The Repeal: Merely a
Political Stunt and Legislative Scrambling ANNVILLE, PA - With both
chambers of the Pennsylvania General Assembly taking action to repeal the
July 7 pay raise, PACleanSweep is joining media outlets throughout the
Commonwealth in rightly labeling the sudden repeal effort a political
stunt.
"The pay raise repeal passed because legislative
leaders are running for their political lives," said PACleanSweep Chair
Russ Diamond. "They were caught with their hands in the cookie jar, and
they know it. This is a textbook example of political posturing and
desperation."
An article in Wednesday's Lancaster New Era cited
two sources within the Capitol who claimed Senate Majority Leader David
"Chip" Brightbill and Senate Pro Tempore Robert Jubelirer were behind the
sudden push for a partial repeal "after polls showed their approval
ratings plummeting." Brightbill's internal polls showed his approval
rating at a dismal 17 percent. Thursday's Philadelphia Inquirer added that
repeal efforts took hold "when the first samplings from a statewide poll
commissioned by the Senate Republicans came in."
"It doesn't take a genius to realize that
Brightbill, Jubelirer, and others saw their approval ratings going down
the drain and then flip-flopped to curry public favor," argued
PACleanSweep Strategic Director Mike Bergmaier. "They weren't motivated by
principle. They were motivated by fear."
PACleanSweep maintains that efforts to deflate
citizen anger over the pay raise should be ignored and that voters should
continue to push for reform. Diamond had previously predicted that
legislators would take action to appease voters, even speculating they
would repeal the raises in an August 22 speech to the Pennsylvania Press
Club and a September 12 guest column in the Allentown Morning
Call.
"The September 26th Harrisburg rally was themed
'Repeal, Repay, Reform, or Resign'," Diamond noted. "Even if this repeal
does go through, it is only the beginning of fixing what's wrong in
Harrisburg. They need to repay the ill-gotten and unconstitutional expense
money already taken. Reform the legislative process. Abide by the
Constitution. Install new legislators and leadership. Eliminate the
offensive slush funds."
"When a child is caught with his hand in the
cookie jar, putting some of the cookies back is simply not enough," added
Diamond. "We need to move the cookie jar to a higher shelf so they can't
reach it. We need to remind them of the rules - the PA Constitution. And
we need to discipline them in 2006."
PACleanSweep's analysis of the pay raise
repeal effort has been published online at
www.PACleanSweep.com/analysis110305.html. PACleanSweep is a non-partisan effort
dedicated to defeating incumbent elected officials in Pennsylvania and
replacing them with true public servants. For more information, please
visit www.PACleanSweep.com. |
