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Corbett and Rendell in Bizarro World
Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett is all energized to sue the federal government over the newly signed health care reform legislation. He is joining thirteen other states who are filing similar suits. They claim the individual mandate to buy health insurance is unconstitutional, even though the Republicans first suggested it in the early 90s when Bill Clinton was pushing for employer health care mandates.
The non-suing states all realize that such cases waste tax payer dollars on a guaranteed losing argument. In fact, the Georgia’s Democratic AG is refusing to sue even though the Republican governor is asking him to do so. All but one of the litigating AGs are Republican, and several, like Corbett, are running for governor this year. MSNBC quoted Robert Sedler, a constitutional law professor at Wayne State University, who believes the effort isn’t going anywhere: “This is pure, pure political posturing and they have to know it.”
According to Corbett aide Kevin Harley, the AG’s suit “is focused on the principle of defending the Constitution.”
The Gov wants to ring his neck!
Governor Rendell is calling for Corbett to drop the suit. He believes Corbett is spending tax payer money in order to score points with the GOP base in his run for governor. The Gov claims the federal affordable health care act “will have an enormous positive impact on the lives of every single Pennsylvanian.” It will give tax credits to 150,000 small firms in the state “that are doing the right thing and providing health care benefits to more than 650,000 employees.” He maintains that the state budget deficit is growing, in part, because of larger Medicaid rolls, as more firms drop health insurance. Rendell also said that the new laws will stop insurers’ “reprehensible practice” of denying coverage to people for pre-existing conditions. By fall, parents will be able to rely on health coverage “to meet the needs of their children regardless of what illness their child may have had in the past.”
In an interview last night with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow, Rendell admitted that Corbett is far ahead of any other GOP candidate for governor in fund-raising. Rendell claimed that Corbett doesn’t need to do this to get the nomination. It’s his already. Rendell also predicted that Corbett probably would be the next governor of Pennsylvania.
Hey Gov, remember me? I'm running, too!
(cue record stop sound efx)
What? The Democratic governor is already calling it? Is that an accurate assessment? That the GOP rules PA. Or, is that a slam at Dan Onorato and Pittsburgh, claiming that no candidate from Western PA could possibly have a shot at Harrisburg?
Also, this afternoon, I received an email from President Obama–we’re tight like that. You gotta admire their organizational and informational structure. The email broke down the individual benefits of the health care legislation for my own district (PA 14th) saying that it would:
- Ban discrimination against 7,000 residents with pre-existing conditions;
- Provide tax credits and other assistance for up to 181,000 families;
- Extend coverage to 23,000 uninsured residents;
- Save 1,000 families from health care related bankruptcy; and
- Get full prescription drug coverage for 113,000 seniors on Medicare.
And that’s right here in my district. So, let me get this straight.
Tom Corbett is running for governor to take all that away. Really!
He’s going to sue my government with my money to take away my benefits? Really!
And, according to Dem. Governor Ed Rendell, he’s the favorite to win the governor’s race. Really!
So Pennsylvania is a red state with two little blue cities on each end. Really!
What kind of Bizarro World am I living in?
Pittsburgh in film
So we were going to go to a movie on Bye Sunday, but sadly, nothing caught our interest. Allow me to conjure up Grandpa Yinzer once again: “Why don’t they make movies like they used to!?” Remember the 90s when movies were unique and inventive and compelling? Now, unless it’s a small indie film, every big budget picture has to come with name recognition. (i.e. Batman, Spiderman, Iron Man, GI Joe, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Pride and Prejudice, A Christmas Carol, etc., etc., etc.) So, I thought it would be more fun to take existing titles and give them a little local flavor. Now, here are some award winners!
