Agreed!

Sally Yates did not betray the Justice Department, she honored its greatest traditions by defending our Constitution. https://t.co/oOVAhKPXQK

— Senator Bob Casey (@SenBobCasey) January 31, 2017

The Casey-Toomey Porter Deal Hits The News

A scant 2 full weeks after I blogged on it, the P-G is reporting on the deal:

Pennsylvania progressives are looking to scuttle an apparent backroom deal on judicial nominations that the state's two senators are negotiating.

The arrangement would have Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., sign off on Pittsburgh lawyer David J. Porter's nomination to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. In exchange, Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., would defer to Mr. Casey on at least three of Pennsylvania's other eight judicial vacancies, according to opponents of the deal.

By the way, all those petitions?

33,000 people signed them.

Why would they?  Perhaps here's the reason:

In a post on its website, Keystone Progress characterized Mr. Porter as an extreme conservative who opposes abortion rights, gay marriage and restrictions on gun ownership. It notes that Mr. Porter leads the Lawyers Chapter of the Pittsburgh Federalist Society, that he opposed the 2009 nomination of Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, that he wrote a Post-Gazette opinion piece asserting that the Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional and that he is a member of the Republican National Lawyers Association.

The writer of the P-G piece, Tracie Mauriello, gets another side of the story - the local attorneys who believe Porter's not the ideologue that all those 33,000 petition signers believe him to be.  Take a look:

"He's a brilliant lawyer and he's fair-minded," said attorney Tina O. Miller, who has known Mr. Porter for several years. "I have never found David to be overly political. Whether it's as a lawyer advocating for his client or in bar association and community activities, he has always been willing to listen to everyone's viewpoint and give consideration to everyone's viewpoint and to be fair. "Those are exactly the qualities I would want in a judge."

Mary Austin, a health care attorney in Pittsburgh who considers herself a liberal, said she has never seen ideology influence Mr. Porter's legal work in the decade she has known him.

"I really don't know [his politics]. We've never discussed it," she said. What she does know is, "David is a very good lawyer and has shown very good sense."

That may well be the case.  It may well be the case that he's a brilliant lawyer and that whatever his politics, the people of Pennsylvania should set aside them aside and simply judge him by the quality of his legal work.

Yea, tell that to Debo Adegbile.

Toomey, Casey And Porter (A Petition Update)

Hey, remember this?

That was a blog post where I ask my Senator, Senator Bob Casey, what he's thinking making a deal with my other Senator, Senator Pat Toomey, to get David J. Porter a judgeship.  The thing is, while I am sure David Porter's a fine attorney, his politics lean heavily right ward.  That in itself should not disqualify him for a judgeship, the fact that a Democratic senator is looking to get him onto the bench is somewhat troubling.

Huffingtonpost wrote about it a few days ago (and, uh, a few days after I wrote about it - just sayin').

Well a few petitions have been set up (here, here and here) and guess what?

From Huffingtonpost:

Progressives in Pennsylvania have been working for weeks to derail an apparent deal between their U.S. senators to submit a conservative Republican judicial nominee to the White House -- and it looks like they're gaining momentum.

More than 20,000 people have signed a petition urging Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) not to recommend corporate lawyer David J. Porter to President Barack Obama for a lifetime appointment to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. A coalition of state lawyers, advocates and community members collected the signatures and plans to deliver them to Casey on Monday, according to the Pennsylvania Coalition for Constitutional Values.

So what, again, is the problem:

"The coalition isn't just opposing Porter because he's a right-winger," said Michael Morrill of Keystone Progress, a statewide progressive advocacy group. "He is a radical right-wing activist and leader in anti-choice, anti-marriage equality, anti-environmental movements in Pennsylvania who is so far out of the mainstream that he can't adequately represent everyday Pennsylvanians."

And Rick Bloomingdale, the president of the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO had some issues as well:

Bloomingdale said he plans to personally talk to Casey about Porter next Monday when the senator is in Pittsburgh for an annual AFL-CIO convention. He said he understands that, in a state with a senator in each party, there are deals that have to be made on judicial nominees. But it's "troubling" to him that Toomey is pushing a nominee like Porter after holding up some of Casey's labor-friendly nominees in the Senate.

"So if he's going to play the ideological game, we certainly ask Sen. Casey to say [Porter] is too extreme for Pennsylvania," said Bloomingdale. "He's not going to be impartial on the bench."

Toomey blocked some of Casey's nominees and STILL Casey makes this sort of deal?

That is troubling.

Senator Casey needs has to ask himself this question:  If the GOP controlled the Senate and White House would Senator Toomey make a similar deal for a union friendly judicial nominee in exchange for three Porters?

I would think not.  I would think that if that were the case, the GOP would demand "bipartisanship" and then quietly redefine "bipartisanship" into "do what I tell you and we'll call that bipartisan."

