Rick Santorum Gets Fact-Checked by the P-G (and Loses)

Yesterday, I wrote about Rick Santorum's new radio ad and how it mangles the truth.

Now, it looks like the Post-Gazette and I are in agreement. Take a look:

. . . Santorum HQ also has a new radio ad, about last year's legislative pay raise and Mr. Casey's alleged role in it.

Here's the text:

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. 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." Huh? Then why did Casey sign the checks? After all, Casey took an oath to follow the Constitution. The truth is Casey didn't have the courage to stand up against his Harrisburg cronies. Something no one would ever say about Rick Santorum. The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review was so outraged by Casey's antics in the pay raise scandal, they called upon him to resign from office. Bob Casey: the more we learn about him, the more concerned we ought to be.

Some quick fact-checking: Mr. Casey doesn't have the authority to stop payment on those pay raise checks, and in fact the money didn't come from the treasury. Instead, the money came from caucus leaders, who weren't technically handing out pay raises, but "unvouchered expenses." The Legislature drew its short-term pay raises from its own massive slush fund. And let's be clear on the difference between Mr. Casey thinking the unvouchered pay is unconstitutional (because a sitting Legislature is not supposed be able to raise its own salary, only the salary of future Legislatures) and the state Supreme Court ruling that the end-around raises are, in fact, legal. [emphasis added]

So the Legislature (the Republican-controlled Legislature) drew its short term payraises from its own slush fund. I guess that implying that Casey had any control over them is, well, another lie.

In this ad, he accuses Bob Casey of not having "the courage to stand up against his Harrisburg cronies." But considering who runs the Pennsylvania Legislature (the Republicans) and the party of Santorum (the Republican Party), who's the one who doesn't want to "stand up" to those "Harrisburg cronies"?

Rick Santorum