Reading file for a travel day

pa2010.com is on the road today, en route to the Democratic State Committee meeting in Pittsburgh to see Arlen Specter with his new party.

We’ll have live coverage of the dinner tonight and Specter’s speech tomorrow.

In the meantime, here are some stories you don’t want to miss.

pemGrassrootsPA/em has the news that a former Obama staffer is a href="http://grassrootspa.com/2009/06/04/hbg-councilman-brad-koplinski-named-specters-statewide-political-director/" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://grassrootspa.com']);return TrackClick("http%3A%2F%2Fgrassrootspa.com%2F2009%2F06%2F04%2Fhbg-councilman-brad-koplinski-named-specters-statewide-political-director%2F','Specter%22s+new+political+director')" target="_blank"Specter’s new political director/a./p
pAnd Pat Meehan continues to get pressure to step aside in the Governor’s race—or at least a href="http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/pittsburgh/s_628313.html" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://www.pittsburghlive.com']);return TrackClick("http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pittsburghlive.com%2Fx%2Fpittsburghtrib%2Fnews%2Fpittsburgh%2Fs_628313.html','run+on+a+ticket+with+Tom+Corbett.')" target="_blank">run on a ticket with Tom Corbett.

Stay tuned…

…

Onorato Names County’s First Sustainability Manager

By THE OFFICE OF ALLEGHENY COUNTY EXECUTIVE DAN ONORATO

PITTSBURGH — Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato today named Jeaneen Zappa as
the County’s first sustainability manager. Zappa will work with County department directors and
Onorato’s Green Action Team to identify ways to reduce the County’s ecological footprint.

“I am pleased to announce that Jeaneen Zappa will be joining our team, bringing a wealth of
experience and expertise in business and sustainability planning,”…

Congressman Doyle Calls for Greater Restrictions on Sales of Cop-Killer Equipment

By THE OFFICE OF CONGRESSMAN MIKE DOYLE (D-14)

Washington, D.C. – June 4, 2009 – U.S. Representative Mike Doyle (PA-14) today questioned Congressional witnesses about the wisdom of allowing the public sale of surplus military equipment that is most likely to be used by criminals.

“Richard Poplawski was wearing a military grade bullet-proof vest during the recent shoot-out with the Pittsburgh Police that left three officers dead,” Congressman Doyle observed afterwards.  “There’s no legitimate civilian…

Follow Specter and the Dem state committee meeting on pa2010.com

With Democrats preparing to meet this weekend in Pittsburgh for the State Committee gathering and their newest member, Senator Arlen Specter, planning to address the crowd, there’s only one place you need to go to follow all the action.

pa2010.com will be on the scene, live-blogging at times and working the room at others. Log on for live coverage of the main dinner Friday night and of Specter’s speech on Saturday. For all the smaller…

Who will oppose DeWeese on table games?

Bill DeWeese made the news twice the other day.

The Inquirer reported that former state Representative Mike Veon, a key defendant in the Bonusgate investigation, accused DeWeese of engaging in the same illegal conduct for which Veon is under indictment.

The Inquirer also reported that Veon accused Attorney General and likely gubernatorial candidate Tom Corbett’s office of engaging in prosecutorial misconduct, including the intimidation of witnesses.

This is pretty sleazy stuff… it suggests that, surprise…

Gov. Rendell and House Democrats continue to drag feet on the budget

If you are involved at all with Pennsylvania politics, then you are certainly keeping tabs on the current budget negotiations going on in Harrisburg. This year’s budget negotiations come at a time when our state is facing a nearly $3-billion budget shortfall. Gov. Ed Rendell and state House Democrats are trying to delay budget negotiations as long as possible in order to force an “emergency” increase of the income tax to cover their unquenchable thirst…

And I was saying about the Jewish vote…

Interesting NYT op-ed page devoted to Obama’s Mideast trip today. There were a half dozen columns by Arab authors, intellectuals, etc., all of whom emphasized democracy and none of whom talked about Israel. But the same paper reported that the Arab political leaders want, drumroll please… more concessions from Israel as the price for welcoming Obama. If the position of the Arab leaders isn’t even convincing to their own people, how convincing is…

Castor for state Senate?

WHY NOT!

The fact is Castor can’t do anything in Norristown. So, why not, I ask?

He would cruise to victory (barring a good opponent), and he could accomplish something. This also opens the window for a future congressional run in the far future, and betters his chances at a statewide run.

There hasn’t been much discussion on local candidates, but I think it will heat up in the coming months.

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Liberal vs. Conservative beliefs

Perhaps liberals and conservatives just think

ANALYSIS: Voting is now a high-stakes proposition for Specter

Even before Congressman Joe Sestak (D-7) became a likely Senate candidate, Arlen Specter was in the unenviable position of having his every word—and every floor vote—scrutinized by liberals skeptical of the party-switching Senator.

But now, with Sestak looming and repeatedly criticizing Specter as a faux Democrat, every vote, even procedural ones, could prove to be a veritable high-stakes bonanza that could make or break his reelection campaign. And if Specter, ever the political survivor, triangulates…