Senator, if this is a deal as described above we need to know the details.  Your constituents and more importantly the people who voted for you have a right to know what you're getting in exchange for David J. Porter.

UPDATE: Thinkprogress is reporting this now.

Senator Casey, What ARE You Thinking?

Received this from Keystone Progress last night:

Keystone Progress has learned that a backroom deal by Senators Bob Casey and Pat Toomey may result in President Obama appointing a Tea Party lawyer to serve as judge on the Western Pennsylvania District Court in Pittsburgh.

The nomination of David J. Porter is working its way to the White House as part of a deal between Pennsylvania’s two United States Senators. Senators Casey and Toomey are expected to jointly present Porter to President Obama any day now as part of a deal that will allow Casey to nominate people for 3 other vacancies.

Senator Casey, is this true?  But before we go any farther, who's David J Porter?

Well, he's a shareholder at Buchanan, Ingersoll and Rooney.  No big deal there, but he's also a trustee of the (let's be honest - right wing) Grove City College and a contributor to college's Center for Vision and Values.

Let's all take a moment to remember what the center is all about (from their own webpage):

Herein lies the difference between our approach to the pursuit of personal, political, economic, and religious freedom and the reigning viewpoint in higher education. We believe that God is sovereign. We believe that man is made in His image. We believe the Bible is indispensable to understanding the truth about our relationship to God, to our world, and to each other. These core beliefs ground human dignity and freedom in God’s revealed truth, a truth that animates our mission as we affirm the eternal relevance of Jesus’ challenge in John’s gospel, “And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

That's John 8:32, by the way.

Then there's the membership in the Republican National Lawyers Association and the Pittsburgh chapter of the rightwing Federalist Society.

None of which would actually disqualify him to a judgeship but we're not talking about that.  We're talking about the deal supposedly set by the Democratic Senator from Pennsylvania, Bob Casey, to get this guy on the bench.

By the way, Porter was then-Senator Rick Santorum's attorney when lil Ricky was facing all that trouble with his residency.  From Scaife's Trib:

U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum lives with his family at a Virginia house when Congress is in session, but state and federal laws allow him to keep his official voting residence in Pennsylvania, his lawyer wrote in a letter to Allegheny County.

Wasn't Santorum running for office then? And wasn't his opponent a guy named BOB CASEY?

I realize there's a tradition in legal circles not to criticize an attorney for who his/her client is.  Everyone's entitled to a vigorous defense.

But didn't both Senators Casey and Toomey vote against Debo Adegbile precisely because they didn't like his client (the Mumia Abu-Jamal)?

So my questions for Senator Casey:

• Who are your three candidates for those 3 vacancies?
• What happens if, when you propose any or all of them, the other republicans in the Senate filibuster them?
• Why would you make such a deal anyway?

Feel free to email me with anything on this.

If you feel strongly about this, feel free to sign the petition.

Senator Toomey Defends His (Shameful) Vote

First, his video:


Transcript:

Today was a good day for Pennsylvania and for the United States and for anybody who cares about our criminal justice system and the integrity of that system.

Mumia Abu-Jamal was a cold blooded murderer who shot and killed Danny Faulkner when Danny Faulkner lie helpless, wounded, and unarmed on his back on a street in Philadelphia.

What later happened was sickening. A campaign to turn Mumia Abu-Jamal somehow into a victim, to make him a celebrity and to use him to run a political campaign that would attack America, condemn America as a racist society and indict our criminal justice system.

It made a mockery of what this country stands for and our justice system and the fact that Debo Adegbile would participate in this campaign through his supervision of the LDF attorneys who were actively participating in it, in my view, disqualified him from such an important post as the head of the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department.

Today a majority of my senate colleagues agreed with me, including seven Democrats and all the Republicans. I appreciate the bipartisan support and the support of the FOP, across Pennsylvania especially, the Philadelphia FOP. I appreciate the support of Seth Williams, the District Attorney of Philadelphia.

And I am very pleased with the outcome of this vote.

Now, let's take a look at the facts.  The Washington Post has a good summary:

It's the cop-killing that won't go away.

More than 30 years have passed since the Mumia Abu-Jamal was convicted and sentenced to death for the killing of Philadelphia Police Officer Daniel Faulkner. But the case remains an internationally-known political lightning rod. And, this week, lightning is striking in D.C.

The latest incarnation of the Abu-Jamal trial comes as it threatens to derail the nomination of Debo P. Adegbile, President Obama's nominee to head the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division. He previously worked as legal counsel to the NAACP's Legal Defense Fund, which helped Abu-Jamal get his death sentenced overturned and has represented him at various points since.

So it wasn't about guilt or innocence of Abu-Jamal, was it?  It was about his death sentence and whether the decision to impose it was reached fairly.  Turns out it wasn't.

