race.

Republican Charlie Dent talks health care reform

What follows is the full transcript of a recent interview with U.S. Rep. Charlie Dent, R-15th District, that appeared in and edited version as a point/counterpoint in Sunday's Morning Call

Q: You voted no on Congressional Democrats’ health care reform legislation last weekend. Why?
A: It cuts Medicare by nearly a half trillion dollars, raises taxes in the order of $730 billion dollars. It creates an unsustainablenew entitlement program. Those are the principal reasons I voted against it. It will also lead to higher costs for many people, will eliminate the Children’s Health Insurance Program. It will also hurt the states through a new unfunded Medicaid mandate of at least $2.2 billion on our cash-strapped commonwealth. It will also impose a new medical device tax which will not only stifle innovation, but imperil many jobs in this community. We have employers like B.Braun, Olympus and many others who will be negatively impacted.

Q: Since you voted no on the Democrats' plan, how would you cover the rising number of uninsured Americans?
A: There are a number of things we can do. Clearly healthcare needs to be reformed. What we should be doing is talk about ways to reduce costs. One way is serious and substantial medical liability reform. Too much money is being spent in the courtroom not the operating room. We know the medical liability reform proposal I support would save, according to the Congressional Budget Office, $54 billion over ten years. We should also deal with the issue of those who have pre-existing conditions or illnesses. What I support would make it illegal for all insurance companies to deny coverage to those with pre-existing conditions. If you lose your health insurance due to some change in your life, you would be protected….We can do that through high risk pools or a reinsurance model. I would also prevent insurers from cancelling a policy unless an individual commits fraud. I want to talk about equalized tax treatment. Individuals must use after tax dollars to buy health insurance if their employer doesn’t provide it. The employer receives favorable tax treatment. Let’s equalize that for the individual. I also want to allow for cross state purchases. You can buy car insurance across state lines, you should be able to buy health insurance. We should allow small companies to develop associations, pull together and reach across state lines to enjoy the same kind of discounts large and small companies enjoy through self insurance models.
Q: Most people say they are happy with their current health care. Do you support leaving things the way they are?
A: We understand health care needs to be reformed. The key is let’s fix what is broken and leave intact what is working reasonably well. You have an employer mandate with an 8 percent penalty. If the employer is paying 8 percent of payroll or greater, and new health care commissioner determines those health care benefits offered by employer X, are not acceptable or qualified, that employer may cancel those benefits and pay the 8 percent penalty. If that employer is having trouble at 15 percent of a payroll, how will the government provide them at 8 percent? The math doesn’t work. We have 27,000 seniors that have benefits through Medicare Advantage. That program is taking a significant amount of cuts to Medicare as well as hospitals, home health care and skilled nursing are going to be receiving the brunt of the Medicare cuts. So yes, people will be disrupted. Somewhere in the order of 165 million Americans currently have employer-provided Health care benefits. The way this legislation is written, many people will have heath care benefits cancelled by employers. The plan allows for 10 years worth of taxes, but six years worth of program.
Q: You voted in favor the amendment that prevents the proposed government-run insurance option, and any insurance plan in the national health care insurance exchange that accepts public dollars, from covering abortions. Aren’t you pro-choice?
A: I do not support using federal money to pay for abortions or insurance coverage for abortions. That is consistent. I have been consistent on the issue of federal funding. This language is largely consistent with current law, the Hyde amendment, which under Medicaid prohibits federal funding for abortion, accept in the case of the mother’s life being in danger, and rape or incest. People can still purchase [insurance] with private dollars. When you create a government-run health care program, Congress is going to intervene and make decisions about what coverage should be available and what shouldn’t be available. What will happen at the state level will happen at the federal level. State legislatures mandate certain coverage. WiIl those federal benefits be comparable to the state benefits? Congress will do what state legislatures do, they will mandate coverage for whatever the issue is. The abortion debate is just a precursor to what will happen on many issues going forward, as long as government plays this kind of heavy role in the provision of health insurance in this country. This Medicaid issue. The fact that the states are going to receive a very heavy mandate, taking Medicaid coverage up to 150 percent of the poverty level. State budgets have been driven into the red by Medicaid.
Q: Do you have a problem with asking people who more than $500,000 a year, or families and couples earning more than $1 million a year to pay an additional tax to help finance health care reform?
A: That surtax on income is directed right at the heart of small business. Those small businesses are organized as sub chapter S corporations, LLCs, partnerships, sole proprietorships that pay the individual rate. This is a direct shot at small business. These are the very business people we are asking to get us out of this recession, that are the ones we will be punishing. There is an individual mandate, a person can be taxed up to 2.5 percent of their income. Many of those people will be younger folks making less than $250,000 who will be facing this tax. The device tax is a tax on jobs and innovation. There are heavy pay-for and tax increases that will slow down our economic recovery. The European welfare model, that is where this is going. This would create a situation where 10 percent unemployment would be the norm rather than the exception.
Q: You talk about Medicare and Medicaid cuts, but others say there are no cuts, simply reductions in fraud, abuse and improved efficiency.
A: I would say that the 27.000 people who chose to enroll in Medicare Advantage don’t think that program is wasteful. There’s very real fraud, waste and abuse in Medicaid. Let’s go cut that out. This legislation doesn’t reform Medicare, it just cuts Medicare for hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, home health care and for seniors. That is what is being done here. There is waste, fraud and abuse that is for sure. That must be a high priority. We don’t need a 2,000 page bill to address the issue of Medicare fraud. Medicare Advantage will be cut back very substantially, and it is estimated many people who currently offer it will stop offering it. And the services under Medicare Advantage will be cut back significantly and perhaps eliminate them.

Democrat John Callahan talks health care reform

What follows is the full transcript of an interview with 15th District Congressional candidate John Callahan on the topic of health care reform. Callahan, a member of the Democratic Party, is mayor of Bethlehem

Q: How would you have voted on the Medicare bill that passed the House this weekend?
I think we need health care reform. That is a difficult question to answer because it is a hypothetical question. I don’t really accept the premise. If I was in Congress right now I would have worked to make this bill a better bill. I’m happy to talk about what I like and don’t like about it. I have a number of core principles. All those are covered in this bill. It’s important we put individuals and their doctors back in charge, and not insurance companies. We all realize the status quo is not sustainable and things are getting worse if we do nothing. The core principles that are in this are first off, we have to be able to afford it. We have talked about it in the past, we have got to pay for this. We can’t keep dumping on our children. As mayor I’ve had to balance six budgets. Regular people have to balance their budgets and I think Congress should do the same. I’m happy this is deficit neutral and would support that. If you like what you have, you get to keep it. If people like their doctor and health care plan they should keep it. That aspect is in there. And it doesn’t make cuts to Medicaid or Medicare and I wouldn’t support that. This is still a legislative process….I want to reserve my final judgment until I see the bill. There are some things I would support and things I want.

