Montgomery County Commissioner Bruce Castor (R), who was once Governor Tom Corbett's (R) primary opponent in the 2004 Attorney General race, has been speculated to be a serious primary challenger to Corbett:
http://triblive.com/...
Bruce Castor wants a rematch with Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett.
But the Montgomery County Republican, who lost a 2004 Attorney General primary race to Corbett, said it will be months before he decides whether Corbett is sufficiently vulnerable to merit the primary challenge he is exploring.
During a visit to Pittsburgh on Monday, Castor told Tribune-Review editors and reporters he doesn't want the GOP to repeat the mistake it made in 2006 by backing then-Sen. Rick Santorum for re-election. Santorum lost to Sen. Bob Casey Jr. by 17 percentage points.
Castor, 51, a former two-term district attorney serving his second term as Montgomery County commissioner, called Corbett a “ham-handed” politician who has failed to deliver on a conservative agenda. He said Corbett blew his opportunity to push through conservative priorities, such as a right-to-work law, early in his term when his popularity was at its height and Republican majorities controlled the Legislature.
“He has not been out front in getting the House and Senate to go along with the vision he has articulated,” Castor charged. - Pittsburgh Tribune Review, 4/16/13
But Castor also hints that he may be rethinking challenging Corbett:
http://www.philly.com/...
In what can reasonably be called the closest thing to good political news Gov. Corbett has gotten in a very long time, Montco Commissioner Bruce Castor now says the Guv isn't the stone-cold loser he might appear to be.
Despite bad polling numbers and national political watchers rating Corbett's reelection odds a toss-up, Castor told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, "I no longer think he has no chance."
High praise from a fellow-Republican who's been attacking Corbett from the right and who still says he might challenge Corbett in a GOP primary next spring.
“In February, I'd say he had no chance. I no longer think that. I think the governor has improved his standing with the party with his success with the liquor bill in the House. Even if it bombs in the Senate, I no longer think he has no chance,” Castor told the newspaper. - Daily News, 4/16/13
Castor says he would need $5 million in order to mount a successful primary challenge and defeat Corbett. He'll be making his decision within a few months. In the mean time, Castor is spending his time lying about education and tying those lies to Corbett:
http://blogs.mcall.com/...
The Republican thorn in the Republican Gov. Tom Corbett’s side has stuck again.
The latest political barbs from Montgomery County Commissioner Bruce Castor are on a national Common Core education standards.
But nearly every paragraph in Castor’s emailed missive fails the true/false test.
Common Core is a tough universal set of standards on what children across the country should learn in math, English, social studies and the sciences. It also moves up the curricula so what your children are getting in first grade, you had in second grade.
A growing anti-Common Core movement, akin to a fear of government, has started in western states and has now moved into Pennsylvania. Castor appears to be trying to tap into that fear by perpetuating false claims about Common Core – and linking Corbett to them -- as he mulls a potential primary run against Corbett. - Morning Call, 4/15/13
Speaking of education, Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter (D) is trying to get Corbett to resort funding for Philadelphia city schools but Corbett and the PA GOP aren't crazy about that idea:
http://www.newsworks.org/...
Saying it’s time for Pa. Gov. Tom Corbett to relieve the pain caused by massive cuts in state aid to public education over the past two years, Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter and a coalition of district, charter and Catholic schools are making a push in support of the School Reform Commission’s request for $120 million in additional state aid for city schools.
“What’s happening at the school level doesn’t lie,” said Lori Shorr, the mayor’s chief education officer. “Talk to parents in a charter school or a district-managed school. They understand what the cuts have meant.”
Nutter, along with the Great Schools Compact, is calling on Corbett and the state legislature to increase the state’s basic education subsidy, restore state reimbursements to districts for money they spend on charter schools and adopt a “student-based funding formula” as a long-term solution to the district’s chronic budget woes.
Nutter was in Harrisburg Tuesday pressing that case with state legislators, press secretary Mark McDonald said.
“The school district’s budget is in a structural crisis,” McDonald said. “The state has a critical role to play, and so does the city.”
A spokesman for Pennsylvania Senate Republicans responded coolly to the request.