But before we go on, let's take a look at the Post's very next paragraph:

While Adegbile's involvement with the Abu-Jamal case was limited -- and came well after the death sentence was tossed -- Faulkner's widow, the Fraternal Order of Police, and Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) have mounted a crusade to block the nomination. And recent development suggest they might prevail.

And they did, of course.  Despite the fact that Adegbile's involvement was limited and came well after the death sentence was tossed.

Back to the case.  This is from the LDF:

Mr. Abu-Jamal is on death row in Pennsylvania for the 1981 murder of a police officer in Philadelphia. His death sentence was vacated in 2001 after the Federal District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania found constitutional error in the jury instructions and verdict form used in his 1982 penalty phase. That decision was affirmed by the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in 2008 but then sent back to the Third Circuit by the United States Supreme Court in 2010 for further review.

By the way, the Judge who issued that ruling, William Yohn, was appointed by George H. W. Bush (a Republican President of the United States).  The (H. W.) Bush-appointed Yohn was the one who tossed the death sentence and sent it to the Third Circuit for review.

The three judge panel of the Third Circuit that affirmed the Yohn's judgement included Chief Judge Anthony J. Scirica (who wrote the opinion) and Judge Robert Cowen, who were both appointed by Ronald Wilson Reagan (another Republican President of the United States).

That same (mostly Reagan-appointed) three judge panel reaffirmed its earlier decision in 2011.  It is about this time is when the Adegbile supervised LDF got involved in this case:

On January 28, 2011, Mumia Abu-Jamal retained the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) to represent him in the ongoing appeal of his capital murder conviction and death sentence. LDF will serve as co-counsel in the case with Judy Ritter, Esq., of Widener Law School in Wilmington, Delaware, who has represented Mr. Abu-Jamal since 2003.

So what was Adegbile's sin according to Senator Toomey?  Defending (or whatever attorneys call it) the 2008 decision by a mostly Republican-appointed panel of judges that this mostly Republican appointed panel then reaffirmed a few months later.  It was about protecting the constitutional rights of someone found guilty of murder.

Even those found guilty of murder have constitutional rights, you know.

But punishing the attorneys who defend that idea is "protecting the integrity of the criminal justice system" to Pennsylvania Senator Pat Toomey.  You're wrong, Senator.  This was not a good day for those who believe in the criminal justice system.  Shame on you.

And we can not forget the other Pennsylvania Senator, Bob Casey (a Democrat), who also voted against his party and against his President in voting against Debo Adegbile's confirmation. 

Good going, Senator.  When you're on the same side as Pat Toomey, you're almost always on the wrong side of an issue.  Without a doubt.  Shame on you, too.

Thank you for standing up for all Americans, Senator Casey!

 

Casey Statement on Same-Sex Marriage

 

Washington, DC- Today U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) released the following statement on same-sex marriage:

“When the Respect for Marriage Act (the legislation that repeals the Defense of Marriage Act [DOMA]) was first introduced and debated in the Senate in 2011, I began to focus on the issue of same-sex marriage much more intensely than I had before. As a candidate for the Senate in 2006 and 2012, and as a Senator, I have supported civil unions. I also supported strongly the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (DADT), was a leading co-sponsor of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), and had stated publicly that I opposed efforts to enact constitutional prohibitions on same-sex marriage. In the six years I have been in the Senate, there have not been any floor votes to repeal DOMA or to legalize same-sex marriage. Both questions have now been argued before the Supreme Court and are being debated across our country. After much deliberation and after reviewing the legal, public policy, and civil rights questions presented, I support marriage equality for same-sex couples and believe that DOMA should be repealed.

As part of my consideration of these issues, I read letters written to me by LGBT Pennsylvanians and their families. These letters included deeply personal statements from people across our Commonwealth and the questions they posed challenged me directly. These stories had a substantial impact on my position on this issue. If two people of the same sex fall in love and want to marry, why would our government stand in their way? At a time when many Americans lament a lack of commitment in our society between married men and women, why would we want less commitment and fewer strong marriages? If two people of the same sex want to raise children, why would our government prevent them from doing so, especially when so many children have only one parent, or none at all? A letter I received from a woman in Southeastern Pennsylvania was particularly compelling:

‘My partner and I are both college educated. I am a stay-at-home mom and part-time kindergarten assistant teacher. I left a full-time position…when my partner gave birth to our twins to be a stay-at-home mom. We went through the process of second parent adoption and are both legal parents to our kids. My partner and I have been in a committed relationship for 18 years. We attend church every Sunday and we own a house, cars, and are truly blessed by our [two children]. As I do a rough calculation and add up the additional money we have paid in taxes compared to a financially similar heterosexual married couple over the last ten years, that amount approaches $100,000! $100,000 dollars would go a long way towards future retirement or in the college education of my kids. More important than the financial inequality to me is the message I send to my kids. My kids have two proud and loving parents who are honest [and] work hard. I want my kids to know they are equal and our family is equal . . . I just want my family to be treated equally and with respect by my state and federal government.’

