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Mitt Romney's poor judgment is undermining his candidacy

Sun, 15 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0700

The Guardian - By Michael Cohen - Apr. 15 - Finally, Obama's opponent has been confirmed, but can the Republican nominee mount an effective challenge? I doubt you will ever find a politician more desperate to believe Nietzsche's aphorism that whatever doesn't kill us makes us stronger than Mitt Romney. With former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum announcing that he is suspending his presidential campaign, it ensures what many political observers have assumed for quite some time – that Mitt Romney will be the Republican nominee for president this autumn. Only 26 other men have achieved this goal, so congratulations to Romney are in order. But a larger view of Romney's political situation takes some of the bloom off this particular rose. Have the past 12 months of campaigning – while certainly not killing him – really made Romney stronger? So far the evidence is not very good. Only 34% of Americans have a positive view of Romney, which makes him at this point in the presidential campaign one of the least popular presumptive ...

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Public-Private Partnerships In California Tackles Obesity, Hunger Epidemics

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0800

Think Progress - By Guest Blogger - Feb. 14 (Opinion) - At all levels of government there has been a serious push for increasing access to food among low income households and fostering more nutritious eating habits in communities and schools. Last July, First Lady Michelle Obama and the Partnership for a Hea

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In the Land of the Salamanders, the Newt is King

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0800

New York Times - By By NATE SILVER - Nov. 23 (Opinion) - Presidential primary fields of dubious quality often receive derisive nicknames. The seven Democratic candidates of 1988, for instance, in part because some of them were of short stature and in part because none of them seemed like formidable challengers

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'Kids for cash' judge sentenced to 28 years for racketeering scheme

Fri, 12 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Christian Science Monitor - By Warren Richey - Aug. 12 (News Report) - A former juvenile court judge in Pennsylvania was sentenced to 28 years in prison on Thursday for his part in an alleged “kids for cash” scam considered one of the worst judicial scandals in US history. Mark Ciavarella Jr., 61, a former judge in Luzerne County, was also ordered to pay $1.17 million in restitution. Mr. Ciavarella was convicted in federal court in Scranton, Pa., in February on charges that he and a second judge, Michael Conahan, ran the local court system as a racketeering enterprise.

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Former judge sentenced to prison for "kids for cash" scheme

Thu, 11 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Reuters - By Dave Warner - Aug. 11 (News Report) - A former Pennsylvania juvenile court judge was sentenced on Thursday to 28 years in prison for accepting payment to send juveniles to a for-profit detention facility in a scandal dubbed "kids for cash,". Former Luzerne County Juvenile Court Judge Mark Ciavarella, 61, accepted nearly $1 million from a developer who built the detention facility, prosecutors said.

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In Pennsylvania, Suspicious Erasing on State Exams at 89 Schools

Tue, 02 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0700

New York Times - By Michael Winerip - Aug. 02 (News Analysis) - In April, Dale Mezzacappa attended a panel discussion on cheating sponsored by the Education Writers Association. At the time, she was one of three staff reporters for The Notebook, a community newspaper and Web site that covers the Philadelphia public schools.

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The DeVos Family: Meet the Super-Wealthy Right-Wingers Working With the Religious Right to Kill Public Education

Tue, 10 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

AlterNet - By Rachel Tabachnick - May. 10 (Investigative Report) - By now you've surely heard of the Kochs. Meanwhile, the powerful, wealthy DeVos family has remained largely under the radar, while leading a stealth assault on America's schools.

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Pennsylvania: 'ground zero' of the US boom

Thu, 21 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0700

The Guardian - By Suzanne Goldenberg - Apr. 21 (News Report) - Last June, Tony Zaffuto arrived at his fieldstone cabin in the forested hills of Pennsylvania's SB Elliott state park, to find a notice pinned on the front door: "Danger. Do not occupy dwelling." A blow-out at a gas well in another popular camping spot, in the woods of the Punxsutawney hunt club, also in Clearfield County, had shot a 75-foot combustible gusher of tas and toxic waste water into the air. It took the gas company, EOG, 16 hours to control the well, and authorities had to carry out an evacuation. It was not Zaffuto's first encounter with the dangers of natural gas drilling. In 2009, the spring that was the cabin's only source of water was contaminated by toxic waste from a pond serving the gas wells.