Q: So would you have voted for it or not?
A: I think there are things I like about this bill and I’d be happy to talk about the things I don’t like about this bill. But I do think it’s a step in the right direction. We’ve got a long way to go. I want to see what is in the Senate version. I want to see what is in the conference committee report. I think the legislation coming out of the House was a good first step. If I was in Congress I would be working to try to get to yes, rather working to preserve the status quo.
Q: With the economy the way it is, and the federal deficit rising, how can you support spending $1.2 trillion over ten years for this program?
A: I think we need to be clear, this bill is deficit neutral. According to the Congressional Budget Office, this will cut the deficit by $130 billion. Early on, I said would not support this bill if it added to the deficit by 1 penny.
Q: Do you support the way the legislation would pay for itself?
A: It does not cut back Medicare or Medicaid. Half the bill’s costs are paid for by targeting cost inefficiencies and waste in Medicare and Medicaid. None of the options being discussed would cut Medicare benefits or increase out of pocket costs for health care services, and that is according to the AARP. Half of the bill’s cost is paid for by targeting waste, fraud and abuse in Medicare and Medicaid. I’m certainly in favor of that. As far as paying for it with a tax on a one-third of 1 percent of the country. Under this bill, the wealthiest .3 percent of Americans will pay a surcharge on the portion of their income over $500,000 or $1 million for couples and I think that is fair, particularly when you look at the cost of the Bush tax cuts. That pales in comparison to the cost of this bill. I know there is some concern about the impact of this surcharge on millionaires would have on small business. That is very important to me, and we don’t want to see anything that would cripple small business. The non-partisan Joint Committee on Taxation says 98.8 percent of small business owners would not be subject the health care surcharge because they don’t have enough income to meet that threshold. Of the 1.2 percent of small business owners that do meet that criteria, more than half those individuals make over $3 million a year. [Callahan's campaign contacted The Morning Call after the interview to point out that he opposes a new tax the legilslation would impose on certain medical devices.]
Q: Do you support the public option?
A: I think it is important. I’m not by any means for a government takeover of health care, but I do support a voluntary public option. I think Republicans often try to scare people by saying people will be forced into a public option. This is voluntary and it’s optional. I think it’s important. What a voluntary public option will do is increase competition and lower the cost of health care for all consumers whether or not they are in the public option. If people want to buy into the voluntary public option then let them. If they chose to buy private Insurance, they should have that option. I don’t see any harm in creating healthy competition for insurance companies.

Q: If there is no public option in the final plan, could you support it?
A: I think it’s an important component. According the Congressional Budget Office it is an important component of keeping it budget neutral. It’s a hypothetical. I would have a very hard time voting for health care reform if a voluntary public option was not a part of it because I’m not sure how it would get paid for otherwise. It doesn’t drive down costs adequately. it doesn’t provide necessary competition with private insurers.

Q: How do you feel about the abortion restrictions included in the legislation?
A: I’m a strong supporter of a woman’s right to chose. I do support the current law that says federal dollars should not be used to subsidize abortion. At the same time I think women using their own money should be able to buy any health care they want. I would hope that others would agree. I don’t think government should be in the business of dictating health care decisions for anyone, not workers, seniors or women. Those that are purchasing private insurance within the exchange should be able to have abortion coverage. That is the status quo, that’s where we are now. Those who are in the exchange buying private insurance with their own money should be able to buy whatever coverage they want.

Q: Wont’ placing new requirements on employers hurt the possibility of an economic recovery?
A: If you look at how the non-partisan CBO has scored this plan, it says 6 million more American will be covered by employers, not less because it will drive the cost of health care down and make it easier for employers to afford insurance. The Congressional Budget Office concluded employers will not stop covering their employees and opt out. You’ve got to also look at the cost of doing nothing and the impact on small businesses and the economy. Right now, Americans spend 50 percent more per person than any other country on health care. Premiums are growing 3 times faster than wages and premiums have increased 130 percent in the last nine years for small businesses. If you extrapolate off what the CBO has said, because of rising health care, 1 in 5 employers will stop offering health care benefits in the next three to five years. That’s over 25,000 workers who will lose health care here in the Lehigh Valley. That’s roughly the entire population of Easton. That’s unacceptable. If premiums continue to increase as they have been increasing, over the next four years 3.5 million workers will lose their jobs because the cost of health care is making business uncompetitive. That would be 8,000 lost jobs in the Lehigh Valley.
Q: Is there anything that would make the final version of the health care bill, assuming it comes to a vote, unacceptable?
A: I would go back to the three core principles. We have to be able to afford it. This has got to be paid for. I have balanced six budgets as mayor, people in this district know what it is to balance their budget and we have to do the same for Congress .This has to be paid for. If people like their doctors and health care plans they should be able to keep it, period. I won’t support anything that will cut Medicare or Medicaid. Those are the core principles. If those were not in this bill, I would have a real tough time supporting it.

Health care reform already flashpoint in 15th District

Democratic Bethlehem Mayor John Callahan was expected to join pro-health care reform protesters outside the local office of his his 15th Congressional District opponent Charlie Dent today to protest the Republican's vote Saturday against House Democrats' health care bill.

Callahan has not said whether he would have voted for the bill, but he said he does support several principles it includes: It doesn't add to the deficit according to the Congressional Budget Office, allows people to keep their insurance and doctor if they are happy with them, and it doesn't cut Medicare or Medicaid programs.

Dent says he voted against the legislation in part because he doesn't believe it actually is deficit neutral, thinks it will create a huge government bureaucracy that will get between people and their doctors and will result in cuts to Medicare-related programs like Medicare Advantage.

Got that? So. You can see there's lots of room for debate. Look for both candidates' detailed positions on health care reform in a point counterpoint that will appear in Sunday's edition of The Morning Call.

Dent, who had appointments out of the office and said he wouldn't be around for the protest--organized in part by the Service Employees International Union whose members include some 20,000 Pennsylvania health care workers--said Callahan's participation with left-wing protesters shows he's "out of touch."

“I think it will basically speak to how far left John Callahan is," said Dent, who mentioned the SEIU helps fund ACORN.

Callahan said he had no problem appearing with the SEIU members.

“The time for health care reform is now” he said in a statement. “and I’m proud to stand with the hard working members of SEIU so that their voices can be heard."

Dent, Gerlach in Dems' crosshairs for health care votes

The Democratic National Committee and Organizing for America, the successor to President Obama's grass roots campaign operation hope to ratchet up the pressure on swing-district GOP Congressmen like Charlie Dent and Jim Gerlach over their no votes on House Democrats' health care bill.

The goal: put pressure on 32 Republican House members whose districts voted for Obama in 2008 to switch their votes when the bill comes up for a final vote.