As a Senator and as a citizen, I can no longer in good conscience take a position that denies her and her family the full measure of equality and respect.

I understand that many Americans of good will have strong feelings on both sides of this issue. I believe elected public officials have an abiding obligation to refrain from demonizing and dividing people for partisan or political gain. Rather, Democrats and Republicans should come together and find areas of agreement to do what’s best for the country, including lesbian and gay Americans.”

Now it's the Supreme's turn:

 

 

Follow-up to "We Won't Be Sold Out" Rally

We blogged about the "We Won't Be Sold Out" rally yesterday. Here's a snippet of video (courtesy of Joy Sabl) from the event which occurred in the pouring rain:

  You can see the text of a follow-up email which was sent to Sen. Bob Casey's Pittsburgh staffer by Democracy for Pittsburgh after the jump.

"We Won't Be Sold Out" Rally and more today

Fuck the Fiscal Cliff
Via One Pittsburgh press release:

Frustrated community leaders, activists and organizations like One Pittsburgh are joining thousands across the country in a collective “What gives?!?!?!” to elected officials like Senator Bob Casey who didn’t seem to get the memo back in November. On December 10, hundreds will gather to say it bigger and louder: We want jobs, not cuts, from our elected leaders.

There will be several actions happening today including:

On December 10 we’ll make hundreds of phone calls while hundreds more participate in a Facebook flash mob, demanding that Casey stick to his word and fight for the middle class, One Pittsburgh will be flying a very large message over the city, a message that neither Sen Casey nor Sen. Toomey can miss, or misunderstand.

Rally info via Facebook:

"We Won't Be Sold Out" Rally
When: Monday, December 10, 2012, 2:30 PM
Where: 11 Stanwix Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15222

GOP Senate Candidate Tom Smith: Girls Love Shoes!

When we last left GOP Senate Candidate Tom Smith who's running against Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA), he was opining that there is no real difference between a pregnancy that occurs outside of marriage and one that is a result of rape. Now this expert on women offers some further insight: Girls love shoes!

Via Think Progress:  

SMITH: What are we talking about here, two girls together talking?  

WOMAN: We’re talking about the power of petite women.  

SMITH: My guess would’ve been you were talking about shoes.

Additionally, he recently offered this nugget of wisdom:

"Perhaps where we're making our mistake is that we are asking President Obama and Senator Bob Casey to do something they have no knowledge of. They've never been in business, they've never ran [sic] businesses, they don't have that knowledge," Smith said. "It would be like, your wife wrecks your car. You're gonna take it to the beauty salon to get fixed? No."

Meet Tom Smith: GOP Senate Candidate & Father of the Year!

Via Think Progress:

MARK SCOLFORO, ASSOCIATED PRESS: How would you tell a daughter or a granddaughter who, God forbid, would be the victim of a rape, to keep the child against her own will? Do you have a way to explain that?

SMITH: I lived something similar to that with my own family. She chose life, and I commend her for that. She knew my views. But, fortunately for me, I didn’t have to.. she chose they way I thought. No don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t rape.

SCOLFORO: Similar how?

SMITH: Uh, having a baby out of wedlock.

SCOLFORO: That’s similar to rape?

SMITH: No, no, no, but… put yourself in a father’s situation, yes. It is similar. But, back to the original, I’m pro-life, period.

 

Where to start?

Having your daughter have a child "out of wedlock" is only similar to having your daughter have a child from being raped if you are a father who believes that your daughter is a mere extension of yourself. A father who would compare the two is a father whose only concern is the fact that his unwed daughter is visibly not a virgin and that that somehow reflects poorly on him. It springs from the same attitude as those who believe in honor killings. It springs from the same Christian Bible as the one that commands that a rapist must marry his victim...and pay the father fifty pieces of silver. It springs from a total lack of concern and any empathy for a woman's own experience, feelings and well being. It spews from an inability to see a woman as a person in her own right.

Smith is not the only PA pol to go into detail about a daughter's own private business to make a point on abortion. PA State Rep. Harry A. Readshaw (D, PA-36) was only too happy to let a constituent know that abortion wasn't fair because his own daughter couldn't give him a grandbaby. If these men had a uterus, they could stop using their daughters in their arguments and speak from their own experience. But they have no experience of their own -- just the power to use their own prejudices and religion to make laws that all women will have to follow.

It makes me sick.

By the way, this being Pennsylvania, his Democratic opponent, Sen. Bob Casey, is also anti abortion (he was one of only three Democratic US Senators to vote against killing the Blunt Amendment). But Bobby, at least believes that abortion should be allowed if a woman is raped or dying. That's a progressive Catholic in these parts.

