Pennsylvania is one of the places where some state legislators are introducing a version of Arizona's "show me your papers" law. (The lead sponsor here is a Republican rep who is running for lieutenant governor - Daryl Metcalfe, the guy who called veterans for energy independence "traitors".)
One of his cosponsors let some inconvenient truth slip out during the press conference yesterday. And for more unintentional hilarity, today a newspaper reported on contradictory comments from a PA state Senate Republican. More below the fold..
First, the immigration comment, courtesy of the Lancaster Intelligencer Journal/New Era:
Still, the bill does not provide any criteria by which police officers are supposed to determine who might be here illegally.
"That's a real subjective decision by that officer," Creighton said.
"He has to make an evaluation every time he pulls anybody over."
*(Boldface added.)
A real subjective decision? So, no worries about potential racial profiling...
Want more unintentional comedy from PA? Here it is, courtesy of the Northeastern PA Times-Shamrock newspapers:
School officials typically use the aid figures in the governor's budget proposal as the foundation for their budgets, said Senate Education Chairman Jeffrey Piccola, R-15, Harrisburg. The message of the letter is that they would be mistaken to do so this year given new estimates that the budget deficit is topping $1 billion, he said. A similar letter was sent ahead of the 2009 budget stalemate.
"The governor's numbers are just not very realistic given the financial plight of the Commonwealth," Piccola said. ...
Meanwhile, Piccola is pushing his legislation to restore $75 million in state funding for the Educational Improvement Tax Credit program. This program gives state tax credits to companies that contribute to scholarships that allow students to attend the schools of their choice. Current funding is $50 million.
Piccola said the state needs to reset its education priorities so more aid tax credit dollars are available.
So the message here is apparently "Hold Down Education Spending - Except on My Program!"
Want to help keep those guys - who already control the state Senate - from taking back the PA House this fall? (Also crucial for congressional redistricting.) The PA House Democratic Campaign Committee is at http://www.pahdcc.com/...
The PA state House is currently 103 D - 96 R, with 4 vacancies. If special elections don't yield any changes, it would go back to 104-99.
(The Rs control the PA Senate 30-20. Only half the seats are up this year. While there are potentially flippable R-held seats, it's a tougher slog for Dems in the Senate, largely because of Republican gerrymandering. The PA Senate Dems' campaign site is http://www.dsscc.org/ )