But Dent, 15th District and Gerlach, 7th District have made no secret about their votes against the Democrats' health care bill this weekend.

In fact, they've been wearing them like a badges. For Gerlach, who is running in the 2010 Republican primary for governor, there's probably no better way to prove he's solid GOP stock.

He calls the health care bill a mix of "Job-crushing tax hikes, Medicare cuts and expanding government control over health care decisions."

"it is just a bad bill on its face and the majority of my constituents are opposed to it," Gerlach said.

Still, Democrats think both might be vulnerable on the issue.

"You have to think to vote against health insurance reform in a Congressional District won by President Obama just a year ago could be a political death knell at a time when Americans are clamoring for solutions to vexing issues like health care," said DNC press secretary Hari Sevugan in a statement.

Dent and Gerlach don't seem to see it that way. The DNC promises to focus lots of resources on their districts to remind them how their constituents voted. They're asking Organizing for America members to write letters to local newspapers and are promising press releases, rallies and maybe even paid advertising.

RNC hits Callahan with web video on "background"

What do you mean you haven't seen it?

The National Republican Congressional Committee, playing off Bethlehem Mayor John Callahan's admission that he had campaign operatives check into his own background as GOP operatives did the same, has released a web video campaign ad mocking Callahan's political introspection.

Callahan, a member of the Democratic Party, is challenging Republican Congressman Charlie Dent in the Lehigh Valley's 15th District.

While it's not terribly unusual for candidates to vet themselves, the RNC video makes lots of hay out of what might be...cue goofy sounding music...in those background checks. There's even video of theoretical documents with sections blacked out.

Web videos are a relatively new campaign tactic. They're cheap to produce, and since they're not appearing on broadcast TV, there's no air time to be purchased either. And, since they're not being broadcast, producers have a little freedom to be a little edgier too. The downside is it takes a lot of work getting people to watch the videos. Most people aren't trolling You Tube looking for campaign videos.

That's, ahem, where blogs like this one come in. NRCC officials gave us the heads up on their new video last week. We'll let you decide whether this one's over the top. We're sure Democrats will feed us plenty of future material too.

Argall Leaning Against Run In PA-17.

State Sen. David Argall ...
... said he's pooh-poohed the opportunity to run against U.S. Rep. Tim Holden, D-17th District, next year.

Argall, R-Schuylkill, says he's told national Republicans to "please keep looking for anotehr candidate" to put up against Holden, a 17-year House veteran.

Argall, a two-decade state House member who was elected to the Senate earlier this year, replacing the late Sen. Jim Rhoades of Carbon County, says he's too busy with his day-job to consider a bid. He said he also has his hands full teaching night at Penn State's Harrisburg campus.

Argall said he was approached shortly before Election Day this fall about the possibility of challenging Holden, who has not yet faced serious competition since the 2001 redrawing of his seat.

"It was not a phone call that I expected," he said.

Asked about the absence of competition for Holden, who defeated former GOP congressman George Gekas of Harrisburg in 2002 to win his redrawn seat, Argall responded:

"I think Tim has proven to be a very effective vote-getter. People sometimes question his effectiveness as a congressman. But there's no doubt to his effectiveness as a vote-getter," he said.

Argall said he traveled to Washington about two weeks ago, where he met with officials from the National Republican Congressional Committee and some GOP members of the Pennsylvania congressional delegation. He declined to name participants.

Asked whether he would change his mind if he was leaned on hard enough by GOP leaders dying to send Holden packing, Argall told Capitol Ideas that he most likely would not.

"I’ve told them to please keep looking for another candidate and that is pretty much where we have left it," he said.

Cross-Posted to Capitol Ideas.

Lehigh Valley tea partiers part of "House call"

Local activists with the conservative "back to constitutional basics" 9/12 Tea Party movement joined right-wing darling Michelle Bachman in Washington D.C. today to protest Democratic health care reform plans.

Bachman, a Congresswoman from Minnesota, has exhorted activists to make a last stand against reform efforts now making their way through Congress.

Never one to shy away from bold, critics would say outrageous statements, here's how Bachman described the protest.

"The people need to make a House Call on Washington this week and tell their Representatives to vote no to a government take-over of one-fifth of our economy. This is gangster government at its worst," she said.

It's an offer local Tea Party activists said they couldn't refuse.

The local Tea Party group says the health care bill "is being sped through Congress and shoved down Americans' throats."

The local activists met up with a group from Lehighton, according to press liaison Bernadette Sukey. They planned to rally, then visit the offices of local Congressmen. In all, about 50 members made the trip by chartered bus.

Some of the Congressmen may not be expecting their visits, she said.

"We're doing a little Hunter Thompson here and ambushing them," she said.

Hatch to fundraise for Toomey

From Shira Toeplitz at Roll Call...

A top Republican Senator who once dismissed former Rep. Pat Toomey’s (R) chances of winning the Pennsylvania Senate race will host a fundraiser for him in late November.

After Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) announced last April that he was switching parties to run for re-election as a Democrat, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) publicly questioned Toomey’s chances of winning the Senate seat.

“I don’t think there is anybody in the world who believes he can get elected Senator there,” Hatch told a news organization on April 29.

Now Hatch is scheduled to headline a high-dollar fundraising lunch on Nov. 17 “in support of” Toomey, according to a copy of the event invitation obtained by Roll Call.

Ex-Sestak Aide Joins Lentz's Campaign.

A Former Aide ...
... to U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak, Vincent A. Rongione, has joined Democrat Bryan Lentz's effort to win Sestak's 7th Congressional District seat.

Lentz, a state House member from Delaware County, put out a statement today announcing that Rongione, a former campaign manager and communications director for Sestak, had signed on.

"We are very pleased to have Vince on the team,” Lentz said. “He brings a lifetime of experience in Delaware County and an excellent track record both on Capitol Hill and on the campaign trail."

In the same statement, Rongione said he felt "incredibly fortunate to be working for a tough independent leader like Bryan and to be able to serve in the place where I grew up.”

(Cross-Posted to Capitol Ideas)

In bid to replace Gerlach, it's a battle of wealth

UPDATE: Thursday, Oct. 29

Steve Welch's campaign is in the process of revising the candidate's financial disclosure to reflect his accurate net worth, which is between $6 million and $23 million, according to his campaign. Welch campaign manager Brendan Benner said the candidate had accidentally checked on the disclosure indicating that he held more than $50 million in an escrow account when he should have marked the box between $1 million and $5 million. The bottom line: He's still wealthy, just not quite on the scale he had originally indicated.

UPDATE: Tuesday, Oct. 27

Steve Welch's campaign says the candidate made a rather large error on the financial disclosure he filed earlier this month -- to the tune of tens of millions of dollars. The report indicated that he held more than $50 million in an escrow account, a figure that Welch's campaign manager said is wrong. They're circling back and I'll update with their revised numbers as soon as I get them.