All hail the American Taliban!

Ah, Yes...The Hitler Comparison (UPDATED)

There's an election coming up, did you know that?  Senator Casey (who beat Rick Santorum by 18 points 6 years ago) is being challenged by a guy named Tom Smith.

He's also a tea party guy.  Did you know that?

Well, Tom the tea party guy spoke at a recent tea party rally and said the usual things:

Smith said regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Transportation, coupled with other state and federal regulations, made it impossible for him to carry his company in the future and he sold them, but that having lived the American Dream influenced him to run for office.

“I see that dream being diminished by this government and I will not stand by and just go into retirement without trying to make a difference and that’s why I am here today.”

But that's not all he said.

Huffingtonpost reports:

Tom Smith during remarks at the Blair County Tea Party FreedomFest 2012 in Hollidaysburg said the speaker before him had spoken "eloquently." The preceding speaker, Phil Waite, had just compared Obama's policies with those employed by Hitler in the 1920s and 1930s, and warned that Obama could try to do the same thing to the United States.

Ahh...Reductio ad Hitlerum from the Tea Party.  And praised as "eloquent" by the GOP/Tea Party's Senatorial Candidate, Tom Smith.

Why is this not a surprise?
=====
There's an update from Huffingtonpost:

The Republican Party's U.S. Senate nominee in Pennsylvania has retracted his praise for a Tea Party member who compared President Barack Obama to Adolf Hitler, saying he didn't pay attention to the speaker's remarks before praising him.

Tom Smith, a retired coal mine owner who is challenging Sen. Bob Casey (D), told HuffPost in a statement that he had not been listening closely to the speech in which Tea Party member Phil Waite compared Obama's policies to those of Hitler and the Nazi Party and warned that Obama might follow in Hitler's fascist footsteps. Smith had started his own remarks at the Blair County Tea Party FreedomFest 2012 by saying that Waite had spoken "eloquently."

"On Sunday July 1st, I was a speaker at the Blair County ‘Freedom Festival.’ In the opening of my remarks, as a courtesy, I acknowledged the previous speaker," Smith said in his statement. "I regret that I did not pay as close attention to the individual’s remarks as I should have. Having since had these remarks brought to my attention, I regret and withdraw my acknowledgement. The rhetoric was both divisive and beyond the bounds of acceptable discourse."

Good for him.  But I'd think that if he wants to join the Senate, he'd do his homework before opening his mouth.

Two local boobs on the wrong side of history

Just in time for Women's History month, PA's Forced Ultrasound Bill and The Blunt Amendment allowing any employer to deny birth control coverage any insurance coverage requirement on moral whims objections both went down in flames. One would be tempted to decry Republicans again and their relentless War on Women, but we can't ignore the Democratic douchebags are who foot soldiers in this war too.

The Trouble With Harry

PA State Rep. Harry A. Readshaw (D, PA-36) not only cosponsored the odious Forced Ultrasound (Rape by Any Other Name) Bill, he was completely out of line when replying to a constituents' letter to him about it (blogger Amadi). He began his thoroughly condescending letter to her by addressing her by her first name only. He proceeds to divulge his daughter's private medical condition as a part of his argument and concludes by letting Amadi know that he's looked up her voting record. Amadi also notes that the letter is handwritten -- perhaps to ensure that there is no digital trail (I guess he neglected to find in his inquiries that she is a popular blogger). Please read her account of it here, including a photo of his correspondence). I'm embarrassed to add that he is also my Rep.

What's the Matter With Bob?

Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) was one of only three Democratic US Senators to vote against killing the Blunt Amendment. One must suppose that he favored it on the basis of his Catholic faith -- even though it was so broad as to allow employers to willy-nilly ignore any insurance coverage requirement (and as noted by Sen. Barbara Boxer, allow insurance companies free rein to deny coverage on "moral" grounds as well -- like that wouldn't be abused). Here's Obama for America's take on the bill, Bob:


(Click to enlarge)
Hey! Wait a minute? Doesn't Bob work for us? I think we should all vote on what health care coverage we want to deny him. Please be as arbitrary and capricious as you like! Also, I agree with Marcy Wheeler that Bobby (as someone who's been on the public dole for many years) needs to disclose to us, his employers, details as to what his history of reproductive choice has been, including details on what kinds of birth control he and his wife have used and who paid for it, as well as whether he's used erectile dysfunction drugs, and who paid for it. It's only fair! After all, employers have a right to have a say in these matters.

More Spin From The Trib Editorial Page

It's really not that big of a deal, but it serves as a good starting point to show how an overwhelming political bias can skew an otherwise harmless story.  It's an editorial cartoon found on the pages of Richard Mellon Scaife's Tribune-Review.  Of course it is.

