|
| ||||||||
|
INSIDER INFO -- APRIL 2009
Political VIP Interview:
Specter’s pre-emptive move
Race for Philly DA
Political shorts of interest from around Pennsylvania
|
We
welcome and appreciate any feedback
you may OPT OUT
The views contained in The Insider are those exclusively of its editor, Al Neri, unless an article is specifically authored by another writer. | |||||||
| Insider's Stories | ||||||||
|
Political VIP Interview:
Mike Turzai, GOP rising star, preaches less spending, lower taxes and less borrowing as vocal foe of Rendell administration tactics
Democrats would call him an ideologue living in a world that is not realistic.
Republicans would label him a right-thinking person who is in touch with the values of most mainstream Pennsylvanians.
Gov. Ed Rendell recently called him a “nut” after Turzai proposed a modest reduction in the state’s personal income tax to help residents and small business people. Turzai last month proposed reducing the tax – one of the state’s biggest revenue generators – from 3.07 percent to 2.99 percent – a savings of about $20 to $25 annually for the average wage-earner.
So call him what you will but he definitely is a rising Republican star. First elected to the House in a special election in 2001, Mike Turzai has bypassed a number of more veteran caucus members to become its No. 2 leader, House minority whip – only surpassed by Minority Leader Sam Smith, R-Jefferson.
We recently sat down with the father of three from the northern suburbs of Pittsburgh for an interview.
Insider: The first question I have is for those who might not be familiar with you. Tell us a little about yourself, when you came into the House and so forth.
Turzai: I came in back in 2001 in a special election. Senator Orie was my predecessor and she became a state senator and I became the house rep.
Insider: You were active in the Republican Party before that, right?
Turzai: Yeah, I was Bradford Woods Borough councilman that’s where I live. We have a regional police force out there and I was on the police board too. Our consolidated police force covers four of the six communities that I have in my district.
Insider: Ok, and if I recall, you ran unsuccessfully for Congress in ’98?
Turzai: Yeah, in ‘98. And then…
Insider: Melissa Hart won that seat in 2000…..
Turzai: Correct, which allowed Jane to move to the Senate and me to the state House.
Insider: So in a way, you’re set in motion the succession process that brought you into the state House. We all know there’s a lot of truth to that, in a way, Ron Kling, the incumbent congressman, ran against Rick Santorum that year, which opened it up (the Congressional seat) for Melissa, so…there, it’s at least coincidental.
Insider: Tell us a little bit about your core philosophy of government for people who might not know it…at least with respect to Harrisburg.
Turzai: The fiscal issues I believe are at the heart at what our job is here. And really, we are the fiduciaries of the taxpayers’ money. Over the last six years, I mean it’s all been about -- and I’ve been against it -- about accumulating pots of money that small groups of people control. And that’s been the supposed solution for a variety of issues and yet it’s always the same paradigm and I think it’s about controlling that money for certain people and being the big shot, building up your own political power.
I mean, I consider myself a fiscal conservative but more and more I really am against the increased spending and against the borrowing.
Insider: You’re talking about the growth of government.
Mike Turzai
Turzai: Just the growth of the government in the last six years, it’s been exponential. The rate of inflation for the last six has been less than 20 percent and yet (state government’s) rate of spending, in just the general fund, is close to 40 percent.
I mean this is a cliché, but I do mean it – they (the Rendell administration) are spending this money now, but when we’re paying it back, it’s our kids and our grandkids that will be paying it back. And that’s in addition to the increases in the general fund spending. The debt service in some instances is getting paid off as late as 2037 or 2039. And I’m like for what? In a budget that is now, what, $28.3 billion dollars you can’t fund a place for $200 million a year for water and sewage projects? Why are you borrowing money for that, other than taking care of you know, bond counsel attorneys, and getting to control the pot of money?
Insider: I guess what Rendell would say is that water pipes and sewer pipes are going to last 30 years so we should pay for them over 30 years…
Turzai: I get the pay as you go over 30 years. . . I buy into water and sewage infrastructure. No doubt about it. It needs to be upgraded. In Pittsburgh, you know our region, and we’re not limited, it’s all over the state. We did an amendment. We would take the Johnstown flood tax, which I think is about $250 million a year and then take the $50 million that’s left over from the gambling money that’s not dedicated somewhere else and use it on a pay as you go basis. Take that money and dedicate it on an annual basis to water and sewage projects.