It's been known for some time that the 6th Congressional District battle in Pennsylvania sets up as a wealthy contest, with two top candidates willing to self-fund their campaigns. But how rich has been a guessing game -- until now.

Financial disclosures filed by Democrat Doug Pike and Republican Steven Welch -- two of the hopefuls vying for U.S. Rep. Jim Gerlach's seat -- show both candidates to be multi-millionaires, with Welch in a league of his own.

Welch, who founded a biotech company fresh out of college a decade ago, has assets worth at least $55 million, his disclosure shows. The assets are listed as a wide range under disclosure rules -- with lawmakers and candidates only required to itemize assets within certain ranges. Primary residences are not included.

Through the first nine months of this year, Welch earned $163,148 in salary from Parker Hannifin, an engineering firm, as well as $36,351 in what is attributed as an "installment sale income," probably related to the purchase of Mitos Group, the firm Welch founded.

Bottom line: Welch is rich. His net worth would have placed him at No. 14 on the list of wealthiest members of Congress in 2007.

Pike, a former Philadelphia Inquirer writer whose father served in Congress, is a digit less wealthy, but could hardly be considered poor. He reported assets worth between $2.1 million and $4.8 million.

Pike's only non-interest income this year was a $800 research and writing fee from the University of Pennsylvania.

Neither candidate has been shy about hitting up their cash reserves to give themselves a fundraising head start over a crew of other hopefuls. Pike had given his campaign account $620,000 of the $902,000 that it had raised through Sept. 30. Welch loaned himself $500,000 during the period and raised $59,000, as Pa2010.com reported earlier this month.

Pike and Welch are among a handful of candidates vying for the seat. Democrat Manan Trivedi, who has yet to file a financial disclosure, had given himself $13,000 and loaned himself $6,000 through Sept. 30 and raised an additional $109,000.

Republican Curt Schroder, a state House member, had raised $109,000 through September. And Chester County Recorder of Deeds Ryan Costello had collected $31,000 through the quarter.

Sestak fights to get noticed

From Sunday's Morning Call...

U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak needs a comb.

His wavy, graying hair has been through a hectic morning and the suburban Philadelphia lawmaker is racing toward his third interview of the day, this time with ABC News.

''Nobody under 40 carries a comb,'' he says. ''See, watch this.''

Sestak, 57, looks at one of the young aides rushing ahead of him up an escalator in the Capitol Visitor Center: ''Do you have a comb?''

The staffer answers nervously: ''No, sir.''

Primped or not, Sestak's life as a Democratic Senate candidate is a constant scramble to get his face on the air or his words in print, a frantic push to paint a portrait of himself for state voters -- and anyone else with the time to listen -- as he fights to get noticed. In challenging U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, Sestak is taking on the longest-serving senator in Pennsylvania history and the Democratic establishment in Harrisburg and Washington.

On a recent October day, Sestak rushed from appearance to appearance, all the while navigating a thick legislative agenda and playing dad to a young daughter recovering from a brain tumor. By sunset, his schedule told the tale: C-SPAN, ABC News, MSNBC, Fox 20 News, WHYY Philadelphia, WILK in Scranton, the London Times and the Norristown Times Herald.

He says he never turns down an interview request.

''I need them to understand who I am and what I believe in,'' Sestak says of the Pennsylvania electorate, who in May will decide the Democratic nomination for Senate.

Hidden behind his words is the obvious imprint of a candidate largely unknown beyond southeastern Pennsylvania: He must define himself for voters before his opponent does it for him.

Defining anything in a few words doesn't come easily to Sestak. He responds to questions with long, meandering answers, peppered with references to his 31-year career in the Navy, from which he retired as a rear admiral at the beginning of 2006. He has an earnest, emotional way of speaking, often gesturing, moving forward to the edge of his chair and softening his voice.

On this day, his interviews run the gamut. He waxes about Iran's nuclear ambitions (he favors diplomatic engagement and backs beefed up economic sanctions); the Obama administration's missile defense strategy (he supports it); the possible troop buildup in Afghanistan (he backs the idea as long as there's an exit strategy); and autism. An amendment he introduced to boost assistance for military families with autistic children passed this year, adding to his 19 successful legislative measures in the previous two years, he likes to point out.

Another frequent area of discussion, health care, is the reason Sestak says he entered politics. He backs a government-run health care option to compete with private insurers, arguing that everyone should have access to the same level of care the military provided his daughter, who was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2005. Her cancer is in remission.

Sestak is, at times to the chagrin of his staff, unfailingly accommodating -- to the press, to lobbyists, and to constituents. He boasts that his aides handled 10,000 constituent cases in his first two years in office.

Not everyone he hires can stand it. Sestak lost staff at a staggering rate during his first two years in office. He went through nearly a half-dozen press secretaries alone in the first year. Chiefs of staff came and went almost as fast.

Only two members of the team that joined him when he arrived in Congress in January 2007 have remained.

He asks aides to work six days a week, 12 hours-plus a day. Staff salaries are among the lowest on Capitol Hill, according to congressional records. No one in Pennsylvania's 19-member congressional delegation had a smaller payroll than Sestak in the 18-month period that ended June 30, records show, while only two members had larger staffs.

Chief of staff Bibiana Boerio, who took over in February 2008, said the office likes to hire recent college graduates in part because of the energy they bring to the job. She said they are paid in line with their experience.

Job applicants are given six reading and research assignments before their interviews. Among them is a review of a book by entrepreneur Guy Kawasaki, who espouses the belief that success comes in 80-hour work weeks.

''I try to let them know what the expectations are,'' Sestak said. ''We don't try to measure ourselves by other offices.''

The money Sestak saves on staff salaries is in part devoted to so-called ''franked mail,'' constituent mail and brochures highlighting his positions on issues. Sestak last year spent more on mail than anyone in the delegation.

Sestak's reputation as a demanding boss predates his time in Congress. He was relieved as a deputy chief of naval operations in 2005 for what Navy sources called ''poor command climate,'' an assessment Sestak disputes. He retired six months later. He said his departure had to do with Pentagon politics. His job at the end of his career involved providing an ''alternative analysis'' about the Navy's infrastructure and he'd recommended a leaner operation that he said had upset others at the top.

Those who stick around Sestak's congressional and district offices quickly learn that he likes employees who embrace his work ethic, immersing themselves completely in their jobs, mastering the details of legislation and following up with everyone who writes or calls the office or meets with the lawmaker. The reward is a quicker-than-usual path up the organizational ladder.

''He wanted us to dig deep in the substance of the issues,'' recalled Clarence Tong, 27, who spent 19 months in Sestak's office before leaving to get his master's degree in public policy last year. ''While he expects a lot, he gave me every opportunity to learn.''