 Let's start with the art:

Now if you look at that with an undoubting eye, you'll see it as yet another example of guv'ment waste.

Look!  The guv'ment  is wasting $5.7 million of your money studying a problem that Ed's $.98 Walmart fly swatter has already solved.  See?  Waste!

I have a question:  Ever squish a stink bug?  Why do you think they're called "Stink bugs"?

Stinky parts aside, it's when you look at the details of the story you'll find out why it's the cartoon that's silly and why it was included on the Trib's op-ed page.  A more subtle tale would be difficult to find.

The source of this story is this article in the Philadelphia Inquirer.  When you read it, you'll find out that:

For several years, particularly in early fall, the homely, slow-motion creature that resembles a medieval shield with legs has been pestering homeowners throughout the region as it looks for overwintering destinations. To the stinkbug, your house is Florida.

But a species that once was a mere local curiosity has metamorphosed into a nationwide economic threat, damaging crops and plant life from New Jersey to California.

Really? Damaging crops, huh? Which crops? A nationwide economic threat, huh?  How much money are we talking here?

In 2010, the Asian invaders were blamed for spoiling $37 million worth of apples in the Mid-Atlantic region, and assessments are under way to see what kind of damage they have caused this year. They have attacked soybeans, corn, tomatoes, raspberries, and grapes. And there are few natural predators to stop them. [emphasis added.]

Hmm...$5.7 million to study something that ruined tens of millions of dollars (and counting) worth of food doesn't seem to be that bad of an idea now, does it?

Now the kicker - and this'll tell you why the Trib even bothered making fun of the stink bug study:

Now there is evidence aplenty. So last Monday, Sen. Bob Casey (D., Pa.) announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture was putting up $5.7 million to create a scientific SWAT team to learn about a bug that has been keeping secrets under its protective shield.

Ah! So this is really a jab at the state's Democratic Senator - Bob Casey.

This is what happens when political ideology skews the news.  A Senator announces a study that might actually help the farmers in his state (and farmers elsewhere, too!) and the Trib twists it into a tale of the guv'ment wasting your money.

Another lesson in spin from our good friends at the Tribune-Review.

And tell me, exactly how could farmer Ed have saved all his apples with a fly swatter?

This Year's Labor Day Parade in Pittsburgh is a 'March For Jobs'

Via Pennsylvania AFL-CIO spokesman Marty Marks:

UNEMPLOYED AND UNDEREMPLOYED WORKERS WILL LAUNCH LABOR DAY PARADE MARCH FOR JOBS WITH PRESS CONFERENCE

Before joining 70,000 union members and their families in this year’s Labor Day Parade March for Jobs, union and non-union unemployed and underemployed workers will speak for working families about critical need for action to create jobs Pittsburgh, Penn. (September 2, 2011) – Coming on the heels of the release of a report from the Keystone Research Center citing Pennsylvania’s unemployment and underemployment rate at more than 13% and a disastrous monthly jobs report showing virtually no growth in the private or public sectors, Jack Shea, President of the Allegheny County Labor Council is calling a press conference before the step-off of the Labor Day Parade to let jobless and underemployed workers speak for working families about the need for Congress and the Pennsylvania legislature to take action immediately to put America and Pennsylvania back to work.

"This year we are going to use the special attention the labor movement gets once a year to give voice to the workers hurt most by the failure of political leaders to take action on creating jobs," Mr. Shea said. "It is time for our elected leaders to stop listening to Wall Street bankers and corporate CEO’s and pay attention to workers who want and need jobs that pay family sustaining wages and spur the kind of economic growth that fuels the American dream," according to Mr. Shea.

Labor Day activities begin at 8 a.m. with a traditional Labor Day mass conducted by Bishop David Zubik at St. Benedict the Moor Church. Unemployed and underemployed workers who want to join the march for jobs are instructed to go to the intersection of Crawford and Bedford Streets prior to the 10 a.m. parade step-off at Center Avenue and Washington Place. The reviewing stand is on the Boulevard of the Allies at Stanwix Street. [Emphasis added]

The Huffington Post picked up on the story and adds the following:

About six Republican politicians were invited to march this year, along with a larger number of Democratic officials. Invited guests include U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy (R), U.S. Sen. Bob Casey (D) and state Sen. John Pippe (R-Allegheny).

Two prominent GOP politicians who were not invited to march were U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey and Gov. Tom Corbett. When asked what the labor council would do if they said they wished to participate, Marks replied, "We would politely decline their participation."

In fact, the Allegheny County Labor Council has already turned down Joshua Wander, the sole GOP candidate for Pittsburgh City Council. Shea told Wander that the parade was invitation-only and the council had already endorsed his opponent, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

Wander is running for Council in District 5 -- currently Doug Shields' seat. He's running against Corey O'Connor. Which of course means he has even less than a snowball's chance in hell of winning versus your average Republican running for a seat in Council.