(Former state Rep.) Steve Nichols was nice enough to chair a committee with me, a task force where we went out on the road. I got (Rep.) Dave Reed (R-Indiana) involved and some other younger members and we just started asking these employers what they would like to see to make it more competitive for them to stay here and expand here. And I learned so much in getting around and talking to those people all over the state.
My true focus is that at some point we’ve got to get a reality check on this spending and borrowing. And then the second thing is there are things we can be doing here, changes in the law that would telegraph to employers that we want them to stay and expand here.
Insider: You personally seem to have a very high threshold and would do whatever it takes to get the budget and spending under control? But do you think your caucus, the House Republican caucus, is going to stand up to that pressure this year or are they going to go along with the governor. What do you think is going to happen with the budget this season?
Turzai: Can we in this year of years hold together as the congressional Republicans recently did and say enough is enough? Can we as a caucus recognize that the macro goal of controlling spending is more important than any individual project or program? That’s the question I think we all have to ask ourselves. ….there’s opportunity in crisis, right? I think it’s an opportunity to ask what our legacy is going to be here. Are we going to get it right for future generations? I think we have to really hang tough. And, I personally think that when we (in the House) hang tough, a lot of our colleagues in the Senate will hang tough too.
Insider: You had a role in the 2008 election cycle in which you targeted certain races, right?
Turzai: Yes. We had a committee that was headed up by Sam Smith but I did play a role as did a dozen others. We had a bit of a different strategy I think than in past years. We were a $1million in debt going into that cycle. But I can tell you that going into this next cycle we have zero debt. There’s no debt at all in fact. We’re not huge in the black but we’re in the black. Basically what we did last year was raise money and inspire candidates. Or at least we tried to inspire candidates.
Look, (Democrat Barack) Obama won by 600,000 votes statewide, more than 10 percentage points. We had a net loss of nine seats in the 2005/2006 cycle. In this cycle (2008 elections) we lost just one incumbent, Jay Moyer, who was in a pretty tough district in Montgomery County.
He was the only Republican incumbent that lost. No Republican incumbents lost in a primary. And we picked up four Democratic seats, three from incumbents and one an open seat, all in Western Pennsylvania. . . .I think a lot of people thought we were going to lose a lot more seats. So what we did in the end is that we held our ground.
Insider: What about the 2010 campaign cycle?
Turzai: I do honestly believe that if we have -- and I believe we will have – a strong Republican candidate for governor and then if that candidate and the Legislature can run strong together on two issues -- fiscal responsibility and reform in government – we can succeed as Republicans. And, you know, we have got to credible. It can’t be rhetoric. There’s a real opportunity if our actions can match that rhetoric.
For instance, how about a constitutional amendment to keep spending to the rate of inflation and population growth? As a check and balance to state spending. These figures come from the Commonwealth Foundation but they show that if the state had held spending growth over the last six years to the rate of inflation and (our slow) population growth, we would now be looking at a surplus of close to $4 billion rather than the close to $2.5 billion deficit that we’re looking at right now.
Insider: Lastly, I wanted to ask you about the speculation that you might run for lieutenant governor next year. What about it?
Turzai: The lieutenant governor thing, it’s really dependent on who ultimately is going to be the gubernatorial candidate and what he or she wants in terms of matching up the ticket. First of all I think Tom Corbett’s doing a great job a great job as attorney general and I think he’s the likely nominee. Now, he lives probably five miles away from my house. You need somebody who’s going to match up in terms of the political, the geographic and the governing perspective.
There are some people that have said to me don’t let geography stop you. Geography is only one factor. You look for good leadership, results on the issues, and that’s really qualities for the gubernatorial candidate to define.
North Korea launches a rocket that lands 2,000 miles away in the Pacific Ocean as a show of strength, but doing no immediate harm.
Yawn!
But unlike Korea, Specter’s attack is intended to do harm – political harm to Toomey.
Specter’s negative ad against Toomey is both a show of financial strength (The incumbent already has $6 million in his campaign war chest) and an attempt to define Toomey before he can define himself to Republican voters.
The ads are running on cable news shows where political devotees and primary super voters are most likely to see them. The Specter campaign spent $100,000 for the week-long ad attack which lasted from April 2 to April 9.
“The commercials ran on Fox News, CNN and MSNBC – more so on Fox than on MSNBC, whose nightly programs tend to run to the left,” said Specter campaign manager Chris Nicholas of Harrisburg-based Eagle Consulting.