Sestak ''the workaholic'' is an image the congressman is eager to portray, particularly in a contest against a Senate veteran, in Specter, whose own reputation as a tireless lawmaker is legendary on Capitol Hill.

Sestak's campaign played up his tour of all 67 counties in Pennsylvania during a three-week stretch in July. It often highlights Sestak's predawn departures for drives to the far ends of Pennsylvania. With this reporter following him around the Hill on two days this month, Sestak didn't eat lunch. One morning he was running late because his car had a flat tire and he had replaced it himself.

''He is trying to make that point that he won't be out-hustled, he won't be outworked,'' said Franklin & Marshall political science professor G. Terry Madonna. ''He is going at Specter's historic strength by making it an endurance test.''

Sestak grew up in Delaware County and graduated as valedictorian from Cardinal O'Hara High School. He went on to the U.S. Naval Academy, where he finished second in a class of 900-plus. By the early 1980s, Sestak had begun his ascent up the chain of command at the Navy. He was sent to get his master's at Harvard in public administration. He returned with a Ph.D.

''People who were paying attention said, 'Wow,''' said Sestak's district manager, Bill Walsh, who graduated from the Naval Academy with Sestak and retired as a captain in 2004. ''This is a special guy with special abilities.''

Sestak's ambition, he said in an interview, comes from his father, who immigrated to the United States from Czechoslovakia as a young boy in the 1920s. Joseph A. Sestak eventually earned degrees from the Naval Academy, George Washington University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and emerged from World War II as a decorated Navy officer. He retired as a captain and died last month at 88.

''He always would say, 'Why not?''' said Sestak, who has six sisters and a brother, three of whom are paid staff on his Senate campaign. Sestak said he decided in third grade he wanted to follow in his father's footsteps. ''What he taught me is your reach must exceed your grasp.''

(His mother taught math at Sestak's high school.)

In reaching for a Senate seat held by Specter since 1981, Sestak has taken on the Democratic Party's top brass. President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden have pitched their support for Specter, as have Gov. Ed Rendell and other Pennsylvania party leaders. Sestak's been called several times by Senate campaign chairman Robert Menendez since April, when Specter switched parties, and encouraged to step aside.

''The Democratic caucus is the least democratic place I've been,'' Sestak said. He said his decision to run, in part, reflected his frustration with the idea that the party would clear the Democratic field for a longtime Republican.

A bigger obstacle to a statewide run, the way Sestak tells it, was his only child, Alexandra, who at age 4, was given less than a year to live. His office walls are covered with Alexandra's drawings and pictures of her and Sestak. In one, she's dressed as a ballerina, smiling at the camera, a large bald spot in the middle of her scalp.

Four years have passed since doctors removed the tumor, but the battle continues, and Sestak said he wanted to make sure she understood that a statewide campaign would mean ''an 111/2 month deployment throughout the Keystone State.''

Sestak, who is married to Susan Clark-Sestak, said he's adjusted his morning routine so he can take Alexandra to the bus every morning before he heads to work. But his schedule begs the question: Why take on the added commitment of a statewide campaign?

''He wants his daughter to understand how to affect change and what it takes,'' said Walsh, his district manager. ''He wants her to know how grateful he is for her life by giving his to other people. That is the ultimate gift.''

For now, the way Sestak thinks he can affect change is partly by getting on the air -- a lot. With his ABC News appearance moments away, he rushes across Independence Avenue and into the Cannon Office Building rotunda, ruffled hair and all. But when he gets to the top of the stairs and the network staff prepares his microphone, they give him bad news. He's too late. The program just ended.

He sighs and leaves.

As he's walking out the door, he turns to his aide with instructions for his press secretary.

''Tell him to call ABC News and apologize,'' he said. ''And see if they want me on tomorrow morning.''

Sestak: Specter A General Election Loser.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak turned up the heat in his U.S. Senate primary battle with Arlen Specter on Thursday, arguing that tightening poll numbers show the state's senior senator is a ''general electorate failure for the Democrats.''

In an recorded for The Morning Call's ''Politics As Usual'' podcast, Sestak ripped into Specter, who switched his party registration from Republican to Democrat this year.

''We should welcome someone from the GOP into our party,'' said Sestak, a two-term congressman from Delaware County. ''But we should not fall on our sword for that person.''

A pair of public polls released last week had some bad news for Specter, a three-decade political veteran.

An Oct. 15 poll by Rasmussen Reports showed Specter leading Sestak 46 percent to 42 percent among likely Democratic primary voters. In an August poll, Specter held a 13-point lead, 47 percent to 34 percent. The Rasmussen poll sampled the opinions of 469 likely primary voters, with a margin of error of plus or minus five percentage points.

In an Oct. 14 poll by Susquehanna Polling and Research of Harrisburg, Specter held a 44-16 lead over Sestak, with 22 percent undecided and 18 percent saying they would not vote for either candidate.

More troubling for Specter was a finding that 45 percent of Democrats wanted someone other than Specter, while 44 percent said he deserved re-election. The Susquehanna poll included 700 registered voters, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.7 percentage points.

Sestak, who represents the 7th District, told The Morning Call those numbers show voters are in the mood for a change.

''They don't believe he's the individual for the future,'' he said.

Specter's campaign manager, Christopher Nicholas, said: ''It would be more useful if Joe would focus on putting people back to work as Sen. Specter is doing, instead of shirking his job in Congress, missing 125 votes and campaigning full time for a promotion on the taxpayers' dime.''

Barletta mulling a third shot at Kanjorski

Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta is considering another challenge of U.S. Rep. Paul Kanjorski, D-11th, according to the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader. It would be his third bid in eight years...

Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta, whose campaign committee is still $153,670 in debt from his 2008 losing effort to unseat U.S. Rep. Paul E. Kanjorski, said he may challenge Kanjorski again next year.

“I’m considering it,” said the Republican. “But I haven’t made any decisions.”

Barletta said losses to Kanjorski in 2002 and 2008 are not enough to sway him from sitting out this next election cycle. He said he’s been urged by members of his party to challenge Kanjorski, D-Nanticoke, yet again.

When $2.5 million isn't quite $2.5 million

Last month's presidential fundraiser for Sen. Arlen Specter in Philadelphia was billed as a $2.5 million event, or thereabouts. But with the filing of campaign finance reports last week comes evidence that it was more like a $1.9 million fundraiser. And even then, only $784,000 went to Specter, the reports show.

The event's proceeds went directly into a campaign committee set up for the event -- Pennsylvania Senate Victory 2010 -- which reported receipts of less than $1.9 million through Sept. 30. The committee then transferred cash to Specter and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Through September, $784,000 had made its way into Specter's account.