Law Abiding Citizen – A career criminal (as well as local football placekicker) vows to go straight, but will his inner demons allow it? Will his tight end allow it? Especially when those paper towel dispensers deserve to be punished and someone has to pee. (Contains foul language, alcohol abuse, and partial nudity)
Paranormal Activity – A youthful, urban mayor finds city hall haunted by the voice of a former industry baron who simply says, “What have you done with my libraries?” Mayhem ensues. (Who you gonna call?)
Astro Boy - Young hockey player from Canada goes to the big city and discovers that every puck that hits his stick goes in the net. (Oh, and he has rockets for arms because that’s cool.)
Zombieland - Manager of a local baseball team turns into a stumbling, blank-eyed zombie and soon infects the rest of his team, condemning them to wander the earth for more than 17 years of losing. (I know Russell hasn’t managed the Pirates for 17 years, but it makes a good movie!)
Inglourious Basterds - The Pennsylvania state legislature goes to Harrisburg conspiring to sabotage state government any way they can. First, they refuse to agree on a budget, putting scores of people out of work. Next, they conspire to hook more elderly people on gambling. Then, they wield control of all sales of alcohol in a completely antiquated manner. Finally, they cap it off by issuing themselves a hefty raise in pay. (This will flop because nobody would believe it.)
Couples Retreat - Bill Peduto and Luke Ravenstahl go off on a political junket, but due to a administrative mistake made (and denied) by his bumbling chief of staff, the mayor finds himself mistakenly signed up at relationship counseling resort with Peduto where the two will have to work out their differences and eventually discover how they could not really make it in life without each other. (The feel-good film of the year.)
The Hangover – Pittsburgh awakens on Wednesday, November 4, to discover that the same crowd is in charge of city hall with promises of moving forward. (Possible alternative title of Groundhog Day.)
Okay, your turn.
Robbing the Gettys to pay the Carnegies
Remember last year when gas prices were so high we were practically declaring a national emergency? Apparently, the city planned to spend a whole crapload of money on gas for city vehicles this year. Well, now it seems that gas prices have dipped so low that we’ve got all this crazy money sitting around in city vehicle accounts. Specifically, there’s like $1.6 million. It’s mad money, I tell you! And I suppose it’s one of those cases where you have to spend it or else you lose it, right? You can’t carry it over to the next year? Because, surely we’ve seen the end of gas price fluctuation. Surely, we can spend this money on other areas that have been allowed to atrophy and decline… like the libraries. Becuase, by gum, that’s more than the $1.2 million shortfall the libraries are facing.
Don’t get me wrong. I want my Lawrenceville library. Not becuase I even use it that much. But don’t we all want a neighborhood with post offices and schools and libraries? Don’t we want to have a place for people to go find a book without having to shell out twenty bucks at Barnes and Noble or Border’s? Don’t we still want a place for a student to do some research besides the Internet? I am Grandpa Walton all of a sudden, aren’t I? “What’s that racket? Turn down that music!”
So here’s to some creative thinking by our city leaders, I guess. You can’t always say that. We may have bought ourselves one year of libraries. What happens next year? Maybe electric prices will plummet. Maybe the police can sell one of their sonic cannons if Pitt students promise not to congregate around Schenley Park and play Duck-Duck-Goose all menacing like. Or maybe we’ll be right back where we are now.
Dan Onorato wants to pledge all money from casino table games to libraries–city shares to the Carnegies and the county’s share to the Allegheny Co. Library Assoc. Hmm, talk about a deal with the devil. Of course, gambling is still illegal. Except when you bet the river hoping for a ten of clubs only to see all your chips scooped into the library coffers. Shuffle up make a deal to save the libraries! Not sure that’s what Mr. Carnegie envisioned, but I’m sure he took a gamble or two in his life. So, maybe it’s just crazy enough to work.
Remember the words of Kenny Rogers: “You never count your money, while you’re sittin’ at the table…” In other words, nothing’s a done deal yet. There’s voting and posturing and claim taking and blame sharing to be done. But it’s starting to look like none of the city leaders want libraries to fail under their watch. And maybe that alone is reason to hope.