“It’s a big ask in a very difficult budget year,” Erik Arneson said. - Newsworks, 4/17/13
Corbett's horrible polling numbers make him vulnerable to both Democrats and Republican challenger. Nate Silver has Corbett as the 5th most vulnerable governor in the country:
http://www.politicspa.com/...
Based on a look at approval ratings for governors around the country, New York Times numbers guru Nate Silver ranked Gov. Tom Corbett the 5th most vulnerable Governor in 2014.
His list relies only on recent polls measuring approval rating and not on other factors like potential opponents and cash on hand.
Other than the top two – Lincoln Chafee (I) of Rhode Island and Pat Quinn (D) of Illinois – “the remaining eight governors with net negative job approval ratings are Republicans, including four who rode the Tea Party wave to power in blue and purple states in 2010 and now appear to be in some danger: Gov. Rick Scott of Florida, Gov. Tom Corbett of Pennsylvania, Gov. Paul LePage of Maine and Gov. Rick Snyder of Michigan.”
Scott is number three, Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback is fourth, and Corbett fifth. - Politics PA, 4/9/13
Silver notes that Corbett's fortune could change if the economy in Pennsylvania improves but Corbett was involved in the biggest scandal in Pennsylvania history. The way he handled the Penn State scandal as Attorney General and didn't hold convicted child molester Jerry Sandusky in custody shows that he intentionally slow walked the process so he could win the endorsement of the Penn State Alumni Society for his 2010 gubernatorial bid. By the way, things aren't going so smoothly for Corbett on his NCAA lawsuit:
http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/...
Lawyers for the NCAA and Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett are being summoned to a federal courtroom in Harrisburg next month to argue about a motion seeking to dismiss Corbett's anti-trust lawsuit against college sports' governing body.
U.S. District Judge Yvette Kane on Tuesday scheduled oral argument for May 1, nearly four months after the Republican governor filed a lawsuit over the NCAA's penalties against Penn State.
The NCAA argues its consent decree with Penn State, generated by the school's handling of the Jerry Sandusky child molestation scandal, doesn't violate federal anti-trust law and actually improves competition in college sports. - The Express TImes, 4/17/13
And Corbett continues to face legal problems with his plan to privatize the lottery:
http://articles.philly.com/...
A third state agency is pointing to potential legal problems in Gov. Tom Corbett's stalled plan to hire a British company to manage the $3.5 billion Pennsylvania Lottery.
The chief counsel of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board wrote in a letter last month that the proposed contract documents are ambiguous and do not say clearly what kinds of new gambling Camelot Global Services would be allowed to operate.
As a result, it is impossible to say whether it infringes on state casino gambling laws, the gaming board's top lawyer, Douglas Sherman, wrote in his seven-page letter.
"Despite the references to Keno, Internet games and monitor-based gaming, none of the mentioned documents provide a level of detail or description of the games contemplated, or the types of operations of the monitors contemplated for use in Keno or any other monitor-based game," Sherman wrote.
The letter, dated March 18, had been requested by members of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees as lawmakers sort through legal questions raised previously by state Treasurer Rob McCord and Attorney General Kathleen Kane. - Philadelphia Inquirer, 4/16/13
So Castor starting to have a change of heart is good news for Corbett. Plus this news will work in his favor:
http://www.post-gazette.com/...
The Pennsylvania School Boards Association today released its legal argument supporting changes that Gov. Tom Corbett has proposed to pensions for current state employees and teachers which it claimed are legal under the state constitution.
In a statement based on testimony of PSBA acting chief counsel Emily Leader before the
House State Government Committee, the organization said the Pennsylvania Supreme Court allows changes to current employee's benefits under the Public Employee Forfeiture Act "if they were on notice of its provisions prior to accepting a new term of office, a promotion or new appointment."
That provision provides what the PSBA calls a "possible blueprint" for pension reform legislation. Ms. Leader told the committee that the General Assembly could create legislation stipulating when an employee accepts a new work situation, including a promotion, benefit, entering a new collective bargaining agreement or even accepting a pay raise as part of step movement on a salary scale, it would trigger the new pension rules.