To be fair, Specter campaign manager Christopher Nicholas stressed from the get-go that proceeds from the event would be shared between Specter and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. But it wasn't clear until today that Specter had gained less than half of the fundraising haul, in large part because the donors paying to attend had given the maximum contribution and their excess cash was funneled to the DSCC.

Nicholas said that money is "indirectly" streaming in from the fundraiser, and the event -- all told -- brought in about $2.2 million. His logic: many invitees responded that they couldn't make the event but that they'd send money later on directly to Specter's campaign account.

No doubt President Obama padded Specter's war chest, but not nearly to the tune of $2.5 million. More like $784,000.

Toomey's wife is pregnant

The wife of Republican Senate candidate Pat Toomey is pregnant with the couple's third child and is due in May, right when the former Lehigh Valley lawmaker finds out who he'd face in the general election.

Toomey, 47, and his wife, Kris, have two school-age children.

This from a blog entry from Kris on the campaign Web site. (Hat tip: grassrootspa.com)

Hello Friends,

The end of the warm weather and the beginning of the cold is always a melancholy time at the Toomey house. But this year we have reason to celebrate. Pat and I were given the terrific news just recently that we’re expecting another child!

Team Toomey has another member on the way! We’re very excited about this great news and we’re so happy to share it with all of you who support us. The baby is due in May – just in time for the May 18 primary. Our children always seem to come along during election time. Bridget was about a month and a half when she attended George W. Bush’s nomination at the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia. We like to make sure they are started on the RIGHT path from the start. Haha!

Lafayette College part of new OFA healthcare push

Organizing for America, the group that took over President Barack Obama's grass roots campaign organization, is launching another of its health care reform phone banks.

This time it's students calling students, and Lafayette College is one of four Pennsylvania locations the group, under the aegis of of the Democratic National Committee, is spotlighting.

The event is being called "Time to Deliver." Students will be urging their cohorts to call their member of Congress and ask them to vote for health care reform. OFA points out the president's plan would allow students, and other "young people" to stay on their parents' health insurance through age 26. Hear that Mom and Dad? Perfect for collegians on the 9-year plan.

Students will be getting together at 12:30 p.m.Tuesday to burn up the phone lines. And you thought those young people only communicated via text messages and Facebook.

Callahan's big stash of cash

Bethlehem Mayor John Callahan raised an impressive $346,000 during his first three months as a congressional candidate while spending only $20,000. So who's contributing to the Democrat in the early going of his contest against Republican incumbent Charlie Dent?

The list is here for you to peruse. And if you're curious what he's spending his cash on, that list is here.

Dent, meanwhile, raised a modest $233,000 during the quarter. Here's who's giving to him and what he's spending his money on.

Ned Lamont to endorse Sestak: report

From the Philadelphia Inquirer:

U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak, trying to knock off a veteran Democratic incumbent senator in the primary, will get an endorsement Monday from somebody who succeeded in doing just that: Connecticut's Ned Lamont.

Lamont defeated Sen. Joseph Lieberman in the 2006 Democratic primary, largely by running against the Iraq war and Lieberman's support of the Bush administration's war policy. But Lamont did not win the general election. After losing the nomination, Lieberman ran as an independent in the fall, defeating Lamont and the Republican nominee.

Sources close to the Sestak campaign confirmed that Lamont is the "mystery endorser" it announced would be coming to Independence Hall Monday.

Sestak raises $758,000 in third quarter

U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak raised $758,000 in the third quarter, and has $4.7 million in the bank, his campaign announced today.

The haul is modest compared to the $1.6 that Sestak brought in between April and July. It puts him roughly $4 million behind rival U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter in the cash sweepstakes ahead of the Democratic primary next May.

Toomey spends heavily in 3rd quarter

Republican Pat Toomey, who has raised $3 million-plus in less than six months as a Senate candidate, has burned through cash in the early stages of his race as he builds a campaign infrastructure.

In the three-month period that ended Sept. 30, Toomey spent a whopping $861,000, more than half of what he raised during the quarter. He ended the month with $1.8 million in cash on hand.

What exactly he spent it on is not yet clear. The former Lehigh Valley congressman's financial statement won't be available for several more days. A review of his previous quarterly report suggests he's doling out a huge share on donor databases and fundraising solicitations.

FEC Report Q3 2009

Sestak brings Anita Hill into Senate contest

In 2004, it was Sen. Arlen Specter's opposition to Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork that his Senate rival used against him. This year, it's Specter's grilling of Anita Hill during Clarence Thomas' confirmation hearings.

U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak posted a video of Specter's hard questioning of Hill on the site therealspecter2010.com and referenced it in a fundraising solicitation to supporters today.

"What's Arlen done for Democrats?" Sestak asked in the e-mail. "A simple reminder -- besides supporting Geroge Bush's [sic] policies with 2000 votes -- on the anniversary week of Professor Anita Hill's testimony, the actual painful impact on America caused by Arlen's true beliefs and approach."

Specter raises $1.8 million during quarter

Sen. Arlen Specter raised $1.8 million during the third quarter of the year, a big haul that was aided significantly by President Obama's fundraising trip to Philadelphia last month.

The haul put Specter's total cash on hand at $8.7 million. His Democratic opponent Joe Sestak has yet to release his totals.

Despite the large sum for Specter, expectations for a mammoth fundraising quarter had been raised because of the Obama fundraiser, with campaign officials saying the event had brought in $2.5 million for Specter and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

It now appears that much of that total went to the DSCC.

Callahan off to fast fundraising start

Democrat John Callahan, challenging Republican U.S. Rep. Charlie Dent in the Lehigh Valley's 15th District, is off to a fast fundraising start, collecting about $345,000 in the three months that ended Sept. 30, according to his campaign.

Equally impressive is the figure his campaign says it has on hand: approximately $325,000.

The total puts Callahan, Bethlehem's mayor, on solid financial footing with more than a year until the general election.

The sum reflects Callahan's standing locally and nationwide as the first legitimate Democratic contender for the seat since Dent arrived in Congress in 2005. But whether he can keep up the pace is another question. It's not yet clear who gave to the mayor and how much of the haul is in big chunks from high-profile donors who may not be able to give anymore to the campaign, under Federal Election Commission rules.

Callahan's fundraising report isn't due until tomorrow.

Dent, meanwhile, is expected to have raised upwards of $230,000 for the quarter, adding to the $337,000 that his campaign had in the bank through the end of June.

Not since Dent and Democrat Joe Driscoll battled for the 15th District's open seat in 2004 has Dent faced a challenge from a candidate who stood on equal financial footing. Driscoll outraised Dent, but was tagged as a carpetbagger and lost by nearly 20 percentage points.

Democrat Sam Bennett, who lost to Dent in another landslide last year, raised nearly $1 million, but she burned through cash during the early stages of her campaign, spending a third of what she'd raised before the crucial post-Labor Day stretch. Also, it took long before she was able to get a fundraising operation in place, having collected just $91,000 in the first six months of her candidacy.

