The LuLac Edition #2460, July 1st, 2013
CORBETT’S THREE FOR THREE
Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett got his third budget on time for the third time. This is in stark contrast to the Rendell era when the Budget was habitually late. The GOP has said this was a victory because it spends more on education (throwing good money after bad) prisons and reduced the business tax. Corbett signed the budget which passed in the House 111 to 92 and 33 to 17 in the Senate.
The Democrats said that by not increasing more money for education (again throwing more good money after bad) property taxes would have to increase by local school boards. Democrat Kevin Haggerty from the Lac says this: “Voting 'No' on the Pennsylvania Budget. Cuts to Education and across the board cuts to Human Services, simply won't allow me to vote yes. I believe in job growth and fiscal conservative ideology, but our children come number #1 for me- but not in this budget they don't.”
State Senator Jake Corman said, "This is the second year that we have been able to continue funding for the State Related Universities at current levels and continue our commitment with those schools to keep tuition increases down. Higher education provides a great benefit for the Commonwealth and I am glad we can continue to support these institutions and students."
While Corbett went three for three with an on time budget, he took three strikes on three big issues he touted in his budget message. Liquor privatization, Transportation Overhaul and Pension overhaul were stalled by disagreements even within his own party.
So in a way, you can say this was a political mixed bag for Corbett. He said he looked at a budget like a football game and that this was the first quarter. Kind of weak, I can’t imagine Ed Rendell or Tom Ridge saying that. The issues were pushed to the fall session. Senator Dominic Pileggi said maybe the Transportation bill could be revisited and the other big agenda item, Medicaid Expansion isn’t even being looked at by the House.
Does this bode well for Corbett’s re-election bid? It will depends on what happens with the fall session but Corbett can point to three budgets that came in on time and controlled spending increases. Corbett can also counter Democratic criticism because the budget increases spending by $719 million, or 2.6 percent, over last year's approved budget, largely for health care for the poor, social services, prisons, public schools and public employee pensions.
The biggest winner was Kathleen Kane. The Attorney General’s office which got $2.5 million in state funding for a mobile street crime unit, which seeks to dismantle gangs across the state. Democrat John Yudichak, and Republican state Representative Tarah Toohil, announced the funding had been secured Sunday night. The funding will allow the Attorney General's Office to implement a mobile street crime unit with the aim of disrupting and dismantling criminal gangs in Pennsylvania.
Kane has said she wants to deploy the unit first in Hazleton. So it appears that the local beneficiaries of the State Budget are Democrats Kane and Yudichak and Sophomore lawmaker Tarah Toohil.
posted by David Yonki @ 8:12 PM
6 comments
6 Comments:
"Liquor privatization (UNIONS!!!), Transportation Overhaul (UNIONS!!!) and Pension overhaul (UNIONS!!!) were stalled by disagreements even within his own party."
Can't make those changes unless you do a better job of convincing. The electorate need to be assured of the benefits.
Unions saved the working man but the current generations unwittingly fall into the trap of hating unions. I guess they never read a history book and think that child labor laws, safety in the work place, non discrimination policies and the minimum wage all came through the generosity of big business. I wonder how many even know that a company home or a company store were?
Yonk, you go after the wasted education funds but the simple fact remains that when Harrisburg cuts, local school districts increase....... what don't you get about that. Teacher's union demands are unreasonable but who do we blame for that? How about laying it on the shoulders of those who sit on the Boards of Education and agree to these demands. I don't fault the teachers for wanting all they can get, I also want all I can get but we elect people to positions of authority whose responsibility it is to approve reasonable contracts. Let's watch and see how the Wyoming Area Board handles this current contract dispute.
5:07am You are correct unions served their purpose, but all you listed are now governed by laws. As we have educated children, they grow up and don't want to be part of "collective" bargaining. And they aren't looking for a gold watch for longevity.
I know I don't. I have previously worked for two union companies. I busted my ass, often times skipped breaks to get my work done, dressed appropriately, well groomed, always on time but when it was time to cut back, who got let go? Me. While the bum with seniority, at the one job, who the only thing he was never late for was his break, lunch and punching out, was kept on.
The other job, if the guy bathed weekly it was often, he kept his job while I was "laid off."
After I was let go.
Both bosses told me the same thing; they didn't have a choice, it was the union contract.
So I say, the hell with unions, you want to be in one, feel free to find a company that uses union employees.
No thank you. I now work only places willing to pay me my worth, which I earn. I am not worried about a company retirement I take care of it myself. As I have progressed, I have earned wage increases as high as 10,000 dollars a year because of my hard work and willingness to move and take the opportunities that present themselves. I work hard, and have never been let go again, well I take that back, I have been let go of the wage slave mentality that I should be given money for my time; I now earn income for what I produce.
Keep the union if you would like, but after my experiences I say no. I can only imagine if I stayed in that rut; instead of discussing my salary by the year, I would be talking about my hourly rate.
Yonk, it isn't hard to understand how Corbett is able to pass budgets on tme, the House and Senate are both Republican controlled so it is his Party passing his budget. Rendell also had the Republicans in charge so it was all but impossible for him to get the same cooperation. This isn't rocket science.
Holy Shit... Being a state rep really agrees with Toohil. What a babe.
Nice post with awesome points! Can’t wait for the next one.
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