Gov. Corbett's pension package proposed, among other things, moving new employees to a 401(k)-type plan and reducing the multiplier used to compute pensions from 2.5 to 2.0 for state employees and teachers in an effort to deal with the state's $41 billion pension debt.
He also proposed an increase in the penalty for employees who take a lump sum upon retirement.
The proposal also calls for changing the number of years used to determine an employee's final salary from the highest three years to the final five years, capping pensionable income to the Social Security wage base, which is $113,700, and capping pensionable income to 110 percent of the average salary four years prior to retirement.
The Pennsylvania State Education Association, the state's largest teachers union, has threatened legal action if changes are made to current employees pensions, claiming such a move would violate the state constitution. - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 4/16/13
But still, Corbett would rather be in Brazil or Chile right now than in Pennsylvania:
http://www.poconorecord.com/...
When Gov. Tom Corbett is on an international trade mission, you'll know exactly where to find him.
It might even be easier than when he's in Harrisburg.
Corbett was on a trade mission to Brazil and Chile, a privately funded, 10-day enterprise meant to raise Pennsylvania's profile abroad and to focus on creating jobs.
The governor's press office released to the media detailed itineraries for the first two days of Corbett's day-to-day activities.
Those have included a meeting with San Paolo Vice Governor Guilherme Afif Domingos, a Pennsylvania tourism promotion luncheon and private meetings with Brazilian companies, all listed by time.
According to the itinerary, Corbett had about eight hours worth of engagements on Tuesday.
But no daily schedule gets distributed when Corbett is out and about in Pennsylvania, or even in Harrisburg. - Pocono Record, 4/15/13
Especially since he's under heavy scrutiny for refusing to expand Medicaid:
http://articles.mcall.com/...
Under the Affordable Care Act, all governors have the prerogative to accept federal funding to expand Medicaid so that the poor of their states are insured. Gov. Tom Corbett has chosen to forgo the money offered.
An expanded Medicaid program would eventually cover more than 700,000 Pennsylvanians, the cost of which would be borne by the federal government for three years. Thereafter, the state pays about 10 percent for the cost of coverage. Corbett's "no thanks" to this money is remarkable and an outrage. It is a decision that points to a fundamental philosophical divide between those who believe that people — even the poor — matter and those who see them as a pariah; between those who label "assistance" as government intervention and those who see it as an appropriate role for government. - The Morning Call, 4/9/13
But things are looking good for one of his top opponents:
http://www.politicspa.com/...
Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz (D-Montco) made productive use of her final three months as a congressional candidate, raising $416,000 in the first quarter. She also made a big transfer to her gubernatorial campaign.
She transferred $3,000,000 to her gubernatorial campaign committee, Pennsylvania for Allyson, on March 31. Lax state contribution rules allow her to transfer the money into the Guv account, but federal rules prohibit her from transferring it back. In essence, she has put her money where her mouth is.
It’s an impressive sum for a congressional candidate in a non-election year, but it it’s actually not a major jump for Schwartz. She raised $394K in Q1 of 2011 and $370K in Q1 of 2009.
It shows that she was able to maintain her fundraising efficiency even after it was clear that she was planning to run for Governor instead of re-election. And now that she is a declared gubernatorial candidate, she can go right back to the long list of federal donors now that she doesn’t need to worry about contribution limits. - Politics PA, 4/16/13
Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz (D. PA-13) will also be the featured speaker at a big Democratic dinner:
http://gantdaily.com/...
The 13th U.S. Congressional District Rep. and Gubernatorial Candidate Allyson Schwartz will be the featured speaker at the Clearfield County Democratic Committee’s third annual Spring Dinner. The dinner will be held April 27 at the Expo 1 Building at the Clearfield Driving Park.
Doors will open at 4 p.m. with dinner beginning at 5 p.m. Tickets are $10 and may be purchased at the county headquarters located at 106 N. Second St., Suite 1C, Clearfield, from 4 p.m. – 7 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday and from 12 p.m. – 3 p.m. Saturday.
For tickets or additional information, please call 814-592-0129. - Gant Daily, 4/16/13
But if you can't make the dinner and would like to get involved with Schwartz's campaign, you can do so here:
http://www.allysonschwartz.com/...