Category: Pennsylvania

Congress is moving to restrict tolling on I-80, which was the centerpiece of Rendell’s deal to fund transportation in Pennsylvania.  For once, folks, Congress does something useful!

“The amount of federal money transferred from the state motor license fund to mass transit funds in Pennsylvania is unprecedented compared to the rest of the country, further underscoring the inequity in the state government’s transportation agencies,” said Peterson, a member of the House Appropriations Committee. His congressional district has numerous counties through which I-80 passes.

I don’t doubt that the amount of money is very high.  SEPTA, as an agency, is a total cluster fsck.  They put the M in mismanagement.   So now it looks as if there’s a good chance the feds are going to say no to tolling I-80.  Any day that starts with Ed Rendell getting screwed is a good day in my book!

The Democrats are back on the issue, and they say they are serious this time.

“We are committed to making property tax reform the pre-eminent issue come this fall,” Mr. McCall said in an interview last week. “We want to show the Senate we are serious about this issue.”

Glad to see they are “serious” about the issue.  But read on, and it seems they are serious about another tax shift scheme:

They said a wide range of possible property tax relief options will be considered. One is Mr. DeWeese’s idea for a 0.5 percent increase in the state sales tax. That would generate about $700 million, with all of it going to lower property taxes. Gov. Ed Rendell has talked about going Mr. DeWeese one better — raising the sales tax a full percentage point, with all $1.4 billion going to lower property taxes.

I have to admit, I like this better than the last scheme.  But what happened to all that property tax relief I was supposed to get from the casinos?   Either way, there is a better idea:

Then there is Rep. Samuel Rohrer’s idea. Mr. Rohrer, R-Berks, and some other conservative Republicans have pushed for four years to reduce the sales tax to 5 percent statewide but greatly broaden the base by taxing food and clothing, which are now exempt.

Now there’s an idea I can get behind.  Tax restructuring rather than tax raising.   Ed Rendell has never met a tax he wouldn’t like to raise.  It’s good to see there are politicians out there trying to think outside the box.

The Pittsburgh Tribune has a good editorial on Rendell’s budget tactics:

Yes. I remember a news conference where he told us the work force wouldn’t really be disrupted until July 17. Later, he said that was a mistake and things would be affected sooner — by July 9 — if no budget were in place. Curiously, July 17 later became a very critical date.

A state Treasury Department official would later say that if no budget were in place by last Monday, July 16, about 40,000 workers would see their state paychecks delayed.

Treasury officials later backed off that and said they could no longer have confidence of meeting the July 20 payroll by noon, Monday, July 16. Later, they said they could meet the payroll if the budget was approved by the end of that day.

July 17 likely was the real drop-dead date.

So the real budget crisis wouldn’t have come until July 17th?  But Rendell cut them loose early in order to use them as pawns in his political battle against Republicans over his new energy tax.  Why did we re-elect him again?

Apparently, the state workers are going to be reimbursed for the day off.  I actually have no problem with this.  State workers shouldn’t have to pay because their boss is a bozo.  All in all the reimbursement will cost taxpayers 3.5 million dollars.   Thanks a lot Ed!

This is a great article about young people leaving certain states. In short, big losers: Northeast, rural midwest. Big winners: The South and The West. They mention Pennsylvania specifically:

Pennsylvania attracts some of the highest numbers of out-of-state students to its colleges, but four years later, most of them take their degrees and run. Three years ago, the state set up Keystone Innovation Zones (KIZ) to give grants to partnerships between universities and their surrounding communities, including businesses and private foundations. The zones were designed to create new businesses and jobs. There are now 26 zones, with 647 Pennsylvania graduates and interns working at companies inside the zones.

This is a typical big government solution to a problem that’s a result of big government. Young people are leaving Pennsylvania for several reasons: high cost of living, high taxes, and lack of opportunity. Pennsylvania is one of the most unfriendly states in the country in which to start a business. We have one of the highest corporate tax rates in the nation. Ed Rendell was elected on a promise of trying to keep young people in the state after they graduated from our universities. Keystone Innovation Zones are a buearaucrat’s solution. Ed Rendell has been the governor for big government. Until our political leadership in Pennsylvania becomes truly committed to making Pennsylvania a business destination, we’ll continue to have a hard time retaining young talent. What Pennsylvania needs is less government. Get out of the way, and let the people perform their magic.

Rendell is currently taking his budget signing on tour to several Pennsylvania towns, talking about great the extra transportation spending is, and how taxes didn’t have to be raised.

That is, unless you commute on the PA turnpike or I-80.  I pay $600 a year to the PA turnpike commission.  After this I’ll pay $750, and then 3% annually after that.  If this was going to pay for repairs strictly on the turnpike, I might not complain so much, but it’s going to pay for roads that other people drive on, and for mass transit that other people use.

You can thank me, and every other turnpike commuter, for eating Rendell’s tax toll increase, so you don’t have to.   So let me run down the list of things Ed Rendell has done for me:

1. Raise my taxes
2. Raise my taxes again
3. Uh… I’ll get back to you on the rest

Today Ed Rendell is on a roll:

The bill – HB1590 – earmarks about $950 million annually for roads, bridges and mass transit. The money would come from sources that include boosting tolls on the Pennsylvania Turnpike by 25 percent in 2009 and increasing the toll rate by 3 percent each year thereafter. It also would allow I-80 to become a toll road.

Rendell said the plan represents “by far the most significant amount of money devoted to transportation needs in the history of the commonwealth” and should put roads and transit in good shape for the next 15 to 20 years.

Supporters say tolling along the 313-mile, east-west route would be set up to eliminate or minimize fees for local drivers by building collection sites at New Jersey and Ohio borders. However, the bill doesn’t specify how that would work.

When Ed Rendell was elected, he said:

We are the second oldest state in the Union because too many of our young people are leaving Pennsylvania. They are leaving Pennsylvania behind for opportunities elsewhere.

And he vowed to change that. Well, Ed, I’m a young person by most people’s definition, and I’m seriously considering leaving the Pennsylvania, where I have lived all my life, for a southern or southwestern state, because you can’t stop raising taxes and trying to take away my personal liberties.

No one will take you seriously as a blue state if you don’t enact a smoking ban.   Because we’re all about freedom and personal choice.   I miss good old fashioned liberalism, I have to say.

Gov. Ed Rendell has called for a ban on smoking in most public places as part of his broad “Prescription for Pennsylvania” agenda to lower the cost of health care, broaden its availability and improve its quality.

Ed Rendell can take his Prescription for Pennsylvania, and stick it where the sun don’t shine.  Surrender personal freedom to keep health care costs down?   Oh yeah, that’s a road I want to go down.

Sometimes I swear we don’t have any politicians that have even the remotest concept of liberty.  In this world, I am an extremist, and that’s sad, I think.

What’s to like:

1. No tax increases.
2. Some caps on spending
3. Rendell doesn’t get his smoking ban

What’s not to like:

1. I-80 tolls will be forthcoming
2. SEPTA once again blackmails more money from the state budget with threatened fare hikes and service cuts.