Roddey rips Gerlach: "intentional deception"

The lesson of the still early 2010 campaign season so far: don't use someone else's quote against your opponent. Particularly when it comes from the mouth of a political player who has yet to publicly weigh in on the race.

Hence, the predicament facing GOP gubernatorial hopeful U.S. Rep. Jim Gerlach, whose campaign sent a press release Friday blaring: "Allegheny GOP chair makes clear case for Corbett resignation."

What Jim Roddey said, though, made no mention of Attorney General Tom Corbett, Gerlach's Republican primary opponent. Instead, he was referring to possible U.S. House candidate Mary Beth Buchanan, a U.S. attorney from western Pennsylvania, and how she was entitled to ponder a bid for office while keeping her prosecutor job.

All of which steamed Roddey into writing a nasty letter to Gerlach Monday, calling the Berks County lawmaker out for what he called "intentional deception."

"I had a great deal of respect for you," Roddey wrote. "Unfortunately, that has now changed."

He went on to endorse Corbett.

Here's the letter. (Hat tip: grassrootspa.com)

RoddeyCorbettEndorsement[1]

Retired judge joins ranks of Senate hopefuls

Pa2010.com broke the newsFriday that retired Commonwealth Court judge Doris Smith-Ribner planned to run for the Democratic nomination for Senate...

A former Commonwealth Court judge has decided to seek the Democratic nomination for Senate, adding another face to one of the country’s most high-profile and contentious primaries.

Doris Smith-Ribner, who served on the Commonwealth Court for more than two decades before retiring this summer, told Democrats gathered at an NAACP gala Friday night that she would be entering the race, according to someone who was there. She had been increasingly showing up at political events for weeks, and pa2010.com had heard rumors of her looming decision, but was unable to reach her after multiple attempts.

But in an interview with pa2010.com late Friday night, Smith-Ribner said she had decided to run after receiving a great deal of encouragement from supporters across the state.

“It’s not a decision that you make lightly,” she said. “This is a very major undertaking, and after spending 21 years as a state appeals court judge, you don’t just go out and make a decision on a whim. It was after a lot of reflection and deliberation.”

Romney to endorse Toomey in Philly

Republicans Mitt Romney and Pat Toomey will trade help Tuesday, with the former Massachusetts governor and presidential hopeful set to endorse Toomey in Philadelphia.

The news here has more to do with the fact that Romney is traveling to Pennsylvania three years ahead of the next election, the latest in a series of stops throughout the country in anticipation of a repeat bid for the presidency in 2012. (Toomey, after all, doesn't have a top-tier challenger for the GOP nod for Senate).

The endorsement will come Tuesday morning at the Loews Philadelphia Hotel.

UPDATE: Turns out it will be an endorsement Tuesday for Toomey, with the six Pennsylvania chapters of the Associated Builders and Contractors giving their backing to the former Lehigh Valley congressman in Harrisburg.

Chamber keeps up pressure on card check

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, looking to keep up the pressure against the so-called card check legislation, is pointing to internal polling showing that the bill is opposed by a majority of Pennsylvanians.

The July survey, released to The Morning Call in its entirety, shows that less than four in 10 voters have heard about the bill, a top legislative priority for labor that would make it easier for workers to unionize.

Of those who have heard about the measure, 30 percent say they support it; 54 percent say they're opposed.

The bill has stalled in Congress, with centrist Democrats uneasy about giving unions more power while the economy is in a deep recession. Views about labor unions are roughly split with 46 percent of respondents giving them a favorable nod, and 40 percent unfavorable.

The Employee Free Choice Act, as it is formally called, is a complicated measure, but has focused on a couple key areas significant to the organizing process. One is the vote to unionize. Labor, which argues that the process is now fraught with intimidation by business, wants to bypass the secret ballot elections if more than half of workers sign cards in support of an election. Right now, signing cards of support sets up an election down the road.

The second involves the labor negotiations once a majority of workers have voted to unionize, a process that can take years. Labor wants a mandatory arbitration if the two sides can't come to agreement within a set period.

Voters surveyed in the Chamber poll said they opposed the prospect of skipping secret ballot elections but supported a shortened election period, an idea promoted by some Democrats eager to reach consensus on the bill.

Views about arbitration are mixed.

Here's the entire poll, as provided by the Chamber of Commerce...

Chamber of Commerce Card Check Poll

Specter wants "robust" public option

Sen. Arlen Specter, writing in a op-ed published in the liberal Web site Huffington Post today, urges his colleagues to back a "robust public option."

As debate continues on much needed health care reform, I urge my Senate colleagues to support a robust public option plan. It's important that the President's ideas on the public option be implemented to maintain a level playing field.

The public option will create competition in the marketplace and will help to provide affordable choices for American families. It will also allow us to greatly expand the number of Americans with health insurance, and that is an imperative.

When President Obama's call for health care reform came under right wing attack this summer, as millions saw in my well-publicized Health Care Town Hall meetings, I pushed back at the critics in order to set the record straight about the direction of health care reform.

As competing bills come up for votes in the Senate, here's the type of bill I'm for:

-I'm for a bill that provides for universal coverage.

-I'm for a bill which is deficit neutral.

-I'm for a bill which has specific savings, such as annual examinations to have early detection of diseases.

-I'm for a bill that does not deny coverage on the basis of preexisting conditions and bans annual and lifetime caps on coverage.

-I'm for a bill which will bring mandatory sentences for Medicare and Medicaid fraud because it will be a deterrent as opposed to fines.

-I'm for a bill which will further increase funding for the National Institutes of Health to prevent a lot of illnesses.

-I'm for a bill that does not erect a massive bureaucracy between the doctor and the patient.

The bottom line is that Americans have a right to be healthy and stay healthy. As I've done throughout my career, I will continue to push for better health care for all Americans.

Sestak: Two Senate terms and I'm out

U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak said today that he'd likely bow out of the Senate after two terms because he doesn't want to serve if he can't keep his current pace.

A shot at his elderly opponent, U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter? Sestak insisted not.

"If someone else is there at a certain age, that might be fine for them," Sestak said in an interview with The Morning Call.

The 57-year-old Sestak, though, said he doesn't "want to sit in a car during a parade."

Sestak said he's not making a firm commitment about how long he'd remain in the Senate, but said he thinks "a couple terms would be about right."

If Sestak ends up winning the Senate seat, and another race six years later, he'd be 70 when his second term ends in 2023 -- a full 10 years younger, mind you -- than Specter will be at the start of the next Congress in 2011.

Specter, 79, it should be noted, is far from frail. He still plays squash regularly to start the day and works out in the Senate gym. And anyone who has seen him at bat during a softball game can attest to his skills at the plate.

