Statewide PA

The non-partisan website InsideGov, a site built and maintained by technology company FindTheBest, used public statements, press releases, campaign platforms and voting records to score each state governor’s view on important issues. InsideGov then used the data they collected to assign values for the most conservative political philosophy, and the most liberal. No lie–the single most liberal state governor in the United States is not Andrew Cuomo–he’s #5 in the list of most liberal. Nope. The single most liberal governor in these United States is (trumpet fanfare): Tom Wolf, from Pennsylvania. Wolf is ahead of the whack-a-doos in New York, Vermont, Connecticut and even Minnesoooota. Yeah, the same Tom Wolf who wants to steal the profits from Marcellus drillers to give to teachers’ unions to pay them back for voting him into office. That Tom Wolf. Most liberal. And what do the libs at Philadelphia Magazine write? (This is hilarious.) They write that even though Wolf walks like a liberal duck, quacks like a liberal duck, swims like a liberal duck–he isn’t really all THAT liberal…
Read More “PA Gov Tom “Severance Tax” Wolf: America’s Most Liberal Governor”

Thank God for Pennsylvania House Speaker Mike Turzai, Republican from Allegheny. Turzai continues to stand against the lunacy of Tom Wolf’s insane budget proposals, including a proposed Marcellus Shale severance tax that would further gut shale drilling in the state–handing the money raised over to teachers’ unions. Turzai said it’s time to think about overriding Wolf’s veto of the proposed Republican budget–a plan which balances the budget instead of running up the tab as Wolf would do. The Republican budget would INCREASE spending on education (something mainstream media doesn’t tell you) all while not increasing taxes on the middle class and without killing the Marcellus industry with a new/high tax. Socialist Tom Wolf won’t hear of it. So Turzai is putting out the word: Are there 16 Democrats in the House and 4 Democrats in the Senate that will be brave and bipartisan and reach across the isle to vote for a sane budget–to override Wolf’s veto? Apparently not yet–but perhaps there will be in time. Meanwhile, Wolf’s dirty tricks division continues to launch advertisements to smear Republicans, something Turzai calls “tawdry and unproductive”…
Read More “PA House Speaker Stands Firm Against Gov Wolf’s Severance Tax”

In the midst of a political debate about whether or not to enact a severance tax comes another masterful one-two punch. First punch: the Democrat-controlled Pennsylvania Independent Fiscal Office (which is manifestly NOT “independent” but indeed is VERY dependent–on the Democrat Party) has issued an analysis that the world is ending for the impact fee assessed on Marcellus drillers. The IFO, spreading FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt) says this year the impact fee is on track to raise the least amount of money it has raised since it’s introduction in 2012 (gasp!). How much less? Somewhere between $14 million and $33 million less (between 6-13% less). Why? Because drillers have slowed down and in some cases stopped drilling new wells due to low prices for natural gas. We note the IFO has never before, according to our recollection, issued such a forecast this early in the year. Why is that? Because the Dems need something/anything to try and bludgeon and bully Republicans into accepting the worst idea ever–taxing a single industry to transfer its wealth to another group of people who don’t earn any wealth on their own–teachers’ unions. Big Education only takes–they never give (except to transfer some of their taken money via union dues back the Democrat Party in a quid pro quo). The second punch then arrives right on cue, from a Democrat sycophantic news outlet publishes this breathless “news”…
Read More “FUD Splatter: PA IFO Says Lower Impact Fee Revenue Coming in 2015”