Who: Union and non-union unemployed and underemployed workers; Frank Snyder, Secretary-Treasurer of the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO; Jack Shea, President of the Allegheny County Labor Council; 70,000 working men and women and their families.
What: Labor Day Parade Press Conference
Where: Freedom Corner, Crawford St. and Center Ave. in Pittsburgh
When: Monday, September 5, 2011 at 9:30 a.m.

A challenger for Bob Casey?

Via Politico:

Pennsylvania Republicans may finally be closing in on a viable recruit to take on Democratic Sen. Bob Casey: wealthy businessman Steve Welch.

Welch met with National Republican Senatorial Committee officials this week in Washington, POLITICO has learned. People familiar with his thinking say Welch is considering a run more seriously than when GOPers first tried to recruit him earlier in the year.

Welch made a run for Congress last year but aborted his efforts when Jim Gerlach got back into the race. You can still see Welch's campaign website here.
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I was wrong

Apparently, I was wrong when I wrote "The Debate: Crackhead Ricky Vs. Stoner Bobby" back in October of 2006.

Lil Ricky was the pothead.

My apologies.
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BRESMA Orphanage Update (Updated 5x)

UPDATE 5: Most recent news here (1/18/10, 6:30 AM ET).

UPDATE 4: 10/17/10, 4:30 AM ET, from the sister-in-law of the McMutrie sisters:
UPDATE 3: 10/16/10, 10:27 PM ET:
UPDATE 2: They are now out of water. Contact anyone you can to help.

UPDATE: Very lastest update from the family via Facebook is here:

i'm sure you all know that the girls were on CNN (Anderson Cooper) last night. even though the show was on at night, they talked to the girls much much much earlier in the day. since then the babies have started to get very sick. the girls have started to get sick. the fact that CNN has found and interviewed them, unfortunately, doesn't mean much...call your senators. and donate. the senators and political higher ups are now involved. but, that doesn't mean that you should stop harassing them. we need them to stay involved. we need them to stay passionate about this cause. especially now that it's the weekend. so please just keep calling. call and call and call and call. email and email and email.

For how you can help, see here.For CNN video, see here.For WAPO article, see here.

Stories in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review this morning agree that former U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan claims that she has obtained "a humanitarian parole"/"one of two key permits" to allow the children of the BRESMA orphanage in Haiti to come to the US. Both articles also quote Rep. Jason Altmire on his efforts (along with Gov. Ed Rendell, Sen. Bob Casey, Sen. Arlen Specter and Rep. Mike Doyle) to secure passage for the children.

However, the P-G positions Buchanan's efforts as "one part of a two-prong push to get permission for the children to enter the country early" (with Altmire & others as the other prong), while the Trib has a somewhat different slant:

...Rep. Jason Altmire said he and other government officials -- including those in the White House -- knew nothing of such plans [speaking of Buchanan's efforts] and still were trying to secure the permits.

Bram Reichbaum of The Pittsburgh Comet blog was assisting Mary Beth Buchanan last night. I asked him (via email) if the two factions were working at cross purposes or if it's just a matter of everyone attacking the problem from different angles with their own resources (which could maximize the chances of pulling off a rescue). Bram answered as follows:

It was DEFINITELY different channels and not cross-purposes. We definitely got the impression that some Dems weren't thrilled with our attempts, but I never once got the impression either effort was screwing up the other one. If anyone succeeds in getting some aid thru it'll all be worth it.

For the record though we didn't know about what Jason Altmire was doing any more than he knew about our effort. ;) Cong. Tim Murphy was our man on the inside, called us every hour or so.

For those who don't know it, Buchanan -- a Republican -- may be a challenger for Democrat Altmire's House seat.

I say: The more the merrier.

I'm trusting that everyone has the best intentions and KUDOS to all of them for trying to work a miracle. However, it's likely going to be easier -- and nothing is the least bit easy in any of this -- to get the 30 children who are already well into the adoption process with American sponsors into the country than the 120 who don't already have future US homes. Jamie and Ali McMutrie have expressed their intentions to get all 150 children out together as a group because any child left behind would face a high risk of death.

BRESMA is running out of water and food and the children and staff are not safe. Let's hope all the parties involved can work some magic and that all of you reading this who have called and emailed these public leaders keep up the pressure.

NOTE: Photo removed at the request of the tweeter/photographer.
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Specter More Progressive On Gun Control Than Casey

From The Hill:

Senate Democrats on Wednesday banded together to defeat — barely — a Republican proposal to allow concealed weapons to be carried across state lines.