Toomey raises $1.5 million, again

Republican Senate candidate Pat Toomey raised more than $1.5 million during the three-month period that ended Sept. 30, his campaign said Wednesday, a figure that added to a $1.6 million fundraising haul during the second quarter.

The take is particularly impressive for Toomey because it came during the traditionally slow summer months. It puts him on solid financial standing as he builds a campaign infrastructure in advance of the May primary and November 2010 general election.

That said, his campaign has yet to say how much cash on hand it finished the quarter with. At the end of June that number stood at $1.1 million.

Toomey is the first of the three high-profile Senate candidates to release his third quarter numbers. U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak and Sen. Arlen Specter have significant head-starts on Toomey, but will be forced to spend a solid chuck of their war chests battling one another in the Democratic primary.

Through the end of June, Sestak had $4.3 million in cash, while Specter had $7.5 million.

Murphy takes to floor on DADT

U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy, three months into his stint as lead sponsor of the bill to repeal the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" military policy, will take to the House floor tonight.

Murphy has garnered two dozen additional co-sponsors for the legislation since he took over the lead from former Rep. Ellen Tauscher of California. (There are now 176 co-sponsors). Still, with the administration focused on several other policy areas, none greater than health care, there's been little pressure put on Congress to overturn the 16-year-old law that bars gays from serving openly in the military.

Murphy's "special order hour" on the subject is tentatively scheduled to start at 9 p.m. and can be viewed live on C-SPAN. Other supporters of a repeal are expected to speak.

Sestak looks to get back on offense

Hounded relentlessly by Sen. Arlen Specter over missed votes in Congress, U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak is going back on offense this week with a new Web site that plays up Specter's Republican past.

TheRealSpecter2010.com, due to go live tomorrow, will include a 96-second video that features Specter telling "Meet the Press" host David Gregory that he opposes the public health insurance option and explaining to "Hardball" host Chris Matthews that he voted for John McCain last year.

Sestak and Specter are vying for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in a race that won't be decided until May.

The new site from Sestak's campaign comes amidst repeated cracks by the Specter campaign that Sestak has ignored his job as a lawmaker from suburban Philadelphia to campaign for Senate. Sestak has missed 125 votes this year -- about 17 percent -- according to the Washington Post votes database. That's more than most lawmakers.

Specter last called on Sestak to quit office while he runs for Senate.

Here's the video prepared by the Sestak campaign...

Sestak chips at Specter's lead in poll

U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter still holds a sizable advantage over U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak in the Pennsylvania Democratic contest, a new poll shows. But for the first time since Quinnipiac has been surveying the race, Specter's support has dropped below 50 percent, a worrying sign for the five-term incumbent.

The head-to-head matchup between the two lawmakers shows Specter with a 44 percent to 25 percent edge, down from 55-23 margin in July.

Specter's favorable rating continues to drop among all voters -- down to 42 percent -- but remains relatively firm among Democrats, who could ultimately determine whether he gets a sixth term. Among the party faithful, he is viewed favorably by two-thirds of voters.

All along, Sestak's biggest challenge has been to get noticed in a state as big as Pennsylvania (it takes five hours to drive from Allentown to Pittsburgh -- a haul). That still appears to be an uphill climb with seven in 10 voters saying they haven't heard enough about him to weigh in.

As for the potential general election races, both Sestak and Specter would fare similarly against Republican Pat Toomey if the election were held today, with both in neck-and-neck races against the former Lehigh Valley Republican.

President Barack Obama, meanwhile, gets some bad news with the poll. Only 49 percent of Pennsylvania voters approve of his job performance, the lowest number yet.

Specter, tentatively, backs climate change bill

Sen. Arlen Specter gave a tentative endorsement of the climate change bill unveiled today by U.S. Sens. John Kerry and Barbara Boxer that will serve as the starting point for the chamber to produce legislation to tackle cuts in greenhouse gases.

Here's his statement, which lists a series of vague "considerations" that must be included in the measure to attract Specter's support.

“I support legislation to create clean domestic energy and address climate change in a way that is economically responsible, environmentally effective, and encourages action by other countries to achieve these goals. I believe the Kerry-Boxer bill can be structured, with Committee and floor amendments, to meet these goals subject to the following considerations:

-A modified price collar should be structured, linked to a strategic pool of allowances, which will give greater price certainty than the House bill while maintaining the emissions cap.
-Creating the right combination of incentives and mandates to ensure the commercial deployment of carbon capture and sequestration technology.
This includes advance payments of bonus allowances for qualifying projects (coal plants with the new technology) in order to protect consumers from electricity rate increases associated with the cost of building these new plants.
-The inclusion of adequate allowances to protect steel and other energy-intensive manufacturing from detrimental foreign competitiveness impacts.
-The inclusion of provisions based on the CLEAN-TEA bill, which will reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transportation.
-The inclusion of appropriate incentives for natural gas, while recognizing that a price on carbon is itself an incentive to natural gas.”

Democrat set to challenge Kanjorski

U.S. Rep. Paul Kanjorski will have to look to his left after this weekend, when Lackawanna County Commissioner Corey O'Brien is expected to announce his candidacy for the 11th District congressional seat. Kanjorski, a 13-term Democratic incumbent, faced the most difficult race of his congressional career last cycle when he squeaked out a victory against Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta.

This from Pa2010.com...

Lackawanna County Commissioner Corey O’Brien seems ready to make his race for Congress official Saturday morning, when he will address supporters “from the steps of his childhood home” in Dunmore, his campaign said.

O’Brien, who was elected county commissioner in 2007, has been making noise about a primary challenge to Congressman Paul Kanjorski (D-11) for months. In April, he assailed Kanjorski’s vote against President Obama’s stimulus package as “insulting,” and he filed FEC paperwork to form a campaign in mid-September.

While Kanjorski has been seen as vulnerable in a general election, party insiders say he remains popular among Democrats in the district, which also includes parts of Carbon, Monroe, Luzerne and Columbia counties. After public polling had forecasted a loss, Kanjorski narrowly held off Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta last November.

Specter "disappointed" by public option vote

Sen. Arlen Specter, whose views toward the public health insurance option have evolved from opposition to emphatic support since his party switch in April, said he is disappointed by the Finance Committee vote against the plan today.

Tweeting his reaction to the 15-8 vote against including a public option in the proposal working its way through the Senate Finance Committee, Specter said:

"I am disappointed by today’s vote in the Finance Committee preventing the inclusion of a public option in the health care reform bill. A robust public option will create competition in the marketplace and will help to provide affordable choices for American families. I will continue to work with my colleagues for a public option once the legislation arrives at the Senate floor."

Republican Pat Toomey had the opposite reaction, praising the panel's vote in his own tweet.