I guess we have to cover this again

Rick Santorum, in mid-panic, has been lying (yet again) about Bob Casey's involvement in the Harrisburg pay raise scandal. I blogged on this a few weeks ago in August. If only the Santorum guys read this blog, they would have saved themselves from looking so foolish (or more foolish, to be more accurate).

Let's go over a few facts before proceeding.

• When the pay raise was passed, the legislature in Harrisburg was (and still is, at this point) controlled by The Republicans - Rick Santorum's party. The pay raise would never have gotten anywhere had not the party in charge (The Republicans) wanted it.
  
• Rick Santorum hasn't taken a position on the pay raise - calling it a "state issue."

Now that that's done, let's look at the new radio ad. You can hear it here. And here's the transcript:

Last year’s Harrisburg pay raise scandal says all you’ll ever need to know about Bob Casey, Jr. As State Treasurer, Casey signed every one of the pay raise checks for his Harrisburg buddies. Every one.

"Harrisburg buddies"? It's a Republican-controlled legislature.

And didn’t utter a single word of objection – at least until the voters expressed their displeasure. Then Casey moved quickly into action, and said that he thought the raise was “unconstitutional.”

Take a look at the Press Release. It's dated October 6, 2005.

For months now, State Treasurer Robert P. Casey, Jr. has publicly expressed his opposition to the July 7 legislative pay raise, the manner in which it was passed by the General Assembly, and the use of “unvouchered expenses” as a way to circumvent the State Constitution’s prohibition against legislators' pocketing a pay raise in the middle of their terms.

For months now. Is the Santorum camp saying the press release is incorrect? Then why didn't they say so back then? Oh, that's right. Rick Santorum doesn't have a position on the pay raise.

Huh? Then why did Casey sign the checks? After all, Casey took an oath to follow the Constitution.

Again, from the release:

...the State Treasurer has no authority to stop these payments. He cannot substitute his judgment for that of the judiciary, nor can he refuse to honor lawful requisitions.

I am guessing that he also took an oath to follow the law. And under the law, Casey had no authority to stop the unvouchered expenses approved of by the Republican-controlled legislature.

The truth is Casey didn’t have the courage to stand up against his Harrisburg cronies.

Again, Republican-controlled legislature.

Something no one would ever say about Rick Santorum.

This part is confusing. Santorum's voted with President Bush 98% of the time. When has he ever stood up to Bush?

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review was so outraged by Casey’s antics in the pay raise scandal, they called upon him to resign from office.

Actually it was the DickieCougarMellonScaife's editorial board at the Tribune-Review that called upon Casey to resign. Here's the editorial. And it's based on the same false assumption as this Santorum ad: that Casey had the authority to stop the checks (again, checks approved by the Republican-controlled legislature).

Bob Casey, the more we learn about him the more concerned we ought to be.

I’m Rick Santorum, candidate for the US Senate, and I approved this message.

Rick Santorum - the deeper the panic, the stupider the lies.