Voting 58-39, the chamber beat back an amendment by Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), a potential presidential hopeful who has taken on a growing role among Senate Republicans, that would have permitted weapons to be transferred from state to state.

Under a previous agreement between the two parties, the amendment needed 60 votes to pass.

[snip]

Nineteen other Democrats crossed over to support the amendment: Max Baucus of Montana, Evan Bayh of Indiana, Mark Begich of Alaska, Michael Bennet of Colorado, Bob Casey Jr. of Pennsylvania, Kent Conrad of North Dakota, Byron Dorgan of North Dakota, Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, Kay Hagan of North Carolina, Tim Johnson of South Dakota, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas, Ben Nelson of Nebraska, Mark Pryor of Arkansas, Jon Tester of Montana, Tom Udall of New Mexico, Mark Udall of Colorado and Mark Warner and Jim Webb of Virginia. [Emphasis added]

[snip]

The bill would have allowed citizens with a concealed-weapons permit in one state to transfer that permit to other states.

Sen. Arlen Specter only signaled his his opposition yesterday. From his website:

"From my own experience growing up in Kansas and being District Attorney of Philadelphia, I know states need to prescribe their own rules for carrying a concealed deadly weapon. This is the essence of federalism. My vote against the Thune Amendment will not limit the constitutional rights of hunters and gun owners. Pennsylvania already recognizes concealed carry permits from 24 other states where their laws are similar."

Groups such as Cease Fire PA and Mayors Against Illegal Guns targeted Specter and Casey. The latter group running an ad in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and the Philadelphia Inquirer this week. Notice that this ad was aimed at Specter -- not Casey. Did they already know that Bobby was a lost cause?

This all comes on the heels of a lawsuit by the NRA being thrown out of court which tried to challenge a Pittsburgh ordinance that required owners to report lost or stolen guns to the police.

Despite Casey's efforts, all in all, a good week for keeping firearms "well regulated."


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Public Option Now! Health Care Rallies in Pittsburgh

UPDATE: For the Casey rally (via press release):

Local elected official, City Councilman Bill Peduto, will speak briefly at the rally, as will students, business owners and individuals involved in the healthcare industry.

At the end of the rally, the group will deliver petitions from MoveOn members statewide in support of a strong public health insurance option. The petition text—a quote from President Obama -- reads:

“I strongly believe that Americans should have the choice of a public health insurance option operating alongside private plans. This will give them a better range of choices, make the health care market more competitive, and keep insurance companies honest.”

MoveOn.org is urging all to contact their US Senators to support a Public Option for health care.

There will be two rallies tomorrow; one targeting Sen. Bob Casey and the other Sen. Arlen Specter.

Public Option Now! Health Care Rally
Sen. Arlen Specter's District Office
Regional Enterprise Tower, 425 Sixth Avenue, Suite 1450
Pittsburgh, PA 15219
Thursday, July 09th, 10:00 AM
RSVP here.

Public Option Now! Health Care Rally
Sen. Robert Casey's District Office
Regional Enterprise Tower, 425 Sixth Avenue, Suite 2490
Pittsburgh, PA 15219
Thursday, July 09th, 12:00 PM
RSVP here.
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Quick Hits

Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA), in a strongly worded press release, denied attending any meetings with Sen. Evan Bayh's (D-IN) group of Blue Dog "ConservaDems." "Pennsylvania is Blue, Obama won, and the people want his agenda passed. Why on Earth would I align myself with that bunch of obstructionist douches?" Casey asked. (Post-Gazette)

In a surprise move, Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) decided to throw his support behind the Employee Free Choice Act. "I have a reputation to maintain as a Centrist. I absolutely will not damage that reputation just because I will be challenged by a dangerous far right opponent in a Republican primary." (Early Returns)

Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, in response to challenger Patrick Dowd, said that far from wasting over 20 million dollars those monies were actually part of the Ravenstahl Administration's stimulus spending package. (KDKA)

District 2 Pittsburgh City Councilor Theresa Kail-Smith is now fully behind real campaign finance reform. Local blogger and Kail-Smith supporter Matt H applauded the change at his Pittsburgh Hoagie blog. (She also said that she would update her campaign web site to include that "Kail-" thing.) (Pittsburgh Hoagie)

The Republican "alternative budget" calls for a massive tax cut for the wealthy. The top marginal tax rate would be slashed from 35 to 25 percent which would just be CRAZY. (Huffington Post)

Speaking of taxes, the ginormous tax increase on cigarettes scheduled to go into effect today has been postponed indefinitely when it was discovered that the nation already had a high percentage of obese people and that smoking does indeed look "cool." (Washington Post)

Starting tomorrow, I will be posting exclusively at Twitter -- no more blogging here at 2pj (You can find me at Twitter here). Words are the enemy! Also, I'm really, really happy that I wasn't laid off yesterday along with many of my co-workers.
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