The ad, which targets Toomey’s days as a Wall Street trader before he entered Congress, opens with the required disclaimer from Sen. Specter: “I’m Arlen Specter and I approved this ad.”
“As a Wall Street trader, Toomey sold risky derivatives and swaps,” the narrator says. “It’s derivative and swaps that have plunged us into this financial mess.”
“In Congress, Toomey fought for less oversight of Wall Street,” as the words “Deregulation” scroll across the screen.
“He even wants to gamble our Social Security accounts in the stock market,” as the word, “Gamble” in big letters fills the screen.
“Now, Toomey wants a bonus – a seat in the United States Senate,” as the word, “Bonus,” flashes to viewers. “Should we let him have it?”
Nicholas said the ad’s claims about derivatives and swaps contributing to the collapse of the financial system are based on the 2002 annual report from Berkshire Hathaway, the financial firm of billionaire Warren Buffet, one of the most acclaimed experts among investors.
As expected, the Toomey camp sees the Specter move as one of desperation. “Specter can’t defend his own liberal record so he’s attacking Pat Toomey, who isn’t even in the race yet, with lies about work Pat did 20 years ago,” spokesman Mark Harris told the Harrisburg Patriot-News.
Toomey’s non-candidacy is not expected to last much longer. Media reports say the former Lehigh Valley congressman will formally enter the Senate race before month’s end. There is a third Republican candidate already announced – Peg Luksik of Johnstown, a social conservative and former gubernatorial candidate in the 1990s who also plans to challenge Specter in the May 2010 primary for the GOP nomination.
The Specter-Toomey exchange comes the same week that Specter’s pivotal role in the Senate was highlighted in an article in Newsweek Magazine, entitled “Suddenly Seeking Specter.” A more explicit description was in the magazine’s index of contents: “Why Senators Suck Up to Arlen Specter.”
“His colleagues may wince but for reasons of math Specter now finds himself the most sought-after, and sucked-up-to member of the Senate,” Newsweek said. “He could wind up casting the deciding vote on major issues, including health care and energy reform.”
The article went on to explain that Senate rules require 60 votes to keep the minority party from filibustering an issue. The Democrats now have 58 seats and may get 59 if Democrat Al Franken is seating from Minnesota following a prolonged court battle after a close election.
Specter, one of the few moderate Republicans left in the Senate, becomes vital because of his independent streak in voting. The article said he votes with Democrats nearly 40 percent of the time.
“State party officials aren’t thrilled with Specter, but worry that he is the only thing keeping the seat from going to a Democrat,” the article continued. Citing GOP anger over his vote for President Obama’s stimulus, Specter was asked by the Newsweek reporters if that concerned him.
“’Of course it does,’ Specter replied impatiently. “’What do you think I am, a mo-ron.’ Hardly. Call Arlen Specter what you want (everyone else does), but you certainly can’t call him that.”
Race for Philly DA This high-profile prosecutor’s post has been a springboard for other politicians in the past
Well, the answer is because previous holders of that post are now in power positions all through Pennsylvania politics and government.
Ed Rendell, a Democrat and the city’s district attorney from 1978 to 1986, later became the city’s mayor and now he is governor of the Commonwealth, the state’s most powerful post.
Arlen Specter, a Republican and the district attorney from 1966 to 1974, was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1980 and is now the state’s longest serving U.S. senator.
He wants more: He plans to run for re-election next year at age 80 for an unprecedented sixth term. Plus as a swing vote in the U.S. Senate, Specter exercises more power than practically any of his 99 colleagues – meaning he can single-handedly decide the fate of a Republican or Democratic initiative.
Ron Castille, a Republican and the Philly DA from 1986 to 1991, ran unsuccessfully for mayor that year but then ran two years later statewide for the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, the highest court in the Commonwealth. He is now its chief justice, the highest post in the state judiciary, the third branch of state government.
So if history holds sway, the next person to be Philly’s DA can also move on to political greatness.
And who will that person be?
Since Castille resigned in 1991 to seek the mayorship, the DA has been Lynn Abraham, a former assistant DA and Court of Common Pleas judge who has been re-elected numerous times as a Democrat. But after nearly two decades in the job, she announced she would not seek re-election in 2009 – opening the high-profile post in the state’s most crime-ridden city to a newcomer.