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Carcinogens injected into gas wells, report says

Sun, 17 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Associated Press - Apr. 17 (News Report) - Millions of gallons of potentially hazardous chemicals and known carcinogens were injected into wells by leading oil and gas service companies from 2005 to 2009, a report by three House Democrats said Saturday. The report said 29 of the chemicals injected were known or suspected human carcinogens. They either were regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act as risks to human health or listed as hazardous air pollutants under the Clean Air Act.

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Tax Cuts Solve Everything

Mon, 07 Mar 2011 15:31:00 -0800

Splice Today - By Frank A. DeFilippo - Mar. 07 (Opinion) - There’s a loopy notion circulating that Baltimore can re-make itself into a Boston or San Francisco-class city if it reduces the property tax. Following that crackpot logic, if there were low or no taxes, investment dollars would resuscitate the city into kind of an urban theme park instead of a working American city. Comparisons suck, to roughly paraphrase Shakespeare, so as not to be guilty of the same silly analogy.

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DA to seek death penalty for abortionist Gosnell | Philadelphia Inquirer | 03/02/2011

Wed, 02 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Philadelphia Inquirer - By Joseph A. Slobodzian - Mar. 02 (News) - The Gosnells and their eight employees were criminally charged in January after the District Attorney's Office released a 260-page county grand jury report. The report alleged in horrific detail that Gosnell performed illegal late-term abortions for poor women, in some cases killing infants born viable by cutting their spines with scissors.

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Seven teens arrested in recorded beating of 13-year-old

Tue, 01 Feb 2011 00:00:00 -0800

CNN - By Ashley Hayes, Sarah Hoye - Feb. 01 (News Report) - Seven teenagers were in custody Tuesday in connection with the beating of a 13-year-old boy, attacked while he was walking home from school earlier this month in a Philadelphia suburb, authorities said.

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Corbett demands answers on clinic

Sat, 22 Jan 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review - By Brad Bumsted - Jan. 22 (News) - Health inspectors sporadically inspected the Women's Medical Society in West Philadelphia for 13 years after it opened in 1979. The clinic had not been inspected since 1993, according to a grand jury report this week. Authorities allege workers used unsanitary equipment to induce labor in women with late-term pregnancies, snipping babies' spines and keeping body parts in jars. The report says state officials ignored horrific conditions during the terms of six governors and 10 Health secretaries. It details a gruesome litany of failures and refusals to uphold even basic public health guidelines and lays out a long list of regulatory failures.

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Senator pushes bill legalizing stem cell research

Mon, 13 Sep 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Associated Press - By Jim Abrams - Sep. 13 (News) - Sen. Arlen Specter on Monday initiated a drive to legalize federal funding of embryonic stem cell research, superseding conflicting court decisions that he said are slowing critical work to find cures for crippling diseases.

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Santorum Injecting Faith Into Presidential Discussion

Thu, 09 Sep 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - By Daniel Malloy - Sep. 09 (News Analysis) - In trying to become the second Roman Catholic president of the United States, Rick Santorum will seek to refute a key campaign plank of the first. Fifty years after John F. Kennedy gave a landmark speech addressing his faith and the need to separate church and state, Mr. Santorum will speak today in Houston about the need for an increased role for religion in public life.