There are five Democratic candidates vying for the party nomination for district attorney spot: former City Inspector General Seth Williams (who ran against Abraham unsuccessfully in the 2005 party primary); Daniel McElhatton, a former city council member; Daniel McCaffery, brother of state Supreme Court Justice Seamus McCaffery; Michael Turner, a commercial litigator for a large Center City law firm, and Brian J. Grady, partner in his own small Center City practice. All have previously worked as assistant district attorneys.
There is only one Republican running for district attorney, Michael W. Untermeyer, a former prosecutor, now a lawyer and real estate developer.
This will be the first time since 1986 that there will be no incumbent on the ballot for the district attorney’s office. The office employs 300 lawyers and 275 support staff and has an annual budget of around $30 million.
In Philadelphia, where Democrats outnumber Republicans 6 to 1, this primary is the de facto election. But the election has its share of controversy.
It has turned into a massive ping-pong of allegations involving technicalities over voters’ signatures filed on each candidates’ forms and other “irregularities.”
In a stunning decision by the local court, front runner Williams was thrown off the ballot on March 27 for failure to disclose all sources of his income as required by law.
McCaffery filed the suit against Williams, alleging that Williams failed to disclose reimbursements in excess of $10,000 from his campaign as income.
Williams states those disbursements are for campaign expenses, made out to his wife, because she handles their joint checking account.
As part of a counter-attack, Dan Fee, William’s campaign manager, told reporters that McCaffrey had received $3,759 in reimbursements from the PA Good Government Fund, a PAC set up by McCaffrey’s Jenkintown law firm. Those payments are not listed on his own financial-disclosure form.
No one filed any challenge against McCaffrey on those reimbursements.
The Williams campaign immediately filed an appeal with the Commonwealth Court and this past Wednesday he was reinstated on the ballot, with the judges indicating they are weary of political rivals challenging each other over financial statements which are “easily amendable.”
McCaffery said his campaign would not appeal the ruling but would spend the rest of the primary campaign pointing out differences between him, Williams and the three other Democrats.
But there is still some gamesmanship in play. Turner’s campaign distributed copies of a letter to the media that it had sent to the Philadelphia Board of Ethics, asking it to investigate Williams, regarding campaign contributions Williams received while working as city inspector general.
A $5,000 contribution given to Williams, in 2007, by the Italian American Benevolence Society is being used to smear the candidate and introduce the specter of organized crime into the race.
Fee has said that Williams thought the society was a political action committee. When the campaign found out it was not, the money was returned.
Fee said he is frustrated by the political gamesmanship of Williams’ opponents, who have been providing information about the contribution to the media and then, through innuendo, linking it to an organized-crime investigation.
But then Harry Cook, Turner’s campaign coordinator quickly sent out a recall, stating he would not forward or discuss the previous email.
Apparently, the email itself might have been an ethics code violation.
Seth Williams has received endorsements from Transport Workers Union Local 234 and state Rep. Curtis Thomas. He’s also received an endorsement from the Fraternal Order of Housing Police.
He’s also been endorsed by Drexel University Democrats and University of Pennsylvania Democrats.
Williams was an assistant district attorney for 10 years and is a former city inspector general.
Dan McCaffery told the Somerton Civic Association that he vowed to continue the fight to reinstate the death sentence against convicted Philadelphia cop killer Mumia Abu-Jamal.
He said he intends to push for one-year mandatory minimum sentences for anyone convinced of carrying a handgun without a license.
McCaffery said he also wants to create a public access website that provides information regarding the performance of local judges, such as individual verdicts and time spent on the bench.
He also said he’d like to eliminate sections of the district attorney’s office that do similar work as the federal and state systems, such as economic crimes and welfare fraud.
Referring to the conviction of former state Sen. Vince Fumo, he’s said that pay-to-play politics is a stain on the city and as district attorney, he would aggressively prosecute government corruption wherever he finds it.
McCaffrey said he believes the district attorney’s office is best suited to handling violent street crime.
Michael Turner told a gathering at the Lawncrest Community Association that as district attorney, his priorities would be “safety, safety, safety.” He thinks the city must lower the number of illegal guns on the street and he believes the DA’s office can play a prominent role in that regard.
He’s also said he would develop a partnership with the mayor’s office, the police department, Philadelphia School District and Department of Human Services.
Turner said he’s like to expand the Public Nuisance Task Force, which handles drug houses and problem bars. He also wants to develop a Youth-at-Risk Initiative that would intervene before children join the criminal justice system.
Michael Untermeyer, a former Democrat, is the lone Republican on the ballot. Untermeyer lost in the 2007 primary for sheriff against John Green. In February the Republican City Committee approached Untermeyer about running on its ticket after Scott Sigman decided not to run.
Untermeyer has said that he would change the focus of the district attorney’s office if he wins. To address the issue of illegal handguns, he would urge the Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing to toughen its guidelines; have assistant district attorneys try some cases in federal courts, where sentences and penalties are harsher and seek state legislative approval for stiffer sentences.
He wants to see prosecutors assigned to cases from preliminary hearings to sentencing; pursue corporate fraud cases and expand the forfeiture unit for drug cases. He said an expanded focus on narcotics trafficking and organized crime organizations will result in a safer city and higher financial returns. He pointed out the Manhattan district attorney’s office realized $175 million after prosecuting two cases of corporate fraud and theft.
He’s also said he would seek grants and contributions for programs that would provide services for people leaving prisons.
All the candidates agree that changes to the administering of death penalty cases are desperately needed. They also agree that the district attorney’s office should not use the threat of the death penalty or an offer not to seek it, to get defendants to give up their appellate rights.
But they are split on whether the office should be a “watchdog” over municipal corruption. Williams, McElhatton, Turner and Untermeyer said the office should pursue such cases; Grady and McCaffery said the office lacks sufficient resources for such complex prosecutions.
Political shorts of interest from around Pennsylvania Erie County executive’s petition challenged by Andrezeski
Philadelphia isn’t the only place where candidates are indulging in gamesmanship over technicalities of the election code and state law.
In Erie County, former state senator, Anthony “Buzz” Andrezeski is seeking to become the county executive and one of his tactics is to challenge the notary public who put her seal on the incumbent’s election petitions.
Andrezeski said County Executive Mark DiVecchio should be removed from the May 19 Democratic primary ballot because his petitions were notarized by Sue Kraft, his $48,000-a-year executive assistant.
According to Andrezeski’s petition filed last Tuesday, the state’s notary public law prohibits a notary from certifying records if the notary has a financial relationship with the person seeking the notarization. Andrezeski said Kraft has such a relationship with DiVecchio.
But while trying to KO DiVecchio on a technicality, Andrezeski is seeking an exemption of his own – to file the challenge weeks after such petition challenges should have been filed.
DiVecchio’s spokesman called Andezeski’s challenge “frivolous” but a court hearing has been set for next Tuesday, April 14, before Erie County Judge Michael Dunlavey.
The two Democratic rivals are joined by a third candidate, Barry Grossman, a local businessman and radio personality. Two Republicans are vying for the GOP nomination, Mike Kerner and Gil Rocco.
Corbett pressured to resign if he pursues governorship
While it’s highly unlikely he will do so, Attorney General Tom Corbett, a Republican, got strong suggestions from two fronts that he should resign if he wants his office to continue its prosecution of legislators and legislative staff in the Bonusgate scandal.
House Democratic Majority Leader Todd Eachus, D-Luzerne, appearing before the Pennsylvania Press Club in late March, said Corbett should take a cue from his counterpart in Virginia and resign if he wants to run for governor.
Then, on Wednesday (April 8), the Philadelphia Inquirer ran an editorial piece written by David Marston, a former U.S. attorney in Philadelphia, headlined: “Corbett’s choice: Prosecute or politick.”
The opening paragraph of the article said it all: “Corbett should make a choice. He should be either a corruption-fighting prosecutor or a candidate for governor. He should not be both at the same time.”
Corbett last month filed a gubernatorial exploratory committee which will allow him to raise funds and hire campaign staff. His camp has cited other candidates, including Democrat Bob Casey Jr., who did not forfeit his state row office position, to run first for governor unsuccessfully and then for the U.S. Senate.
York businessman and political novice will seek No. 2 spot on ballot in 2010
York businessman Tom Wolf did not run for governor but another York businessman is entering the race for lieutenant governor as a complete political newcomer.
Steve Johnson, a retired Army officer and graduate of Penn State, is the owner of a building inspection firm, Homecheck, Inc. The father of four said he will seek the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor.
He said he has talked to all three potential GOP gubernatorial candidates – Corbett, U.S. Rep. Jim Gerlach and former U.S. Attorney Pat Meehan – but that his candidacy will be separate from each of them.
Earlier this year, former Erie County Executive Rick Schenker, a Republican who served just one term, also announced his interest in the No. 2 spot on the 2010 ballot.
| ||||||||