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What Tuesday Really Meant

Thu, 20 May 2010 00:00:00 -0700

FiveThirtyEight - By Nate Silver - May. 20 (News Analysis) - There were five races that we were tracking closely over the course of the evening -- and I've already seen analysts drawing flimsy conclusions from each of them.Pennsylvania -- Democratic Senate primaryThe results: Joe Sestak defeats Arlen Specter, 54-46.The conventional wisdom: This was a stunning repudiation of the Democratic establishment.The reality: Certainly, Specter had the support of a lot of Very Important People, including the President, many unions, and the mayors of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. But in many cases, it seemed perfunctory. The White House elected not to send either Barack Obama or Joe Biden to the state in the closing days. The unions were nominally supporting Specter, but were concentrating their cash in Arkansas and elsewhere. As Sestak began to emerge as the superior general election candidate, their support grew even more tepid. This was an important win, and the netroots progressives who championed Sestak's campaign deserve all the credit in the world. But something can be dramatic without being especially surprising. Joe Sestak is a mainline, lunchpail Democrat who defeated a very unpopular Republican-turned-Democrat who ran an awful campaign and who Pennsylvania Democrats weren't used to punching their ticket for. No huge shock there.Kentucky -- Republican Senate primaryThe results: Rand Paul defeats Trey Grayson, 59-35.The conventional wisdom: This was a stunning repudiation of the Republican establishment.The reality: Because of Paul's impressive 24-point margin of victory, almost any explanation you might proffer probably contains some element of truth. But for all his libertarian and tea-party dressing, Paul in fact ran on a fairly conventional, conservative platform. He's pro-life, anti-gay marriage, anti-immigration ... there are only the faintest hints of libertarianism here. This was probably a good thing for him because Kentucky, which has traditionally been socially conservative but economically moderate, is pretty much kitty-corner to the libertarian side of the political quadrant. This was actually very clever, in a lot of ways -- Paul's last name (and decision to affiliate himself with the tea party) gained him national attention and fundraising and earned media, but to people in Kentucky, he ought to have been a very comfortable choice who was somewhat more fresh-faced than his rival. The branded product beat the generic one.Paul might have some trouble in general election, especially after somewhat underwhelming turnout in the primary (Democratic turnout was actually 60 percent higher, although Democrats enjoy a substantial registration advantage in Kentucky). But that's more because of his inexperience and standoffishness and less because of his platform.Kentucky -- Democratic Senate primaryThe results: Jack Conway defeats Daniel Mongiardo, 44-43.The conventional wisdom: What? The Democrats had a primary too?The reality: Yes, they did -- and it was the closest race of the night, with Conway taking an early lead from a substantial advantage in Louisville and Lexington but Mongiardo, who was stronger in rural areas, nearly closing the gap by the end of the night. Conway had polled somewhat better in general election matchups so this is a result most national Democrats will be pleased with -- although the way that Attorney Generals have been going lately, maybe he'll prove to be a bit jinxed.Arkansas -- Democratic Senate primaryThe results: Blanche Lincoln and Bill Halter head to overtime. Lincoln has 45 percent of votes counted so far tonight, and Halter 43 percent, but a majority was required to avoid a run-off.The conventional wisdom: Lincoln spent too much time hanging out in the middle of the road and got run over.The reality: There are parallels between what Rand Paul accomplished in Kentucky and what Bill Halter did in Arkansas. As I mentioned earlier, Kentucky is not a particularly good state for real libertarians. Likewise, Arkansas is not an especially good state for netroots progressives, who are mostly white, liberal, and college-educated, whereas the state's Democratic primary electorate is 61 percent non-college, 64 percent non-liberal, and contains a fair number of black voters.Halter endeared himself to national progressives and to unions with his vocal support of the public option, giving him money, momentum and media attention. But to Arkansasans, he was a relatively familiar face (as the sitting Lieutenant Governor) who ran a relatively non-ideological campaign, railing against corruption, bailouts, and wishy-washiness, as challengers of all political persuasions are doing. Halter came out against cap-and-trade, on the other hand, and tried his best to avoid taking a position on contentious social issues.Certainly this is a rough environment for moderates, but Lincoln made matters worse by drawing unnecessary attention to herself on health care, and by picking the wrong issues to moderate upon: yes on TARP, no on the public option] is a set of positions that very few rank-and-file Democrats (or voters of any kind) will share. And she was a very incumbent-y incumbent in an environment where incumbents are not popular.Of course, we should not yet be speaking about her in the past tense; Lincoln could still win the run-off. But I suspect that the presumably superior enthusiasm of Halter's voters will pay off for him in three weeks. Turnout was actually not bad in Arkansas -- in fact, it slightly exceeded turnout in the 2008 Presidential primary -- but I don't know if Blanche Lincoln is the sort of person for whom people are going to get up off the couch to vote for twice in one month.Pennsylvania 12th Congressional District -- Special electionThe results: Mark Critz (D) defeats Tim Burns (R), 53-45.The conventional wisdom: A big, clutch win for Democrats.The reality: Neither outcome would have been surprising here. The polling showed a toss-up, and the district (with a PVI of R+1) is close to the national median. There's a lot of variance in open-seat elections for the House; even in an environment like 2008, Democrats would have had about a 30 percent chance of losing this seat, and even in one as relatively poor for them as 2004, they would have had about a 40 percent chance of winning it.Still, the 8-point margin of victory was surprising. As I wrote yesterday morning: "It's really only if one of the candidates wins by middle-to-high single digits ... that [PA-12] might tell us something", and Critz met that threshold.Republicans have some decent excuses; they may have been harmed by the fact that there was a contentious Democratic Senate primary occurring at the same time, for instance, and the DCCC seems to have a peculiar knack for winning special elections. The Democratic candidate ran against his party's health care bill! But make no mistake: there are garbage cans being kicked, and consultants being sworn at, at NRCC headquarters right now. And the Republicans may need to engage in some self-reflection about whether nationalizing the race will be the optimal strategy in each of 50 distinct states and 435 distinct Congressional Districts.

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Op-Ed Columnist: The Annals of Arlen Specter

Thu, 13 May 2010 00:00:00 -0700

New York Times - By Gail Collins - May. 13 (Opinion) - This is not a good year for political insiders and incumbents. But, all things considered, that may not be such a bad thing.

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PA Lt. Gov. Catherine Baker Knoll Dies

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0800

3BlueDudes - Nov. 12 (News Report) - Pennsylvania Lt. Governor Catherine Baker Knoll has lost her struggle with neuroendocrine cancer. Baker Knoll became Pennsylvania’s first female Lt. Governor, after serving in two other statewide elected capacities as State Treasurer and Auditor General.

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Pennsylvania Voters Play Key Role in Future of Congress

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Congressional Quarterly - By Greg Giroux - Nov. 03 (News Report) - Here’s a look at the status of the nine Pennsylvania contests. Each is assigned one of three competitiveness ratings: “No Clear Favorite,” meaning the race is a toss-up; “Leans” Republican or Democratic, which indicates a highly competitive race in which the named party has only a narrow advantage; or Republican or Democrat “Favored,” meaning that the named party has a decisive advantage but that an upset by the other party’s candidate cannot be completely ruled out.

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PA Counties Said Unprepared to Serve Voters, Meet Court Order for Emergency Paper Ballots

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Brad Blog - By Brad Friedman - Oct. 31 (News Report) - The directive requires that counties have enough emergency paper ballots (EPBs) on hand at polling places to ensure that voters can vote if half, or more, of a precinct's voting machines break down. County officials admit today that they were completely unprepared for the directive, and even for the likelihood of serious machine failure, despite known problems with the touch-screen voting systems they use, or the extraordinary voter turnout long-predicted for next Tuesday.

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Brian Ross: Prominent Republicans Invoke the Holocaust to Win Jewish Votes in Pa.

Mon, 27 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Huffington Post - By Brian Ross - Oct. 27 (News Analysis) - This is the week that John McCain and the Republicans will be throwing the kitchen sink at Barack Obama and the Democrats. It has reached a new low. An email that was sent to Jewish voters in Pennsylvania invoked fears of the Holocaust to stampede them away from Obama at the polls next week.

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Following Widespread Complaints, New Lawsuit Seeks Paper Balloting in Pennsylvania

Fri, 24 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By John Bonifaz, Amy Goodman - Oct. 24 (Interview) - Voter rights groups have filed a federal lawsuit in Pennsylvania seeking emergency paper ballots. The lawsuit was filed after Pennsylvania’s Secretary of State ordered counties to provide emergency paper ballots only if every electronic voting machine breaks down at a voting site.

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Voters Sue Pennsylvania, Election Official Scoffs

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

American News Project - By Danielle Ivory - Oct. 23 (News Report) - Earlier this week, ANP reported that, come November, Pennsylvania voters could face substantial delays at the polls. We spoke with the man running the election in Philadelphia, who scoffed at long lines and tales of lost votes. Now, voters are suing the state of Pennsylvania. Here's an update and more of our interview with Philly's deputy commissioner, Fred Voigt.

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Think PA is Close. It’s NOT, Not at all

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

3BlueDudes - Oct. 23 (News Report) - Ok, we have all heard about the supposed ‘internal memo’ that showed Pennsylvania within 2%. Problem is, the memo is reportedly not true, it was drafted as a fake to energize Pennsylvania organizers and campaign workers. Do we know it is not true? Base it on this

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McCain goes for broke in deep-blue state

Wed, 22 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Seattle Post Intelligencer - By Elisabeth Bumiller, Jeff Zeleny - Oct. 22 (News Report) - Sen. Barack Obama has a double-digit lead in recent Pennsylvania polls. Sen. John Kerry beat President Bush here in 2004. The previous three Democratic presidential candidates won, too. And this year there are 1.2 million more registered Democrats than Republicans in the state. But in these frantic last weeks of the 2008 campaign, McCain has lavished time and money on this now deep-blue state -- he made three stops here on Tuesday -- as if his political life depended on it. And, from his campaign's point of view, it does.

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